Mexico meets Italy during Christmas in Asia...

Mexican Christmas meets Italy in Asia was a roaring success. Even though there were only three of us for dinner we probably could have fed half of the Malaysian army which has a base in Miri. Okay maybe not half but probably about half a dozen of them. We had so much food!

I wanted to make home-made tortilla shells, just like my Momma used to make, especially when my dad was out of town since he was more of a meat and potato kinda guy. These specific tortilla shells are made from corn meal. However, who knew corn meal was going to be so hard to find in Miri. I started my search about the week before Christmas randomly looking in stores hoping that I would happen upon the main ingredient. I was beginning to lose hope and even recruited Ridley's sister Rezebel to assist. One afternoon a few days before the big festivities she went on a corn meal hunt and to no avail came up empty handed. One day I was picking up a few groceries and searched and searched the section with all the flour and rice flour, sugar and powdery substances when I saw it. I saw corn flour. Yes, that's right corn flour. So, I texted my Momma and asked her... "do you think I could use corn flour instead of corn meal." Her response, "Yes it won't have the same texture but should work."

Fast forward to Christmas Day and again we were on a last ditch effort to find corn meal. I wasn't quite convinced yet that this corn flour was going to work. I will also never listen to anyone ever again when they say to just do Christmas shopping on Christmas Day. Neither Ridley or I were sure if the stores would be open or not and thank goodness most were open. So we searched for corn meal again and searched for tortilla shells and once again came up empty handed. The one store we wanted to go to called the GK Market, which always has quite a stock of international foods, surprise, they were closed for Christmas. Shocking I know. 

So we headed home with most of the ingredients for a Mexican Christmas minus taco shells or anything resembling a tortilla. But, we had decided the day before that if we were not successful in our hunt that we would make nachos and some pasta and have somewhat of a Mexico meets Italy Christmas affair. 

I did not want to give up. We decided on tacos damn-it, we were going to have tacos. I figured I've got to be able to make these darn tacos shells with this corn flour stuff. Hello Google you are my best friend. Thank god for internet. I researched corn flour and oops it is actually corn starch. Who knew. Apparently there is a corn flour called Masa which what I could have used but of course didn't have. And in Asian countries a lot of the packaged cornstarch is labeled as corn flour. Oh so interesting trying to make something you have no clue how to make and combine that with attempting to buy ingredients in a country where you can't read the packaging. Oh well, lesson learned. So, I found a recipe to make tortilla shells with you guessed it, flour. Just plain old white flour. I know most of you are probably rolling your eyes right about know thinking boy this girl has no clue about cooking, and you are probably right. I don't have a clue, well a clue how to improvise my corn meal tortillas. But, now I do. And they turned out great!

Mexico meet Italy in Asia!

With Christmas Day behind us and our Mexican meets Italy meal over and done with we were, excited to have been invited to an expatriate's house for Boxing Day. Cam and Ioana, a lovely couple from Canada and Romana, invited Ridley and I to their open house. Ioana made a remarkable Romanian potato salad, along with a lamb roast and for dessert Cam made us banana flambé. I made Ridley watch very closely as Cam made our dessert hoping that he could recreate it for us sometime. Until I saw that Cam actually lit the pan on fire by letting a few drops of the Rum he had just poured into pan onto the open flames of their gas stove. It was at that moment I thought that neither Ridley nor I should attempt this flambé thing until we have visited Cam and Ioana's house at least half a dozen more times.

It was a great night as we sat and visited with Cam and Ioana and a few other friends who also dropped in to enjoy the open house. We heard some interesting stories about their travels around the world. We chatted about life in Miri versus life in Canada, and New Zealand and a few other places in between. We also told them about our eventful Christmas dinner and of course I told them about my struggle to find corn meal at which Ioana ran to the cupboard and pulled out a bag of the ingredient I had looked all over Miri for. When I asked her where she purchase this said ingredient, her response, "Oh I got this at the GK Market." Of course she did, the one store that was closed Christmas Day, but then again we wouldn't have such great stories to tell now would we...

Next on the agenda...Christmas in Asia...

First solo adventure. Check.

I returned to Miri from Kota Kinabalu (referred to as KK by the locals) unscathed. Well, nearly expect for a wee bit of a sunburn. Who knew that I could still get some colour sitting on the shaded side of the pool. But at least this time I wasn't nearly as bad as my last visit. Thank God.

My last day in KK was great. I lounged by the pool for the morning, had some lunch then went shopping to the near by mall. All-in-all it was a great three days to myself minus or plus, depending on how you look at it, my misadventures.

So now that I am back in Miri life is returning to 'normal.' You know, sleeping-in, doing laundry, blogging, oh dear is this what my life has come to since I have started my one-year leave from work. Sigh. I think I better get some more hobbies aside from randomly searching on the internet researching blogs.

Well for the record I am now planning our Christmas. Since it is this Saturday I figured I should think about what we are going to eat and do for the big day. Since Malaysia is mostly a Muslim country Christmas isn't celebrated nearly as much as it is in Canada. However, this year we put up the tree and I plan to have a special meal. Well, special as in we have decided that we are having a Mexican Christmas! Yes, that's right...Feliz Navidad! I asked Ridley what he missed about being in Canada, since he has been back here for a year and a half and he said tacos, and nachos of course. So, I am going to attempt to make my Mom's home-made corn tortillas, guacamole, corn salad, nachos, and Spanish rice.

As I have said many times before, wish me luck.

First birthday celebration...

I celebrated my first birthday in Malaysia. Well, actually not my birthday, but Ridley's father Ron's birthday. This was not only my first birthday celebration in Malaysia, but my first Chinese birthday celebration. What makes it different you ask? The food. Isn't it always the food. We went to Dynasty Chinese Restaurant and it was a feast. A 7 course meal to be exact which included:

1. Fish Maw Soup
2. Hot and Cold combination
3. Steamed Green Snapper Fish
4. Orange Duck
5. Deep fried buttermilk mushrooms
6. Fried Nestum Shrimp
7. BBQ Pork Ribs

All of this followed by Fruity Cheesecake birthday cake. Yup, that's right, 7 courses, plus cake or yeah and can't forget the fruit platter that was filled with honeydew, watermelon, and papaya. Delicious.

Steamboat...

Steamboat! No, not the kind of steamboat that you find on the shores of Vancouver. This kind of steamboat is a way of cooking food, which is well...very tasty. You may have heard the Steamboat be referred to as Hot Pot, or Chinese fondue. Basically a simmering metal pot of stock is at the centre of the table and is kept simmering, ingredients are placed in the pot and cooked at the table. Typical items include thinly sliced meets, leafy vegetables, mushrooms, dumplings, wontons, and seafood.

We went to the Mitsu Shabu Shabu Restaurant in Miri for traditional steamboat. This was my first time and it was a great experience. Since I am a rookie steamboater, Ridley took me around and helped me pick out the times that I was eventually going to cook.

And...what's really neat is I found that this particular restaurant has also been reviewed by Makan Maniacs, a Miri restaurant review blog. Check it out: Makan Maniacs

Don't choose too much food.
Every 100g of food you don't eat you are charged 6 Ringgits!

Ready to cook, noodles, fish balls, tofu, crab.

And the cabbage is going in.

Ridley adding his noodles.

Me eating a pork dumpling, similar to a gyoza.

So fried...

Who knew that deep fried vegetables would equal dessert. But interestingly enough it does. This was the second time I was treated to 'dessert' and it is delicious. However, let's be honest I am a fan of french fries, anything crispy like potato chips so it is only fair to say that I would like Kueh Campur. The sweet potato, yam, shrimp cake and tofu all deep fried then dipped in a chili or sweet sauce with peanuts is definitely a dessert.

Kueh Campur

I was also treated to the "Spe-Cial". Yes. That's what it's called the "Spe-Cial".

The "Spe-Cial"

And in the Special it is a combination of shaved ice, grenadine, sweetened or condensed milk, jelly and corn. On a hot day, which most of the days around here are hot, the Special does the trick. It sounds like an interesting combination to probably most North Amercians but it is a must try here in Malaysia. It is generally referred to as Ais Campur. "Ais" is a Malay spelling of the English word "Ice". "Campur" means "mix". There are many combinations of Ais Campur including the "Spe-Cial".

Date Night...

Last night was date night. And even though it wasn't starring Tina Fey and Steve Carell, there were a few bloopers. Imagine that.

Everything started off smooth when Ridley arrived to pick me up and we headed into town. We decided that prior to date night, or I guess a prequel to our dinner we were going to work out. So he dropped me off at the gym and went back to work for a bit while his sister and I started out on the treadmills. Again, everything was going so smoothly. I got my towel and key to a locker. I changed into my workout clothes. Only to discover no socks. Yes. Surprise, surprise, I forgot socks. Oh well, I wasn't going to let no socks stop me from getting my sweat on. I then quickly went to the washroom before heading into the gym. I washed my hands, grabbed some towels, dried my hands, bent down to throw out the paper towel and as I came back up, bang! Yes. Bang. My heads hits the corner of the hand dryer. Yeah. That hurt. I rubbed my head only to discover that I had not only hit it but I cut it. Sigh. So, there I am standing in the middle of the ladies locker room with paper towel stuck to my head, in my workout clothes, by myself. So, what do I do? Yeah, text Ridley.

Here is the conversation:

Shelley: "I cut my head abd its bleeding"
Ridley: "How?? What?"
Shelley: "On the dryer"
Ridley: "What were you doing? Do you need stitches."
Shelley: "I dot kniow. I don't think so. My hsairs all bloody."
Ridley: "What were you doing???"

I stopped texting after the second "What were you doing?" I am standing in the middle of the locker room holding a bloody towel to my head, I didn't have time to explain to him what happened. All he needed to know what I cut my head. Sigh. So a few minutes later in comes his sister to see how I was doing and Ridley not far behind her. By the time they came to check on me all was under control. So, I managed to clean myself up and make my entrance to the gym, also where he works. At least the staff were so kind and gave him the first aid kit in case I needed it. Great first impression.

We continued on with date night. My injuries were minor, besides for a little bleeding I had no headache so we were good to go. After the gym we went to Cafe Miri where they serve mostly western cuisine. Here western cuisine is probably similar to our version of Chinese food back in Canada. Both Ridley and I had the Mixed Grill dish, which consisted of french fries with chicken, pork, lamb and hot dogs, or what they consider to be sausage. To drink I had the lemon iced tea and Ridley choose watermelon. All in all it was a decent asian version of a western style meal. Since it was only 8 p.m. and we weren't ready to call date night over so we decided to go for dessert, which turned out to be the best ending of a less than stellar beginning.

We went to Dessert Master and yes, I would say they are a master at desserts. Since I really don't understand what I am ordering yet, if a place has photos I am in heaven. This place had photos. I generally pick what I am going to eat based on what I can tell it looks like in a picture. How bad is that. But, it's how I roll. So, I found what is called Mango Sago, or also referred to as Tapioca, looked quite appealing. And. Yes. I was right. For once. It was not only good it was amazing. I think I maybe shared one spoon full with Ridley, most of the time he gets my leftovers, and there were no leftovers with this dish.

So, what started out as a bit of a misadventure turned into a great evening, with great food and even better company.

Cafe Miri

Canadian decor at Cafe Miri

Inside the western cuisine restaurant

My special date, Ridley

Me at my new favourite dessert restaurant

Best dessert in Miri 

Mango Sago...nothing better

The simple things...

So the last couple of days I have learned a few things about me, about life in Malaysia and about the simple things.

I've called Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia home for about 10 days. Not a long time, but I have big plans. I still don't know how to drive but have become a bit braver. I drove home from town last week. Well, from the edge of town really. So basically I was on the main road. No stop lights. No turns. Just straight, well maybe a few curves, but nonetheless I drove. And on the wrong side or should I say the right side of the road. I was proud. Now I just need to brave the in-town streets. That will be another feat. You see, the driving is different here than in Canada. One example is people, from what I can tell, park in what they call parking lanes. Really, a parking lane. Just envision a street with side parking, then next to it there are cars parked in a traffic lane. I have learned that these cars are only parked momentarily, and everyone just drives around them. Really, I just don't get it. And there are a lot of bikes, and they aren't just for singles either. One day I actually saw a family of four on a two-wheeler. Yes, papa and momma and two wee ones, and by wee ones I am talking about a toddler and a little baby. This made me realize that I am lucky. To see a mother holding her baby with her toddler sitting in between her and her husband while they drive around town, well it just made me realize how fortunate some of us really are. Someone said that maybe I should just get a bike. Uhm, yeah, no. They are aggressive drivers here or I guess for them it's just normal. For me I think I would be frustrating for the locals. See I would be what we could call at home an old bitty driver, or maybe that's just what I call them. Yes, you know the ones with white hair and can barely see over the steering wheel, ok in simple terms, a grandma driver. Yes. That would be me. Except I can see over the steering wheel and I don't have white hair. Well, maybe one day I will brave the streets and live to tell about it.

Recently, I also ventured to the post office. Yes. By myself. Ok, well I was dropped off and picked up so I didn't actually get there by myself but I went in by myself, that counts for something. And purchased stamps. I told the nice teller, "Can I buy some stamps for postcards to send to Canada." She asked me"You want postcards." I said, "No, just stamps." "How many do you want," she said. "How much," I responded. "50 cents." I bought six. That's $3 Ringgit or about $1 Canadian dollar. To send six postcards to lucky recipients back home. Cheap. Cheap.

I also received an email in response to an inquiry to volunteer for a children's organization in Malaysia. I was so proud I finally found an organization on-line so I quickly emailed them to ask about any volunteer positions. This was the response I received:

"We would have loved to have you help us with some work. Unfortunately our projects in East Malaysia focusses on detention issues. As such, access to such facilities are limited to our colleagues who have been given special permission from the government. We do not have a base in East Malaysia. We only travel to East Malaysia from the West as and when our Relapse Prevention workshops for young offenders and detention officer's training are being held."

Oh dear. What did I try and sign myself up for. Note to self: always thoroughly read through all information prior to signing up for anything, volunteering included. So, I am not going to look into volunteering for a non-profit animal welfare group. And, instead of bringing home 10 needy children, I'll be trying to export 10 dogs and cats. Sigh.