It has been about 18 years since I had been to Sibu, where my mother hails from. As a child we had gone there to see grandma frequently. I thought I was long overdue for a visit there and had bought the air-tickets cheaply and impulsively some 10 months (sounds contradictory but it was impulse at the time of purchase).
I taxied to the airport about 0530 for a 0700 departure to Sibu. I had thought of just flying in, overnighting then fly out again … and not seeing the relatives as we have rather different lives and I was afraid we’d have nothing to talk about.
But word got out that I was coming, and I was asked to pass some legal documents to a cousin. Cuz picked me up at the airport and took me around a bit. It turned out to be good thing as I was helping them out with something and I did enjoy catching up with two cousins.
One of the things I wanted to see in Sibu was my grandma’s old shophouse at 2 Market Road. I was heartbroken to see that the old-fashioned two-storey building had been built over with a five-storey budget hotel.
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- Market Road car park doubles as a night market. It was a bus station when I used to visit my grandmother’s shop.
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- My grandmother’s shop. I was disappointed to see that the classic 2-storey shophouse had been built over with this monstrosity.
Cuz dropped me at the Orchid Hotel where I rested till the late afternoon when I ventured out to explore the Esplanade and boats at the banks of the Rejang river.
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- Sibu’s Tua Pek Kong Temple by the Rejang River.
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- Sibu’s Tua Pek Kong Temple by the Rejang River.
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- Sibu’s Tua Pek Kong Temple by the Rejang River. I guess they’re praying for pretty big favours, judging by the size of the joss-sticks … especially the guy on the left
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- Cargo barges for going up river.
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- Cargo barges for going up river.
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- Express boats for going up river.
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- Express boats for going up river; painting the side while sitting on a pontoon.
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- Express boats for going up river.
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- Express boats for going up river; unloading.
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- Express boats for going up river; loading up.
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- Express boats for going up river; this is a big double-decker one.
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- Express boats for going up river.
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- Express boats for going up river.
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- Express boats for going up river.
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- Ticketing desk for the express boats for going up river.
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- Mum and kids, including one in a baby carrier (intricately decorated with beads in a traditional pattern now seen on tattooed bodies around the world).
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- Live chickens are a common carry-on item for going up river back to the villages.
I found the market; it made me realise that Sibu is quite a different world from Kuching. As the gateway to the interior, the Heart of Borneo, one sees things like chicken wrapped in newspapers and sago worms.
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- Live chickens are a common carry-on item for going up river back to the villages.
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- Live chickens are a common carry-on item for going up river back to the villages.
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- Live chickens are a common carry-on item for going up river back to the villages.
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- Live chickens are a common carry-on item for going up river back to the villages.
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- At the market. The red-faced duck is a common variety in Malaysia.
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- The produce market outside the official Sibu Market.
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- Sago worms. Dad would pan fry them then and eat the shrivelled worms.
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- Midin, a kind of fern. Nice stir fried with sambal.
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- Rickshaw outside the market.
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- Some how this building reminds me of Phnom Penh. Perhaps it’s the verandah?
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- Pork trotters. No flies!
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- Cats waiting for offcuts thrown out from the upstairs kitchen window.
As the day drew to a close, the night market started to liven up offering an assortment of goodies. I had planned on having bits from different stalls but that came to an end midway when a miscommunication saw me stuck with too many sticks of satay! I could have declined the amounts that I didn’t ask for but it would have been mean to the little kid manning the stall.
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- Sibu’s night market starting to fire up.
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- While old Borneo still exists in Sibu, things are changing. Google Street View is coming … and they’re staying at my budget hotel!
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- Mall in Sibu.
