Let them swim

Anyone of you catching up with the Commonwealth Games? One of my favourite sports is swimming.

My kids also follow me watching the live matches and highlights. I told them it was fun to be able swim, and encourage them to learn. I myself never learn when I was young. So I would like to see my kids learn and able enjoy swimming.

I think it is about time for Jan and Jay to learn swimming. They considered "old" to learn but better late than never. If I could turn back the time, I wish to convince my parents (and myself) to learn swimming.

Raya visiting

Went for a whole day Raya visiting stretch yesterday, started from 10am and ended around 5pm. We together with few of hubby's Chinese staff, went to 9 houses in a day. Could not make it to the last house yesterday so we went to the last house of the staff this morning.

Started from Kampung Dato to Bandong area then to Salim and last to Permai and Taman Satria.

A selfie before started our journey. Fresh and looking good at start of the visiting but by end of the day, everyone were tired and full!!

Very interesting to see some fire cracker residue in Kampung Dato. Some of them really played fire crackers the night before.

Very old Malay houses at the river bank of Rejang. And we saw a Malay guy getting ready a fire cracker as well.

Part of open house is eating. I love Malay cakes. Luckily most of the cakes I tasted were not too sweet. 

And of course, curry, rendang, lemang, serunding and satay are a sight during Raya. Few houses have interesting dishes such as cabbage kerabu...

And sup tulang...

not forgetting fresh durian in one house and a durian tempoyak in another house!

I never tasted durian tempoyak before so this was my first time yesterday. A tiny spoonful of it. Enough burping of durian yesterday! ^^

Every houses we went, we had group photos. Everyone were enjoying themselves although haze was bad. In Salim, we saw a forest fire and someone was busy putting the fire off. Hope rain comes fast and wash the haze and heat away.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri! Maaf Zahir dan Batin!

3 is more than enough

It was a hazy evening.  We were hoping that the city was not packed with crowds but alas!  We were wrong! It was jammed with cars.  Thought everyone has gone away since it is a long weekend with Hari Raya falls on Monday.

We have been thinking of going to this place since it changed its business name and menu.  Used to be one of our favourite breakfast café but we have not been there since it closed and re-opened in April.



We went there last night for dinner.  The menu was not much as they cut down to few dishes; mostly Western.  Told the kids that their favourite pancake has been taken off the menu, but when my 5yo boy reached there, he automatically asked for pancake! Lol!  Of course, they were disappointed but they got to eat what was available in the menu.

Not much changes to the interior décor.  Darker than what I remember.  And how lucky were we!  We bumped into a newly-wed that were having their wedding studio photographs taken there.  I guess the couple liked the bricked wall so much to have their photographs there.

Meant to bring my digital camera along but last minute, I forgot to bring it out. So got to rely on my Samsung S3 to take shots. Pardon the quality of my photos as the place was pretty dark. Not suitable for any photography purposes. 

We ordered 3 dishes only, because we knew what we wanted before we were here.  

Yummy pasta in alfredo sauce.  I always love this creamy alfredo sauce compared to other pasta sauces.

Here was the so-called Heart-Attacked Burger. This tall burger with charcoal bun came with a Coke drink for RM18.80. I was worried my burger would toppled over with all those minced pork patties, some bacon slices, fried egg and lettuces in it!

I like that they served the burger and this pork rib on chopping boards.  Easier to cut. This Jack Pork signature rib (RM24.00) was good, but I prefer the honey glazed pork rib from this place .

We were full beyond words after that.  Enough "oink oink" for now.

More feasting in the next 2 days so I should be worried about the calories that I am going to gain soon.  Lol!

Big head prawn out from my coconut

After saw one cousin posted this interesting dish in fb, my hubby went to one of the shops in Sungai Merah Tek Lee Kwong Industrial area with a shop called  店小二 (Dian Xiao Er) yesterday afternoon to have a taste of it.  So, his verdict? Very good but I thought it was slightly expensive as it was priced RM30 each.

However I heard that some places sell it at RM40 each!

Slurping delicious and goes well with a glass of iced tea!

Since he felt guilty eating without me, he brought me to this place this morning.  Lol!  Meant to go together today but he went a day earlier with a friend. He knows I love food, and some more it is prawns!  How could I resist it?

This is considered a luxurious breakfast over here with such price and of course, you could not have it every day. I would not want to know my blood pressure and cholesterol level if I have it every day.

This dish is called Tom Yum Coconut Prawn Noodle and originated from Sarikei. Now you do not need to drive all the way to Sarikei to enjoy this delicious prawn noodle. Can be found in few places in Sibu. ;)

Love the superb rich soup that has blend of sweet coconut and sourish tom yum. And  coupled with a big head prawn, this noodle dish is worth tasting when you visit Sibu.

Creative with Eggmaster!

Anyone own this Eggmaster at home?

Received a present from hubby last week! An Eggmaster! A simple and convenient kitchen gadget for those who are lazy or have no time to prepare meals especially breakfast. For egg lovers, you will enjoy its great egg recipes such as tortilla, egg wrap, hot dog blanket etc.

Ready to cook

I testing it out few days ago.  Tried to make myself an Eggmaster egg and a French toast. Well, what do you think?? 

This hot dog blanket is easy to make too.

Now I can have more creative egg meals.  Still in experimenting stage; have not go around trying out other recipes in the booklet.  The kids are sure excited seeing their eggs in cylinder shape, I tell you!  

River Island dress for that special occasion

My brother is getting married in September.  Everyone is excited about it.  It has been a long time since my clan held a wedding reception, as most of my cousins are married.  Only left a few younger ones that have not yet tie the knots.

Do you want to know what I am going to wear on my brother's big day? I am not required to be a bridesmaid on that day, so I am on the loose and can get the party started earlier!  Lol!

I am currently into River Island brand as I love its simplicity and femininity.  Their dresses are awesome to wear during the days and nights; and on any special occasion.

I am into this fluro pencil dress for the tea ceremony.  Like the peach colour as well as the sleeves.  It is so comfy and fit me well.

As for the dinner, one will never goes wrong with a little black dress.  This black dress is what I am looking for; perfect cut for my bodice.

If you are interested to know more about this wonderful brand, this is a little fact about River Island.

River Island is a brand which has been established for over 60 years and never fails to produce amazing up-to-date designs in its collection for both men and women. Customers could find the fashion items from head-to-toe by admiring the beautiful designs of bags, clothes, accessories and shoes. The brand is definitely the perfect choice for the ladies who are aiming to attempt a fashion supermodel look such as Miranda Kerr, Olivia Palermo and Candice Swanepoel. These beautiful angels always get caught walking down the streets looking fashionable as ever in anything they wear. Miranda Kerr, for example is very successful in handling her KORA organics business, modelling and being a mother at the same time,  The model balances her work and personal life without ever neglecting her appearance.

The American socialite and model, Olivia Palermo is also known as the fashion icon as she could pull off anything together and look amazing. She could even pull off a long sleeve top, shorts and flowy skirt as her wedding dress. The shocking part is she could looks stunningly amazing in it effortlessly. Olivia Palermo is just one of those girls who know how to work her way in fashion. From red carpet event to a casual day out to town with her hubby, Johannes Huebl, this model/ socialite never fails to impress her fans.

The famous Victoria Secret angel who is known to have the sweetest smile and soft spoken character, Candice Swanepoel are among the fashionable ladies out there. This lady dares to take risk in experimenting her clothes and looks absolutely fascinating in them. If you are wondering how to get the supermodel looks as these three stunning ladies, River Island offers a wide range of apparel, shoes and accessories. Mix and match your style from River Island fashion collection and catwalk with confidence everywhere you go. Women could get the pieces which resemble your adored supermodel style by browsing through River Island page online at ZALORA.

Piping hot lamb stew

Another home-cooked recipe from me. Hubby simply loves this dish. I got this recipe from an old friend after tasted her lamb stew for the first time back in December 2012 during a Christmas potluck in my house.

Since then, I cooked few times but never did it in Sibu. Lazy. Lol. But it has been long time since I cooked this lamb stew, so I did it last Sunday.

I have been searching high and low for frozen lambs in supermarkets and almost gave up on the 4th supermarket. Luckily it has lamb shoulder chops there. 

This time round, I did not reduce the stock so my stew was rather watery. However it still tasted nice. ;) It depends on how thick you want your stew to be. 

Ingredients:

1kg lamb shanks/lamb shoulder; cut into pieces

1-2 tsp McCormick Mixed Herbs

Few potatoes (4 to 5 pieces), cut into cubes

1 carrot, cut into small pieces

1 big onion, diced

Beef broth, enough to cover the meat

Salt and pepper to taste

Cooking oil

Methods:

1. Heat up and add cooking oil in the saucepan or saucepot, depends on which you want to use to cook this dish.

2. Brown the meats once the oil is heated up.  Remove the meat.

3. Add in big onion.  Fry for a while before add in potatoes and carrot.

4. Add in the McCormick Mixed Herbs onto the vegetables.  Then add back the meat into the pan or pot.  Add beef broth into the pan or pot.

5. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Cover with lid and turn into lower heat.  Let the meat simmer for 1 to 1.5 hours till the meat is tender. Occasionally check on the broth level and if the meat is still not tender to your preference, add some water to the dish.

More choices @ Good Happiness

They told me to come here for good dim sum and reasonable prices.  It is a big Chinese restaurant.  When you walk in, you feel like you are in a real Chinese restaurant in China for dim sum breakfast. Heard the chef is from China, so I assume that the dim sum is authentic enough. Indeed they have extensive choice of dim sum.

Of course we would never miss in ordering char siew pau when we have dim sum.  Not bad.  Better than what we had here a week ago.

I do not know what this called as hubby ordered all the dim sum.  But the skin tasted like ang gu kueh.  

But the ingredient is mixture of minced meat and prawns.

Hubby tasted its lo mai kai; I did not tasted it.  Never a fan of lo mai kai. 

These steamed minced meats were not to my liking but my son ate a lot of them. It a bit salty, as I think they added salted fish to the mince.

I like the steamed pork rib.  Tender and well marinated. 

The har kau was nice as well. Love the fresh prawns in the translucent skins. 

The kids enjoyed its deep fried calamari, which I thought was so-so. The coating was a bit burnt but the calamari was tender.

The chee cheong fun on the other hand, was too sweet for me. 

Lastly but not least the waiter recommended this seafood porridge.  It was great with the fried seaweed on the top of the porridge.

Overall our breakfast cost around RM60.00, which was cheap; as we have free flow of Chinese tea.  Great breakfast I have to say; we would not mind come back again for dim sum. However the only complaint that I had was flies. Saw few flying on our table while we were eating. I suspected they got in from the kitchen door which was opened for easier access of staff and dim sum trolleys. Otherwise I wonder how flies can be found at an enclosed and air-con restaurant!!

Weekend Menu #64: The elk-shaped organic Pasta-Algar

Those elk heads remind me of Sven in the "Frozen"!

I got this yummy from Sharon Das more than a week ago and I have been contemplating on what recipe to use for it. Finally I decided to bring out my flip pan for this simple pasta recipe from Munch Ministry.  I adjusted the ingredients to fit my taste and a healthier meal. Add 2 more ingredients to the original recipe, ie potato, and broccoli. Voila!  Here is my version of baked Pasta-Algar with cheese.

Pasta-Algar with egg mix using flip pan recipe (Serves 3-4)

15g melted butter
100g medium sized potato, cut into small cubes (approx. 2 × 2 ×2 cm)
65g  button mushrooms, halved
200g broccoli, cut and use florets only
65g bacon, sliced (Original recipe called for ham but I am not into hams)
3 eggs
1/2 cup full cream milk
100g Pasta-Algar, cooked
15g grated Cheddar (original recipe called for Parmesan but I couldn't find it)

1. In a pot of boiled water, add in the pasta and let it cook till soft or for about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. Melt butter in a pan. Add in button mushrooms and broccoli and saute for 2 - 3 minutes.  Add in bacon and cook for a minute.

3. Whisk in eggs, milk, salt and pepper to taste in a mixing bowl.  Stir in the pasta, potato, mushroom, broccoli and bacon.

before cooking

4. Heat up the flip pan. Add in the pasta mixture into the flip pan, sprinkle parmesan all over the mixture.  Close and lock the lid.

5. Bake for 10-15 minutes on low heat. Constantly move the pan side to side to prevent charred on bottom.

6. After 10-15 minutes, open up the lid and check whether the pasta has cooked.  If so, then close the lid and flip over the pan and cook for 5 - 10 minutes.

7. Flip back, off the heat and let it set. Dish out to serve.

after cooking and let it sit for a minute

A mouthful of yummylicious bake pasta

If this sound hard, try this simple recipe instead. Just 3 ingredients needed.

Pasta-Algar in alfredo sauce (Serves 1)

Alfredo sauce (4 tbsp), 2 slices of bacons (sliced), Pasta-Algar and olive oil.

1. Heat up 2 tbsp olive oil in pan. Stir fry bacon slices for a minute. Dish out.
2. Cook pasta in boiled water. Add pinch of salt. Cook pasta for about 10 minutes. Drain and place on serving plate.
3. In saucepan, heat up the alfredo sauce for a minute. Keep stirring to avoid burn.
4. Pour sauce on top of basta and bacon. Serve hot!

Bowl of balls

Not any kind of balls but my all time favourite. Fish Balls and Meat Balls!!! I love a good bowl of tasty and springy handmade fishballs and meatballs.

If in Kuching, I would advise you to drive to the old Batu Kawa town (across the Batu Kawa river) for its famous authentic handmade and homemade meat balls. There is one stall I like the most.  It is right next to the small roundabout when you enter the old town.  The stall is a wooden type and it has been there for decades.  Love its bowl of clear soup and meaty balls and they are served with your choices of kolok mee, mihun or kuaw tiaw.

As for fish balls, there is one shop along the road to Bau that serve great fish balls soup. I am not sure of its exact location but I think it is still operating. Remember they are generous with the amount of home made fish balls and nice chilli sauce. My dad brought me once there.

But I am not in Kuching, so I can only dream of those meat balls and fish balls soups for now from miles away!  Must have them when I am back in September!!

My girl posed for me

Many assortment of dim sum

Few nights ago my sil suggested to try out this place as she heard they serve nice fish balls soup. They have dim sum too but that would be another day. For now, we are eyeing their fish balls.

I did not understand why they called this a Tang Hoon Foochow Fishball soup! I thought it was something unique with such name so that was why I ordered in first place. After all, glass noodle was my favourite.

But came out, it was just a plain yong tau fu soup! What so Foochow about it??

The kids shared this stewed chicken noodles which tasted like kampua with soy sauce. I think my sil enjoyed her noodle the most; she had mushroom noodle with a bit of sambal init. This noodle was slightly spicy.

As for the side dishes, we ordered a deep fried chicken fillet, Taiwan sausages and deep fried fish dumplings.

Out of the 3 dishes, the chicken fillet was the most disappointment. Tasteless and hard to bite. Too dry.

I quite enjoyed the sausages although I tasted a better one before.

The fish dumplings were alright; a bit too salty as they added too much seasoning I think. I can see the seasoning on the serving plate!

Saw many customers ordered its dim sum so I guess the dim sum is better than the fish noodles. Hmm, look like the dim sum is the main attraction here. Hope they tasted better than what we had. That will be another food adventure in another day!

The fish balls here? Cannot beat the one in Kuching! Sigh!