There were two other parties waiting when we approached. As we were standing around waiting, I noticed the lanterns had Japanese characters on them. I glanced at the menu and told Kenric, “This is a Japanese restaurant. Do you want sushi?” Honestly, I was a little hesitant about eating sushi in such a hot climate. He said we could go somewhere else, but we were both too lazy.

So I looked at the menu and thought how ridiculous it was that we blindly stood in line without even knowing what kind cuisine the restaurant serves. That’s when I saw an item called “Buta Shabu” on the menu. In the Malay language, “buta” means “blind”. How appropriate!

There was a young boy, around seven years old, who was busy working in the restaurant. He had an apron on and was actually performing value-added work. We ordered the shabu (a pot of hot broth in which you cook your own vegetables and meat), a sashimi platter, sake, and were convinced to get the six-piece unagi deal.

They brought a lot of vegetables and mushrooms with the shabu. I was determined to eat as much of them as I could. On the road, fiber is very valuable. The shabu was very good, and the unagi is the best we’ve had, anywhere. The sashimi platter had many more types of seafood than shown in the menu. They were fresh and of good quality too.

Every time (at least eight times) the little boy walked by, he would sheepishly smile at Kenric. Whenever Kenric smiles back, the little boy would look away and continue with his task. He was collecting condiments and chopsticks from empty tables as it was closing time, and bringing customers their checks. We signaled to him twice that we wanted the bill. Both times, he asked me something in Thai, but would not look at Kenric.

Finally, he brought the bill and handed it to me. I pointed at Kenric. He smiled and gave it to Kenric. As he stood there waiting for Kenric to count his money, he looked at Kenric with either amazement or amusement. I’m sure he’s seen many Caucasians. There were a few there tonight.

Kenric gave him extra cash as a tip that’s about USD $12. He brought the extra money back and an adult waitress was steps behind him. Since we left the tip in smaller notes, she must have thought we misread the total, and was coming over to explain. In the meantime, the little boy handed Kenric a business card. We said the tip was for the little boy. The lady gave a big smile and handed the money to the boy and told him to put it into his apron pocket. He was visibly happy. We got up to leave. When I looked back inside the restaurant, I saw that the lady was smiling and saying something to him, and he was clapping his hand giddily. I hope he puts some of it into his piggy bank.

This reminded me of an incident when I was maybe eight. Someone brought a Caucasian to the Buntong Market and I served him an iced coffee. He was the first white person I ever met. I don’t recall seeing any other white person in that market until Kenric’s visit in 2011. That man was probably surprised that someone so young was working in the market. He asked me some questions; I don’t remember what. I remember he was from England. He left me a tip and told me to study hard. It is one of the more memorable events of my life.

Map of Places Visited