MEI MEI

I found another place for good Sarawak Laksa. It's tuck away at the corner coffee shop at Chongling Park called Mei Mei. The name is very cute indeed as it means beautiful. People who come here are for the craving for their thick laksa soup with fresh prawns. The prawns are so generous that it covers the whole bowl. I just love my laksa with lots of prawns. Yum! Yum!

thick laksa soup with lots of prawns, chicken meat, bean sprouts - YUMMY!

a good teh tarik ais to go with the laksa - ahh....

CHEF at HOME

Chef at Home at Hui Sing Garden

Western fine cuisine shouldn’t be confine in elegant fine restaurant nor does it have to be so expensive that you have to save up your entire month’s salary in order to enjoy it. That’s why the people behind Chef at Home come up with the idea of fine dining in a casual and inexpensive way. It’s located in a single storey house just opposite the Hui Sing Garden Petronas station. You can either park your car at the road side or inside the car park at the house. The service is prompt and the ambience is casual enough for you to enjoy your food without all the protocol. The most important thing is it won’t burn a hole in your pocket for a meal there. By the way, they are the people responsible for NK Food Network also.

the nice garden setting for you to enjoy an alfresco dining while enjoying the beautiful landscaped garden

ice lychee with nata de coco is refreshing with lots of lychee

a refreashing blend of pandan and 'cin cau'

an old time favorite of ribenna with sprite

can't remember the exact name but its deep fried breaded chicken with cheese and home made sauce - cheesy the way i like it

grilled lamb with black pepper sauce

chicken terayaki with fragrant rice - tender chicken grilled to perfection

grilled chicken chop with black pepper sauce

linguine with cheesy cabonara sauce - it was very good until we all fight for the last bit

HUI SING

What other things that I did during the holiday? Let me think……hmmmm…… eat of course! I went to a place that has been around for so many years and still a crowd’s favorite. It’s the Hui Sing Garden hawker centre. We went there right after we reach Kuching from Matang. The hawker centre used to be at Palm Road when I was really small. Since the old place was due for road widening, they moved the whole place to the current place at Hui Sing Garden. Some people still called it Palm Road hawker. There are a lot of local hawker fares here that you can’t find elsewhere and if you happen to find it, it’s imitation from the creators here. For example, Ah Meng drink stall is the 1st to come up with drinks like “white lady”, “black widow”, “red eye” or the ever famous “matterhorn”. Other than that, the tomato kueh tiaw or noodle and the sweet sauce noodle are absolutely tempting. A stop by this hawker centre will satisfy any palate that you may have.

Hui Sing Hawker Centre which only open at nite 7 days a week

the ever famous "matterhorn" which consist of lychee, cendol, jelly, liong fun in syrup and lemon - very refreashing (ask for the aluminium bowl)

a tomato kueh tiaw with a twist, they fried the kueh tiaw 1st at usual fried style then pour over the tomato sauce over it - more fragrant and only available at 四小 stall

fried noodle with bean sprouts and egg in sweet sauce, my dad's favourite and only available here in Kuching

pork satay from Satay House, a must for anyone who visit Kuching

MATANG FAMILY PARK

What did I do over the long holiday weekend? Hmm…. let me recall back. Sleep, eat, shit…… Hahaha! Not a pig so I make full use of the holiday catching up with friends and go exploring the surrounding. I didn’t do any visiting this year though. The place I went instead is Matang Family Park. It’s been so long…… since I went there. The last time I was there, there are no facilities for people to shower, sit or BBQ yet. It’s pure wild jungle with waterfall. Now, everything is changed and I even have to fork out RM3 just to enter the park. Nevertheless, we had a great time there since the spot that we choose was isolated and we have the whole stretch by our own. A little picnic and relaxation by the river is just what a busy city folks needed. Ahh……..

that's the mountain we're heading on a sunny day, Mount Matang

the convoy following us to paradise! Hahaha!

it was packed on that day and we had to park our cars on the upper deck

the schedule of pricing for each different grouping, some of us could pass off as teenagers

the area map for Matang Family Park, our destination is Stage 1 which was closed for today but we don't mind walking 1600mm from Stage 2 since it was more private there

the observation tower at the entrance of the park

the canopy deck and all the major facilities like toilets, shower room, canteen etc that is provided here at Stage 2 and Stage 1

beautifully landscaped garden at Stage 2 where BBQ pit is located before the stream below

the steps we had to take to reach the stream below and cross over it to get to the jungle trail to Stage 1

deep into the jungle we ventured to find a place we called our own

finally we reached Stage 1 which was deserted on that day, the stream is just below the deck, Yippee!!!!

fresh water from the mountain with lots of fish

after soaking ourself in the river, it's time for some lunch of luncheon meat sandwiches, cakes, cookies and tidbits

the rain came when we managed to get back to Stage 2 and we sheltered under the canopy for the rain to ease

while waiting for the rain to ease, we played some "chor tai di" to pass time and i managed to win most of the time, hehehe!

some of the beautiful flora that you can find at Matang Family Park

SELAMAT HARI RAYA

Long holiday for me!!!!! Yippee!!!!!

CANON S5IS

i bought this baby over the weekend and it's my venture into semi-pro camera. i took some snap shots after i got this baby but since i'm still an infant to this new world, the photos might be of child's play qualities

a corner of my family room, the abacus belongs to my grandma

a flower in the garden

a plant that changes its leaves colors as they grow

another shot of the many flowers in the garden

green green giangantic leave

TA WAN KUNG

Ta Wan Kung opposite KMC swimming pool and next to Kuching Park hotel

Kolo mee is just like an institution in Kuching. A coffee shop or kopitiam without stall selling kolo mee is incomplete. That’s the reason why every coffee shop or kopitiam serves kolo mee and everybody in Kuching eats kolo mee day and night. It’s a simple dish that doesn’t appeal to most since it doesn’t have any colours. There’s one particular stall that is been well known since my grandparents time. It used to be at Rex Cinema but since it has been torn down, they have relocated to another place. This time round, it is the son who is doing the business while the father has long retired. The place is called Ta Wan Kung opposite the KMC swimming pool. The place is packed during breakfast time and if you go there after lunch, you’ll be disappointed with an empty stomach. There’s another one who is operated by his brother which is located at Expert Foodcourt at Jalan Penrissen. This one does sell in the morning and night time. For me, it’s one of the best kolo mee in town.

kolo mee with wanton, the noodle are handmade and it tasted springy and smooth. the combination of fried onions and pork lard oil makes the noodle irresistable. you can smell the fragrant pork lard and onions even before you enter the shop

other than the normal kolo mee, they also have alternative version like fried chicken kolo mee top with crunchy pieces of fried chicken

pork chop kolo mee with tender marinated pork, whoever says kolo mee should go halal should be shoot and hang!

HAPPY VALLEY

It was an uneventful Saturday night I had. 1st, I was down with a flu and two very irresponsible friends didn’t turn up for our appointment. We had arranged it properly a week earlier that we will go for dinner and movie on Saturday night. We even agreed on what movie and where to eat on that Saturday afternoon over lunch at Jia Jia Court. Me and the other friend could have canceled everything right then if we know those two are so irresponsible since we came down with flu at the same time. After everything was done and the movie tickets were purchased, we were stood up by those two. We waited at our dinner place Happy Valley until we got hungry and ordered first while waiting for them. There weren’t a single call from both of them and they even ignore our calls when we called them. Well, we continue to enjoy our dinner without their presence as if nothing happens. Why should we let two ignorance and irresponsible people spoiled the whole night? We even managed to catch a good movie, Resident Evil: Extinction. As for the two extra tickets, we sold it off to the ticketless people at the cinema. The story doesn't end here yet. We meet some very uncivilised people on our way out of the carpark. Everybody was queuing up to go down the carpark but this guy who drives a Toyota with 2 girls sitting inside plan to be smart ass and instead of following everyone else, he took the shortcut by going down a level using the up ramp. They even got the courtesy to laugh and one of the girl put on sun glasses as if the moon is so bright. I hope people who read this will be more civilised and stop acting like a bitch or bastard. Now, lesson learned here, never let anyone spoil your day.

Happy Valley, where you can enjoy BBQ meats, western and local food over a cool drink under the stars

a cute little fan spinning to the wind

fruit salad, for my friend who is sick

chicken chop for me, even though i'm sick

some orange juice for that much needed vitamin c

we leave Happy Valley satisfied yet angry with those two irresponsible people

Resident Evil:Extinction, an enjoyable movie that gives you a little scare here and there