
Watch your step. Steep incline ahead. A new signboard maker takes the innovative steep, er…I mean step, of combining two “Caution” messages into one. It is widely misinterpreted as bad English.
Watch your steeps.
Leading the wild into the ways of the manβ¦

Watch your step. Steep incline ahead. A new signboard maker takes the innovative steep, er…I mean step, of combining two “Caution” messages into one. It is widely misinterpreted as bad English.
Watch your steeps.

I have briefly touched upon the subject of manly tears in the annals of sixthseal.com. I am personally not very prone to shedding tears myself, and could never understand the more sensitive individuals who’re more in touch with their feminine side…
…until now.

The culprit.
I was driving home from work just now when a friend of mine noticed a particularly long nasal hair sticking out of my nostril. She proceeded to pluck out the offending follicle with no small measure of sadistic glee and left me shedding tears. Manly tears, of course. π

Halia Cafe is a newly opened eating establishment offering Muslim food. The place is owned and operated by a couple of friendly Malays and serves authentic halal fare. I have been told a lot of good (and not so good) things about the spiciness factor of the servings they dish out, and I was eager to check out the place since I’m a big fan of spicy food.

The interior of Halia Cafe is clean and the abundant ceiling fans operating at full speed does wonders to the ambiance, considering they don’t have air conditioning. Halia Cafe takes over from Eden Cafe (a Vietnamese restaurant) and much of the interior fittings looks rather familiar.

I went there with Faye during lunchtime and was pleasantly surprised to find the place relatively empty. My lunch hour is rather short and I have been looking for a place with quick service and good food. I ordered the Jus Cinta (RM 2).

Jus Cinta is a local concoction of sour plums and calamansi lime. The plums here are larger than the usual ones from coffee shops.

The waitress recommended the Set Nasi Kukus Halia Cafe which is a set lunch of sorts and their signature dish. There are options for fish, chicken and squid. This is the Nasi Kukus + Sotong Goreng Sambal (RM 5). The dish also came a couple of fried prawns (shrimp) which was a nice touch.

The steamed rice is flavored with santan (coconut milk) and the squid was fried with sambal. This is pleasantly (for me) spicy and salty, and gets two thumbs up from me. Faye didn’t quite like it though coz she’s a bit of a wuss when it comes to spicy food. π

I ordered the Nasi Kukus + Ayam Kunyit (RM 5). The chicken was grilled in a banana leaf and topped with spicy sauce. There is also a serving of cold pickles on the side for those of the faint of heart.

I liked this dish as well, the chicken was grilled to perfection – sweet, tender and moist. It is rather spicy though so people with more conservative taste buds should take note.
Halia Cafe is a nice place with halal food offering authentic Malay cuisine. It comes highly recommended for those with a taste for adventure. People without desensitized taste buds need not apply. π

Cuppa Kopi Roti is another one of those Hainan toast and coffee establishments that is springing up like mushrooms these days. These establishments cater to nostalgic memories of old coffee shops in modern surroundings, often offering free WiFi and air conditioning.

Cuppa Kopi Roti is located in Pedada and I went to check out the place with Faye (plus kids, not mine) this morning. There isn’t much of a Sunday morning crowd to speak of but the open kitchen is doing a brisk business in boiling eggs (for whom, I can’t say).

Despite the modern surroundings, Cuppa Kopi Roti uses the old coffee shop style kettles and filters for boiling coffee. They also insert the traditional pat of butter into the coffee for a richer taste. However, the eggs are done using a machine.

The back of Cuppa Kopi Roti is air conditioned and comes with tasteful fittings. There are also games like Uno and Scrabble for customers to indulge in.

The place also has a space for live performances. I’m told that the proprietor plays music on weekend nights here.

I ordered Set A which is their flagship product at RM 4.50. It comes with 2 slices of traditional bread toast, 2 half boiled eggs and your choice of coffee or tea. The coffee comes in those small cups and saucers that you see in the traditional coffee shops that this place is emulating (albeit with more comfortable surroundings).

The half boiled eggs are HUGE and comes with pepper and soy sauce on the side. I’ve been told that this place serves huge eggs and I certainly wasn’t disappointed. Another plus point is the chicken motif bowl that it came in, definitely authentic traditional Hainan. π

The traditional bread toast was crispy and bigger than the usual bakery produced bread. It’s sliced rather thin and that probably contributes to the crispness.

The butter is not slathered on but sliced and then inserted. I like this method, it makes everything creamier.

My favorite way of eating these things is to dip the bread into the heavily seasoned eggs before eating it. Kinda like toast soldiers. I don’t know why nobody I know likes eating it this way.

The kids (not mine, as mentioned above) went for the square bread toast (RM 2.30). This uses the standard thicker bakery produced bread slices.

They also shared a chocolate milk bubble tea (RM 3.50). It was alright, but specialty bubble tea establishments do this better.

Faye went for the French toast set (RM 4.50). The French toast came out soft and fragrant and it has a side of kaya to taste. She liked it, but I didn’t think it was anything special.

The cheese toast (RM 3.80) also uses the thicker style of bread and comes with a slice of cheddar toasted into the bread. Surprisingly the bread was soft despite toasting.

The hotdog bread (RM 3.80) was the best of the bunch. It also came with a side of kaya and this is an especially nice touch.

The saltiness of the sausage combined with the sweet creaminess of the kaya adds a whole level of texture to this offering. This comes highly recommended. π

Cuppa Kopi Roti has reasonably priced food and comfortable surroundings. It’s a nice place to spend a quiet Sunday morning. π

Huai Bin sez:
It is the sixth anniversary of sixthseal.com today and I’ve been planning to have a new banner, some site tweaks and the old archives back up but I’m running a little late due to unforeseen circumstances. The archives will be up tomorrow and the all new sixthseal.com by Monday morning the latest. I promise! π
I don’t know what’s worth fighting for
Or why I have to scream
But now I have some clarity
to show you what I mean
I don’t know how I got this way
I’ll never be alright
So, I’m breaking the habit
I’m breaking the habit
I’m breaking the habit
Tonight

I was at Delta Mall after work today with Faye and we found this stall selling sushi at a corner. It’s relatively cheap at 4 boxes for RM 10.

Each box contains two pieces of sushi and there are a couple of interesting combinations. I notice some of the toppings are decidedly localized, for a lack of a better term. π

The clerk was particularly proud of this creation – it was made to look like a smiley face. She made it herself and I think she was a little offended when the both of us couldn’t see the similarities. I hear the trick is to look at it sideways…

We got four boxes to eat in the car since Faye had to do some shopping for her newly renovated room. I have been enlisted to apply my superior flair in color coordination to help her choose an appropriate duvet and fitted sheet for her new bed to match her painted walls.

I thought the eel sushi was the best out of the bunch. I didn’t really care for the others.

Thus, we did some righteous gorging in the car and headed for another mall. It was alright for the price…

If anything, you made someone really happy by buying that Smiley Face Sushi. =D

I am told that Lian Kiew Cafe has the best BBQ Chicken Rice in Sibu. The four of us decided to check out the place and found it packed during lunch hour. The coffee shop is doing a rather brisk business in chicken rice and it seems that most of the patrons were ordering the dish.

There is a wide selection of BBQ cuts at the chicken rice stall. There is no steamed chicken on offer, the proprietor only does BBQ chicken. There’s a wide variety of BBQ meat available – BBQ chicken, BBQ duck, BBQ pork (various cuts), BBQ Taiwanese sausage and even BBQ chicken wings.

“They call me The Butcher”
I ordered an assorted platter of BBQ meat and it was sliced up into a bed of cucumbers.

L-R: BBQ Taiwanese sausage, BBQ chicken wings, BBQ char siew, BBQ chicken, BBQ duck, BBQ pork. (RM 25)

The rice is pretty fragrant for chicken rice too.

It comes highly recommended from me for meat lovers. π

Marigold Monk finds orange pip in drink…

…greatly reduces satisfaction of post-coital drink.

Faye attempts to audition for the leading role.

Amy kindly gave me a ride back home from work just now. My car just came back from the workshop and I have been absolutely CRIPPLED by the lack of transport. Kudos goes out to Faye for snagging the Endurance award β she has been picking me up in the morning and sending me back after work almost every day. π

This is a sight for sore eyes indeed. If I had known that it would take this long to fix the car, I probably wouldnβt have crashed it. π