My mom and my aunt. Some used to call them the Twin Sisters thought they are really not. My Aunt is younger. (More about my mom later)
We used to stay in a kampung house. No gas stove no proper drainage neither were there a complete water piping. We still draw a considerable amount of water from the well, that was situated right in the middle of the air-well. And for cooking, mum will have to stock a reasonable amount of wood for the stove...which she will also use a long pipe to blow to ignite the fire.
Toilet? Well, You have to walk up a 5-step stair before you reach the squatting-bucket-system toilet. It's the tallest place in the whole house. No wonder it's called the "throne". This was to enable the "Ah Pek" (who happens to be our neighbour) to come and collect the bucket...whenever he wants. I always wonder if there were times that he forgot to warn the user of his collection and......... My sister would always dread to use the toilet. That's why she developed constipation. Every time she uses it...she will have to use a roll of toilet paper to cover the (you know what), inside the bucket. Now I know where her daughter, Yin Meng, got her phobia. There was once where she vomited when she farted.
Being one of the few houses in the kampung that has a telephone and a Black and White television, it's normal to see people coming over to our house to make or receive calls. When night comes (especially Wednesday), we will see a crowd of friends crowding round our television to watch the chinese movies. My dad and mom used to really love this. They always love to share with their friends. This is trully community community. This is friendship. This is knowing your neighbours. Those were the good old days..."where everybody knows your name". So "CHEERS"
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How We Grew Up...
Have you ever seen, tried or found shreds or cubes of abalone in your regular Tai Paus or Lo Mai Kais?
There was this shop (Chu Kong) which was famous for just that and the owner's son was my classmate who is now residing in Toronto. The shop would open very early and the Tai Pau would usually be snapped up by about 6:30am to 7:00am. Their usual customers are the people making deliveries to the nearby main market and, hang on to your chair, it was sold for only 50 cents each! I remember there was once when a group of us decided to hike (yes we walked all the way, 12 miles I think) from Ipoh to Gopeng. When we met in the morning, my classmate from Chu Kong bought a whole paper bag (we don't use plastic bags back then) of Tai Paus for us. Yummy. Older folks in Ipoh should remember Chu Kong Tai Pau.
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