I spent my Sunday at my brother Liew koko’s place, together with Ah Chai and Chee Bee. Cooking red-rice porridge for lunch. We ate porridge, moon cakes, take-away roti canai and kon lo bee hun , and instant coffees while having a small talk in the kitchen about pokok gaharu, it’s commercial and profit-making potentials, about our neighbor from the village Pakcik Haji Bulat who has luckily escaped death in a road accident before the Hari Raya celebrations , and other worldly matters which fit into the mood of a relaxing and comforting Sunday afternoon.
My need to spend time around family members grows each day with the passage of time. Perhaps it is due to this realization that in their presence you find full acceptance and unconditioned love, and you are comfortable in your own skin to be simply who you are, away from perception and judgement which are so characteristic of us, as we analyse and we perceive from our narrowed point of view then form conclusion and pass damaging and sometimes lopsided judgments on others.
I think our very need to judge is derived from this innate desire to compensate for our own sense of insecurities which in turn drives us to pick and criticise the seemingly perceived weaknesses and shortfall of others, while invincibility and indestructibility egoistically and ostentatiously define us.
Later I engaged in a heart-warming conversation with my younger sister who enlightened me on matters of spirituality, of not holding too tight to your own beliefs but at the appropriate moments to learn to let go, to open up and embrace new ideals, if need be.
Indeed, these little moments of giving and sharing are what I cherish these days.
On my way home, I deliberately made a detour to a nearby mall for a take-away white coffee and doughnut. I like the idea of driving on an empty road in a quiet and serene day like this , listening to some easy-listening numbers over a Chinese radio station in the car. For it’s how I like to spend a Sunday afternoon.
A friend has earlier SMSed inviting me for a shopping spree but I politely declined, I was tired due to the baking heat as well as inadequate sleep the previous night, probably due to my caffeinated state or was it the thoughts of my sister and a small trouble she’s currently having, which kept me awake in the middle of the night?
I was wearing an over-sized old T-shirt and track suit pant with an equally oversized pair of slippers. I must have looked pretty unkempt after the cooking and cleaning and the washing, and in an effort to look a little presentable, I quickly changed into a pair of flats I deliberately kept in the car.
Sometimes, as much as I remind myself that I shall not be falling prey to vanity, my lack of attention in trying to look good means I am very possibly the odd one out amongst the many pretty ladies all dressed to the nines, especially in a place like a trendy shopping mall.
The place was jam-packed with shoppers and cars and with no parking lot in sight I had to double-parked in front of Papa Rich, the café where I intended to purchase my white-coffee, where I placed an order whilst at the same time observed people in the café, all packed with patrons either browsing the menus, eating, talking, or gesturing.
And some were observing me for observing them..
Weekends are the times where you can escape from the hustle and bustle of busy work and the more pressing issues in your personal lives, where you head to your favourite spots to blend with the crowds all with the same intention to forget, unwind and relax and be in an environment where all is well and dandy and worries will temporarily be forgotten, stress and tension will in no time evaporate into the fresh thin air of jolliness and unrestrained exuberance.
I reached home and settled myself on a pvc round stool and laid my purchases on a mini coffee table.
Now my alone time and a feel-good afternoon was made up of this cup of rich and aromatic white coffee and a hearty doughnut.
It just made my day -___-
White coffee & doughnut
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