Malaysians, we are a friendly lot, are we not? We pride ourselves on our hospitality and our warmth. When friends come a-visitin’, we make sure they receive the best welcome we can offer as hosts. And when these guests come from afar, why, all the more reason to roll out the red carpet and take out the best silver and all that jazz.

And when they happen to be a couple of your best friends from Europe (Italy and Poland, specifically) whom you’ve not met in five years, travelling across continents to spend two weeks here on their honeymoon, why, it’s obvious what you do — you panic.

Or at least, that’s what I did. Or almost did.

Thankfully, I’m nothing if not obsessive-compulsive and a drawer-of-lists-and-things-to-do-and-see. Also, I’ve got plenty of good friends with more sense in their heads (and generally, a better sense of direction).

So this was what happened when Manuel & Gosia came to town…

A WHIFF OF WARM WELCOME…
[ Kindly guest-written by Lyrical Lemongrass of a whiff of lemongrass fame ]

“I hope everything goes okay”, he said, a worried frown on his otherwise handsome face.

“You’ll be fine”, I assured Kenny. “We’ll be fine.”

We were poring over spreadsheets with names and locations scribbled neatly into timeslots. Between drinking coffee and gossiping, with loud guffaws of laughter, we finally got it done.

***

At 4.00pm, the rain clouds gathered.

It was a sign to test our powers of improvisation, and we didn’t cave in.

We hastily made impromptu amendments to the spreadsheet. After all, rain in Malaysia was pretty much the norm, and equipped with an umbrella and a bit of common sense, anything was possible. Having a car and a capable driver who knew her way around KL also helped.

I had acted tour guide before, but it nevertheless worried me that someone might ask me what the population of Malaysia was, or how many steps Batu Caves had, so a little bit of apprehension on my part was expected. Thankfully, the questions Manuel and Gosia asked us were a little more insightful to the real Malaysia. Perhaps, it also made me value the little things that makes Malaysia what it is.

Take the humble plastic bag filled with colourful drinks, tied at a corner with a frayed raffia string. I literally grew up drinking kopi ais from plastic bags. Beats Starbucks anytime. Even till today, as I wear my formal skirt and jacket, I am sometimes seen sucking noisily on a striped straw protruding from a plastic bag filled to the brim with limau ais and spitting out the seeds into the palm of my hand. Some call it humility. Other call it bad manners. I call it a way of life.

And so, Kenny and I took turns explaining the different types of food and eating habits to Manuel and Gosia who, despite suffering from jet lag, drank in everything with eyes wide open in rapt attention.

With the rain coming to a light drizzle, the streets of Jalan Alor were washed clean and ready to welcome the honeymooners.

The lady taking our orders kept constantly distracting us by pushing us other items to eat, but we firmly said no. I guess having tourists in our group was quite enticing to the money-faced lady; or to give her the benefit of doubt, she was merely promoting good Malaysian food!

Wong Ah Wah grilled chicken wings are probably the best (or at least, in the top 5 range) in town. The grilling is done on a high flame and the skin is charred to a crisp while still retaining the juicy flesh below.

And the taste? Sweet and sticky and savoury all at once. Is that what being in love is?