My jasmine tree is dying, a branch at a time so I had no choice but to saw away those branches that had died. I would cut away the little twigs and pack them in a big bag and put it outside for the rubbish collectors to cart away. I am not like many selfish people around here – they would just leave them to dry, leaves, grass, anything and everything and on a hot day, they would burn it all, polluting the whole neighbourhood with thick, smelly smoke.
However, that day, I had some huge branches so I sawed them into shorter lengths and tied them together in a bundle like what I did with the branches from my rambutan tree. Sadly, when I woke up that morning, I spotted the bundle placed nicely by the side of the road. The rubbish collectors had refused to dispose of it for me. Ah well, it did not matter as I had another heavier bundle with all the very much bigger branches that I had intended to take and throw away myself so I just had to get rid of both the bundles together, no problem at all.
Usually, I would take them to those so-called ‘refuse bin centres” where they would have some very huge bins and I would throw everything there for the people concerned to take away to some landfill rubbish disposal dump and one place that I often go to is Rejang Park – as far as I know, they have four of those bins there, two beside the wet market and two more on the other side beside the parking area.
Well, since I was there that morning and I did not have anything planned, I decided to take a slow walk around the place. I spotted this little corner shop…
…still going strong. They have char kway teow and whatever noodles, fried on a hot plate and these tee peang…
…which my cousin from Kuching had before and she said they were very nice but if you do not go early, they will all be sold out.
I bought some to try and yes, they were quite nice, ALMOST as nice as the handsome boy’s at the pasar malam (night market). These were smaller though, maybe by half, but a lot cheaper, 4 for RM1.00 as opposed to 3 for RM2.00 at the handsome boy’s stall and of course, here, you will not have any eye candy to feast your eyes on while waiting for your order. Hehehehehe!!!
I also dropped by here…
…the favourite of many. I often see a lot of people there, mid-afternoon, enjoying their cooling local iced desserts…
…which I did try before but I was not all that impressed, not just once but twice. I prefer the ones here but those there are very much more expensive, by as much as RM1.00! The kopi-o-peng/iced black coffee (RM1.50) here was all right but no, it did not sweep me off my feet.
I heard the noodles from this stall there…
…were very nice and I did try the fried ones once but I did not get to sample their kampua mee then. That was why, that morning, I ordered their pian sip (meat dumplings) soup – small (RM2.00)…
…which turned out to be really big, more or less the same size as the regular servings elsewhere.
It was all right, the dumplings were fine and the soup had a hint of our traditional Foochow red wine…
…but it was kind of diluted – I would like it more if it had been stronger on the meat bone stock.
The kampua mee (RM2.80)…
…was good, nicer than a lot of places around town but I did not think it…
…was anything exceptional, not something that would get me out of my way to come and enjoy though I would not mind having it again should I happen to be in the vicinity.
After I had had my fill, I strolled over to the wet market and I saw some very big seawater prawns selling for RM40.00 a kilo – I don’t know if the price has dropped or what but I used to see those that big at the central market going for RM45.00. Yes, I did buy a kilo even though I did not have any plans at that point in time as to how I would cook them. Of course, after buying them, I had to go straight home and get down to the chore of deveining them.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
I don’t seem to come across any tee peang at the kuih stalls at Stutong market. Maybe it is not so popular over here or either I am not observant enough. Am surprised you can still get a plate of decent looking kampua mee for RM2.80 in Sibu.
I think it is a Foochow thing – have not heard of it being sold in Kuching. In Singapore, they have something like it called Fuzhou oyster cake and it has oysters in it. My old friend living in Singapore says it is not so nice.
I used to order its fried mihun from that corner shop. The kids loved the fried noodle as well as its fried peach. Yes. They selling like hot cakes. Haha.
Kind of missing the people there. They used to hang out at my sil’s shop, away from the hot sun and when there weren’t any customers. And we ordered our food in to eat in my sil’s shop.
Fried peach? Auto correct. I guess you mean “peah”.
A walk down memory lane for you, eh? Your SIL is no longer running the shop there anymore so I suppose should you come to Sibu, you would not be hanging around there like before. Those people at Rejang Park – I know they would sit and chat in the post office too, on hot days so when you see a crowd inside, no worries – there will not be any queue.
Waiting to see what dishes you be preparing with the big seawater prawns that you bought…
Come back tomorrow…and also some later posts!
What’s a tee peang?
A Foochow kueh (cake) made from soya bean. In the past, those people selling tee peang would also be selling soya bean milk by the side. I guess they used the pulp from making the milk to make the kueh.
have you tried putting the twigs into a big black plastic bag.. usually they will take it if it’s properly packed into a plastic bag 🙂
The little twigs, yes…and yes, they took it away but not the bigger branches. Can’t put those in plastic bags – they will poke holes everywhere and fall out. Never mind! Not a problem getting rid of them, old pensioner, nothing much else to do.
I’ve often wondered what people do with their garden waste here. In the countryside where I grew up everything could just be returned to the earth.
Burn!!! I read somewhere a comment that it is the national pastime. Go around on a hot evening and you will see lots of people burning in their yards. I don’t do that, of course, and I hate it when some neighbours of mine do that, all that smoke!
There are people using it to make compost. They do sell the compost bins at one shop here. I have one neighbour who keeps asking me for my cut grass, dead leaves, weeds from my weeding…but I will store everything in a big plastic bag to throw away eventually and in the meantime, I will also throw other kinds of rubbish in it so it is not all that suitable for use. I read somewhere also that it is good to just sweep the dead leaves under the tree – they will become humus and will fertilise the soil…but Malaysia is a very wet place and the dampness may make the leaves ideal breeding and hiding places for mosquitoes and what not.
I wonder if your Jasmine tree can be rejuvenated once you trim and cut away the dead branches.
I think it is too old, the trimmed branches just dried up. I guess it is time to let it go.
I wont mind paying RM2 to ‘wash my eyes’ 😀
Yes, the garbage collector will only collect kitchen waste. They won’t collect garden waste. I’ll get William to drive somewhere with those huge disposal bins to dispose off our garden waste.
LOL!!! I’m sure you would. Notty! Notty!
Ahhhh!!! So you do what I do too. Small stuff and not that much, can go into those big plastic bags, those here will take throw away. I hear people put their cut grass from their newly-mowed lawn and they will take away. I throw away mine myself, usually two or three big very heavy bags – don’t want to trouble the collectors.
Pian sip… learnt another new hokkien words from suituapui. Hahaha… thanks Arthur! I guess we can only burn the branches since the rubbish collectors don’t want to collect them. Can slowly burn them and can get rid of some mozzies too… I think your neighbours would understand 🙂
Not mine! I used to have two big local mango trees and everytime I swept and burnt the leaves, she would slam her doors and windows shut angrily…and she also complained about the leaves dropping over at her side…but no, she quietly took all the fruits that fell there, did not even say a word.
Besides, it is bad for the environment, this open burning. If not for the convenience of the big rubbish bins, I would not mind driving to some forest close by and throwing it there – still lots of forest around here.
Tee Peang? First time I heard of it. Is that a type of bread?
Not really. It’s a kind of cake, the soya bean pulp batter is deep fried to get these.
I still remember the ‘ tee peang’ that you bought for me. It was nice.
I did? I only remember the lay peang that I posted to you via poslaju and that took a week to get into your hands. So angry! LOL!!!
LMAO!! haha….no worries. At least Jet in tummy then could still taste the lay peang.
Yes, u did…when I meet up with u in Sibu long time ago.
Yes, so long ago – Jet is so big now!