My Longkang

This is another of my hia pa sio eng ( too free nothing to do ) series.

A good blogger friend of mine blogged about reasons for blogging. It got me thinking about why I blog. I think a better question for me is why shouldn’t I blog if I enjoy doing so Why do you blog?

I learned a lesson the other day about not taking things for granted. I am referring to the Sibu Central Market. Some body told me he was amazed how ‘not wet’ our market place is. He was amazed at the level of cleanliness. Then it struck me he was speaking the truth.

It is indeed a big, orderly and clean place considering its prime function. Normally I just park in the multi-storey car park and take an elevator down. Buy everything I need in one place.

Of course one doesn’t expect to buy expnsive branded goods here but if one is like me and has a limited budget this is the place. It is essential to be able to bargain though especially where clothes and bags are concerned.

I had to act as interpreter and they loved the durians.

It turned out that the humble kampua interested them a lot. You can see from this pic. They had heard about it before

For me, the day was a good day as I discovered the Central Market kangkung cuttlefish. I loved it. I will go there specifically for it now when I have the craving for it. Apparently the recipe has been handed down from the previous generation. Perhaps it is a tall tale but that is what I heard. I most definitely recommend it to any body who likes kangkung jellyfish. It comes with lightly deep-fried tauhu.

Yummy. The pic doesn’t look good. Apparently display is not important to this stall. It is the sauce. The winning formula.

I accientally deleted this post I will repost the pics but I cannot remember what I wrote on the original post. Sorry.

These pics are taken from a visit of some Chinese from Mainland China to an Iban longhouse in Sibu.

It being William’s birthday, I decided to spend more time with him and invited Victor along. Being a guy we can’t like for example give him chocolates, flowers etc.Some more my pocket was almost empty. Coincidentally it is almost always empty Any financial donors?

Bukit Aup aka Stone Mountain from an elevated position.

Thus for RM1.80 for three kongpia, RM3.00 for a plate of rojak

RM3.00 for three ice-cream cones

and RM2.50 for tid-bits, Grand total : RM10.30 voila instant birthday celebration . Happy birthday William

Children having fun.

Being adults we can’t have fun the same way so we did the next best thing : feed the fish. May we get our just rewards in heaven hahaahah for our good deed hahahaah.

The fish appreciated it though

Wish I were as energetic as the two of them, climbing high and low.

Like this local man, I was just looking for a place to rest my weary feet.

Let the young ones climb. I prefer to sit back and relax.

Looking down made me feel as if I were in a high position. The aeroplane flying past helped with the illusion

There were a few moments of tension until we realized he was only drunk.

victor woke me up this morning. I was barely awake when Benghui shouted, “Suai ke ( handsome one ) is here. Suai ke one is here.” Then I remembered. william was on his way too. We had planned to go to the Temple of the Tiger.

This is the side of the temple. It looked so different from any temple I had ever visited. It was built in honor of the Seven Star General Tigers.

Victor decided to interrupt my pic for fun . Well, with him in the pic, the pic looks even more interesting, doesn’t it?

We entered through the side door. The main door or the middle door is reserved for the deity and is only open of the 29th day of the Chinese lunar moon thereabouts when he drops by. ( I do hope my understanding of Foochow was accurate. I was chatting with the caretaker this morning. She spoke in Foochow and I replied in Hockien. )

This is the inner sanctuary. It was cool inside like in a cave and there was Buddhist sacred hymn playing on some kind of sound system.

I took the opportunity to take a pic of a local man who made a donation to the upkeep of the temple.

The Red Tiger God was on the left of the main altar.

Note the seeing glass/crystal of the Blue Tiger God. It is the all-seeing eye and thus we can’t hide anything from the all seeing eye.

I looked closely at the sword. It was made of recycled tiles. Apparently, the whole temple and all in it was made by local craftsmen as a labor of love.

It was a typical Sibu community affair all the way. The whole community chipped in to ensure enough funds be raised to help the blind in Sibu and its surrounding regions. For those not familiar with the set-up, the blind inmates also provide massage services and weave baskets among other things to raise funds.

On the whole it was a great day. I don’t have the exact figures. About RM160 000 was raised just RM20 000 short of the target

Our hosts took us around the orchard to look at the various fruit trees.

I was looking for fruits. My hunger was leading my weary legs. Energetic victor wasn’t thinking of food at all. He was only interested in pics

I thought this was a dabai tree. I was wrong I am sure I have a pic of the dabai tree somewhere but I took so many shots of so many trees I can’t identify it any more Anyway the dabai tree at the orchard wasn’t fruiting so the dabai in this post was actually a gift from people to the orchard owners. They were gracious enough to share some with us. Really wonderful hosts.I will remember their generosity and kindness.

This is the Sarawak olive or dabai. It is a tasty fruit unlike most other fruits in the marketplace. How do I describe the taste? I would just describe it as delectable and different.

To eat it, one must either heat in the sun until it softens or as in our case, we warmed it in slightly warm water. Then using a combination of soya sauce and sugar, we let it alone for a few minutes. It tasted great.

This is the olive seed.

The insides of the seed can be eaten too. It is not cheap but definitely worth the money. It is a seasonal fruit. Next time if you visit me and if it is in season, i will treat you to some

Would you like to taste a dabai? Just look at it and imagine yourself eating one. Sorry that is the best I can do for you readers hahahahahahaha.

I had a great time today at william’s ancestral village. victor fixed my desktop and printer. Yippee. It has been out of action for months Iiks… magic hands. Thanks a million, Victor.

These black feet chicken can fetch a price of RM18.00/kg in the local market. It is used mainly for cooking nutritious herbal soups.

These country free range chicken can fetch an even higher price. Perhaps RM24.00/kg. It has little fat.

There were some cute Siamese kittens. Felt like taking one home

This machine is used for making soya bean milk.

This is for removing the stem from the pepper pods.

I really should get a fruit cutter like this. I only need to tie it to the end of a stick and avoid the hassle of climbing a tree to harvest fruits.

When I arrived home, I found I was still wearing the blue and white slippers I borrowed to move around the farm . I immediately called to apologize. It is fortunate they took it lightly. I was so absent-minded I had left my own behind. William told us he was going to treat us to a drink at a nearby coffee shop. In my excitement I forgot all about changing shoes

I knew I would have a great weekend when I was invited along on a trip together with victor and william. The destination was a fruit orchard at rural Sungai Teku area. It is William’s ancestral village.The motive : to sample a variety of durians. I had so looked forward to it the whole of last night I could hardly sleep.

This was definitely durian country. There were durians everywhere. On the trees, on the ground, in baskets, inside the house and outside the house.

I was a little weary of durians falling on my head. While we were there. We could hear durians dropping all over the place. There would be a loud thud as a durian drops to the ground.

This man picked up a durian within seconds of its fall. Such a friendly and kind man. Was indeed an honor to be there as a guest of the family.

Then we all gathered together sitting on long benches while the expert cut durians for us to eat. They had brought us the best the orchard could produce. You can well imagine what a feast we had. Price was not an issue as we were family guests and it was free.

On this particular farm, the fruits were free of pesticides.

After eating durians, it is a custom to put water inside the durian husk as in pic and drink it. The reason being that it is supposed to cool down the body.

Have a great week ahead every body.Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in for Green Thumb Sunday by visiting As the Garden Grows for more information. Join

In Sibu, life is not very complicated and people by and by live simple lives especially those living in suburban or rural areas. Any occasion is welcome especially it comes with pomp and grandeur.

The SMK Tiong Hin school band is a familiar sight to the residents of Sibu.

I think joining a school band is a good thing. They learn music, music appreciation and are exposed to a lot more stuff than most of their school-mates would other than learning how to function as a and/team to produce beautiful sounds.

The inter school wushu competition ended with a brilliant wushu demonstration from some of the judges present.