A final lunch outdoors before lockdown in Malaysia. I randomly walked into a coffee shop in Damansara Perdana to check out options and found an economy rice stall with lovely Malay-style plant-based options. Once I was done selecting my veg, the stall lady proceeded to place half a hard-boiled egg and cucumber onto my plate. Confused about the add-ons, I asked if she could remove the egg, which she had no problem doing. She then asked if I wanted peanuts. Yeah cool! I sat down and took my first spoonful of the rice, got hit with a familiar taste, and finally understood: it was a NASI LEMAK stall. The reason why I assumed it wasn’t was because most other nasi lemak stalls I’ve encountered almost exclusively offer meat sides. I loved the home-cooked flavors of this meal and the lady even threw in an extra spoonful of kangkung... just because! Personal touches like these always remind me why I prefer supporting small businesses over multinational food chains. The price point doesn’t hurt too... this filling meal only set me back RM6.00.

We’re heading into foreign waters with this pandemic, so may all my Malaysian friends take all measures needed to stay healthy, safe, and be kind to each other during this strange time.