Kuaci Cap Helang (Eagle Brand Sunflower Seeds)
Published by simon on May 10, 2007For some reason I am reminded of Kuaci Cap Helang. That’s Eagle Brand Sunflower Seeds.
Never tried it? Here’s the story.
Back in the old days (at the risk of sounding old), when there wasn’t such a thing as ‘cineplexes’, we all watched movies in old, wooden cinema halls with names like Rex or Cathay or Lido or Iswaria (that one mainly for Hindi movies la). A ticket cost very little those days, at my day it was two bucks for Class 1 (ground floor) and two bucks fifty for ‘Special Class’ upstairs. What’s so special? No idea. Can’t see much in the pitch darkness. These cinemas were notorious for a lot of things – lice in the wooden seats, stinky toilets, bubble gum on the floor, rats bigger than house cats, but in the age of two TV channels and no computers, cinema was as good as it got.
And there were 2 staples in the darkened hall – one being kacang putih (one day I’ll blog about that one) and of course, the other being the humble Kuaci Cap Helang.
It came in a large flat white paper pack with a picture of, what else, an eagle in the front. Where do you throw the shells in a dark cinema, you ask? Well, the time honoured tradition is to throw it on the floor. So when the movie finishes, and when the dim lights come on, you’ll piles of kuaci shells around particular seats and you can tell who’s been munching on then during the show.
Eating a RM5 combo pack of popcorn and cola in a carpeted Cineplex just doesn’t feel the same, sometimes.
Well, I don’t remember munching on kuaci when my sister and I were small because the whole pack might end up spilled on the floor.
But I do remember my parents purposely bought the side seats so that my sister and I can sit on the steps, hahaha.. I think I was probably 6, my sister 2
the tickets were priced more expensive the nearer it gets to the screen. i always asked my aunt (who raised me) why can’t we sit closer? i remember the kuaci, i also remember once the show’s over and i standup, i’d get kuaci all over my shirt.
Simon, You’ve got a tag…please check : http://godslittleangle.blogspot.com/2007/05/favorite-food-in-your-state-or-country.html
I’m more of a keropok guy, you know the nice huge piece and really crunchy type. With the crunching sound far louder than the kuaci, eating it during the movie probably annoyed the heck out of the people in front and next to me.
Actually.. there’d also be a distinct smell.. (not from the musty so-called velvet seats)..but either gudang garam or ….. weed.
ah…those were the days!
pelf - ew, the steps in our cinemas were dirty… but of course you can’t see it in the dark.
budokid - i remember for a time they stopped selling tix in the first 4 rows. but i remember watching LOTR 2nd row, left!
little angel - hmm, got to jog my memory on that one.
boone - i yeah keropok is annoying. the olden version of handphones.
mott - only special class had cushion seats… and they were usually ripped kau-kau.
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