Days gone by…

These days, we have gelato…and all those branded creamy ice cream as well as those sold in the supermarkets.

Then, there is also the soft serve ice cream like the ones at McD’s or if you are in Kuching, at Sunny Hill and there are some shops selling that here too – I know there is one in Wisma Sanyan. We never had that during our growing up years until somebody brought in a machine making and selling that at a popular coffee shop in town, Ban Chuan, and how we loved it! American ice cream, we called it then.

All the while, what we knew as ice cream then would be the local made ones that they would bring around in cylindrical vacuum flask-like canisters to sell in scoops in those pink-coloured wafer cones. I can’t remember how much we paid for those then, probably just 5 sen a cone…and the Apek (old man) would go round either on foot or on a bicycle with two canisters, one on each side – ringing his bell, selling what might come in different colours – pink or yellow depending on the artificial flavouring and colouring used.

Despite what we called it, it was far from creamy. I think it was more like finely blended ice…

…something like the coffee I had the other day and that was what the gula apong (nipah palm sugar) ice cream that I had in Kuching that day was like.

I have heard or read of the popular places, one at the Open Air Market stalls and another in Padungan, beside this totem pole-like cat monument…

…and that was the one I went to check out, the latter…

…that claims to be dad’s original recipe, the best in town and it seems that they have five other outlets…

…elsewhere in the city besides this one here.

There is this handsome young boy there, taking your orders…

…and getting the gula apong ice cream from the machine…

…and squeezing the gula apong syrup all over and sprinkling the crushed peanut or chocolate rice or both on top…

I did not want those add-ons even though they do not charge extra for them, or not that I know of, so I just had the ice cream with the syrup, unadulterated (RM2.00)…

…and I only asked for the small cone as I just wanted to try to see what it was all about. You can go for the RM5.00 one, if you are thus inclined.

I thought it was all right, nice for the very hot days that we are experiencing ever so often currently but no, it did not sweep me off my feet. I think I prefer the more expensive one I had here in Sibu, RM3.00 each…with the soft serve ice cream plus the gula apong syrup and if you want, you can pay extra for the topping or toppings of your choice and even that one did not get me running back for more.