Hero…

I was amazed when Daniel told me that he did not get to eat Sarawak laksa when he was in Kuching…and the kolo mee he had was not as nice as the kampua noodles that I took him to eat the day before? Gee!!! His friends never took him to eat the best in town? Maybe they were all busy with the wedding, I wouldn’t know…or they’re those that would eat anything, not overly particular when it comes to food.

Anyway, that was why when I went to pick them up at the hotel the next morning, I took them here for the laksa…

Of late, I’ve heard of another place that they say is very nice but I have not gone to try so I did not want to take the risk. This one here is like the real thing, as good as any of the best in the state capital but many prefer the one that I took my Singaporean friends to go and try as it is more lemak (more santan/coconut milk), something Sarawak laksa should not be…or it would be more like curry laksa then. The taste isn’t quite there either but no, I am not saying it is not nice. In fact, it is very very very nice but if it’s the authentic taste of Sarawak laksa that you are looking for, that one’s not really like the laksa you’d find in Kuching. They enjoyed this one, Lina especially – different from the curry laksa they have over there in Australia, they said. Of course, they’re different…and yes, they did think this was nicer!

I also ordered the kompia with minced meat filling…

…for them. They said they had that at the pasar malam (night market) the night before but those would be deep-fried ones (and I’ve tried one from a stall there but it was rather salty) whereas these were oven-toasted. Daniel did say the taste of the filling was not the same either.

We also had the sotong kangkong…

…which they had never tried before but they did not seem too thrilled by it. I am not a fan of the one here either – the sauce is way too thick, too much cornstarch but when you’re here for 2 days/1 night only, you would need to cram everything in as much as you can.

I had the nasi lemak…

…and the sambal was nice but it was the salty version, not the sweet one, with the ikan bilis in it, not with the peanuts…

…and they served it with a fried egg, not a hard-boiled one. The rice was ok, not really lemak enough but it was fine. All in all, I remember Daniel paying RM21.60 (around AUD8.00) for all that we had, inclusive of drinks.

After that, we headed to the Sibu Central Market and look!!! We’re in luck!!! Big, fat, juicy, wriggling…

…sago worms!!! The lady at this stall insisted on selling them by the basin, around 20 of them altogether, but we only wanted one…for our hero of the day!

Eventually, we found another stall where the lady was willing to part with one for RM1.00, specially for our Australian visitor…

*He looks kind of worried/scared, doesn’t he?*

…to try and he did!!!…

*faints*

He popped it into his mouth, bit off the head and threw that away…and ate the rest of it. Eyewwwww!!!!! LOL!!! The ladies said it would be nicer if it had been dry pan-fried first – I’ve tried that but no, thank you. Daniel said it was quite tasteless, like eating a piece of fat…but if you ask me, I would say that it tastes something like Parson’s nose/chicken butt. Some people love those, I know…but no, thank you very much.

They did not want to try the buah isu that my Singaporean friends tried the other day but I spotted some very nice buah pakan/pakon (wild durian)…

…and got one for RM8.00 and insisted that they should give it a go…

…and yes, they loved it! The one we had here was very good, not like the ones at the Durin Bridge that day.

They sure had an interesting tour of the market after which we adjourned to the Tua Pek Kong wharf to look at the floating grocery stores…and the park in the vicinity of the temple…

…and then I took them to a nearby longhouse in Aup…

The one here is definitely more authentic, unspoilt and not all spruced up for the benefit of tourists and visitors. It started raining cats and dogs when we got there so I let the two go up and look around on their own. They did meet a very nice man who spoke to them and shared some background information of this longhouse with them…and yes, Daniel said that there were skulls hanging from the ceiling!

After that, I dropped the two off in town to roam around on their own and that night, they took a bus to Miri…