Going Irish

My Form 1 students cooked this morning. The menu was Irish.

Well, these 13 year-olds are researching into a festival now, and they are learning about St. Patrick's Day. Hence, this morning, they cooked an Irish beef stew and also Irish champ.

Each student paid RM5.00, and the teacher brought some of them shopping at the local supermarket for the ingredients yesterday. Today, after recess, the Home Economics room was theirs, and they worked together to cook a meal.

What went into the Irish stew were garlic, onions, carrots, beef chunks, cabbage, oyster mushrooms, tomato paste, Italian herbs, and garnished with fresh coriander. The stew was seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper. Well, actually this recipe called for a can of stout. But because of the kids, we naturally omitted this ingredient.

Irish stew

We ate the stew with bread. It really was quite yum - savoury and tangy at the same time.

Quite yum indeed ....

Irish champ. Hmn. Honestly, it's the first time I come across this term. Traditionally, Irish champ is mashed potatoes with spring onions, butter, milk, salt and pepper. Today, the kids used parsley instead on spring onions. And it tasted just as great!

Irish champ

After cooking for about 3 hours, it was time for the kids to tuck in. For a few of them, it was their first time cooking. Whilst, it's a first for many to be cooking Western.

Anyway, thanks, kids. I had a great lunch today because of you. Well done, and keep it up!

Dining @ Filipino Market

The open air grills just behind the Filipino Market is an attraction indeed. Seafood is in abundance here, and displayed to tempt many hungry locals and tourists. It's my first time here, and I'm really fascinated by the experience.

My troupe walked to and fro, gawking at the seafood on display. The night was humid, and the air was thick with barbecue smoke. It was quite intoxicating indeed!

To and fro we walked again. Really, the variety of seafood were the same. It's just that we were not sure which stall to go to. I checked to see which stall had more patrons, for that could indicate the popularity of the stall. The vendors were busily touting for business, but finally, we decided on a stall somewhere in the middle of the lot.

Wow! A lobster and tiger prawns lined up neatly for all to see ...

Different types of grilled fish ...

Skewers of prawns ...

Diners can select the seafood of preference from the lot on display. The vendor will them proceed to warm the food up on the grill before serving it. Actually, we wanted our seafood fresh off the grill, but apparently, it could not be done. We had to settle for those pre-grilled ones on display on the table.

Since there were only the two of us, my colleague and I did not order much. We decided on a small ikan merah or red snapper, and a skewer of cuttlefish.

The marinade for the seafood was all the same, I suppose. It was slightly spicy with some chillies and spices used, and rather smoky in flavour. Quite yum, indeed. We were charged RM15.00 for the fish, and RM13.00 for the rice.

The seafood was served with big plate rice. At least the rice was steaming hot. Rice was RM1.00 per plate.


I like the chilli sauce used for dipping. It was piquant, spicy. sweet and tangy at the same time.


There were limes too if you like your food to be a bit more sour.

The locals eat their seafood with a kind of gravy, instead of the chilli sauce. I did not give the gravy a try.

Halfway through the meal, the generator went off, and the whole place was pitch black. I couldn't even see what I was eating for about a minute. The vendor then lighted candles for us, and we ended up having a candlelight dinner. Lol.

Anyway, it was quite fun eating in the open air like this, and even as I recall this experience, I would really like to go back someday on my own to explore the market, and of course Sabah further.

In Sabah - Part Three

We spent the Day 3 having sports festival at a primary school here.

After sports ended and evaluation completed, it was already 1.00 p.m. We had a free afternoon, so I spent my time shopping for souvenirs. I bought Tenom coffee, which Sabah is famous for.

I also bought pearls. There is a large jewellery and souvenir shop at Sinsuran, where the backpacker's inn is. So, my colleague and I spent some time there, choosing our wares. Fresh water pearls were much affordable, compared to salt water ones. Fresh water pearls are obtained from freshwater mussels, and not oysters. The shapes of the pearls may be irregular - flat, elongated or lopsided.

Anyway, not willing to spend heftily on jewellery, I finally selected a fresh water pearl necklace, and a salt water pearl bracelet.

I was quite happy with my purchase. ;p

We left for KK Terminal 2 airport early the next morning. Check-in was quite unpleasant as the computers were down. We were the first in the line, and we waited about 40 minutes to settle everything. The Airasia officer was rather hot-tempered, swearing profanities in front of me, my colleagues and my young students. Sure, he was mad with the computers. But there was no need to display it. It's rather unprofessional. If I had caught his name on his name tag, I would surely lodge a complaint.

In Sabah - Part Two

This morning, we visited Maktab Sabah or Sabah College.

Upon our arrival, we were greeted warmly by the students and teachers, and were immediately brought to their Hari Raya Open House at the school hall! How hospitable! Lol. After that, we had a dialogue and a school tour.

In the afternoon, our students discussed their plans for a joint sports festival, which was scheduled to take place the following day.

Later, we proceeded to the KK Wetland Centre, whereby the students helped picking up rubbish along the mangrove trail.

My colleague and I, on the other hand, took a walk around the mangroves.

Pretty scenic, right?

Walking along the trail took me 30 minutes. What I loved most was the fresh air, which really exhilirated and energised me. I haven't been so close to nature for a long time already.

In the evening, we decided to upgrade our accommodation. Why?

Well, it's like this. While on our way to Warisan Square yesterday, we came across a budget hotel. We popped in and made enquiries. The front desk lady suggested that we take 2 family rooms - one for 6 boys and another for 7 girls. There were only 3 single beds in each room, so the kids had to find ways to sleep! She was even kind enough to let us see the rooms.

My colleagues and I contemplated for a while, and finally, we decided to take 2 family rooms for the kids, and 2 deluxe rooms for ourselves. The hotel is called Lehotel.

The deluxe room we stayed in ...

When we broke the news to the kids, they were jubilant, cos the backpacker's really wasn't that comfy. For instance, in the room next to mine where the girls occupied, the double decker beds were rather rickety, and kept knocking into the wall when one of them tossed and turned.

Hence, they were ecstatic to stay at a newer and more modern establishment. They did not mind squeezing into a room at all. Believe me, it's an experience that they would remember for a long time! Lol.

Well, Lehotel was quite pleasant, much more proper than the backpacker's which we stayed in last night. In my opinion, it's even more comfy than Tune Hotel. After a freshening ourselves up, we went to the Filipino market, but that warrants another post.

In Sabah - Part One

I'm in Sabah now. Well, it's not a school holiday, nor is it a sightseeing trip this time. It's a study visit. 2 of my colleagues and I brought 14 students to Kota Kinabalu. We arrived at about 3.00 p.m. in the afternoon and checked into a backpackers.

Well, us teachers and the students have to pay for the trip on our own. No funding at all was given by the school. It's all our own initiative. The airfare was RM141. And we needed to find a cheapo place to stay so that the kids won't have to spend so much on accommodation.


It's RM75 to RM100 per room at the backpacker's, so we did not expect too much other than a clean bed and bathroom. We then spent the rest of the time at Centrepoint and Warisan Square.

Well, we don't have any place like Centrepoint in Kuching or Miri. There are lots of great shops here like Popular Book Store, Vincci, Giordano, and even the Japanese discount chain, Daiso. At Warisan Square, there's The Face Shop, Charles & Keith, Esprit, Padini Concept Store.

Barbecue Nite

Barbecue is fun. The gang wanted to have a barbecue since they had not had one this year. The fire started at 5.00 p.m, and all the meats were laid out on the table beside the pits, ready to be grilled.

The star item of the night is a whole marinated pig head. Err ... pig head reminds me of William Golding's Lord of the Flies. It's been years since I have read the book, but the pig head imagery still sticks in my head. Oops, mind the pun. Lol.

Well, anyway, back to the barbecue. A must-have item in our list is the pork belly.

We also had chicken wings,

fresh fish,


Taiwan sausages,

and plenty of vegetables like brinjal, okra, and sweet corn.

We had 2 small pits that night. See the meats cooking on the pit. On the left is a tin foil which contains marinated fish head, and on the right is portion of the pig head. It looks like the cheek?

On the other pit, we place the 2 flap of ears and the marinated pork belly slices.


Much later, when everything else was done, we barbecued the fish and okra.

My favourite barbecued item is the pork belly. It's savoury, crispy and crunchy on the skin, tender and smoky in flavour. Absolutely fantastic! Eat a slice of pork with iced cold beer and savour that taste of paradise!

The fish head in tin foil was superb too. The gravy was really smooth and rich, flavoured with ginger and sauce and a bit of wine.

Another of my favourite was the corn on cob.

The corn was really fresh and sweet, and the demand was so great that there weren't enough to go around!


Well, it was fun to have barbecue once in a while. It took a long time as the food had to be slowly cooked to perfection, and by the time the last item was cooked, our stomachs were ready to explode. What a glutton, right?

Special thanks to Uncle A***** for being the chief barbecue-r. He's at the fire throughout, stopping only to have quick bites. We really appreciate it, Uncle A*****!!!

Rice Bowls

I suppose this is a variety of the Japanese donburi or rice bowl dish. It is typically steamed rice served in a bowl, with a meat or eggs or bean curd or vegetable poured over it.

L*** and I had lunch at Double Star Cafe today, and we each had a rice bowl. I had the beef & egg rice bowl, while L*** had the prawn omelette rice bowl, both RM7.90.

Beef & egg

Prawn omelette

Besides the meats & egg, there were also some long beans that garnished the rice. I do like the beef a lot as they were tender and quite flavourful, slightly sweet and savoury. The vegetables added were crunchy and complemented the rice and meats wonderfully.

I think it's not that difficult to make the rice bowls dishes, and I'm thinking of replicating it one day ;) .

No Limits & Unriddle

During the holidays, I watched 2 Mediacorp series, and they both entertained me quite sufficiently. It came as a surprise as Mediacorp series had been disappointing, of late. I did not really enjoy watching the recent series like The Best Things In Life (五福到), New Beginnings (红白囍事), and With You (我在你左右).

No Limits (泳闯琴关) was the first series which I found to be quite entertaining. Well, to be honest, when I watched Episode 1, I had reservations as I thought it would be like Beach.Ball.Babes (球爱大战) which was a real bore. But from Episode 3 onwards, No Limits caught my attention, proving itself to be worth watching. No Limits is about people's struggles to become the best of themselves, and centres around swimming and music. The show portrays how they overcome obstacles thrown in their ways to achieve success.

Pic source : http://entertainment.xin.msn.com/zh/tv/channel-8/programmes/no-limits-photos.aspx?cp-documentid=4206630&page=13

Felicia Chin as the very determined You Yongxin

In the midst of it, is the Elvin Ng - Felicia Chin - Dai Yang Tian relationship. Geez, halfway through the show, I do not know whether to root for Elvin Ng - Felicia Chin or Dai Yang Tian - Felicia Chin. I thought Felicia Chin is really sweet with both of the guys. But then later on, however sweet he may be, I don't approve of Elvin Ng to be two-timing 2 girls. So, I agree with the Dai Yang Tian - Felicia Chin pairing. Hehe.

Pic source : http://entertainment.xin.msn.com/zh/tv/channel-8/programmes/no-limits-photos.aspx?cp-documentid=4206630&page=14

Dai Yang Tian is Wang Yule, a really suave cellist

Felicia Chin portrays her character very well, and Dai Yang Tian makes a convincing cellist. Plus, I like the other actresses in the drama like Tracy Lee and the very mischevious and cutesy Julie Tan as Felicia Chin's best friend, Liu Xinyu.

The second drama which kept me entertained was Unriddle (最火搭档). This is a police and thief drama, and the plot is rather complicated. A top cop seems to harbour a secret, and it is not really clear until much later what the whole thing is about. Then, the top cop suddenly goes missing, and I really anticipate the unfolding of the story. Nearly towards the end of the show, it is not difficult to guess who the bad guy really is.

For me, the story only started to pick up at Episode 10 onwards - the part where everyone rushes to look for a girl who was kept in the captivity of a serial murderer really kept me in suspense. Phew! I could hear myself sigh with relief when they found her. Lol.

Pic Source : http://entertainment.xin.msn.com/zh/tv/channel-8/programmes/Unriddle-Photos.aspx?cp-documentid=4216865

Pic Source : http://entertainment.xin.msn.com/zh/tv/channel-8/programmes/Unriddle-Photos.aspx?cp-documentid=4216865&page=13

Tay Ping Hui plays the top cop, Zhang Yuze, while Rui En is the efficient lady cop, Hu Xiao Man. Chen Li Ping is a very tomboyish, but well-loved police informant named 大包 or Big Pau. Lol. After I watched the drama, eating a big pau seems imperative!

Indeed, I bugged Dad to buy me my favourite Sin Kwang Foochow Big Pau for lunch. The Pau now cost RM3.30!! Pricey, eh?

First and Last : 中国饺子王

There is a new outlet at Boulevard Commercial Centre, above Mystore. Its name is only written in Chinese - 中国饺子王 - and that translates to be China's King of Dumplings. Wow. It had to be dumplings so good that they are fit for Kings and Queens!

Anyway, the outlet is operated by Chinese nationals from China, and they serve Dongbei 东北 or Northeast China specialties, which I am really not familiar with at all. The lady who served us made it clear that Dongbei cuisine is distinctive. I could also tell from the pride in her voice that she had high regards of the food from her homeland. Unfortunately, I found the food to taste foreign to my palate. Lol.

Actually, when I walked into the outlet, I felt like I was in China. The outlet exuded that kind of feeling as decor was sparse and quite inelegant. You can see shoe racks at every table, but those are not for you to put your shoes. The shoe racks are used in place of the usual kitchen carts to place plates of steamboat ingredients. I thought it was quite ingenious of them to think of that, cause I would never have thought of using shoe racks to place my food! Lol.

Shoe rack steamboat ... Lol ...

The menu, similarly, seemed like a joke. Lol.

B3, for example, should be Special Sauce Pork Knuckle and B5 should be Special Fragrant Sauce Phoenix Claws. Lol. Since when could joss sticks be eaten. And many black patches on the menu indicate unavailability of the food items.

Well, we finally decided to try 2 types of dumplings - the pork and cabbage, and the pork and pickled cabbage.

A dumpling

Take a bite and look inside ...

The dumplings tasted decent, I suppose. It had minced pork and the cabbage provided the crunch. Plus, it was not too dry. But fit for Kings and Queens, I doubt-lah. Of the two types of dumplings, I prefer the pork and cabbage ones. The dumplings were supposed to be eaten with a vinegary garlic condiment, which I stayed away from cause the pungent smell was just too overpowering.

Garlic sauce

Next we ordered steamboat. It's RM60.00 for 5 of us, and we get 2 types of vegetables - napa cabbage and crinkly mustard leaves, 2 types of mushrooms - oyster and enoki, 2 types of tofu - soft sofu and tofu pok, and 3 types of fish/meat balls. Pretty pathetic, if you ask me.

We opted for the clear broth (高汤) instead of the spicy broth (麻 辣).

Clear broth coming to a boil

To me, the broth had a smoky flavour, which I did not quite like. The after taste was not very pleasant in my mouth.

The thing which we TBT was the steamboat condiment - its look, its colour , its presentation seemed off-putting.

Doesn't it remind you of .... err ... fecal matter? Or in Hokkien, KNS!! LOL :))))

Anyway, it was actually some sort of fermented bean paste for dipping our steamboat ingredients. It's just that we were not so keen to dip into it. Hehe.

We ordered plum juice to go with our meal, and that too, did not suit our taste buds. The whole meal cost us RM91.00, which was to me, very expensive for the kind of food that we get. And no offence, but this would be my first and last visit to this outlet.

Oh, by the way, TBT = Tak Boleh Tahan.

Steamed Tapioca With Coconut Cream

One of Dad's favourite dessert is Steamed Tapioca with Coconut Cream. Mom peeled and cleaned the tapioca and steamed it for about 15 minutes. Then she cooked the coconut milk with a bit of salt and sugar. The steamed tapioca is then coated wit the cream. Yum.

Steamed tapioca with coconut milk

I liked the eat this dessert hot, but it can be eaten cold too.