Balik Kampung

We went back to Mami's hometown over the weekend. We normally do so every 2-3 weeks depending on how busy we are. We also made a visit to Mami's aunt in Malacca town so she could bring us to a cheap tailor/fabric wholeseller to have our sofa's cover custom made.

So the three of us, Mami, Yiyi and me drove to Malacca on Saturday morning, took us about 2 hours to reach there. We went straight to the aunt's house. We picked her up and went straight to the wholeseller. We also bought our sofa covers along, so they can take down the measurement.

At first they didn't dare to accept our order, because of the complicated design of our sofa. But then the tailor asked for additional time and we have to leave the covers with them for reference. They asked for a month time to complete the work. So, our sofa at home will be 'naked' for a month. The price? Slightly more than a grand. *double sigh - look at empty wallet*

After sending the aunt home, we went looking for our favourite popiah stall, right in front of Madam King Supermarket (Malacca Town Centre). This popiah stall sells big thick popiah, with juicy stewed sengkuang (sweet turnip), fresh tauge (bean sprout), cucumber, scrambled egg, laden with pork oil and chunks of pork lard! (aka Non Halal). Thinking of it now makes my mouth waters. Yummy!! .....But it was already closed. Aiya!! The stall only open from 2pm till finish (normally around 3.30 - 4pm).

So what to do, went back to Ah-Mah's (Yiyi grandma) house empty handed lor. The normal routine in Ah-Mah house, eat, sleep, chit chat, goto Ah-Choh's (Yiyi great grandma)house, eat, sleep....chitchat....eat......But we also brought Yiyi to see ostrich at a guarded eco/nature farm nearby.

At the guard house:
Guard : Encik, nak pegi mane ni? ("Sir, where are you going?")

Papi : Err..nak melawat. ("Just want to visit")

Guard : Encik telah beli tanah disini ke? ("Have you bought any of the land here, sir?")

Papi : Ni tengok, nak belilah ni. Tengok dulu.. ("Err...not yet...wanted to...")

Guard : OK, boleh masuk, sales office kat sana...("OK, you can go in, the sales office is just around the corner")

Papi : tima kasih ("Thank you.")

Mami : Ha ha ha .... you lied to the guard ah....

Papi : he he he...

One mistake. We forgot to bring Yiyi's walker along, so we were holding and carrying her almost all the time. She is still learning to crawl, and to walk, so we have to be careful with her. But she was very happy, playing with her cousins, kicking, screaming, and laughing.

Around 6.30pm we made our way home, and reached home 1 and half hour later. Sent Yiyi to Yeh-yeh and Mah-Mah (my parents). And we got to our home around 10pm, tired and exhausted.

Balik Kampung - Malay meaning going back to hometown
popiah - spring roll