Not my first time…

It was Campari’s somewhat suggestive slogan some years ago that says, “The first time is never the best,” and I must say that there is some truth in that as far as my first time with the celebrated Häagen-Dazs branded ice cream was concerned.

I cannot remember exactly when that was, many years ago, that’s for sure, when I spotted it sold in cups at a 7-11 shop at Bukit Bintang in KL, across the road from the hotel where I was staying. I wasted no time whatsoever in grabbing one to try – the vanilla, and it was by no means cheap, around RM10.00 a cup, maybe a little bit more and that kind of money in those days was quite a lot actually…but I simply had to give it try.

I did not wait till I got back to the hotel – I just stood by the roadside outside the door of the convenience store and ate! Unfortunately, it did not sweep me off my feet and one thing I noticed was how it melted real fast and towards the end, I was like drinking milk from the cup.

Fast forward to just the other day when our local supermarket, the one that brings in all the imported stuff from countries all over the world, shared this photograph…

…on Facebook to tell everyone that Häagen-Dazs is now available right here at their place.

I shared the above photo, uncropped, on Facebook and it did not dawn on me at the time but my friend in Singapore posted a comment instantly, “…and happiness…but above all this, I’m wishing you love…and I…I…will always love you!” That Dolly Parton/Whitney Houston classic is an all-time favourite of mine! I must say that was a good one, Alvin! LOL!!!

Well, during the COVID-19 partial lockdown, I saw people flaunting online tubs of the ice cream delivered to their homes for them to enjoy and the last straw was when two of my (blogger) friends shared the special hamper they got from Häagen-Dazs – there were two one-pint tubs inside and one ice cream on a stick among some other things and I particularly love that rattan “suitcase” with everything inside. One of them commented on my post and said the cantaloupe melon was very nice but unfortunately, that flavour was not available here.

I checked online and found that it is priced at around RM30.00 in West Malaysia for one pint, cheaper if there is some kind of a promotion but it costs a bomb here – RM38.90, don’t play-play but bonjour! It is made in France…

I was kind of disappointed that there were very limited choices in the exclusive freezer – I don’t know where they got the photograph from as there was no sign of any “festive edition” flavours. I did not want the matcha – I do not like anything green tea and even though I am a coffee guy, I am not a fan of it in ice cream. In the end, I got the two remaining flavours…

– the cookies & cream and the mango & raspberry.

I decided to try the latter first and when I opened the lid, I found that it was tightly sealed…

The pictorial instruction seemed to suggest that I should wait for 10-15 minutes but I didn’t. I removed the seal right away and it did look a bit hard…

…to me but when I scooped out a spoonful, I was so very pleasantly surprised to find that it was soft…

…nothing like the other brands where it would be quite a challenge to get anything out the instant you take it out of the freezer – as hard as a rock! However, with the seal removed, when we took it out of the freezer again, it was hard like any other and we had to wait a bit before scooping.

I gave it a try and boy, it sure swept me off my feet! That was so so so good! The mango ice cream tasted like fresh mango – nothing like the others which I never bother giving a second glance when I see any at the shops and supermarkets and it went really well with the raspberry swirls. The texture of the ice cream was so very smooth and so fine and it was so very rich and creamy. The ladies in the house tried it too and yes, they loved it!

Of course, at those prices, you would not see me buying all the time, God forbid! I was thinking it would make a really nice dessert at dinners on special occasions like Christmas and New Year – once a year ain’t too bad…and besides, I’ve stopped buying “numbers” even though punting has resumed a couple of weeks or so ago – yes, congratulations are in order as this means that I shall be saving over RM100 each week, over RM400 a month…and yes, I sure do deserve this reward, don’t you think? LOL!!!

TA KIONG EMPORIUM (2.2933,111.82713,783) is located at No. 42-46, Jalan Tuanku Osman.

Wrap…

The expression It’s a wrap means something’s finished or completed, over and done and has nothing to do with wrapping anything, presents…or for that matter, zhang/chang (dumplings) but yes, the festival aka The Dragon Boat Festival (端午節) or the Double Fifth Festival as it falls on the the 5th day of the 5th month of the traditional Chinese Lunar Calendar though most will just refer to it as the Zhang Festival or the ciak zhang (eat dumplings) festival, fell on Thursday last week, the 25th of June, this year.

Come this time every year, everyone will be busy wrapping their own zhangs and going round asking whether everyone else is doing the same and they will declare that theirs is second to none. I do not know how to do it, wrap those dumplings and my missus insists she does not do it very well and will not bother – her late mum was the one doing it before and of course, the daughter would insist the mum’s zhangs were the best.   That is why we are left with no choice – we just have to go out and buy.

I was at the food and fruit shop near my house a couple of days before the festival and the place was flooded with zhangs. I did buy theirs to try before but no, they did not sweep me off my feet. I also bought some from the shop at the end of that same block and even though theirs were nicer, I did not feel they were so good that I would be going back there to grab some more.

The lady boss kept persuading me to buy these (RM3.50 each)…

She said that the lady would only make it once a year for sale and hers would not be available on normal days.

Yes, it was very nice with a lot of meat, bits of shitake mushroom and peanuts inside…

…but my missus does not like zhangs with peanuts so she didn’t like it much.

In the meantime, I also stopped by the mini market among the Delta Mall area of shops and the lady said that the ones she was selling (RM4.00 each)…

…were very good, not as good as the ones she used to sell before but that lady was unwell and not able to make any this year.

True to her word, it…

…was very nice. I thought it was a little bit pricey but there was a lot of meat inside (unlike the RM2.50-3.00 ones that I bought elsewhere before) plus some shitake mushroom as well and if you were lucky, you would get a slice of pork fat too…

Personally, I did feel that the overall taste was nicer than that of the aforementioned one. Yum yummm!!! LOL!!!

My missus prefers these Chinese Hokkien (some people say they’re Hakka’s) like the ones she ate growing up but not me. I grew up enjoying the nyonya version that my mum used to make without fail every year.  Unfortunately, we cannot buy those nyonya ones here in Sibu, only in Kuching but every year, without fail, my good friend/ex-colleague, Richard would make his own and he would never fail to give me some…

…to enjoy, thank you so so much, Richard! You’re the best!

Really, it is so very thoughtful and sweet of him to remember me year in, year out. His are always perfect outside…

…and inside…

…and the taste…

…is simply out of this world.

Previously, I would always give a few to my mum – she loved these nyonya zhangs too but since she had passed on, I gave them to my sister and she loved them. In her own words, “Richard’s nyonya zhang is truly very very good!” and that was from someone who has had enjoyed the Kuching ones…and even the ones from Katong in Singapore!

Well, now that we’ve eaten all the zhangs we desired and it’s over and done till next year, we can say quite appropriately, “It’s a wrap!”

SWEE HUNG (2.316161, 111.840441) is located along Jalan Ruby, in the block of shops on the right – next to a hair salon at the extreme end…and on the other end, to the left is the Kim Won Chinese Medical Store and Mini-supermarket. Kim Tak Co. and Ak Kau Cafe are located in the other block on the left while  PUAS HATI MINI MARKET (2.311748, 111.845507) is located at No. 12 at the corner of Lorong Taman Seduan 8 to the right of the block where Soon Hock & Chopsticks are located.

Can’t go wrong…

The other day, I blogged about the non-fried noodles that was not all that compatible with Bovril but I did say that I had a lot left and I would try to cook it some other way in the hope of finding a winning combination.

I was thinking of cooking it char kway teow style so I boiled the noodles and rinsed and drained it well…

…and for the ingredients, I had some prawns – one simply can’t go wrong with those crustaceans…

…and also two cubes of my girl’s leftover fish tofu with cheese that I sliced thinly.

I tossed the noodles with dark soy sauce (they use kicap manis for their mee goreng at the Malay shops and stalls) and a sprinkling of sugar…

…plus a whole lot of chopped spring onions from my garden – they are growing rampantly so I was very generous with it. Otherwise, if left there unharvested, they will wither and all would go to waste…and I also added a spoonful of my missus’ blended chili & garlic dip.

I fried some chopped garlic in a bit of oil till golden brown before throwing in the prawns and fish tofu after which the noodles went in. I mixed everything together well and once fried enough, I added two eggs and it was done…

I garnished it with some more chopped spring onion and served. I would have loved to add some taugeh (bean sprouts) but we did not have any in the fridge and I did not want to go out and buy.

Yes, it was very nice, cooked this way but I would say that all noodles cooked this way would be nice – be it our dried kampua or kolo mee or our mee kua/mee sanggul and even our yellow noodles. I’ve never fried bihun like this though but I did cook some pek koi that day in more or less this same way and it turned out really great too.

Wasn’t it good…

Yes, it was good, our dinner last Sunday, Father’s Day, but of course, it would not be complete if we did not have any dessert.

My girl made me this very nice baked Japanese cheese cake…

…with a hint of lime for me on Friday but it was not very big and there was nothing left of it by the following day so I decided to go out and buy something we could have for dessert instead.

I dropped by this bakery because I could remember they had tiramisu made in individual servings so it would be quite convenient for me to just buy 4. Unfortunately, when I got there, there was nothing in the display cabinet nor in the fridge – they were all filled with cakes, cakes and more cakes for Father’s Day. The trouble was they were not labelled and there wasn’t anybody I could ask.

Another thing that pissed me off was there were a lot of people and there was no effort whatsoever to observe the SOP. Yes, there were lines on the floor and arrows to tell you to go one way and out the other way for social distancing, not that anybody seemed bothered about it. There was this loud woman who cut in front of me in the queue at the cashier’s counter to ask about something and I glared angrily at her – alarmed, she stepped back a bit but kept on talking in her shrill, high-pitched voice to the staff from a distance. Some people are simply so uncouth, NCAA (no class at all)!

I wanted to buy some dinner rolls too as my girl said she would not be cooking any pasta but I did not feel like walking around the small shop to look for those, not with that kind of crowd around, so I just grabbed some croissants (RM3.00 each)…

…instead. I did buy the ones from here a few times before and yes, they were very nice – very flaky and had that pleasant buttery fragrance.

I still had not bought anything for dessert so I went to the bakery opposite. There were not that many people inside, maybe two or three besides me, and there were a whole lot of cakes in the display cabinet and the fridge here too. One very nice lady came up to me and gave her suggestions as to which I could buy even though most of them, if not all, were labelled nicely.

They had one baked Japanese cheese cake, with icing, but I thought it was a too big and in the end, I picked this one, their tiramisu (RM48.00)…

…which much to our delight, turned out to be really very good, nicer than the vanilla blueberry that I bought from this same place for Mother’s Day.

Well, when my sister came that evening, she brought along some cut fruit – papaya and this tub of ice cream, their almond pecan passion…

…and yes, it was very nice! All of us loved it! We all enjoyed the summer berries yogurt a lot that day and that prompted my missus to grab two more flavours after that – their hazelnut chocolate fantasy and their vanilla cashew delight but unfortunately, we were not all that impressed by the two – nothing that would make them stand out above the rest. Now, there is just the mint temptation that I have not tried yet and word has it that it is very good – I’ll surely grab a tub if I happen to see it at the shops.

As they say, all’s well that ends well! We sure enjoyed the desserts that night and to wrap up the great celebration, my girl went to that supermarket here that imports stuff from countries all over the world and bought me these shortbread and made-in-Poland cookies…

…to enjoy. Walkers, of course, needs no introduction and is getting MIGHTY expensive these days, Butterfingers from Australia are more affordable and just as nice. Needless to say, I shall have to nibble slowly to stretch these for as long as I can – they’re too costly to eat the way I used to, finished in no time at all. LOL!!!

C&C Gallery (2.311247, 111.846177) is located at No.24, Lot 62, Jalan Dr Wong Soon Kai among the shops in Pusat Pedada at the extreme end of the block of shops to the right of Delta Mall, back entrance and WeLove BAKERY, Pedada outlet (2.311098, 111.846125) is located at the corner shoplot, back to back with the Sugar Bun outlet in that area to the left of Delta Mall, Jalan Pedada (now Jalan Dr Wong Soon Kai) while TA KIONG EMPORIUM (2.2933,111.82713,783) is located at No. 42-46, Jalan Tuanku Osman.

Everything as planned…

Well, Father’s Day came and went and we had dinner at home to celebrate, everything as planned.

My missus marinated the rack of lamb the night before and roasted it in the oven for an hour or two…

It was absolutely delicious, you take my word for it, served with roasted potatoes that my girl prepared, and it went so well with the mint sauce…

…that the mum made using the leaves from the plants I planted in our garden.

The Aussie wagyu beef…

…was somewhat disappointing though. It was dry and hard, probably the result of being cooked for too long. The next day, I took the leftovers, cut the meat across the grain into thin slices and threw it into the slow cooker, along with the fried onions by the side and also the roasted potatoes from the lamb dish and it turned out so so so good! In the end, we managed to finish all of it, nothing went to waste.

The half-shell scallops with garlic & vermicelli…

…were easy to prepare. We only had to steam it and yes, it was very nice especially with my missus’ blended chili and garlic and lime dip.

My missus cooked this mushroom soup…

…for everybody and I made some coleslaw…

We only ate a bit of it though – there were simply too many things to eat and since it could be kept in the fridge to be eaten slowly, we went for the Ceasar salad…

…that my girl made instead. I bought a bottle of Ceasar salad dressing, made in Taiwan, from a supermarket here and it was quite nice.

There were croissants and cake and ice cream for dessert but those will be in tomorrow’s post. You’d stick around, wouldn’t you?

Lunch…

Last Sunday, Father’s Day, since we were planning to have a special dinner, I told the ladies not to cook anything for lunch and I would go out and buy something to tide us over till evening.

I dropped by here…

…and ordered a pepperoni pizza, takeaway (RM28.00)…

We had not had pizza for so long that I could not even remember exactly when that was. I think the last time was at their sister restaurant in early March, before COVID-19, and of course, there, we would not settle for anything less than their very nice spinach and egg pizza.

Yes, that was as good as it looked – thin crust with cheese and pepperoni, nothing really exciting but beggars can’t be choosers. We do prefer the pizzas (and most everything else) at that other place.

I also ordered their seafood pasta aglio olio (RM28.00)…

…and yes, this was very good, very generous with the herbs used and that gave it a really nice fragrance and flavour. They use their own-made pasta here – I always see them sharing the photographs on their Facebook page and it looked like there were two types in what we had – yellow and green…

My girl was deliriously happy to get the chance to enjoy pizza again, never mind that it could have been better. I sure do know her very well and what makes her happy…and I sure wasn’t wrong.

CAFFEINE CAFE (2.302620, 111.842988) is located on the ground floor of Wisma Liberty, Block 3, Lorong Dr Wong Soon Kai 7, off Jalan Dr Wong Soon Kai (formerly Jalan Pedada) – on your left, past the Jalan Ulu Oya Road (Sacred Heart School) traffic lights if you are coming from town.

Lost again…

One thing about Facebook is that you may be reminded of things a long time ago via its memories feature. The other day, a photograph of my favourite kampua mee from here popped out of nowhere and of course, I made up my mind to go and eat it that very morning.

The lady had closed shop owing to personal reasons and I sure was delighted when she emerged again here. Of course, I went to enjoy her noodles a number of times before this COVID-19 thing. Unfortunately, when I got to the coffee shop that morning, she was not there. The guy running the coffee shop said that she had not resumed business and he did not know whether she would be back or not. Oh dear!!! Don’t tell me I’ve lost my favorite kampua mee place yet once again!

Disappointed, I made my way here for the nasi lemak…

…another thing that I had not eaten since the lockdown started.

I asked for the sambal sotong (squid sambal)…

…to be added and the nice lady boss gave me a bit of her rendang kerang (cockles rendang)…

…on the house to try.

That sure was good. I guess the kampua mee will have to wait till another day – hopefully, the lady will show up eventually.

KOPI KOPI Café & Kitchen is located at the blocks of shops, at the back facing Bandong Walk (2.313869, 111.825808) and the main road.

In the pink…

When I was teaching, the students loved to write, “I am in the pink of health.” They probably picked that up from their previous teachers or those at the tuition centres. Actually, that is not quite correct – “in the pink” will suffice so you can write, “I hope you are in the pink,” that’s enough.

Well, talking about pink, I finally managed to get hold of this new line of ice cream from Walls/Magnum, their cherry blossoms (RM4.50 each)…

I’ve seen many bloggers trying it and some reviews did not seem all that flattering while most are more diplomatic – they did not say outright that they did not like it.

So what did I think about it? I liked the pink Belgian chocolate and bits of cherry on the outside…

…but the taste of what was inside…

…needed a bit of getting used to. I could not really tell whether the taste and “fragrance” came from the “sakura-flavoured ice cream” or those streaks of dark pink, whatever those were.

It reminded me of that time way back in 1986 when I went to a barber in Bukit Bintang in KL. After he was done, he gave me a head and neck massage and stopped short of twisting it off my shoulders! Then, he splashed some cologne on my neck and goodness gracious me! The “fragrance” was so strong that I took a cab straight back to my hostel on top of the hill in Lembah Pantai so I could quickly have a good bath to get rid of it. My girl tried and she said it was “like eating perfume”.

There is another new line out now – the Ruby. Of course, we will want to try that once it is available in town but in the meantime, our favourite is still this one (RM4.90)…

I had a glimpse at the prices mentioned in one of the blogs and it does seem that these are much cheaper here in Sibu, compared to KL. Hehehehehe!!!

Incidentally, if anyone is thinking of getting hold of this cherry blossoms line of MAGNUM ice cream (people have been asking where they can buy it), you can get it at the Malay kueh and cake shop beside KOPI KOPI Café & Kitchen which is located at the blocks of shops, at the back facing Bandong Walk (2.313869, 111.825808) and the main road. They have a WALLS freezer there with all kinds of ice cream from the company.

Just wait…

I mentioned in my blogpost that day that on days when we did not have any food for dinner, instead of cooking something, I would just go out and buy. That was what I did on one of those days and this…

*This promotion has been extended till mid-July*

…was where I went, our Sarawak’s own fast food franchise.

I bought two sets, fish and rice…

…and one set eco-fish meal…

…and I also asked for three pieces of their broasted chicken…

The girl said that I would have to wait for 15 minutes and I said I was perfectly all right with that.

I guess I was charged the regular prices as I did not ask them about the aforementioned promotion so I was charged RM47.00 altogether, a bit more than what I had to fork out here, but it was all right. I gave them a fifty and told them to keep the change. After all, I wasn’t there because of the bargains – I went merely because my girl does enjoy the stuff from these fast food franchises. Personally, I find the things a bit expensive and with that kind of money, one can easily get something a whole lot nicer (and cheaper) elsewhere.

I told the girls I would go off somewhere and will be back to collect my orders. I went to the bank at the end of that same block and then I went to the bakery opposite to grab some croissants for my girl for breakfast. There was no one there initially but when I got back, there were three others waiting. One by one, they got their orders and left and after half an hour or so, I was still there waiting.

I asked the girls and they told me to just wait. I saw pieces of the chicken, already ready, in the food warmer but it seemed they were waiting for the fish. The guy had fried one earlier but the girls gave it to somebody else so I was made to wait for another one. Once fried, the fish went into the food warmer while the girls just stood around dilly-dallying and chit-chatting away. My patience was growing thin so I gave them a piece of my mind. They quickly got all my orders together and passed me the bags – if looks could kill, I would have been dead already!!!

Honestly, I do not mind paying more if the food is great and the service is good but I just can’t stand this kind of shoddy service – we are treated a whole lot better at some cheap coffee shops.

Another thing I noticed was how the tables were all over the place, not arranged nicely and neatly, like they were not having any customers dining in…or maybe, they would have to go to the inner section beside the washrooms. A file and a pen and a bottle of sanitiser were placed on one of the tables – I don’t recall seeing a temperature gun and they did not give a damn whether you follow the SOP or not. I do think the management should look into a few things at this outlet and set things right before it gets worse!

SUGAR BUN@PEDADA, the Delta Mall outlet (2.310929, 111.846391), is located facing Jalan Pedada, now Jalan Datuk Wong Soon Kai, in the block of shops on the left – ASTRO Sibu is the first shop in the block on the right.

Our turn now…

Well, it’s our turn now – today, the 3rd Sunday in June is Father’s Day. The mums already had their turn on the 2nd Sunday in May and we had a simple steamboat lunch at home to celebrate the auspicious occasion. My girl insists on some kind of celebration today but no, we are not ready to go out for lunch or dinner yet so we will have to come out with something ourselves at home.

Now that they have relaxed the lockdown somewhat, I guess we can have it in the evening – as always, we are inviting my sister to join us and she will be able to go home after that. Before this, everyone would have to be home and must stay home by 7.00 p.m.

We loved the Aussie wagyu steaks that we had not too long ago…

…and even though we have finished the three packs that I bought, my missus did manage to grab a few more from another place and we still have some in the freezer. I am not all that keen on having individual steaks again so I am suggesting grilling two slabs only  and cutting the meat into small bite-size pieces for us to share and we can have something else at the same time.

I went to that place that sells all the frozen stuff and bought these…

– one rack of lamb (RM57.04), lamb foreshanks, two in a pack (RM20.71) and a pack of lamb shoulder chops (RM24.47), all New Zealand grass-fed and I told the ladies to pick one and cook for our dinner.

We had the lamb rack in September last year and it was very good…

…so I think we shall have it again. We did have the lamb shanks not too long ago, for our Christmas dinner.

I also bought a dozen of these scallops (RM12.99 for half a dozen)…

…and we can serve those as well.

I’m thinking of having a pasta dish too and of course, we shall be having a salad or two. At this point in time, we have not decided yet what we shall have for dessert. We’ll see! I guess there will be enough to go round and we shall not be going to bed hungry.

A VERY HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to all you dads out there! Hopefully, we shall all have a delightful day – after all, it only comes once in a year. Cheers!!!