CHAI BOI WEEKEND

Chai Boi is a delicacy for the hokkiens – in the event that there were too much left over; everything would be chucked into a pot and salted vegetables added into it to be cooked as new dish altogether.

This is how I described my last weekend.

Sasha in the pool, the four great ladies, PD during low tide

Since, our aunts from Taiping were here in KL for my cousin brother’s registration on Valentine’s Day, we persuaded them to stay longer and took them to a retreat in Port Dickson.

When you have four elderly ladies traveling with you, expect to see these:-

(1) All food would be taken care of, as they hated to dine outside. They always think it is cheaper to cook them and will not pay hefty sum of money for crabs.
(2) All the left over during Chinese New Year would be brought along as picnic food. (Shrunken mandarin oranges! Yucks!)
(3) They wake up at wee hours in the morning and kick up a fuss in the kitchen to make breakfast for you.
(4) There would be numerous washing of clothes. (Mom will kill me for photographing her undies!!)

Granny's undies, medicines, instant noodles, scattered slippers

(5) They would cover you with blankets in the middle of the night.
(6) They would pack your bags even if you specifically tell them not to.
(7) They would take medicine/tablets together with their kopi-O kaw kaw.
(8) They would nag you to go to bed even if it was only 11 pm.
(9) They would stuff your mouth with food that they could lay their hands on and always think you haven’t eaten. (Hello – look at this size!! I grow fatter just looking at the food!)
(10) One thing that surprised me was; they didn’t make the beds.

As they went on to visit some relatives in Senawang (an activity which I wasn’t too keen); I was glued to the sofa in the apartment to watch some reruns of movies (I think I had watched Raising Helen 3x in a day) and dozed off in between. I reread Rumi’s Book of Love over and over again.

Feels like being at home on a holiday.


File under: Kindred Spirits

Comments

Backup comments said…
very nice pictures in yer blog! well done
Stevo | Homepage | 02.22.06 – 9:37 pm | #

Woah…. this comes from the art director worr!! Got chance to work in your company kah? As ciplak photopraher. Ha aha ha!

Thanks!
Gina | Homepage | 02.22.06 – 9:56 pm | #

hehe, ain’t it nice to have home-cooked breakfast and someone to fuss over your well-being?
eternity | Homepage | 02.23.06 – 8:56 am | #

We are hokkiens and we don’t consider ‘Chai Boi’ a delicacy. On the contrary we don’t like it at all. It smells like exactly like a refuse bin that hasn’t been cleared for days
peacelover | 02.23.06 – 11:03 am | #

yr aunts/mom are one bunch of strange but fun fellows i’d say….hehehe. i wonder ho’d it turn out if u go with them to tokyo…..hahehehe.
pinoy la manila | 02.23.06 – 11:12 am | #

We are hokkiens but we don’t consider ‘Chai Boi’ a delicacy. On the contrary, we don’t like it at all. It has a smell quite similar of a refuse bin left uncollected for days.
peacelover | 02.23.06 – 11:13 am | #

Gina, MIL did the same thingy – shrunken mandarin and expect me to finsh them. Dats life – they been thru the hard way i guess
foodcrazee | 02.23.06 – 12:03 pm | #

hehehe oh travelling with family has its good n bad but photos nice as always
visithra | Homepage | 02.23.06 – 2:46 pm | #

‘One thing that surprised me was; they didn’t make the beds.’

you think they’re maids izzit? :P
yuin | 02.23.06 – 5:21 pm | #

eternity: When you have it, you take it for granted. When you don’t, you long for it.

peacelover: I love chai boi!!! Probably that is why I always talk rubbish, since I eat rubbish. Hah!

Pinoy: I doubt they let you dry your undies at the balcony in Tokyo?? Ha ha!

foodcrazee: I think most of them lived thru the Japanese occupation before. Life was really hard on them.

visithra: Yeah. At times, it can be really taxing.

Yuin: LOL!! In fact, I always brag with my friends that I have 3 maids at home: my mother, my sister and my cousin sister. Ha ha! Oh yeah – I also have a personal gardener – my aunt and a security guard – my dad. Ha ha ha!
Gina | Homepage | 02.23.06 – 11:25 pm | #

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