pipsqueak's blog

I wanna welcome the new chef, Jessy, to Miri Resort City's "Eyes on Miri" Blogs. I decided to share a little kitchen secret with everyone. The secret to having sparkling clean electric kettle (or maybe other pots and pans as well, as I've not tried it on those yet).

How I came to know about this little "dirty" secret (pun intended) is when my idiot housemates in college got drunk and they got too high and clumsily banged on every partition wall in our hostel. And you know.. Malaysian hostels... partition walls are made with plywood, so the shelf on my wall was bumped and *plop*... my opened bottle of fragrance oil on the shelf fell into my electric kettle just below it. I ended up with an electric kettle that smelled like peaches, I tried boiling water again and again to get rid of the stupid smell (and taste *ugh*). So I got fed up and went to the fridge to get my mind off it and saw a pack of lime.. hmmm... lime.... citrus food, acidic... perhaps just what I needed!

So I sliced the limes in half (about 5 or 6) and proceeded to my kettle and threw all of them in and boiled it. Wala! Super clean kettle!! I could literally see my own reflection on the metal conductor inside without even scrubbing it! Too bad though, the peachy smell didn't really go away.

I decided to present perspective of the east and west back-to-back. This article isn't meant to insult anyone since I, too, have (false) assumptions about places I've never visited.*Drumroll*. Presenting....

Funny things I hear from West Malaysians about Miri/Sarawak/Sabah.

1) Myth: Mirians live on trees.

Fact: Umm.......................... nope!

2) Myth: Mirians are rich because it used to be an oil town.

Fact: Oil = $$$$, but not all of us are fortunate enough to strike oil in our backyards... Not to mention, we have a lot of Miri tycoons who are in the timber industry. Still, that does not mean all Mirians are filthy rich, so setting up a business quickly to target the 'rich Mirians' will fail as people are smart and will see the motive.

3) Myth: Mirians are slow paced and Miri is a slow, dead town.

Fact: Miri has a relaxed atmosphere and is a city that has no urgency to it, therefore reflecting a healthier and better lifestyle. There really is no need for a fast-paced lifestyle anyway.

4) Myth: Miri is a few hours bus ride away from KL.

Fact: It's 2 hours flight away. I think buses aren't that high tech yet to float across the sea. Also, a lot of companies (mainly dealing with supply) always hold product seminars at KL, and asks Mirians to 'come for the funlah'. Return air ticket = RM4xx, hotel stay = RM80 per night, transport from KLIA = RM70.... no way hosé.

5) Myth: Miri is in Sabah.

Fact: Where did you buy your Map of Malaysia? Say NO to pirated maps.

6) Myth: All Sarawakians live in Kuching

Fact: You have no idea how many times the question "Oh you are from Kuching?" when I tell people that I'm from Sarawak. I'm from MIRI! MIRI! M. I. R. I. !

7) Myth: The Ibans who live in long houses in the jungle slits human throats and eat human flesh or something along the lines that is equally outrageous.

Fact: On the contrary, the Ibans for example are very generous and hospitable people. They also equip their long houses with entertainment systems better than what I have at home such as Astro, Dvd player, tv, karaoke and playstation (I'm not kidding!).

The Top Myths of KL Among Mirians

1) Myth: Kuala Lumpur is Selangor

Fact: Kuala Lumpur is located in the state of Wilayah Persekutuan and Selangor is a nearby state which contains cities/soon-to-be cities/townships like Subang Jaya, Petaling Jaya, etc. It's common for Mirians to call the whole state of Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan "Kuala Lumpur" interchangeably. E.g. Typical Mirian dialogue: "Ya, my son works in KL. He said his office at the Subang area."

2) Myth: People who live in KL leave their house one or two hours earlier to avoid traffic jam

Fact: Somewhat true. Most still end up late when attending functions and events, it's necessary to uphold the famous "Malaysian Time", no?

3) Myth: KL is not a conducive environment for studying.

Fact: Somewhat true, but this all depends on the person studying, doesn't it? You can chuck your children somewhere in Nilai and they'd still find something exciting to do like driving 150kmph to Genting Highlands at 2am just to enjoy the fresh air for 2 hours and then speed back to Nilai at 150kmph to attend class at 8am.

When I bought my first meal at my college canteen in Selangor, I ordered a plate of "Char Kuey Teow Wet". The cook reacted with a "Huh?". So I repeat my order "Char Kuey Teow Wet"... The cook then pointed to the menu in an annoyed manner which showed various styles of cooking kuey teow...

I was surprised, there was like more than 5 styles of cooking kueh teow: Cantonese, Hokkien, Mamak, "Wat Tan" (smooth egg), Singapore, Teoh Chew, etc... In Miri, there was only three styles... Wet, dry and wat tan. It was sooooo much easier to make choices. The food variety is definitely infinite here but I miss a few food in Miri that cannot be found anywhere here.

Another type of kuey teow I eat in Miri is tomato sauce wat tan kueh teow, I think they are delicious. I used to think it's yucky when my cousin ordered it but after tasting hers, it tastes awesome! The cooks at Miri never questions when you order "tomato wat tan", but here in KL... all hell breaks loose when I say "tomato wat tan kuey teow". People sitting at the same table as me gets embarassed and the waiters go into a trance. The waiters just don't know what to do since such thing was never ordered, they go into the kitchen to ask the chef whether such a dish was possible only to come back to me asking whether they can serve me tomato sauce and wat tan kueh teow separately! What's the fun of eating kuey teow if I have to mix it myself!?!?!?! @#$#%@#$

When I was in Miri, Ice Lemon Tea ("Lemon Teh Peng") was my favourite drink when I eat out. The norm drink in KL is Ice Chinese Tea ("Suet Cha" in cantonese).

So when I first ate at a food court and ordered "Lemon Teh Peng", they served me Ice Lime Tea. Thinking that they made a mistake, I pointed to my glass and said I want "Lemon Teh Peng", not this. The waiter just nods "ya ya ya", mumbles something and walks away. I decided to forget it since I was just thirsty anyway.

Then I went to Carrefour supermarket and asked the retail assistant where the LEMONS are, she showed me the LIME section. I finally concluded that limes are lemons here. Of course, this wasn't encountered in every dining outlet I went to... only the food courts, canteens and mamak. The restaurants are an exception.

MiriResortCity.com is the only Mirian website that makes home feel close even though I'm living elsewhere. So I took up the opportunity when Ian asked me to blog about Miri from an out-of-town Mirian perspective.

I hope you'll enjoy it