Sungei Lembing Trip – Part 6
Did you noticed that I spelled Sungei with an “e” when it should be Sungai with an “a” ? I guess you can tell if a person’s from Singapore or Malaysia just by its spelling. It should be Sungai Lembing as I found out. In bahasa Melayu (Malay language), sungai means river and lembing means spear.
Sickly and but I made it!
Desmond had the exact pose in a picture like this and he said, “Sit down already cannot get up. Legs numbed!”
Hahaha, I had to peel my butt off and make way to the market place where breakfast was awaiting!
Lembing’s Public Library.
Judging from the long queue, the most popular makan in the market has to be this Yong Tau Foo stall.
It is said that the Yong Tau Foo are made from hill waters.
Will it make a difference?
Fried bean skin (fu jook) wrapped with fish paste.
Ricky’s favourite of the lot.
Joel loved the fishballs (bottom).
I suspect some meat is mixed into them but couldn’t be sure.
The texture was not as fine as just the plain fish paste stuffed into the bittergourd and green chillies.
Another variation (a little Japanese-like) of bean skin and fish paste.
Fish cakes.
Lembing Noodles – as the name suggests, it is a specialty of Lembing!
Lembing noodles are handmade, or rather pounded by footwork than kneading the dough.
The texture is more al dente than those made by machines.
Locals eat their noodles drenched with 4 (recommended dosage) tablespoons of the curry on top of the already seasoned pasta.
I didn’t flood my bowl, instead taking a scoop of the curry and mixing it with a few strands of the noodles for trial.
The curry was aromatic but tasted just salty to me.
No undertones or umami so I decided to eat the rest of my noodles as is.
As we were about to eat, Benny brought a plate of Char Kway Teow.
I have always preferred the broad rice noodles to wheat noodles so this was quite welcoming.
Not outstanding but good enough.
I cannot verify but it is said that the Yong Tau Foo (YTF) are made with water from the hills and thus the texture are better. Just like mineral/spring vs purified water, my sick tongue cannot detect any difference the hill waters made to the YTF. Also, my city girl tastebuds appreciate our Singaporean’s YTF sauces (there’s 2 type, sweet and chilli) more but the ingredients were fresh and the clear broth was very tasty! One can appreciate the labour that goes into making all these without the help of modern machinery. Simple but definitely not simply food 😀
The best part of my meal after camping in the hill for the night was of course my favourite beverage – kopi peng!
Kopi is coffee in Malay and peng is ice in Cantonese dialect.
This one was really robust and creamy tasting.
Loved it!
The first table were seated by all who climbed and conquered Panorama Hill 😀
I don’t know why Robing looked so stoned when he had enough sleep (he didn’t climb the hill).
There were stalls by the roadside and these weekend (perhaps on Sundays) vendors are not from this town. They bring in whatever the resident may need.
Vendors hawking all kinds of wares from fashion to food.
Some of my friend went on to street photography and grabbing food tokens to bring back to Singapore. Benny said there’s an old clockmaker that’s supposedly iconic to Sungei Lembing. I was too tired to follow them. Better to return to the resort for a hot shower and pack. Time to go back to my big babies 😀
I gave Desmond some money to help me buy their local biscuits – Dan Sha, which is deep-fried crackers with black sesame seeds.
I think my in-laws would enjoy them.
Another local snack, Coconut Biscuits.
Pasar Sungai Lembing
Near Pollock View Resort located at Pollock Creek, 26200 Sungai Lembing. Kuantan.
Malaysia.
Mun Heng Bakery
Address: No. 2 South Main Street,
Sungei Lembing 26200.
Kuantan, Pahang.
Malaysia.
Tel: +6017 9882503
Happy eating, traveling and bonding 😀
By the way, the Lembing Noodles are for sale and can be brought back to Singapore. They do not contain preservatives but will keep well in the fridge for a couple of days.
Our photography outing was lead by Michael Lee of Xing Asia (亚洲行). You may contact him at: info@xing-asia.com or visit their website: http://www.xing-asia.com/
Xing Asia provides exceptional value and authentic experience for like-minded people to experience Asia through photography.
The Bonding Tool 
Great trip, glad you made it back to the food.
I like the look of those deep fried crackers with sesame and very curious about the coconut biscuits. What are they like?
I’ve had the crackers with sesame and they’re kinda bland (crackers itself) and sweet (syrupy coating outside). Interesting! As for the coconut biscuits, I haven’t tasted them.