Put it together…

If you see these red lanterns here, there and everywhere around town…

…you will know right away that Chinese New Year is drawing very near…

…but of course, when it comes to the one and only Payung Café here, you can expect to see something unique, something very different from the rest every year.

This was what they had last year, 2017…

…and some people wanted that same thing for the Chinese New Year decoration at their premises this year.

It so happened that I dropped by that afternoon and Peter and his boys were very busy working on it. He had all the things…

…ready…

…and all they had to do was to put everything together…

…step by step…

…piece by piece…

…till it was done…

Peter never planned ahead – I had expected a rough sketch or something that he could work on but no, he just followed his instincts so of course, it would not be an identical replica of the old one. I have yet to see it on display with the lights and everything on but for one thing, the one this year is vertical as opposed to last year’s which was horizontal – probably that has something to do with the wall at the place, the space available.

While I was there, I had the opportunity to sample their durian cake…

This was their 3rd attempt at making that. The first time was very successful – I thought it was really nice but the second attempt failed to meet the mark – too much flour and not enough fresh durian cream so it was back to the drawing board and the third time around, I thought it was really very good, very fine and smooth – something like a cross between cake and bingka, not really like dodol, and like their banana cake…

…it went so very well with a bit of ice cream…

I don’t know if it is on their menu now or not – I have not dropped by since. Do give it a try if it is and see if you like it!

PAYUNG CAFÉ (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.