LaundryAmah

Got to take a break from Shenzhen-HK rendesvouz… cos on Monday I received the saddest news ever… I was at the saloon as usual having a gala time, chewing on chips and suddenly I received an sms from Angie (Oscar’s mommy). She told me that she has to resign to help her hubby. Meaning she’s going to be “si thau por”, so it was like a very weird feeling, as a friend, I’m sooo happy for her, but as an employer, I was devastated! The chips that I was chewing on just now suddenly tasted bad and I stopped eating it…The holiday I was planning for end of the year also scrapped leow….

Remember I mentioned before how thankful I have Angie as my assistant, she’s really been (still is) a great help and I can totally rely on her and she can manage my business very well without me around. So much so till I sometimes always take her for granted, always going away for shopping seeing customers & holidays till she gets overloaded with work. She has never complained nor voiced out and never fails to greet me with a smile in her normal cheerful self each morning!

So you tell me, am I going to miss her or not?? Of course la! We have been friends for more than 10 years woi! And we have been so close that we can talk about anything under the sun….I am really going to miss that and of course our hyena laughing!! We have grown to be so alike and at times, our customers cannot tell us apart over the phone! Even when they meet us, they ask if we were sisters! Yeah, she’s the sister to me that I never had…and I can totally share my deepest & darkest secret with her! Hey but then again, we will still meet la…right? Angie??

So to assess how crazy this has been,  King’s wife sms to me yesterday reminded me of something…

KW - “your favourite sale of all time is starting tomorrow wor how’s things?”

KW was reminding me of the Ikea sale la..what else? I usually get very kanchiong (excited) over the sale and will plan ahead on the logistics and how I can reach the sale on time but somehow lost the enthusiasm until KW reminded me…so I went la of course! But since I was not as enthusiastic as before I only arrived there around 9 + am. (The last time I was there before 7 am!)

So, right now I am busy looking for someone new to join me, so if you are funny and willing to work while the boss is always away, please do drop me a note! No special qualifications is required, just a willing heart and positive attitude will do!

The first picture below was where my paternal grandfather used to live in. It was so small! I can’t remember how many siblings he had but I know that he did have a tiff with one of his brother(s) and guess what? This incident repeated in my dad’s generation and now I can actually see that happening to my generation too. Is some kind of generation thingy repeating one generation after another…scary….

I don’t think the brothers reconciled but thank God my dad reconciled with his brother when my grandfather lapse into coma and didn’t stop breathing for over a day despite the oxygen tank we brought back from the hospital was used up. It was so sad seeing him struggling for air but he was still breathing nevertheless! The moment my dad shoke hands with my uncle and assuring him that they will always be brothers, it was so dramatic as all the women around were sobbing (so was I) and all and I will never forget that incident ever! And believe or not…my grandpa passed away shortly after that happened…Sorry side tracked from my trip…

Back to my grandfather, I felt it was appropriate to share his story since I visited his homeland. My dad found out the reason he left his homeland due to arranged marriage. And strange enough, that was the reason why my paternal grandmother left her homeland too! Saga leh….It’s like the typical TVB drama huh? Well my grandfather’s family due to some weird reasons “married” a girl into the family (meant for my grandfather) when she was only 12 years old!! I guess it was due to poverty since in those days as families who were not able to feed another mouth it’s better to give them away so they do not suffer….

Anyway..when the girl reached the marrying age…the family was going to prepare for the wedding and my grandpa got cold feet and ran away! The poor girl still had to go through the marriage ceremony without the groom and when they bowed to the ancestors a rooster was used to replace the groom!! OMG!! I thought roosters were used to replace the groom when he dies before the wedding day! So I guess they actually thought my grandpa died when he left! I dare not ask my relative about this incident to clarify as I thought he may have forgotten about it since it happened soooo many donkey years ago..

This the living area of the house maybe the poor lady married the “rooster” here…

There were some parts of the ancestor houses that were demolished and the residents there used the spare area to plant vegetables. There were spring onions and “choy sum”.

Then some village kids came round to look at us with curiosity and I couldn’t help taking photos of them. Notice the first one and can you see what he was holding on to?? Cigarettes!! One thing about China that I so absolutely hate is the people smoke so much and there are no restrictions in smoking indoors! *Cough Cough* The next picture is an older kid carrying a younger kid and notice the hole in his pants bearing his buttocks! Well they don’t have the luxury of wearing disposable diapers and besides, if it’s cold weather, it’s not condusive to change their diapers as the pants would have to be taken out…brrrrrrrrr….The last picture shows how dirty the clothings they were wearing and from looking at their living conditions there, I doubt they have their daily baths!

See what’s in his hands!!

Hole in pants for convenience….

Dirty clothes…

For breakfast on the 2nd day, we decided to walk towards the Luohu railway station as there wasn’t any “char chan teng” (HK style cafes ) near the hotel. We finally found one descent looking one but when we saw the menu we found the prices were sky rocket high, I mean it was like higher than HK standard cafe prices! What a rip off! The food was not great and portion was small too! It was like RMB22 for a breakfast set of fried sausage/ham (actually it was luncheon meat lor) with a slice of toast and a hot drink. Rip off max right???

Then we had to use the toilet as we were going off on a bus ride back to my ancestor’s village, which was actually about half and hour - 45 minutes away from Shenzhen but since we were not sure of the transportation we though it was better to use the toilet first. The cafe didn’t have its own toilet so we had to use the complex toilet which was not only a squatting toilet but with a open wastebasket filled with unwrapped used sanitary napkins staring up at you. It was quite bad as I just had my breakfast and I nearly threw up ok!

Then we went around looking for the bus to the town nearest to my ancestor village and we finally found one after asking around. The bus was the mini bus equivalent to those van buses in HK. It cost RMB15 per person and no concession fare for children and senior citizen! Blek!

Upon reaching the main stop at the nearest town we were amazed with the development there. Tall and modern buildings everywhere but I always remember what a friend said before, China has world class infrastructure but no class citizens! Which was sadly true… We rushed inside a sparkling new shopping centre right opposite as we wanted to buy some gifts to visit our remaining relatives there and also use the toilet! We need to go so often due to the cold weather I suppose! This time the toilets were much cleaner as there was a cleaner inside constantly wiping the floor. Me and sis in law got carried away in the supermarket so my brother had to come in to get us to hurry up.

We saw a taxi and we showed him our family tree book (which I thought had the full address but it was only the village name!) and the cab driver was also an immigrant from northern China so he was not very sure of where it was! We went rounding for a while and stopped to ask around but there were no locals around! Then finally we found the village and we stopped there to ask. Finally we found a group of women who spoke our native tongue, which was Hakka and they also bore the same sirname! Then the lady began to study our family tree book trying to identify who she knows and she even made a phone call to ask a relative. She told us basically the whole village also bear the same sirname! Then her husband took a peek and recognised one of the names my dad had circled. Hallelujah!!

Then the lady quickly led the way to that person’s house and it was just a stone’s throw away. She pressed the bell and a guy looked out the window and she shouted that we were Msian relatives trying to locate his father. He quickly came down the stairs and we also went and we met halfway up the stairs. They were such warm people and just welcomed us in their house just like that! Then the father came and he said he went to my house before. I couldn’t recognise him as that was more than 10 years ago. In ranking, he was my “cousin” and he is 84 years old! His 60 year old son addressed me as “Qu Qu” (Aunty) and I really couldn’t take it lor! They were such hospitable people.

It was about noon time and they asked if we have eaten lunch but we haven’t the time since we were looking around for the place.  They quickly offered to cook for us! We told them no but they insisted.  It was like in half an hour they whipped out lunch for us complete with soup! See photos below.

I’ve never tasted a yummier chicken that that one! The stuffed oysters were “humungous” and tasted so good that I ate a few pieces! I never liked oysters but this one was really good. 

Majong is the main activity in the village

After lunch we had tea and chat for a while before they took us to the ancestors’ house. The ancestors lived together in a walled community with 4 main doors. All the Liew family lived there and we actually went in where exactly my paternal grandfather lived. It is now being rented to the immigrants from Northern China and they were kind enough to allow us to go in.

View of the ancestor houses

One of the 4 doors, notice the wooden bars, those are actually used to lock the doors

Entering the Liew “Chi Tong” ( temple for ancestors)

The money from the rental of the houses goes to maintain the temple and pays for the yearly CNY banquet of “pun choi” (similar to the one I had earlier on) to the whole community there.

My new found relatives (actually not really as my dad discovered them when he went back in search of his roots back in 1994 or 95) then offered to drive us to the Windows of the World theme park. It was quite out of the way as they have to drive us out to Shenzhen city again. On top of that he wasn’t too sure of the roads as they hardly go out of their village! We were so embarrassed and felt so bad…

Photos of Windows of the World in the next post! Stay tuned!

Flight out was really early and it was not only on time, it arrived earlier than the scheduled time! I’m pretty impressed with AirAsia! The moment we took off, I had Kieran’s homework out. He still has a couple more pages to complete. This time I asked the teacher for the homework in advance and he completed most of it during the CNY break. Didn’t want to repeat the ordeal as per last trip to Hong Kong last June, couldn’t handle all the backlog homework!

The flight was very smooth except for Kieran who made some noise while taking off and when we were about to land as he couldn’t handle the cabin pressure. Upon arrival he was jumping cos of the cold wind. We had to walk down from the plane and board a bus to the terminal so the cold wind kinda got to the small boy! hahahaa.. He was screaming when he washed his hands in the washroom on arrival as the water was like icy cold

The moment we got out of the arrival hall there were guys approaching us offering taxi service. The first guy offered RMB350 to our hotel but we thought it was kinda high so we walked on. We tried asking for advise but didn’t really get good ones. Then we settled with an unlicensed taxi for RMB170.00. The ride was about 40-45 minutes as the hotel was in the Luohu area (near the HK border).

The hotel reception was really slow in checking us in and we got kinda irritated with the guy as he spoke in heavy northern accent mandarin and didn’t make any attempt in speaking slowly! We noticed that most of the workers come from the north, even the taxi drivers, that’s why we couldn’t get any advise from them on where to go for good food or shopping areas. The hotel room was bearable, quite big and clean.

We were waiting for my uncle to come down to meet us so we started unpacking and I discovered I forgot to pack Kieran’s pyjamas!!! Warao! I had to run out to get some for him so we walked towards the train station and saw a shopping complex there. I knew it’s going to more pricey since it’s in this area but I didn’t want to go too far. So bought 3 sets at RMB100 (actually still quite cheap after conversion and also the quality was very good!). We had this lady who was recommending me a manicure following me and she helped me ask around for the pyjamas place! Then I was obligated to get a manicure done!! Had a nail extension done at RMB100. Pretty good deal even though I know I can get it done cheaper elsewhere!

Our uncle managed to find us and we went out to Dong Men on recommendation by the receptionist. This uncle is Apoh’s 3rd older brother who was innocently sent back to China due to some reasons which I can’t disclose here. He was separated from him wife and 2 daughters and I really feel so sorry for him now…living all alone…

The shopping here at Dong Men sucked big time, really pasar malam type and really not worth the time to come at all! And we had difficulty finding a place to snack as Kieran was complaining he was hungry! We actually had a meal after we checked in but he got hungry so fast! Must be due to the cold weather.

We had to pay upon ordering meaning, before the food arrived! And the food sucked too! Blek..

Hi all! I’m now blogging in a free internet station in Central MTR Station in Hong Kong! Hahaha…Anyway, today is my last day in Hong Kong and we will be going back soon…sobz!!

The holiday so far has been relaxing and good, and Kieran has been pretty good but of course with the occasional hiccups here and there…

The cold weather was bearable, the only time that Kieran couldn’t handle the cold was during the shower and when dressing up!

Shopping was (and is still) good but this time I haven’t bought any shoes!! But then again…I’m off to shop somemore now..so adios folks and see ya really soon!!

The CNY has not arrived and I’ve received two “dried beef” (traffic summon) in the mail for speeding la..what else?!! So better be careful to adhere to the speed limit, especially on the Kesas Highway (location of camera: beneath the overhead bridge right after the Petronas/Esso/Shell stations near the Shah Alam/Hicom exit & after the Sunway toll) and of course North South Highway.

I noticed that the police with the speed camera will start his operation just in time for the morning rush hour traffic at Kesas Highway. This morning I knew he was going to be there so of course I slowed down and moved to the left lane. There was this guy who was like speeding behind me and not only that, he was talking on the phone with his arm like resting on his car door! I saw him brake but it was definitely too late! However, I’m sure he will not be fined for talking on the mobile without hands free!

Then when I was buying a parking ticket near the market, there was this lady waiting behind me and said this to me..

L- Better be careful with your lil girl, nowadays people like to catch lil kids in the market

M-Oh ya,, thanks…

L-Better not depend your maid, cannot trust them one la..look at her..I think u have to take care of her summore! How old is she?

M-Oh ya she’s quite young..

L-Better put your daughter with a babysitter till she’s 5 la…safer…that’s why I don’t bother employing maids..

M-*mouth open wide wide left with a hole* (translate to Cantonese la…)

Wah panic me only, after putting the parking ticket in the car, I immediately took over Kylie from the maid. While I was buying things I made sure Kylie was like in front of me. Dare not linger on too long also…quickly bought what I needed and left.

Got to be careful with your handbag & mobile too. Try not to talk on the mobile while walking on the road too. I always keep my car keys in my pocket and mobile in another or hanging from my neck just in case my bag is snatched I still can call for help & have the keys to my car!

So all the best to everyone & wish you a very happy and prosperous Chinese New Year…as I will be taking a break and may not blog for 2 weeks!

Cheerios!

My birthday didn’t end at lunch & a burst zip shopping. We had to cut our my shopping short as Apah had to go back for a tele-conference with his colleague. So he dropped us back at Apoh’s. Therefore…… I decided to go to dinner at Genji @ PJ Hilton to continue my Japanese food hunt for the day. And best part Apah was not around, so no black face but unfortunately Apoh spoiled it a bit by complaining that the food was not fantastic and was so expensive bla bla bla…(actually quite true..blek)

But…I can’t blame Apoh though cos the bla bla set I ordered was like a fraction of the one I ate at Sushi Groove but tripled the price, the katsu don was kinda mushy but the tempura and soft shell crab (sorry no photos cos the kids dug in immediately) was pretty good.

Monkeying around

Good thing the kids behaved relatively well and didn’t make a lot of noise or threw their food around, except for Kylie who did spit out some on the floor! She has this bad habit when she doesn’t like the taste of the food. Want to smack her but I’m afraid she will hate food more if I do so! She’s already not eating much.

Chinese New Year Preparation

I’m really not into the CNY mood except for the baking cookies part so my deco in the house will not be as elaborate as Christmas. Besides I will not be here for CNY!

However, a visit to Ikea ended up buying some deco and I was soooo happy that the meatballs are back!! A visit to Ikea is not complete with their meatballs!

Irrisistable eventhough I know the plant will not last….

It’s going to be the year of the rat….hence the rat table mats and some hanging deco..

I baked cornflake cookies yesterday and some peanut cookies. I don’t know what happened but I’ve lost my touch in the peanut cookies. Somehow didn’t turn out as what I have baked before in the past. But I’m sharing the recipe nevertheless..

Traditional Peanut Cookies

500g peanuts

500g plain flour

250 - 350 g icing sugar

Cooking oil (sorry never calculated how much)

Method

Fry the peanuts and remove skins then blend till fine (the finer the better the taste) (I couldn’t find my small blender, that’s why the peanuts were not as fine)

Mix blended peanuts with flour (sieve & sugar then add in oil to mix and make a consistent dough, errr able to roll together and doesn’t break la…

Then roll into desired shapes, brush egg yolk over the top & bake in 180 deg celc oven.