This time every year…

It was Mother’s Day last Sunday, the second Sunday in May, and this time every year, I would buy something nice, flowers, a cake or cookies, something for my mum on this special day.

This is my first Mother’s Day without her – she passed away on the 4th of March this year so last Saturday, we made our way to our parents’ resting place…

…specially to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day. We brought some flowers, lighted some candles and after saying some prayers for the repose of their souls, we headed back into town.

We decided to stop by here for brunch, a little celebration of our own in advance as the very next day, we would be sending our girl back to her school in the jungle. No, we did not have anything special, just our usual favourites – I had their Bangladeshi lamb curry (RM19.00, with rice)…

…while my sister had their green chicken curry (RM16.00, with rice)…

My girl also had lamb, her favourite lamb masala (RM19.00, with rice)…

…while the mum stuck faithfully to their kacang ma chicken (RM16.00, with rice)…

I could not resist ordering their version of the tempoyak or fermented durian (RM18.00)…

…to share. I had run out of what I had stocked up in my freezer a long time ago and I really felt like having that that day.

This was on the house, their very nice pomelo salad…

…and Peter, the boss also gave to my  girl and the mum some kim chi…

…that some relative of his, a niece or somebody married to somebody in Korea and residing there, made when he or she was back in town. That sure sounds like it’s pretty authentic, eh?

No, we did not have anything grand, just this simple brunch, but it was of course, no less meaningful as all of us in the immediate family here had the chance to get together and to cherish the fond memories of our dear mum on this very special day.

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.