Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Mi Rebus Tuesday

Today is Tuesday. It was the tradition amongst bloggers, introduced by Nuraina Samad (with a big part played by an avid blog reader, Maria "Kak Ton" Samad), Mi Rebus Tuesday (As Rocky calls it, MRT!) sometime in early March, first at Cafe Fourteen (Opposite Section 14 Mosque in Petaling Jaya) and in early May, it moved to its new venue, Maria and Roslani's serene and elegant residence in SS 7, Kelana Jaya.

MRT was suspended because of Ramadhan. It is still Hari Raya holidays to many, especially the Muslim, including the MRT gracious host, MRT has not been reactivated. However, since keeping up with traditions (Yes, I am that sort of person!) and I am in Johor Bahru, we did our usual 'compulsory ritual' which is to have Mi Rebus. This is the imfamous Mi Rebus Hj. Wahid, carried on the tradition by his son, Hj. Halim Wahid, now in Plaza Angsana.

We got Halim Bai (as he is known by his regular customers) to pack 12 orders of 'Mi Rebus Special' to take back to Kuala Lumpur, for the people at the ranch. I am amazed at the speed Halim Bai prepare each plate of Mi Rebus. Its hardly one minute, to get the plate ready!









This Mi Rebus is really outstanding. As far I can remember (when I was less than three years old), my Abah has taken me for this sumptuous Johor Bahru 'fast food' since it was at the eatery place in front of the Johor Bahru train station. Then it moved to Komtar food bazaar (outside). Then the Johor Bahru bus station (where Persada is now), Tepian Tebrau (the food court infront of Sultanah Aminah Hospital) and since ten years ago, it is at its present location, Plaza Angsana food court.

Mi Rebus Hj. Wahid (Halim Bai) is a must to many, when in Johor Bahru. I specifically remembered when the last time former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was in JB (on 10 February 2007) and gave a talk at the New York Hotel, Wadihana, one of my pals was asked to 'tapau' some Mi Rebus from this stall for him to take back to Kuala Lumpur.

Halim Bai has been to Kuala Lumpur so many times, to serve his well known Mi Rebus. When my sister got married in 1999, Abah got Halim Bai to come and serve Mi Rebus for the tahlil the night before the nikah ceremony. As far back as the eighties, I remembered Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat, then Minister of Information, asked Halim Bai to serve Mi Rebus at his usual open house. Tan Sri Mohamed even brought Halim Bai to Jakarta when he was the Malaysian Ambassador (1982-86). Halim Bai was in Muo yesterday, for Menteri Besar Dato' Ghani Othman's openhouse in Sungai Mati.

11 comments:

mob1900 said...

Can tapau Halim Bai and his warung to us at KL ar? Yes, as in his whole stall so we can have mee reebus everyday! ;0

zorro said...

It is a MUST EAT for me everytime I pass thru JB. This goes back to the mid 60s. Did you tapau some for US?

Zakhir's Zoo said...

Mob,

Cannot la. In Klang Valley, we have the Maria Samad's MRT! That's the Klang Valley bloggers trademark :)

Anonymous said...

Cant wait for the bloggers' MRT to resume next week.

A Voice said...

Hey guys

The nearest thing to Halim Bai's MR Hj Wahid is Uncle "Haji" Don in Sri Hartamas

MarinaM said...

I don't know about this mee rebus but I love the mee rebus with sum-sum (marrow) that comes from the warung near the JKR in JB. No idea what the name of the stall is but last time I was in JB to go visit the flood-affected villages, a friend got someone to go get for me to bring back home. Yum!!!

Zakhir's Zoo said...

Dato',

I think that one is called 'Mi Rebus Hutan Bandor'. That's good, too!

Zakhir's Zoo said...

A Voice,

The one in "Haji Don" Plaza Damas is Nasir Wahid, one of Hj Wahid's son. He used to operate in Uncle Don's next to Wisma Denmark.

NURAINA A SAMAD said...

zakhir,

actually, it was ahirudin attan (rocky) who started MRT. started with a small group of bloggers who were at the high court at denmark house giving rocky (and jeff ooi)support in their court case (NSTP & 4 others vs rocky and NSTP & 3 others vs jeff).
since Kak Ton was supplying the mee rebus for her bro-in-law's cafe, and Rocky was craving for Spore/Johor mee rebus, we decided to meet there. the makan/meeting/discussion/ proved stimulating and interesting and all that is good-lah. then Kak ton "retired" from the mee-rebus supply-to-the-cafe.
she thought it was a good idea to continue MRT at her home.

the rest, as they say, is history,

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