Miri, City of Love

Miri is a town that holds a lot of memories for Mum and Dad. It's the place where Mum first met Dad. (Dad had previously seen Mum around Sibu, the perve!!!) It's the place where they fell in love. It's the place where they lived for a few years while Dad worked as a policeman. It's the place where Monica was born.

Mum went to Miri with her cousin to meet the cousin's boyfriend, Ambrose. Ambrose was Dad's colleague and he went with Ambrose to meet the girls. Apparently it was love at first sight and by the time the trip was over, it was pretty much a done deal. Engaged not that long afterwards and a wedding followed quickly. Can you blame him?? Mum was a looker! Mum had a 21 inch waist. None of her kids can say the same. Monica has a 21 inch neck though. Heheheh I kid!
But Dad was quite handsome and stylish too! The lovebirds on Miri's beach:
Dad looked like he was up to no good. Mum would have locked the 6 of us up if a boy who looked like Dad came knocking on our doors. Double standards!
Married and safely off the market. Phew! Wish Mum kept all her clothes.... what a waste.
This is Tanjung Lobang, the beachside area where Mum and Dad had their first date years ago. Look how romantic the place is. Mum really never had a chance since Dad brought out his A game on the first date. Sucker!!



When Mum and Dad lived in Miri for the first few years of their marriage, they used to bring Melinda and Monica here to play. Even when we came back visiting years later, they would still revisit this place. Check me out in my sexy swimsuit (i'm the first from the left with the full belly):
Hey look, a zebra right in the middle of Miri city!! Ok, it's made of stone...
Miri has a small suburb across the river which is accessible by this very quaint bridge. It's a private bridge built by Shell and has a disclaimer that Shell isn't to be held accountable for any damages, injury, death etc sustained from using the bridge. Sweeet!

Miri Hospital used to be across the river so Mum had to take a ferry across when she had Monica 45 years ago (ok more like 36). The hospital is no longer there so this is the approximate spot where she was born.

As Dad was a government employee, they got to live in one of houses supplied to the police. This is the only house remaining now.

So while I didn't enjoy the trip to Miri or the food there (hence the lack of Miri food posts), I did enjoy hearing how and seeing where Mum and Dad spent a crucial part of their lives together. Bit weird thinking of your parents as good looking young people and even weirder as good looking young people with love lives. You know what I mean.

Roadtrip to Miri - Part 1

It was going to be a busy few days leading up to Christmas because we were going to drive to Miri, a town which is 394 kms away from Sibu. The plan was to drive there on the 22nd, drive on to Brunei on the 23rd for a day trip, attend the wedding reception on the 24th and then drive home on Christmas Day in time to attend yet another wedding reception that night.


Various luggage in the boot:

Backseat where I napped most of the way to Miri:

My snacks for the roadtrip - drinks, Pringles chippies, biscuits, beef jerky hohoho

My blankie and cushions ... mmm so cosy:

Typical scene throughout the trip - palm trees plantations on both sides of the road:

Then it started raining quite heavily:

Poor dad had to keep his concetration driving in such conditions:

Miri is only 394 kms away so the trip should only take around 4 hours but it took SEVEN!!! because of the road conditions. Most of the time, it's pretty good but when you least expect it, the road would have sneaky potholes here and there:

Even when the potholes have been repaired, things are not that much better. Instead of resealing the whole road, they only reseal the parts where the pothole was. Result: Uneven road:

Hehehe bumpy road = bumpy lines:

After seven loooong bumpy hours, we finally got to Miri. How do I know I've reached civilisation? They've got Starbucks!!!! Heheh Sibu hasn't got it - not that i drink Starbucks.

Checked into our hotel. View from our 10th floor room. You can just make out the sea/ocean (?). Miri is a coastal town.

You Better Watch Out!

Have you been a good boy or girl this year? Cos Santa (ok, me in this example) is always watching!!

PS: This is what happens when I've got too much time on my hands... I discover festive photoframes to play around with... also, look how cool my hair's highlights look!!!

Dashing Thru' The Snow .........

HO! HO! HO! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! AND TO ALL, A VERY GOOD NIGHT!!!!!

Wedding Season aka Open Season

End of year is wedding season in Sibu because it's close to Christmas and Chinese New Year which is the time when people come home for their annual family reunions. As such, it's a good time to have weddings to minimise hassles for out of towners. As most of you know, two of my sisters are also getting married this month. I've come to think of wedding season as open season at the moment. Instead of deer hunting, the animal of choice is ME!!! I have gone through the following situation many many times now.

Stranger A: Congratulations. I heard your daughter is getting married. Oh is this the one getting married?
Mother: Oh no, this is the 3rd daughter. Not her.
Stranger A: Oh! When is your turn? (to me)
Me: I'm secretly a lesbian and am planning my civil ceremony with my hot girlfriend. (Ok I didnt say anything. Just shake my head politely)
Mother: Aiya, she is naughty. Dragging her feet. You need to match make for her.
Stranger A: Backs away in horror......

Heheheheheh

Anyway Mother and I went to attend the wedding mass of Yan Yan, Auntie Ivy's daughter. Auntie Ivy used to live in the apartment above ours at Hock Peng. The tiny apartment we grew up in. A place that held a lot of memories for us.

Never attended a wedding mass before and it was very ritualistic. The programme was 22 pages thick. I did enjoy belting out Ave Maria though.... not sure if the guy sitting in front of me enjoyed it as much as me.
Interiors of St Mary's church:

The friar (?!? hehehe Robin Hood Prince of Thieves...Kevin Costner --> be still Ah Here's heart). Hey, notice how he was wearing jandals???? I thought maybe there was going to be a baptism for some reason during the ceremony which would explain his footwear. But he remained dry the whole time. Hmm curious.
The happy couple and the Father. She looks exactly like Auntie Ivy. PS: What's with the white suit?
Wedding March. Held my camera the wrong way and I can't rotate the file:

I found the Father's voice amusing so I took a short video of it:

The mushy part --> the vows:


PS: I would have taken a pic of the kiss but it was so PG I didn't bother. Peck on the cheek!! Very weak... and the audience actually went "Wooooooo". Hmmm these Sibuans are very prim and proper.

Mum's Cooking is The Best! Part 1

Mum is a really great cook which is the main reason why 4 of her 6 kids suffered from childhood obesity. (Note that the esteemed writer is one of the two lucky ones heheh.) Unfortunately, most of her children have not inherited her cooking skills. (Note the esteemed writer is one of the unfortunate ones in this case.) One of the things that Mum makes every so often and is luuurrrved by Dad is : Taro Cake. Kinda like the carrot cake you get at Yum Cha. Same texture and similar taste. Except Mum puts those tiny dried prawns in her taro cake which makes it so fragrant and yummy.

Steamed Taro Cake fresh out of the steamer:

Piece of the taro cake. Bit mushy looking because it was piping hot so the shape hadn't quite gelled.

Deep fried version:

Yum yumm.... all in my tum tumm now.

Life as an Unemployed Person

My daily schedule when I am at home at the moment is as such:

8.30 ish (more like 9 am) Wake up
9 am to 9.30 am Get ready using super human speed - face/hair/get dressed/check emails and/or blogs
9.30 to 9.40 am Drop Dad off at his office.
9.40 to 10.30 am Go have breakfast some where with Mum.
10.30 to 10.40 am Drive home for toilet stop. Yes Sibu is THAT small.
10.40 am to 12 pm Drive around Sibu's crazy one way traffic system. It's ridiculous how many detours you have to make to get from A to B when B is just directly opposite A. Work out what to buy Dad for his lunch as well as our snacks as Mum and I don't have lunch. Go buy said lunch and snacks.
12 pm to 12.10 pm Pick up Dad and go home.
12.10 to 6 pm Watch tv with Mum/Snack/Go out to the malls/Snack/Update blog/Snack/Surf the net
6 pm to 7 pm Dinner
7 pm onwards Watch tv with Mum while Dad is upstairs doing mysterious manly chores/Snack/Update blog/Snack/Surf the net.
12 am Sleep

Yes, it is indeed a hard life. But I think I am up to the challenge. heheh

Those Were The Good Old Days

After church today, Mum and Dad decided to take me to Hock Chu Leu Restaurant for lunch. Hock Chu Leu (HCL) is one of the oldest restaurants in Sibu so it has a very vintagey (read: old and run down) feel to it. HCL is situated on Blacksmith Road which is where Mum grew up. HCL is also the restaurant where Mum and Dad had their engagement dinner thirty odd years ago.

Check out the vintagey wooden sign:
Interior of the restaurant:

Best noodles I've had in Sibu up to today. It's got that smokey taste that reminds me of certain parts of my (gluttonny) childhood:

One of HCL's specialties. Sea cucumber soup = the soup tastes similar to shark fin soup. Check out the chubby sea cucumber:

Another specialty - braised mushroom, scallops, chicken and chinese cabbage. Sounds and looks a bit plain and uninteresting but it was DELISH and healthy. Yum, i loved this.

Last but not least, we always get these giant steamed dumplings when we come here. Mels favourite:

I dedicate this photo to Mel:

Afterwards we wandered down the street and Mum and Dad reminiscenced about the good old days. Grandma was a hairdresser and her shop was on Blacksmith Road. Mum lived above the shop with Grandma. Mum was a spoilt brat and used to wait until there were clients around and then she would ask Grandma for money in front of these clients so that Grandma had to give her money to shut her up. Heheh

Blacksmith Road:

People still live upstairs these days:

This shop was already here when Mum was growing up. Grandma's shop was behind this. It's a jewellery shop.

Dad likes to joke that Mum used to sit at the shop front to look out for him. But that's a total lie because Dad was a kampung (village) boy while Mum was a city gal. He grew up in the village across the river. He told us that he used to have to take the ferry to school everyday and it costed 30 cents. So everyday he would go to school with 30 cents in his pockets, just enough for the ferry trip. Funnily enough, he never lost the 30 cents.