So glad to see you again…

Richard was in Form 5 when I joined the school where I retired in 2007. He joined the staff there as a temporary teacher for a while after he obtained his degree at a local university, after which he want to Liverpool in the UK to do his Masters.

Fate had it that our paths would cross again when we were on the same flight to KL – he was attached to a bank in Bintulu then and I was on my way to attend a meeting as the area co-ordinator for the MUET Oral Examination. Of course, we shared a cab from KLIA to KL and we got together that night for dinner/supper and also for drinks (at The Ship, Bukit Bintang). We met again when I dropped by Bintulu while I was carrying out my aforementioned duties but we never met again after that.

I managed get in touch with him, now married, happily settled and residing in JB, blessed with a son and a daughter via Facebook after a very very long time and the other day, I saw some snapshots of his kid’s birthday so I dropped a comment to extend my birthday greetings. Much to my surprise, Richard responded to let me know he would be coming back to Sibu in a few days’ time (now that the borders are open once again) and he would like to meet up sometime.

That was how we ended up here…

…for lunch that day together with his ex-classmate (extreme right) and his childhood neighbour/primary school friend (extreme left) who turned out to be the owner of the place. That leaves Richard and I in that snapshot, no prize for guessing which one I am- I’m the old and fat one, of course!!! LOL!!!

This teriyaki chicken noodles platter…

…that we had was very nice. I particularly loved the taste of the noodles especially but anything teriyaki never did excite me.

I wanted to try this Vietnamese chicken chop with lemon grass…

…and this too was great but not exceptionally so. I wouldn’t mind if the lemon grass and whatever herbs and spices used had been stronger but that might not go down to well with the other customers.

The vinegar fried kway teow…

…was special all right, nice in its own way but I spotted Penang char kway teow on the menu – I would want to try that the next time I drop by here.

Out of the four things we ordered that afternoon, my vote goes to their creamy tom yam fish bihun…

The boss said that was one of their signature dishes. It was sour enough, not too sour, in my opinion, just right and it was not over-creamy so I did not feel I had had enough after having a bit of it. I certainly would want to order this again.

We had a great time catching up with one another’s lives and yes, Richard, I was so glad to see you again after all these years. Thank you for the lunch treat and hopefully, we can get together again when you come back to Sibu, come Chinese New Year. In the meantime, take care and may God bless you and your loved ones.

烤大爷 Mr. Cow (2.306031, 111.849136) is located at 2, Lorong Pahlawan 7e, among the shops opposite Everwin, Sibu Bus Terminal.