Alone again naturally…

Rose and her children will be moving back to Kuching this weekend, if I’m not mistaken, so that means I will be losing a makan kaki (eating companion) here to go out on breakfast dates and to share any information about nice makan places in town and give whatever nice stuff that we may have to try. In fact, she went home last weekend to attend a wedding and if you have read her post here, you would know already that she bought one big box of those Hong Kong paos…

…and no prize for guessing who they were for. Hehehehehehe!!!!

She bought these for me before – that first time when we met and I do think they are very nice, much nicer than the other type, the Rubber Road baked buns, that she got for me the second time. I love the flaky pastry and the char siew (barbecued meat) filling is really good too…

– just like what you would find in those steamed paos at the dim sum places. Thank you so much for them, Rose. What a coincidence indeed – the same buns the very first time we met and the last time! All the best to you and your family in Kuching – do take care there and God bless always. I certainly will let you know if ever I will be in the city.

Unfortunately, we were not able to go some place for a bite that morning when she passed me these. She was not free earlier and later, I had to send my car to the car wash as it got so very dirty due to the patches of rain we encountered on our way to Selangau and back while sending my girl back to her school on Sunday. It wouldn’t be so bad if it had rained really heavily – it is the little bit of rain here and there that I do not like as it really makes a terrible mess all over the car. When I got to the place, I found that the coffee shop opposite has called it day. The chap fan stall that I blogged about did not even last one or two months and now, the whole place has closed down. I can’t say I was all that fond of what they had there but at least, that would be one place to go for a drink and something to eat while one’s car was being washed.

After having got that done, I dropped by the mall next door and while browsing around the supermarket there, I saw this…

Hey! That was THE jam that I used to eat during my growing-up years, this exact brand, made in England no less! No, I’m not really into jam these days unless it is with some rich and buttery scones and clotted cream – I would love that…a lot but unfortunately, we can’t get any of those nice scones here and I don’t think there is any clotted cream in the shops either! Nonetheless, I could not resist grabbing a bottle for my girl to try – she likes jam with her toast and what not and I think she prefers raspberry…and I could tell her that this was what we had way back then during those colonial days.

I also wanted to stop by there as I saw on Facebook that the lady making these khong therng/kacang tumbuk (rolled crushed peanut cake) …

…had got back into action again and they are now available once more at the stall at the foyer of the mall selling all the local Foochow delights.

When my cousins came to town that day, they went to buy those from the sole-survivor in Sungai Merah, the only shop making these in the whole town and when I dropped by the hotel to see them, they gave me one to try. Theirs were sweet,  not much peanut fragrance and in every pack, there was one miserably small and thin bit and the one I had was not a rectangular whole even. I would never bother getting any from there, that’s for sure.

These are a completely different story – exactly like those that we used to love and enjoy so much in our younger days…but no, I do not usually eat them like that, not anymore, much as I love them a lot as at my age, I need to make sure I do not over-indulge – everything in moderation! Usually, I would need those when I make my salad dressing…or my rojak sauce…or for my own homemade popiah – this would save me the trouble of having to fry my own peanuts (and remove the skin) and pounding them for use…and these are a whole lot nicer than the factory-made ones available at the supermarkets (which I had no choice but to use during those desperate times) as well.

Now that the lady is making them again, I do hope she’ll stick around much longer…and will not disappear into thin air after a while, like the last time. Tsk! Tsk!