Noodle

Sapiah Ahmet, my cultural attache for a day, is to meet me in the hotel lobby. Half expecting a sylph-like, small, suited Oriental with a china-doll face and no appetite, I meet a cuddly being in Muslim head-wrap who, by her lovely curvy shape, shoe-horned into Burberry mules, I’d judge loves food. We set off to trawl markets for all the foodstuffs we can put away. Sapiah is a fount of knowledge and doesn’t stop. A sweetie who mothers me all day: ‘Eat that, and that, finish it up now...’ Bowls, platters, plates, cups and packets are fed my way in never-ending succession.