: : I’m OK!!! : :

Hi all! This is a quick note to say that I’m fine and so is Granny. We’re not hit by any tidal waves and are quite a bit of distance away from where it struck. I’m not in Kuching at the moment, am back home in Miri. Granny is, however, in Kuching. Both of us are not facing or nearby the epicenter of the quake which occured off the coast of Sumatera Island. We’re on another island, the island of Borneo which is facing the coastal line of Vietnam, Taiwan, Cambodia. We’re not facing Sumatera Island at all and are block by Peninsula Malaysia. The areas in Malaysia that were affected by the tidal waves was Penang and the west coast of Peninsula Malaysia. Tremors were felt in KL but not sure about other parts of Peninsula.

Needless to say, we’re checking on friends and family in Penang. Thankfully, they’re all alright and are doing fine. Some of them have felt some tremors but nothing was damage so far.

To let the readers know, Malaysia is not within the earthquake belt. This belt is nearby though, running through the islands of Indonesia (Sumatera, Java, Bali), so we’re just outside the border of this belt. Occasional tremors can be felt in Sarawak, in all cities and towns but luckily no major damage has been felt. However, I did hear from Dad that a road did crack in Berkenu or somewhere on the outskirts of Miri, indicating a major quake happening. Houses and high-rise buildings in Malaysia are not built to withstand earthquakes. However, I’m sure that would be changing really soon. Don’t think they can build houses to withstand tsunamis though.

Watching CNN today, saw the devastation happening to a lot of the areas : Sri Lanka, India, Thailand. Saw pictures of what’s happening in Penang from the local newspapers. It’s bad.

So, Kuching is safe. Miri, on the other hand, is dealing with torrents of rain and flash floods. I got caught in one yesterday with the heavy downpour from the hills. The town area was totally flooded as well as some of the roads were totally submerged. Luckily, I made it home safe and sound in my Sina’s (mum) little Proton Wire which made it through the high waters safely. Got very wet getting out of the car but after a quick hot shower, everything was fine again.

Having said that, I’m suffering from a cold and fever with a running nose to boot. Guzzling loads of orange juice and getting plenty of rest. Also, catching up on DVD movies that I didn’t quite managed to catch throughout the year.

Cheerio all and have a Happy New Year!

: : Potstickers : :

Digging through my picture gallery, I found this picture of pot stickers. Think it was taken at the last Mooncake Festival held a few months ago.

I like these. The filling was pork meat with chopped mangkuang and onions. Plus, it was spicy so went well for me and Granny.

You can order these potstickers from a little quaint tea shop called Life Cafe along Carpenter Street. The degree of spicyness can also be chosen. There are 5 different categories and I usually order spicyness no. 3. That’s enough for me. They use chilli oil to make it hot. Wooo!

: : 2004 Food Blog ~ Theme (Nomination) : :

For a blog that suddenly turn half-baked some time this year, I got nominated into a food award session. Wow! Thanks to whoever that nominated me. Many thanks to Kate for organizing the awards. Woohoo!

The 2004 Food Blog Awards is organized by Kate of Accidental Hedonist. Do stop by to check out the various awards in the category and if you so feel inclined, do vote for little ol’ me. Then again, I’m not hoping much because it’s been a really really quiet year for me this year in terms of food blogging.

And no, it’s not because I’ve ran out of pictures. I’ve still have about 100+ pictures sitting in my PC. Must clear it up.

Ok, must blog tonite. Must make effort to blog tonite. And a long posting too. Hee hee…

Can’t wait until it’s time to fly back to home. Spending a week in Miri so not blogging much. Then again, what else is new? hee hee…

Anyway, Merry Xmas to all.

: : 2004 Food Blog ~ Theme (Nomination) : :

For a blog that suddenly turn half-baked some time this year, I got nominated into a food award session. Wow! Thanks to whoever that nominated me. Many thanks to Kate for organizing the awards. Woohoo!

The 2004 Food Blog Awards is organized by Kate of Accidental Hedonist. Do stop by to check out the various awards in the category and if you so feel inclined, do vote for little ol’ me. Then again, I’m not hoping much because it’s been a really really quiet year for me this year in terms of food blogging.

And no, it’s not because I’ve ran out of pictures. I’ve still have about 100+ pictures sitting in my PC. Must clear it up.

Ok, must blog tonite. Must make effort to blog tonite. And a long posting too. Hee hee…

Can’t wait until it’s time to fly back to home. Spending a week in Miri so not blogging much. Then again, what else is new? hee hee…

Anyway, Merry Xmas to all.

: : Seng Kee Seafood ~ Miri : :

About 2 weekends ago, I made a trip back to Miri for Dad’s 55th birthday. On the night I arrived, Dad and Sina’ brought me out to eat some seafood at a place I’ve not been before. As always, I’m game to try out new stuff.

We made our order and I went around looking for things to take a snapshot. This is the famous Betutu Fish which is really expensive. I think it goes for something like RM30-RM50 (USD7.90 – USD13.10) per kilogram. Not sure about the English name though. It’s a type of coral fish which is very fleshy and the flesh itself is tender and juicy. It’s a sea fish. Famous in Asia and is known to be more expensive than what it actually costs in Miri. Sina’ and Dad usually goes down to a nearby town called Berkenu to eat this fish fresh and also, it’s definitely cheaper.

One of my favourite dishes : Drunken Prawn. The prawn used is the freshwater version, hence it’s big claws. Live prawns are dark grey with long blue claws. The size of the prawn can reach as big as one’s hand. The dish is cooked in ginger and chilli as well as a huge dose of Chinese Wine added in. Why drunken prawn? Well, from what I heard, the live prawn is cook in Chinese Wine, making it drunk. Hee hee… for us, we tend to use the frozen prawn as it’s cheaper and frankly speaking, we couldn’t tell the different between the cooked frozen prawn and the cooked live prawn. Anyway, we had to get this dish changed because the prawn was off. Yeah, it happens, even to us. That’s the thing about seafood – every once in a while, you’ll get something that is not fresh.

There are steam fish and there are STEAM FISH. We’ve always enjoyed eating fish and I’ve grown up eating them a lot. This is Steamed Garupa with soy sauce. Fried chopped garlic was added on later. Notice the plate is on a rack. Underneath the rack is a little candle to keep the meal nice and warm. It’s common in Chinese Restaurants in Asia to have this kind of plate and rack together to keep the fish moist and warm. Note that certain garupas has sweet and tender flesh that is suitable for this type of steaming method. There are some types whose flesh is kind of hard and more suitable for deep frying.

We also ordered a small veggie this. We had cangkuk manis stir-fried with egg. Definitely something good for folks with high blood pressure.

This was the replacement dish suggested by the cook after we sent back the Drunken Prawn. It’s steam prawn with egg white, ginger and (again) a dash of Chinese wine. Why egg white? Well, Sina’ and Dad are eating healthily these days so I just go with the flow. It’s actually not too bad and the flavours just come out.

Where is Seng Kee Seafood? It’s located at Jade Green Garden, a group of shoplots in the middle of the older part of Miri town. It’s behind the MAS office. If you know where to find the ais kacang @ iced peanut shop, it’s in front of this shop. It’s also in front of Apollo Seafood Restaurant. Nice place to eat seafood.

Cheerio all!