One year ago…

Gosh!!! It had almost been one year ago when we last dropped by here, on New Year’s Day, 2021.

Well, I had to go to town again the other day to stock up on my prescriptions – yes, it had been a month already – so I asked my girl if she would like to go some place for a nice lunch and we agreed to drop by here for the things we loved so well and had not had for such a long time.

Of course, we had her favourites, their sweet and sour fish fillet…

…and their lemon chicken…

…which we feel is the best in town!

For our vegetable dishes, we wanted midin (wild jungle fern) but they did not have that but they had paku (a different variety) so we had that, ching chao (plain fried)…

…instead. Actually, we wanted it fried with belacan (dried prawn paste) but it came out like this and because it was very nice, we just let it be.

We also had the cangkok manis fried with egg…

…and for the soup, we had the Foochow tauhu tear (bean curd soup with canned oysters)…

Everything was so nice and we sure enjoyed ourselves to the max especially when we had not dined out like this for such a long time, such a welcome change from our day-to-day routine.

I paid RM70.00 for the 5 dishes for the 3 of us and I would say for the amount of pleasure derived, it was worth it. Usually, I would have to fork out around RM50-60.00 for a meat dish, vegetable and soup but this time round, I insisted on ordering more to buang gian (appease the craving) and I did not bother to ask them to cook for two – the smaller servings would be enough to go round and it would be cheaper this way.

Of course, the prices have gone up and I am sure it is no exception here. Their fried noodles, usually 50 sen more than elsewhere, is now RM5.50 a plate…

…and with the extra char siu that we would always ask for, the total would be a whooping RM6.00.

Obviously, nobody cared as when we got there at around 11, the place was full so we had to sit at one of the vacant tables on the pavement outside. The lady boss said we would not have to wait too long as they were all having their fried noodle dishes and true enough, before our orders were served, they had all finished eating and left so we adjourned inside where there was just another table that was occupied, also a family of three but with one little kid also having their lunch there.

Y2K CAFE (2.294220, 111.825753) is located in the Tunku Osman area, round the corner from that block of shops where the branches of AmBank & RHB Bank are located with its back entrance facing the side (right, not the main one) entrance/exit of Methodist Secondary School.

Used to be mine…

In the past, everytime we had popiah (spring rolls) at home, I would be the one doing all the work to prepare all the ingredients and cook them for the filling and also everything else. My missus did do it once but I would not say her version of it swept me off my feet.

Well, we had a popiah dinner once again that day for the Dongzhi or Winter Solstice Festival and yes, she said she would like to give it a go once again. Come dinner time, everything was ready so we sat down to roll our own popiah to enjoy.

Firstly, I lined my popiah skin with lettuce…

…before I added some of the omelette that my missus fried and cut into strips…

…followed by my missus’ own-made chili and garlic blend…

…after which, I added the cooked filling…

…before adding some more of the chili…

…for that extra kick.

Last but not least, I sprinkled some kacang tumbuk (crushed peanut) all over the filling…

…bef9re rolling it up like this…

…and eating it. Yes, it…

…was very very nice!!! It tasted different from her previous attempt – whatever she did differently this time around sure did the trick! It did not taste quite like what I would usually come out with – perhaps, she followed some different recipe but I would admit it was good.

We just had popiah not too long ago and seeing how she can do it very well now, I sure would not mind letting go and leaving it to her to do it her way. LOL!!!

Not time yet…

I was surprised when I saw my missus making it…

…the other day because it was not time yet to do that. Normally, she would be making this Sarawak acar timun (cucumber pickle) around Chinese New Year, maybe a week or two before the festival but it is still over a month away.

Maybe because we have been getting a lot of rain lately, the cucumbers are growing very well so they are in abundance right now. Usually, come Chinese New Year, possibly because everyone is making this acar, there will be an acute shortage.

It is really quite labour intensive with all that cutting, the cucumber, carrot and everything else into long thin strips and they will have to be put out in the sun to dry a bit so it will be nice and crispy/crunchy.

It did look like quite a lot but once it was done, my missus only managed to come out with these four bottles…

Of course, we are keeping them till Chinese New Year – pickles…

…can keep really well so there will not be a problem with that and anyway, we will be keeping it in the fridge.

Of course, we did try a bit before putting it away and that called for some keropok (prawn crackers). The typical Sarawakian practice is to eat acar with keropok…

…and luckily, we still had a pack…

…in the house, left over from last Chinese New Year, due to expire in 2023.

I quickly took it out to dry in the sun…

They say that if you do not do that, your keropok will not rise to the occasion when fried and it will not be nice and crispy.

That afternoon, I went to take it in to fry but my missus had beaten me to it. There was enough to fill two big Tupperware containers like this…

…and yes, we did try it with the acar and it was very very nice!

Of course, we must exercise a bit of self-control and not over-indulge. Otherwise, we would not have any acar left, come Chinese New Year. LOL!!!

Nothing fancy…

We had dinner at home on Christmas Day this year, 2021, nothing fancy, just something simple for the three of us, plus my sister – we invited her to join us as well, so there were four of us altogether.

No, we did not have turkey as the ladies do not fancy the texture of the meat – like breast meat, they say so I went out and bought one pretty big chicken and my missus roasted it…

…and served it on a bed of roasted potatoes, carrots and celery for the dinner.

I do not know all those fancy names that the seller was telling me in Mandarin but this was supposed to be one of the better quality varieties of the poultry. I remember he pointed out to me something like a spur just above the claws at the back of the feet/leg.

This was supposed to be the stuffing…

…but my missus baked it separately and it came across like a cross between ngor hiang (meat rolls) and one of those gourmet sausages.

We had this freshy-made mushroom soup…

…that evening too. I did not know that my missus was going to cook that, otherwise I could have bought some baguette or garlic bread to go with it.

So as to include something a bit more filling, we also had this aglio olio spaghetti…

…with prawns and last but not least, we had this salad platter…

…with our family’s traditional dressing, following the recipe handed down a long long time ago by my late maternal aunt and there has not been any turning back since!

For dessert, my sister brought along this very nice blueberry cheesecake that her friend gave her…

…and the very intoxicating Christmas fruit pudding…

…that our cousin in Kuching made and couriered to her. They used to give me that too but I told them not to do so this year as I am currently on a low-sugar diet.

There you have it, our simple Christmas dinner this year! Now we have to start thinking about what we shall have on New Year’s Eve since we do not intend to go out some place to eat as no matter what, our minds are made up and we are #stayingsafe #stayingwell #stayinghome.

My intentions…

I did not intend to have this…

…for my breakfast that morning when I dropped by this coffee shop…

…to buy the chang (dumplings)…

I love the ones with meat and peanuts (RM4.50 each). I gathered that those are Hakka changs and personally, I do feel that they are very nice.

I asked the very friendly and chatty lady, I believe she is the daughter – usually, there would be an older lady, probably her mum but I did not see her around that morning, if the water had started boiling at the stall…

…or not since it was very early and of course, she said yes, adding that there were customers having breakfast there already long before I came.

So far, I’ve only had their kolo mee…

…a few times and yes, theirs is very nice but I had not tried anything else.

I looked at the photographs on display at the cabinet and they sure have a lot on their menu including nasi lemak which is usually the exclusive domain of those Malay shops and stalls. I wanted that but the lady said the rice was not ready yet, still in the process of being cooked and I could actually smell the lemak-ness coming out of the rice cooker with the steam. Gee!!! I must come back here one of these days to give it a try!

In the end, I settled for their glass noodles (RM7.50)…

…in their chap-chap (assorted) clear soup.

Initially, I felt that RM7.50 was rather expensive but when I looked at all the ingredients in the bowl, I must say that it was worth it. Other than the tang hoon, there were some meat balls, fresh as well as frozen, two each, two fish balls, some strips of gutor (beef tripe), bits of liver, two fried tofu stuffed with minced meat, some seaweed and Chinese cabbage.

It tasted as good as it looked and I enjoyed everything with their slightly spicy and sourish chili blend made specially to go with this dish. I sure wouldn’t mind going for it again should another opportunity arise.

While I was there, though it was not my intention initially, I decided to buy their sio bee (meat dumplings)…

…frozen, to store in my freezer so we would be able to steam and heat them up to enjoy as and when we feel like having some and because the lady kept promoting their shui jiao (water dumplings), in the end, I relented and decided to grab a pack…

…to give it a try.

Hopefully, when I finally take them out to eat, I shall remember to take some photographs so I shall be able to see how nice they really are and can blog about them when the time comes.

SIN KIAW CAFE (2.291287, 111.826611) is located along Ramin Way, the first shop on your right as you turn in from Jalan Kampung Nyabor, right behind the petrol station located at the bend.

We love it…

I met Victor’s parents when I dropped by here one morning.

When his dad saw me, he quickly came over to tell me that the fried noodles…

…were very good, showing me the packs that he had picked to take home and enjoy. Yes, I know, I said and indeed, I used to buy home myself too but come to think of it, I have not done so for quite sometime now, no thanks to the pandemic. I think I’ll do that on my next visit.

I loved their cucur (fritters)…

…too and I used to stop by just to buy those but for reasons unknown, they seem to have stopped making those. I heard that this lady’s ayam masak merah and nasi tomato were so good that my friend came to buy every day one Ramadan but unfortunately, when I went over myself, they were always sold out!

The chicken rendang…

…is very good too, Victor’s father added and of course, I told him that I did try that the other day and yes, it was very good.

This time around, I wanted to buy their beef rendang, I told him but unfortunately, it was not available that morning. In the end, I just bought the chicken rendang again for my missus and for myself, I picked the daging masak hitam…

…to try. The ladies in the house are not into this dish, dunno why.

One bone that I would have to pick about it was how very little there was! Of course, the reason is obvious – beef is so very expensive but I did tell the lady that they can just increase the price. Like what I’ve said so many times before, after all, what has not increased in prices these days? Just add a ringgit or two or more but do not scrimp on the quality or the quantity – usually, some people may complain for a while but after some time, they will get used to it and will go on buying and eating, never mind the increase in price.

Other than that, I would not say that the daging masak hitam was the best I’ve had in town. It was a bit on the salty side, probably because of too much kicap (dark soy sauce) and a bit too strong on the aromatics, those spices that they add to the dish. I would stick to the chicken rendang next time.

I got the chicken rice with ayam madu (honey chicken)…

…for my girl. She loved the chicken and the soup that came with it and she enjoyed the chili dip but she did not seem to enjoy the rice all that much. Needless to say, she prefers her mum’s a whole lot more.

That morning, I bought the roti jala (RM2.00)…

…for breakfast/tea and yes, we loved it! We particularly enjoyed the curry gravy dip that came with it – I sure would want to buy this again next time.

I could not remember how much these cucur bubuk (dried krill fritters)…

…were and frankly, I did not get my expectations up high when I bought them as I was not impressed by how they looked. Much to my surprise, my girl loved them and gave the green light should I feel like buying some more next time. Alongside these, there were the cucur cekodok (banana) – I wonder if they were any good.

Yes, give and take a bit here and a bit there, the bottom line is we do love a lot of the things that they sell here. Rest assured that I shall be going back there again…and again!

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.

The hope for better days…

It’s Christmas, 2021 today and for all it’s worth, a very Blessed and Happy Christmas…

…from us…

…here in Sibu to all of you wherever you may be. Joy to the world!

It hasn’t been a very good year, has it? Just like last year, we joined the church service online – we are still #stayingsafe #stayingwell and #stayinghome, nothing much else that we can do other than to hope and pray for better days ahead.

I did not send any Christmas cards this year. Last year, I had some stamps in the house so I was able to send a few to the older ones in my family. I did not have to enter the small and crowded post office – I could just drop them into the post box outside. I can’t do that this year as I do not have any more stamps even though I still have a lot of Christmas cards, the ones that I bought and also those from the Mouth & Foot Artists. Hopefully, by this time next year, I can get back to my routine of sending a card to all and sundry – I must say that I did derive a lot of pleasure from doing that.

I received this Santa door sign via courier service from my cousin in KL and earlier this week, this lovely Christmas card…

…came in the mail from another cousin of mine in Kuching…

…thank you so much to her for keeping me and my family in her thoughts.

And just when I thought I shall not be getting anymore this year, another beautiful Christmas card came in yesterday, the one in the first photograph above, just in time for the joyous occasion. Thank you so much to all of you too, Uncle Paul, Auntie Irene and cousins Sabrina, Imelda and Jude in Kuching. At a time like this, it sure means a lot to know that there are people some place somewhere who are thinking of us and wishing us well.

Earlier this week, on Tuesday, the 21st of December, it was the Dongzhi or Winter Solstice Festival and everyone enjoyed eating the tang yuan (汤圆), the glutinous rice balls, that is.

I guess most people were having those colourful ones served in sweet syrup…

…and this year, I managed to get hold of a tub at our neighbourhood fruits and vegetables sundry shop in the next lane from my house…

…at only RM3.00 each. I never used to like these as they were always so chewy, so rubbery that they were very difficult to chew and to swallow, so much so that I felt like choking when eating the balls. However, these were really very nice – whoever made them did a really good job. I had no problem eating them plus the syrup had this lovely pandan (screwpine leaves) fragrance and was not really sweet.

At the same time, I also bought these…

…from the shop -the special flour mix and the crushed peanut.

I rolled the flour mix into balls…

…and dropped them into hot boiling water to cook. It is very easy actually – once, you see the balls floating up to the top, you would know they are ready.

I mixed the crushed peanut with a bit of low GI sugar in a bowl and once the balls were cooked, I fished them out of the water and drained them well before dropping them into the bowl…

…and coating them well with the peanut and the sugar.

All these years, somebody else would do the cooking, my late mum a long time ago and later, my missus or somebody would buy some from the wet market – I just ate. Of course I was mighty pleased with myself. I sure did a very good job…

…and everybody enjoyed the tang yuan that I made.

They say these peanut-coated ones are the Foochow version and I must say it is slowly gaining popularity – more and more people are saying that they prefer them like this. There is also the savoury Hakka version but looking at the photos, I am not sure whether I will like them that way, the plain chewy/rubbery balls and other ingredients in some clear soup. Well, if you have tried it before and you like it, do let us know in your comment below, thanks.

Well, New Year’s Day is just a week away. Fingers crossed, our prayers will be answered and our hope for better days ahead will come true! Let us pray!

Where are you now…

Some will swear by this guy’s kampua mee…

…and declare that his is the best in town. He was here a long time ago…and then he moved here.

Well, it so happened that the other day, my good friend/ex-classmate, Robert, called me and he mentioned in passing that he has moved again and this…

Ooopsss!!! Excuse the spelling error!

…is his current location.

I loved his pian sip…

…when I tried his that first time at where he originally was but I was somewhat disappointed with both the noodles and the dumplings the last time I had them at his previous station.

That, however, did not deter me from driving over to his sparkling new shop to give what he dished out another chance. The kampua mee (RM3.50, regular) was very nice and the serving was huge!…

It had the authentic old school kampua mee taste with its lard and shallot oil fragrance that many true-blue lovers of the noodles would insist upon.

Yes, I did hear people saying that noodles in general have gone up in price here in Sibu, RM3.50 now but personally, I do not mind it one bit if they jack up the prices. After all, what has not gone up in price? More importantly, they should maintain the quantity and quality and ensure value for money and not shortchange their customers. Besides, RM3.50 is still very cheap compared to the other towns and cities in Sarawak and even more so if we look at how much they charge a plate in West Malaysia and Singapore and countries overseas.

The complimentary soup wasn’t too bad…

…a bit on the mild side but it was good enough for me to wash everything down especially now that I do not order any drinks at the coffee shops since I am on a low-sugar diet.

Yes, the pian sip (RM3.50, regular)…

…were indeed really great, very generous with the meat and there was clearly a lot more lean, unlike a lot of places where the dumplings are somewhat mushy because of the excessive fat in the filling.

It seems that there is an option if you drop by here to eat – you can choose the smaller servings at only RM2.50. I did not order that so I would not know how small the small is. Maybe I’ll try that next time…

BIG GOURMENT (2.300756, 111.843492) is located at Lorong Dr Wong Soon Kai 4D, facing Bizmillah Cafe, in the blocks right behind Kim Hock Supermarke along Jalan Dr Wong Soon Kai (formerly Jalan Pedada).

Hard…

These are…

…teng khak hay, translation: hard shell prawns. I see them all the time at my favourite fish and seafood stall not far from my house but I never bought any. Usually they are cheaper than the pek hay (white prawns)…

…the seawater variety that I will always buy but I get put off by the stronger smell and because of the very hard shell, they are difficult to devein.

We had those very fresh ones in the above photograph when we went out for dinner with my good friend/ex-classmate, Robert and yes, they were very nice plus they were huge too! Usually, they are very small, not worth a second glance.

Well, it so happened that my missus wanted to buy some lettuce – they did not have those very curly ones…

…at the shops and stalls in the next lane and I did tell her before that they sell those hydroponic ones at the shop behind that fish & seafood stall that I frequent.

She never ventured into that part of the woods before but she managed to get there and she got what she wanted. I was not in the least surprised that she strolled over to the stall…

…to have a look and ended up buying a few kilos of these teng khak prawns at RM18.00 a kilo.

She cooked half, hip eyam (covered with salt) like what we had at the dinner above and even though they were not as big, they were very fresh and we did enjoy them a lot.

She cooked the other half, the bigger ones, with pineapples…

…the other day and it was really very good.

Usually, she would cook this dish using the freshwater udang galah…

…but since we’ve been avoiding the central market in town all this while throughout the pandemic, we have not bought any for almost two years now.

Much to our delight, it was very compatible with these teng khak hay…

I sure enjoyed it a lot that day! I certainly would want to buy more should I happen to see any more big and fresh ones at the stall.

Incidentally, our rambutan tree at the back of our house is bearing fruit…

I have neglected it for so long now and last year, because of the excessive trimming when I was plucking the fruits the last time around, it did not bear any. I did see a few not long ago, very very few way up high and I just assumed that there would not be many this year.

Much to my surprise, my missus went and plucked and got quite a lot…

…enough for her to enjoy herself and also to give to our neighbours. Personally, I am not into those – I just had two or three that day and I ended up coughing the whole night through. Old folks say they are heaty (ching juak).

There are some more up in the tree – there should be enough for another harvest. After that, I must do something to enhance its growth, add new soil and fertilisers perhaps. We’ll see!

I’ve been busy…

I did mention in my blogpost the other day that my girl has been keeping herself busy during this end-of-year school break.

The other day, she cooked the very nice gnocchi and one afternoon, she made these lovely butter cookies…

I don’t think she ever made cookies before – that has always been her mum’s territory. Well, if she did, I jolly well can’t remember.

They turned out really great as far as the taste was concerned, nicer than those imported ones. The only thing that she needs to work on would be the shape – they were not perfectly round! I heard the mum nagging in the kitchen – what she would do, what she would not do, bla…bla…bla… I guess she’s the expert – like I said, it’s her territory. I just ate! LOL!!!

She made quite a lot, enough extra to fill this tub…

…and give to my sister to try.

Incidentally, my friends’ kids made these German cookies…

…and if you’re here in Sibu and would like to grab some for Christmas or Chinese New Year and to give them a bit of motivation and support, perhaps you can contact the mum via her Facebook page to place your orders. I’m not sure but if you drop by the shop (next to UOB Bank), you may be able to buy them off the shelves there.

In the meantime, my girl also made these rolls…

I don’t think she followed any recipe – it was her own creation.

I saw some chopped onions and imitation crab sticks. Those had been in the freezer for a long time now so my guess was she wanted to get rid of them. There were some mashed potatoes and she used the leftover spring roll skin from the last time we had a popiah lunch and dinner.

I did not see it myself but she said that she also added some curry powder, one red chili and five green cili padi. Gosh!!! No wonder it…

…was very spicy! We were fine with that as we are perfectly ok with things that are spicy so of course, we enjoyed eating those, piping hot from the oven.