3 o’clock in the morning…

I stumbled upon this video clip on the 3 o’clock in the morning kampua mee…

…but I can’t say that it got me all excited. It so happened that my sister went there with some ex-student of hers to try and she said it was quite good, only RM3.50 a plate at the time but no, I did not rush there right away after that.

At long last, the other day, I decided to go and see what it was all about. For one thing, it is not in a regular coffee shop – unless you have heard of it or seen it in some photographs or video clips, you probably will never be able to find it. It is in some health spa or whatever shop…

… round the corner from this restaurant. For reasons unknown, parking is free if you park along the lane on this side.

It is air-conditioned inside and there are tables where you can sit and eat but I chose to sit outside. Once seated, I was given the chopsticks and spoon in hot boiling water…

…and soon after that, the nice young man brought me a complimentary glass of water…

He just said it was good but he did not elaborate nor did he try to persuade me to buy anything. Later I found out that it was hydrogen water, hence the logo in the sign in the above photograph – you can read all about it here.

The kampua mee that I ordered…

…came soon enough – the price had gone up to RM4.00 now. It is called the 3.00 a.m. Tiong Hua Road kampua because it was the only place that was open so early in the morning or should I say, that late because when I heard about it, I imagined that it was for those half-stoned “night birds” looking for something to eat after the nightclubs had closed.

Located at a shop beside the now-demolished Tiong Hua Road market, the couple originally responsible for it had moved to KL (the son in the video clip said something about the mum taking care of the sister in confinement there) and eventually, the son decided to take over and start selling the kampua mee at the present location. Of course he does not start THAT early – I think he said 6.00 or 7.00 a.m. in the video clip.

And now the question is: was it any good? I would say it was all right, pleasantly mild with a hint of fried garlic like the kampua mee that we used to enjoy at Ban Chuan Coffee Shop where we used to hang out in the afternoon during our teenage days. There was a fat guy there selling the noodles. He had a very deep cut at the back of his neck, healed already, of course. I heard that some ethnic headhunters wanted to chop off his head but did not manage to do it completely and he survived and lived to tell the tale.

The complimentary soup…

…was pleasantly mild too and they sure deserve a pat on the back for using those ceramic plates and bowls, not those hideously gaudily-coloured plastic ones.

Everywhere you turn in that area of shops, you will find a coffee shop and yes, there will be a stall selling kampua mee but I am not sure as to which of them are good and which are not. I would not say this one would sweep you off your feet as it really isn’t anything to get excited about but it certainly is good enough if you are there and you do not know where to go for some decently good kampua mee.

MEGA BORNEO WELLNESS (2.293200, 111.835567) is located at No.12, Ground Floor, Lorong Chew Siik Hiong 5.