Gee!!! Time sure flies, doesn’t it? School has resumed for a week now and my girl will be home for the weekend today.
This was last Friday when we dropped by the supermarket about 200 metres away from my parents’ house. Other than the convenience, I do like the place – not overly big and one can get most of what one wants plus the vicinity is not congested, parking is easy and free. For one thing, they have a wide selection of fresh vegetables and I do mean fresh. If you drop by when they open at 8 in the morning, you will see all the empty shelves and the workers packing the new arrival for the day – it is that fresh!
Well, after my girl had bought all her supplies for the week to come, we just went to the hawker stalls opposite for our lunch. This time around, we decided to try the nasi campur (mixed rice) here…
My girl and the mum shared this (RM5.00)…
– the masak hitam (black-cooked) beef, the sambal terung (brinjal) and the pumpkin.
I also ordered the ulam (RM1.00)…
…for them. Unfortunately, I have not acquired the taste for those ulam raja leaves so I did not get to enjoy that.
I had these selections in my platter (RM7.00)…
– the assam fish, the pumpkin and ladies’ fingers and one salted egg and yes, I did enjoy what I had.
We did not go for the Moroccan or pili-pili [sic] rice this time around but I saw that the African guy had some sandwiches for sale at his stall…
…and I bought the egg (RM2.00) and the barbecued chicken (RM3.00) but at best, I would say they were all right. I think I’ve had nicer ones at some of the bakeries in town though I cannot remember the prices and I never took note of the prices for the ones at my regular Malay kuih stall at Bandong plus I have never bought those at the latter to try either, not when there are so many nice things there to pick and choose.
The next morning, we had to wake up really early and by 5 something, we were already on our way to my girl’s school. It was pitch dark, really very very dark and I had to go very much slower than usual. I noticed that I could not see if there was a turning right ahead along that very winding road until I came quite near to it. Thankfully, there were not that many vehicles on the road at that time of day and we got there before 7.30 a.m. – in time for her extra class for her Year 6 pupils at 8.00 a.m. My missus and I stayed there to clean up her quarters, empty for two weeks already, and when my girl came back during the lunch break at noon, we had lunch together after which her mum and I left and headed home.
We did not go anywhere for the holidays but we sure did spend a lot of time together and yes, it was fun while it lasted.
Moving away from the post proper, I would like to say a BIG thank you to Claire for this beautiful postcard…
…that came in yesterday – all the way from the US of A! It certainly is so very thoughtful of you to take sometime off to go and pick such a lovely one, scribble a message…
…and post it to me. That, I must say, is very much appreciated. Problem with the internet connection there? I thought we would only encounter such things in Third World countries like here. Never mind, it’s the thought that counts and as long as I am always on your mind – Hey!!! That’s one of my favourite karaoke numbers…(song starts at 4:10) –
…that is all that matters. Wink! Wink! Enjoy yourself there, take care and God bless.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
I love ulam. I must say that you and your missus are such nice parents. No wonder Melissa grows up so well. I have a lot to learn from you 🙂
You’re doing great. An SAHM has my utmost respect, sacrificing it all for the kids. What goes around comes around, you will surely be duly rewarded.
Glad to know it arrives safely… I didn’t send many.. just a few… for those who didn’t receive, please forgive me.. I appreciate you all as well, do not forget that.. hahahaa… wait till I am home again, then sending stuffs will be much more easier than it is now.. 🙂
So honoured to be one of the “selected few”. Hehehehehehe! You’re coming home? Hmmmm….I thought you’re staying there for good, working harvesting peaches and plums and all? Wish I could join you there, so much fun!
Easy parking, and not too overwhelming are things I value in a supermarket too.
Me too. And convenience as well. That is why most of the time I would just drop by the mini-supermarket round the corner, no need to drive too far. Some things may be a little cheaper, some a bit more expensive…here and there – I don’t think the difference is worth the trouble going so far (even though Sibu is a very small town), the petrol and in the case of some, the parking fee too.
Lovely postcard from Claire. She sure has a good life after her retirement!
Yummy nasi campur. I love nasi campur but it can be very expensive.
Yes, having the time of her life! Some people have all the luck in the world!
I guess it depends on what you pick but if you’re like me, I would want everything so I would expect it to cost a lot more. Still cheaper than those nasi kandar shops in the peninsula – I would avoid those like a plague, their knives are very very sharp. I think I saw somebody’s photo of the cashier’s chit from Kayu – RM3.50 for a plate of plain rice!!! *faints* Why would anyone want to go to such places, I just cannot understand? Not that it is all that nice…and a few years ago in Sungai Petani, I had to pay RM1.00 for one piece of papadum! 😦
I like her handwriting, like those “handwriting” font in words…
Most importantly, it’s legible.
Love the nasi campur your missus & Mel has. I prefer masak hitam to masak merah. Beautiful postcard, so thoughtful of Claire. Another weekend is here again, have a great one. Cheersssss!!!!
Yes, masak merah is just tomato sauce plus those usual extra ingredients. Hitam is a whole lot nicer. Indeed, so sweet of her to send me one. Thanks, you too! Have a great weekend.
I prefer your platter but I also like the sambal terung in Mel’s plate.. Ooo, sandwiches! I have a weakness for sandwiches.. When I see them, I want to have all of them.. I like egg, tuna, ham & cheese..
She loves sambal terung – I am just ok with that. Would prefer it steamed lightly and eaten as an ulam. I love sandwiches too – just had some for breakfast this morning – egg and cheese with tomato slices and lettuce on toast. Had so many, so full now. 😀
That’s so sweet from Claire all the way from States.
Yes, very!
What a lovely postcard of beautiful Lake Tahoe from the U.S.! And I love the yellow in your first photo, so sunny and bright. 🙂
Yes, it is a very nice card. This banana yellow seems very popular these days, and apple green too – maybe the lucky colours according to the Chinese, I wouldn’t know.
Put on your highlights when you drive up to your girl’s school & turn back to normal lights when you see another vehicle ahead of you. We usually do that when we drive to Mukah in the early mornings. It is hard to drive along that winding road without street lights.
I did not want to do that as a car might come suddenly round the blind corners, no time to turn down the lights and they might be blinded by the brightness…like those cars with the “white” fluorescent kind of lights – so bright, so blinding…so very dangerous. The police should go round and nab all those people with those lights, not that it is so dark in the town proper!!! Maybe they need those bright lights cos it is too dark for them to see…due to their extra dark tinted glass of their vehicles. Tsk! Tsk!
I can totally relate to Claire’s internet predicament! You might think internet is a breeze in the United States, and that is as far away from the truth as possible. In some places, they don’t do unlimited internet at all, so you either get cheap and very slow internet, or very expensive and fast internet for decent monthly quota.
Same as in NZ. Not cheap, and not like here – free wifi everywhere. Can’t go online unless one has one’s own internet connection at home.
I hope she is not browsing using her smartphone – heard all the horror stories of people coming back and receiving an astronomical bill, a few thousand, post-paid, because they went online overseas…and some did not even do that, just that they forgot to turn off the international roaming or something.
You have referred to your wife and girl many times here and yet we haven’t seen them in the pics which you post!
You’re obviously not a regular around here – all three of us were in a pic in one post not too long ago. In fact, my girl does not like it very much as she would go around town and people would know who she is – they’ve seen her in my blog so lately, I try not to include our personal snapshots all that often unlike my earlier posts long ago. Why the interest, I wonder? There are many anonymous bloggers, something very common – dunno their real names, dunno what they look like.
Same with Princess Ribbon, i prefer your platter… Lovely postcard from Claire 🙂
You’ve never tried masak hitam so you would not know – see Irene’s comment above. Can’t get that there – I am very sure you would want to buy the instant paste back if ever you come over.
Gulp! Everything looks delicious.
Oh dear! Selamat berpuasa!
I love nasi campur and better still with ulam and sambal. Oh, you do not quite fancy the ulam raja, eh? I love it and I used to have ulam raja plants in my garden. But this plant produces lots of seeds and before I knew it, I had ulam raja growing all over the place! The main plant died and somehow the rest followed suit. Haven’t replanted since.
I have yet to learn to like the smell and the taste. My missus loves it!
Pumpkin seems to be quite popular there. I don’t see much of it in Singapore. In fact, didn’t eat it till I came over here.
My girl loves it – must be a good one, really sweet, can be nicer than sweet potatoes…plus they’re lasting, can keep for a long long time, no problem at all.
yummy. very delicious. i always love “masak hitam” kind of dish. very tasty. usually meat very tender.
but seems very oily!
Did not feel oily – maybe it was more the water seeping out from the various selections…but yes, Malay cooking is usually very oily. They need all that oil to fry all the blended/pounded ingredients – and they sure use a lot. Maybe that is why Malay food is a little bit more expensive generally. The other day, I bought a can of sambal ikan bilis that they said was very nice – not like Yeo’s, that unpleasant canned stuff smell. I had to pour out all the oil, so much!!!
Haha there is ulam raja in my post today too. I think its an acquired taste, so very surprise that both my kids actually like eating it.
I’m impressed! I tried…but I did not really like it. 😦