Another day has gone by. For multiple (not “many”. The word “many” may seem like a word for the commoners. haha😀😂[1 emoji for each “ha”]) people, the countdown to Christmas has begun. They are just short of putting on their Santa Claus or Santarina outfits. Our house has half the Christmas decorations up already. (It is beginning🎶 to look a lot like Christmas♪♪🎵) I’ll let you in on a little secret: whisper (come closer so you can hear…er… see) – We’ve not taken them down last year…or the year before that. They’ve been up all this while.

We (my wife, Jeannie; and daughter, Laura) were stuck in the usual traffic jam on the Federal Highway, on our way back to Subang Jaya, after I picked them up from their offices. Today seemed unusually slower than other days. This time in the car, with the family; is generally quality time.

The first thing on our “day-on-day” meeting agenda was “how was your day?” Laura and Jeannie will share the going-ons and stuff like that. There is always lots to share about. I find this interesting because we become involved, to a certain extent in their daily activities, even though we were not physically there at that time. We do this every evening, after work. It is a bit different in the mornings, on the way to work. Both, Jeannie and Laura will start their work, sort of; thanks to technology – using their laptop computers and mobile hotspot technology.

Laura was dropped off at the gym. Jeannie and I continued on our way home. The usual, “Dinner – what shall we will eat?” statement / question came up. We both thought, “chap fan” (pronounced “cha-p fun”) at T23. Chap fun or jaahp faahn is mixed rice (dishes). It is quite common to hear it referred as “economy rice” as the prices are reasonable.

The other day, I heard my mother-in-law refer to this restaurant as “723”. I thought that all this while we must have been reading the sign wrongly as “T” instead of “7”, more so because the first character is stylised. It made sense as many Chinese restaurants are named in numbers. This is evident in Klang for example, along the Persiaran Raja Muda street. However, when searched on the internet for the actual name, it is stated at “T23”.

When we got to T23, we got into the queue (not “lined up” – that’s for schoolchildren😀) and waited our turn to get a plate with rice served, first. As I don’t eat rice, I got an empty plate. Jeannie got a plate with rice. Then, we walked along the aisle, served ourselves (self-serve) from a choice of about 100 different dishes. Once we picked our choice of dishes, we paid at the cashier at the end of the aisle. He calculates the price of your meal and charges you accordingly.

Then, we went to the adjoining room, the dining room; where we chose a table to sit at, and comfortably had our meal there. There are fans and air-conditioning to keep the temperature cool and comfortable as you enjoy your meal. At times, it can be quite cold which makes it uncomfortable to sit in that dining hall.

There are also people who will “tapau” (to pack back or takeaway) their meal, too.

At the back of this dining hall, there is usually a pot of hot soup, for customers to self-serve free. There is also hot Chinese tea and hot & cold water that customers can help themselves to.

The meals as always, were delicious. I am quite sure that all the dishes they offer are delicious. Eating here does take away the chore of having to cook at home, especially if you want a variety of dishes. Another thing is that you don’t have to wash the dishes. This is a very ideal set-up for those coming back from a tiring day at work, possibly having to go through traffic jams and wanting to have dinner without having to be involved in cooking and washing dishes.

T23 is opened throughout the day until 10.00pm, everyday. They have many outlets in the major cities and towns. We can come here everyday and eat different dishes as there are so many to choose from.

For dessert, we popped in to Berry’s cake house next door, and bought a loaf of chocolate layered sponge cake, sprinkled with lots of chocolate rice on top. Yum.😋 Couldn’t wait to have a go at it. It was a long 5 minute drive home. Then, not 1; but 2 slices of the cake. 😋Tomorrow, exercise to work off the calories.

It was T23

NOTES:
1. Also spelt as jaahp faahn (Chinese: ‘mixed rice’) in Cantonese