Not According To Time ..

This cutie had been attracting a lot of attention at GSC .... 

I've always had a pleasant time watching movies at GSC Kuching .... D and I normally went on Sunday evenings. But one time, the movie started ahead of time, and it prompted me to lodge a complaint. 

Dear GSC,

On Sunday 02 Nov 2014 at 6.40 pm, I purchased 2 tickets for Northmen : A Viking Saga. The movie was scheduled at 6.45 pm.

However, upon entering the hall at 6.43 pm, I was surprise that the movie had already begun. As I sat down to watch it, I realised that it had to start at least 10 minutes ahead. I had missed a good chunk of the beginning of the movie - the shipwreck and the vikings' capture of the heroine.

As a regular GSC movie-goer, this is the first occasion that this has ever happened to me, though I firmly hold that it SHOULD NOT have happened in the first place. This experience has totally ruined my enjoyment of the movie as it is. 

I hope that this matter will be investigated, and measures will be taken to ensure that movies will be shown at their stipulated times.

And I was glad that they did investigate and reply ....  

Dear Ms X, 

Thank you for your feedback.

Our sincerely apologize for your bad experience while visiting our location in Kuching recently.

After investigate we found the technician on duty have mistakenly set the wrong time to auto start.

We have inform the manager concern to make sure the projector machine is being set on time

To start the movie.

Regards.

It's been a few weeks now .... and D and I had since watched 3 movies after this incident .... and we found that they'd had started their movies promptly or later than the stated times. :)) 

Lunch @ Life Cafe

The food had not made much of an impression previously. Read here. But I know of some people who really loved to eat here, namely my students and a few of my colleagues as well.

But today, I did find something that  liked. Finally. Lol.

My colleague PH had bought a groupon voucher for 4 classic noodle sets and 2 side dishes at Life Cafe. There were 4 types of noodles to choose from : Classic spicy, classic dry, classic Shanghai or classic ginger.

I chose to have the classic spicy noodles. Apparently, I could also opt for the level of spiciness for my noodles ... and I chose to have mine at the medium level.

I much enjoyed the springy texture of the noodles, and I also found it tastier than the signature glass vermicelli or (Q-fen) because the wheat noodles could absorb the flavours better. The level of spiciness was not challenging at all for me. :P 

What I liked very much was the vegetables .... they were superbly crunchy and therefore, very enjoyable to eat! 

Wow! So green and so crunchy. Love them so much!! 

And because we spent more than RM10.00, we could order this matcha red bean drink for only RM2.90. 

Hmn .... a bit sweet .... and the matcha did not come through very prominently, but I did like the powdery red beans that were inside the cup.

All meals were served with ....  

Seaweed soup

Pickled cabbage ...

Loved this sweet and vinegary crunchy vegetables! 

So apparently, I was quite impressed with my meal today ..... and I had even bought myself a groupon for the same meal. I will be bringing D for lunch one of these days ..... :P

Supper @ Lok Lok

Cafe Cafe?

Ok.

Have you eaten?

Yes.

Then why go Cafe Cafe? Let's go Lok Lok. :P

D indulged me. Hmn .... D had been indulgent lately.

So while we were on the way, D was telling me about a fuming mad client who stormed into his office that afternoon, and failing to resolve an issue had broken a phone in his meeting room, and even attempted to manhandle him. Lucky for him, the cleaning lady had the sense to come between D and the client .... or else I'd not be surprise if either one or even both of them ended up in bruises.

Lol .... now D isn't the violent type .... just that he's probably influenced by the protagonists in all the violent movies we'd watched lately, from The Equalizer to Kung Fu Jungle.

Teh O & Iced Lemon Tea

 Lok Lok, RM2.00 per stick 

The skewers were not properly drained .... a bit wet tonight, so that was a little unpleasant.

 I love the sweet and spicy dipping sauce ... 

Playing with D's new phone .... 

Was telling D I loved the Chee Cheong Fun ... must bring him back here to try next time. :))

Phone Shopping

D's brand new Asus Zenfone 6 dropped and died. It just refused to turn on. So D planned to get it fixed at Wisma Saberkas. But because it was still new, he was advised to send it back to the shop where the phone was bought from as it was still under warranty.

So our trip to Wisma Saberkas was in vain. In the meantime, D had sweet and sour chicken at All Joy.

Sweet and sour chicken

Not sure what it tasted like, but it did not really look appetising to me .... 

The next day, D sent his phone for repair. Not sure what was wrong with it, or even whether it could be repaired. But we knew it had to be sent away for some time. 

So D decided to shop for a new phone. We went to City One Megamall ... and we browsed for a long time and while D made his decision, he stopped by at Sia Foodcourt for dinner .... 

Sizzling Noodles with Mushroom Chicken

Eew .... again I thought this did not look appetising, and I disliked the fact that instant egg noodles were used for the dish instead of fresh noodles ..... 

After dinner ....... D bought it. An Oppo Find 7A. :))

Desserts @ Boon Khai Delights

AT thought SOHO would be a good place to have ABC. We went to Boon Khai Delights, where he ordered ....

ABC Special with Strawberry ice-cream, RM5.50; and another ABC Special 

AT tried to make me eat the one with ice-cream, but I disliked it and opted to eat the bowl without the ice-cream. Inside the shaved ice were corn, 2 cubes of pineapples, 2 pieces of longan and lychee each, and strips of jelly .... Not my favourite ingredients for ABC. I preferred the traditional type of ABC without the canned fruits.

I think perhaps AT did not order the right thing .... but we both thought that the ABC here was rather pricey. Snacks were available too ... but we were still full from our seafood meal to eat anything. Not sure if I'd like to come back here ...... as the staff looked quite unfriendly.

Muara Tebas

AT and I were driving aimlessly .... and we had crossed the bridge and was at the Petra Jaya vicinity ... then I brought up Muara Tebas. AT was keenly interested as he had not been there for over 2 decades. And he did not know how to get there. Well, since I had a good sense of direction, I directed him there. Lol.

Muara Tebas is a fishing village, located at the estuary of the Sarawak River. What's famous here is a Chinese Temple which sits atop a hill. One has to drive through the narrow roads of the fishing village to reach the temple. Read this article here for more information.

The local Chinese community refer to Muara Tebas as Ching Shan, because the name of the temple atop the hill is Ching Shan Yen. Ching Shan means green hill or green mountain in Mandarin.

Since it was in the afternoon, the crowd had pretty much dispersed. But parking is still very limited. We paid RM2.00 for our little narrow spot at the foot of the hill .. and then climbed up the steps.  It was not very difficult to climb.

At the temple were some worshippers ....

We then went to the Muara Tebas Seafood Restaurant ... where we had a light meal. I left the ordering to AT ... and he ordered ...

We had a pandan coconut each ..... sweet and refreshing and so fragrant

 Seafood Noodles Stirfry

The noodles were well-fried and was really very tasty!! It was lightly smoky and was very aromatic, and the seafood very fresh.

AT ordered a dish of steamed prawns. There were 10 pieces, with the shell removed at the flesh, leaving the heads and tails intact. They were neatly arranged in a row, steamed and then topped with scallions. 

Steamed prawns with scallions

AT did not eat prawns .... but he ordered it for me. There were 10 pieces. I ate 9 and he ate only 1. Lol. 

The meal cost us RM68.00.

Triangular Vegetable Dumpling @ Ted Shin

We had driven to Siburan ... because we did not know where to go. We went to Eastern Mall, and then went looking for Ted Shin. The old town was quite busy with the Sunday morning crowd ... and the narrow roads along the town seemed to be jammed. Traffic was going at different directions at the same time, and I was rather baffled. I was glad that I was not driving, though .... AT was.

Ted Shin is a coffee shop here at 17th Mile Siburan, known for its triangular-shaped vegetable dumplings, filled with various fillings such as jicama, chives, tofu, bamboo shoots, salted vegetable. People said they were good. And I had not tried it before .... Today seemed a good day to try though. 

AT drove round and round the town .... and I was aghast that we could not find it, even though we were in such a small place. I had to google for its address at least twice. Of course, I was really happy when we finally found the coffee shop. 

The kueh seller auntie

On the wall is written in Chinese "triangle vegetable dumpling at RM0.50 per piece"

The friendly auntie saw us walking uncertainly along the corridor of the coffee shop ... and she asked if we were there for the first time. Indeed we were! She told us that the dumpling pastry was machine-made and had we were earlier, we could actually watch the entire process of making the dumpling.

On the table was 2 large trays filled with so many dumplings .... and that morning, they only had jicama, bamboo shoots, salted vegetables and tofu. I bought one of each ... 

 Famed triangular vegetable dumpling

 Check out the bamboo shoot filling

 Salted vegetable filling

 Tofu filling

Of the four I tried, I liked the bamboo shoots and the salted vegetable ones the most ..... the bamboo shoots were really tender, and did not have any briny taste at all. It made me wonder whether fresh bamboo shoots were used. 

Before we left, AT and I bought some back for our folks! A box for his mom, A box for my parents and another box for Second Aunt.

I was happy that the long drive was fruitful! 

I Love Going To Foody Goody But ...

I brought AT to try the kueh chap at Foody Goody, Jalan Stutong. AT, after eating the kueh chap, found that it was not very much to his liking .... guess he had eaten a better version. He also said that the offal wasn't braised well ... not sure what he meant, though. Not powdery enough? Or not tender enough? Lol.

 Kueh Chap, RM5.00

I bought us 2 pieces of youtiao and a vegetable fritter, RM2.60. 

 Vegetable fritter, youtiao

I told AT how much I loved the youtiao. I thought about it often .... and made myself come every weekend to buy it. At first, AT said he did not eat youtiao (duh! roll eyes! how can someone not eat youtiao?). But after he ate a piece, he seemed to like it though. He helpfully finished the youtiao for me in no time. The vegetable fritter was nice too, but not as addictive as the youtiao. 

Besides the youtiao, I had laksa.

 Sarawak Laksa, RM6.50

The Sarawak Laksa was very satisfying indeed. The broth was spicy and very rich indeed. 

 Take another peek .... 

Possibly I'd think about the laksa during the week days and come back for me in the weekend. Lol. Because I told AT that my relatives were selling beef noodles here, AT decided to patronise. 

AT's verdict? Hmn ..... he still preferred Nancy's. Lol. Read here and here for Nancy's.

Coffee Clinic Again

AT was in town for a meeting. So after dinner, we went for a drink. I told him we'd go to the clinic, and he thought it was a medical clinic. When in fact, we went to Coffee Clinic. Lol.

AT ordered an affogato .... which was a shot of espresso with ice-cream.

 Affogato, served with biscotti, RM7.90

AT loved the biscuit ... but did not comment about the drink. Lol. On the other hand, I loved my ice-blended Japanese green tea .... 

 Ice-blended Japanese green tea, RM11.00

I finished the drink so quickly .... that AT wanted to buy me another one. 2 glasses would be too much, so I stopped AT from doing so. 

Cheese Crepe Cake, RM9.50

We had a cheese crepe cake to share. According to the staff, the cake was freshly made. AT liked it, but he preferred it chilled. I thought there was too much cream on the cake. It was delectable, no doubt, but it was sinful, and we left it unfinished.

At Coffee Clinic, I loved to sit outside of the shop .... but there could be lots of mosquitoes there. Do go with a mosquito patch or insect repellent ....

It's my second visit to this coffee outlet, where they insist that one's blood type is "Coffee". Lols.

Coffee Clinic

Its name has amused me to no end .... and I fancy curing my urge for a cuppa here. I asked D to bring me to The Coffee Clinic, and he was nice enough to indulge me.

Well, this little cafe

It was about 8.00 p.m., and the little outlet had not that many customers yet ...

D and I placed our order, and then had our drinks delivered to us. We sat outside, where it was pleasantly windy .... I fancy drinking coffee underneath the stars ..... the downside? Well, there were mosquitoes flying around .... got myself bitten on the legs!

D's green tea latte ... 

My cafe latte 

D thought we were both too old to hang out at a swanky little cafe like this ... but of course, I disagreed. We could hang out anywhere we wanted. Anyway, we paid RM20.00 for 2 drinks. I liked it a lot here. Will be back.

Lunch @ IPH Roasted Cafe

One of my favourite roasted meats cafe is at IPH Roasted Cafe at the back lane of Jalan Sekama. The roasted meats are always fresh and tasty. Last Sunday, D and I went over there for lunch .... and at noon, the place was really packed. We were lucky to secure a table ... but then it ordering our drinks and food were tedious as the staff were too busy to heed us. Besides those seated down to eat, there were lots of people taking away the roasted meats and they crowded all over the front counter of the shop. So D and I waited a long time .....

"I want pork and pork," I told D .... 

 Char siew pork and roasted pork belly, RM5.50

I just loved the char siew with its sweet and tasty marinade, and contrast that with the crispy-skinned salty pork belly. I finished the entire plate of rice. :P

Sour Vegetable Stew, RM1.00

Here at IPH Roasted, a small bowl of Sour Vegetable Stew was only RM1.00. It was made by stewing the odds and ends of the roasted meats with chilli, tamarind juice, assam keping, chillies and mustard ... and this dish was superbly appetising ... and it sold out really fast as well. Often it'll be sold out before we got there ... 

Eating here at IPH Roasted is simply satisfying every time. No wonder it is so crowded, but definitely worth the wait. 

Georg Peck

I've been wanting to try the drinks at Georg Peck for the longest time. It's one of those chain drinks store from Taiwan, with fruit smoothie as its main product.

I went for a drink with CM one afternoon.

Fresh Tomato and Honey Ice-blended

This is the signature drink here; CM liked it a lot.

I had an old boring Jasmine tea with slight sugar ... I quite liked my drink too as it has this very fragrant aroma and was pleasing to the palate. 

QQ Waffle

CM was hungry so she ordered a QQ waffle .... such a tiny piece of waffle, really! The texture was very nice, though, for it was chewy like mochi. I had a bit of the waffle and liked it too! 

My second visit was with D one evening .....

 D had a iced black tea while I had a plum tea ..... I liked my plum tea a lot too as it had a prominent tangy flavour of sour plum. Very pleasant and enjoyable to drink.

Attempt at artistic shot .... lol ... 

D made fun of us being the only uncle and auntie there at the outlet .... when all around us were people who exuberated in youthfulness. Lol. 

Tasik Biru & Siniawan

I was telling Bro and Sil how beautiful the Blue Lake or Tasik Biru was ..... Indeed it was. Check out my pictures here.

Today, however, the lake did not look as blue as I would like it to be .....

Though the waters still looked calm and serene ... hmn .... it did not make much of an impression as it did the last time.

We drove out to Siniawan too before making it back to Kuching. Berry got cranky in the car because we ran out of biscuits for him to eat. Lol. :))

Semenggoh Revisited

Bro, Sil, Berry and I were rushing to Semenggoh before 3.00 p.m. We wanted to be in time to watch the orang utan feeding. This is my second time here, but it's the first for Bro and family. 3 years ago, the entrance fee was RM3.00 for adults. Now, it's RM5.00. We paid RM15.00 for 3 adults. Sleeping Berry could go in FOC.

We drove right in from the main gate, and could park our car at a designated visitors' car park. It was after 3.00 p.m. already when we reached the Centre .... and we were greeted by a ranger who told us that feeding session was about to commence. However, no orang utans were in sight yet. We were told to trek about 2 minutes to the feeding area.

Poor Sil had to carry Sleeping Berry while she navigated the trail. Luckily it was not a difficult trail to walk. We found that there was already a group of audience waiting to watch the orang utans. Many were armed with cameras or just their phones .... and some with binoculars.

The feeding platform where the ranger was still calling out to the orang utans .... Sharp and loud calls were made to notify the animals of the feeding time. 

The rangers called for about 15 minutes but no orang utans appeared. The rangers then asked everyone to walk back to the Centre ..... and there, to everyone's delight, the orang utans slowly appeared for the fruits offered .... 

 A huge orang utan making its way to the feeding platform .... 

A playful one clinging onto the tre 

We managed to see about 5 - 6 animals that afternoon. Feeding time ended at 4.00 p.m. and soon everyone dispersed.

Berry was awakened when the Rangers called out loudly to the animals .... he was too young to know anything and the apes did not seem to interest him. Lol. 

Read more here.