The way we live…

I heard that the people here…

…at the Simpang Tiga shops, facing the road leading to the ferry point…

…off Jalan Kampong Nangka, have a stall here which they still operate at night (that place is open only at night) and their sup tulang…

…is really very nice so of course, we made our way there one morning to give it a try.

They have eat-all-you-can porridge…

…for only RM4.00 but when I had a look at the condiments, there wasn’t anything that tickled my fancy – maybe it was late morning already and at that point in time,  they were caught up with getting the dishes for their eat-all-you-can buffet at only RM6.00 per head.

I liked how they had all the food in those stainless steel serving trays with see-through/transparent plastic lids…

…so that way, you would be able to see the dish inside without having to open everything up.

My missus and I went for the buffet and I had the lamb curry…

…and the sotong (squid)…

…which my missus also had and I think she had a piece of fried fish and no, we did not go for the fried chicken and fish curry…

There were a few vegetable dishes like this one…

…or the bitter gourd…

…or the brinjal…

…but no, thank you! We headed straight for the ulam…

…with a choice of ulam raja, hati/jantung pisang (banana flower) and cucumber to go with the sambal belacan (dried prawn paste dip)…

The sambal was absolutely awesome, so very nice and very spicy – my missus loved it so much that she went back for more no less than three times, I think and I did notice that she had  a preference for the ulam raja.

I enjoyed the ulam too though I wouldn’t say that I was bowled over by the dishes they had in the buffet spread that day – they were good but I thought that I had had better at some other Malay shops in town but of course, especially when they charge by the item, the total may burn a hole in your pocket and spoil the initial enjoyment in some way. Here, for only RM6.00 per head and with so many dishes to choose from, I really see no cause for complaint.

I did not go for seconds as I wanted to try their kolo mee, daging (beef)…

– if I remember correctly, that was RM5.00 and I would say it was nice, just that it tasted exactly like kampua mee. They certainly were very generous with the meat but I was kind of disappointed with the soup. No, I did not get the same soup from their sup tulang cauldron, unadulterated. Instead, I was given a watered-down version which I probably would have thought was nice had I not tried the “the real thing”, RM12.00 with rice…

…that my girl had. It was so very nice and the meat was very tender too. You may choose to have it with noodles – mee or bihun for only RM7.00 but of course, you do not get that much meat (nor soup in whatever space that is left) in that same kind of bowl.

It so happened that a very old friend of mine, going back as far as the 80’s & the 90’s, whom I met at the hawker centre when we went there over a year ago, is working here in the morning – it opens from 7.00 a.m. till 11.00 p.m. – and at the aforementioned place at night. He did tell me then that he had cancer and had to go to Kuching for treatment – I was glad to hear from him that day that he was coping well but he still had to go to Kuching for chemotherapy once a year.

What impressed me most was how active, cheerful and jovial he was…and he told us his philosophy in life, that everyone will die eventually, sooner or later, and it is up to us to choose the way we live – whether to have a happy life and enjoy every moment we are alive or to lead a sad and miserable one before leaving this world for good. I do think that’s something everyone should ponder upon, don’t you?

DAPUR AZRA (2.308398, 111.819744) is located at the shops at Simpang Tiga, along Lorong Kuda 2, back to back with Bisonte Grocer & Deli, facing Jalan Kampung Nangka and the road leading to the one-time ferry point.