Entry @ 04.09.2026

This holiday, I stayed indoors most of the time since the haze situation was rather serious. There was one day when the index climbed up to 406! Today, it is in the 310-320 range. 

At home, I keep my doors and windows shut. The air-conditioners and fans have to be turned on for circulation. I refrained from eating out as well, unless the eatery was air-conditioned. When needed, I took out food and ate at home. I also avoided the holiday crowd at the malls. So what did I do? I cleaned the house, serviced the cars, watched short dramas, and basically spent time relaxing. 

This morning, L and I visited our former colleague at her new workplace, where she was now the principal. Heh. We spent some time catching up, she brought us around her school for a tour, and then we went for lunch. 

We went to Village Culture Cafe at Pine Square. 

Kopi C

Ginger Scallion Fish Slice 

Fried Chicken with Butter Sauce 

Mixed Veges with Garlic Sauce

The food was all great, and with 2 rice, we paid RM39.80. I thought it was quite reasonably priced. No wonder the place was packed with the lunch crowd. 

After lunch, I picked up my parcel from a convenience store near my house. I'd seen that two shops away, there was a dessert shop called Fuyoh. I had wanted to try the desserts there ... 

Fruity Snow Ice, RM8.90

Well, I liked the milky shaved snow ice, but I did not like the canned fruits they used for this dessert. 

There were so many students inside the shop. They weren't eating or drinking. They were just killing time there. All of them were on their phones or playing games on tablets. I figured there was a tuition class upstairs, and these students probably hanged out there at the dessert shop before or after their classes. 

Tomorrow, we will find out whether school would still be off next week. It would probably be, except for the Fifth and Sixth Formers. Since I am teaching the Sixth Formers,  I would most probably be going back to work physically. It is also what I prefer.

Entry @ 26.08.2026

On Thursday evening, I drove to Ah Tou Seafood for dinner but it was closed since the chef was not feeling well. Too bad since I had so much wanted to eat there. So not knowing where to go next, I ended up at BBQ King which was just down the road. We were rather early and the crowd had not appeared yet. That was good since it meant that we did not have to wait too long. 

Mom and I normally ordered more than we could finish. So it was customary for me to bring containers with me when I dine out, so that I could bring home the leftovers. 

Kokokam, cold vs hot 

Pork skewers, RM2.50 per stick

I ordered this because Mom liked it; the meat was well-grilled and not too hard. As for me, I did not find the marinade for the skewers to be that great. 

Coconut prawn, RM42

There were 6 pieces of prawns in the small serving, the gravy was thick and a tad sweet - it's nice to dip the deep-fried bun in the gravy or to eat with rice. 

Midin belacan, RM20 

The portion was reasonably big; tasted alright 

Oyster pancake, RM35

This was a huge piece of pancake, very crispy so it was like eating savoury crackers; the oyster themselves were coated with batter and deep-fried separately - this is a different take to the dish ....

The next day, on Friday, I did not go to work. School closed due to the highly-polluted air. The API was in the 190s. Since there was an option for us to work from home, I preferred that since I had high speed Internet at home which afforded me a steadier online meeting with my students. From early morning, I tried out some of the features of the Google Classroom. It had been years since I last taught an online class - the last being the Covid-19 days back in 2021. 

So I felt a little nervous about the whole thing. After I decided on the skill to teach, I roughly planned the activities and tested out the platform. Then I went upstairs to my room - I needed a confined space away from distractions so that I could focus on the students only. At 10.35 am, I started the meeting online, and the students came in one by one. And once everyone was in, I started the lesson. Students being students, were all reluctant to turn on their cameras ... so to ensure that everyone was still hidden behind their screens, I resorted to calling their names as often as I could. I must commend them since all of them actually participated and also turned in the work I assigned to them. At 11.45 am, I ended the class punctually. I was glad that my class was co-operative and turned in the work assigned to them. 

After class, I made myself a cup of Omachi instant noodles I bought from Danang .... I wanted to finish up my supply of instant noodles before they expired; I hadn't bought instant noodles for a long time already .... but somehow, there were still some left in my pantry .... 

During the weekend, Fourth Aunt and I went to Matta Fair, at BCCK. I had not been for a long time .... 

We spent sometime there. Fourth Aunt was interested in a Cruise to Guangzhou or a package to Phu Quoc. But finally, we settled for a tour to Chaoshan, China with Good Times Travel. Fourth Aunt has started worrying about the trip .... lol .... she was an avid traveller until she fell down in 2016 and broke her knee. Ever since then, she had not traveled and claimed that she was already out of touch with traveling. She had already wanted to pack her bags .... lol ... the trip would be in December. Heh. 

After Matta Fair, we headed to Ice Moment at TT3 for a dessert. Fourth Aunt and I shared a black sesame dessert .... 

Black Sesame Shaved Ice, RM16.90

And then I rushed to join my friends for dinner at Stutong - a Chinese food stall which was quite popular! Portions were huge here and the prices were reasonable .... 

Bittergourd with egg

The bittergourd was a bit raw and hard, but we finished the dish anyway .... 

Garlic scapes with pork belly 

Fried chicken with dried chilli

Dongbei Chicken Stew 

I had the pork version before at this shop, and I think I prefer the chicken version which I find tastier

Yesterday, I processed a lot of durians .... from my Fifth Aunt's orchard at Pasir Pandak. Apparently, there was no market since there was a lot of supply in town. And so instead of selling the durians, Fifth Aunt just gave them away. I did not go to the orchard but my Mom did. Mom brought back 11 pieces of small durians. Some were good, some were a bit too ripe, but all had to be opened and frozen. We normally kept them in the freezer and ate bit by bit over a period of time. Much as I would like to eat more, I could not because the fruits were very heaty.  

So I try my best to pry open the thorny fruits - luckily many of them were already a bit gapped so it made it easier for me. It did not stop my fingers from getting a bit scrapped though. Mom and I managed to store the fruits in about 5 Tupperwares and froze them in the freezer. Luckily, we have 3 refrigerators at home. 

This morning, I woke up with my throat slightly sore - from the durians! Sigh .... At school, my Malay colleagues surprised us by bringing us Nasi Kak Vogue. It was rice served with fried chicken and curry gravy. There was white rice, mackerel curry with okra, chicken curry gravy with veggies, fried chicken chunks, raw cucumber, sambal belacan and also tempoyak ikan bilis. The tempoyak was nice - with a light hint of durian flavour. 

Nasi Kak Vogue cooked by my colleague

My colleague L said that originally the name was Khao Mok - which was a Thai dish. In Kelantan which was near Thailand, the name was pronounced as Kak Vogue and hence the name. Anyway, I like this homecooked version better than the one sold at a famous shop here in town. :) 

Entry @ 20.08.2028

I find that I get angry and annoyed very often these days. A lot of things can trigger it. And last Sunday, even breakfast angered me. I went to Fu Lok Noodle House at TT3 and ordered a cup of coffee and a kaya toast. 

Coffee, RM4.50 and kaya toast RM4.50

I was shocked because there was just one slice of bread served. One slice, cut into 2 to spread the kaya and butter, and then toasted. I was angry because it looked pathetic. And I paid RM4.50 for that miserable slice of toast. I would never ever order it again, but the worse thin was, it had spoiled my mood on a beautiful Sunday morning. I vowed never to order the toast here again.

Claypot noodles, RM11 

The claypot noodles used to be RM10. Now it was RM11. That's a whopping 10% increase. But at least the noodles were tasty and had a lot of ingredients in it. My mom always enjoyed it, and that was why I always brought her here for the noodles. Just don't order the toast ever again. 

On Monday, my colleague A cooked beef ribs curry and brought some to school .... 

She even brought rice so that we could eat the curry with it ... 

Beef curry and rice

I tried some, and found the homecooked curry to be very good; the meat was so tender that it fell off the bones. The spices were also well-balanced, very tasty indeed. Campur-campur, she said, when we queried about the brand of curry powder she used. Heh ... my colleagues were very generous and loved to share food. 

My colleague A peeling jackfruit or nangka from another colleague L's backyard .... 

The entire staffroom was perfumed with the sweet heady smell of the jackfruit. Luckily most people did not mind the strong smell. 

Fresh and juicy nangka ....

 

On Monday after work, we went back to Cafe Cafe. It was because after our meal the other day, we got a 50% off voucher. So we had to make use of this opportunity. We invited 5 retirees from our school - C, T, M, N and L. It was great fun to catch up with the retirees from time to time. The last makan session was in June, so it had been two months since we met up. 

Some drinks we ordered .... 

Apple juice, RM14.90 & Red Devil, RM18.90 - a concoction of beetroot, apple, carrot and ginger

Pineapple Passion Smoothie, RM19.90

We ordered some food to share. Funnily, the restaurant ran out of chicken, so we could not order anything with chicken ... except satay .... 

Potato Tuna Salad, RM22.90 

Madurese Chicken Satay, RM18.90

Claypot Kueh Tiaw with Beef, RM28.90

Fettuccine Alfredo with Grilled Norwegian Salmon, RM28.90

Thai-style Pineapple Fried Rice, RM28.90

Chao Chai Big Beehoon Soup with Prawns, RM48.90

The food and drinks here were alright. The portions were really huge. But the best thing was that everything was half priced! So we paid only RM20 per pax, and we got to enjoy an expensive drink and a lot of food. Heh .... I skipped dinner that night. 

The next morning, I could not resist eating kolo meehoon .... 

Kolo Meehoon, RM5

I think Mui Chin's kolo meehoon is one of the best in town - the secret ingredient is the chopped dongcai that gave extra umami to the noodles .... 

That day, we had to run 'elections' in school. The event was scheduled nationwide in all Form 6 secondary schools to select student representatives for the Form 6 students' council. This was already the second year for the elections to be held. This year, I think I appreciated the process a bit more, and I could understand how it would serve as a platform for students to understand the democratic processes and leadership development. These students had not voted before although some of them had reached the eligible voting age. 

So we tried to simulate the real voting process by setting up the polling centre, appointing polling clerks amongst the teachers, preparing the ballot papers, a ballot box, and so on. The students were told to show their ICs for verification purposes before they proceeded to check the ballot paper. We also counted the votes on the spot and announced the results straightaway. 

Durian from Fifth Aunt's orchard ... 

When I got home that day, I found out that Fifth Aunt had sent over some durians from her orchard .... I think there were just ordinary durian kampung, but it was yummy regardless ... 

On Wednesday morning, my newly-appointed superior bought us .... 

Taka Buttermilk Cheese Cake 

I think it was my first time eating this cake, and found it to be quite nice. The texture was soft and light, slightly salty and quite fragrant. 

She was so glad that the voting process went ok, and thought she wanted to reward us with cake. Heh. Then another colleague announced that she wanted to bring laksa the next day since both the students from her form class got elected. 'Mak YB', she called herself. Lol .... 

And she really brought laksa today .... 

Laska

Raya cakes from A's freezer ... lol ... 

Fried rice 

Not sure who brought the fried rice ... hmn .... 

Well, today is also my birthday. I don't like to be celebrated, perhaps because I do not like attention. So I did not tell my staffroom about it. If you know, you know. If you don't, I won't tell. So my friends who know about it will send me well-wishes via text messages. I truly thank them for remembering. Mom and I will just got our for a meal tonight. 

As I am typing now, school is officially closed this afternoon with immediate effect, and tomorrow also. Classrooms are moved online due to the haze. Darn. I don't like the hassle of online classes. Moreover, the instruction for us to work from school or work from home is not released yet. I would not want to wfs because there is no internet at school. Anyway, we continue to wait for further instructions ... 

Electricity Outages At Home

I was agonising over outages at my house over the weekend. How frustrating it was! 

On Saturday afternoon, the sky turned dark and it looked like it was finally going to rain. I was glad as it would definitely provide an immense relief to the hot weather, and also improve the air quality. 

I was at home at the time. I had turned on the living room lights, and was watching Youtube on my TV. It started to rain at about 4pm, and soon, it intensified. Suddenly, the lights flickered. I stood up, looked outside and watched the heavy downpour in horror. The rain was near horizontal as the gusty wind lashed relentlessly. Moments later, the house went dark. 

I thought the circuit breaker was tripped. But it wasn't. I checked the electricity meter just outside my front door, and it was not lighted. So I looked around my neighbourhood. The house opposite had lights on .... So I got worried.

I immediately checked the Sarawak Energy app for outages. My area was not listed. So I made a call to its hotline. It was difficult speaking to the Interactive Voice Response. There was a bit of a lag as I had to wait for the computer to process what I said and give me back a response. It also got my address wrong. I was flustered. So I said I wanted to speak to an operator. True enough, I was immediately connected to a staff. It sure was much better to speak to a person instead of a computer! My report was submitted immediately. Because of the bad weather, all their technicians were deployed at the time, and the sraf assured me that they would get back to me within an hour. They kept their word, and  30 minutes later, I was contacted by a technical team.

By this time, the rain had stopped ... and some of my neighbours came outside of their houses. Only then did I find out that there were a few other houses that also blacked out. Just then, the technicians arrived, and I told them the problem. They said they would go check the transformer nearby .... 10 minutes later, the electricity came back on. Thank goodness! 

The heavy rain had caused a havoc in some parts of the city. When I checked Facebook later on, in fact, a lot of trees were uprooted, damaging electricity and telecommunications transmission lines, and also blocking traffic. Flash floods hit multiple areas, and cars were seen to be floating in water at the low-lying areas. Roofs flew off and firemen were seen to be clearing debri from residential areas. The Kuching Food Festival was in its penultimate night, and the rain had damaged some of the stalls. The Unesco Gastronomic Pavillion was completely destroyed. 

Then on Sunday morning, another power outage occurred at my house. And it looked suspiciously that only my house was affected. So again, I contacted Sarawak Energy again. I was smarter this time and as soon as I could, I cut the computer off by asking to speak to a human oeprator. Heh. That morning, however, I had to wait longer for the the technicians to come since they had ongoing jobs to do first. I got really restless waiting. They only came about 2 hours later. After checking, the electricity was restored, but the technician advised me to change my circuit breaker since it was already worn. So I paid him to do it - RM250. It has been two days, and the power supply seemed to be stable now. 

Keep here for the record ... 

Entry @ 15.08.2026

University admissions were released yesterday, and I checked whether my students got the offers they wanted : 

Student A - he did not get any offers, so sad. He could submit an appeal or enrol in Swinburne. I asked him the other day, and he said he would perhaps go to Swinburne if he did not get offered to Unimas. 

Student B - Multimedia Computing - Unimas 

Student C - International Economics - Unimas 

Student D - Economics Services - Unimas 

Student E - Business Management - Upsi 

Student F - Developmeng planning  and management - Unimas

Student G - Tesl - Upsi 

After going through the list, I think I am quite satisfied with the courses offered to them. I am certain their prospects for jobs would be quite good in the future. Unimas is also more affordable to local students, and of course, they can stay closer to their families.  I am particularly happy with those Upsi offers. Student G aimed for Tesl and I was glad she got it. I have no doubt that she would excel in the course. Student E is now in IPG Teknik in fact, pursuing a degree in Education. I asked him to seriously consider Upsi, but he shomehow preferred the IPG currently, since posting is guaranteed. However, IPG trains him for the primary school, while with Upsi, he can possibly teach in a secondary school. Sigh. Anyway, I need to respect his choice. 

***

The mayor walk, now in its 7th year. is an annual free community fun walk organised by our local city council to promote healthy living, family bonding and community unity. Anyone can register via the iPeople app and then collect free t-shirts a day or two prior to the event. It was only in 2025 that I participated, My colleague M told me about it and urged me to register. So my few other colleagues and I did. Once our details were keyed in the app, a barcode was generated and we would be able to collect our t-shirts. 

I happened to have an occasional holiday on the day the t-shirt could be collected. So I went to the city council early in the morning, only to find that there is a long queue ahead. I stood in the queue for at least 40 minutes - and I saw a lot of my friends in the queue too. Heh. On the day of the walk, I also participated, walking the short route that was designated. There were a lot of freebies given out too - like sandwiches, isotonic drinks, and also plastic hand fans. 

This year, I registered when I saw the banner being hung on the streets. I registered myself, my mom and my Second Aunt. Yesterday, the t-shirts could be collected. I went to the city council after work at about 1 pm, and was glad that the hall was quite empty. Collecting the t-shirt took a matter of minutes. 

This year's t-shirt 
The t-shirts were yellow for many years, and there was always the very unmistakable image of the mayor. Heh, I suppose there was a political reason to the colour; they wanted the community to look like they were aligned to government coalition. I suppose they were one of the sponsors. 

The event was scheduled on Sunday, 16 August but it is now postponed due to the haze. Though the aci index has dropped to 164, it is still unhealthy for outdoor activities. The public is supposed to keep the t-shirt safely while the event is being rescheduled. Mom was sure happy to get her free t-shirt. Heh. 

There was an exhibition at the City Council called 'Crafted Tables For Two' - where table settings of local ethnic tribes were displayed. The exhibition was in conjunction with Kuching's recognition as a Unesco Creative City of Gastronomy and World Crafts City. 

Other eats this week .... 

Laksa

On Thursday morning, we had laksa before work; that day's laksa was amazing! Whether a laksa was good or not depended heavily on the broth. Mui Chin's version was quite authentic - and today's broth was very well-flavoured so that it enhanced the vermicelli and all the other condiments superbly. 

I had been craving for Nasi Goreng Sardin. The other day, I had eaten it at my canteen and instantly liked it. They used the Smiling Fish Fried Sardines to flavour the fried rice, and I though I'd try to recreate the recipe. I searched online and settled on this recipe :  https://cookpad.com/my/recipes/24640853?ref=profile

And my fried rice turned out like this : 

                                              Fried Rice with Smiling Fish Fried Sardines 

I used a bowl of rice, a bowl of cabbage, half an onion, 2 green chilies, 1 egg, 1 shallot and a whole small can of sardines. Following the recipe, I had the sardines air-fried first ... and then flaked and stirred into the fried rice. The taste was pretty great ... 

I also had beef noodles at Yeow Kee ... 

Beef noodles, RM10

Today, I did not have to wait for a long time for the noodles .... I liked the seasoning they used, savourty and wit ha hint of sweetness; I also liked that they were generous with lots of meat and tendon. 

Entry @ 12.08.2026

On Monday morning .... 

L's homemade grass jelly ... tasted natural and so refreshing! The plant grew verdantly in her backyard and she often made grass jelly with it! Just boil in water, add a bit of sugar to sweeten and custard powder to thicken. Easy, she said.

Then came a bouquet for Dr. T .... this is a bouquet from her former students, some members from the class of 1998 ... these students are now 48 years old! These flowers arrived one day early since her retirement was on the next day, Tuesday .... 

In the afternoon, I went to buy a gift for Dr. T. I was thinking of getting her a gift for a long time, not really knowing what to buy for her. But suddenly on mid-Monday morning, I thought I'd buy her a crystal bracelet. So I headed to Silver Point - a notable crystal shop in Kuching. 

The staff was very helpful and friendly, and helped me to select the bracelet. They also helped re-adjust the size and re-thread the stones. When I got home however, I looked at the bracelet and thought the colour looked so dull. How come it had looked so colourful at the shop? Only then I realised that they had very powerful lights at the shop to highlight the color depth of the stones. I should have taken the photo of the bracelet in the shop before I left. Sigh. Anyway, I'm glad I bought Dr. T something .... 

On Tuesday, Dr. T's big day. Surprise! My friend K gave me a scrunchie ... 

She made it herself using the scraps from our new staff batik .... she gave it to me because the scrunchie was too big for her and thought I could have use for it since my hair was rather thick! She had made a smaller one for herself and gifted me this big one. 

Dr T had not come to work yet, since the special retirement event for her would only begin after 10.30am ... so I went around taking photos of the various bouquets of flowers that came for her. 

This was from former colleagues from another school ... 

This was from former students 

This one was so cute! 

This was from our current batch of students, now in Semester 1. They bought veges and had them wrapped in a bouquet ... I'd say they are quite thoughtful! 

This bouquet of roses was from us teachers ... 

The special assembly took about an hour and a half. I liked her speech - simple but with messages for the school administration, for us colleagues and also for her students. A lot of former students also came back to say goodbye to her - I saw a few from the class of 2023, 2024, 2025 ... Student A had promised he would come and he did come, bearing her a gift which he quickly put inside her car ... heh ....

Despite her insistence not to accept gifts, she went home with her car full of presents for her big day. 

Retirement luncheon .... 

Normally, we had a small makan after retirement functions.

This round, we had rice with lemon chicken, mixed veges, stir-fried cangkuk manis, sweet and sour fish, okra with belacan,  tofu and egg soup, and a cup of milk tea. 

After everything was over, a few of us went back to our staffroom ... and we did a simple and unofficial post-mortem of the event. It was because we very quickly would have to organise another retirement! In a month's time! For Madam N! I did not see it but my colleagues said Madam N was overcome by emotions during Dr T's event and was seen to be crying. Well, Madam N is Dr. T's partner-in-crime, both teaching the same subject. Madam N has a different approach in teaching, but she is equally capable of producing many A's like Dr. T. After Madan N retires, we will be in deep trouble since there will be no one else teaching the subject. My school admin is really having a headache over this issue. Heh. 

Unlike Dr. T though, Madam N knew what she wanted on her retirement day - she had told her close friends about her plans, and we would co-operate to realise her plans. Halfway discussing, we were all distracted ..... 

We could see the Form Four block from our office, and we saw this very cute lion and had good laughs over it! Lol! We assumed that the kids were trying out their costume for next Saturday's fundraising event at our school. However, that evening, the school issued a notice to cancel the event because of the bad air quality we are experiencing currently. Our API Index hovered around 162 - 170 the whole day! 

Wednesday morning ... I checked the API the instant I got up. It stood at 170. I made sure I brought my face mask with me since the air stank. My colleagues brought fried rice! They had taken home the leftover sambal and the leftover rice from yesterday's luncheon, and cooked fried rice! There was so much rice left that they came with 3 containers full of fried rice this morning = enough to feed about 25 pax. Another colleague brought fish keropok to eat with the fried rice. 

As I am typing now, the API is 177 ... it is cloudy, hazy, hot and humid, and the air smelled really bad. I really hope the situation improves soon.