An 87 Year Age Gap

Aaron is one lucky little boy to be able to enjoy time with his great grandparents. Here he is with his great grandfather.





There may be an 87 year age gap between them but they still manage to have evening walks together. One of them is getting hard of hearing and the other still has problems pronouncing some of his words but that doesn't stop the chats they have.

It is the hope for moments like these that I often end up extending my stay in Ipoh for.


Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Parking in Ipoh

In general, each time we leave Palembang, we think that we're leaving the land of messy traffic.

This proves that Ipoh is not much better. The only "official parks" are to the parallel ones to the right of the photo (like the red car). Yet, every single one of the cars in the photo are parked. They aren't double parked temporarily with a driver inside. People have just driven up, put the car in "park" and then gone about their business. The council definitely needs to plan for more official car parks here.



The above photo was obviously not a main road and taken in one of the suburbs of Ipoh. However, driving in the city area during school drop off and pick off times are no better.

One particular school is on a main road and does not provide any pick up / drop off area. So, some parents just park their cars right in the middle of the traffic lanes, get down and actually lock their cars before walking the kids in. The disruption to the traffic is unbelieavable.

A Candid Conversation With Aaron

We've all heard of 'fat days'. I had one of those yesterday but instead of going to bed feeling guilty, I went to bed laughing.

As Aaron and I were getting ready for bed, I sighed and said "I'm really getting too fat". Aaron was very quick to respond with "You just need to exercise. Why don't you take me to the park tomorrow?"

I was stunned. He's not even three yet. He must have been over hearing too many of my conversations recently where I have said that I need to get an exercise routine going here in Ipoh.

I answered him with what I thought would be the last statement to the conversation:

"Yes, I'd better do something about all this fat or I won't fit into my pants anymore"

He says, "Thats ok. You can wear your dress. You're not that fat."

I think he was genuinely trying to help me find a solution to a situation he could see I wasn't happy about. And, it was cute that he was trying to re-assure me.

On the other hand, I had the fleeting thought that I might be imparting some unhealthy body image ideas to my young son. Thankfully, he's not a girl. Yet, it has made me more conscious of having conversations about healthy lifestyles and eating habits instead of just exercising to stop becoming fat.

These days, he's always trying to be part of any and every conversation that goes on around him. We don't buy into the "children should be seen but not heard" school of thought so when we remember, we do keep the conversation to topics that he can be included in. Other times, we just have to be quick to change the topic before this tape recorder records everything for playback at a later, and more embarrassing, date.

Photos From The Party

It looks like the computer has been cleaned out enough and is running a lot better now. The party is also over so I guess I can get back to my usual blogging routine.

We had a bit of a scare the night before the big party. At dinner, my grandmother went pale and started complaining of chest pains. To cut a long story short, she had decided to stop taking her blood pressure pills 3 weeks ago and for that, she was admitted to the hospital for the night. At least she got a good night's (sleeping pills induced) sleep before the big day. She rested well enough and made it to the party.

My grandfather played the gracious host through the night and really enjoyed the limelight. He has been "planning" this party for nearly two years! I think he also took it to be a bit of a fashion show as he wore three different shirts throughout the evening.

Here they are renewing their 60 year old vows. He's in his first shirt.



They had a cake and some sparkling apple juice. He's now wearing the third shirt of the night. The second one was a red "cowboy style" shirt but I don't have any good photos of it. He matched it with a cowboy hat somebody gave him and a huge belt buckle. I need to hunt down a photo from somebody else's camera.



Check out the huge lipstick mark on his cheek. It definitely didn't come from my grandmother! I think he holds the record for the most number of young girlfriends. Since he took up line dancing at the age of 80, most of his friends are female and twenty to forty years younger than him.

This is my favorite photo from the evening. I felt that throughout the evening, the guests more attention was paid to my grandfather than my grandmother but in the end it was still my grandmother that we all tried to cuddle up with.



That little "scare" we had with my grandmother has prompted me to extend my stay here in Ipoh. We didn't know it at the time but she was so grouchy and lethargic during the days leading up to the party because she wasn't taking her medication. Now that she's back to normal, I really hope to spend some quality time with her.

Time For Some Blogging!

I usually get to stick to my normal blogging routine when in Ipoh but things aren't working out so well this trip.

Firstly, my mother has been working on the music and the seating arrangements for my grandfather's party. This doesn't sound like a big deal at all except that the guests list has been changing on a daily basis. The party is in 4 days! My grandfather also has the final say and he has lots of input on who should sit with whom and which group of people should get a "better" table.

Secondly, this computer is at deaths door. I have no idea if its just age or maybe daily attacts by all sorts of viruses/worms/snakes or whatever! We have spent so much time trying to scan it, clean out unused programs, defragment it, install/uninstall virus protection and have reached the stage of dumping it. It takes so long to switch from program to program that I can go make myself a drink in between.

So, when we're not being frustrated with the computer, I have been driving my mother around Ipoh. To the restaurant where we're having the party, to the shops to get all the bits and pieces she needs, to the markets to order flowers and to the tailors where we're getting two shirts made for my grandfather. And, there will be more driving to come this week. Thankfully, Aaron still needs a nap sometime in the middle of the day so we all get a break at that time. There aren't many things on the to-do list but they just seem to take so long to get done. Each place we go to requires multiple trips so I'm glad we're all still cheerful about doing all this. Even Aaron has been very patient with all the car trips and waiting around.

On the weekend, we managed to squeeze in some time at a secluded stream. It worked even better than the place we went to last weekend. The water was cleaner and shallower. Perfect for Aaron to setup his "construction site".



The place was actually near a real construction site. So we were going to show Aaron some bulldozers at work but forgot that it was Saturday.

Look at the hills in the background here. Ipoh is surrounded by limestone hills and unfortunately for stream lovers like us, this place is going to become some exclusive residential area for the rich with bungalows nestled amongst the hills. Its not shown in this photo but the first phase of the houses are completed and they are literally in between hills and has some of the water diverted into lakes. It is a pretty place to live. I'd take photos but we couldn't get pass security and I just peered in from the outside.



I miss my regular blogging routine but I doubt I'll get another post in for another few days. See you all when I see you.

Everybody Is Your Uncle

Bilbo's recent post, "Hi Sweatie!", about waitresses in San Antonio reminded me a lot about what I have been encountering here in Ipoh.

The main language used at the coffee shops is Cantonese. Very often, if you're a youngish looking person, the waitress will ask "What would you like handsome guy/pretty girl?" It looks a little strange as I read this in English but it is so common that it sounds quite "normal" to the ears when I hear it in Cantonese. Actually, I don't think I've heard it in any of the other dialects.

In the past, I have heard customers call out to the waitresses in the same way too, either "handsome guy" or "pretty girl". But I suppose fear of sexual harassment accusations has reached even a little town like Ipoh because I haven't heard it in recent years.

Unfortunately, if you're no longer youngish looking, you get called "aunty" or "uncle". And strangely, they don't use the Cantonese words but say it in English.

And, if you're even older looking, they'll call you "grandmother" or "grandfather". They switch back to Cantonese here.

I think the use of aunty, uncle, grandmother and grandfather stems from the way children are taught to address people older than them but not related to them. Unlike in the West where children are taught to address their friend's parents or perhaps their parent's friends as Mr or Mrs So-and-so, children here are told to call them "uncle and aunty". Anybody that looks about the same age as your parents are addressed this way. And, this doesn't end when you're a 'grownup' - I'm not sure when to stop doing this but I'm still told to do this now.

Similarly, people who look like they are roughly the same age as your grandparents, are addressed as "grandfather/grandmother".

As for the real aunts and uncles, there are specific titles depending on the person being on the maternal or paternal side. And also if the person is older and younger than your parent. For example, I call my father's brother "Ah Chek" and my mother's brother "KauFu".

So far, all this business of calling people "aunty" and "uncle" hasn't been a problem for me. And, I guess I won't have a problem with it until the day that somebody comes up to me and says "What would you like, Aunty?"

No Repeats At Breakfast Yet

I think I've mentioned it before that we have the same thing for breakfast 7 days a week in Palembang - Oatmeal. We have tried adding all sorts of things to it but its still something that I have trouble swallowing. I think its to do with the type of oatmeal we get there too - extra cardboardy flavour.

Anyway, here in Ipoh, my parents usually have oatmeal 7 days a week too but for the past 7 days since we got back, we have had something different for breakfast every single day. Phew!

Coffee shops here aren't places that specialize in coffee. They have coffee there but the term usually refers to an extremely casual restaurant where you can get reasonably cheap and simple food. Of course, like all restaurants, there are some that are more famous than others. We have been hitting all the famous ones this past week. Well, even if they aren't famous, they are on my family's coffee shop list.

Here is what a typical one looks like. We met my grandparents and aunt there for breakfast this morning. They arrived first thats why they already have food on their half of the table. The black drink you see on the table is iced black coffee.



Most people here would have breakfast at a coffee shop several times a week. I know we can't keep this up but since we arrived last Tuesday, we have had:

Wednesday - Flat noodles in sort of chicken and prawn broth.

Thursday - Roti Chanai

Friday - Dim Sum (sometimes referred to in the west as Yum Cha)

Saturday - Hakka Noodles (different type of flat noodle with minced pork).

Sunday - Dim Sum again at a different place. Ok..maybe this is a sort of repeat but it was for my grandmother on Mother's Day.

Monday - Rice vermicelli in a clear broth with fishballs.

Tuesday (today) - Wonton Noodles

I should have taken photos of all these! I think its all coming to an end soon as I feel too unhealthy indulging like this every day.