About Experience

24/05/08 PM
Arriving for dinner at a restaurant, I'm the first in and seated. As I wait two families enter. Three servers surround me as I explain what I want. They switch me to a different choice since there is no gravy with this choice. I had pointed to "Mutton pepper fry". (Gravy is for putting over the rice.) I now am going to receive something I can read but can't understand. Sometimes having a Roman alphabet isn't much help. My lemon juice arrives followed shortly by two servers telling me, What? I catch the word rice and nan. I try to convey to them that I understand and yes, I'll make the switch. They leave unconvinced. That's their body and head language. Thanks to a dinner with a Canadian named Dan, one month ago in Penang, Malaysia, I know what nan is and also know how it's eaten - with your fingers. That is most likely what they were trying to convey. Does this Westerner really understand nan? Yes! Thanks Dan. The meal is delicious, mutton and gravy, and so is a second glass of lemon juice.