Tick tock

Yikes!!! How fast could time go? Just a blink and it is already end of July! Gosh! Where have all the times go to??

How was your July?

For me, July was full of events. We had an eventful Hari Raya holiday where we were busy entertaining a friend and same time we were the tourists in our city.

Kids had their bout of sickness this month and for Jamie, he has some long recovery time from his cough and sneeze. I dread when he is sick because he is one stubborn boy. He does not want to be fed with medicine. So that is why he takes longer time to recover and both me and him have sleepless nights.

And this month got to be one of the driest months as we were hit by dry spell so we have been visiting the pool quite regularly. However, thankfully the weather has cooled down since last week as we were getting more rain lately. As matter of fact, it rained the whole afternoon here. Rather cold today.

Hubby has decided to do something with his lumps on his back. It has been long overdue but glad he finally get down to it.

What is in store in August??

Expecting another busy month. Jan will have some school exam as well as sitting for her music theory exam.

And I have joined a Book Travelling Project and for the first time, we will have our book exchange next month. Am looking forward to receiving books from other members and get to read them.

Jay's birthday is coming up so we are planning a birthday party for him. Well, we did a birthday party for his sis this year so how could we left him out? 

That is it! More to come in August. *wink*

Thin & crispy crust pizza for lunch

I seldom go to The Pan Tree in Green Heights Mall for meal. Usually I did my grocery shopping in Cold Storage and leave.

However last Saturday after we did our shopping, we decided to take a peep at the food court and see what is interesting there. You bet, this was actually our first family lunch there!

I have been here few times with friends for lunch or tea break but that was such a long time ago. I like the look of the food court. Clean, bright and staff is friendly. However, not much choices as few stalls are open.

For lunch, we ordered this stone baked pizza from Tom's. I did not know Tom's Pizza is here! Apparently they have been in business here for over a year.

What did we have that afternoon?? Pepperoni pizza, everyone's favourite.

Pepperoni beef pizza (RM22)

The thin crust pizza was great. Cheesy too but I do not mind if they add more cheese. *wink* Overall, it was nice; crispy thin crust with herbs and cheese sprinkle on top.

And since it was a very warm day, I ordered this cooling drink from the drink bar.

I think, in the future when ever I or kids craving for pizza, I wouldn't mind come here for a pan! *wink*

Light bite

I went to this coffee shop in Jln Dogan called Big Mouth Food Centre to buy breakfast for hubby while he was in hospital last week. The hospital provides food to all the patients by the way but my hubby asked me to buy him breakfast.

Hubby wanted lek tau suan (split mung bean soup) and yue tiaw (Chinese donut) so I came to this coffee shop to buy them from this stall.

When on demand, the stall operator would made the dough on the spot and you could see how she made her yue tiaw, banana fritters and ham chee peng (5-spices Chinese doughnuts).

You would not miss this stall as you could see it from the road. It is in the pavement in between the coffee shop.

I bought 2 long yue tiaw (RM1 each). Not sure how good or crispy they were as hubby ate them.....

 ....while I went for something of a light bite such as the banana fritters. I ate all the 4 pieces (RM1 for 4), while I regretted later that I should have bought more. They were so good. Crispy batter outside but soft and sweet inside. Great to go with a warm cup of tea.

Of course, I did not forget the lek tau suan. RM2.00 per pack. It was good; not too sweet. Hubby finished up the whole bowl with his yue tiaw.

Sunday post

After an exhausting yet eventful weekend a week before, we were going slowly on Sunday to recuperate.

After our church service and lunch (will post later), we stayed at home, relaxing in the comfort of our humble space.

The kids were happy to be confined at home yesterday as we bought few DVDs for them to enjoy.

And not forgetting some containers of sweet and salty caramelised popcorns as their movie snacks!

They even brought some outdoor fun inside by pretending to camp in the house. Hmm, may need to get a bigger tent as 3 is a crowd in this mini tent!!

Some times they will steal some peeps at their daddy playing games. They are a bunch of "kaypoh" (busybody) kids who could not help but disturb and some times "advised" their daddy on how to play. By the way, old habit never dies. Hubby is recovering from his back surgery but he was still up to play his computer game. One hand can play, he said.

For me, when no one was looking, I stole a little time enjoying ice-cream.....

....while catching up on what happenings in and around Kuching. That is how I love to do to unwind after a long day.

And I am super loving this cover page of current issue of KINO magazine.

That was how our Sunday looked like.

On the back

There was a lump discovered at his back; on the left shoulder last year. And it got bigger and harder this year. Some day he complained of pain too.

Yet my stubborn hubby did not consult doctor or had it checked out early. However when another lump was formed on the back, just next to his left arm few months ago; he has finally decided to seek consultation this week.

He went to Timberland Medical Centre on Monday for consultation and finally had the 2 lumps removed on Thursday afternoon in the hospital.

The lump that next to the neck was very deep so the surgeon needed 2 incisions to take it out, hence the big patch on hubby's back.

He was discharged the next day and on medical leave for a week to recuperate.  The lump was tested and doctor confirmed it is non-cancerous fatty lump (lipoma).

Wish my hubby a speedy recovery.

Dining moment with my family

It brought back sweet memories for them. Where family stays together and have great time and creating memories.

It was just last September that my brother and his lovely wife had their wedding reception in Hai Tin Lo restaurant in Jln Mendu and last Saturday we were back here to celebrate their birthdays.

I guess they love the food so much that they wanted to celebrate their special days here. 

Bro and sis-in-law's birthdays are a day apart so they decided to do it together and invited us to a birthday dinner last Saturday.

So after dropped our friend at the airport, we directly came here to join my side of the family. We were slightly late, which I've told my dad no need to wait up and proceed with food ordering. 

Our first main came just few minutes after we seated. We started off with spinach noodle Cantonese style. You could see that the noodle is green; made from spinach. Something unique as I do not see any restaurants serve such noodle other than the famous spinach and carrot noodles cafe in 3rd Mile.

Next came the crispy roasted chicken. It was good. Must sprinkle some lime juice sparingly over the chicken and it gives that tantalizing and acidic taste to the already-juicy and tender meat and crispy skin. I enjoyed it very much.

There was one dish that I did not snap, ie steamed bass as everyone started to dig into it before I could photograph it.

Another dish I enjoyed that night was this stir fried vegetables. I would recommend this if you are looking for something plainer and crowd-pleasing vegetable dish. Consists of French beans, lady fingers, snow peas and winged beans. Simple stir fried but they were so crunchy to munch. It was good to go with white rice.

If you are into butter prawns, this "golden sand prawns" is a must order here! Make sure you fork some of those butter crumbs. But watch out, as the prawns and crumbs could be warm from those frying. But they were so buttery and tasty, you will not regret it.

We also have a plate of mixed vegetables, which was nice but I think they could do more but cutting the cauliflowers into smaller biteable size.

Lastly we have this delicious roasted duck. The meat was so tender that it actually melt in my mouth! More like slow-cooked duck than roasted to me. I did not like the dipping at all as it has that sourness in it. I guess it is all based on individual preference.

It was a busy Saturday night in the restaurant and the waiters and waitresses were so busy running around so it was hard to catch the attention of the wait staff. Despite all this, it was an enjoyable family cum birthday dinner for us.

Happy birthday to my bro and sis-in-law. Wonder would there be a 1st anniversary dinner in this restaurant in a couple of months time??? *wink wink* 

Around the museum

Next stop was the museum. To learn more about Sarawak or Kuching in particular, the best way is to visit Sarawak museum.

This beautiful museum used to be someone's great mansion in the past before it turned into a museum.

There was so many Indonesian tourists while we were there. Holidays I guess. Saw few Indonesian-plated cars and vans in carpark.

Let's enjoy the photos as you just got to visit it yourself to learn more and see what is in store in the galleries of the museum. No camera is allowed in the museum so I did not take much shots.

After the visit, we decided to take a short walk at the botanical park, which is next to the museum.

So we needed to pass through the aquarium centre...

And walked in the botanical park where you could see the Hero's Monument.

And as we walked, we could see the red roof of the Chinese pavillion which was famous for its ang tau peng.

It serves laksa, rojak and belacan bihun but we were still full from our breakfast so we just wanted some cold ice kacang to quench our thirst.

The inside of the pavillion was clean. It did not change much over the years. Still the same old ceiling and interior. Very low ceiling. A 6-footer would have hard time walking in there.

And here was our ang tau peng.

How I wish they would give me more ang tau (red beans) in my bowl. Lol.

The kids and I went home after the morning outing in and around the museum as Jamie was sleeping in the car. Hubby and his friend continued the holiday with a drive to Lundu before sending him off to airport for his evening flight.

Jamie has warmed up to him so much that he wanted to follow him back to KL!! He did not want his dad to carry him and even waved goodbye to us! *Faint*

Anyway, we hope our friend enjoyed his short holiday in Kuching. Maybe he would come back and stay longer  next round as he has not tasted other food (such as laksa) and visit other places of interest. Kuching has so much to offer.

Taste of Chinatown

On the 2nd day, we brought our friend to the old part of the city; namely Chinatown. Or you may know it as Carpenter Street.

We wanted to let our friend tries the Hainanese kolo mee so we just got to bring him to this old coffee shop in Chinatown. Kim Joo.

We love the kolo mee and its soup here. The operator is friendly and their business is still a brisk here. After a long time, those people still can remember us.

Since back from Sibu last November, this was our 1st visit to Kim Joo. I do missed its vinegar-added kolo mee.

Who does not like those innards and meatballs soup??? Not me in particular so I just pass those innards into hubby's bowl but I enjoy its meat mince balls and fish fillets though.

And yes. The vinegar kolo mee still taste good with a bit of sourness to it.

My youngest was very cranky that morning so I have to bring him out to the corridor for him to release his energy. He also befriended a pigeon there. And he cried when I have to carry him away from his new friend. Sigh!

After our breakfast, we brought our friend to visit the past. Museum is coming up in the next post.