7 Brilliant Quotes

 found this on Facebook and i think its worth sharing.. once a while we all need a little reminder & motivational boost..

Meeting in Sri Aman

the next morning I head on to my meeting in Sri Aman, passing through Serian

 having roti canai with lamb curry at AVS Restaurant, Serian.. seems that lots of people like the lamb curry here

 Sri Aman is famous for benak or large tidal waves.. unfortunately we just missed it which was suppose to be at 5pm

had some ice cream with corn, oreo or jelly at a little shop 

 ice peppermint at the Benak Cafe at night, followed by supper at After 6 Cafe which is at a wooden house

and of course the breakfast, minum pagi and minum petang at the hotel which a souvenir of the benak in the top right picture

then its back home again.. we dropped by Lanchau for the market and toilet stop. i noticed the middle water bottles as guessed what's inside? little yummy white fat juicy sago worms.. i think i'll pass (i had them before so i know how it tastes like anyway)

and then its back to the north of Sarawak again. can't wait for the next chance out, in 2 weeks time!

Transiting Kuching for the Weekend

for those who are posted in rural districts like myself, you would understand how it feels like to grab any opportunity to leave the place, whether to leave for a holiday or for official matters like attending a meeting, a course, some visits (lawatan) etc..

and the first glimpse of hope of such chance appeared end of April as i have a meeting in Sri Aman which transits in Kuching. although the meeting was postponed 2 weeks later (fell ill for nearly 2 weeks that time, just days into taking over my new role), i was more than happy to transit in Kuching although just for a short weekend for my meeting on Monday.

 

once i arrived that Friday night we had a simple dinner at Singapore Chicken Rice near Rock Road and the 3rd mile round-a-bout

 Saturday morning we had dim sum breakfast was at Yamitsu Restaurant at 101. the egg tart was one of the better dishes. boy, do i miss dim sum! (yes, Brunei serves dim sum but its halal so somehow its just not exactly the same)

that night i was excited to try the home-and-also-restaurant called Chef at Home at Hui Sing 5/6 which can be seen from the Sherip Masahor main road.. the environment was very similar to alot of rainforest or Borneo themed restaurants like Stutong's Sharing Planet, Basaga, the Junk etc..

lamb chop and lamb shank

 pasta and grilled salmon

 and last but not least, the dessert, chocolate pudding with ice cream. the food here is a little pricier (if you want to compare with Richmond) but its worth it for the quality. the only problem: Parking your car!

 next morning after having Laksa for breakfast (didn't get any in Limbang!) went off to a simple road trip out to Bau. these are just little road-side stalls selling local products and i just had to take picture of that red banana..

for a change i didn't go to tHe Spring as i heard there's a new place to hang out near the airport, Kuching Sentral! wow parking is really full that day! there's several supermarkets like H&L Supermarket, Grand Supermarket, Lea Center & several department shops and lots of cafes and fast food chains like Sugarbun, SCR, Life Terminal, KFC, Lof Bakery and of course a food court

i nearly forgot to mention there's a bus terminal too.. obviously n_n"

 2nd floor

having lunch at the food court with yong tau hu and RM10 Pizza. the design was quite simple and moden

 ah, another place i was eager to visit in my To-Eat-List (yes i have one for Kuching and its very long, and there's also one for every city i want to go & feast in... n_n") is Fullhouse at Hills Shopping Mall. it has several chains all over Malaysia.

 one reason why i like this place its that its soooo my style (in fact several friends have visited this restaurant at different chains and told me about it as they knew i would like it): Feminite and British-like which reminds me of my old love, afternoon tea

the menu and the little cakes on display

 the unique drinks: Vanilla Dragon Fruit Blended with those balls that pop in your mouth and Soda Red Apple Peppermint with Passion Fruit Top. fancy fancy. perhaps i should have real tea instead.

 since we weren't planning for a heavy meal, mashed potatoes (not bad) and little cakes will do. they do have a lot of Western food choices like pasta, chicken chop, lamb shank and also asian dishes which i would try next time, on an empty stomach

 

 having some quality girl-time

 

 On my final night in Kuching my simple parents brought me to the corner fast food shop, Chicago 7 which is very near my house (in fact i always use this place as a landmark when i tell people where i stay) Although its so near my house, its the first time i came to eat here that night

 

 and for more chilling time, we went to Isabella's at 4th mile.. i like this place as it has a very cozy environment

 yes, chilling chilling chilling.. just a short weekend in Kuching but i had the indulging-dose which i needed badly, Laksa, dim sum, nice restaurants like Chef at Home, chilling at cafes like Fullhouse and Isabella's and checking out new places like Kuching Sentral.

oh, i actually nearly forgot the reason i was back that weekend, to go for a 2-day meeting in Sri Aman on Monday! oh well, can't complain!

Lawas - Sipitang Labour Day trip

last Labour Day was totally unplanned when a couple of colleagues asked me just hours before if i would want to join them for a day trip to Lawas to visit another colleague.. 

and obviously, Off i went!

we found that Lawas seems to have alot more eateries (can't help but to keep comparing the two districts) we had lunch at Hao Wei Seafood restaurant, nearby the pao shop

4 pretty girls having a day trip together

and since there's nothing else left to do in Lawas, we went straight on to Sipitang

for satay, ABC, cendol and banana fritters

seems that we did not have enough for each other.. once we got back to Limbang we went to the local funfair for some cheap rides and games (which i Never Ever Everrr go in Kuching.. ) before we have more icy supper

feels odd to just be small-town-me and enjoy random stuff like having satay & ABC and going for cheap rides at a local funfair, playing games which the odds are definitely against you just to win cheap toys you can easily buy but not want anyway... (maybe in high school but Now???) i laugh at myself knowing full well my New toys should be handbags & shoes, make ups & clothes, not cheap toys or cartoon stationary, and that i even took wayyyyy scarier theme park rides overseas, not these simple rides to please the small-town kids.. just for the fun of reenacting adolescence or blending in with the crowd?

been doing things that i definitely won't be caught dead doing anywhere else.. Haih, look what small towns can do to you!

Gadong Drive Trip 8

i have definitely reached the point that i overvisited Gadong cause even though i was sick, i still felt like i could drive all the way there cause its just-another-nearby-town

there's a new shop opening in town, Korean brand Missha, so i did a little shopping (meaning the things i buy are small sized but the prices are definitely not!)

and lunch at Hot Point, another eatery on the 2nd floor of The Mall

although its a western place there are fusion dishes as well, i had grilled fish just to try the western dishes.. the fish and the curry laksa was so so

and the real main reason i went to Gadong?

Avengers 3D!!! 
totally worth it!

Gadong Day Trip 7

this weekend i was Suppose to be in Kuching, to be back home after nearly 4 months (since Christmas!) but somehow my meeting was postponed and so was my trip :(

since i had to stay back here, the Only consolation is go to my usual 'The Spring' for a treat with pigging out and going to the movies. even my friends were saying we were going to Gadong a lot lately, like nearly every week. i don't even think i visit The Spring that often when i was back home. perhaps the need to drive 1.5hours and cross the border makes it more enticing, compared to The Spring which is just minutes away from my house.

we went to the Gelato Cafe in The Mall, which is similar to our Kokoberry

 bubble milk tea, ice cream and crepes with the girls

we went to watch Battleship.. its quite good actually, love the effects

 we dropped by Seasons Coffee which is on the 2nd floor of the Centrepoint Hotel to check out the place, looks really modern & posh, the food is more than $10 (not too expensive) and the lunch buffet which we miss is $18.. maybe next time

headed behind The Mall to the Unitek Building where three restaurants are located back-to-back (Dim Sum shop, which I've been previously), the middle, Thiam Hock, a Chinese restaurant famous for curry fish head..

and Sawaddee House, a Thai restaurant

cendol dessert

pad see noodles (like tang hoon) and chicken with rice

pad thai noodles and noodles in soup.. the pad thai is not bad too

seems that my friends and i are starting to explore more and more restaurants in Gadong to try out.. very soon we would have tried them all here, and then we would have to start invading Bandar Seri Begawan's restaurants..

Long Napir & Long Rayeh Mobile Clinic Trip 5

Last week i went on the a-week-long outstation travelling 

(Yes, Again! 3rd time this year).. 

thinking of the very-rocky-bumpy-Hours-long-logging-roads-that-never-fails-to-make-me-nauseated ..

the not-24-hours-electricity-so-its-gets-really-hot-without-the-fan..

the suddenly-no-water-to-even-shower-toilet-brush-teeth-wash-dishes..

the definitely-no-phone-line-what-more-to-say-internet..

the lots-of-bugs-sandflies-mosquites-having-a-feast-on-me..

the walking-in-mud-grass-and-all-sweaty-smelly-with-lots-of-dirty-laundry-after

the only thing i can say in my heart is.. 'Embrace yourself, helen!' the exact same thing i say before a roller coaster ride, only that the ride lasts for a minute, not a Whole week.

not far from the kampung

the medical team setting up the mobile clinic

and the dental team at work at the 1st kampung with the majority Kelabits

.. and at the 2nd kampung, with the majority Penans

well, maybe it wasn't TOO bad afterall, the only Pro is i don't have to worry about food

the more senior staff are good at fishing and they caught lots of fishes!
fresh from the river!

we even went to harvest from local vegetables (with permission of course)

we had a barbeque for a change

eating is the only thing i look forward to
(of course besides providing treatment to the people ;P )

bits and pieces of the mobile clinic team! aren't we red hot?

another upside were the beautiful views along the way..

misty mountains.. definitely can challenge the scenery from overseas

admiring how clear the water is

untouched rivers

an old bridge from the Japanese era

but there are not-so-beautiful pictures too..


like my legs which are covered with sand fly and mosquito bites.. (and so is my body and my hands!) i could be easily mistaken as having HFMD (hand foot mouth disease) which such measles-like marks..

itchy itchy itchyyyy that i had to take allergy medication and doesn't even help much! urgh.. not the souvenir i want from a trip, definitely won't be sporting hot pants or mini skirts now..