Chinese New Year 2012 Part 15 - Belated Celebration at Work

and you think my CNY 2012 series is over? Not so soon, since CNY is 15 days long, i would surely need a CNY Part 15!

this time is a CNY celebration BBQ party with my dental colleagues/staff and their families.. on an unrelated note, i received 3 ang pows that day!

the venue and the bbq pit.. and lots of red attire

sitting indoors with the food

games and prize-giving for the kids

and since February is over, CNY is officially Over! (yes, as long as its February its still considered CNY/Valentine's to me.. lol!)

It's been a while since...

it was just another oncall weekend that Friday night when the hospital called me to come to A&E for a dental case.

it was a bit of an unusual 'clean' accident case as the young 21-year-old chap had very minimal abrasion wounds etc except that he ended up with an broken jaw (imagine having no cuts, bleeding or skin injuries on a broken leg!)

after examination i just prescribed some medications and refer the patient to Miri for further expert management on Monday morning (as the dental specialist clinic doesn't open on weekends) but he asked if he could go on Tuesday or Wednesday instead.

'Gosh, if u don't think its urgent and can wait for 5 days, WHY come to A&E on a late Friday night? just come in on Monday laaa >_<" ' i thought

anyway few days later during a gathering with my colleagues the medical officer aka. my own housemate mentioned about the case.

"Do you know he's a psycho patient? He seems normal!"

"Really? He's seems perfectly normal to me. How do u know?"

"The hospital staff knows him, even have his Facebook.. haha and guess what, they say he wrote on his Fb wall 'Went to A&E at night and met a pretty doctor... after that i'm ok already.. etc' haha That's YOU! "

i blushed almost instantly but tried to defend myself.

"Gosh it could be You! U saw him first.. and he said Doctor, not dentist.."

"Hey, i saw him for a while only but u spent nearly an hour with him asking him questions and examining him! Doctor, dentist.. to them its the same la.. got Dr. title ma.. its definitely You!"

all our colleagues started laughing teasing if i received any Valentine flowers from that patient and i just kept quiet but i must say, its been a while since i received a flattering compliment (on a Facebook status, where else!) what more from a 21-year-old (makes me feel SO old now)

for it girl, its always nice to know u can still get a guy's attention regardless of status or age, no?

Lent: the 40 Days of Change 4

Has it already been that time of year? Little did i realize that its already Ash Wednesday! Gosh i did not realize its my 4th time doing Lent this year!
Looking back at what i have gave up in the past..

2009: 2 hours of internet at night
2010: meat, chocolate & 3 hours of internet at night
2011: sugary stuff & 3 hours of internet at night

a fellow good friend told me what she will be abstaining from for the next 40 days this year, and it occurred to me that i have been spending TOO much time & energy & etc on it as well that i believe i should abstain from it too this year. this way 2 friends can support each other during this period of Lent.

for the next 40 days of Lent i shall refrain myself from the all-time-famous...

honestly i rather refrain from my favourite food or hours on internet or or.. but i realized that trying to Not refrain from Fb means i really do depend on it on almost any waking time (while breakfast before i go to work, during lunch break, once i get back from work till before i sleep and during any free time outside even with my smartphone)

to refrain from Facebook
to be more dedicated with work and strive to improve
to be more charitable
to bible study to pray to repent to reflect to sacrifice
to prepare for Easter

Unexpected Day Trip from Limbang to Labuan

It was meant to be 'Just-another-Weekend' where i laze about, go online, watch series with nothing significant planned until mid-week aka. Thursday when my dad said "I will be transiting in Miri so i'll just drop by Limbang over the weekend for 2 nights."

Wow, totally transformed my boring just-another-weekend to an Awesome one with just 24-hours warning!

had dinner of huge Crabs and other yummy home-made food (home-made chiew pai tau fu with mince pork, fish, prawn, carrots etc.. not easy to make!) at my relative's on Friday night

that Friday night my dad and i were discussing what to do in Limbang for the whole day on Saturday and we were both pretty clueless so we decided that..

..on Saturday morning we had to wake up for an early breakfast...

..to catch the 8am Limbang - Labuan ferry! Boarding time is at 7.45am (don't forget ur IC, u need to pass through Immigration for leaving Sarawak) the ticket is rm30 and the ride is 2 hours long. there's aircon in the ferry but the seats aren't very comfy, fortunately there's a tiny TV which entertains the front-sitters

my dad and i in the ferry leaving Limbang, heading towards South China Sea

pretty excited as its my first time to Labuan, the island which most students know for its Matriculation College

arrived at Labuan International Ferry Terminal at about 10am

was definitely impressed with Labuan Ferry Terminal which is a total opposite of Limbang's! looks like an international airport with its glass walls and signboards of 'Arrival Hall', 'Departure Hall' and bag scanners etc..

map of Labuan Federal Territory

and the minute u step out of the terminal, its everywhere.. DUTY-FREE shops!! Chocolates, perfumes, make ups, cigarettes..

and of course, the hard stuff (the reason why Most shoppers are here)

i don't have a map of Labuan but considering the amount of time i have here (abut 3.5hours) and the aim of the visit (just to walk around and SHOP, not sight-seeing) u don't really need one as everything is within walking distance.. there's plenty of Duty-free shops everywhere

had Hainan Chicken Rice for lunch.. and durian for dessert at the market (yap, that's how dessert is with my Dad, not cakes or ice cream) there's lots of Muslim fast food everywhere, chicken rice, and the occasional seafood restaurant (apparently the most famous is Anjung Ketam at Tanjung Aru for the butter milk crab, but i had a lot last night so wasn't up for it).. more of Labuan travels and food etc at Wikitravel

walking around Labuan.. some parts of it reminds me of KK

and the shopping we did.. i must say that they have a huge range of international chocolate brands as i've only seen them at their original countries (like Korean, Japan, Taiwan, German, Poland, Belgium etc) and here! was pleasantly surprised to still enjoy overseas chocolates.

the ferry ride back is at 1.50pm (boarding 1.30pm) costing rm28, so the return trip of Limbang - Labuan via ferry is rm58. the clear logic is that if u go to Labuan just for a couple of duty-free chocolates then its definitely not worth it so better buy more expensive duty-free stuff!

'nuff said.

on Sunday we had some noodles at dim sum for breakfast

at Union restaurant which is opposite the port for the Ferry for Lawas and an old playground

and had some local coffee with roti kahwin at King's Coffee

definitely enjoyed the surprise weekend visit from my dad, and he left behind lots of Love in the form of FOOD.. this is how my heavily-stocked cupboard looks like now (does not even include my Labuan chocolate + snacks shopping) and i don't even want to take picture of my fridge.

a totally unexpected weekend. perhaps a Valentine's surprise in its own way. the only way it could get any better is if mum joined too. anyway, thanks daddy, always the best :)

Birthday, Sunday & Valentine's Day

on Tuesday it was my colleague's birthday so we celebrated it at Tong Lok with nestum prawns, hot plate tau hu, 'glass' chicken, yam basket.. i think the chef accidentally dropped the nestum on the prawns..

rambutan tiramisu birthday cake.. only in Limbang

on Sunday after church we had some ubi keladi rojak (my favourite dish in Limbang so far) and fried wan tan at Snow flake

the place specializes in desserts like ABC (left) and Soursop

Hawaiian (left) and Snow White.. i won't say they are really good but not bad according to Limbang standards

that place only offers rojak and shaved ice desserts (or smoothies) so we ordered chicken rice and roti canai from 2 doors away (i think i can even memorize all the places that serve roti canai in Limbang)

and on Valentine's day we tried the Crystal Palace Seafood restaurant which is at the corner

food was decently portioned, bigger than Maggie's.. we had baby kailan and Thailand chicken

and bbq prawns and the rare soft shell crab (the only place i know to serve this in Limbang as well) we had the salty flavour, will try the salted egg version next time, and the rectangular chau pai tauhu!

random i know, to have asked several colleagues (girls and guy) for dinner on Valentine's Day, they might have find it odd saying "Shouldn't u spend it with a bf?" but obviously i just say its just a gathering to go out for a meal together, using V Day as an excuse..

cause i know how i would REALLY spend my Valentine's...

Chinese New Year 2012 Part 14 - Chap Goh Mei with Friends

On the 15th day of CNY (Chap Goh Mei) my housemate and i organized a small steamboat cum BBQ for just the few of us. we had to do both as the guys want BBQ (meat meat meat) and the girls prefer steamboat (veges veges veges)...

on an unrelated note we went to hunt for red durian (with soft red shell) at the market as we wanted to try it, seems like a rare breed to me

it was out of season already and we saw one stall selling it in the container in the top left picture.. there are other breeds too, like the really yellow and spiky breed in the bottom picture, durian suluk. there still plenty of membangan fruit (brown skin with yellow flesh) as well, and other tropical fruits like dabai, langsat, rambutan etc..

Thai lunch at Musbee Restaurant.. tried the pad thai noodles, not too bad as they do try to make it Thai-like with chilli and minced peanuts and some lime

our colleague created some BBQ pit and placed it outside our balcony on the 3rd floor! we grilled chicken wing, sausages, fish and potatoes

while the girls handled the tom yam steamboat indoors.. had too much that we had a lot of leftover to finish the following day!

thus ends the 15 days of Chinese New Year 2012 with my friends/colleagues.. might be a small gathering having simple home-cooked steamboat and BBQ but its just for the fun of it right?

Chinese New Year 2012 Part 13 - Pre-Chap Goh Mei with Family

its good to still have a 3-days weekend to look forward to treat the withdrawal symptoms of holidaying. that Sunday night i went to a relative's relatives place, the only house i went visiting this Chinese New Year.

red here there everywhere

and of course, the large feast every family contributes to during this time of the year at grandma's house. when i sat down at the table i was speechless and lost for a while as i didn't know where to start attacking.. but obviously i will try ALL.

pork char siew, chicken claypot, fried mee and black egg and pork stew

steamed fish, vegetables, prawn and fried mee hoon

mixture of mushrooms, abalone prawn and mushroom, fried sausages fishballs tofu assortments and thai springrolls

and that does not even include the snacks, titbits, keropok, desserts, cakes, drinks and whatever random eats. big family reunion that shares the love and the gluttony during Chinese New Year, a must every year, but just Once only please.

Chinese New Year 2012 Part 12 - 3rd Day Trip to Gadong, Brunei

Seems that my travelling itch is not easy to get rid of even after being away for 10 days... i thought once i come back here i won't leave the town so soon but little did i know that the following weekend i followed my housemate and her colleague off for my 3rd day trip to Gadong, Brunei on the 12th day of Chinese New Year 2012 (although i know i shouldn't.. *innocent pout*)!

the must-go stop now, Escapade Sushi as usual. its my 5th time having this sushi, twice in Kuala Belait and twice in Gadong, so that day was my 3rd time having sushi in Gadong... left is Ebi Furai Maki with tempura prawn and on the right, Hokkeido Maki with salmon inside

the all time favour of mine: Hakata Roll with unagi inside, salmon and roe on top; Shake with the salmon on top of the rice; and Inari Salmon with the salmon and rice in the sweet beancurd skin

Spring roll sushi which has a clear skin popiah with prawn and chicken (can have salmon as well) and Gyoza, fried chicken wan tan or wu teah

Tempura Mori Wase, seafood and vegetables tempura and Tori Negi Tempura, chicken tempura

who doesn't like a table filled with sushi? i do enjoy small eats now sharing with friends or family,. like having a table with Taiwanese small eats, or Chinese dim sum, or Japanese sushi, or Korean Hanjeongsik (many side dishes) or Spanish tapas, even Greek and Mexican food comes in small dishes as well..

after stuffing ourselves crazy and even order take aways, we went to The Mall to catch a 1pm movie..

Journey 2 The Mysterious Island! its funny for sure!

after shopping at Fun Bread and Fun Donut we decided to go for desserts just outside the mall at The Cheese Box Cafe which has lots of cakes and a lone standing homemade scone! i miss having scones! there's even a screen at every table for patrons to online.

the menu, orange bubble tea and Hawaiian slushie

Cheesecake from the counter and Chocolate Lava with ice cream on top.. the cheesecake is not too sweet and the chocolate lava is warm and melts in ur mouth! how sinful..

Volcano Fried Ice cream which looks ordinary at first but once you cut it open u can see there's vanilla ice cream in this big round deep-fried breadcrumbs coating..

the 3 happy girls undergoing Brunei food therapy with sushi, sinful desserts and buying back more sushi, bakery buns and donuts, and snack-grocery shopping!

some of the desserts i brought back which is a Mango polo bun and another long-time-London favourite, Beard Papa's vanilla cream puff...

i really had a fun girl's day out with Too much food (especially desserts, we decided that we can't do this with guys) in Brunei that day and definitely look forward to more!