In every trip, there are people who would make an impact in your life, no matter how small it is.
In our recent trip to Malaysia, we met four people who touched our hearts, in one way or another.
The generous saleslady
From Chinatown (Jalan Petaling), we went back to the Central Market to get native goods we'd bring home to the Philippines. The choices there are overwhelming and we cannot choose which to get as we're on our own made-up rule--never bring home something we haven't tasted ourselves. So when the saleslady on the second store we visited offered us to taste all those that looked delish, we cheerfully obliged. And she's not like the others who would frown when we don't buy a pack or two of a pasrty we tasted--we really felt her thoughtfulness and, to some extent, sincere desire to immerse us to Malaysia's native food culture. We grabbed a bag of goods from her store and even jokingly said, "If we get hungry we'd get back here!" which she happily answered with a smile.
The motherly transporter
Well, she's actually a transport and trip organizer at the Crossroads Hotel in Chowkit, Malaysia. Even if we have Google Maps as an efficient companion for navigation, we still asked how to commute to Genting Highlands, hoping for quicker and cheaper way. She first asked how we intended to go there so I answered we're taking the bus. She suddenly looked worried and even exclaimed, "Really? You're taking the bus? Are you sure?" Apparently she was reminded of the recent bus accident with a 37-person casualty which happened exactly a week before our trip (
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/08/21/Bus-accident-Genting-Highlands-ravine.aspx). She regretted that we couldn't take the hotel's paid service to Genting Highlands since it departs every morning only so she willingly called her friend who could take us there. Unfortunately the service costs RM400 per head for the round trip transportation plus tours and since we only have half a day to get there and explore a bit, we declined. She was really worried we insisted to go despite the bad news so she just said she'll pray for our safety.
Our Grandma on the street.
While waiting for the sleeper train to Kuala Lumpur, we decided to explore the streets and alleys near the JB Sentral train station in Johor Bahru when we found the small alley leading to Medan Selera Meldrum Walk (Lonely Planet's bookmarked place for cheap food).
We walked down to take a look at what the stalls offer before ordering our food. We decided to get grilled chicken wings from a stall at the far end of the street then started going back for a second look to the street-long menu. We saw a long line from a stall selling Char Koay Teow so we sat in front of it and ordered a serving. Two stalls to the left is the cart of an old lady selling drinks--from ice-cold water and softdrinks, to sugar cane juice with shaved ice and fresh buko juice in a coconut shell. Of all the stalls in the famous street food stretch, only she has no one to help her. She does everything from peeling the coconut with a huge knife to serving up to five glasses each hand of sugar cane juice to her customers. She does all without help but with relative speed, and with the enthusiastic aura she gives out everytime she passes by our table. We ordered a can of Coke and coconut juice from her and when she served them to us we gave her wide smiles of admiration. From that point she always smiled to us after giving drinks to other tables and when we smiled back she said, "You, two, very good!"
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| Medan Selera Meldrum Walk. That lady in the middle--she's my happy memory. |
I do not know for what she works so hard and from where she gets the unbelievable energy but there's one thing I'm sure of--she is definitely inspiring.
The starry-eyed food server
After exploring the Batu Caves, we decided to try Indian food at Restoran Rani, just across the big statue of Lord Murugan. The restaurant was packed with tourists and the staff are very busy. We had a hard time ordering despite the photos on their one-page menu as we were having Indian food for the first time. We got fried noodles and plain uthappam (according to Wiki, uthappam is basically the Indian pizza so we got enticed; See menu here:
http://roseyperspective.blogspot.com/2013/06/day-2-in-malaysia-restoran-rani.html). But when we looked at the menu again, we realized plain uthappam is really just batter, without anything on it. Amidst the busy restaurant one man was quick to attend to us--Rakesh. We wanted to change our order from plain uthappam to onion uthappam (and yes, we're on a budget so we didn't opt for the special uthappam which was RM6, plain uthappam is RM4 and it becomes RM5 when they add onions) but unfortunately the kitchen person was already cooking our uthappam so he couldn't add the onions anymore.
Then Rakesh served us two cans of Coke with two glasses full of ice (one glass has more ice so he transferred one cube to the other to make sure we're getting the same share) per request. He quickly followed our fried noodles and uthappam. Every time he passes by our table he asks if we're okay, if we need anything, or he just smiles. He then stopped and asked where we're from. When we said we're from the Philippines, he said he's from Nepal. Before I even say that we wanted to go to Nepal because we heard it's beautiful, he was already relating us his story. "I'm here in Malaysia for 10 years. There's nothing here. I'm in a working Visa for 10 years. For 10 years I work and I go back to Nepal and never return again."
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| Rakesh |
He was one of those to remind me that I am very lucky to have a good job back home and go places just for the fun of it--not for work. When he was speaking I felt his love for his country, his desire for a good life and his eagerness to achieve the life he wants. I felt his longing for home, I somehow felt his sadness. I don't know how long he has already been working in Malaysia, and how long he still needs to stay before he comes home, but I'm sure--well, I hope, that when that time comes, he will be genuinely happy and will have nothing more to ask.
