William Chong

Who remembers this ad?

I think it was one of the first ones I watched when I moved to New Zealand. I didn’t remember it being so clever…

Since then I’ve gradually developed a preference for the Twix chocolate bar – but never say never to well-advertised chocolate!

Ph: 082 232 211 (hotel); Lot 3631, Lorong 2, Rock Road, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia; drinks from RM1.00; food from RM2.50

Rating: None given

Sometimes you just have to smile at God’s humorous sense of timing. I previously expressed a yearning for some Malaysian food in my recent writeup of Kaya + Toast – and here I am in Kuching, Malaysia, only weeks later and fortunate enough to reacquaint myself with some of the unique tastes from my childhood. My dad and I stopped by Fullyin Café for a welcome taste of unadorned, Chinese canteen cuisine. Fullyin Café is on the ground floor of what’s primarily a budget hotel, and attracts mostly local customers and perhaps visitors to the nearby Timberland medical centre.

The place is homely, in a tattered and weathered way, when we step in. Last month’s Chinese New Year decorations are still up, and there’s mellow Mando-pop wafting amongst the smell of spring onion and fried shallots. White half-wiped tables and gaudy red chairs are tessellated amongst simple cooking stalls serving Kuching favourites such as kolo mee, won ton soups, tomato kueh tiaw, various congees (each stall is subleased to different chefs and cooks). A drinks station in the back corner of the café serves up an assortment of hot and cold beverages. This is the quintessential food court setup that is replicated, in varying styles, in cities and suburbs all across Malaysia.

I ordered a tomato kueh tiaw to start off with – it’s long flat noodle strips buried in a less Watties, more watery sauce. I got a couple of baby prawns, spinach and squid in mine – but overall was sorely disappointed with the underwhelming portion size.

To remedy my unappeased appetite, I moved on to a bowl of wontons (called “kiaw” in the local dialect). They’re petite and inviting in the bowl, yet without the shallots, spring onion and chilli there’s not much else in terms of flavour. I ate it all but somehow it wasn’t completely satisfying, as if I was eating something bootlegged.

All in all it was an acceptable meal – whether I’d willingly go back again however is a different story. With the low cost of eating out in Malaysia it’s easy to shrug off mediocre food as value for money. I’m sure, however, that there’s plenty of other food outlets that would serve it tastier, and for the same price.

I got to wander around the Kuching city streets on a wet afternoon. It’s nice to explore the city intimately, with a changed perspective from when you were a child. Of particular note is the Chinatown area, with its aged crumble-concrete shopfronts, the open-drainage smells mildly wafting amongst vendors selling sio-bi and bak kut teh, and the narrow potholed lanes, Chinese lanterns modestly strung across rooftops above.

Kuching’s demographics testify to one of Malaysia’s largest Chinese populations. In the centuries gone by, families from provinces like Hainan and Fujian would make the sometimes-treacherous seafaring journeys across the South China Sea to start new lives, new generations. Indeed, our grandparents made the same journey from China at the turn of the 20th century in search of employment, livelihood and perhaps a good bowl of kolo mee.

Here in Chinatown, men in singlets sit on plastic chairs, smoking and trailblazing through trays of Heineken. Opportunistic hawkers perch around the large 150-year-old Chinese temple that’s popular with tourists and worshippers alike. The quaint character of Chinatown is precariously balanced, however. The big luxury hotels, shopping centres and cineplexes are but a stone’s throw away. These tourist traps loom with high prices and snappier paint jobs – but for authenticity and history, Chinatown still captures the imagination.

This is my hometown.

It’s monsoon season in Kuching. During this time of year, the daily weather pattern follows a script that starts with balmy, clear morning skies, followed by an afternoon of lachrymose rainfall that renews the earth. You can tell whenever it’s about to rain soon when the air begins to smell of palpable moisture, and the clouds seem to be collapsing under their own, water-laden weight.

Kuching is a river city which is capital of the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Etymologically, the name Kuching is postulated to have been a corruption of ‘kucing’, the Malay word for cat. To be honest, Kuching is as cat-crazy as Wolfsburg is about wolves (i.e. not really), and other than the tourist-aimed incidentals and a few city-centre statues, this city is just another city on the equator of the world.

Kuching is its own dichotomy, a city in two diametrically contrasting worlds. While driving around today, I found a strange juxtaposition between the humble hawker stalls of say, Sekama Rd and the massive Sylvia Park-like shopping malls that have seemingly taken root all over town. On the same street junction used to cater for valet-serviced 5-star hotels, you’ll also find double and triple parked thoroughfares with cruise-control pedestrians milling about. Next to a lone hamburger stand lit by kerosene lamps, you’ll find a 3-storey wet market; near wood-framed stalls with bananas, durian and starfruit dangling on strings, you’ll find stores with aggressive salesfolk, pushing the latest mobile phones and computer accessories to passersby.

Yes, this is where I was born.

I’ve suddenly disappeared from regular activities in Auckland this coming week – but don’t be alarmed!

I’m sitting in a gate lounge waiting for a flight to My hometown of Kuching, Malaysia.

I haven’t been back since 2006, when my mother passed away. This time round I’m off to look after my father who’s a bit worse for wear with an unresolved illness. With grace, I’ll be able to help improve his condition and facilitate some of his business affairs so that he’s able to fly back and join the concerned Chong clan in Auckland.

It’s a patient and hopeful wait.

In the meantime, allow me to use some of my free time over the next few days to introduce you readers to Kuching, the township I was born in.

Take care everyone.

This was one of our “stay in and cook” date nights. A bit of freeform, recipeless cooking with a few favourite ingredients as guidelines.

This was in our fridge:

So we had mushroom, 2 carrots, some apples, fresh fettuccine, and some pork chops in the fridge. In our pantry was some packet white sauce, and there was some basil in the garden.

Between us, we like mushrooms. And cheesy sauces. So we included those in our dinner plan.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cut the apples into slices to try and fry it alongside the pork loins.

2. Crush basil leaf into little bits and throw them into the dish at random intervals.

3. Chop mushrooms and grate the carrots. We were lazy so we served them raw on the side.

4. Fry the pork and apples on medium. Our end result was more pork-flavoured apples than apple-flavoured pork – we really should have done the pork chops first, then added the apple.

5. Boil the tricolore pasta with a pinch of salt and some oil until soft and cooked. Incidentally, the green colour comes from spinach, and the red is tomato – the pasta’s meant to evoke the colours of Italy.

6. The end result: a very tasty meal!

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Website: http://www.skycitymetro.com/detail.asp?id=144; Ph: 09 309 3388; SkyCity Metro Food Court, 291-297 Queen St, Auckland Central; Email: kontak78@hotmail.com; drinks $3-5; mains from $8.

Rating: A

Prior to catching a movie at the Queen St cinemas, we looked around the Skycity Metro Food Court for something to eat. It’s not often we trailblaze into the city, and so we wanted to try something new. Just as we were about to look elsewhere, I spotted the boldly lit sign of Kaya + Toast. I instantly recognised the name as a feature of Malaysian cuisine; we had to check it out.

Once down a short flight of stairs, we looked around. The place combined a modern decor of bold reds, blacks and whites with visual displays of cultural paraphenalia uniquely Malaysian culture. Black-and-white photos of quaint Peninsular storefronts, hanging on the red-tiled walls. Comic books drawn by Malaysian cartoonist Lat, neatly stacked on a white formica bar counter. Jet-black tables with DIY hardwood benches. This place reminded me of childhood pilgrimages to the local kopitiam (coffee house).

While empty when we arrived, the 4-5 tables at Kaya + Toast quickly filled up, filling the air with familiar accents and exuberant talk in Manglish. It’s clear that Kaya + Toast is a hub for these expatriates, like myself, to hang out and remind themselves of food from their childhood, delicacies from their motherland.

Kaya + Toast’s menu throws together all the favourites from the traditional Malaysian coffeehouse. Food options include thick-cut toast and kaya spreads, chicken laksa dishes, and home-made fish curries. The beverages range from the popular Malaysian coffees and iced lemon teas, to drinks with names such as ‘I am diet’ (a mix of malty Horlicks and Nestum, a cereal drink) and ‘Charm’ (coffee and tea in the same cup). There’s an eerie familiarity to the menu, and in my opinion the coffeehouse cuisine here is as natural to the Malaysian psyche as fish and chips are to the Kiwi experience.

For my meal I tried the ubiquitous ‘nasi lemak’, a pseudo-platter of fragrant rice, anchovies, cucumber slices, peanuts and a hard-boiled egg. In Malaysia it’s normally eaten for breakfast, and mine came with an extra chicken drumstick. C stuck to a more modest bread and curry, which was well-flavoured and generously spiced.

While the food tasted great, I was a bit disappointed with the small portions and not-small pricing. It’s a far cry from Malaysian roadside stalls that offer more generous portions, and perhaps underscored the cost of importing an authentic Malaysian taste to Central Auckland. Nevertheless, with neigbouring BurgerKing pricing their calorie-laden combos at recessionary prices, Kaya + Toast could similarly do with a slight market correction.

Owner Vincent Chan opened this cafe in late 2008 and seems to have crafted a midcity hangout for homesick Malaysian students, and others well-acquanted with the eclectic kopitiam cuisine. Time will tell whether this place will draw in the uninitiated mainstream crowd and become a permanent fixture at the Skycity Metro food court.