Bestest Service

Gary and I went to the photographer's yesterday night after work. We found ourselves unprepared for our photo shoot in Malaysia so we wanted to be as prepared as possible for this one in Australia. We discussed dress changes, the general mood of the photos, props to be used, angles that we like, logistics, our likes and dislikes etc etc. We ended up staying for about 1 1/2 hours having a casual discussion on the work to be done on the wedding day.

After the appointment, we had dinner at a small Malaysian restaurant in the middle of a dark shopping strip. Being Monday, all the other shops and restaurants were closed (restaurants normally took Mondays off in Australia, while other shops close at 5pm). Only Rasa Inn, the Malaysian restaurant I had spotted on the way to the photographer's place was open. As we pulled up in front of the restaurant, the proprietess got out of the kitchen and opened the door for us. She actually stepped outside of the restaurant and welcomed us into her shop. No one else was in the restaurant. I felt like I was in an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

We ordered the mock vegetarian fish (Winner Dish of the Asian Food Festival 2001) and Home Favourite Ginger Flower Chicken. The lady quickly served us tea, and left a large basket of prawn crackers. I love prawn crackers, or anything crispy so I pretty much devoured 2/3 of the basket. It was good quality, not greasy and was fried with fresh oil (one can tell). The food came in due course, brought to our table by the ever smiling proprietess. The chicken was delicious, with a tangy taste that I couldn't quite identify. I can only think it being from the ginger flower (I've never tasted ginger flower). The mock fish was yam, cellophane noodles and beancurd wrapped in beancurd skin and seaweed then fried. It was very fragrant and filling.

We couldn't finish the dishes so we asked the lady to wrap them up for us. She placed everything separately in plastic containers (including the sauce for the fish) and guess what... included a tiny slip of paper containing instructions on how long to reheat the food, and the date when the food was packed! This is to avoid potential food poisoning due to inadequate heating of the food! We were quite impressed with the attention and care she took.

The best part of the evening was when we took the time to chat and got to know her a little better. She adored Gary because like him, she was originally from Hong Kong and have been living in Australia for a long time. She was also smitten with him because although he has been here since young, his Cantonese was so good, unlike her son's! She was particularly impressed with his choice of profession, commenting how smart he must be etc etc. I could see the glint in her eyes, and I wouldn't be surprised if she was checking him out for an unmarried daughter or niece.

Gary returned the compliments by leaving a largish tip, then we drove home. The restaurant is rather out of the way for us, so unfortunately for the auntie, it is unlikely that her unmarried daughter or niece shall see Gary anytime soon.