Standing on my own two feet…

I used to drop by quite frequently when my girl was helping out at the centre, teaching the kids with special needs but we have not been there since their fund-raising food fair in 2015.

I did read about their more recent developments and yes, that included a very big and impressive building in addition to the old/original one that has been around since a long time ago. If I am not wrong, this was made possible by our own local philanthropists, and I vaguely remember that our Sarawak government did chip in to help as well. Perhaps that is why there is this dedication in that building, a tribute to the late Adenan Satem, the Chief Minister of Sarawak before the present one…

To the right hand side of the building, Block B…

…on the ground floor is the café/servery…

From what I gathered, they train those special individuals here…

…so they can learn some skills like cooking and making drinks, for instance, that may enable them to stand on their own two feet.

The coffee is VERY nice, so I’ve been told and yes, I did see a glass being served to one of the tables…

It was BLACK and the froth on top was so very thick. Unfortunately I am off coffee these days so I did not order a glass to try. The rojak looked very good too.

I was looking at some leaflets on the counter to see what would be available here – there did not seem to be a lot. I just saw things like half boiled eggs and toast, a chicken burger and some drinks. The lady gave me a list of suggestions in Mandarin and I just picked the char chu mee…

…the Foochow-style noodle soup, not that I am particularly fond of it but I thought I would just order something to help them out a bit.

Somehow or other, I missed the sign…

…that they had hanging there or I would probably order the mee mamak or nasi lemak from their special menu.

The noodles I ordered were only RM5.00 a bowl and yes, I quite liked the taste even though it wasn’t exactly like the old school authentic ones around town. There was no meat though, just tofu puffs, carrot and green vegetables (sawi) plus one poached egg…

Service was good – everyone was so cordial and polite and I do feel that it is a great place to hang out for people like those retirees who are always at one food court in town, once a week and they would sit there for hours chit-chatting and catching up with one another’s lives. Parking is not a problem here and it is free and I am pretty sure they can sit here as long as they like. Opening hours are from 7.00 a.m. until 4.00 p.m. excluding weekends – yes, unfortunately, they do not open on Saturdays and Sundays.

As I was walking around, I saw these Christmas trees made from empty cough syrup bottles…

I think there are lights in some, if not all of the bottles…

– I bet that would look really nice when they turn them on at night.

I saw a lot of those special individuals all over the place doing odd jobs such as cleaning the windows, sweeping and so on and there was a HUGE crowd at the children’s clinic that morning. It made me feel sad somewhat as it dawned on me there and then that there are so many less fortunate people in the world.

As I was leaving, I spotted these fried wantons…

…on the counter, RM4.00 for a bag of 5. I grabbed a few to take home for our lunch and dinner and yes, they were VERY nice. Perhaps they should put it on their menu whereby they will fry a few at a time when there are orders – served piping hot from the wok, they would be even nicer, I’m sure.

Honestly, we have so much to be thankful for and we should do our bit, however small, to help those in need. In the case of these special individuals, I am sure they would appreciate it very much if we could, at least, try to drop by here for a bite to eat once in a while.

AGAPE CENTRE (2.272976, 111.851193)…

…is located at No. 16, Jalan Alan, a short distance from its junction with Jalan Stadium where the Bukit Lima swimming pool is.