Visit from Ratatouille

Last night Kim and I walked over to Chili's for a late dinner and a couple drinks (I didn't feel like navigating around the Friday night checkpoints, and we both didn't want to deal with cabbies).  It was a slow night, so we found some seats at the bar straight away, and ordered a couple tiger's.  

Kim started walking me through her adventurous day with Vanessa and out of the corner of my eye, I spied something moving across the floor with a quickness.  "Oh shit a rat!" I blurted out as it ran under Kim and my bar stools.  For a split second I felt like the lady in the old Tom and Jerry cartoons!  The rat ran off as quickly as it ran in.  The only unsettling thing was that it "ran off" into the kitchen (and probably straight into the chip bin!  That's where I'd go if I were a rat!).

There was a family next to us and the father said, "Wow guys, I just saw a huge rat!"  I looked at the guy and said, "He was quick for such a big guy, haha"  The wife jumped in and said, "It's the latest addition to the menu!  Special for tonight!"  Kim couldn't resist in saying, "Yeah, they fry it up and serve it with a nice sauce!"  All had a good chuckle and went on with their conversations.

It wasn't until we walked home that it struck me as odd that nobody really cared about a rat in a restaurant.  I don't want to give the false impression restaurants in Malaysia are dirty and covered in vermin, but the health standards are a bit more relaxed.  Most of the best food in KL comes from roadside stands, much like the best Mexican food in Texas comes from taco buses in random parking lots across the state!  There is an inherent understanding that the food might not be the cleanest, but it sure is worth the risk to sink your teeth into a Carne Asada Burrito as big as your head, or dark red, hot out the tandoor chicken breast with garlic naan and dahl.  

So it depends on what your focus is.  Sometimes the best food comes with compromise, and after too long that compromise doesn't seem like such a big deal anymore.  As I thought about it more, this compromise has always been easy to make for me and my family.  Roadside stalls in Mexico, weekend bike rides to the big blue taco bus on FM2920 and there was even that bat we found in the booth at Cyclone Anaya's (after a couple margaritas there could be a giant space alien next to you and you wouldn't mind!)!

To sum it up, it's about the food, the adventure and the people.  Forget everything you've learned about anything, grab some friends and order the weirdest thing on the menu.  That's how memories are made!

Bonne Appetit, Eet Smakelijk, Makan Makan and Let's Eat!

Our Plans for the Weekend

Friday:

music lessons

beer, at bar next to place where we have music lessons

tandoori chicken, naan and hookah

Saturday:

sleep in?  Kim until 9:oo, David noon or later

fresh carrot, apple and ginger juice

David for bike ride,  Kim work-out at gym

Get dressed up, for dinner at favorite Italian restaurant plus

Go to The National Theatre to watch the musical The Merchants of Bollywood!

Sunday:

Kim sells newly created Greeting Cards plus art at the Mont Kiara Sunday market! 

It's going to be hot and sweaty, but hopefully I'll sell out in just one hour!  I might drag along David as well.  I think he could be a good salesman while I find the A/C.   : )

Chilling Falls

It's early in the morning and David, Sheila and I are patiently waiting on a cement wall for a co-worker to arrive.  He will also go with us on David's Birthday road trip to the Chilling Falls.  I ask the time, and it's 7:20 when we hear something in the near distant.  Moments later we watch as a man holding a purse hurriedly runs past us.   A Malaysian Police officer on his scooter speeds right behind him.  With our minds slowly at work we finally realize it's a police chase!  I've never  seen one of those before!  The man with the purse makes it to the bridge where the police officer suddenly stops his scooter and ends his morning chase.  The man with the purse gets away. We never could figure out why the police officer stopped so abruptly.

At 7:30 and a few calls later we decide to leave without the co-worker.  We imagine him sleeping peacefully in his bed after a late night of partying in KL.  The drive towards the falls takes us approximately and hour and a half.  Very close to our end point we pass up a large lake and stop the car in order to stretch our legs a bit.  We smile big and know it's going to be a beautiful day. 

                                                   

       As we arrive at the trail head, Sheila and I take a picture together.  David tells us to look like tough hikers, and so we do.  See above picture.  After 1o minutes of hiking and avoiding the mosquitos David receives a phone call from our friends Mariano and Vanesa.  They are 15 minutes behind and David decides to walk back towards the trail head to meet them there.  Sheila and I continue our hike towards the falls together which included a detour on the wrong trail, then back again on the correct trail.  Several river crossings later we arrive at the same time as the rest!    

 

The temperature of the water is just right and when you get closer to the falls it gets so deep  you are not able to stand up.   After a bit of swimming, water splashing, and watching kids throw sand at the rocks, we all get out to continue our adventure.  Close to us is a guide who led a group of tourists to the falls and we ask him if he knows where the trail is that leads to the top of the waterfall.  He points out the trail  but recommends us not to go there.  He pretty much says, "you will fall and die if you go up there."  He tells us the story about how one time, ten years ago, a person fell into the water and four people jumped after him and all drowned.  He said he never takes anyone up there and that there is nothing special up there anyway. This frightened some of us, but of coarse this makes me and David want to go up there even more!  We tell the rest that if it gets too dangerous we can always turn around and go back.  So we decide to go!  After a good climb on the steep hill we make it to the top and find our mecca.  We find ourselves alone, and our senses go wild.  We listen to the water rush past us,  hear the birds sing in the trees and smell the wonderfully fresh and cool air.  David even meditates on a rock with the waterfall behind him.  See how peaceful?  

Happy Happy Birthday to Me!!!

The Cash team threw together a surprise afternoon tea for Me and my colleague Shirley. At the last minute we found out that it was also a manager's birthday today so we added a candle and invited him to the party!
The guys sang a hearty happy birthday song for us and we each blew out one of the 3 candles! The cake they picked up was tiramisu and pretty darn delicious!
Finally on top of all this, they put together a card that has me still cracking up.
It was by far the best birthday party at work I've ever had. Social dynamics are so much more relaxed here, and I really enjoy every day spent with my Malaysian friends.

El Tacos de Fishies

I came home the other day and there was a package on the table!  I love getting stuff from home.  Without even dropping the brief case I grabbed the box and ran into the studio to find Kimbo, as we have very strict rules around open packages without the better half present.  

I tore into the box and low and behold it it was full of gold!  Golden, beautiful corn tortillas!  The smell hit me first, triggering a lifetime of good memories associate with Mexican food.  

The next day the olfactory system was doing back flips again, because the good wife was making some fish tacos in the kitchen.  When we sat down at dinner, Kim had whipped up some spicy fish, cabbage, avocado, salsa fresca and some beans on the side.  She even found a bag of tortilla chips that tasted like...well, real tortilla chips (which is hard to find!).  

Anyway, thanks Ma for sending the package.  Even though the shipping was roughly 8 times the price of the package, it was totally worth it!

Thursday is enchilada night!