Last weekend, on our way back from Damai Laut, I was looking forward to 'kangkong fried in belacan sauce' and 'sweet potato leaves fried with plain garlic'. But it was not to be and I am surprised at the outcome!
Earlier we dropped by our favourite riverside restaurant in Kg. Baru Lumut (recently renamed from the misnomer Kg. Baru Ayer Tawar, with a newly built concrete 'name plate' leading to the pier) to get a packet of prawn crackers. The woman recognised my wife and informed her about the day's catch which included our favourite 'mah yau' fish, which I have recently been corrected by a fisherman in Pantai Remis that in Malay it is known as 'ikan senangin' and not 'ikan kurau' which is known in Cantonese as 'soon foong'. SP promised to come back later for dinner.
Before we reached the restaurant, I told her that I wish to have kangkong and sweet potato leaves, knowing that the main dish was going to be the fish. Imagine my surprise when she said, 'How can we finish them?' Actually, I was surprised at myself for having a craving for vegetables since I am known to be a carnivorous or meat-eater and hates vegetables. I was taken aback at her response to my simple request when she suggested 'o chien' or oyster omelette instead, after asking me again, 'What do you want?' I replied, 'I have told you and I did not mention 'o chien'. In other words, she preferred 'o chien' and just wanted me to agree to it. Because of that, she just confirmed our orders for fish and 'kangkong fried in belacan sauce'! I had to forgo my sweet potato leaves and she 'o chien' without giving me a choice! The best part was the bill came to me when I asked for our tea to be topped up with hot water. The fish costed only Rm24 and the kangkong Rm4!
Yesterday evening, I visited my third nephew who had just had an angioplasty and a by-pass operation in Gleneagles, KL. SP was attending a talk given by a Dutchman on ceramics at the Central Market Annexe. When she was ready, she gave me a call to fetch her from our usual place near the Petaling Street/Jalan Sultan junction. I was really hungry and had actually wanted her to buy some buns for me. Whe she got into the car, I told her I was hungry and she said, 'Why not have dinner here?' So we parked nearby. She asked if I knew of any place nice and I was not in the mood for anything special, just to fill my tummy. She then suggested a road side restaurant which she had just passed earlier, opposite the Indian temple on Jalan Bandar. I was thinking of Hokien noodles but when given a choice, she said she wanted to have rice instead. So she ordered a plate of fried beef cutlets, fried chicken cutlets and a vegetable (choi sum). As the woman took down the orders, we had an inkling that the beef dish is priced at Rm15 and the chicken at Rm12 because she mentioned. But when the bill came, the vegetable dish was charged at Rm12! When we questioned her, she gave an excuse that vegetables are expensive these days. For the same portion of vegetable, at my usual economy rice stall in BG would cost me Rm2 for two persons. I know it is not comparable, but then when compared with their beef and chicken? After that, we walked past a 'bah kut teh' shop and I thought to myself, if we had that or ordered noodles instead in the same shop, it would cost probably half. Probably feeling a bit guilty over the earlier episode, she insisted on paying. Moral of the story: KL man should not listen to BG woman when in KL.
It was already 9.00 pm when her sister met us in Jalan Sultan to pick up some stuff, on their way for dinner in Hakka restaurant. She invited us to join them, even if only for Chinese tea. She was disappointed when I declined. It is easy for people in KL to say 'What's the hurry?' when I was the one driving all the way back at that hour.
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