Dining With Jewelle

*Non Halal Post*

Last Saturday we went to the Hua Ho Department Store at Yayasan to get Eu a bigger car seat. I was pleased to see that Hua Ho now carries the Nicole brand in the ladies clothing sections and had it not been for hubby (being around), I’d surely be stuck there!

We found a car seat for her and then we headed for lunch at the only Chinese non-halal eatery around this around (I think) called Hau Hua.

This is the one along Pizza Hut block and a few stores down from Brunei famous 24 hours cafe and also Coffee Bean.

The place was quite empty when we went in - which is a blessing because I’m still not that thick-faced when taking pictures in a crowded place!

We had the usual Chinese fares - after Eu asked her standard question of “Do they have any salmon?” and her standard indignant response “No salmon?! I think I’m NOT hungry“.

I think their noodles dishes must be better than their rice dishes because that’s what I see most of the patrons ordered. The noodle bowls where large too so that must be their speciality. As for what we ordered, I thought they were ordinary.

But the one saving grace for this place for me is that, they offer herbal or tonic soup!

Now this is something that is hard to get here in Brunei (as I know it). For your information, I love tonic soups and it’s only in recent years (since I have a slow cooker) that I have really began to enjoy eating and cooking this type of Chinese dishes. This was one of the reason I like Singapore - you could get tonic soups everywhere!

So any shops which offers soups like this is always a plus point for me.

Hau Hua’s soup of the day was the herbal chicken which although tasted nice, had a tad too much seasoning - I prefer my food and soups sans AjiNoMoto.

This place seems to have good breakfast selections too. Qi is at a stage right now where she only takes egg and Weetabix/Oats for breakfast so sometimes finding a place for breakfast can be a problem.

Although the decor of the place is nice, I find it a bit dark with the wooden decorations and the atmosphere insides made me feel like I’m in one of those seedy places where those kind of men go to hang out and flirt with the waitresses. Not a place I would go and have meals by myself, if you know what I mean.

Since all the young men in my household go offshores once in a while for work, work shoes or boots are aplenty at home. In fact, there is a pair in my car since sometimes hubby uses my car when he drives to the heliport and I know one of my brother in law has a pair of boots permanently in his car too.

It’s such a far cry from my house in KK where nobody has boots. In fact, I have no idea where one could get work boots in KK!

Here, especially in our district, I think most household would have at least a pair of boots with the oil and gas industry being the major employer. In fact, you don’t have to work offshore to own a boots. Those who are based at workyards or warehouses are already required to use a coverall and boots. So I’m not surprised if the shoe shops around here makes most of their income from selling work boots.

But of the few times that I ventured inside our Seria shoe shops, the boots on offers were not that varied. Perhaps there is a common brand that most people here prefers.

But then again, if more variety is needed, there are always online sites such as the MetBoots which sells more than 25 brands of boots from Caterpillar to Terra Footwear. If you’re more particular about the type, then you could easily find your type from their style type that includes Electrical Hazard Boots and Shoes, Heat Resisting Boots or Waterproof Boots.

It’s not all for men too as you could also get Women Work Boots and Shoes.

This site offers free shipping for orders above $100. So if you have to wear boots for work, why be dependent on what the local shop carries?

Go online and find quality and competitively priced boots!