Situated at Jalan Ban Hock, Choon Hui Cafe is an old-school coffee shop serving one of the best laksa’s in Kuching! It is usually fully-packed during breakfast time. Do come early if you don’t wanna wait. Otherwise though, you can get a seat in around 20-30 minutes, if you’re lucky

Jam-packed coffee shop with the by-standers waiting for their turn to the limited seats available.

Choon Hui Cafe serves Kolo Mee…

Popiah…

Roti Kiap (Someone ate the other half)…

Half-boiled eggs…

and of course, the laksa!

Fresh, juicy prawns, and tender chicken slices on top of the best laksa soup base ever!!!
*I know the coriander might be a spoiler for some of you.

No, there won’t be any parking lots left if you’re here late. Best chance would be to find a parking lot near Hotel Grand Continental, or across the main road.

Choon Hui Cafe was Choon Hui Coffee Shop, like 20 years ago?

A normal bowl of laksa here costs you RM4.00. At RM5.00, you’ll get an upgrade of their prawn sizes as well as the portion. Trust me, it’s worth it if you’re a prawn fan.

Do expect long queues here.

Kuching Kolo Mee is a famous commodity here too. This stall serves fresh meat noodle, prawn noodle, fish ball noodles, and wantan.

The Popiah stall. Popiah is a type of spring roll stuffed with fillings made of mainly “Bangkuang”. The Popiah “skin” is a soft, thin paper-like crepe made of wheat flour.

The Popiah Ingredients – Grated Bangkuang stir-fried with grated carrots and minced meat.

The Popiah. I’m not a big fan of Popiah, but my wife love it very much.

After all the great food, I just had to wash it all down with their not-so-signature Milo Peng.

“Tauke” (The boss) reviewing list of uncountable orders, and of course, uncountable money…

More Moolah for him today!

Tucked in the middle of the busy streets just before the Jalan Tabuan – Jalan Bang Hock roundabout, Kuching’s Bla Bla Bla Restaurant is the place to go for a out-of-the-ordinary dinner.

Bla Bla Bla is recommended by many Kuching locals as well as patrons alike.

A little sneak preview of what’s inside the restaurant. The cushion pillows and huggables makes you feel like home.

Menu for you to browse, giving you an idea of the varieties of food they offer.

Bla Bla Bla is a simple, but yet catchy name for a restaurant. Easy to remember and to be spread around. At first I thought it was just another casual dining place. But it turns out to be much better that what I’ve expected.

Bla Bla Bla… Restaurant on a chalkboard sign.

The introductory table with their menu and name cards.

My reservation with 12 pax.

A vintage wooden cabinet from the 60s. They’re using it to store the restaurant’s ingredients.

On the left is bar cum reception area. Notice the ice cream on the top?

The entrance area is a bit on the tight side, but it is only a teaser to what’s inside.

The restaurant is being designed and built in a pretty auspicious manner, applying fengshui elements evidently through their koi pond.

It is also my favorite part of the restaurant. The cool koi pond with elevated footpath leading to their dining area. I’m gonna get one of these for my home someday!

The koi brings a sense of active flow and is becoming a point of attraction to the restaurant.

Raw ingredients on display at the restaurant, all of healthy local greens.

Yam leaves

Bicycle hanging on the ceiling. I wonder if that has anything to do with fengshui? No?

You’ve seen enough of Facebook’s wall photos. Now this is the real deal at Bla Bla Bla Restaurant.

The sleeping Buddha prior to the dining area.

Very well air-conditioned. Giving dinners a cool breeze in a hot and humid Borneo climate. Not too cold, but cool enough.

Dim but sufficient lighting makes it a great place to have a family and friends get-together. I think the overall atmosphere is making everyone happy there.

Now to the food…

The appetizer. Picked Papaya.

Roasted peanuts.

Apple juice and Iced Lemon juice.

Vanilla milkshake

Spicy and sour Tom Yam soup to boost your appetite for the delicious food ahead!

Bla Bla Bla’s signature fried rice, with raisins, prawns, and chicken floss.

Kailan vege with fried salted fish.

A Must Order! dish when you’re at Bla Bla Bla, another signature dish, the deep fried soft-shell crab, topped with chicken floss and mayonnaise, comes with a small portion of salad in the middle.

Roasted chicken in special sauce and loads of sesame.

A signature dish again. This is a cold dish of Midin (a local fern) with sliced chili, onion, garlic, and shallots. It is topped with cheese powder and I think it taste pretty good together.

A rare timepiece. It’s almost 11pm and the restaurant is closing at 11:30pm.

Where is it?

View Bla Bla Bla Restaurant, Kuching in a larger map

Restaurant’s Information

Business Hours: Monday – Wednesday (11am – 11.30pm)
Address: 27, Ground & First Floor, Tabuan Road, 93000 Kuching.
Tel/Fax No: 082-23394

Well, let me bring you to this quiet little Bintangor town of Borneo Sarawak (30 minutes drive from Sibu town) to witness part of the largest crop fields in the state.

Plowed land ready for planting.

This will be used for corn plantations.

Farm Boy: “Hello, do you have any work for me? I can help plow your land.”

Corn crops testing area.

Farm tractor.

Farm machineries.

This is use for land plowing.

More farm tractors.

Elephant brand water sprayer.

The Rain Maker.

Irrigation system, ensuring sufficient water flows through all the plantations.

Farm supervisor and his dogs. Hunting for something there.

Catch of the day: Iguana.

Got it by its tail, almost bit his *toot* though…

The pineapple trail.

Baby pineapple.

Sweet potato plantations.

Water bamboo shoots

Barley seeds. The Borneo indigenous variety of barley is much more tasty than those Western barleys, and it has a scent of herbal fragrance as well.

Baby barley plantations.

Barley crops.

Corn seeds originating from Thailand.

This is not at the farm anymore, but on the way back from Bintangor to Sibu, you can find many of these stalls selling local fruits usually grown at their own backyard.

Dragon fruits.

Chinese Mandarin.

Pomelo.

Corns.

Banana.

Durian.

Alright now, go back to Facebook and steal some more fruits.

No, I’m not asking you to worship the Gods, but right beside the temple, there’s a block of revamped building that houses Sibu’s finest lounge and cafe. The lounge is located at Jalan Chew Geok Lin. The once antique building looks great now after major refurbishment works.

The building is owned by Wah Tat Holdings. The lounge is closed in the morning, nothing’s happening there during daytime…but when the sun goes down…

Welcome to the Queen Lounge and Cafe!

Cafe Cafe, a fusion restaurant right beside the Lounge. Next to Cafe cafe, there’s Mari Mari interior decor and furniture shop. All of these businesses share the same owners – Peter and Ah Tung.

If you want a cozy, air-conditioned environment, you can take a seat in the Lounge.

This is the open air area, so if you opt to smoke, or you just want to smell the river breeze (or haze as of now – Aug, 2009) you can sit on the outside instead.

The stage where singers perform. The lounge have a group of very talented singers and I reckon they’re qualified for an album contract! So, talent scouts, this is your spot if you want local talents!

I like the mixture of modern cum antique decorations in the lounge. There’s a medieval sense surrounding the place.

They even have a long table with chairs and glasses from the Imperialism age, and the corner lamp that light up the floral wallpapers. First impression, this is where a Mafia gang holds their meeting.

The menu for the Queen.

The reception area with two chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Vintage!

Candle in the glass.

Dim light.

More decors.

Beers on displays in the cabinet chiller.

Beers anyone?

Nothing beats a beer at the Queen after a hectic day of work. Cheers everyone!

But our journey were cut short, or rather, unsuccessful where we had to make a U-turn back to Kuching City due to bad weather, and as darkness closed in, we dare not venture into the unfamiliar territory. There are no lights nor residence for as long as the eyes could see and the terrain is rough. Wrong timing for a trip like this.

But despite not reaching our destination, we’ve came back with a few satisfying shots for our HDR project. The subject this time, The River and the Ferry. (Click for larger view)

The water was green and cold, and there’s a mixture of different rubber texture in the tyres.

The rusty objects were perfect subjects for a photography project of this category, where HDR imaging brings out the sharp details of rusted iron.

Surreal cold seawater, rubbery tyres, iron rusts, dark, haunting clouds over the lush green forests. This is the full package.

We were back in Kuching and we had several good shots at Kuching Waterfront, and this is just one of them.

The new State Parliament Assembly Hall over the Kuching river. I personally love the blue sky and the golden colored roofing of the structure. Magnificent piece of architecture I would say.

Stay tuned for more HDR series from us!

After that long, 8 hours journey from Sibu, the first thing that comes to our mind once we’ve reached Kuching City is FOOD! We’ve yet to take any solid meals since we left early in the morning at 6 a.m. I’m nursing a sorethroat and any hot, deep fried finger food at the rest stop is prohibited by Mary.

It’s freaking hot and humid here in Kuching, a scorching 38 degree celcius sunshine is burning our skin off. Sitting under the lowly covered zinc roof food court isn’t such a good idea, but the food must be good enough to be able to lure us here! Many thanks to Mary’s brother-in-law, Francis, for bringing us around Kuching to hunt for their best foods.

Kuching Open Air Food Court. Not the orange concrete building.

Another stretch of the food court, which only opens at night.

Inside the food court. The ceiling is made of the old asbestos board and the roof structures made of wood, which is abundant in the timberland of Borneo.

The famous Sin Kwang Heng Kuching open air market Sio Bee (Siu Mai – 烧卖). So famous it’s even being “exported” to Miri! But you gotta try the fresh ones here.

Laksa. Although I’m nursing a sorethroat, but die die I’ve to order laksa, because I’m in Kuching! They said Kuching laksa’s the best in the whole of Sarawak. But, I have other ideas, I would say Miri has the best laksa – and it’s at Jalan Krokop 10 just beside the Krokop Wet Market.

We also went to the place where they serve the best Laksa in Kuching at 3rd Mile, Golden Arch. Also, disappointingly, not as good as Miri’s.

Kolo Mee. This is the best kolo mee I’ve had for years. They “saturate” the noodle with their “Char Siew” (BBQ) oil, which brings about the addictive aromatic fragrance to their kolo mee. Although it’s a bit too oily and certainly not good for the health conscious bunch.

Kuching Rojak. I know this is not the best rojak in Kuching. Nevermind that, cause Bintangor has the best Rojak in Sarawak.

Nothing beats this cool and refreshing 五味汤 (5-flavor syrup) on a hot sunny day. It’s a mixture of 5 (sometimes 6) different Chinese herbs in a sweet syrup with a scoop of blended ice on top. Perfectly cooled me down after a bowl of hot laksa.

Bb had her favorite ABC.

This concludes my first day in Kuching City. Stay tuned for more stories from the Cat City!

This is Payung Cafe @ Lanang Road. It’s a few blocks before Fat Mum Restaurant if you’re going from Upper Lanang towards the town area.

This is Payung Cafe from the outside.

The typical, laminated menu.

Mango Milk Shake @ RM5. Tasted okay, but adding some mango bits would certainly boost the taste.

Springroll.

Chicken Rice. Lots of bones and the chicken is tasteless.

Pamelo Salad, Thai style.

Guava Salad, Thai Style.

I’ve to say their Thai style salads taste great. Probably the best dishes of the night.

Not to be mistaken with the Little Umbrella Cafe (Xiao Yu Shan) at the end Brooke Drive, this Payung Cafe is located at a shoplot beside shipyards and timber yards along the Lanang Road, a few blocks away from the Fat Mom Restaurant. They serve mainly exotic Asian dishes and some western dishes. It’s not easy to spot, if you need directions, please contact me!

Jakar (Zakar), is a Malay word that carries the meaning of a man’s sex organ. It’s still a mystery to what makes the pioneer in choosing such term to their little township, but I guess they’re just following suit. I mean, there’s fucking roads in Austria, why can’t they name their town Dick? right?

Or maybe it’s just the pepper plantations…

Will Chua was kind enough to guide us here for a peanut soup stop, at the expense of his working hour at his family-owned motorbike store.

The peanut soup. Will Chua’s favorite during his free time. Erm, someone said there’s better peanut soup elsewhere, I’ll review it when I had the chance to taste it.

Peoples stop-by here enroute to Sibu from Kuching, or vice versa. That’s why it’s called a rest stop. Usually they’ll get quick food here before continuing their journey.

The coffee shop even has its own mini mart!

The eggs and pepper. Still seen in some old kopitiams, some will put pulut panggang, some put karipap. But as for this one, it seems like their pepper is free. Put in such a big bottle. But it’s not surprising anyway cause they can always get from the Dick when they run out of pepper.