Queensland Spanner Crabs

I had lots of nice food when I was in Brisbane. We ate some good authentic Hong Kong Dim Sum from Landmark, Sunnybank; good steaks at Normans Hotel but the best is still the delicious spanner crabs.

Spanner crabs are named after their spanner like claws. They are mostly found in the sandy beaches along Queensland, NSW and South Australia. Unlike mud crabs, spanner crabs could walk foreward and backward (not sideways) plus they are already reddish orange even before they are cooked.

Below are some photos that show how big they are and their unique shell designs. I am sure future sci-fi movie producers would use their figures for some alien characters.

Eating By The Roadside

Today I had dinner with my driver. A couple of days ago, he said he would take me to eat some delicious fried noodles (mi goreng).

He claims that this place along the Universitas Iba (IBA University-business school) has the best mi goreng in Palembang and lots of couples like to visit that place for a meal. He used to bring his wife when they were dating to the place too.

We were there early at 6pm. The sun had just started to set. There were not many people sitting along the wooden benches yet. Many cars and bikes were still driving past as the hawker fried his mi goreng. They had a bucket full of prawn crackers for us to feast on while we wait for our food. Free water was provided but I dare not have a drink there.

Next to me was a bucket full of soap water and some clean plates. I thought to myself, "thank God we were the first ones here". I would not want to eat on some plates that were washed by the roadside. Behind me was a small drain with stagnant water. I could not see clearly what was in the drain but I was sure it was not clean. I also got a mosquito bite on my elbow during the wait.

Shortly, the noodles were served and it was delicious! It smelled and tasted very good especially with the fried egg on top....yummy! It was pretty satisfying.

I only had to pay Rp12,000 (RM4) for the 2 plates of mi goreng. I don't think I would go back there again to eat because of hygienic reasons but at least I have tried Palembang's famous mi goreng for dating couples!

What Do You Eat When There's Nobody Cooking For You?

It has been almost a week since my wife and kid left for Malaysia. I am home alone again for 2 weeks here in Palembang before joining them. We have been living without a maid for more than 1 month and my wife has been cooking all my meals before she left for Malaysia.

After my wife's departure, I have been buying "nasi bungkus" (packaged rice). The people who do not bring their own food to work normally order these nasi bungkus. The rice normally comes with nangka fruit (as vegetables), curry and either fish, beef or chicken. They are being delivered via motorbikes to the work place. Each pack costs about Rp8,000 (RM2.80). Not very nutritious but it still fills up a person because of the abundance of the rice.

The photos of these nasi ayam (chicken rice, left) and nasi daging (beef) do not look very appealing because they all look brown and dirty.

After a few days of nasi bungkus, I decided to try a local caterer recommended from a friend. The following photos show the dishes that they served. I had to pay Rp33,000 (RM11.50) per day for 3 dishes (actually 2 dishes with 1 soup). I normally eat half of it for lunch and keep half of it for dinner.

So far, I had chicken+veg with black fungus+corn soup and beef+eggs+chicken soup. The food is definitely better compared to nasi bungkus. The downside to catering is you don't get to choose the type of food you get but the mystery of guessing what is for lunch creates excitement at noon.

Lunch and dinner is pretty much settled for me everyday but breakfast is still pretty boring. We have been having oats for breakfast almost everyday in Palembang. For me, I have had oats since I was young and I hated it. My wife also hated it but it is still the most nutritious food for breakfast in Palembang. We have been trying many ways to make eating oats more pleasant. When we came back from Malaysia during Chinese New Year in Jan'09, we brought back some pork floss to eat with our oats. Our friends also gave us some and it lasted only until Mar'09. After that we have been trying oats with egg & maggi seasoning (see picture below).

I tried to cook something different for breakfast. Found some eggs, tomatos and ladies fingers (left overs), therefore I cooked them up and it looked like this....





It did not taste that good, so I guess tomorrow I will have to buy some nasi uduk (nasi lemak or coconut rice) for breakfast!

Photo Of The Week: Birthday Lunch

This photo was taken during lunch time on my birthday back in Jan'09.

As my wife knew that food is the way to my heart, she gave me this lunch surprise which consists of:

1. 1. Crabs cooked with salted eggs - a delight from "rumah makan Kalimantan".

2. Fried wanton (dumplings) that she made herself.

3. Dried noodles with soy-sauce(called Kon-Low-Meen in Cantonese).

It was a great treat! Don't need to spend millions of rupiahs eating out. I am feeling hungry already and can't wait to have my lunch!

Palembang Pempek & Ham-Chim-Paeng

Today I treated my maid and driver pempek for lunch.

Pempek or Empek-Empek is a delicacy from Palembang which is made of fish and sago. Pempek is eaten together with a dark sauce called cuko (vinegar).

I ordered my favorite pempek kulit (made from fish skin) & pempek pistel (looks like dumplings, contains shreded papaya strips) together with some other variety.

Both of them were very happy but only my maid showed her happiness. My driver was a bit camera shy.

One day I also came across one of my favourite snacks from Malaysia....Ham-Chim-Paeng (deep fried dough covered with sesame seeds and mashed red beans paste). I saw a motorbike vendor carrying these HCPs in many transparent plastic containers. I asked my driver and he said we can easily get these ROTI WIJEN (sesame bread) from the nearby market. So I paid him to buy some for me to try. Malaysian HCP is more fluffy (has more air inside) vs. the fully compact version from Palembang.