Famous Sunny Hill Ice Cream @ Kuching

I had been hearing about the name Sunny Hill of Kuching ages ago. There is a very legendary ice cream parlor here which is so synonym to the place, but I never being there before.

In the recent trip, thanks to PY for bringing us there to try out the legendary ice cream. Its location which is just beside the busy Batu Kawa-3rd Mile flyover and the narrow road in front of the shop made parking a challenge to the patrons. On the day of visit, we were lucky enough to get a parking slot or else we might need to leave the place without trying anything.

The shop was crowded with patrons at the time of our visit at around 4++pm queuing for their turn, but the service was quite fast. Thus the waiting time was relatively short. The shop itself has no luxury renovation or some sort, just an old-school canteen style with seats around.

There are actually very limited flavors to choose from, in fact, there will only certain flavors of sundae in sale on specific days:

     Monday to Tuesday - Strawberry
     Wednesday to Friday - Pandan or Corn
     Saturday and Sunday - Chocolate
     Everyday - Vanilla

There are few variations on how you wish the sundae to be served, either serving on cones, in a bowl with nuts or without, ice cream sandwich style (sundae with bread), banana split and etc.

As at the time of visit it was on Sunday and I had a bad throat condition, thus I only opted for plain vanilla chocolate mixed sundae served in a plastic bowl at RM2.50.

Other friends of mine had ordered vanilla topping with nuts (RM2.80), an ice cream sandwich and a banana split (RM3.90).

On my first trial, I didn't feel extraordinary yummy, but the strong milk powder fragrance attracted my taste buds! I personally like that milky taste, but it might not be the story for those not in favor. The sundae itself is super smooth, the smoothness that I never feel before having ice cream melting in my mouth. It is indeed cooling and refreshing! Apart from the nice taste, the ice cream was not too sweet! Thumbs up for this!

In a nutshell, the ice cream is nice... very nice in fact at the level that you will feel of go back and try again, but it is not super duper perfectly nice. That makes me curious why the small ice cream shop are so famous among the cat city's citizen?

After I browse through the web, I only discovered that there was actually a little story about the parlor. This little parlor had existed since many decades ago. So, many Kuching people were grown up with the companion of this ice cream shop. Thus, they have a very special love and childhood memories towards it. This had been passed from a generation to another. (Please enlighten me if I am wrong in this)

One more thing to mention, all the profits from the selling of ice cream of this shop will be used for the public service projects of the S.D.A. (Seventh-Day Adventist Church) missions.

The business hours of the shop is as follow:

     Sunday - Thursday   8.00am - 10.00pm
     Friday                      8.00am - 4.00pm
     Saturday                  7.00pm - 10.00pm

Poh Lam Laksa @ Chong Choon Cafe Kuching

Talking about Sarawak Laksa, Kuching has the highest reputation in serving this specialty in Sarawak. Even when Sibu people selling laksa, some intended to name it as "Kuching Laksa" to boost their business and attract more locals to visit their stall.

So if you happen to visit Kuching, don't forget to try Sarawak Laksa here. About which stall in Kuching serve the best and most authentic taste of Laksa Sarawak, there are many versions, much depend on local preference.

The one I had been brought to in a recent trip to Kuching is this one, Chong Choon Cafe at Abell Road which some locals believe it serves the best Laksa in town by its Laksa stall here - Poh Lam Laksa..

Legendary may not always be true, but you just can't deny it when you see the patrons flooding the shop. At over 10.30am, the place is still crowded with patrons most of them craving for Laksa spoke everything.

We were fortunate enough that day to get a table once we walked into the shop. I heard even on weekdays, sometimes you still have to wait in long queue for your turn, or you have to "tap toi" with strangers just to eat its Laksa. This is how legendary the Laksa served here, no kidding!!

It is not logic if I tell you I went all the way to this old-school kopitiam for its legendary Laksa but in the end I didn't order the Laksa, right? Of course I ordered one!

Quite surprisingly, despite full house of patrons, the Laksa was served to my table within a very acceptable waiting time. For me this is an extra credit and thumb up!

At the first glance, the bowl of laksa did not look that attractive. The slightly darker reddish Laksa soup than it supposed to be, very limited eggs and chicken slices made me feel doubtful of its quality.

However when i slurped it into my mouth, it's unexpectedly tasty! The laksa soup tasted good despite the color not look alike. The soup is one of the key point to determine the tastiness of a bowl of Laksa. The rice vermicelli is not over cooked.

Nevertheless, the shrimps are not juicy and sweet enough. Otherwise it'll be another added point. I believe that if the stall owner could be more generous in topping the eggs and chicken slices plus some herb as decoration on top... that'll be even more perfect and presentable (but is that necessary??)!

Besides Laksa, Chong Choon Cafe also serves very nice toasts. There are quite a number of variation of toasts to choose from, but we only ordered 2 of them, egg toast and butter cheese toast to have a try.

They were indeed quite delicious especially go with the old-school coffee. Another specialty in this kopitiam is Teh-c-peng special a.k.a. 3 layers milk tea (as Sibu people called). I didn't try this since I did not realized it at the first place and I was coughing at that time. Will have to give it a try next time when have the chance to visit the shop again!

Oh ya! Something very coincident to share! On our way walking to Chong Choon Cafe, we suddenly spotted this van parking nearby. I bet Sibu people would be very familiar with this "uniquely decorated" van. Yes! It was belongs to the so called "Uncle Bersih" (By Peninsular people) or "Uncle Crazy" of Sibu, Hii Tiong Huat. Not sure what he did there, but what is for sure was that he drove this van all the way from Sibu to Kuching!! Sometimes you just need to salute him for his "craziness"!

A Little Friendship Gathering in Kuching

This trip is not about visiting places of interest or spending leisure in resorts. We had no fancy schedule or routes, but we still manage to spend quality time together.

This is what our friendship is all about. Almost 12 years of friendship with everyone still feel close to each other is not something easy to achieve, especially when everyone has their own life, family, career and separated by geographical distance.

Flash back 12 years ago when we were taken by Unimas for a same degree course. From a total stranger somehow we got to know each other, slowly became close companions for lectures, assignments, dining and life sharing.

I believe there were actually sparks among some of us, but somehow the chemical reaction is not strong enough to form a new molecule. So we remain as what we are and who we are until this day.

Now, the brainy Anita is the mother of 2 and near to achieve her dream to become a lawyer or at least a legal adviser. Kayel is a going-to-be father of 2 and busy picking up his photography skills with his newly bought D7000. The pretty chabo PY is a successful news editor who gonna have her "living happily ever after" life soon. Baby face killer Chun still with his young look, but don't get cheated by his appearance because his roar can shake the earth! How about myself? Ok... I am still a tiny programmer cum a very amateur blogger who blog for interest but not for commercial (yet).

However I think our friendship is not about comparing how successful each other is, but we bless and proud of each others success. I guess that's one out of many factors that keep our friendship last until today. Comparing will cause jealousy which may spoil everything good in the way!

That's why for this gathering trip, there was no special event been arranged. We just follow our heart and some adhoc instinct on where to go and what to do. We just enjoyed and treasure the time to be together sharing and updating about our life.

I felt glad that in this trip, we had also visited Akuma and Linda. Akuma was my roommate for 2 years while Linda was our coursemate. Our last little gathering of 5 was on their wedding, which was about 2 years ago. Now, both of them had become the parent for a few months old baby boy. Feel glad to meet them back and my sincere congratulation to both of them!

Thank you everyone for every effort made to make this tiny yet great gathering a success. I truly appreciate this opportunity. Shall look forward for the next one soon!

A Pretty Flower

When I flipped through my photo collection just now, I discovered this flower which is very nice looking and wish to share with all of you.

I am not sure the name of the flower, perhaps if you know, just let me know. It was the flower I saw at my friend aunt's house during my visit to Kuching on July this year.

New Sarawak Legislative Assembly Complex From Far

This is the new Sarawak Legislative Assembly Complex which is sitting on top of a hill just on the banks of Sarawak river.

Visitors to Kuching will hardly miss this building because the giant building is just opposite Kuching Water Front. it is believed that it will become the new landmark to the city of Kuching.

However, this building costs RM300 million of taxpayers money! Therefore issue about the necessity of building it was raised because the current Legislative Assembly building still fine to be used.

The new building can sit up to 108 state assemblymen, each having their own office. It will be opened officially by Yang Di-Petuan Agung, Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin on 27 July 2009.

I found that the shape of this RM300 million worth of building look alike one of the sculpture found at Kuching water front...

... and also the Khatulistiwa Cafe not far away from there.

Famous Kolok Mee Shop @ Bishopgate Kuching

This is just another non-halal post from me! ^^

Should I say this is the best kolok mee stall in the cat town of Kuching? I am not sure, but if you wish to eat kolok mee at this coffee shop, you better pray hard so that you can find a place to sit down at the time you reach there.

Otherwise, you just have to stand there and wait... and wait ...and wait, until somebody finish their foods and their buttocks start to leave the chairs... at this very critical moment, make sure you put aside your image, no matter you are a guy or girl and grab the "semi-vacant" chair in the shortest time! Only by then, you are qualified to taste what is so special about the kolok mee here.

Yes! Kuching people should know which coffee shop I was talking about! It is the coffee shop at Bishopgate, a junction from Carpenter Street which I mentioned in my previous post about "Kueh Chap".

The coffee shop is not famous for its name. Not many people will know if you mention about the name "Next Coffee Shop". In fact, this is its new name, new signboard and new shop!

Its old name was "Min Joo", I guess even local Kuching people may not know about this. Before this, the shop was at the most corner shop lot which was just next (to the right) to the current shop. It had been there for many years but somehow the shop owner didn't want to extend the contract. Thus, the coffee shop operator has to find a new place, which is just at the next door. I guess this is where the name "Next Coffee Shop" came from.

Ok, we back to the topic... just now we stopped at you have to put your image aside to grab the vacant table in order to taste the foods here. After you get your seat, the next thing you need to do, is... another long waiting.

Please don't act smart by ordering the foods by yourself because nobody will entertain you! Just sit back and relax while enjoying the hot wind until somebody come to your place to write your order. Well... you have to wait let say 15 - 30 minutes depend on your luck before you get served

After you placed your order, the next thing is still waiting! You can utilize this unproductive time by praying that the food you ordered will come faster. Otherwise, it will be another 15 - 30 minutes of waiting and it much depend on luck!

One more thing, please be advised to go there at least 3 people onwards. Not a big deal if you go there alone or coupling, but be prepared to share table with strangers. This unique culture is called "Dap Toi" in KL and hardly being found in Sarawak. For those who love adventure, maybe it is a good chance to taste the feeling of dinning on the same table with strangers.

Well... the foods finally came after a long long wait! This is "Kolok Mee Jeng". Still remember what is "Jeng"? I did mention about it in my previous post about "Kueh Chap Jeng". It means plain. "Kolok Mee Jeng" means just plain Kolok Mee without adding minced/sliced pork or black soya sauce into the noodles.

Actually there is nothing much to cheer about on the plain noodles itself. What this shop is famous of is this pig innards soup! Most people come to this shop not just to eat its Kolok Mee, but mee with this soup! Even some celebrities from Taiwan such as "Ah Hong" ever came here to taste it!

You can find various pig's innards inside the soup - the intestine, liver, kidney, stomach etc together with boiled pork, minced pork and also seaweeds.

Never try it before? Come and try once! You judge yourself if it worths such long waiting. Some people said "Good foods worth the waiting". I guess there are some truth behind this saying as overwhelming crowd keep visiting to the shop daily although have to fight for seats, suffer the long waiting time and also poor services given!

Delicous Kueh Chap @ Carpenter Street Kuching

Kueh Chap - one of my favorite Kuching food. The term Kueh Chap is actually comes from Hokkien where the word "Kueh" means cake, in this case it is rice flour cake wider than Kueh Tiaw and the word "Chap" means mixtures, the mixture of pork, its organ, some deep fried tauhu (a.k.a. Tauhu Pok) and special herb soup.

One of the very famous Kueh Chap stall in Kuching is the one located opposite Shang Di Temple near Carpenter Street.

The Kueh Chap stall is not too hard to find because it is located at a very unique food court at Carpenter Street. It is just behind the old shoplots opposite Kuching water front and parallel to it. If you see a place looks like a temple and facing a temple but it is actually an eating place with various food stalls, congratulation!! I guess you have found the place!

When ordering Kueh Chap, you can choose if you want the "Kueh" or not. In Kuching, if you want to order Kueh Chap without the "Kueh", you just tell the cook "Kueh Chap Jeng". Some people may choose not to have the rice flour cake for health sake as rice flour contain high carbohidrate which may lead to obesity.

Anyway, eating Kueh Chap with the "Kueh" makes the food taste less salty as the "Kueh" itself are tasteless. Beside the "Kueh" you can also choose which part of pork you like or don't like to be added to the foods, such as pork skin, pork ears, pork stomach, pork tongue and pork intestine.

This Kueh Chap at Carpenter Street sold at RM4.00 for a small bowl, RM5.00 for a big bowl and RM6.00 for special serving with extra ingredients added.

The price was increased already. Still remember about few years ago, one regular bowl only cost about RM3.00 or RM3.50.

Beside Kueh Chap, you can also find Sarawak Laksa and some other famous and delicious foods at this eating venue in Kuching!

A Short Visit to Memoryland!

This is a place that I was very familiar with, a place that I spent 3 years of my life, a place that I got to know bunch of nice friends from different corner of the country, a place that left me with a lot of sweet memories which I still hardly forget until today. It is Universiti Malaysia Sarawak a.k.a. UNIMAS old/temporary campus at Kota Samarahan! It is my memoryland!

Just happened to went back there with my buddies Chun, Kayel and PY during my trip to Kuching for my roommate's wedding last weekend. Special thanks to PY for making this revisit a success! Despite limited time, she still made her efforts to bring us all the way from Kuching town to our memoryland. Really appreciate this.

The feeling was just too great to describe when you stepped onto the land that you are so familiar with and the land that you left so much of sweet memories there at the time you left it. It was just like you back to your old time and all the past memories were flash back into your mind!

We passed by the restaurant building. Last time it used to be called as the name "Pohon Mas". This was the restaurant we used to have our breakfast, lunch or dinner because its environment was the most romantic among the eating places available in UNIMAS and it was fully air-conditioner.

Opposite Pohon Mas, it was the Surau, the place where all the muslims having their prayers everyday.

Then we stopped not far away from the Surau in front of the hostel we used to stay. It was an in-campus hostel called Sri Samarahan.

So sad to see this hostel had been abandoned already. There were no sign of life, just left broken windows and damaged wall!

We further walked down and finally reached the block we stayed in our first year of university study.

This block was quite seriously damaged already and it was among the earliest hostel block in the temporary campus. The room with a disappeared window and damaged wooden wall was the room Chun and me stayed in during our first year in UNIMAS.

Chun and me walked into the room. We wanted to find back our memory here. We shared this small room in year one. It was really too small to share. We even had to attach our study table to the bed, our bed acted as the place to sleep and also as our chair to study! There was no extra space for chair! Can you imagine that? Although it was small, but we had a great time staying there!

That is the corner I used to hang my wet clothes after washing... and you know what? Both of us could even hear the sound of termites (a.k.a. white ants) bitting the floor at night time when we slept! That was really an unforgettable experience!! A lot of my notes put inside a box was eaten by these termites!

So, because of the termites attack, the wooden floors now were mostly damage. That's why we walked with extra careful when visited it just to prevent the floor collapsed when we stepped on it.

Can you guess what is it? No! It is not the place for you to put plants! It was the place that we used to wash our clothes and this was what happened to it now! All the plants grew up from there! How sad...

The building in photo below initially used to be girls' hostel. We used to call it "police station" because it was painted white with blue strip. Now it was changed to all white. The blocks were still in use as the hostel but it was boys' hostel this time because we saw some new guy's students moved their things in.

We then further drove down to the former UNIMAS main hall. This was where we had our graduation ceremony but I am not sure if it was still in use for other purposes. Didn't have time to walk in to have a look, so basically just stop by and snap some photos from outside.

Our last stop was outside the Faculty of Information Technology! This was one of the place we spent most of our time in because computer labs were here.

Opposite the faulty were the 2 lecture halls we used to attend lecturing. They were named as DK1 (Dewah Kuliah 1) and DK2 (Dewan Kuliah 2). One lecture hall could accommodate about 300 students at one time I guess??

After about 30 minutes of revisit to the old campus, we then left the place with full satisfaction. Although we hoped that we can stay a little bit longer to get back more past memories there, but time was chasing for us. We left the place with heavy heart, yet we always hope we can visit back here again to find back our memoryland, the place that left us with too much of sweet memories!


p/s: Special thanks to PY again for her efforts to bring us here. Otherwise, our dream won't come true!