I Wanna Grow Gracefully Old and Wise...

Condolences to Aza for the passing of his father on the 10th of September 2005.
Al-Fatihah.

Hello, All.
The thing about life is that nothing is predictable, eh?
I don't know if i'll be ready for such surprises.
But then again, who is?

On the way back from Melaka today, we (my family and i) diverted to Seremban 2 to have lunch. After a few minutes of looking for a decent shop to fill our empty and growling stomachs, this quaint little glass walled shop caught our eye. It had a few paper signs stuck on the walls saying "Chinese Muslim Food". We immediately parked the car and checked the place out. As we sat on the cold aluminium chairs, we browsed the menu. The waitress said, that they just opened the shop yesterday so some of the things on the menu are still not available. But she said it in the most friendly way. An old uncle, clad in a simple tee with khaki pants with a skull cap (ketayap), who we thought was the owner of the place reckoned we should try the "paper chicken" and his own-made Tofu. And so we did try, and it was delish! It turned out to be, he is the cook and the minor share holder of the restaurant. That was like, one of the few moments i've ever tasted real chinese food. I mean, of course i've had chinese food before, but they're either cooked by malays (sure-lah dah modify to suit the malays' taste), or over-commercialized and soaked in preservatives. It's not authetic anymore.

The uncle came to Malaysia from China when he was only at a tender age of 16. He claimed that he once cooked for Tunku Abdul Rahman and another Chinese Politician back in the 70s, in a once famous Peking restaurant in Kuala Lumpur. He's been cooking for more than 30 years. What i like a bout him is that though he wasn't highly educated, he is a wise guy. He said, he admired the way Tun Adbdul Razak spoke, "Educated people speak softly, gently...We cooks, speak rough!". Of course he said it in malay, with the chinese twang. I admire him for being really humble though he had heaps of amazing experiences. I hate people who boast. And yet i boast. Ironic, i know.

Back in a more familiar place, my mom and i went to the sundry shop in ss14 to get some stuff. And when we were at the cashier, i turned to my right and only to find that a chinese chap spoke in tamil to the Indian lady behind the counter. He said, "paravallei, paravallei..." as the woman was about to put his stuff in a plastic bag. Haha. I guess he said, "no need,no need". Kan? I smiled with a silent chuckle but i still managed to catcch their attention. The lady and the chap smiled at me. In my head i was thinking to myself, "Hah! What do you know...i thought this things only happens in local merdeka ads". I mean come on, how often do you come across such scenes in real life? Well, that was a really funny moment.

The crowd over at Mamak bistro at about 7 pm sucks. Muke-muke poyo tengah lepak.