It was my sister-in-law’s birthday last Wednesday and in the past, without fail every year, her daughter, my niece, working in Singapore would fly home the weekend before to celebrate this special day with her parents and of course, we would always be invited. This was the last time when we managed to get together, in 2019.
Because of the pandemic, she did not come back last year and of course, she could not make it this year as well. People say the world is getting smaller – we can fly here and there anytime we want but in the face of the current situation, things have changed. There are so many restrictions, very expensive and very limited flights, if there are any at all so much so that families that are separated because of work or whatever commitments can no longer get together whenever they want to. That is so very sad.
Even without my niece around, we could not even go out for a special dinner on the day in question. Yes, we are in Phase 3 now and dining in is allowed but no, we are not taking any chances. With the Delta variant rampantly active and the increasing number of cases daily despite the number fully-vaccinated in the town and state, it is best to just #staysafe #staywell #stayhome.
Of course we did not let the day go past unnoticed. I gave my sister-in-law an ang pao and my missus cooked het my brother-in-law’s favourite, chicken curry and my girl made some potato bread to go with it.
My brother-in-law went and ordered her a cake, our favourite from Marcus…
…no less with the coating of crushed peanut all along the side…
…the way his daughter loves it even though she is not home to enjoy that with the rest of us.
Of course it was perfectly done, that same high standard that Marcus’ cakes would always live up to over the years…and of course, I cannot over-indulge and give in to the temptation to feast on it like before now that I am on a low-carb low-sugar diet so I just had to limit myself to that one slice. How sad!
In the meantime, my sister-in-law also gave us this swiss roll…
My missus said something about her friend giving it to her or something like that. I went and googled and found out that this…
…is actually a home-based business. I browsed through their Facebook page and had a look at their menu. This…
…it seemed, was their black sesame (RM5.50). Just as with the aforementioned cake from Marcus, I had to restrict myself to just one slice only even though I found that it was not sweet at all. Yes, I would say that it was nice but I found the texture of the cake a bit too fine and dense. One consolation would be the fact that it is cheaper than the ones here that I like a lot.
You can order a special homemade MARCUS’ CAKE via telephone at 084-311333 and collect it on the day at the time agreed upon from his house at No. 6B. Lorong Delta 3, Delta Estate (2.305015, 111.826185) and HOPE GOURMET PASTRY HOUSE is located at No. 8B, Lorong Ulu Sg Merah 21 (Tel. No. 0199842289 / 0193963128).
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
As of now, with the Delta variant that is spreading far and wide, it is best to stay at home. How sad it is to live in a world like this. I love the swiss roll. Happy Belated Birthday to your SIL.
Thank you.
Indeed, it is so very sad and the tragedy is I do not think it will ever be any different from the way it is now with the numbers increasing every day. We will just have to learn to live with it…the best we can. Sighhhhh!!!!
Home based baking and cooking business also blooming during this pandemic. The swiss roll looked yummy. Happy belated birthday to your sil!!
Over here, the high cases are mostly from those kampungs. So many kampung clusters. Really headache. No dine-in in southern division of Sarawak for now.
Thank you. Yes, a lot of home-based business sprouting like mushrooms after the rain. My worry is they may not be licensed, not legal…so I am not sure if we should buy from these people. Better support those shop-based legal ones.
Here, there are some high risk areas and what’s frustrating is they tell you the numbers, increasing every day but they do not do anything about it! Fed up! They only tell everyone to be careful, observe SOP, get vaccinated…again and again like a broken-down record and in the meantime, the numbers go up and up and up!
Yes, so sad these days, I wonder if things would ever get back to how it was before the pandemic. Here in Selangor, things are still so grim. But I notices since last week, more and more people are coming out!
Such lovely cakes you had! I would love to try Marcus’ cake but too bad he is too far away.
Yes, some people shared photos of Mid Valley on Saturday 3.00 p.m. SO MANY PEOPLE!!! Utterly shocking!!! How can the situation improve if this is the general attitude of people there? But then again, things aren’t much better here especially now that we are in Phase 3. I cannot understand why when there are still so many cases every day. Darn!!!
Too bad I will not be flying anytime soon, otherwise I can order a cake from Marcus and bring it over.
nice cake! alot of families whose family member works abroad or in other states are ‘separated’. Since the beginning of the year, the interstate travel was (and still is) not allowed, hence many reunions have to be put on hold or ‘online’. Hopefully can do so on early next year (when we reached herd community).
Isn’t it allowed already, inter-state travel for those vaccinated? Here, they put a stop to people from Kuching (the southern part of Sarawak) to other parts of the state as there are simply too many cases every day!
Personally, even if we can travel, I would not want to go anywhere. Same thing with dining in – it is allowed here in Sibu but no, thank you. I’ll just #staysafe #staywell #stayhome
No gathering and no celebration until don’t know when….sighhh. We will just have to be patient until it is safe to do so. We too have to limit the amount of sweet stuffs. I love birthday cakes but without the cream and icing.
Not only are this guy’s cakes very nice, his butter cream icing is so good too. Sometimes, we keep the excess icing left over after we have finished the cake to eat with bread. We do not do that with the icing from others, especially those from the bakeries.
We are actually quite used to the “new normal” already, not going out, no gatherings, no celebration, nothing. Not taking any chances. Even when going out to stock up on food, I would pick odd hours when there are not many people. #staysafe #staywell
The pandemic has rolled back some advancements and freedom that we used to enjoy like travelling. I would be sad too if I had to be separated from my family members for way too long.
Many are in those shoes, many with family members residing overseas – they have not met for almost two years now, such a long long time.
I am missing family too! I haven’t seen my mum since my dad died.
Sad times. I can’t even go to my parents’ resting ground, an hour or two away by car. Missed their anniversaries and birthdays. Sighhh!!!