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Archive for the ‘Miri’ Category

Today is Hari Merdeka or Merdeka Day (Independence Day). And today also marks the soft opening of Merdeka Mall in Miri. After much delay, the new mall situated opposite Morsjaya Commercial Centre along Miri Airport Road finally opened its door to the public.

Merdeka Mall as seen from Morsjaya Commercial Center on the opposite side of the road

Signboard of Merdeka Mall

And what a letdown!

MERDEKA MALL MIRI has been touted as incorporating a new modern shopping design to provide shoppers with new shopping experience with fully air-con interior, retail shops, specialty stores, fashion outlets, food and restaurants, entertainment, supermarket, departmental store, education centre and space for exhibition and function. Its total build-up area is about 500, 000 sq.ft. It has over 500 car-parking bays located on lower ground floor, level 1 (ground floor) and level 4.

A view inside the mall

Another view inside the mall

Car parks on the top floor of the mall

The soft opening today was truly a major letdown. Only a few stores are open for business. Even the anchor tenant Ta Kiong Supermarket did not open for business today.

The whole mall looks deserted with so few stores open

As you can see, only a few stores are open for business.

The crowds were visibly disappointed. After waiting for so long for the mall to open, it is so disheartening to see the mediocre standard of the mall.

The only big store that opens for business today is the APEX Department Store. A walk through this store soon reveals that it is far inferior to Parkson at Bintang Megamall. The design and layout of the store and the quality of the items sold leave a lot to be desired.

The APEX Department Store

Ladies' clothing section of APEX Department Store

As today is the soft opening, there was huge traffic jams in the vicinity of the mall with cars queuing up on the Miri Airport road for their turns to enter the mall’s parking area. But I have an inkling that this mall may turn out to be a massive failure unless Ta Kiong Supermarket can help pull in the crowds when it opens.

See the traffic jams on the top left hand corner of the photo as cars waited for their turns to enter the mall's parking area.

I hope the two other shopping malls in the pipeline will be of a much higher standard than Merdeka Mall.  Miri deserves some classy shopping malls!

The 2010 Borneo International Yachting Challenge (BIYC) began in Miri, Sarawak on the 24th of this month with 51 yachts  from 14 countries taking part. There are 20 entries from Australia, 6 from UK, 5 from Malaysia, 5 from New Zealand, 4 from USA, 2 from Germany, 2 from France and 1 each from Singapore, Grenadines, Vanuatu, British Virgin Island, Netherlands, Canada and Sweden.

BIYC 2010 Logo

This annual event, now in its 7th year, takes a fleet of international yachts from Miri to Labuan – a distance of 105 miles, and then from Labuan to Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) which is another 65 miles. The regatta finishes in Kota Kinabalu with two races around the Tunku Abdul Rahman national Marine Park on Friday the 30th July, followed by a lavish prize giving dinner at Sutera Harbour Marina Club hosted by Sabah Tourism.

The regatta is a joint effort between the Ministry Of Tourism And Heritage Sarawak, Labuan Corporation, and the Sabah Tourism Board. Other sponsors include Sutera Harbour Resort, Samling Global, Pelita and Park City Everly Hotel in Miri.

Sarawak’s Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan flagged off the contestants at Marina Bay in Miri. Sarawk’s Assistant Minister of Social Development & Urbanisation Datuk Lee Kin Shin, BYIC Miri Working Committee chairman Troy Yaw and Miri mayor Lawrence Lai were also present at the flag-off.

Marina Bay Miri

This year’s fleet has set a new record for the event. It will also make the regatta one of the largest of its kind in South East Asia. One of the reasons for this dramatic increase in numbers is due to collaboration between the BIYC and the Sail Malaysia Rally – Passage to the East.

BIYC committee member Simon Farmer, who was instrumental in forging this partnership with the organizers of Sail Malaysia, said that given the current state of the global economy and the ever shrinking sponsorship dollar it made sense to combine the two events. He said the number of entries this year proved that this had been a popular strategy.

The Chairman of Sabah Tourism Board and co-chairman of the regatta, Dato Seri Tengku Zainal Adlin expressed his delight with the number of yachts taking part this year and said that Sabah is on target to achieving its goal in becoming the Caribbean of the East.

He said that ‘events such as this are putting Borneo and Kota Kinabalu on the map, and are the perfect vehicle for showcasing the state and its bio-diversity’.

Adlin commented further that over the past 12 months Sutera Harbour Marina and Kota Kinabalu had hosted at least 10 mega yachts of over thirty meters with a combined value of over US$350 million dollars. Among these visitors was the world’s largest privately owned sailing yacht, the 92 meter ‘Eos’ valued in excess of US$150 million.

Sutera Harbour Marina in Kota Kinabalu

“The fact that more and more of these types of yachts are visiting our shores means that the message is getting through to yacht owners and captains that Sabah and Borneo have as much to offer, if not more than the other major destinations around the world. These types of visitors provide a tremendous boost to the local economy and to the global perception of Sabah”, remarked Adlin

Tengku Adlin will take part in the regatta once again this year sailing aboard Farmers yacht in the final two races off Kota Kinabalu. This will be a little different from last year when he crewed on the 120’ luxury sailing yacht ‘Naos’ and was treated to a gourmet lunch. Farmer warned Adlin not to expect the same this year as the boat he is sailing on is a stripped out racing yacht with only the bare essentials. Adlin replied that he was ready for the challenge.

Over breakfast this morning, I heard from my brother-in-law that the durians sold by Kai Nguong Nursery near Morsjaya Commercial Centre Miri are really good. I have seen Kai Nguong Nursery’s durian advertisements in the local Chinese dailies and have been thinking of dropping by to buy some of their durians. Durian season has started quite a while back but so far I have not bought any durians.

After breakfast, I made a trip to the nursery. From the road, the nursery looks small but if you go in, it is actually quite a nice big place.  The nursery sells a wide assortment of flowers and plants including bonsai. The mosquito repellent plants caught my attention but I wonder whether they are truly effective in repelling mosquitoes. There were quite a lot of people buying durians, some of whom ate the durians on the spot.

Kai Nguong Nursery near Morsjaya Commercial Centre, Miri

D93 Durians at RM15 per kilo

D96 Durians at RM8 per kilo

Dragon fruits

Mosquito repellent plants

Workers tidying up the durians....soil, leaves, etc are often embedded on the spikes of the durians when they drop from the durian trees

There were a few types of durians but I settled for two  D96 durians costing RM8 per kilo and one D93 durian costing RM15 per kilo. The two D96 cost a total of RM24 while the D93 cost RM16.

The two D96 durians that I bought

The D93 durian that I bought

On the way back to town, I dropped by Morsjaya Commercial Centre to take a quick walk around this busy commercial area. Servay Supermarket is undeniably the most successful business outlet in this commercial centre.  There are quite a lot of hawkers especially in the evenings. I bought some rambutans from a very friendly hawker who thought I was a tourist when she saw me taking photos.

Servay at Morsjaya Commercial Centre Miri

A hawker selling fruits at Morsjaya

Rambutans....another "heaty" fruit

On the opposite side of the road, the Merdeka Mall is nearing completion. This will be the first big shopping complex in this part of Miri city. The opening of the shopping mall has been delayed many times and it is expected to open next month with Ta Kiong Supermarket as the anchor tenant.

Merdeka Mall nearing completion

Upon reaching home, I opened up the durians…..oh yes, they are yummy! For those who have never tasted durians, you are really missing out something incredible. Durians has been aptly called King of Fruits.It has been said that durians smell like hell but tasted like heaven! And I am right now tasting heaven as I write this blog article.

One of the D96 durian that I bought....note its yellowish flesh....yummy!

The D93 durian that I bought.....thick delicious flesh!

If you are trying out durians for the first time, be warned about two things. Durians have sharp spikes that can easily draw blood if you are not careful when opening them.  When opening durians, inspect the durian’s husk for natural “seams”. This is where you will want focus your cutting and pulling efforts. And durians are “heaty” (a Malaysian way of saying something that will cause body temperature to rise)……do drink a cup of salt water after taking them or else you may end up with a sore throat. Actually a lot of people believe that if you drink water from the durian husks, you will  not get sore throat.  But I won’t vouch for that, haha! A more scientific way is to eat mangosteen after taking durians as mangosteen is a fruit with a cooling effect.

Mangosteens

Ouch! I told you to be careful when opening durians. This was what happened to me when I opened the durians just now.  Must be the revenge of the durians!

My bleeding thumb courtesy of the durian spikes

I wonder whether those sporting spiky hair got their inspiration from durians.  It sure seems that way to me!

Spiky hair style.....durian inspired?

My family used to go to Nine 2 Five Restaurant in Pelita Commercial Centre for dinner but it has been a long while since we last went. We decided to pop in there for dinner yesterday evening.

Wall decorated with kids' photos inside the restaurant

Simple decor item on one of the windowsills

We ordered fried chicken in prawn sauce, kangkong fried with belacan and fried baby corns. For drinks, we ordered two hot “teh o” and an iced Milo.

There were several customers who were there earlier than us so we knew it would take a while before our food would be served. But the wait was much longer than expected….it took them more than half an hour before we were served. And the music was a bit too loud for my liking.

The fried kangkong and baby corns were not bad but we did not like the fried chicken in prawn sauce as it tasted so bland. I thought it would come with some sauce but there wasn’t any. Apparently I misread the menu which says “Fried chicken in prawn sauce” and not “fried chicken with prawn sauce”. …maybe it was due to my “lau hua yen”, haha! The bill came to RM42.10 which was comparatively more expensive than many other similar air-conditioned restaurants.

Kangkong fried with belacan

Fried baby corns

Fried chicken with prawn sauce

We had breakfast yesterday at Face To Face Noodles House in Boulevard Commercial Centre. Face To Face is a West Malaysian franchise.

Face To Face Noodles House at Boulevard Commercial Center

I ordered Fried Pan Mee Mamak ‘s Style with a cup of “Kopi O” while my wife tried Creations Minced Pork Pan Mee with her usual “Tea O”. My son Les opt for their House Specialty Hot & Spicy Pan Mee (dry) and a cup of Milo.

Fried Pan Mee Mamak's Style....looks like char kway teow

Minced meat pan mee with the usual ikan bilis and cangkut manis

House specialty......hot & spicy pan mee

There were not many customers so we got served quite fast. Want our verdict? Well, we all find the pan mee not bad but nothing to shout about. I was hoping that it would be something really nice so I must say I am a little bit disappointed. However if you are looking for something for a change when you get tired of the usual kolomee or laksa, do head down to Face To Face. Just for your info, our bill came to a reasonable RM16.40.

Irene and her husband are new friends that I got to know recently as a result of an interesting job vacancy advertised by Irene.  She and her husband are the owners of Glorious Hair & Beauty Supplies situated on the second floor of Bintang Megamall. If you need any hair accessories & equipment, beauty & cosmetic products or nail art accessories, head down to their store….they have an interesting range of products.

I was at their shop at Bintang Megamall yesterday afternoon when two beautiful Caucasian ladies walked into the shop.  I immediately thought they must be contestants in the just-concluded Miss Tourism Intercontinental 2010. They shopped for a while and as they were about to leave the shop after paying for their purchases, I plucked up the courage to ask them if they were contestants in the beauty pageant. They spoke very limited English but one of them replied that she is Miss Azerbaijan. Her friend did not respond and walked out of the shop. I quickly asked Miss Azerbaijan’s permission to take a photo of her. She very sportingly agreed and struck up this pose for me.

Miss Azerbaijan...isn't she sporting?

It was almost 5.30 pm when I left Bintang Megamall with my wife. We decided to try out the new Hong Kong themed Food & Tea Restaurant at Boulevard Commercial Centre. The interior of the restaurant is a bit crammed but they have a lot of tables on the five foot pathway outside the restaurant. The place was packed as it just opened for business a couple of days ago.

Food & Tea Restaurant

A view of the restaurant

Part of the deco inside the restaurant

I ordered Shanghai style vegetable rice with roasted honey spare ribs and “Ying Yong in Hong Kong” drink while my wife ordered cheese baked rice with chicken chop and lemon green tea. This is how the dishes we ordered look like in the menu.

Shanghai style vegetable rice with roasted honey spare ribs

Cheese baked rice with chicken chop

My order came first. I forgot to take a photo of the dish before eating so I do not have a photo to show here. When my wife’s order arrived, I quickly took a photo of it and this is how it looked like.

Cheese baked rice with chicken chop

I found my honey roasted spare ribs a tad too sweet for my liking and my wife did not like the taste of the chicken chop at all. The drinks were also rather ordinary. Not a satisfying meal, that is my comment. The bill came to RM35.30.

The restaurant menu boasts of  over 200 choices so you may find something that is to your liking. Go try it out!

Two days ago a good friend of mine passed me a few tickets for last night’s Michael Jackson Impersonator Show at the Eastwood Valley Golf & Country Club’s Music Corridor. The show is part of Miri May Fest in celebration of Miri’s fifth anniversary as a city. I went for the show last night with my wife and Edward Chieng, a nephew of ours.

There was a massive crowd at the hotel and there were a lot of security personnel stationed everywhere.  I guessed there must be some VIP coming and my guess was later proven to be correct.

I am not too impressed with the performances of the Michael Jackson impersonators. None of the performances came  anywhere close to what the late MJ was capable of doing. I guess I have too high expectation with all the publicity surrounding the show.

Stage backdrop for the show

One of the impersonators

A group of three impersonators

Another impersonator showing his MJ moves

Ohhhh...don't touch that!

Another MJ move

The gloved one

I guess groping the crotch seems to be a popular MJ dance routine

The champion impersonator

The champion receiving the champion trophy

After the performances, the MC announced the arrival of the Chief Minister of Sarawak, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud. No wonder there were so many security personnel everywhere! The CM arrived with lots of VIPS in tow, including the Deputy Chief Minister of Sarawak, Tan Sri Dr George Chan, the Malaysian Minister of  Energy, Green Technology & Water, Dato Sri Peter Chin and lots of local dignitaries.

The speeches started. It was hot and humid and I was sweating a lot. Reizo Zen was scheduled to perform after all the speeches by various VIPs. I would have loved to watch Reizo Zen perform but we did not want to sit through all the speeches by the VIPs so we left.

Reizo Zen.....the official Malaysia Michael Jackson impersonator

Myriam Janeth Abreu Medfina, representing Venezuela, was crowned Miss Tourism Intercontinental 2010 last night by Sarawak’s Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan at the Miri Indoor Stadium.

Miss Venezuela Wins

First runner-up was Miss Australia, Kelly Louise Maguire. Miss America, Amy Diaz, was the second runner-up. Congratulations to the winners!

Winners of the Miss Tourism Intercontinental 2010

Miss Malaysia, Darcia Marselynna, won the subsidiary title of “Miss Congeniality”. The “Best Talent” title went to Miss Germany, Klaudia Domagalska. Miss Netherlands, Djamila Celina Mercherts, won the “Best National Costume” title.  Miss Mexico, Leslie Ines Quezada Bueno, took home the “Best Evening Gown” title.

Below are photos of 30 of the contestants taken during their stint at Grand Palace Hotel a few days ago. All the photos in this blog post are by the courtesy of Chris Gan of Grand Palace Hotel Miri. Thanks, Chris!

Miss Australia

Miss Azerbaijan

Miss Belarus

Miss Brazil

Miss China

Miss Estonia

Miss Ethiopia

Miss Germany

Miss Hong Kong

Miss India

Miss Japan

Miss Kyrghyzstan

Miss Latvia

Miss Lebanon

Miss Macau

Miss Malaysia

Miss Mexico

Miss Netherlands

Miss New Zealand

Miss Pakistan

Miss Russia

Miss Singapore

Miss South Africa

Miss South Korea

Miss Taiwan

Miss Thailand

Miss Tunisia

Miss Ukraine

Miss USA

Miss Venezuela...she really exudes confidence!

Chris Gan With Some of the Contestants

The Miss Tourism Intercontinental 2010 Finale will be held at the Miri Indoor Stadium tonight. The pageant is organized by Alaric Productions which is owned by Malaysian Alaric Soh. It is being held in Miri in conjunction with Miri’s fifth anniversary as a city.

Miri Indoor Stadium

Thirty three finalists are vying for the title. These thirty three finalists are from Australia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Brazil, China, Estonia, Ethiopia,  Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Kyrghyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Macau, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Ukraine, USA and Venezuela.

The beauty pageant has stirred up controversy in Taiwan. Amanda Chen Pei Ying, representing Taiwan, has sparked a war of words between two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators in Taiwan after photos showed her wearing a “Miss Taiwan China” sash.

Miss Taiwan Amanda Chen(photo courtesy of Chris Gan)

DPP Legislator Chen Yin said that the organizers undermined Taiwan’s sovereignty and that Amanda Chen “had problems recognizing her own country.”

Speaking to the Liberty Times, Amanda Chen denied that the sash was a big issue for her and said that she did not see the need to ask organizers to change the wording. “China is very friendly toward me, so the sash doesn’t need to be changed,” the newspaper quoted Amanda Chen, who reportedly works in China, as saying.

However, in a turn of events that left the DPP lawmaker red-faced, it was later revealed that Amanda Chen is connected with DPP Legislator Yu Tien through his son Yu Hsiang-chuan, who is Amanda Chen’s boyfriend.

The Chinese-language website NOWnews quoted Yu Tien criticizing Chen Ying yesterday afternoon, saying that her comments crossed the line and that she should instead empathize with the contestant.

“What kind of bullshit is she saying? What does she mean by problems recognizing her own country?” Yu Tien was quoted as saying. “Chen Ying has no right criticizing my son’s girlfriend.”

“She has no choice, being out there alone. Instead, what has the Ministry of Foreign Affairs done for her? I think that the problem lies with Taiwan’s government,” Yu Tien said.

Another snag that hit the pageant was the absence of Vietnam’s Kim Dung . Kin Dung was supposed to take part but she was not granted licence to participate because she has not won any titles in national beauty contests. She therefore did not meet Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism’s standard to represent Vietnam in international beauty pageants. Kim Dung was the Bronze Cup winner at the Vietnam Supermodel 2009 contest which means she can compete in international model competitions but not beauty pageants.

Vietnam's Kim Dung

Malaysia is represented by student Darcia Marselynna, 20, from Miri. She was the first runner up in Miss Borneo Beautiful 2009 and is of Malay and Chinese parentage.

The contestants have varied backgrounds and include students, models, beauty therapists, environmental spokesperson, lecturer, TV host, general manager, tour guide, actress and cabin crew.

The tallest among the contestants is Pakistan’s Asma Waheed. Aged 24, she is 180 cm tall and weighs 65 kg and her hobby is car racing.

The shortest is 21-year old Ane Coertze, a beauty therapist from South Africa who stands at 162 cm and weighs 50 kg and lists scuba diving as her hobby.

The youngest is Panama’s Maria Alejandra Tejada, 18, a student of social communication and whose hobby is reading. Her height is 176 cm.

Who will win the coveted title of Miss Tourism Intercontinental 2010 tonight? Check out my blog post tomorrow!

You tiao ( in Mandarin) or you char kway ( in Hokkien) is a long, golden-brown , deep-fried strip of dough that is lightly salted and made in such a way that they can be torn lengthwise into two.

Yakin Food Court's "You tiao"

“Lek tau suan” (Hokkien) is a type of dessert that is usually eaten hot with “you tiao”. Lek tau suan means “green bean pearl” in Hokkien. The green beans are actually mung beans and they are purchased in split forms minus the skin.

Yakin Food Court's "lek tau suan"

In Miri, there is a stall at Yakin Food Court that does brisk business every day  selling “you tiao” and “lek tau suan”.  I like their “you tiao” and “lek tau suan”…it is nice to have these for breakfast for a change instead of the usual kolomee or char kway tiao.

The stall owners busy making "you tiao"