Afternoon…

The food stalls at the coffee shops here open early in the morning, some at the break of dawn and most will stay open right through lunchtime. Generally, they all close in the afternoon and reopen come evening time so what they are selling will be available if anyone is keen on having something for supper.

I know this very popular kampua mee stall used to open right through the afternoon, except on their off day, Tuesday and would close at around 9.00 p.m. However, I did drop by there twice already recently and on both days, they were closed. I am not sure whether they open at night or not because I do not venture out in the dark.

This, of course, means that in the afternoon, you will not be able to find anything to eat at all the 10 or so coffee shops at the commercial centre in that area unless you go to our Sarawak’s own fast food franchise or the Taiwanese chicken franchise or Colonel Sanders’ in the mall. I guess it is pretty much the same elsewhere all over town.

Well, the other day, I tried my luck at the food court round the corner and yes, I did manage to get to eat a bowl of pian sip (meat dumplings)…

…to tide me over till dinner time.

The place was quite deserted – there was an Iban employee manning the drinks stall and doing the chores such as mopping the floor and so on, two not-so-young ladies at a table chatting away and a group of 4 or 5 guys loitering around at another table. All the food stalls were closed – there were not many left, 3 only, after most of them closed down or moved elsewhere during the pandemic – but much to my relief, this one, the kampua mee stall…

…was open.

When my order came, I was rather surprised when the lady told me that the pian sip was RM4.00 a bowl. So far, I only heard that this was the price at the aforementioned kampua mee stall while generally, it is RM3.50 only or less elsewhere.

The pian sip…

…was all right, a little bland from the lack of light soy sauce and msg, which was a good thing.

Unlike wantons, the dumpling skin was very thin and smooth…

…not thick and chewy and I did enjoy it – this is a noodle dish so the focus is on the skin and there is just a slight trace of minced meat in each of them, not much.

No, I did not complain. I just paid quietly and counted my blessing, thankful that there is a place open anytime I feel like having a bite to eat in the afternoon. While I was eating, a guy in office clothes came, probably after finishing his work for the day, and he had a bowl of kampua mee. Maybe that is why most of the stalls choose to close in the afternoon – they do not get that much business so there is no point employing helpers at the minimum wage of RM1,500 a month since obviously, they are not going to make enough money to recoup that extra expense.

GRAND WONDERFUL FOOD COURT (2.309601, 111.845163)…

…is located along Jalan Pipit, off Jalan Dr Wong Soon Kai, on your right. You can also go in via Jalan Pipit from Jalan Pahlawan – go straight ahead till you get to it on your left.