ONE DAY TRIP AROUND TOWN

5/11/2013

The countdown began again today as it was a public holiday.

Items off the list- the red hanging for the doorway and paper cupcakes for the tea ceremony- saves the hassle of washing the teacups and more hygienic! 

I am very thankful that  my sisters and sister in law, Evon had agreed to drive and accompany me to deliver the invitation cards to our relatives. My sister called it our "one day trip around town". The relatives are our cousins - all of us belonging to the same age generation  and yet sad to say that we seldom meet up with each other except during wedding dinners and funerals.  Even then it is just brief  hello and  "ni hou mah?" 

So I am really glad of this opportunity to be able to visit them personally at their homes- (some have beautiful well kept homes in contrast to some in careless squalor),  to see how they live and work (some taking time to travel around the world while some have to "work" ie looking after grandkids!) and really know their family better ie how many children and grandchildren they have!  We also take this opportunity to visit one or 2 who were not feeling well!. 

     

Ready to go- the "red bomb" - all carefully addressed as my late father was very particular about the proper way to addres our elders.   We have a  list of our relatives names which was created from the very first wedding hosted by my brother todate and its definitely a great help now  to all of us as we just need to follow the list, though of course over times, some of them have already passed on.

  

My sister J who is the driver mapped out our day trip. We went to Subang to pick up my eldest sister and then our first stop to Puchong for breakfast!

Scrumptious tender braised pork belly with black fungus...and omg see thoses pieces of lard?  We all agreed that for a good dish of wanton mee, it needs to be mix with the lard and this did not disappoint us!  My sister and me normally could not order wanton mee while eating out, but this wanton mee was really  delicious 

Besides the braised pork belly, you can  also opt to have it as deep-fried.  These are crunchy on the outside while retaining its juicy and tender meat inside. These are deep fried early every moning and hence the freshness.

What is wanton mee without wantons?  We loved these crispy morsels-the mixture of prawns and meat is well balanced

Where can you find this gorgeous wanton mee? It is one of the many kopitiams behind Tesco (Puchong)-  Restoran Kum Sing around the Top Ten lightning shop.

  

I notice that a Happy man always cook delicious food.
And the prices and serving are very reasonable too.

What  is a day trip without any shopping? We took a breather and went shopping at this place.

All sorts of organic rice, 18 multi grains, 8 multi grains etc.

Imported white rice  and glutinous rice - wonderful aromatic pulut susu from Thailand too!

The boss here recommended this "sha tin rice" for making congee- can't wait to try it.

They also have a special "dog rice" -yes for the doggies- something like multigrains rice. 

 It's teatime  - "remember to eat" (in chinese)- tong sui.

 They also serve cold ice desserts- which we did not try.

All our childhood favourites- but defnitely does not taste the same

from left :barley with fuchok and gingko; Bubur cha-cha (which has no yam and not with santan); water chestnut with corn and peanut tong sui.  

We ordered some tidbits - fried stuffed crab shells with pork 

steamed radish cake - this was soft and pleasing with julienned pieces of white radish.

Fried Scallion (spring onions) pancake.

After teatime it  started to rain as we made our way to the old town of  Petaling Jaya to visit more relatives.

The final card was given out and we decided to have an early dinner since we did not take our lunch before returning my eldest sister back home.   

Ikuzo Ramen at IOI Boulevard,  Puchong

Tori Katsu Don - Fried Chicken Rice Bowl

Ramen with Cha Shu - disappointed that it is not the rich and creamy tonkotsu soup

Kimuchi Ramen - 

Buta Kakuni Ramen - a fat piece of braised pork which was rather bland too but the white radish was soft and sweet.  

The staff suggested a add-on of RM3.00 for this side dishes, drink and dessert (fruits)

Side dish consist: kimchi, fried gyoza (pot stickers) and turnip sticks in their wafu dressing.

Final stop - Snowflakes which is just next door for desserts before we proceeded home. 

Did I enjoy this day?- a Big YES.  

I treasured the time together with my sisters and Evon and  realised that both  my sisters have great PR personalities!  Most of our relatives are more familiar with my eldest sister, who proudly announced on arrival on  my behalf that "Ah Kuen's son is getting married".....hahahah.  While most of them also questioned my sister J when she is going to become a grandma... because they remember her son's wedding... hahaha.   

I loved sharing food with them (always love eating with people who also enjoy their food!) and I enjoyed getting to know more about my relatives.

And I am looking forward to see all you folks at the wedding dinner. 

ESCAPADE TO SG. LEMBING

23/10/2013

I first come to know about Sg Lembing from the post by The NasiLemak Lover. I was pretty impressed by the beautiful scenery in her post.   Upon further enquiry from my sister J,  she told me that she had a relative staying there. So when my sister M came home for a short holiday, we decided to make our escapade to Sg. Lembing.

The yogi never miss an opportunity to practise... good props for doing yoga pose!

After around 2 hours of driving, we finally arrived at Sg. Lembing..

 The kongsi - Hakka Association and Hainan Association next to each other.

 Sleepy, quiet town.... it was a weekday but come weekend it is a different story as our relative told us.

This is the main street - many of these old wooden houses are closed as residents have moved out of  Sg Lembing during the bad economy. 

 The iconic hundred years old tree in the town centre..the row of tress in the centre separating both sides of the road- no need traffic lights here.

Wonder if this house is occupied.... most of the houses seems vacant..

We found the only shop which was opened for lunch nearby the market. On its wall, was a certification that Axian (YC programme) had visited their shop, so hoefully the  food should be good and clean here. 

    

 Sg. Lembing is famous for their soft white taufoo- probably due to the water supply here, I was told.  However the taufoo was doused with too much black sauce, so could not get the full flavour of the taufoo but the texture is very soft.

We were recommend this clear soothing wintermelon soup... tasty and come to think of it, I seldom use wintermelon in chicken soup, so far mostly used it for the barley tong sui.

We all loved this--even May who took only the soft powdery yam while we clamoured for the gelatinous braised pork belly.

This poached chicken is also very tender and juicy. 

We also ordered 2 stir-fried vegetables and the total bill was around RM70 if I can remember.  The cost of living is definitely cheap here.

It is time to walk off the heavy lunch.   The museum was located on top of a hill and it was a rather steep walk up.
 

The building was formerly the residence of the Manager of the tin-mine.

Sg. Lembing was once a prosperous tin-mining town.

Lembing is the Malay word for a spear that was used for hunting.

Local legend said that the spear was later found in the river (sungai) thus the name Sungai Lembing

Model to showing the depth of the tin mine 

This was where and how the staff worked- manual typewriters and telefax machines  

The formation of various ores, crystals, granites etc.  

We enjoyed the museum - it was very informative and clean and the staff well mannered. 

From the museum its a short drive to the underground tunnels of the tin mine

All on board.... we are going tin-mining now.

This carrier took us into just the first part of the tunnel 

From then on, it was on foot into the dark (certain parts), wet (because of  the water dripping from above) and errily quiet underground tunnels. 

one of the caverns at the end of tunnel- most of the workers have to go topless due to the heat (deep into the ground) and heavy work  

As we wandered down the tunnel we can see many low lying tunnels by the side. 

These are actually dis-used tin mines... 

Can you imagine working down in this mine? 

After exploring, we finally made our way out from this side opening- back to the light!. 

This hand pump wagon was used to carry out the tin ores.

We meet up with my sister's relative and she took us to our resort to check in. 

The lady boss of  Sg. Lembing Riverview Resort.. ...

Lime tree - not for plucking though. 

She told us that her family used to stay in this house.  But now the children have gone away to work, so now this house is for rental for families to resort. 

Lotus pond at end of the resort.

Glorious Morning  glory... have not seen this species around KL though.

The resort is spacious and these are chalets with 4 bedrooms each- well maintained, clean and basic amendities with air-con and hot showers. Fresh air and quiet surroundings (oh... btw we have to pass a chinese cemetery on the way in) and it was like we have the whole place to ourselves for the night.

My sister's relative... can remember her as a sweet young thing!

Now a successful business woman together with her husband producing this special Lembing Biscuits. 

This crusty biscuit is delicious with a cup of coffee... so remember to buy a few packets home and its cheap.

Coming next .... the greatest challenge....