Family Gathering 2026

My Youngest Aunt and family, who hail from Melbourne, came back to Kuching for a visit. Actually she comes back to Kuching quite frequently with her husband. Her children, however, had not come back since they were kids. 

This time, the entire family came back to Kuching .... my Youngest Aunt and her husband, their 2 sons and daughters-in-law and the grandchildren, For the daughters-in-law and the grandchildren, it was their first trip. The youngest baby boy was only 7 months old. Obviously, he was the centre of attention last night. He was a pleasant baby who did not cry at all, so I even got to carry him a lot. Heh. 

Youngest Aunt hosted the dinner for the entire extended family - a gathering of about 40 persons who could attend. There were bound to be those who could not attend because of various reasons - some had gone travelling, some were sick, some were working. The dinner was held at Li Garden Restaurant at Cityone Megamall ... and the food was surprisingly good! 

The minute I walked into the private function room, I saw my cousin S. She had just bought a tub of dessert. It was the coconut jelly from Coco by 16th. Lol, I did not know such shop existed actually. When she mentioned coconut jelly, I immediately thought of Nuto Nuto. S said this was a similar type of dessert. Apparently, Nuto Nuto was the original brand for this type of coconut jelly. And Coco by 16th was an alternative. Whatever it was, I had not tried it before. I mean I frequent The Spring quite often and pass by the Nuto Nuto kiosk all the time and yet I have not had the urge to try it at all. Heh. 

And so I thought of buying a tub for myself. I made S bring me to Coco by 16th, since I had no idea where it was. The 2 young girls who worked there did not really know how to promote their product .... they merely kept mum while I decided which flavour to buy. It was pretty awkward since they were both just looking at me while I read the menu they scribbled on the glass showcase ... it was pretty hard to read actually! Well, there was oat, matcha, mango, coffee among others. I actually wanted the classic ... but it was sold out. So in the end, I bought a tub of black sesame coconut jelly, RM15.90. 

The packaging was cool though - they put tub in an insulated bag and dropped 2 little ice packs into the bag. So when I got home after the dinner 2 hours later, my dessert was still cold. 

Anyway, back to the family dinner, everyone was pretty much on time .... and food was served once everyone arrived. I had not eaten at Li Garden for a long time ... and the taste of the food, portion size and presentation were all good. We were not sure it was because of 'connections' or whether it was because the restaurant had gotten better ... heh ... 

Hot and cold platter

I liked the seasoning they used for the boxing chicken, the coating was also still crispy; the jelly fish was also crisp and well-flavoured.

Peking Duck 

The pastry was still warm, and the duck skin was crisp; we all wished there was a bit of meat to go with the pastry, trough

Sharks' Fin Soup

It was a big bowl, served piping hot and tasted good; But the oomph was from the a dash of XO I added to my bowl. It immediately transported me back to my childhood ... that was how sharks' fin soup tasted like in the past. I had forgotten, in fact, that we normally added brandy to our Sharks' Fin Soup to enhance its flavour. For so long, no one actually brought brandy to dinners anymore. Tonight's XO was courtesy of my Fifth Aunt. She also brought a bottle of whisky. I did not drink it since I was driving ... I only drank the cold beer. 

Steamed garoupa

The fish was of medium size, but it was very fresh and sweet 

Trotters with steamed buns 

The trotters were well-flavoured, cooked to perfection - the skin intact and very bouncy, the meat inside was tender ... most importantly, it did not have the gamey odour.

This dish was very light, the scallops succulent 

The prawns were cooked in 2 ways ...

I ate one prawn in the black sauce - it tasted like the boxing chicken sauce which was sweet and vinegary, but very salty; on the other side was prawns coated in lemon mayo ... I ate one as well, it was also salty but at least the rich flavour of the egg mayo and tangy lemon also came through

This was the deboned duck meat ... we ate the skin with pastry and now the duck meat was cut and stir-fried; I did not try it at all since I was so full; there was also the duck frame in which the staff packed for us to bring home. 4 tables meant there were 4 duck frames awaiting for any takers. 

Fruit platter

I only ate the wax apple ... i think they soaked in sugared water since it was sweet ... 

Yam Dessert 

I ate one spoonful of the yam dessert and I knew it was mashed by hand; it still retained distinct bits of yam that provided a pleasant bite; this dessert had a tinge of lard flavour - not overpowering at all, and was balanced with a bit of sweetness; I liked it. My late dad would love this too. 

The serving size was huge and we could not finish the dishes .... there were so much leftovers from every table... the children did not eat much, us adults also gave in after 6 dishes .... in the end we took away most of the meat dishes - the trotters, the prawns, the duck, and even the yam dessert. I wanted the trotters and the yam, so I took those home with me. Mom wanted a duck frame for cooking soup, so she took that. Second Aunt took back the duck meat and a duck frame as well. My cousin S only wanted the prawns. Heh ... different people liked different items. 

Anyway. events like this do not occur very often in my family. Even on Chinese New Year, we do not visit each other. So it was indeed good to see and catch up with everyone again after a long tine.