Last Day In Miri

In life, people come and go. This time its my turn to go. I'm leaving Miri for good!!

Today is my last day in Miri. I'm finally leaving this city for good after almost 8 years and head back to where I always wanted to be....KK!!
Looking back after all this years, I did gain a lot from my days here. I learned new things/culture, visited new places, tasted new foods, experienced my 1st love, met new friends either local or non local, and most importantly, I've found my true friends here (met all the original LS gang members here), and they're actually more than friends to me.....they're more like brothers and sisters.

I received a special gift from my closest friends/sisters in Miri few nights ago. It was a nice watch that they chose carefully and brilliantly. They said the watch will remind me about them every time i look at it (awwwwwwww). They even attach a card with some touching writing in it.

Isn't it just awesome?

Last night I played my last futsal match in Miri. Although I will be kicking more of the ball in KK, I will still miss the competitiveness of playing in Miri. The feeling is like a footballer going back to home country after plying his trade at a foreign league. But I'm not going back empty handed. I got medals and trophies to be proud of. And the latest came last night as my team came out 2nd in this mini weekly futsal tournament. And I was given the privilege by the team to keep the trophy.

Another addition to my trophy cabinet 

Miri....I'm gonna miss you.

KK....I'm comin' home to you!!!!

Malay Wedding

Its Saturday and its public holiday. I was invited to the wedding of my colleague's sister this morning. It was held at a Malay village at Kampung Subak in Bekenu, about an hour drive from Miri. My iPhone map provide a much needed help on my way there cos road signs were few and far less.


It was my first time to a traditional Malay wedding held at a village in a rural area. Usually the weddings that I attend was held at some of the most well known hotels or restaurants in town. All the houses in the village were built out of wooden and zinc roofing. Tents were set up in the middle of the village to accommodate most of the guests.


The ceremony started at around 10 a.m. I reached there at around 11 a.m. Might have missed out on some of the opening ceremony, but just in time to join the other guests to start filling our stomach. The queue at the food stand was very long, so my colleague suggests that I join in with some of the guests inside his house instead. Where I was seated with some of the big names in the village like the chief of the village, YBs and Datuks.


Residents from the whole village and also neighboring villages came to give the newlywed their best wishes. The villagers were extremely friendly, kept asking me to eat more.



The interior of the house were simple and comfy. There were no furniture so all the guests just sat on the mat on the floor while enjoying the foods.


All the foods were prepared by the family with the help of some of the villagers. It was all home cooked traditional Malay style cooking. They slaughtered an adult cow and bought around 200 chickens to feast all the guests. The dishes consist some of my favorite meal like the Rendang and Ayam Masak Merah.



The bride and brides room just rooted at their seat for the whole ceremony. They had their foods there, cut their wedding cake there, and wave to the guests at the same spot. Towards the end of the ceremony, some of the guests took turn to take pictures with the new couple. The newly wed couple were like celebrities posing in front of all those "paparazi's" cameras.

My colleague is the 1 seated at the front left. I left at around 12.30 p.m. after most of the guests had gone home.


Last but not least.....its good to be back blogging again after more than 3 months lay off!!

New First Choice Cafe Centre

Wondering where to have your dinner tonight? Let me help decide for you!! Try the New First Choice Cafe Centre if you like nice Chinese cuisine in a simple "kopitiam" environment.

Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs is recommended for pork lovers. The meat are deep fried to perfection and then poured with the sweet sauce.

Curry Fish Head. The "Superstar" dish in this restaurant and a must have one. You don't have to worry it might be too hot to handle. In fact, its not even hot that one of my friend who couldn't stand eating hot food is able to consume it happily without needing a glass of iced water by her side. For those who prefer to eat more of the fish meat than the fish head can request for it from the captain.

Hotplate Tofu. You can choose either to have Japanese tofu or local tofu. Served on a sizzling hot plate with some minced meat and eggs underneath the sauce. Its best eaten together with white rice.

Bitter Gourd with Salted Egg. Bitter and salty shouldn't have come together. But for this dish, the two combined perfectly.

I don't know the exact address for this cafe. If you are driving down from Lutong, after Pujut 7 roundabout there is shop lot located to your left. There is another restaurant there called "Lou Wai Lou Seafood Restaurant" facing the main road. New First Choice is just behind it. FYI, "Lou Wai Lou" is not highly recommended as it is lot more expensive and doesn't taste as good (according to a friend).

BARcelona spanish tapas y vinos

There's a new place in town where you can hang around with your friends for happy hour, to chill around and have some nice drinks, and to eat some nice foods in a nice cozy environment. The place is called BARcelona (yes, like the famous football club in Spain) Its located just beside SOHO bar.

You can choose either to sit inside, where there is a pool table and PCs with internet connection on every tables....or you can hang out on the bar outside chit-chatting with you buddies and enjoy some alcoholic drinks.


They offered a very wide selection of foods and drinks (especially alcoholic drink), I'm only gonna elaborate on some of it in here.
Shown above are some of their appetizers. And in clockwise order, the first one is the King Prawn and Crispy Batter, next is the Tuna Alioli which is grilled tuna prepared in garlic and mayonnaise. The third one will be the Chicken Mushroom in olive oil and the last one is Seafood Plancha. The latter three are all served with bread.

This is the Boneless Wings, it was boneless and it wasn't actually wings, its like some sort of breaded chicken meat shaped like a chicken wing served with their traditional BBQ sauce.

Now into the main course, their Barcelona Grilled Lamb is recommended. It wasn't too hard to bite like in some restaurant and they had a slight taste of herbs in it. Served with seasonal vegetable and mashed potato.

Next up is the Sizzling Chicken Primavera, it was chicken breast marinated with garlic, onion and pepper and served on a hot plate. The chicken meat was a bit hard, otherwise it will be just as delicious as the name suggest.

Another dish in their chef's cookbook is Dory in Lemon Butter Sauce. The name of the dish says it all, it was grilled fillet of dory served with lemon butter sauce...easy as that. Suitable for people who want to have a lighter meal.

Their Fish & Chips on the other hand, was just like the ordinary one you can get in a normal western food restaurant.
The dessert though, wasn't the best I can say. It was just so so.... from left: Blueberry Pudding, Orange Pudding and Tiramisu.

I have visited the bar three times, and its quite frustrating that every time I wanted to order a bottle of Budweiser or a nice glass of Hoegaarden, the answer was always "Sorry sir, not available....yet!!" So I had to settle with a Kilkenny instead.

The one thing that I noticed is lacking in the bar is a big screen TV or projector. Where people can gather around on a Friday and Saturday night for an exciting football match. The management should seriously consider about it as World Cup is just around the corner.

Open daily from 11am - 4am
BARcelona spanish tapas y vinos
Lot 1190, Ground Floor,
Jalan North Yu Seng,
98000 Miri, Sarawak.
Tel/Fax: 085-413388

Citrus Loyalty Card

This is the Loyalty Card from Citrus Cafe which i got early this month from my visit to the restaurant. In order to get this card, all you need to do is accumulate RM200 worth of receipt in one month.


What are the benefits? You get 10% discount for every meal you had in the restaurant. No annual fee required and it is membership for life. How good is that? So what are you waiting? Start to accumulate receipt worth RM200 now....or you can start to write blog and post something about the restaurant, just like I did. That's how I got mine, don't tell the owner though!!

2009 Year End Review (Jul - Dec)

Continuing where I have left off.... (I know I was very late with this)
The month was July, and I can't remember doing anything much during that time period other than getting over-excited for the coming of August, which was one of the most fun-filled month for me. I went back to KK and partied hard with my buddies, off to Pulau Tiga the next morning with serious hangover.




Became a beach boy and survived the volcano mud at the "Survivor Island" for two days and one night with the monkeys and komodos stalking us while we slept. (It was monitor lizards actually)


Gone back to KK the next morning and ready myself for the biggest physical challenge so far in my life....to climb to the top of Mt. Kinabalu....for the first time ever. I was worried I couldn't make it cos I was still tired from the clubbing and island-ing. But still I done it. It was perhaps my greatest personal achievement for the year.


The scenery from the highest peak was just awe-tastic-some (awesome + fantastic).


Upon reaching back down to KK, I continued to party again. Not as hard as the first night though as everyone was still very tired.
That wasn't the end of the fun though. After only just back to work in Miri for 2 days, I head back to KK again and partied like there is no tomorrow. But this time, I came back not without a reason...it was my friend Rachel's birthday....or it was just one of my lame excuses to come back and have fun.


As if it wasn't enough, I came back.....again, towards the end of September. And for the same lame reason, too. Friend's birthday.....yeah right!!


It wasn't all about clubbing also la. We did something quite healthy too during that month and that was the pain+ball....yeahh, being hit by those little green balls was such a pain in the ass. But it was fun. Lovin' it!!


I've even fulfilled my craving for Ngiu Chap during this particular month. I had been craving for this ever since the beginning of the year.

Just when you think the fun is over, think again...cos hell it was Octoberrrrrrrr!!
This was when I started blogging, due to some influence from a "friend". So, everything that was happening from this month onward is in my blog, I'm gonna stop here then............nahhh, not a chance.
I got myself a new gadget this month, an iPhone 3GS as a birthday present for myself.


Some of my LS friends even purposely came down here from KK to celebrate my birthday with me....and it was just so awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!! I got to choose my own birthday cake, too. How cool was that....

We relived the moment when we used to hang around together in Miri.
Towards the end of the month I went back to KK....yet again. I'm going to be honest this time. Yes, I was going back just for the sake of clubbing.


Went to Ice Bar for the first time. Got myself very very wasted the next day. Went to Rasa Ria Resort for the first time, ate seafood at Gayang for the first time....quite a lot of first times eh!! Every fun moment has to come to an end eventually, and in this occasion the curtain falls down as October came to an end.
Came November it was all busy....sooooo busy that I don't wanna talk about it. (Fast forward to December....)
....still, it was hell of a busy month. It reached to the point that I lost interest in thinking about how to celebrate the coming Christmas. Luckily, things got better towards the end of the month. Starting with getting a runner up trophy for the first time in my open football tournament.


Had a Christmas gift exchange with my classmate for the first time ever. Had Christmas dinner with some of my close friends....as usual.


No, this is not my girlfriend....nor my daughter. Yet, we spent Christmas eve "together".
Few days later, it was time to say goodbye to 2009 and hello to 2010. 2009 had been fun, hopefully 2010 will be even better....(keeping my fingers crossed)