Just now I woke up from my nap at 5pm to find that my parents went to the shopping mall without me.
Like any lazy bum, I went to he kitchen to search for food.
And that's when I saw it.
A glorious plate of pisang goreng (banana fritters) on the kitchen table.
When I was doing my matriculation program in Labuan at the Labuan Matriculation College (KML for short), it was my 1st time to be away for so long from my family.
My 1st time staying in a hostel.
My 1st time living in a horrendous situation with dirty toilets and super thin mattress for bed.
To be frank, I wasn't really looking forward as to study there because of the unpleasant rumours spread by some friends about the college.
The college even bore the name 'hell' as in KMHell as to express its unspeakable horror.
My 1st meal there was with Aki.
I couldn't clearly recall what my meal had been but I still remember it was horrid.
It was so horrid that I was on the verge of tears.
If it wasn't for being terribly hungry, I would have thrown away the food.
I searched her face and she too was having the same thought as I was.
I realized right then, that I was living in a luxurious atmosphere back at home...
and am missing it immediately.
It had never occurred to me that my mother's simple fried fish and rice would be a delicacy at times like this.
I began to regret my behavior at home.
I expressed the problem to my parents and they were grim about it.
But my mother said something about endurance and reminded me that my sister was able to graduate from the college all well and alive.
And she said of course I could come out alive too after completing the program.
It was nice to know that nobody ever died of food poisoning here but I had always been the fussy one when it comes to food.
I do not really eat chicken and will avoid them as often as possible unless they are fried.
I do not eat fish.
It's very rare that you can find shrimps or smoked stingray at the café.
So I was left with no choice but to eat my rice with veggies.
I tried being optimistic about it but I just couldn't bring myself to eat the food at the café and so I reduced my meal takings into two times a day.
And mealtime was the most difficult time of the day.
I remember pointing out to a friend one day when I saw her plate a mountain of rice with lots of vegetables and chicken curry.
It does sounds nice but beware, do not be deceived.
"If you keep on starving yourself, you'll die certainly Mas.
Let's get this program over with and come out alive!" .
Until now, I'm not sure if what she had said was a joke, or meant to be sarcastic...
or even a kind of motivation.
All I know was that, it marked the beginning of my eating rice with bean curd every meal of my living days in Labuan.
One or two times I would venture scooping some chicken with sauce and always it ended up with frustration as the chicken was always raw on the inside.
After a few more of my aggravation of KML's food, I made eating out a regular during Saturdays and Sundays.
My then-boyfriend, Kai was my faithful companion whenever we eat out and hotplate fried noodle with beef was my regular at the Financial Park food court.
We were a frequent customer that whenever I said "mcm biasa" meaning "like always,", the woman would understand immediately.
God, I miss the taste of it...
the hotplate at the Kolej Rumpun (my current college in Universiti Putra Malaysia) café could not even live up to my standard, not even in a thousand years.
It was not until the 2nd semster begins that the café was transformed into a more acceptable one and new management took over.
That was when I started to dig in fried fish and fried chicken as a way of balancing my already unhealthy diet.
And that's when they started selling hot pisang goreng.
Pisang goreng was such a craze among the students.
I remember eating them hot in the room I shared with Elvia and Wend.
Elvia was the one who always bought pisang goreng for us...
I guess it was because she was the most eager.
Ha ha...
But when you think about it...
there was nothing really special about the pisang gorengs they were selling.
It was just a slice of banana, coated with cheap flour mix and a pinch of salt.
Nothing too extraordinary and yet it was considered as a luxurious delicacy.
Most people would stare at our rage but I understand unerringly why the pisang goreng was so popular.
Taking a bite of pisang goreng, most of us would be reminded of our lazy comfy evening at home.
Nothing can compare the bliss of evening teatime with hot pisang goreng.
I guess the other students were just like me...
they were desperately missing their home and being close to their family too.
Whenever Elvia bought some pisang gorengs and shared with us, we would discuss how our mother always made some for teatime and where was the best place that sells the best pisang goreng back in our hometown.
It was amazing how the food always stir a homely feeling with each bite.
It sounds like a long time but it was just a few months ago when I graduated from the college.
The feeling was great.
But sometimes, I find myself wishing that I'm back studying in KML.
All I have now are only mere memories of the pisang goreng...