Hawkers Food Centre at Satok

Not to be misssed in Kuching is the nightly hawkers food centre at Satok. It's my favourite haunt for satay, mee, soup, burgers and barbecued chicken and the popular ' ikan terubok'.
In the day time the site is a car parking lot but come 6.00 pm it metamorphosed into a food centre ala hawkers style. Business hours end in the wee hours of the morning.


At this stall one can get a variety of barbecued items like finely sliced and spicely marionetted chicken meat the locals call 'satay' hence the stall is normally referred to as a 'satay' stall and the operator/owner the 'satay man'. Traditionally the 'satay man' uses an organic fan made from local palm leaves to blow the burning charcoal. However increasingly many opt for the electric fan which does the job just as well minus the romanticism.

Night scenes in Kuching

I sent my daughter off to Kuala Lumpur this evening after spending her Hari Raya holiday here.
What surprises me was the long cues of passengers checking in at the low budget carrier counters. I imagine there will be more cues in future as more people are opting to travel the cheaper alternative in view of rising costs of living, inflation and more point to point travel. I understand beginning of next month there will be more direct flights to and from Singapore utilising Malaysian as well as Singaporean low budget carriers from Kuching. Presently there are direct flights from Kuching to Jakarta ( thrice weekly), Penang,Johore Baharu and Kuala Lumpur by the local budget carrier, Air Asia.


Then on the way back from the airport me and my Mrs stopped for 'Roti Canai' which is equivalent to a pancake at a corner restaurant. But surprise! there is an outside extension to the restaurant just across the road where customers can watch TV projected on a big screen and under a canopy just in case it rains.

4 C's shopping at Satok night market.

The Sunday market at Satok,Kuching city starts regularly on Saturday afternoon and will end the following Sunday afternoon to make way for street sweepers and cleaners  clean up the place come Monday.

On any office days ( Mon - Fri ) the place will resume to become paid car parking areas.

I visited the Satok Sunday market area Saturday night and found the place buzzling with night shoppers who prefer to go out after their day's work and  the temperatures much cooler. The choices of fruits, vegetables,meat, fish, textiles, magazines, handicrafts, cooked food, etc here are a plenty.

The recently popular 'dragon fruit ' which is a kind of cacti are seen in the foreground. A kilo of these red-fleshed fruits can fetch RM 8 - 12 a kilo depending on size and quality.

Orchids in various forms and sizes are displayed. They can either be local varieties or imported ones.

Bargaining is the accepted behaviour here. If you don't bargain the extra profits goes to the trader.  Drive a hard bargain and you'll be pleasantly surprised at how cheap things can be at the Satok Sunday market.  To recap, I find that people shop at the Satok night market for the four C's. Convenience, Choices, Cheap and Cool.

Night shopping at Satok

I am back in Kuching again after spending a month in Bintulu.  We arrived Kuching on the 27th September mainly to celebrate our Hari Raya here in Kuching. It has been announced through TV that this year's Hari Raya shall fall on the 1st of October. Last night we checked out the market at Satok and was surprised to note that the shopping hours have been extended till midnight.  Tents were set up to allow shoppers to do their last minute shopping.