Jom makan luar?

Foods in Malaysia are undeniably among the best, a statement that will hardly face any opposition from Malaysian. Customary to the food is eating out for the Malaysians, be it mamak, hawkers or restaurants. A disclaimer up front, eating out is enjoyable and abundant in Malaysia -and here comes the ‘but’- but there are a few things that I noticed upon coming back to Malaysia this year that annoys me.

Here are some of them

1.      1.    I read somewhere while I was in high school, that drinking directly after dining is not good for your body. You know, the 40-steps-walk-after-eating-before-you-drink-again tips. Regardless of its effectiveness, I have practiced it since then and I would normally avoid drinking directly after eating. Thus the problem exists when I eat out, as the norm is to order food and beverages, I used to NOT order any drinks. The waiter would however go something like,”Taknak minum? Betul ke tanak minum?” and would repeat the question another gazillion times or at least leer his/her eyes, waiting for me to choke any moment and come with a drink in hand in say, “padan muka.”

Unchecked fact: More people die not wearing seatbelts every year than people choking by not ordering drinks in 10 years.
However some situations still managed to force me to order drinks, which I drink afterwards and leave my stomach uneasy. Alas that is the power of social pressure.

2.     2.     Eating out consist of ordering, waiting, eating and finally paying them, which altogether requires a sum of our time. During this time, which our minds are normally relaxed, is a long duration with a high chance to meet someone. That someone could be a friend (good), old school teacher(good), boss(not good) or my worst fear, an “unknown” siblings. Haaaa!

There was once as I was eating outside with a friend that in a quite near distance, my eyes met with an elderly woman and she held my gaze. Somewhere in my brain, the neurons started to work and after a few microseconds they told me that she is someone I know, a distance relative. Was it my grandmother cousin’s wife, or is it my mother’s uncle’s second wife’s daughter? Was it makngah, tokngah or toksu. Oh no, she’s coming this way, oh no, oh no… She passed by smiling.
And I sat there with a smile plastered to my face without being able to recall her name. Next hari raya and a similar dialogue to this will be probably said, “Oh, ni la yang balik jerman tu. Hari tu ada nampak makan. Dia tak kenai kot tok uda.”

*red face*

3.     3.    Working in a restaurant is never an easy job, even if yours is to only wipe the tables. Am I speaking from experience? May be... Anyway the job is never easy and the pay is normally so-so, yet there are certain times that I feel waiter/waitress are forced into working. I try to look below the table and see if their feet are shackled but to my puzzlement, there aren’t.

It is perhaps a bit ludicrous to expect them to smile (really?) but in most cases they are downright rude.  My sister says I am culture-shocked, just as she was years ago. In my opinion though, it doesn’t help that the customers are faring not better. Maybe if the customers are nicer, such as saying thank you’s for a start, then the service would slowly get better. I dunno. Honestly I feel the ultimate way is to revamp the education and the economy, but that’s another story.

Have any qualms about the eateries in Malaysia, or wet-markets, malls etc? Do leave comments and thanks for reading!