1st Official Street Art Mural @ Jalan Khoo Peng Long Sibu

Since Penang street art mural received overwhelm respond from both local and foreign tourists, now there are more towns within the country starting to follow the step of Penang government as a method to boost their tourism industry.

One of them is my hometown, the town of Swan - Sibu. Recently Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) has kicked off the project of street mural painting at various selected venues. Differ from other places, these murals are done by engaging local artists and the theme for a series of murals are based on Sibu's cultures and lifestyle.

The 1st and the maiden mural been produced in the town was the one that illustrated a wharf coolie/labourer located at Jalan Khoo Peng Loong or currently known as Jalan Khoo Peng Long. This is one of the earliest main road in Sibu town center which is nearest to the mighty Rejang river - the longest river in the country.

When road transport was still in very poor stage in Sarawak in early days, water transport through the Rejang river was once the most important and busiest transportation method that connects various towns in the region. Jalan Khoo Peng Long is where all the wharfs to different parts of the region, such as Kapit, Kanowit, Bintangor, Sarikei and so on was located at those time.

These wharfs had become the transit point for goods and cargo between Sibu and other ports in sarawak, therefore wharf labourers were highly demanded at that time to carry weighty goods such as gunny sack of rice to/from/between cargo ships.

These labourers normally carry the weighty goods on their shoulder and they will bring along a red cloth which was used to cover their head and shoulder before placing the loads on them. This is to prevent direct contact between the rough fabrics with their skin and also as a way to prevent dirt.

There were time when the labourers not feel of using the red cloth, therefore they'll tie it across the waist so that it will not MIA (missing in action). Tying the red cloth hard around the waist somehow seems to give extra strength to the labourers to perform their duty which required plenty of energy. The red cloth also became the fabric to wipe off their sweat after hard works under the hot sun.

Wharf activities at Jalan Khoo Peng Long had slowly dwindled in 1990s following the development of road network which connects more and more towns within the region. Hence, most labourers were gone as well since there were not many job opportunity around anymore.

This is the brief story behind the 1st mural in Sibu town - the wharf coolie or labourer. There are more murals to come and hopefully I can/have motivation to cover each of them one after another. ;)
 

Breakfast @ My Corner - Curry Diang Miang Ngu + Pan Mee

Diang Miang Ngu - the Foochow style rice starch paste served normally in pork broth is one of the local delicacy that you can't miss when you visit to Sibu. For the most authentic Diang Miang Ngu in town, you can refer to my post Famous Sibu Diang Miang Ngu @ The Little Alleyway.

Recently I just found out there is a new variant of Diang Miang Ngu, which is served in curry broth, totally subvert the traditional way of serving the food. This variant can only be found at My Corner - a kopitiam that is located at Lorong Indah Timur.

The premises is a bit "hidden" from the main road. If you are driving from town to Bukit Aup / Jalan Teku direction, after passing by Woodland International School, you need to make a right turn when you see shop houses. You'll find a Petronas fuel station after the turn on your right. The kopitiam is just opposite.

Don't be surprised the place is flooded with patrons especially during weekend or public holidays despite its location was a little bit "remote" from the town center. Probably because many Siburians know there are something special at this shop.

The good thing about this area is it has ample parking space as there are no busy premises around. Thus, a worry less while enjoying your meals here.

There is a stall named Bean's Food Corner specialized in handmade flat noodles a.k.a. Pan Mee here. This is the main reason why I came all the way to this place to have my breakfast. Pan Mee is one of my favorite food I used to have in KL, but it is hardly found in Sibu.

Besides that, this stall currently getting its name boosted after its unique and daring creation serving a traditional Foochow cuisine in a non-traditional Henghua-way - the curry Diang Miang Ngu has been reported in local newspaper.

After I tried the curry Diang Miang Ngu myself, I found that it is something worth a try. The curry broth itself is thick enough and has strong curry spice smell. In fact, I personally feel it is a little bit too heavy in spice taste. However, the broth is just nicely cooked and not salty. That's the reason why I can finish off the entire bowl including the broth. A very refreshing taste.

The only thing is that I personally feel some of the rice starch paste are a little too thick. It is not a big deal after all since the curry broth itself is tasty enough to cover the tasteless pastes despite of their thickness.

There are plenty of Pan Mee variations here but I had tried the most original Pan Mee serving, which is in clear broth. An authentic Pan Mee soup (which I used to eat) should have the few ingredients: the deep fried ikan bilis, some sliced mushrooms, some cangkuk manis a.k.a. mani cai as well as minced pork to serve with handmade flat noodles in broth.

This stall has almost all except minced pork... another "not-a-big-deal“ since and they have substituted it with pork balls. The most important factor to determine the deliciousness of the food is still lay on its broth.

Yes, it is sweet and tasty and I can feel the squid taste in the broth. I am not sure if they have added squids when preparing the broth, anyway the conclusion is this bowl of Pan Mee passed my taste buds and it's almost the authentic taste!

A bowl of curry Diang Miang Ngu is RM 5.50 with quite big portion while the Pan Mee soup is RM 4.00.

There are many other variations of Pan Mee which worth for me to go back and try them up one day!