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!

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.

For the first time last Sunday, hubby brought home some take-away Excapade food.

Eu is turning just as bad as her papa and everytime we eat out, she'd ask if the restaurant has any salmon and salmon roe - nevermind if its a Chinese restaurant or a Western restaurant!

So, using her as his excuse, hubby bought some on his way home from a short stint at the office and how Eu welcome them!

For your information, Excapade is hubby's and Eu's favourite Japanese restaurant here in Brunei and Eu is simply crazy about their salmon roe sushi.

Someone in hubby's work circle used to be posted in Aberdeen (Scotland) for a few months and I think he didn't quite enjoy it there because he declined an extension and asked to be back to the home office as soon as his tenure was over!

One trick that I learn from hubby and his family is how tasty those instant noodle seasoning can be when cooked with other food.

My salmon-mad hubby sometimes feasts on homecooked salmon fish, bought frozen from the supermarket, seasoned only with salt or some Maggi Mee seasoning and then put to the grill or oven.

He then soak the oil that dripped from the fish at the bottom of the oven with his rice to complement his dish. It may not look fantastic but it is yummy. You know if that comes from a non-fish lover like me, it's must be true!

But the clincher is that, as he never fails to remind me, his meal costs less than B$3! Over here, a pack of 3 slices of salmon costs about $7+.

Excapade, eat your heart out!

There was a time when a friend and I plotted to convince our car mad other halves for a trip to Europe using the Geneva Motor Show as a bait. Unfortunately for us, hubby is not a fan of Continental cars while things didn't work out between my friend and her then partner.

*non Halal post*

I used to think that I know all types of noodle, from the thin mee hoon to the thick yellow mee to flat kueh tiaw.

But in Brunei, I was introduced to another type of mee which I have really never seen before called the Lau Su Fun (something that sounds like that). I'm sure are common among the Chinese in KK too but I have never seen it being sold anywhere, yet.

Mother in law family recipe for this is very simple, just mix the boiled lau su fun with some fried minced pork meat and that's it. It's so simply and yet, it is fabulous.

Both my dad and hubby are avid photographers. They each owned some kind of a Nikon SLR but since the advent of affordable digital cameras, both their cameras had been relegated to gathering thick dusts in the cabinets somewhere, sadly forgotten.

In Seria there are only a few family run coffee shops and most of them have been around for decades.

They may seem very ordinary, no funky decor or fancy dishes here, but maybe because of their homelike and no-nonsense appeal, they remained the firm favorite for the folks here. They are also air-conditioned, a fact which differentiate our coffee shops in Brunei and those in Malaysia.