After that long, 8 hours journey from Sibu, the first thing that comes to our mind once we’ve reached Kuching City is FOOD! We’ve yet to take any solid meals since we left early in the morning at 6 a.m. I’m nursing a sorethroat and any hot, deep fried finger food at the rest stop is prohibited by Mary.

It’s freaking hot and humid here in Kuching, a scorching 38 degree celcius sunshine is burning our skin off. Sitting under the lowly covered zinc roof food court isn’t such a good idea, but the food must be good enough to be able to lure us here! Many thanks to Mary’s brother-in-law, Francis, for bringing us around Kuching to hunt for their best foods.

Kuching Open Air Food Court. Not the orange concrete building.

Another stretch of the food court, which only opens at night.

Inside the food court. The ceiling is made of the old asbestos board and the roof structures made of wood, which is abundant in the timberland of Borneo.

The famous Sin Kwang Heng Kuching open air market Sio Bee (Siu Mai - 烧卖). So famous it’s even being “exported” to Miri! But you gotta try the fresh ones here.

Laksa. Although I’m nursing a sorethroat, but die die I’ve to order laksa, because I’m in Kuching! They said Kuching laksa’s the best in the whole of Sarawak. But, I have other ideas, I would say Miri has the best laksa - and it’s at Jalan Krokop 10 just beside the Krokop Wet Market.

We also went to the place where they serve the best Laksa in Kuching at 3rd Mile, Golden Arch. Also, disappointingly, not as good as Miri’s.

Kolo Mee. This is the best kolo mee I’ve had for years. They “saturate” the noodle with their “Char Siew” (BBQ) oil, which brings about the addictive aromatic fragrance to their kolo mee. Although it’s a bit too oily and certainly not good for the health conscious bunch.

Kuching Rojak. I know this is not the best rojak in Kuching. Nevermind that, cause Bintangor has the best Rojak in Sarawak.

Nothing beats this cool and refreshing 五味汤 (5-flavor syrup) on a hot sunny day. It’s a mixture of 5 (sometimes 6) different Chinese herbs in a sweet syrup with a scoop of blended ice on top. Perfectly cooled me down after a bowl of hot laksa.

Bb had her favorite ABC.

This concludes my first day in Kuching City. Stay tuned for more stories from the Cat City!

Apart from its kampua and kompia, there’s another thing Sibu is famous for, the Diang Miang Ngu. Specifically, it’s Chop Hing Huong’s Dian Bian Hu.

“Diang Miang Ngu”(鼎边糊, similar to Taiwan’s 鼎边銼)- a savoury soup is available at many stalls as a late night supper. A popular joint is in an alleyway by Jalan Blacksmith.

- Wikipedia

Mary’s in town and she had been wanting to taste the Diang Miang Ngu for quite some time now, we both headed downtown to hunt for the classic food of Sibu.

This is Chop Hing Huong. I think it’s over 50 years old. Who can give me an exact age of how old this business is? Not many people know its name, but most people will refer it to as the “Little Alleyway’s Diang Miang Ngu shop”.

Sibu is where the kampua and kompia originated from. Over the decades, the title of the “Best Kompia” had always been in the hands of the auntie at Tiong Hua Road, but in the last decade or so, at Taman Muhibbah, there’s this uncle by the name of Ah Kuok, came up with his own recipe of kompia and it’s attracting kompia lovers from all over the state.

“Kom Biang” (光饼)- a Foochow delicacy made with flour, baked in an oven and eaten either with or without meat and a special gravy. It is somewhat similar to a bagel. However, it can be either in a crisp or soft version. Nice soft kompia dipped in pork sauce can be sought from Tiong Hua road and the Sunday Market at Pedada road.

- Wikipedia

This is the Ah Kuok kompia stall. You can’t miss it once you’ve stepped into Taman Muhibbah food court (just a few blocks beside Delta Mall), with his signature “KL Twin Tower” replica. He claimed that the towers “construction” costs him about RM800+. He draws the idea with his visits to KL some time ago, and came back to built this model for his own shop. Very patriotic of him!

Mary was in town for the Ching Ming festival, I wonder if it’s right to classified it as ‘festival’ since no one is actually celebrating it. Moods were mostly subdued with thoughts of their loved ones from the other part of the world.

Anyway, whenever we meet, food is the top agenda. Pizza Hut is one of our targets this time. I don’t really fancy pizzas, but I really loved their onion bread and roasted chicken wings! It’s been a very long time since I last stepped into Sibu’s Pizza Hut, a lot has changed.

Nowadays we don’t get to scoop our own mushroom soup, everything is brought to your table. Cutleries, food, soup, bills, etc. Back then, it was mostly self-service, even when it comes to payment. But now, you’ll just have to diam diam sit down, eat, pay, stand up, pat your ass and walk away.

We order the stuff-crust seafood pizza set deal that comes standard with the Pepsi drink and the Onion bread.

The onion bread.

We side-ordered the roasted chicken wings. A must have for any visits to Pizza Hut!

Breakfast and tea time outlets are popping up everywhere in West Malaysia and it’s just a matter of time this culture hits the shore of Sarawak.

Kaya Toast is a local, brand new, breakfast concept shop originated from the capital Kuching. It now has stores spreading all across the vast state, including 2 in Miri, and another one in Bintulu.

This is the outlet in Miri’s CBD.

Apart from the annual flood, Sibu’s Tiong Hua Road has other hidden treasures for travellers to discover. Just ask any Siburian about the direction to Tiong Hua Road’s kompia house, I’m sure you’ll have the answer.

Don’t worry, it only floods during the Chinese New Year.