It certainly looks as if time has been standing still in this part of Kuching city since the time when I was there last – in the 70s when I used to go and watch movies at the Cathay Cinema…
…which is still there today but is presently used as some kind of a market place.
The buildings look old and badly need a fresh coat of paint. There are a couple of old-school gents’ tailor shops around…
…and even a ladies’ “dress making” one…
You can tell from that Saloma outfit in the shop sign that it does not cater to today’s young and trendy, that’s for sure.
Now, what was I doing at that God-forsaken part of the city, you may ask? Well, Gerrie loves the kolo mee there…
…and took us all to the coffee shop, Oriental Park…
…to give it a try.
This is the noodles stall at that coffee shop with a fancy name…
…and as you can see from the sign, everything’s RM2.80 a bowl. Pretty cheap, don’t you think?
You can have your noodles dry…
…or in clear soup, like this bowl of mihun (rice vermecilli) …
Indeed, the kolo mee there is very nice but I missed the clear soup with minced pork, bits of pig’s blood, liver and other innards…that they would have at some places such as those along Carpenter Street. I guess that will have to wait till I get to go to Kuching again another time.
Anybody hopping over to Kuching anytime soon? I can fly over and meet you all there…
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Time certainly stood still for me too! Always loved to go to Kuching when I was young. Did you know the Bachelor Boys? Stayed with one of them once. That kolo mee looks simply deeeelicious! Can’t wait till June!
Can’t say I know the Bachelor Boys…but then you’re a younger lot. Me too…loved going to Kuching way back then – to meet all my friends on radio – the so-called “request fans”… The name is changed but the game is the same – these days, wherever I go, I meet up with my blogger friends. LOL!!! 😉
Just to clarify, the ones we had were “special”, ie extra meat portions, priced at rm3.50, which is still very decent.
Ah, I see… No wonder there was SO much meat – both minced and char siew… Really substantial, would say that RM3.50 is cheap and a whole lot nicer too…compared to other things elsewhere.
Love the charred bits on the char-siew.Lagi hitam lagi sedap!RM 2.80 – 3.50…I would gladly pay RM10 for it…dirt cheap,man! (not action,okay…but you know la mana can get that portion with extra meat somemore…not even KL, right?)
Or Auckland! I remember my brother took me some place to have some kind of noodles like this and it was NZ$8.00 then. Was ok…not bad and the portion was huge …but I heard that now, it has gone up to NZ12.00. Ooooooo….@.@!!!
STP, u seem to be flying here and there these few months!! I wish I could retire now and go here and there like you..
No leh… Went to Penang because of the wedding and took the chance to stay a bit longer for a short holiday…and this trip, I also had a reason – see tomorrow’s post. These days, always looking for any excuse to travel…but usually, can only get away for a few days.
RM2.80… that’s unreasonably cheap! Gonna pester my husband to bring me to Miao Miao city liao!
Good day and have a beautiful morning!
This was RM3.50 – the special, extra noodles and meat…and we had this around 9 something in the morning…and did without lunch that day as we were still full then. When? When? I assure you that you will not be disappointed. Kuching is definitely a nice place to visit…
No extra noodles, only extra meat.
But the noodles…a lot! Really filling…and Melissa could not finish. All this while, I thought the Sibu Foochows are the ones notorious for insisting on such huge servings! LOL!!! 😉
The char siew look so yummy……..
Yup, anytime better than the miserably few pieces of boiled meat, dyed red…that comes with kampua noodles in Sibu… 😦
yumm! kolok mee! when cikgu want to fly here? dapau the kolok mee for me. lol
Ooi…I’m in Sibu lah… Only got kampua here, no kolo mee! 😦
Welcome to Kuching 🙂
I like kolo mee very much.
Have you tried the tomato mee as well?
Used to love tomato mee in the 70s…but have not had that for a while now. Never stayed long enough in Kuching to go for that. 😉
You should stay long here 🙂 finish taste all the food here.
laksa sarawak, tomato fried mee, kueh chap and etc.
90% i am not around at Kuching 😦 i at russia –
Very near, never mind… Can hop over anytime I can get away. You’re still in Russia, though you’ve come back? Aiyor…so kesian…
I love kuching kolo mee too– eat with lots of chilli soaked in vinegar
That makes two of us. I prefer it to our Sibu kampua…
RM2.80 and so much meat! In Miri, I could hardly see any meat! Surely it is nice.
This is the special – RM3.50…but I’m sure you also get a lot of meat as well with the normal… 🙂
I want to eat Kolo Mee too!! *plans a trip to Kuching*
Btw, did you receive something in your mail yet? *wink*
Let me know when you’re going… If I can, I may just hop over and meet you guys there. Something in my mail? Nope…nothing so far. You know my mailing address? @.@
Kolo mee, eat it, but cannot remember how it taste, because i still prefer my kampua over kolo mee. hahahhahah
Over here i can find nice kolo mee, my friend said exactly taste like kuching kolo mee at Face to Face. Actually they are famous for pan meen, but they also serve Sarawak mee. When i crave for kampua i go for that kolo mee. The coffee shop that Mandy brought you to at Damansara Uptown, the kampua shop no more there already. :(:(:(
LOL!!! That shop supposed to be selling kolo mee…but failed – tasted like kampua actually.
You true-blue Sibu Foochow – die, die…must eat kampua one lah! But like kampua…must come to Sibu to eat, kolo mee…also have to go to Kuching to eat and must know the good places to go to. Not every place the same.
I agree with Claire…you seem to be travelling everywhere 🙂 and walloping food like nobody business….:p :p
LOL!!! School has reopened…and my classes have resumed. Grounded now…and wouldn’t be eating so much. Hopefully I will be able to shed a few kgs by Chinese New Year. 😉
OMG… love the scenery… it’s like you’re transported to many years back…untainted by the development. And Rm2.80 for a bowl of mee with so much meat on it? That’s a steal!
RM3.50 for the special. I was very amused by the name of the dressmaking shop because if you pronounce /na/ as /næ/ (which will sound like “nay”), it becomes a vulgar word in Foochow. Oops!!! Blush! Blush!
Vulgar word ah? I tak tau. LOL…. ish… really a steal… this one not oredi special, with so many things on top of it?
What you do not know would not hurt you… Hehehehehe!!! This one IS the special…the RM2.80 would not have so much meat but the same amount of noodles.
Oh my gosh…that bowl of kolok mee and mi hoon soup! They make my stomach rumbles!!!! I only managed to eat a bowl of Kuching laksa….mmmm…the best….on the very day I was flying back here 1+ weeks ago. Have to say I was very lucky! 😀 At least I get to try it. It was really good…drooling again! I must try this kolok mee and mi hoon soup the next time I’m there. I’ll call you. Make sure you fly over 😀
One post on Sarawak laksa coming up soon…the one after tomorrow’s, if I’m not mistaken. Sure…let me know when you’re coming…or better still, take sometime off to hop over to Sibu! I can cook my own Sarawak laksa for you…and all the other stuff as well.
Arthur,
Ya lor…where can get that price in Auckland…that’s why I say I’m willing to pay RM10 for it…lol! Nowadays,cannot get NZ$8 for a bowl of noodles la…everything over NZ$10.You are right, portions are huge but if you notice only the noodles a lot…meat adalah a few pieces…buat kotorkan gigi saja!
What I had was not bad…just not the same, and my brother also took us to one place for laksa – also NZ$8 at the time in a bowl as big as a basin. No, it wasn’t Sarawak laksa…but curry laksa. I think the guy was from Penang.
Time really stand still when you see such old places.
We had such old buildings here in Manila, which dates back before the World War began.
Mostly, those buildings are dilapidated places that might collapse for just a small quake.
Thank goodness…no quakes here! LOL!!!
kampua and kolo – i really can’t tell the difference. at hubs hometown. there’s a similiar noodle.. but they call it ‘longkang mee’. lemme see if i can get a pic and blog abt it. everytime we reach the inlaws, its always late already and we gobble up our noodle, forget to take pic 😦
I think soon, Cathay will be transformed to a glossy looking furniture or lighting shop. wanna bet ??
You will have to come over here and eat them to know that there is a world of difference between the two…and wantan mee and konlou mee. They’re all not the same. Where’s your hubby’s hometown? I know the Air Itam laksa in Penang – the colour is exactly the same as the water in the longkang… Muahahahaha!!! One look and I didn’t want to eat it anymore. 😀
Here, they used to convert old cinemas into discos and nightclubs…or big stores selling cheap clothes and stuff… This one’s a market, I think…
i love kolo mee! n rm2.80 is damn cheap!! 😀
This one’s the special – RM3.50…but it’s still cheap. Such a big bowl. Cheaper than many things in KK, that’s for sure! 😉
P.S. Your link to your [dot]com leads to a deadlock lah… Something wrong!
Your *tall guy mee* kolo mee is RM2.80 way back in the 70s izzit? kekeke.
Is that the name in Chinese? I wouldn’t know that – all Greek to me. But I do know that the old guy (not in the photo) has an English name, my cousin knows him by that name – can’t remember what it is though… Andy or Eddie or something… Nama glamour bah! 🙂 I can’t remember how much kolo mee was in the 70s – in the range of RM1.50 -RM2.00, I think.
Not very sure but sounds to me ‘kolo’ means tall guy but ‘konlo’ mee is dried mee. As different places have their own ‘branding’ these two might be just the same or maybe not?
I see. In KK, they call theirs konlou mee…I guess it’s the same – lost in translation. Some call it kolok mee… In principle, all the same…but taste wise, quite different. I like kolo mee best!
ooooooo…. the kolo mee looks so fantastic… 😛
cathay cinema brought back memories of my childhood, when we used to play truant to catch movies during high school days…
can’t believe the building is still there, even though it’s been 20 years…
omg, 20 years… can’t believe time flies by so quickly…
20 years for you, 30 years for me! Gee whiz! I’m ancient! LOL!!! My time, the cinema was not the only attraction – in the block directly opposite, there was a “boutique” (a shop selling clothes). The daughter was a St 3 student…but we would drop by to ogle at the mum – she was hawt, man! Either a divorcee or a widow, can’t quite remember now. Honey, her name was! LOL!!! 😉
Cathay cinema in Kuching..?? Where is it? The ta mee looks yummy !! Where can I find this stall? I would love to go there…and have a bite…
It’s somewhere behind the shops opposite the Open Air Market. I’m sure if you stop by one of the shops in the vicinity to ask for directions to the cinema, the people there will tell you where to go…
is it too small for a cinema??
I guess it was big enough during the time – not so many people… Hehehehehe!!! But at least it’s bigger than many of today’s cineplexes.
Indeed… the noodles looks great especially the ingredients… Just had a Chicken Noodle Soup this morning… will post about it soon in my other blog hehe
Oh? You have a food blog too? Which one? You have sooooo….many. I only have one and I’m already struggling to keep it going… 😦
have a great day arthur and happy blogging
…and the same to you, Milton…plus a wonderful weekend ahead. Cheers!
so nice to be able to get here and there…
All of you can too – except that you all prefer trips overseas… 😉
Aiyo.. i missed those days when we were allowed to eat kuacis in cinema!!!! 😀
Eyew! I hated that! So noisy in the cinema, could hardly hear…and long before that, the cinemas were not air-conditioned…and people could smoke. Gosh! How did you survive?
An old school cinema. are they preserving or will it be destroyed in the future?
So far they’re all put to good use…but I think the best would be Rex in Kuching – they restored the place and it is now a cineplex cum shopping mall and food court.
OMG the kolo mee looked so good! I felt like licking the computer monitor already. I’m so jealous!!
Any plans to go to Kuching? Let me know – I’ll hop over…and take you around.
I kinda like the kolo mee here as well 😀 Eh, since you were there might as well cross the road for a second round at Open Air Market 😛 But then again I don’t know what’s good in the morning, normally go at night.
Not a fan of Open Air…ever since I stopped loving their Ah Mui beef noodles. The jiew hu eng chai…not bad, different from Sibu. Not a fan of their sio bee either.
I’m a sucker for nostalgia and these shoplots will be so photographic worthy!
I think they’re still there. The kolo mee shop got burnt recently but they’ve got the place done and have resumed business… Still as good!