Taste of Home (Stephen and Finley)

The UK was nice and all, but there was just one thing that Chee Wye missed. Okay, two, but one he could deal with and the other was just not acceptable at all - and that was the food. Malaysian food was the epiphany of life, what with so many varieties. And right now, Chee Wye was craving a nice plate of chicken rice.

Slipping down to the kitchens, he wondered if the house-elves there would know how to make that. He had heard how to enter the kitchens, and that was by tickling the pear. Shaking his head, Chee Wye did just that, wondering what his friends back home would say if they saw him standing outside a door rubbing a finger over a picture of a fruit. "Sure send me Tanjung Rambutan," he muttered. [Tanjung Rambutan is a mental hospital.]

But, the door opened, and Chee Wye stepped inside to see the house elves running around. One approached him and bowed. "Eh, boss, can have one plate chicken rice ah?" Chee Wye asked, and the only reply he received was the house elf leading him to an empty table and telling him to sit. So, he did, crossing his fingers and hoping that he would get what he was so desperately craving.

Chee Wye was looking around the kitchen, taking in the sights, sounds, and smells in amazement. If the house elves could make him what he wanted, this could very well become his favourite place in the whole of Hogwarts. It was also right next to his common room, which was an amazing benefit.

Truth be told, Chee Wye didn't much care what house he was in, as long as they were nice people and he wasn't treated as an outsider, despite his obvious difference. There was a lot to get used to in the UK - with their accents being one of them. How could people only speak in one language? It was so dull, especially since there were so many words that wouldn't and couldn't be captured in English.

The sound of the door opening made him turn, and he watched as someone else entered, watching in integument as the boy also ordered. At the greeting, he glanced over his shoulder. "Talking to me ar?" he asked, then, nothing nobody else was responding to the male, decided that it had been him. "Hello, hello," he replied, then noted the uniform the boy was wearing. "Eh macha, you a prefect right? Am I allowed to be here?" he asked, suddenly realising that it might be a restricted thing. [Macha is the Tamil word for 'male friend', and is used like 'bro', in a friendly way. Basically, he's saying, "Hey, bro, you're a prefect, right?"]

The conflicting answers confused him, and he frowned slightly as he tried to figure it out. What was it with western people and their style of answering? It was so simple, really: yes was yes unless it meant no, and no meant no. In this case, the boy had said both a yes and a no, and Chee Wye couldn't figure out whether the yes was the no or the no was the yes.

Things were so much easier back home.

Nevertheless, the boy eventually did correct himself, for which Chee Wye was glad, and he nodded, leaning back into his seat in that moment. He wasn't going to be in trouble, and that was good enough news for him. "Eh, sit sit sit," he invited, motioning to the chair opposite him. "Waiting for what? Leng lui to appear issit?" he joked, grinning as usual. [Leng lui = pretty girl. Translation: "Come take a seat. Why are you standing around? Are you waiting for a pretty girl to appear?" in a teasing manner.]

"W-what did you say, though?"

Chee Wye blinked, not quite sure how to answer. He had already been given answers. "Har?" he asked, in return. "You already got answer me, leh. Why you ask what some more?"

{Translation: "Huh? You've already answered me, you know; why would you ask me to repeat myself again?"}

Smiling widely as the boy sat, Chee Wye leaned back in his seat, relaxed. The day was going well, considering he was hopefully about to get good food, and he was making new friends. The male before him seemed nice and decent, someone he wouldn't mind being friends with, although much more polite than he was used to. And what was with the stutter? Chee Wye didn't think he was that scary a person, although many westerners had told him he was too loud at times; the Hufflepuff honesty did not really understand this, though, with it being a norm back home.

At the comment, Chee Wye let out a loud laugh. "Joke only lah!" he said, shaking his head. [Translation: "Don't worry, I was only kidding!"] Did the male really believe that Chee Wye thought he was waiting for someone pretty to come? How shallow were the people here? Or perhaps, Chee Wye told himself, the poor boy had social anxiety (he had heard about that from a friend) and the idea had startled him.

The question confused him, and he spent a couple seconds thinking back. What did he say that was so confusing? Perhaps his phrasing had been not clear? Trying again, Chee Wye said, "I asked, why you ask me to say again? You oledy answer me." [Translation: "I asked, why did you ask me to repeat myself? You have already (pronounced oh-lay-dy) answered me."]

Smiling amiably at the boy, Chee Wye decided that if the poor thing had social anxiety, the best thing was to be his friend and show him that it was okay to mix around with people. "Oh so you know, my name is Chee Wye," he added, realising they had never really been introduced. "You leh?" [Translation: "And what about you?" The 'leh' softens it and makes it more endearing, showing genuine interest in the person.]

At the clarification, understanding dawned on Chee Wye, and he let out a long, "Ohhhhh," and then paused for a second before adding a, "Cheh. Why you never say earlier?" [Cheh = A sound made usually when dismissing something someone said in a light-hearted manner - the word can be dragged for more effect - and is more or less like "it's just that?/that's it/pshh/pfft?". Translation: "Oh, that's it? Pshhh. Why didn't you tell me that earlier?"] In all honesty, it wasn't that Chee Wye was purposely confusing the people around him or trying to do that - it was that he just did not see the differences in which language he used. To him, it was 'Malaysian', and it was all he knew to speak.

"I'm from Malaysia," he said, thinking this in itself was a good enough explanation. "Next time hor, stop me and I can explain, cos I also dunno if you don't understand." [Translation: "Okay, next time, stop me and I can explain myself, because I won't know if you don't understand otherwise."] It wasn't something he minded, mostly because of the sheer limitations of westerners only speaking one language. It must be miserable for them, he decided.

"Wah, such a long name ah?" he inquired, surprised that an ang moh would have a name like that. Usually they only had one, not two, but there were many things Chee Wye knew he had to learn about these Mat Sallehs, and this was apparently one of them. [Wah is an exclamation of something that impresses you/shocks you. 'Ah' is like, 'really'? Translation: "Wow, you really have a double name?" Ang moh/mat salleh is basically terms for 'white people'.]

Realising that he was doing a lot of talking and hadn't ordered a drink, and out of habit, he made a kissing noise. "Eh bos, air kosong one!" he called out, then paused, realised where he was, and then had the decency to flush. "Eh, sorry, I forgot I wasn't at a mamak... Boss, one glass of water please!" he corrected, looking towards Finley after he ordered. "You want a drink?" [Translation: "Excuse me, boss, can I have one water ar? Oh, sorry. I forgot I wasn't as a street-side restaurant (which is called 'mamak' here; it's a name, like 'cafe'). Can I please have a glass of water? Would you like a drink?" It's a common thing (and not a rude thing at all) to call over the waiters at mamaks using the kissing noise.]