Welcome to Sweet Surrender, Based in Kuching, Sarawak

A Leisurely Visit to Staithes

November 29, 2023November 15, 2023 sweet surrender No Comments

Staithes is a seaside village in North Yorkshire, England. We went there on a Sunday after lunch. Since it’s a long weekend due to bank holiday and also school holiday, the place was very happening. It was quite hard to find parking but we were lucky to find two (we drove two cars there) after a bit of search. It’s a good thing all of us could fit in two sedans. If we’re to drive three (2 sedans and 1 caravan), it will be an issue for the bigger vehicle to find a parking.

The Drive

The drive to Staithes was quite a scenic drive on the highway and the altitude was rather high that you could feel your ears blocked for a moment like when you’re in a plane. Even going down the highway could make your stomach felt funny like riding a roller coaster hahaha!

A Picturesque Village

It’s a bit of walk down hill to reach the village after we parked. The sun was so bright and hot. However, the view was quite stunning. The village’s 18th century cottages and cobbled streets are one the interesting things to see here. Great place for taking unique and quirky photos too. No wonder it attracts many artists to immortalize the place on canvas for centuries.

We just walked around enjoying the views and take some photos there. We didn’t visit Captain Cook & Staithes Heritage Centre. In fact, we didn’t know it’s there hahaha! Anyway, in case you want to know, the museum operating hours are from 11am to 4pm daily except Friday during summer. Meanwhile, the operating hours are from 11am-4pm daily except Thursday and Friday during winter.

You can spend a night or two there if you want. You might be lucky to catch the Northern Lights there if you visit during autumn and winter from September to April.

You will not miss the view of two bulky headlands (‘nabs’) which shelter the tiny harbour. They are the two cliffs of Cowbar and Penny nab.

By the way, this place is also popular for bird watching.

That’s pretty much that I could share about this picturesque village on the Yorkshire Coast. We spent hours there. Unfortunately the public toilet near the car park was closed when we reached there. So we drove to Saltburn to visit the toilet and a quick stroll. You can check out my 2018 Saltburn trip here.

Driving All the Way - England, Going Places

Half-day at Spilmans Farm

November 22, 2023November 14, 2023 sweet surrender No Comments

It’s been a long time not joining the fruit picking fun. During our summer vacation in England, we went to Spilmans Farm (Church Farm, Thirsk YO7 3NB, United Kingdom) to pick some strawberries and raspberries. They had potatoes too but we didn’t pick them. Not to forget sunflowers are available as well. All these are only available in the summer. In Autumn, you get to pick pumpkins.

Farm Shop & Cafe

Spilmans Farm is a family run farm since 1941. There’s a farm shop and cafe there selling many products made from the harvest from the farm and souvenirs. Just look at how colourful and the varieties of alcohol and spirits selections that they have. What you see here are just a portion of them.

There are also Moonshine Ice Creams (contains alcohol) and Yorvale Ice Cream (from Fossfield Farm in Yorkshire). We did buy the ice cream, the non-alcohol one of course hahaha! Very rich and creamy ice cream. If you are hungry, there are wood-oven pizzas and other snack available too. You’ll just have to see what they are serving while you’re there and order accordingly. You can see what we had and the summary of what we did there in the video below.

Aside from that, you can find jams, honey, cheese, cookies, and more in their farm shop too. I spent quite some time looking at the products they’re selling. It’s quite interesting to see. I love to browse through this kind of products in shops.

Sunflower Field

After fruit picking and lunch, we decided to walked to the sunflower field just to have a look. You will have to pay to pick the sunflowers. We did not need them, so we didn’t pick any of them. You have to be careful when you’re in there as there are some thorny plants on the ground.

It’s my first time seeing so many sunflowers. You’ll see many insects flying around too. Just don’t go and disturb them and they won’t sting or bite you.

We had a great time taking photos of the sunflowers. It’s fun to take photo of the flowers when there are bees and other insects on the flowers. It gives the photos more life. Look at how pretty the flowers are.

Lastly, we had a great time there. Not a bad place to visit for the young and old. Do check out Spilmans Farm official website for fruit picking schedule.

Driving All the Way - England, Going Places

A Quick Visit to Yarm

November 15, 2023November 14, 2023 sweet surrender No Comments

Had the opportunity to visit Yarm aka Yarm-on-Tees, when we were in England. Yarm is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. It’s not far from where we were staying. We went there for an evening walk. Of course, we had to drive there.

Just look at the architectures here at the High Street. Georgian-style old buildings with their red pantile roofs. It’s like you’re going back in time. Ignore those cars there hahaha!

At the back of row of shops, there’s River Tees. You can see the photos of the river in my Instagram’s post below.

Here’s the two landmarks that you definitely won’t miss when you’re there. The railway viaduct (left) and the high street and the Yarm Town Hall (right) can be seen at the center of the High Street. The high street was voted as the ‘Best High Street’ BBC’s Breakfast programme on 19 January 2007.

That’s pretty much about Yarm from me. We’ll go to another town in the next post.

Driving All the Way - England, Going Places

Ayam Brand™ Community Care Campaign 2023

November 13, 2023November 13, 2023 sweet surrender No Comments

Ayam Brand Empowers 1,000 Children For a Better Future
Supports 25 Local Children’s Homes with 2 Months of Healthy Meals, Free Eye Health Check and Prescription Spectacles for Those Who Need

Kuching, 9 November, 2023 – It is estimated that up to 5.6 million school-going children in Malaysia face the double burden of malnutrition^[1]. The double burden of malnutrition is defined as the coexistence of both undernutrition and overnutrition in the same population across the life course^[2]. In short, malnourished children run the risk of becoming obese adults.

Worryingly, vision issues are also on the rise among Malaysian children with myopia prevalence among children at age seven at 9.8%, rising to 34.4% at the age of 15^[3]. While some eye problems are inevitable for various reasons, others can be attributed to a lack of proper care.

#AyamBersamaMu 2023

To assist with these issues, Ayam Brand™, the 131-year old household name famed for its wide range of quality, preservative-free, no added MSG, healthy, and convenient canned food, is back with its annual Community Care Campaign 2023. Themed #AyamBersamaMu with the concept of ‘Add Health with Ayam Brand™’, it will reach out to more than 1,000 children from 25 non-governmental organisations across seven states to provide a two-months supply or approximately 35, 028 healthy meals.

Going beyond the contribution of its products, Ayam Brand™ in collaboration with KPJ Healthcare Group will be running nutrition workshops to educate these children on healthier dietary choices following the 3S (Suku-suku Separuh) Malaysian Healthy Plate concept. To address vision issues among these children Ayam Brand is working with Focus Point Group to provide free eye health screening, and prescription glasses to children who require from these homes.

Each participating home products are high in protein, calcium, Omega-3 and fibre including Ayam Brand™ Tuna Mayonnaise, Ayam Brand™ Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce and Ayam Brand™ Soya Flakes Spread.

Benefits of Fish in Diet

“The risk of double malnutrition, and myopia among Malaysian children requires action from all parties who can assist including organisations such as Ayam Brand. This is why we stepped up to help. Ideally all children should have good nutrition from birth. Ayam Brand™ has a long history of contributing our healthy and nutritious products to communities, and we are continuing in that commitment. However, we believe that while providing our products is an immediate solution, over the long term, educating children on making healthier food choices is the key. Our fish products are high in protein, calcium, Omega-3, DHA among other vitamins and minerals that children need for good health, including eye health,” says Ms Teoh Wei Ling, A. Clouet (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.’s Marketing Manager.

Studies conducted by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) found that Ayam Brand™ Sardines in Tomato Sauce was shown to have 7.1X more Omega-3 compared to home-cooked locally caught fresh sardines and Ayam Brand™ Mackerel in Tomato Sauce contains a whopping 7.6X more Omega-3 compared to an equivalent serving of home-cooked locally caught mackerel.

“Proper nutrition is important for children’s overall well-being, especially the consumption of protein for growth and development. One of those good protein sources is from fatty fish like tuna, saba, sardine, and mackerel, with good sources of Omega-3, which is vital for children’s brain development and eye health. Since our body cannot produce Omega-3 on its own, we need to obtain it from the foods we eat. One should consider to consume at least 2 servings of fatty fish weekly.” says Ms Yip Song Qing, KPJ Damansara Specialist Hospital’s dietitian.

Ayam Brand Community Care Campaign in Sarawak

Ms Teoh Wei Ling also adds that “the Ayam Brand Community Care campaign which is now in its 16th year has contributed more than 2.1 million healthy meals for charity, providing nutritious food to more than 27,293 people from 610 charity homes and NGOs”.

In Sarawak, a total of 183 children from Pertubuhan Kebajikan dan Pendidikan Nur Murni, Kompleks Kebajikan Laila Taib Kuching, Pertubuhan Kebajikan Baiturrahmah Kuching and The Salvation Army Kuching Children’s Care Centre participated in the Add health with Ayam Brand #AyamBersamaMu workshop that was held at KPJ Kuching Specialist Hospital.

Children learned about making healthier dietary choices through an informative and engaging session with Ms Yip Song Qing. Next, each child put their new knowledge into practice by preparing themselves a healthy snack following the Suku-suku Separuh concept, guided by the KPJ and Ayam Brand team.

The children also participated in memory matching and ball toss games, which allowed them to practise their visual recall and hand-eye coordination as a way to reinforce what they had learned at the workshop. Members of the winning team each received a medal, while all participants received gift bags.

Representatives from the charity homes expressed their gratitude for Ayam Brand’s continued support, and for the transformative impact it will have on the lives of the children.

To find out more about the #AyamBersamaMu community care campaign, visit https://www.ayambrand.com.my or https://www.facebook.com/ayambrandmalaysia.

References

^[1] The 2022-2030 National Strategic Plan to Combat the Double Burden of Malnutrition Among Children in Malaysia
^[2] https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/01ea4a07-39f9-55c6-a16b-298f6a77d869
^[3] Myopia: Is it a problem? And how to control progressions: Malaysian Society of Opthalmology, MSO Express Issue 12, November 2019

Health is Wealth, Interesting, Take A Break

A Half-Day Trip to Holy Island

November 8, 2023November 4, 2023 sweet surrender No Comments

Our first stop after entering England’s border from Scotland was Holy Island, also known as Lindisfarne. It was a half-day trip. The Holy Island of Lindisfarne is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England. I was curious with how it is possible that you can drive to an island. Now that I’ve been there, I understand how it works. I didn’t do any research prior to the trip as I wasn’t the one planning. All I had to do was to get my parents and myself to Newcastle, England from Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia ;p

Expensive rescue!

The timing to reach there and to leave the island must be right. So you have to properly plan your journey there. You must check the tide times and weather carefully. Tide tables giving the safe crossing periods are published by Northumberland County Council. You don’t want to get stuck in the water, it’s not cheap to rescue you! It costs over £2,710 or more for sea rescue while £5,710 or more for air rescue.

Little Island with Small Population

Surprisingly, there were less than 200 people living on this island (27 March 2011 according to Wikipedia). When we were there, the place was filled with summer holiday tourists. It was a bright sunny windy day which was great to spend the summer here.

Only those with permits can drive in the town. Otherwise, you have to park at the designated public parking space and pay for your parking. Then, you will have to walk all the way to the main area where you will be greeted with scenic views. It’s a place for historical tourism and birding trip.

Historically Interesting

You will certainly be greeted with the view of Lindisfarne Castle when you’re there. How can you miss it? We did walk up to the castle but we didn’t go into the castle. This island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD. It was an important centre of Celtic Christianity under Saints Aidan, Cuthbert, Eadfrith, and Eadberht of Lindisfarne. From here, the Christian message flourished throughout the world.

Angel of the North

After the Holy Island, went to do a bit of shopping in Newcastle, and early dinner, we stopped at Angel of the North before heading home. It stands at 20m (66 ft) tall with a wingspan of 54m (177 ft). It is larger than that of a Boeing 757 aircraft. The sculpture is indeed huge! You can feel how big it is when you are under it. Amazing!

We were lucky to have good weather and nice sunset when we were there. The wind on top of the hill was very strong and chilly though. We took some photos and left.

So that’s the end of the day. We returned the rented van the next day.

Driving All the Way - England, Going Places

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