Each day lunch and 2 coffee/pastry breaks were built into the CSR training. This gave me an opportunity to sample many exotic dishes and treats, such as: curry puffs, (coconut pastry that I can’t recall), lupis, layer cakes, agar agar (derived from the same polysaccharide, that accumulates in the cell walls of agarophyte red algae, as the agar used in biology labs), deep-fried hard-boiled eggs, a warm beverage with whole grains of barley at the bottom. I was also able to mingle and network—something that has never come easy to me without the help of wine.
Of the 9 other participants, I immediately connected with Joannica, a wife and mother of 2 in her mid 30s, who was Tamil Indian Malaysian; and Hanim, a former television production company board member-turned NGO professional, abused children advocate, wife, mother, and grandmother. She was of Javanese ancestry, Malay ethnicity, progressive Muslim religion, and Malaysian nationality. We spoke mostly about food, but also briefly covered US pop culture, US federal government, gender roles in the kitchen, Malaysian racial politics, Hanim’s British husband, Joannica’s children, and even my Indian-Hindu girlfriend (Joannica seemed interested, but was noticeably quiet on this topic).
Hanim insisted on taking us both out for fine Malaysian cuisine; and Joannica insisted that the Nicholas and I have lunch with her team from Allianz, since we discovered that we work in the same office complex.
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