Another Weekend In Bandar Sri Aman

Chinese New Year is coming and so is the Earth Ox. With an extra two days off over the weekend for the festive season, I had my time back with my family in Bandar Sri Aman. Since the journey by land through the 'ladang' from Mukah to Selangau is currently in terrible shape (2 hours for 50 km), I detoured to Daro, taking the express boat for a 1 hr 45 mins trip to Sarikei which will be connected by express bus to Sri Aman (Temudok junction to be exact).

Back in Bandar Sri Aman, as usual my routine Saturday will start off with the open air market morning break with my family. Next will be the round around the Pasar Tamu Majlis Daerah Sri Aman for the weekend kitchen supply. It is here that I found some local fresh stuff considered bizarre by some, normal by others or whatever. 'Buah kepayang', 'beras Mamut', 'upak lalis', Batang Ai red tilapia, 'salai' are among the commonly found at the Tamu. But my attention goes to some other foods not very familiar to some people.

The pufferfish (ikan buntal) is a delicacy to some locals (or even the Japanese) but others will just look for other fish instead, for whatever reason known to themselves. Spaoh, a Sub-District in the Betong Division even has its own annual Pesta Buntal where pufferfish will be the hunt of the day.

Pufferfish at RM5.00 a kilo, quite fair.

Those who prefer other fish for their meal will find a lot of choice commonly found elsewhere but the red tilapia is of course special to Sri Aman Division, thanks to the Batang Ai Hydro Electric Dam. It's a brand name for Batang Ai so I guess it's already well-known. But other fish like the catfish ('tekilik' in Melanau, 'kelik' in Iban, 'keli' in Malay) usually makes its appearence during this time of the year. Matu, Dalat and now Bandar Sri Aman, catfish seems to be the catch of the flood season. Used to go into deep jungle back home in Dalat some 30 years ago to get the 'freshest' ones the traditional way. But now those available in the market may just come from anywhere.

This one is for RM16.00 a kilo, hmm. Why do they call it catfish, does it look like cat in anyway?

Beside the fishy stuff, some jungle (not so jungle) vegetables does come fresh also. The tapioca leaves (locally known as daun ubi) is easily available at the freshest as you want it to be.

'Daun ubi' pounded on the spot, as fresh as it can be.
You can do it yourself if you have your own pounding 'machine' at home.

Next on the offer list is something more familiar to Dalat, the sago worms. It's not very common here but sometimes you'll find it at this Tamu. Today is my lucky day, sago worm is here but ... I'm not sure whether I can believe my eyes. It's fresh, it's alive and it's in a group of ten or slightly more, depend on size. This is BIZARRE FOOD!! Really?

BELIEVE IT OR NOT.
RM5.00 per container, that's 50 cents each or maybe just do your own count to believe it.

Ending my Tamu round, I prefer not to have this wormy delicacy for now. I can easily make a good sago worm business with our small family sago farm back home in Dalat at this price. But of course it's much cheaper there, so sago logging business is still the preference.

Weekend in Bandar Sri Aman does not only provides you with the normal or weekend-to-weekend activities. And this weekend proves that Bandar Sri Aman is also good for photo-taking. As I strolled around, I stumbled upon a photo-taking session of a newly wed couple in full gear. That's a good sign for Bandar Sri Aman..

Abg. Ajibi, the photgrapher is my former colleague, a Pak Andam,
a good cook, a good tailor, a senamrobic instructor, poco-poco, etc, etc. etc

Well, that's just another weekend in Bandar Sri Aman. So as development takes place day by day, a weekend here may be different week by week. See you there.

Tomorrow will be Chinese New Year of the Ox, so I wish all colleagues and friends a Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year. Gong Xi Fa Chai.