DISRUPTED LUNCH APPOINTMENT

I don't know what title to write about this posting but hopefully after completing my story then will try to think of one. Today's post should be about my morning breakfast and later about my lunch date with my ex-colleagues. I should say about food and updates from my friends. Usually I will make a draft about my posting, save it and continue later and post it at night if I manage to complete it then.

Today's breakfast was fish noodle soup. I am cutting down eating noodles and instead takes local cakes, bread and half boiled eggs at one of my favorite restaurant in Donggongon town, a Muslim restaurant. A simple and relaxing atmosphere with a good interaction by the restaurant owner towards its customer and easy to find parking.

Towkay   :   Boss, mau minum apa?

Butizaon  :   Nescafe c panas dan Kon Lau mee, Mee hun.

Towkay   :   Amoi,  Kon Lau mee, Mee hun ... meja 33. (she shouted to the waitress)

Sabah restaurant is indeed very unique in the sense that you can have Soto or Hokkien mee and even roti canai in one restaurant. There are no racial barrier as we can eat in a table whether you are a Muslim, Christian or Budha and Sabah is a truly one Malaysia where it is foreign in other states except Sarawak.

I was reading a very interesting news about a political party where its President was being challenged by his supreme council and where he commented philosophically in metaphor. He said he went fishing on a stormy weather and used a big bait to lure the big fishes.  He was very patience and landed many big fishes and with different kind too. There were rotten fishes and we know it have a foul smell and he asked what do you do with fishes with foul smell.

I guess you have to throw out the rotten fishes.

Minutes later my food arrived but not that was ordered.

Butizaon   :   Bukan kah sia minta Kon lau isi ikan ... mee hun?

As the waiter was taking back the soup noodle to changed to what I ordered, I stopped her.

Butizaon   :   Tidak apa lah sia makan saja ini.

Waiter   :   Buli tukar bha ... (yalah tu, tukar santut lah .... lol)

As if I am not hungry and suffer a few minutes to wait for the noodle soup to be prepared. This is a daily occurrences in a restaurant where they took the order through their memory instead of jotting down as was done in an established restaurant.

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I was home when I called a friend regarding our lunch date as I had promised to call today after the cancellation of the lunch last week. I had promised them for a lunch after asking them a favor to locate a very important letter addressed to my previous address that was my previous office address.

Butizaon   :   So how was your office Hari Raya party yesterday?

Dora  :   It was so great. There were so many dishes and it was really in a hari raya mood. Doremon made second round helping, once during lunch time and later in the late afternoon. We did 'take away' also as there were still a lot of food left.

Butizaon   :   So what about the promised lunch appointment today, is it still on?

Dora   :   Yeah it is still on. Doremon is also coming and we shall meet around 12.00 noon.

Butizaon   :   Ok, you can ask Mdm Tini to come also.

Doremon also called me to confirmed the lunch appointment and they were on the way to another unit for they were called there. I told him that it must be another Hari raya party and he said that would not be.

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Buzz .... buzz .... buzz ....

Butizaon   :   Hello .... so it is a hari raya party again?

Doremon   :   Yeah ... they called us to come here not informing us about the party. So can we postpone our lunch appointment to next Monday?

Butizaon   :   It is okay otherwise you 'rugi' (loss) ... lol

Doremon   :  Sorry yeah, next Monday lah.

Butizaon   :  Ok.

So since our lunch appointment was postponed and hope that Doremon would not be on leave on Monday as he likes to take off day every Monday. I don't know why but he worked on Saturday and Sunday and maybe he needed a rest day too.

I drove to town to buy my 'takeaway' food of fried fish, squid and long bean for my lunch as my schedule was disrupted of the postponement. I ate at home and completed my posting and hope you enjoy it.

I nearly forgot to mention about the sweet in the picture called white rabbit. It was very popular during the time when I was growing up. I saw it sold at Servay supermarket in Penampang and bought a packet for old time sake. The taste and sweetness of it is still the same but not to consume it like before when we were growing up. Gone are those days.

DOWN MEMORY LANE - Sabah Railway Train

It was my dream to visit the Sabah railway station in Tg. Aru to inquire about the travel schedule to all it's destination but instead asked my nephew who is also interested for the travel trip on the train. A friend was promising me for the trip for awhile but there was no indication of him going for the trip so I decided to suggest it to my family members and they were indeed very eager especially the young ones.

It was therefore suggested that the coming Saturday was chosen as it was also the last of the school holiday. We chose for the earliest trip that was at 7.40 am and  make sure that all of us must be at the station at 7.00 am. As we were looking forward to the trip, there was no problem of waking up early. I was once again a young kid telling all the first timer of the thrill travelling on a train. There was no problem parking your vehicles there as there were ample parking lots as you are taking the return trip in the afternoon.

When we reached Tg Aru Railway station, there were a lot of people mostly seated with their travelling bag and  maybe cookies or Raya delicacies inside the bag and boxes. As a first timer to the station I went directly to the counter but nobody was manning the counter. I was surprised as the travelers stood up behind me to make a queue. (Ikut Barisan bogia lol ...) They thought that I was there for the queue and since they stood behind me why not stay put instead of going at the back of the queue. While waiting for the counter staff to open I spoke to a lady about the train and the railway route.

@ a very eager first time passengers


Butizaon  :  Are you are a frequent traveler of this mode of transportation?

Woman   :  This is my mode of transport now and it is also cheap and safe. I am from Membakut.

Butizaon  :   How much is the fare from Tg. Aru to Beaufort and the time it depart from Beaufort station?

Woman   :   The fare to Beaufort is RM4.50 for adult and RM2.50 for children. The return trip is at 11.00am

Butizaon  :   That is perfect as we will reached Beaufort at 10.00 am and have our early lunch or late breakfast before departing Beaufort station.

Woman   :   Do you know about a train mainly for tourist which operates from Tg. Aru to Kawang town only?

Butizaon   :   Yeah, I made inquiry about it but it is under Sutera Harbour management and it is really very expensive. They costs almost RM300.00 per person (adult). I think it cater for foreign tourist or rich local people who like to taste the train trip to the rural areas.

Woman   :  It is inclusive of breakfast and lunch but to us locals it is still too expensive.

About 5 minutes later the counter open and I was 2nd in line to purchase our tickets. Some of us went for a light breakfast as we had time to spare. When we return after a short breakfast for the children there were still many queuing to purchase their tickets. We should be also in the queue if I hadn't looked for the counter staff.

The train to Beaufort departed at almost 8.00 am and it surprise me that the train was new and comfortable with air-condition minus announcement informing passengers of all the stations. The number of passengers were so many that some of them standing and it forced us to share the seats among the families as some of the passengers were with infants. I almost cramp my leg as I let my nephew sat on my thigh although I let him stood up once in a while.

We reached Beaufort at 10.00 am and we disembarked and looked for the ticket counter but it was not open yet so we went for our late breakfast about a stone throw from the railway station.

Towkay   :   Mau minum apa?

Butizaon   :   Bha kamu minta minuman dan makanan yang sapat kena buat nanti kita lambat.

Towkay   :   Apa ko mau makan?

Butizaon   :   Hokkien Mee dan minum, Lemon tea C ping.

When my Hokkien mee arrived I thought that it was someone else cos the Hokkien I was used to was big dark noodles with lots of dark soy sauce and crunchy pork skin julienne to small pieces and added to the dish.

Butizaon   :   Towkay saya minta Hokkien mee, ini Kono men biasa saja.

Towkay   :   Ini Hokkien Mee mah.

Butizaon   :   Sudah tukar kah ...

Towkay   :   Mana ada tukar ini Beaufort punya Hokkien mee mah.

 












@Bft Hokkien Mee ..just a plain Kon lau men
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Butizaon   :   Carol nah ini duit, kau pegi beli tiket dulu ... ngam ngam kau balik, makanan kau sudah masak.

Carol        :   Brapa urang kita itu?

Butizaon   :   Dewasa 7 budak 3.

When you travel in groups make sure you are in the train before someone else so that your groups will be together instead of separate seats.

It was a very enjoyable trip to Beaufort especially the children and managed to go through the short tunnel again. I recommend this trip to everybody reading this post as to appreciate our local railway track especially children as it is safe, cheap and comfortable.

POSTING AFTER MEETING EX COLLEAGUES

Cling ... cling ...cling (my handphone incoming call)

WS  :  Butizaon, please come to the restaurant. You just passed the restaurant that we are having our lunch.

Butizaon  :  Hello, where is that?

WS   :  We are at the ground floor.

Butizaon  :  Ok I will go down. ( I was already at the 1st floor)

Since it was already lunch time and alone, I looked for the ladies and with luck shall have a free lunch. I will make sure that they will pay for my lunch.

When I was near the restaurant, two of my great ex-colleagues were waving their hands like crazy so I went to their table. I wasn't seated and yet they already asked me what I want to eat but stopped of how much should I eat ha..ha .ha. I follow Mdm Miza to the counter to order for my food. Meanwhile Mdm Tini just remain seated and I guess they already discuss about it and will pay Mdm Tini afterwards. That is their problem as long as I have free meals.

It was the longest time I took to eat my food as they were talking, asking questions and bla ..bla .. bla. Usually I am very fast when taking my food and it reminds me of a friend who took his food so slowly that I will tell him to eat faster. When you are slow while eating, it also will show the attitude of doing your work in a slow way. It's just my opinion.

It was during this conversation that my blogging was raised up and since they read my posting and few other former colleagues, I decided to update my blog so that they will at least know about my whereabouts.

Thank you to Mdm Miza and Mdm Tini for the food, uninterrupted stories, the company and most of all you drive me back to the world of blogging. No promise that there will be great posting but at least  I am back again.