As far as I can remember…

As far as I can remember, this old lady…

…has been around for a very long time, going back all the way to the 80’s when she had her stall selling paos (steamed buns) at the front end of the market in Sibu, then at its former location in between High Street and Market Road, facing the now-closed-down Palace Theatre.

I do not know exactly when she started her business but it was very convenient at the time to just stop by the side of the road and shout out what one wanted and they would bring your order to your car…but of course, there were not so many cars then, a whole lot of bicycles all over town.

These days, her stall is located at one of the pillars (near the tofu & taugeh stalls section) at the Sibu Central Market and it certainly looks like she is doing well enough to keep her going.

Her chai (vegetable) pao (70 sen each) is very different from all the rest that would have thin strips of cabbage and carrot inside while hers would have what looks like strips of salted vegetable except that it is not salty and long beans…

It is very nice but being a meat person, personally, I prefer her bak (meat) pao (RM1.50 small, RM2.20 big)…

My dad used to love them a lot and my sister would stock up some at home in the fridge to steam and heat them up for him for breakfast. I asked her the other day if they were still as nice but she said she would not know as she had not gone there to buy, not since my father passed away.

Well, I did grab some the other day and yes, they were still very nice. I would say that I like hers more than what I had here and the very popular one here that I had not too long ago. I sure wouldn’t mind buying some again should I happen to drop by the market to browse around in the early morning.