little kway teow, green tea ice cream & herbal chicken.

i'm so predictable.

everytime we go back to see the parents, it's the same routine. start out mid-morning, try to avoid being caught by traffic cops known to stake out at equally predictable spots along the highway, & make our way to the favourite kway teow thng (flat noodle soup) stall to buy lunch for the old folks. but i didn't realise until recently, that a few stalls away is one that sells kway teow kia, literally meaning little kuay teow in teochew.

this kway teow, as the name implies, is much thinner in width, & is served in black sauce gravy.....

....as are the side dishes that go with it, namely...

the tau fu, full-boiled eggs & lean meat. apparently, this is typical teochew fare & will not find many fans in other states.

after having lunch with the parents, we will go hang-out at jusco tebrau city, where the 1st stop will invariably be a shop selling tea leaves & freshly-made green tea ice-cream.

this is no baskin robbins, but at rm2.50 a pop, it's almost there. after letting the boy loose at toy R us & the girl at the bookstore, it was soon time to leave.

the next stop - a restaurant that sells the most delectable herbal chicken.

you can tell it's been marinated for hours because the flavour has seeped into the tender white meat.

it comes wrapped in aluminium foil & we get a few to take-away - to be frozen up & savoured at leisure later in the week.

the only difference this trip made was that i got to meet an ex-classmate whom i've not seen (or heard from) for over 20 years. Mike is one of those rotund jolly guys who's fun to be with. those days i used to help him with maths, but his being a certified financial planner, i will certainly need his advice now. my, has he turned the tables on me!!

oh, did i mention that this is johor, the state s'pore's ex-PM Lee Kuan Yew once famously proclaimed to be notorious for shootings, muggings & carjackings? (read here). perhaps there may be some truth in that, going by recent media reports, but we were glad we didn't encounter any of those perpetrators on this trip (& i pray, never)

we were home safely that nite.