Fading memories…

I can vaguely recall the last time I came here…

…where there used to be a market right at this very spot in Kuching – the (old) Satok Market, it was called. That must have been that time five years ago and before that, some 10 years or so ago on my working trips before I retired and I was staying at that hotel (Regal Court) straight ahead – you can see the back of the building in the photograph.

Somehow or other, I was feeling that there was a crucial part of that place that had gone missing despite the fact that the market was never really the reason why I would venture there each time though I might have picked up the celebrated ikan terubok masin (salted fish) or the telur (the roe/eggs) from one of the stalls once or twice. The reason why I would go there on all those occasions was that I would not want to miss out on the opportunity to drop by here…

…for this…

…which to me, was and still is, the best in town – the hay peah (prawn cake/fritter)…

…and all the rest…

I picked a few things that I fancied and this nice and friendly young boy re-fried them a bit…

…to heat them up and a girl at the stall chopped everything up and served. Do not expect any kind of presentation here, nice or otherwise – they would just dump everything on a plate and serve even when the old guy and his wife were running the stall themselves. That, of course, did not matter at all, not in the least – it is the taste of everything with their very very special chilli dip…

– a little sourish and sweet enhanced by all that crushed peanut added, that is absolutely second to none.

I asked the boy where the boss was and he told me that he had gone to buy some things. It did not cross my mind then but since the old guy was away, I could have bought some of the hay peah to bring back home to Sibu. I did buy some from the old guy once but he was most unwilling to sell any to me – it seemed that he was very concerned about quality control and insisted that it would not be nice anymore even if we were to deep-fry them ourselves at home. I did manage to grab a few from him even though he was not too happy about it…and yes, we did enjoy them just as much when we had them at home.

This coffee shop used to be called Peterson Corner and I would say that was a really nice name indeed but it looked as if they have renamed it…

Perhaps now, they have a new owner running the coffee shop, I wouldn’t know, but I sure am glad the hay peah stall is still there and what they dish out is still as good as ever.. Whatever it is, to me, this place will always be Peterson Corner even though all that is left now is the fading name…

…on the old canopy in front of the premises and all the memories…