: : Drinks & Snacks : :

Rushing to get some blank CD-Rs when I saw this tempting thirst quencher. Looks similar to the one in Petaling Street, in front of Popular Bookstore.

Couldn’t resist getting one as it was a pretty hot and humid afternoon. The gals at the counter were a bit suspicious when I ask them if I could take picture.

Gal : What for?

Me : For fun.

Gal : …

Quickly took some pictures before she could say no. Notice the mispelled spelling? Supposed to be Kucing. Mata Kucing is a local fruit that looks like a smaller version of longan. Translation : Cat’s Eye. Probably does look a bit like the cat’s eye. The flesh of the fruit is firmer and the skin of the seed doesn’t stick onto the flesh like longan does. This juicy, delicious, thirst-quencher is so cheap! Only RM1 (US$0.26)!! And the only ingredients are the mata kucing fruit, brown sugar and water! Yum!

This stall is located outside Wisma Wan, Tabuan Jaya, just outside the Big Fresh Supermarket. Does a whopping business but not as good as the one in KL. Heard that the one in KL (where they serve the mata kucing with sea coconut) was checked by Inland Revenue and now has to pay taxes! I seriously need to get an interactive map of Kuching up soon. One day.

Well, since I was going to buy some CD-Rs, also stop by the timbang place to get some junk food. This time, bought some chai tau po. It’s actually made from a type of white carrot that is……errr… hmmm….. tough? stretchy? springy? rubbery? It’s all those things but tastes great as well. This one was shredded, preserved in sugar and dyed in red. Bought too much : 100 g. Will be eating it over the next few days. Was tempted to take pictures of the timbang place but decided not too. The gals would freak out. Will do it another day when I go with friends. Besides, a lot of postings up on Sunday already.

: : You pomelo, me orange : :

For pomelo lovers!

You have to try this out! It’s a cross between a pomelo and an orange. Taste sweet like a pomelo and slightly sour and tangy like an orange! Gotta take a pic of the opened fruit once it’s ripe. Takes forever to be ripe. 1/4 the size of a ripe pomelo. Have yet to see it in the market. Then again, I HATE going to the wet market. Can’t stand the smell.

BTW, pic was from Granny’s garden. She got the plant from the chap that cuts our grass every month. There is also a humongous rambutan tree at the back. Anyone for rambutans? Bears fruit in November / December. If it doesn’t rain too much. Totally organic and no pesticide sprayed on.

: : Granny’s Cooking : :

Does this look good or what?

It’s actually Maggi Mee : Curry Flavour with chicken sausages with chai sim.

1st intrepetation

My Granny rocks!

2nd intrepetation

Running out of inspiration for postings!

3rd intrepetation

It’s Sunday so have a bit more time to blog. Got more pics too.

: : SoHo, Pandungan : :

Okay, a bit more clearheaded today. Went out to SoHo after dinner last night with BJ, Tiger and some other friends.

SoHo is a pub along Pandungan Road, very near to Holiday Inn Kuching and Crowne Plaza. It’s actually facing one of the many Kuching City statues. Drinks are reasonable and music to good. Service could improve but it’s great just sitting outside and chit chatting with friends. It’s also a restaurant where the food is tasty but we didn’t eat there. I love the spaghetti carbonary and kalamari squid. Yum. However, the restaurant closes at 10 p.m. and that includes hot snacks. They still serve peanuts and ikan billis (salted anchovies) until closing time.

Had a shot of vodka lime but took it too fast. So, was sleepy after that. Plus, it was so bloody hot. Should have gone to Monsoon instead where the breeze from the riverbank is more cooling.

Took a few more shots. Then, we all left at about 11:00 p.m. Early night? Yeah, too many things to do tomorrow. Same for everyone else.

: : TopSpot, Taman Kereta : :

G.Exp, going to make you hungry with this posting. I saw what you did with the nasi lemak pic. :p Prepare to drool!! Wan a hanky for emergencies? Make that a bucket. :p

Got invited to dinner with some netball players as I became their official (or rather, unofficial) photographer during their matches. Wow! Eating seafood in 2 weeks. Definitely not good for my cholesterol (which I still have yet to check). Went back to Topspot, Stall 25 : Bukit Mata. Some of the dishes we ordered were the same that was posted previously : oyster omelette, cockles.

Other than that, we also had :

Midin

Assam Prawn

Black Pepper Crab

Curry Bamboo Clam

Midin

A famous and extremely popular jungle veggie. It’s actually the young shoot of a fern found in swampy areas. The locals eat it. So do the tourists : they love it. Getting more and more expensive as time goes by. We had it stir-fried with belachan. Spicy spicy spicy! For those who can’t take spicy food, there is the garlic version and also another one with Chinese Rice Wine. The downside of this veggie is that it cannot be eaten by people who have gout. The veg itself contain high levels of urea although am not sure in what form. The veggie also doesn’t keep. It tends to become black after some time. Midin is sometimes confused with another type of fern which is known locally as paku (local name for fern. Paku-pakis : Malay word for fern) which is extremely hard. Midin is soft, yet crunchy at the same time. Very expensive in West Malaysia so whenever I’m there, I usually don’t order this. However, a lot of West Malaysians travelling over to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, will buy back a lot of this veggie! I took a pic of this veggie in another posting.

Assam Prawn

A slightly different version of Assam Prawn compared to the one that Granny cooked but equally tasty. Prawn was deep fried in butter and the sauce added later on. Everything was walloped! For Westerners, the shell of the prawn is usually left on so that the flesh doesn’t shrink too much. As for a pic, it’s also in the same posting as the midin. However, I think I wrongly labeled the picture as freshwater prawn. Think the pic was showing tiger prawns. Freshwater prawns are a lot bigger than what is shown in the pic. Have to check with Uncle Cyril when he comes back from his trip to Lundu.

Black Pepper Crab

Freshly cooked crab. However, I didn’t like the sauce they used. They took it out of a bottle! Urgh! Apologies to the Pepper Marketing Board but I think the recipe for your sauce needs fine tuning. There is too much starch in it and not enough pepper! I can taste the flour! Urgh! Well, the others did like it though so that was fine by me. I stayed away from this. That doesn’t mean that I don’t eat black pepper crab. I do. Just that I prefer it cooked with raw peppercorns. I don’t know if they do it this way anymore but the crab will definitely taste a lot better. If anyone is going to this restaurant, order the Chilli Crab or just the plain Fried Crab with Egg. Safety bet.

Curry Bamboo Clam

This tasted so good with curry powder. Yep, it’s called bamboo clam because the shell looks like one. The uncooked version was posted in the same posting as the midin and prawn. Had to fend off the numerous chopsticks itching to pinch it! Was not a very popular person that night. As with all seashells, if it tastes not good, DO NOT EAT IT! By the way, any dish that is off, can always replace it with a new one or get your money refunded.

TopSpot is a cheap place to eat seafood and also halal. That was why we went there. There were about 25 of us altogether and we filled up 3 tables! I believe the bill came up to about RM300-RM400 only. Not that I have ever eaten in Klang. Just that a friend from Klang mentioned that for a table of 10, costs is more than RM200!! Unless someone knows where to get cheaper seafood in Klang. Sabah has even cheaper seafood!

: : Snacks : :

Lunch today was a quick bite from the cafeteria. All time popular kuih : CURRY PUFF.

This is truly amazing stuff. I’m sure all Malaysians will vouched for the tastiness of this particular kuih. I think this version was baked in an oven because it’s not the usual pastry. The pastry is the Western version but it sure goes great with the mashed potato filling. The filling is mashed potatoe mixed with curry powder. It’s extremely smooth. Where to get this? UNIMAS (UNiversiti MAlaysia Sarawak) : at the cafeteria.

To go with the Curry Puff, I bought an Asian canned drink favourite : soya bean milk! Not the fresh one unfortunately. Got the Yeo’s version but it’s equally as good. Note that at the time I posted this, Yeo’s website was down. Don’t know why. Read somewhere that sales of soya bean milk worldwide exceeded sales of Coca-Cola! Think it was in the Star, NST or Sarawak Tribune but it was a long time ago. Oh well. Only problem is that bought soya bean milk has preservatives inside and one can taste it. After experiencing homemade soya bean at a friend’s place, I’m a changed person!