Cuppa-Kap Coffee

DS introduced to us this little cafe at One Jaya. So we went the other day to try it out. Since D had not tried green tea latte before, I introduced him to the drink ....

 Iced green tea latte 

Cafe Latte 

We enjoyed both the drinks very much ... only that the cafe was really tiny, and hence, it could feel a little suffocating. I also had to speak softly in the small enclosure of the cafe .... and it was not really nice to be overheard lest my privacy was invaded. :))

Cuppa-Kap also had many varieties of crepe cake on display ... but I would have to come back and try those later in the future when I had the chance. :))

Braised Pork Rice @ 5 Loaves 2 Fish

Lots of people seemed to like the braised pork rice here. So I decided that I had to have a try. I went in search of the little outlet and was glad to have found it. And well, I did not hesitate on what to order, for I knew I was trying its signature braised pork rice.

Nice presentation .... 

The Braised Pork Rice cost RM4.50 a bowl. It was quite a big bowl too! Lots or rice covered with a generous amount of braised meat, some chopped preserved vegetable stirfry, and half a hard-boiled egg.

Let me start with the rice. I liked the rice served hot, and I liked that it was loosened up and fluffy. Nice. Next, I liked the chopped preserved vegetable. I liked its texture, for it was cut finely and yet not minced up. I liked that it tasted sour as well, bringing a zest to the whole dish. Then, there's the egg. It was not braised, but just topped with some of the braised meat.

The most important ingredient here, I suppose, would be the braised meat. This version here, was cooked using minced pork, and had a very strong taste of shallots. I felt that this version was more suitable to be used as filling for kompia, rather than to eat with rice. Hence, the braised meat as not as good as I thought it was, and definitely fell short in comparison to Badoyao's aromatic version.

I'd come back to try the other dishes though ... like the mee suah soup and the red yeast pork rice. :))

Lunch @ One Kopitiam

We were driving around and deciding which coffee shop to go to for lunch .... D hated crowds. I loved crowds. Well .... not really loved it, but I didn't quite mind a reasonable-sized crowd. Parking was a problem too .... and we had circled the place once but there wasn't anywhere to park .... till we chanced upon one in front of One Kopitiam. We decided to eat there then.

Our drinks ... 

I walked among the stalls and decided on nasi lemak. D walked a round too and he came back not knowing what to eat. So I urged him to order from the first stall - where soup and rice were sold. It was the right choice, because he loved it. Good, he said, satisfied with his meal. 

Pumpkin Rice, and Ten Tonic Ginseng and Chicken Soup

I did not try the pumpkin rice .... but it looked light and fluffy, flavoured by the natural sweetness of the pumpkin and savoury dried shrimps. I did try the ten tonic ginseng soup and I loved it!! 

Meanwhile, I had Nasi Lemak ...

Nasi Lemak with fried chicken ... 

The nasi lemak looked pretty ok .... except that it was not a memorable meal at all. I wouldn't eat nasi lemak here for a second time. :( 

Kueh Chap @ Foody Goody

D seldom looked me up for breakfast .... so I was pleasant surprised when he wanted to go all the way to Foody Goody at Stutong for breakfast.

We reached there at about 7.45 a.m., and joined his friend DS and family for breakfast. Duh. No wonder D wanted to go there. DS had asked him to for the past few weeks. DS had, in fact, recommended us to try the kueh chap which he claimed to be a family favourite.

So kueh chap was what we ordered.

Kueh Chap, RM5.00 for a small bowl

Well, yeah .... the kueh chap was nice. The broth was aromatic, and not overpowered by spices. The ingredients included different cuts of pork and offal and beancurd as well. But know what? I wished there were soy-braised eggs in there ..... so I was rather disappointed at that. Overall, a nice bowl of kueh chap.

The youtiao here, I must say, is one of the best in Kuching. 

Youtiao, RM0.80 per stick

Crispy and yet chewy, salty, very yummy

I was, in fact, thinking of the youtiao here all the time! Alas, I can only buy them on weekends.

All of the sudden, someone whispered my name at my ear. Jeez! It was my cousin WC. She and her husband were operating a stall here and I did not know it! All the while I thought they were operating at open air market. I'd think that Ah Mui's beef noodle need no introduction ...... they'd been selling for years and years .........

Starbucks @ Plaza Merdeka

CM, S and I went window shopping at Plaza Merdeka. It was not so much the window shopping .... but it was the companionship. We chatted non-stop while browsing the clothes and the shoes and the bags and the toiletries ..... and finally stopped for a drink at Starbucks on the ground floor. It was my first time here at this outlet and I liked the relaxing ambience. We ordered our drinks and sat down to talk further ... really, us girls really have a lot to talk about. Lols.

So, it's only right to stop for a drink. S wanted something for Starbucks ....

Our drinks .... and my new Furla Alissa satchel .... 

I inducted S to green tea latte .... and she liked it. She then craved for it so much during the week that she went back for some more. :P

Nyan Shin's Traditional Noodles

CM and I were walking along Carpenter Street when we saw people waving at us from inside a kopitiam. They were our colleagues B and LC, and they were having a drink while waiting for their husbands to pick them up to go home.

CM and I joined them at the table, and we ordered noodles for brunch .... cause we were at Nyan Shin and noodles is what Nyan Shin is famous for. Both CM and I ordered the traditional Hakka noodles ....

Traditional Hakka Noodles, RM4.00

Well, the noodles were really yum! CM said so too. The noodles were dense but not hard, springy, superbly tasty as they were coated in aromatic oil. I liked the texture and the flavour. Only that I did not dare finish the entire bowl .... I ate only a few mouthfuls and left the noodles behind.

Over the meal, I got to know LC better. I had never actually spoken to her at work .... but it was quite nice to be able to actually chit chat with her about work and things in general.

"Are you all teachers?" the kopitiam operator asked us after overhearing us talking about school and our students. "Why are there so many teachers here today? This morning there was a large group from KHS," she informed us.

Lol. We told here we just happened to be nearby .... and thanked her for patiently waiting for us to finish our meal. They were closing shop already ...

Sanga Japanese Restaurant

They told me that they had started talking about this last year, but had postponed it for a long time. So two weeks ago, they decided to organise it for real. They asked around the staffroom who was interested to join in, and then over the fortnight, people signed up and then dropped out. Finally, there were 16 of us who were left in the list. After work, we headed to Sanga Japanese Restaurant and enjoyed our salmon fish.

Our fish was 4.9 kg, and we paid RM468 for our meal.

 Sashimi

 Thick, fresh and sweet

So much even for the 16 of us! 

 Assorted sushi

 Delicious salmon fried rice

 Salmon skin

 Salmon head 

 Okonomiyaki

Ice-cream

We liked the fish - raw and cooked. Some did not like the okonomiyaki, and many of us did not like the dessert. 

Lok Lok

We drove past Lok Lok at Ban Hock Road. It was near 11.00 p.m., and there was still a crowd there.

Want? AT asked me.

Ya, I wanted. So we decided to drop by.

The food display case where assorted skewers of food were placed. 

 Luo Han Guo, RM1.50 each

We only picked 5 skewers .... 

Tofu skin, seafood tofu, cuttlefish, quail eggs, sotong and kangkung .... and this plate cost RM10.50, which I felt was rather reasonable. AT only ate the seafood tofu and the quail eggs, while I had the others.


The sauce was a mixture of sweet sauce, chilli, sambal ..... and not sure what else, but the combination was nice. I liked it.

We also ordered rice roll or chee cheung fun .... which I totally enjoyed too! 

 Rice Roll, RM5.00

AT liked that the vendors were polite. He said he'd come back anytime. :)) 

Tempayan Restaurant

It felt more like a cafeteria than a restaurant. Anyway, I did not know of the existence of this eatery, until D brought me there. It's located at the third floor of Crown Towers at Jalan Pending.

 Kopi C

I enjoyed the hot brew a lot. 

 D had the pineapple juice .... 

 D ordered the Teriyaki fish fillet with rice .... 

while I had the .... 

Club sandwich

The bread slices were longer than usual, and lightly toasted. In between the bread was lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, ham, 2 fried eggs, and 2 slices of cheese! So much! I cut the sandwich into half and gave it to D. I did enjoy the sandwich a bit. It was served with crinkled cut fries and salad. 

There weren't many people around, and it was easier to talk. I had a great time talking to D over lunch .....

Soy Braised Pork with Rice

My friend, CM sold a few of us some spices sachet - something like sachet d'epices - used to cook soy braised meats.  Each sachet is used for half a kilogramme of meat. So I brought it home and Mom used it to braise some pork belly, beancurd sticks and hardboiled eggs.

It was easy to make too. Mom caramelised some sugar and added some soy sauce to the mixture. Finally she poured in some water and added the meat and left it to braise.

Yummy 

While cooking, the aroma of the herbs and spices wafted through the house and even next door. Second Aunt even asked what Mom was cooking. Lols. Me? I enjoyed the meats a lot ... the flavour was just right. Yums.

Fish Ball Noodles & Fritters @ Lau Ya Keng

Lau Ya Keng means temple in our local dialect. But in Kuching, Lau Ya Keng is synonymous with a particular food court located at Carpenter Street. Just as one walks past the arch into Carpenter Street, one would see a temple on the right. Directly opposite it is a stage of some sort, and in the space in front of the stage is where food stalls are set up.

People generally come to Lau Ya Keng for its authentic Teochew fishball and glass vermicelli soup and pork satay.

Fishball vermicelli, RM5.00 for a regular bowl

For RM5.00, I got to enjoy glass vermicelli with homemade fishballs, some stuffed tofu and deep-fried stuffed tofu and meatballs in a bowl of fish broth. The fishballs were fresh and had a very strong flavour of fish, while the clear broth was sweet and satisfying. A dash of white pepper added aroma to the entire dish. 

Opposite this food court, right in front of the temple is a stall selling deep-fried fritters. When I was there the other day, I managed to buy some sweet potato and banana fritters, at RM0.50 a piece. 

Sweet potato fritter on the left and banana fritters on the right.

The batter coating was thin and crispy .... but the fritters quickly became soggy and greasy. They had to be eaten on the spot, while hot. Meanwhile, I thought RM0.50 a piece was rather pricey ....

This place was very popular with the locals ... but tourists also stop by to try our local food here. :))

Little Sky Cafe

It's quiet and not that hot, D said. We were going to Little Sky Cafe.

Where? I'd not heard of this place before.

In fact, it was at Jalan Song. The kampua noodles were supposed to be good here .... but neither D nor I wanted to burden ourselves with too much carb.

So we had ...

 Cai Kueh, RM0.80 per piece

The Cai Kueh tasted very similar to the ones I could buy from No. 6 Kopitiam at RM0.70 per piece. Inside was shredded jicama and carrots, and flavoured with dried shrimp. Not bad. 

ABC

The ABC tasted alright, and it was a big portion too! 

Tofu and offal soup with vermicelli

I liked this clear soup and the offal made the whole dish seemed satisfying. 

And that made a simple lunch.

KY Cafe

D-Day. By hook or by crook, things had to get done by midnight. D expected to work till midnight. But meanwhile, he was going for a much-needed reprieve. Dinner. D and I went to KY Cafe at Jalan Sekama. I wasn't eating, I was merely accompanying him while he ate ....

D ordered a bowl of glass noodles ....

And after that ..... D could not resist another bowl of kolo mee.

Are you ok? I asked.

Yeah.

Why are you eating so much? Are you stressed?

He said that he needed energy for the brain. Lol.

I had some of the noodles .... and I did like the taste of it. D thought he preferred another stall's kolomee near his workplace. Hmn .... I'll be going to try that sometime next week ....

The Waiting Game

I was at this event.

The simple report here did not capture what went on behind the scenes. How much time and effort and money went into it just for 30 minutes of play. It did not mention how much work put into the preparation and the large number of people involved.

I was there .... and I was aghast at the amount of time spent waiting. I got restless. I got annoyed. And I swore I wasn't going to be involved in events like this ever! Fat chance, but venting made me feel a teeny bit better.

On Saturday afternoon - the day before the actual event, when I was there, preparation was underway, with lots of people decorating the grand stand. Rehearsals were also going on at the same time, with the committee members alert at every mistake made. Everything had to be perfect. So we partook in 3 rounds of rehearsal. And then we went home.

On Sunday - the day of the actual event, we were made to be there by 1.30 p.m. So we obliged and we arrived right on time. We rehearsed once and the organising committee seemed happy with the way things were going.

Then came the agonising moment of waiting. We waited for 2 hours and 15 minutes, before the dignitaries arrived. Was it necessary for us to be made waiting for so long?

Everyone was relieved when the event finally started. Everything went on as planned .... and we did our part as cued - only 20 seconds of it.

And by the time the match kicked off, it had started raining heavily. 30 minutes later, when the organisers cancelled the match, we were told to pack up. Everyone was happy and relieved! For it meant that we could all go off earlier than expected. If not, we would be holed up at the stadium for at least another 2 hours.

For our part in the programme, we spent near RM2800.00. We waited for 3 hours. Our bit in the programme was only 20 seconds long.

If you asked me? I'd say that it wasn't worth the time, effort and money. But obviously, no one was asking me. I was just doing my job. Albeit reluctantly.

Interesting Lunch @ Kong Tung Cafe

Deadlines, deadlines.

D's deadlines were looming. I daren't disturb him, lest he unleashed his wrath upon me.

But then ... what the heck. Can you have lunch? I asked.

"Kong Tung Cafe" came the reply.

Yayy, lunch it was.

* * *

I did not know what to order ... the limited menu was on the wall. I scanned the wall .... undecided. And well, decided to let D decide for me. 

He ordered ..... 

Sweet potato drink, RM1.50

Cooling and filling, D said. In fact, I liked the sweet potato drink. I found it interesting, as not many places sold this. 

The beehoon is not bad, D told me. And he ordered that too. 

Stirfry beehoon, RM7.00

The beehoon or rice vermicelli was stirfried with egg and salted fish! What I found interesting were the sides .... there were deep-fried chicken breast slices. The meat looked pale and flavourless .... but in fact, they were beautifully marinated and were so tender to the bite. I liked the chicken slices. On the skewers I thought were satay or deep-fried chicken. But boy, was I wrong! They were in fact prawns! Battered and deep-fried to crispy perfection! I loved the play of crunchy batter and succulent prawns ... yum. Then there's the stuffed chicken wing ...... 

 That's what it looked like after I took a bite .... 

I found the cilantro a tad too overpowering, but otherwise, the meat was juicy and yum. 

In the end, I found lunch to be quite interesting .... seldom, in fact, never had I have my beehoon served with all the works. Interesting, indeed and perhaps looking forward to come back for some other items in the menu. :))

Traditional Banmian @ Shan City Kopitiam

Is there any special place that you would like to go for lunch? D asked.

I was flexible.

So D decided to head to the Jalan Song area, where there were more shops to eat. We had nearly reached Brighton Square, when D asked if I would like to eat banmian.

And we went to Shan City Kopitiam for lunch.

The last time I was here, I ordered the dry banmian, but found the soup version to be yummier. This time, I wasn't going to make the same mistake.

D and I both ordered the traditional banmian in soup.

Traditional Banmian Soup, RM6.30

The noodles were springy - and there was a large portion! I ate only about a quarter and was already full! The soup was so sweet. Coupled with the distinctive flavour of the cangkuk manis and the crunchy and salty anchovies, the bowl of banmian was really enjoyable. I also loved the ambience here at the shop.

Chicken Rice @ Homemade Specialties

D was working overtime as he had an important deadline to meet. So he was taking a dinner break nearby his office, and since I was in the vicinity, I joined him. He wanted to eat at Homemade Specialties; specifically, he wanted to eat chicken rice.

6.00 p.m, he told me ....

And I was there 5.50 p.m. ..... and I did not see any chicken rice. Well, the stall only started to operate at 6.30 p.m. But already, almost all the tables at the shop were occupied. People were waiting for the chicken rice.

Was it that good? D placed the order .... and after that .... we waited 30 minutes to be served.

The rice, soup and condiment

The meat

A regular serving was RM4.50. After that meal, D and I had gone back another time .... 

And these were for 2 pax, RM9.00

Now, let's deconstruct this chicken rice ....

First up, the rice was fluffy and not too moist, quite fragrant too. The steamed free-range chicken of course, had better texture for meat, and was only lightly seasoned with light soy and sesame sauce. The soup was however, great - served piping hot and so naturally sweet! And the chilli condiment had a distinct flavour to it ... perhaps with just a tinge of belacan or prawn paste inside. I think the chicken rice here has a homemade feel to it. That' why it appeals to so many people!

Family Gathering Pot Bless Dinner

It was a family gathering. It was also an uncle's birthday. It was a pot bless dinner. Everyone brought something, resulting in a very interesting, yet sumptuous mix and match of a variety cuisines. And we had so much food, more than enough for all and with lots of leftovers to bring home.

A suckling pig and pork belly strips being roasted on the spot .... 

When they were cooked, they were cut into bite-sized pieces and served

The suckling pig was fantastic 

 Homemade Lasagne by my cousin D

 Store-bought assorted sushi 

Salmon skin 

 Stir-fried spinach with century egg, which was cooked by my cousin DL

Stir-fried eggplant with basil, also cooked by DL

 Second Aunt's yummy Kacangma chicken

 Mom's steamed prawn and meatballs on cabbage leaves

 My elderly aunt's signature braised duck

 And braised eggs too! 

 Rojak

 Ah Mui's beef noodle 

The stall at Foody Goody is run by my cousin and her husband .... and they brought their specialty for us that night. Yum. 

Banana fritters 

And of course, there were so much more food which I had failed to capture shots of. There was chicken curry, and a nyonya vegetable lemak, and yummy homemade meat rolls, and grilled pork belly in fermented soy, and barrels of KFC fried chicken. There were even cakes and fresh fruits, and durians for dessert!! Everyone ate till they almost exploded .... oh well .... luckily this is a rare occassion ....