Day two…

The second day they were here, my cousins and the mum went for the kampua mee and the pian sip here…

*Cousin’s collage on Facebook*

Some would swear by it and insist it is the best in town but I did go and try once and I was not all that impressed. I did like their pian sip very much though but considering how parking in that area can be such a pain, I do not mind settling for less. It was easy for them as they were staying at the hotel round the corner – they could just walk over and yes, they shared the same sentiments as mine – they thought they preferred what they had at the coffee shop in Sungai Merah that I took them to the day before, the moment they arrived in town.

After that, they went shopping and for lunch, they managed to come here for the Foochow delights – the mee sua in traditional red wine chicken soup, the char bee lau (fragrant root) and the pek ting eyok (eight treasures) pork leg…

*Cousin’s collage on Facebook*

Of course, they enjoyed their picks to the max and I would say they were lucky as they went there past noon and they were still open and they still had what they wanted left.

I had to be at my mum’s place as usual that morning so I could only pick them up here after they had had their lunch. I took them here to buy some freshly ground coffee…

*Cousin’s photo on Facebook*

…to take home and then we went to a shop in the vicinity of the Sibu Civic Centre (Dewan Suarah) to try the lung ngor (Sibu Foochow egg cake) but they did not think it was all that great and did not buy any. Next, we were off to Rejang Park to buy the kompia and chu nu miang from my favourite shop there. Only the mum was around and she was closing shop for the day – luckily, there were still some left so my aunt was able to buy and take back to Kuching.

Next, we were off to this factory, Sing Aik Seng at No. 1, Ek Dee Road, off Lanang Road here, the importer and distributer of the Shandong groundnuts…

*Archive photo*

Actually, my aunt just bought 4 kg (RM50.00) through my uncle who came that day and he also bought 4 kg for himself. Well, as a matter of fact, it was I who went all the way there to buy for them. You can buy them at some of the local sundry/grocery shops too but at a higher price and they also pack them in nice pink or orange foil bags for sale at the shops and supermarkets but of course, those would be even more expensive. Well, they’re not all that cheap now, RM12.50 for a kilo and to think that three years ago, it was only RM9.00.

Well, what happened was when one of my cousins told her friends she would be coming here, they asked her to buy the “Sibu groundnuts” and she asked me to buy 2 kg for her and I had done that before they came. I passed them to her and in their hotel room, the sister tried and of course, she too wanted to buy some for herself. That was why I had to go there again, the third time in a month. LOL!!!

After that, we headed back to their hotel and that night, we had dinner here and of course, we had their specialty, the ikan bawal putih (white pomfret)…

…but they did not want the checkerboard duck that is my girl’s favourite.

For the vegetable dish, we tried their dou miao (snow pea shoots/豆苗) with taugeh (bean sprouts)…

…and everyone enjoyed it and yes, they agreed to try the bitter gourd omelette too and they liked it as well.

No, we did not miss their very nice Sibu Foochow-style sio bee…

…and yes, of course, they bought some frozen ones to take home too!

The mum insisted on ordering a pork dish and we had these ribs…

…which were to everyone’s liking too.

Next post, Day Three – the morning before their flight back to Kuching. Stay tuned!

HOCK LOK HONG CAFE SHOP 福樂園茶室 (2.284690, 111.832669) is located at No. 1, Lorong Lanang 2 at the traffic lights where you turn in from Lanang Road heading toward the Sibu Rejang Esplanade and the Li Hua & Kingwood Hotels and WAN JIA HE CAFE 万家合茶室 is at No.28 & 30, Jalan Mission, back to back with the Hong Leong Bank, Sibu Gateway branch, while the NEW CAPITAL RESTAURANT 新首都酒家 (2.288619, 111.830057) is located at No. 46, Lebuh Tanah Mas, off Jalan Kampung Nyabor, in the block of shops opposite the Sarawak House/Premier Hotel at the very far end on the right.