FREE LUNCH....western food cafe?

21/1/2009 Wednesday

I was just having lunch with Dr. Mazli and Ayie. Last week, Ayie and I, as a team, won the best presentation out of ten teams. As a reward, we would be having a lunch with Dr. Mazli at International Café. Previously, I didn’t see any chance to win since I didn’t speak much during the presentation. All the explanations were done by Ayie. I only did the mind-map and a little bit of arrangement. Even the other groups were greater. The key of our success was we had the strength of teamwork (Yela tu, konon…). As a man who had an experience of 3-year-working in Proton Company and 3-year-studying in Leeds, the ideas which came out from his brain were amazingly useful to put in our mind-map!

Back to the story! As soon after Dr. Mazli’s class, both of us were invited to go to International Café at Section 7, in the main campus of UiTM. It takes about 30 minutes to go there from Puncak Perdana. Dr. Mazli asked me whether I want to go with him or Ayie. Since Ayie has his own car, I preferred Ayie. Then Dr. Mazli said, “Don’t forget to wear your seat-belt and use rantai besi”. What??! Ayie is not a dragon, I supposed! “I’ll meet you there!” he continued.

Anggerik International Café, here I was! This was the first time I stepped into such a crowded western food restaurant. There were all foreigners and Deans of various courses. Dr. Mazli was already there, sitting next to a very high table. It was too small for us! But, it was the only table left for us. Then, we went to the food station to make some order. Wow! “What food is that? What food is this?” Those questions came across my tiny spec of mind. I have never eaten any western meal. My stomach is specially created for Asian food only. Well, what could I do? I ordered a bowl of mushroom soup, some potato wedges and a cup of hot Milo. That was all! Really?

After a while, a lady came serving our meals. Dr. Mazli and Ayie got a plate each. Yes, those are what they had ordered just now. But why there were three things served in front of me? Wait a second! If I was not mistaken, I had ordered a BOWL of mushroom soup. But what I got was, a PAIL of mushroom soup. Who did she think I am? Did she see me as a giant’s daughter? A Chinese dragon couldn’t even finish such an enormous bowl of soup. Never mind, I just slurped the soup politely as I was in front of my lecturer, Dr. Mazli.

While I was happy with my kawah soup, I glared at another meal next to my soup bowl. A full plate of potato wedges? But why were so many wedges as there were ten persons to eat? Excuse me! It was my meal, ONLY! Dr. Mazli and Ayie have their own potato wedges already on each plate. Alamak! Did I order this meal? Never mind, I ate exactly three pieces.

Wait a minute! I saw another plate next to the wedges. Whose meal was that? Who ordered this? Surely, I didn’t! It was a plate of bread with some butter. To my horror, it was mine too. Dr. Mazli said that it came together with my mushroom soup. Oh, dear! A few slices of bread……more…???? I could not eat all these at once, unless I was a British.

As a result of this experience, I didn’t finish all the meals. I had unintentionally ordered three different meals which I could not manage to eat all. Never mind. I’ll learn from this mistake. I won’t come here again or any other western food restaurant! I took the entire leftover food home, as the waiter came and packed them nicely in two disposal food containers. If only I was an enchanter, I would change these meals into a plate of chicken rice! I am proudly Malaysian!

The most interesting part was having a talk with Dr. Mazli. We talked about the course and many things regarding our educational planning. He also gave a lot of golden advice. Even though the food was not appealing to me, there was another important thing I gained from this meeting. Honestly, chatting with Dr. Mazli, 40+, and Ayie, 27, made me feel as I was an adult. This was not an ordeal, but this is the most precious experience that every student should have. Today is my time, but next time is yours! Grab this opportunity, so that you can ask your lecturer directly regarding your study! Cool…..