My girl and my sister had some matters to settle so they met after school on Wednesday and went for lunch together. Much to my surprise, they picked this place and even though it was a little bit late already, the place was still packed to the brim except for a table for 10 in the midst of the crowd. They managed to grab a small table for two so they were able to have lunch there as planned.
Of course, my sister and this restaurant go back a very very long way. She and our parents, when they were still around, would drop by for dinner ever so often and when my mum was bedridden, my father would stop by with his tiffin carrier to buy food home for their meals…and yes, all those years, we certainly enjoyed all that they dished out a lot.
They had my girl’s favourite, the sizzling beef on a hot plate…
* My sister’s snapshot on Instagram *
…and one of their signature dishes, their own made tofu…
* My sister’s snapshot on Instagram *
…that is so soft, so smooth, so silky, so very nice. I dare say there is none in town that is better than this.
They had this bitter gourd fried with egg…
* My sister’s snapshot on Instagram *
…for their vegetable dish and the total for the three dishes for two persons, including drinks, came up to over RM40.00.
Sad to say, they are going to close their doors for good after today so if anyone is keen on dropping by to enjoy what they serve one last time, they still have today to do that. Bon appetit!
NICE HOUSE RESTAURANT (2.29201,111.82739)…
…is located in the vicinity of the Tunku Osman shops, opposite Rejang Bookstore.
No, it wasn’t all in my head. As a matter of fact, for years and years, it was a common-known fact that the fish head curry at the Sheraton Restaurant…
…was the absolute best, going all the way back to its humble origins at that small place in the block of shops at Delta Estate.
Word had it that the recipe was a closely-guarded secret – only the lady boss (from Indonesia) knew the exact combination of the spices, ingredients and what not. They said that she would mix and prepare everything herself – the chef would just come and cook and that was why when the chef left and he tried cooking his own at his new place, it was a complete disaster! Not one to give up so easily, the chef kept on trying until he was able to cook something just as good as the original…
…or perhaps, even better!
Eventually, we also tried cooking our own at home using our favourite A! Mountain Globe instant fish paste for seafood…
…and it…
…was very much to our liking.
However, lately, these instant pastes, this brand, has become so very hot and spicy that it would be difficult for us to handle. Yes, even though we are so into hot and spicy stuff, we think this was a little bit too much. That includes their curry paste for meat and because of this, we have been trying out other brands to see if there is any just as nice and is more manageable.
My missus used the very well-distributed Mak Nyonya brand…
Unfortunately, the latter fell apart in the process of cooking so what we had left were bits of pieces on the slice drowned in the curry gravy.
I loved phak thik poh just deep-fried but I did not think it was that great in curry…or perhaps, my missus bought a slice that was a bit loko and it was not to my liking. The gravy was great, tasty and not spicy. The added ingredients were all there except for a crucial missing link. My missus forgot to add pineapples and that cost her dearly – it just wasn’t the same!
Well, we’ll keep trying, of course and hopefully, we’ll get something nice one of these days. We do not go to the original restaurant for the fish head curry anymore because rumour has it that theirs (and for that matter, all the dishes there, in general) is no longer as nice as before and expensive too!
The other one where the chef is still attached to till this very day is just as nice, they say but that place is very popular for grand wedding banquets and all kinds of functions so usually, I would not go there and just ask for one fish head curry to be shared by the three of us in the midst of the crowd present. Perhaps I shall just save that for some special occasions when I have guests coming to visit me here in Sibu. Anybody coming this way?
It is here, the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, 2023 and I sure am glad to say that it has got off to a very good start. It has not been raining, maybe in the middle of the night when everyone’s fast asleep, but the weather has been good during the day. Come evening time, it would still be cloudy, nice and cool and dry, simply ideal for a stroll around the Ramadan Bazaars to see what they have in store this year. Unfortunately, I am not doing too well lately, health-wise so going out is absolutely out of the question at this point in time.
My girl went out on Sunday afternoon with her mum and she bought this nasi tomato (RM10.00)…
…with chicken rendang, sambal egg and pickles for herself for dinner from our regular Malay kuih & food stall at Bandong. They sure bought a lot of things home but that was the only item with a 2-digit price tag. Cheap, eh?
They got me this beef liver…
…with French beans for me – I so love how the Malays cook their liver, never mind beef or chicken and there was this sambal petai…
…too.
We fell in love with the salted fish pickle…
…when we had that with our Nasi Pengilan not too long ago and the ladies wasted no time at all in grabbing a tub to cart home.
My missus wanted the sambal kedondong…
…not my favourite as it is milder, not so sour and fragrant – I prefer emplam but I guess it is not in season right now.
Of course, my girl had to grab two tubs of the bubur pedas…
…her favourite to eat just like that for her meals the following day.
My girl asked me if there was anything I wanted so I told her to get the laksam…
Believe it or not, other than the nasi tomato, everything else was in the region of RM5.00 – RM6.00, so unbelievably cheap! The ladies did buy some local Malay kuih(s) but I did not take any photographs of those. Another time perhaps! However, my girl did mention that they were all 50 sen each – that is the usual price at the Chinese stalls and shops. I remember they were only 20 sen a piece before but of course, this did not come as surprise – what has not gone up in prices this days. I did notice also that they were all smaller…but there was one thing I must be thankful for – the quality was still there. All that they bought were VERY nice, just as nice as before – none that I would say is a waste of calories.
To all my Muslim relatives and friends, Salam Ramadan and Selamat Berpuasa. May God bless us all.
I did not go to attend the sunset service in church on Saturday again as I did not feel I was up to it owing to my ill health. I did not go the previous Saturday as well and for two weeks in a row now, the ladies had to attend the weekly novena & the evening mass on their own.
Of course, they had to leave the house at around 5.00 p.m. and that was way too early for dinner. We would do that all the time and when it was all over, we would stop some place for a very late dinner. That would be very late already, 8 something in the night but I guess that is a very small sacrifice on our part.
Last Saturday night, the ladies stopped by here – the main outlet near our house. My girl had the dry tom yum pasta with Japanese tempura (RM24.90)…
…and yes, she said it was very nice.
For reasons unknown, she did not like the tom yum here so she never tried their tom yum spaghetti…
…which I actually enjoyed quite a lot.
Incidentally, if you haven’t heard, PAYUNG CAFÉ is closed temporarily for renovations until further notice. Another reason is the fact that Andy had gone back to India to settle his work visa business and would be gone for three months so Peter, the boss, decided to take this opportunity to give the place a brand new look!
Anyway, back to the dinner the ladies had, the mum had the signature grilled chicken chop with mushroom sauce (RM16.90)…
Actually, there is another outlet on the way from the church back to the house (opposite Nica + and the old Sing Kwong, the former Coffee Code location) but somehow or other, my girl would rather come here.
They did drop by a few times but she did not take any photographs. On one occasion, she had their cheezy chicken croquettas…
…the flat round ones. These ball-shaped ones reminded her of the arancini mushroom rice balls…
…that we had here. Well, I did not get to try them myself and since I am in no shape to go over and do that, this will have to wait a bit till I feel a bit better.
I saw their Facebook posts and all the awesome photographs of the stuff that they serve at their café and of course, I was kind of intrigued when I noticed that they had fish and chips in their menu. They have that everywhere here and 99.9% of the time, it would not be worth your calories.
I was a bit hesitant in going there to give it a try though as the price stated was RM34.00. I felt that was kind of steep – either they were using very good fish or their serving was huge. I did ask around when I was in the café but once, the waitress said that she had no idea and one guy from the kitchen that I asked said he did not know what they got from the supplier – they just took and used. I persisted and after sometime, FINALLY somebody replied to my question on Facebook and said it was whitefish. I do not know what whitefish is but I think I did get to eat it before and it was nice. Ah well!!! As long as it is not DORY – that can be smelly, at times, and jelly-like, not nice at all.
Well, last Saturday morning, my girl went out with the mum to buy some stuff for school. I was not up to it as I have not been doing too well lately but I encouraged her to go and have a good time and have something nice to eat after a long week at school…and charge everything to my supplementary credit card. That was why the two of them dropped by the café and my girl had their fish and chips (RM34.00)…
She said it was nice but no, it was nothing spectacular, a far cry from our favourite in town…
…here and that is only RM28.00, cheaper than here.
As a matter of fact, my girl says that she prefers the breaded New Zealand hoki that we can get from the outlet of our own Sarawak fast food franchise, Sugar Bun…
…round the corner from my house and that, of course, would be a whole lot affordable.
Well, for one thing, I have not tried it myself yet and I would like to do that once, at least and this café is closer to home, a whole lot more accessible than that other place. Ah well!!! We’ll see!!!
CHEFWAY CAFE(2.300560, 111.843429)…
…is located at No. 18 & 20, Ground Floor, Lorong Dr. Wong Soon Kai 4D.
Actually, I went to this coffee shop the other day because I was craving for the old lady’s mee goreng special…
…so we went to tapao that to enjoy it at home. Unfortunately, the old lady wasn’t there. I particularly loved the daging masak hitam added and other than that, she would also give one fried chicken wing, all for RM6.00, with one perfectly done fried egg, upon request, for an extra RM1.00.
…and it was just as nice. That showed that it did not depend on all the add-ons to taste good.
My missus came back to the car to tell me the bad news but she said there was a new counter in front, a Malay lady selling fried noodles and stuff. Well, they’ve done it before at this coffee shop – renting the stalls to others selling the same things as the existing tenants. Well, despite the challenges, the old lady survived through it all and went on with her daily business like nothing had happened.
We did buy the mee goreng special from this new lady…
..to try and for RM7.00, the only thing extra that we got was one chicken wing! On top of it all, it was NOT nice, like something cheap you get at school canteens.
The noodles were dry and hard – if you cook these yellow noodles, you will need a big wok and you have to splash water all around the noodles periodically in the wok. Of course, the water will sizzle and evaporate instantly but the hot steam will help cook the noodles. The thing with these yellow noodles is that the longer you fry, the drier and harder it gets unless you have some sambals or sauces in your recipe that will give it the moisture.
I wonder what has happened to the old lady. Maybe she finished everything and closed her stall early – she does that sometimes…or she wasn’t feeling too well…or it was the day before Ramadan and I did notice that many Maly shops and stalls were not open. I certainly hope she will come back soon. Otherwise, if this new one is all they can offer here, for sure, they will never get to see me around those parts of the woods again.
FAST CAFE (2.319250, 111.832257)…
…is located in the vicinity of Sungai Antu at No. 11, Jalan Tapang Timur, off Jalan Kampung Nangka.
I’ve been complaining and grumbling a lot lately – I think I am slowly turning into one heck of a grumpy old man. I am so pissed off by how people simply jack up the prices of food and the customers do not seem in the least bothered by it. In the meantime, I had this feeling that the food is not so nice anymore, even at restaurants that I used to love so much and enjoyed going all the time.
Well, I thought it was just me because I do not see anybody else complaining until my friend, Annie in KL, came home to Sibu – she always does that around Ching Ming every year. In one of her many Facebook posts, she said,” This trip, I noticed that not all kampua mee taste as nice now. Big portion, but no taste and some of the food too.” Obviously, I’m not alone.
Well, it so happened that I dropped by this coffee shop the other morning and I tapaoed their kampua mee…
…home to eat. It is RM3.50 a plate now, up from RM2.70 in 2016 but if I am not mistaken, it was not the same people doing it then.
Of course it will not be as nice as eating it there, piping hot from the boiling cauldron. If you do not eat it right away, it would have turned cold and the strands of the noodles would stick together in a clump…
You have to press the packet gently on the sides to loosen the strands a bit and do the rest using your chopsticks…
…when you have taken it out of the packet.
It was all right – not bad at all and at that price I do not see any cause for complaint. They are selling this same thing for RM4.50, some up to RM5.00 at a lot of places and many of them are not even half as good! Having said that, they could have boiled the noodles a little bit longer so they would be less firm – I like them softer but not till over-soft and soggy.
These people push the blame on the rising price of pork which is nothing but a lame excuse. You see those same few same pieces of pork with the noodles, sliced so very thinly that it would be quite impossible to slice it even thinner. You do not jack your prices up 50 sen to RM1.00 when you are not doing anything differently or giving anything extra.
One possible reason why their kampua mee is not as nice anymore these days is probably how they scrimp on the ingredients in order to make more profit. They probably will not use lard anymore as lard is expensive and I do know of some who mix the lard with cooking oil so they do not need to use so much. Other than that, the amount used will make a world of difference – what I had that day was badly in need of more oil as it was very dry (and a bit on the hard side). You do not see it glistening with the fragrant oil when served.
These days, you may not get to see a lot of the fried shallots, if at all. In my younger days, every afternoon, at all the coffee shops, you would see them frying HUGE woks of sliced and peeled shallots in hot boiling oil till golden brown. The fragrance that filled the air was overwhelming, to say the least. You do not see that anymore these days so I wonder when they do it…or if they bother to do it at all.
Many do not use the fragrant shallot oil/lard, they do not garnish their noodles with the fried shallots and more often than not, you do not get to see any chopped spring onions either. Without these add-ons and using ordinary cooking oil that is not fragrant at all, it will surely make a world of difference in the noodles.
Sadly, folks here are not discerning eaters. Ah well! Foochows, since time immemorial, had been notorious for bland, tasteless food – high on quantity (you get a lot) but low on quality, so when I see the coffee shops overflowing with people EVERY DAY going for the miserable, most disappointing, expensive kampua mee, I can’t help thinking that we have gone backwards as for as our eating habits are concerned – paying a lot more and feeling quite happy with a lot less.
FAST CAFE (2.319100, 111.832213)…
…is located among the shops opposite the RTM station in Sibu in the Sungai Antu area. At the end of Jalan Kpg Nangka, just before its roundabout with Jalan Tun Abg Hj Openg, you turn left into Jalan Tapang Timur and go straight ahead – it is the first shop in the last block on the left.
The other day, my sister dropped by my house to pass us this chiew chu koi (tapioca cake) to enjoy. Yes, we can get this very easily here but no, I wouldn’t say that all of them are very good. These were just like the ones my mum used to make during our growing up years, the taste, the sweetness, the texture…
…and everything. Yes, I remember there were these strands of fibre from the tuber…
…in the ones my mum made too. Generally, we can get reasonably good ones at the Malay stalls here…
…from the Chinese pancake or ban chang kuih (慢煎糕) stall in my neighbourhood but the slices seemed to have been lightly fried and on the whole, the texture and the taste were not the same.
I asked my sister where she got hers from and she said “Billion Point” right next to the dianpianngu place in town…
I remember that place – I thought it was a branch of this one but it turned out that it wasn’t and the name in the snapshot I took at the time was different. They were 60 sen a piece, made by the guy’s aunty and they also had steamed paos from Sarikei.
No, you would not catch me rushing back for more but anytime I feel like enjoying some chiew chu koi like the ones my mum used to make, I would know exactly where to go.
…at the Ramadan stalls in front of the RASCOM camp along Jalan Oya, here…
…selling her nasi kerabu and all the culinary delights from the East Coast of West Malaysia. People from all over town would go all the way there to buy and so did I…but it was only because I was on my way to my girl’s jungle school in Selangau or on the way home. Even then, the idea of parking my car so far away and walking to the stalls did not really appeal to me.
Of course, that was before the COVID-pandemic and now that my girl has been transferred to a school in town and I no longer drive past the area, I don’t think I will drop by but not too long ago, my friends in Sibu Jaya were telling me about the people opening up a shop here…
…at the SHELL station round the corner, singing praises of the Kelantanese dishes that they managed to buy from there. I did not know but I just guessed that it must be those people from the RASCOM Ramadan stalls.
They are selling those favourites of many at a shop but it did not look like the aforementioned at the SHELL station. Aha! I see soldiers! It must be around that area not far from the RASCOM army camp. Yes, it did state quite clearly that it is beside SHELL, Mile 9 before the traffic lights to RASCOM Camp, Kemunyan, beside a shop selling fertilisers. That last bit is the confusing part – I don’t know of any shop selling fertilisers in the vicinity.
I looked through the photographs in the post but I did not see the girl. I must say, however, that ALL the dishes that they are selling are most mouth-watering, indeed including this laksam (RM6.50)…
I may make my way up there one of these days to buy but frankly, I would much sooner make my way to the Pelangi Stalls/Kiosks along Jalan Kampung Nangka to buy the ones there, RM5.00 only and yes, it was so very nice but who knows, I may just go for a leisurely drive all the way one fine day to grab the ones here to try.
Anybody driving past that place every day? Wanna do some home delivery?
When my ex-student, Soon Yiew, had gone back to Singapore, he wrote something so very nice and touching and shared it on Facebook. I am going to include a copy in my blog because usually, on Facebook, I would delegate everything to trash eventually and it may or may not reappear after many years via its MEMORIES section.
I did not remember the first time we met but he remembered it well, to my slight embarrassment. He told me that I made a good impression, much to my surprise.
I was at our sister school next door for a competition, the English Language debate between our school team and SMK Kapit. There was an empty seat beside me but no, none of my students, for reasons unknown, would ever dare to go and sit beside me, never mind that I had always been so nice, so kind, so fatherly, so everything!
Suddenly, out of nowhere came this little boy…who plonked himself in the chair, looking so interested and engrossed in everything going on. I guessed he must be Alvin, the son of my good friend from the 60’s and 70’s and he probably did not think much about sitting there since his father and I were good friends. “Are you Alvin?” I asked. “No,” he replied and he promptly told me his name.
His class teacher had sent him and other potentials in Form 3 that year over to watch as they might be taking part the following year when they entered Form 4. I told her and she found it all so amusing.
Mr. Arthur Wee was one of those who made a difference in my early formative years, growing up in a sluggish town in Sarawak. He was my secondary school English teacher. I had always enjoyed his lessons and still carry fond memories of being in his class.
He spoke really well, very eloquent with his own very pleasant accent. They joined the debate the following year under another teacher but did not get very far. Of course, I roped him in for my public speaking competitions…
…ferrying him from his house and the competition venues and sending him home and probably because of the amount of time we spent together, training, practicing and what not, we became very close, much closer than with my regular students.
Learning English in a non-English environment was challenging. It was frightening and most of the time, I felt lost. There were many seniors who spoke the language well, exuded much confidence and at times, portrayed an attitude of flamboyance that made me roll my eyes, flaunting words as though English was a status symbol.
Yes, I remember them all, my debaters and my public speakers. One of them eventually became a friar/priest…
– he certainly will be doing a lot of public speaking in his life, eh?
Mr. Wee was never such a person. He spoke immaculate English, did not mangle the language just to make it easier for the listener, yet when I talked to him, I felt like he was not speaking down to me; instead, he was lifting me up like a sparring coach, egging me on to throw punches above my weight.
Seeing him again after so many years brought back sweet memories. He was a huge influence, literally and figuratively. Without him, my journey of learning English, and by extension, the learning of everything else, would have come to an abrupt halt. For many, including myself, English felt like an ill-fitting attire. For him, I always got a sense that English was tailor-made for him. He did not so much teach as live the language.
I remember once he printed copies of an article from Her World magazine, probably pilfered from his wife’s collection (LOL!) and went through the entire essay with us, explaining the meaning of words, pointing out sentence structures and grammatical nuances, offering anecdotes along the way. That was especially memorable because I felt a sense of accomplishment at the end of the exercise, having read and understood a lengthy English article. My love for reading had been kindled.
Yes, I never depended on the prescribed textbooks. I would take articles from here, there and everywhere – the short stories from Her World were excellent. There were those written by well-known prolific Malaysian writers like the late Ridzuan Chesterfield for instance, poems, songs, newspaper reports and so on and so forth. The beauty of the language cannot be found in those deadpan, obsolete textbooks – the teacher will have to look for these to share with his students. Eventually, I wrote my own workbooks…
…so I would not have to spend so much time looking for excellent pieces of writing to share with my students. Of course, if I came across anything good, I would not hesitate to use that in the classroom.
The secret to learning English is simple. One needs to have these: 1. Access to high quality material (books, TV shows etc) 2. Constant practice in speaking, listening and writing and lastly, perhaps the most important thing: 3. Arthur Wee.
I was among the fortunate ones to have had all three.
I could not remember my parting gift to him before I left for further studies – a key badge with “Arthur” emblazoned on it…
…which he uses to this day. But I do remember his parting gift to me – a lifelong love for the English language.
Thank you, sir.
I wasted no time in sharing this on Facebook and got a total of 125 LIKEs and 33 comments within a day. I must say that I am indeed grateful for his kind words – they have made all the blood sweat and tears over my years of teaching worth every second, every minute of it.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 