LOOKING like a simple rundown grocery store at the side of the Cecily road, the Yap Syn Kee shop is located in what would appear to be the least strategic place to have a store.
It has parking space for only about four cars, and the wooden structure stands shakily, only a few metres away from a narrow road.
However, this place is oddly famous for its homemade grass jelly drink (cincau).
In recent years, the Yap Syn Kee shop – which has long been a favourite of locals – has become increasingly popular among tourists from China, Taiwan, and Japan, after it was featured in several food and travel blogs.
They describe the shop as unique and evoking a sense of nostalgia, which probably comes from the fact the Yap family has maintained the establishment since it was set up over 50 years ago.
The granddaughter of the shop’s founder, Yap Su Fui – who now runs the business – said that her family does not want to make any changes to the shop, as they would like to maintain the “authentic” and “original” image of the shop.
They have refused to move, expand, or renovate the place.
“A place that has maintained its structures and looks for over 50 years like this is very difficult to find now; it would be such a waste for us to change.
“We want our customers to enjoy a taste of authenticity and originality, we want it to be real.
“Some of our older customers often come by the shop just to reminiscence the old times, while the younger generations come by because they love the ambience that is simple and relaxing,” she said.
It is very relaxing indeed. Just a simple grocery shop that also serves the grass jelly drink at a small counter by its entrance.
Customers who want to have the drink at the shop get to enjoy them at two wooden benches placed outside. There are no tables, air-conditioners or even fans for the customers.
They have to hold the mugs and cool themselves off with their iced beverage, as well as with the help of the natural breeze that brushes through the trees, with the sounds of birds chirping, and the weird sounds of insects in the background.
Perhaps that is why people love this place. It is so simple that one can’t help but notice the little details in nature that one might otherwise overlook.
The story of the grocery store begins some 50 years ago, when the Yap family opened its second grocery store 20 years after operating their first one in Sandakan.
The shop was named after the person who started the business, Yap Syn Kee.
The Yap family decided to make available the family’s signature grass jelly or ‘leong fun’ to sell at the grocery store about 30 years ago, and it has become a local hit ever since.
Currently, Su Fui, her mother and her sister are the ones running the store.
They wake up early in the morning to prepare a new batch of grass jelly and start selling them at 11am. On a typical day, their grass jelly would be sold out by 3pm.
With high demand for their grass jelly, the family could have hired more people to produce more batches of ‘leong fun’. But they refuse to do it.
“We are comfortable with the way things are now. Plus, it’s a recipe that has been passed on for three generations. We do not wish to share it with others; it was left for us by our grandfather,” Su Fui said.
Su Fui said she felt strange when flocks of tourists started visiting her store, and that at the time, she was unaware of the food blogs that had featured the beloved drink until her friends told her so.
“It is truly amazing how this little store could be known to tourists. We hope that we could make more people enjoy our family’s grass jelly, but we do not intend to expand the business,” she explained.
Known in Malay as cincau, grass jelly drink is believed by the Chinese to have a cooling effect on the body, and the drink is now enjoyed all around the world with either homemade freshly produced grass jelly or manufactured canned drinks.
The grass jelly drinks at Yap Syn Kee are available in two sizes, with the small being charged at RM1.70 and RM2.50 for the big mug.
Served with evaporated milk, sugar, water, shredded ice and the Yap’s special homemade grass jelly, many first-time customers bring home a few packs of the drinks after having their first taste at the store. – The Vibes, January 3, 2021
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