The countertops of restaurant or supermarket cashiers are strategic locations to lure customers into impulsively purchasing a pack of chewing gum or a packet of cigarettes. Most of these small items are placed there to devilishly tempt us into consumption at the very last minute before paying the bill.

I was no exception to this sort of consumer seduction when I was paying for my lunch of briyani rice in a restaurant recently in Petaling Jaya.

The most odd-looking candy was put on display in the most unique fashion; their garish pink and orange packaging cried out silently to me, "buy me, buy me!"

I stopped dead in my tracks, gawking in awe and confusion at this most extraordinary exhibition: a pink and yellow umbrella housing these other umbrella-shaped minions that were hanging on to it from their U-shaped handles like monkeys on a tree. What were they??

"Beli lah satu 'Dik, jangan pandang je! (Come on, buy one dear; don't just look!)," cackled the elderly Malay lady manning the cashier, clearly amused by my childish look of innocence and surprise.

"Sedap ke, Makcik? (Are they good, Aunty?) I asked, still eyeing the things like a hawk out to prey on a mouse.

"Budak-budak memang suka makan benda tu, laku betul! (Kids love those, they sell very well!), she replied, smiling.

"Saya beli tiga lah Makcik! (I'll buy three, Aunty!)" I grinned, grabbing three different flavors that were on display. They were RM1.20 each, so I paid RM3.60 total for my three newly found edibles.

These umbrella-shaped inventions are called Brolly, most appropriately named so as the word "brolly" is British slang for umbrella. But they aren't from England, as the name might imply; in fact they're from a much nearer place to Malaysia:

Bandung, Indonesia! I don't why I laughed so loudly in the car when I discovered its origin while stopping at a red light. I suppose the thought that I had actually randomly picked up some new chocolate originating from the one country that is constantly the center of attention on my website may have had something to do with it.

Unwrapping this beast was an arduous task on its own; I spend less time microwaving popcorn for goodness sake. You have to peel the wrapper off in a spiral-like fashion to avoid doing damage to the chocolate. I initially tried pulling it out from the wrapper by its handle but it jerked out from the chocolate in which it was embedded. I hurriedly jammed the handle back into the chocolate.

Finally after much bitching and sweating, the Brolly chocolate is finally exposed to the world and ready to be devoured! This one was "umbrella chocolate and orange cream." I don't know about you, but I think orange-flavored chocolates taste lovely. The one in the yellow wrapper is another variation of chocolate orange; the pink one, predictably, is chocolate with strawberry cream.

After a bite into the chocolate I discovered that it was nothing more than a cone-shaped wafer filled with orange-flavored cream, coated with a thin layer of chocolate.

So did I like Brolly? You bet! It was not bad at all, not too sweet or too chocolate-heavy. It reminded me of those Cadbury Zip wafers with orange or strawberry filling.

And I have to say, there's just something special about eating chocolate that resembled an umbrella. Weird. But special.

I was not the only one in the house who enjoyed these umbrella chocolate thingamajigs from Bandung.

And don't forget to save some for those, you know, rainy days! (Bwahahaha!)