Last Thursday morning, I was up and about as usual, boiled water, made coffee and breakfast and then I went outside to water the plants when I noticed that I had a flat tyre – rear wheel, left side. There was just a little bit of air left and thankfully, it was enough for me to drive to the shop quickly to get it fixed. They found a nail stuck in it. RM7.00.
As soon as I got there, it started to rain heavily and when I got home, my missus said that my girl was unwell and asked us to go and get her to go and see a doctor. She had been down with a severe flu and cough for a week or two now…and when we reached the school, she had a slight fever as well. It rained most of the way there and back and I sure was relieved and so very thankful that it wasn’t along the way in the pouring rain in the middle of nowhere that I had the flat tyre – over the years, I have often seen many cars in such a predicament and also many stranded halfway with engine trouble and what not. Truly, God is merciful, praise the Lord!
So all weekend we were home mostly, letting my girl take all the medication prescribed by the doctor and have a good rest in the hope that she would recover quickly. That was why I did not manage to go back here to return the plate that Mary had used to let me take the lovely grilled ikan keli home. That had to wait a little bit later before I could get down to doing that. By Sunday, my girl was slightly better though not fully recovered but she wanted to go back to the school and get back to work so we sent here all the way as usual.
On the way back, we stopped by the market at Selangau Bazaar and got some very nice buah emplam that I wanted to give to Mary. That evening…
…after the evening mass at the cathedral in town, we went to return the aforementioned plate to Mary and pass her the fruits and have dinner there.
This looked like a nice cosy corner…
…but it was booked that night so we had to take another table instead.
To our surprise, we were served this…
…as an appetiser – the buah emplam, peeled and nicely sliced…
…using some special knife or peeler or shredder and that certainly gave it a classier look than how we would simply cut it into chunks of all odd shapes and sizes. We had it with this very nice rojak sauce…
…that Mary said she got from Penang…and yes, we certainly enjoyed that very much.
Then, Mary served us this – her Norwegian sardine tosazu…
No, it’s not on their menu – she made that for herself and gave us a bit to let us try. We’ve never had it anywhere before and we loved it a lot but of course, my missus had to have it with the sliced fresh chili provided and she too enjoyed it very much.
We had the pineapple fried rice (RM13.90)…
…single serving but it was big, more than enough for two and there were generous chunks of chicken in it and cashew nuts too. It certainly was a whole lot nicer (and very much cheaper too) than the one we had here though I must say I had had something here before that had an edge over it but unfortunately, the owner decided to wind up the business and the place was closed down unceremoniously and the authentic lady Thai chef had to go back to her own country.
Mary asked us to try the chef’s fried long beans (RM10.50)…
…cut diagonally like what I would usually do with French beans and not long beans and cooked with lots of garlic and a few daun limau perut plus whatever sauce he used in the cooking, probably fish sauce – the Thais use that a lot. It was very good and my missus said the whole cloves of garlic in it tasted great too!
Now, one reason why we did not quite finish the fried rice, leaving just a little bit behind, was because we enjoyed the pad thai (RM13.90)…
…so very much. One just can’t go wrong with prawns and there were so many in it! I never expected that even the raw taugeh (bean sprouts) by the side would taste so good when mixed with the fried noodles. My ex-student and friend, Andrew, went and had this too and he too praised it to the skies but he did add that he missed having the peanuts that one would usually find in pad thai. This is one dish I certainly would want to order again…and again…each time I go back there.
The total came up to RM38.30 – there was free flow of iced water but in fact, just that plate of pad thai and a vegetable dish, less than RM25.00, would have been enough for a pleasant dinner for two…or you may opt for the som tam or mango salad instead. We have yet to try the green curry – Mary said it was sold out the night before, Saturday, and they had yet to get down to making the paste…and I wonder if they have my favourite Thai dessert, the mango sticky rice. Will find out the next time I drop by…
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
The Norweigean sardine is something new to me. I haven’t eaten anything like it before.
I dont cut long beans that way too, only does that with French beans. Should try cutting it this way one day and see if it is any nicer.
So lucky of you to discover the nail in the tyre before anything else happened. William checks the car a lot. I cant even be bothered. That is why he doesnt allow me to drive. haha.
And that is why I often, almost always, see cars broken down along the inter-town trunk road…or having a puncture. Never mind even though it is every week, I would check everything before leaving the house to drive to my girl’s school. You people there ok, you have the AA to come and help and it’s not so jungle jungle. Here, you call to “th’nee kong” (Sky Grandfather) to come down and help, also he will not show up!
I’ve never had sardine done this way either – did not even know the name, had to go and google to find out. Very nice, we loved it! The long beans? I dunno…it sure looked a little nicer. 😀
What is that buah emplam? Any English name for it? I think I havent tried them looks interesting
Probably not. It’s from our local mango family, I think but it’s very sour. May look similar to the kedondong (ambarella) but that’s not it.
Norwegian sardine.. yum. fresh! missing those i had at Iceland. Probably in cold weather could taste their freshness.
First time eating that, did not even know the name. Vinegared…so I guess it is something like our Melanau umai, not actually uncooked. Dunno if it was because it was Norwegian or whether it was how it was prepared but I liked how the smell/taste or taste was not as strong as the panggang-ed (barbecued/grilled) ones that we get a lot here at the Malay stalls. I’m not really fond of that – same as the sardines in the cans.
Hope your girl recovers soon, and yes luck was on your side with discovering the tyre before traveling.
Yes, so very lucky indeed. I did call my girl last night, she did sound a lot better, thanks.
That does look like a cozy corner! 🙂
Yes, very nice, eh? I thought so too.
Thankfully, car tyre punctures are much less frequent than bicycle tyres. I can’t remember the last time I had a car tyre puncture, touch wood. Very nice food at this Thai restaurant. I do like Thai dishes, but not the sour ones.
This is my second time. The first time, it was a screw and I spotted it earlier before the air had gone out so much so I could drive to the shop to get it fixed quickly. Lucky thing, this time around, it had not gone completely flat. I would have to change it myself and drive to the shop using the spare. Dunno if I can still do that – have not done it for so so so long, can’t even remember the last time.
Oh? The som tam, mango salad…and even the tom yam would be sour. Quite typical of Thai cuisine.
Yes, I cut my French beans that way but never with long beans. Long beans I used to pluck, never cut too. People say pluck long beans taste sweeter than cut, how true is it, I don’t know. Though I have never tasted buah emplam before but with rojak paste I think it will taste superb.
Yes, just break into around an inch long lengths unless I want to fry with egg – then I would slice very very thinly.
You’ve never tasted buah emplam? Oooooo…make sambal, so very nice, goes so well with rice. If you love sour things, sure you would love buah emplam.
Never tasted buah emplam. Wonder how it taste like. ^^
Holiday is coming soon and your girl will be coming home and can rest and enjoy time with you.
You too? Lots in Kapit, I’m sure. Ask your hubby or your in-laws. If you love sour stuff, you would love this! Yes, school holidays begin end of this week, can’t wait!
Very good food indeed! Is buah emplam some sort of mango? And now that you mentioned it, I wonder why we cut French beans diagonally? I do it because mum and grandma do that and I never questioned 😀
Yes, quite obvious that it belongs to the mango family but it is extra sour, make sambal for sure one plate of rice is not enough. I also dunno why we cut French beans that way, we just do…follow the elders. 😀
RM 7 to fix a flat is rather cheap! And that sardine looks simple & fantastic at the same time.
Is it? How much do they charge in KL?
The sardine is vinegared, add a squeeze of the lime – it was really very nice. I think this is Japanese.
I hope Melissa is better at this point and that she’ll be all good when she’s back this weekend! The pad Thai looks dreamy 😉
Oops!!! Why did you have to await moderation? New laptop or something? Yes, she is better, thanks. Pad thai was good, very nice – we sure would want to have that again.
I hope that ur girl is recovering well…. food cheap cheap and free flow of iced water, great! 😀
She is, thanks. I would not say the food is cheap but it is reasonably priced and most importantly, it is nice – value for money, worth it!
Same with Merryn, the Norweigean sardine is something new to me too…
Ask at the many Japanese restaurants where you are, bet they have that!
All the food looks appetizing and tempting too… looks like Thai food will become famous in your blog soon, Arthur! Yes, do discover more dishes and show us… anything Thai, I am In!
Oh? Lots of cili padi wor… You may not be able to handle. 😀
Dat pineapple fried rice and pad Thai look absolutely appealing! But just one thing; they are a bit expensive!
Upscale cafe prices…but relatively cheaper than many others around here and very much nicer.
Hope your girl felt better now. Yeah, flat tyre can be very inconvenient especially if you are in an emergency. Luckily you got it fixed before looking for your girl.
Wah .. That was a nice dessert and I love all the Thai food here. The phad Thai reminds me of the one that I had in Phuket 2 years ago. It was so delicious !!! And rm38 only for all these ??? Wow … !!
The emplam was from me and the sardine was on the house. RM38 for the rest, a lot cheaper than your SGD22 single-plate meal at PappaRich there, eh? Hehehehehe!!!