During breakfast at the town’s food court, a noodle stall owner told me that practically every household, shop, and even hotel in Sungai Lembing uses san sui instead of treated tap water from the local water supply. The source? A natural mountain spring. In fact, if you look closely, you can spot the network of pipes that carries this crystal-clear water from the mountains directly into homes and businesses throughout the town.
Curious, I asked why no one had taken the opportunity to bottle and commercialize this natural treasure. The stall owner didn’t hesitate - he told me that a Japanese investor had once proposed building a mineral water bottling plant, but the idea was rejected by the local community. Their concern? That commercialization would lead to overexploitation of the source, leaving insufficient supply for the town’s daily needs.
And I must say - it was the right decision. If anyone truly wants to taste Sungai Lembing’s legendary san sui, they should come to the town itself - not drink it from a plastic bottle labeled “premium spring water” in Kuala Lumpur or Kota Kinabalu. Here, the experience is authentic - fresh, direct, and shared with the people who live by it every day.
You won’t find air-conditioned or four-star restaurants in Sungai Lembing - at least not in the traditional sense, though some of the newer hotels may now offer more upscale dining. Most people eat where the locals do: at the food court next to the wet market or in humble kopitiams (coffee shops) that serve hearty, homemade fare - with a generous splash of san sui, of course.
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