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.