Food Trip : Tawau

A short post on my weekend in Tawau.

I didn't do anything there that is worth posting, did no touristy stuff. Except, makan! Tawau is definitely a heaven for seafood lovers; fresh and much much more cheaper. I can be very happy eating fish every day if the prices are like that in KK! I can't help but feel that those living on the east coast are so lucky in this sense, food prices are still very reasonable.

Here are some of the pictures that I managed to take:

Went to Sabindo for dinner. It was just after 8 pm and the place was packed to the gills. We had to wait a short while for a table. Went to Good View instead of Kam Ling or 101 mentioned in most guides cos the two are now considered ' tourist traps' by locals :).

Fresh fish - hmm don't know what it's called. Had it steamed with ginger and soya sauce, yummmmmmyyyyyyy over hot rice.

Fresh seawater prawns, steamed ("pak cho har"). Finger licking good!

The only vegetable I order when having seafood - Sabah Veg stirfried with garlic.

My favourite shellfish - in the bill it's always stated as Top Shell? I call it 'Tung Fung Lo', correct me if I'm wrong. Pull it out and dip into mustard, yummmmmminess to the max.

These are some happy prawns, prior to ... (someone's) happy stomach.

View of Tawau town, taken from Cafe@Seven, Promenade Hotel Tawau.

When in Tawau, must eat the famous Nasi Kuning, which I always enjoy. In KK, the best Nasi Kuning is at Kepayan.

Fish meehoon soup for lunch, 'ka liau' (extra). On the background is a half-eaten keratang fish fillet in black bean sauce, this dish is seriously droolworthy. My tastebuds were overjoyed!

Went to the Sunday market where all sorts of fresh produce and seafood were sold. Kind of like a mini Gaya Street. Look at how much the prawns cost.

My search for avocados got me here - RM6 for 1 kg. Of course I bought some.

Fresh prawns - RM15 per kg.

I don't think I can find any vegetable at 50 sen per bunch any more in KK.

That's all I'm afraid - next time I get to go to Tawau I'll play tourist, I promise; because there are actually many interesting places just out of the town area.

A Short Trip to Sibu

The weekend was spent in another never-been place : Sibu, Sarawak.

Took advantage of the direct flight by Air Asia, which I read recently will be discontinued come late October due to some 'dispute' on rural air routes with MasWings.

Anyway, how did I find Sibu?

It was busier and more crowded than I thought. I guess the locals from nearby towns come to Sibu on weekends for their shopping and outings. The air was rather festive with raya music played from some shops. Weather-wise, it wasn't sunny skies unfortunately, hazier than KK.

View from the 9th floor of the hotel.

Looking at the town map we were told that it may be too far to walk but actually we managed a leisurely walk around town in 45 minutes or so.

The mighty Rajang river certainly is a presence in the town, brown like cold teh tarik. At 640 km, it's Malaysia's longest. Remember our Geography lessons?

Places :

Malaysia's biggest town square is in Sibu. So now we know.

Wisma Sanyan is the tallest building in Sarawak at 28 floors, and houses Parkson Ria and other outlets. It has this funny pink and green neon lights lit up at night, on its uppermost floor I think. Next to it is the biggest town square in Malaysia at 32 acres. Biggest in Malaysia; I certainly did not know that before this.

Live squirming butods for sale at the market.

Sibu Central Market is the state's largest wet market. Clean and airy, and a hive of activity, it was actually very interesting walking through it on a busy Sunday morning and checking out the local produce. Fresh local vegetables are much cheaper here. Duku langsat seems to be sold in every corner, it must be in season, and they were sweet too.

The Methodist Church.

Faithfulness, and The Apostles' Creed.

Hoover Square is a very new building just officially opened last month, part of the Masland Methodist Church. I really like the almost all-white colour scheme and the 'open square' design. I like the way they had these short columns depicting prayers in various languages.

The Swan Statue, the symbol of Sibu. One big one is near the Menara Gerbang and the other one, which is the most popular, is by the riverside next to Li Hua and Kingwood Hotel.

Pasar Malam (Night Market): interesting foodstuff galore aside from the usual baju, bags and miscellaneous stuff for sale. The ones we spent time on sold barbequed meats and fish, skewer stuff, paus, kompias, rice dumplings, pancakes, and kuehs.

The 100 year old Tua Pek Kong near the waterfront.

Food :

Mee Kampua (one of Sibu's signature dishes) was had at Jia Bin Cafe, which I didn't expect to be so centrally located. It's a coffeeshop actually. We had mee kampua twice, and it only cost RM2.40 and RM2.20 respectively. One iced kopi-o and one teh-o cost only RM1.90. I don't think we can find any coffeeshop in KK with this kind of pricing anymore :(

Kompia : I really like this local 'bagel'. Only RM1 for 5 of the plain pieces or RM1 for 3 stuffed pieces. Before leaving, I bought four packets back and they were lovely when I warmed them up and spread some cheese on it. The texture reminds me of that of Auntie Anne's pretzels.

Buah dabai : my first time to try out this fruit. It looks like a big olive. Washed the fruits clean, then dunked them to soak inside hot boiled water for 10-15 minutes. The fruit goes soft and you can slide the skin off easily. I can't quite describe the taste cos it's so mild, but I liked it enough to buy one kg back. The most expensive we saw were sold at RM20 per kg, the cheapest at RM11. Am not sure whether this reflects quality or just the freshness; I think it's the latter.

Special 3-layer iced coffee with gula apong, at Manna Life Cafe, Wisma Sanyan. Yummy!

Midin : this is the local fern/paku (similar to our local ferntips) , slightly crunchy, stir fried with garlic. Sorry, no picture taken before it was devoured. Sibu also has a lot of savoury kuehs which seem to be available at every corner shop, fried fresh. I like the cucurs and what-nots alas I had no more room in my stomach.

Accommodation:

Stayed at Tanahmas, 'The Sibu Hotel"; I was pleasantly surprised with the newly renovated room; modern clean design, very comfortable at the same time. Flat screen 32 inch Panasonic TV, eco-toilet, extra pillows, armchair and ottoman, iron, hairdryer, safe, ashtray..it was very complete I thought. They even provide a candle and a matchbox.

Transport:

No choice for airport transfers, taxi from airport to town is RM35, from town to airport RM30. No buses, well there probably are but the main road is quite a distance from the terminal and the buses don't run on schedules. Within town area, it's very easy to navigate around although it can be quite confusing at first.

Old Sibu buses.

Sibu has A LOT of motorbikes. A LOT. Bike parking aplenty too.

We didn't see the Pandaw River Cruise Ferry berthed at the terminal, maybe it's only back in a few days time. Express boats were aplenty to nearby small towns like Bintangor, Dalat, Kanowit and Kapit.

Oh, one more thing that struck me : at every street and corner in Sibu there is at least a drugstore, or a traditional Chinese drugstore or a pharmacy. On one block alone there were four. I find this very interesting, maybe pharmacy is the preferred profession?

Well, that's the Sibu trip in a nutshell. It may be sometime before a return trip beckons, maybe it'll be more adventurous to take the express boats to other places in the interior.

Thanks to Mr Borneo Falcon for the helpful tips!

Food Trip : Penang

Due to limited time, I decided that I should plan my Penang food trip with military precision.

Rule No. 1 : Do not go to the places we've been before.

Rule No. 2 : No shopping, hence no malls.

Rule No. 3 : If walking is possible, then walk.

Rule No. 4 : No Starbucks.

Outcome : I think B+, at least didn't fail-lah.

Places visited:

Penang Hill for the funicular railway experience. The tram service (RM4 return) was not as I expected (hot, crowded, slow), thankfully the views from atop the hill (about 720m elevation) were nice enough and made up for the shortcomings. Skipped Kek Lok Si and saw the giant Kwan Yin statue from afar behind the scaffoldings as it is still a work-in-progress.

Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion. Missed the 11 am guided tour and again missed the one at 3 pm. Duh. So this doesn't count really, we were just outside this beautifully restored blue mansion.

Fort Cornwallis for old stones. Too bad we were a bit late as they close earlier during Ramadhan so we had to be content with just the external features of the fort.

Eastern and Oriental Hotel (E&O) - I love this place for its colonial, old world charm. And a stellar list of past guests too! Charlie Chaplin, Herman Hesse, Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles (!), Rudyard Kipling, amongst many other dignitaries and celebs; all of them have stayed here. We wanted to try the English Afternoon Tea (mainly for the roast beef sandwiches) but alas, I didn't think I'd pass the dresscode for 1885, the restaurant that serves the afternoon tea. Rather than push my luck and embarrass myself, I vow : next time.

Foodwise, savoured these:

Char Kuey Teow from the (in)famous Lady with Goggles, Kafe Heng Huat, Lorong Selamat. Verdict : Quite good, though not as great as I expected. It wasn't spicy enough for me. Overhyped, if you ask me.

Orchien at Kafe Heng Huat.

Penang Famous Teochew Cendol at Joo Hooi Cafe, Lebuh Keng Kwee (endorsed by Phua Chu Kang, no less). I also tried the ABC from another stall just across from this cendol stall. Although not as busy as its rival, its ABC was refreshing, light, with just the right amount of sweetness and a hint of pandan in the syrup. I liked it very much.

Rojak Sotong and Buah (originally from Swatow Lane) at New World Park, just next to Tune Hotel. I also tried the Tee Nya Kueh, not bad.

Lor Bak at one of the food Courts on Jalan Macallister.

Fresh homemade baked piang/peahs at Lebuh Kimberley - highlight of this trip. Best discovery.

Duck porridge at Lebuh Kimberley. An acquired taste. Surprisingly very tasty.

Laicikang at Lebuh Kimberley. Refreshingly light without cloying sweetness.

Kuey Teow Thng at Kedai Kopi Kim Lee, Lorong Macallister. A hearty, flavourful bowl was only RM2.50. I was speechless, in disbelief for moments.

Mummy Otak ("Very Top in Penang", "Super Best" - so her business card says). She is a very good salesperson too, I ended up buying 5 packets.

My ultimate favourite drink, fresh ambola juice. Here we call it kedondong - where can I find this in KK?

Didn't manage these:

Ah Leng CKT at Jalan Dato Keramat

Father & Son CKT at Siam Road

Apong Guan, somewhere along Jalan Burma

Pineapple tarts, Guangzhou Bakery and Seng Thor at Lebuh Carnavon

Chicken Chop at Kedai Kopi Hai Onn

Curry Mee at Lorong Seratus Tahun

Nasi Kandar, shops only opened in the evening during Ramadhan

Wanted to try nasi kandar here but they were not open yet.

Others :

For the first time, I saw a Chinese opera live on a street off Jalan Penang where a small stage had been put up. From afar, one could hear the familiar clangings of the cymbals and bells and some high pitched singing from the performers. I think they have these shows during the Ghost Month.

Second hand bookstalls at Chowrasta Market, 1st Floor. Not easy to browse since the books are arranged in such a way that only the seller knows. Tell him what book you want and he will know where it's kept. LP India was selling at RM70. Pricey. Didn't buy anything here.

Transportation :

When I read earlier that the taxi fare costs a whopping RM38 from the airport to Georgetown I was determined to take the bus no matter what. So asking around at the airport we found the bus (Rapid Penang U401) that plies the route at only RM2.70 per way. We also boarded the same bus to go to the airport, from Komtar terminal.

The only time we cabbed it was from town to Penang Hill, as we worried if we would not have enough time in the afternoon; that cost RM25. Going back we took the bus (U204 Ayer Itam) for RM2 to Fort Cornwallis.

Only once I saw the free Hop On Hop Off bus that plies the cultural heritage route, next time must maximise on that. We asked around but no one seems to have reliable information. Maybe we should have tried a Tourist Info Centre.

Accommodation:

Stayed at Tune Hotel at 100, Jalan Burmah (they spell it with an 'h') for RM20. Great location, clean room; I had no complaints this time.

I just had to take a picture of the psychedelic purple-green carpet at the airport. Still as scary as I remembered.

As we speak, Air Asia is still having its promo fares; only RM118 return for a direct BKI-PEN flight.

I already know when I'm going there next :)