Sate in Kota Jaya

Our order almost ready!

It is not often I open my gates and venture out in the evening once home from work. But with company, and a disagreement in Giant food store; I returned to the nest without dinner for us.  Ah, I will give Sate Man another chance. He hangs his shingle by a back alley near my BHP petrol station. House guest was willing, so about 7 pm, after calling and confirming that he would be there by 6:30, we arrived at the stall to find no activity.  I called him again, and found he decided not to go.  The familiar phrase " Tomorrow I go, come then"  Irritated, but certainly not surprised, I disconnected the call.  Now where?  We began the journey to the city centre to see who has what to feed us, that is NOT Malay food. Chinese was on the roster, but where?  My favourite place is closed for the month.  Right!  Kota Jaya, which I had promised to take Jan to at some point. Good thing she remembers things. So off we set in that direction. I have never been there at night.  Parking the chariot, we began to walk the streets in search of a place to dine.  Resolved to dining on Chinese, we came upon a place with a sign "Sate 50 Sens".  Wow, good luck was ours!  No, not really; after finally finding a patron who could speak English, we discovered that the Sate Man has not shown up for about 4 days.  Must me my own sate man that was supposed to be there.  Ok, let's try Chinese again. Crossing the street, our nostrils were greeted with the aroma of SATE.  There before our eyes was a woman fanning the delicious morsels of sate.  Without skipping a beat, I ordered 20 chicken, twenty beef, (there are never any mutton - and most certainly never any lamb).  Order was to take away - meaning we will munch on them at home.

While I sat and watched the tidbits being prepared, Jan went wandering to find out what else was available. With package in hand, we traipsed over to a local Chinese eatery, where we served ourselves PORK, veggies, rice, and cabbage.  Good eats, our tummies full, we carried our Sate bag and found yet another Sate Man - with different bits of meat on sticks. His were much larger, and he even had the elusive mutton (never gonna find lamb here).  Noted, I will return to this feeding spot again - and know that sate man in my speed dial can now be deleted.  We are going back to this place later today.  Our hostess at the Chinese eatery told us that every Friday afternoon until 9 pm is a street fair in Koat Jaya, so of course we have to take that in to really understand Kota Jaya and Kota Tinggi before Jan leaves.  Plus, now I know what I will do on my Friday nights in the future. No more watching India, a Love Story for my Friday night amusement.  Hanging out at the street fair has taken over.

I think the order of finding this spot was timely.  Probably never would have been such a delight after a first class vacation prior to landing here if it had been offered at the onset of the visit.  But after being a nursemaid for the other guest, a housekeeper and laundress for all of us, this little jewel was very much a delight.  After our adventure today we will be able to sit and contemplate our next adventure in Phuket and how we plan to indulge our senses there.