Second Aunt's Homecooked Teochew Porridge

I love porridge, and Second Aunt cooks great porridge, which is fragrant and super tasty.

Minced pork porridge 

 Liver porridge 

Even though the ingredients are minimal, I know there is a lot of love that goes into it! Hence, Second Aunt's porridge always feels wholesome!

Lunching @ Madam Tang's

After work, I met up with D for lunch. It was certainly a challenge to navigate the after school jam to make it there in time .... even though the distance was a mere few kilometres away.

D had ...

 Nasi lemak

 Beef Rendang

I tried a bit of the rendang which D claimed to be yummy .... and yes, I did find it quite palatable. Only that I felt that he portion was really insubstantial. 

I had the laksa ..... 

Sarawak Laksa

Rice noodles. Check.
Egg omelette. Check.
Shredded chicken. Check.
Prawns. Check. But what? Only 2 pieces?
Beansprouts. Check. But eeeww .... they were raw.

Other than that, the gravy was rather tasty and rich. Not bad ... but please blanch the beansprouts first. :))

Porridge And The Works

Alright. My throat was sore. Thanks to my generous helpings of bakuteh .... and what was best for me now was porridge.

Second Aunt cooked for me so much food ..... there was ginger and pork stirfry, french bean and egg stirfry, and steamed fish. I loved the fish the most as it was fresh and really sweet. 

The next day, Second Aunt again cooked for me ..... 

I love those little fishes, in which I could eat whole ..... even the tiny bones could be eaten. The okra, was homegrown, very soft and tender.

I love porridge dinners ... they always make me feel warm. Comfort food, I guess.

Second Aunt's Homecooked Bakuteh

I'm so blessed here in Kuching, with Second Aunt catering my meals every evening ...

That evening, I came back tired from work, and was treated to a sumptious meal of bakuteh ....

Rice, with a bowl of bakuteh, a little bowl of youtiao, and chilli in soy sauce

Wow ... look at that .. 

Second Aunt had generous chunks of meat in the herbal tea broth, and also tofu pockets and beancurd sticks. She added enoki mushrooms too. I really had my fill of Second Aunt's yummy bakuteh that evening ... too much perhaps because I got ill the next day. Lols.

Family Dinner

Fifth Aunt bought tickets to an association dinner; there were 15 tickets at her disposal .... and Second Aunt was commissioned to invite all the relatives to attend the dinner lest they go to waste. The tickets were RM35.00 each. Second Aunt, so ever efficient, called all the relatives .... and at the night of the dinner were quite many of my aunties and uncles and cousins present ... all from Mom's side of the family.

Because I was always away, I never joined them for any of such gatherings .... and that night was my first ever family occasion.

Dinner that night was at a community hall, and was catered by It Hng Teochew restaurant. I'd never eaten at It Hng before ... but because the restaurant was catering for the masses outside of the restaurant, I'd not expect too much as all the food would have been pre-cooked. True enough, the food was merely mediocre, both in taste and in presentation.

But this was what we had ....

  I think they forgot to put salt into the noodles ..... 

 The wanton were soggy already, and the jellied chicken tasted a bit scary .... 

 Fish maw soup I think .... for it had chopped bits of fish maw ... the taste was alright, but the texture was not good as it was too starchy .... 

 Fish steamed with minced meat paste .... first time I had my fish steamed that way .... quite interesting, really

 The chicken tasted alright .... but the pickled mango that was sprinkled on top looked a bit sorry .... 

 Steamed cabbage with scallops ..... too mashed up for me to like it .... 

The best dish of the night was this duck and yam pancake .... I think this is a Teochew specialty and it was really, really yum .... 

Though the food was not nice, I was full to the max at the end of the dinner ..... Thanks to my Fifth Aunt. I think I'd have the opportunity to enjoy more of such dinners soon .... Living at home really rocks!

Lunch @ Expert Food Court 4.5 Mile

D and I went to Boulevard City Megastore that morning. We did not have anything in particular to buy ... just to walk and browse at the shop. The yield? Hmn ... we bought some stuff from Daiso and also Popular Bookstore .... and then that was it! Though the place seemed huge, but we did not stay more than 2 hours .... so maybe it wasn't that huge after all.

It was lunch time, but I did not fancy the stuff at the mall, and requested we go to a coffee shop or food court to eat. D brought me to Expert Food Court at 4.5 mile, but because it was near 1 p.m., there was not much of choice already ....

D ordered the laksa ...

Laksa ... all essential ingredients were there .... and D said it was "okay". Lols.

Meanwhile I had Mr. Fat's boneless fried chicken in butter sauce ... 

My platter, RM5.00 

Why does it look so childish? I exclaimed when the plate was put on the table.

Lols .... it looked to me like some platter of kids' meal. D agreed with me. Hmn .... .... it's the fault of the orange plastic plate, I think.

But D also thought the food looked good. Hmn .... I think there is a lot to improve - both in presentation and in taste. First up, I think the rice isn't fragrant and tasty enough. What's tasty? I think the rice here is super tasty.

The chicken was dry and not well marinated, and lacked much in taste. And the sauce? Hmn ..... I think it's too diluted ... and it did not have much buttery taste. I think I can make a better butter sauce than that! I ate the meat and the fries and the meagre amount of shredded cabbage .... and left much of the rice uneaten. :P

Another Lazy Sunday ...

It was another Sunday. Exercising at the park was the order of the day ..... and it always seemed more quiet on Sunday mornings here ....

The trail .... 

Well .... at least I know now that Uncle O-chien is Uncle Tay. He was really friendly.That morning, he had picked up this fruit ....

Skyfruit

And he was telling me about its uses and the benefits of taking the fruit .... bitter, he told me, and good to cool the body with. Okie. That's something new for me .. 

Besides Uncle Tay, I'd even met my grandaunt here! Grandaunt is Grandma's youngest sister .... and I had to call her Lao Yi. She'd seen me jogging .... but she did not want to call me. Guess she wanted me to acknowledge her first. Scary. With Lao Yi was another guy .... not sure who he was, but he seemed to know my dad cause Lao Yi introduced me as Ah Peng's daughter. That's my dad's nickname.

Later on, I mused about what to have for breakfast .... well .... I was not going to have kolo mee for sure. So I went home and attempted to finish the stuff the in fridge ......

My homemade breakfast 

And I had Gardenia Butterscotch toasts, with 2 cheese sausages, scrambled egg, and Japanese cucumber slices. Of course, I can't forget a cup of coffee too. :))

After breakfast, those boring chores awaited ..... :((

Kronut

Kronut or Cronut .... is a hybrid between a croissant and a doughnut.

I was pleasantly surprised to see an outlet at Cityone Mega Mall selling Kronuts .... and I bought one piece. There were plenty of fancy ones to choose from ... some coated with chocolate, and others sprinkled with confectionery.

But I chose the simplest one of all, one dusted with plain icing sugar.

Kronut, RM2.50

Cut across .... 

Well .... texture was airy and soft and yet slightly more dense than the croissant, tasted buttery like a croissant .... and sweet because of the icing sugar. I did quite like it .... except that it was rather fattening ... and induced lotsa guilt. :P

Laksa Fix

Hmn .... asked D to bring me for laksa the other morning but the stall was close. Hmn ..... so how did Second Aunt know I was craving for it then? Cause that was what she cooked for lunch today .....

Second Aunt put everything in a tiffin carrier .... 

The thing with homecooked food is that there is just so much of ingredients! Large and succulent prawns. Freshly cooked and shredded chicken. Omelette. Lime. Lots of noodles buried underneath .... and very rich broth to go with everything.

Of course I could not finish them all, and saved some for dinner too. Looked like I had my laksa fix today. :))

Baked Egg

I was ecstatic when I bought myself some ramekins at a bargain price. At 80% discount, and each ramekin only cost me RM5.00! And one of the things that I wanted to make were baked eggs.

And with Second Aunt feeding me, I absolutely had no chance to do so ..... will one fine Sunday .....

What I did was to place 2 rashers of pan-fried bacon at the bottom of the bowl, before spooning some corn kernels in it, and then cracking in an egg and topping it with cheddar. I baked it in the oven .... not sure of the temperature and the time ..... I was just depending on my baking sense of intuition .....

Baked egg

Well .... for this edition of it ... hmn .... I think the eggs were overcooked ... lol .... and hence became rather dry ..... I'd have to modify this .... perhaps add some cream into the egg and perhaps changing the cheese? Hmn ............ till next try .......

Morning Jog And Then ABC Food Court

I went jogging bright and early that morning. I really enjoyed myself lots ...

And thought I'd cool off at the reflexology trail ...

There was a friendly uncle walking there as well .... and we made small talk as we walked gingerly along the stoned path ..... and I found out that he was an o-chien vendor. He invited me to his stall to try his o-chien. One of these days, I'll definitely go!! And as he went off, he called, "See you on Saturday"! Lol .... looked like I made myself a friend at the park!

D came to join my exercise session.... but he came late and ran a mere 3 rounds .... and we went for breakfast at ABC food court. I wanted laksa, but unfortunately the stall wasn't operating.

Kopi 

So I had to eat noodles instead.

Noodles with chicken ... 

 Spinach noodles with chicken

First of all, the noodles were really springy and yet not hard. I could not really taste the spinach in the noodles, so it had to be that subtle. The noodles were drenched in a clear broth, making it moist. The flavours were also very light and not overpowering. The beansprouts added crunch to the whole dish. The portion was rather large, and I did not even want to attempt to finish them all .... gave most of the noodles away to D .... :))

Not sure how much ... D paid. Thanks for the treat!

Chill @ ZenQ, Premier 101

D said 8.00 p.m., but he came at 8.45 p.m. Lols. It seemed that he was always 45 minutes late. Blame the heavy rain? Hmn ... But since it was raining, we had to go somewhere indoors for our drink and dessert ..... and this time, we went to ZenQ.

Whoa! Lots of people in the shop, and it was rather noisy .... but at least we could still talk. We perused the menu .... and D suggested we ordered the red bean with shaved ice, instead of the fancy carb-laden stuff that decorated the other desserts. I did not mind the red bean ice, only that the shop did not have that!! Finished!! Whoa, so good business .......

 D had the grass jelly with shaved iced instead .... 

And I opted for plain old Jasmine Green Tea without sugar ... and quite enjoyed it ...

Kinda happening to chill here at Premier 101 ... every of the shops seemed to be so crowded with people. There are still plenty of shops to try out next time .. :)) 

Chicken Pie @ Polar Puffs & Cakes

Second Aunt and Uncle came back from Singapore that afternoon, and I picked them up from the airport. I knew they were going to give me food ....

Dinner

Dinner was a chicken pie which Second Aunt brought back all the way from Singapore ... from this bakery called Polar Puffs. Well, I did not think that the pie was that great, actually ... the crust and the filling were both rather dry; the pastry crust lacked the buttery taste which I craved even though it was crispy. The filling was also not very memorable .......

I thank Second Aunt, though, for her generosity. :))

Chicken Rice Takeaway

Before I picked up my Second Aunt and Uncle from the airport, I thought I'd buy them some chicken rice for lunch .... in case they were hungry. So I went to the Authentic Chicken Rice shop at Jalan Ang Cheng Ho .... and bought half a chicken and 2 packets of rice for them. That was RM18.00.

For myself, I bought a steamed chicken special ... that meant I got a drumstick. And that was RM5.80.

Yummy ... 

Second Aunt and Uncle too enjoyed the rice ... and asked me where I had bought it .... :)) I think this is my new chicken rice haunt. Lols.

Bacon and Egg Sandwich

For now, only on Mondays do I need to eat lunch at work .... and so I need to get up 20 minutes earlier to prepare my lunch box.

That day, I thought I'd make some sandwiches ..... with some air-flown bacon from Australia, brought all the way here by my cousin A. And hence, it was egg omelette and bacon sandwich .... with tomatoes and cucumbers for some colouring. 

Love the layers! 

And that made a great work day lunch. :))

Shopping & Lunch At The Spring

I went with my friend D to shop for shirts. Working shirts to be specific. It's probably a first for me. Actually, men's working shirts are mostly the same, are they not? Only now, they have slimmer cuts. Vain D opted for slimmer cuts, and he only wanted them in shades of blue. No use talking him into trying the other colours ..... D claimed that blue is a professional colour. Duh! Boring, in my opinion.

But that day, our shopping trip yielded 2 blue shirts. That done, we went to the newly opened Food Bazaar at The Spring for lunch. Phew! It was packed with the Sunday lunch crowd .... and we could hardly see a vacant table .... and we walked right to the corner of the food court .... and luckily there was a couple who was going to leave. We quickly snapped up the table ... and had to buy our food separately.

There were queues in front of every stall .... but I knew I had wanted to try the Arabic rice stall ....

Chicken Akbari rice set, RM9.80

Well, somehow, I did not think that the food was impressive, but anyway, let me attempt to describe the items on the platter to you. Alright, long grain basmati was evident ... and the rice was loose, fluffy and moist and tasted of exotic spices. It was not bad, the taste. Then there were the wedges ... very crispy .... but were mere those ordinary ones off the frozen sections of the supermarket. The shredded cabbage looked so sorry .... I wished there would be more generous to heap up the plate with those shredded cabbage ... it would at least make the plate looked "fuller" ... see the large part of the plate empty, with only the sauce? Sigh .... that's why I thought it did not impress. The chicken tasted alright, but only when eaten with the salsa and the gravy. I loved the gravy .... which was full of exotic flavours, which I mopped up with the chicken. Well, I do think this dish has potential ... but perhaps needed to be prepped up a little. :))

A Lazy Sunday ....

I thought I had better start my exercise regime .... so I went to my exercise ground at 6.30 a.m., but it was already quite bright and sunny .... I should go earlier next time.

 The sun had risen .... 

So since I was already there, I braved the morning sun for my walk .... I had rather enjoyed the walk, but not the sun, of course. After an hour ...... it was breakfast time .... 

Half a gigantic Sing Kwong Foochow Bao .... and a cuppa 

That's got to be a favourite bao of mine for now .... :)) Bliss.

My Box Of Goodies

Yesterday, AT had a box of goodies couriered to me .....

Goodness! So many! 

Mederma for my scars, Iron, Omega Fish Oil, Vitamin E, Vitamin B Complex, Co-enzyme Q10, and Probiotics ... 

Looks like someone is overly concerned about my well-being ... lols. 

Breakfast 

All those supplements to go with my milkshake for the many mornings to come ..... 

Thanks so much! 

Nasi Ayam Bakar Sambal

I went to The Spring, where the food bazaar had been relocated to upstairs ... and well, I did like the new look of the place! Especially eye-catching were those cage-like enclosures for people to sit on. Great for those who like novelty .... or those who get a kick for being birdies in a cages ....

Sugarbun, The Manhattan Fish Market, Kluang Station, and eventually Kenny Rogers Roasters have been relocated there as well.

From the "Indon" stall, I ordered Nasi Ayam Bakar Sambal ... it looked great in the picture .... but this was what I got ...

My serving of Nasi Ayam Bakar Sambal, RM10.00

Well ... it's just plain old nasi ayam penyet, with grilled chicken instead of deep-fried smashed chicken. I was not too impressed with the presentation, nor with the taste of the food. The chicken and the sambal hardly made an impression, but the little tofu square did. It was piping hot when I bit into it, and I loved the distinctive taste of soy in it. The cabbage, of course, looked downright unappetising.

I was also very uncomfortable with the word "Indon", which to me sounded rude and degrading. Why not just stick with "Indonesian"?

Stressed About Food?

Second Aunt has been feeding me ..... now that Mom and Dad are away. I appreciate her generosity a lot, but Second Aunt is the kind that overdoes it. And she's been giving me lots and lots of food that I have trouble finishing them .....

In my fridge now are leftovers. Lots of them. And here is a list ...
a) A portion of kacangma chicken
b) 2 portions of braised pork
c) 1 portion of fried chicken
d) 1 portion of char siew
e) A bit of rice
f) 1 1/2 loaves of bread
g) A bag of organic okra
h) A bag of organic kailan
i) A packet of kolomee
j) A large steamed bun
k) 2 portions of minced pork
l) A chicken drumstick

And there I have only one little stomach. Never thought I'd stay this, but I actually feel so stressed looking at and thinking of the amount of food that's leftover.

Of course I told Second Aunt about it ..... but she did not want to listen to me. How now?

Second Aunt made dinner for me .... kept a portion of the bittergourd, and all of the chicken for another meal cause I could not finish them .... 

 One portion of braised pork eaten, 2 portions left .... 

 Another portion of fried chicken left .... 

Kept all the rice I could not finish, and one fine morning, decided to make fried rice to bring to work

So ... if famine were to occur now, I'd still live for a while longer because of all the food I stored in the fridge. Someone help me finish, please ..............

Anyways, I just want to wish my mom and my Second Aunt a happy mothers' day .... I'm so blessed to have you in my live to always take care of me. This year, unfortunately, I do not get to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom again .... but hope that I can treat her to a meal when she comes back in 2 weeks' time. Love you all.

Venture To Orchid Park

D brought me to the Orchid Park at Jalan Astana. And because of the fine weather that evening, I really enjoyed myself strolling around the spacious and well-maintained park, while feasting my eyes on the pretty blooms.

Here are some pictures to share the lovely sights and sites around the park ....

 l

Oops!!

And here are some shots of the lovely orchids. The colours were just marvellous! 

Pretty, huh? 

The place was quiet and exude serenity ..... I would certainly love to go back again .... perhaps when I am stressed? Recommended to tourists. Must visit!