Within each family, the siblings are invariably made up of two categories i.e. the “Haves - those considerably more affluent and the “Have-nots”, their poorer relatives. Where my family is concerned, there’s only one “Have” while the rest of us sadly, falls under category 2.
My 2nd sister, more commonly known as “Datin”, (because she’s always harboured a desire to have this title bestowed upon her) is the only one in my family considered to have ‘made it’. Most of the time, the fact that she’s well off doesn’t go to her head or makes her behave like an incorrigible snob. On the contrary she’s always been more than generous so occasionally, when she does get all high and mighty, we indulge her and allow her to ‘act up’ as if it’s her right. There have been instances though, when her acting-up backfires and places her in awkward or comical situations!
There is 1 particular incident that never fails to tickle me whenever I am reminded of it.
Most of our family gatherings take place at our ancestral home i.e. at the shop so on the few occasions that meals are taken in Klang, we make it a point to drop by datin’s house for coffee. (Coffee’s our family’s preferred beverage.)
One Sunday we all proceeded to 2nd ‘s home after a hearty lunch. As always, the initial part of our visit was filled with much oohing and aahing over her recent purchases. Depending on what her latest craze is, or that of our brother-in-law, there is always something new for her to show off to us. (Between the two of them I don’t know who is the more compulsive shopper. Imagine having Chairman Mao’s bust as part of the house décor!) Admittedly, a lot of gizmos, widgets and gadgets found in her house are things I have never seen before in my sheltered life.
While male members of our family lounged at the sitting room, we girls huddled over the kitchen table and Supri, our maid hastened to prepare the much craved for coffee. 2nd commented that the brand of 2-in-1 kopi-o that was being brewed wasn’t sweet enough and suggested we add in more sugar to enhance the taste. She said that her husband, Chai, who had just returned from Sydney after seeing their eldest son settle in for his studies, had brought back a particular brand of sugar from Australia that was quite expensive by normal standards and lucky us would have a chance to taste it!
The question in our minds then was why would people pay more for sugar? Did it contain special nutrients we were unaware of? But of course we, the have-nots couldn't possibly know what goes on in the minds of the wealthy.
When the ‘special’ sugar was brought out in a normal transparent container, (amidst more oohings and aahing) the bumpkins that we were couldn’t help but gawked at it.
I beg to be excused because I do not spend a lot of time in the kitchen so it was conceivable that what was placed before us was “expensive” sugar in cube form. They weren’t white or brown like the sugar I am used to but more translucent, like ice cubes.
Mei Cheng, the only one of us girls considered to have inherited our mum’s cooking skill, blurted out … “How come look like rock sugar one?” The rest of us gasped at her apparent audacity to dare say something like that. True enough, 2nd glared at her and sounding rather pissed off, said, “Don’t know don’t simply talk!!” The rest of us, not wanting to annoy her further, chastised Mei Cheng and made eye signals for her shut up.
Try as we might, none of us could uncap the container so 2nd got Mei Mei’s daughter to take it over to my bro-in-law to have it opened. She came back with the now uncapped container, saying “ Uncle Chai wants to know what you want to do with the …(you guessed it!) rock sugar! “
Now wasn’t that plain embarrassing?
Apparently the expensive sugar does exist except that my sister paid no heed to where our bro-in-law kept it. She, another one of those who hardly spends time at the kitchen did not know the difference between ROCK SUGAR and sugar for daily use, simply assumed that the container she took out was the correct one.
In the end we finally decided to use regular sugar for the kopi-o and well, guess Mei Cheng had the last laugh but no need to guess whose face was the reddest?
F
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
food - glorious food
because of good food....... brains can also makes "mistakes".... like this one : )
YS : Aunty.. wah... the durians veli good... yum yum....
PL : Yeah.... good lah....
E : Hhmm... goooooooodddd
S : Good leh....
YS : Container oso cute.... :-)
Everyone was enjoying the durians in the kitchen at E's house. Suddenly, D came in, eh.. how come u all eating durians, never call me, ah ??? D oso started to "dig" into the durians... follow by JJ...
JJ : Eh, do u know our maid, can speak Hokkein, ah ? everyone like wahhh.... betul kah ??
she ask, wat is "gau chap" and "chet phak". the maid oso says.. she has been a doctor, nurse, and many more posts.....
S : eh.... u all better becareful... she could be a "heckel n jackel" character...
JJ, YS and others : HUH ?? Suddenly everyone burst into laughter .. hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah....... YS.. laughed so much till she cried..... with durians in her mouth.....
S : oh...... how silly of me....
from : S
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Was it ... or wasn't it?
When well-meaning friends learnt that I was going to Phuket at the start of the Hungry Ghost month, everyone wanted to put in their two cents worth of opinions, the scary kind of course! I am not prone to superstitions but that doesn’t mean I don’t believe in the existence of ghosts. Still, I have always felt that the chances of my encountering one was pretty remote or so I thought.
My roommate while in Phuket, Pauline, on the other hand has this unfortunate knack of bumping into ‘them’ every now and then. It’s always thrilling, listening to her ramblings, much like watching horror movies. Except in her case, they are true events! There have been many stories of haunting after the Tsunami took thousand of lives in Phuket. That, coupled with the fact that we were going at this time of the year when ghosts were allowed to roam free, all added to the suspense. Pauline was supposed to, no, not “kiss and tell” but “meet and tell” while I imagined myself to be blissfully unaware even if these strange encounters take place right under my nose.
Our hotel, Best Western Ocean Phuket is located towards the end of Karon Beach. The front of our rooms faces some lush greenery, which the kwai-lohs might love… being so close to nature, while our balconies offer a nice view of the beach across the road. One added plus was a café bar placed at the lobby, complimentary for hotel guests so you can drink cups after cups of Latte, Cappuccino etc… oops but I am going off-course from my topic.
On our 1st night, after walking part of Patong beach and having dinner at BBK, (Jung Ceylon) we went back to the hotel with plans to meet at the games room after taking our showers. (Leaving home without the “chiap koot” set wasn’t an option. It goes where we go.)
Pauline asked if I wanted to shower first as she intended to do a 3-in-1 while in the toilet, i.e. smoke, shit and shower. (the 3 esses!) I decided to let her go first. In fact, if I wasn’t feeling so dirty and if Phuket’s weather wasn’t so hot, I might have contemplated skipping showers altogether!
While waiting for Pauline to finish, I decided to go for a smoke at the balcony. Ours was a non-smoking floor so it had to be done in secret. It’s funny how fear has this ability to creep up on you when you least expect it. Just as I unlatched the lock on the door leading to the balcony, an unexplained surge of terror suddenly gripped me. I could feel my heart beating at twice its speed, while my hands became clammy and my whole body filled with goose bumps. “Whoa…” I asked myself “what happened?”
Instead of going out to the balcony, I decided I didn’t need to smoke after all. I went to sit on the bed and turned the TV on so the room would be less quiet. As the beating of my heart slowly returned to normal, I convinced myself that it was just nerves. That’ll teach me to watch more horror movies!
At that moment Pauline came stomping out from the toilet and gave me that “I have just seen a ghost” look. She asked if anyone had come into the room. I said “no” but she emphatically asked again. “Are you sure? Did my brother come in?” I knew then that the brief feeling of fear I had felt earlier was not a coincidence. She muttered that she heard doors opening and I told her it was probably Jo getting spare towels from the cabinet outside our room. Pauline must have noticed how pale I’ve grown and decided to lay off the interrogation.
Much as I loathe leaving the feeling of security I got from being in the room with another human being and with the TV blasting away, I knew I had no choice but to have a quick shower. I decided then that the experience I just went through was to be my secret and mine alone.
While at the games room, E commented how bloodshot my eyes were and jokingly asked if I showered with my eyes open. Ironically she didn’t know how close she came to the truth with that statement. While I was washing my hair, simultaneously praying and denouncing the spirit of fear, I had a feeling of being watched and had opened my eyes abruptly, allowing the shampoo and the water to get into my eyes. Hmmm… I wonder if I completely rinsed off the shampoo from my hair before scrambling out of the bathtub.
On our way back to Klang, we brought up the topic of the strange encounter that night in Phuket. Contrary to what I thought, that same evening, Pauline did not complete her 3-in-1. While she was doing her second routine, she heard the front door opened and vaguely heard a male voice. This was followed by more opening and closing of doors and an additional two female voices contributing to the conversation. Hmm.. Perhaps she was afraid too and that’s why she decided NOT to shower but to come straight out of the toilet?
Where did the voices come from? Did the sounds Pauline heard of doors opening came from our room door, or was it next door's or did someone getting towels from outside our room cause them? Was it linked to the terror I had felt? Was there a logical explanation and we were just scaring ourselves? You be the judge …..
F
My roommate while in Phuket, Pauline, on the other hand has this unfortunate knack of bumping into ‘them’ every now and then. It’s always thrilling, listening to her ramblings, much like watching horror movies. Except in her case, they are true events! There have been many stories of haunting after the Tsunami took thousand of lives in Phuket. That, coupled with the fact that we were going at this time of the year when ghosts were allowed to roam free, all added to the suspense. Pauline was supposed to, no, not “kiss and tell” but “meet and tell” while I imagined myself to be blissfully unaware even if these strange encounters take place right under my nose.
Our hotel, Best Western Ocean Phuket is located towards the end of Karon Beach. The front of our rooms faces some lush greenery, which the kwai-lohs might love… being so close to nature, while our balconies offer a nice view of the beach across the road. One added plus was a café bar placed at the lobby, complimentary for hotel guests so you can drink cups after cups of Latte, Cappuccino etc… oops but I am going off-course from my topic.
On our 1st night, after walking part of Patong beach and having dinner at BBK, (Jung Ceylon) we went back to the hotel with plans to meet at the games room after taking our showers. (Leaving home without the “chiap koot” set wasn’t an option. It goes where we go.)
Pauline asked if I wanted to shower first as she intended to do a 3-in-1 while in the toilet, i.e. smoke, shit and shower. (the 3 esses!) I decided to let her go first. In fact, if I wasn’t feeling so dirty and if Phuket’s weather wasn’t so hot, I might have contemplated skipping showers altogether!
While waiting for Pauline to finish, I decided to go for a smoke at the balcony. Ours was a non-smoking floor so it had to be done in secret. It’s funny how fear has this ability to creep up on you when you least expect it. Just as I unlatched the lock on the door leading to the balcony, an unexplained surge of terror suddenly gripped me. I could feel my heart beating at twice its speed, while my hands became clammy and my whole body filled with goose bumps. “Whoa…” I asked myself “what happened?”
Instead of going out to the balcony, I decided I didn’t need to smoke after all. I went to sit on the bed and turned the TV on so the room would be less quiet. As the beating of my heart slowly returned to normal, I convinced myself that it was just nerves. That’ll teach me to watch more horror movies!
At that moment Pauline came stomping out from the toilet and gave me that “I have just seen a ghost” look. She asked if anyone had come into the room. I said “no” but she emphatically asked again. “Are you sure? Did my brother come in?” I knew then that the brief feeling of fear I had felt earlier was not a coincidence. She muttered that she heard doors opening and I told her it was probably Jo getting spare towels from the cabinet outside our room. Pauline must have noticed how pale I’ve grown and decided to lay off the interrogation.
Much as I loathe leaving the feeling of security I got from being in the room with another human being and with the TV blasting away, I knew I had no choice but to have a quick shower. I decided then that the experience I just went through was to be my secret and mine alone.
While at the games room, E commented how bloodshot my eyes were and jokingly asked if I showered with my eyes open. Ironically she didn’t know how close she came to the truth with that statement. While I was washing my hair, simultaneously praying and denouncing the spirit of fear, I had a feeling of being watched and had opened my eyes abruptly, allowing the shampoo and the water to get into my eyes. Hmmm… I wonder if I completely rinsed off the shampoo from my hair before scrambling out of the bathtub.
On our way back to Klang, we brought up the topic of the strange encounter that night in Phuket. Contrary to what I thought, that same evening, Pauline did not complete her 3-in-1. While she was doing her second routine, she heard the front door opened and vaguely heard a male voice. This was followed by more opening and closing of doors and an additional two female voices contributing to the conversation. Hmm.. Perhaps she was afraid too and that’s why she decided NOT to shower but to come straight out of the toilet?
Where did the voices come from? Did the sounds Pauline heard of doors opening came from our room door, or was it next door's or did someone getting towels from outside our room cause them? Was it linked to the terror I had felt? Was there a logical explanation and we were just scaring ourselves? You be the judge …..
F
Thursday, August 7, 2008
filial to family
How would you feel if one of your own children does not greet or acknowledge you when they see you in the streets or anywhere that matters.
Well, i reckon the person concerned will feel bad, unwanted and unappreciated and worst, unloved by their own flesh and blood. This feeling will lead to suicidal.
All children out there, Please do not do this to any one in your family...... As parents they have sacrifice everything to ensure their children are well taken care of from the time they are babies to having their own family. LEST not forget all the sacrifices, love showed no matter what !!!
From : S
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