When I saw Mr Raimy drew the picture of the greenish food, I knew that I want to taste it no matter what happened. His drawing was not bad. He drew a few circles and then, he made a lot of dots around it. He said the circle should be green and the dots were white. "What does it taste like, Mr. Raimy?" asked Lela from the back of the class. Mr. Raimy smiled as if mocking the question. I could see a cloud on his head telling "Pity 14 year-old urban girl who never tastes such a wonderful food," and then the cloud vanished when he started telling how delicious it was.
"You see Lela, when you bite the ondeh ondeh, it's a little bit chewy outside, but not too chewy that you may choke. It's chewy in a good way. The best moment is when it bursts and the sweetness of the brown sugar makes you want to chew more and more," oh my goodness, he made me drooling already. I saw Lela nodded but she seemed like she cared less.
Out of excitement, I raised my hand without realizing it. And Mr. Raimy gave his eyes on me. So did the rest of twenty-nine pupils. I froze. My heart bit super fast. The question suddenly stayed in my throat. Oh, dear. All I wanted to ask is where I can buy the ondeh ondeh. Nothing much. Mr. Raimy nodded his head as a signal to allow me to speak, but he knew me better. I was a coward. My face was red. I took a deep breath and ready to ask but then, the bell rang. Times up. We were going home. I sighed.
My day was now a misery. I could not think of anything else except ondeh ondeh. I know what to do. This would be my mother's problem afterward. I smiled happily when I saw her car from far.
"Ibu, can I ask you a question?" I said.
"Yes, my dear. Anything," she replied.
"I wonder, where can I buy ondeh ondeh?" I asked.
"Ondeh ondeh? What is that my dear? Sounds like a lyric in a k pop song," she laughed.
"I'm serious, ibu. It's a kind of food. Mr. Raimy told me just now,"
"Well, I'm sure we can figure it out later. Or perhaps now! Let's order the food via Food delivery!" suggested Ibu which was a brilliant idea. I couldn't wait any longer. I grabbed her phone and opened the Food app, typed ondeh ondeh, then SEARCH.
"Nothing?" zero result were found. I sighed. Ibu immediately suggested Google. So I did. A lot of ondeh ondeh's pictures popping up. Oh my Lord, they looked even better in colours. I showed the pictures to my mother even though she was busy driving.
It was a Malaysian dish. I did not think we could get any of it around here. I mean, why on earth New Zealanders wanted to sell ondeh ondeh? Gosh, now I hated Mr. Raimy. Why did he tell us about something that we could never get? My mother said she wanted to have lasagna for lunch. I nodded although deep in my heart I wanted to taste ondeh ondeh.
The car stopped in front of a famous Italian restaurant. Not many people were there so we didn't need to wait for a long time. We enjoyed our lunch. She cracked a few jokes and I laughed and I continued eating and drinking and listening to my I pod and eating again and then we went home. I climbed into my bed and close my eyes. I wanted to forget about ondeh ondeh. No more ondeh ondeh . Get out of my mind!
Knock! Knock! Knock! Someone was at the door. I wondered who but I was too lazy to open the door. I took a pillow and put it on my head pretending I didn't hear a thing. But, yes, I truly heard nothing, just a wind blew at the window. Suddenly, there was a BAM on my door. I heard a loud footstep heading towards me. It was getting closer and closer. I thought it was my mother so I moved the pillow.
As I opened my eyes, I saw a giant round shape in front of me. It was green! "Hello! Would you like to eat me? " It said with a smile. I was so shocked then I screamed. And of course woken up from my sleep. It was a horrible dream. I was haunted by ondeh ondeh. Unbelievable.
It was 7.00 pm already. I hadn't perform my Asr prayer yet. So I hurried to the bathroom, took a quick shower and headed back to my room. Once done, I heard my mother calling my name.
"Yes, Ibu. I'm coming," I said and immediately went to my mom. She was at the kitchen, probably cooking for dinner.
"Honey, look at the table. I made something for you," she said. Without any suspicious I headed to the dining table. From far, I saw a plate of round shape green things covered with white flakes. Out of my surprise, I screamed "Ondeh ondeh!" happily.
I made a happy dance, shaking my butt and gave my mother a hug. I kissed her on her cheeks because I was too happy.
"Where did you get ondeh ondeh?" I asked.
"Well, I just Google the recipe and decided to prepare the food for you. Hope you enjoy it," she said hugging me with joy.
We sat at the table and staring at the lumpy ondeh ondeh. With bismillah we picked a piece and put it in our mouth.
When you bite the ondeh ondeh, it's a little bit chewy outside, but not too chewy that you may choke. It's chewy in a good way. The best moment is when it bursts and the sweetness of the brown sugar makes you want to chew more and more. I heard Mr. Raimy's voice.
"Ibu, it's not chewy. It's hard and sticky and tasteless. I don't like it," I criticized. Mr. Raimy told me lies. Ondeh ondeh was bad. I was so frustrated.
The next day. I wanted to confront Mr. Raimy. I needed to tell him that he was lying. Ondeh ondeh was a bad food. As I reached school, I headed straight to his office. He was sitting on his chair having his breakfast.
"I'm sorry to disturb you but I need to make things straight again. I need you to know that ondeh ondeh is the worst food I have ever had. I think you have made a huge mistake," I said. I might be too confident too.
As always, he smiled while looking at me. He wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and took a sip of drink from his cup. He was ready to say something. Yet he took out a container and opened its lid. He gave me the container.
What? Another ondeh ondeh? I could not take this anymore. So I said no politely. He insisted. He wanted me to have one. I have no choice but to put that green thing into my mouth again. My hand was shaking as I picked it up. I closed my eyes and put it in my mouth. I was clueless.
I took another one and another one and another one. Mr. Raimy giggled. I started to realise that I could not stop eating them. It was 100% different from what my mother had made yesterday. It was truly a heaven. Everything about ondeh ondeh is so good. It was delicious!
