Who's Laughing? - Part 3

Multipurpose

It was one of those KL nights when the night sky seemed to have drunk too much and decided to spew furiously on the heated streets and buildings. And as usual, when it rained for hours at night, I always would get incredibly hungry and would crave for soupy meals. I feel like mee bandung, I told Evo over the phone. “Oh me too,” she said, with all puns intended. I then picked her up and drove off to this Malay restaurant nearby her place.

As usual, the place was packed with students and families with loud, pesky kids. We managed to find a table at the far back near the kitchen. Actually, we had to share a table with this family who said it was okay to do so. I then waved my hand at the waiter, ordered two mee bandung and two limau ais, and we waited.

I hope they prepare it fast, I said.

“I know,” Evo said, “I am butt hungry.”

I chuckled. I always do whenever Evo would use butt in front of anything – sleepy, bored, thirsty – to strongly emphasize an emotion. “I borrowed it off butt-ugly,” she explained. “There’s so much punch in butt.”

In five minutes tops, our steaming hot meals came, and the sweet smell of lime and tomatoes floating off the large bowl of mee bandung drove me insane. I wasted no time, and scooped the soft strands of mee and sour-sweet gravy into my mouth. Oh! Sedap gila!

“You know, I had always wanted to know how to cook this,” Evo said, in between slurps.

I think my mom has a recipe and we can –

Splutt!

Apparently, something fell from the ceiling into my bowl of mee bandung, and when I looked closer, it turned out to be a cicak!

OHMYGOD!!!

When I jumped back into my seat, I accidentally tipped the bowl of mee bandung over, spilling its contents across the table, and having the cicak swimming in the current. Within seconds, the cicak fell into this little girls lap who sat beside me, and she fell backwards, and then jumped up and down while screaming, MAK!!!!!!!!

The mother, like lightening, brushed off the cicak that clung onto the little girl’s baju kurung, grabbed hold of her daughter and yelled, “Diam! Diam! Dah! Cicak tak ada!”

Evo and I just stood there, feeling very serba salah, especially when people around us seemed to blame us for the girls hysterical crying through their piercing stares. “Kenapa tadi???” the owner of the restaurant shouted. “Ada cicak,” Evo said, “Dalam mee bandung!”

“Ada cicak???”

To this day, people have rumored that the reason why the mee bandung at that restaurant is so good was because they cook it with cicak. The funny thing though, despite the rumor, people still do flock to the place for the food and the mee bandung, including myself. But, every time when I do go to the place, the owner of the restaurant would always tease me and say, “Hah! Nak makan mee cicak ke?”

And I always said yes.