The Cocoa Brown Box

3^rd April 2015

While browsing through Instagram, I saw @krispy_puff posted up a photo telling their followers that they will be at UBD on the next day, selling their yummy cream puffs.

I decided to flood my friend’s – WW – whatsapp, asking her if she could help me get them. I need her help because she is one of my few friends that is still studying in UBD. Aaaannddd I was already injured.

4^th April 2015

Still flooding her whatsapp, reminding her to get those cream puffs.

The puffs were sold out in the next half-an-hour after they opened, she failed. MY FRIEND FAILED. She was just a step late to get them for me! *CRYYYYYY*

Not literally but I was dying (kidding!) to taste the crispiness of those cream puffs. I was super-determined guys, if not I would not be flooding WW with texts. Sorry to trouble you girl!

5^th April 2015

Decided to text @krispy_puff. No reply.

15^th April 2015

I texted them again, by any chance they forgot to get back to me. Still, I got no reply. I gave up.

18^th April 2015

They texted me! But time was not on my side. I went to Miri that day and there was no way I could get them. I told them if they could text me their next open order in the near future… but again, they never texted back.

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Long story short, I give up and never got the chance to taste those krispy puffs.

HOWEVER –

Miracle did happen! On 7^th of May 2015, a beautiful soul came to my house and left this @kripsy_puff box on the table in my kitchen! I am so touched that I almost cry! She also left me a note,

No name but I still recognize your handwriting, A!

Krispy_Puff Box right there, in Cocoa Brown.

To my dear friend, AA, you made my day. You may not know the story about my krispy puff cravings but Allah knows and HE inspired you to get me those puffs. May Allah bless you love!

To think of it now… I feel bad. Because when she came, I was in my room, resting… or sleeping actually. She didn’t text me beforehand that she’s coming and now I feel bad L but isn’t she sweet?

Isn’t Allah sweet?

If anyone is interested to try the cream puffs, just head on to their instagram @krispy_puff. But let me just say…

LOOK AT THAT!

AND THAT!

The puffs are long gone now and to be honest, I’m not a big fan of sweet refreshments but these little ones are worth the try. They come in 6 flavors,

The Milk Custard is the winner! The rest are not bad too but I have not tried the White Chocolate. Probably another reason to get another box?

If only they would reply to my texts.

- Miss P -

Down The Drain

Salam and hey Peepnets! I just got back from my family vacation trip to Kuala Lumpur (KL) last Wednesday and super tired from all the adventures. NOT! KL is like a third-home for me, so it was just like balik kampong. (Been contemplating with myself on this one because I still claim Sydney to be my second-home at heart #missingSydney).

I have a story to tell. A story that will make you feel stressed out on life like “why does this happen to meeeeeee?” kind of story. Sit back; relax, read on and this could happen to you too.

Well, you can also not read it.

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It’s 11 in the morning on a hot day. Babu called just now to make sure my sister and I are ready for our day. She did not tell us about her plan but as any other vacations, it has to be shopping. My family is not the type to go sightseeing and exploring the landscapes of the country kind of tourists but we usually just head-on to any Malls, Markets and Restaurants to indulge our needs.

“Since it’s almost lunch, why not we eat first and then we go jalan?”

Babu suggested, before “we go shopping for my sister’s wedding”. We all agreed, as we were super hungry as well.

Note: My breakfast this morning, a cup of Maggi, Butterscotch flavored bun, a durian crepe leftover from last night, my brother’s potato wedges and mineral water. Now, why am I hungry?

We ate lunch anyways. We had five types of Biryani, not a fan of this cuisine but WOW! They’re good!

image source: my Samsung Note II

I am half-full and I still can eat them like I had not eaten! (I have a humongous space in my tummy that I don’t know how all food can fit in there but it does. Not to mention, I have a protruding belly afterwards)

After lunch, we spent 9 hours of shopping including walking, wandering around the shops, traveling by monorails, going from stations to stations to get where we want to be. Since this trip consists of 7 people, we don’t fancy taxis because they can only fit 4 people, sheessh!

I didn’t realize it’s 8:37pm already when we waited for our bus ride back to the hotel and I am amazed that we did not have snacks in between! What an achievement for a forever-hungry family! We had drinks of course. If not, we might have died of dehydration especially in this weather! #drama

Arrived at the hotel approximately half-an-hour later and we went to our rooms for toilet break and whatnot. After that, zoomed off to a nearby restaurant for dinner, placed our orders and waited. And waited. And waited.

Sabar, sabar. Be patient. There are lots of customers. They must have been busy in the kitchen. I told myself.

An hour later, our food arrived. All checked except one more Nasi Ayam (Chicken Rice). Okay, so we ordered three Nasi Ayam. Grandpop took his plate already and left with only one.

“Nah, you have it first,” I offered to my sister.

“I can wait,” she said.

“No, I’m alright. I need to reply some texts anyway,” I insisted and started swiping my smartphone.

She shrugged off and took the plate.

You know in Islam, when you do good deeds, you gain pahala. Pahala is like you gain blessings from Allah and if you do more good things, you gain more pahala points and insyaAllah may we all be in Paradise. To put it simply:

• Good deeds = Pahala = Paradise
• Bad deeds = Dosa = Hellfire

So I practically wanted pahala the moment I offered my sister the meal. However, another hour past and all of them finished their meals. My Nasi Ayam is nowhere to be seen. Dad called the waiter and told him that my meal has not arrived yet. The waiter went back in and more times past, I thought my meal would be ready soon but he did not come back.

Dad was furious and called the waiter again. He went back in and came back to our table and said, “The Nasi Ayam has finished, would you like to order something else?”

At that point I wanted to punch him in the face, grabbed his shoulder, threw him on the ground and stomped on his belly and yelled, “after all this while, you should’ve said something!” and finished off by pouring a cup of water on his face.

Obviously I didn’t do that to the waiter. It’s not his fault. The cruel thing about a situation is that you didn’t know where things went wrong. It could be the waiter, the chef, the people around them, and the paper where they jot the orders down and so on.

I did not order anything else as I began to pack my things and walked out. I am mad and I don’t feel like talking to anyone. All I want is food, which I did not get. But after that point, then I realized… my pahala went away.

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So much for doing good deeds eh? I can’t help but laugh afterwards. All my effort of being nice just went down the drain.

What are your “down the drain” moments?

- Miss P -

Peppermint Cafe

Went for late lunch with my Calamari ladies yesterday (except JO). The initial plan was just WW and I on a date but ended up bringing FR along. It was always great chatting with these girls but sadly I have to go first to pick up Babu from work.

We had our lunch at Peppermint Café, in Beribi. It was my first time visiting the place and luckily it was past lunchtime, therefore the ambience was not disturbed by crammed place and loud voices.

Ate Beef Steak and Sweet Potatoes - actually I was craving for Mashed Potatoes but they didn’t have them at that moment. Sigh. The steak was medium-well, just how I like it. Drank hot chocolate and why on earth did I drink hot beverage when it’s hot bright sunny day? Period guys.

Overall the place was okay lah, but even though it was past lunchtime, it was difficult to find parking space. It took me about five turns to find one and in the end, I parked at the corner of a junction. Nice.

- Miss P -

My Love For Sushi

Sushi was believed to have first made in Southeast Asia, with the intention to keep meat fresh without refrigeration. They preserve meat by wrapping the meat and fish in rice and ferment it for several months. When the time has come for them to feast on it, they will discard the rice and let it to… waste? *Cry*

This method then spreads through and reached Japan, where I thought sushi originated. Conversely, Japan has their own ways of fermenting to cut down the time constriction, so they don’t have to wait for months to enjoy the meat.

In the 1800s, chefs started to become more innovative and used raw fish in their sushi and 100 years later, nigiri-sushi was created. (Nigiri-sushi: Raw fish placed on top of shaped rice). Now, there are more than 100 kinds of sushi worldwide! To Yohei Hanaya, thank you for inventing the method and to other chefs, you guys are awesome!

The point is… I HAVE MAJOR LOVE FOR SUSHI! Especially Salmon-based sushi. Be it raw, smoked, cooked to perfection, I will not hesitate even a second to eat it; except those bangas ones. Now let us bear through these pictures.

Warning: Food pictures may cause sudden cravings and leads to frustration if the cravings not fulfilled immediately. I don’t possess a great photography skills (naaawwhh, I was too hungry to take good pictures) and I don’t know the exact name of the dishes hohoho.

Wakame

Ebi Nigiri

Scallop Nigiri

My Favorite - Sake Nigiri *shivers*

My Another Favorite – Mini Salmon Mayo *double shivers*

Mini California Maki

Salmon Asparagus

And one time they ran-out of asparagus

 Salmon Enoki

Tamago Nigiri and MORE Mini Salmon Mayo :’)

I think I am done torturing probably you and myself by posting these pictures. Of course there are other dishes for you to try as well. So where could you enjoy these sushi dishes in Brunei?

Below is the list of restaurants for you to satisfy your cravings!

• Excapade Sushi

There are lots of branches for this sushi place. Their branches are:

Gadong: 224 3012 / 8740012

Kiulap: 223 4012 / 8859966

Regent Square, Kiulap: 223 4011

Times Square: 234 2912

Serusop: 233 5512 / 873 6880

Bunut (Teppanyaki)

Kuala Belait: 333 3993 / 8722993

You can go to their facebook page for more information: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Excapade-Sushi

• Kaizen Sushi

Address: Waterfront Yayasan Complex, BP1926 Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

Phone: 222 6336

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kaizen-Sushi-Japanese-Restaurant-Waterfront-BSB

They have few branches such as at Kiarong and Seria but their main branch is at the address stated above.

• Sushi Tei

Address: No. 42&43 Tingkat Bawah, Block C, Bangunan Gadong Central, Menglait Gadong, Brunei

Phone: 244 9977

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SushiTeiBrunei

So far they have two branches at Gadong Central and Freshco Batu Satu.

• Gohan Sushi

Address: Unit No.2, 1st Floor, Howsten Building, Spg 181-22, Kg Kiarong

Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

Phone: 242 8100

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GohanSushiBrunei

• Ikura Sushi Restaurant

Address: Unit 36 & 37, Block C, 1st floor, Gadong Central Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

Phone: 242 2020

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IkuraSushiRestaruant

• Aiko Sushi

Address: UNIT NO 3 & 4, BLOCK A SIMPANG 150 WISMA PG HJ APONG KG KIULAP BE1518 (Behind The Palm Hotel Building) Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

Phone: 2233626 / 8716808 / 8737808

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aiko-Sushi-Brunei

They also provide catering services.

That’s it I guess. If you have other places that I have not mentioned, please do let me know J 

- Miss P -