weekend in miri

Yup! We just got back from Miri, Sarawak. Attended the wedding of hubby's relative there. Stayed at Imperial Hotel Apartments. I had a fun time exploring the town (shops, mainly) with my ever sporting MIL and shopaholic SIL and her cousin. Hubby stayed back in the apartment with the kids most of the time.(we had a free reign!)

So the story goes - we arrived Friday afternoon, and without further ado, set off to check out what Miri is all about (aiseh!). Roamed the shops at Imperial Mall, where we stayed. There's a few nice ones. Managed to get a shirt, jeans and pants. My daughter joined us at first, the boys stayed with their father in the room(hubby brought his notebook and a few CD movies, boys got their PSP). We returned after 1 hour, to send the shoppings back in the room and went down again for more.

SIL's cousin suggested we walked across to Bintang Plaza. From what she heard, it's only 5 min away. So we agreed. But it's not 5 min. Hell, it's..let me see..5 min x 7? . There was a pipe repairworks midway in the supposed-to-be shortcut, and we had to use the long way. It was too late to turn back. Bida lagi shortcut nya tu, limpas perumahan cina, kena salak anjing lagi. Crazy. My poor daughter and her buddy (the cousin's daughter) were grumpy, but they are strong girls and didn't cry.

Anyway, we arrived safely. We stopped for breath and fuel at Mc D before continuing with our explorace. And we found plenty.

There are SALES everywhere, up to 70%. First thing, my daughter made me buy her a top sebagai hukuman(KIKO, only 10% sale). Fair enough. Then I got some Applemint shirts and jeans. After discount, it costs averagely RM 20 a piece. Mur.. kan?

We stayed till 9.00 pm before the cousin's uncle fetched us home. SIL found glass dishware very much similar to the expensive pyrex, but for a mere fraction of the price. Its microwave and oven safe (says the box label, so). A 7" pie dish, only RM 19.90. She bought 2. I can't wait to hear her verdict. Banar ka tahan.

The next day was the wedding.

The aturcara here is very different. Friday night, they have karaoke (we skipped it). Saturday morning the wedding and it start with marhaban, around 9.00 am, follows with hadrah, then the nikah ceremony. After that, bersanding & merenjis, and then finally makan time (12.30 pm) , serentak. You don't come at 10.00 am and expect to eat right away here.

Some pics at the wedding.

marhaban

hantaran

the bride & groom

We got back to our room around 1.00 pm. Below are some pics of our apartment. Two rooms. RM 218 a night. Quite mur,kan?

At the hotel lobby, an exhibition of a chef making a biscuit house. Yes. That house' exterior is plastered with pieces of rolled bread. Until we checked out, it's not finished yet. I wonder how appetising it looks.

Ok. So after resting a while we went out for some 'sight-seeing'. This time we took a cab to Boulevard Shopping Mall. Only me, SIL and MIL. My daughter, fearing the long walk again, refused to join. The cousin, couldn't get out of her relative's house where she's staying. Hahaha. My SIL's daughter (Farina) pun gave up joining us. (Mengkali bebadas sudah dia ikut kami bejalan kemarin tu).

Boulevard is a major department store here. Again, exciting SALE happening.

I wasn't planning to buy bedsheet, I don't need one. But before you say anything, it's lovely roses, 100 % cotton AND 80% sale!
Queen bed set for only RM 65.94. The complete set, okay, fittedsheet, pillowcase, bolstercase.

Look at these...! Don't you think they're pretty?

And then I got some clothes for me & kids. SODA, VOIR, NICOLE all on SALE.

Across the street from Boulevard is a fruitstall, which operates daily from afternoon till late night. It is musim durian here. Lots of durian. We are not crazy about durian but we would be crazy not to sample some from the heaps infront of us.

So we ate then and there, by the stall. Satu tumpuk RM 20 (ada 5 biji). Punya tebal isi dia. Lemak.We ate 2 biji and tapau the rest into a plastic container for hubby and the others. Ada yang RM10 satu kilo. Favourite among the chinese. There's a couple who bought worth of RM 300. Punya sanggup kan berabis untuk durian!

We got back to our apartment, both happy and dizzy by the shopping and the durian.

Late that night, hubby and I tried the open air seafood restaurant nearby for late supper, tapi tidak sedap lah. Nice place but food, out.

The next day is already our flight home.

Before that, sempat menyinggah ke Restoran Garden..something, but famous for the sotong kangkung, according to SIL's hubby who frequently go to Miri.

sotong tauhu. tauhu dia panas-panas, rangup. sedap.

sotong kangkung. memang sedap.

Flight delay 15 min. Memang Air Asia. Nasib baik 15 min saja.

That's all folks. Have a nice week!