I went over to my mother's yesterday afternoon after sending Aliyah off to school. Brought along some fried rice with a few pieces of chicken nuggets. In the fried rice, I shredded a few belalai gajah leaves. Just as an added "nutrition".
On a side note, I grow belalai gajah in my garden. From 4 sticks simply shoved into a flower pot, I now have quite a healthy little bush. Siap boleh bagi orang pokok lagi. I try to eat the leaves as ulam once a week. Blending them with green apples takes so much effort! Just this week, I had this funny headache right after drinking air mata kucing at Aliff. The drink was too sweet. Berdengung telinga, as I always say. After taking a few belalai gajah leaves for dinner, alhamdulillah, the headache went away.
Anyway, back to my story. I sat with my mother throughout Friday prayers while my Angah went to the mosque. I told her I was not in a hurry. She ate some of the fried rice and savoured the nuggets. All the while, the TV was showing solat Jumaat live from Masjid Negara. The reception was not good, very blurry. She then started to tell me stories, laughing happily.
She said how enjoyable it was to watch the live solat Jumaat. She said - ada yang pakai songkok, ada tak pakai. Ada pakai baju, ada tak pakai. (I suspect she was actually saying - ada yang pakai baju Melayu, ada yang pakai baju lain!). Ada tu datang terus sembahyang lepas tu balik. Tok Imam tengah bagi ceramah dia pegi balik pulak! Penat Tok Imam tu bercakap. And she laughed. Her laugh was so contagious that I laughed too. I didn't tell her perhaps those she saw who went back after solat might went to the toilet!
After that, there was a show about big families - 16 kids. And she said, "tu cerita pasal budak sekolah tu!". It was in English after all and the screen was blur. She then told me - hari tu ada satu Ustaz bagi ceramah. Nama dia Yusuf bin Yaakub! And she laughed. Ada sekali tu, ada Professor bagi ceramah. Nama dia Professor Dr Rabiah! Cikgu Aliyah pun ada! She giggled and giggled. I can't help but laughed at her antics.
She then took out a small bag and asked whether I'd like to see pictures. The bag was full with passport photos of my arwah father, a small album containing old photos, a few tags - mostly my father's - his UM matric card, both Haji tags, his Government officer tags. My mother then took a passport and showed me a page containing 4 photos - my Angah, Kak Lang, Abang Ben and me (a baby of 1 year plus). "Sapa lah budak ni?", she asked me pointing to the baby. I said, "entah? comelnyaaaaa...". And she laughed some more.
She remembered I showed her some photos on my phone and asked if I have new photos. I then showed whatever I have in my Gallery - photos of my father's grave, her photos, photos of my father. Ada lagi? She asked. I said, "nak tengok magik?". I snapped a photo of her and showed her. She laughed looking at it. I snapped another one of her smiling and showed her. Ha, ni sapa ni? She said, "ini lah orang tua nyanyuk!". And she laughed some more.
She was so happy she didn't let me go back. It was already 2.30pm, time to open shop. My Angah was still not back, having lunch at the nearby Mamak. My stomach was growling. But I stayed on until I my brother came back.
Love my Mom...
On a side note, I grow belalai gajah in my garden. From 4 sticks simply shoved into a flower pot, I now have quite a healthy little bush. Siap boleh bagi orang pokok lagi. I try to eat the leaves as ulam once a week. Blending them with green apples takes so much effort! Just this week, I had this funny headache right after drinking air mata kucing at Aliff. The drink was too sweet. Berdengung telinga, as I always say. After taking a few belalai gajah leaves for dinner, alhamdulillah, the headache went away.
Anyway, back to my story. I sat with my mother throughout Friday prayers while my Angah went to the mosque. I told her I was not in a hurry. She ate some of the fried rice and savoured the nuggets. All the while, the TV was showing solat Jumaat live from Masjid Negara. The reception was not good, very blurry. She then started to tell me stories, laughing happily.
She said how enjoyable it was to watch the live solat Jumaat. She said - ada yang pakai songkok, ada tak pakai. Ada pakai baju, ada tak pakai. (I suspect she was actually saying - ada yang pakai baju Melayu, ada yang pakai baju lain!). Ada tu datang terus sembahyang lepas tu balik. Tok Imam tengah bagi ceramah dia pegi balik pulak! Penat Tok Imam tu bercakap. And she laughed. Her laugh was so contagious that I laughed too. I didn't tell her perhaps those she saw who went back after solat might went to the toilet!
After that, there was a show about big families - 16 kids. And she said, "tu cerita pasal budak sekolah tu!". It was in English after all and the screen was blur. She then told me - hari tu ada satu Ustaz bagi ceramah. Nama dia Yusuf bin Yaakub! And she laughed. Ada sekali tu, ada Professor bagi ceramah. Nama dia Professor Dr Rabiah! Cikgu Aliyah pun ada! She giggled and giggled. I can't help but laughed at her antics.
She then took out a small bag and asked whether I'd like to see pictures. The bag was full with passport photos of my arwah father, a small album containing old photos, a few tags - mostly my father's - his UM matric card, both Haji tags, his Government officer tags. My mother then took a passport and showed me a page containing 4 photos - my Angah, Kak Lang, Abang Ben and me (a baby of 1 year plus). "Sapa lah budak ni?", she asked me pointing to the baby. I said, "entah? comelnyaaaaa...". And she laughed some more.
She remembered I showed her some photos on my phone and asked if I have new photos. I then showed whatever I have in my Gallery - photos of my father's grave, her photos, photos of my father. Ada lagi? She asked. I said, "nak tengok magik?". I snapped a photo of her and showed her. She laughed looking at it. I snapped another one of her smiling and showed her. Ha, ni sapa ni? She said, "ini lah orang tua nyanyuk!". And she laughed some more.
She was so happy she didn't let me go back. It was already 2.30pm, time to open shop. My Angah was still not back, having lunch at the nearby Mamak. My stomach was growling. But I stayed on until I my brother came back.
Love my Mom...
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