It has been said that Sungai Merah was where the early Foochow settlers who arrived in Sibu from Fuzou in southern China from 1901 to 1903 landed. In my growing-up years, the bazaar comprised a few rows of double-storey wooden shophouses but by the 1970s, some had been replaced by concrete buildings and a row in the centre of the bazaar met this same fate when it was burnt down in 1985. The last row of wooden shops that housed the stalls selling local fruits, was demolished in August, 2009 to make way for the present 3-storey block of concrete shophouses where this coffee shop is located.
The bridge crossing the river linking one side of the bazaar to the other is still where it has always been but of course, it does not look quite the same now. This school and church was set up by the Catholic mission in 1927…
*Archive photo*
The school premises is still being used though I am not too sure about the church as there is now a bigger and more modern church, St Teresa’s, for the Catholics in the parish.
This is the wet market…
…in Sungai Merah as it stands today. I am not too sure but I think it stands where it has always stood all these years though restoration works might have changed its appearance a little.
I remember quite sometime ago, before I retired, I used to do some work for the exam office in the Education Department and one morning, the officer in charge took me here for breakfast and though I did enjoy the Foochow fried noodles from a stall at the back of the market, I was quite put off by the stench from the chicken stalls a little to the front.
Well, I went strolling around the vicinity the other morning and I spotted the stall, still going strong. Of course, I took a seat and ordered a plate (RM3.50)…
Hmmmm…it looks like the noodles here are cheaper than many other places in town where it can go up to RM3.80 or RM4.00 or more these days and the best part was that there were a lot of ingredients in it – meat, liver and so on…
…unlike elsewhere where one would be hard-pressed to find anything noticeable at all.
I would say it was nice and I sure would not mind stopping by for it again should I happen to be around these parts anytime in the future…but then again, there are lots of coffee shops around here and I may want to try those instead. We’ll see.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
i guess at RM4 a plate, it’d be difficult to really complain, considering how food prices at restaurants are really going up. keep an eye out – from what people say, it sounds like restaurants will be hiking up their rates after chinese new year! arggh!
It’s only RM3.50 here. When it is cheaper than the rest and nice too, I know many will make their way to the place to eat. A family of 3, for instance, can save up to RM1.50 already, enough for a drink.
I love the sky in your second photo! Beautiful shot!
It was a fine day, very sunny.
Old town in Sibu…
Yes, wish they had just restored and preserved. Looks so different now.
Hmmm…I love that plate of noodles. Huge portion for only RM3.50. That’s a good deal. Looks like lack of ingredients but I was wrong. Must be buried under the noodles, eh?
Memang here, ingredients kurang. I liked the one I had at Me Kong in Kuching, opposite Heritage. RM4.50, I think…but it had prawns and the taste was really good too. Can drop by sometime to try. The mee sua there is good too but the kampua, I thought, was not quite there.
I remember very well the chicken stench you speak of. In my childhood days my mother would drag me to such chicken shops, which I hated because of the smell. I like the nice new look for you blog, btw.
Yes, that was so horrible. Thankfully, our town council has banned all rearing of poultry at all residential premises – if you live next door to one, the stench can be so unbearable.
The colour is specially for Chinese New Year – red for good luck! 😉
Indeed there are changes, your blog especially. I was greeted by a super pink blog and I thought I went into the wrong one. Haha.
RM3.80 or RM4 per plate with lots of ingredients is definitely a steal. We wont be able to get that here.
Pink, that’s all they have…the closest thing to red, special for Chinese New Year. Will change the colour after Chap Goh Meh.
Not really lots of ingredients but I am more concerned about the taste – many try and fail, not quite the way it should be.
You are going to change it after Chap Goh Mei? Means you wont have cupids flying all over for Valentines? 😀
I’d go for 50 shades of grey…spank…spank… 😀 😀 😀
LoLoL!
Muahahahaha!!! You like that, eh? 😉
one week tarak come here…terkejut…i thought salah blog. Template changed. Manyak ang ang ah.. Huat Mali!
J would like the noodle .
Yes, long time no see. Memang mesti ang ang for Chinese New Year, baru dapat HUATTT AHHHHH!!!! 😀
Enjoy your weekend ya…
You too.
Yup, noodles here cost at least RM5.50 nowadays here in KL, everything is getting more and more expensive.
Thankfully, it is not so bad here…still. Too expensive, I might as well fry my own at home. RM5.50, enough for around 2 kg of the noodles, uncooked. 😦
Ang ang nice… I like bright colours… I must change mine one day… If in Ipoh we could get one plate of fried noodles for less than 4rm, then we will frequent the stall more often… 🙂
Cannot get that there? I see you going round and round eating all the food, all so cheap and so nice. Outside of Ipoh, was it? The smaller towns? Ipoh city mah…city people all very rich one. Muahahahahaha!!!!
There’s always lots to see at a wet market and of course it’s nice to sample food in the vicinity. RM3.50 for a plate of noodles is unheard of over here.
Big city mah, people there all so rich, got class one. Hehehehehe!!!!