I try to eat roti canai maximum twice a week. The reason is that I am trying to stick to a more healthy diet which consist less of harmful LDL fats. Low density lipoproteins are abundant in the extremely unhealthy mutton curry that I usually take with my favourite morning roti canai meal with. Normal people just take dhal....not me unfortunately. I just have to take it a few steps further in the wrong direction.
That however is not the story that I am trying to relate right now. It is about the roti canai person that makes my meal around twice a week.
I am a regular at a mamak stall near my office. The shop is famous for its nasi kandar and the owner owns 4 shops in and around KL.
I am quite close to the owner.
Getting an invitation to his daughter’s wedding kind of close.
I am beginning to get irritated with one of his staffs whom is the principal roti canai maker. See, this guy for ages seemed to be delaying the making of my roti canai to my obvious dismay. I usually gets my order a full 10 minutes after ordering. Some customers who came AFTER me was always served first.
Lately, it seems to be getting worse.
It is bugging me.
So, instead of complaining to his boss and possibly getting the dick-head fired, I take it that he just doesn’t like me. I am not a man whom turns the other cheek BUT life lesson rule number 324 vehemently states that : Never ever ever piss off the person whom is making your meal esp. In a restaurant.
Having worked part time after SPM in a restaurant and knowing what a chef can do to your meal behind your back, I knew the rule that was applicable in 1985 still stands in 2009.
So I suck up my fate like a good little boy does. Quietly.
So this morning, which is my roti canai morning, I sat down and ordered my customary teh tarik, mutton with mutton curry and one roti canai. One of the staffs took an already prepared roti canai and proceeded to walk towards me. The roti canai maker quickly called to the staff and spoke a few sentences in Tamil. The staff stopped, made a u-turn and returned the plate back to him.
He then proceeded to make a new roti for me.
More customers arrived and were served. I am made to wait yet again.
I started to pay close attention to what the roti canai maker is doing. Taking the round fresh dough, he pounds it, spreads the pounded dough and started folding it.
Nothing new there, but wait...
He actually lets my dough sets for a full 4 minutes before spreading it again and putting the dough on the hot plate.
So, by doing that....I figured that my roti canai dough gets a further 4 minutes of aeration for the yeast to do its job. The dough rises more (by expansion of carbon dioxide due to the respiration of the yeast) which translate to a more fluffier and softer roti canai.
Damn it!!!! My roti canai is custom made. No wonder it is always late.
HE WAS DOING ME A FAVOUR and I was the idiot.
He doesn’t hate me...he actually likes me.
So, on 2 eves before my birthday. I have learnt 2 life lessons.
Sometimes, it is better to wait for something and never pre-judged a person. We all heard and knew this before but sometimes, in the course of one’s hectic lives. We soon forget.
We forget that we are conscious beings. Our minds, conscious of itself is eager to experience reality and sometimes comes to the wrong conclusion. Whilst it is easier to just fit in life’s model handed down to us by our parents. It is more prudent to stop and ask ‘Why’.
A conscious mind must question, question and question. It is the beginning for the quest of knowledge. It is not just the destination but the journey itself. Surely, the longest journey one makes in this life is the journey inwards. The journey into one's own heart. The last journey before the ultimate journey.
One of my favourite movie scenes is from the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (I actually saw this movie nearly 10 times), in which the lead character played by Matthew Broderick says, ‘Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around, you might miss it’.
I learned that at 41...imagine what I missed the last 40 years?
That however is not the story that I am trying to relate right now. It is about the roti canai person that makes my meal around twice a week.
I am a regular at a mamak stall near my office. The shop is famous for its nasi kandar and the owner owns 4 shops in and around KL.
I am quite close to the owner.
Getting an invitation to his daughter’s wedding kind of close.
I am beginning to get irritated with one of his staffs whom is the principal roti canai maker. See, this guy for ages seemed to be delaying the making of my roti canai to my obvious dismay. I usually gets my order a full 10 minutes after ordering. Some customers who came AFTER me was always served first.
Lately, it seems to be getting worse.
It is bugging me.
So, instead of complaining to his boss and possibly getting the dick-head fired, I take it that he just doesn’t like me. I am not a man whom turns the other cheek BUT life lesson rule number 324 vehemently states that : Never ever ever piss off the person whom is making your meal esp. In a restaurant.
Having worked part time after SPM in a restaurant and knowing what a chef can do to your meal behind your back, I knew the rule that was applicable in 1985 still stands in 2009.
So I suck up my fate like a good little boy does. Quietly.
So this morning, which is my roti canai morning, I sat down and ordered my customary teh tarik, mutton with mutton curry and one roti canai. One of the staffs took an already prepared roti canai and proceeded to walk towards me. The roti canai maker quickly called to the staff and spoke a few sentences in Tamil. The staff stopped, made a u-turn and returned the plate back to him.
He then proceeded to make a new roti for me.
More customers arrived and were served. I am made to wait yet again.
I started to pay close attention to what the roti canai maker is doing. Taking the round fresh dough, he pounds it, spreads the pounded dough and started folding it.
Nothing new there, but wait...
He actually lets my dough sets for a full 4 minutes before spreading it again and putting the dough on the hot plate.
So, by doing that....I figured that my roti canai dough gets a further 4 minutes of aeration for the yeast to do its job. The dough rises more (by expansion of carbon dioxide due to the respiration of the yeast) which translate to a more fluffier and softer roti canai.
Damn it!!!! My roti canai is custom made. No wonder it is always late.
HE WAS DOING ME A FAVOUR and I was the idiot.
He doesn’t hate me...he actually likes me.
So, on 2 eves before my birthday. I have learnt 2 life lessons.
Sometimes, it is better to wait for something and never pre-judged a person. We all heard and knew this before but sometimes, in the course of one’s hectic lives. We soon forget.
We forget that we are conscious beings. Our minds, conscious of itself is eager to experience reality and sometimes comes to the wrong conclusion. Whilst it is easier to just fit in life’s model handed down to us by our parents. It is more prudent to stop and ask ‘Why’.
A conscious mind must question, question and question. It is the beginning for the quest of knowledge. It is not just the destination but the journey itself. Surely, the longest journey one makes in this life is the journey inwards. The journey into one's own heart. The last journey before the ultimate journey.
One of my favourite movie scenes is from the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (I actually saw this movie nearly 10 times), in which the lead character played by Matthew Broderick says, ‘Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around, you might miss it’.
I learned that at 41...imagine what I missed the last 40 years?
