A Rush to Meet

My cousin sister dropped off some delicious sticky rice for breakfast. My niece sent over a photo of the not-so-well-received Chicken Cacciatore we made the other day, but with spaghetti added by her Dad. She loves the new edition. We went to my other sister’s house for lunch, then rushed to meet a friend so that he could bring us to his sister’s house where we visited with their Mom. Another sibling of theirs wanted to visit but we said we needed to leave very soon and told her not to. She dropped the Chinese F-bomb “Tiu!” If you worked with me, you’ll have a sense of her frustration.

Their mother and mine were childhood friends, and always share a room when they go on trips with a tour group. We wish her a speedy recovery so that she can go travel again. She was always very sweet and kind to me. That’s why I had to go see her before leaving Ipoh.

More Sticky Rice

We rushed back to my cousin’s new house where even more extended family members had gathered, and we got to meet my cousin’s girlfriend. My uncle had made his famous Loh Mai Kai, a different kind of sticky rice. He used to sell Loh Mai Kai in the market near the coffee stall along with two different kinds of buns, BBQ Pork Buns and “Big Buns” (not mine). He asked me to tell Kenric that whatever he couldn’t sell, he would pack them up and bring them to the butcher to barter for meat, and to the vegetable section to barter for whatever kinds of vegetables he could get.

My other Aunt was also reminiscing about all the necessary work to make those items. One that I had always thought was ingenious was to slice a hardboiled egg lengthwise into quarters using a thread tied to a nail in the wooden wall. At the end of slicing about 50 eggs, we only had to either rinse the string, or replace it; no sticky knives to wash throughout the process. I’m also good at peeling hardboiled eggs.

When we had to leave to go pack, my Aunt and Uncle insisted we return for dinner. He told Kenric, “You no come back, no friend!”

On the way back to the house my sister, Kenric and I visited very briefly with two cousin brothers at a mahjong parlor. I hope the God of Prosperity blesses them especially on this fourth day of the Year of the Dog.

21 Year Old Scotch

Another cousin brother and his girlfriend drove us back for dinner. My Uncle opened his bottle of Whyte & Mackay 21 Year Old Gold Medallion Scotch so that he could enjoy it with Kenric on our last night here. He had to shove the broken cork into the bottle and sieve the contents to filter out the cork pieces. Labor of love. I feel bad that he’s opening so many of his good bottles to enjoy mainly with us, but they are so damn good! This bottle was especially smooth. Even my mother and her sister were happily sipping. My friend came to fetch Kenric and me, so we only got to enjoy a few sips of the Chivas Regal 18 that he served next.

The other day, my niece asked, “Laiyi (youngest auntie), are you always full?” referring to all the photos of food I’ve been posting. Today, you might ask if we’re tired. Yes, yes, we are. After being surrounded by so many family members and good friends these past eleven days, with still many we haven’t been able to meet with (sorry!), Kenric and I will sure enjoy some down time, but we will definitely miss everyone in Ipoh.