I wanted turkey for Christmas but my missus would not hear of it. She insisted it wasn’t nice, like wood, had a peculiar smell and taste, would be a lot nicer to roast a chicken instead bla…bla…bla. Sigh!!! We can buy the frozen ones here, a small one can set one back somewhere around RM150.00 – it used to cost around RM80.00 a long time ago…and that is a lot of money just for the turkey. I am sure we would have to cook some other stuff as well to go with it so in the end, I decided that we would all go out for one of those Christmas specials around here. I did not pay much attention to the menu as I wasn’t expecting much…but yes, I made sure it had turkey.
All in all, it was such a disappointment that I simply deleted all the photographs that I took and decided not to blog about it…and the turkey was dry, tasteless…and there was no cranberry sauce to go with it, just some brown gravy that did not help much to save the day. It really pisses me off how people would simply jack up the prices and cash in on this season of love and goodwill – if they want to charge that much, they should make sure that what they serve is extra special, value for money. Like I said I was not expecting much but I sure would expect to get a little bit more than sweet and sour pork and char kway teow. I could have taken what I paid and gone to some Chinese restaurant for those and eat myself to kingdom come. Tsk! Tsk!
However, there is this one place here that I went to once before. No, they did not have anything special – you can just order anything you want à la carte from their regular menu and the thing is they are giving a 15% discount on the bill throughout this festive season. Now, isn’t that really nice? Unfortunately, I did not go there for dinner – I don’t think they had turkey – but I did drop by a few days after Christmas for coffee with a cousin of mine who was home from Sydney, Australia.
I had the rainbow cake (RM11.90)…
…which was the craze at one time after red velvet had had its round. There was so much hoo-ha over it but I, for one, was not all that keen on all those colours which obviously, are the main attraction. My cousin crinched at the sight, refusing to try even a bit. It’s nothing, really, I had had people telling me, it’s just cake, a very colourful one. Anyway, I decided I would order a slice and try it once and for all so everytime, I see anybody raving about it, I would know what it is like…actually.
Yes, like what everyone has been telling me, it is indeed…just cake! Thankfully, it was quite nice, soft and not dry but I really do not see what all the excitement was about! I would much sooner go for what my cousin had – the chocolate mud cake (RM9.90)…
…which was so very nice that I would not mind going back for more some day except that if I am not wrong, the people here make different cakes on different days so what you enjoy on one day may not be available the next time you drop by. My cousin is very health-conscious, keeping a stringent regiment as far as his food (and fitness programme) is concerned so he would only eat half of that and gave me the other half and no, I am not complaining! Wink! Wink!
My girl who came along with me that afternoon had their classic maple waffle (RM12.90)…
…and she enjoyed it a great deal. She said it was very much nicer than any she had had around here.
No, I would say the things here, like at all the rest of such coffee places that are sprouting here, there and everywhere around town, are all that cheap and that applies to the drinks too. My girl had a maple orange (RM11.90) and I had an iced Americano (RM10.90) while my cousin had a hot cappuccino (RM10.90)…
Even at those prices, there were many people there at around 3.00 p.m. that afternoon which surprised me very much – quite a number of tables were occupied…but what I noticed was that they were there when we arrived and none had left when we were about to go. I guess this is what young people do these days – hang around at one of these classy places to chat for as long as they want (and take a lot of selfies too – saw those at one table doing that the whole time we were there) and that accounts for the high prices as there sure aren’t going to be a lot of people coming and going.
The bill for our little afternoon tea/coffee came up to RM68.40 and with the 15% discount, the total was RM58.15…and I really must say a big thank you to my cousin for the box of chocolates…
…that he brought for me, that sure was so very sweet and thoughtful of him.
I wasn’t expecting this either but the postman came yesterday afternoon and passed me this card…
…from his sister, my cousin in Perth, Australia. Thank you so much, cousin – it is so sweet of you to send me a card and I would say that somehow, a Hallmark one does seem to make it extra special.
The postman also delivered this stunningly beautiful calendar…
…along with it – from my very old friend, Jasmine, in Adelaide, Australia and it certainly was a lovely surprise, I was not expecting that too!
Of all the months, my favourite has got to be my birthday month – December…
…and no, it’s not because of the macarons. I absolutely love the caption. LOL!!! Thank you so much to you too, Jasmine – I am indeed truly blessed. I sure am looking forward to seeing you back here in Sibu sometime next year. Oops!!! I must thank you for the Christmas card enclosed inside as well – I did not notice it at first as I was so excited upon receiving the calendar and I only found it when I checked the envelope again. Hehehehehe!!!!
It’s New Year’s Eve today, so what have you all got planned? Maybe I would drop by the aforementioned place for dinner and enjoy the 15% discount…or maybe we’d go elsewhere – I have not decided yet.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 