Noodles for every meal

by Lamvi Dao. Edited by Jesse Stamell.

The UNHCR provided us with proper diet and did very outstanding job in keeping us healthy.

I don’t recall exactly how often we were given food but every other day or 2 times per week, we were given either chicken, fish and along with some kinds of vegetable. Your portion was so little that if you tried to feed yourself, you would run out of food by the second day. So what we did was that if you were solo or had one or 2 relatives, other people would give you their portion and we cooked together. We became one big family.

” A whole chicken was divided for 4 people and
you would not get any food for another 3 days.”

That’s right my friend. We supported each other. We trusted each other with our scarce food and little drinking water.

In comparison with other kids, I was a lucky kid that had family on the island. Mom cooked for everyone and at least 3 more guys in our long house (apartment). Our family was extended.

We also had a lot of instant noodles, Mi Goi. Everyone had 7 packs of instant noodles for each week. Most of the women did not like noodles or they ate so little that we could see noodles piled up everywhere. What about me? I loved Mi Goi. Sometimes, I had 3 packs of instant noodles. I loved ‘em.

We had noodles for breakfast, noodles for lunch, noodles for dinner, and we had noodles for snack before bed time. Noodles were everywhere. They were everywhere and the rats loved noodles.

Have you tried to fry noodles with sugar, Mi Ngao Duong? I was the expert with this type of snack. With a cup of hot tea and Mi Ngao Duong before bed time, we had a good night sleep.

One more thing, certain types of noodle packages were like foil from the inside. We used them to make Christmas trees and they were so beautiful.

It has been more than 15 since I left Bidong, but I still love instant noodles because I ate them for nearly 3 straight years and almost every day too with 2 packs at least. Sometimes, I make Mi Ngao Duong and I enjoy it myself. I’ll treat you one day.

By the way, if you were caught while consuming pork you just had committed a very serious crime. Malaysian government prohibits pork consuming.