Well, actually we never lived here but many of our Melanau relatives did and some of them still do. This is Jalan Kampong Nangka (Jackfruit Village Road) and my maternal grandma’s house was not along the main road but at a lane running parallel to this road.
Gundot and Sam were in town and Gundot’s mum wanted her to buy some sagu’ or sago pellets. My mum had sent her some from this stall before and she was praising it to the skies, so we decided to drop by…
They sell a lot of things here such as these kuih jala…
…and kuih Cina…
…that my mother likes, among an array of Malay/Melanau ethnic delights. I wonder whether these are salted fish or just simply dried fish…
…but I know these are ikan salai or smoked fish…
I do enjoy eating them for tea with freshly-pounded chilli plus a squeeze of calamansi lime or even with tempoyak (fermented durian) or cincaluk (fermented shrimps), so I bought two packets, each containing a different type of fish. I thought I would give them a try to see which one was better.
They also sell our local Mukah keropok (prawn crackers) including those that are already fried like these giant ones at RM1.20 a packet…
If you go for dinner at a certain restaurant here, they will serve you four pieces in a basket as appetizer but do not think for a moment that they are complimentary. No, you will find it in your bill later at RM2.00 for the special treat, which means that you are charged 50 sen a piece. Here, they’re 40 sen each but these are very much bigger. I wouldn’t know whether they’re nicer or not as I did not buy any.
Well, we certainly had a good time at the stall chatting with the folks running it about people we knew…and the good old days.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 