After a session of serious discussion , it was time to be rewarded for the hard work and have a break for lunch, and oh ya, all this happened in Kota Kinabalu which the East Malaysians usually refers to as Api- Api. An even older name for KK is Jesselton . I asked Mr Host the origin of the name Api-Api, and he mentioned that there was once a big fire , which caused a lot of yelling and screaming of Fire ! Fire ! ( fire = api in Malay) hence the name. I looked up the WWW for some info , the below extracted from http://www.answers.com/topic/kota-kinabalu-2
The original name meant ‘Fire-Fire’. There are several theories as to the reason for this name. One is that pirates from the Sulu Archipelago kept burning it down. Another, that frequent fires occurred during festive seasons when flying sparks from firecrackers burned the thatched roofs of the wooden structures; and a third, that it may be derived from the avicennia tree which grew in abundance along the coast and was used for kayu api ‘firewood’. The original settlement was founded on Pulau Gaya, an island, but it was burnt down in 1897. A new settlement was built on the mainland in 1899 and named after Sir Charles Jessel, the vice-chairman of the British North Borneo Company. It was renamed in 1968 as the ‘Fort of Kinabalu’ after kota ‘fort’ and Mt Kinabalu. This name comes from the Kadazandusun aki nabalu ‘Revered Resting Place of the Ancestral Spirits’ from aki ‘ancestor’ and nabalu ‘mountain’.
Back to lunch….we ( I mean they) said that we should just go for something light, so Mr Host host suggested beef noodles at Luyang area. Sounds good to me !
Restoran Apiwon offers 4 main selection : tuna porridge, seafood noodles ( wet/dry) or seafood with rice , ( with rice, wet/dry noodles), fish paste with noodles ( wet/dry) or with rice and beef with noodles ( wet/dry) or with rice.
All 3 of us ordered the same dish – dry beef noodles ( I just couldn’t ‘sacrifice’ myself to order something different as beef noodles is something very dear to my heart ( yeah yeah..in a drama queen mode)
The verdict — yumyumyum…the noodles were springy and even on it’s own it was very palatable , the soup..ahhhhh..so beefy , so tasty .The beef slices were a bit tough but the beefballs were springy and crunchy..…I should have refrained from ordering the iced lemon tea and ordered 2 bowl of soup ! only complaint would be that at RM7.90/serving, there weren’t that much of beef slices /beefballs in the soup.
Restoran Apiwon
Ground Floor, Wisma HCS,
Jalan Kolam, Luyang , KK.
Biz hours : Mon – Sat 7:30 am – 5 pm, Sun 7:30 – 3pm
The next day….
My traveling companion ( TC) had a heavy breakfast ( I think I ate the same amount of food , but I don’t think it was that heavy..must be greedy me talking) and we had to have an early lunch in order to be at the airport by 12. Mr TC suggested to Mr Host – ‘let’s go for cold bread’ , I was like ‘huh ? cold bread for lunch, serious or not la’ and sulk at the back seat thinking of a million and one thing I would like to have for lunch instead of cold bread, I have nothing against bread, for that matter I love eating bread- but not for lunch..and definitely not cold bread…* continue to sulk at back seat*
When we arrived at Fook Yuen – which looked like those old town, ipoh town, apa dia town cafe , the sinking feeling got worse …TC and Mr Host ordered 3 sets of cold and toasted bread for all of us , while greedy me thought that I would need more than bread for lunch 😦 .
About 10 minutes after taking our seats, the digital sign flashed our number…Mr Host hastily walk to the counter to collect our order..
The bread had arrived…
The toasted bread … ..OOOHHHHHHH…..this was sooooo wonderful, I don’t think I have tasted bread as good as this my whole life (told ya I was in a drama queen mode) , the texture of the bread was so fine, you get a clean bite each time. The kaya + butter combination ( no, I didn’t take a peak at how much butter was between the bread) was superb. Everything was superb !
I am not one for un-toasted bread…but I think I am now a convert ! the cold bread – or un-toasted bread …OOHHHHH… this was sooooo wonderful, I don’t think I have tasted bread as good as this my whole life ( sounding familiar ?) , such fluffiness, such softness….a delight in every bite..i wish i could sleep on a mattress as soft as this bread…superb !
Definitely an A++
Bread for lunch, anyone ?
Fook Yuen .
(I didn’t get the address, but this particular outlet that we visited was one of the branches, not the main HQ, I think this might be at a place call Taman Jubili ?)
Bual Bual Kosong 