: : Chicken Yee Sang : :

Friday night.

Wena : Eh! Better start making the yee sang before it goes bad.

Granny : Yalah! You lah! Always go out makan (eat). Never eat at home one.

Wena : Ok ok ok. Tomorrow, we go and get some roast chicken, carrot, cucumber and mangkuang (hikama).

Granny : I got mangkuang already. So, no need to buy.

Wena : Ok.

Saturday afternoon.

Wena : Ok, got all the barang (stuff) already.

Granny : Cannot lah! Your Ah Leng Kuku has gone fishing. Will not be back until Sunday lah!

Wena : Never mind. We eat on Sunday nite.

Sunday evening.

Wena : Eh! Need bigger plate if want to campur (mix) the Yee Sang together.

Granny : Haiya! Never mind lah! Just use a big pot lah. Me not fussy about the mixing lah! Huh! You think your Kukus (uncles) want to mix meh?

Wena : Ok then. Me and you mix it together lah.

Mix mix mix mix in a stainless steel pot.

Wena : (tasting) Hmm... tastes good.

Granny : (tasting) Yah. Not bad. Lucky we put only half to the bahan (stuff). So much to eat for only 4 people lah!

Suddenly, she bursts out laughing so hard.

Wena : Eh? Why you laughing?

Granny : If all of us sakit perut (stomach ache), not enough toilets in the house for everyone lah!

Dinner time.



Ah Tin Kuku : (tasting) Too sweet lah! And how come got 4 chicken dishes tonite ah? Want to die of bird flu, izzit? Got chicken yee sang, soy sauce chicken (leftovers), roast chicken (leftovers as well) and chicken feet soup! Doh!

Ah Leng Kuku : (tasting) Hmm... nice. (Takes a lot more).

As of 9:18 p.m., none of us are suffering from stomachaches. Yet. The night is still very young.

Thanks for the yee sang ingredients, Renee!

: : Tsui Ha Lau : :

Digging through my collection of unused pictures, I found a set that has never been put up so far. It was taken at a wedding dinner of one of my numerous work collegues. Think it was taken back in December 2004, just before I left for the USA.

The dinner was held at a very old (but yet still a firm favourite for wedding banquets) Chinese restaurant called Tsui Ha Lau. It is located along Ban Hock Road, next to Champagne Restaurant, opposite the Salvation Army hostel. Unfortunately, it's a non-halal restaurant so they serve pork, especially suckling pig. Anyway, here is the full review of the wedding dinner.



As part of the welcome, we were served peanuts and pickled cabbage (very sweet and sour! my teeth were chattering away). Needless to say, we were asking for 2nd helpings of the cabbage as all of us (8 at the table) were very hungry. It's typical of Malaysian timing that we always arrive late for appointments.



Once the bridal couple has entered the restaurant after welcoming all the guests, the first dish was served. It's usually a cold combination of little bites. The one we had was sweet and sour pork ribs, sweet and sour chicken and sotong (squid) balls (similar to fishballs and not the other kind lah! Clean your mind!)



Next on the list is the soup. I think we all had sharkfin soup. A note about sharkfin : these days, it is seldom served during a wedding reception because of the high prices since not many people are that keen to pay for delicacy anymore. Added to the fact that shark fin soup has been the target of many activists. These days, people are going more for crabmeat soup or the hot and sour soup. Anyway, the black liquid that you see that is the black vinegar and the orange bits are the crab roe @ eggs. At some functions, brandy is added into the soup to give it a good kick.



Another favourite which all children like : roast chicken. The skin is extremely crispy as well as slightly salty. The chicken would be dip in a light soy sauce that goes with it. Notice on the left hand side of the dish is the chicken head. Now, not commonly found in most servings at Chinese Restaurant, you will definitely see it at this one. Even the comb is still on it's head.



This is definitely not a common dish at weddings : suckling pig. Why? Because one small pig is about RM200. Yes, I kid you not. It is that expensive. In East Malaysia, the entire pig would be eaten, skin and meat. On the other hand, in West Malaysia, only the outer crispy skin layer would be eaten. Sort of a waste, if you ask me. Anyway, we only had a small part of the pig but I can imagine my collegue is paying a bomb for the dinner.



The steamed sultan fish that was done Teochew style. The meat was very tender and juicy but it was definitely oily and quite boney. Well, not as much bones as the Terubok but still quite a fair bit. Not an easy fish to eat but it seems to be becoming more and more popular these days.



A favourite that never fails to turn up at any table : butter prawns. Seafood is very fresh in Kuching and relatively cheap. I use the term 'relatively' quite loosely as it would depend on the season. Anyway, the butter prawns came out from the kitchen smelling wonderful. Plus, it was the huge freshwater prawns that were being served. Yum yum!



The funny thing about Chinese banquet dinners is that the vegetables are always served last! Can't understand why. Anyway, with all the exotic dishes served first, this simple dish was a welcome sight for all of us. It's not easy to cook a simple dish with all the crunchiness at just the right taste. It's an assortment of vegetables.



Now for the dessert : orange flavoured gelatin with longan. It was so-so as the orange flavour didn't quite match the longan. Still, I ate most of the longans and was digging for the leftovers still in the big bowl.



This was a weird-tasting dessert : yam balls with sugar coating on top. As it was the last dish, we were too full to take more than a bite each. It was just too rich and starchy! Ah well.

There you go. Wedding banquet dinner, Chinese style. What is missing is the music throughout the banquet. It was a combination of old Chinese opera-like songs with the cheekiness of Ah Ngu singing in Hokkien.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that the next table full of my other collegues were the loudest table. Too much yam seng @ congratulation wishes Chinese style. The louder the yam seng, the better luck for the couple.

: : Singapore ~ 9 - 12 March : :

Will be in the Merlion City @ Singapore on 9 - 12 March. Might be able to stay for the weekend but depends on whether I can reach one of my old classmates. But those dates are confirmed to Singapore. So far, only nights are free.

Anyway, we'll see. Wanna meet up?

: : Coffee Master Sorceress ~ How to make Tiramisu disappear : :



A delicious and innocent looking cup of tiramisu was the victim of a spell by a sorceress.



With the wave of a green magic wand and fancy hand movements, the tiramisu become...



...a fork!



The sorceress then quench her thirst on a glass of ice-blended mocha.

p.s. Sorceress, jangan marah ah! I did say that I would put that pic up.

: : Da Qin Hua : :

A true treasure found right here in Kuching. Was recommended to go here by one of my technicians. Said that the food was spectacular and very very nice as well. Not to mention that the chef hails all the way from Shanghai. Added to the fact that the food was cheap, dirt cheap. Plus, not that many people know about it yet but just wait. In another 2 more weeks, there will be a chef from Shanghai specializing in dimsum and another one from Beijing, specilizing in BBQ stuff. Oohh! Can't wait.

Anyway, I still managed to have dinner last week with Min Yen, Jackson and Lesley at this quaint little cafe. Even with Jackson suffering a bit, we still went to eat there. We finally found the place behind the Amway office at 3rd Mile. You won't be able to see it from the road as it's at the end of the shoplot that is two blocks from the road. I had to embarrassed myself while putting the steering wheel lock : kept honking the honk twice! The airbag on the Altis gets in the way.



I was strongly advised to try out the Chinese tea as the proprietor brings it all the way from Shanghai. So, we ordered a pot of Oolong tea. It was different and very nice. The tea leaves were actually quite big, not shriveled up as the ones found in specialized Chinese tea shops (which is sprouting everywhere in Kuching like mushrooms).



The first dish that came was the kailan cooked in oyster sauce. So nice and tasty. Wah! From the picture, you can see it was actually very simple. Also, it's quite a lot of kailan for their standard dish size. We all ate it with rice which was of good quality. If the rice is not good, the mood throughout the entire meal would have been spoilt. I think it was Thai fragrant rice as it was (of course!) fragrant, the rice granules were small and uniform yet firm and basically, tasted really good. As for the kailan, it was fresh and crunchy. Very nice.



Homemade tauhu but plain and simple i.e. minus the garnishings. Very tasty with the rice. Ahhh...



Stir-fried lamb with onions and chilli. Cooked in darked soy sauce. Yummy yummy yummy. It was extremely tender as the lamb was sliced very thinly. Also, they added in cummin seeds! Never had lamb this way before. Added an interesting Indian taste to an otherwise Chinese meal. Very good decision, I'd say.



Last dish : chicken cooked with fresh chillis and peanuts. Oh this was so nice. So very nice.

Well, that's it. Now, thinking of how to persuade Min Yen and the others to go there again.

: : Is my Blog Burning? Tartine Edition : :

Another round of cooking, this time making Tartine's. Clotide is in charge of this session.

Thinking cap on now.

: : Coffee Master : :



Know why I like going to Coffee Master? I get hot water refills for my tea.

Above is a picture of the longan and chrysantemum tea.

: : Kartoo : :

This was a kewl site. Search results represented as an interactive map.

Need to have Flash installed though.

: : TopSpot ... Again! : :

A popular place for seafood. Can't help it if TopSpot is the easiest place to go and eat seafood : no hassle for parking space, food is cheap and no need to queue for a table. Sometimes, it does occasionally get a bit hot when it's not windy but it's not too bad. Plus, the place is clean. And, as usual, ate at Stall 25.



Always a popular choice : oyster omelette. Can't help it. We're all addicted to it's taste as well as crunchy-ness. Crunchy? Oh yes. It's a different version from those found in Singapore and West Malaysia but just as tasty.



This version of butter prawns were superb! They added in some chilli powder and it came out just right. Wah!



The mixed vegetable dish. Very fresh and crunchy. Nice. Simple. Tasty. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDD. Not to mention extremely healthy.



Black pepper crab but this time, it came out extremely well. Pepper is grown in Sarawak so this dish wasn't too expensive. Plus, the crab was extremely fresh that nite. Meat was tender and juicy. Took a long time to finish it but it was worth it. In Kuching, one can find fresh crab every day and very cheap too!

How much? Less than RM100. Think it was RM60-RM80. Definitely cheaper than Klang.

: : Granny Talk : :

When I got back home from work.

Granny : Haiya! Your AH Tin Ku-ku ah. Spend whole afternoon on your computer lah!

Wena : Okay what.

Granny : He bring up tea and WHOLE BOTTLE of cashew nut lah! Goodness me!

Granny is a ham.

: : Sunny Hill ~ ICE-CREAM : :

One of man's tastiest invention was the ice-cream. PLUS! I haven't had soft ice-cream in ages. I dislike the one at MacDonald except when mixed with Oreo's which neutralizes the taste. So, last Sunday nite after dinner with Min Yen, Lesley and Jackson, the three gals went off to look for some dessert while Jackson went back home.



We went to an old ice-cream parlour (if one can call it that) around the corner at 3rd mile. The entire location is called Sunny Hill and the parlour is part of the school canteen. It's been there for ages, since my parents' time back in the 50s. Quite a lot of people do go there to taste the delicious ice-cream although it's not as good as it used to be.



The secret to great ice-cream : milk powder. It's not as rich as Haagen Daaz but definitely better tasting than Walls, King's and Nestle ice-cream. So far, I could not taste any preservative in the ice-cream but I could be wrong.



As it was Sunday night, the flavour of the day was chocolate. The cone is RM1 and the sundae was RM2. Cheap, no? Each day is a different flavour, with Thursday's flavour being pandan. Must try that one out one day.



Opening hours stated above. The ice-cream parlour is located along the road to Batu Kawah and is very near the 3rd mile roundabout. It's just next to the Sunny Hill School.

: : Coffee Bean : :

Well, after the Red Bubble Tea House, Min Yen and I then went to Sarawak Plaza. Browsing through Belle's Bookstore, Memory Lane and the toy store, I persuade her to come with me and have a drink at Coffee Bean. It just opened a few months ago so wanted to check it out.



So we walked in and placed our order. Paid for the coffee and snack, giving them my name to label the cup. Went to sit down. Then it was chit chat chit chat until the order came.

Suddenly, a shriek was heard throughout the area :

Waiter : Weeeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnaaaaaaaa!!!

Doh! All the people in the cafe turned their heads around to see who it was. Talk about embarrassing.



I ordered the Original Ice-Blended Mocha drink with a slice of apple pie. Mind you, the coffee was RM9 and compared to Coffee Master, it is pricey. Well, since I do not often go to Coffee Bean, thought it was okay to spend a little bit.



Notice the spelling mistake?

Anyway, that was the trip down to Coffee Bean at the Boulevard in front of Sarawak Plaza. Their website is has not been updated with the address.

: : Red Bubble Tea House : :



...or was it Red Tea House? Can't remember. Went here last Sunday after checking out some digital camera prices.



I actually wanted to have some soft ice-cream ice-cream but they didn't have any except for yam flavour. So, decided to try something else instead.



A small scoop of honeydew flavoured ice-cream. Although not homemade (the honeydew taste was a little bit too much and not subtle), it wasn't too bad either. I still finished it.



Min Yen had the green tea version but on a cone. She's extremely camera shy. The ice-cream? Errr... could taste the tea but not GREEN tea. Oh well. Still, it was a nice flavour.



Anyone for Love Oranges? Leftover from Valentine's day. Hmmm...

The Red Bubble Tea House is next to the MAS Office and Reliace Travel Agency in Kuching.

Yeah yeah, I know I should be updated the addresses and various postings in this blog but been a bit lazy lately. Everything is done manually as still cannot use MT until my cousin tells me where is the PERL located on his server. Ah well. Other option is to move to another account but would then have to pay. So, we'll see how it goes.

: : Wena as a Southpark character : :



From this site via da*xiang.

: : Becca's Birthday Party : :



Wena : Dad and I are going out for awhile. He has to feed me lunch.

Garnet : Aiya! No need lah! We have so much food today as it's Becca's 12th Birthday Party. Come come! I have a lot of fried rice.

Wena : Errr... wouldn't they get angry seeing me eat their party food? (The party was to start at 3 p.m.).

Garnet : No lah! There's so much food that we cannot finish it even during the party!



So, I had a plate of fried rice. Garnet is a wonderful cook and would always have something to eat or offer.



As there was a huge pot of spaghetti sauce available, I poured that over the fried rice. Hmmm.... tasty, very tasty.

I ate discreetly in the kitchen as there were a group of 4 girls (including the birthday girl) in the dining room. Didn't want them to glare at me TOO MUCH. After that,

Dropped Sina' and Dad at the airport
Rushed to buy Becca a birthday present
Go home and change into something more comfortable than a hot silk skirt
Change cars to my Uncle's Toyota Corolla Altis and fill up with petrol
Rush back for the party



When I got back, Ubong had these little finger food ready. Delicious! The sausage went well with pineapple, cheese and cherries although the green ones tasted too much like children medicine.



Delicious chicken wings from the oven. Less oily but just as tasty as the fried or BBQ ones. Also, no BBQ pit to be cleaned afterwards.



Also some chicken nuggets from Ayamas. The nuggets were deep fried in oil.

Definitely ate too much. Hmm... but so did everyone else!

Happy Birthday Becca!

: : Pictures : :

A World Press Photo contest for 2003 had 63,000 submissions from 4,176 press photographers around the world whereby 81% of the photographs were taken using digital cameras.

And yet, Businessweek still had to take and edit a picture from Roy Lim's blog without notifying him. The picture is still online at the Businessweek.com. Just wait for the pictures to change.

One would imagine that Businessweek would have more than sufficient funds to get photos legally rather than taking it from other sites.

Makes me wonder what will happen to Mum-mum's pictures.

: : Peter's Special : :

Sina' : I feel like eating terubok.

So, off we went to look for it. It was me, Dad, Sina' (my stepmum) and Auntie Caleena. Thinking of where we could find ikan terubok. Not easy, believe me, as not that many people would eat the fish. Seriously thinking of going to eat at The Venue but decided against it as it might take too long for the food to come out. So, it was off to Peter's Special instead : an open-air Chinese restaurant that serves seafood.

Sina' : Hmm... pretty empty today at Peter's Special.

Dad : Ya, hor!

Wena : Wonder why?

Sina' : Last time, it was always full of people that had to book table.

Auntie Caleena : Ya kah?

Wena : Yep, especially after 7.30 p.m. That's why need to book a table. Dunno why it's empty lah. Never this empty before.

Believe me, the tables used to be packed with diners as well as the aircon room on the 1st floor. Suddenly, only 2-3 tables were filled up and it was pretty quiet. I'm surprised. They served really good food and the price wasn't too bad. Unfortunately, they didn't have any terubok available so we settled for something else.



As an appetizer, we had some boiled peanuts. Yep, boiled. It came out pretty soft which was quite nice and a change from the usual fried peanuts.



One of Dad's favourite dishes, I think. We usually order this to eat. Very fresh and crunchy and surprisingly, slightly sweetish.



Sina' : Wah! This is so nice.

And it definitely was. Soft shell crab, which probably was the most expensive dish on the menu.



Soft tauhu with bits and pieces of vegetables inside it. Very tasty but kind of soft for me. They mashed the tauhu together to give it a rough appearance on the inside but it wasn't bad.



As they did not have terubok, we settled for garupa @ ngo hu. Very tender and delicious but not as soft as pomfret @ pek chio. We still finished the whole dish though except for the bones.

That's it for the dinner meal we had. Food alone was RM81.90. Not too bad but definitely more expensive than Top Spot.

Cheerio then!