Hello like before…

I was in the vicinity behind the HSBC building here early one morning and I decided to drop by this coffee shop for the kueh chap that a blogger-friend once insisted was the best in town. Whatever its name was before, it is now called Leader Cafe and not too long ago, it was closed down for a while to get some renovations done to its premises. It certainly looks much nicer and cleaner now with the tiled floor and all and there is  a kampua noodle stall in front that appeared to be quite popular. At the back, there is this chap fan place that had moved here from its previous location – I’ve heard a lot of people singing its praises but no, I have never gone there to try.

The bak kut teh sure seemed to be doing very well still – even though I was there so early, there were a number of people having that with rice. Nope, I do not usually eat rice so early in the morning, not even chicken rice, except perhaps for the fried rice that I may dish out at home time and time again.

I ordered the kueh chap (RM5.50)…

…and it was served in no time at all. As a matter of fact, my missus and I did drop by a few weeks ago at around 11.00 a.m. but they were sold out. I guess as they say, it’s the early bird that catches the worm!

I was kind of disappointed though when I saw that they had kway teow in it…

…instead of the usual broadly-cut sheets. Well, they’re basically the same thing but I hear that you can get it uncut from the kway teow maker and do it yourself. Maybe it saves them the trouble, I wouldn’t know and I did notice this same thing the other day here as well.

As for the taste, I thought it was all right but that morning, I could get a hint of bitterness in it – perhaps they would need to do a better job in cleaning the intestines. Fortunately, there was no smell – they tell me that will be the case when one does not know how to clean the kidneys properly. As for the dip…

…it did not have that fragrance of belacan (dried prawn paste) that it had before but it was o.k., just not as nice as what I had when I had this previously.

I noticed that those people having the bak kut teh had the soup served in nice black claypots and I did wonder as to why they cannot serve the kueh chap in those as well instead of these not-all-that-presentable plastic bowls. I am always wary about hot food served in plastic and we would never use those at home.

Anyway, parking in this area can be such a pain so I guess I would not be coming back all that soon and incidentally, I noticed that they have this Singapore franchise here…

…now. I do not know whether this is another outlet altogether or maybe it is the same one that is moving from its previous location. Personally, I am not a fan of that so it does not really matter to me whether they set up shop north, south, east or west…and given a choice, I would rather head to places where it is easy to find a place to park…and free.

Loud…

You would remember these…

…if you were as old as I am. They’re very difficult to come by nowadays – I guess nobody bothers with these anymore, not when they can get those earth-shattering, nerve-wrecking, very very loud ones these days.

Yes, I do 放爆竹 (let off firecrackers) come Chinese New Year every year but no, I would not bother doing it at the stroke of midnight on the eve as everyone would be letting off theirs and these would pale in comparison and could hardly be heard. I only do it for the sole purpose of preserving the tradition – one in the morning of the first day before we sit down to eat the longevity noodles (mee sua) and another one after the Chap Goh Meh dinner to draw the festivities to a close, one piece…

…each time so a box like that would last me five years – I think there are 10 pieces in each box. The way things are going, I wouldn’t know if I would be able to get anymore when these run out.

We sure had a lot of fun playing with these when we were small. We had bigger ones too then, the size of a finger – just a piece in a packet, wrapped in red paper with the label stuck in front. We did not have the luxury of having all that we wanted so we would take each piece apart and play with them, one cracker at a time.

I remember when we used to stick one into the ground and place a Milo tin over it. The explosion would send the tin flying into the air and the competition then would be to see whose tin could fly the highest. I do recall also that one time when it did not explode so I went and lifted the tin to check…and it exploded in my face. I could hear sirens going off in my ears but luckily, they faded off after a while so I guess that did not leave any permanent damage…I think!

Back to those smaller ones in the photographs, I also remember how we would use thread to tie the pieces together as long as we could (afford), several boxes at one time, to get a long string of firecrackers that we would hang up and let off at midnight, Chinese New Year’s Eve. Woe betide the one who did not tie them well and the bangs stopped midway, *face palm*. Eventually, they were available in long strands/strings so we could just buy those instead of going through all that trouble to tie our own.

And who remembers those sparklers…

*Friend’s photo on Facebook*

– the grey ones held on to by the “wire” or the metal end? And who remembers holding it close to the arm to let the sparks fall onto the skin…just for the cheap thrill of it? And who was foolish enough to hold it by the other end when it was all over…and paid the price for the folly?

I remember those red ones too. They used to come with strings attached, not on sticks like that and we would light them up and swing them round and round, finding such delight in the colourful sparks that flew out of them. I remember the ones my father used to buy too – long cylindrical ones that he stuck into the ground, aimed skywards. You poked one end open to expose the volatile powder inside, lit it and the shots would shoot out one by one. The number of shots would depend on what you bought – the more shots, the more expensive.

Of course, those cannot compare with the ones that they have today. I have seen some the size of a car battery…and others the size of a Mandarin orange box! They must have cost a fortune and the thing is I don’t think the kids would be the ones playing. I’ve observed the grown-ups having the time of their lives while the little ones would play on their own by the side, all engrossed in their smartphones or ipads, not in the least interested, obviously. Well, those would be too dangerous for little kids to play with, anyway.

There was a ban on these sometime ago limiting it to only Chinese New Year’s Eve and the first 3 days of Chinese New Year but I don’t know if that is still in force or not.  I don’t mind people playing but they should be considerate not to go on and on the whole day and not late into the night. There are people with babies who would not like it one bit. When my girl was small, she would end up jittery, a nervous wreck when each loud bang would cause the whole house to shake and the glass panels to vibrate! That was why in those days, we never celebrated Chinese New Year at home and each year, we would go off some place, stay in a sound proof room high up in some hotel just to get away from it all. We had no choice but to do that until quite recently.

These…

…are more recent. We used to throw them at the feet of people and the ladies would go shrieking and everyone would laugh at them. There was another one with strings on both ends and that would need two persons to pull for it to explode. We would tie them to the doors and when somebody pushed the door open, he or she would get a fright. That was so funny…or at least, it was at the time.

I got these…

…from Huai Bin sometime ago.

You just light the sulphur tip…

…and throw and it will explode. Yes, it is quite loud but that is just a single bang, one at a time. They sure come in handy to scare off the birds. I do have a lot of narcissistic ones that would hang around the side of my car, admiring themselves in the side view mirror. That is  perfectly all right if they do not leave all their droppings by the side of the car and I would have to go through the chore of cleaning up the mess one time too many. Tsk! Tsk!

I would also use these with the dogs in the neighbourhood. No, they are not stray dogs – they belong to one neighbour down the lane, some half a dozen of them. I do wish people who keep dogs would take good care of them and keep an eye to make sure that they do not go roaming around urinating here and there, which is all right actually but the problem arises when you get one pile of their poop right in front of your gate and you would have to go and get rid of it in case your car or somebody else’s runs over it and spreads it all around. One loud bang with these firecrackers would send them scurrying back to their own house. I think they all know me now. Everytime I see them loitering around along the lane, I would go out to the gate. They would nonchalantly trot past and go quietly back home – there is no need for me to throw one firecracker anymore to get them to do that. Smart, eh? And that makes me wonder why they can learn…whereas some humans seem quite unteachable.

And what about you? Any nice memories, pleasant experiences with fireworks and firecrackers to share?

I’m easy…

I bought a pack of these instant noodles…

…the other day, rated 4 out of 5 stars by the ramenrater. I would say that was a very smart move, printing the endorsement on the pack…

– I wouldn’t have bought it otherwise – even though there are others that have been given a 5 like our own made-in-Sibu instant kampua, the dark soy sauce version. Personally, I prefer the original – the one with the light soy sauce but that one was also given a 4 out of 5 only. I guess that goes to show that one man’s meat is another man’s poison and one may prefer something to another according to one’s own taste and liking. I know for one that my friend, Annie, in KL loves the dark soy sauce version but my friend from New Zealand (who initially could not believe that anything that pale and plain-looking could ever taste nice) thought otherwise. To each his own, that’s what I always say, to each his own!

Inside, there was only one sachet – the soup base…

These days, many have taken to giving two or three of this and that but I do think that at the end of the day, it is the overall taste that matters.

I cooked the noodles, drained and rinsed in cold water…

…before placing it in a bowl even though I did read a more recent report that there wouldn’t be any harm just boiling it and adding the seasoning and eating without going through all that.

Then I brought a little bit more water to boil, added the soup base and mixed it well before pouring it into the bowl…

…with the noodles.

Finally, I garnished it with some sliced omelette…

…and sat down to enjoy the fruit of my labour.

It was not salty like some of the others. Normally, I would just boil a little bit of water and use only half of the seasoning but for this one, I used all of it and it was all right. In fact, I thought it was a little on the sweet side, not quite like curry and if it had been thick, I would think it would be a little similar to the gravy in mee jawa. It certainly was spicy though – I had that lingering sensation in the mouth for quite a while after I had downed everything in the bowl.

All in all, I thought it was all right especially when it was only RM3.60 for a pack of 5, just a little over 70 sen each. I did not add anything this time around as I wanted to try the original taste but if I had thrown in some meat or fish balls or prawns and maybe a bit of vegetables, that would surely bring the taste to a whole new level. Perhaps I can try a dry version one of these days to see how that works out…

The party’s over…

My girl’s school took the day off on Monday for Chap Goh Meh – in fact, if I am not wrong, all the schools here had their cuti peristiwa (occasional holiday) on that day. No, they would not need to replace it on a Saturday. Every school is given four occasional holidays and they can use them for some cultural or religious festivals or events that is not a public holiday…and this was one of them for the year. I hear the next one will be on Easter Monday and Good Friday being a holiday here, it will be an extra long long weekend.

However, classes would resume the very next day so we had no choice but to send my girl back to her school on that very day which meant that we could not have our dinner on the actual night. She probably could have applied for one day cuti rehat khas (some special leave, not too sure what they call it in English now) – every officer is entitled to seven days in a year and may apply in the event of a marriage, a convocation or death in the immediate family and things like that but that girl of mine would not hear of it! She is always so serious in her work so taking leave is out of the question, even when she is sick. Tsk! Tsk!

That was why we had our Chap Goh Meh dinner a day earlier on Sunday night instead. No, we did not have anything special – just a simple steamboat dinner…

…at home with all the usual stuff – fresh meat balls, fish balls, sweet corn on the cob, green vegetables and baby corn, quail eggs and so on…but I did go and get those big prawns to go into the soup. My missus also went and got some crabs…

– RM40.oo a kg for these small ones and some scallops and sotong (squid) as well and I did get a box of New Zealand mussels and a bit of salmon too…

My girl loves those imitation crab sticks which are definitely not my favourite, so the mum went and bought a packet. I think this was a wrong brand, not the kind that my girl enjoys so we ended up throwing all of them away.

It was raining all day that day but luckily, it stopped towards evening so I was able to catch a glimpse of the full moon that night…

…or almost. The next day was fine and sunny, lucky us, so it was a pleasant and enjoyable drive all the way to my girl’s school and back…and good grief! The firecrackers and fireworks started around mid-afternoon and went on and on and on into the night.

So Chinese New Year came and went and it was time to take down the decorations…

Somehow it was so much fun putting them up while taking down could be so very tedious and tiring. Thankfully, it would be one whole year, more or less, before I would have to go through all of that again.

Take me home, country roads…

After the week-long Chinese New Year holiday, we sent my girl back to her school and as usual, she was home again the following weekend. I always make it a point to take her to some place nice for lunch on the Saturdays when she is back and last Saturday, we dropped by here…

I was here once before and they did not have a signboard then but they do now. They had their official opening two days earlier and I saw their open invitation to a buffet lunch on that day from 11.00 a.m. till 2.00 p.m. but no, I did not bother to go for that.

This was two days before Chap Goh Meh so the Chinese New Year decor was still up…

…but it was quite minimal, nothing elaborate with just a little bit here and a little bit there…

As you can see on the notice board, they are currently serving set lunches from 10.00 a.m. till 2.00 p.m. priced at RM10.00 and above and along with it, you will get a complimentary drink, one glass of iced Ribena…

…with a slice of lemon in it.

I did not go for any of those on their menu as I had their crispy roast pork in mind. I had that in the house pasta platter that I ordered the last time I was here and I loved it so much. In fact, I was so tempted to grab some for Chinese New Year, selling at RM8.80 per 100 gm but in the end, I did not as there were simply too many things to eat in the house already. Personally, I do feel that this would be a much better buy than those RM110.00 per kg bak kua (barbecued pork slices) and it was cheaper too.

Well, this time around, I opted not to have the grilled freshwater prawns and asked for an extra serving of the lovely roast pork (RM32.00)…

…to share and yes, we all loved it! My girl and the mum agreed that the pasta…

…was different from any they had had before, chili flakes and all, and that it was very nice indeed.

My girl had their pasta Alfredo (RM29.00)…

…with bits of bacon in it and they certainly were very generous with the grated parmesan cheese…

…on top but like all pasta dishes with those rich, creamy sauces, one can only have so much of it so I had to help her out and licked the plate clean. Hehehehehehe!!!!

The mum went for one of the items on the set lunch menu, their dried chili pork rice (RM16.00)…

…and it did look like they used the very nice roast pork to cook…

…with the dried chili plus whatever sauce and other ingredients and yes, it was very nice. I did see somebody at the next table having the curry rice set and based on appearance alone, I think this one would be the much better choice.

Iced water here is free of charge, unlike a number of places in town and they were still playing the sentimental/romantic hits of the 80’s that they were playing the last time I was here. I was thinking that they could have turned it down a little bit and just when I was enjoying Miss Ross singing one of my karaoke favourites of all time, somebody turned the volume up. Tsk! Tsk!

My girl went back to her school on Monday – the school had taken the day off for Chap Goh Meh so we were able to have an early Chap Goh Meh dinner on Sunday night, nothing special – just steamboat at home for the three of us…and hey, It’s Thursday already which means that she will be making her way down those country roads to come back home again tomorrow, Friday. Now let’s see where I will be taking her this weekend…

Seasons in the sun…

I am not really into fruits – most of the time, I’d just go for the common ones like bananas and papayas, none of those (expensive) imported ones that my girl loves very much.

In my younger days, we would look forward to the end of the year when those seasonal fruits would make their appearance and we would feast on those…and the doctors, not only the fruit sellers, would be the ones laughing all the way to the bank as the clinics would be packed with people coming down with coughs, sniffles, fever and all kinds of ailments. That would be the landas season, the time when the rain would come, bringing the flood…and we sure enjoyed ourselves swimming and playing in the water all day till we ended up all wrinkled like a dried prune. Those were the days – the times of our lives!

These days, I do not go for the durians…

*Phil’s photo on Facebook*

…anymore as after eating a lot, I would feel flushed or feverish. They say we can fill the shell with water and drink after eating the fruit and that would get rid of the “heatiness” though I have never tried…and yes, it does seem that they are no longer seasonal, not like before.

We just had a bountiful harvest around the end of last year right through to the new year though the fruits that time around were not all that good and the flesh was hard in places – they said it was because there was a flood and some said it was because of the prolonged haze. I would eat if somebody buys and gives to me but I would not go out to get my own (though my missus did go and buy some to make tempoyak, fermented durian – as there were so many and they were quite cheap around that time). I do enjoy the buah pakan/pakon, the wild variety…

*Archive photo*

…though. They say this…

*Archive photo*

…comes out after the season for the regular durians is over and true enough, we had a lot after the previous durian season. My missus loves these so she would go out and buy a lot and I would eat – I think it is not as “heaty” so I do not feel sick after feasting on these.

Too bad we did not get to see any durian flowers being sold or we would have bought some to cook…

*Archive photo*

…and enjoy! I love those!

Dabais or what we call or kana (black olives) in Hokkien…

…used to be seasonal too but like the durian, after its round around the end of last year, we see a lot making their appearance at the market again going for RM18.00 a kg or RM20 for some bigger ones. There are cheaper ones as well but I guess those would not be so nice. I only like these if they are very fleshy and very lemak (rich, this being an oily fruit) and yes, the ones my missus bought the other day were very good.

She also bought some lenggeng, the yellow variety…

…at RM10.00 a kg. Some people prefer these as they say they are more fragrant than the green ones…

…but I prefer the latter as they are fleshier and not as sweet. These are also called mata kuching (cat’s eyes) and it belongs to the longan family, if I am not wrong and like the rambutans as well, they are also “heaty” so one should refrain from eating too much in one sitting.

I don’t think these jambu air or chui jambu in Hokkien…

*Phil’s photo on Facebook*

…are seasonal – there are people around here planting some hybrids of the fruit and we seem to get them all year round. I am not a fan of those and especially at those prices that they are selling them for these days, I would not bother buying, not at all.

When I was young, we had a tree in our garden. I never did like them nor those hard-as-a-rock green guavas, the smaller local variety with the pink flesh inside and a lot of seeds and the much bigger what-they-called the Jee pun jambu (Japanese jambu) that my mum also grew. We would eat these jambu air with those serng boi (preserved sour plums) or asamboi…

…or we would make our own dip of soy sauce, belacan (dried prawn paste), sugar and chili. We also had a tree of another variety of the jambu – the round red ones that looked like apples or what they call the jambu bol or Malay apple – I quite enjoyed those.

These are seasonal too – the buah engkala or what we call bua’ terbulus…

…but I don’t think it has made its appearance this time around after the fruit season around the end of last year. I do enjoy these and I sure would want to buy if there are any good ones at the market.

Well, with our economy in pretty bad shape, I guess it is good that these fruits, including the wild ones,  are available for sale – it sure would help those people tide over these troubled times in the hope of better days ahead:
For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? (Matthew 6:25-27)
Truly, God is merciful…

Sold out…

I saw on this Facebook page that they were selling noodles with those huge freshwater prawns at the coffee shop (2.306645, 111.836521) at the Rejang Park commercial centre here for only RM12.00, so much cheaper than here…or here…or even here! It was just around 11.00 a.m. that morning and they were all sold out, no more prawns and no more noodles. The lady told me that I could book for the next day if I wanted – she said that they had bookings every day, some 10 plates, some 20 plates. Goodness gracious me!!!

I did not bother, of course, and though we could have ordered a few dishes to go with rice at this same place, I decided not to do so and went here instead for our brunch – I heard that the fried noodles (RM3.50)…

…at the stall here was very nice…and yes, it was! It was on a Friday so I put in a special request not to have any meat in the dish.

I remember I had the bubur cacar and the kompia from the stall here…

…before and even though this is indeed a very popular place among the locals especially in the afternoon, I was not too impressed then.

Of course, I would not expect anything filled to the brim like this…

…but I had the ang tao peng (RM2.20)…

– the iced red bean, anyway and I did have to fish around in the bowl quite a bit to catch sight of any of those much coveted beans…

Yes, they do it quite well here, the beans, I mean – mushy enough and still nice and whole, not like some lump of paste that you may find elsewhere.

However, having said that, it was not lemak (rich) enough for want of a little more santan (coconut milk) nor was there any gula Melaka (palm sugar). I have not gone there for a while now but the last time I had it, I would say the ones here were the nicest in town…but no, it did not come anywhere near what I had in Kuching…unfortunately. Hmmmm…I wonder when I would be making a trip to Kuching again but in the meantime, I guess I can just make do with what I can manage on my own…

…like what I cooked the other day with the boiled tapioca that we had sitting in the fridge and some sago pearls added – very lemak and sweetened with gula Melaka. It was very nice but I think it would be nicer with sweet potatoes and yam…and maybe, buah sukun (breadfruit) as well. I’ll try that next time…

Just for me…

When my cousin and her hubby came to town, they brought a whole lot of goodies all the way from the UK just for me. There was this pack of coffee…

…that she said is a favourite in England, ranking among the best of the best. Wowww!!! It certainly got a lot of rave reviews on this website.

I used the Vietnamese coffee filter to brew a cup for my missus but she did not say anything – I guess it did not get her all excited. It said on the back that it was intended to be for stovetop brewing…

…so stovetop it had to be…

…and when it was done, I sat down to have a sip…

…and yes, I would say it was very nice. It was different from our usual local brew – if I am not wrong, ours is Arabica, butter-roasted but of course, butter being so expensive these days, they say that they mix it with margarine and that would explain why even though it is still very nice, it is no longer as nice as in the old days.

This one…

…was different. The fragrance filled the whole house but somehow, when you put your nose near the cup, it did not seem that overwhelming. Of course what is most important would be the taste and that too was different from our regular coffee. I thought it was kind of nutty or very lightly chocolaty but yes, I did like it…unlike some of those that I had had at the branded or celebrated franchise coffee places.

They also gave me this tall tin of biscuits…

…and yes, I love pistachios and I loved clotted cream with fruit jam on those heavenly buttery scones but I have not opened this to try so at this point in time, I do not know what they are like. I did notice this…

…though – the picture of the monkey! What a coincidence! This sure makes it an appropriate gift for Chinese New Year, this being the Year of the Monkey, 2016.

No, that wasn’t all. There were also this box of nougats and a box of “mousses, truffles & pralines”…

…and if you are curious as to what you can find in the latter, this is what you can see at the back of the box…

I have not tried these yet either.

This should be a lot more familiar to many. They also gave me this box of meat floss…

…that they got when they were in Penang.

Thank you so much, Eleanor & Phil, for going through all that trouble to cart all these things all the way…and thank you also for the ang pao for my girl – that was so sweet and thoughtful indeed. Too bad she was at her school when you came – she was grumbling that she had never had the chance to meet you two lovely people. Hopefully, she will get that chance someday.

It certainly was wonderful having you here. I had a great time taking you all around town…and I sure am looking forward to your next visit. Do come again, and rest assured that it would be my pleasure to welcome you two back to our good ol’ Sibu town. In the meantime, all the best, take care and God bless. Cheers!!!

Got to have it…

My cousin, back here from the UK, said that she would want to eat kampua noodles and kompia, two things that one got to have here before leaving town. That was why I took them here for lunch so she and her hubby could have this…

I’ve tried it not too long ago and I thought it was all right, not the best in town, of course, but it was good enough though I did feel then that it could do with a little less msg and that was why this time around, I put in a special request not to add so much.

I was thinking that it would be more comfortable for them, the place being air-conditioned and they could have both the noodles and the kompia with stewed pork belly…

…and minced meat…

…at one go here. They liked the latter more and when I tried it, I thought the filling tasted a little nicer than what they had in the ones I had before. However, it seemed that the kompia had gone thinner this time around so one would not get much of the cushiony bread-like texture inside.

I had the kway chap…

…and it was good just that they had the regular kway teow inside instead of the noodles in broad white sheets. However, it didn’t really matter as it tasted great and went absolutely well with the ground chili sauce provided.

My cousin did not like the dry-fried dumplings…

…that I also ordered – she did not quite like the skin and she had had a lot all over the world that were very much nicer. I tried and thought that they tasted great but yes, there was something not quite right with the skin that day. Perhaps the fault lay in the cooking and it was not quite springy and chewy like pasta that is overcooked and not al dente. and many, I know, are not fond of that.

She has tried the celebrated Ladurée macarons in London and also in Paris so I insisted that she tried the ones here…

…to compare. Well, she thought the ones here came pretty close, not quite there but was good enough – the shells could have been a little crustier, she said…and yes, I did notice that they were not as smooth and glossy too that day. She loved the fillings though, especially the matcha one but then again, she loves everything matcha. She does not like the ones there with fruit filling as she found them way too sweet and her hubby is not a fan of whatever macaron – it seems that he does not have a sweet tooth. For one thing, they sure do not come cheap there and especially when you convert it into ringgit, the prices can be quite shocking!

I sent them back to the hotel after that as another cousin would be coming to take them out that afternoon and yet another one had already booked them for dinner that evening.

Marketplace…

*All photos in this post (except one) through the kind courtesy of Phil, my cousin’s hubby, from the UK*

When my cousin and her hubby were in town, they were staying at a hotel around a hundred metres from the Sibu Central Market so I suggested to them that they could just stroll over and walk around to look and see. Many who came did that and they were absolutely enthralled as they saw many interesting things, not (easily) found elsewhere.

They did not do that the first morning they were here probably because the hubby was still recuperating from the food poisoning he experienced before he arrived. However, they managed to do so on the second day and he shared a series of photographs on his Facebook page.

One that got me really tickled was this parade of chicken butts…

…black and white. Gee!!! I’ve been to the market so many times but I never noticed them displaying the birds in that awkwardly compromising position. LOL!!!

These, what I call newspaper chickens…

…are a star attraction and they even have them featured in the street art painting on the wall in front at the market…

*Archive photo*

They were not in luck though as they did not get to see any frogs nor sago worms but they did come across some ikan keli (catfish)…

…that we had for lunch the day before and one even managed to get away…

That happens quite often, I think, as I have seen it a couple of times and it sure is not easy trying to catch those slippery slithering eels.

They asked me what fish this was…

…and if I am not wrong, we call it the khor tua hu (belt fish) by virtue of the fact that it looks like a belt.

They also did not know what those long white cylindrical things at the far end were. Well, they’re hu phio (fish swim bladders) or fish maw, very popular in soups and believed to have some health benefits, a good source of collagen and it helps with one’s blood circulation.

I love the colours in this photograph that Phil took…

…and what??? Durians again???…

The previous season just ended and they are making their appearance again, and the same goes with the dabai (our local black olives)…

Phil, who had never had the fruit before, managed to get to try the sample and he said no, it sure did not taste anything like the olives he had eaten back home. Too bad they did not appear a week or two earlier around Chinese New Year time – those who came all the way home for the festival would have been delighted to be able to eat these seasonal fruits.

Well, the two of them sure enjoyed browsing around our market and you would too, I am sure so don’t miss this place should you ever have the chance to drop by our good ol’ little Sibu town.