Now RM8.00

Kong Tung? Kwan Tung? Not sure of the English spelling of the name of the shop. In Mandarin it's 广东茶室, a corner shop facing Ang Cheng Ho Road.

Green and red bean drink ... a bit sweet for me, and I don't know how much they cost ...

I'd been here only once, and that was last year. Time flies, and now I'm back here for lunch, and in the post-GST era, the meal now cost RM8.00, a RM1.00 increase from RM7.00 previously. That's a 14.3% increase. The portion of food did not increase. It looked the same as previously. I guess I could only be happy that the portion DID NOT decrease. Lol.

Cantonese Beehoon, RM8.00, served with deep-fried chicken breast, 3 skewers of deep-fried prawns, and a stuffed chicken wing. 

Now, the taste of the beehoon was so-so. To me, it wasn't really that nice. The chicken breast, though marinated, also did not stand out. What I liked though, was the skewers of deep-fried prawns. I loved the crust - so crunchy! - and the juicy and bouncy little prawns inside. Yummy. The fried chicken wing was also good, stuffed with a dollop of minced pork and celery. I ate my food with lots of Nyonya chilli sauce ..... :)) 

There are lots of people at lunch time ... so be prepared to wait for a little while. The kitchen is rather slow in dishing out the food. I do find it an airy and comfy place to eat, though. Even the Kuching City South Mayor was here today. :)) 

Breakfast At Home

Sometimes, I would just stay home and make my own simple, but substantial breakfast. Today was one of those days when I made breakfast for the family ....

I pan-fried the yam cake that Mom had made yesterday evening ..... and then I cut up a chocolate cake which I had bought from Mita Cake House ..... and then I made sausage and egg sandwiches.

Pretty sandwiches, Mom said. :))

And there we had our simple food with hot coffee. Bliss.

Homecooked Beef Rendang

I had very yummy, homecooked beef rendang for dinner ..... 

Doesn't this look delicious? 

Mom found a container of rendang paste in the larder. Haha .... I'd bought it a few months back but had conveniently forgotten about it. So before the rendang paste expired, Mom thought she had better cooked it.

My colleage, R recommended this brand of rendang paste, and he had helped me buy this from a supermarket near his house. 

We bought beef knuckle from the local supermarket, fresh coconut milk and also grated coconut from the market .... and then we were ready to cook the rendang. Mom decided to use the slow cooker to cook the rendang, stewing the coconut milk and the paste, the meat and daun kunyit in the cooker for 3.5 hours. Then, just before serving, Mom added in the dry-fried grated coconut .... no seasoning was needed because the paste was already seasoned.

The chunk of beef was about RM16.00. The paste was about RM4.00. The dish cost RM20.00 - and we could make huge and hearty servings. Cooking at home was much cheaper and substantial, rather than eat out. :)) 

Orange Sponge Cupcakes

I asked Mom to tutor me in baking. Lol. Of course she obliged. We decided to bake orange sponge cupcakes. The recipe was Nasi Lemak Lover's. Check them out here .... 

Mom made a batch .... and I made a batch. And they both turned out different. Mom's cupcakes were soft, light and airy, while mine was dense. So Mom's cakes had better texture. Oh well, I was a novice. So I had an excuse if my cakes did not come out so nicely. Haha ....

85g sugar + 100g self-raising flour + a pinch of salt + 35ml freshly squeezed orange juice + 25 ml corn oil + recipe on iPad

I beat the sugar and 3 eggs for 15 minutes ....

Beating the eggs and sugar ... 

Then I added in the orange rind and the flour and the orange juice and the oil. Mom, on the other hand, folded in the flour by hand. So that was where the difference was ..... Mom said I had overbeaten my cake batter, so that the air had been released. That's why my cakes were dense.

We poured into petite tins and baked at 160 degrees for 25 minutes 

And they were ready ...... 

My batch just out from the oven .... 

And check out the difference ...... 

 Mom's cakes are fluffy and bouncy .... 

My batch of cakes are dense ... :(( 

Nevertheless, I packed the cakes up to give away ...

Mom's cake on the left, my flop cake on the right 

I loved the origami ribbon which I made from recycled paper :)) 

Hmn ..... I think I haven't much talent for baking .... but then it was quite good fun to bond with Mom in the kitchen over those cakes. Looking forward to more baking adventures soon. :))

Visit To MV Logos Hope

I want to go to The Ship. That was my request to the man. He indulged me. Yay. So off we went to the port where the ship, MV Logos Hope, berthed.

MV Logos Hope

The ship was huge! And it had a crew of about 400 people. Amazing! 

MV Logos Hope is a floating book fair which will be in Kuching till 29 April. It carries over 5,000 titles at affordable prices. Well, I had visited one or two of such floating book fairs over the years .... but I couldn't recall the last visit. Hmn .... it had to be more than one or two decade ago? Hmn .... I really cannot remember, so this visit is as good as my first visit. 

When we reached there, volunteers showed us where to park. Then we walked join in the line for the queue to go into the ship. There, I bumped into a former student from Miri - my class of 2005! I was ecstatic to see him, and to know that he had graduated and was working. :))

The line moved very quickly, and soon, we reached the little kiosk to pay our entrance fee of RM1.00 per adult, and then we climbed aboard to the deck. 

Book Fair

Ooooh ... crowded .... 

There were so many people that afternoon ..... and we had to really navigate past them to browse the many books on the shelves. They were books on many subjects - language, cookery, hobbies, devotionals, atlases and so on. The prices were quoted in units, actually. So a book priced at 200 is RM16, because every 25 is equivalent to RM2.00. 

Besides books, there were CDs, gifts and stationery. The man bought 2 books, and tried to get me to buy something .... but in the end I was still empty-handed. Lol. 

Exiting the cashiers, we walked along some panels with lots of graphics .... 

I think these intended to tell a story, which was narrated over the PA

But we weren't really paying attention to it. Just before the International Cafe, the multinational crew were sharing with the crowd their experiences with the ship and with Kuching in general .... 

Taking a peek outside ... 

The man asked whether I wanted some ice-cream and snacks .... well, the queue was too long. So we shuffled to the exit and went home. It had a nice time, though. Thanks to the man for bringing me. Now I know the way to the port. I may just come back again to visit the book fair before the ship sails to the next port. :)) 

No Wonder No One Eats Here

Whenever you see that a cafe is empty of customers, you must know that there's a reason for it. We were at Brighton Square .... and there was a stretch of eateries there, and all packed with customers except for 1. And that was the 126 Cafe.

Since we wanted to avoid the crowd, we thought we'd try the food there .... and it was a bad decision. The food absolutely disappointed, not worth the amount we paid for. I swore never to come back, and I also felt compelled to share my experience.

 Kopi C and Kopi, RM1.80 per glass

The coffee were passable .... no complaints here on this part.

Then came the laksa ...... 

 Coriander, lime and belacan

The coriander wasn't fresh already, but they were still tolerable. It was when the bowl of laksa was set before me that my blood very well bubbled and boiled. 

 What? For RM7.90? 

Where were the prawns? Not even chicken? Using my chopsticks, I searched and found very, very, very finely, thread-thin chicken breast, rice vermicelli, blanched beansprouts, egg omelette. The dark coloured gravy tasted funny too. Urgghhh. Do you think this was an exclusive case? But come to think of it, exclusive or not, NO PAYING CUSTOMER SHOULD BE SERVED SO SLOPPILY WITH SUCH SHODDY FOOD. GOSH, I AM ANGRY!

Just check out the laksa I had at Sweetie Pie only yesterday. See the quality of laksa at only RM4.00? 

Fried rice and butter chicken, RM6.50 

This looked better than my rice definitely, but still ..... 

Nowadays, everything is expensive .... so when I pay RM7.90 for something, it has to be worth that amount! The picture of the laksa in the menu had prawns. So that was a mere attempt to deceive customers? Being deceived isn't a good feeling, you know .... It was definitely a total rip off. I'd not recommend this cafe to anyone. I for one, am staying away for good.

Laksa @ Sweetie Pie Cafe

When you have a good breakfast, it not only fuels you up, it makes you really happy. This morning, I had an enjoyable breakfast at Sweetie Pie Cafe, Jalan Nanas.

It was one of those mornings when I woke up really hungry. There was no breakfast at home .... so I had to eat out. Initially, I had wanted to eat the ham and egg pita at Thompson Corner, just next to Sweetie Pie Cafe. I had been thinking about it since I woke up. But I was too early. The stall was still closed and would only begin operations at 7.30 a.m.

Sigh ..... so what to do? I went next door to Sweetie Pie. It was about 6.55 a.m. ... and the laksa stall was still getting ready to begin its business. There was only one lady manning the stall. I enquired in Mandarin whether there was laksa, and to my surprise she spoke to me in Malay. Hmn ... that had to be one of the few times that I was mistaken as non-Chinese. Lol ... anyway .... I've to check my complexion in the mirror .... have I turned dark? Or have my features changed without me realising it?

Anyway, I was told to wait for a short while ... which of course, I agreed to.

Kopi, RM1.30

My cutlery, sambal and lime in a saucer

What's special about the sambal was that it was loose and dry .... one could moisten it with the lime provided. I tasted the sambal and detected finely minced dried prawns .... this sambal was very close to the taste of hae bee hiam.

Laksa, RM4.00

Before long, I was served the laksa. And there were lots of things right about this laksa. Firstly, it was visually appealing - big bowl, generous amount, red gravy, and a tinge of green coriander to decorate the dish. :)) At RM4.00, I must say that the vendor is really generous with the portion!! Lots of rice vermicelli, enough soup to accompany the noodles, lots of beansprouts, egg omelette, shredded chicken breast, and 3 small prawns. Taste wise, the gravy had a very old-school flavour, its consistency was good. I won't find any fault with a good bowl of laksa of only RM4.00. 

Delicious! 

To conclude, I'm already thinking of going back to this stall .... must bring the folks! Highly recommended. :)) 

Spice Up With Sambal Belacan ...

I was having another dinner alone. Dad and Mom had gone to Grandma's again. Earlier on, I requested Mom to make me some pickles .... the weather here in Kuching was too hot, and I thought pickled cucumbers would be more palatable than stir-fried vegetables.

So I  took some pickles out from the fridge, took some leftover rice and leftover chicken from the fridge ... and heated them up in the microwave. To make my meal more appetising .... all I did was to pound a small knob of belacan with one long green cili padi  .... and squeezed 2 pieces of lime into the mortar ... of course, and with a dash of salt and sugar too.  

Dinner with sambal belacan .... 

Dip the chicken into the sambal ..... slurps. Shiok! And I found out that my portion of rice was too little .... With sambal belacan, I could eat lots and lots of plain white rice ..... :P

Local Wild Honey

I bought a bottle of honey for RM60.00. Expensive, huh? It was 1 kg in weight, and bottled in an ordinary 1.5 litre plastic mineral water bottles. The honey was harvested locally from Lachau town, bottled and then transported here to Kuching.

My colleague M sang praises of it. She bought 4 bottles at one go. I decided to buy one bottle, and the other 7 were quickly snapped up by my other colleagues.

Chilled honey & shao bao 

After gym the other day, I made myself a glass of chilled honey drink. The honey was very diluted, and easily poured. I added 1 tablespoon or 15 ml to 500 ml of cold water. It was light and natural, and not too sweet, subtly fragrant and refreshing. I liked it. I had my honey drink with shao bao (again given to me by my colleague, J!!). Note the cute pink origami ribbon. Loved that. :))

One of Those Days ....

I was upset. I hated being undermined. I hated being an after-thought. Yet it was exactly what happened.

To drown in my sorrows, I had these for accompaniment ....

Peanuts from my school canteen ...... 

These were always freshly made by the canteen operator .... and they were always very delicious. Much better than Lok Thian's because Lok Thian's tend to be more pungent with spices. The canteen ones tasted more natural, being only seasoned with salt. 

My colleague, J who sits beside me, loves giving me stuff. She has some things to give me every day. So generous of her, huh? Today, she gave me a sachet of coffee ...

Classic 3-in-1 White Coffee 

Instructions at the back ... 

And so I made myself a hot cuppa .... 

 Sweet, but fragrant coffee .... it was nice when hot 

She also gave me some chocolates ...

And these were balms to my wounds ... 

Time and prayers can help me deal with this. Patience, girl. Thanks, J, for the little tokens. They are much appreciated. 

Chicken Soup With Wheat Vermicelli 鸡汤面线 @ 5 Loaves 2 Fish

We had lunch at 5 Loaves 2 Fish the other day. Previously, I'd tried the braised pork rice ... so today, I thought I'd try the  or Chicken Soup with Wheat Vermicelli or Chicken Soup Mee Suah.

 Barley & sugar cane

I must say that the home-boiled barley drink here is excellent. Local barley is used, thus giving it a rich and very fragrant taste. Yums. Love it lots. 

Chicken Soup With Wheat Vermicelli, RM8.50

The chicken soup was served in a large bowl, and was visually appealing. The soup was tasty, it sure tasted more natural than that of Foochow Cafe. I also know that the soup was not overladen with MSG. In the bowl was a mushroom, a hard-boiled egg, and 2 red dates. I liked the mee suah here. :))

Favourite Sandwich

I went downstairs ... and Mom asked me if I wanted pies or noodles for breakfast. Hmn ..... I wanted bread, actually. I searched the fridge for luncheon meat ..... and yeah, I was happy to find that there was still one chunk left uncooked. Eggs were always available .... and there was also a long Japanese cucumber in the vegetable box. Yayy .... I had everything I needed to make my favourite luncheon meat sandwich.

Preparing it was super easy. Wash and cut cucumber, lightly beat and fry the eggs, slice and pan-fry the lucheon meat .... and serve.

Yummy ..... this was my childhood favourite, and still an all-time favourite now ... 

I didn't even need to butter my bread .... lol .

Mom's Messages

In this day and age, messages get typed and sent across instantly.There are just too many apps to choose from - be it Whatsapp, Wechat, Messenger, Viber and what not. But Mom doesn't own a mobile phone, what more to say a smart phone. So Mom's been leaving me handwritten messages like these ......

written at the back of the daily calendar page ..

I get one of these when Mom and Dad go take care of Grandma at my Uncle's. They go before I get home from school ... and will only get back past dinner time. Hence, Mom's messages are often to instruct me what to do and to tell me what to eat for dinner .... 

So on the days when I have my lone dinners .... 

Rice, bitter melon with salted egg, and air-fried chicken

I just put everything in a platter and eat in front of the tv ....  

Rice, air-fried chicken, pickled cucumber, prawn in tamarind sauce 

When Mom got home .... she'd check whether I'd follow her instructions .... and to eat what she had told me to eat .... lol :))

Saxbys Ginger Beer

The weather these days is really hot ... and I'd been raking the fridge for cold drinks. The other day, I bought Saxbys Ginger Beer ....

Lunch

The drink was spicy, but a bit too sweet for me, so to resolve this, I put in a lot of ice into my glass. It made a refreshing drink. I had it with Mom's homebaked and very yummy and my absolute favourite chicken pie (Mom's pies are something like these) ... and lots of muruku. :))

Sarawak Laksa @ Old Time Coffee House

I had lunch at Old Time Coffee House at Jalan Petanak today, .... and I ordered a bowl of Sarawak laksa.

Laksa, RM6.00

The laksa came in a big bowl, and was visually appealing. While the portion was huge, the gravy needs improving as the laksa taste was too mild. The ingredients included tiny prawns, but at RM6.00 I think they should serve bigger prawns than that! Other ingredients were shredded egg omelette, shredded chicken, blanched beansprouts and lots of fresh coriander. Overall, it was so-so. 

Dessert was homemade .... by my colleague B. 

Apple, cinnamon and oat cupcake 

This was really good! It tasted soft, light and fluffy, buttery and with the natural sweetness of the apple and a subtle hint of cinnamon. Yums .....

Sate Boss Reprised

The man and I headed out to Premier 101. Yeah, we're here at least once a week. But there were many stalls here which we'd not patronised, The man ordered ....

Chicken & Mushroom stew with rice

This was ordered from a stall named "Steam Soup", located just outside the shop named Premier 101 Food Centre. And this stew actually smelled heavenly! I could catch a whiff of the aromatic cooking wine. They had to use a really generous amount for the gravy to be so fragrant. Yums. The gravy had also a slightly thick consistency .... and that made it go quite well with the rice. Not bad. :))

I, on the other hand, just wanted to some satay ..... 

Yummy satay
Beef satay, 0.70 per skewer; Chicken satay, 0.70 per skewer; Lamb satay, 0.80 per skewer

I could not tell which ones were beef and which were lamb at first. Even after I had eaten the satay, I was still unsure of which ones were beef and lamb. Perhaps because the marinade for them were the same ..... so they tasted the same .... hmn .... The man had to help me identify.

If you scrutinize the picture ... the ones on the top (the top left corner) were beef, followed by chicken in the centre, and lamb on the bottom (the right bottom corner). The beef pieces were really tiny, if compared to the chicken and the lamb. The chicken satay looked dry .... so the glossy lamb skewers looked the tastiest of them all.

In fact, the beef and chicken satay were devoid of any fat, yet were tasty and tender. But my favourite tonight, visually and taste wise, were the juicy and smoky lamb chunks on the skewers ....  yums ...

Satay sauce ...

 Sate Boss closes on Monday. :))

Morgan's Moved To Geylang

Morgan's KL Pork Soup used to operate at Homemade Specialties at Jalan Ang Cheng Ho. The man and I sure eat there very often ....at least once a fortnight. For one, it was near his office and he could just walk there for lunch. For another, the soup was really yummy.

Beginning 1 April 2015, however, Morgan's has shifted its operations to a corner shop named Geylang at Jalan Sekama. The man and I headed there for lunch - our very first since their move. Now we had to drive there .....

Pork soup with kueh tiaw 

Oooh .... loving the chunk of mince ....

There are a few types of noodles to choose from - be it kueh tiaw, pin noodles, deep-fried noodles, glass noodles, and even wheat vermicelli. They used to have beehoon or rice vermicelli ... but now not anymore it seemed. So I usually opt for kueh tiaw.

The kueh tiaw are thin strips of springy and smooth rice noodles ... and there are thin slices of lean meat, liver, chunks of minced, and bits of deep-fried lard rind and vegetables .... and the best part is of course the very sweet and umami soup ... yummy and satisfying.

Prices remain the same for now .... RM4.50 for a small bowl, RM5.50 for a large bowl, and RM1.00 to add a poached egg.

Highly recommended. :))

Deep-fried Chicken Wings @ Peach Garden

The man and his buddy, W returned the next day to swim at the very nice pool at Tropics Condominium. I tagged along. :P

Upon reaching the condominium, we promptly changed into our swimming attire, and made our way to the pool. It was 7.00 p.m., and we had the pool to ourselves. Private pool. :))

The blue water was inviting ......I'd swum only a few laps, and quickly got tired and preferred to soak in the warm water while watching the men swim.

There were changing and shower rooms available and so, it was very convenient to clean up after the swim.

Dinner was at Peach Garden, Jalan Song ....

W urged me to try the deep-fried chicken wings here, which he claimed was better than those at KFC. Lol. Since he had said that, I just had to try them. I promptly ordered some for us to share .....

Deep-fried chicken wings

RM2.20 per piece

Well, I found that the chicken wings were quite well marinated, very crispy. Though quite tasty, the meat was a bit dry for me ... so not quite better than KFC in my books. The chilli sauce was special as well - spicy, sweet, sour with the refreshing taste of lime.

But is it better than KFC? Hmn .... it's quite subjective.

W told me that the main stall was at Lee Coffee Shop at Stutong, and this one at Peach Garden seemed like a subsidiary of that stall.

W ate one piece of chicken wing .... and proclaimed that the one at the original stall was better - crispier, he said.

Wow! I thought that the ones here were already crispy enough, so I would not be able to imagine anything crispier than that! I'd really have to go there to try them out myself.

Nevertheless .... I did enjoy tonight's post-swimming snack. :))