Friday, October 17, 2008

Tell-A-Tale (Part 18): My Filet-O-Friends.

At the stroke of midnight, the student was still crunching the endless assignments. It stood in front of him.

In the crowded mall, the seated couple was sharing a joke. Traces of it smeared across her face.

As the bus moved along the expressway, the child was fast asleep in her mother’s arms. It was there in her bag, with the bottles of baby food from Heinz.

It’s no mystery. They are among us. We see them all the time.

Sometimes, I have names for them.

They are friends.

Meet Johnny. He was their 253,547,743th Filet-O-Fish. I’ve know Johnny for a long time. He was a prize I won when I topped the class in 1989. A prize I cherished for a while. What is there not to like about this friend which consists of a crispy, golden crumbed piece of flaky, fried fish fillet sandwiched between soft, warm buns? And the smooth tartar sauce with bits of the perkin’, jerkin’ gherkin. A friend that helped me got through the darker phases of life. Like when I dropped to the eleventh position in 1990. And the countless rejections. I still see Johnny once in a while. His existence never once failed to bring cheer. Best of friends, big old Mac and we.

There’s a newfound friend I named Chomechai or pretty girl in Thai. She was a Spicy Fish McDeluxe. What sets her apart from Johnny was the corn-meal bun, instead of the typical kind. And of course, the addition of a special Thai chilli sauce. Living up to her name, Chomechai looked really pretty the first time we met. Alluring, if I may. But the taste was disappointing. The chilli tasted so bland, I almost had to add some extra chilli sauce. The common, pre-packed ones. We could have had so much fun together, Chomechai. But you chose to be safe, with that taste.

My meeting with Kaori-chan was serendipitous. Had I not gone to the library to get Murakami’s Sputnik Sweetheart, I would have never noticed her presence. The banner screaming KARAI! (hot!) caught my attention. It was meant to be. A Wasabi Filet-O-Fish. What else can one asks for? The wasabi cream was absolutely karai! No kawai (cute) business here, please. This is one fiery, wicked babe. I’ve been meeting Kaori-chan quite often, after work. Maybe tonight as well, for a quick flu relief. She’s a friend. A medicinal friend in many ways.

Some don’t notice them for they come and go(bbled).
Others are too indulged in their own ramblings.
Or perhaps they were doubtful of fastfriends.

Look around you, if you can afford the time.
You’ll never know when you’ll make a new friend.
A Filet-O-Friend.

I’m lovin’ some of mine.

Malaysia’s McDonald’s website: http://www.mcdonalds.com.my/
Singapore’s McDonald’s website: http://www.mcdonalds.com.sg/

* Filet-O-Fish is available in Malaysia and Singapore (and many other parts of the world).
* Spicy Fish McDeluxe is available in Malaysia.
* Wasabi Filet-O-Fish is available in Singapore.

26 comments:

Ciki said...

you mean you kept johnny as a friend since 1989..?!! For the sake of your stomach i hope they are johnny clones.. hahaha.. so cute.. love this write up.. u sure are a FISH man.. !

Anonymous said...

oh I just love those fish fillet burgers . . . . so yummy delicious, I really miss fish & chips!

J2Kfm said...

haha... you made those fish patties look soooo big. :)

but truth is, they're shrinking like no 2mr.

WASABI fish burger?! how come only Spore got eh? Msia cannot tahan wasabi meh?

Precious Pea said...

I prefer Johnny colleague, Holy Burger with cheese with Holy-shake!

Shell (貝殼) said...

How come no Wasabi Filet-O-Fish in malaysia's Mc Donald :(

Tummythoz said...

1..2..3 aha 4 ringgit I have! Can afford basic ori fillet-o-fish for lunch today.

Btw is that a bling-bling key-chain below the buns in your 2nd pic? Nice.

choi yen said...

Johnny once was my friend too, but now I have a new buddy~ Ms. Sinful Cheese & Mr. Quarter ;)

HairyBerry said...

cumi & ciki, haha, i guess you are right about the clones...the original johnny has journeyed on, i guess...hehe...fish man? can i be a tsukiji fish man? hehehe...glad u liked it! :)

big boys oven, a classic favourite, right? yummy delicious indeed! oh, fish and chips plus mayonnaise as well! :)

j2kfm, yeah, i realised the burgers shrunk a lot as compared to the ones from the 80's. but suprisingly, those from singapore are still of commendable sizes :) yeah, i hope they'll bring kaori-chan to malaysia as well! :)

precious pea, holy cow!!! haha! we do love our holiness, dont we? hehehe...oh, i tried dipping fries into the holy-shake before..surprisingly holy yummy! :)

Shell (貝殼), ya lor, i also dunno why...instead they have the spicy fish mcdeluxe...sigh...i'm sure the wasabi will be a big hit in malaysia...karai! :)

tummythoz, yay! do have a nice johnny today, ya! hehe...oh, on the bling bling. it's one of those mobile phone chains...look closer and you'll see her name... :) heheh...

mimi, haha! we should not forget our friend, johnny, ya! :)...hehe...but i do agree that Mr. Quarter is kinda friendly as well...i still like my big old mac also! :) so many friends!!! :)

fatboybakes said...

haha, only you can blog about mcdonalds and make it an entertaining read. i remember reading a post once about mcDs and rolled eyes till pop out of socket.

Fen said...

Johnny, Chomechai and Kaori-chan are such good models... Wow, I didn't know a write-up on fillet o fish is so cute...

I love the mysterious black background...

Till now, Johnny has always been my good friend but Chomachai is not within my reach while I can't converse well with Kaori-chan (don't like wasabi) >.<

Jun said...

omg my bf was jt telling me he had this wasabi filet-o-fish last nite, and i told him how i oso wanna try, THEN i read abt ur post on it!! eerie coincidence or wat! :D

red fir said...

You win...

Chomechai's bun is really interesting though. Any difference in the taste department?

Anonymous said...

very good, sometimes i wonder how did you manage to think of all these stuff? how long it take you to write a review dude?

Anonymous said...

sorry, haven put my name den accidentally pressed enter. haha

ai wei said...

fillet o fish is my all time fave! sobz, we dun have the wasabi here. can 'da-bao' one for me when u travel back to kl?! :P

HairyBerry said...

fatboybakes, thanks for the compliment, dude! i thought it'll be more interesting to inject a bit of hairyberry extract into the post...i mean shiok-sendirism..hehe...hmmm...maybe a KFC next? hehe...

fen, thanks for the compliment! i love the mysterious black background too!!! *whispering* it was actually my black jacket. :)
haha! i like the part about conversing with Kaori-chan. she is indeed, hot! haha! well, i think kaori-chan is much more interesting than chomechai...definitely! :)

jun, *whistling x-files tune*....hehe...you definitely gotta try this the next time you return to singapore. if you like wasabi, you'll like it. and if you like filet-o-fish as well, you'll lurrrve it! :)

ice, oh, the chomechai's corn meal bun's has a slighly flaky texture as compared to the normal filet-o-fish's. as for the taste, i think it's about the same, only slighly more fragrant (corn, me thinks). but the size is definitely bigger! good news for big eaters like me..hehe

brad, haha! no problemo on the anonymous thingy... :) as for my posts...errr, i just write when something hits me. like good food or a good experience. and it's more fun when i like my self-indulging mind runs wild! hehe...glad you liked the post! :)

ai wei, i thought of da-baoing the wasabi back to kl but with the vegetables and all, it might rot overnight. :( so, quite difficult to da-bao. :( :( but...with the few holidays coming up, it might be a good time to come to singapore to check it out! :)

Weekend Peach said...

"Sometimes, I have names for them.

They are friends."


Just curious...do you own a straitjacket, Hairy-san?

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

terror..how can u review mcdonalds like u reviewing some fine dining establishment ar..

good pictures..u photoshopped the black background or u had a cloth on the wall?

ling239 said...

u hide johnny under the bed or what for the shot ?

Wasabi Filet-O-Fish... dun think we are going to get it here right ? >.<"

HairyBerry said...

weekend peach, aiyerrrr....din know you so kinky one... :P

joe, thanks for the compliment! :) no lar, the black background is my black colour jacket..hehehe...i just reduced the DOF to get a more complete effect.. :)

ling239, haha! actually, i ate johnny before i go to bed...i'm such a glutton! hehehe... ya lor, i hope they'll bring over wasabi filet-o-fish to malaysia. it's nicer than the fish mcdeluxe, me thinks! :)

PureGlutton said...

Yea... i still luv the ori Fillet-o-Fish best - have luv'ed it since the very first bite, hehe! Hmmm... wasabi-version? Can't imagine what it'll taste like - give me the ori any time!

Jason said...

WTH, why no Wasabi Fishy here!?

HairyBerry said...

pureglutton, yupe, i agree that original filet-o-fish is da bomb! but the wasabi one is a killer as well, me thinks..yumz! :)

jason, ya lor, i thought they'll launch it simultaneously one...sigh...more reasons to come to singapore? :)

Keropokman said...

it has been years! since i had a filet o fish.

this weekend maybe i shall venture to McDs :-) Hmmmmm should i?

red fir said...

KPM: You should but don't be tempted by the massive new Big Mac lol.

HairyBerry said...

keropok man, yes, please check out the wasabi filet-o-fish...i'm lovin' it! haha!

ice, oh, i agree! i think the massive Big Mac is just a matter of sizing up, nothing else. thanks for the reminder! :)