Squirrel Squirrel ??

Have you heard of Squirrel Squirrel aka Tupai Tupai??? Yea Yea....the restaurant Tupai Tupai near the Istana Negara. Well, I have never heard of it until Rose and Anis were talking about it at Avanti when we were trying to figure out where to take Adien to eat on the next nite (after the dinner at Avanti). We asked Adien what kind of food he would like and he said, Malay....Malay...Malay! He was complaining that each time when he goes out to China, he will lose so much weight and worse, he will get more and more white hair. At the first sight I saw him at Avanti, I exclaimed out loud, "Adien!! Have you grown older during these last 6 months???". Then he said, "No, I haven't grown older....I blame all these white hair on China! Each time I go to China, I will have more white hair!". Poor him. He also told us that he had a lot of difficulties to find halal food in China and that was why when he arrived in KL, all he wanted to eat was Malay....Malay and more Malay food.

So, we (Rose, Anis and I) were discussing where would be a good place to bring him to eat all the Malay food and Anis came up with this idea of Tupai Tupai and Rose concurred it. Well, I was totally lost as I have never heard let alone been to Tupai Tupai. So, Tupai Tupai it was then! It was also an adventure for me and June. Ahaks!

Maybe some might be wondering how we know Adien. Okay, we (as in June, Darling and I) went for a holiday to South Africa in June last year and when we were waiting to board the plane to come home, we met Adien who was seated quite close to us at the waiting area. Then June, being the friendly kind of person that she is, smiled at Adien and then started saying "Hello!!". And Adien said "Hello" to her....and the rest is history :) :)

Adien said that he was on his way to China for some business and he usually takes the MAS flights. He asked us where we were from and was quite surprised to know that we are Malaysians. He said that we don't look like Malaysians. Heh. Well, I guess when YOU all go abroad, you encounter the same comments too (I'm sure). We are always mistaken for Thais, Phillippinos, Indonesians laa...whatever laaa....Aiiiyaaayaaa aye? Anyway, it was a very very long flight from Capetown to KL. With transit hours in Joberg, I believe it was like 14 hours altogether. I cannot believe how my back survived the journeys back and forth. Of course, Hush Puppy was with me all the time all the way :) We couldn't catch up with Adien during the flight as he was seated way way behind us and finally when the plane landed at KLIA, Adien told us that he would be transitting in KL on his way back to Capetown from China. So we exchanged phone numbers and we invited Adien to hang with us when he arrived in KL. And so when he was in town later, we got together and got acquainted better. I invited Anis to meet Adien and we took him to Seri Melayu Restaurant on his last night here in KL because I wanted him to know our cultures (they have the traditional dances every nite) and also the Malay food that the restaurant serves. He was overwhelmed with the beauty of Seri Melayu, its ambience, the huge buffet spread, the traditional dances, the colorful costumes and the whole works of Seri Melayu that he simply couldn't eat!! He said that he has never been to a restaurant like Seri Melayu and he was so impressed. Well, all we could say was..."We are glad that you have enjoyed yourself." Then we dropped him off at KLIA later that nite. That was sometime at the end of June last year. And we met again in January this year :)

I was hoping that some of our friends would have the opportunity to meet Adien this time around and I'm so glad that I was able to introduce Rose, Pete and Mood to him at my birthday bash. And I'm more glad that Rose and Pete managed to hang with Adien and June everyday during his 3-4 days stay in KL. Well, June was practically with Adien everyday, taking him sightseeing and shopping. And Anis joined them whenever she could. And I only joined them at nite for dinner. Heh.

On the nite after Avanti, Anis' parents invited Adien for dinner and we went to Squirrel Squirrel (that was how we had to translate Tupai Tupai to Adien. I hope he can still remember the name Tupai Tupai hahaha). We had a very nice dinner indeed. The restaurant is ala Kampung and I told Adien that that would be the closest he could see a kampung house. He has been telling us how much he wanted to see a real kampung house (the typical wooden kampung house and all). I told him that if he comes for like 3-4 days and if it falls during the weekdays, there is very little I could do to take him see a real kampung house. I hope that he could stay over a weekend and then I can take him to our UB Heights and then he can experience a typical kampung house.
Below are some pictures that we took at Tupai Tupai. The pictures are a bit dark...sorry :( The restaurant was a tad tad dark!! You know ala kampung....lampu pun guna pelita gitu. The parking area also use lampu pelita one!! Hahahaha!! Dah la I ni mata rabun.

Adien has repeatedly invited June, Darling and I over to stay with them (for as long as we like...TQ TQ TQ!), and they want to take us on the Garden Route there. That is so sweet of him and Mariam to invite us over. He said the South Africans are very proud of their Garden Route because along that route there are many greens everywhere, compare to the other routes where there are hardly any greens at all. But then he said that we may not be able to appreciate it as much as them because we are already surrounded with greens everywhere and whereever in KL. Hehehe. As true as it may be, we still would like to do that trip, InsyaAllah.

As I'm writing this posting, Anis and family (10 of them) are in Capetown now, and they were treated to a sumptuous lunch at Adien's house on the day they arrived. Anis sms me saying that Adien and Mariam and their entire family are absolutely very nice people, very hospitable, very friendly and loving people and Anis' family was treated so so well. They had enjoyed themselves immensely with Adien and Mariam's families. We wish we are there!! Sniff sniff....I'm dying to see Anis' pictures.



Anis' Dad with Adien

From left to right : Anis' parents (check out how they share the same color code...macam sedondon kan?), Adien, Pete, June, Anis, Nona Maria and Anis' brother

Another picture...all in the family. Hehehe


Adien and Pete...all smiles :) Adien was happy that he could taste our coconut juice as well as the soft coconut flesh. He said that they don't have the same coconuts in Capetown. Kasihan kan??