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. :))