Dinner @ (the new) Ming Mei Shi

Ming Mei Shi

Ming Mei Shi moved during the Chinese New Year and we haven’t been to the new location yet. It’s one of our family favorites. The restaurant consistently puts out good food and I go at least once every time I come back to Sibu. My sister and her family was back and we decided to come here to eat before she flew back. The new Ming Mei Shi is just located two blocks away from the old site.

Ming Mei Shi Restaurant

It’s now a standalone building (!!!) by itself. Ming Mei Shi has been very successful, there’s no doubt about it. Even my brother in law was impressed by their food. However, despite having over 3 times the capacity of their old lot, the restaurant was still packed. We managed to get a table on the second floor, beside a group of (loud) MLM/insurance dinners.

Dong Po Pork

Dong Po Pork
This is their signature dish and it comes with fluffy man tou (steamed buns).

Man Tou

The server will slice up the stewed pork for you and you stuff it inside the warm buns to eat. The kids loved this!

Foochow Tofu Soup

Foochow Tofu Soup
We don’t usually order soup but we were looking for something different to eat and the waitress suggested this classic. It’s tofu soup done in the classic Foochow way, with a tin of razor clams thrown in for flavor. I liked it very much, it was just like how my maternal grandma used to make it.

Lemon Chicken

Lemon Chicken
This proved to be a hit when my better half came with the kids last time. We ordered the exact same thing and they liked it. However, the bright yellow color of the lemon chicken doesn’t come from food coloring, it comes from turmeric. Unfortunately, my niece and nephew didn’t like the taste of turmeric (we got this for them) so I ended up eating most of it.

Butterscotch Prawns

Butterscotch Prawns
I have always ordered this in Ming Mei Shi and they have always come out with the dry version e.g. it’s deep fried with butter. I wanted the wet version like Ruby Restaurant, which comes with a butterscotch sauce so I made sure to repeat the order several times. It still came out slightly dry with barely a teaspoon of gravy. I still love the huge de-shelled prawns though. I just don’t think they do the wet version here. smirk

Four Beans

Four Beans
This is a dish called “Four Heavenly Kings” and it’s basically a mixture of 4 different types of “beans” – okra, eggplant, green bean and corn. They do a mean and delicious version here, it’s very nice and not oily unlike other places.

Rendang Lamb Shank

Rendang Lamb Shank
This RM 60 lamb shank is made with condensed milk and it imparts a very sweet and creamy aftertaste to the gravy. There are only a couple made every day – last time I was here, they were all sold out and we managed to get one this time. It’s a little expensive for a regular sized lamb shank but you won’t complain when you take your first bite. It’s delicious.

Ming Mei Shi Sibu

The meal cost around RM 200 for all of us. There are five adults since my sister’s maid always flies in with her to take care of the children (she was the one who took this photo) and two kids so it’s quite reasonable for 7 pax. The new location is a lot better – all the tables have tablecloths and a dedicated lazy Susan and the chairs are comfortable. Be prepared for a long wait though, it took over an hour for the first dish to come out for us.

Our Heng Hua (Putien) Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner!

Poh Family

The Heng Hua (Putien) celebrate Chinese New Year on the fifth day instead of the regular Lunar New Year cycle. There is a very interesting story behind this – a rogue warlord called Tu Fei caused all the Heng Hua to hide in the bamboo jungle and they only managed to come out on the 5th day. Thus, CNY was celebrated then in remembrance of our ancestors who survived the war.

Loong Jin Restaurant

That’s our entire extended Poh family clan. My grandma is the matriarch and the rest are my aunties, uncles and cousins. We had dinner at Loong Jin Restaurant @ Tanahmas Hotel on the 5th day of Chinese New Year. It turns out that there were two tables that was “unclaimed” during Yih Wen’s wedding so we had 2 tables of credit. We always get together on the fifth day for our proper Heng Hua reunion dinner, it’s very important to my grandma.

Tanahmas Hotel Entree

Tanahmas Hotel Four Seasons Platter
This is the first dish that came out. You’ll notice that it’s almost similar to the 8-course dinner we had during Yih Wen’s wedding. That’s coz it’s the exact same menu – 2 tables were not taken so we had “credit” there (so to speak) and they decided to claim it on our Heng Hua Chinese New Year so we had (almost) the same dishes again.

Shark Fin Soup

Shark’s Fin Soup
Zero fucks will be given if any Sea Shepherd types gets butthurt from this photo. smirk

Cheese Baked Cod Fish

Baked Cod Fish with Cheese
I rather enjoyed this fish during the wedding banquet and we had it again for our CNY reunion dinner. It was good.

Duck Two Ways

Duck Two Ways
There is a difference in this dish. In the wedding banquet, it was 1/2 roasted duck and 1/2 braised duck. This time we had sliced wok-fried duck in place of the braised duck. It’s nice to have a change, the menu can differ slightly but the main components are similar.

Sea Cucumber

Braised Sea Treasure
This is a dish of sea cucumber, razor clams, Pacific clams and other assorted seafood over tofu skin (fu chuk). Very tasty stuff.

Butter Fried Prawns

Butter Fried Prawns
My niece is allergic to dairy products (among other things). She absolutely cannot eat dairy so my dad always stocks up on soy and other non-dairy goodies before she comes over. This year we found a no-dairy biscuit from London and some crisps made from soy from the US. However, she managed to eat one of this after it was de-shelled so that’s good.

Red Bean Pastries

Red Bean Pastries
This is done two ways – a classic flat pastry filled with red bean and deep fried (hot) and a modern interpretation with red bean stuffed into a mocha-like casing (cold). It was quite popular at our table.

Fruit Platter

Fruit Platter
There are also slight differences here. The previous time we had this, the middle was filled with lychee. This time it was grapes. I prefer grapes.

HB YJ Kara Josiah

I took a photo with my sister and my niece and nephew at the lobby before we went back. I only see them once a year so I made sure not to fire off my fireworks until they came back. The kids were a little afraid of the large fireworks cakes last year but this year they’ve grown bigger and they weren’t afraid at all. They were looking forward to the show each night and started calling me “Fireworks Uncle”. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Are you a chatterbox or a data muncher?

Sister

My sister (of all people) introduced me to this book by Gary Chapman. It’s called “The 5 Love Languages” and basically it talks about how different people have different preferred methods of communication. This doesn’t just apply to relationships and it’s a great book. I realized that I’m very big on talking (and listening) as my mode of communication. It’s what I find comforting but not everyone is like that.

Talk Text

I have seen others who prefer to write (or use social messaging) to express their feelings. It’s their preferred method of communication. There’s no wrong or right to this, we’re all born differently and along the way, we have acquired the methods in which we prefer to communicate. The book goes about how to bridge that gap and understand why others operate in a different way and I found it rather illuminating.

Happy Family

You may not consciously choose how you’ve grown up communicating, but Digi has something for everyone with their new Digi SmartPlan! It’s a new postpaid plan that allows you to choose which method of communication you’re most comfortable with – talking or social messaging. Thus, you can either go:

  1. High Voice
  2. High Data

I thought this made a lot of sense, especially since people use their smartphones differently. Believe it or not, there are still people who prefer to talk and use voice to communicate (like me – even though I was born right during the PC revolution and has grown up with IRC, ICQ and now to Facebook). There are also people who’re the opposite, who prefer to use Instagram and are high data consumers.

Girl Taking Photo

With the new Digi SmartPlan, this really gives the power to choose right back to you – you can either opt for High Voice (unlimited calls and SMS) or High Data (up to 6 GB). If you’re a traditionalist (like me) who just wants to pick up the phone and dial up a loved one, the former would suit you very well.

However, if you use a lot of FaceTime, Skype and LINE/Viber then the latter plan would make much more sense. It’s all about giving choices back to the consumer.

DiGi SmartPlan

I think it’s great and as a Digi user, I’m going to switch to the High Voice – the Digi SmartPlan really is versatile. I already have a fast fibre based Internet connection at home so I don’t need to use a lot of data. Plus, with the Digi SmartPlan 78 and above, I’ll get unlimited Whatsapp/WeChat even with High Voice! I used to be the opposite – no Internet connection at home and constantly using up my 3 GB of data per month just from surfing and updating my blog.

On top of Unlimited Whatsapp, WeChat (from SmartPlan 78 and above) and Facebook (with selected plans), Digi has recently launched their music app – Digi Music Freedom where you can stream music with zero data charges – this means that you can enjoy free music from Spotify, Deezer, KKBox and more! It’s a very good initiative from Digi for their clients, especially those who cannot live without music, and also it is a very positive initiative by Digi in helping to minimize the problem in illegal music downloads.

Niece

Thus, wherever you are in life, and whatever you like to do, with the new Digi SmartPlan, the choice is really up to you – High Voice or High Data! Choose which one you want here.

My niece’s 1st birthday!

niece

I’m a proud uncle of a 1 year old bundle of joy. 😀

sister

My sister’s daughter just turned a year old and the entire Poh clan went out to celebrate her birthday. I’m really fond of her, she’s soft and adorable and it’s really touching when she takes to me and asks for a hug. *melts

dinner

We all went for dinner at this Chinese restaurant called Home Cook Corner (favored by my dad coz of the relatively low MSG content) and ordered:

pork
Claypot pork leg
This is nicely done and came out tender and sweet – just as it should be.

veggie
Unidentified veggies with egg
I don’t know what vegetable this is but I love how it’s cooked with egg. Eggs = awesome.

fish
Curry fish head
I like how this came out.

curry

It can’t compare to the legendary Sheraton curry fish head in Sibu but it comes pretty close.

midin
Midin
This is a local fern that’s only available in Sarawak. It’s cooked in a spicy and sour style which actually works pretty well.

century egg
Century eggs
Erm…this is actually mine, I always tend to order this when I’m eating in Sibu.

chicken
Kung pow chicken
I found this a little bland and disappointing since I’m used to very spicy dishes.

tofu
House specialty tofu
I’m not particularly fond of tofu so this doesn’t really appeal to me.

fishball
Homemade fishball soup
The fishball is the size of an egg (!!!). I quite liked it even though the others found it too soft.

family

We adjoined back home after dinner with all the relatives in tow for the obligatory cake cutting ceremony. This is a durian cake from Secret Recipe. Yes, we have one in Sibu. -_-

cake

I don’t know if she made a wish (probably not, considering her age) but I made one for her. May you grow up to be happy and here’s to life treating you well!

wish

Happy birthday little one. Much love from your uncle. <3 "…and I hope, life treats you kind. And I hope, you have all you dreamed of. I wish you joy, and happiness. And above all this, I wish you…love.

My sister is pregnant!

hb sister

My sister is pregnant and will be giving birth to a baby girl slightly after Chinese New Year 2010. That’s just a couple of months away! My parents are in town from their trip to Taiwan and went shopping for baby clothes. I went to My Babies Planet, and found the most popular baby products. They’re going to visit her in New Zealand after CNY so this is the umpteenth time we’ve not celebrated the Lunar New Year as a family.

I’m not particularly close to my sister. Despite having only one sibling, we are total opposites of each other. She’s practicing medicine in NZ (married another doctor) and we don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things. I mean, we half-heartedly attempt to keep in touch (usually via birthday cards, a once a year thing) but I think that tradition died off recently. 🙂

hb family

However, blood always runs thicker and I’m happy for her and Alvin. It kinda takes the pressure off me too, ya know? I still think my dad is counting on me to produce Proper Offspring (TM) for him (defined as having the family name “POH”) but they sound so happy for my sister and her husband that I think they’re gonna let it slide for a couple of years at least. Heh!

I’m just wondering. My sister is about to give birth and I only knew last night when my dad called. I wasn’t even in the loop.

I didn’t get the memo. T_T

*weeps silently into my pillow*

Seriously though, I love babies and by the time I see my sister the year after I doubt it would be baby anymore. I think I should start planning for a trip to NZ, be a good uncle and all that.
I have doubts about my lifespan with my kidney and liver problems so this is great news to me. I don’t mean to sound morbid or fatalistic but I’m really happy the bloodline continues.

Finally, someone deserving whom I can state as my EPF (and other meager assets) recipient. 🙂

I think it’s gonna be quite complicated though since the baby is an NZ citizen.

It’s okay, I’m in a really, really good mood coz of this.

*sings*

…and what it all boils down too, is that everything’s gonna be quite alright! Coz I got one hand in my pocket and the other one is flashing the peace sign. =D

The world can be a beautiful place sometimes. 🙂

My sister’s wedding @ Grand Jasmine Ballroom, RH Hotel

wedding sibu

My sister just had her second wedding reception last night at the Grand Jasmine Ballroom in RH Hotel, Sibu. The KL wedding reception was held exactly one week ago and last night’s festivities were for the bride’s family and friends.

main table

The Grand Jasmine Ballroom was used since we had 40 tables seating 10 people each. Both Jasmine 1 and Jasmine 2 were used to accommodate for the wedding. I just found out that each table costs over RM 450 so that’s about RM 18,000 for the wedding reception alone.

montage sibu

Gifts were respectfully declined and my parents did not accept any ang pows at all. My parents wanted this to be a casual get-together for friends and family without the traditional trappings of Chinese wedding banquets. It’s giving back magnanimously to the Sibu community to commemorate the wedding of their daughter.

The sales personnel of the local newspapers were politely kept away from the ballroom area to prevent their hard sell advertisements from bothering the guests and we roped in relatives to do the seating arrangements and ushering duties.

montage crowd

It was a huge task since there were 400 guests from various groups (church, organizations, corporations, family, schools and friends) to be seated at their designated tables.

I was slated to be the MC of the night and there were two main events that I had to coordinate – the entrance of the bride and groom from the flower arch down the red carpet lined with flowers and all the way through the second wedding arch before being seated.

entrance

The night’s festivities began with the bride and groom walking in before being seated at the main table.

montage main

There are ten seats on the main table:
1. Alvin Ng (groom)
2. Poh Yih Jia (bride – my sister)
3, 4: Mr & Mrs Poh (parents of the bride)
5, 6: Mr & Mrs Ng (parents of the groom)
7: Paternal grandmother (of bride)
8: Maternal grandmother (of bride)
9, 10: Poh Huai Bin & Doris (brother of the bride and girlfriend)

montage speach

I started off with a short welcome speech before showing a presentation of my sister’s progress throughout the years. The bride and groom came on stage to acknowledge the efforts that went into the events management aspects. My sister did a great speech thanking my parents for her upbringing, waxing nostalgic and generally trying to be a tearjerker. It’s a good thing some sand got into my eyes. 😉

first dish

The good Reverent said grace before dinner and the first dish was served.

The interesting bit and the flagship feature of weddings at The Grand Jasmine Ballroom is the presentation of the first dish. The lights went dark and music started playing as a parade of waiters and waitresses choreographed a candlelit performance while carrying the first dish before serving the dishes. It’s quite unique and novel.

montage festivities 

There was the time-honored cake cutting ceremony by the bride and the groom after that, followed by the champagne pouring ceremony, some kissing action from the newly weds and a toast led by me where everyone raised their glasses to bless the holy matrimony of the bride and groom.

main group

This is a group photo of the immediate family at the main table. You’ll notice that there are only eight of us – my paternal grandmother went to the washroom and there was an empty seat meant for my maternal grandmother. Unfortunately, she had a bad Alzheimer’s attack before the wedding and couldn’t join us. Both my grandfathers are deceased, both coincidentally from lung cancer.

food 1

The food on the main table is served individually for some reason, instead of being a communal dish.

food 2

I have yet to figure out the reasoning behind this.

I went up and sang The Wedding a.k.a the “Ave Maria” song with my mom before the end of the night.

I actually sang it twice, the first one was dedicated to my girlfriend and I did a solo on that. My apologies for subjecting everyone to the auditory assault – I don’t sing well, but I sing with my heart. :p

doris

The wedding reception ended at 9:30 pm and our relatives stayed back and helped clean up the place. Doris is seen here feeding me fake champagne – it’s a actually a prop that expels confetti when pulled.

cake

There was just one major blunder at the wedding – the three-tiered wedding cake was not sliced and distributed by the RH Hotel staff after the cake cutting ceremony, which they were supposed to do. We all forgot about that since we were busy with other stuff and only realized it when it was still on stage when I thanked the guests for coming. Oh well, at least it was all packed up and given to relatives so it’s not that bad.

wedding end

Congratulations to Alvin Ng and Yih Jia on their wedding. I guess I’ll have to start to call my sister Mrs. Ng now.

Hmm…

My sister’s wedding @ KL

kl wedding

My sister had her wedding reception in Restaurant Oversea at Jaya One in PJ last Saturday. I was in KL for the weekend to attend the wedding – there will be another one this Saturday in Sibu, where I would be the MC for the night. I have been instructed to tone down on my jokes coz I commented about her cleavage in the KL wedding and she nearly went into hysterics and rushed into the toilet to fix her dress. Heh!

wedding table kl

My sister is the polar opposite of me, personality wise. 😉

me sister kl

I’m going to cover the Sibu wedding ceremony (which I haven’t figured out how to do while being the MC at the same time) so I didn’t do much at the KL wedding, which was more on the groom’s side, so here’s a montage of the events:

montage

This is my new extended family:

group kl

I had a pretty embarrassing pre-dinner moment when the person manning the reception counter was on the phone and couldn’t seat us. I gave an off-hand sarcastic comment to my date and my aunt in KL which I’m sure she heard. I found out later that the receptionist was my sister-in-law. Major faux pax. Not a good way to start a relationship, I’m sure.

Oops…

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