It is nearer

It is one of nicest food courts in Batu Kawa; clean and well maintained with many choices of food. 

However I found the food there rather mediocre. Could find nicer food in other places at cheaper price but I don't mind to go back to 38 Food Street some day since it is nearer and sometime we wouldn't know what we could discover. They have so many stalls that we have yet to try them all out.

For instance, yesterday after church we went over there for lunch before heading home. My man is travelling again so I got to make decision on lunch.

Over there, I had problem deciding what to eat. Too many to choose from. Lol.

Lastly, I went for a new stall that I had never try before.  The fried food stall next to Lei Cha stall. I had its fried meesua. Something like the Hakka fried mee hoon with cangkuk manis. A normal serving for RM6.

I didn't really enjoy it that much. I expected more wok hei fragrance but this one I had was oily.

My girl went for the roasted chicken rice  (RM5.80) which she enjoyed in her last visit from the Authentic Chicken Rice stall.

As for the boys, they forever stay faithful to noodle. RM8 for 2 bowls of kolo mee. One with char side while another is with lots of minced pork.

Back too soon

I knew we would come back for more food here but never thought it would be that soon.

We were shopping in DIY store last Sunday and after we were done, it was already after 1pm. By then, everyone was hungry.

So we walked over to Premier Food Republic for a late lunch and not a disappointment as most stalls were open. Some is 24 hours stalls so definitely there is some food for everyone at any time of the day.

The other day I was seated in front of the Malay stall that has extensive menu, such as at an penyet, bakso, curry rice and so on.

So I decided to give the Malay stall a try. I ordered nasi ayam Penyet for RM9. Looked good to me when it came.

Lovely thigh, not too dry and had that spice flavour to it. And I also have a small piece of tempe and deep fried taufu.

If you asked me, it was decent enough. Not so exceptionally delicious but nevertheless, a delightful lunch for me.

Thought of soups

Must be the cold weather we're experiencing lately that we thought of soups for breakfast on one Monday morning. My man was on leave so both of us went to this Premier Food Republic in Batu Kawa for breakfast.

Our first visit to this food court. Pretty clean and neat. Some stalls open for 24 hours as stated on their lighted signboards so one wouldn't go hungry at any time of the day!

Both of us ordered from three different stalls. For myself, I had this fish head mee hoon soup for RM8. Appetizing and comforting to have on a cold morning.

My man was unsure of what he wanted and he ordered this meatballs soup (RM4) from kolo mee stall which was in front of our table.

And he had second thought as he walked around the food court and ordered this from kampua stall.

Kampua with soup set for RM7. As least it looked and tasted better than that pathetic-looking meatballs soup.

I helped him with the meatballs in the meatball soup while he enjoyed his kampua set. The liver soup was nice, could detect the ginger in it. Livers and meats were just done. Unlike those tough and overly cooked livers in the kolo mee's soup.

After finished all those soups, both of us definitely felt the heat!  And if it wasn't enough, I got my dose of iced teh c peng (iced milk tea) as well. That was a lot of liquid in one breakfast!

Mediocre

I don't venture to Jalan Canna that much or the commercial centre right after Giant Hypermarket. Don't know much what is there. The only place I have been to was grocery shopping in Giant.

But that changed few weeks ago, when I went back to my parents' house with my kids. The daddy was travelling that weekend so I decided to visit my parents.

We went to Jalan Canna, and right after KFC drive-thru Tabuan, we turned left to the commercial centre. Surprisingly so many eateries there. Some were new like the famous Sabah's Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap that opened that very same day, 13/10. However we weren't going to that eatery but the one opposite. Food court called Triple 3.

Many food courts in the vicinity but we chose Triple 3 as it looked cleaner. None of us had been there before so not sure what was good. But never try, never know, right??

My noodle boys wanted noodle even for lunch so I ordered this kampua (RM4) for them. Verdict? Jay said it wasn't nice. He said the noodle was hard. The boys only finished half of it.

Mum and I ordered lunch from the claypot stall. Mum went for curry chicken while I had its stewed pork belly. Both plus 2 plates of rice cost RM15.

My dad had nasi curry banjir but I didn't take photo of his food. Jan wasn't hungry so she didn't have her lunch.

So we settled our lunch here but if you asked me if anything nice, I don't think so. My claypot stewed pork belly wasn't that bad but it didn't excite me. 

Like any other food courts, they are selling almost similar food. Very mediocre. Nothing interesting that would make me come back here.

In the claypot

One of our comfort food at home. Tau yew bak (braised pork in soy sauce) in the claypot. My recipe is agak-agak. You can base and adjust according to your taste and preference.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 slab Pork belly
1  bulb garlic, separated and imperiled
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp peppercorns, smashed
Dried bean curds, soaked and cut into pieces
3 tbsp sweet soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce (optional)
1 tsp salt
1 cup water
2 hard boiled eggs
2 tsp sugar

Method:
1. Blanch the pork belly for few minutes. Then cut into bite size pieces.
2. Heat up cooking oil in a claypot. Salute garlic cloves, minced garlic and peppercorns.
3. Once fragrant, add in pork belly. Fry for few minutes.
4. Add sweet soy sauce, dark soy sauce (optional), sugar and water. Simmer to boil. Lower hear and let it cook for 20 minutes.
5. Add salt, eggs and bean curds. Cover with lid and let it simmer for another 10-15 minutes till meat is tender. Once a while turn the eggs to evenly coat with sauce.

The king

My sil, her daughter and mil stayed in Kuching for 2 nights. My mil had a scheduled check up and sil took an overdue visit with her daughter.

On their 2nd evening, we invited them for a dinner together in BBQ King Seafood, One Food Street in Jalan Stapok.

We were earlier to arrive so we placed order first. It was almost 7pm and we could see few tables occupied.

Bbq King Seafood is well known for its delicious and creative food presentation. Many good reviews on this place.

It was a nice cooling evening so we opted to sit outside; away from the crowds.

It was fortunate to get a big table that able to squeeze all 13 of us plus children. Our table was overlooking the Sg Maong 1 river. 

As the evening came onto us, our first dish also arrived on the table. Fish maw soup. I loved this simple but tasty and comforting soup.

Next was this plate of tasty, deep fried chicken wings. The kids enjoyed them as well as the adults.

We also had this stir fried sweet potatoes leaves which I grow fond of not so long ago.

This long bamboo boat of curry squid was recommended by the lady. It turned out to be good. Not overly cooked squid and with flavorful curry, it was an appetizing dish.

Hubby knew that I loved lala so we ordered kam heong la la (spicy la la). Delicious but as you know, la la wasn't a meaty shellfish.

This was an unique dish, another recommendation by the lady. Charcoal deep fried bean curds with special sauce. Slightly sweet sauce but the bean curds (taufu) was nice. Tasted like the normal soft taufu.

This got to be the star of the night. Assam curry steamed fish. The adults enjoyed it very much. Very fresh and flavorful.

We also ordered some pork satay as side dish. Their specialty pork satay is highly recommended. Huge chunk of meats with some fat on each stick. Oh boy! They were so heavenly sinful and some more dipped with their special cincaluk dipping, it was so irresistible that you would keep eating one stick and then another.

Our dinner that was fit for a king came up to RM253 plus 8 bowls of rice. Considering everything was tasty and good, we wouldn't mind to come back here again. For a special occasion, of course. ^^

Brown bag lunch

My mil and sil came for a short visit this week. They flew over on Tuesday morning. Coincidently both Jan and Jay didn't have school that day as it was their sports day. Those not participated in any sports were exempted from going, unless they wanted to come.

So three of us went to meet them for breakfast together with my bil and family.

After breakfast, we went to my in-law's house for chit chat. After spent more than 2 hours there, we took our leave.

Before the three of us headed home, we decided to stop by this coffee shop for lunch. It has been ages since we went to Ah Liong Cafe. Used to be our favourite breakfast place when we stayed in BDC.

That morning it was packed with crowds so we tapau our lunch instead. Our take away from this nasi lemak stall. Never try before since it wasn't there when we stayed there.

A very unique way of packing the take away. Wrapped in brown wrapper and shaped it into a brown bag lunch. I loved it. Felt like buying those nasi lemak bungkus from Malay stall.

Let's see what we had in these brown bags. The kids had packs of salad chicken rice while I went for the nasi lemak. 

The salad chicken rice after unwrapping. 2 hot dogs, some fried chicken slices, fries and 2 slices of cucumber on top of the fragrant rice.

Salad chicken rice RM6.50

Verdict from my kids. That loved it. Very nice, they said.

My normal nasi lemak was not bad either. For RM5, it was quite a portion and they were simply generous with the fried chicken.

Nasi lemak RM5.00

Half of hard boiled egg, one salted fish (I wished for2 ^^), peanuts, cucumber slice and sambal.

My verdict? It was nice. The sambal was good. 

It was simply a nice brown bag lunch we ever had. I wouldn't mind going to Ah Liong Cafe if we ever are in BDC area. 

Weekend Menu #93: kiam chai pork belly

Weekend is here again. It is time share a simple recipe with you.

This is a very simple dish yet it is full of flavours and super appetizing. Salted mustard (kiam chai) with pork belly. Can be taken with white rice or porridge. As long as I have this on the table, my big man can just eat it with rice and call it a meal.

Kiam chai pork belly

For this dish, I would slice off and discard the skin. Don't ask me why, somehow I like it better like that in this dish.

Sometime I would use lean meat for this recipe but most of the time, a little bit of fat give the whole dish that different texture. 

Ingredients:

300g pork belly, sliced thinly

2 stalks of salted mustard leaves (I use one over here and add the big mustard vegetables)

1 fried chilli , remove seeds and slice

1 inch ginger, sliced

Few garlic cloves, minced

1 shallot, sliced

2 cups of water 

1-tsp salt

1.5 tbsp sugar

Methods:

1. Wash and soak the mustard in water for few minutes before drain and slice them.

2. In a pot, dry frying the mustard until they wilted. Remove from heat.

3. In same pan, heat up some cooking oil. Add garlic, ginger and shallot and saute them for a minute.

4. Add in pork belly and cook for about 2 minutes before ads in water. Let it simmer.

5. Add in the salted mustard and let it cook for another 10 minutes. Season with salt and sugar.

Simple right? I told you so!

Ready for the sun

It was a cool day when we went to the water theme park. It rained like crazy that  early morning but when we reached the water theme park, the weather was just nice with no rain in sight.

Hardly could feel the sun but nevertheless we got ourselves prepared. Never underestimate the sun although it was cloudy sky. Jamie and I got sunburns because of sunbathing on the tubes than staying mostly in water.

Sun block to protect our skin. SPF 50+ that we bought from London last year. Meant for kids but we used it as well.

I love those toiletries from the hotels. My hubby is a big collector of those toiletries. He would take all the stuff from the hotel and you could imagine our big shelf of such stuff. But they come handy when we travelling, or like this case, go to water park.

Lip balm for my super dry lips.  I love this brand, it moisturise my pout well.

We felt the sunburn the next day. Luckily for this after sun body gel, otherwise we would endure more painful sunburn. I love this product as it is non sticky and the cooling effect after applying on the skin.

And to cool ourselves after a long hours under the sun, a glass of honey lemon will do the trick. Good for the throat as well. I lost my voice from screaming (mostly from the rides rather than to my kids!). But honey lemon works wonder for me.

Water park

UPSR is over and the dad promised the kids some fun family outing. So that Saturday, we went to Borneo Samariang Water Park.

Hubby's brother and family tagged along and with 6 kids in tow, you could imagine the craziness and shriek when they let go of themselves.

But first, we had our breakfast in this fast food franchise chain. Then we drove to Samariang, which took us about 40 minutes drive from new Matang bridge in Stapok.

Matang hill

From far, we could see the under construction resort hotel before the view of the water park appeared behind it.

Imagine the excitement of everyone to see this first-ever water theme park in Kuching.

It was not yet 11 am, so not many people around.

No long queue at the ticket counters and how surprise when we knew that they had promotion that day.  RM33 for adult (normal RM38) and RM23 for children (normal RM28).

Then we went through the souvenir shop to go through the bag checking and entrance.

We brought a large sized locker so we could fit everything in.

The locker section, changing room, bathroom and tube rental are next to each other.

Opposite is the cafe. They have some selection of local food and snack combo. No outside food and drinks are allowed. And no cash transaction in the water park. You need to top up at the ticketing counter prior to entering the premise but top up counters are around for convenience when you need to top up cash.  They accept credit card too but only at the top up counter in front of the lockers.

We were given wrist band each. So now we were all set to play!

There are three main section of the water park, namely Santubong Tower, Salak Beach and Hornbill Island.

The directive signs were clear around the park but you could ask for map if you want to at the ticket counters.

First, let's the adults have fun. We went to Santubong Tower to play all the thrill rides. We tried all the rides except the sky drop as it wasn't ready yet. This mummy climbed the stairs 7 times to play the rides. And only the next day, my calves were aching from all the exercise.

The younger kids can't play as minimum height allowed was 110cm. Jan and Jay were really enjoying themselves there. My dare-devils.

Next, we went to the Salak Beach where man-made wave pool was and everyone had fun in the water as well as on the  sand beach. We spent the most time here.

The last attraction was mostly for the kids, the Hornbill Island.

We spent quite some time there as we also had our lunch before heading back to the beach and replayed some rides in the Santubong Tower.

Overall, we spent almost 5 hours in the water park. It was fun and tiring but a great family outing. And my kids had been asking to come back again! Lol.

GPS Coordinates : 1°40'29.17"N, 110°18'18.689"E

Close on Tuesday except school holidays and public holidays. Weekday 10am - 6pm while Saturday, Sunday, school and public holidays 9am - 6pm.