I saw people blogging about this place and sharing photographs on Facebook but my attempts to locate the place were all in vain. Then I stumbled upon a blog that gave a rough sketch map to the place…and looking at it, I could more or less guess how I could get there so one morning, Philip, that friend of mine home from the US, and I went out again in search of this seemingly-elusive destination.
If you are driving into Old Oya Road from the St E/Sibu bus terminal side, you would come to a building where there are a few shops – there is a sign in front of it and I think it’s supposed to say the Swan City Ville, probably referring to the housing estate in the vicinity but the “s” has dropped off and you will see ‘Wan City Ville” instead.
Turn right into RTM Road (Long long ago, when they did not have a station in Sibu, they had their transmitting station or something here…and hence, the name). Don’t drive straight ahead along Old Oya Road like what I did once and you would come to the JPJ office before coming out at the roundabout along the road to the airport just before you turn left to go to the Sibu Hospital…and there was no sign of the place I was looking for.
Now, along this RTM Road, you will see the lanes on both sides of the road and for once, the numbering is an orderly manner and in the correct sequence – even numbers on the right and odd numbers on the left. Go straight ahead until you come to the end of that road and there is nowhere else to turn but left – now, that is Lane 13. Go straight ahead…and never mind if it seems to you that you are in the middle of nowhere and there are no houses all around – just keep going till you come to an area where there are some (new) houses and a block of shops – not many, just four, if I remember correctly…and the second one from the right is this one…
It is a nice and clean coffee shop…
…and parking is free and not a problem and probably because of the absence of buildings and traffic, the place is quite windy – I actually found it very comfortable with the cool breeze blowing that morning.
Of course, we had to try the kampua noodles (RM2.50)…
…since everyone seemed to praise them to the skies and to my delight, we found them to be really very good. I would think it was nicer than my favourite ones here. In comparison, the noodles and also the stewed pork slices and minced meat all tasted nicer, a cut above what I would find at that other place.
We also ordered the piansip, dry (RM2.50)…
…and it was pretty good too.
Business seemed kind of slow though. There were two other guys who were there and they also had the kampua noodles – one like what we had and the other had his with dark soy sauce. Then there were two ladies who came and they had some of the fried stuff which we did not try…and other than the old man in the photograph, that was about all the other people at the shop the whole time we were there.
There was a lady running the shop single-handedly, doing all the cooking and making the drinks (Incidentally, the coffee was good too!) and I kept thinking that she looked very familiar. I was quite positive that I knew her from somewhere so eventually, my curiosity got the better of me and I went to ask her. It all came back to me when she told me who she was – she was the one waiting at tables at the other place going back all the way to many years ago when it was still at its original location…and later, at its present one and I was such a regular that I did not even need to place my orders whenever she saw me – she would know exactly what I wanted! Gee! It seems that she has learnt the tricks of the trade and has now ventured out on her own, good for her! No wonder in ancient China, the old kung fu master would never teach his disciple all the tricks he had up his sleeves – they might learn to be as good…or even better!
Incidentally, while I was there, I also noticed how she reuses old cans…
…as ashtrays in her shop – that’s somewhat environment-friendly, I would think.
Well, since I liked the kampua noodles so much and now that I know exactly where the shop is, you can be sure that I would be dropping by again…and again…and again.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
So glad everything turned out so well, it makes time spent breaking bread with loved ones that much nicer. 🙂
How nice, to see the lady get her own place. It appears perseverance and hard work has paid off. Here’s hoping she’s successful!
Yes, as they say…never give up and we’ll get there one day…and we sure did! Indeed, I do hope that she does well – she did look a bit tired and stressed, I must say…compared to the days when she was waiting at tables, not a care in the world or maybe it’s just old age – she was younger then, no worries and free.
ooo, yay, the eatery has gained a new loyal customer! crossing fingers that many more faithful fans will also follow in your footsteps and enjoy the kampua mee here (although not TOO many, so that you can still find a vacant table to sit at during all your future visits) 😀
Yes, business did seem rather slow…so hopefully, more will know about it now and will make a beeline to that place and enjoy the noodles. Nice lady, she sure deserves it.
Coming from a Kampua expert and lover, I’m very sure this is one of the top noodle places to go to! 😀
Yes, it is almost like the ones at my favourite place all these years…and a little bit better even.
Hi. Care to give me the GPS coordinates? May drop by to have a try myself. Really good Kampua are not so easy to find. Thanks
You like Rasa Sayang’s? If you don’t, then don’t bother… This is similar, same sifu mah….but a bit nicer. GPS? Lanes not shown on google maps, how to get ah? You follow my directions, get there (hopefully…like people always using calculators eventually cannot count when they do not have one)…and then get the GPS and let me know – so I can add to my post for others to locate the place. Thank you sooooo much in advance.
I suspect it’s around this vicinity 2.297614,111.86253
http://itouchmap.com/latlong.html
Good! good! So the next thing you can do is to use those coordinates and follow the directions and see if it will lead you to the place or not – then you can confirm that you are right or otherwise.
P.S.
Good grief! I checked it out on the link you’ve provided and that’s supposed to be some place along Jalan Wong King Huo…and don’t we all know that St E is NOT along WKH Road. Tsk! Tsk! And that’s an ancient map – so few houses there, Star MegaMall isn’t there….Lee Long’s house also isn’t there…no sign of the (S)WAN CITY VILLE shop block either…but I would say it’s most probably around 2.298769,111.861793
If you look carefully, my coordinates are extremely close to yours, probably by 160 meters. So no way my coordinate could be at far away Jalan Wong King Huo. If you wanted more up-to-date maps, it will cost you money.
The cordinates are very close, this much is true – yours point to the junction of Oya Road and Old Oya Road…and Jalan RTM is some 200 metres or so away.
My point was in the map, the name of the road is indicated as Wong King Huo Road (spelt Wong King Hou) when it isn’t…or is it? I always thought that’s Oya Road – and that is where the Polyclinic is, and SUDC No. 4 Primary School, Sacred Heart and St Elizabeth….and Wong King Huo would be from the traffic lights junction of Oya Road and the end of Tong San going up to Farley.
Have they renamed the road and I did not know about it? Pray, enlighten me…
2.29797, 111.86520. And the same Toyota Corolla was park in front today.
That must be the lady’s car then. Is that a Toyota? Gosh…I’m hopeless with cars, dunno one from the other. 😦
oh, the kampua and piansip added up to a total of RM5!! i can still remember the other day you had one which was only RM2.30, kampua with 6 piansip.. what a big difference..
This one is actually two different orders – kampua with the meat slices & the minced meat…and a full bowl of pian sip. The earlier one is what we call pian sip mee here – we do not want all the meat added and would like that to be replaced by a few pian sip, usually 4 or 5 but that place we went to seemed to give a bit more.
Well, prices vary…depending on the shop – like my kopi-o-peng can be RM1.60…or RM1.50…or that day, I had one, RM1.40 only and it was pretty good as well.
I heard that business is not good everywhere… even the papers were mentioning that Ipoh business in the market has dropped drastically… so I guess we better tighten our belt from now on.. wonder if I can do it cos I simply love to eat! :p
I guess you’re not the only one who can’t do it for if we look at the coffee shops here, they are always packed with people…
the shop is really…. really… quiet eh… rm2.50 sounds cheap though
It’s in the middle of nowhere, a residential area and that particular lane did not have that many houses even. I am amazed that there are people who actually knew about the place and had blogged about it or shared on Facebook… I would never have known about it otherwise.
Drooling over the kampua noodles, hehe…
Slurpsssss!!!! VERY nice!!! 😉
At last you found the shop. Only RM2.50 each per bowl. That is a great deal. Quite generous with the toppings. Since you know the place now, so you will be venturing more to that shop to have your kampua. Yi pi yi chi, yu tua liap nee, that is what you usually say, hahahaha!!!…..
Never give up! Keep trying and you’ll get what you want in the end – that’s the spirit. Yes, it is good though a bit out of the way. Would love to go back there again the first opportunity I get…but I would have to try the rest around and tell people about them as well… Sigh!!!
Definitely a cut above the rest. I would also go back again, and again, and again.
One more time before you leave town perhaps? As they say, one for the road… 😉
One for the road, let me know when you want to do it.
Anytime that’s good for you is good for me. You would want to bring your son there when he comes, wouldn’t you?
that’s certainly an interesting name for a restaurant, TV3 cafe next door?
Since you brought it up, at the end of the block, there is another coffee shop and they call it a bistro!!! Blush! Blush!!! *guffaws!!!!*
Good morning, STP! You know if I were to be looking for this shop, with your directions, it’d be easy to find.
Yeah, good for the lady to be doing her own thing. Smart lady and amazing that she’s coping well going it alone.
Yes, not much future waiting at tables, I’m sure. Everyone should think and plan ahead – learn the secrets of the trade, save money and eventually venture out on their own. Good for her, I would say too!
And yes, I’m sure if they know where the road and landmarks are, they would find the place in no time at all. Trouble is people are very poor at giving directions – they are simply not specific enough and simply mention an area – one big area or one long road…with so many shops all around…or at times, when they say, it is next to or opposite a place…don’t be surprised that it isn’t exactly so. Even the hand-drawn map shared in the blog I saw was not very accurate but at least, it was very helpful – I could get a vague idea of the location from it.
Piansip looks yummy la! Dipped with sambal, wahhh… drooling already~
Sambal? Not the usual way people here would eat that. In the past, Foochows would not touch anything hot and spicy…something like my dear friend, Annie-Q – no belacan, no cincaluk, none of all those stuff for her, thank you very much or our good friend, Claire, in Ipoh… Right, ladies? 😉
hahahhaha…now i take sambal, but still not the belacan, cannot stand the smell. 😛
Not bad, not bad… But West Malaysian belacan not smelly lah – that’s why I prefer our Bintulu ones – no smell, not nice. 😉
Ooo .. thanks for introducing this place … coz, it’s just a stone’s throw away from my parents’ house. Will definitely give it a try when I go back to Sibu next time.
Oh? They live around there? Nice kampua – tell them about it and everybody else. If they like Rasa Sayang’s, they’ll like this one for sure….
Yup, after just go a bit further along Old Oya Rd, around 200m from the junction to RTM Rd, the blue semi-D at the left hand side of the road.
I don’t know whether they been to Rasa Sayang or not, coz, they seldom eating out. Even when I go back, we also seldom eating out. Usually, it’s just home cooked stuffs and spending time relatives.
Ya, nothing like home-cooked. Will look out for the blue semi-D the next time I drive past there… 😉
Haiyooo….another bowl of yummy kampua to tempt me. tskkk…
Yummmmm….anytime better than what you people have over there, eh? Wink! Wink! 😀
Cannot say like dat lar…. cos hardly get to eat kampua or kolok mee here ma…that’s why will miss it. 😉
Got lah. Just google… It seems there are more and more places now – everybody’s moving over there for a slice of the golden pie. Not much money to make over here… 😦
So it was worth the time taken to find this place. Guess you are the kampua noodle expert and if you say it is good, then it must be good 🙂
Not necessarily. As a matter of fact, I do know a lot of people who do not like Rasa Sayang’s kampua (and many who do) – those who prefer the old-school, original/authentic kampua noodles they grew up eating. So those people would probably not like this one as well…
RTM cafe…like is clean!!!
It is. You’ve tried Rasa Sayang’s and loved it! You gotta try this one next time around… Nicer!
Interesting name.
hardly see anyone reusing the cans as ashtrays…except perhaps in smaller towns like my hometown.
Yes, I think so too but it sure is a great idea. Better than just throwing them away and then the scavengers will come on collection nights and turn the rubbish bins inside out to get those tins and sell…
Beside kampua, are there any other stalls? Will pay a visit if I happen to pass by.. Thanks for the info
The lady sells fried stuff as well – Foochow fried noodles, fried kway teow, mihun and so on. She does it all singlehandedly. We did not try those but we saw some ladies eating and it looked good. There is another shop at the end selling such fried stuff as well, it seems and I saw quite a lot of people there that morning. Probably good as well, I wouldn’t know…
This kampua look beautiful…!! But the direction you give, tsk tsk tsk, sound like a very confusing place to find. Never mind, i will print it out or read from phone if i go there next time.
Is it new or had been there for sometime already? I read from FB a lot good comment about them, that’s why i know this RTM cafe!
No need lah! You come back I’ll take you there – so good the kampua, must eat one!
But if you know that road to JPJ – this side (not the road to/from the airport side), just turn in and then not far from the junction, turn right into Jalan RTM and go on and on and on…and you’ll get to it. No other shophouses in the whole Jalan RTM area – we just kept on a lookout for shophouses and got there!!! Not hard at all.
Dunno how new or how old but when Rasa Sayang reopened at its new/present place, this lady was still there. She said some 3 years here already or something like that.
What does RTM stands for? That kampua mee looks damn nice… now i’m hungry thanks to you! Hahaha… sigh why food here so expensive compared to where you live 😦
Radio Television Malaysia – the transmitting or relay station or whatever you call it was here a long time ago in my younger days, dunno if it is still there but they have a “mini-station” here now…so dunno whether they have moved the transmitting facilities or not.
You people there – city people so very rich mah… If too expensive here, no business already. People cannot afford. Hehehehehe!!!!
well that reminds me of the resto near at our office
hmm the food seems simple common yet still appetizing
as for the can ashtray it was just a clever thing to do
Environment-friendly – recycle and reuse…
Looks like a nice casual place to relax and meet up with friends!
Would be a nice place to hand out, indeed. Quiet, pleasant…not like those in the town proper – so busy and noisy – one would just eat and go, usually.
Wooaahh.. why many never think of reuse the old cans hor… but I wish there are less smokers in this world.. cos i really hate those who smoke near me.. 😦
Oops!!!
~T_T~ you made me misses my hometown so badly…. i just discovered your wordpress blog this morning and my phone never leave my hand after that…. or at least until now… somewhat… i think / intuition that…. you were my english teacher…. in sacred heart??? Sibor? Walao…. siao liao. My engrish so jialat dare say out somemore….
Gosh! Where or how did you stumble upon my blog? Where are you now? Ummm…never mind, I’ll go and check your profile on Facebook. Nice to be in touch once again, stick around.