Food at JB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi ppl,
Long time no post... was very very busy with Surg posting at TTSH. Anyway, after everything was over, I hopped over the Causeway to explore the city of JB by myself, a manifestation of pent up wanderlust.
Beforehand I researched on Wikipedia the nice places in JB to eat, and also found out that JB was reportedly crime infested. So, to prevent risking my safety, I decided to dress as shabbily as possible put everything in a waistpouch. Crazy man!!! When I went to the Central Square I realised I was a major fashion disaster, looking more like a hawker/karang guni man than a shopper.
Anyway:
As you can see already, having spent all my time in Singapore City, having visited places like Vivocity, IonOrchard, etc etc., I was really not used to scenes like these. But the main point of travel is not to impose our ideals, but to understand worlds that are beyond ours. Actually, what am I saying man, it's JB, not some exotic city like Dar-Es-Salaam, Kiev or Ulaan Baator. Nevertheless, yup, don't be too quick to judge, that principle is universal.
And so you have seen the picture of the nasi lemak above. It was my first meal in JB. I purposely didn't eat breakfast at home so that my hunger could spur me to find some food. Fyi, the place is Jalan Sri Tebrau Hawker Centre:
Very few stalls were open when I first got there. This hawker centre has a zinc roof, reminding me of the old market just down the road from my house in the Taman Jurong Estate. That other market is gone now, you don't see places like that in Singapore already.
This was the stall that served me. The vendors could understand some English, service was ok. The fried chicken they served with the nasi lemak was really well fried and the sambal chili was fantastic. This means that there was a balance of sweetness and spice. Once you achieve that with your sambal chili, you win my heart already.
Then I also realised that the stall sold roti canai, a trademark Malaysian dish. So what is it? In my opinion it is thicker than a prata but thinner than a murtabak. It is served with a thick, sweet kind of curry and of course the same old sambal chili. Look at the curry in the background. It's not something you'll find in Singapore. It was very thick, and had something within it which I deduce to be corn or potato bits. I dunno man, but it made the gravy very starchy. Very sweet also. Good stuff!
Halfway through my meal this very huge bunch of girls patronised the stall, must be some class/school outing. I was cursing because it would mean they'd make the stallholders very busy and my roti canai won't be served on time. Anyway, it was.
It started raining very very heavily an there was the roar of raindrops hitting the zinc roof, and what's more the roof was leaky! So a lot of rain came in, it was like a drizzle. Some of it went into my food but I'm ok, I guess being in CGH, SGH and TTSH has made me immune to many pathogens.
The girls started making a lot of noise, reaching for objects to cover their heads with. Worst still, there was a cat moving around the area so some girls were screaming at the top of their voice when the cat came near.
After breakfast, I decided to tour the area and I finally made my way to Pelangi Plaza. It was only about 10 am so the plaza was very quiet. I bought some (pirated) DVDs- Bruno, Revolutionary Road and The Reader. Thereafter, I was quite tired and sat down at a drinks stall. While sipping my ice lemon tea, I took a good break and some photos, as you can see above.
Before I knew it, it was lunchtime. I decided to find the so-called famous Kolam Air Laksa located in Century Garden, which is the row of shophouses you see downthere.
But closest I came to was the Yew Swee restaurant seen over here, which was the only place in the area that sold laksa. Well, I decided to try...
And I did not regret. There was a fragrance and richness in the curry that I could not pinpoint. Anyway, just know that it's very good, although vague memories tell me that the laksa stall outside Coronation Plaza (in Bt Timah, Singapore) is better. Nevermind. This is more than sufficient. And, they had some oysters which really enhanced the taste of the laksa.
As a medical student, I warn you that a diet consisting of this kind of food will give you various chronic illnesses, and you'll end up being one of the many populating wards 44, 47, 56, 64 and 63 in SGH. I did not finish more than half the gravy although it was very good. Leave it alone!
In the afternoon, I decided to watch a movie at the Central Square. It's a pity Inglorious Basterds was not out yet in Msia so I settled for Pandorum, which was really crappy. Didn't know the plot, had too many idotically psychotic characters. Hmm guess I can't be a shrink, I'll grow fat instead. Get the joke? Hahaha.
Nevertheless I had not reached the end of my food trail
Right outside the Malaysian customs, on the way back to Singapore, there is the restaurant mentioned above. Wikipedia made special mention of it so I decided to try and see if it was worth its salt. They sell mainly breakfast sets, but even if it was teatime I decided to order some for myself.
One of the many versions of hot chocolate they sell. In Singapore, milo is replacing hot chocolate the way manufactured silicon bags are replacing beautiful breasts, so being a frog in a well I decided to try this. Good stuff. Definitely thicker and sweeter than Milo. Stylo Milo. It passed the test.
Now if there's anything that affects the way I view an eatery, it would be the quality of their half boiled eggs. On first glance, the eggs seem to be undercooked but they made up for it with their beautiful orangy yolk. Sexy!
And their peanut butter toast. Very crispy, unfortunately I couldn't taste the peanut butter very much. They didn't give a lot of it. You want good peanut butter pastries, go to CGH's houseman canteen and order peanut butter and chocolate waffles. How to go there? Just hope that one of your relatives living in the east gets pneumonia, then you can visit him everyday at CGH. Okok joking la.
Other than the food I had other good experiences, like talking to the owner of a Christian bookstore, and simply just walking around the area. What wasn't so good was the rain and the many puddles along the road. Plus I accidentally stepped on some wet cement and evoked vulgarities from the workers. Luckily the sandals are still viable.