Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Teh 'O' Ais Limau

That's "Iced Lemon Tea" in Malay.
Teh = tea
'O' = "oh" as in "zero" as in no [sweetened condensed] milk (NOTE: this is different from "kosong" meaning empty, meaning no sugar)
Ais = ice
Limau = "lemon", actually a type of lime is used, not lemon, but let's not split hairs.
Anyways... so if I happen to be in the mood for something not so "milky", I'd usually order this drink instead of a Teh Tarik ("pulled tea") when at a mamak shop. But for this trip back, I've made it a point to not take too much iced/cold drinks... so I'd try to remember to order the HOT version of Teh O Ais Limau.

And it was a weirdly tough effort!

I figured it would be "Teh O Panas Limau", right? Substitute "iced" with "hot", right? Yet the "waiters" would look at me funny, ev.ry.time.

One finally corrected me: you mean "Teh O Limau Panas".

Err, yeah... same diff, no? Nope.

But but but... then why isn't the iced version "Teh O Limau Ais"??

7 comments:

  1. LOL! Kevin, if you make it to KL within the next two months or so, I'd be happy to assist ya with the pronunciation while trying to order the drink at a local mamak shop.

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  2. ..hehe..remind me the sitcom where u have to order everything in english at a mamak restaurant..
    Mamak, "can i have your order pls"
    " Pulled tarik "
    "Milkless Tea with Lemon"
    " Coconut Rice with half egg, cucumber and errr...sambal"
    Mamak, " No..cannot take order..must be in english"
    " errr..ok..err hot sauce.."
    "..and urmm..roti canai?..."

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  3. ehh pulled tarik pulak..pull tea

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  4. In case you haven't discovered it yet, it is actually (or should I dare say officially) called "teh o limau panas". It's one of those strange things like "goreng pisang" when in actual fact it should be "pisang goreng".

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  5. Ohh... that was me MS (ex-PBU)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks and that i have a nifty offer you: Whole House Remodel Cost house renovation and design

    ReplyDelete

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about two months later...

 ... hi again. This return to blogging is really not working out, is it? Actually, I am writing, three pages of mind vomit and affirmations ...