First Short Story.Meh

First and foremost, okay fine, I haven't been updating my blog frequently (exams). Sue me. Actually don't. Here, have the first draft of my diabetes related story. The final draft has been sent to a competition i entered. SO... here

REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCES RELATED TO DIABETES

My name is Amar. I am 20 years old and I am a chef, food blogger, cookbook author and a diabetic. Being a diabetic and someone whose life revolves around food, you will never fail to receive comments from people about how you became diabetic because of your lifestyle; and I must admit that they are right, if only I had stuck to eating a bowl of salad with boiled chicken with no carbohydrates for the better part of my life, I would not have to inject my abdomen with insulin shots every time my blood sugar levels rise abnormally. However, I would like to point out to them that their opinions do not matter as they are wrong. I did get diabetes because of my eating habits, but only so because I was at a higher risk of diabetes than other normal human beings. My family has a long history of diabetic people so my chances of getting diabetes was pretty large. So, with this of myth thrown out the window, I would like to share with you the life - experiences of diabetic people in social and working situations.

During social gatherings and activities, especially in Malaysia, food tends to be put centre stage. We do not typically bring the food from the buffet table to our own private table to chat and eat, rather, we choose to chat and eat at the buffet table so that the food is nearer to us. Don’t get me wrong, diabetics can do this, no restrictions imposed upon them, but they have to be mindful of what they are stuffing in their mouths. Healthy people can just pick whatever they want and eat it without a worry in the world and talk to their acquaintances at the same time. Diabetics on the other hand have to watch what they are putting in their mouths just in case the food they are eating might send them into a diabetic coma. Other than that, we can do what other normal people do.

In a work setting, there is no distinctions between diabetic and non-diabetic workers. We do not get paid less or are given less work because of our medical condition. We only need a little time to check our blood sugar levels throughout the day and maybe administer insulin, only a few minutes is needed (Non- diabetics might take longer coffee breaks than our “insulin breaks”.. There might be a little bias during the job interview when the employer sees your medical history for the first time, but other than that, nothing much.

Now, I am not writing this story because I am trying to gain sympathy for diabetics, but essentially, I want to dispel the myth that diabetics are different from other people in this society. The fact is, the only thing differentiating us from the rest of society is the occasional insulin injection, medical check-ups every now and then and that we have to watch what we eat.

(Word count: 503 including title

Roti Tampal and Double Special Beef Burger

Salutations my fellow (hopefully existent) readers, as promised, I will write about either food reviews or short stories. For today's post, I will be writing a food review, or more accurately, two food reviews as I will be reviewing two foods that I ate during my recent bicycle trip to Putrajaya.

A plate of hot and crispy Roti Tampal served with a dollop of sambal and watery dhal. Excuse the helmet and gloves, I did say I was on a bicycle trip.

To start off, I had breakfast at a food court (medan selera in Malay) named Medan Selera Kampung Dato' Abu Bakar Baginda.  

I know that you cannot read what the sign says, my camera isn't the best in the world. Basically, the top part says that this is stall No.7 named Masakan Ibu. The menu lists Roti Canai and its many variations along with the price. Even though the menu says that my Roti Tampal should have costed RM 3, the nice lady at the counter charged me less than that.

I'll start with what a Roti Tampal actually is, it is just a Roti Canai (Roti Paratha if you are only familiar with the Singaporean way of naming things) with an egg (usually with a runny yolk) stuck on the roti canai. This is why it is named Roti Tampal (literally Glued Bread in english, reason why I hate translating our Malaysian Dishes name into english) as the egg is literally glued on the bread.

How the egg is "glued" to the bread however is no mystery as these stalls are usually open and you can have a peek behind the flat top grill to see the action. Usually, an egg is cracked directly on top of the flat top and a pre- cooked Roti Canai is placed on top firmly as to not break the yolk. As the egg cooks, the egg white solidifies on the Roti Canai, sticking itself. 

This Roti Tampal served to me was piping hot off the flat top, which is always and A+ in my books. The roti was crispy and yet fluffy at the same time, giving it a dual texture. The egg yolk  was still runny, turning itself into this yummy creamy sauce. The condiments however were a meh. Usually when you go to Mamak stalls, they serve you spicy curry and dhal, but it is different when you go to a Malay stall, your roti will usually be accompanied with sambal and dhal.

The sambal was okay, not the best but still palatable, the same thing could not be said about the dhal though as it just tasted like water with dhal powder mixed through. There were not even any lentils in sight, which is sad because dhal is literally the name of a lentil used in making the dhal.

All in all, this place gets a 3 out of 5 in the Taste-O-Meter. The meal costed RM 2 with iced water as my drink of choice.

The Double Special Beef Burger on a Charcoal sesame seed Bun with a side of fries.

After cycling for the next few hours, stopping here and there to savor the famous landmarks of Putrajaya and breathe in an unhealthy amount of haze, I stopped at the Selera Putra, which is another food court in Putrajaya located near the Putra Square (Dataran Putra). Just park your bicycle in the ample amount of bicycle parking facilities or park your car at the Putra Square. You will see an information counter, opposite the Perdana Putra, go there, a set of escalators should be on your  right if you are facing the tourists informational counter. Take the escalator down and you will see signs of the Selera Putra. If you still managed to get lost following these simple instructions, then go ahead and ask the nice people at the info counter, they will gladly show you the way. Take some brochures with you while youre at it. They make good reading material while you wait for your food.

There, you will find a variety of foods from traditional malay cuisine, to the typical mamak and also western fare. I chose to get the burger because.. I don't know, just because, I don't have to justify my every actions you know.

The name of the burger stall is Steam N Grill Burger. I ordered the Double Special Beef Burger on a charcoal bun Set with fries and a drink ( You get a choice of soft drinks, or mineral water). You also get to choose the bun as they have charcoal, whole meal, regular and a bun i forgot about. 

The burger was juicy, I liked the meat as it was well seasoned and juices were overflowing from it signalling that it wasn't cooked until it was basically charcoal. The bun however, had no "wow" factor at all. It is just a bun they made with added charcoal powder. It didn't affect the taste at all. It is just a marketing gimmick to differentiate themselves from other burger stalls from the rest of the country. They had this thousand island colored sauce which is good and better than just regular mayonnaise. The cheese was not the best, but then, this is an affordable burger, I cant expect imported Italian mozzarella. 

The fries were not enough, that I could say. I was hoping for a handful of fries (my handful, not some midget handful), but what I got was a small packet equivalent to a Mc Donald's small fries. They were good but not hand cut, heritage bred, sea salt seasoned potato frites, so they just served as a side, nothing more.

All in all, I would still give this a 3 out of 5 in the Taste-O-Meter. The meal was Rm16. 

So in conclusion, both meals are average, not above and below, as they had no 'wow' factor in taste. Would I recommend you to stop and eat at these places? Why not? They are not too terrible and moderately priced, so give em a chance.

Introduction to this blog

Alright, before I even type anything about this blog itself, I would like to get a few things off my chest. Just think of this paragraph as a pre-intro, if such a term exists that is. You may choose to skip this paragraph all together as you may or may not find it interesting. I am starting this blog as it is one of the assignments for my university's Computer Science course. Never in a million years would  I imagine starting a blog, yet here I am, sitting in front of a desktop computer in the library, writing a blog post. I try to keep my digital footprint on the internet at a minimal as I am not one to update my everyday life on the internet, but since this is a mandatory assignment, aimed at introducing technology and making students more IT literate, I'll just have to play along. I think this pre-intro is long enough, so lets start talking about the blog shall we?

I tend to write a lot, so here is a picture of a kitten in a cup, take a rest if you want and continue reading. (Before I get sued and my blog taken down, here: Courtesy of Google Images)

To start, lets talk about the title of this blog, Malaysian Food and Stories. I picked this title because it contains two of the things that I am most passionate about, food and writing short stories. So, in essence, this blog is pretty self - explanatory. What you can expect from this blog are food reviews (mostly university foods, because you know, I am in university) and also short stories of varying lengths and genres, depending on my mood.

I most probably bored you to death with the last paragraph, so here, more kittens. (Courtesy of Google Images)

Now, about the food reviews, I like to stick to a format when doing these kinds of things. So in my reviews, be prepared to see the picture of the food, a brief description of the dish in my point of view, price of the food and also the place.

Next, the short stories. Please do not expect much from this, I write because I like to express my creativity and what pleases me, at times does not please everyone around me. I would like to keep the curse words in my stories at a minimum at the request of my peers, but you cannot change who I am, so if you don't want to read my stories, then by all means, DO NOT READ MY FREAKING STORIES. Also, if i see my short stories being plagiarized, imma smack you.

About the schedule of my blog posts, you can expect a food review and a short story per week. However, I might not upload it at the same times each week. I may upload a food review on Tuesday and a short story on Sunday on say next week, but it might not be the same for the week after that. Please bear with me on this as I am a very busy university student.

Nasi Lemak, the quintessential Malaysian dish. Nothing to do with the blog post really, just hungry. Yumm. (Courtesy Of Google Images, seriously I'm getting tired of writing this, just assume that all the images on this blog are from google images unless stated otherwise)

I think this the end of my intro. If you made it this far, congratulations my friend, you have an attention span longer than that of a monkey. Give yourself a pat on the back. So to recap, food review, short story, computer science assignment, yada yada yada etc etc etc bla bla bla. I trust that if you have made it this far, you would at least know an understand what i just wrote, so i don't need to recapitulate anything.

Here, a trophy for surviving my blog intro. Show it to some friends so that you can finally say you won something in your life. (Yes, it is still from Google Images)

Kbye. Hohoho.