My Mee Bandung Surprise

LAST WEEKEND, family matters in the form of a really meriah engagement kenduri beckoned my family and I back to N's hometown, Muar. Or, as the Muarians say it, Muor.

We arrived late Friday night. After settling the kids and putting them to sleep, we went out in search of our first bowls of mee bandung. Memang since we first got married, it's compulsory, must eat mee bandung upon arrival in Muor. The one we got that night was delicious, mouth watering but not exactly what I had been craving for eversince we planned the trip, ie mee bandung at Kadir's. But alas, Kadir is not open at night, so I had to settle for my not-so-Kadir's mee bandung Muor. The next morning, we were woken up by our kids, all fresh and screaming murder for breakfast. So up we got, and after a quick trip to the bathroom, we were out in the car around 7-ish in search of breakfast, Muorian style.

I knew where N was heading. It was a little stall near the TNB office, one that he used to frequent since his childhood days. There, we ordered two bowls of lontong, one bowl of mee rebus, a set of beef and chicken satay and a set of awesome blossom roti bakar. For drinks, three cups of steaming hot extra kow coffee and milo for the boys. And it is perhaps only in Muor where you will find satay stalls all lively and bustling with activity at such hours of the day!

Setelah kenyang, seperti biasa, the boys asked to pay a visit to their friends at Tanjong. As though tak puas pergi Zoo Negara every other weekend, when in Muor, they have to visit the monkeys at the Tanjong nearby. Nasar was so amused by how territorial the monkeys were, when one monkey with a bright red coloured bum chased off a group of others and only let a selected few share the peanuts we were offering. Nasri, my braver one, was busy trying to step on their long pink tails.

After that, we drove around town admiring the old architecture. N as always will cerita (some stories, we have heard a zillion times over..yawn!) about what he used to do when he was a child, as we passed old buildings he used to frequent. One of them was the Muar Swimming Pool, which once had an Olympic sized pool and which has now gone into a miserable state of disrepair. N was so disappointed. He must’ve spent quite a lot of time there I suppose. It is a shame actually that they have not maintained it.

After a long drive around town, and a stop over to check on the “situation” at my brother in law's house where the kenduri was to be held, I asked N to take me to Kadir’s shop on Jalan Abdullah for THE Mee Bandung Muor. *as in this is the real deal* (Mental note: I have to remember to ask N why he calls it Kadir when the signboard clearly says Abu Bakar bin SomethingSomething and Sabarina Abu Bakar.) N gave me this look which read “tak kenyang-kenyang lagi?” but obliged in the end. Eleh, sebenarnya, dia pun nak! Finally!! Yes! Again we downed two full bowls of mee bandung. Later, N asked me whether we should bungkus some satay to bring over to bro-in-law’s house later. We decided that we should, and placed the order of 200 sticks with the Satay Man whose name is Satria and told him we’d come by later to pick up the “goods”.

Sebab niat baik agaknya nak belanja orang satay, I had a nice surprise awaiting me at Kadir’s when we returned later after we went back to get dressed for the kenduri. (sidetrack: I discovered then that I did not bring my sandals and had to settle wearing my kebaya with loafers!) There was no parking, so we double parked. N told me to stay in the car just in case we were told to move, so I did.

I heard Bibik saying something in the background about some “perempuan dok bye-bye bye-bye”. I looked out and saw her. NAZRAH!!! There was no doubt about it, and tanpa segan silu and without checking first, whether it was really her, I got out and she came towards me and we exchanged excited hugs. All I could think of was “she’s soooooo puteh!” and how regretfully late I was for the kenduri! What timing!! I babbled some stuff very quickly to her cos by then N was already back in the car, and asked her where her Aishah was. She pointed to a lil kecik adorable girl wearing a white hat sitting quietly with her Dad, CA, in the mee bandung shop. (Nyesal pulak tak panggil Nasar turun to introduce him to Aishah. Manalah tahu kan?)

It was surreal! It’s quite like meeting celebrities from movies, to see Nazrah, CA and Aishah in person after seeing their pictures at her blog all this time. Only that, unlike when meeting celebrities, there is this big gap of unfamiliarity, meeting her, was like meeting family, even though it was for a mere fleeting 2 minutes or so. The best part is, I remember asking her what she was doing in Muor. She gave me her familiar wide grin which makes you wanna smile too, and said, “Makan Mee Bandung lah!” and all the way from Singapore at that!! She really knows her food this one!! I tabik you lah!! You’re the Queen of Makan!!

Needless to say, from the heartfelt embraces we shared, N was pretty much amazed and amused by it all. He kept saying that he was so impressed that Nazrah was so sharp to have recognised me from inside the shop! I smsed KakTeh and OOD a few minutes later to share the news. I then called my mom to tell her about it too. Before I could say anything, she said, “Oooooh, I know!”. Apparently, our ever so efficient better-than-CNN-like reporter from London aka KakTeh had alerted the rest of our clan in Malaysia about my brief encounter with Nazrah. It had already made local news apparently. My dad, asked me whether I took photos, I meekly told him “no” to which he sort of frowned disapprovingly. Ya lah…Why? Why? Why??????

In the end, I was not late! (BIG BIG minus points for my niece’s future hubby!) I could’ve spent more time with Nazrah if I knew! Nevertheless, it really made my weekend! To finally have met in person, someone whom I have chatted with at Ely’s Kedai Kopi, whom I’ve smsed and talked with a few times over the phone and above all, whose blog I read almost religiously so much so, that I feel like I know so much about her and even what she eats daily, cannot really be described in words; by a flat-toner especially. And as a plus point, all this talk of makan or not makan, was not wasted. It has brought us together, in blogworld, at Ely's Kedai Kopi and even at Kadir’s in Muor. Nazrah, says our lil meet was priceless, I couldn't agree with her more!

ps. pls visit nazrah's for a more graphic view of the mee bandung mentioned, the tauke-tauke kedai responsible for the mee bandung and for an enlightening write up on the beautiful Bandar Maharani @ Muor. Oh, and those who visit Muor, please also go try the fresh ice-cold air pear, which is sold somewhere in the "china town" of Muor by the roadside!

pps. just imagine, if it was not her, after all the hugging and whatnots! tak ke malu! hehehe!