Kampung Girl in "Kampung Melayu"

Masa aku di Ann Arbor (U of Michigan) dulu, students Melayu di situ ada la lebih kurang 70 orang. Kira ramai lah tu kan? Jadi kami biasanya melekat aje sesama kami.. Kalau nak bercampur-gaul dengan non-Malay tu sikit-sikit aje. Aku rasa itu satu kerugian sebab tak buka minda dan jadikan pengalaman baru di tempat asing. At the same time, aku takut terlebih bergaul dan terpengaruh sampai lupa diri..

Anyway, di Kalamazoo (Western Michigan U), deme kata ada 500 Malaysians kat situ masa tu. Jadi kami panggil Kalamazoo tu Kampung Melayu.

Minggu lepas kami pergi ke Michigan, untuk tengok-tengok tempat di sana.. in search of a better Muslim community and a better place to make a living. Buffalo is a little bit like a dying town. Kami pilih Kalamazoo sebab Rashad ada kawan di sana. Nama tempat ni funny sikit kan, macam Calamari Zoo.

It was good, it's still Fall in Michigan (YYAAAYYY!!!), and we could see a lot of colorful trees.. and alhamdulillah the weather was nice all the time we're travelling. The second day there, kami dok mencari post office sebab nak kena hantar dokumen penting (last minute!!), and I got it wrong while reading the mapquest direction. Tersesat-sesat masuk kawasan perumahan (the view was wonderful, tapi tak dapek nak berceria sangat..). Rashad prokprek sebab sesat dan susah nak keluar balik sebab kat situ banyak one-way streets. Makin lama makin sesat.. tapi aku tak kata apa-apalah memandangkan aku sendiri yang made the mess to begin with.. Tiba kat satu junction tu.. dia baca sign:

"Indonesian Cuisine!"
(aku excited!)

Bila bergerak sikit baru nampak the whole sign:

"Malaysian Cuisine??!!"
Yay!! OK, forget the post office. We're stopping here!
Masuk-masuk aje dia bagi salam.. alahai.. Looking at the menu, I could not believe my luck! :D And the restaurant has Visit Malaysia posters all over the wall. Oh how I miss home..!

So I had nasi lemak and teh tarik!!!! Yum yum!! Feels like HOME!
Here's the ecstatic Ina, and the "Malay-speaking" hubby. Hik!

Kami beli karipap too. Ada jual wajik dan macam-macam lagi (kelabu mata dibuatnya) tapi takde le borong satu kedai..!

The owners are Sabahans. I asked to buy ikan bilis (raw) from them sebab tak jumpa kat Buffalo. And they sold two bags to me, at the same price they bought from the specialty store in Battle Creek. Yay! I asked if they know where to find pau, katanya ada jual di sinun gak. Katanya sekarang ada lebih kurang 100 orang Malaysians aje di Kalamazoo. Elok le tu.

So Kalamazoo of course gets my vote as the place to move to, inshaAllah. Tengok rezeki macamana..

And yes, they gave us the direction to the nearest post office, which is a lot closer to the hotel than the one mapquest found for me. Alhamdulillah.

~Masih sendawa real ikan bilis made in Malaysia~