WHEN MAKAN PLANS GO ROGUE
Going out with former school friends is like joining an unlicensed tour group where no one really knows the itinerary, but everyone’s having a blast anyway. What starts as a calm and civilised “Let’s meet for brunch/breakfast” often ends up as an epic makan road trip that spans multiple states and several digestive cycles. Take for example that one time we planned a simple, innocent brunch—Mee Rebus at TTDI, they said. Next thing you know, we’re three expressways deep and pulling into Muar, standing in line at Asam Pedas Askar Pencen, sweating from both the sambal and the sheer disbelief at how we got there. Apparently, one detour led to kerepek and satay and later in the day, durian. Then there was that legendary breakfast in Nilai. A simple morning meet-up, or so we thought. We were just there for some Lontong and Lempeng—but by noon, we were cruising toward Banting on a totally unplanned kerepek expedition. Kerepek ubi, kerepek pisang, kerepek that none of us could even name—if ...