Not today…

My cousin in Melbourne, Australia said she would be sending me some stuff through a friend who would be coming back to Sibu for the Ching Ming Festival last week. Well, her friend contacted me and I went to pick her and her hubby up at the hotel at 8.00 a.m. to go for breakfast with some of her classmates – same year as me, all of them, except that they were all in our sister school next door. Mine was a boys’ school, you see.

They agreed to meet here but no, it was not a good day as three of the six stalls were closed – probably they had chosen to go to the cemetery that morning, I wouldn’t know. There were only the kampua noodle stall, a roti canai stall and the bak kut teh stall open and nobody wanted the latter so we all ordered something from the other two. The place was very busy so of course, they were desperately trying to cope with the crowd. I suppose that was why never mind what we ordered – with or without chili, dry or soup, the regular kampua mee or the flat ones…we all got a bowl of this…

– take it or leave it!

My friend’s hubby also ordered two bowls of pian sip soup for us to share and we got these…

I tried the kampua noodles here before because somebody told me it was very nice but I did not quite agree. This time around, however, I thought it was quite good, thank God for small mercies!

One of the ladies ordered these mini steamed pao‘s…

…each about the size of a golf ball, with char siew filling…

I had one and I would say they were quite o.k. but of course, they came nowhere near the very much bigger and nicer ones here.

Our friend also ordered their bak chang (meat dumplings)…

…and though they were nice, as far as the taste went, anyone dropping by here on a brief visit need not bother about the ones here as the meat inside would be hardly visible, if at all.

The roti canai stall was enjoying brisk business and we shared the roti telur…

…which was all right – the one at another coffee shop in Sungai Merah, served with curry gravy, would be much nicer, I think.

We spent around two hours there, chatting and catching up with one another…and it was around 10.00 a.m. when I sent the two back to the hotel. Gosh!!! The traffic jam was absolutely horrendous – it sure looked like virtually everybody came home for the long Easter weekend, for Ching Ming and whatever else. I tried a longer route, avoiding the town centre and it turned out that it was not much better so it did take quite a while before I managed to drop them off at a corner, a short walking distance to the hotel entrance.

Thank you so much, Gina & Henry, and Veronica too, for the breakfast treat…and also to the two for helping to bring all the goodies from my cousin all the way from Down Under. Well, if anyone is curious as to what my cousin sent – come back tomorrow and I’ll tell you all about it! LOL!!!

Let’s go out tonight…

Last week on Good Friday, my girl and her colleague/friend were home but we were fasting the whole day (though we did make sure our guest had her regular meals) and in the afternoon, we attended the special service in one of the churches in town. I suggested not cooking dinner and going out that night instead so come evening, the four of us headed here – the SCR®Xpress…

…where we once had a delightful lunch before.

This time around, we were seated at another section at that same place…

…which I thought was kind of colourful, don’t you think?

We placed our orders and everything came pretty fast, true to its name. I had the 3-layer teh-c-peng (RM4.40)…

…that I had on our previous visit and I loved it a lot. My missus had the Lavender Lady (RM4.80) which she said tasted like yam…and the two girls had the 4-sour drink (RM4.60 each).

We asked for the chicken rice (RM2.20 each)…

…minus the chicken which we did not quite enjoy before as it was kind of cold, never mind whether it was steamed or roasted.

We decided to try the midin with Thai-sauce (RM8.90)…

…instead of the one with belacan that we had the last time even though that one was very nice. I would say this one was pretty good too and I sure wouldn’t mind having it sometimes for a change.

The squid rings (RM7.90)…

…were kind of bland and chewy and did not get us jumping up and down with delight but they were definitely cheaper than the so very delicious crispy prawns (RM11.00)…

…that we enjoyed so much the last time and simply had to order it again…and of course, again, this time around, everybody loved it…especially my girl who really enjoyed it to the max.

The fried tilapia with Thai sauce (RM13.70)…

…was very nice too and one would get a choice between Thai sauce, pickles or sambal. I would have picked sweet and sour as we already had Thai sauce with the midin and we did not quite fancy the other two but unfortunately, that was not one of the options.

The fish ball soup (RM7.90)…

…that we had did not look like it was going to be very nice but how wrong could we be! Probably they have all those chickens for their chicken rice and they can use the “unwanted” parts to make the stock, I wouldn’t know but the soup sure was so flavourful, so very nice.  There isn’t much choice here as far as soups go but I certainly would not mind ordering this again the next time we drop by here.

The total for everything came up to RM76.60 and with the 6% GST, the net total was RM81.20.

After dinner, we went for a walk at the megamall a stone’s throw away. They have not removed the golden goat yet…

…though Chinese New Year has long passed and gone. The one here is certainly a lot nicer than the other one at the other end of town…

…which was a horse last year and obviously, they just added the horns and the beard and sprayed it gold in colour.

I did get myself a new pair of sandals at the buy-and-throw-away outlet at the mall and the girls did pick up some stuff including some canned stuff to take back to their school. All in all, it was an evening well-spent…with the very delightful dinner followed by a pleasant outing with the family, plus one.

Go all the way…

I joined a contest, Taste your way around Asia, that was hosted by AirAsiaGo on their Facebook page more for the fun of it than anything else. I thought it was somewhat interesting and this was how it went – they would name a destination and a few culinary specialties at that particular place and participants would have to email them photographs of other delights found at that same place, giving whatever information they required.

I think the first destination was Sarawak so that was easy and of course, my submission had to be the Kuching or Sarawak laksa…

The next destination was Penang and since char kway teow was on their list, I could not suggest that. In the end, I settled for the or chian (oyster omelette) and the roti jala, Indian style that I had at a nasi kandar place on the island…

Bangkok was next and it was not too difficult as they did not mention the pad Thai  nor the pineapple fried rice…

…and I had the photographs of the two at hand.

Hong Kong was quite a challenge as they mentioned dim sum and roast goose so I had to come out with something else and for Vietnam, the Vietnamese pho was in their list. In the end, I decided to submit the siew yoke (roast pork belly) and the Vietnamese rolls…

…for these two destinations.

Taipei came next and I had snapshots of the Taiwan-style beef noodles and also the celebrated pineapple cakes…

…but Korea was rather challenging. I think they had kim chi and bibimbap and I do not know much about Korean cuisine especially when I was there once only – in the winter and it was so cold that for every meal, we requested for their mee sua in ginseng chicken soup with their very nice rice wine. In the end, I just sent to them this photograph of the Korean mochi buns…

…and that was it!

Now, why did I say that I just joined for fun like I was not all that keen? Well, the thing was the prize would be another free hotel stay – I had already won one at either Bangkok or Phuket in a contest organised by their affiliate, Tune Insurance around Christmastime last year and it is due to expire at the end of this month so it sure looks like I would not get to use it in the end. I wouldn’t mind forwarding that to anyone heading to one of these two destinations in the next few weeks – just let me know! I did read the fine print and it did not say anywhere that it is non-transferable so I guess it is all right.

Anyway, for this particular contest, I received an email from them informing me that I had won and they asked me for my mailing address. After a couple of days, I received this…

Homestay? In Kluang? I know that it is in Johore but I can’t jolly well fly there! I’d probably would have to fly to JB and go all the way by bus or by train from there. Sighhhhh!!!! If it had been free hotel accommodation in JB itself…or KL, Penang, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu or even Singapore, I would probably make a trip there and make full use of the prize. As for going to Kluang, I will have to think about it. The voucher expires at the end of October this year so there is still a lot of time for me to sleep on it…but if anyone is interested, I can pass it to him or her, no problem at all.

Well, I sure had a lot of fun and yes, it is nice to win something, never mind what. LOL!!!

Turn left…

If you turn a little to the left as you come out of the hotel where my friends from Singapore were staying the first time they were in town, you would see this coffee shop…

…right at the corner of that block of shops. Actually, this is the back entrance but I do think it is more convenient to park one’s car in the spacious area in front of the hotel and go in this way.

One of them, Alfred, was wondering what they were serving here as it seemed very popular as every night, he would see a lot of people there so he asked me about it. I did not know at the time but one night last week, I was in the vicinity and was feeling a little hungry as I only had a very light dinner so I decided to drop by for supper.

I saw a not-so-young lady at the back doing the cooking and there were two young guys helping her. I placed my order and proceeded to the coffee shop proper to take my seat. I ordered this glass of teh-see-peng (iced tea with evaporated milk)…

…and it was really very good – thick, fragrant and rich, so very generous with the milk and it did seem to have a lot of froth too. I would say it was very much nicer than any teh tarek that I have had anywhere. I usually drink kopi-o-peng (iced black coffee) which would be between RM1.50 and RM1.80 depending on where one goes to so I am not familiar with the usual prices of these drinks but this was RM2.20 a glass.

Yes, there were a lot of people but for some reason, they had pulled out all the tables and chairs to the pavement outside around the shop leaving the part where I was sitting (right under a fan swirling at full speed) quite bare. I noticed that most, if not all of them, were very young – it was around 8.30 p.m. at the time so my guess would be that old folks don’t stay out that late. What do you think? LOL!!! No, they were all very nice, not those that one might see at some places, loitering in the coffee shops, smoking and drinking and talking at the top of their voices. In fact, one girl accidentally knocked against my knee while she was taking a chair past my table to go outside and sit with her friends and she quickly apologised saying, “Sorry, uncle!” in English! I thought that was very sweet and nice of her.

Anyway, my order for a plate of Foochow fried noodles (RM3.50)…

…came soon after and I got down to the business of eating it.

Yes, it was very nicely done – I would most certainly say that I enjoyed it very much even though as usual, there weren’t a lot of ingredients – just a few bits of meat and green vegetables…

…but they seemed kind of generous as there was quite a lot, filling the plate almost to the brim. I certainly would not mind having that again the next time I happen to be around the area.

I could not read all that was on the wall but looking at the photographs, it did not seem that they had a lot to choose from other than these fried noodle dishes – yellow noodles, kway teow or bihun…and I saw a few rice dishes as well – a plate with one scoop of rice and something cooked by the side – meat or fish. Those would be great for a light lunch – when my girl was small, we would stop by one place and have something like this, rice with sweet and sour pork ribs by the side. That was nice!

Well, since I was happy with the drink and the noodles and I somehow felt that the people were very nice, I may drop by sometime and try something else – we’ll see…

If only for one night…

I was so happy to receive news that my very very good friend, Mandy, would be coming to town. I have not seen her since we went over for my girl’s convocation in 2013 and it did not matter that she would be arriving late at night, I just had to go and see her to say hello!

She was on a working trip and she told me that the company would arrange a rented car for her and her colleague so I would not need to go to the airport to meet them upon arrival. That was why I waited at the hotel instead. They finally got there at around 9.30 p.m. and after checking in and after dropping off their stuff in their rooms, we went to this place which was right behind the hotel, not because of the convenience but Mandy had been here before in 2012 with Yee Ling and her girls and she would want to go back there again for this…

…that she remembered only too well and also this…

I also asked her to try the green curry…

…that my family and I had before and loved a lot. Being relatively new on the menu, they did not have it that time when she came and yes, she liked it very much. Not really a fan of the ones with the thick and rich gravy she had had at some Thai restaurants, she thought this one was quite different and tasted really great.

They also had this…

…and her colleague loved it, saying that it was very different from the Muar ones and he was not a fan of the Penang version of the same.

We were already very full after all these (and I had dinner…and supper before this) so we just shared one durian ice cream between the three of us for dessert. The place closes at 11 usually but it was way past the time already when we called it a day…

…and they did not mind it one bit. Mandy picked up the tab…like what she would insist upon everytime – there’s no arguing with that lady, I tell you…so I did not even bother to try. LOL!!!

It certainly was nice to see her again after all this time. Too bad my girl was at her school in Selangau so she could not get to meet her dear Kak Mandy – she would have loved that so much. I was not able to see her again myself as the next day, she and her colleague were tied up with their work at some job site and did not get back to town till late and they left on the very early flight the next morning to go back to KL. I must say that I sure was glad I made an effort to go and see her that night even though it was way past my bedtime – like they say, old people go to bed early and wake very very early before the break of dawn. That’s me all right!

Thanks for dinner, Mandy. We’ll meet again soon, I hope…if not here in Sibu,  then there in KL.

Royal…

This was the first Malaysian-made brand of instant noodles and it was so immensely popular that today, if somebody said that he had maggi, it could be some instant noodles and not necessarily that particular brand.

I would say that I grew out of it and would prefer some of the other brands and their flavours. I did not like the texture and taste of their noodles and the flavours they had were nothing to shout about. However, when I went over to New Zealand, I saw a wider variety there, made in their factory there, and tried a few. They were so much nicer – even the noodles were nicer…or maybe, somehow, things taste a lot better in the cooler temperate climate, I wouldn’t know.

Anyway, sometime ago, I received this email out of the blue from somebody named Rebecca:
Hello Suituapui!

Congratulations! You’ve been picked as one of the winners of the Maggi Royale giveaway from KYspeaks. In order to have your prize posted to you, kindly fill in the information below:
1) Full name
2) Postage Address
3) Contact Number
Kindly reply to us as soon as possible by 19th January 2015 in order to prevent any delays in delivery ya.

Thank you and have a nice day!

Yes, I did comment on the said post but no, I did not know there was a competition – maybe it was mentioned but I did not read it carefully…and I said exactly what I had said in the previous paragraph, that I did not like their noodles but I had very nice ones in New Zealand and I wondered why.

Anyway, I replied promptly and to date, I have yet to receive anything from them…and I wonder why!

In the meantime, my girl and the mum who are so into anything Korean these days, the consequence of watching too many of the shows on the Korean channel on satellite tv, have been making kim chi, jars and jars of it…

…and cooking all kinds of dishes that they’ve seen…and they even went and bought this…

Well, since I had it in the house, I thought I might as well cook a packet and give it a try. As always, I cooked the noodles first and yes, it was nothing like what they have in their regular line.  It was thicker, something like yellow noodles, and very firm. I had to boil it for quite a bit before it became soft enough and I could drain it well and place it in a bowl.

Then I went on to cook the soup. There were two sachets inside the packet…

– one with the seasoning and the other one with the vegetables. I emptied them into the boiling water and broke an egg into it as well. Then, I poured everything over the noodles in the bowl…

Now, the moment of truth! It was spicy, very spicy but I did not have a problem with that. In fact, I quite liked it that way. I liked the noodles and as for the soup, I thought it was nice but no, it did not taste anything like any beef noodles I have had anywhere.

I did not add any extra ingredients other than the egg…

…as I wanted to retain its original taste.

On the whole, I would not say it was anything that would get me running back to the store to grab more…and at RM7.80 for a pack of 4 packets (almost RM2.00 each), I certainly would think twice about doing that.

Other ways…

I got some yee mee from Annie when she was home a few weeks ago during the school holidays and as far as I know, they usually serve it in claypots or hot sizzling plates. I do not have any of those plates and a couple of claypots but they are big ones, not individual sizes. That was why I decided to cook the noodles in some other ways.

I tried cooking it the something-like –mee mamak style, the way I cooked some yellow noodles that I had not too long ago and these were the ingredients that I used…

– the usual peeled and sliced shallots and garlic, some Thai basil leaves, spring onions, one chili – all thinly sliced, some green vegetables (sawi manis) and two eggs.

I also had some prawns…

…so I deveined them…and boil the heads and shell in a bit of water and kept the stock.

I boiled the noodles and drained well before adding some soy sauce, Thai chili sauce and sugar…

…and I was ready to roll!

I fried the shallots and garlic in a bit of oil till golden brown, added the prawns, chili, Thai basil leaves and spring onions and the stems of the vegetables. Once cooked, I added the noodles and mixed everything together well, adding a bit of the prawn stock a little at a time to sizzle in the wok and the rest of the vegetables and lastly, I added the eggs. Once it was done, I dished it out and served…

Well, I would say it wasn’t too bad, nice with the fragrance and taste of the yee mee, but I do think it is nicer with yellow noodles…or let’s say that, between the two, that would be my preferred choice.

I had some of the yee mee left…and the prawn stock as well so one morning, I took the stock, added a bit of water and two cloves of garlic plus some fish balls and brought it to boil, adding a little bit of fish sauce so it would be salty and nice. In the meantime, I boiled an egg…and cooked the noodles. Placing the noodles in a bowl, I added the soup and the fish balls plus the egg. I had some leftover pan-grilled salmon, left over from the slab that I bought for my girl to enjoy so I took that, cut into slices, heated them up and added them to my bowl of noodles…

…and served with a sprinkling of chopped cilantro and fried shallots on top…

I always love noodles in clear soup so of course, I enjoyed that…especially with my own pounded chili and garlic plus lime dip.

Ok, all the noodles are gone now. Oopsss!!! I’ve forgotten all about the sausages from Australia that I still have left in the freezer…and it’s already past the end of the month. No prize for guessing what’s for breakfast tomorrow, folks! LOL!!!

New in town…

I saw their Facebook page and was impressed by all the nice photographs. That was why I was anxious to drop by this new place in town – the Horisen 1 Cafe…

…located among the shops beside the Star Mega Mall here in Sibu. I loved the very nice decor…

My! They even have Mr Bean’s British Leyland Mini 1000 there, right above the stage…

…where I hear they would have live performances at night.

It’s a very big place, this gastropub – that’s what they call themselves so I guess it doubles as a watering hole later in the night…

…for those thus inclined but of course, we were there only for the food, nothing else.

My missus had the tori katsu don…

…that came with a complimentary glass of tea or coffee, hot or cold (RM7.80). They liked the rice though I thought it wasn’t really anything to shout about but the chicken was very nice.

My girl had their mixed grill (RM18.90)…

…and she loved their mushroom sauce, with a hint of some herbs and spices added and that really brought it a head above the rest. Unfortunately, the serving was so huge that she could not finish all of it…so if you are a small eater, perhaps if would be better if you could get someone to share with you.

Her friend/colleague had the chicken chop with black pepper sauce (RM12.90)…

…and she liked it very much. I, for one, would not order that as I am not a fan of black pepper sauce and for that very reason, you would not catch me going for the “prosperity burger” that makes an appearance once every year. Hmmmm…no wonder I am not prosperous! LOL!!!

I asked for their charcoal bun burger which I wanted to try to compare theirs with one that I just had a few days before to see whose would be better but they were out of those buns so I settled for what they called their French romance toast (RM12.90)…

…instead. Hmmmm…presentation was impressive, also on a chopping board like at many other places these days but I thought the toast per se…

…was a bit on the small side. I guess that was ok for a light lunch. I was wondering what was French about it though – that was balsamic vinegar, I think, and that’s Italian and the sides weren’t anything uniquely continental either.

The meat was quite nicely done…served open-sandwich style on toasted bread, probably baguette or French loaf and hence, the name, on a bed of cucumber and tomato slices with mayo and quite a bit of somewhat over-powering mustard and whatever else on top. All in all, I would say it would be all right to have this when one is in need of something different for a change but I would not say it was a must-order if you happen to drop by. I would have to go back one of these days and try the charcoal bun burger to see if that’s better.

It really is a big place, a spacious outside…and they have this inside area…

…as well. I took a few snapshots of the decor and stuff but they all came out blur. If you grew up in Sibu in the 50’s and 60’s like me, you would recognise those pictures on the wall, I’m sure.

While I was there taking the photographs, the chef came out to say hello…and HELLO!!! It turned out to be an ex-student of mine partnering with two other guys to open up this place. That’s good…and I do wish him and his friends all the best in their endeavour and hopefully, it will be a massive success. Good luck, guys!

Forty-four…

Towards the end of the 60’s and the beginning of the 70’s, there were only two Form 6 classes in Sibu and in fact, in the whole of the central region of Sarawak – the Arts stream in Methodist Secondary School and the Science stream in Sacred Heart Secondary School. Many would drop out of school at Primary 6 or after Form 3 or later, after Form 5…by which time, there were not all that many left. Being an Arts student, I had to move from the latter to the former…and I had classmates from the other schools in the town and from far and wide, from places such as Betong, for one.

Our class was bigger, Lower 6, 1970, but some dropped out when they did not get Grade 1 in the Senior Cambridge Examination, a few left to go overseas to study and some moved to other schools such as Tanjong Lobang in Miri. By the time we finished Sixth Form in 1971, there were only 27 or 28 of us left…and to date, a few had passed away.

There was an attempt to hold a reunion sometime last year but there were not all that many who could make it at the time for one reason or other. After that, somebody suggested holding one in Sibu and I was given the task of organising. I would not say that the response was overwhelming – only 15, yours truly included, joined though there were others who signed up but later, pulled out owing to unforseen circumstances. Still, we appreciated very much the effort of everyone who came especially those who came back from as far as Australia and also Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Betong and Sarikei…

I made a booking at this hotel and asked specially for their special room where I had attended two reunion dinners not too long ago with my Kanowit students here and here. With some of our spouses and our children, we were able to make up three tables and that was all the room could accommodate. It was very private with two staff members – a waiter and a waitress assigned to serve us, very comfortable and had its own toilet plus there was a PA system and karaoke facilities as well.

This was the first dish – their hot and cold mixed combination…

…which was followed by the fish lips’ soup with dry scallops and crab meat – I had requested for that instead of the unmentionable offensive stuff. I did not take a photograph of it though as the efficient staff divided the soup into little bowls and served it to us individually.

After the soup came the roast duck…

…which was pretty well done…

…and came with the dark sweet bean sauce dip. I do think though that what I had with my Singapore friends at another restaurant in town had a slight edge over it but then again, that was a different duck dish, not the same.

The curry fish…

…served with rice, was a hit…and was gone in no time at all. One of my classmates, back from KL, said it was the best siakap he had ever had anywhere and added that the chef must be really good. Hmmmm…I did not even know what fish it was – I just ate. LOL!!! My missus said this was nicer – it had a very slight sourish taste and not sweet like the one at the other place but my girl said that though this was very good too, she would prefer that other one. Like with everything else, I guess this was obviously a case of to each his own, one man’s meat another man’s poison.

After the fish, the dish of braised abalone slices with fresh mushroom and broccoli was served but I was up and about at the time so I did not get to snap a photograph of it as well. I guess it was good as by the time I got back to the table, there wasn’t very much of it left. The final dish was the Vietnamese prawns…

…served with their really awesome own-made bun…

…that was so good you could eat it on its own and in fact, one of my classmates’ son did. He was allergic to prawns, he said but he tried the bread and loved it! They did not use the giant freshwater udang galah (bamboo prawns) this time around and I was glad they didn’t as the last time we had that, I thought the prawns were kind of bland, not all that nice. These big seawater prawns were a lot better as they were very fresh, sweet and succulent.

Then came the desserts – a lovely bowl of ice-cold peaches and longans each and this platter…

…of or nee (yam paste) and mochi with or tau sar (red bean paste) and whatever else inside. The paste was not as fine as what we had with our Singaporean friends but personally, I would prefer it this way.

This dinner with 6 main courses and two desserts, 8 altogether, cost RM400 per table, exclusive of the 6% government tax. There were only 28 of us, 10 at one table and 9 at each of the other two but we all agreed to divide the total, including the drinks and everything, equally…and in the end, each of us had to fork out RM50.00 per head only for the very delightful meal and a wonderful evening. Service was great so I gave the waiter and the waitress RM10.00 each to show our appreciation of a job well done.

It truly was a memorable gathering and I was glad to have had this opportunity to meet so many of them that I had not seen since we left school…forty-four years ago!

Goodbye again…

All too soon, it was time to say goodbye again to my friends from Singapore. It was quite a rush this trip as they spent one night at the longhouse and I was not able to be with them most of Sunday until the evening…and that was about half the time gone plus it did not help one bit that some places were closed on Monday.

I was out early that morning to go to the market and buy some midin…

*Alfred’s photo*

…for Alfred to bring home. I wrapped the ferns in newspapers and I sure was glad to see that they arrived there still looking fresh and nice.

I wanted to tapao some kampua noodles for him too but he insisted that he would get some himself from one of the shops around the hotel. He said that he tried a plate there and it was good (enough) so he just bought from the same. No prize for guessing what he ate as soon as he got home…

*Alfred’s photo*

LOL!!! Well, I did buy 10 packs of The Kitchen’s instant kampua noodles for him as well so that should last for quite a while, I think.

I drove them to the airport and after they had dropped off their bags and boxes of goodies from Sibu, we went for a bite here and needless to say, I had their fish sandwich…

…my favourite, none better anywhere else.For one thing, the fish fillet is coated with breadcrumbs…

…and not batter which may get soggy and is kind of oily too and the coleslaw-like stuff in it…

…sure complements the taste really well.

Three of us had the same and they also ordered the coleslaw…

…which they said was not as nice as The Colonel’s but they said the mashed potatoes were very good…

…and they loved the “chickies”.

Oh dear!!! They went and ordered the nasi lemak…

…without and with the chicken curry…

Personally, I do not think too much of what they serve here and there would be a lot of other nicer stuff on the menu that they could have gone for.

And good grief!!! Just look at the fries they ordered…

…and the most amazing thing was that they were able to finish all that!

Ah well! I guess they would need all of it as they had a long journey ahead of them – we left the hotel at around 9.00 a.m., their flight took off at around 11.40…and after disembarking at Senai, Johore, they would hop on the shuttle to the Causeway, go through Customs and Immigration, take a bus across to the island and take a cab from the other side, reaching their homes in Singapore at around 4.30 p.m.

For one thing, I thought it was kind of expensive…

…but I guess that’s the thing when you eat at such franchise fast food joints…and I do know for a fact that there are others a lot worse. With that kind of money, we could have gone some place and have something really really nice – like the dim sum here, perhaps. We certainly would much rather do that the next time they come to town!

Thanks so very very much, everyone, for coming again…and thank you for all the things you all brought…and all the treats while you all were in town…and above all, thanks for the delightful company – I sure love having you all here and had a great time myself and yes, do check the airlines and see when you can all come again. I would be looking forward eagerly to that. In the meantime, take care & God bless. Cheers!