Miscellaneous Picture #100 : random August

 Upon my man's request, a big breakfast cooked by yours truly

Ordered the Bamboo Garden's metahorn (RM4.25) via FoodPanda. Too sweet to my liking.

On one of hubby's fishing trips this month

Fillet one of the fishes and made this comforting fish soup

My comfort food - Maggi curry flavour! 

After many months, we had our first hiking trip this year in Matang! 

A surprise birthday present received a week before my birthday from my sis and bil. 

I made a birthday cake for the birthday boy.  First time piping the chocolate wording on the plate. Recipe is here

Heavy in the morning

It was another early morning for hubby and I. We went back to this coffee shop for breakfast around 615am.

We were very early so the place wasn't packed at all. Hubby saw this Mee Sapi stall the day before so he decided he wanted to taste it.

He got his wish, the stall was ready to serve and soon his order came. RM6 for his bowl of mee sapi. He commented the noodle was fine although on the drier side but he had the soup to go with it, so it was alright for him.

I went for Sarawak laksa that morning. Initially I wanted to eat porridge but it was not ready yet. Tasted the Sarawak laksa few times so I pretty liked it.

It did felt like we were having a heavy breakfast early in the morning but we enjoyed it. Tummies were happy and full. 

Birthday dinner

 It was my birthday on Monday.  

Kids were still on school holiday while hubby took a day leave that day after his 2 nights fishing trip to recuperate. That evening, it was our very first dinner eatout since MCO.  The first dinner that I did not need to cook.  

It was my special day, so my man was treating me to a special dinner. Supposed to go to BBQ King Seafood in Stapok but it closed on Monday.  So we went to the next door shop, River Park Seafood. 

We reached there around 7pm, and the place wasn't so packed.  After browsing through the menu in the tablet, we ordered 6 dishes plus a fish that we brought from home. 

Don't ask me what fish was it, as I honestly don't know. Even after my man told me its Chinese name, I can't remember.  

So, after waited for about 15 minutes, our food finally arrived.  It was about time, as everyone was hungry by then. We don't usually eat that late at home.  Usually we have our dinner around 6pm.

Our first dish that came to our table was this huge oyster pancake, Kuching style. Crispy pancake, while the big, juicy oysters in the centre.  The hungry kids immediately tear and ate the pancake to start off the feast.

We ordered one vegetable dish that evening.  Stir-fried midin. 

Minced meat soft beancurd came next, which was the kids' favourite. I preferred to have salted fish in the mince but they did not have that.  The taste was not as flavourful without the salted fish but we did not mind the soft tofu.

Hubby ordered this mei cai kou rou (pork with preserved vegetable).  I did not find it tasty or anything to shout about.  I tasted nicer mei cai kou rou but this definitely not in my list.

They have soft shell crabs that evening, so we ordered 4 pieces (about 450g) to cook with marmite. Recommended by the waitress, it turned out surprisingly good but the marmite coating was slightly salty to my liking.

We hardly touched the deep fried lamb stick as we were full by then.  I tasted 2 small pieces of the lamb stick, it was juicy; not dry at all.  It has a spicy dipping to go with it, which accompanied the dish well. 

As for the fish that we brought, we had it steamed.  Ta-da!  Didn't it looked good??  Sweet, tasty and fresh.  It was very good. 

Everyone was full to the heart content.  We packed the lamb sticks and mei cai kou rou home for the next day, since we hardly touched both.  Our dinner costs RM183 exclusive of drinks.  Slightly on the pricey side, but the soft shell crabs was costly. Nevertheless, it was a lovely birthday dinner and everyone enjoyed the food and time.

Instead

Initially we wanted to have handmade noodle that morning from this coffee shop but it wasn't opened so we went for the kolo mee instead. It was our 3rd visit of the month to this coffee shop.

It took quite a while for our breakfast to arrive. The lady was apologetic when she delivered our food, so we were fine with it. Luckily the food turned out good otherwise not worth the waiting.

Hubby had this noodle with mixed pork soup set. The taste was mild but it was alright for us. The liver was well cooked, according to my hubby who was a liver lover. 

As for me, I had kolo kway teow, which was equally nice.  It reminded me of Hakka kolo mee, which generous with minced pork.

 

The Malay kuih stall opened soon after and people started to swamp the stall. Few Malay kuihs, packed nasi lemak and fried noodle were sold. We saw the nasi lemak was warmly packed on the spot so we bought the nasi lemak bungkus and curry puff home. 

RM2.00 per pack for nasi lemak and RM1 for 3 pieces of curry puff.  Big pack of nasi lemak, generous salted fish and sambal.  I had it for lunch.

Jan and Jay took one curry puff each before I managed to take photo of it.  So that was why left only this 4 for me to take.  I didn't taste any; as they were finished by both soon after.  Since the Pasar Tani here closed since MCO, I would not be able to buy any nice curry puff.  Jay would usually requested me to buy few for his afternoon snack. So, how glad I was to found a Malay kuih stall selling it.  Near to my place some more, so I would not mind to come back to buy and try other kuih.

One Tuesday morning

Another morning when hubby and I were up early and since we had ample time for breakfast before he went to work, we decided to have breakfast in Y. Y. Cafe.

Surprisingly the place was packed with patrons but luckily everyone was practising social distancing. Only left 2 vacant tables when we were there around 7am. We took one and quickly ordered our food from the fried stall. Both of us felt like having fried noodle from the same stall that morning. 

I had one of my favourite, its fried mee hoon. I love it so much. Dry but not too dry, fried to perfection, and tasted good. 

Hubby likes its wat tan hor, the big yellow noodle version. He loved the wok hei of the noodle and the mild yet flavourful egg gravy all over the noodle. 

RM11 for both plates of noodle. We could never had enough of the noodles. Rarely disappointing so we don't mind coming over and over again for them. 

Temple on the mountain

Continue from my previous post.

Our destination on the top of Matang mountain was this Hindu temple. Sri Maha Mariamman Temple, built in 1897.

About 2500metre, we reached the 2nd shrine. A short stop before we continued the remaining 500metre trail.

Along the way we saw this sign telling us how many more metres to reach the temple. 

After slightly over an hour, we reached the foot of the temple.  Wasn't it a lovely sight! Look like a mini Batu Caves, with the red-coloured stairs. We didn't count the stairs, but it took us around 2 minutes to reach the temple on the top. It was not very long walking up those stairs.

The original stone structure as can be seen from what was left. 

The temple was clean and well taken care of.  The caretaker wasn't around and we hardly see anyone. 

Out of respect, we took off our shoes and have a quick look around. Most structure was maintained like the roof and the wooden structure.

This metal donation box right in the front attracted the kid. One pull to insert the money. A push and then a pull, the money was gone. 

The view on the top overlooking the mountain was mesmerizing. We were glad that we visited this temple and did the jungle trail. It was slightly over 2 hours for our overall adventure. A tiring hike but it was worth it. A hidden gem right at the back of our own backyard!

Green trail

On Monday, we went to this place for a morning trail hiking.  Everyone was up early before 7am, and we set off immediately to Matang. It was not a long ride to our destination but the road was pretty jam as it was a working day.

When we saw this road side, we turned into this narrow village road to the designated parking space. After paying RM5 parking fee, we started off our trail.

Before we started, reading the sign and rules was a must.  The Beccari Discovery Trail was recently launched. Odoaedo Beccari came in 1865 during the Rajah time, resided in Matang and studied and described the forest.  Today, Matang forest was recognised as one of the richest palm habitats in the world. Beccari's discovery was turned into a book, Wanderings in the great forest of Borneo, which was published in 1902.

Our journey of 3000metres up the Mount Matang started slightly before 8am. The trail was good and nice for hiking. Not so steep initially.

But it getting steeper along the way, on certain parts, and we took few water break to recover before we continued the green trail.

The first Hindu shrine we passed was at the foot of the mountain. No, we did not go and check it out; I just took few shots and then off again.

The shrine from the back view (below).

Although it was a warm morning, but the tall trees and their leaves shed us from the glaring sun. Along the way, there was descriptive and educative signs, which we read and let the kids learnt about the nature.

It was learnt that the Indian labourers were brought over to work in the tea and coffee plantations.  So there was a Hindu temple and a St Mary shrine on the mountain.  However, no trail was found on the latter, which they restored the temple. I will blog about the temple in my other post.

 No more coffee plantation but we could see the fern landscape covering it in this part.

How long it took us to complete the 3000m Beccari Discovery Trail?? Slightly over an hour. Everyone was puffing and breathing hard to reach the top. A physical challenge and oh boy, we were proud of ourselves for completing the trail.  More in my next post!