Thanks to you all…

My previous post was on the dinner I had here with my cousin from Brisbane, Australia and her brother and his wife from Miri…

Everyone was back in town for the Ching Ming Festival and all the alumni of the schools here took the opportunity to hold their annual reunion dinners over the weekend and there were many as well who organised their own class reunions since everybody would be home. Unlike during the Chinese New Year season and the school holidays, the airlines would not hike up the air fares around this time but needless to say, the roads were terribly jammed and hotels would be fully-booked.

That night at the café, the private function room upstairs…

…was booked by a big group of ladies from the girls’ school in town and there was another big group, no less than 10, at least, having theirs on the ground floor which was, as always, beautifully decorated.

I loved how they used sarongs for their tablecloth…

…for those tables outside in the open…

…under some big payungs (umbrellas).

As usual, there was this captivating floral display…

…and this new one…

…and I loved how they used all those cooking ingredients for this most attractive centrepiece…

My cousin and his wife brought us these…

…all the way from Miri and my girl was most delighted to get these…

…from the one from Down Under, all gluten-free! I checked the ingredients for the keropok ikan (fish crackers) in the previous photograph and I saw that no wheat was used in the making which, of course, means that my girl will be able to eat that too.

The following day, another cousin flew in from Kuching for her high school reunion. She was supposed to join her classmates that night – the ones on the ground floor but she could not get away from work and had to give it a miss. She brought these…

…for my girl, all gluten-free too. Now, she has a whole lot of things in stock that she can eat and enjoy slowly. What we can get here are few and far between and what my girl bought once at one organic shop here was way too expensive (over RM20.00 for a small pack) and sadly, it was not even nice.

Thanks to you, all, so very much for your thoughtfulness and generosity – I am sure that even though such stuff may be more easily available where you are, like here, they do not come cheap either…and thank you also to yet another cousin of mine from Bintulu for the cincaluk (fermented shrimps)…and thank you also to my brother-in-law, also back from Bintulu, for these…

Yaaaaa!!! I’ve been waiting for so long for this made-in-Kuching Sarawak laksa with bihun and not instant noodles so it is gluten free and my girl would be able to cook and enjoy, available in Kuching, Miri…and obviously, Bintulu as well and even in Singapore but for reasons unknown, I have not been able to find any at the shops and supermarkets here…and that wasn’t all! He also brought us lots of fresh fish and prawns all the way and more cincaluk and belacan (dried prawn paste).

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

PAYUNG CAFE (2.284049, 111.833014) is located at No.20F, Lanang Road, Sibu, Malaysia, back to back with the multi-storey car park of the Kingwood Hotel which faces the majestic Rejang River.