Navya Rao: Week 3 Malatown: The Best Town
Week 3: Malatown: The Best Town [9:12 PM]
May 15, 2026 at approximately 5:45 PM. I was reborn.
Tired and exhausted from the week I had just fought through, I sluggishly laid on my unmade bed on top of the options of outfits I was searching through desperately in the morning. The right side of my face cuddles with my pillow while my phone and my eyes are inseparable. “Let me just check my notifications.” a doomful scrolls turns into an amazing nap. For two hours.
5:11 PM: “guys im inside malatown”, Riona texts in sixSEVEN chuds, the group chat that has years worth of memories in it with my very much cherished friends.
Still smushing my face to the pillow, still in that terrible and aching mountain climber sleeping position, my eyes widened, I forgot.
Now here I was, lying in my bed, debating whether to meet up with my bestest of friends, as we had planned, or to be selfish with my Friday evening. I closed my eyes to contemplate. What if it's boring? What if I regret going when I could have just been cozy in my bed?
I would consider myself a spiritual person, to an extent. I try my best to pray every day to my mother’s idols of God that are beautifully arranged in a tiny cabinet. After my prayer each day, I try to include gratitude statements just to remind myself of how blessed I am.
It has been 131 days since May 15, 2026. And in nearly each of those 131 days of prayer, Malatown has been recognized as one of the greatest things in my life.
5:30 PM: “Thanks, amma!” I shut the door and approach the mysterious building. Inside, the delectable aromas of garlic, soy sauce, chilli oil, and zesty lemon are all I breathe in. I’m still suspicious. Riona helps me curate a bowl with broccoli, tteokbokki, ramen, tofu, quail eggs, and more. I choose to have these toppings boiled in Tom Yum soup, one of the only vegetarian soup bases. Mild spice. The bowl is weighed and priced at an alarming twenty dollars. I get my tag and I head to the table.
Sarah, Chloe, Riona, Arnita, Kavya, and I are laughing and enjoying our debates on the gossip and more of the things that appeal to the interests of high school sophomores.
My bowl comes. It’s hot, lemony, and ready to be devoured. I spoon a bit of soup and blow on it. I sip.
Ecstasy.
I am bombarded with a scrumptious parade on my palate. Absolute awe. The scorching soup turns into a warm blanket for my body as I swallow. My eyes closed and I could swear I felt tears forming in my eyes.
I locked into a flow state as I wolf down as much of the bowl as I can.
Unfortunately, nothing could ever reincarnate the satisfaction that filled my body and soul in those twenty minutes.
Hi Navya! I absolutely loved your imagery throughout this post; your detailed description of your bowl made my mouth water, and I immediately added Malatown to my list of places to try. After all, you did say this was the greatest thing that had ever happened to you! Your choice to structure the post with timestamps was a perfect choice and added a hilarious touch.
ReplyDeleteMy first impression of you was that you are super energetic and extroverted. However, I can resonate with the Friday-slump when all you want to do is scroll and sleep. After I get home on a Friday, I can barely stay awake to watch TV—a luxury that is reserved for the weekends—and usually take a well-deserved two-hour nap, too!
Your depiction of walking into Malatown is exactly what I love about trying new restaurants: getting caught in a trance with all the aromas exciting me for the meal that awaits me. That feeling is only upgraded when I am surrounded by my best friends! The gossip that is shared during a meal is the best kind when everyone leans in to hear through the commotion of a restaurant setting.
I am also restricted to vegetarian soup bases because I can’t have the popular beef or pork broths, so I am excited to try Tom Yum with my favorite toppings! Thank you for the restaurant review; Malatown should use this as an advertisement for people to try their food!
Hello Navya! This blog hits quite close to me, as this malatown hotpot by Decoto Road has been (quite desperately) tugging at my stomach strings! I tell you, that restaurant is simply waiting for my arrival. (P.S., I say stomach strings because they tug at my stomach—not my heart!) While reading your blog, my stomach started talking. No, literally. I mean grumbling. How dare you curse me with this hunger!? I’m getting off-topic, let’s talk more about your blog.
ReplyDeleteI like how you first start off with a little bit of context: your tiring week and initial second thoughts about going. I am quite sure you do not regret going against those second thoughts, no? Your imagery of savory garlic, soy sauce, spicy chili oil, and “zesty lemon” make my stomach contort into an amalgamation of envy. Could this possibly be pathos, an appeal to emotion? Your exaggeration of being “reincarnated” also made me laugh, you can be very comical sometimes! Anywho, your blog is quite delicious. I wish I meant that literally. I hope you get to visit the wonderful, amazing, magnificent, and glorious town of malatown again.
Hey Navya! This was so refreshing to read because of how you take something so simple like enjoying an absolutely exquisite meal at Malatown. By the time I finished your blog I was famished and immediately found myself looking through my pantry for any substitute to quench my burning hunger.
ReplyDeleteI loved how you say that you were a bit hesitant to go, but upon actually experiencing a marvelous day with your friends, it has become one of the most memorable days of your life. Your imagery and they way it flows from the food to the conversation. This reminds of the time last year the badminton team went to Malatown last year for team bonding and how we made so many memories.