Sujebi (수제비) - The Korean Hand-Torn Noodle Soup.

I'm not sure how many Korean places in Kuching offers this dish on their menu. I would imagine it's not exactly a popular dish for both customers and the restaurant. Simply because it is not that well known among Kuchingites and also because it takes quite some work and a slightly longer preparation time. I know my boss used to grumble whenever she sees Sujebi on the order sheet and sometimes she would pull one of us into the kitchen and help her make it.

Sujebi is basically a kind of noodle soup but not with noodles that you would expect. The noodles are made out of a simple dough made with just flour and water which is then kneaded and then rolled flat. It is then hand-torn into little strips or flakes  to be boiled in water or broth. This results in a nice hearty filling soup. So far in Kuching, I've only had Sujebi at my former workplace. And just like so many other dishes on the menu that I haven't had in quite a while, I decided to go back and get a taste down memory lane.

At this particular Korean shop in Kuching, the sujebi comes in quite a huge bowl, enough to be shared by 2 or 3. But being the pure glutton that I am, it's all for me! :D
The way people eat sujebi differs. Some just eat it like that straight from the bowl, some scoop it into smaller bowls for portioning and to cool it while some just take the noodles first, leaving the soup behind, waiting to be absorbed by fresh hot steamed rice later on.

There is also, another version of sujebi which is kimchi sujebi. As the name suggests, this version of sujebi is cooked together with kimchi. I haven't tried it myself but I assume it would be a spicy version as it has chilli flakes added to it. But either way I'll come around to trying it one of these days. If you don't want kimchi cooked with your sujebi but you still want a little kick of spice, take advantage of the side dishes (반찬) that comes together free with every Korean meal! Get some of the noodles on the spoon and just top it off with kimchi or whatever you want :)

Sujebi = RM10
1 can drink = RM2
Total = RM12.
And 12 bucks for a filling Korean meal is actually legit good. Keeping in mind that with RM12 you can't get much in other Korean restaurants in Kuching. The kimchi sujebi version costs an extra RM2, tho.

My 'Kuching For Me' short essay contest entry

Last month I participated in the Kuching For Me short essay contest. It was a last minute entry, having submitted my entry only 10 minutes before the deadline! But I was fortunate enough because my entry has been picked as one of the finalists amongst 12 others. Although I didn't place, I was thankful to even be listed as one of the finalists. Hope to see more contests like this and I will be sure to join them in the future. :) 

     Kuching for me is life. Kuching for me is a breath of fresh air in a suffocating world. Kuching for me is where I see familiar faces. Kuching for me is the only place I would ever want to grow up in. Kuching for me is nothing short of home.

        Kuching is more than a name, for it is a city. It is a city of nostalgia and it is a city that beckons for the creation of nostalgia silently in its own whimsical way. This city is charming and this city never forgets. It is all but a huge metropolis but it is all we ever needed. You see, it is as if this place has a life of its own. It gets its livelihood from its people, its culture, its past and the surroundings upon which it is built around. Just like the Sarawak River which runs with life and gives life, Kuching has its own version of life to offer. Turn this corner and you are greeted with the clanks of the old tin makers or the smell of traditional buns along Carpenter Street. Turn that corner and you are gently thrust into the hustle and bustle and loud bangs of construction along the Waterfront. Because Kuching offers you choices and it lets you have the best of both worlds. Be it a quiet morning to yourself sipping coffee amidst the usual morning kopitiam crowd, or the comfort of a sofa sipping expensive coffee in international franchise coffee shops.

          But more so than that, Kuching is nourishment and a paradise for comfort food. Food in Kuching is where we mainly place our identity in. We take pride in the name of our dishes, known in parts of Southeast Asia and even in the western world. We revel in the sense of pride each time we take a foreigner friend to try food only found here. We swear undying loyalty to our favorite kolo mee stalls and nasi briyani joints. And with a city this small, we find a kindling sense of unity in sharing the knowledge of the best food locations. We know the go-to places when we crave the best pick-me-up after a long day. We know that when we call on our friends to meet, they’ll be there in a jiffy.

            Kuching is also a city of familiarity where you’re bound to meet someone you know while out for a stroll in a mall. Is it because Kuching is small? I beg to differ. I’d like to say it’s because we love the fact that we can take comfort together in knowing that what is familiar to us is familiar to those we love too. It is easier to share news together as word spreads fast around here. It is easier to share moments of joy and anguish because somehow in Kuching, almost everyone knows everyone to some extent. Not to forget, Kuching is a place where you can always find a helping hand, sometimes in the most unexpected ways.

             Kuching for me is also a subject of envy. We do not have the widest roads or the tallest buildings. But we do have a common dislike for wayward ideas and subjects which disrupt our precious peace. We are modeled upon unity and mutual respect and other cities will model themselves after us. We are somewhat content with what we have and take what we don’t have as blessings in disguise. We know to strive for protection of what matters the most to us and are quick to silence any form of peace-disruptive mechanism. We are the subject of envy because what others strive to procure for personal content, we do not have but yet are still as satisfied.  We have joy and we have the general feeling of security and togetherness.

            

               Kuching for me is a place that people return from abroad and smile knowing that what they remember still exists as they remembered. Even though some places that evoke memories of bygone days have been replaced, there are always lingering traces to connect the new and the old to. This city will always be old no matter how new it looks, for people like the old things. They like to connect the dots and be around familiar places and sights. Smells and sounds they grew up amongst and people they shared unique relationships with. I can’t say for other places but once you’ve found yourself a home in Kuching, nowhere else is home enough than this.

               Lastly Kuching is a place for the weary. Kuching is a city to slow down in and take one step at a time unhurriedly. Kuching is a city that you should take in slowly and bask in the little fleeting moments of happiness that you might find here. Put your leg up, let your hair down and unwind. The city wants you to. For Kuching is not going anywhere. It is here to stay. In later years her face may change but nevertheless do not doubt that this old soul of hers is always hidden somewhere, waiting for you to explore and to lose yourself in.

              Kuching for me is family, friends, comfort, security, peace, happiness and it is home.

Food for comfort - Kimchi Bokkeumbap (김치볶음밥) @ Kimchi Korea Onejaya, Kuching

It's one of those days where I crave something warm with a little bit of heat. And as always, I think of the flavorful red hot soups and stews served with pork, egg, tofu you name it with some kimchi on the side. But I also wanted something rich and chewy, slightly greasy. I crave kimchi fried rice. I've had a love/hate affair with this dish in the past. When I was working at the small Korean restaurant under Mdm Mee Kyung, she would always whip up some kimchi fried rice for us after doors open for the evening shift. Initially I disliked it because it was spicy and I hate being slowed down at work by spicy food. But at the same time it was delicious and I loved it. And soon after she left Kuching to return to Korea I began to miss it more and more especially when she made it.

So I went to my old workplace for a late brunch before heading off to college to get some work done. I haven't had this dish for almost a year. I wonder if the new boss maintained the taste..
As always with any Korean dish which involved a fried egg, I would always order an extra egg just to slightly dilute the spice. The runny yolk is guaranteed to leave a smooth creamy texture in your mouth and amplify the flavors it comes into contact with.

Sweet heavens it looks divine

I forgot to ask for some ssamjang (쌈장) but oh well. I was hoping the egg yolk to be all runny and silky and it was! No pictures tho hehe ^^

Banchan (반찬) of the day was the usual kimchi coupled with another which is different every day.Today it was seasoned sauteed cucumber. I have always loved it when my boss made spinach, sprouts or steamed egg (계란 찜) for the second side dish. Sometimes we would be the ones eating more of it than the customers! =P

Lemme just take a minute or two to appreciate the beauty before diving right in

And dive in I did. You gotta mix the yolk in with the rice yo!

The taste was just as I remembered. Spicy, salty, slightly sour and almost crunchy. The crispy edges of the fried eggs gave a little bit of smokiness. The spring onions and the chopped kimchi really gave my mouth a workout. The overall flavors were rich when eaten with the still liquid egg yolk. The sesame oil was really essential to finish everything off nicely, as with a lot of Korean dishes. Eating this once again brought back memories of scrambling to finish breakfast or dinner before customers came to our tables WHILE WE WERE STILL EATING!! This also brought back memories of me scraping the leftovers of rice off the pan in the kitchen when I was hungry.But I did notice it was less spicier than it was. Maybe the 'kakak' who does the cooking now knows I can't handle spicy food well and remembered it.
I managed to survive the meal on one can of Sundrop.

Taking care not to spare even one grain of rice.

The whole meal amounted to RM15. Which I guess was pretty decent. For sure cheaper than any other Korean restaurants in town if not, the cheapest.
Rice + 1 extra egg = RM12 + RM1
1 can of drink = RM2

And I'm guessing you guys want me to reveal the recipe for this dish? I guess I will but I will not reveal 100% of it ^^

Now kimchi fried rice is normally made with kimchi, rice, some vegetables and that's almost about it. At least that's what I observed from reading many recipes online. But there's this one key ingredient that makes the whole dish so flavorful, that makes the rice slightly sticky, greasy and almost a glutinous consistency.

GOCHUJANG!!!!
Now gochujang alone is not responsible for awesome tasting kimchi bokkumbap. The original form of gochujang is like thick heavy paste. The gochujang has to be mixed with a number of different ingredients which I shall keep secret for now. But I will give you some hints. The result of this gochujang mix will leave the gochujang slightly liquidy but still thick, almost like a crepe batter consistency but thicker. As for the ingredients, they're sweet, and one of them will make you go 'seriously??' That's it, sorry can't say more ><
However I shall teach you guys how it is done as I have previously done it which remains faithful to how my boss used to do it with perhaps a little variation.

Ingredients
Cooked rice
Kimchi (chopped into small pieces, old sour kimchi is preferable)
Kimchi juice (the liquid left over at the bottom of the kimchi container. DON'T EVER THROW IT AWAY IT IS PRECIOUS)
Onions (chopped)
Sesame oil
Gochujang (pre-mixed with secret ingredients ^^)
Green onions for garnish
Toasted sesame seeds
An egg

Method
1. Add sesame oil, salt and the cooked rice into a mixing bowl. Mix well with a spoon or...whatever. The rice should taste slightly salted with a hint of sesame oil.
2. In a pan (durh), heat some cooking oil and add onions and the kimchi. Sautee well for a minute or two. At this point in a separate frying pan you can fry up your egg(s).
3. Add the rice, keep frying well. Make sure the rice and the vegetables are mixed well. You can also add in your kimchi juice now.
4. Add a ladle (or less) of gochujang. The gochujang keeps the rice from drying out and helps it from burning easily so go on and fry on medium high to high heat.
5. Fry until you think it's enough. Remember to taste as you go. At this point the rice will be sticky and kinda oily but that's normal. Once you think it's ready, serve it.
6. Get yo' fried egg on top of it, sprinkle with maybe a tablespoon and half of sesame oil, be generous with the sesame seeds and green onion. And there you go!

Note that I didn't include any specific measurements for the ingredients. The answer to that is because: I am Malaysian! (Y) and Malaysians cook agak-agak style. If you think it's enough, it's enough. We estimate almost every single shit when cooking. Usually by instincts and with Korean cooking, well you can to a point cook by estimation also. But to make y'all lives slightly easier, I will give you my estimations.

1 portion of rice = 3/4 small bowl of kimchi + a handful of onions.
1 portion of rice = 1 ladle of gochujang.

Sesame oil and garnish no need estimate lah. You wan little, you don't put also can. You want a lot, drink the sesame oil like soup also can =D
This is a versatile dish. You can add anything from spam to bacon to minced pork or you can even make it in the samgyeopsal pan when all the pork is finished! A great way to use up the pork fat left in the pan. Imagine the flavors mmm...(sorry to any Muslim readers >_<)

Kimchi Korea @ Onejaya, Jalan Song is open Monday to Saturday. On weekdays do not come between 3pm to 5pm as it is their idle time. Saturday is full day 10-10 with no idle time.
I highly recommend this place not just because I used to work there but because I do think it's one of the two Korean places which will really give you value for money. They serve mandu, ramyeon, japchae, samgyupsal, stews and lots of other things. Be sure to check it out!
And for a halal option, you can visit The Kimbap opposite Cityone which until know seems to be the only halal Korean restaurant in Kuching. In case you missed it, here's my post on Dolsot Bibimbap at The Kimbap.

Any Korean restaurants in Kuching or dishes you would like me to try? Or have you been to this little cozy restaurant? Or even better, did you try making this dish with my recipe? Sound off in the comments below and tell me what you think :)

Hello Lion City! AK705 KUL-SIN

Continuing on where I left off from the previous report, this is the second sector of my holiday, KUL-SIN.

The haze that night was really bad. Couldn't even see KLIA Tower 1 and the terminal.

After having spent the night at KLIA2 (we didn’t sleep), it was a nice and early morning flight out of Lumpur down to Singapore. The flight time was actually surprisingly very short.

Check in was already done when I was in Kuching and I have printed out the boarding pass for all of us. I find the fact that AirAsia offers various methods to check in to be quite a potential life saver. For example if I lose the physical printed boarding pass I can always reprint the boarding pass by scanning the QR code at the kiosk that I’ve downloaded into my phone.

This sector was quite exciting because we get to use the skybridge to the international pier. Was hoping for aircraft to pass underneath us but it looks like the early morning rush wasn’t in full swing anymore. Our gate was P12 which is at the east end and the last gate of the pier. By the time we reached the gate, it felt like I had been hiking all morning. Or maybe it was just my physical fitness. Heh. 

Malindo territory

We had a slight delay for departure that morning with the scheduled departure time being 8.35am. Boarding began only at 8.15am. Visibility was at 2500m that morning according to the METAR.

There were 3 flight crew in the flight deck that day and equipment used was the fairly new 1.2 year old WiFi equipped 9M-AJQ.

Seat 25F for me. MAB Boeing 738 landing runway 14R.

Pushback commenced at 8.40am for runway 15. Flaps 2 takeoff via Y2 intersection. Taxied via U5 Z Z3 and Y.

Taxied past some of AirAsia X’s big birds and came across 9M-XXF (Visit Malaysia Year livery) at remote bay Q18. I noticed in some recent videos that she has been there for quite some time. Anyone knows what’s gonna happen to her? 

Takeoff roll begun at 8.53am. Video can be found here.

RM9 for 3MB of mobile data. My opinion will be it’s not worth it just for a couple of selfies to post online to let everyone know what you’re doing up in the air. But it would be worth it for some urgent messaging or emails. The descent into Singapore was pretty much like flying blind. There was nothing we could see out the window until we were somewhere over Johor, an indication that we would be seeing nothing much but haze in Singapore too.

Banking right somewhere near Pasir Gudang on one of the LELIB arrival STARs for runway 20R.

Passing Tanjung Langsat Port.

Pulau Ubin in sight.

Passing Changi Beach Park and Singapore Aviation Academy.

Landed runway 20R at 9.30am , vacated W7, left onto WP and was greeted by the sight of SIA's Dugong.

Landing video here.

Taxied past not one but two Dugongs in SG50 colors. What luck!

Right onto North Cross 3…

Parked beside Jetstar Asia 9V-SJ. Shutdown at 8.35am.

All in all the flight was pretty uneventful. And the fare for this flight was only RM39 per person! Can't say it wasn't a steal. Didn’t go for any inflight meal option due to the short duration of flight and we just had breakfast before boarding. During disembarkation, the captain was out to greet passengers. Our request for a cockpit visit was politely declined by the captain out of fears that we would be posting our pictures on social media which was understandable. However I did take the opportunity to thank him for taking us safely to Singapore and congratulated him on the greaser landing. 

AirAsia KCH-KUL Trip Report/Review- A Change in Schedule

It's been quite a while since I've done a trip report. The last one I did was when I flew with Firefly on the Kuching-KL route around 5 years back, give or take a few years, I can't recall. Hence I decided to do a proper one today.
The opportunity for a vacation to Singapore with my besties finally came true. Keep in mind that we are 21, all students and are not the type of people with the financial capacity to go on trips together outside Kuching all the time. So this was really something we were looking forward to, a dream come true of sorts.

The plan was for two of my companions to meet at KLIA2 since they were both in KL together and I would fly over to meet them there before taking the next morning flight down to Singapore. I could've gone direct to Singapore from Kuching since AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines Berhad offered several flights daily KCH-SIN and back but the idea of travelling together seemed so much nicer.

My original flight was supposed to be AK5215 to Kuala Lumpur which was supposed to depart at 7.10pm. However just as I was about to leave home for the airport I got a text message and an email from AirAsia informing me of my flight retime. Which was retimed to a shocking 11.35pm. Having resigned myself to this fate and the worst delay of all delays I've ever experienced, I proceeded to the airport, hoping by luck that I'm able to get on an earlier flight. I am normally the type who loves staying in airports but this time I had a schedule and my friends were waiting so I was quite bummed by the retime. However it did give me ample time to explore the airport and to take a look at some of the renovation progress being carried out at the airport.

But luckily, as I was about to enter the immigration area, I was referred to the check-in counters and was put on an earlier flight. My new flight was AK5219 which is scheduled to depart at 10.20pm. Alright, still over 2 hours to go. Time to go jalan-jalan.

Kuching International Airport gates R, 1-4 have notoriously being known to be suffocatingly crowded and there's just not enough space for everybody so a small expansion project was underway.

Expansion outside view (landside)

Expansion outside view (landside) 2

Gate 3 was closed off and not used and it seems like new flooring has been installed

I walked quite a lot around the airport since there wasn't much to do and I didn't like sitting around too much. And I also experimented with some long exposure shots. The Xperia Z2 camera is capable of producing such shots but only if you use certain camera apps. I used Camera FV-5 which allowed me to set the exposure time but with a maximum 60 seconds.

AirAsia aircraft taxiing past

9M-AQN operating flight AK5412 arriving from Johor.

9M-AFG, the Banana plane which will operate my flight to Kuala Lumpur arriving as AK5218 from Lumpur. From now onwards I'll call it The Reverse Flash Aircraft because of this picture.

My gate was changed from Gate 1 to Gate 4 and boarding commenced at 10.10pm although it was scheduled for 9.40pm. I forgot to ask the crew the reason for delay.

Banana! The aircraft is over 9 years old. Still a reliable workhorse.

The beautiful CFM-56B engines powering all of AirAsia's A320 fleet.

A shot from this angle is a must heheh

Sister ship 9M-AHS over at Gate 2

My seat was 19F as I requested a window seat from the counter agent. He originally gave me a hot seat on row 5 but for me, a window seat is like an Asian's rice. And he was also kind enough to give me a seat where I had half a row to myself! The other 2 seats beside me were unoccupied. Until later.

Thanks so much kind counter agent! Sorry didn't get your name though.

Pushback commenced at 10.28pm and since AirAsia have introduced their new revamped in-flight menu programme called Santan, I decided to check it out.

Can't wait to see what AirAsia has to offer. I have to say the menu design looks much better than what was offered previously. They have done away with the trademark red and white colors and have chosen something a little more tempting and visually pleasing.

The last time I was on an AirAsia flight, Uncle Chin's Chicken Rice was only RM9.90!! And count the chicken slices in the picture, there are 5 slices. #typicalchinese

One does not order just desserts from a low cost carrier's in-flight menu. Especially with such steep prices. Butter cake at RM6 I can probably live with but cookies for 8 bucks?? No way.

Maggi noodles at RM5 and Shin Ramyeon at RM8. What the heck? Plus a laughable RM6 for a packet of nuts. I feel sorry for the cabin crew for having to collect such amount of money for the items they are selling onboard. It's not their fault.

I can definitely see much more variety in the dishes selection. However the most noticeable thing is the price. Gone are the RM9.90 and RM11.90 affair. Now meals cost at least RM4 more at the very least. However you do get them for a few ringgit cheaper if you pre-book them online. And seriously a KitKat bar with a cookie bar for RM7? I feel assaulted.

While I was reading the new inflight menu and flipping through the inflight magazine, we were on our way to the runway. Exited apron via taxiway H to join the main taxiway A for a A1 intersection departure on runway 25. Pusback to takeoff roll took 10 minutes.

Exiting the apron via H, joining A

Takeoff roll commenced at 10.38pm. The haze all over the city was quite apparent.

On the Kuching Radar One departure with a slight right turn right after airborne for heading 258 over VKG VOR.

Takeoff video can be found here.

Found something interesting. Was hoping for a chance to try dining here but unfortunately didn't.

Since it's been well over 3 hours since I had dinner, I was starving from all the walking and waiting back at KIA. So I purchased a meal of chicken rice, a dish which I have been craving a lot. Does anyone know where I can get in-flight meals outside the aircraft in Kuching? Hit me up ya!
A combo of chicken rice plus a drink of choice was RM18. The chicken rice alone was RM14. I seriously need to start pre-booking meals in the future.

I feel the way meals are given to pax on AK flights to be rather 'naked'. I would prefer MAB's lunchbox approach rather than this. Passengers may risk dropping or spilling food items because the foil box is hot. Even if it is wrapped with a makeshift sleeve of tissues there's always the risk of something going wrong. 

The chilli sauce given with the meal. It has a sweet tangy taste but less on the sour side. Definitely something different from your normal chicken rice chilli sauce.

One, two, three, four, five.

One, two, three, four, five. I am happy. As soon as I lifted the hot foil lid, the aroma of the rice and roasted chicken wafted through the row and I began salivating. And I am also salivating as I am writing this,

I never thought chicken skin would look this sexy.

Chilli sauce game going strong

With my cup of ice lemon tea.

Overall for the meal I would give:
Presentation: 3/5

Presentation was okay. I got my 5 chicken slices as advertised. Two small slices at chilli provided the color contrast but that was it. 

Taste: 4.5/5

It was quite delicious and I would always recommend someone I know travelling with AirAsia to try this dish. Glad my recommendation still stands strong after all these years. The chicken was nice and soft with no bones and the rice was flavorful and aromatic. The chilli sauce just brought the whole meal together very nicely.

Overall package and value: 3/5

As I am fully aware that AirAsia is a low-cost carrier, the fact that you have to pay quite a lot for almost everything was expected. However I did not expect such a dramatic price hike.

With my meal finished, all that was left was to find something to do to pass the time over the South China Sea. The inflight magazine, Travel ThreeSixty offered a lot of articles and an informative section written by Captain Lim, who has a book out called Life In The Skies. Recommended for those who wish to know more about flying and is a pretty good read to allay fears of flying. 

As I was seated in seat F, a lady came over to seat D for some shut-eye. She was with a group of travelers visiting Kuching for a pilgrimage up Mount Singai, a popular destination for Catholics. Instead of listening to music, I opted to eavesdrop on the many interesting stories and opinions of the two Indian aunties and one Chinese uncle behind me. Cabin service I found to be a tad slow especially when it came to clearing up disposables from passengers.

Throughout the flight I noticed a female flight attendant hovering around one of the seats in the front. She spent almost the entire flight talking to the passenger there. And she was also joined by the flight's captain who sat next to the passenger until descent. Perhaps it was a passenger who was afraid of flying or a young passenger travelling alone. It's always good to see that the crew actually cares about their passengers and would offer up their time to soothe you and talk to you. And for those wondering about the captain, there is no need to worry. AirAsia's SOP calls for a minimum of 2 persons in the flight deck at all times one of them being a flight deck crew operating the aircraft. So if one of the pilots exit the flight deck, a flight attendant has to take his/her place in the cockpit. This is to prevent any unwanted incident by the pilot left alone in the cockpit such as what happened to GermanWings flight 9525 and as a precautionary measure in case one of the pilots are incapacitated while the other is out of the cockpit. 

Soon we were descending into KLIA2 on what I presume was the MENIK1B arrival for runway 15. The descent was pretty choppy due to thunderstorms in the area as well as the haze affecting visibility. We had a solid touch down at 12.10am midnight, 5 minutes behind schedule but as the saying goes, 'biar lambat asal selamat.' Vacated via Y6 and taxied to gate J12 for disembarkation.

KL coming into view

The aircraft's yellow body reflected by the landing lights

On taxiway Z

First time passing under the bridge at night. Quite beautiful.

All in all, I arrived in KL safely albeit hours behind schedule. I am thankful to the crew for bringing us safely and twas another good flight with AirAsia. The trip report for the next sector KUL-SIN will be coming soon :)

Thanks for reading :)