You Or The World

Is the world against you?

or is it

YOU against the world?

Back To Work

It's the end of the Raya break. It's back in Miri. Back to work. My Malay colleague gave me some Raya goodies this morning. 2 containers full! Look at the cakes and cookies!

What pretty colours

An assortment of Raya cookies

Thanks a lot, J*!!

Anyway, it's the last bit of the semester, 8 long weeks to go. 9 more days to PMR, 51 days to SPM and STPM. After that, it's holidays till next year.

When I say that I'm a teacher, one of the responses I always get is that "You get long breaks." I must admit that I do look forward to school holidays. Who doesn't?

Well, from today till the next holiday is 54 days. It seems a bit far away to me. I expect to be ultra busy for the next one and a half months, with many events coming up at work. Not to forget exam preparation and stuff.

I'm so looking forward to the next break, where I have just planned a trip to Kuala Lumpur and thereafter to Singapore. I just got my tickets sorted out. Can't wait! Keep my fingers crossed so that nothing crops up.

Talking about Singapore, there is a person whom I consider a friend, whom I am longing to meet up with. It's just that I'm not sure whether he wants to see me or not.

Sigh. It's amazing how time flies. In a blink of an eye, I've approaching my 10th year mark in the school system. How much longer can I endure?

Sama Jaya Nature Reserve

This afternoon, I was at the Sama Jaya Nature Reserve, near Tabuan Jaya here in Kuching.

There were jogging tracks through the forest. It was a novelty for me to exercise amidst the forest setting. The trees provided shade, and it was not hot even at 3.00 p.m. in the afternoon. The crowd started to pour in at about 4.00 p.m., and the jogging track got slightly crowded.

The trail which I took was 1.6 km long, which took me about 15 minutes to complete. There was another shorter trail which was 1 km in length. The short trail was quite slippery today after a downpour.

Dad said monkeys could sometimes be seen on the trees, and I was delighted when I saw a few of them today, high up on a tree!

Mom pointed out this particular leaf to me.

Half a century ago, when there were no plastic bags, vendors used this leaf to wrap cuts of meat or fish. Cool, eh.

There were several buildings here - which house the offices, the visitors' centre, and 2 museums.

Entrance is RM0.50 per person. It's quite a nice place to exercise!

Chai Seafood @ Pending Seafood Centre

This evening, my parents and I went to Pending Seafood Centre to have dinner. Pending Seafood Centre is a no frills place, offering fresh seafood at reasonable prices.

There are many stalls there, but we always frequent Chai Seafood.

There weren't many diners tonight. So we only had to wait for about 10 minutes for our orders to arrive. While waiting, I concocted my cili padi & garlic soy sauce dip. An absolute essential which is good with everything!

Cili padi & garlic soy sauce dip

We ordered the Stir-fried Midin in Chinese Red Wine. Midin is a local fern that's soft and crunchy. The red wine adds flavour to the vegetables. This dish is neither too oily nor too salty.

Stir-fried Midin in Chinese Red Wine

The Yam and Fish in Claypot is lightly battered deep-fried fish chunks, slices of yam, leek, and spring onions in a milky broth. This is a perennial favourite of Mom and Dad.

Yam and Fish In Claypot

The yam slices were really crumbly, and the fish chunks were uber fresh, making the broth really tasty and sweet. The addition of milk to the broth gives it a richer taste. Because of that, I refrain from drinking too much of the soup, for fear that it will make me nauseous.

My bowl of yam and fish in milky broth

It was served boiling hot to the table, and one slurp of the soup burned my tongue! Lol.

Next, came the Oyster Omelette. This version does not seem to have any eggs in it. Instead, it is a crispy pancake thingy with oysters in the middle. Don't be deceived by its appearance as this oyster omelette is really quite tasty.

Oyster Omelette

The pastry is light and good enough to eat on its own. But it must be eaten hot as it gets soggy when cold.

Oysters in omelette

The oyster, however, is fresh and tasty too. This dish comes with fish sauce for dipping.

The crab dish was ordered especially for me. I love crabs. Tonight, I requested for the crabs to be stir-fried in salted egg. Dad asked for glass noodles in the crab.

Crab in Salted Eggs with Glass Noodles

The crab was stir-fried in curry leaves, chillies and salted egg. It was aromatic and really quite tasty. The problem was that by the time the crab arrived at the table, I was already too full to eat anything! We had to tapau most of the crab home.

Chrysanthemum tea

The bill amounts to only RM73.00, inclusive of 3 bowls of rice and a pot of chrysanthemum tea. Food portions are generous. Taste wise, not too salty, not too oily. What more is there to ask for?

MJC Tamu & Night Market

It's my first time to the MJC Tamu cum night market near Batu Kawa here in Kuching. My parents, and Fourth Aunt and I went today at about 3.30 p.m., and there was already a huge crowd.

There were many things sold - from jungle produce to fresh seafood to imported fruits and vegetables to a variety of local cakes t0 pretty trinkets.

A few items caught my eye this evening. First and foremost were the wriggly fat sago worms. It sold for RM40.00 per kg. 1 worm cost RM0.30.

Sago worms

I walked past this particular stall and stood there for a while, trying to figure out why the pieces of tree bark moved. It was only upon closer inspection that I realised that they were plump little worms that wriggled their way around the plastic basin.

The vendor lady says that the grubs taste superb either deep-fried or barbecued. Friends of mine have told me they have a rich buttery taste. But hmn ... I'm not ready to try them. I'd give it a miss for now.

Fourth Aunt was quite taken in by these lovely pots of miniature cacti.

Mini cacti

They sold for RM5.00 - RM8.00. Aunt said she would have bought if she knew how to take care of them.

It's mooncake season, so there were a few stalls selling mooncakes. In Kuching, there is a confectionery at the Matang area which produces delicious Feng Cui Ping.

Matang Mooncake

Feng Cui Ping

We bumped into Third Aunt at the market. It's no surprise since Third Aunt lives near MJC and frequents the market weekly. Third Aunt recommends us to try the roasted pig.

Part of a pig head on display at the stall. It seemed a bit barbaric.

A cut of roasted pig

Customers are free to choose the cuts of meat that they like. Fourth Aunt chose a cut of lean meat. The vendor chopped up the meat for her, and then proceeded to weigh them. The roasted pig sells for RM40.00 per kg too.

At the entrance of the night market, I saw this pretty cotton candy pole. There's a flavour for each colour. Purple is peppermint, I think.

Cotton Candy Tower

Well, it was quite fun to browse at the tamu / night market, so I don't mind dropping by the next time I'm in Kuching.

Eating @ Food Bazaar The Spring Kuching

Aunt brought me shopping for clothes today at her regular boutique. I bought 2 working shirts and a pair of shorts.

We then headed to The Spring for more shopping. Hungry, we dropped by Food Bazaar to have a late lunch.

Aunt incited me to try the Dolsot Bibimbap, though I was skeptical. The Korean food outlet was operated by Seoul Garden, a Korean restaurant at 3rd Mile Kuching.

Dolsot Bibimbap

For RM13.00, I get a bowl of rice with topping in a heated metal bowl. Together with it, there was a saucer of sauce, some kimchi, some surimi-stick salad thingy, and 2 mini slices of watermelon.

Bibimbap Close-up

The rice was served piping hot in the heated bowl, and when stirred, the egg cooked real quickly. It was topped with some shredded pickled radish, bean sprouts, shredded shitake, minced chicken, shredded surimi stick, and some shredded greens.

Well, to me, the taste of this particular Dolsot Bibimbap was quite forgettable. Nothing to shout about. In fact I would not recommend it. I remember eating better Dolsot Bibimbap in Miri.

Aunt ordered the Fried chicken noodles from Madam Tang's. It is blanched kolo mee noodles topped with fried chicken and some mustard greens. The noodles are drenched in some clear-looking broth. Aunt looked at the noodles disappointedly.

Fried Chicken Noodles

Accompanying soup

However, the noodles was surprisingly tasty - springy, moist and full of flavour. I liked it a lot more than the Dolsot Bibimbap. Eat the noodles with pickled red chillies. Simply yum.

Spreading The Gospel Through Snack Food

I bought this can of cheese balls because it was on offer. RM1.50 per can at Ta Kiong Supermarket at The Spring Kuching.

What amused me was this.

It's the first time I've seen something like this on a label of a snack food. Wow. A Bible verse. A message from God. Profound.

Curious, I checked the other cans.

There they were. Different Bible verses! On the back of the Pizza Balls :

On the back of Fire Balls :

On the back of the Cheese Curlz :

Well, if you check the website, it indeed seemed bent on spreading the gospel through its brand. It's a novelty to me. Interesting!

Dear, Dear Son-In-Law 女婿当家

I started watching Dear, Dear Son-In-Law 女婿当家 a few days ago. Mom and Dad watched with me, and they enjoyed it too. It's pretty comedic, making everyone laugh in merriment.

The Jiang Family

Well, I like how Wencai (Zhu Houren), after being suspicious and skeptical at first, comes to appreciate Shunfa's (Pierre Png) presence in his family, and thereafter comes to rely on him after problems within the family arise. I refuse to believe that a man as nice as Shunfa exists today. His is a fictional character, as he is just TOOOOOOOO good to be true. He is totally devoted to Yijuan, but she is dumb enough to dump him. After that, Shunfa is still committed to Yijuan's family, sticking by them through thick and thin.

Shunfa (Pierre Png) & Yijuan (Priscelia Chan)

The drama sees Yijun (Jeanette Aw) transform dramatically. She is nicknamed Chilli Crab as she is fiesty and mean and bossy and rebellious. At the end of the drama, however, she turns saccharine sweet. To me, it's like a 360 degree change. Mom thought Anna's annoying mother who always takes advantage of people should be named Chilli Crab instead! Lol.

Anyway, I thought the development of Yijun and Shunfa's relationship was pretty sweet. Yijun falls in love with Shunfa, and becomes extra nice to him. She lends him her laptop, helps him research for materials, and entertains his mother. I think Shunfa also starts to like Yijun. But it takes Wencai and Meibao and also Fa Ma to help them establish their relationship. Sweet.

I thoroughly enjoyed Zhu Houren's acting. So funny he had me in stitches. Well, this is a heart-warming family drama. Enjoyable.

Cheese & Strawberry Toast

I don't know if anyone eats bread like this. But this is one of my favourite fillings for toasts.

I cut up 1 slice of cheddar cheese, and arranged the cheese strips neatly on my bread.

On another slice of bread, I spreaded strawberry jam.

I stacked up the bread, buttered the top and popped it into the toaster oven.

There, I have salty cheese on the bottom layer, and sweet and sourish strawberry jam on the upper layer. The buttered toast is light and crispy and yummy.

Toasted Peanut Butter & Banana Sandwich

I watched an episode of Nigella Bites on television the other day, which entitled "Trashy". Among the things that she made, one really interested me, and that is the Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich.

Well, I've been eating peanut butter and banana sandwiches since my secondary school days. I do like them a lot. I usually slice up the banana and arrange them on the bread. Nigella mashed up the bananas and spreaded it on the bread. I usually have my bread untoasted. Nigella's version was panfried in butter. Sinful!!

This morning, I made myself a peanut butter and banana sandwich, incorporating a bit of Nigella's ideas.

I spreaded peanut butter on my slice of bread. I prefer chunky peanut butter as I like the nutty texture that it has.

Peanut butter on bread

Then I mashed up one banana and spreaded it on the bread. I stacked the bread on top of the previous slice, and topped it off with another slice of bread.

Mashed banana on bread

Okie. I dare not panfry the bread in butter - it's just too fattening. Lol. So I slapped a bit of butter on it and had it toasted on the oven toaster. It was a bit charred on the side.

Toasted Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

. . . Yum . . .

Well, peanut butter and banana are 2 ingredients I like on my bread. So, I did enjoy my breakfast a lot. With a hot cup of coffee, of course.

Breakfast @ Shanghai Cafe

Craving for sourish fish slices in beehoon soup, my friend and I headed to Shanghai Cafe behind M Square here in Miri, for breakfast the other day.

There were lots of diners, and we had to wait a while to get a table.

My friend ordered a kolo mee and a bowl of soup - the shop had a choice of either wanton soup, or dumpling soup. So my friend asked for a mix of wantons and dumplings in her soup.

Kolo Mee

Dumplings is 水饺. I think there is some shredded black fungus in the filling, besides the usual meat and prawn paste. The dumplings are wrapped in a flat shape. Wantons are of course 云吞. Black fungus is not used, and the shape is rather rounded. But when they are cooked, they looked the SAME!!! Lol.

Wanton

Dumpling

Wantons and Dumplings in soup

My friend did not comment about her food, so I suppose she did not find them outstanding.

I ordered my fish slices beehoon soup. I did not like my fish slices beehoon soup that much either. Despite the use of salted vegetables in the soup, I found it a bit "fishy" or very 腥. It could be my super-sensitive taste buds because I'm rather afraid of stinky fish. Or it could be that it was too early in the morning to have fish soup.

The dish had tomato wedges and tofu, beside the fish slices and salted vegetables

We also ordered a roti kahwin - it's just white bread slapped with butter and kaya and then toasted over charcoal. This item is apparently a hit at the shop, as the vendor stocked up loaves and loaves and loaves of bread at the counter.

Roti Kahwin

We both liked the roti kahwin, as they were quite generous with the butter and kaya. At RM1.30 per set, I thought it was rather pricey.

No comment for the noodles. Thumbs up for the roti kahwin.

Surprise Holiday

Well, it was announced yesterday that tomorrow is a special holiday in conjunction with Hari Raya Aidilfitri. It came as a surprise to me. I'm sure glad. Who isn't happy to be given a holiday? Yippee!!!

However, for us in Sarawak, the holiday is announced too late for us to do anything. People who have booked their flights for tomorrow or Saturday are unable to change their flights already! People over in Peninsular Malaysia just can't get it into their heads that Sarawakians need to fly everywhere. And because of that, more time is needed to make arrangements.

Anyway, I was on duty this week. So I was REALLY glad that it's only a four-day week.

Also glad I will have tmrw off to pack my bag. Can't believe I'm going back to Kuching again, after less than 3 weeks!

The Golden Path : Jin Long

I'm watching The Golden Path now. I haven't finished it yet, but I fast fowarded to the end because I could not stand it! I had to watch the ending! Lol.

I am quite drawn to the lead character, Jin Long, played by veteran actor Li Nanxing.

Li Nanxing as Jin Long

Now, his is not a goody goody character. He does not acknowledge his step-mother, even though, she treats him quite well. When he grows up, all he does is to help his mother to send takeaways. He does not appreciate his mother's effort to build his career, when she asked him to manage a market.

As a kid, he extorts his neighbour. As he grows up, he assaults someone and ends up being jailed for about a year. He gets involved in the Triads to clear his grandfather's debts. He is an illegal bookie and runs a prostitution ring. Later on, he is bent on avenging the death of his sister.

Yet, despite the vices he is involved in, he is not a "bad" guy. He is soft-spoken, and I think that the "good" aura shines through his simplistic outlook.

Jin Long & Lin Fei (Felicia Chin)

I think I probably like Jin Long because of the myriad of of emotions that he portrays. Fiercely defensive of his dad, he is resentful towards Xiao-gu and her family. Although he refuses to admit it our right, I have no doubt that Jin Long has deep respect for Xiao-gu.

On the other hand, Jin Long develops a dislike for Kaijie, always blaming him for the death of his father. Their relationship is one that will never mend.

Jin Long is annoyed having Lin Fei tail him all the time at first. He thinks that she's a spoilt brat who has nothing better to do. However, Lin Fei, who believes that she is dying, feels blissful to be around Jin Long, even though there is such a big gap between them where wealth and status is concerned. Jin Long, who thinks that he is not good enough for Lin Fei, tries to discourage her, but Lin Fei willingly and unconditionally loves him to bits. I believe he does love her too in the end.

Lin Fei has never stopped loving Jin Long, even after she married Kaijie. At the end of the drama, when Jin Long is head to head with Kaijie, Lin Fei continues to stand at Jin Long's side, helping him. Even when her pregnancy is at stake! That's what true love is all about. For a hopeless romantic like me, it's REALLY sweet.

Jin Long loves his step-sister, Kaiqi, and yet fights to suppress that emotion. Now, his upright character totally contrasts with Kaijie, who succumbs to the seduction of his step-sister, Jin Feng.

He is kind towards Rou Gu Mei, and grows to love her in the end. And he is loyal to love, committing suicide after she has been killed. After all, they promise to be together in life or in death.

The other person Jin Long deeply cares for is his maternal grandfather. Time and time again, he gets himself into trouble to settle his grandfather's debts. Who would be willing to make such big sacrifices for another person, unless he or she truly cares for that particular person.

What a complicated character!! I think it takes a veteran actor, Li Nanxing, to portray all of Jin Long's internal struggles. I thought he did a great job!

Dumbfounded.Distraught.Disheartened.

I was marking my students exercises, and I was really upset seeing the way they write.

I asked them to write a report, based on a graph stimulus. And this is what they came up with. What a headache!!!

Student A :
According to the graf, the student who was getting C in English was increase started from year 2002 into 2004.

Student B :
In 2002, gred A have showed 20 student meanwhile gred B got about 30 students. When reach 2003, the result show a drop in gred A and B, that were 10 students and 18 students respectively. But when reach years 2004 gred A and gred B have remain its number and that show that is consistant.

Student C :
In 2002, the number of students getting A is 20 students. While in 2003, its decrease 10 students and also with 2004. The performance of the learners shows the number of students getting C increase dramatically while in 2002 is 60 students, in 2003 is 70 students and 2004 is 80 students.

Why are sixth formers writing like this? They have learnt English for countless of years. Yet, all they produce is ungrammatical sentences like these. I am convinced there is something wrong with the KBSM English syllabus.

Majlis Berbuka Puasa

Last night, I attended my first ever Majlis Berbuka Puasa at school. The Muslim teachers and students have spent the whole day preparing for last night's event. Some Muslim parents also came for the event. Hampers were given to the needy students, which I thought made the whole event even more meaningful.

Undoubtedly, there were plenty of food to go around.

There was chicken curry with potatoes.

Ikan masak kicap.


Fish stew? Fish soup?

Prawn in sweet and sour gravy.


Sayur campur.

Solok lada

I liked this solok lada very much - it was stuffed with ikan kembung paste and grated coconut. It is quite tasty with rice.

There were also curry puffs.

Doughnuts & cucur cempedak

I like cucur cempedak a lot too. Cucur cempedak or jackfruit fritters is deep-fried battered jackfruit. It is really tasty.

Kuih bakul

Pandan custard cake


Chocolate Cake


Peach cobbler


Well, it was quite interesting to break fast together in a large group. I really like to see my colleagues and students having a hearty meal after a whole day of fasting.