Working

This morning, I took a Grab to Buntong Market where I grew up to help out in the coffee stall. My biggest goal was to not break or spill anything. I was holding the “sous chef” position. My aunt would mix in the expert amounts of coffee, tea, condensed milk, evaporated milk, sugar, etc., and I would stir and froth them up, and pour them into bags of ice if they were for to-go.

Needless to say, I was not as fast as I used to be, but the market is also not as busy as it used to be. The most challenging things include having to remember who ordered what (no order-taking notepads); remembering the prices, calculating the bill and making change. It’s been a long time since I lived in a cash economy.

I don’t have any photos because I didn’t even bring a camera. Very focused on working. Kenric was home doing laundry. He took a Grab to the market mid-morning. As usual, everyone wanted to know if he wanted anything to eat or drink. He crushed only two blocks of ice and my Aunt was already rewarding him with a Kopi Ais. And my cousin ordered a really delicious Roti Tissue for him. I’ve never had it before. He saw a white person buying vegetables and was amused. I told him to go give him a hug.

Walking

We left the market around 12:30 PM and decided to walk home instead of getting a ride from my Aunt. The distance is 1.7 km (about 1 mile). Everyone thought we were crazy; my Aunt tried to make me take her umbrella and my cousins said they would tear off two pieces of cardboard to be used as shade. When I responded to my friend via text that we were walking home, she called immediately to find out where we were because she would come pick us up. People here really don’t like the sun!

On our way home we saw a pack of stray dogs and brought them some wet food; took a detour to a park and played on the swings, got some Rojak (a mixed fruit salad with thick molasses sauce and peanuts) and brought it to a coffee shop and had the Rojak with beer. Once we got home I took a shower and had to take a nap. I only worked a five-hour shift. I used to do 10 to 12-hour shifts, ending after 11:00 PM every day.

Map of Places Visited