Eye Candy - My Superstar System

Dum Briyani! Simple Delish!

Sunday, 19th February 2017 1425hrs

“Damn it!!! I only able to interact for less than 30 minutes and then Sue goes offline once again?!?! How am I going to get guided in this manner? I had been watching my words carefully and all I used was the term ‘witch b***h’ and then the system penalises me for that? How about if I pronounce it as ‘which beach’.? At least I would be able to escape from being banned and logged out from the system in this way!”

I lamented to myself as I sat at one of the wrought iron benches on the sidewalk and was wondering if I could get away with profanity if I made up some gibberish words to represent what I wanted to say in the future.

Right now, since Sue is offline, I would not be able to access the rest of the menu inside the system that was shown like it was in the Matrix The Movie!

There was a clock that was affixed to be part of a lamppost and it showed just half past 2 and I still have a little over 3 hours before I report to work. I think I should just sit here and watch the world pass by idly or maybe get some shut-eye while waiting for the time to reach 6 in the evening.

4 hours! It would be midway through dinner when Sue would go online, and by then I would be too busy to meddle with the system and communicate with her at all. It would be after 2 am before I would be able to check out the rest of the system!

So I decided on the latter and sit on the wrought iron bench, freezing my ass off in the middle of a really mediocre day and closed my eyes. Before long I was nodding off and fell asleep right there and then.

“Eh, up, lad. Wake up. This ain't the bloomin' place for one ter sleepin' in the bleedin' streets in broad daylight. Don't yer 'ave a place ter go and 'ave a rest uvver than in the public place and causin' public disturbances, isit?”

My knee was knocked by something hard and I looked up and squinted my eyes as the sun was directly on my face. I wondered how long I had been on the bench sleeping but I am sure the one that woke me up is not a member of the public but the cops!

I saw 2 cops on the beat had used his billy stick to knock into the sides of my knee as if he wanted to execute a lamb chop which he had wanted to do since he started his beat this morning!

“I am sorry, officer. I would have known better not to fall asleep here since it would cause a public disturbance for others who would like to rest here. Here, let me get off now and give this seat up for those who need it more.”

I quickly got up on my feet and then brushed my butt as I bowed slightly to the two coppers before I made my way as far away from trouble as possible. I wouldn’t want to get into trouble on the first day in this world especially when I had earned the trust of Mr Aziz that resembled my father who is now the restaurant manager for Chapati & Karak @ 144 Brompton Road.

I saw the clock at the lamp post showed 530 pm and I think it would not hurt for me to report for work early, am I right? Furthermore, I would need to take a look at the uniform to see if there’s anything that needs to be addressed or not. At least when I report to work, none of the clothing would give me any issues at all.

“Good evening, Mr Aziz. It is me, Matthew and I report for work now. I am going to the locker to see if my clothes fit or need to be exchanged so I would not disturb you right now and I go now to the back end to get changed, would that be alright?”

Mr Aziz who saw me reporting for duty earlier than I should nod his head approvingly and he replied, “Good, good, good, good, good. You go and get change and go for dinner. Then back to the kitchen to start work 5 mins before 7 pm, yes?”

I replied that I would do so and I went straight to my locker to get my pair of uniform and then head to the changing room to get dressed.

I saw some guys who were at the dishwashing area and asked them, "Hey, dude. Where’s dinner? Should we take from the kitchen and then consume somewhere else?”

A Bangladeshi man replied, “Bhai, you just take from the chafing dish at the kitchen there. You take what you like and you can eat in the dining area for customers. There’s a long table there, the white one meant for workers. Enjoy our dinner, Bhai!”

I wondered what Bhai means and I had an impression that the word might mean brother or something. It cannot be an offensive word right? These people are nice to work with and are willing to help you out. I knew since my dorm before had 2 Bangladeshi and 4 Pakistani before when I was in UOL.

I went to the kitchen as directed, took a heavy ceramic plate and approached the chafing dish and opened up the cover. There is yellow basmati rice that is cooked with ghee and had those herbs such as cinnamon, cloves and parsley. It is called Dum Briyani since, within the mounds of rice, I saw chunks of lamb meat as well as chicken! My mouth watered as I saw the dish before me and I scooped a generous amount of rice and one chunk of lamb and one chicken leg.

I moved to the other chafing dish and saw dalcha, a kind of curry that was cooked with lentils and had other vegetables such as potatoes, long beans and brinjal inside it. I took a small bowl and place some of it and the aroma was enticing for me to take a sip but I control the urge not to! Last but not least, the authentic achar that was made with pineapple, cucumber, carrots and with something that looked like sesame seed and had strips of red chilli in it as well. That too I had scooped into one small bowl and placed it on my tray.

I settled down on the long table and took a pair of cutlery from the dispenser and began to scoop the food. It was the first decent meal I had since I travelled to this virtual world.

The Dum Briyani had quite several surprises, and the surprises that I meant was those herbs especially the cloves that were hiding within the rice. I had accidentally bit one and the taste is not considered awful but it had like a medicinal taste to it. But overall, the rice, the curried meat, dalcha and achar all accentuated one another like a ballerina dancing with her partner on the ice.

To finish it off, I went to the brass dispensing tun and turned the tap and I poured a glass filled with ginger tea. It was plain ginger that had been freshly squeezed and boiled for at least 12 hours to bring out its goodness. I poured some milk in it and then sat down at the long table as I slowly digest the food that I had consumed.

After such a heavy meal, something was itching and I needed a fix real soon or I would end up over-eating if I do not curb my cravings!