Ride on Time

Chapter 52

Mitsuo decided to try out the town's best nasi lemak which was only served at dinnertime. It was a famous one, but the stall was quite far from the hotel.
So he had to take a Grape car.
It was a good thing he already downloaded the app and prepared it in case he needed it. It was fairly easy to use and the fare wasn't all that expensive too.
A Toyota Corolla Altis soon arrived, picking him up from the hotel lobby, and they were off.
"This Nasi Lemak Atap in Seapark, right?" The middle-aged Chinese driver asked.
"Yes," Mitsuo nodded, looking at his phone. "Is it good? It has reviews saying that it's the best nasi lemak in Petaling Jaya."
The driver nodded. "Yeah, good. Very nice, their nasi lemak. Price also okay, around six ringgit only, and they give full set."
Mitsuo nodded to himself. "Okay. I wanna try it too."
"You tourist ah?" The driver glanced at him.
"I guess, since this is my first time in Petaling Jaya."
"From where?"
Mitsuo debated whether he should say it. He sighed and decided to just go with it. "Japan."
"Oh, Japan!" The driver lit up. "Which part? Tokyo is it?"
"No, I'm from Kyoto," Mitsuo said.
"Ah... I see, I see."
He then went on talking about how he loves Japanese food and where the best ones were found.
"There's one restaurant in Seapark also, very near to Nasi Lemak Atap, actually," the driver said. "The name is ah... aiya, what ah? Ah! Nihongo Japanese Restaurant!"
Mitsuo couldn't help but snort at the name. Nihongo already meant Japanese. What was the use of adding the word Japanese next to it? Japanese Japanese Restaurant would be the name if it was translated to English.
"Very funny ah, the name," the driver grinned. "What is Nihongo ah?"
"The Japanese Language," Mitsuo answered. "Nihongo is the name of the language."
The driver went on chatting and chatting. Mitsuo was so glad when he finally arrived at the restaurant.
"Thank you, ah," the driver nodded to him through the window when he got out. "Enjoy your nasi lemak ah."
Mitsuo bowed and heaved a sigh of relief as he turned around and entered the restaurant. He expected it to be a Malay restaurant but to his surprise, the workers and cooks were all Indian, speaking in Tamil as they took orders. Mitsuo gulped and fiddled with his manji as he sat down at an empty table, wondering how he was going to order in Tamil.
A waiter came to him and said something in Malay.
"Uh... can I have a plate of nasi lemak?" Mitsuo ordered, albeit hesitantly. "With fried chicken."
"What chicken you want?" The man asked.
"Uh... chicken chicken?" Mitsuo said, not quite understanding.
The Indian man sighed. "Which part of chicken you want?"
"Oh!" Mitsuo realised what he meant. "I'll take... a wing?"
The waiter nodded. "Drinks?"
"Umm... what do you have?" Mitsuo asked, not really sure if the menu.
The Indian man went on and on with a long list of drinks. Mitsuo eventually cut in when he heard something familiar.
"Yes, I'll have the Iced Milo," Mitsuo quickly said. "But go easy on the ice."
"Okay, kurang ais," the waiter nodded and went off to get his order ready.
Mitsuo heaved a sigh of relief, glad that the staff can understand English. Then again, this was Malaysia and not Japan.
He looked around the atmosphere of the restaurant, very different and quite noisy, not at all like a cozy cafe. But still, the environment was quite comforting. The walls were crisp, decorated with a few artworks. One of them were written in Arabic and Mitsuo realised that this was a Mamak stall, an Indian Muslim shop. That meant the food was halal and at the same time followed Indian cooking method.
The waiters shouted the orders to the kitchen, which could be seen through a small square window. A group of men in hairnets and aprons prepared the food. Mitsuo nodded to himself as he realised that he didn't have to worry much about hygiene.
The nasi lemak and Iced Milo soon arrived, together with some cutlery and a straw. Mitsuo bowed his gratitude and brought his hands in front of him. "Itadakimasu," he murmured to himself before beginning his meal.
The nasi lemak consisted of a portion of rice, a piece of fried chicken wing just like he requested, sambal, freshly sliced cucumber, fried groundnuts, a fried egg, and fried anchovies. Mitsuo found the meal quite tasty but the sambal wasn't as spicy as he imagined. The chicken tasted unique, a hint of some sort of herb in it. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was good.
The iced chocolate drink he ordered was really good, and he wished the glass was bigger. He eventually called the waiter again to pay before leaving the restaurant.
And now he had to book a Grape car again. All he wished was for the driver to not be as chatty as the last one.

Mitsuo got out of the silver Perodua Bezza and returned to the his room, glad that the young Malay driver wasn't very talkative. Well, he didn't really like small-talk either so that was definitely a plus.
But now he wanted a snack. Mitsuo heard about a Japanese provision shop being in the same hotel he was staying at. He couldn't wait.
So he asked the receptionist about it, which happened to be a young Malay woman this time, and made his way to the shop. He was surprised, it was exactly like how it was in Japan, save for the Malay and English labels and signs.
They had all of his favourite snacks and drinks, but with an upped price. He still stuffed them into his shopping basket, though, and made his way to pay.
But then stopped short.
He was in Malaysia. Why not buy Malaysian snacks instead of imported Japanese goods? He could save some cash that way and at the same time try out Malaysian flavours.
But now he had no idea which shop to go to and if he should take a Grape car again.
Mitsuo suddenly remembered something.
Hadn't he seen a petrol station right beside the hotel? It was within walking distance too and there would be a convenience store that most definitely sold Malaysian snacks.
He ditched the shopping basket and left the shop.

Mitsuo walked down the hotel's ramp the same way he entered and saw that the petrol station was literally just across a small junction. There weren't many cars too so he didn't have much trouble. Soon, he was making his way into the convenience store.
The air conditioning hit him like cool breeze on a summer day. Mitsuo wished the weather would get colder since it was getting far too hot in the afternoon, but he still got his share of cold in the evening where rain would thunder down in torrents.
Mitsuo walked around the convenience store and found a lot of Malaysian snacks, most of which he has never seen before. There was this brand of potato chips with a grinning moustached man in a sombrero. He smirked and stuffed a few packs of those under his arm, one tomato flavoured, one hot and spicy, and the last being cheese.
He went around again and even recognised a few Japanese snacks like Pocky and Green-tea Kit Kat. There was Sakura-flavoured soda too and Mitsuo wondered what it would taste like. He got a few cans of those too.
And then he saw a selection of milk. There was date-flavoured milk, so he decided to get that too, and some a type of vegetable crackers. A pack of those went in too.
He the went to the bun section. Mitsuo gasped at the sambal and curry-filled buns and took a few of those. There was also pandan-coconut flavoured so he grabbed one of those too. There were a few bread-spreads like chocolate spread but he also spotted something unique.
Kaya spread.
Mitsuo grinned excitedly and took that too before making his way to the counter to pay.
The bill was hefty and so was the bag. Mitsuo still wore a grin as he made his way back to the hotel, two heavy plastic bags in his hands.

Alright, translations...
-Grape is Malaysia's equivalent to Uber in this book.
-kurang ais means less ice.
-nasi lemak is a type of rice dish and is usually eaten for breakfast. Usually. It can actually be eaten at any time of the day and is quite common for dinner too. It literally translates to fat rice, maybe because it's very filling.
-sambal is a spicy gravy, and the one served with nasi lemak is usually made of chilli and anchovies.
-pandan is a type of leaf that is widely used in cooking, especially to make fragrant rice and even desserts.
-kaya is a type of jam made with coconut, sugar (usually brown), and eggs. It's usually served on toast and it's so good, trust me, kaya on buttered toast is amazing. It can be used to make desserts too, like kaya balls.