Budgeting, Then Some Malay Food

After the first couple of days of spending lots of money, I resolved to set my budget at RM50 (US$16.55) per day. To help out, I wrote a novice excel program to keep me in check. Everyday I type in the items I purchase and their costs. My formulas automatically generate my total spending in ringgit and dollars;and my average spending per day. So far I have spent a total of RM352.55 (US$117.52), an average of RM117.52 (US$39.17) per day. If have a few more days in which I spend well under RN50 (US$16.55), I’m sure I’ll meet my goal and begin to start saving for site-seeing, night life, and shopping in the markets.

We ate Malay food for dinner. Adam, and I both realized that we should learn some basics in Bahasa Malay, just to make ordering food less of a guessing game. We agreed to fried rice and assured the waitress that we could handle it spicy. I asked for ice water to drink. We sat outside where a Bollywood movie was playing with Bahasa Malay subtitles. When the two plates arrived, the waitress brought us delicious sweet iced tea (we ordered water). On each plate sat a giant pouch that resembled Jamaican roti, but even thinner; or a crepe, but much larger and stuffed tighter. The pouch was drizzled with a sweet chili sauce that I’ve seen in Thai dishes. Cautiously breaching the pouch, we discovered that it was a paper-thin scrambled egg filled with chicken fried rice. I could relax knowing that I would not be surprised by pork or beef this time. [I know what you’re thinking: “Aren’t the Malays Muslim? They shouldn’t serve pork, anyway.” While this is true, I narrowly escaped eating cow intestines in Little India the day before]. After not leaving one kernel of rice or a pea on our plates, we both payed RM6.90 (US$2.28).

On the way back to the villa, we passed the most fancy Pizza Hut that I had ever seen, complete with polished hard-wood floors, neatly arranged place settings, and an awning that rivals Commander’s Palace. I decided to stop in McDonalds for some ice cream. Half of the restaurant’s tables had Popeye’s-looking chicken wings on them. There was a double version of most sandwiches—a double Filet-O-Fish, a double Crispy Chicken Sandwich, and even a double Big Mac (yes, 4 all-beef patties!) The most exciting item on the menu was the Spicy McChicken. For all of all of my Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Farmer’s Market, and food coop friends who don’t know what the inside of a McDonald’s looks like, I’ll explain the significance:

The Spicy McChicken was introduced in 1980 for a limited time. This was repeated in 1988, and again in 1996 when regional decisions were made, allowing the spicy version of the already-established McChicken to be sold only in a few markets. New Orleans, where it is affectionately known as the Hot N’Spicy, is the only market I have found it sold consistently (I have spent a lot of time in Atlanta, San Fransisco, Oakland, and DC). Its presence on the menu brought a golden smile my face.