If I understand the vernacular correctly, I believe this is called food porn
I forgot something great. I was in a little neighborhood Chinese food court, and I ordered a “teh o ice” which means ice tea without milk and the guy screams to the back, “TEH O PING, AH!” Ping! I forgot about ping, this onomatopoeic word that means “ice” because of the “ping” sound ice makes when you put it in a glass. LOVE stuff like that. (The “AH!” is the classic Chinese ending to any phrase. I have quickly added it to my active vocabulary to the endless irritation of everyone around me.)
A question: usually when they make this “TEH O PING, AH!”, they spoon out some liquid sugar instead of granular sugar, but what is the equivalent amount in sugar cubes?
And what about cooking with palm oil? It’s a major industry here and whenever a foreign country disparages Malaysia’s claims about the health benefits of palm oil—which is every single time—Malaysia goes into major freak-out mode and trots out a Malaysian university’s study about how it can make people walk on water and leap tall buildings in a single bound.
Is everyone asleep? I’m the only one who thinks about this stuff. Let’s just move on.
Chee cheong fun, AH!
Some simple noodles with a bit of pork, shrimp and vegetables in gravy. 3.50 ringgit, or $1.15
The cart from which said noodles came from.
What? You don't keep your eggs and vegetables in the trunk of your car? Then you are wasting space! This goes back to the old maxim that you should never look in the kitchen if you aren't prepared for what you might see. This was right next to the food cart. The funnier thing here is, I don't think that car ever moves. It's storage! Malaysia's the best.
I was looking for an empty mailing box and I asked the cashier how much the one I found in her store costs. She sweetly said, “F-O-C, lah!” Have I not said anything yet about Malaysian English, or “Manglish”? It, along with Singaporean English, Singlish, and to a lesser extent, the Chinglish spoken in Hong Kong, is amazing to hear. It has an oddly syncopated chop-chop, but at the same time there is a mellifluous flow that I never get tired of hearing. It has been my life-long dream to become fluent in Manglish/Singlish, and it will be a life-long struggle.
Anyway, I figured out that “FOC” means “free of charge” and “lah” is just a reflexive thing they say all the time that means, “you know” or “isn’t it”.
Hearing this kind of English is the reason every traveler falls in love with the first Malaysian they meet when they come here, or, in my case, the first Indian transvestite. (A joke! A joke!)
If you make 4.50 ringgit (US$1.40) an hour, and it's 3.50 ringgit for some noodles, is it cheap or expensive or just right? And, as you can see, there is no equal opportunity employer stuff in Malaysia. In fact, I'm surprised I don't see 'Indian Males Only' or something like that for the ad.
Anyone want a postcard from Malaysia? First person to reply here below and say so gets one.
Pick me!
PS: The one from Nepal was great!
Tom is the first! Done!
Seems appropriate since weather-wise and maybe everything else-wise, Alaska is the opposite of Malaysia
damnit! too late! =/
but well, the one from nepal was grea…hey!
Always get in too late to win my malaysian postcard… ufffff
Is that car/ noodle shack the one in Penang by the big multi floored mall? I swear that alley has the tastiest treats!!!
Lucilla, you need to check my website every waking minute of your life! Kristin, it isn’t by the mall, but near a mall. See? You miss Penang!