Snacks & Tit-Bits

During my days at Jalan Dagang, I would follow my mother to a nearby sundry shop, (Owner named Ah Lek) to buy the monthly supply of rice, flour, suger, etc. etc. I would have my share of tit-bits. My favourite - asam kechut, asam manis, tahi lembu (a kind of asam. Imagine naming asam as tahi lembu?) kuaci and sometimes bila tiba musimnya - buah tanduk.

During those days there were no plastic bags. Everything was wrapped in newspapers. For goods like rice, flour and suger they were put in 'kelongsong kertas', made up of layers and layers of papers.

A tin of biscuits was a must to buy. We would dip the biscuits in coffee for our breakfast. The biscuits came in two versions - 'kabin tawar, kabin manis'. Sometimes my late grandma would fry the 'kabin tawar' and pound them finely. Than she would add grated coconut and 'Gula Melaka'. She would called it 'sagun kabin tawar'. At other times, my late grandma would jemur (put in the sun) the left over rice for a few days - sampai kering. Bila 'dah kering dia gorengnya sampai garing. Kemudian diprosesnya sampai jadi 'sagun nasi kering'. Bila musim durian tiba my late father would buy a big basket of the fruits. Habis dipelbagaikan hanya kulit aja yang tinggal. My late gradma memang kreative.

At primary school days, I used to buy 'opak-opak' cicah dengan sambal. Sometimes and most of the times my baju would be smeared with the sambal. Bila sampai rumah my mother pun mula pasang "radio-gram" dia. Other tit-bits yang menarik pada masa itu:

1. Kacang Putih
2. Gula Ketuk
3. Air Batu Kepal
4. Rojak Petis
5. Bubur Terigu
6. Jeruk Jambu
7. Alusmitai (how the heaven we got the name, I don't really know).
Note: Alusmitai is actually candy-floss