Real-life heroes

(Today's success story: I remembered the password for this account!)

There's this girl I know. She's the busiest girl I've ever known. She works long hours and she volunteers almost every day of the week, even weekends! She blogs too, more regularly than "typical" working stiffs do. And she'll be up for a late night kopi o at whichever mamak stall you suggest (if you're friends, of course; she's not an idiot).

She's not a hustler, by the way, she just does the thing. She doesn't ask you or herself why she does it or should do it, as long as an underprivileged person or animal out there benefits from it somehow. She's the living embodiment of the saying "if you want something done, give it to a busy person".

I think she's the only person of her kind in the Klang Valley (some say Malaysia), and that's a pity. Being the person she is though, she'd laugh and tell you there are just as many people out there like her, only you haven't met them yet.

Some might say she needs a good person to love her, and then she'll calm down, but that's not what she's about. People who think that need to look at things differently. Why should you define yourself based on your relationships?

She makes me want to do more, and not just for myself (there's only so much you need to do for yourself if you're a relatively privileged middle class female from the suburbs anyway).

Don't worry; my friend is alive and healthy. She has no life-threatening conditions. She wears her helmet when she careens about happily on her bike when she has the time for it. Like I said, she's not an idiot.

I only got to know her late last year and feel like I have a lifetime of good deeds to catch up on. I just wanted to pay a little tribute to one of the best people I know, and it's nice to do that when the person is still alive.

(She doesn't know about this blog; if she did, she'd blush to the roots of her hair and start looking in a hundred directions at once while adamantly declaring she's not doing anything special. That just shows you how special she really is.)

Kanna Curry House

Biggest portions of veg I've ever seen from them.

I think Kanna Curry House gets unfair flak just because they don't use banana leaves. True, the leaves give the food a distinct aroma. But I imagine sourcing good leaves at a good price might be lower-priority given the number of outlets they have and their daily turnover. The Jalan Gasing and Section 17 outlets are always packed at lunch time, so you could say they've found their niche.

Purists tend to scoff at the crowd, sniffing that the patrons are always Chinese who have more money than sense, but I think THAT depends on the restaurant location. Come to think of it, of the KCH locations that I know of, 3 are in what are considered predominantly Chinese areas (Section 17, Puchong, Kepong).

Also, NO ONE returns to an eatery (or brings friends/clients) if they think the food and service is shit. So maybe KCH isn't authentic enough for some, but it's good enough for others. And yes, there are better places, but there's room for all punters when banana leaf rice costs RM5.50-8.00++ nowadays (those unlimited refills tho...)

I might be biased though, as Enfant Terrible and I are regulars, so the staff are friendly with us and we tend to get served faster.

Recommended: Fried ikan merah/kerisi, fried squid (sometimes).
Notes: They have crab curry on Fridays.

Bubur nasi Pak Su @ UMMC

It was a drizzly and windy morning when we brought mum to the Universiti Malaya Medical Center for a checkup. Enfant Terrible and I hadn't had breakfast because we're terrible at getting up early.

While mum waited for her queue number to be called, we bumbled over to the mezzanine-level food court outside the main building (Menara Utama, I think). ET had a plain nasi lemak (RM3)* and I had plain (rice) porridge (RM3.50) from Pak Su's stall.**

ET's nasi lemak was average, but my porridge was surprisingly tasty. "Plain", as translated from the menu, is inaccurate, as it just means it's served without beef or chicken. It's actually accompanied by peanuts, salted cabbage, minced ginger, shredded coriander, chopped spring onions, and a splash of sesame oil. And they have sambal for the oddballs who want spicy porridge, though it's likelier that it's for the noodles they also serve.

The guy who served me looked grumpy, but I guess that's the face you wear when it's too early in the morning to be awake and working when you could be snuggled up sleeping in a warm bed.

I quite like food courts, though I wouldn't go as far as to say the dingier the better. In fact, I think hospital food courts owe it to visitors to be a calm refuge that serves decent food. The UMMC food court is well-ventilated and bright, and the cleaners were clearing tables pretty quickly when we were there. There's a lot of variety in terms of the types of food available, and I imagine there's something to suit all price points, if it comes to that. Also, it has a display board for the queue numbers at all clinics in the main building.

Epilog: Mum had to reschedule her appointment, so that means we'll get the chance to find out what nasi campur mat salleh*** is soon enough!

*You could get the same amount for half that price (or less!) elsewhere.
**Uncle Su's food stall.
***Western mixed rice...?