Lunch @ The Heritage

The family had lunch at The Heritage @ Jalan Song Thian Cheok today. We had ...

Hot & Sour Soup

Spare Ribs

Baby Kailan in Oyster Sauce

Sweet & Sour Prawns

Claypot Tofu

and Stir-fried Fish Fillet in Egg White.

Of all the dishes, I liked the Spare Ribs and the Fish Fillet the most. The Spare Ribs were well-marinated and tender too. The fish was soft, smooth and lightly flavoured with seasoning to bring out its freshness. Really yum. Mom and Sis-in-law liked the soup - which they thought were balanced in flavour.

The Heritage is operated by the head chef of the now defunct Tsui Hua Lau Restaurant. Tsui Hua Lau used to be the best Chinese restaurant in Kuching. Our family used to hold banquets there for special occasions. I remember some notable dishes which we ate growing up like Sharks' Fin Soup, Yam Basket, and Peking Duck - the must-haves at every family dinner. They were very tasty indeed. Now that Tsui Hua Lau Restaurant is just a fond memory of the past, diners can recapture and reminisce the good old days at the new setup in the form of The Heritage.

Bee J You Tiao

It was 10.30 p.m. and we wanted to go for supper. We did not really know where to go, but in the end we decided to join the massive crowd at 101. Indeed business is thriving at this commercial centre as the place was packed with diners, even so late into the night.

We walked till the end of the street and found Bee J You Tiao, just great for me to snack on.


Hmn. I've had Bee J You Tiao before this, but I did not remember that it had so many varieties. A search of the website revealed that it recently launched new products, i.e. Bee J Super Otak-otak and Bee J Super Satay.

We decided to order Sausage & Mayonnaise You Tiao, RM2.50 per serving. It was just one sausage, sliced lengthwise and sandwiched in between the mayo-laden You Tiao. It did not look impressive, but it tasted quite alright.


We wiped the You Tiao off within minutes, and proceeded to order another one with butter and kaya.


Frankly, I couldn't taste the butter, but the kaya was quite thick and rich. Just nice with a cup of coffee.

The butter & kaya You Tiao is RM1.50 per order.

Yum Sandwich

I like this sandwich. I don't remember the exact name in the menu. Was it X-Sandwich, or X-Cuisine Sandwich, or ???. I really don't remember ;p.


Anyway, 3 slices of toasted white bread were sandwiched with ham, lettuce, grated carrots, cheese and mayo. The ham was a sliced shoulder ham, and it is definitely more yum than a mere sandwich ham. Hence, I like ;)).

The sandwich was RM6.80 per serving.

First Choice & Second Choice

New First Choice Restaurant at Pujut 5 is often very packed with customers. What's very good here is the curry fish.

The fish is first steamed and then doused with a thick curry gravy and then served in the claypot. Besides fish, there were sliced eggplant and okra.

Fish curry

The fish curry gravy was very thick - very lemak indeed. It was quite heavy with spices, not really fiery and just a bit tangy in taste. Highly recommended.

We also had the Deep-fried pork. It was another very good dish. The pork was well-marinated, and deep-fried to a golden perfection. As a result, it was savoury and crispy on the outside, and tender on the inside.

Deep-fried Pork

At the other side of the Pujut 5 shophouses is Lou Wai Lou, and we often dub it "Second Choice". Lol.

We were there on another occasion for dinner. We had cucumber and carrot pickles for appetiser.

Pickles

We ordered a Sea Cucumber Thick Soup. I forgot to snap a shot, but I assure you that it looks ordinary. ;p

We had Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs, Stir-fried Sweet Potato Leaves in Belacan, and also Deep-fried Oyster Mushroom in Butter Sauce.

Sweet & Sour Spare Ribs

Stir-fried Sweet Potato Leaves in Belacan

Deep-fried Oyster Mushroom in Butter Sauce

Well, I thought the food at Second Choice was not bad as well.The staff was quite amused that I was snapping photographs of the food. They did not believe me when I said I would post the pics online. Lol.

Don't Like The Massage

W**** saw an advert in the newspaper. 1 hour of Body Massage for RM50.40. Hence, we headed over there this afternoon - our first time at this spa.

The place looked nice, but the masseuses were young Chinese nationals. The one who did me was from Hunan. She told me that she had been here in Miri for half a year already.

Well, I must say that I did not enjoy the massage at all. I thought the girl lacked skills and the pressure she exerted was not strong enough.

Don't think I would go back there anymore.

Eating Green

The fastest way to contribute to greening the environment is to turn vegetarian.

This afternoon, we decided to serve a vegetarian lunch to a panel of judges who came to evaluate us for the National Level Sustainable School Award.

Well, this concept came about when we found out that one of the judges was vegetarian. So instead of catering vegetarian to him alone, we decided to turn lunch into a green affair.

I was impressed with the effort that my colleagues put into preparing the meal. They cooked everything themselves!

They also went all the way out to set the table in accordance with the "green" theme.

Garnishes on the plate

The plate is decorated with a leaf and a roselle. I have no idea what is the name of the leaf. Daun ririk? I asked around but then no one could give me a name. My colleagues made a refreshing drink from the roselle.

So creative are my colleagues!! I loved the boat.

The boat was made of dried tree fronds, and lined with more leaves. Inside was the vermicelli salad.

We had Nuba Laya, which is riced wrapped in leaf. Traditionally, daun isip is used. I have no idea whether daun isip is the same as daun ririk? Hmn, anyway, I liked the rice as it was served really warm.

Nuba Laya

Then there's Kerabu Pegaga. I did not give it a try, as I was not too fond of this herb.

Kerabu Pegaga

Next is Rendang Nangka Muda. I liked the gravy a lot.

Jackfruit Rendang

I also liked the Brinjal in Satay Gravy. It's the first time I had my brinjal in a peanut sauce as is it more often cooked in sambal. Hence, it's an interesting

Brinjal in Satay Sauce

I also liked the Sambal Tempe.

Sambal Tempe

But my favourite dish today would be the Pucuk Ubi. These tapioca leaves were pounded finely and then stir fried with chilli, garlic, shallots and finely chopped turmeric leaves. It was so good that we asked for refills. Lol.

Pucuk Ubi

I could just have plain rice with pucuk ubi, forget about all the other dishes.

Gifts & souvenirs for our guests

Anyway, the judges were pretty impressed by our hospitality. Word got around, and tomorrow, another group of people from MMC are coming to visit us!!! **Shock**

Extra Holidays? Or Extra Nuisance?

"It's going to be holidays soon," many people tell me. Well, yes. But do people know what preparation for holidays entails? We don't just close a school anyhow. There are plenty to do before the school closes for the year.

That is why I get quite upset when I find out that school is allowed to close on 16 November, instead of 19 November as stipulated in the academic calendar. Closing 2 days earlier upsets all our year-end plans. We simply cannot do everything that we are supposed to do by 16 November.

On the other hand, choosing not to apply for the holidays will set tongues wagging. Teachers' morale will be affected when they assume that the school do not have their welfare at heart. We are caught in the middle. Close on 16 November and we won't get things done as they are supposed to to be done. Close on 19 November and teachers will start complaining.

As a result, we decided to compromise. We will apply for the holidays, and students' last day at school is 18 November. Teachers, on the other hand, are to return to school on 18 and 19 November. There are meetings to attend and paperwork to complete before the school closes proper.

For us at school, there is a checklist of things to do.
a) All exam papers have to be marked, and marks keyed in by 18 November.
b) All mark sheets be printed and exam results analysed, documented and submitted to the School Head.
c) All students' academic record books are filled, organised and handed in to the Level Head.
d) All students' co-curricular record books are collected, organised and handed in to the Level Head.
e) All students' co-curricular grade are filled and handed in to the Level Head.
f) All students' merit and demerit records are updated and handed in to the Level Head.
g) All students' reading records are in order, summarised and handed in to the Level Head.
h) Classroom inventory records are updated and handed to the Assets Committee
i) School fees records are in order, summarised and handed in to the Level Head
j) Students' personal records are in order, and handed in to the Students' Affairs
k) Prepare exam materials - such as notes and exercises - so that Forms 5 and 6 students have access to them in the duration of their examination.
l) Prepare school leaving certificates, and handed in to the school clerk for safekeeping.
m) Prepare testimonials for the school leavers, and hand in to the school clerk for safekeeping.
n) Prepare certificates for School-based Assessment, and hand in to the school clerk for safekeeping.

Well, those are what an ordinary teacher is expected to do. Those of us in the School Management Committee - senior assistants and departmental heads cum level heads - have to go through all those documents handed in to us.

It really takes a lot of effort and time to get things done, and done properly. I just feel that it is not very fair when holidays are granted to schools, and yet teachers cannot benefit, SIMPLY BECAUSE the announcement comes too sudden and too late.