Keep on coming…

They did seem to keep on coming like they were never going to stop, the gifts from family and friends.

March is usually the bubuk season – the sea would turn red as a result of the presence of those little red shrimps that we call bubuk. That would be the time when the people would go out and reap the harvest and use them to make cincaluk (fermented shrimps) and belacan (dried prawn paste) which, of course, means that this would be a good time to go and grab your supply as they would be very very fresh.

Still, it would be best if one knows exactly where to go as being a home-based cottage industry, some may not be all that clean, some will use colouring to get that nice red colour and I have read horror tales of people buying those leaf-wrapped cylindrical-shaped belacan and when they cut through it, they found rolled-up newspapers inside. Money is the root of all evil, so they say!

Well, my cousin in Bintulu was here for the Ching Ming weekend and she gave me two bottles of cincaluk and my brother-in-law, also from Bintulu, gave me one…

…and some belacan as well. That was quite a windfall, I must say, as these things do not come cheap. A kilo of Bintulu belacan can set you back by at least RM50-60 and we sure use up quite a lot and finish it all soon enough and would have no choice but to fork out the money to stock up on our supply.

In the meantime, my friend, Lim, went over to Kuching to attend a meeting and when he came back, he brought along these souvenirs…

…for me from my cousin there from the school where she is attached to. I love that drink canister – metal, so no offensive plastic smell and it does not leak when placed on its side. That would certainly come in handy on my long drives to my girl’s school and back.

Lim shared with me some of the goodies that he brought back from Kuching, a few of these ham and sour cream buns…

…with one whole piece of ham all rolled up inside…

I used to buy some very nice ones at a shop at Padungan until I found the same at one place here except that they were not as generous with the ham. I heated them up in the oven for breakfast the next morning so it was nice and warm and a little crusty on the outside. I sure enjoyed them very much.

Other than those buns, he also gave me these pineapple cakes…

I remember how at one time, these were so very popular in Taiwan and anyone going over would cart home a whole lot to distribute to everyone. The trend or craze seems to have fizzled out as I do not see nor hear of anyone buying them anymore.

I, for one, would prefer the local bakery-made ones as they would be fresher and nicer…

…than those churned out from the factories here, there and everywhere.

Thanks so much to you and you and you and you…for the gifts – it sure was so sweet and thoughtful of all of you and I most certainly appreciate it very much. Cheers!!!