CW101 REVIEWER
INTRO LESSON: A story of Gio, Latif and the Laksa.
Gio was a second-year international affairs student in a university in Cebu City,
Philippines, he obtained funding to join the school team participating in an
international Model UN competition in Sydney, Australia.
Gio made plenty of friends and became particularly close to Latif from the Malaysian
team.
Latif was a big fan of Filipino actors Jericho Rosales and Kristine Hermosa . He had seen
every episode of the ABS-CBN telenovela Pangako Sayo (‘’The Promise’’). The show had
aired on the Malaysian TV a few years back, and its two stars had developed a modest.
Latif was from a Muslim university in Kuala Lumpur. He liked best about living in ‘’KL’’
was about the food.
In Kuala Lumpur, one can find Chinese, Indian and Malay cuisines. He told Gio that this
assortment of foodways was the result of how the British reorganized Malaysian
society during the colonial times. Thus, Malaysia eventually became famous for these
cuisines which can be found in the various ‘’hawker centers’’ across the nation’s cities
and towns. These food stands are located in outdoor food parks where locals and
tourists taste the best of Malaysia, from nasi lemak to laksa.
Latif took Gio to a Malaysian restaurant a few blocks away from the university. Gio
was surprised to discover that Malaysian food was readily available in Sydney.
Over the years, as more and more Malaysian students moved to Sydney to study,
Malaysian restaurants followed suit. Soon after, they were catering not only to these
students, but to Australia-born ‘’Sydneysiders’’ as well, whose culinary tastes were
becoming more and more diverse.
Laksa—a rice noodle soup in a spicy coconut curry sauce.
Gio found the flavors intense since, like most Filipinos, he was not used to spicy food.
The new friends stay in touch after the competition via Facebook and Instagram.
Latif sent his mother’s recipe to Gio, and the latter began cooking Malaysian food in his
home.
After graduation, Gio moved to Singapore, joining many other overseas Filipino
workers (OFW) in the city-state. The culture was new to him, but one thing was
familiar; the food served in Singapore was no different from the Malaysian food he had
discovered through Latif.
After Gio settled down in his apartment, he found a favorite laksa stall in Newton
Hawker Center. He would spend his weekends there with friends eating laksa and other
dishes.
One Saturday, while Gio was checking his Facebook feed along the very busy Orchard
Road (Singapore’s main commercial road), he noticed that Latif had just posted
something 5 minutes earlier. It was a picture from Orchard Road. Surprised but also
excited, Gio sent Latif a private message. Latif replied immediately saying that he too
had moved to Singapore and was, at that moment, standing in front a department store
just a few blocks away from where Gio was. The two friends met up, and after a long
hug and quick questions as to what each was up to, they ducked into a café and
renewed their international friendship…by ordering a pair of at whites.
