CC Wok, North Melbourne

CC Wok is one of the most authentic Malaysia restaurant I have been to. So far, I have tried their char kuey teow, nasi lemak, sar hor fun, chai kueh, chive kueh and char tow kway and they are all so delicious. The chai kueh brought back so many memories of my days in university with a friend whose mom made the best chai kueh. It was my first time eating chai kueh and boy, it was love at first sight. Yuki, I hope you are well, you were one of my kindest and prettiest friend.

We were in North Melbourne for a Japanese food festival which sadly did not live up to the hype. It was crowded and cramped, there was a queue for every food stall serving overpriced food for no service and limited table seating. So we went elsewhere for lunch and found a place on Google which turned out to be a dark kitchen. Meaning a commercial kitchen that does takeaways only. On that day, one of the several businesses that shared the premises was offering table service. One of the customers encouraged us to dine in so we obliged.

It was Columbian fare and was extremely noisy since the patrons were there for a football game on telly. We have had Columbian food before and knew what to expect, but did not expect to spend $30 per person for lunch so we left to go to CC Wok.

We ordered yin yong and char tow kway, which was a weekend special. The yin yong is not the style I like, I usually enjoy the crispy vermicelli contrast to the smooth hor fun smothered with gravy. The gravy is darker than usual and it lacked some oomph, probably the bone broth base?

I likes the char tow kway. It had a lot of smokiness and char, but the portion could be a bit bigger to satisfy yours truly.

 The table next to me were two Caucasian gentlemen who ate their Assam laksas with chopsticks and all. We were not the only ones who knew where the best place to dine was!

Atashinchi

I love the children's cartoon called Atashinchi. It kept me afloat when I was feeling so down over my situation at work. There was a long period of time where I was being frozen. It's when people don't respect you, and the chances of keeping level never mind advancing your career, is non existent.

One day, while I was going through a particularly rough day, I tuned in to You tube to watch Atashinchi and the theme song came on. In Mother's cheery crackly voice, she sung the following lines:

Whenever you feel sad

I'll give you a hug

Now, you, you there, all of you

Smile wide

For a bigger dream, for tomorrow 

Cheer you, keep on running

Even if you're nothing, even if you're worried

Don't cry, you can overcome

Let's have a wonderful day

I literally burst out crying halfway because I was feeling sorry for myself and the cartoon seem to speak to me at that time and comforting me. It was like it understood what I was going through and had spoken just the right words I needed to hear to keep going for another day.

I did get through the day, and the next, and the next. Things improved eventually. Now, I still watch Atashinchi even though it's a children's anime. It is like an old friend that I cannot let go.