A Phone Call From Aunt Su.
The call came in when I was in the middle of something not exactly important to the nation but important enough for me to cut short the call with something business people have taught me to say without sounding guilty: 'I'll call you back.'
Aunt Su isn't one of the suppliers hunting me down for money and so it was only proper that I called her back.
We talked and talked for about fifteen minutes that in the end I said, 'I'll come over and see how you're doing. Yes, I'll say hello to your new friends. You are not getting married, are you?' Ha ha ha.
I took a day off from 'business', if you wanna call it that. I'm inclined to call it 'business' because it gives me something important to hang on to, to feel connected with the rest of the world. Spent half of the afternoon cleaning up the apartment with just enough time to cook Mee Hoon Singapore for Aunt Su. I got a bit of baklava for dessert. I am not proud with what I tried to do with this dish but I figured it was okay to bring it to an old folks' home where the citizens don't know any better what a good baklava should taste like. There's Pepsi, buahulu from Giant, fruits from Tesco, and potato buns from Carrefour.
She looked good. And happy. And pretty. She's got her hair neatly combed. Nails trimmed and filed. First thing I said, instead of something more appropriate like 'hello' was, are your shoes okay? I know. That wasn't a nice thing to say but before I had time to cover it up with something sensible like, would you like to dance, her friends started laughing and said, your nephew is funny. That broke the ice. She took my hand to introduce me to her friends. There's Aunty Koh. Aunty Chea. Aunty Lee. Aunty (I forgot her name) and a few more aunties I didn't get the name of. It felt good to be surrounded by so many women...if only they were my age. Aunt Su talked and talked talked about me as if she's selling me off for good. I was kinda embarassed but it felt good to listen to her description of me as her only living relative.
She's happy there. It's better this way. Otherwise I'd have to juggle between 'business' and taking care of her. Glad it turned out this way.
Next entry: Maybe next week.
Aunt Su isn't one of the suppliers hunting me down for money and so it was only proper that I called her back.
We talked and talked for about fifteen minutes that in the end I said, 'I'll come over and see how you're doing. Yes, I'll say hello to your new friends. You are not getting married, are you?' Ha ha ha.
I took a day off from 'business', if you wanna call it that. I'm inclined to call it 'business' because it gives me something important to hang on to, to feel connected with the rest of the world. Spent half of the afternoon cleaning up the apartment with just enough time to cook Mee Hoon Singapore for Aunt Su. I got a bit of baklava for dessert. I am not proud with what I tried to do with this dish but I figured it was okay to bring it to an old folks' home where the citizens don't know any better what a good baklava should taste like. There's Pepsi, buahulu from Giant, fruits from Tesco, and potato buns from Carrefour.
She looked good. And happy. And pretty. She's got her hair neatly combed. Nails trimmed and filed. First thing I said, instead of something more appropriate like 'hello' was, are your shoes okay? I know. That wasn't a nice thing to say but before I had time to cover it up with something sensible like, would you like to dance, her friends started laughing and said, your nephew is funny. That broke the ice. She took my hand to introduce me to her friends. There's Aunty Koh. Aunty Chea. Aunty Lee. Aunty (I forgot her name) and a few more aunties I didn't get the name of. It felt good to be surrounded by so many women...if only they were my age. Aunt Su talked and talked talked about me as if she's selling me off for good. I was kinda embarassed but it felt good to listen to her description of me as her only living relative.
She's happy there. It's better this way. Otherwise I'd have to juggle between 'business' and taking care of her. Glad it turned out this way.
Next entry: Maybe next week.
posted by Bergen at
9:00 PM
22 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Is your homemade "Mee hoon singapore" something like fired bee hoon and eaten with some teo chew gravy?? I love it when the have the gravy thingy..:)
Goodness, where have you been? I stopped coming in for a while after that long silence of 'Happy Mother's Day' entry and only to come back and be delightedly surprised with these few entries.
Glad u are still in one piece Berg :)
Sir, glad to see your entry again. May you have a lovely day.
oh you are back. lovely surprise to come here and find a few posts after the mother's day letter. good luck with the new venture and everything else in your life. don't go disappearing too long now.
Bergen - that was great of you to visit Aunt Su. I think a Nursing home or home for the elders was quite a good concept - and I was 17 then when I said that many many years ago - it was a topic for the inter-college debate team.But of course our team lost because it was a concept so foreign to our Melayu culture. I am glad Aunt Su is enjoying herself because she is surrounded by her peers and she has great company not that I think you will not be a good company for her but she needs to be with friends who of the same age. May Allah protects Aunt Su and you - and my warmest hug to her.
Bergen...mee hoon Singapore tu tau le...but..what is baklava???...any Melayu name for it?...:-(
I am glad Aunt Su is happy. The arrangement is a blessing after all.
All the best in that business, and lepas ni boleh buat kenduri kesyukuran pulak no bila business untung :-)
so good to hear that Aunt Su is happy and has many friends. Watch it - she may have "jual"- ed you already!!!
Very the intriguing - havent read your previous post - what business have you ventured into?
Thank god u r back...quite shock u have a few posts after the silence...
gud luck with ur buss..
patut la lama hilang..kerja rupanya :)
good to have u back after long pause of blogging.
Nour: Promise me you'll post the recipe for the teochew gravy?
KC: Thank you, ma'am.
Dr Nurul Bahiyah Baharudin: Yes, it was seronok to feed the girls with something brought from home.
Anggerik Merah: Thank you, ma'am. According to Count you've got your lil'man with ya. You have a nice day, ma'am.
Jill Yusoff: Yes, ma'am. Will try up-date the post when I got home.
Anonymous: Do you do any volunteer work? You have a big heart.
AuntieYan: It's a simple dish from Greece. Just layer the filo (macam kulit popia) and sprinkle some nuts, almond, walnut or kacang tanah goreng. Bake it and then pour the lemon syrup on it. It's a sweet stuff. There's a baklava shop in Bangsar. I heard it's pretty expensive.
Noni: No, ma'am. I made it myself. I think it's expensive because of the nuts. I like it, especially after mousaka dinner. LOL. Yes, don't forget cucumber sauce, feta cheese, and yes, goat cheese. Gosh, the goat cheese is expensive.
AuntyN: The people I've got to invite to the kenduri are the regular visitors to my humble blog. You can be the leader.
Lifebloom: Now why do I have the feeling you are absolutely right about this selling off thing. LOL.
Edryna: Thank you, ma'am.
Nadya: You are right! I've got a job. LOL.
hmmm sedapnya baklava...maybe one day you can post a virtual thing so we can feast our eyes on it :)
haha i tertinggal bot la this time..cerita sudah basi.. nway glad that you're doing good..
nway carrefour's potato bread memang best!
Looks like you've got all the hypermarkets covered, LOL!!
Aunt Su's a lucky aunt with a thoughtful nephew :)
Bergen - thank you for the compliment. Alhamdullilah, I try my best to volunteer as much as I could. My favourite cause is to help in raising fund to find the cure for breast cancer.
you make your own baklava? WOW!
have you ever consider doing cooking class for the culinary challanged people like me? but you have to start really slow e.g. introduce us to pots n pans n stove tops...etc. LOL!
berg...u make your own baklava?? woww!!!! superb!!! must post it..i love baklava..ate everyday during ramadhan..tu pun sbb free..yes the shop in bangsar is quite expensive...i thot it was from midd east though..not greece..
berg, i think u should have another blog for receipes laa... baklava? dengar pun cam sodap jer.. :)
Sir Bergeng,
Whoa ! Baclava ! I am deeply impressed. Yes, the Baclava in that shop in Bangsar is blardy expen$ive..
Dia kira pakai Tahil bang..
Welcome back, Sie Bergen..good to have you back. Salam to Aunt Su and the rest if you got to see them again.
Mama Rock: Will do, ma'am.
Alif's Mommy: Yes, ma'am. Carrefour's potato buns are simply the best.
QOTH: Yes, ma'am. I hop from one hypermarket to another like a rabbit. LOL.
Anonymous: You're welcome, ma'am.
Hemu2: Baklava is the easiest to do, ma'am. Really, there's nothing to it other than laying filo on top of another.
UBA: yes, it is also popular in the middle-east, ma'am.
Tee: It's very sweet. Much sweeter akok, or nekbat.
Jokontan: LOL, I haven't heard the word 'tahil' for a long time. It reminds me of Aunt. I used to help her weigh the nissang pulut using the timbang dacing.
Maklang: Yes, ma'am. Will convey your salam to Aunt Su and her gang of aunties.
Thinktankgal: It a different world. But I am going to like it for sure, ma'am.
To everyone who dropped by, thank you. Thank you for visiting.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home