Quiet night…

Gosh! It’s New Year’s Eve today and I still have a backlog of Kuching posts yet to be published.

This was on our last night in Kuching and we had kept that evening free so that my girl would be able to go out with her friends, going back all the way to primary school. The mum went to the mall next door again and she had an early dinner while she was there so I was left to my own devices.

Thinking that I would like to have some rice after so many days, I strolled to The Open Air Market which despite its name, is not a market but a hawker food centre instead, and that other section of the place…

…was open, all ready to roll but I had a change of heart and walked to the other section…

…to see what I could have instead.

The place looked quite pathetic, quite dead with so very few people around, nothing like the way it used to be in its glory days in the 70’s when the customers would spill over onto the road, figuratively speaking, that is…or maybe, everyone was suffering from a hangover after Saturday night.

The steamed paos and siew mai stall was open but I did not feel like having those, not for dinner. Ah Mui, the beef noodles stall, was closed – they do not open on Sundays, I hear…and many of the other stalls were closed too. Maybe they do not open at night, a Sunday night especially.

I asked for  the tomato kway teow from this stall…

…but they were out of kway teow and I settled for the crispy mee (RM4.50)…

…instead. It was nice, just as good as the (more expensive) one I had here the last time I was in the city though it did not look as presentable.

Back in the 70’s, we would frequent one particular kolo mee stall here. We called the fat lady running it, “Gypsy Woman” by virtue of the huge ring earrings that she wore. She was no longer there, of course but this one…

…did seem to attract quite a number of customers so I asked for the big bowl (RM5.00)…

…to see if it was any good. It was all right, nice but not anything that would make me go out of my way for.

I walked sadly back to the hotel that quiet night feeling kind of down and disheartened that all these places that used to bring us so much joy way back in the good ol’ days had turned into pale shadows of what they used to be.

THE OPEN AIR MARKET (1.559021, 110.342409) is located across the road from Electra House along Jalan Power in Kuching.

Mooo…

I heard of this place on my last trip to Kuching – they said the beef noodles were nice but I did not have the chance to go and try as it was a little out of the way from where I was staying and even more so where I was staying on my recent trip to the city. Why! I read somewhere that it even has a branch in Uptown PJ, Selangor.

Much to my delight, I spotted this stall…

…on the lower ground floor of the mall adjoining the hotel so of course, I just had to stop by to give it a try.

For the uninitiated, nuro (牛肉/niúròu) means beef and men (面/miàn) means noodles so nuromen (牛肉面/niúròu miàn) actually means beef noodles.

I asked for the beef noodles special (RM10.50)…

…and got the very nice kolo mee-like noodles, kosong (empty/without meat)…

…and this lovely beef soup…

…which had quite  a lot of beef, beef tripe and tendons in it…

The chili dip was great and on the whole, I sure did like it a lot more than the Ah Mui beef noodles that I had at one of their current outlets – we so loved the old man’s beef noodles at the Open Air Market in Kuching a long long time ago, way back in the 70’s!

As I was leaving, I noticed this sign…

My missus did buy some hay peah (prawn fritters) from a stall in the food court on the 3rd floor and took some back to the room and yes, we thought it was really good, as nice as Peterson’s which some say is not so nice these days, not like before.

Of course I bought some…

…for my girl and the mum to try and yes, the hay peah was just as good and cheaper too plus there was a lot of crushed peanut in the chili dip – there wasn’t any in the one they bought earlier.

I sure would not mind stopping by for the beef noodles and/or hay peah should I happen to be passing by this way again.

MOOnCUP BY NUROMEN is located on the Lower Ground Floor of the Plaza (1.558279, 110.344049) at No. 88, Jalan Pearl in Kuching.

Love it here…

After the somewhat disappointing brunch the day before, I told my girl that I would take her to some place really nice when she woke up the next morning. Since we were on some kind of holiday, we would want to go for the best around, not some mediocre stuff that would come nowhere near the things we would be able to get back home.

I was here before but only for the cakes and even though the tea ceremony would be held there the very next day, I did not expect anything too elaborate served for the buffet brunch or lunch.

I dropped by a day earlier to find out what they would have on their breakfast menu but they said they did not have one. Nonetheless, all that they had on their regular menu would be available from 10.00 a.m. onwards – that’s when they open for business.

So there we were that morning, past 10.00, almost eleven and yes, my girl was so fascinated with the place and had her photographs taken here, there and everywhere and once she was done, we settled down at a table…

…and placed our orders.

She had their pineapple ginger iced tea (RM10.00)…

…and not only did it look great, it tasted really great too and she loved it! I was quite happy with my iced Americano (RM10.00) that you can see in the background in the photograph.

The mum had their apple ginger mojito (RM12.00)…

…and never the adventurous type, she went for what she would usually go for at such places if they have that on their menu, the mee mamak (RM22.00)…

…and she was surprised that the yellow noodles were quite different from our bigger alkaline-free ones in Sibu. Well, there was no complaint from her after that so I guess it was all right.

My girl enjoyed her patty melt (RM30.00)…

…very much while I went for the fish & chips, sea bass (RM38.00)…

…the instant I saw in the menu that it wasn’t dory and yes, it was really good.

We were already very full by the time we finished so we only ordered a slice of their carrot cake (RM14.00)…

…to share and yes, that was good too!

At the tea ceremony the next day, the buffet spread included one Indonesian-style chicken with its very nice sambal to go with it, chicken bolognese spaghetti, sweet & sour fish fillet and pineapple fried rice and for dessert, we had carrot cake, a somewhat simpler one than the one we had the day before with a finer texture, no cream but it was nice too, plus a free flow of iced drinks and tea and coffee.

I could not resist ordering their basque burnt cheesecake (RM14.00) which was sold out and not available the day before and their lemon meringue pie (RM14.00)…

The latter was very nice but the former was like the usual no-bake cheesecake minus the crust at the bottom plus the burnt layer on top, not something that I would enjoy. My girl said that she had that at a coffee place in Sibu and that was what it should be like – nothing like the one I had where the cake was something like the Japanese baked cotton cheese cake but that would be something right down my alley.

Well, we sure enjoyed our brunch that morning and that afternoon, we had high tea at my auntie‘s house, a family reunion of sorts and of course, there were lots to eat but unfortunately, I forgot to take any photographs there so there will not be any post on it.

COMMONS (1.559665, 110.344973) is located at the Old Court House, Jalan Tun Abg Haji Openg, facing the Kuching waterfront.

Walking in the dark…

I would usually go to bed early, at around 9.00 p.m. and get up at around 4 or 5 when it is still dark. Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy and wise, so they say.

However, when I was in Kuching, I did not call it a day that early, past 10 or later and yet, I would wake up at around that same time. That was why I could go out and walk around in the dark in search of something I could try for my pre-breakfast breakfast.

The first morning there, I had the kueh chap at Lao Ya Keng and the second morning, I went around the area to see what else I could find. This one…

…was open and looking at what was available at the stall in front, much to my delight, I saw that they had duck noodles!

I loved the duck kolo mee at Sg Tenggang, a little bazaar along the road from Kuching to Sibu so of course, I wasted no time in ordering that…

I can’t remember how much that was now – I think it was RM4.50-5.00 – things are not as cheap as in Sibu there. The duck was fine but they tossed the noodles in the gravy from cooking the braised duck so it drowned out the kolo mee taste plus it was way too strong on the ginger and I did not really enjoy it. In the end, I just finished the meat and left most of the noodles behind.

There was a lane beside the shop and there were a kueh chap and a chicken rice stall there and tables and chairs laid out for customers to sit and eat. I did not bother about those, of course.

I did notice this coffee shop…

…at the corner of Carpenter Street and China Street that morning because of the lovely blue windows and all the plants around them…

One of my cousins told me the following day that their traditional Hakka handmade noodles from this stall there…

…was nice so I went back on another morning to give it a try…

*Oopsss!!! Sorry for the blurry pic!*

I can’t remember how much that was either, probably the same as the duck mee and I also asked for a bowl of the kiaw, dry…

…or what we call pian sip in Sibu except that they only look the same – the ones here had more meat and all lean, it seemed so it was kind of “coarse”. Other than that, perhaps it was the preparation, the ingredients added and maybe the texture of the skin as well so it did not taste the same either. My girl had this at Lao Ya Keng and she liked it – as for me, I think I would stick to our good ol’ Sibu pain sip.

I saw that they had mutton noodles at the stall and later, somebody told me that it was nice, and their beef noodles too but I did not have time to go back and try. Another time perhaps!

The duck mee coffee shop (1.558132, 110.34614) is two doors to the left of Ann Lee Restaurant along Carpenter Street in Kuching, separated from the Kuching Hainan Association to its left by a small lane and Nyan Shin Cafe (1.558215, 110.345923) is located to the right at the corner, at the junction of the aforementioned street and China Street. 

Little things…

On our 2nd night in Kuching, my cousin, the sister of the one whose daughter was getting married – I met the groom-to-be for the first time that night,  invited us to dinner here…

Her son and daughter in Perth, Australia and their families were all coming back for the wedding so she was throwing this huge welc0me home party for them and asked us to join in too.

I loved the fish…

…and the prawns…

…and needless to say, the braised pork trotter…

…too, served with steamed mantao.

The tofu was great…

…as well and the midin kerabu…

…was a hit!

There was also this soup…

…but no worries! It looked like it, it tasted like it but it wasn’t it! There wasn’t any of that not-be-mentioned thing in it. I still see people having that in their dinner menu though and honestly, I do think it is so foolish to do that as because of that one dish with hardly any of the tasteless stuff, just a few miserable strips swimming in the soup, the bill for the whole dinner would be so very expensive!

The cousins’ children loved the Emperor mee…

…so they also had that but personally, it did not really overwhelm me.

The flight that the son and his family and in-laws were taking from KL that night was delayed so there were a few vacant seats at the tables and a lot of food leftover and they had to get it all packed for them to take home.

The grand-daughter, the daughter’s girl, was celebrating  her 4th birthday and they got this very nice cake…

…and presents for her and all the party noisemakers and the commotion that ensued left her stunned and speechless – I guess living on their own Down Under, she was more accustomed to all the peace and quiet all around, devoid of all of us noisy and boisterous people all around. LOL!!!

The mango cheese cake was so very very nice, something like the Japanese baked cotton cheese cake and with the delightful cream, I simply could not resist a second serving, can’t remember if I had a third!

Thank you so much, Tina, for the inviting us to join the delightful dinner and thank you also for the buah tangan…

– the kueh chap and the hong choi peah – both were really very nice.

LITTLE CHEF GARDEN (1.506096, 110.361964) is located in this new area in Kuching called Saradise – you can go in to that lane on your left via Jalan Saradise, off Jalan Stutong.

Stone cold…

Back to my Kuching posts, another of my maternal cousins invited us to dinner that 2nd night there and after our brunch earlier that morning, we did not want a heavy lunch as we were saving tummy space for the scrumptious feast that awaited us. That was why we just went to check out this place…

…on the lower ground floor of the mall adjoining the hotel where we were staying.

Initially, I was wondering why it was thus named – Stone Ice but later, it dawned on me that it was actually the direct translation of the Malay term for ice, air batu.

We tried the ABC or air batu campur special (RM6.00)…

…that I ordered to share. It had cendol, red beans, cincau (black jelly)…

…and whatever else inside but no, it did not get us jumping with delight. I think if that is what one wants, the best place to go to in Kuching would be here. Word has it though that their branch at Satok has been taken over by someone else and the quality has gone down.

My girl and the mum had their Sarawak laksa (RM8.00)…

…and according to them, at best, it was edible – not anything they would want to have again and if it is authentic and truly great Sarawak laksa, maybe you would want to go for the one here.

I do believe that generally, the rule of thumb is you will need to know where to go for the best of anything and all you can get at shopping malls and food courts…and for that matter, upscale cafes like the one here and at the hotels as well, will be some more expensive, half-baked versions of the real thing that may be nice but not quite there, not really like the real thing!

I also ordered this sotong kangkong RM10.00)…

…and yes, that was all right and I had the belacan bihun (RM8.00)…

…which I swore I would never want to eat again after the first time here.

Now, why on earth did I go and order that again, you may ask? That was simply because I seemed to notice that this is the favourite of many in Kuching and many would be dying to come home to appease their craving for it…and I wanted the two ladies to try.

Well, my fears were confirmed – they did not like it at all and since I had ordered it already, I might as well eat it myself. I squeezed the juice of the calamansi lime over it and mixed the prawn paste and chili with everything in the bowl and ate…and I actually thought it was quite nice after all! I sure wouldn’t mind going for it again sometimes.

This STONE ICE outlet is located on the lower ground floor of the award-winning Plaza Merdeka (1.558279, 110.344049) at No. 88, Jalan Pearl in Kuching.

Christmas wish…

It’s Christmas Day, 2019 today…and I am taking a break from my regular posts to wish each and everyone a Blessed and Joyous Christmas…

When we were in Miri that day, my cousin’s wife, Amy, passed me these…

…Christmas mince pies and Scottish shortbread and a beautiful 2020 calendar too from my cousin (my Miri cousin’s eldest sister) home from Brisbane, Australia, thank you so much, Teresa. I was hoping we could meet there but it so happened that she went over to KL to visit another brother of hers and his family.

In the meantime, when I was in Kuching that day, my KL cousin, Christina, gave me this box of M&S mince pies, reputed to be the best this year…

…while her Kuching sis, Euphrasia, bought me some of the Green Road old lady’s nyonya chang. Sadly, it seemed that like the Kai Joo Lane pastries that I blogged about yesterday, the quality had dropped and they were not as nice as the last time I bought some from her to take home.

Soon after we got home from Kuching, the POSLAJU van stopped at my gate to deliver me these…

– more M&S Christmas pudding and a Christmas card, Hallmark no less…also from my KL cousin, Christina!!! Maybe she sent these before she left for Kuching that day and knowing how terrible our national courier service is these days, she brought something else just in case.

These Christmas cards from family and friends everywhere…

…were waiting for me in my mailbox when we got home that day, one from my cousin, Georgie in Kota Kinabalu and my cousin, Tina in Kuching and their families, one from a very old friend, Mary also in Kuching and last but not least, one from Phong Hong all the way from KL.

Of course, I was also, among so many other buah tangan (gifts) from all and sundry, bringing home from Kuching my aunt’s Christmas fruit pudding and a Hallmark card from my uncle and all loved ones in the family – needless to say, I am going to save this one specially for Chinese New Year, just a month away.

In the meantime, my cousin, Alister, who comes home from Sydney, Australia every year around Christmas to visit his mum, is back in town and we went out for lunch together but that will be in another blogpost, probably not so soon. Of course, he does not come home empty-handed and this year, he brought us this…

…thank you so much, Alister. It sure was great to see you again.

Here, I would like to say thank you to everybody for the gifts and cards and everything at one time or another throughout the year. May the Good Lord bless us all abundantly in the days ahead and once again, a Blessed and Holy Happy Christmas from us…

…here in Sibu! Joy to the world, alleluia!!!

As time passes by…

On our first morning in Kuching, I had gone out at the break of dawn for the kueh chap at Lao Ya Keng – I had blogged about that in yesterday’s post and when my girl was up around mid-morning, we walked all the way here…

I was here once in 2011 and actually, my girl was with me at the time but it had completely slipped my mind.

Yes, the kolo mee stall was still around…

…enjoying really brisk business with a whole of of people stopping by for the noodles. It is a lot more expensive now though – the price had gone up from RM2.80 in 2011 to RM4.00 for a small bowl and RM5.00…

…for the large one.

I noticed that they served a complimentary bowl of clear soup now, something that they did not use to do before but I did not think it was all that nice this time around. The char siew was kind of dry and hard and though on the whole, it was quite all right with a very strong garlicky taste, it did not sweep me off my feet, unlike the first time we were here.

I asked my girl and she too felt that same way. I guess we shall not go through all that effort to make our way there anymore should we happen to hop over to Kuching again.

After we had had our fill, we walked back to India Street…

…and browsed around the shops in the vicinity on our way back to the hotel.

I strolled over to my favourite pastry shop at Kai Joo Lane…

…but I guess it was still early in the morning and they did not have everything in their list…

I bought a few of their meat pastry or what they call siew pau…

…but no, sad to say, these too were not as nice as when the old folks were making them way back in the 70’s. Back then, the filling was a bit moist and one could see chunks of char siew and green peas but these days, it is all minced meat and rather dry but to give credit where credit is due, it still tasted quite good and the main draw, the pastry, is still as nice as I remember it to be.

The yam puffs…

…are more expensive by a ringgit but it is very much bigger and even though they do not seem to be able to make it like how people usually do it – with a nice fibrous exterior, I thought they were very nice, perhaps even nicer than the siew pau. I regretted not buying more – I only asked for three, one for each one of us, to eat in our hotel room.

ORIENTAL PARK CAFE 国泰东方古早味 (1.558891, 110.341900) is located at Market/Gertak Lane where the now-closed-down Cathay Cinema was and CHONG CHON BISCUIT MAKER (1.559214, 110.343394) is located at No. 6, Kai Joo Lane, off India Street, on the left in Kuching.

In comparison…

One morning, before we went to Kuching, I dropped by this new so-called food street in town…

…which is, in fact, not a street and nothing more than a big coffee shop with a number of stalls selling the usual stuff, nothing spectacular or at least, not that I saw. It is a branch of this place in the Delta Mall area which, of course, is very much closer to my house, just round the corner.

The kueh chap stall there is the same one as at that other place, a branch of it, so to speak – if I remember correctly, they were saying that this one was at a coffee shop in town before and they moved so somebody else took their place there.

I had the kueh chap special (RM8.00)…

…which was all right, not anything that would get me to go back all the way for and while the chili dip…

…was nice, it could do with a little bit more belacan (dried prawn paste) and chili to give it that much coveted kick – I’ve had nicer ones elsewhere, that much I would say.

In the meantime, when I was in Kuching, I went to this place that they call Lao Ya Keng, which I thought, all these years since the 70’s, meant, literally translated, a lousy place (See correction in comments below)…

…where there is this kueh chap stall…

…that seems to be the favourite of many in the city.

I had their kueh chap special (RM9.00)…

…which cost a ringgit more than the one I had in Sibu and the bowl was smaller, around two-thirds the size. The broth tasted different, nice but different and was stronger, not so diluted or watered down and they were a lot more generous with the ingredients, except for the half an egg, but I had to enjoy eating everything without touching their chili dip – it was completely different from the ones we would get in Sibu and no, it did not tickle my fancy.

Thankfully, both did not have that repulsive smell like the one I had here some years ago which probably would be an indication that they did not clean the innards properly but I do know of people who insist that kueh chap is not kueh chap without the smell.

In comparison, I would say both were all right – something one might consider having when at either of these places but not anything I would purposely go out of my way for.

CHOPSTICKS FOOD STREET (2.279983, 111.840216) is located along Lorong Aman 2A, off Jalan Aman in Sibu while LAO YA KENG (1.558573, 110.345601) is located at No. 19, Carpenter Street, Kuching.

Sweet dessert…

After our scrumptious Vietnamese dinner on our first night in Kuching, we adjourned to this dessert place…

…a few doors away to the left. It’s not all that big, a pleasant place to hang out and I’ve seen alluring photographs of what they serve on their Facebook page so of course, I would not want to miss the chance to drop by and give it a try.

I wasted no time in ordering one of my favourite sweet desserts, the pulut hitam (black glutinous rice)…

…but it was not black. The very handsome and amicable boss said that the supplier sent them this red version instead of the usual black one but he would want to go back to the latter soonest. I did buy a pack of this red variety when I was in Miri that day and I did not mind it one bit as the taste was more or less the same, just like humans, don’t you think? Our colours may be different but basically, we are all the same.

Another difference from the one I had here was the use of their own-made coconut ice cream with a bit of gula Melaka (palm sugar syrup) on top instead of coconut cream – maybe it was not as strong on the richness and fragrance of santan (coconut milk) cream but it was all right. The addition of those lenggeng kua (dried longans) sure brought the taste to a whole new level and yes, I would say that I did enjoy it very much.

I also had their red rubies, topped with the same coconut ice cream…

…instead of santan and yes, it was good – a whole lot nicer than the disastrous one that I had at that Thai franchise place in Miri.

My cousin ordered all kinds of ice cream…

…different flavours…

…probably most of what they had, so many that I jolly well can’t remember all of them. I think one of the brown ones was coffee, a tad too strong and bitter for me and the green ones were matcha (green tea) and kedondong (ambarella) with asamboi (sour plum) added which made it all the more sour, thank you very much. The yam waffles stuck by the side must be good as before I would give it a try, they were all gone!

Incidentally, according to them, they make all the ice cream served here themselves with a coconut milk base and only natural ingredients are used, no artificial colouring, no preservatives whatsoever.

This one was new, their mango…

…which was a bit too sourish for me as well. They couldn’t wait and had already started eating before I could snap a photograph of it. Duh!!!

They had more ice cream served on coconut waffles…

…but I felt I had had enough of ice cream plus I was so very full from dinner so I did not give it a try.

One of my cousins ordered this glass of coffee, dunno if it was Irish or what, but with coconut ice cream on top…

…and I did try a bit, just a bit for fear that I would not be able to sleep when I got back to the hotel that night and yes, I thought it was o.k.

Thank you so much to my cousins for the very sweet treat. We sat there, chatting and laughing away till late and all too soon, it was time for them to send us back to the hotel to hit the sack. It had been a long day – we just flew in from Sibu before noon that very morning!

COCOPURI (1.515662, 110.352832) is located on the ground floor of Sub Lot 4, Block A, Emporium Kuching, Jalan Tun Jugah.