Kolo Mee @ Sing Wang Seafood

I hardly venture to Permy Jaya. There are not lots of eateries there to cater to the ever-growing housing estates there.

Not knowing where to go, we ended up at Permy Jaya, at an outlet named Sing Wang Seafood. Besides seafood, the usual fare was available, i.e. kolo mee, kueh chap, mee sua, and laksa.

I decided to try the kolo mee and the offal soup.

Kolo mee, RM2.50

It looked pretty good. The noodles were not over-cooked. There was plenty of minced pork, shallots and spring onions garnishing the noodles. Most importantly, it had char siew. Too many vendors here in Miri make kolo mee using black coloured braised pork, which I hated. Taste wise, hmn ... the noodles COULD have been more fragrant. So, though perfectly edible, this kolo mee lacked that oomph.

 Offal soup, RM4.50

I liked that it was served hot ... the ingredients such as the livers and intestines and pork balls were fresh, the vegetables crunchy. But the soup was not sweet, unfortunately.

The star item was this .... 

Ding Bian Hu, RM6.00

This is a Foochow delicacy, made using a rice starch cooked over the side of the wok. Ding Bian Hu when translated, means Wok-side Paste. The other ingredients used to cook this dish were crab sticks, black fungus, golden needle strips and stock. The flavours were light, yet so sweet and tasty. All of us enjoyed the clear broth. Highly recommended!

Of Peranakan Nyonya and Thai ....

There was only the two of us tonight. D**** could not join us as she had some matters to attend to. We had decided to have our dinner at Baba & Siam, located along the row of shophouses just across the bridge on the way to Permy Jaya. Judging from its name, I could expect Peranakan Nyonya and Thai dishes to be served here.

The interior of the cafe was dimly lit, and enhanced aesthetically with a elaborate red lanterns and plum blossoms, it being the Chinese New Year season. I liked the decoration.

Of lanterns and plum blossoms ... 

Instrumental Chinese New Year music also played in the restaurant, albeit a little too loudly for me. Lol. My friend said it was due to age ... the older one got .... the more sensitive to noise they were! I did not like the music to be loud because I wanted to talk to my friend with ease, without having to raise my voice.

Anyway, because it was so dark, no one noticed our silhouette at the entrance. No one greeted us and showed us to our seats. Were they understaffed? Or did they simply not see us?

We noted 2 empty tables, and decided to sit on one at the centre of the cafe.

When he was serving another table, one staff finally took notice and presented us with menus.

"Nobody there," my friend explained, pointing to the entrance. "We just walked in and sat down," she added.

"Sorry about that," he apologised.

We quickly decided on what to eat, and ordered our food. When it arrived ....

This I saw .... 

Frankly, I did not understand why the interior of the cafe HAD to be so dark? Food must not only be pleasing to the palate, it MUST be pleasing to the eyes as well. Because it was so dark, I could not see the play of colours on my food! I could not see the ingredients in my fried rice! I only remember biting into some chicken dices .... and that was about it. So why bother styling the plate in the first place? Wasn't I supposed to exclaim with delight when my plate was placed before me? Wasn't I supposed to drool just by looking it?

Well ... I did neither. For everything looked red. For me, the darkness took some pleasure and enjoyment away from eating. What a pity.

And so ... with my camera flash on, I took some more shots of my food .... so that I could appreciate the composition on my plate ....

 Cincalok with Omelette Tomato Fried Rice Rm13.90

Fried rice with Malacca Cincalok sauce, tomato & fresh chicken wrapped with omelette and homemade dressing

Penang Style Fried Kueh Tiaw, RM13.90

Flat rice noodles with fresh seafood and served with homemade sauce

Hot & Sour Szechuan Soup, RM10.90

So .... my comments on the food? I liked the fried rice more than the kueh tiaw. My friend and I both loved the soup, which had a good consistency and was fragrant and tangy of malt vinegar. Ingredients in the soup was generous as well.

The serving was HUGE! Later, we found out that the two items that we ordered were for sharing.

"We have single set menu too," the staff informed us while we were paying. "That's for one person. The fried rice and kueh tiaw is for sharing among two or three persons."

Well, we sure did not scrutinise the menu enough. Was it because it was too dark? Or was that NOT specified in the menu?

"Will you come back?" my friend asked me later on. She sounded like she wouldn't.

But I said, "Yeah, I want to try the other stuff ...." But I do hope they improve on the lighting. It sure felt like there was a power failure in there!

Fried Rice

Mom liked fried rice.

So I cooked her some. Din Tai Fung style, I bragged. 

I thought it tasted great. 

But Mom did not like my fried rice. 

Lol.

Not fragrant, she said.

Inid2tell's Fried Rice

But really, the fried rice was delicious. Just not up to Mom's standard. Lols. 

Kacangma Chicken

Kacangma Chicken is essentially a stew of chicken with Kacangma herb and rice wine. It is a dish unique to Sarawak. The Kacangma herb or Motherwort is purportedly to have lots of health benefits. It is thought to help improve blood circulation and enhance the immune system, and speeds up post-natal recovery. Therefore, Kacangma Chicken is traditionally consumed by mothers in confinement, here in Sarawak.

But of course, one does not need to be in confinement to enjoy this dish. Kacangma Chicken is a great dish to eat with steamed white rice, and thus, is widely sold in coffee shops and restaurants.

It is an acquired taste. One either likes it or one doesn't. Truthfully, if one has never eaten it before, it would take time to get accustomed to the taste. Sil, who hails from JB, had her first taste of Kacangma Chicken when she came to Sarawak a few years back. She liked it at first, and ate a whole lot. Till it made her nauseous! Lol. She now has an aversion to it. Lol.

For me, the best Kacangma Chicken is home-cooked. Store-bought ones tend to be diluted and one could hardly taste the wine in the herbal broth. Some vendors even sell Kacangma Chicken without the alcohol!

Theoretically, I know how Kacangma Chicken is cooked. However, up till now, I've never cooked it on my own. ;p It's a tedious process. I'd have to purchase dried, chopped Kacangma from the market. Then, I'd have to brown it over low fire. After that, pound or grind it finely. Then, I'd have to peel lots of ginger and pound them. Next, squeeze out the ginger juice and set it aside. Fry the ginger in a wok with oil, add in chicken, add in Kacangma, add in wine, add in water, add in ginger juice. Dish out and steam till cooked.

Hmn. For a person who dumps everything into a pot to boil whenever she can, Kacangma Chicken is not something I'd cook anytime soon. So, I asked Mom to cook some for me the other day and she gladly did it as she had all the ingredients in hand. Leftovers from Sil's confinement the other day.

Kacangma Chicken

I must say that I really enjoyed the Kacangma Chicken with my rice .... I helped myself to the tender pieces of meat and the spicy and fragrant broth. Yummms .......

Beansprouts with salted vegetables and prawns

To eat with the Kacangma Chicken, I had a plate of beansprouts with salted vegetables and prawns. Yums ....  dinner was surely a wonderful meal that night!! Thanks, Mom!! 

Pretty Jellies

It's post CNY, a time whereby households get rid of all the CNY goodies that they can't finish. And Second Aunt did just that! She gave away 2 Tupperware-fuls of longan jelly. And to whom did she give? Ahem .... I felt truly honoured to be receiving this yummy dessert.

So pretty .... 

Second Aunt's jellies devoid of food colouring. So they are pale and transparent looking little edible flowers. I thought they looked so pretty, though. Fine strips of longan can be seen in each jelly. The jellies were very Q and springy .... and I just loved to chew on them. They were not sweet at all, and had the taste and fragrance of the longan fruit. I loved eating them .... especially after meal! Thanks, Auntie!

Sometimes ... At Starbucks

Sometimes, when we spend a long time at the mall, and we need to sit down and drink. Sometimes, my friends and I go to Starbucks when we need a pit stop. Sometimes, especially when we need to kill time at the airport, my family and I will drop by Starbucks. Sometimes, when I just want some "me" time, I will get a drink at Starbucks and spend some quiet time on my own.

Sometimes, there is promotion at Starbucks.

Like the other day, buy a Hojicha Latte, and get another free! It was a CNY and Valentine's Day promo which was available only from 10 -15 February. I was ecstatic, of course! Drinks are Starbucks are costly by my standards. So when they were giving out another glass for free, why not??

Hojicha Latte, RM14.00

I believe this was a limited edition, for it was not always on the menu. I don't believe to have tried it before. So I ordered a grande sized glass, one hot and the other cold .... This is a roasted Japanese green tea with steamed milk, and the taste of the tea was rather robust. It was quite a pleasant drink  I liked it.

Sometimes, we will order some food to go with our drinks ....

Classic Carrot Cake, RM9.90
My friend did not like it .... but I thought it tasted alright ....  it was reasonably moist, and had a unique flavour which took some time to get used to, and the cream was a little lemony and tart. The more I ate the nicer it got ;p

Sugar Doughnut, RM3.80 

My friend preferred the doughnut which was soft and fluffy and not too sweet ...

I do not frequent Starbucks all the time though I do enjoy the drinks .... so sometimes .... sometimes ... when friends invite ... when craving beckons ... I really do not mind visiting the joint for a drink or two! 

Boulevard Kuching Again

The next day, my cousin asked me to accompany her to Boulevard again. It was very hot back home, and she thought it would be a good idea to go to an air-conditioned mall for a walk. She also wanted to buy some material to sew some bedding for her soon-to-be-born daughter.

It did not matter that I had just been to Boulevard the previous day. I jumped at the chance to shop, and also to catch up with my cousin whom I only see once or twice a year. So I drove us there ..... and we walked around the mall .... bought our material from Kamdar .... bought some stationery from Popular Book Store, and rested a while with some frozen yoghurt.

I love frozen yoghurt! And I had not tried this outlet before. It is called Berrylite. There were only 2 flavours on that day - peach & original. Cousin ordered peach while I had the original. It was RM8.90 for each small cup.

Frozen yoghurt

Well, my cup of "original" was tart, but had a natural flavour. The peach flavoured one was sweeter, and I think more appetising. Both were refreshing and pleasant to eat. I devoured mine within minutes while Cousin sat and I talked! ;p

After getting a few items at the hypermarket, we headed for home. A short shopping trip ... but fun!

Boulevard Kuching

Boulevard Shopping Mall had recently added a new wing to the existing mall, so now it became much bigger. It was also my first time to the mall after many months So Fourth Aunt and I spent quite a considerable amount of time there ... browsing in shops like Brands Outlets, Dees, Summit, trying out exercise machines and massage chairs at Gintell and Ogawa, playing with smart phones at SenQ ... and well, I must say that it was a great shopping trip as I managed to buy some clothes! ;p

For lunch, Fourth Aunt and I went to the food court, and we had ...

Assam Fish Head with Rice, RM6.50

This was ordered from a stall named DFC Rice. DFC stands for Duck, Fish & Chicken. Lol. 

The Assam gravy was diluted, tangy and quite appetising. Except that I found it a bit fishy .... Fourth Aunt liked it though. 

From the Chicken Rice stall, I ordered ...

Chicken Chop Rice, RM5.50 

Hmn ... the portion was alright, but the taste was not very memorable ...  

Baby Kailan, RM4.00

This was a huge plate of vegetables! It was blanched and served in oyster sauce and garlic oil. The vegetables were green and crunchy and yum.

Egg Tofu in gravy

This was also nice, when eaten hot. I forgot to check out the price. 

From the dessert stall, we had ABC .... 

ABC, RM2.50

 ABC

Not too sweet, quite rich and pleasant to eat .... but very cold ;p

Lots of people crowded the food court, even though it was not really the lunch hour ... it's my first time eating here actually. And I think there are lots to sample still. Save till next time then! 

Soy Braised Duck & Pork

Mom had bought the duck and a strip of pork belly before CNY but did not have time to cook them ... till today.

The smell that permeated the house while this was cooking was heavenly. I took no part in the cooking ... as I was busy preparing to go out with my friends .... but I breathed in the wonderful aroma .... and imagined how I would enjoy dinner that night. ;p

Mom's soy braised duck & pork belly

True enough, the meats were fully infused with soy sauce and spices, was very aromatic and tender. Yums.

Plaza Merdeka

Fourth Aunt and I went shopping at Plaza Merdeka the other day .... it was my first time there. And yes, I was quite impressed with some of the labels sold there ... such as Dorothy Perkins, Esprit, Cotton On, Clarks, Scholl. So Fourth Aunt and I spent 6 hours there .... shopping and browsing in the shops. I tried on some clothes and shoes, but did not buy any. Fourth Aunt bought a set of pots and a steamer at Parkson.

There was a food court upstairs, but I was not so impressed with the set up .... I checked out the stalls there and was not impressed with the variety of food sold as well. So I ended up patronising the Arab Rice stall. One could choose the types of meat to eat with the rice, such as chicken curry, chicken kurma and so on. I decided to have lamb yoghurt with my rice.

 Arab Rice with Lamb Yoghurt and salad, RM11.80

I must say that I liked the curried lamb in yoghurt .... the portion was generous, the meat had absorbed the flavour of the curry, and very tender. The rice tasted mildly of spices, but I did not really like the salad. Overall, quite interesting ... not really to-die-for .... but the lamb was quite yum. 

After Aunt and I walked for a while .... I decided to try My Pretzel ... 

 Parmesan Cheese Pretzel, RM3.00

Hmn ... I think it could improve in the look, the texture, and the taste. 

Compare to Auntie Anne's Parmesan Cheese Specialty Pretzel .... 

I also decided to try Ding Tea ...

Hokkaido Milk Tea with Pearls ... RM6.90

This was a signature product here ... quite rich, but too sweet for me ... the pearls chewy but not as tasty. But since I was thirsty, I finished that whole glass. Sinful!!!  

At the end of the day, we paid RM7.00 for parking. Aunt got a shock! Lols .... cause in Kuching, that amount is considered VERY expensive. She ranted on and on about it ... and she wanted to tell all her friends about it. Lol. But all that said, I knew she had enjoyed herself that day.  

Meat Roll

Mom says all Chinese families make meat rolls during festive seasons. Not sure whether it's true or not. But in my family, meat rolls are eaten every Chinese New Year. My favourite meat rolls were made by my Grandma ... but it's been years since she had last made them.

I did not like Mom's meat rolls .... till I stopped her from putting onions in them. Cause onions overpowered the taste of all the other ingredients. But Mom wasn't going to listen to me much. She still put them onions ... but she reduced the amount. So what went into Mom's meat rolls besides those hateful onions were  minced pork, fish paste, diced water chestnuts, deep-fried garlic and shallots, and seasoning.

Mom's meat roll 

When I got to try Mom's meat rolls the other day, I was happy that they tasted good! So I ate a considerable amount of meat roll this year ... compared to previous years.

Bing Coffee Company

My friend AT asked me to go out for a drink, and we headed to Bing! at 101. It was raining throughout the evening, but as the night progressed, more and more people walked in for tea, coffee and cakes. Many of them were either armed with laptops, tablets and smart phones. Free wi-fi was available, but somehow, both AT and I were not able to access it that night. Not sure why.

Camomile tea

 Mocha latte ... look at the pretty design on top! 

New York Cheese Cake

Rich, cheesy and lemony .... very nice cake .... 

Quite a comfy place to hang out ... no wonder so many people here! 

Yam and Pumpkin Cake

Mom made a steamed yam and pumpkin cake .... and then pan-fried them ...

I don't remember Mom ever combining the 2 types of root vegetable in a cake ... but according to Mom, it's very common. She said my aunts did it all the time. I googled .... and indeed there were people making yam-pumpkin cakes. An example of a recipe in Kuali here.

Yam and pumpkin cake ... purple and orange made an interesting colour combination! 

Kuching's Favourite Noodle

During this CNY season, the kolo mee business seems to be very brisk. Everyone wants to eat it, but very limited supply is available. Some vendors sell very limited quantity, where as others take the opportunity to close shop and rest during this festive occasion. A majority of coffee shops are closed on the first day of the lunar new year. And because of that, some kolo mee vendors seize the chance to hike up the price.

On average, a normal bowl or packet of kolo mee costs RM2.50. But during this time, it is sold at RM3.00 or even RM3.50. Still, people buy. Why? Because kolo mee is staple in Kuching. Further, CNY is the time where some people make their annual journey back to Kuching. And when in Kuching, how can one NOT eat kolo mee? So despite the price and the long wait for your orders, the kolo mee business is very good.

Kolo Mee Pok, RM3.00. Pre-CNY price, as this was bought on CNY eve.

Mee Pok is a thin and flat egg noodle. This I bought from Soon Heng, stall 23 at Kenyalang Wet Market.

Kolo Mee, RM2.50, Post-CNY price 

This was from Kim Sen, stall 24 at Kenyalang Wet Market. The vendor is an elderly man.

 Both noodles tasted slightly different, but both very yum. Stall 24's portion is really huge! 

Aunties' Specialties

On the first day of CNY, Second Aunt made my favourite steamed yam cake. It was a really delicious treat!

Steamed Yam Cake 

Read about Second Aunt's Steamed Yam Cake here. Besides the Yam Cake, Aunt had also made a platter of Stir-fried carrot cake. Yummm .... the cake was fried with egg and was browned and crispy. It was really delicious when dipped with my maternal grandma's traditional sweet soy sauce!

On the second day of CNY, I visited my Third Aunt .... and she served these savoury cakes. I had a piece, and was quite fascinated with the texture and flavours. It was soft and yet chewy, and the combination of meat and onions and spices made it really tasty.

What is it called?

"Pudding," she answered. Eventually, we found out that it consisted of luncheon meat layered in between cream crackers.

Savoury Pudding

I thought it was interesting .... and I thought it was easy to make .... and maybe I'd just try to make it one fine day!

Third Aunt's pride is also her orchid garden ...

Pretty, right? I love them beautiful flowers!!

CNY Cakes

I found out that my canteen sold festive and birthday cakes. And I found out at a very last minute while I was having a meeting! That was because the canteen had offered us a plate of layered cake for refreshment!

So right after the meeting, I rushed to the canteen and found that there were still a few available for me to buy .... 

And I bought 3 types of cakes .... 

From the top : Kek Belacan, Kek Lumut and Kek Lapis.

Lots of people liked the Kek Lumut ... cause it was sweet and had a rich taste of pandan and egg, while the Kek Lapis was not too sweet, with slightly tangy sultanas . All were soft and moist, and very pleasant to eat.

"Why didn't you publicise?" I asked the canteen operator. "Sell more next time," I told her. "Sell cookies too," I added.

Lol. Next year, she promised.   

CNY Cookies

To help Mom this year, I purchased some cookies so that she would not have to make them herself. It was rather time consuming. After all, she only had a week to prepare.

So I came across interesting ones at the shops ....

 Top : Butter and chocolate squares. There were almond flakes in the squares too. Bro loved that. Bottom : Fermented tofu cookies. Both were yum ... one was sweet, rich and buttery with a hint of bitter chocolate, while the other was slightly sweet and salty. It had a faint taste of fermented tofu. This was the first time I had come across this! 

The triangular ones were coffee almond crisps, followed by cheese sticks, and pineapple cheese cookies. The coffee ones were rather addictive! And the other was a very interesting combination of sweet pineapple jam, wrapped in pastry and sprinkled with grated cheddar! 

Green pea cookies - The green rounds were very fragile and melted in the mouth .... it had a very prominent taste of green pea. Next to it with sesame seeds on top is savoury chicken crispies which Mom made using potato crisps and chicken granules. 

This year of the Water Snake ...

A cutesy snake cookie which I ate at my Uncle's place ... ;))

Mom said I bought too many .... well, yeah .... maybe I went overboard. But it's only once a year, so what the heck. 

Reunion Dinner 2013

Usually, I have no part in preparation for CNY at home. My parents do everything! Mom usually spends weeks baking and Dad is usually responsible for sprucing up the house. This year, however, Mom and Dad had only a week to prepare for the celebration as they had only arrived from KL a week ago!

Mom would usually prepare an elaborate reunion dinner for us. But because of time constraint, we only had a simple meal at home. Despite that, Mom still cooked many dishes! She cooked for us a fish soup, a Pacific clam salad, a chicken curry, a vegetable platter, butter prawns, and also a steamed prawn dish.

Steamed Prawns

There were only so few of us at home .... and the amount of food stuffed us silly! Thanks of course, to Second Aunt who helped Mom source some of the ingredients for cooking. She had gone all the way to Pending to buy the fresh big prawns!

I had not thought about it ... but I should have just gone ahead and booked a dinner somewhere so that Mom did not have to slave away in the kitchen to prepare dinner. Next year. Next year, we would have a reunion lunch instead of a reunion dinner .... and persuade my parents to eat out!

The Year Of The Water Snake

Wishing everyone 

A Happy Chinese New Year 2013! 

The Spring, Kuching

May everyone be basking in joy and happiness during this time of celebration,

And may the year of the Water Snake overflow with health and prosperity!

新年快乐
萬事如意

Surprise Free Breakfast

Where from? I asked as packets of it were distributed.

Last week, a student's parents bought us breakfast ... all staff received a packet of fried vermicelli topped with a fried egg.

I did not know the name of the student. I asked around, but no one seemed to have the information. But whoever it was, thank you very much for the treat. The simple fried vermicelli was tasty, and what could go wrong with fried egg?

My Le Pliages

I bought my first Longchamp in 2011. Though small, I found it to be very handy as I could fit everything important in there. Besides, the bag was practically weightless, if compared to my Coach hobo.

Last December, I bought a medium long handle Le Pliage for Mom. She wanted hers in black, and so I bought her that. I borrowed her bag sometimes ... lol ... for fun. I bought one for myself as well, but in Duck Blue. But I never got it. Read about my harrowing experience here.

The other day, my friend got another friend to help me buy a large long handle Le Pliage from Amsterdam. She bought from the airport as she was departing, and the only colour she could find for that size was black. And it was so cheap too! After conversion, I only paid RM280 for the bag.

My brand new Le Pliage in black ... 

Black is cool ... Kate Middleton was spotted with a black one too! ;p Anyway, the bag is huge ... so it will be handy to carry it when I go shopping. I am so looking forward to use it.

Dinner @ Maxim

It's the first time the girls had gathered for dinner this year. And they chose to eat at Maxim's because they wanted to walk to Bintang Megamall later on after dinner.

Seaweed & egg drop soup

Hmn .... not very nice. We added some malt vinegar, but the vinegar had a strange taste to it. 

Bitter gourd with roasted pork belly and salted fish

Not bad, as the bitter gourd was not over-fried. It was still crunchy. The roasted pork slices were hidden, but they were quite tasty. The salted fish brought even more flavour to the dish. It was quite appetising to eat this with rice. 

Fish and tofu in a mini wok

I also liked this dish ... It had lots of ingredients in there, namely deep-fried fish chunks, tofu chunks, button mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, black fungus, carrots, leeks, white cabbage, and red peppers. The gravy had a good consistency. Not bad.

We paid RM45.30 for the meal inclusive of drinks. Reasonable, eh?