Strangers.......not anymore

Lately, or I should say since my moving to KL, I have met a lot of interesting strangers. Will try and write about the experiences:

Tea Time Stranger

I was sitting in the bukit bintang area and sipping hot tea. I was occupying a table meant for six, the restaurant other than my table was packed. I was candidly watching the crowd  pass by just when my eyes were fixed on a lady. She was in her gym gear, her earphones plugged to her ears. Probably she had just come back from her exercise routine. She walked straight to the counter and asked for revive [an energy drink here]. I went back to enjoying my tea and looking at the road:

"Hi, can I sit here"
I turn towards the sound, it was her.
Me: Ya...sure, I mean please!!
Lady: I hope it is fine if I sit here, there is no other vacant table?
Me: That's perfectly fine with me.
Lady: Thanks!!

She takes a chair on the opposite side at the other end of the table.
I couldn't help taking a look at her often while having tea, she was and arabic beauty, big eyes, spotless face, slightly curled hair but neatly tied and a nice figure. But, her beauty could not conceal the hint of worry on her face. She would look into space and switch off for seconds and then suddenly realize that and take a sip from her can. That was a little un-natural and bothered me.

Me:  Hi, you all right? You look like..
Lady: Hi, ya m fine, Thanks!!
Me: Great!! Where are you from? Visiting KL?
Lady: I am from Iran, I was working in KL for 3 years, then I went away. I came back yesterday.
Me: Oh great!! nice to know that you love it here, so much that you are back.
Lady: I didn't want to but ...forget it.
Me: Okay!!
A long moment of silence.
Lady: My name is Hxxxxxx, I came back from jail yesterday.
Me: [my eyes slightly wide open, the tea cup stopped just before my lips and stayed like that] Ohk!!
Lady: For quite sometime I was drug peddling and the very same people got me caught and then I was sent behind bars.
Me: Ohkay!! [that was a little stretched than earlier]
Lady: I was in jail for 6 months and I did tauba never to do anything like that. But, I want to teach the other ones a lesson who sent me there. Now that I am back, I want them to see me that I am back so I am going at all the places where these guys are.
Me: You mean to say....they are around this areas as well? I mean just curious?
Lady: Ya...but don't worry.
Me: [instantly i blurted] Noooo..not at all, why should I? {I am kind of thinking if those guys are watching me and somebody might just think that I am an accomplice, even the  police..darn..I am like I hope the other party or the police are not watching I am a dead man..why the hell did I sit and have this ....stupid tea, it doesn't even taste nice!!}
Lady: So what do you do here?
Me: Nothing, just working for a company. I think I will make a move..I mean the tea is cold..I don't like it this way. Anyways, it was nice meeting you.
Lady: Oh great!! even I am done.
Me: Great!! I will excuse myself need to use the washroom you go ahead [I didn't want to be noticed chit-chatting and walking out with her].
Lady: Okay!! Bye.
Me: Bye!! 

The 2 o' clock call

Imagine.....

You wake up one fine Sunday morning rubbing your eyes. You look for your glasses and then your phone to check what time it is, you see a notification that you have an unread message in your inbox a message sent sometime in the night. You check it and the first thing you notice is that it is from a very near and dear friend and you become concerned when you read something like:
"Slightest opportunity if you are awake" sent at about 2 o 'clock his/her time.

You are little confused and you want to know why the question? why not just call up and ask? Is everything like fine? So you instantly reply "I am here now, tell me".
Pat comes the response " Nothing, wasn't sleepy so thought of bugging you, but wasn't sure if you are awake"
You reply back "Call karna tha na...agli baar ke liye note kar lo"

Believe me it is pleasant to get that call than reading that message early morning.

Hypothetically, lets assume you did make that call, what all can happen:

Your friend, say that's me, picks up the phone. I am asleep but when I see your call the next thing is to fetch my glasses to see what time it is. 2 o' clock. My first reaction will be of concern.
Me: "Hi, all okay, is everything fine?"
X: Yup, just aise hi call kiya, wasn't feeling sleepy so thought of bugging you.
Me: [to a female friend]: Hmm.....bolo!!
Me: [to a male friend]: Behenchod!! kya gaandupanti hai..tujhe hum hi chutiya nazar aa rahe hai...bhains ki aankh saale daaru pee rakhi hai kya? pee hi rakhi hogi warna aise chutiyaape nahin karta..kuch kaam ki baat hai toh bol nahin toh ..bhag bhonsdi ke ..sone de!!
X: Hahahahaahahahaa...ohohohoho.....pata thaa saale aise hi karega....ahahahahaaah.!! [That's all I would hear from the other side.]

Now looking at the above and a bit of analysis:

If something was wrong genuinely, it would be nice to know right at that moment than being the late comer.
If nothing was wrong, just time pass, you still would hear a lot of things which would make you laugh on the cuss words you hear or at least you will get somebody who will be happy to listen to you no matter what fucking time it is..it never did matter.

I have the right to both!! To know, to be called at the moment when the thought strikes the first time, to listen...just plainly listen...and shower cuss words if I feel the need to..anything actually...just about anything from the other side. It would be fun!!

So, Forget what the hands of the watch show a moment that creates a sense of distance, that moment or time [or anything to do with it] is not worth my time!!

Make that call!!

WTF: What Tasty Food

Yes!!

That is the name of the restaurant "WTF"

The good thing about meeting people in a pub is the randomness. You just can't imagine what is the story that you are about to hear.
Jayesh, a malay-gujju (yes in that order!!) beer belly, foodie and a womanizer. Once he is tipsy he has the most interesting stories to tell you with that typical gujju humor, thankfully despite being malay before being a gujju. WTF recommendation came from him.

The next day I went to Bangsar and was happily surprised that most people that I met and asked for directions to WTF knew it. So, my expectations were set that this would be worth the effort.

Somethings about WTF other than food.


Marketing is awesome!! Every person, malay, Indian, chinese every body knew about it moreover everyone  had good things to say about their food. One of the many things that I can attribute to the Gujrati background, they are good at marketing their products and the community as a whole helps out each other to market to the outside world. Their use of superlatives: both good and bad.
For eg. A simple marketing statement made by the owner
 "Gaurav bhaiya, yahan par saari mithai india se better hai"

Good thing: That was tempting and I made up my mind to give it a shot.
Bad thing: Expectations!! The bar is set up higher and you can only disappoint your customer if you don't get it right.

People:

Owners are Ujjwal, Preeti and Jigna. Awesome people, friendly and sweet to talk to. They took out time to sit and have a chat with me. I walked into the place at about 3.30pm,odd hours for lunch. They are closed from 3-6pm but Ujjwal was kind enough to invite me. they were renovating their kitchen but he made sure that the cook prepares well for me. He invited me for Sunday cricket and introduced me to family. Really!! it is always a pleasure to meet good people.

Ambiance or Food?? That is "THE" question a restaurant should be able to answer to its customer.
They promote food as their USP so I wasn't really expecting a great ambiance. But, to my surprise the place was decently done, thanks to Preeti (owner) she is an interior designer and has done a decent job. The bulbs on the ceilings are an eyesore though, but will discount it for gujju liking for dhinchak ambiance.

Now about Food!!


Food is best compared to a woman!!

Tempting when you see her first

Smells good when you are closer

Fine-smooth texture when you first touch her (I am pretty sure no one likes women with hair all over their body like Savanna grasslands)

There should be that "something" about her that keeps you guessing

And when you have her it should end in an orgasm.


Lets get back to the food now :)

Ujjwal recommended veg hariyali, a tawa naan and parantha and jaljeera.

Veg hariyali, of course "green" to the core with a cut tomato decoration on the top. Some ghee/butter floating on in the bowl. First reaction, bland, oily/unhealthy not visually appealing.

Aroma: it makes up 80% of flavor. The dish lacked it completely. This made it difficult to expect too much.

Texture: As expected from the ghee/butter floating on top, it was greasy. Which is actually conflicting with the notion of veg "hariyali" where in I expect the freshness, crispness quotient to be higher.

Nothing to guess: it was gravy all the way, beans and beans.

Nothing to say that it ended in a memorable experience worth sharing. Ghee, gravy that was the only taste my pallet could recognize. It looked for some spices, flavors and they were completely missing. The cook needs to know that beans "are either sweet or tasteless". The whole preparation was at best a greasy mix of beans, spinach and butter.

Very basic, honestly I have had better vegetarian in KL if that is their "good" preparation.

Lets get back to the interesting one "woman". Each stage is equally important from visual to the end, any "unwanted surprises" are a put off.

I am not a chef, but If I had to think of veg hariyali at WTF. I would expect the following:
Green...yes keep it green. Avoid the white/yellows (butter) they don't fit in well. The veg hariyali  should be either a saag or a mix of veggies. Currently it is struggling to find its space between the two.

Still,  if you prefer to keep the "mix of raw materials" as it is. These would be my recommendations.
1) Cut the beans smaller, they just are too big and a put off
2) Do not use ghee/butter that gives a layer of "white" on the dish. Try using "very little olive oil" for the tadka on top. It should not float on the surface
3) Use some spices.
          Firstly for the aroma: try heeng it tastes good with such green vegetables
          For the taste: "Give it a flavor" find your own mix of spices. Currently it is bland.
4) Texture: Do away with the greasy stuff. Try something that gels with the texture of the gravy, ajwain. "It is like the mole on her arm that slight unevenness adds to the beauty"

5) Remember, it should end with ...............(w)aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!



Experiment my friend, there is lot more to food than marketing. Good luck!!