William Chong

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.

Not much to say, except that I’m pretty envious of Rainbow and Tommy and all their exciting breathtaking travels.  One day I’ll have the means to do the same – I’d better try a different country to get some variety in our collective photobooks!  RB if you read this, I’d love to have a full-sized picture of the beautiful Lake Louise and the chatel you had lunch at.  Thanks for the postcard!

Oh yes, the title – I dropped Chinese 210.  I know, shock horror.  But I decided to do it within the 2-week grace period… pretty much the level of Chinese is just a bit too high for me.  110 was perfect for me – whilst I’m harrassing my Chinese dictionary full-time during Nora Yao’s classes, which was a bit disconcerting.  I may keep attending lectures though, and see what she says.  Teehee.

Two assignments to work on – aside from the food diary thing (you feel very bad writing in 150g of Rocky Road Ice cream, or 170g of Domino’s Pizza, haha) we also have a motor control lab report to type up.  Might start on that tomorrow and Friday.  These readings are actually really interesting, but there’s a lot to do.

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Got tickets to see the Macleans production.  This year it’s “Beauty and the Beast”… Disney songs are the most lyrical and well-written.  Those lyrics are very timeless, lots of people would agree with that!  Anyways, gotta sleep.  Take care!