Things Bintulu # Tamu

Sunday is a great day to do shopping at Bintulu's 'tamu'. At the 'tamu' ( local jungle produce market) one can get very exotic about things. Try eating 'sago worms', tiny fresh water turtles, frogs, rare jungle herbs and ferns, shoots of rattan climbers, bananas of all sizes and varieties, mangrove crabs, wild pigeons, ripe and unripe wild fruits...the list is endless depending on the seasons, geographical location and accessibility to the rural countryside.
Thus on every Sunday the sellers' repertoire is forever wondrously changing. This Sunday was no exception.

You need to skin off the frogs before consuming them in styles of your liking. Grilled, curry or deep fry.


The thick skin of rattan shoots are peeled off exposing a soft core that are best served roasted or sliced into smaller pieces as cooked vegetables in curry, boiled or salad. Most popular rattan species harvested for its shoots are what the local Ibans here call 'Upa Lalis' ( Plectocomiopsis geminiflora)

These huge bananas ( Musa sapientum L.,)called 'Pisang Tanduk' literally meaning ' Banana Horn' in Malay, are not eaten raw but are normally sliced and done as banana fritters

(Note:In front of the jungle produce seller are yams.)

Banana fritters from 'pisang tanduk' are my favourites for afternoon tea.

Things Bintulu # Fresh Fishes

Now back at Bintulu, my instincts tell me to rush for the fish market. Fresh fishes is synonymous with Bintulu among many others like natural gas, deep water port, timber country, oil palm country and hydro-power. It has a vast expanse of open sea that reaches the coasts of Cambodia and Vietnam to the north, Thailand to the west and Philippines to the east. But more importantly the local Melanaus who are natural fishermen and sailors were once known to send the last of the remaining pirates off the coast of Bintulu and never to return back. Today they go fishing farther offshore and their catches are sold at the popular fish markets in town. All sorts and sizes of deep sea fishes are obtainable at the fish market. Compare to what I get in Kuching, I'll put Bintulu fishes at the 5- star status while Kuching's on the scale of a 3 -star for freshness and varieties of fishes at the market's tables. The types of fishes easily available are pomfret, tuna, red snapper, sharks, sting rays, cuttlefish and prawns.

Fish being dried on the fish market jetty and plank walk.

Note the feather-leaved 'nipah' palms ( Nypa fruticans) that live submerged in water. The leaves are used as palm shingles ( 'atap') and sometimes as cigarette papers and fishing floats. Nypa palms also are useful plants to fight coastal erosion and tsunamis.

My favourite market is the one located at the edge of the village called Kampung Baru. The fish market is built next to the Sebiew River and close to the local fishermen houses.

The houses are very colourfully painted just like their boats due largely to the fact that in open seas, the strong colours of the boats could help indentify them from afar.
Today I decided to buy two young tuna fishes that would be smoked or grilled later at the farm.

Local fishermen's houses are exclusively of timber materials and the posts are practically of the hardest timber in Sarawak called the 'belian'. The belian wood will not rot in water and will last for a lifetime, and may be more.