Happy Birthday Boss!

Yesterday was my boss, EG, birthday. Since he is alone here, me and my friend, S, decided to take him out for lunch today. We went to Kelantan Delights at Sooka Sentral. It just a short walk from my office to Sooka. S and Boss went first, and I joined them later as I have something to finish.

When I reached there, I thought they have ordered the food, but they were busy talking and still deciding what to order. It was easy for me because I already decided what to eat. Nasi Dagang with fish and coconut for drink. S order Soto Ayam and soya for her drink.

Since my boss is allergic to seafood, we have to check with the waiter what are the food that do not have any seafood. I don’t want anything happened to him, especially he is alone here. We finally decided to order Mee Ladna for him, and he order lime juice for his drink. For the appetizer, we ordered Keropok Ikan and Keropok Lekor (Fish crackers).

While waiting for our food, we ate the keropok first and ate it with chile sauce. Hmmm...Very nice but we didn’t finish the keropok.

We talked about foods in general, and his comment was that we Malaysian like to think about food. Heh! I have to agree on that, and furthermore we are the nation that greets others with ‘Hey! Dah makan? (Have you eaten?).

He also said that foods are much cheaper here than in England. It’s true, but few years ago, it was much cheaper. Now the food prices here have increased. If the price is not increased, the food portion is reduced. Which ever way, the food sellers, won.

I felt the introduction to Malay food was not complete if he didn't drink the 'Teh Tarik'. I wanted to order for him, but he said he was already full. We told him that ‘Teh Tarik’ is very nice, and he should try it before he goes back to England. He said he would give it a try.

Oh ya! We also plan to take him to eat at the Banana Leaf Restaurant. If you are not familiar with the term, it is actually the way the food is served. Instead of using plate, the rice will be served on the banana leaf with veggies, meats and papadom, and you use your hand to eat instead of fork and spoon. It will be interesting.

Okay..Chao dulu...Salam.

Whenever my friend says goodbye.....

Ahhh…One by one, my friend resigned. Some found a job somewhere else and some just quit. Life is stressful here, but life must go on.

Most of these people who left have been with the company for many years. Some were longer than me. What made them leave? Not sure but they must have their own reasons.

Eventhough people leaving, one thing for sure and agreed by many, the company has been good to us. It is one of the best companies to work with. No doubt about it.

One of them who is leaving is my colleague, Chee Leong. He will be leaving by the end of the month. I’m going to miss him. So yesterday the three of us, my department is very small, we went for lunch yesterday. When we sat at the table, I am proud to say that we are multicultural, multiracial and multi-language group. The team is made up of Malay, Chinese and Indian. Muhibbah and 1Malaysia!

We had lunch at Chili Expresso, Sooka Sentral. We sat outside, underneath the canopy, and the weather was very nice. Not too hot and not too cold. It was just nice so that we can enjoy our last week together as a team. As we were about to sit, Chee Leong said, “Ahh …It’s like Paris.”

We had a long lunch, and we talked about everything except work. Every time we talked about work, it will spoil the mood, but we did gossip about what happened in the office.

And today, I attended another farewell lunch, together with other five others, but this time it was for my friend, Barry. We worked together in Jakarta. His last day will be this week, and he is taking a month break before starting at his new company.

Who else is leaving? Not sure but hope no one that I know. Every time they say goodbye, a piece of me die with them. That’s how I feel.

To Barry, all the best and enjoy your break.

Sekian ….Salam.