Life's Like That - The Nasi Lemak Teh Panas Story

Was chatting with White, Jett and Kazen yesterday via Facebook and all had been wondering about my silence the whole week. Not been anywhere, just that was very busy with office works and preparations for 2 big meetings on the 14th and 20th of July. BTW, thanks White for being my loyal blog reader. Lalu terasa pressure aku mauk mencari idea hebat untuk ditulis dalam blog tok ... hehehe

Lately I felt so hard to focus on one topic to write for this blog. Some part of me want to migrate to more professional writings, however another half of me felt that I am not ready and should focus on wat I know best ... myself! Or at least inspired others with real life stories! And another problem is that sometimes an idea will trigger other ideas and then will trigger certain memories, ended up with me not knowing where to start the story ... huhuhu.

So lets start the story with me going to Mid Valley Mega Mall at 10.00 am today ... I truly need to start my day with a nasi lemak bungkus telur mata with teh panas or teh ais. It has been my official KL breakfast since 2002. Some might asked, what happen to roti canai? And why Mid Valley and not some mamak stalls?

Hmm ... there were a few "encounters" and "occasions" that made me declare "roti canai" as HARAM. U see, when I was an M44 officer I was very unfortunate to inherit a parking lot which is next to the kitchen of a chain of mamak shops in Pusat Bandar Damansara. Not only the place smells of curry and spices, there is another pungent aroma that fills the air every morning - bau kencing! Gross ...

So one fateful morning, I arrived early to work and just imagine I caught one of the kitchen staff urinating at a corner. Kelam kabut dia when I masuk parking. Yang lebih "grossy", mana ada dia cebuk atau cuci tangan! Yeeeew ... and every morning my staff, colleagues and friends menikmati "roti canai" at the shops dgn penuh kelazatan. And satu kenangan tak boleh dilupa was when I had tea with Madam Heng at one of the shops and Madam Heng said that the roti canai there was verrrrrry nice ... Minta maaf lah .. I tak pernah order atau makan apa2 yang ada direct contact dengan tangan at that mamak shop!

OK ... next about why I choose Mid Valley to enjoy my nasi lemak bungkus ... hmmm. Actually, I quite like the normal, traditionally wrapped in banana leaves and newspaper/brown paper nasi lemak bungkus which is usually sold in Cold Storage or Jusco stores. In Sarawak, the nasi lemaks sold in canteens are usually dried prawn sambal while the more elaborate nasi lemak versions in KL sold in Kelantanese eateries have watery and sweet sambals. I love my sambal nasi lemak to be sweet salty but not to watery. Plus, I don't want to eat in big proportion - jaga jantung maaa ...

In case you all haven't notice, hyper malls like O-Utama, Mid Valley Megamall, The Curve or Ikano are turning more and more Malaysian. There are kopitiams here and there, there are also small stalls like in a flea market, you can choose to spend cheaply or extravagantly, you can even shop your groceries or fresh produce as if you are at the wet markets. And its all under one roof.

So, as if I am having my weekend breakfast at Pasar Batu 7, Kuching or Penang Street, I headed first to a book and magazine shop to buy the morning paper. Next I head to Jusco to buy some groceries and my nasi lemak. To my dissapointment, the supply of nasi lemak haven't arrived yet so I decided to detour to Cold Storage at the Garden.

On my way there, I had to fight all the urges and temptations to try out the TakoTai, the freshly baked muffins at the bakery, Papa Beard's World Famous Vanilla Cream Puff, Laksa Shack's Singapore Laksa and the list go on and on ... Yes! I have a very BIG appetite. Just few metres away from Cold Storage, I felt my body had gone all weak from fighting all the temptations (hehehe..alasan) ... aiyo torture ... torture.

Then I saw this kopi tiam-style stall named My Toast ... mcm menarik! As I walked closer ... I just couldn't hide my excitement when I saw a display of nasi lemak bungkus and nyonya kuehs next to the cashier. I quickly ordered "satu nasi lemak bungkus with teh panas with additional telur mata" before it became "tambah roti bakar, telur separuh masak and mee kari boss".

And ouchh ... reality bites!

"It's RM 7.46 miss" said the cashier.

Huh? Wah so expensive hah for a nasi lemak and teh panas ... my kiasu self said in my heart. Nak kena habiskan sehingga titisan terakhir nie.

Yea ... as I was enjoying my nasi lemak and teh in an air-conditioned kopi tiam stall sambil2 reading my paper, I realised that that's the price that I have to pay just for that little taste of home. Do you know that to enjoy Laksa Sarawak I have to spend more than RM 10 per bowl in Laksa Shack or Secret Recipe? I even have have to drive all the way to Giant Kinrara and spent RM 5.00 for a nice and decent plate of Sarawak Kolo Mee. And there is a BIG difference in Penang Hokkien Mee and KL Hokkien Mee.

Having said that, I pun takleh lama2 in Kuching or Penang. I will start craving for my nasi lemak bungkus telur mata and teh ais within one week. So either way I see it, I think I can now call KL my home.