Chapter 38: CH38: 'Chapter title is a spoiler'.
"It's fun to get together and have something good to eat at least once a day.
That's what human life is all about - enjoying things."
- Julia Child
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The day of the trip.
Delilah was waiting at the departure hall, waiting for Ai Meili to come so that they can check in their bags together and get their plane tickets.
Her sister had dropped her earlier, opting to drop her at the entrance, instead of going down to wave her goodbye. Miya did not dare to go down because Kael was with her. And she was worried that Kael might not want to go home and instead, keep crying out, wanting to go up the airplane.
So, Delilah was inside the airport. It was crowded inside with many people walking here and there. There were groups of families and friends, who either will be travelling together or just came to the airport to send the others off. Noises of people talking and laughing resonated around the airport. Delilah had already texted Ai Meili, saying that she's already at the airport.
Ai Meili had replied that she was on her way.
Shortly after, Delilah saw a petite Chinese woman with short black hair, wearing soft makeup and huge hoop earrings. Her smile seems bright as her black eyes landed on Delilah. The woman was wearing a light grey lace blouse with black pants. She was also wearing a black slip-on sneakers with no shoelaces. She was dragging a large grey metallic luggage and on her back laid a small black backpack.
She stopped in front of Delilah and said, "Shall we?"
Delilah nodded. "Let's go."
For Delilah, she was wearing a red t-shirt underneath a long purple cardigan with a fish-tail. Unlike Ai Meili, she wore black jeans, instead and a colorful sneakers. In short, to describe Delilah's outfit, it would be colourful. Of course, not as loud as Howard's taste. She could never wore something loud as him.
And beside Delilah, stood her 'loyal' companions, her purple luggage, which her father had gifted to her for her graduation and her colorful backpack, which she bought when she was in Thailand, a couple of years ago.
The two women began to queue for the check-in area. While waiting, they were talking and at some point, began to play their mobile games. Delilah had once looked over to see what Ai Meili had been playing. Looking closer, she saw that she was playing some sort of puzzle game, similar to 'rumahscape' [1].
"Didn't know you were into that kind of games," Delilah commented.
"I'm not, actually," Ai Meili answered, her eyes still on her phone with her thumbs constantly moving across the screen. "This is just something I download to pass the time."
"Still, do you like it?"
Ai Meili shrugged. "Probably. I guess so… Its fun," she replied carelessly.
Delilah rolled her eyes as she turned around and looked at the check-in counter. She then looked around her. There were more people behind them, queueing to get their luggage checked in. Even with so many counters open to accommodate the many people, it seems like it was not enough. It took them nearly an hour until it was finally their turn.
Both Delilah and Ai Meili handed over their passport and double check their luggage to make sure that it was properly secured and locked. Once they were done and had received their ticket, they went in to get the passport chopped. Inside the inner departure hall where they were waiting near their gate, Delilah grabbed her headset and was prepared to listen to music after taking off.
It was another hour until they were called for boarding. Delilah sent a quick message to her family group chat to tell them that she was boarding the plane. She also took a quick selfie with the airplane as her background to send it to Kael. He loves airplanes.
Delilah giggled to herself as she imagined Kael crying out of jealousy. She just loved to tease her nephew, even if she would demand him to say 'I love you' to her. He was just so adorable.
Inside the airplane, the two women kept to themselves; Delilah was listening to her music with her music player while Ai Meili was watching a movie from the personalised television of the airplane. The trip took two and a half hours.
After arriving at the international airport, fortunately, their luggage would go straight to the cargo, which made it easier. They decided that they don't want to take their luggage and just wait for their connecting flights. They didn't even go out of the airport and just hang out at the airport. The airport itself was large, unlike their airport back at home. Hence, it was worth a while to spend their time, walking around there.
While waiting, they went window-shopping for bags, merchandise and clothes. They take note of the prices since they know that usually items sold inside the airport are usually expensive than outside.
After a couple of hours walking around, they decided to stop at one of the restaurants to fill their stomachs. Delilah's stomach was starting to grumble, anyway.
They agreed on a Malay restaurant. Delilah was craving for fried rice, even though Ai Meili had said that there will be food inside the airplane. Delilah had rolled her eyes at her naivety. "Oh please, do you think a bag of peanuts and bottled water are enough for me?" she had scoffed.
So, they went inside and ordered their meals. Delilah had ordered 'Nasi Goreng Kampung' while Ai Meili had ordered 'Nasi Lemak' [2].
Their food arrived while they were talking about what to do next once they arrived at the state. The 'Nasi Goreng Kampung' that Delilah was having was actually fried rice, cooked with dried anchovies, chili and other ingredients. The name 'Nasi Goreng Kampung' means 'Village-style Fried Rice'. As she ate fried rice, she could already smell the spiciness of the rice from the chili mixed into it. There was a bit of a burnt taste to the rice but it was still good. The rice smell fragrant from the mixes of spices stir fried in it. The dried anchovies was still a bit crunchy but it was soft after being stir fried. It added the crunch and the saltiness to the fried rice.
While they were eating, Ai Meili began to review back the itinerary that she had kept in her mobile phone. Watching her read through the itinerary, instead of eating her 'Nasi Lemak', Delilah began to scold her for ignoring her food. "Woi, go eat. We can recheck it again later. For now, let's just concentrate on eating. We should make the best of enjoying what we have right now," she reprimanded.
Ai Meili laughed softly. "You're right," she said as she picked up her dining utensils. "I'm just so excited!"
"I know, right?" Delilah grinned.
"Penang, here we come!" they both said in unison.
Chapter title: Penang, here we come!
[1] A puzzle game in a different wording.
[2] Nasi lemak is a Malay fragrant rice dish cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
TheTalkingCupcake
TheTalkingCupcake Yes! The foodie is going to Penang! Hello Penangites! Thank you again for your hospitality! It was an awesome trip for my friend and I who went there for the first time!
So, for today's chapter, it will be Nasi Goreng Kampung. I found this blogspot that gives simple but nice recipe for it. Enjoy!
https://wendyinkk.blogspot.com/2010/08/nasi-goreng-kampung-malay-countryside.html
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