Kiat Ken And His Food

My cousin Kiat Ken was back in town from London for our cousin Honn Ken's wedding recently. Having grown up in Malaysia, he makes it a priority to enjoy as much local food as possible whenever he visits. A creature of habit, Kiat Ken often wants to head to places he frequented as a kid. We always plan ahead, and try to pack in as much eating as possible into his itinerary.

 

His trip this time was for a mere three days. Apart from the wedding festivities, pre-wedding dinner, lunch reception after the wedding ceremony and celebratory banquet, we managed to also sample fishball meehoon soup, steamed chicken, durian, roti canai, sweet meat, Famous Amos cookies, sago gula Melaka and teh tarik, not bad for a less than 72-hour visit. The only stop we missed was bak-kut-teh, so that's something to look forward to the next time he returns.

 

There is no shortage of Asian food in London, but I guess there is nothing like the food we have here in Malaysia. I for one, never take that for granted.

 

 

Kiat Ken and I at Prosperity Bowl in SS2, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

Christmas Eve

We haven't hosted a Christmas Eve party for a number of years now, more than ten years according to my Mum. So she gave notice earlier this year and last Saturday, forty of my extended family gathered at our home for a Christmas Eve supper.

I told Mum not to cook, eventhough she is capable of singlehandedly catering to a party of sixty. Despite her initial resistance to the idea, she caved and agreed to keeping things simple. We ordered nasi lemak from Gerai Kak Ya in SS2; some of my aunts brought keropok, cakes, jelly and rambutans. Simple fare. More importantly, camaraderie among the extended family.

We caught up on the latest news, planned for holidays next year, exchanged gifts, sang carols. We had lots of laughs. We had fun. We enjoyed each other's company.

Photo of Mum and my cousin Honn Ken leading the caroling session.

Cravings

Having been travelling for the past couple of weeks, I find myself craving for local food since I have been home. I haven't gotten to the roti canai yet but the evening I got home, I just had to have the ayam goreng, fried egg and rice from Pak Lang, my favourite stall at the SS2 mamak, opposite the police station.

I have frequented Pak Lang for many years. I have their mobile number. They recognise my car. I order ahead when I need the food to go, they deliver to my car when I get there. It's an understanding that we have cultivated over the years.

However, nothing beats eating at the stall itself, particularly with family or friends. We can order more and indulge in the variety, alfresco.

Photo of roti canai, Milo tarik and a good travel mag.

2nd Day Of Chinese New Year

A day that started off with a visit to the temple ended with a meaningful family get-together at our home, interspersed with a 'hoi-leen' brunch at the Wong family home in SEA Park and dinner at one of our all time favourite restaurants, Formosa in SS2.

Although not all were present for the family portrait, it was still meaningful in many ways. For my immediate family, it was our first without Dad but we draw comfort from the fact that the extended family, well most of us anyway, still cherish and work hard at maintaining the bonds that hold us together.

The sense of festivity at our home last evening I hope, will kickstart many more happy occasions to come after the melancholic past few weeks. That is what Chinese New Year signifies, a new beginning with new hopes and aspirations, new journeys and renewed trust in life.

Photo set up by my sister Suk Harn.