Thursday, October 01, 2009

Gerai-gerai yang perlu dielakkan

I know I owe you my Raya story, but the pics tak daklah to accompany the story. Semua gambaq dalam tangan adik aku si Mail kat Melaka nun. Nanti aku tunggu dia e-mail buang kat aku na…

So, sementara itu, sila baca essay di bawah yang telah aku karang sebelum posa lagi tapi belum post and tambahan cerita baru di perenggan-perenggan yang terakhir. Minta ampun kepada kawan ku yang separuh Melayu separuh Scottish kerana this entry, I wrote in a mixture of English, Malay and Penang. Words you don’t understand, you can always ask me for clarification.

Masalah-masalah yang timbul bila masa aku pi tapau kat Giant.

There is this one stall that sells popiah basah. Very suitable for me who has problem digesting carbohydrates. The filling is nice enough but the skin is a bit tough and chewy. But since I do not exactly have much choice, I find myself frequenting them, the budding entrepreneurs of 2 young boys and a girl.

Initial visit I ordered 2 pieces but found it was not enough for my, well… I have to admit, extended stomach. I should really make do with 2 since I am desperate to say goodbye to the flabs, but…. If I go hungry, then… I will start reaching for more forbidden stuffs… Alasan….

So next visit, I ordered 3. “Alah, kak… tambah lah lagi satu sebab 4 keping RM 3…” Siap dengan muncung-muncung lagi, head to the side, kata si dia yang kerjanya membalut tempahan pelanggan.

“Errr… tak pe lah… karang tak habis pulak….”. And I meant what I say as my tummy is happy with 3. However after that everytime I go and order 3, the muncung will come and the head tilt will swiftly follow.

I resisted and resisted with the same excuse. So one day, which was last week actually, I closed my eyes and said okay. Balik office, and I could only manage 1 piece of the very much pushed 4th popiah.

Next trip ? Well before he could say anything, I told him, “3 je ye adik, 4 tak habis … buang aje….” And the boy said nothing.

Success ! Well I have to wait for my next purchase lah kot to see if it really works. (Latest update : It didn’t. I still have to endure his …. ermm….manja-manja persuasion. Yuck.. Tapi kalau yang perempuan tu punya turn bungkuih membungkuih or budak laki yang lagi satu tak pa... depa tak serve pelanggan dengan muncungan manja... He he)

Masalah kedua came from this new stall selling Sarawak food, which I adore. I love Mee Kolok and Laksa Sarawak, which this stall sells. So tak nyempat-nyempat, I ordered 1 Mee Kolok. It all looked innocent enough initially. She prepared the noodles and the condiments and put them in a huge bowl. Then the dressing for the noodles. In went kicap, chillie paste, 1 spoon of garam and…… 1 equal sized to the garam spoon of ajinomoto.

I gulped. And began screaming hysterically….inside. Err….. manyaknya mak aji dia letak. My head in a frown as I watched her stir the dressing and then dump the whole lot on the noodles. Dah lah banyak, pastu tak masak pulak tuh ?

Shall I remain courteous, maintaining my smile or do I say something ?

Watched her packed it all up, passed it to me and I in return paid up without saying anything. Went back to the office and opened up the package and looked at it for the longest time, daring myself to eat it. When I finally did, I was wholly disappointed as bukannya sedap sangat pun… Actually it was quite tasteless…. Laa… kalau tak letak mak aji tu ntah apa-apa rasa ntah..

I threw it away, turun bawah and made my stomach larger by scoffing down pisang goreng. Damn !

Now talking about that reminds me of something that happened ... well more happened because my lil bro Mail was the perpetrator. Ha ha... it is funny...

Anyway one day Mail and another sibling went to a gerai somewhere in Sek 8 to buy mee goreng. The scrumptiousness of this said mee goreng has traveled far and wide and reached our ears. So we dispatched Mail and another one (sorry whooever you are.. Ala cannot remember because Mail was the one who told the story...) to bring it home.

Mail said while there, he observed that the tukang goreng mee was so Ajinomoto happy, he has no doubt now why people has been raving about it. Mail, bless him tried to be sarcastic.

“Bang, saya punya ajinomoto lebih ye….”

Abang tu punya jawapan ? “Okeh…” and double up his msg, khaaaaaaas untuk Mail.

Kah kah ! Padan muka ! Buat lagi, adik oii…

Mail tak terkata apa, diam seribu bahasa…

Untuk menambahkan cerita sebab ada kena mengena dengan karangan ini, Monday kelmarin, my first non-puasa day after Raya, where else to go except to Giant for lunch. Pusing-pusing and spotted a new stall selling pasembor. Don’t know whether my family being Penangites has anything to do with it, but I do love pasembor (and I also love Sarawak food kan ? Banyak cerita sungguh aku ni, Kesudahannya, I love eating… he he…)

Again, tak nyempat-nyempat I asked for one pasembor. Sian jugak tengok pakcik tu bila dia cuba nak ikat kuah rojak. Beberapa banyak kali pusing, tak jugak jadik. Rasa macam nak mintak bagi aku ikat buang pi untuk dia. Last – last, dia berjaya jugak lah ikat, although to my very expert eyes (he heh) it was a rather flimsy tie.

Anyway, brought it to the office, had a taste and closed my eyes. As I put it to my mom later that evening, “Sapa lah habaq kat pakcik tu pasemboq dia sedap… Depa saja kenakan dia tuh….”.

Menyesal okeh sebab punyalah tak sedap, aku tutup mata kerana tak sanggup melihat dunia ini yang sungguh kejam. Sampai hati dia juai pasemboq dia yang manih and cayaq tu kat aku. Sapa yang tipu hang kata kuah pasemboq hang buleh buat juai ni pakcik weii....

So, don’t say that I never warned you !!

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