God’s wonderful blessings in my life

I knew since last week that we were going to get bonus for the second time in 2007. I really want to praise and thank God for His wonderful blessing once again. Indeed “Every good and perfect gift is from above …” (James 1:17).

Since I have been working in the company for almost ten years, God has been blessing me through the works of my hands. There are lots of things to be done but time and again, God gives me the wisdom to administer my work.

Sometimes when I forget about something, such as a phone call or where something is being kept, God would remind me the following day when I wake up as I commit my day to Him. He has never failed to speak to me in this way.

I choose to excel in my what I do and eventhough I have offers from other companies, I choose to stay where I am because I know that this is the place God wants to train and mould me in this season of my life. I have learnt a lot and there are still so many things to learn.

Grocery Shopping at Tong Hing Damai Plaza 28 October 2007

Grocery Shopping at Tong Hing Damai Plaza 28 October 2007

After shopping at Natural Green House, I went to Tong Hing.

I bought the following:

1. A packet each of Arnotts biscuits - Tim Tam Original, Shortbread Cream and Shapes – Bacon & Cheese.
2. Sushi rice (Nishiki brand). First time I saw this for sale in Kota Kinabalu. Have been searching indirectly for it for so long.
3. A packet of Fruit Chutney mini cheddars (double cheesy cheddar snacks). The ones I had during the Third Day of Raya 2007 were of a different flavour.
4. 2 packets of raw streaky bacon
5. 2 cans of Yeo’s Mutton Curry
6. 1 small tub of Baskin Robbins Berry Strawberry flavour
7. 1 small tub of Haagan Dazs Cookies & Chocolate flavour

I really did not know what happened to me that day. This was the first time I bought so many things from Tong Hing in one trip.

Grocery Shopping at Natural Green House 28 October 2007

Grocery Shopping at Natural Green House 28 October 2007

Two weeks ago, I was telling Monica Leong and Mimi Quek during the Canaanland Celebration that I made sushi for the first time the night before. Mimi told me that she likes to go to this shop near Coffee Bean Damai Plaza to buy the miso paste.

Today after Canaanland Celebration, I decided to check it out myself. This half shop (the other half being a clothes shop) is called Natural Green House and it is located at Lot 11C, GF, Block C, Damai Plaza, Luyang (2 doors away from Coffee Bean).

I think most of the things sold in this shop are supposed to be organic. The lady owner is quite helpful when I asked where I can locate the rice vinegar, miso paste and konbu (dried kelp which takes the form of flat black sheets with white powder on the surface. It is used to flavour sushi rice and dashi). She doesn't sell the sushi rice.

This shop has a loyalty patronage programme. If you spend over RM50, you will a get a stamp/chop on the loyalty card. After six stamps, you will be entitled to RM30 worth of goods free.

My spending didn’t come up to RM50 and therefore I was not entitled to the programme. After I arrived home, then I remembered I didn’t buy a bottle of sake. Well, too late already.

Redemption Gift from Shiseido 27 October 2007 (Photos)

Redemption Gift from Shiseido 27 October 2007

The New Year will be dawning in just a little more than two months’ time. Where has the year / months / days gone to?

I remember I received a notice from Shiseido in May 2007 informing me that I can collect my redemption gift from their Shiseido counter in Parkson Grand, Wawasan Plaza, Kota Kinabalu. Suddenly on 26 Ocotober, I realised I haven’t received my gift yet eventhough the year is almost drawing to a close and I was already thinking of the points I have accumulated in order to redeem a gift end of this year.

After work yesterday, I went to see Daisy, my Shiseido skincare consultant at Parkson Grand. When I arrived, she was busy serving a customer.

So I went wandering to look for a thing (I really do not know what it is called). You use it to cover the space between the floor and door so as 1. uninvited guest like an agouti / a coypu cannot come inside your room and hide behind your wardrobe for over an hour! 2. to block the air-conditioner from escaping to outside. I did not find what I was looking for.

I explained to Daisy my predicament and she looked for the redemption gift list of customers. We found out that someone had signed on the column beside my name and the signature was not my signature. But the good news was that there was still a gift of Hanatsubaki soaps in a Hardwood Container inside one of the cupboards. And it definitely belongs to me (which was what I thought at that moment).

Daisy checked with her colleague regarding the mix-up and the signature on the column beside my name was her colleague’s signature. She was not pleased with her colleague and reprimanded her in front of me. Her colleague gave someone else with the same surname as mine but forgot to sign on the other person’s name. She also apologised profusely to me. She told me the Hanatsubaki soaps smell very nice. I will give my verdict when I start using it.

But I am glad the mix-up was finally settled and I could take my gift and left the place to go over to Warisan Square.

Jesselton Philharmonic Orchestra 21 October 2007

I only knew a couple of days before the Jesselton Philharmonic Orchestra (JPO) was making their debut concert at the Sabah Foundation Auditorium on 21 October 2007 through Josephine Hadikusumo’s profile in Facebook.

I quickly asked her where I could obtain the tickets because I wanted to attend. Before she could reply, I text messaged my sis in law and Sophia Tsen and asked them whether they had any knowledge of the event. Both did not know and were not planning to attend. Since they did not want to go, I called up Irene Yong, whom I met through work and who introduced Classic FM UK on the internet to me. She decided to attend with me. (And even if she doesn’t, I was planning to go alone).

When I called Lily Tan, she told me she read in the newspapers about this event and probably Dr. Michael Heng would have the tickets since he would be singing in the choir. Sophia was able to obtain two tickets for me from Dr. Heng. She passed the tickets to me on the day of the performance. That afternoon I confirmed with Irene the time we would meet up and what we would wear for the event. Since she only has jeans in her wardrobe, I decided to accompany her to wear jeans.

30 seconds after alighting from my car, I saw Irene’s car turning into Sabah Foundation carpark. She was happy that I accompanied her to wear jeans.

As we approached the door of the Auditorium, I saw a tall lady coming out from the building. I realised that the person was Josephine Hadikusumo. Wow! Finally we met up after getting to know each other through Facebook for a few weeks. She’s so tall and fair. And she looked so lovely in her black dress as she was singing in the choir for the JPO performance.

Since our tickets were RM30, Irene and I were ushered to sit upstairs. We decided to sit in the front near the aisle on the left side of the auditorium. We chit-chatted before the performance started. I saw some distance relatives, Datuk Adeline Leong, Evonne Foo, Dr. Michael Heng’s family, Mr. Lim (bosses’ insurance agent) and his family.

The Guest of Honour for this inaugural event was Datuk Masidi Manjun, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment and he officiated this occasion.

For the first time since I bought my digital camera a year ago, I videotaped snippets of the entire performance because my camera only allowed taping of an hour.

There was an article in the local newspaper Daily Express two days after JPO’s debut performance. Check it out here.

I can say that there are a lot of talents in this city that can be tapped into. No doubts there are rooms for improvement but JPO had done extremely well on their debut and I wish them continuous success.

And of course, no doubt the best performance was ‘Ode to Joy’ From Symphony No. 9 by Beethoven accompanied by the choir. They brought the house down! I also enjoyed the violin, soloist by conductor Yap Ling.

If you want to find out more information on JPO, click here.

If you want to find out more information on conductor Yap Ling, check out his website.

Nightmare 20 October 2007

This was the first time I had nightmare on driving. I can remember it so vividly eventhough it did not last for long.

As I was approaching a road block, I only realized then that I was sitting alone on the left side or the passenger seat of the car. The police ushered me to stop. I quickly tried to go to the driver’s seat to halt.

Then I woke up and thank God that it was only a nightmare!

Homemade Sushi 20 October 2007 (Photos)

Homemade Sushi 20 October 2007

One of my favourite food is sushi. Although it is easy to make, I never make it in the course of my working life (only during my student days in Wollongong). My mum always told me to make my own and so I took up her challenge on 20 October 2007.

Since this was my first time of making sushi in Kota Kinabalu, I started off with simple filling of crabmeat and cucumber only. I bought two packets of seaweed at Tai Chung Supermarket during my long weekend in Sandakan for TYT’s birthday.

Altogether I made six rolls and the process took me half an hour from start to finish.

Mum didn’t take any cos she doesn’t like sushi but Chloe liked it very much and even took some to school for breakfast.

Brekky 20 October 2007 (Photos)

Dinner at Home 19 October 2007 (Photos)

Lunch at Giant Kolombong Foodcourt 19 October 2007 (Photos)

Lunch at Giant Kolombong Foodcourt 19 October 2007

Whenever I go out for lunch during weekdays with my colleague Nanie Enggam, we usually go to Giant Kolombong food court as there are air-conditioners there and more choices of food to choose from. Lately there’s a store name Hometown Noodles opened there.

When I first tried the ‘kon lo’ mee, it tasted different from normal mee cos according to the cook, they made the noodles themselves. The dumplings tasted not as nice as compared to those ones I tried in SDK cos the prawn is not succulent. Plus here they put chicken meat instead of pork meat.

And one thing I don’t like about the cook of this store is that he not only talks too much, he also has a loud voice. When I first ordered food from him and since the table we sat on was quite near to his store, he came over and talked to me. He asked for opinion on his dumplings and mee.

Subsequently from then onwards, my colleague and I always chose table further away from this store so that we do not have noise pollution disturbing our lunch.

My colleague had nasi briyani.

Dinner at Fish & Co 18 October 2007 (Photos)

Dinner at Fish & Co 18 October 2007

On Monday 15 October 2007, Sophia Tsen asked me whether I wanted to join her for dinner at Fish & Co on Thursday 18 October 2007 and thereafter to visit MV Doulos.
I agreed with the former but not the latter.

After work, I changed into a black Tshirt given to me by Sophia before driving down to the city. As in the past, I don’t fancy parking my car at Block D, Warisan Square. I parked my car opposite Marina Condominium and walked over to Warisan Square.

Fish & Co is situated at Lot 4 and 5, Ground Floor, Block D of Warisan Square. This restaurant serves Western style of cooking seafood and each dish is served in a pan. If you are sharing from a pan, then you have to use a plate to eat. Otherwise, you can eat from the pan itself.

Sophia and I ordered one Seafood Platter for 2 (RM42.90++). To top it up, she also ordered a seafood soup and drink (an additional of RM6.50++) while I had sky juice.

The Seafood Platter came with lots of calamaris, mussels, prawns, dory fishes, fries and rice with raisins in turmeric and orange sauce.

The size of the calamaris were quite big but very crunchy and not tough at all. There’s nothing special about the mussels and eventhough the prawns were of medium size, they tasted very fresh and the flesh stuck to the skin. The dory fishes didn’t have the fishy smell and were pleasant to eat. The fries were very crunchy and topped with a layer of topping to add to the taste. The only thing we had leftover were rice. It tasted a bit like ‘nasi briyani’ and there were simply too much of them.

After dinner at Fish & Co., Sophia said she wanted to try the Yogur Berry (which everyone she knows is raving about) next door to Fish & Co. We selected single scoop with fruits. The only thing I took photos of were the toppings. I forgot to take the yogurt when it was served to us.

When we digged into the yogurt, we were not impressed. We concluded that we would give ‘Veda Blue’ (ice cream place next door) our support any time.

'Kuih Raya' (Photos)

'Kuih Raya'

17 October 2007

For the past few years, Arifin, a Malay guy I knew through work would always give my colleague and I some ‘kuih raya’ before Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

Last week he happened to drop by my office and I hinted to him. He laughed. Kind of embarrassing but I am very thick face when it comes to food. Haha!

Yesterday, after three days of holidays to celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri, the ‘kuih raya’ is still nowhere to be seen. So I called and disturbed him. Well, he has a great sense of humour so it’s ok. He said, ‘they are on the way’. I asked him, ‘When? Next Raya?’

This morning he told his colleague to deliver the ‘kuih raya’ to my colleague and I. Ya, I had to share them. I don’t mind finishing them all though. Haha.

I tasted the ‘kuih’ and they tasted great. All homemade so none of the commercial taste!

Visit to MV Doulos 15 October 2007 (Photos)

Visit to MV Doulos 15 October 2007

Visited MV Doulos after dinner so that we won’t feel so hot as compared to visiting it during day time.

Eventhough the time was almost nine o’clock there were still a lot of cars parked outside the Kota Kinabalu Port. We had to park the car in a remote area cos most parking spaces were taken up.

The walk from the parking lot to the ship was quite far. I was glad I decided not to go the day before after having lunch with Monica Leong, Lily Tan and Sophia Tsen. Otherwise I think I would have fainted on the way.

Before we could go up the ship, we had to queue up. Thank God the queue was not very long. I could say that there were not many people that night eventhough it was a holiday.

I tried to browse for some books while taking some photographs but I couldn’t find any books which I wanted to buy. Actually I was quite disappointed because I expected more books for sale. I remembered when I visited Logos long long time ago, there were so many books available. But at the time I was only a student, I couldn’t buy any because I didn’t bring much money with me. Now I earn my own money, but I couldn’t buy any either. *sigh*

The ship was kind of stuffy and someone had vomited in the middle of the ship. The Brazil lady at the information desk had to keep on reminding people not to step on the vomit and advising people to get some fresh air if they feel queasiness.

Chloe Chong and Alistair Ng managed to choose some books they wanted to read.

Before we went home, we had supper at Jesselton Point.

Dinner at Home 15 October 2007 (Photos)

Third Day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri 15 October 2007 (Photos)

Third Day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri 15 October 2007

This morning went to Foo Phin Dim Sum Restaurant with my family for breakfast.

Rosalind and Alistair could not join us cos Ali is having fever.

When we arrived, there were already a lot of people but while we were eating, more people turned up.

We had siu mai, har kau, lo mai kai, char siew jue cheong fun, pai kuat and beef balls. Mervis paid for the bill so I don’t know how much the bill came up to be.

I had a small bowl of porridge (with dried scallops, dried oysters and century egg) cooked by the maid for lunch. I didn't take the century egg.

At 3pm, I showed mum how to use the electric oven to cook the ‘siu yuk’ for dinner. I tried a piece and it tasted ok, but the skin is not very crunchy.

Since I only had porridge for lunch, I was hungry. I found some snacks for afternoon tea.

Recently we had mum’s siblings staying with us from overseas. I don’t know who brought us the mini cheddars (double cheesy cheddar snacks) biscuits. Either Uncle Philip Lee from United Kingdom or Aunty Brenda Lee from United States of America. But I know Aunty Brenda took the Blended Nonfat Yogurt (Strawberry/Banana) from the plane she took from Los Angeles.

The biscuits are very tasty, can really taste the cheese. But I am sure lots of MSG went inside.
I haven’t had yogurt for a long time. Here the yogurt is simply too expensive so I just give it a miss. I can taste the strawberry but not the banana. Probably the taste of the strawberry covered up the taste of the banana.

I hope I won’t get stomach ache after eating these snacks cos the biscuits and the yogurt have due date of 2.10.07 and 9.25.07 respectively.

By analysing the date, I think the biscuits must be from Uncle Philip.

Lunch at Usagi Japanese Restaurant 14 October 2007

Usagi Japanese Restaurant is located at Lot 73-76, Ground Floor, Karamunsing Complex, Kota Kinabalu, opposite McDonalds children’s playground.

When Monica Leong, Lily Tan, Sophia Tsen and I arrived there, I saw Thien and his wife sitting near the entrance of the restaurant. The rest proceeded to be seated while I talked to Thien. Thien used to work opposite my office and we haven’t seen each other for a long time. He thought I was someone else and spoke to me in his dialect instead of in my dialect. I had to refresh his memory of who I am and he said I look different and fairer than before. He also mentioned that I have lost weight and asked whether the weight loss was due to eating Japanese food. And if it was, then he would bring his wife there frequently. I told him the secret is abstaining from rice during dinner time or at least only take half the rice intake one usually eats.

Monica ordered a shake teriyaki set. Lily ordered one bowl of Niku Ramen (beef noodles). Sophia ordered one bowl of tempura udon (noodles with fried prawns) and one plate of sushi with eggs filling and another plate with fish roe. I ordered one kodomo bento (child’s set).

When Sophia’s food arrived, I wanted take photos but to my horror, I forgot to put back the batteries I was recharging the night before into my digital camera!

Everyone enjoyed their food and Sophia commented that she doesn’t mind coming back to this restaurant. She didn’t even know the restaurant was renovated to a more high class look and now it looks similar to the Japanese restaurants in Kuala Lumpur.

The kodomo bento came with one yakult drink (which I gave to Lily), fried chicken pieces with tartar sauce, sushis, tempura prawns and fruits. After finishing my meal, I ordered one plate of sushi with raw salmon.

We stayed there and chit-chatted for a few hours and before we left, I saw Rev. Raymond Chin and his wife Lim Choi Yee eating at another table. They are now serving in Lahad Datu and I managed to catch up with them.

Lily also saw her cousin with her family across at McDonalds.

Dinner with the Teohs 13 October 2007 (Photos)

Dinner with the Teohs 13 October 2007

Dr. Christine Lee and family came back from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu on 11 October 2007 for a few days break during the Hari Raya holidays.

I know Chris since the first day she arrived at University of Wollongong. We have been sharing many memories together – university days (both her undergraduate and postgraduate) and her doctorate last year; from the day she started dating, got married and now with a 22 months old son Jordan. I may not have spent all these events with her but she has been keeping in touch and sharing all of them with me.

I decided to take her to my favourite restaurant, New Gaya Seafood Restaurant, Jalan Bantayan, Kiansom, Inanam. This restaurant is quite near my house and eventhough it’s like middle of nowhere, the food served doesn’t leave a hole in your pocket.

When we arrived at the restaurant just slightly over 7pm, there were many patrons already. Since I had booked a table in the air-con room, we were ushered in by one of the captains. When a younger captain came to take our order, I told him I preferred Peter (one of the other captains whom I know) instead. He said Peter was busy at the al fresco area taking orders and insisted it would be the same. I gave in seeing Peter was indeed very busy.

We ordered garlic rice, 1 kg wet buttered crabs (3 crabs), half kg poached prawns, half kg clams (tung fung) and veges (sayur manis with garlic). Seng Chor thought 3 crabs would be too much but I thought it should be ok. Actually I wanted to order another dish – stirred fried fish with ginger and garlic but the young captain said the food we ordered should be enough. Anyhow, I told Chris and Seng Chor (Chris's husband) we could order more if the food was insufficient.

Since Jordan (Chris's son) cannot eat the peanuts, Chris gave him some minced garlic and he actually ate them! I don’t like raw garlic.

The garlic rice arrived first followed by the veges and prawns. Seng Chor liked the rice very much and he said he couldn’t find the rice cooked that way in Kuala Lumpur. He had two bowls.

The sayur manis were young, crunchy and tasty. Eventhough they had it since touching down in Kota Kinabalu, they didn’t mind having it again cos the veges are hard to find in Peninsula Malaysia.

The prawns served were of medium size which was just right for me. I don’t like them to be too big cos they would be on the tough side.

Next the shells appeared and Seng Chor had fun digging into them. When he had finished some, he put aside and took pictures of the shells. When Jordan was getting restless, he gave him two shells to play with so that he had something to occupy him. The shells tasted fine and not overcooked.

The crabs appeared last and the wet buttered sauce had improved slightly. The sauce was thicker than before and it was great having them piping hot with the crabs.

The only thing left was the garlic rice which I took away and brought home.

In order to keep Jordan occupied the whole night, his parents took turns to bring him outside to see the live seafood in their tanks. Overall, he behaved quite well. Well done Jordan!

Halo in the Kota Kinabalu Sky 11 October 2007

During lunchtime my colleague, Kenny Kwan received a phone call from his wife to tell him to have a look at the sun. He asked me to join him but I was busy having my chicken rice at the time.

When he came up from his viewing, he told me I should go and have a look since there seemed to be rainbow encircling the sun. Since I haven’t heard of this phenomenon, I went out and checked it out.

I didn’t have my digital camera and the photos posted here was forwarded to me by a friend.

I was thinking the first Malaysian astronaut Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor who went up to space the night before must be trying to tamper with nature while he has a chance. Haha

The local newspapers Daily Express had an article appeared in it the next day with the corresponding picture and KL newspapers The Star also had likewise.

Daily Express: http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=53282

The Star: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/10/12/nation/19148844&sec=nation

Bathroom Makeover

Although 8th October 2007 was mum’s birthday, I received presents from her the following day.

Thanks to mum, my bathroom looks different now. She told Mr. Michael Chan to fix a mirror and two compartments for me to put my things. I also got a shower curtain with dolphins on it with my favourite blue colour. Yeah!

Previously my mirror was a portable blue one (which I bought from a RM2 shop in New Wing, 1 Utama Shopping Complex, Petaling Jaya last year).

Mum’s birthday on 8th October 2007 at Equatorial Restaurant

At first, mum said she wanted to celebrate her birthday at Supertanker Restaurant. But when I called the restaurant on 5th October to book a table, the owner said 8th October was their rest day.

When I told mum, she then suggested Equatorial Restaurant but I didn’t proceed to make any booking. James did that on the same day of mum’s birthday.

When we arrived there were only a few tables occupied.

We ordered their famous fried tofu; crocodile meat; crispy fried chicken (half); scallops with celery and carrots; broccoli, mushroom with flat beancurd and deer meat.

Before dinner was served, an unexpected guest arrived. (Moray Chew is my second cousin and recently when I went back to SDK, I was staying at his mum’s house). Moray is in KK for work and James invited him to join us.

The food came out quite fast as there were not many patrons in the restaurant. Overall every dish tasted nice and we still had leftovers to bring home. I had deer meat the most. It was very tender.

We were served FOC fruits of watermelon and pineapple. The pineapple were extremely sour!

After dinner, we chit-chatted for half an hour before leaving. Mum said she enjoyed the dinner very much.

Agouti / Coypu Became Victim on 7 October 2007 (Photos)

Agouti / Coypu Became Victim on 7 October 2007

Huh? What is that? I recently discovered those words are in the family of rodent.

Recently I asked a question in Facebook re. ‘What would you do if you saw a mouse/rat enter your bedroom through the space beneath the door in the middle of the night while everyone else is sleeping and hide behind your wardrobe without coming out?’

That is precisely what happened to me as I was about to go to dreamland early morning of Sunday 30th September 2007.

I knew that the thing has been roaming around the house for some time but I would never have thought it would give me a surprise visit! I made all kind of sounds imaginable but it was adamant to just stay behind my wardrobe for over an hour. This was even after I quickly rushed downstairs and pulled out from the power point a supposedly rodent proof ‘insect and rats expeller’ and attached it into one of the power points in my bedroom.

The way this expeller works is through sound. Humans and other creatures are unable to hear the sound except the insect and rats. After having the expeller for a few days, mum mentioned that she still sees the rat lurking around. Out came this statement from my sis-in-law’s mouth, ‘Maybe the rat is wearing earphone!’. I didn’t know I should laugh or cry upon hearing that.

In order not to repeat the incident of early morning of 30th September 2007, I make sure every night before I go to bed, the two holes in my bathroom is blocked so that the thing is unable to get in through the holes. Besides that, I also covered the space beneath the bedroom and bathroom doors with things.

Mum consulted a contractor from our neighbourhood (who did the extension to our downstairs for grannie’s room last year ). According to mum, Mr. Michael Chan is the ‘king of rodent catchers’ cos he managed to help people caught over a hundred rodents so far using his trap. He said at the most by the third night of using the trap, the rodent would become victim.

We put the trap in the lounge room with ‘lap cheong’ as the bait on last Saturday night, 6th October 2007.

When I woke up on Sunday morning, the trap was no longer there. I went to the backyard and found the thing caught inside the trap. Hallelujah! Someone had submerged it along with the trap into a bucket of water and let it died a slow death.

I’m not sure whether there are other rodents still lurking around, so the trap is still out there in the lounge room and to take precaution, I am still covering the two holes and the space beneath my doors.

Live blog in Facebook

The previous three blogs are transferred from my Live Blog in Facebook to save my time, just like those I transferred from http://www.tagged.com/

Saw Natalie & Yvonne Funk's Relatives

September 23 3:58am

This afternoon I went for grocery shopping at Servay Hypermarket, Plaza Juta.

At the cashier, I bumped into Nat & Yvonne’s third aunty from their father’s side ie. Aunty Mona, Uncle Chung, their daughter and granddaughter. Aunty Mona and Uncle Chung are here from Sandakan for a visit.

Haven’t seen them for more than twenty years.

Meeting former neighbours

September 22 8:32am

Kelvin Ong (whom I have been in contact with through Facebook) and Andrew Kok used to be my neighbours when we were staying in Bourke Street, North Wollongong. They were staying at the First Floor while I stayed in Second Floor.

It is through Facebook that Kelvin told me Andrew lives in KK as well. Kelvin gave me Andrew’s handphone and last week I called Andrew but he’s on his way to Lahad Datu for work.

This morning when he came back from Lahad Datu, he called. He stayed quite near my place, just across the Lintas Highway at Taman Bunga Raja.

Tonight Andrew fetched me and we met up with Kelvin at Yen Ai, Lintas Plaza for a drink and talked about old times for two hours. Funny thing was when we arrived, I found out that three of us were all wearing a black top. What a coincidence!

Since both of them are working outstation during weekdays, we have to meet up for dinner another time during the weekend.

Chloe's Chong 10th Birthday (Photo)

TYT's birthday 2007 (Photos)

TYT's birthday 2007

22 September 2007 3.55am

This year TYT’s birthday was on Sunday 16 September 2007. So the next day was a replacement holiday.

I took half day leave on Saturday 15 September 2007 and flew back to Sandakan (SDK) by Air Asia. That was the fiirst time I took Air Asia on this route. The flight was almost full but I still managed to have three seats all to myself. Arrived SDK 15mins earlier than the scheduled time.

My elder brother James who was on business in SDK fetched me at the airport. After putting my bag at Aunty Alice's place in Taman Mawar, we proceeded to James’s former classmate’s shop to wait for Cheong to have lunch with us.

We went to a coffee shop in Bandar Ramai-Ramai for lunch and ordered Taiwanese veges, stir fried chicken with soy sauce & ginger and stir fried squid with dark soya sauce. Every dish was nice and Cheong treated us. Bill came to RM20.

Caught up with Cheong. When I was in Sydney one year, Cheong and two of his friends Raymond and Tan came to visit my sister and I. Cheong is married for many years but doesn’t have any children. I also asked him about Raymond and Tan. Both of them are in SDK and in fact they had a gathering at Tan’s place a couple of weeks ago.

When we were about to finish lunch, contractor for Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) called James and said they required some Kossan paint for the exterior of the bank. So we rushed down to SCB and I spent time in the car while James attended to his business.

We went to Nam Choi (bakuteh shop) at Bandar Nam Tung for dinner and ordered prawns, meatballs, pork ribs, fish fillet and veges. As usual I enjoyed a satisfying meal at this shop. Even Aunty Alice had one and a half bowls of rice. I paid the bill of RM42.

As we were about to leave the bakuteh shop, James pointed to me a guy. I asked him who’s that. And he said it’s Tan. I didn’t recognise him at all and Tan doesn’t recognise me either.

I could not sleep the whole night on Saturday night cos the rain came down for six hours non-stop and it was like pouring out from the buckets. I had never experienced anything like that until then. But the amazing thing was, when we left for church before 7a.m., the roads were not flooded at all. (If that would have happened in KK, I think most places would have been flooded).

I am glad that St. Michael’s church has a lot of new members I don’t know. Met up with a few people (Tung Lan, Hon Yong and Charlene, Mrs. Cindy Leong, Mrs. Phyllis Chu, Alice from BMI, Ps. Clarence Fu) I know and caught up with them. So glad to see them after so many years.

We had brunch at Mile 1.5 Jalan Labuk market (just outside my former home) with James’s parents in-law. I had meehoon with wontons. One thing about food in SDK is that they are usually very fresh and the prawns inside the wontons were really fresh and succulent.

James drove us back to our former home and we had a look from the outside. Some good memories came flooding back. :)

We proceeded to visit James’s parents in-law and spent a few hours in their home watching Astro. I think that was the longest time I spent watching Astro in one sitting. Dozed off a few times and woke up a few times.

We went to Bandar Indah to buy some snacks (to bring back to KK) and had afternoon tea at one of the nearby shops. I had coke float with vanilla icecream and two pieces of toast with ham and cheddar cheese. James had hot lemon tea, a piece of chocolate cake and two pieces of toast with ham and cheddar cheese. Bill came to slightly less than RM20.

Thank God I managed to get a nap in the afternoon before cousin Tung’s wedding banquet on Sunday night.

We arrived at Yu Yuan School Hall around 6.30p.m. and a lot of people had already arrived. It was good to see Uncle Tong, Aunty Annie, cousins Mei and Phan again and sitting on the same table as them. When we digging into the first dish, in true SDK fashion, the current stopped. My oh my, a wedding banquet with no electricity! After ten minutes, the spot lights were on courtesy of the generator set. After half an hour, the current came back as well as our nightmare cos a lot of oldies were on the list to sing karaoke. We practically had to shout at each other in order to have conversations.

Towards the end of the wedding banquet, after the bride and groom came to take photos with us, my cousins came and talked to me. We haven’t seen each other for more than ten years and they said I haven’t aged (and that was why I posted the Question: No wrinkles = haven’t aged in Facebook). Two cousins also introduced their respective spouse to me and one of them, the daughter as well. I am glad they respected me in this way since I wasn’t able to go back to attend their weddings. Overall the food was ok and they catered from Equatorial Restaurant and with over 70 tables, you can’t ask for too much delicious food.

On Monday James and I went to Sim Sim Bridge No. 8 for breakfast. Once again I ordered meehoon with wontons. The wontons were really fresh as well. As I was about to finish my meehoon, someone called my name.

Sun Sun was my former neighbour and school mate. We haven’t seen each other for over 20 years! She and her husband went back SDK from KL for the long weekend as well. So glad to see them, her mum and younger brother Ah Ngai.

The flight was full coming back from SDK to KK. So, no more three seats all to myself.

Overall eventhough I was only in SDK for two days and two nights, I am glad I had a fruitful time meeting up with relatives and friends as well as tasting some nice, cheap and fresh food.

There are some new developments and roads in SDK and it seems like people are willing to spend more money as compared to ten years ago.

Official blogger as of 10 September 2007

Finally I have decided to become a blogger after reading blogs of so many people.

Since I am a newbie, I have been transferring the journals I wrote inside my http://www.tagged.com/ into this blog. So any articles before this one were from there.

I have decided not to use http://www.tagged.com/ anymore for personal reason.

Lily Tan's Birthday National Day 2007

Sophia Tsen and I celebrated Lily Tan's birthday at Beijing Restaurant at Kg. Nelayan, Tun Fuad Park, Bukit Padang on National Day 2007. We celebrated a day earlier cos Lily was not free on the next day.

I was glad I booked a table for three a few nights earlier cos on the late morning of National Day 2007, the restaurant called me up to confirm my booking. As I was not feeling well that day, I told the person who called that I will confirm by 5p.m. By 5p.m., my headache had disappeared and so we were able to have dinner together.

This restaurant is an al fresco restaurant and the stoves have both the steamboat pot and teppanyaki plate.

When Lily and I reached the restaurant, there were quite a lot of people there already. There were also quite a lot of people celebrating their birthdays as well and I could remember the birthday song was sung at least three times that night.

The steamboat in this restaurant is buffet style. You chose whatever you want to eat and if you waste food, there would be an additional charge. Choice of soup available is either chicken or tom yam and if you have a table of about 10 people you can ask for two stoves with each type of soup.

Besides a vast array of raw food avaiable for you to cook, there are also a few cooked dishes for you to dig in, in case you have an extremely hungry stomach. On the night we were there, we enjoyed the fried 'man tau' the most. I forgot all the other dishes.

For seafood, there are prawns, crabs, sotongs, fish, fishball, etc. For meat, there are lamb, chicken, beef, beefball, etc. There are also a lot of veges such as kangkung, mushrooms, etc. Other things are eggs, noodles, vermicelli, etc. There a lot of condiments/sauces for you to add to the taste like fried onion, soya sauce, chilli sauce, oyster sauce, oil, etc.

Lily and Sophia enjoyed eating the marinated beef while I couldn't stop having the marinated lamb and shitake mushroom.

For dessert, we had ice cream 'potong' and I enjoyed the chocolate favour and had three servings.

Grannie's 102nd Birthday at Equatorial Restaurant 21 August 2007 (Photos)

MY FAVOURITE FOOD (Part 2)

Aug 5, 2007, 8:33 pm

MY FAVOURITE FOOD IS THE STEAMED PRAWN DOUGH AFTER TAKING OUT FROM THE FRIDGE. There is nothing else in this world that can come close to this taste!

The hardened prawn dough is then cut slice by slice and arranged neatly in a rattan container before put out in the sun to dry to become dry prawn crackers.

Prawns live in salt water and therefore they are very salty. Since in the course of my childhood, I had spent so much time taking off the prawns shell, lumps appeared on all my fingers. Before I went for my medical checkup in order to fulfill as a pre-requisite to further my studies in Australia, I went to a GP to have the lumps removed through injections on each of the <>

Just imagine you are fully alert and injections are injected on each of the lumps with blood gushing out! What a sight to behold and the pain to go through!

Recently after I came to the conclusion on my favourite food, I told my mum about it and all she could do was laughed at me. She promised to make it for me again soon. Yeah! There is no one else in this world as compared to a mother's love.

MY FAVOURITE FOOD (Part 1)

Aug 5, 2007, 8:30 pm

For a long long time I have been asking myself what is my favourite food.

When I was still studying in Australia, I remember there were lots of food I like to eat but cannot afford to eat cos I was only a student with limited amount of spending power. That is not to say I treated myself miserly on food. I still enjoyed eating Chinese, Western, Vietnamese, Indian, Italian, Aussie, Lebanese, Malay, Japanese, etc food.

But my favourite food is still the food I had grown up with and lots of people will not understand what I am talking about cos they would not have tasted 'it' in their entire life.

Well, what is 'it' then?

When I was growing up, on Sundays when my mum went to the market, she would buy a lot of prawns to make prawn crackers. By a lot, I mean a lot, ie. 5 or 10 pounds a time. The process of making prawn crackers is a long and tedious one.

First of all, the prawns shell had to be taken off one by one. Can you imagine yourself sitting there for a few hours on a Sunday morning doing that? Well, that was how I usually spent mine.

After the prawns shells are taken off, the prawns are washed in water until the water appears to be clear. Then the prawns are squeezed to get rid of all the water. The prawns are then minced using a manual food processor before mixing in with salt, soya sauce, eggs and flour to make a dough. The dough is then steamed in the wok for more than an hour. The steamed prawn dough is left to be cooled before putting in the fridge overnight.

Lunch at Giant Kolombong on 28 July 2007

Aug 5, 2007, 8:29 pm

There is a Japanese food store at Giant Kolombong food court but I never order anything before.

Audrey and I met there. I ordered 2 California hand rolls (RM3.50 each), Inside Out California roll uramaki (RM5 for half a dozen) and Salmon sushi (RM6 for half a dozen).

Eventhough the sushi is not as good as other places, once a while when I have the craving for sushi and if I don't want to travel far, this store can fill in the void for the meantime.

Moreover, the food court is fully air-conditioned so it's quite comfortable to eat there.

9th Anniversary of Dad's Demise on 26 July 2007 (Part 2)

Aug 5, 2007, 8:28 pm

Dad was a very quiet person, but when he spoke, wisdom came out from his mouth. He loved to eat fish and veges.

He was a contractor and when I had the opportunity, I would visit the houses he built. I was truly impressed that my dad could build such beautiful houses. He had a lot of Filipino workers and he did everything himself, including the payroll. He usually left home about six a.m. and came back at six p.m. He was a very hardworking person and worked seven days a week. The only time he had holidays was during Chinese New Year.

Dad hardly beat us when we were children as compared to mum eventhough his facial expression looked angrier than mum. But when he's really angry, beware! He would beat us up until we would remember the beating for a long long time. I could not remember any toys that dad bought me but I remember he gave us money to buy whatever we wanted.

When I first came back from Australia, my first job was working in Ho & Tan, an auditing and accounting firm in Kota Kinabalu. After working there for a few months, I was transferred back to Sandakan cos there was a big timber firm that needed to be audited. During that span of time, my mum went to attend a course at Kota Tinggi in Johor. My dad went to the market almost everyday, prepared dinner for me and washed all the dishes. When I offered my help, he declined. Eventhough dad never say how much he loved me, by his actions I could feel that he loved me a lot.

9th Anniversary of Dad's Demise on 26 July 2007 (Part 1)

Aug 5, 2007, 8:27 pm

My dad died after battling with colon cancer for less than two months. When he started to have the disease, I had just resigned from my job as a computer supervisor in my uncle in law's computer centre in Tg. Malim, Perak and was intending to visit some places in West Malaysia before coming back to Kota Kinabalu. I was visiting a friend in Johor when I received the news to come back as soon as possible. Eventhough I had bought a Transmile Air ticket for a later date, I had to forgo that ticket and flew back by MAS.

Since mum was a former civil servant, dad was able to stay in First Class in QEH. One of dad's doctor was Dr. Peter Ong. Eventhough dad had an operation to remove the cancer from his colon, the cancer had spread to other parts of his body. During the time when he was staying at the First Class ward, I spent overnight with him to care of him. Before he was transferred to the Pallative Care Unit, he went back to stay at my brother's house for a while. During that time, when he slept he needed the air-conditioner to be on cos he said he felt very hot. That was something new cos for his entire life, dad had never used an air-con to sleep.

The last few days before he died, he was admitted into the Pallative Care Unit of QEH. The doctors, nurses and volunteers were very kind and patience.

Grannie visited dad at the Pallative Care Unit on the night of 25 July 2007. Dad recognised her. We had kept dad's cancer from her until that time. That night mum and I did not go home and spent overnight with dad cos doctor said he would go at anytime. I did not sleep and keep on praying for him. At exactly 6a.m. dad changed his earthly address. I cried but happy at the same time that he didn't have to suffer anymore. I called my brother to tell him the news.

On the way to the funeral parlour, I saw a rainbow appeared in the sky. That reminded me of God's promises. I felt that God was reminding me there's hope for us who believe in Him, we shall see our departed ones once again on that glorious day in the future to come. Hallelujah! After dad passed away, I could not describe the kind of feeling I was having. I knew I felt a void in my heart and unless you have been through the process of bereavement, you will not understand what I am talking about.

Lunch at Sandwich on 21 July 2007

Aug 5, 2007, 8:25 pm

Sandwich is a shop quite newly open at Taman Kingfisher shoplots, three doors from Hana Japanese Restaurant. The owners of the shop are foreigners and I think they came from Italy. I guess they drew all the art pieces consisting of different kinds of food hung inside the shop by themselves.

The menu consists of fresh salad, hamburgers, sandwiches and pizzas.

Sophia Tsen and I shared a sandwich and a pizza. The sandwich was served on brown bread with cheese, lettuce and pork ham. The pizza had cheese, egg, salami and chicken ham toppings. The thin crust was baked using wood fire I think and therefore came out extremely crispy.

Sophia wanted to order hamburger as well cos she heard from her colleague that the mince meat are marinated thoroughly but it wasn't available.

Before we left, both of us ordered a pizza each to take away. Sophia ordered a 'Monster' which consisted of the works while I ordered a Hawaiian one.

At the moment, no 5% and 10% taxes are charged at all.

Dinner at Sri Selera, Kampung Air on 20 July 2007

Jul 24, 2007, 9:55 pm

Tonight I wanted to treat Uncle Ho and Aunty Julie (since it would be their last night in KK before proceeding to Bangkok) to dinner at Equatorial Restaurant in Tanjung Aru Plaza but they don't want to go there. So we ended up going to Sri Selera, Kampung Air in SEDCO across from Asia City.

The reason Uncle Ho wanted to come to this place was because he said the stalls sell satays and grilled fish, among other things. Aunty Julie insisted she would pay.

As we passed by Suang Tain Restaurant, the captain invited us to go in that restaurant but Uncle Ho told him that their prices are too expensive (He knew cos the previous night friends invited them to that restaurant and the bill came to five times more of what he paid in Supertanker two nights before that).

We ended up seated quite near the drinks stall and the stage. Uncle Ho ordered beef, chicken and lamb satays, fried dry meehoon, kailan with oyster sauce, fried oyster omelette, grilled fish, sotong and kangkung.

The beef satays were quite tough and therefore we didn't finish and took away for mum to cut them into small pieces for fried rice the following day. The lamb satays were fantastic, the taste of the lamb really came out while the chicken satays tasted so so.

The fried dry meehoon was delicious, not too tough, not too soft, just nice and I was the one who finished every strand of noodles at the end.

The kailan with oyster sauce was quite cruncy and not overcooked. The fried oyster omelette tasted so so (I still prefer those available in KL, KK is still far behind in this dish).

The grilled fish was a complete disaster. Aunty Shirley told Uncle Ho to remember not to order that the next he comes. The fish tasted like it wasnt properly cooked plus there wasn't enough marinade.

The sotong and kangkung serving was quite small eventhough the seller said that was the large size. The sauce that came with it was sweet instead of savoury, a first time for all of us. I don't really like it. I prefer those I tasted in SDK.

Eventhough the food served here are considered from hawker stalls, but the prices are not cheap at all. I think the total for everything should come to more or less RM100.

Uncle Ho said he guessed the prices are not cheap cos entertainment is­ included where locals danced to different kinds of dances. For me, I think it is also cos it is right at the centre of the city and they want to attract tourists and therefore they charged 'tourist' prices.

Well, the previous time I was in this place was like five years ago! Maybe I will wait another five years to go back to this place!

Besides all the food mentioned, they also serve Japanese food, dumplings, and of course seafood!

Dinner at Supertanker Restaurant on 17 July 2007

Jul 24, 2007, 9:16 pm

Since I didn't attend Peter and Lindsey Quak's wedding banquet at Pacific Sutera Hotel, I had to go out to eat cos the maid cooked dinner.

Uncle Ho treated Aunty Julie & Shirley, mum, Chloe and I to Supertanker Restaurant. I teased Uncle Ho. He and Aunty Julie were only here for 3 weeks and there are so many restaurants in KK, but he chose to go back to this restaurant.

Eventhough it was a rainy night, the restaurant was already full but the waitress managed to give us a table on the Ground Floor near the phone and cashier.

We ordered sizzling Japanese beancurd with minced pork, 'ngau gan', kailan and oyster sauce, crispy skin chicken and pork with 'hoi jit'. Service was very fast. We were able to have dinner ten minutes after our order. All the dishes tasted delicious.

The bill came to RM75.00 and Uncle Ho considered very cheap. Food actually came to RM60. The rest were miscellaneous and taxes.

So they understand why this restaurant is full with people all the time, even on a very rainy night. Price is reasonable and food taste good!

Peter and Lindsey Quak's wedding banquet on 17 July 2007 at Grand Ballroom, Pacific Sutera Hotel

Jul 24, 2007, 8:47 pm

I was so looking forward to attend this wedding banquet and to meet up with the newlyweds as they are based in UK. I haven't seen Peter since last year and his lovely wife, Lindsey since a few years ago when she came for a visit during her holidays.

Had a headache since afternoon that day. I came home around 5pm and told my mum and Aunty Julie I would have a shower before having a quick nap. If I feel better I would attend the banquet. Otherwise I would join them for dinner at Supertanker Restaurant as Uncle Ho would be treating dinner.

I set the alarm at 6pm and when I woke up to change into my dinner clothes, the headache was still persisting but the worst part was I saw my body was full of rashes. There's nowhere I could attend the banquet since I was planning to wear a V shape collar black dress.

I called Lily to tell her my bad news and therefore she didn't have to reserve a seat for me. After that, I called Sophia and told her to help me put some $ inside her red packet for the newlyweds.

Apology to Peter and Lindsey for not attending at the last minute.

Jul would have been 42 today

Jul 14, 2007, 4:30 pm

Jul was my only elder sister. She would have been 42 y.o. if she's alive today.

I still miss her very much eventhough she passed away on 29 October 1999. Before her demise, she had heart problem (among other things). Her heart valve would move twice faster than a normal person. Doctor had warned not to have any more children. But she wanted to risk her life.

When she complained of being ill, we sent her to Damai Specialist Centre (DMC). At that time she was pregnant with her second child. The doctor at DMC said she was ok. But her illness persisted, so we sent her to Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH). Doctor found she had water in her lungs and she was admitted to the ICU. At one stage, she stopped breathing and lost the baby. She was hanging on to her dear life and needed the respirator to support her.

One day when I was visiting her alone in ICU, the doctors were talking at the back but they didn't know I was there. I heard one doctor said that he made some mistakes in administering some medicine to her. I was so shocked and didn't know what to do. I didn't have any evidence in order to sue the doctor.

Just before Jul passed away, she told us that she was flying home soon. I was so sad that I cried cos I knew that the Lord was going to take her home.

Death is a part of life but it doesn't make it easy for those loved ones who are still on this earth. Even as an adult it is so hard to accept the fact that someone close to you is passing on, let alone a child. Jul left behind her only 2 y.o. daughter Chloe at that time.

The consolation for us as Christians is that we will see each other again in the future. That is a hope we have.

Recently I asked Chloe and she said she has no recollection of her mum. I really pity her for having to grow up without a mum.

She has been staying with us since beginning of this year. I hope by staying with us, there would at least be some compensation and give her some stability in her life.

FOC Sony 29" TV

Jul 11, 2007, 8:09 pm

A week ago today, I was given a free 29" Sony TV! Ya, God is good.

The owner of the TV wanted to buy a new one and so gave away the old one. My lounge room table is large enough to accomodate this TV and the one I have has been moved up to my bedroom. But so far I haven't touched the TV in my bedroom yet as I seldom watch TV.

Lunch at Viet Cafe on 7 July 2007

Jul 7, 2007, 9:13 pm

7 July 2007 - What a nice date, only comes by once a 100 years.

Today Audrey and I had lunch at Viet Cafe, same row as Nam Hing Hotel, 7 11 and Moon Bell Restaurant in Kota Kinabalu city. This is the first time for Audrey while I have been for a few times.

I like the 'pho' (Vietnamese beef noodles) here. It is more authentic than Peppermint, which has adjusted the taste to suit more local taste, more like 'ngau chap'. I also tried 'pho' at a 'pho' shop when I was in The Curve, Petaling Jaya last year but sad to say, none of these three shops are as good as the 'pho' I usually had for brunch with friends after attending church on Sunday in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia during my study days. But the 'pho' served in Viet Cafe comes close.

Audrey and I both had 'pho' and I ordered the prawn spring rolls wrongly. I should have asked for the fried ones but I forgot. But Audrey said it is healthier. hahaThe 'pho' was not as good as the ones I tried at this same shop before. Could it be that the bosses are not around and the cook didnt put all the herbs inside? haha

I don't know. But still, it was quite satisfying cos I didn't have 'pho' for a few months already.

We chatted for a while before going separate ways. Audrey went for a haircut while I went retail therapy but didnt buy anything.

Bonus and Increment Time

Jul 5, 2007, 9:24 pm

Last Monday, my lady boss told me to work out bonus for all office staff. That was indeed a wonderful surprise for everyone. I don't think anyone expected that.

Besides that, we will be given a pay rise w.e.f. end of this month. Yeah! It's worth the wait after one and a half year.

On top of that, I am getting a sizeable amount for my OT claim since I am basically working an extra hour per day, sometimes also on Saturday afternoon as well as bringing work home to do.

Thank God for the blessing; and time to continue to bless Him back and not forgetting friends as well.

Dinner at Supertanker Restaurant on 1 July 2007

Jul 3, 2007, 9:32 pm

Last night Uncle Ho (one of mum's younger brother who lives in London) and his wife, Aunty Julie arrived from Johor Bahru (enroute from Canada, United States, Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia and Singapore). They are staying with us before going to Sandakan on 5 July 2007.

This morning my cousin Bikyee called her mum from London to wish her mum a happy birthday. Since she gave me that information, I had to act on it and do something.

We were already planning to take them out for dinner but we didn't book a table in any restaurants. So I sms my sis-in-law and told her to discuss with mum where we should go for dinner. She managed to book a table for 10 people at Supertanker Restaurant, Penampang.

We had salty veg soup, fried chicken stuffed with slice of ham and honey chicken (both kinds of chicken in one plate), wet butter prawn, stir fried ostrich meat with ginger and shallots, stir fried mixed veges with scallops, beancurd and mushroom with seafood (slices of fish, prawns, sotong) claypot and stir fried sayur manis with chilli and belacan. All the dishes came in quite large servings but we managed to eat everything except for a few pieces of honey chicken (that was only cos the chicken pieces were cut quite big). Uncle said all the food were very tasty especially the sayur manis. After dinner, everybody was served a piece of green 'kou'.

We went home and gave Aunty Julie a surprise mocha birthday cake (quite nice).

Dinner at Supertanker Restaurant on 17 July 2007

Jul 3, 2007, 9:32 pm



Last night Uncle Ho (one of mum's younger brother who lives in London) and his wife, Aunty Julie arrived from Johor Bahru (enroute from Canada, United States, Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia and Singapore). They are staying with us before going to Sandakan on 5 July 2007.



This morning my cousin Bikyee called her mum from London to wish her mum a happy birthday. Since she gave me that information, I had to act on it and do something.



We were already planning to take them out for dinner but we didn't book a table in any restaurants. So I sms my sis-in-law and told her to discuss with mum where we should go for dinner. She managed to book a table for 10 people at Supertanker Restaurant, Penampang.



We had salty veg soup, fried chicken stuffed with slice of ham and honey chicken (both kinds of chicken in one plate), wet butter prawn, stir fried ostrich meat with ginger and shallots, stir fried mixed veges with scallops, beancurd and mushroom with seafood (slices of fish, prawns, sotong) claypot and stir fried sayur manis with chilli and belacan. All the dishes came in quite large servings but we managed to eat everything except for a few pieces of honey chicken (that was only cos the chicken pieces were cut quite big). Uncle said all the food were very tasty especially the sayur manis. After dinner, everybody was served a piece of green 'kou'.



We went home and gave Aunty Julie a surprise mocha birthday cake (quite nice).