It was on Malaysia Day, September 16th last week – the reunion gathering…
…that I was invited to by my ex-students in Kanowit where I taught from 1978 till 1982.
As a matter of fact, an ex-student of mine, not the same year – probably a year younger than the ones organising the function, from that same school owns this restaurant…
…where the reunion was held on the first floor…
…of the Sibu Express Terminal…
*Archive photo*
I did hear of him running this restaurant there and I even met him once at the wharf when I was waiting for someone but somehow or other, I never got round to dropping by to check this place out.
I was glad that this batch of students decided to hold the gathering there – that would be an opportunity for me to drop by, killing two birds with one stone so to speak. The food was good – there was this more-than-four seasons…
…and this pumpkin dish…
…came towards the end when I was very full already so I did not eat whatever that was inside and after this one, there was a prawn dish but I did not take any photograph of it as I was up and about, mingling when it was served and when I came back, the rest at the table was already halfway through – I did try one though despite the fact that I could hardly take in anymore and I thought it was pretty good.
So what did we have, other than the three aforementioned dishes plus a fruit platter? They got somebody to cook a few local Cantonese delights such as the sour duck…
…and the kampung chicken dish…
Both were very nice but I did not eat much of the meat. Instead, I just enjoyed the gravy with my rice and between the two, I thought the sourish and very much stronger-tasting duck sauce had an edge over the chicken.
There was a sourish soup of pork knuckle and dried cuttle fish and I just had the soup – I had a HUGE bowl of pork knuckle for lunch that day (This will be in my next post!) so I did not want to have anymore and for that same reason, I only had a piece of what is called in Hokkien, the Dayak pig (lakia too)…
…which probably means that the meat was organic, the product of some livestock rearing in some ethnic village or longhouse, hence the name.
Then, this…
…was served – the exclusive worth-its-weight-in-gold ikan semah from the upper reaches of the Rejang River, second only to the empurau, known as Wang Poo Liao (unforgettable) in Mandarin…and I always say that for the amount of money you would have to pay for the fish, it would come as no surprise at all that you will never ever forget it.
One of the students had these specially ordered and delivered for the dinner that night and of course, I feasted on it…
Opportunities like this to enjoy the fish would be extremely few and very very far between…and somebody even commented that each spoonful is worth at least RM50.00 so you can imagine how expensive one is.
There was karaoke too…
…that night but no, I did not sing though not too long ago, I would have gone on stage singing my heart out. I had a terrible cough once and lost my voice completely and when I finally got it back, I was speaking like Rod Stewart for quite sometime before I got my normal voice back. To my horror, I discovered that I could no longer sing – my voice would be all over the place and after a verse or two, my voice would be gone. I guess it looks like I will be never ever be able to sing again. Sobssss!!!!
Well, I certainly enjoyed the dinner and meeting all my lovely ex-students again…
*Photo through the kind courtesy of one of my ex-students*
– thank you all for remembering and inviting me again. We had our first ever reunion in December last year and this is the second time we got together and hopefully, we’ll meet again.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
That is quite an interesting pumpkin dish to be served in a restaurant.
Oh. I am sure you can sing again. Listen to Rod Stewart. He is rich with that voice!!
I had that pumpkin dish at some other place before, very nice. That night, I was already too full, couldn’t eat anymore.
Ya, at least he can sing in tune. Not me, not anymore. 😦
That was a very generous gesture of your former students. It goes to show that ‘what you give, you get’. But on the other hand, we sometimes get taken for granted or others take the biscuits. That is life! However, we don’t always appreciate the little things in life that can lift our spirits eg a smile or a kind gesture.
All these dishes do not appear familiar to me but they all are fit for a king.
The duck looks like it has been stewed. I can see the meat coming off the bones. Were there sour plums in it and a hint of brandy?
Kampung chicken, oh yeah. Were the scales still on the fish?
Yes, just scrape them off with the spoon gently – I love the skin – and start eating. Dunno how they cook the sour duck – Cantonese dish…like the black vinegar pork leg, that is also Cantonese. They do love sour things, don’t they? You’ve been away so long so of course, most everything would not be familiar to you but truth be told, I am not familiar with most too – different dialects, just two of what makes up the rich Chinese culture.
Indeed, appreciate every little thing, each is a blessing, give thanks and praise always and one would be truly happy. Little things mean a lot…and a bird in hand is worth two in the bush. Many miss the wood for the trees.
I like the name of the restaurant, 168….(in Mandarin yit lu fatt literally means all the way to prosperity if I am not wrong). The pumpkin dish is something new & interesting to me. The sour duck dish sounds appetising.
I was wondering why that number – good choice of name, it seems. Didn’t try the pumpkin dish but the duck was nice.
Looks like a great time and lots of good food, too!
It most certainly was!
Wow.. that was one Great dinner! Love all the dishes above especially the fish.. one spoonful can be RM50? Must be super costly then and it is so nice of your ex students to invite you now and then. Your voice gone? Cannot be.. must try singing at home more often then the voicebox will come back… try and see! 🙂
I’ve tried. So desperate and so frustrating. After a couple of very pitchy lines, my voice would crack up, gone! 😥
Yes, I do have a few great students, not that many but yes, there are some.
I like reunions – it’s great fun catching up with old friends.
Yes, it most certainly was great and so very nice to feel appreciated and remembered.
You had a heavy lunch, no wonder you could not eat much during the dinner. And yes, very wise to save whatever little tummy space for the magnificent fish!
Not all that heavy, just a bowl of black vinegar pork leg and a plate of rice.
Great reunion, great food. How I wish I could have one with my ex teachers. The lakia too looks so tempting.
…and I just had a piece, such good self-control. LOL!!!
When my voice is normal, I can sing well. But when my asthma troubles me again, I can hardly sing.
Be thankful that you can sing when you’re ok, mine’s gone, kaput – forever and ever. 😦
I found you, front row, sitting, left, sixth, hehe… right, also sixth, hehe…
I thought I would stand out in a crowd, so easy to find?
That pumpkin dish looks delicious, I never had seen something like it before but I tried something nearly similar where soup is placed in a wintermelon
I did not eat it that night but I had that some place else before and it was very nice.