A MerdekaRaya Trip

So, what have you been up to during the special MerdekaRaya break? Frankly speaking, I didn't do anything extraordinary though. I just taken some initiative to drive all the way from Sibu to Bintangor which is located more than 40 kilometers away!

Sounds boring? Yeah... I believe it is. You can either stop reading from here or continue follow my story.

Bintangor (a.k.a Minatang) is actually a small town with not much happening and places to go. The reason for this trip was just to spend the leisure with family members and at the same time, we read from a local newspaper report about the Engkalak at Bintangor is rather cheap. As family members including me are Engkalak fanatic, thus we decided to see if we could find some "harvests" in the trip!

[Engkalak or Buah Tebuluh]

It took me about 45-50 mins to reach Bintangor town. Once we reached there, the first destination no doubt was the native market where Engkalak could be found! Better look for them early than been swept clean if too late! Yeap! spotted plenty of Engkalak at the dark and crowded market with the selling price much cheaper than in Sibu. With RM 2/kilogram, mom had bought quite a few kilos of Engkalak to be brought home!

After a round of "shopping" at the market, we then stopped at Lu's Biscuit Shop. This is an old branded shop you shouldn't miss if you visit Bintangor.

The shop is well-known for all kind of traditional Chinese biscuits and pastries such as the famous "Kom Piang (a.k.a. kompia)" and "Leh Piang" (foochow wedding biscuit with sweet fillings). Most of the pastries are freshly baked and sold instantly.

 

In fact you may ask these so called "biscuits" are available in Sibu, so what is the difference? From what I observed, the Kompia at Lu's Biscuit Shop is generally thicker and much filling than those in Sibu. This is actually the dimension of Kompia one could get in Sibu long time ago, but because of rise of costs and whatever reasons, Sibu Kompia now had reduced in size and its thickness.

[Kom Piang a.k.a. Kompia]

Beside Kompia, the Leh Piang you could find here are also nice to eat with "explosive" stuffing!

[Leh Piang]

Apart from the mentioned, there were a lot more pastries you could try out.

Spotted a very old petrol station just beside Bintangor wharf. Just look at the pump, I believe you will agree with me!

After some walk around, is time for breakfast! Randomly selected a coffee shop to dine on... but had been waited for almost one hours for a bowl of Foochow style noodle soup to reach my table! Frankly, this bowl of noodle not worth such a long waiting at all!

We then continue our journey to another small town called Sarikei which is about 20 minutes driving distance away using its new route. Nothing much had been done there, just had some walk around at the town area.

For those who may not know, Sarikei is a town famous of its pineapple. So, if you somehow visit to this town, don't forget to capture your memory in front of the giant pineapple sculpture which symbolize the town of Sarikei!

After stopped more than an hour in Sarikei, we then headed back home. I know the trip wasn't that existing, but it was the quality time you spent with your beloved family members that count.