4 CH4: Holiday

"Sometimes the greatest meals on vacation are the ones you find

when Plan A falls through."

- Anthony Bourdain

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Delilah stared off into space, with her chin on the palm of her hand and elbow on the table, looking very lost in her thoughts.

She was inside her cubicle, oblivious to the excited chatters around her. The atmosphere was very lively around her; her colleagues were all talking in animated tones, as they are very excited for the upcoming public holiday. Some of her colleagues even had a half day off today, just to get their holiday started early.

Tomorrow will be a public holiday and she had applied for another day off for the day after the public holiday so that she can have two days off. Smart, huh? Nah, just brilliant.

She had planned to travel to a neighbouring country with her cousins, to relax and of course, enjoy the local cuisines. It had been so long since she last went to the country and she had heard so many new restaurants and café opening up there. So, this will be her third time travelling into the country.

Old Mirree* is a bustling city, with lots of things to do and see. The people there speak the same language and dialect as Delilah's, so it pose no problem when it comes to language barrier (Makes it easier as well to order what she wants). And the travel time between her home country and Old Mirree would be about 2-3 hours travel distance.

As Delilah thought of foods that she wanted to eat in Old Mirree, one of her colleagues came up to her. The woman dragged a nearby chair and sat next to Delilah and asked, "So, where are you going for your holiday?"

Delilah jumped in surprise at the sudden question. She turned to find Aubree, an attractive blond girl with round big eyes sitting next to her, smiling as she waited for Delilah to answer her.

"Deng! You surprised me!" exclaimed Delilah.

"So? So?" Aubree repeated, leaning forward in her seat.

Delilah hold up her hands and said, "Okay, okay! Personal space, please!"

She then leaned back on her seat and said, "Well, we're planning to go to Old Mirree. We already booked our hotel and all. Just thinking about restaurants that I want to try out."

Aubree's eyes widened. "Oh, I've been there!" She paused for a second and snapped her fingers as she recalled something. "Oh yeah, have you tried out some of the seafood restaurants? They're famous for their shellouts! Its pretty awesome! The prices aren't bad, either!"

So, the two of them began to talk about the restaurant, where it can be found and etc. The two of them were too engrossed in their discussion, they did not even notice that the working hours were about to end.

Delilah noted down everything Aubree had said in her little planner, concentrating on the every details and descriptions, as well as asking questions about the place. This is because she hasn't been to the area that Aubree had mentioned. Yes, she has been to the country, but not that particular town.

The next morning, there were little clouds fanned across the sky, with the sun peeking through the gap of the clouds and wind blowing smoothly in the air. Living in a tropical climate kind of a country, Delilah was bound to experience either hot sunny weather or wet rainy weather. It was a good thing that today was just right.

Delilah was waiting outside her house, waiting for her cousins, with her backpack on the floor beside her feet. Her outfit for today was simple. She was wearing a dark blue jeans and a light red T-shirt which reads "Whatever Frosts Your Cupcakes" with a picture of a cupcake in the middle and a spatula and spoon making a cross. Her black hair was tied up in a messy ponytail, making her look younger than she is, like a teenager on her first road trip.

She was looking down at her wristwatch to check the time when she heard a honk.

She glanced up to find her three cousins waving at her from a grey-coloured 6-seater van. They were going to use the van as their transportation to Old Mirree.

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the van. Surely, they don't need a van for their trip, do they? There are only four of them. She inwardly shrugged to herself. Well, whatever.

It was quite a long journey with the women switching places as the drivers. The journey was filled with them talking about topics ranging from the current celebrity gossips to the office 'drama' at their workplace.

After three hours of going through the immigration, they finally arrived at Old Mirree.

The four women looked around the town with awe in their faces as they drive into the country. The country sure has changed since the last time Delilah was here. Seems to be the same for the other three women.

After navigating around in the town, they drive their way to hotel, with the help of the WAVE, a GPS navigation system that they had installed earlier in their phones. It was a bit hectic since there was too many turns in the road, which made them confused. And the road signs weren't helping at all since some of the signs have faded.

Few minutes later, they finally arrived at the hotel. The hotel was a simple breakfast and bed type of hotel, with a small parking space in front for motorcycles and a little garden placed near the entrance. The atmosphere it gave was very cosy, making one feel at home.

The women parked the van at its designated area and went in to checked into their rooms. They quickly settled down, placing all their bags inside and had a rest.

A couple of hours later, the women had finally freshened up, putting on light makeup and are preparing to head to the restaurant that Delilah had suggested.

One of her cousins, Tiana offered to drive and suggested for Delilah to sit up front with her to be the guide, since she 'technically' knew about the place.

Driving through the town, passing by lots of small shops and stalls that were set up beside the road, they finally reached the restaurant.

However, when they parked at the parking lot of the restaurant, Delilah thought that it was weird that the restaurant seemed so quiet. There was no sign of lively people around the area. Lights were turned off, except for the streetlights along the road nearby.

As they got closer to the restaurant, they finally saw a notice pasted on the door, which stated that the restaurant was closed for renovations.

Delilah's eyes widened in surprise as she reads the notice. She did not expect the restaurant would be closed. Aubree didn't mention anything about it. She assumed that Aubree wasn't aware of it, as well. She sighed in disappointment as she turned around to face her cousins.

"Where are we going to eat now?" She asked gloomily.

Shay, one of her cousins, tapped her finger on her chin as she asked thoughtfully, "Did you have a backup plan?"

Delilah bit her lower lips in frustration, her cheeks tinged red in contrite. "I didn't think of one. I didn't expect this to be closed."

Farah, her other cousin, also sighed in frustration. "Eeeehhhhh...." she wailed. "After what Delilah had said about the foods here, I was also excited about coming to this place! Where are we going to go next? I'm hungry!" she continue complained.

Tania, who had been quiet all this while, then said, "I actually know a place. Its not a shellout kind of place but close enough, I guess. I mean, they do serve some great seafood. Just àla carte."

Shay stretched her arms up and groaned. "Well, whatever. I'm hungry too so I don't care what food we're eating as long as I eat."

Farah turned to Delilah and asked in concern, "Are you okay with this?"

Delilah just shrugged. What else can she say? She's also hungry.

They went back inside the van and drove off to the restaurant that Tania had suggested.

After few minutes of driving, they finally arrived at an open-space restaurant. The restaurant was a quaint looking place with tables and chairs being placed outside the restaurant. Although, its not a 5-star restaurant, but the atmosphere it gives out was kind of pleasant and made one comfortable to sit and hangout.

They parked the van a couple of blocks away since there weren't any parking spots nearby. They each grabbed a seat and called for the waitress.

The waitress arrived at their table and gave them a menu each.

Delilah's eyes widened in pleasant surprise when she saw the menu.

She turned to the waitress, while pointing at one of the items in the menu. "Is this your new menu?? Is it available??" she asked, looking so animated. Her eyes gleamed with excitement and her smile so big, showing her pearly whites.

The waitress looked over at her and nodded. "Yep! We have it now."

Delilah quickly turned to her three cousins and asked excitedly, "Can we? Can we??"

Tania laughed at Delilah's reaction and said, "Why not? Sure."

Shay and Farah nodded.

They then ordered the Shellout and chose their sauces for the food.

The four women began to talk, continuing what they talked about in the van. They mostly talked about their work and what's happening in their life.

Due to the fact that seafood takes a long time to cook as it needs to be steamed and the sauces also needed to be stir-fried, they understood why their food had taken so long to arrive.

Minutes before it reached an hour, their food arrived. However, before the waitress poured the foods out, she quickly placed banana leaves in front of them and in the middle of the table. She also placed a big bowl of rice on the table. After that, she placed some crab mallets next to the bowl of rice. Once the settings were done, she poured out the seafood onto the banana leaves.

Delilah licked her lips in anticipation. The aroma of the sweet and sour sauce of the seafood hits her nose-bud first, as she looked down on the dish. She swiped a finger onto the sauce and put it inside her mouth.

She closed her eyes in delight. The tangy sour palate of tomatoes mixed with the sugary sauce, harmonized with the other ingredients, making her taste buds tingle in delight. She grabbed a mallet and smashed open one of the crab legs. She fished out the flesh and swipe it together with the sauce. As she ate the flesh, its soft and sweet texture combined with the sauce made one drool and the flavour was simply flavoursome.

Delilah noticed the silence around her and opened her eyes to see her three cousins smiling at her.

"What?" she asked, confused.

Tania laughed merrily, shaking her head. "Haha haha. Nothing. It's just so funny to see how you really enjoy your food!"

Delilah shrugged as she continued eating. "Well, all's well that ends well."

Farah nodded in agreement. "I guess even if your Plan A doesn't work out. There's always Plan B to save the day, making it much better than expected!"