Monday, June 30, 2008

Goodbye Kuching

This is what I had for brunch today - Kam Pua Noodle (干盘面). Something that I had since childhood time (which is not available over here in Penang) before I bid farewell to the Land of Hornbill. It looks like Wantan Mee but the taste and texture of the noodle is different. I still remember during my secondary school days, the noodles was sold at RM 1.30 per plate in Sarikei. Now the price is already RM 2.80 in Kuching. Talking about those good old days when everything is still cheap and affordable :P

Yeah, I'm leaving Kuching today. This is just a short balik kampung trip but quite an enjoyable one too. Especially I managed to meet up with quite a number of my secondary school friends/classmates and two of them I haven't meet for 16 years. Seems like most of my Sarikei friends and classmates/schoolmates have either migrated or are now working in Kuching. ;)

34 comments:

mistipurple said...

everyone travels a lot in malaysia to work it seems. is it opportunities are more in certain locations?

my girl colleague used to bring back something like wantan skin from sarikei i think. she calls it kampua too. i may be wrong. tastes nice. like wantan skin in soup but whiter than our normal yellow here. i hope i am not making you confused. :p

rainbow angeles said...

hello penang...

Anonymous said...

he he he.. 2 more weeks n i will be in kch!!

Spinosum Diary said...

I still love Sarawak a lot, although there are not as many shopping places like in KL. But the people there are nice, hospital environment is friendly and traffic is so much less congested there!

The kampua, though oily at times, really brings back so many nostalgic moments while I was back in Sibu and Kuching! :)

Perhaps one day, I would move my whole family back to Sarawak for good!

Chen said...

misti,
Misti, Sarikei is a small town with not much working opportunities. Unless one work as a teacher, or with the government sector or running family business, else susah lah. I can say more than 90% of my ex classmates are working outside Sarikei. The distance from one town to another in Sarawak is quite far away, due to the geography factor. Some area are not accessible by road and river is the main mode of transportation in rural area :)

It takes around 5 hours plus if driving from Sarikei to Kuching :)

Hehhehe, i know what u mean lah, although your description at times confused me :P I think the wantan skin u meant is the pien neek skin over here. It looks similar like wantan skin, and i love pien neek. Had it for dinner yesterday night :)

Chen said...

Angeles,
Not yet Hello Penang
The flight was rescheduled mah, but AA informed me earlier on already :)
Now still lepaking at home :)

ehon,
Huh? U coming back soon?
Have fun in Kuching and hopefully u won't paint the city red
Hhahahaha

spinosum,
Yeah, the people and staffs here are more friendly and quite a number of my Peninsular friends enjoy the working environment in Sarawak.

I dunno whether u know Fibrate. She is planning to move back to Kuching together with her hubby in the future. She worked for few years in SGH previously. :)

Wyn said...

i had wan tan mee this morning...hehe...

jiejie, bring back some laa...i wan makan...hehe

short holiday is better than none...like me..=(

kyh said...

looks like konloh mee more. :P

ur frens all so ambitious hor, all migrated liao. :P

L B said...

I just had Kota Kemuning Wantan mee!!!!

day-dreamer said...

I read you blogging about this so many times but I have yet to try it! T_T

Michelle Mak said...

we go eat wan tan mee k?
fast fast..
i am waiting for u...
i wanna eat kuey teow theng also~~ :P
and MUA CHI!!!!!

Mediviron UOA Clinic said...

i've never been to kuching ler!

Anonymous said...

I went to Kuching before. Kuching is a peaceful city with nice food. Kolok mee, Sarawak Laksa also my favourite.

Anonymous said...

I like to go back to my hometown too... It is a peaceful place.

Btw, I like that noodle as well.

Jason Chan said...

RM2.80 still cheap what.. sumore got so many char siew.. hmm, i like.

Chen said...

wyn,
this type of noodle has to eat there and then in the coffee shop wan..
if tapao not so delicious already :)

Err.. put it this way
Sat and Sun is also holiday for u mah
Resting at home is also consider as holiday too ;)
This time i went back home, I didn't go anywhere also other than going to the market, supermarket and makan places :D

kyh,
Kampua is also kon loh mee ~ it's the foochow kon loh mee, and the taste is different from the kon loh mee over here :)

If don't migrate out of my hometown, then have to eat grass liao. Cos the job opportunities there are very minimal. My hometown is just a small town :)

Chen said...

LB,
Just now i had wantan too,
just the wantan without the mee,
also known as wantan soup. Hehehe...

And i lup it..
But not full lah after eating one bowl..
Still hungwee :P

And not forgetting...
WELCOME BACK TO MALAYSIA :)

day dreamer,
Kekekke, i hardly write about Sarawak food lately liao.
Actually hoh kampua is the Foochow people kon loh mee, just that the taste was differentlah...

I presume u can find it in Sitiawan since it's Foochow territory :)

Chen said...

mich,
i thought u like assam laksa?
now change to wantan mee pulak?

Wah.. u can eat so many things one time wan ah?

See lah when u come over to Penang island. Give me a call earlier on loh before u drop by in town :)

chen,
Huh? I thought u have traveled to Kuching before since u go traveling so frequently around the world :)

keeyit,
Yeah, the people there are generally more friendly and they always wear a smile on their faces :)

Chen said...

sean,
Most Sarawakians prefer kolo mee but i prefer kampua. Might be because I grow up eating kampua cos kampua is available in almost every coffee shop in Sarikei :D

jason,
Hehehe, u cannot compare the price with the food price in KL leh. Everything in KL is more expensive :P

The wantan noodle in Penang is around this price also but the serving is much smaller. Char koay teow is more expensive (RM 3.50)

Michelle Mak said...

that one gotta see papa wanna bring me or not lor..
i still dono how to drive ler..
btw hor..i cannot eat spicy food ler for now...ueeekkk later...

may said...

if only I could fly in and out of KL as easily as you do! send me kolo mee please? 1 dozen...

seefei said...

kuching most under-rated food is the local laksa. very unlike the penang n the singapore type. just wonder why no one feature it.

i have a relative in kuching and visit often. maybe can bum into you next time!!

Chuang Shyue Chou said...

Leaving Kuching? For good?

Doreen said...

I want that Kam Pua! I so want to go back to Kuching....miss my family....miss the food....

Chen said...

mich,
Hehehe, u go & manja with your papa loh, so that he will bring u to Pg island ;)

Your tummy still not feeling well ah? Aiyak, then u cannot eat your favourite hot & spicy stuff liao..

may,
Very soon u can do so liao
Another half a year to go, right? before completing the 2 years "term" :)

One dozen kolo mee?
The cook or uncook wan? :P

seefei,
Few days ago I saw Sarawak Laksa flavour instant noodle when I visited the supermarket in Kuching. I dunno whether it's available outside Sarawak or not?

Talking about laksa, i prefer Penang Assam Laksa. Well, it's just my personal preferences :)

Chen said...

CSC,
I went back to Kuching just for few days this current trip. Sarawak is my hometown but I have been residing and working in Penang since year 2000 :)

With Air Asia's direct flight from Penang to Kuching, it's much easier for me to go back home to visit my family members. :)

Doreen,
When's your next trip back to Sarawak? How frequent you go back home? Once a year or once in two years? :)

That day I saw the Sarawak Laksa flavour instant noodle when I jalan-jalan in one of the supermarket in Kuching, but i didn't buy lah. I still had the Sarawak Laksa paste bought sometime back :)

I will fly back to Kuching again end of the year, to attend my brother's wedding ceremony :)

yenjai.net said...

ah chen ah chen
Does it really taste like the Sarawak Mian available here?

MNG said...

oooooooooooooooo....meeting ex classmates and school friends fun lah????

What about meeting the bloggers??? That no fun ah????

*drinking more RM6.80 a jug juice*

Chen said...

yenjai,
ah yenjai, oh ah yenjai :)
I never tasted the Sarawak Mian in KL woh,
so I can't tell u whether it's the similar thing or not :)

papercrazy,
Oops, ada orang merajuk liao :P

It's always fun meeting up with people mah, especially someone that u know of, be it ex classmates, schoolmates, colleagues, bloggers, old friends or new friends. I lazy wanna write everything mah. Hehehehe :P

Must drop soey boey inside the RM 6.80 per jug drink wan.. Especially the pinkish guava juice. Too bad there aren't any black drinks available :P

Michelle Mak said...

papa say butterworth can worr...
cause he on-call ler this week..
gee..
so if u are willing to drive down?
hehe...
last week he mei you on-call u pulak ada kat kuching...now on-call u pulak ada kat island..
ish ish

Doreen said...

I go back once a year. So nice you can go to Sarawak so often. Hai.....homesick.....

Chen said...

mich,
Butterworth ah?
I malas go across the bridge
LOL

doreen,
Last time hoh, before the AA introduce the Pg-Kch direct flight, i also balik kampung once a year :D

Soon, few more months to go,
then u can balik kampung again
Time passed by very fast one
Half of 2008 had passed and it's now July liao :)

Cytusm said...

RM 2.80. Very very cheap already. You can't get this price in the south.

Chen said...

cytusm,
We can still get food at this price in Penang, but not the char koay teow lah.

I presume the foodstuff in the southern region is more expensive cos of the Singaporeans? ;)