Nok Thai Restaurant

This is a very long overdue blog!! I should have posted it on February.....or March the latest!! Yet I waited til now, 3 months later.


Anyway, lets start with the restaurant and it's food.
Went to this restaurant during Chinese New Year period with my sisters. Was introduced by my little sister about it. It was located somewhere in Damai. (Address will be provided at the bottom of this post)


We ordered some foods that were "highly recommended" by my sis. First up is this Pandan Chicken. Which is a very famous dish in Thai cuisine.


Another very famous Thai dish is the Tom Yum Gung. But in my case, instead of Tom Yum Gung we ordered Tom Yum Gai. There wasn't much different actually, its just that the main ingredient for Tom Yum Gai is chicken instead of prawn.


Next up is Phad Gra Phao Nue or Pan Fried Minced Beef (with Basil Leaves and Hot Chilli) in English. Its not too hot on the first few bites. But be warned, you will need a lot of iced water after that. Best enjoyed with rice!!


If you are a chicken feet lover, you might want to give this a try. Yam Leb Mue Nang or Chicken Feet Salad (with Celery, Onion, Hot Chilli and Lemon Juice). Its a little bit hot with some tangy taste makes it ideal as an appetizer.


After consuming all those hot and spicy foods, you might want to cool down your throat with some refreshing Pandan Coconut....


Or some cold Cendol as dessert!!!

Nok Thai Restaurant
Lot 45-0, Block D, Damai Plaza, Phase 4, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
Tel: 088-538055

CNY Eve Family Reunion Dinner

Every year when Chinese New Year is approaching, there will be a reunion dinner for the whole family on the eve of CNY. Its a Chinese tradition, so that close family members who are working far away from home can be reunited with their family and have a nice dinner together on the same dinner table.

For my family, its no exception. Me being at work in Miri, will never miss out on my family reunion dinner in KK. And whenever it comes to this dinner, my favorite thing is my dad is doing the cooking. He is currently the head chef at a local hotel. So, you can expect a "Five Stars" dishes on that special night.

This year, we had our dinner not inside the house. But outside in our garden area. Luckily it wasn't raining that night. (The tattoo guy in the pic wasn't a gangster we invited to the dinner, it was my dad!!)


First dish to come out that night was the Six Hot and Cold Combination which consist of prawn salad, homemade tofu, fried fish fillet, sliced abalone, fried spring rolls and Idako or the baby octopus. Tempting? There's more to come....


Second dish was a soup which my dad prepared for whole day. It was the Kampung Chicken with Ginseng Soup. This soup was so good my dad even forced us to finish up the ginseng inside it which was like the size of my middle finger....and it was soooooooo bitter, but good for your health.


Next up was another expensive dish, and a very delicious one, too. It was the "Ba Bao Duck" or Eight Treasures Duck in English. The bones was taken out from the duck and then it was deep fried before all the "treasures" were being stuffed inside the duck. Making it look like a balloon duck. After that, it went into the steamer before being served.


Fish will always feature in Chinese Cuisine because fish resembles longevity and abundance. And our fish for the night was Steamed White Pomfret in Soy Sauce. Up to this point, we were already very full and there were two more dishes to come.


We tried to stuff as much foods as we can on the final two dishes. Which was the Butter Prawn and the "Hokkien Style Fried Noodle". But after our best effort, we still can't managed to finish the foods. So, we kept it in the the fridge and reheated it the next morning as breakfast.


During the dinner, we were not only treated with a great meal. Our eyes got to feast on a free fire crackers show by some rich guy from our neighborhood. It lasted for about 4-5 minutes.





It was overall another legendary reunion dinner....until it suddenly went into blackout later that night. Luckily, dinner was long over by then. Stupid SESB!!! Gong Xi F**k Chai to them!!!

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)

2009 Year End Review (Jan - Jun)

Year 2009 is at its final month, the month of December, the month of holidays (not for me though), the time when you look back and think about what you have done for the past eleven months, the month to review all the highs and lows of 2009.
Overall, I had a very good year. I started the year in a great mood, knowing Chinese New Year was just around the corner. CNY is by far my favorite holiday.


January 2009 also happened to be the month when Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 1st African-American and 44th president of the United States. What an event to kick start the year.


Oh, lets not forget that we celebrated Ah Loong's birthday, too. And it was awesome....


January 2009 was just legen....wait for it....dary.

Coming into February and March, things started to slow down a bit. Cos it was time to concentrate on work work work....and study study study again.

Then April came, this year we celebrated another convocation ceremony of one of our LS gang member. Yes, it was our lovely Ms Micha's graduation ceremony this time. And of course, some of the gang members purposely drove down to Miri to congratulate her and to celebrate with her. Me on the other hand, was already here to welcome them.

Finally, out little Micha has graduated!!! It brought back a lot of memories of the time when they were all still in Curtin while they were here. They spent four days in Miri before heading back to KK.

Moving on to May 2009....
It was Labour Day, so my friends and I decided to spend our holiday in Brunei. We drove up the night before and stay overnight at my friend's sister's place at Kuala Belait. It was just about half an hour drive. Had a nice Thai dinner when we reached there.


The next morning we woke up early for a quick chinese breakfast nearby before heading to Bandar Seri Begawan. The dim sum there was tasteless, maybe it was because of the pork. Upon reaching BSB after about one and a half hour drive, we head straight for lunch as the breakfast we had was not so fulfilling.


Lunch was much much better compare to breakfast. It was a very famous chicken rice at Gadong area. After that we strolled at The Mall for about an hour before drove back to KB to shop for junk foods at our favorite Supasave Supermarket. Brunei trip won't be complete if you haven't enjoy your Japanese food at Excapade.


And that was what we had for dinner before rounding up our Brunei trip.

Another highlight for May 2009 would be the Miri International Jazz Festival, which was held annually at Parkcity Everly Hotel for two nights in a row.


A lineup of eight international Jazz bands gathered in Miri to entertain a sellout crowds from all across the world. Ticket cost us RM60 each for a single night.


The performances was inside The Pavilion ballroom. While outside at the hotel compound, there were souvenirs, foods and drinks to be sold....including beer. For those who doesn't want to get cramped inside the ballroom, they can just sit on the grass or the beach and have some foods while enjoying the show via a few big screens that the organizer set up outside. Overall, it was a nice event, except for the mosquito bites....or sand fly.

Towards the end of the month, I went to Brunei once again. This time I brought along two visiting friends from KK. Apart from the eating and shopping for junk foods, we also happened to visit the majestic mosque in Brunei and walk around inside the luxury Empire Hotel and Resort.


There was another road trip on June 2009. This time instead of goin' to Brunei, we head south to Bintulu. Journey there took about two to three hours. It was my first time to Bintulu, a small town with lots of old buildings. It was like a sight seeing trip more than anything else. Cos if talking about food, I think Miri has more to offer.


Places that we visited includes public toilet with a cool grafiti on its wall, a temple in the middle of the town, Bintulu beach and of course Taman Tumbina Bintulu. It was like a small park cum mini zoo. They was a tiger in there, but we didn't get to take a picture of it cos it was too lazy to move around it's cage, which was quite big with lots of trees.


We stayed there until around 2pm before driving back to Miri. And that wraps up some of my activities for the first half of the year.
To be continue...

Gayang Seafood Restaurant

Sabah has always been considered as a seafood paradise in Malaysia. In fact, some tourists traveled halfway across the globe to fulfill their hunger for the freshest seafood they can get. Of course, seafood is only one of Sabah's millions of attraction to tourists.


And one of the many places where you can get fresh and cheap seafood in K.K. Sabah is the Gayang Seafood Restaurant. About half an hour drive from K.K. City depending on the traffic condition. It is a bit out of the busy city area and located just by the seaside, which makes it perfect to enjoy your seafood.


Their seafood selection ranging from freshwater to salt water fishes, eels, crabs, lobsters, prawns, clams. Anything you can ask for from Sabahan water is available here.


Some marine creature that is none edible is available for viewing purpose, like the poisonous Lionfish above.


They even proudly show off the picture of their prized catch somewhere at the entrance. A six foot long monster.


Seafood is not their only specialty, this Ostrich Meat in Black Pepper Sauce is one of the must-try in this restaurant.


Local vegetables such as Kai Lan and Paku Pakis prepared according to your preferred cooking style.


Steamed Prawn with Light Soy Sauce/ Sambal Belacan. Best eaten with your bare hands. Remember to wash your hands before that.


Nyonya Talapia - Steamed Talapia fish in Nyonya style sauce. One of the brand product of the restaurant.


They called it 'Dong Fung Luo' if I'm not mistaken. Steamed and ready to be eaten by dipping into the mustard sauce.


Deep Fried Soft Shelled Crab - nice dish to grab along with cold beer.


And finally, the famous Coconut Pudding for dessert.


Gayang Seafood Restaurant
Kg. Baharu, Jln. Sulaiman, Tuaran, P.O. Box 12629, Kota Kinabalu.
Tel: 016-8102395, 088-219488
Open daily from 11am - 10pm
E-mail: davidnllee@gmail.com
Website: http://gayangseafood.showroom.sabahexpress.com/