Monday, January 25, 2010

The 'Supper' Man!

I was watching TV this evening, well more like late evening and all of a sudden I had this urge to eat something. More specifically I had cravings for some mee goreng (fried noodles). I normally get cravings like these from time to time.

There is a restaurant nearby but I was too lazy to get up and drive all the way there just to buy a packet of mee goreng to satisfy my cravings. When I have cravings like these I expect the food to magically appear in front of me.

It was exactly at this precise moment when I begin to wonder what happened to the old mee goreng seller that used to ride along on this motorcycle with a side car that had this mobile stove with his ingredients to fry the mee goreng for you right smack in front of your house.

I remember back in my youth, which by the way was a very long time ago, we had this guy who would drive along our road at nights with his mobile mee goreng stall, honking his horn and offering his mee goreng frying services to hungry people like me in need of some supper.

I was a a glutton back then and would be perpetually hungry even after having a hearty dinner. Whenever I heard his honking in the distance, my face would instantly light up and I'd run into  the kitchen and grab a big plate and rush outside to stop the fellow and get him to whip up a healthy serving of fried noodles.

Back then people were more environmentally friendly and would bring their own plates for him to dish out the noodled into frying them right there in front of your doorstep. I can still remember standing there waiting eagerly and watching him fry the noodles. The air would be smoke filled with the lovely scent of fried noodles being fried and I'd always ask him to add more pork lard or more onions, etc, etc ... I was never satisfied with just the regular menu he had.

I wasn't the only one, most of the neighbours would be stopping him as he passes along their houses and by the time he finished with our road the entire stretch would smell of fried noodles in the air. Back then people tended to stay home more and the restaurants came to you instead of the other way round.

The fried noodle man wasn't the only mobile food fellow around. There would be the pau (dumpling) man also with a motorbike and sidecar and the chee cheong fun (rice noodle roll) man who would also make their rounds nightly. And they would always turn up without fail which would assure you of some late supper coming right to your doorstep should you be in the mood.

But these mobile door to door 'supper' men are a thing of the past. I don't see them anymore these days. In fact these days even the 'roti' (bread) man is a thing of the past. If I get the cravings for some supper now, I'd have to dress up, drive out to some restaurant or roadside stall to satisfy my need which is something I'm too lazy to do.

Call me old school but I sure do miss the old mobile 'supper' men where all you did was wait longingly outside your gate holding on to your biggest plate listening for that distant honking. In fact I'm in need of some sinfully mouth watering mee goreng right this very minute. I can even hear my stomach growl!

Wait, do I hear a honking in the distance? But alas, it's only my childhood imagination playing tricks on me. I guess I'm going to have to settle for a slice of bread with butter to stop that growl I hear coming from my tummy. No character and how boring!

Oh, how I long for the old days ...
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24 comments:

  1. Wuah punya siok!

    Er in my case, when I was younger, we have the snack truck in the morning (sweets!) and bakso rider in the evening XD

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  2. Maslight - It was really punya siok those days la :D

    The Bakso rider, that sounds more like some superhero la ... LOL!

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  3. Yeah, still remember all sorts of food came right in front of the house.

    How to have them now? With most people living in "high security" area / condos.

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  4. Lina - It was such a great time to live, kan?

    You have a point there but it's sad what this world is becoming when almost all the things from our childhood days are slowly but surely disappearing ...

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  5. Think the mobile mee sellers were before my time. LOL!

    The only mobile food I can remember was the Roti-Man :P

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  6. I remember the roti man too, we still have the iddiapam man sometimes, though... No pau man, or even mee goreng man. And now I'm craving char siew pau. Damn.

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  7. eventhough i never experienced mobile mee goreng at our neighborhood..just the common roti man and sometimes vege man or fish man...i can feel how you missed that mobile mee goreng man. I'd love to have that around our neighborhood as well. tak payah susah2 nak masak mee goreng sendiri or like u said, to go out at late night just to tapau fried noodle.

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  8. never seen a supper man in bikes before, but i think u can ask yr wife to be your supper woman :P

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  9. Sriyany - Before your time, God, that makes me feel sooooo old! LOL!

    Even the roti man has disappeared these days!

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  10. Terra - Yeah, that you mentioned it, I've seen the iddiapam fellow near my place but he remains static and people go to him instead of the other way round.

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  11. Carol - I do miss the good old mee goreng fellow, especially at times when I get cravings in the middle of the night. I suppose the times change and people would rather go out than eat in ...

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  12. Xin - Aiyooo, why la you all so young as to not have experienced the mobile mee goreng man ... LOL!

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  13. With the numerous fast food nowadays, it surely did a bad thing for those who peddled food on the streets... sad but true ; ( xoxo

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  14. Mrs Martinez - You have a point there. Fast food is more enticing to people these days ...

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  15. Those were the days Nick! Now the younger generations not only hasn't seen these 'supper men', they don't digg this kind of fast food either. Their favorites are now McD, Pizza, KFC or Starbucks!

    Yeah, eventhough supper was a regular in the past, obesity and health were never an issue then, unlike these days.

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  16. Man... now you're making ME have cravings!!!

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  17. Oh! That would be nice! Having mee sellers, pau sellers, roti canai sellers coming to my house! No need for me to dress up and go out to buy!

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  18. But now there's McD 24 hr delivery! haha!

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  19. Best if have Star Trek "beam me up" technology. Then can beam a food from the shop to my home. Seriously, they should start to do something about this! Imagine how much time is saved! And this technology can of course satisfy your fantasy of having food magically appear before you when you are hungry! LOL!

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  20. Wenny - Yup, those were such fun filled days. I suppose times change and people make their own memories.

    And you have a point. There were less obese people back then.

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  21. Perry - LOL! If I'm suffering with my cravings I might as well make everyone suffer ...

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  22. Foong - It would. That is why I miss the old days. Life was so much simpler back then.

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  23. Foong - Not the same la ... McD cannot fight with good old mee goreng (in my opinion anyway) ...

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  24. Foong - I'm a Star Trek fan and how I wish that technology was available now. It would solve traffic jam problems too!

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