Talk Makan Chill @ The Malayan Council
17 March 2016
So I was stuck in Singapore during the March school holidays and while everyone was shocked, trust me, I was the most shocked. I had initially planned for a short getaway but I was so busy that I waited till the very last minute to make any bookings. I found several suitable destinations but the flight tickets were either too expensive or there were not enough seats. Yes! When doing travel plans, never wait till the last minute because all the prices would have increased! Gosh, lesson learnt. I need to plan and book everything early for the next trip!
My wanderlust spirit felt like my wings were clipped since I was stuck in Singapore. Why stuck? Don’t get me wrong. As much as I love my country, we are only one tiny dot on the world map and I have spent more than 30 years here. I obviously have almost run out of places to go.
I decided to make full use of my holidays. Meet up with friends, go for dance classes, workout more, sleep more, read more, write more, perhaps it was good to stay and catch up.
And so I did. Met up with my lovely colleagues at The Malayan Council. It was my first time here and I have heard wonderful reviews about this place online.
I was the last one to arrive and was greeted by my friends’ smiles and this plate of truffle fries. I love both equally.
They had placed the order and everything looks so good. The unique thing about this cafe is how they combined traditional malay and western dishes into one.
For instance, this was asam pedas fish and chips. Asam pedas is one of the traditional malay everyday dishes. In fact, my mum cooked it at least once a week. It is usually cooked with fish and has an equal blend of spicy and sour. It is usually eaten with rice. Sometimes, it is eaten with ‘sambal belacan’, an additional side dish of chilli and spice.
Stories shared over tasty food always manages to bring brighter and bigger smiles to our faces.
What is a holiday without dessert? Ondeh ondeh is boiled rice cake, stuffed with liquid palm sugar and rolled in grated coconut. This cake is a marriage between malay and western dessert. I am no fan of ondeh ondeh but this cake truly won my heart.
The next to win our hearts was this delightful piece of lopes (pronounce loe-paze) cake! The traditional kueh lopes is usually served with shredded coconut and gula melaka syrup. The gula melaka was somehow hidden in the cake so when you cut and eat it, you will taste the sweet taste of gula melaka (dark brown sugar syrup) in your mouth.
Apart from the gula melaka that was embedded inside the slice of cake, a drizzle of it was also poured over as seen in the above photo. We were sharing this piece but I love it so much I bought one more to bring home for my mum to try. Actually I could finish this entire piece by myself too but I thought it would scare my friends too much if I show my greedy monster self.
People often say that you are the closest to the people you work with because you spend a bulk of your time with them.
They are wrong. People are the closest to the people you work with because their personalities match yours. When people who share the same passion share the same goals too, harmony happens.
Happy birthday to Meow Meow who has been the most important person at work to me since I first stepped into this work place. 10 years later and I still I cannot work efficiently without her. Stay youthful, cheerful and loud. ❤