KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 2 -- How often have you driven far away for a particular dish or perhaps queued for a viral food item and emerged feeling disappointed?

All that time and effort spent for a mediocre, or even worse, unsatisfying meal. What sacrilege!

Psychologists call it effort justification, where people perceive a meal they had to work harder to get as special, better tasting, or worth the effort - whether it's a long drive to Klang for bak kut teh or joining a snaking queue for many hours for the In-N-Out Burger pop-up or securing that elusive reservation at Khairul Aming's Rembayung.

Perhaps a better approach to avoid this mind trap is considering whether a substitute is available nearer your home.

That possibility arose when I ...