My sister dropped by here for the noodles and the lady boss asked her about me – she was wondering how I was doing since she had not seen me for a while. I thought that was rather sweet of her to show some concern for one of her customers.
We had not gone there since October, if I am not mistaken, and the other day, we decided to drop by for my favourite pek chang kay (steamed/poached chicken)…
I do enjoy theirs a lot more than the rest here.
We were given these…
– the one on the right looked like an attempt to come out with something like the dip they will give you at all the chicken rice places. I don’t know if it was any good or not because we let my missus have both of the dips – she can’t survive without chili! LOL!!!
…my girl’s favourite and frankly, so far, we have yet to come across any elsewhere that is nicer than this one.
For our vegetable dishes, we had the bitter gourd with taucheo (fermented beans)…
…and the cangkok manis fried with egg…
We did not feel like having any soup that day so we did not order any.
The bill came up to RM77.00, excluding the rice and the drinks. I did expect that as we asked for two meat dishes – usually, we would just have one and a vegetable dish and a soup and the total would be a bit less. Never mind! Most importantly, we enjoyed everything and we sure would be coming back again sometime.
Y2K CAFE 千禧餐馆 (2.294220, 111.825753)…
…is located at No. 16, Jalan Tunku Osman, 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.
We did not cook up a storm nor were we planning to go anywhere for dinner on Christmas night but my girl wanted to give her cousin, my niece, a treat before she went back to Singapore the following day. It seems that my brother-in-law is so into the Indonesian ayam penyet and all those these days and since this is my girl’s favourite café in town for their North Indian biryani rice, we decided to go there that night.
They arranged a table for the six in the inner section of the restaurant where the decor evidently reflected the Indonesian…
…as well as the Indian influences…
…in their menu…
We shared the biryani rice, the masala lamb (RM27.00)…
…and also the butter chicken curry (RM21.00)…
Usually, each serving would be enough for two so we were quite sure that there was enough to go round. We could always order some more if there wasn’t enough.
We also ordered some garlic naan (RM18.00 for 3 pieces)…
…plus one plain one (RM5.00) because my niece wanted that, to enjoy with the delightful gravy in the curries.
We specially ordered the ayam bakar berempah (RM16.00)…
…from the Indonesian menu for my brother-in-law and it sure swept him off his feet. He kept singing praises of how the chicken was bursting with flavours, so so nice…and he and his wife absolutely loved the grilled brinjal with the peanut sauce.
I also asked for the ayam opor…
…and the kalio ayam…
…without the rice (RM28.00 for the two). Usually, there would be some mixed vegetables by the side if you order the kalio ayam set – it sure looked like they will only give you the chicken if you ask for that.
With the drinks, the total came up to RM139.00 altogether and the nice and generous boss gave my girl a discount and charged her RM135.00 only. We sure had a great time chit-chatting away in that section of the restaurant, all by ourselves. There were some customers on the other side, all Chinese. Usually, there would be a mix of Malay, Indians and other races.
The CAFE IND (2.290813, 111.829294)…
…is located along Laichee Lane, right behind one block of shops facing the main road (Jalan Kampung Nyabor) where the Bank Simpanan Nasional, Sibu branch (2.290561, 111.829071), is.
I enjoyed it so much that I could not resist going for a second helping of rice. It went so very well with the rich and thick and super-delicious gravy. I know! I know! I should abstain from red meat but never mind! After all, it was Christmas! The oxtail was fall off the bone tender and was simply out of this world!
My missus also grilled the gourmet sausages…
…that she bought from here when we stopped by there that day for lunch and yes, they were very nice too. Yes, I should refrain from eating processed meat too but they did claim that theirs were free from preservatives, no nitrates or whatever…and anyway, I only took a bit.
My missus did not go out marketing but she managed to put together this bowl of salad…
…and we had our family’s traditional salad dressing to toss it with and it sure was good, better than most, if not all, of the salads at the cafés and restaurants in town.
My girl cooked this very nice mushroom soup…
…which was definitely as good as the better ones around town and as always, we asked my sister to join the three of us for our simple lunch that day. She brought along this pumpkin cake loaf with cinnamon cream cheese frosting & a little sprinkle of chocolate flakes…
…that we could enjoy for dessert. It was sweet, of course! I’m sure with pumpkin as the main ingredient, it would be sweet even without adding any sugar. Anyway, I just had a slice, that was all.
Ooopsss!!! I forgot completely about the panettone that my cousin made and gave to me. It sure looks like I shall have to save that for New Year’s Eve…or for Chinese New Year – that’s just round the corner, mind you!
Yes, it was Christmas Eve and no, we did not have anything planned. Things kind of simmered down after my cousins and family left town. My niece, the one working in Singapore, who flew in that night on the direct flight here, was still in town and she asked us out for dinner but we said we would be going to church that evening so we all met for lunch here instead.
We went there once and we did check them out at their former location as well but we were not impressed with the food nor the prices, both times! My niece went there a few times with her friends when she was back home and she obviously liked the place a lot.
We had this lychee pork…
…which was very nice and we loved their salted fish pork belly in a claypot…
…was really good but one is probably not enough – we’d definitely order two at least the next time we drop by here. After all, my girl loves the vegetable a lot. For one thing, I noticed that it was done differently from what we had the previous time we were here – they probably had a new chef at the helm and that was why everything did seem a lot nicer than before.
The mixed vegetable dish…
…was all right. I really liked the blue & white ceramic crockery that they used here and none was chipped unlike at some places around here, those no class at all ones around town…or worse, the ones still using those horrendous gaudily coloured plastic plates that even some cheap coffee shops and chu char restaurants have the good sense to abandon for good!!!
These must be the Hakka yam balls…
…that my regular reader and commentor, Irene, in Kuching was telling me about that day. They tasted like the skin of the or nee (yam puffs) but they did not have any filling inside. I wonder if the Hakka abacus are anything like these – we can’t get those here so I can’t get to try them.
The pineapple fried rice…
…was good even though there were only two prawns in the dish. Well, that was supposed to be an individual serving – they should make it more flexible and allow diners to order bigger servings depending on the number of people there are in the group.
This pork lard crusts & egg rice…
…however, stole the show! It did not look like much but you pour in their special sauce and break the egg yolks and mix everything together thoroughly before you start eating. I did not expect it and was pleasantly surprised that it was so good, nicer than the pineapple fried rice.
Well, the food certainly was a whole lot nicer than what we had here before and the bill for all that we had for the 6 of us came up to around RM229.00 which I guess was pretty reasonable. We would love to come back again, that’s for sure.
In the meantime, another cousin of mine from Kuching came to town and she dropped by my place to see me – that certainly was so sweet and thoughtful of her. She gave me this awesome fruit cake, so very soft and moist and super intoxicating…
…thank you so much, Liz!
That evening, we went to the church that we would frequent every week…
…for the evening service, just like what we did all this while every year…
*Ronnie Morris’ 2013 photograph*
…without fail and yes, we sat at more or less at that same place too! Old habits die hard!
THE BLUE DOOR DINE & WINE (2.291959, 111.819462)…
…is now located at No. 83, Jalan Lau King Howe, right below The Win Hotel, across the road from the Waterfront Residences or the Sibu Twin Towers.
The Sunday before my cousins and their entourage came to town, we dropped by the café for lunch because I wanted to discuss with Andy and make sure everything was going all right in preparation for the dinner I would be hosting there that Wednesday night.
All this while, I’ve enjoyed their Bangladeshi lamb curry but I never tried their chicken that they have added to their menu. That was why I ordered that…
…that day to see if it was to my liking or not. After all, I am supposed to stay off red meat these days so I can’t have the lamb any longer. It was nice, very strong on the spices added but somehow, I still prefer the lamb.
My missus insisted on having their kacangma chicken…
…even though I told her that we would be having that for our dinner in a few days’ time. Of course, she enjoyed that to the max!
My girl had their beef bolognese spaghetti…
This would be on the original menu if one were to hold a buffet dinner here and yes, they do it really well with their own-made bolognese sauce using fresh tomatoes, different from all the rest elsewhere – those would come across to me like bottled tomato sauce and are not to my liking. I asked for that to be changed as beef is red meat and I am avoiding that as well so in the end, we had the creamy mushroom sauce pasta which was nice too.
The following day, Monday, my girl and the mum went out and I told them to go for lunch themselves and not to worry about me – I would grab a bite to eat somewhere on my own. They went to this place that we have been to a few times now and they had the mushroom soup…
Yes, they enjoyed all three so it sure looks like we will be going back there time and time again whenever we feel like it.
In the meantime, some friends of mine dropped by this Sabah fish noodle place that we went to try not too long ago at this coffee shop…
They did not have any with the milky soup when we went and I saw in the photographs that my friends had that there so of course, we headed straight back there for lunch that Wednesday.
My girl had the milky tomato soup (RM14.90)…
…with fried fish while I had the one with salted vegetables (RM11.90)…
My girl said what she had was all right but it was not anything to get excited about. I did not enjoy mine very much. What I had on our previous visit, the clear salted vegetable soup (and the fish too) was very much more to my liking.
Business did not look very good – there was a couple at another table, that was all! I guess the prices are not very encouraging so people would think twice about coming here to eat this. My missus asked for the Foochow fried noodles (RM6.00)…
…from the people at the chu-char kitchen at the back of the coffee shop and she said it was nice and of course, the price, being less than RM10.00, would be regarded as a lot more reasonable for anyone thinking about grabbing a bite to eat outside.
PAYUNG CAFÉ (2.284049, 111.833014) is located at No.20F, Lanang Road, Sibu, Malaysia, back to back with the multi-storey car park of the Kingwood Hotel which faces the majestic Rejang River while CHEFWAY CAFE(2.300560, 111.843429 is at No. 18 & 20, Ground Floor, Lorong Dr. Wong Soon Kai 4D and JIN JIN CAFE (2.312977, 111.847257) is located past Delta Mall, if you are coming from town, at the corner among the shops at the junction of Jalan Gambir and Jalan Dr Wong Soon Kai, formerly Jalan Pedada.
This guy was here before. At one time, everybody said that his kampua mee was the best in Sibu. I did go and try but I was not all that impressed. I did like his pian sip (meat dumplings) a lot though. Then he moved here and I did go to eat, twice and both times, it did not get me all that excited. After he had moved to his present location, that side of the coffee shop closed down and somebody else took over the kampua mee stall in what was left of the shop.
In the meantime, the char kway teow (fried flat rice noodles) people, my girl’s favourite when she was little, moved in from here after moving here, there and everywhere all over town while the brother of the guy took over at their former location.
I never dropped by there ever since the former kampua mee guy left but a foodie friend of mine seems to be quite a regular. He would share the photographs of what he eats there everytime and sing their praises to the skies. No, it was not my intention to go there that morning – I was driving past and on the spur of the moment, I made up my mind to just stop there and check things out.
There was an old lady running the kampua mee stall, assisted by a younger man, probably the son. I ordered her kampua mee and a bowl of her pian sip soup…
The kampua mee (RM4.00) looked really good…
…but the strands all stuck together when I started to eat it. The whole thing came up like a sanggul (hair bun) and it took quite a bit of effort to toss the noodles to loosen the strands before I could start eating.
That may happen when the noodles are not rinsed in the process of cooking to remove the excess starch but my guess was it was sometime after it was cooked before it was brought to my table and I was busy taking all the photographs, so I did not get down to eating it right away or perhaps, it needed a bit more oil/lard…
I thought the overall taste was kind of mild so I asked for chili sauce and it was quite all right after that.
Actually, it was the pian sip (meat dumplings) in my foodie friend’s photographs that caught my attention. They looked really very nice and there seemed to be quite a lot in a bowl compared to the ones elsewhere. That was why I asked for a bowl (RM4.00)…
…to check it out first hand.
I must say that I sure was impressed when it was served. The dumplings…
…were as good as they looked. The skin was perfect – translucent, smooth and very thin, the kind that would slide down your throat without any need for a lot of biting and chewing and there was just the right amount of meat filling. This is a noodle dish so the main focus should be the skin and there should not be too much meat in the dumplings.
The soup, however, was like the kampua mee, rather mild/bland. I was thankful that it was not overloaded with msg so I quite enjoyed it actually. Perhaps a richer and stronger bone stock soup would make it a bit better.
Due credit must be given for the use of ceramic plates and bowls, not those horrendous gaudily-coloured plastic ones – it is about time everybody gets rid of those! Parking is not a problem and it is free plus there is no traffic jam/congestion around here. On the whole, I thought this is a convenient place to stop by for a bite to eat but considering that the ones round the corner are cheaper by RM1.00, RM3.00 a bowl, perhaps one would prefer to just go over there instead.
ORIENT CANTEEN(2.289916, 111.835333)…
…faces Jalan Pedada, to the extreme left of the four-shop block right across the road from the shops where the Sunday Market formerly was on weekends. It is accessible via Jalan Tong San
It’s Christmas Day, the 25th of December, 2022, so a very Happy & Blessed Christmas, everybody! May God bless us abundantly in the coming year.
“May we share our hearts and give ourselves Feel the hope in helping someone else…“
Moving on to the post proper today, this is actually a bit backdated, before my visitors came to town and I was caught up with the things happening when they were here.
…came in no time at all and I noticed the chip in the plate right away! Of course, I was put off by that.
My missus had their ayam bakar balado whatever, extra spicy (RM16.96)…
…and yes, her plate was chipped too!
Thankfully, mine was all right…
…but no, for an upscale restaurant, not some cheap and miserable no-class-at-all coffee shop, I simply cannot turn a blind eye to that! It gives the place such a bad impression – they simply must tell their workers to be a lot more careful when handling the ceramic crockery.
As for the food, I’m afraid we were not all that pleased with what we were served that day. It was bad enough that the chicken in my lalapan ayam madu (RM15.37)…
…was way too sweet and the texture of the meat felt like it had been boiled/braised/stewed for too long until it was almost fall-0ff-the-bone tender. My missus also felt the same about hers and my girl too as far as her fish was concerned. They complained that they all felt like those things that had been reheated one time too many! Yes, my girl did say that what I had that day on the other side was very obviously freshly cooked and tasted a lot nicer!
I love places where they wrap the rice in banana leaf and steam it as that would give the rice a special fragrance but mine looked kind of withered and discoloured…
I certainly hope they used an old leaf, not one that they had used before and had recycled to use over and over again. If they run out of some nice green ones, they might as well forget about wrapping the rice in the leaves altogether.
Yes, they still have the main attraction here – the three sambals…
…but they no longer serve them in those very nice traditional stone mortars that they were using when they first opened this place. They were all very nice but I prefer the sambal belacan, the one in the black saucer that came in the middle of the plate with the chicken. The ladies loved all three and we sure enjoyed them with the cucumber and the blanched vegetables as well as the rice.
The ladies had their teh tarek (RM4.24 per glass) but if I am not wrong, their glass was a little smaller than what they used on the other side. The total for our lunch that day came up to RM72.10. They did seem a little under-staffed here even though the place was very much bigger – there were a lot more waiting at the tables on the other side but it did not matter much as service was prompt and efficient. Nonetheless, it is pretty obvious that if we were to come back here again, we would not hesitate to go and enjoy what’s on the other side.
Yes, there were some buskers providing some light entertainment like the other day but instead of that girl in a wheelchair, there was another girl and a couple of boys performing. The girl was not too bad, not as good as the one before but I quite liked her slowed down version of The Reason…and she was a lot better than the boys – their singing lacked the enthusiasm and even their rendition of Rindu Bayangan sounded lacklustre.
CABE IJO2.307983, 111.820602)…
…is located at No. 71 & No. 73, Ground Floor, Lorong Kuda 2, Kampung Nangka in the vicinity of the entrance to the Bisonte Grocer & Deli.
I took the opportunity to host a dinner party for my cousins and their entourage while they were here on a very brief visit. The Dongzhi (冬至/Winter Solstice) Festival was on the 22nd of December this year but they were leaving town that day. That was why I picked the night before, the 21st, for our get together and of course, for the venue, I chose to have it here as I was very sure they would enjoy the food served…a lot!
In conjunction with the aforementioned festival, I asked for the tang yuan (湯圓) balls instead of the desserts they had on their menu and there were the ones coated with crushed peanut…
If I am not mistaken, I did hear people saying that this is the Sibu Foochow-style dry version, quite unlike those colourful balls served in sweet sugar syrup.
…as well. They looked like ondeh-ondeh (kuih Melaka) but they did not have the gula Melaka filling. Inside, there was that same grated coconut with a sprinkling of sugar that was used as the coating on the outside. It really tasted very nice – I thought it came across like putu mayam to me.
So there we were, 21 of us altogether…
…at the buffet table before the feasting began. I also invited my in-laws to join us but my niece, the one working in Singapore, was flying in on the direct flight from the island republic and it was delayed so they arrived a little bit later.
…then and they enjoyed the dish so much that even before they came, one of them asked me if they would be having those for the dinner. Needless to say, they loved it too!
Another dish that attracted their attention was the tetek or what they call the tapioca leaves/sweet potato dish in Indonesia…
…and indeed, it was very good too! Peter also cooked us his paku (wild jungle fern) in santan (coconut mlk)…
…for us on the house!
No, that’s not all! There was also the otak-otak…
…specially made in smaller individual servings and the chicken satay…
…with their own made peanut sauce…
…and we also had another late addition that I requested for, their mushroom roll…
For the salad dishes, we had the Payung rojak…
…and the pomelo salad…
I included their creamy mushroom sauce pasta (in place of the beef bolognese spaghetti since I am off red meat)…
…for the kids in case they were not into those dishes that we all had. I guess nobody else went for that so there was a lot left over and we had to tapao it all home.
I brought the rambutans…
…from the tree behind my house in the garden and I also went to the central market and bought those fruits that not everybody can get anywhere and everywhere – some terbelus (engkala in Malay)…
…and dabai…
…and we had their jelly pisang…
…for dessert.
I brought along the beautiful fruit cake…
…that my cousin from Bintulu gave me the day before to share and everyone praised it to the skies. I had my share of that the first time she gave me some so this time around, I thought I would let the others taste it too. For one thing, it was sweet and I should not indulge in it too much on my own, not when I am on a no/less sugar diet.
I was telling my cousins the night before that I could not wear all my trousers anymore because I had lost so much weight – it would take two of me to get into one! I managed to buy a pair from a bundle stall in the vicinity when I went out for lunch here that day for only RM5.00. It looked extremely small but when I tried it upon reaching home, it fitted me like a glove. Unfortunately, all my belts were way too big so I could not use them with the pants. Well, the next thing I knew, my cousins went to one of the malls in town and got me this branded belt, my first ever…
…and an exercise band, thank you so so much, and passed them to me at the dinner that night!
Gosh!!! We certainly had a lot to eat and obviously, everyone loved all that was served so there wasn’t all that much left over for us to tapao home (except maybe, the pasta). They all said that the food at the Chinese restaurant the previous night was awesome, so very good but what we had here was in a league of its own, not available elsewhere. Service was, as always, excellent and we all had a jolly good time, feasting and sitting there chatting, catching up with lost times, thanks so much to Peter and the wonderful people at Payung!
Thank you, all for coming all the way to Sibu. It sure was great to see everybody again and I had a terrific time. God bless, all and take care.
P.S.: If anyone is keen on holding a party like what we had that night, he or she can refer to this earlier post of mine for more information, especially regarding how to go about it.
PAYUNG CAFÉ (2.284049, 111.833014)…
…is located at No.20F, Lanang Road, Sibu, Malaysia, back to back with the multi-storey car park of the Kingwood Hotel which faces the majestic Rejang River.
In my previous post, I mentioned that my cousins and their entourage came to town and it so happened that the eldest was celebrating her 42nd wedding anniversary on the 20th of December and the youngest sister, who was in Sibu at the end of October and fell in love with the dinner we had here, insisted on going back there for another round to celebrate the very special occasion.
We ordered this beautiful cake…
…from Marcus (Delta Lane 3) specially for the loving couple for the symbolic cake-cutting to start off the dinner.
We had the hot plate combination again…
…and this time around, I told them to leave out those dumplings with the green skin. They were nice but because we did not eat them all up quickly and because of the fire down below to keep everything warm, the skin got stuck to the stainless steel plate and was burnt pitch black. I sure enjoyed everything and the soup/sauce too even though I would prefer the spinach they had that last time instead of the broccoli.
When I went to make the reservation, I was told that they would no longer serve the pork ribs the way we had it that previous time here so I asked for what we had the first few times we were here – the ribs coated with some nice and sticky sauce…
…with the pickled jellyfish by the side…
As always, the latter was a hit but the ribs could have been better – they were not really fall-off-the-bone tender this time around.
My cousin wanted the yam basket/mixed vegetables…
…so I included that in my order and yes, they enjoyed it all right.
We had this lamb dish…
…when we came for dinner here with my niece, the one working in Singapore and I thought it was very good. That was why I had it in the menu for the dinner but it turned out that the “Aussies” are not into lamb. How ironic! Especially when the lamb would be so nice and fresh over there. Well, it didn’t really matter as everybody else loved it – I overheard someone saying that it did not feel like it was lamb! I guess that was because there wasn’t any of that smell of lamb that would put off quite a lot of people.
We had the cod fish again, deep fried…
…and yes, it was good. and so were the butter prawns…
…even though I did not get the creamy version that I asked for yet once again. I even brought along a photograph to show them but unfortunately, it all fell on deaf ears, it seemed.
I tapao-ed their Fuzhou fried noodles…
…home once and even though it did not taste quite like the real thing, we thought it was very nice. Given a choice, I wouldn’t have included it in the menu that night but my cousin insisted – the grandkids from Down Under seemed to enjoy it a lot and no, I did not hear anybody complain so I guess it was all right.
Another cousin, residing in Bintulu, drove over with her hubby to join us that evening and she brought me some of her very awesome fruit cake…
…that she gave me the last time she was in town and we got to meet for breakfast and I loved it so much! Thank you so much for the thought and the lovely gesture.
The dishes came out very fast and service was excellent! We asked them to help cut the cake and distribute it to everybody and they did it so very nicely – we all got a slice each on a little plate. The servings were huge as always even though I asked them to cook for 6 only per table of 10 so we had to ask them to tapao the leftovers to take home and yes, they did everything for us too. I did ask my cousin and she said that dinner was RM515.00 per table, not including the drinks and they thought it was really cheap and so worth it!
Yes, we had a group photograph that night taken for memory’s sake…
Everyone looked very happy in it and I sure am glad to say that I seemed a whole lot better, very thin now and old but not so sickly as in some recent photographs that I had taken.
Thanks, on behalf of all in my family, to my cousin for the scrumptious dinner treat. A Happy Anniversary once again and may God bless the two of you with many more in the years ahead. Cheers!!!
The GRAND WONDERFUL RESTAURANT is right beside theGRAND WONDERFUL FOOD COURT (2.309601, 111.845163)…
…to the left, in that same building where the GRAND WONDERFUL HOTEL is located, along Jalan Pipit, off Jalan Dr Wong Soon Kai, on your right. You can also go in via Jalan Pipit from Jalan Pahlawan – go straight ahead till you get to it on your left.
I think I did mention here and there that I was expecting some folks to come by this way on a visit and yes, they came that day – three cousins (children of my late uncle, my mum’s older brother), one from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah and two from Kuching. One of the latter two brought her husband along and her two children, both residing in Perth, Australia now and one of them brought her two children – I was at her wedding some years ago in Penang. Three generations altogether!
I met them upon arrival and they passed to me a whole lot of stuff…
…that they brought all the way. You can see the two bottles of tuak from my uncle and his family in Kuching – his wife, my auntie, makes the best tuak, the ethnic Dayak traditional rice wine. We ran out of ours – no more in the house so I asked the daughter, my cousin, if she could send me one…and they gave me two! Now my missus can cook her kacang ma chicken – it is also very nice with tuak instead of the pek chiew thow (Chinese rice wine) and I can cook my steamed cincaluk tuak chicken as well.
One of the cousins who came gave me her own homemade tempoyak (fermented durian)…
We can get the Jakar sio bee (meat dumplings) all over Sibu but the packaging is different. My cousin said this one is the real thing, much nicer. I’ve yet to try it though so I don’t really know still at this point in time.
These…
…came from Australia – I think they were from my niece and if I am not wrong, these…
…came from the mum. When there are so many people telling you so many things at one go, I guess it is inevitable that some may bounce off your head like rubber balls. LOL!!!
There is no mistaking, however, as to who this panettone…
…came from. This cousin of mine in Kuching (yes, another one) used to be very much into making sourdough bread before. Yes, she still makes those and other types of bread and yes, she now makes these panettones a lot too, especially for Christmas. From the look of things, they are in very high demand!
And this lovely Christmas card…
…came via poslaju from my cousin in KL. She never fails to send me one every year.
In the meantime, my sister took my girl and the mum to a Christmas gathering that her church prayer group was holding and some old friends of mine were hoping I would be there as well. Unfortunately, I was not feeling up to it that night and decided to sit it out. The wife cooks the best beef stew I’ve ever had, something like the one here and so much better than this one here that my girl said was so very Chinese. A long time ago, she used to cook it if there was any fund-raising food sale at the church and I would buy a whole lot of coupons just to buy and keep and eat slowly.
Well, they remembered it too and insisted that my girl took a bit…
…home for me to enjoy, thank you so much, Annie & Lawrence. That was so kind and thoughtful of the two of you!
And talking about beef stews, my cousin, the one from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah went to get the celebrated asam pedas oxtail at a leading hotel there. My blogger-friend, Monica, went to try it once when she was there and in her own words, “Sour and saucy with a mild warmth from the chili, it’s so luscious and addictive that we can’t resist picking it up and sucking the bones.”
Unfortunately, it was not available so he went to get it from somebody who is believed to be the one behind it all at the start but he has ventured out on his own, no longer with the hotel. He did send me the one from the hotel once and it was so so so good – let us see if this one is just as good or not. That would be one of those newspaper-wrapped packages in the first photograph. I certainly will blog about it when I have opened it, heated it up to eat and enjoy. You’ll stick around for that, won’t you?
To end this post of mine, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to everybody for everything! You’ve all made me so very happy! Life is so good!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 