There was an "elephant" in the hostel. It stomped through the hostel, from one of the rooms to the shared washrooms, with heavy elephant feet on the wooden floorings and shook the whole hostel. I was awoken couple of times in the night and again in the early morning with a "stampede" as the elephant went to and fro several times, deaf to the noises "it" was making. I wished "it" would check-out and good riddance. "Elephants" in a wooden house was one of the reasons why I quit staying in old houses.
First thing I did for the day was to add an extra cabin baggage for my flight (RM30) — baggage check-in of up to 15Kg would cost RM78 — so I could bring two cabin bags with maximum of 7Kg each onboard. My personal belongings was around 6Kg with about 1Kg of products bought in Sabah. Anything I would be purchasing in Kuching would definitely exceed 7Kg and required 2 hand-carry baggages.
At 9am, I came to Lau Ya Keng Foodcourt (阳春台茶室), which was full house the previous day. The food court used to be a stage area for the Hiang Thian Siang Ti Temple (玄天上帝庙) opposite it. It still had a temple-like structure on the stage. Crowded as usual but I still managed to get a table — actually, it was an extra public holiday in Sarawak. The Kuching laksa was popular here but I came for the tomato crispy mee, a specialty dish of Kuching too. It was kolo mee fried until crispy, added with chicken, prawn and fish cake, and drenched in a light tomato soup.
I also bought a pack of three white kuehs that contains grated coconut mixed with white sugar, which was different from West Malaysia and Singapore where brownish gula melaka was used with grated coconut. The glutinous rice skin was thicker and chewier, but better than those soft and sticky skins that always got stuck in the teeth.
There was a Chinese History Museum at one end of the waterfront, near to Upspot Kuching Hostel. It was free admission and a great place to learn about the development of Sarawak and how it started in Kuching, the Cat City ("Kuching" meant "cats" in Malay). I spent about 30 minutes in the museum.
I also visited the Tua Pek Kong Temple across the road.
Back in Carpenter Street, I remembered seeing a mural of a girl with a cat when I was walking around the area the previous night.
I found the mural, took a photo and noticed a stall selling traditional dessert down China Street not far away. I went to take a look and saw another mural right beside the stall. It was a long beautiful artwork of coolies and a big well.
The dessert stall did not have a name and was simply called "Traditional Lek Tau Suan" (古早味绿豆爽). I bought a small bowl of tau suan (mung bean dessert) for just RM2.50. I stood and ate the dessert which was not too sweet.
The best places to look for local products were the supermarkets before going to any local products shops. However, not all local products could be found in supermarkets as the latter usually required products to be of certain quality and consistency before they were put on the shelves. Local products that were handmade or with limited supplies would not be found in supermarkets and had to be sourced from local shops.
I went to the supermarket in Plaza Merdeka, called Everrise, to find tebaloi or tabaloi, a kind of Melanau snack made from sago flour and grated coconut. I found just one brand of tebaloi in Everrise supermarket. Out of 4 flavours, only the pandan and chocolate flavours were available, so I bought a box each. I also bought two bottles of Sarawak ground pepper, a black and a white. Pepper was also a local product of Sabah but due to weight restriction on my cabin baggage, I was not able to buy there but I knew I would be able to get some in Kuching.
Interestingly, the local rice wine, tuak, were allowed to be sold in most shops, restaurants and supermarkets in Kuching but not in Sabah. I had a hard time searching for rice wine in Sabah and had to ask around but in Kuching, I could see them almost anywhere.
After shopping, I searched for street arts on Google Maps and found that I had missed out some murals in an area called “Borneo Murals Alley” at one end of India Street, near to Oriental Park where I had kolo mee the day before. I headed towards the murals and came to the Tower Market.
It was so-called the “Tower Market” because it was next to a watch tower. However, its official name was “Open-Air Market” (露天巴刹). The market were comprised of two sections with mostly Chinese food stalls and several Malay food stalls. I briefly browsed through the stalls before continuing to the murals which was just outside the market.
The murals led me to a stinky spot as though someone had urinated there or had a leaky sewer. The problem with street arts in Malaysia was that they were usually found in back alleys or deserted corners, some with stinky sewer or drains. In most of my blog posts, I had deliberately left out artworks in desolated corners or smelly alleys. Public arts, especially educational, cultural and those that expressed positive thoughts, were not something disgraceful and deserved to be in better spots like those in Singapore.
Returning to Open-Air Market, I decided to try a stall selling red kolo mee (老牌红油面). A small bowl of kolo mee was just RM5. It was a nice dish and the red sauce was char siew sauce. There were black (soy sauce) and white (shallot oil) too.
The sun was out to fry me again and I went in search for a cafe to waste away the hot afternoon. I came to Moon & Sun Coffee which was just beside Borneo Delight and took a seat outside the cafe — trying to experience why westerners liked alfresco even if it was warm and humid.
I had a hot dirty chai coffee with an “Indulgence Batik” cake. The batik cake, or kek batik, was a type of no-bake cake with layers of chocolate fudge and cream cheese on a stacked biscuit base, which looked like some batik pattern after cutting. I was told it was a Sarawak-specialty cake and a surprise catch for me as it was not on my hunting list.
I walked past a shop called Joo Foong (裕丰), few units from the hostel, and saw that they were selling tebaloi too — original and susu (milk) flavours but of a different brand. I had pandan and chocolate flavours in my bag and I decided to get a box of each flavour. They were part of my local food hunt and could be gifts for others.
I went back to the hostel to put down all the things I bought and rested. I tried a piece of the crispy tebaloi snack, which was made with sago flour, grated coconut and flavourings. It was mildly sweet and a little chewy due to the grated coconut. I did not eat a lot of stuff this day, but I still had a list of food items to find. I was deliberately holding back until dinner so I could have a feast later.
6pm, I went down to Kek Lapis Mama Su and tried a few of the layered cakes that were not too sweet. I was trying to shortlist which to buy but would be buying only on Thursday morning before my flight to Johor Bahru. This would save me some time instead of trying to make a decision on the last day.
For dinner, I was back in Borneo Delight where I was going to have a feast. I asked the staff which fried rice dishes were nasi aruk, a local dish where steamed rice was fried without using oil. She pointed out both salted fish fried rice and spicy anchovy fried rice. I settled on spicy anchovy fried rice (requested for non-spicy), added an ayam pansuh (bamboo chicken) and a 250ml bottle of their home-brew tuak. I could takeaway the unfinished bottle but I knew that would not happen — 250ml was just one full cup. This would be my 6th bottle of rice wine on this trip irregardless of bottle size.
The tuak was transparent with a dark-yellowish colour, the aroma was not as strong as the other rice wine that I had tried, but had a clear, bright and dry taste that was unlike any of the rice wine I had tasted. The alcohol content seemed higher but lower than the bottle I bought from Borneo Cultures Museum Restaurant (BCMR).
The anchovy fried rice was nicely cooked, not oily of course, and the fried anchovies had its characteristic saltiness. The bamboo chicken was soft and tender in a light-tasting broth, which I drank like soup. It was a really great meal.
I checked-off both nasi aruk and pansuh from my food hunting list for Kuching. Borneo Delight was one place that would cleared one-third of my hunting list — including Sarawak tuak if I considered it as having a unique taste that would not be found in another places.
At around 8pm, I went to the waterfront again. I had missed the water fountain show the previous night. There were supposedly 3 sessions every night at 8:30pm, 9:30pm and 10:30pm, lasting about 15 minutes per session — the show was not carried out the following day after the long holiday. I watched one show at 8:30pm then retreated back to the hostel.
I still had half a bottle of tuak that I bought from BCMR which I would reserve for the last night in Sarawak.
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