-Sunday, September 30, 2007
Childhood Revisited, 1
"
AH CHIEN! Time to wake up already lah!" I heard my maternal grandma shout at a distance.
There I was, lying in the bed, rolling about. I turned around and saw that it was 7.30am. I didn't want to get out, till...
"You better come wash up right now or I'll come get you." That was the last thing I wanted. My mafia grandma to come personally to pick me out of bed. Oh, I was only 4 years old then. It was my first day of kindergarten. My no-nonsense grandma put me straight into the shower, got me dressed up. As she was getting ready, I took a sip from her mug of coffee and bit on the lotus paste
pau she'd always steam for me and my cousins. There were 4 cousins living in there for 8 years. Sometimes 3 more would come by. That makes 7 sometimes. Okay, back to where I was...
We hit the road. With my little palm held tightly in her grasp, she'd walk me and my older cousin to kindergarten. I knew how to get to my school even before my first day. I have to say that I was an observant kid. I peer out of MRT windows all the time. In this case, I used to tag along with her when my older cousin, Ah B went to kindergarten in his first year. Getting to school was simple. My grandma seemed to be well known in the neighbourhood. She gave nods of acknowledgment to people who waved to her as her hands were full with 2 messed up kids.
I settled in easily while the other kids whined and whined for their parents. Looking out of the grilles, I saw nothing but plenty of eyes peering in. I found my grandma's. She saw that I was good, so she just left me alone.
* My grandma is kinda like a living superwoman. She wakes up early to make breakfast for a husband, 4 working adults, 4 little brats, and herself. She then washes up and wakes the little brats up. She brings the oldest 2, me and Ah B to kindergarten. She leaves the 2 younger ones, Ah Mei, my sister, and Ah Siang, my younger cousin at home. Who knew what the 2 of them always did. After she left us at school she'd go home, pick up the other 2, bring them along to the wet market to get the groceries for the day. Ah Mei and Ah Siang would always poke the eyes of the fishes, just for fun.
Back home, she'd put the ingredients in to the clay pot for the soup, which was cooked using charcoal. (No I don't live in that long ago time. My grandma really uses the charcoal pit in the 90s) She left it there. Left my sister, Ah Mei, and Ah Siang to play. They'd fall asleep after a little while.
Then it was time to pick me and Ah B up. Chances are if the younger 2 were awake, she'd bring them along to pick us up. She'd but them a little snack to keep them quiet along the way. By the way, it was a good 500-600m walk from my grandma's to the kindergarten.
Okay, here's where I left off just now.
So I was left alone, I was doing fine, at least better than the other kids. The first day ended in just a little while. I was picked up along with Ah B with my grandma and the other 2. We went home. She made us wash up and let us off to play. The maid helped her to prepare dinner everyday for almost 15 people. That was madness. We lined up with a plates, like inmates, as my grandma carefully put the portions of food into it. We all lay down in front of the TV(we didn't have alot of entertainment back then), and eat. Ah B and me didn't have much of a problem finishing everything, but being young, Ah Siang and Ah Mei took the longest time to finish. My sister made a record time of 3 hours, 5pm-8pm to finish her dinner. My grandma was pissed.
Then came the most exciting part. My granddad would come home, yell at us kids for playing with toys while eating. My grandma would come to our rescue with a barrage of hokkien profanities hurled at him.
"Ninabeh, %^%$^%$^%$^$^^*%&^)$%&*&(*&#%3" were the most often heard phrases in my childhood. Sometimes it was exchanged between my grandma and her children, my uncles and aunts. They couldn't stop fighting and my grandma always won. Now you know why I call her my mafia grandma. I can show you a news article next time.
Its getting a little long, I have some more coming up tomorrow.
Yeechien Wrote;
9:53 PM
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