By some weird trick of the light, this is how the ships looked off the coast of Miri this morning -- for all the world as though suspended in mid-air:


But this is just by the by. What we're going to talk about here is food. Because there are lots of good places to eat in Miri, and I haven't talked about any of them yet.

My absolute favourite is the Summit Cafe, which serves Kelabit cuisine. The vegetables are superb, and pretty much everything has a texture and flavour that are interestingly different.



On the subject of unfamiliarity, there's nothing quite like a visit to Miri's Tamu Muhibbah for reminding you that you know pretty much zilch about this land you're going to call home... I have no clue what half the stuff in the market is, and will definitely have to get a local to give me a guided tour at some point. Cool bit of research coming up!


And on the subject of vegetables, getting enough of them is a constant challenge to the traveller, so it's worth noting that 138 and the Rainforest Cafe also offer interesting vegetable dishes for lunch (eg, sweet potato leaves and midin, otherwise known as jungle fern).


Over in the new part of town, there are plenty of places offering those essentials of post-work life, namely, decent coffee and a relaxed environment to drink it in... We particularly liked Little Roast Co and Chapter One. Further out towards Tanjong Lobang is Moongrind Kingdom.



In similar vein, Crumb, one of the first places to arise from the Times Square development, is a sophisticated bakery that serves a good Western-style breakfast, should you be in the mood for one of those:


And you won't want to miss Tusan Icecream Miri:


We knew "lalapan" as the collection of raw vegetables that accompanies sambal, rice, and fish or chicken in Indonesia. In Miri, "nasi lalapan" is very popular.


And to close, just a couple of culinary experiences from our quick dash to Kuching at the beginning of the week. Earlier in the year, I mentioned the pork leg rice at Chai Song Soon (Jalan Padungan, first on your left if you're coming from the single Big Cat). Well, at breakfast time there's a stall out front that sells really good char kuay teow. This lady's rendition has a good range of tasty ingredients, and that indispensable wok hei. Yum.

Speakeazy, which seemed to be closing down when we visited last year, is back, and they do a range of flavoured tuaks. We tried the ginger one, and the pineapple and pine. What more suitable way, after all, to celebrate the acquisition of a Sarawak visa?


So... we leave Miri tomorrow. It's been a slightly disjointed week, with the weekend somewhat clouded by logistical worries, then the quick trip to Kuching, and the subsequent relief -- the reality of which still hasn't quite sunk in. But we leave with good memories. We look forward to our next destination. And we look forward to returning to this fascinating piece of the earth.