I was awoke already at 5:40 a.m. this morning, and could not sleep any longer. Time is getting shorter. There are still many things to do and I have only another 3 1/2 days in Sibu to arrange everything. Setting my priorities have become more difficult.
I shall be disconnecting my internet/ fixed line telephone in the afternoon of Monday, 23rd November 2009, i.e. I have only another 32 hours' connection to TMnet. Therefore, getting this blog out is a priority.
For the last few days, I have been taking my favorite food for one last time. That meant hanging out at my favourite eateries for meals. I have another two or three places to go, which I shall not be able to blog this time because by the time I visit these places, my internet connection would have been terminated.
17th November 2009 - Tiong Hua Road Market
In Sibu, I have tried these at Sing Kwong food stalls, pasar malam, restaurants, etc. , and nothing beat those from Tiong Hua Road Market. The siew mai came in frozen packs.
The sausage is among the best I have tried. In fact, it was better a few years' back, before the price of pork started to go up. As the price of pork went up, the quality of this sausage somehow dropped, with less meat being used. For the siew mai, freshness is an issue. If you are unlucky, the packet you bring home may not be made with fresh pork. Price: sausage - RM1.50 per piece, siew mai - RM5.00 per packet of nine pieces.
18th November 2009 - Breakfast of Dian Bian Hu at Chop Hing Huong
I have lived in Sibu for the past 14 years. I have been told that it was at a lane somewhere at the old Sibu bus station, read blogs about the fame of its Dian Bian Hu, about how established this place is and how it has been passed from father to son, etc., but I have never been able to find the place. I found it only yesterday after asking and looking for it persistently these few days.
For visitors to Sibu, this is to let you know that this eatery, called Chop Hing Huong, is located at the lane beside Ah Hee Kopi Tian. Yesterday, the price was RM3.50 per bowl and today, with two friends, the price was RM3.00 per bowl!!!. Was I being scammed yesterday?
Dian Bian Hu (spelt differently from person to person) is a traditional Fuzhou (also spelt as 'Foochow') fare, and is found only within the Fuzhou Chinese community. Dian (wok) Bian (side) Hu (paste) is basically cooked rice paste which is produced after the freshly milled rice paste has been poured over the side of the wok to cook. Once solidified, it is scraped into a boiling soup and cooked with other ingredients to produce the Dian Bian Hu.
18th November 2009 - Lunch at Dung Fang Cafe No. 2 (near Farley Supermarket)
This place was a favorite of mine for its cheap, delicious meals of RM3.30, consisting of rice and two servings of meat and two of vegetables. However, with the prices of food going up late last year, the servings have become smaller. Now, it is not worth the money.
19th November 2009 - Lunch at Shabu Shabu
There are many choices of food and I have tried a few of them. However, my favorite are Xi Shi Cao Mien (Xi Shi fried noodle) at RM4.50, seafood dumpling (RM4.90) and prawn dumpling (RM4.90). I am slowly getting tired of them.
21st November 2009 - Tiong Hua Road Market
I bought taro/ yam dumpling, Di Bian (Fuzhou pronunciation) and Cai Kui (Fuzhou, pronunciation, literally, vegetable dumpling) for breakfast. Di Bian (also called oyster cake in Singapore), on the right of the picture, is a traditional Fuzhou dumpling. In Singapore, it is named oyster cake because it has oyster as filling but in the plain Sibu version, it has none. There is another version with meat filling. The cai kueh on the left has no vegetable in it, but it tasted great.
21st November 2009 - Dinner at Cafe Cafe
This is one popular place in town. When we arrived at about 7:10 p.m., there was no vacant table. We were lucky that we waited outside for less than 10 minutes before we were called in.
Ayam Kapitan (RM9.50) has always been my favorite here. However, after paying the bill and when we were at the car already, we realised that we have been billed Nyonya Set (RM14.90) instead of Ayam Kapitan. Was this a genuine mistake or a scam?
Yummy!
22nd November 2009 - Sing Kee (1999) Confectionary Kompian
Kompian is another traditional Fuzhou food. Many Sibu bloggers wrote about it. Even some West Malaysian food bloggers wrote about it, though they mainly wrote about the Sitiawan (another Fuzhou town) version. The Sitiawan version has filling while the Sibu version has no filling. That was why, non-Sibu folks have no feeling for it and never promoted it while the Sitiawan version with filling has people feeling for it and was promoted actively. I have great feeling for the plain kompian with no filling. Price: RM1.00 for 5 pieces.
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