A Bug’s Life

“Fikri! Over here!”

It was a cool summer’s night in Bangkok. After a long day, and having spent some time in the internet café writing up my story for the day, I was walking back towards the hostel we were staying in, when Sze Mun, Li Yien and Suet Yeing called me over.

“What’s up girls?” I greeted them. Aaron and I seated ourselves.

“Would you be willing to eat something different?” said Suet Yeing.

“Well,” I mused that thought, my mind flashing back to the night before, when my lecturer Dr Yeoh described her as a mercenary. “That depends. If it’s halal, then I wouldn’t mind.”

“Alright!” she yelped. Then she turned to Yi Shu, who was sitting next to me. “You must close his eyes, and he mustn’t open them until we said so.”

That, I wasn’t worried about. I was willing to play along anyway, so there was little chance of me spoiling my surprise.

Yi Shu shut my eyes as I closed them and simultaneously opened my mouth. Within a second, I felt something stuffed in my mouth. “OK, chew.”

I chewed. It crisped with a nice, BBQ-like taste, as my teeth grinded it to bits, before swallowing it down. It wasn’t bad.

“OK, you can open your eyes now.”

I felt Yi Shu remove her hands from my eyes, and I opened them.

On the table before is a plate full of fried maggots and beetles.

And all I could say was, “Mmm.”

Comments

Anonymous said…
ewww...that's just sick n gross...malaysia doesn't have that problem of food shortage u know!
gutsygal said…
hey fikri actually had quite a good reaction towards it...mebbe not mmm like he said but definitely not like th aaron the wuss(he is goin to kill me if he reads this) who wanted to spit it out n had a gross facial expression as soon as he saw it...bsides the maggots were not too bad its the beattles dat look absolutely UGH! >.<
The Cat said…
uhmm! heh!!
Trust Bangkok to have stuff like this.. but the best part? you DO sound quite unperturbed! maggots! quite an experience, even for a non vegetarian, i trust! =)
Anonymous said…
Now if you're good with heights and flying cars, you're ready for "Fear Factor"

(Do you get that program where you are?)
gutsygal said…
hahah yes we do get it here in KL...oh n actually hundred year old eggs taste yummy n so do durians...

actually the maggots n worms tasted not too bad when i asked everyone...comparing it wif the other insects =P
Anonymous said…
hey dropping a line. bbq-ed maggots and beetles.. that's just gross.. eugh... well hopefully i will see you before the cookies run out.. it's finishing fast..

erin
Anonymous said…
Hahaha.... i think it was way better that ur intro 2 such gruesome food was 1st thru a state of blindfolded-ness...

I've been to Thailand before, but I juz stuck to the papaya salad & the tom yam... Those looked...err...more normal :)
Fikri said…
To Kristin: Well, in hindsight, it wasn't so bad. I know Malaysia didn't have that problem...but Bangkok is probably another story altogether. Not probably, is. Had a hard time finding halal food, so I went vegetarian for the trip.

Not sure what maggots qualify as...

Mushroom: To be honest, I wish it had been you feeding me. That would have been nice :>

To Aaki: Well, I'm not sure me being unperturbed can be called the best part, or even the good part. But like Anakin said, good is a point of view.

Yeah, I know, the Emperor said it first (actually, he was still Senator Palpatine when he said it, so that wasn't entirely accurate either), but Anakin made it famous. :>

To Gurustu: We do have Fear Factor over here on AXN. We even have our own little challenges once in a while, held in shopping complexes. I haven't bothered about flying cars or heights, but maybe now I will.

Tis a good day to die.

To Miracle: I'm sure that your cookies would have tasted nicer than the maggots. Then again, I don't think they're as fried or in BBQ flavour...

Susanna: Papaya salad? Tom yam? Those are things you can get in Malaysia. So boring lah you... :>