On almost everyone’s mind at the beginning of Friday’s work day is: “TGIF” (Thank God Is Friday). Before you know it, it’s Saturday morning…again? The week has lost its other days…except for Friday. Friday is necessary to let the weekend roll in. Well it seems that way. At the end of Saturday, you hear people thinking out loud and the word on people’s lips: “ONMICA” (Oh No, Monday Is Coming Again).
I think that just possibly, people start to work up a stress level with ONMICA on Saturday night itself, that by Monday morning, it becomes a drag to get to work. The outlook of the beginning of the week will change if we concentrate on being in the present throughout Saturday and Sunday. Leave Monday to sort itself out. In this way, we begin to enjoy the day we are in.
Yes, it’s Saturday morning…yet again. Five days have gone by. Now, it’s the sixth in the week. Jeannie had just come back from her trip to the jogging track after a short exercise stint. We had a breakfast appointment with her mother. After she showered and freshened up, we headed to her mother’s house to pick her up. Breakfast was to be at Court 2 (Goodyear Court 2 in USJ6, Subang Jaya) (1).
Mum was waiting for us when we arrived. We were a few minutes late.
Goodyear Court 2 is a complex of walk-up flats. The ground floor houses mainly shops. There are several restaurants (coffee shops) there. We were going to the one that sells the “famous” Hong Kong chee cheong fun.
I was ok with that restaurant as I had my sights for the wanton mee from Amelia Kong’s family’s stall. I have tasted their wanton mee before and found it to be really good. I highlighted their stall in my published article, “The Why In Being A Father”. What made them stand out from the rest was their (her’s and her family’s) bright spirited personalities. On my way out at that time, her father cut some special pieces of char siew and offered me to taste them. These were the crispy end parts of the slab of the meat. Loved it.
We were warmly greeted, just like how they greet everybody else that visits their stall. I made my wanton noodles order and requested for the special pieces of the char siew. The price for this special order was slightly higher. I ordered a kopi peng, kaw; too.
“Kopi Peng Kaw” means cold or iced coffee with less condensed milk. The word “Kopi” is a Bahasa Malaysia word. The words “Peng” and “Kaw” are Cantonese words. It is not uncommon to hear an intermingling of words from the most common four different languages of Malaysia, i.e. Bahasa Malaysia, English, Chinese (various dialects like Cantonese and Hokkien to name a few) and Tamil; form sentences or conversations. Colourful, vibrant Malaysia.
The wanton noodles, prepared in black sauce, is the dry type (not soupy). With it comes a generous serving of large pieces of bar-b-que style sweet roasted pork, some vegetables, a small bowl of wanton soup with 3 pieces of wanton and a small container of cut pickled green chilis.
Amelia’s family’s wanton noodles stall has been operating through 3 generations for over 30 years, and is one of the top 50 best in Malaysia. Famous enough to even be featured in the country’s top newspaper. I can see why. The meal was enjoyable to the last strand of noodles. The happiness of Amelia’s family makes the meal even more tastier.
Jeannie and her mum ordered Hong Kong style chee cheong fun (2). They meals came with bitter gaud and tofu. Their meals were prepared with some sweetish brown gravy sauce poured over the ingredients. What looked like quite a lot of spicy chili sauce was poured over the meal. I went over to the stall to see how the chee cheong fun noodles were prepared. I thought it was quite interesting. Now, I know how chee cheong fun is made. Refer to the short video clip below.
For drinks, Jeannie and Mum Ong both had tea.
The restaurant as usual, was busy and full house with patrons. People were “busy”, enjoying their breakfast with family or friends, or both. Sometimes, there would be the occasional person enjoying breakfast by his or her self.
One of the reasons for the crowd is because of the daily open air market in the area, which caters to the surrounding neighbourhood in USJ6 and other areas close by. There are times when we bump into friends and people from the neighbourhood.
Jeannie and Mum Ong both enjoyed their breakfast, saying that it was good as usual.
After breakfast, Mum Ong and Jeannie walked over to the neighbouring shops to buy a few things for the house.
Breakfast on Saturday mornings with Jeannie when she goes to meet mum Ong for their Saturday morning breakfasts is becoming a weekly thing, which is good. As I spend time, watching people have breakfast and then move on to the rest of their daily activities, I wonder what my day is going to be like during the unplanned pockets of free time that does not have anything penciled in for my attention. Maybe, another cup of coffee may give me inspiration.
NOTES:
1. Subang Jaya is a bustling city in the state of Selangor, Malaysia.
2. The Hong Kong style meal comes with some kinds of fillings and dipped in a savoury sauce. The Malaysian style is one of a thicker texture, doesn’t come with any fillings and dipped in a sweet sauce. The fillings here are fresh prawns or even dried prawns and some vegetables..
