Miscellaneous Picture # 42: Growing

I love looking at my mum's garden every time I visit her.  Probably because I do not have the privilege of such green in my own home so I appreciate her little green plot. 

My mum is very hard-working and diligent in growing and taking care of her plants. Some has over-grown so she chopped them off while some died off. However I still could find some plants are growing well and bearing fruits.

Mulberries

Pansies

Forgot what this plant called

Young papaya tree

Beg to differ

Went to this cafe with a girlfriend for brunch the other day. It has been a while since I have eaten here.

Located next to NK Food Network, this Kwong Hup Cafe has never been short of crowds. The cafe is noted for some nice choices of food, mainly its Penang fried kuaw tiaw, Sarawak laksa and kuih-muih stall.

Reason that I seldom come here is I am not so fond of any of its food. It is not that the food are not nice but nothing much to shout about. Nothing really addictive or super delicious for me.

People keep saying the fried kuah tiaw, laksa and popiah were good but I beg to differ. Yes, when they were in Bormill Cafe, I find the laksa was yummy but somehow it was not the same when they moved here. Other food are decent and good enough but I would not particular come here for any of its food.

RM3.00 popiah

However, I could do with a nice plate of healthy popiah on any day. Kwong Hup Cafe serves a nice popiah that goes well with its sweet and spicy sauce. The popiah is made on order so freshness is guaranteed.

RM3.50 sambal panggang

Different story for this kuih. My friend bought this panggang to try from the kuih stall. Soft texture but not enough sambal to please me. It was salty though. A disappointment for both of us.

RM3.00 fried kueh tiaw

I ordered this normal plate of fried kueh tiaw. The kueh tiaw was broken to smaller pieces but enough wok hei fragrance with its spicy paste. However I personally prefer the whole kueh tiaw than this broken noodle. Looked messy and unappetizing to me.

By the way, you can have special order such as add clam, prawns etc to your preferred noodles.

RM3.00 fried noodle

My friend had its fried yellow noodle. She requested for the salty flavour but ended up they gave her the sweeter one.

We were there for about 30 minutes but could not stay any longer. Weather was warm but luckily it was windy. Bearable for us but my boy was hot and his cheeks turned rosy under such weather. So after finished our brunch, we headed home to stay away from the sun before it was time to pick up the other schooling kids.

Weekend Menu #70: easy Sunday crepe

Nothing beats the weekend like an easy home-made crepe. It is so simple and quick to fix. Enjoy and hope you like the recipe.

Of course I got myself a little helper in the kitchen. My princess was eager to learn and help so I let her whisk and sieve the batter for me.

Ingredients:
100g plain flour
2 large egg
300ml full cream milk
Pinch of salt
Butter or vegetable oil for cooking

Methods:
1. Mix the flour, egg and milk into a bowl. Add pinch of salt and slowly whisk the mixture.
2. Sieve the mixture into a bowl and let it sit for 30 minutes in room temperature.

3. Heat up the butter or vegetable oil in a pan under medium heat. Slowly pour some of the batter onto the pan. Fry each side till golden brown (approximately 1 minutes on each side).

4. Serve with your favourite filling i.e. honey, butter, maple syrup and fruit slices or cubes.

5. Enjoy the sweet and savoury crepe.

Confession corner

I have been contemplating whether to write something about myself as a blogger for quite some time but finally I am able to pen it down here.  So here it goes.

It is something that I do as a blogger (since I started back then). I am sure that some of my fellow blogger friends will be able to associate with them on certain time or most of the time.

1. My phone is my pal and conveniently glued to me wherever I go

Some may have the habits of bring digital camera or those big bulky professional camera, but not me.  My phone has been my shoot box for as long as this blog has been. It has evolved from habit to necessity for me. And now I mostly blog from my phone, rather than on a pc!  The moment I realised I forgot my phone, I feel helpless and shocked (like the shock horror emoticon!)

2. My family is used to me snapping away

What ever it is, photo-taking first! When it comes to food, the "no eating before Rose takes pictures" rule applies.  And everyone is so understanding! Or maybe they are used to me snapping away.

3. Do my scheduled posts in the evening

I will try to draft and schedule my posts for a week, so I would not need to worry so much about it over the week, which I am basically busy with my children and running around. Usually I would write my posts during the nights while the events were still fresh in my mind or I would tend to forget the details later.

4. My blog has been a secret for months before I told someone

I did not tell anyone when I started my blog.  I never meant to as I did not have those confidence in telling my families and close friends about my interest.  But it took a lot of courage out of me when I told my hubby about it.  And he was so supportive!  But it stayed secret for a while and I still do not mind keeping quiet about my writing a blog as I am sure some people do not find the idea of documenting their lives that appealing.

This Ramadhan @ Pullman Kuching

Still cracking your lovely head, thinking where to berbuka puasa? Well, think no more! I have a great place for you.

In this holy month of Ramadhan, treat your families and friends to a great spread of delicious Berbuka Puasa buffet in Puzzle Restaurant, Pullman Kuching.

It is another gastronomic feast as always when you dine in Pullman Kuching. The buffet spread has more than 150 dishes; both local favourites, traditional Malay cuisines and international cuisines. Malay delicacies would be Bubur Pedas, Bubur Asyurra and many more.

Other highlights of the buffet spread also include the carving specials such as whole lamb with nasi biryani, local favourites such as umai ikan, Salai Lumek and Umai Udang as well as various local ulam-ulaman with assorted condiments. 



The dessert corner includes an ABC station where you can customise your own "ais kacang" with various assortment of colourful condiments.

Pullman Kuching's Ramadhan buffet dinner is available now till 16th July. Priced at RM106 nett per adult while children below 12 years old will receive a 50% discount off the price.

And good news for everyone who loves to take wefie photographs. Puzzle Restaurant is giving out free cheesecake during this Ramadhan month.  Tell me, who could resist a delectable and moist cheesecake??

All you need to do is to take wefie group photographs of your family and friends dining in Puzzle Restaurant or a wefie photograph with the food served in the all-day dining restaurant. All photographs must be posted on social platforms with the hashtag #RamadhaninPullmanKuching and #PullmanKuching and set to public viewing.  Contest ends on 10th July 2015.

And don't forget to follow Pullman Kuching's official Instagram account (@pullmankuching) and Facebook page (facebook.com/pullmankuching) to be eligible for the contest.  Winner will be announced in the official Facebook page before Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

So, what are you waiting for??  Have a Berbuka Puasa gastronomic feast in Pullman Kuching and take a wefie photograph; and you could be the lucky winner and walk home with a 1kg cheesecake. Not just any cheesecake but an Arabic Dates Cheesecake!

For more information or reservation on Ramadhan Berbuka Puasa buffet, kindly contact 082-222 888 (ext 2100). 

Delectable dessert

It has been very warm this month and everyone has fallen sick at one point of time. Horrible time when the youngest one fell sick as he was the tough and stubborn boy. Hard feeding him medicine and fluid. Glad that everyone has recovered now.

Few days ago, I made this delicious dessert for the family. Something that I missed having during my childhood. Green mung with sweet potatoes soup!

A bowl of chilling and sweet soup on a warm day. Tempting right?

I were supposed to use the orange sweet potatoes but could not find any so I resorted to use the purple sweet potatoes. It made the soup turned dark but it still taste good.

Ingredients:
150g mung beans, soaked and rinsed few times
200g sweet potatoes, clean, peel and cubed
3 tablespoons (50g) sago
1.5L water
1 knotted pandan leaf
Brown sugar to taste (or sub with rock sugar)

Methods:

1. Add  mung beans in a pot of water. Bring it to boil before lower the heat and add in the sweet potatoes.

2. Simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes till the mung beans soften and cracked. 

3. Soak sago for a while before add into pot together with the pandan leaf.

4. Once sago has turned transparent, add in brown sugar to taste.  Let it cool down before serve.

Hot & Cold

Temperature has been soaring lately here. The sun comes out very early in the morning but we have occasional rain in the evening. It helps a bit to cool down the temperature. But in the morning, I would prefer to stay indoor and if gone out for breakfast or lunch, I will opt for air-con place.

Last Saturday the sun was very warm and bright as early as 8am. We went to Dong Guan coffee shop for a warm and steaming hot dim sum. 

These was what we have on our table.

This basket is my favourite!! Steamed siu mai with quail egg! Simply heavenly. The pork was well seasoned and moist, and it went well with the bland taste of quail egg.

Quail eggs contain good cholesterol so don't worry. Enjoy it all you can. :)

This cai kueh was something else.  The salted vegetable mustard with thin dumpling skin. Very appetizing.

And to make me more sweating, I finished up this bowl of Sarawak laksa. RM5.00 for a normal bowl. Not bad but I could find a tastier and better laksa somewhere else.

After our breakfast, we went for a spin around town. Run a bit of errands here and there. And before we went home, we stopped by here to tapau something.

This little hawker stall centre which is next to Jubilee Hall in Jalan Padungan/Lumba Kuda is where you can find nice belacan bihun, jiu hu eng chai, and sweet and refreshing dessert.

While waiting for our tapau, I were admiring the sight of our MBKS building (municipal building) from afar.

And here was our tapau. Ais kacang. Ang tau cincau peng.

A big pack of ang tau peng costs us RM6.00. Fit for 4 persons. However by the time we reached home, all the shaved ice melt.

Nevertheless it tasted nice and sweet with coconut milk and palm syrup. And I love the ang tau (red beans) and cincau (grass jelly) in the coconut milk. Great and refreshing dessert after an excruciating day!!

Patience is a virtue

When you eat here, you have to be very patient waiting for your food. But it is worth the wait.

It took us more than an hour to have our food served in this ever famous Noodle Descendants. Like the noodle operator said, slow and steady.  So if you are in a hurry or very hungry, then this place is definitely not for you.

While I were seated, I noticed some were so patient waiting for their food. They kept looking around, like guessing when is their turn and counting the time in their mind. Some was not so patient, whispering or walking in and out the coffee shop.

Used to operate under the name "Min Joo" in Carpenter street before they moved to Padungan few years ago. Business is still a brisk here.

The modus operandi is still the same. First, you have to find a table yourself. Once seated, you wait for the lady to bring the eating utensils and take your order. Then it is all about patience. Wait and wait.

We ordered 5 bowls of "kosong" noodles and 3 bowls of cheng soups. 

The noodle was nice to eat by itself as it was very fragrant with its sauce and fried shallots.

Hubby has its special cheng soup (big size) with all those innards and meat and fish balls.

Mine was the normal size bowl minus the innards.

For the long wait, it just took us around 20 minutes to finish our meal. Of course the kids were restless and unhappy with the long wait but we did get what we come for. Would not be coming here that soon though.

Do not have that much patience in me -one, for the long wait, two, trying to calm down the kids and three, endure the stuffy, hot and crowded space in the coffee shop.

Father's day & Old trophies

Hope you guys have a fabulous weekend. And Happy belated Father's Day to my blogger friends and readers.

We did not go to any fancy place or did anything special. As usual, we went to church on Sunday morning and then did our grocery shopping before spending the whole day at home.

For the man of the house, I whipped up a simple home-cooked dinner on Saturday night. All his favourite dishes.

Lamb stew, stir fried Cameron Highlands lettuce and fried ngoh hiang

And what else I did over the weekend?

Took out my old trophies and gave them a wipe.

And God knows how old are these 2 trophies that I have.

This tall trophy was won in an organ music competition back in 1991. I took 2nd place in the competition which was held in Wisma Saberkas. Those days, organ was very popular. 

Another trophy I cherished was this trophy when I got in my primary school, SRB St Faith. 2nd place in overall Primary 6 class. 

The school was small with one class for each age group. I remember there was 20 something of us in the class back then.

Now St Faith primary is just a memory. The building has been demolished and church is taking the land back for its usage.

So this trophy is a keeper as the school is no longer  in existence.

Here again

Ramadhan month is here again.  Happy berpuasa to all my Muslim friends and readers.

It just feel like yesterday when I went to the Ramadhan food bazaar and followed hubby to a Hari Raya visiting in Sibu.

But it has been quite a while since I visited a Ramadhan bazaar in Kuching. I think the last time was in 2012 when I went to the one in MBKS Padungan with my sis.

So when fasting started on Thursday, I took the opportunity to visit the bazaar in Stutong. I found out that there is no more bazaar in MBKS.

The weather was good and my kids were eager for a walk and excitement, so together with my partner-in-crime (my sis), we had a 20-minutes walk in Ramadhan Bazaar on Thursday evening.

Situated next to Stutong market

Packed!

Murtabak stall

Fried snack stall

Have one of these potato sticks (RM1.50 each) but could not detect cheese on them

Kebab is almost finished

Ordered a bowl of sup tulang from this stall

Yummy sup tulang (RM5.00)

Keropok lekor - sis finished up her RM2.00 pack by herself while walking

Assortment of dishes

There was even a stall selling Western food