World Cup Fever!!!!

The time has come for everyone's favorite tournament in the world.....the once every 4 years event....the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa!! No sane football lover in this world would wanna miss out on such a massive event. But to enjoy all the matches to the max, you will need something very important....

 Complete guide to the World Cup.....checked!!

Late night snacks.....checked!!

Wallchart for all the matches.....checked!!

Alarm set for late night match.....checked!!

 And of course, my PSP and PES 2009 (I know its a bit outdated, 2010 is still downloading) as my companion. In case the results doesn't go down to well with you, you can always "fixed" it the way you like.

Now before the match begin, lets sing along to the latest World Cup song by Shakira....
Tsamina mina eh eh, waka waka eh eh, tsamina mina zangalewa, this time for Africa!!

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

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!!

Restoran Sri Pelangi

Went to lunch on the 5th day of CNY with my mum and sisters. We headed to this restaurant offering authentic Indonesian cuisine. It is located beside Complex Karamunsing in what is used to be a car wash place.


We ordered two dishes from the restaurant. One of them is this "Soto Banjar". It was a local dish from my hometown "Banjarmasin".


Another dish was "Nasi Kuning Ikan". The rice was cooked with cumin to get that special yellowish color. Then it was served with fish and boiled egg with sambal. The are also chicken version of the dish.
Other dish offered in the restaurant are "Sup Tulang" and "Nasi Lalap".

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!!!

Happy Lunar New Year....Year of the Tiger

My favorite festival of the year is here again. And I am now back in KK again. It was rather last minute and very rush cos of work. Luckily i managed to shop for everything I needed. I will be in KK for the whole week, which is good cos i will have time to do a lot of stuff.

Was doing the final shopping at 1 Borneo with mum and bro this afternoon. 1 Borneo has been transformed into a small Chinatown. With the golden Phoenix and the Dragon standing tall beside the main stage. And some girls dressed up in Cheongsam giving out candies to children.

There were lion dance and some acrobatic show, too. Which I totally missed out cos too busy shopping. Hopefully this year's CNY will be as fantastic as the decoration in 1 Borneo.

And hopefully the year of the tiger will bring a lot of good luck to me. (Keeping my fingers crossed)
This will be a short post as i was:

1. Just finish having reunion dinner with family.
2. There was blackout in my neighborhood while I was processing the post.
3. I was getting ready to rush out to a friend's house.

It will be a hectic CNY.....but I love it!!!

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).