Facing the sea

We were relieved that it did not rained in Muara Tebas when we were there last Friday. The weather was cool and breezy there as it is next to the sea. As for Kuching, it was all about rain and nothing but wet!

It took us about an hour to reach our destination. My mum followed us along. After we parked our car and paid RM2 for the parking space, our first stop was this restaurant. 

Picture source here

Long long time did not eat here. Actually it has been ages since I stepped into Muara Tebas, a small fishing village.

We were actually standing above the water!!

Life is simple here. Mostly Malay residents while a small minority of Chinese doing businesses in the village. There are few Chinese restaurants there (if not mistaken, it is 3 of them) and they served halal food. You can get the freshest seafood as boats directly transporting their catches to the restaurants.

Coconut throwing

And not forget fresh coconuts too! We saw these 2 men transporting the coconuts (more than 100!) from their boat up to the restaurant. One tossed from boat and one caught on the top! Talking about co-ordination! They must have done it thousand times to be so accurate. The one on the restaurant floor just used one hand to catch the coconut!!

Small boats

To the jetty

As we settled ourselves and ordered our food, we had a look around the restaurant, which made mostly from wood and standing protruding to the sea. Nice sea breeze greeted us so it was not very warm at all that afternoon.

Without further ado, let dig into our dishes! ^^

Stir fried bittergourd with eggs

Steamed fresh scallops

Jelly fish with lots of peanuts and chillies and topped with sesame seeds

Steamed prawns

Stir fried sea snails with leeks, dried chillies and onions

How the snail looked like. Wonder how the shell look like??

I did not take the photo of one dish, which is fu rong egg. Total bill came up to RM171, inclusive of drinks.

After we filled up our tummies, we went to visit the famous landmark of Muara Tebas. The Ching San Yen temple on top of the hill overlooking the beautiful sea.

I know, for a small village with mostly Malay settlement, this temple is like a pride for the villagers. People mostly come to Muara Tebas either for the seafood or to visit this beautiful temple and enjoy the view on top of the hill.

View from the ground

This over 200-years old temple was magnificent with many renovation done around and inside the temple over the years. It was a tall walk up to the temple but luckily the weather was not so warm and everyone enjoyed climbing up those staircases.

The temple on top of the hill

While mum was paying her respect inside, I took opportunity to take some snaps of the views.

View from the top of the hill

Another view from the top

The history of the temple