When travelling along the Western Peninsular Malaysia, one will come across countless “side streets” that lead to small fishing villages. These side streets are accessible through branch-offs of larger roads, connected by the North-South Expressway – namely E1 (the northern stretch) and E2 (the southern stretch) with a total distance of roughly 600 miles. Each fishing village has something special that the others do not. This special something ranges anywhere from having the best shrimp fritters in the country to the largest open-air beach restaurant. Worth mentioning is the mind blowing variety of seafood and ways to eat them:) Note: please click on underlined texts throughout this article for links to my pictures on Panoramio.
In coastal marine ecosystems, seemingly unimportant factors such as slight differences in water pH, temperature and depth, size and shapes of the coast, undercurrents caused by rivers, predatory animals or even corals; determine the populations of one or more specific species within an area. Today I arrived at a small town called Tanjung Sepat (literally Perch Cape) known for bivalves and mollusk hatchings …. (that’s right, babies). Like many other fishing villages, the economy in Tanjung Sepat was diversified in the early 1900s by demands for natural rubber and palm oil. Having the natural planting conditions for rubber trees and oil palm, people from all over started to arrive. The injection of foreign laborers and traders hence added many flavors and rhythms to the already rich local heritage. Secondary crops like coconuts, ginger, coffee, sweet potatoes and various types of fruits began to emerge. Within a short time, home-based industries such as small scale production of preserved condiments, dried fruits, potato flour, fish dumplings and dried shrimp followed. With the sizable and colorful population in place, the restaurant sector in particular had become increasingly viable.
At a corner shop lot on the main strip by the water front, I came upon one of the oldest cafes that keeps the tradition of roasting their own coffee beans daily. The cafe also makes several types of Bao (steamed buns) filled with different stuffings. I ordered a Kopi O, a very popular black coffee drink lightly sweetened with cane sugar. While waiting for my delicious drink to arrive, I sneaked into the back and snapped a few shots of Bao-making … secrets revealed … seemed as easy as 1-2-3 (ya right!). Several doors down right on the waterfront, I ordered lunch. This happen to be a restaurant that also caters banquets at night (I heard the night view was spectacular). I had a pretty !wow! tasting omelet topped with baby oysters, noodles with the tiniest clams I have ever seen, fried baby squids and steamed ocean perch cheeks flavored with caramelized locally grown ginger. Later, I also brought home some fish dumpling stuffed with minced meat.
Fishing villages like this one and others throughout the country have a common character: they are living history. They are places for the locals, where everybody still knows everybody and their cousins. Outsiders, mainly visiting during brief day trips to eat the local specialties, will be treated as highly anticipated guests. These villages seem comfortably stuck in time with no apparent indication of moving forward … then again, with the abundance of beauty from the sound of the waves to the blinding golden sunsets and unlimited seafood and fresh fruits, perhaps “forward” is always about savoring the here and now. I’ll cheers to that!