Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The well travelled prawns

The prawns in the picture are NOT the prawns of this story.

Years ago, someone I forget whom once told me that practically every other grocery item in East Malaysia would cost marginally more than where we are at, which is Peninsular Malaysia. Another black mark against working there. A can of coca cola, we were told, would cost you 50 sen more. The roads would be shoddy and there was a high chance you would have to rely on a boat as your sole mode of transportation.


While I cannot deny there are some truths to these statements, it's grossly exaggerated. Let's then start with what is cheaper. SEAFOOD!! The West Malaysian visitors haul back boxes of prawns and fish during their brief visits. This evening, we were graced with a visit from an old friend who brought with her prawns.The prawns ( from East Malaysia ) had already made a trip from KLIA to Keramat ( where some of the prawns were presumably shared.) During the visit at work, we stashed the prawns in the communal fridge. ( Venue A )


They remained there for a few hours until which time we decided to eat. The prawns were then brought of the freezer and into the car...and into the freezer of another friend's condominium. (Venue B). At which point, all of us ( excluding the prawns ) were confused as to the exact nature of the visit and why the various stopovers and where was the final destination of these prawns. why were the prawns being stashed at venue B when presumably the friend living in venue B would be at Venue A the following morning for work and would take the prawns then.
How presumptuous of us, to assume the prawns were for friend living in venue B. The prawns were in fact for another sister ( who strangely enough was out of town and would be back much later in the night). So venue B was merely a stopover before landing up at venue C. ( Sister's place). If you're confused reading this...we were confused digesting the information. these prawns!!! They cost us a whole lot of headache. We were late for dinner!

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