I figured I wouldn’t have time to go out of the hotel to do my own thing when the summit starts as we have schedules from morning till night.
I left my room around 8 pm to explore either a nearby shopping mall or eat pepper crab.
I inquired from the concierge and they led me to Jalan Ator which according to them is a street lined with seafood restaurants.
I took a hotel taxi. It only took 10 minutes including the traffic. I paid 10 Malaysian ringgit.
The place pala is an open air eatery. The whole stretch has seafood restaurants serving all kinds of dishes- barbecues, Hainan chicken rice, grilled oysters, grilled fish, noodles soup, pepper crab, and so many more.
I overheard an American lady commenting “Can you imagine how many chickens they killed to come-up with all those wings”.
clams
Durian abounds
Ready to eat packs of durian
I didn’t feel out of place because for one, I am Asian and look very much like a Malaysian. Two, there are so many tourists and expats.
I chose a red plastic table closer to the road to be away from the cooking areas.
A British couple was at the next table.
I ordered Herbal clam soup.
It was served steaming hot kasi may apoy pa sa ilalim.
And of course what I came here for, the pepper crab. Malaysia and Singapore share many common dishes and their famous pepper crab is one of them.
This looks big but actually the laman is so little.
For my dessert, I had a small scoop of vanilla Turkish ice cream. Strange no? Meron silang Turkish ice cream.
The one who produces and distribute this is a group of Turkish based in Malaysia. The vendor is a Pakistani born in Malaysia. The buyer is a Filipina born in the Philippines with Chinese components and ingredients. The ice cream is sold and eaten in Malaysia. It’s a global world.
I took a cab back to the hotel but he charged me 15 ringgit without using his meter. He said he consumes too much gasoline daw going around. Sige na nga tulong na lang sa kanya.
He told me his life story. The ride took some 15 minutes, parang this time it’s longer. Siguro so he could finish his life story:
He’s a Pakistani born in Malaysia. They bought their two story house in 1997 for 200,000 and now it’s valued at 800,000 Ringgit. He and his parents live in that big house.
His brother is doing good, married and has his own house.
His sister is a medical doctor, married with a guy with an MBA degree. They are living in London, England and come to Malaysia every two years.
He works as a manager in a textile export company during daytime and drives his own taxi at night till before midnight.
He is single, and still is nursing a broken heart. He has a Filipina girlfriend named Catherine who he loves so much. She loves him too. They had a lovely six-months relationship until it was cut short because her husband asked her to come home to the Philippines to care for him and their daughter. Of course, the husband doesn’t know that his wife has a boyfriend while working in Malaysia.
She worked in Malaysia for 3 years but now she’s back in our country with her husband.
They communicate thru facebook but according to him, he no longer calls her or sends her messages in the past 18 days in deference to the husband. He still loves her and misses her. He just looks at her facebook pictures. He said as long as she’s happy, he’s happy too.
He said he doesn’t like Malaysian women because they are narrow minded. He wishes to marry a Filipina someday. As beautiful as Catherine, educated, and broad-minded.
