Plantation House: From VA with love

Going somewhere? (Apple iPhone 3GS)

Harry, Rebecca and little Zakaria pulled into town last month. Singapore was made their temporary base as Rebecca had some business to attend to in that fine city. So they would shuttle back and forth to Johor Bahru where Harry's sisters live. They also took a brief respite in Bintan Island, which was only less than an hour's boat ride from the shopping haven.

Harry is my uncle who has been living in the States for as long as I can remember. His home now is in Virginia although at one point he used to live in Washington D.C. Trips to Malaysia are far and few in between and needless to say, everyone looked forward to it when he said he was coming down. Apart from the real joy of reunion, some of us could not wait to see Zak in the flesh who has proven himself to be the chubbiest (with red cheeks to boot...) little boy in the family. And others expected souvenirs and things that they had asked Harry to buy in the States.

Having been away from the country for quite some time, it's only natural that he developed cravings for food that was not easily available or accessible to him. Few weeks prior to the trip, my sister Emi got in touch with everyone of us, asking about which seafood restaurant would we vote for. I nominated for any joint in Port Klang. I thought it romantic and more meaningful, you know; to drive the distance, have food right next to where they were sourced from and under the moonlit sky.

It turned out that Harry's cravings were not as great as mine. Since he'd volunteered to pay the bill, we settled for South Sea, an established eatery off the old Subang Airport road. The restaurant was adjacent to the tarmac so we saw at least one plane taking off. Somewhere during the course of dinner, the retractrable roof of the restaurant opened to a clear, star-studded sky. This is South Sea's version of romantic. Not bad actually.

The calm before the storm (Apple iPhone 3GS)

16 adults, eight kids, that's how big the dinner party was or have I miscounted? We filled two big round tables, one with kids and another with grown-ups. Harry with the help of some local guys (his brother, mine and Emi's husband, I think) picked the dishes. Dinner was served in the forms of chilli crabs, buttered prawns, fried lalas, stir-fried veggies, salted egg crabs, sharks fin soup and many more. I can't remember them all but recall vividly seeing content faces and hands gently patting around the midriff. Whatever the elders had, the kids had them too. There was no double standard. Everyone was treated equally. There was so much food that we packed some home.

A poignant moment this but amidst the din I overhead Harry muttering "it's good to see you Abang Man..." to him. My father always has a soft spot for him.

My other half presented the visiting family with framed pictures of kampung houses and a nice, cute t-shirt for Zak that read Anak Seni. She got all these from Galeri PETRONAS and I really hope it will fit darling Zak. The pictures should make a contrasting wall adornment to Harry and Becky's modern contemporary Hollin Hills home.

2nd shift waitresses having their photos taken before they clock in (Apple iPhone 3GS)

Rekindling lost time (Apple iPhone 3GS)

As for me, I gave a pre-loved book to Harry. This was not an ordinary pre-loved book. Please allow me to elaborate. I'd always pictured Harry as a bookworm what's with his horn-rimmed glasses and wavy hair while younger. And I'm sure there was pocket protector somewhere... what an ultimate fashion statement for nerds. Anyway, there's not an iota of doubt that he's a smart lad and he's got to take that after his late father. The old man maintained a tip-top library at home and basically lived and breathed books. Knowing what his father's favourite pastime was, Harry sent him a book, many books actually, from Stateside.

Uncle Lokman, that's how I addressed Harry's late father, customarily would scribble a few words on the first few leafs, either to summarize his thoughts about what he's read or to commemorate an event relating to the book or simply to credit the person who gave the book to him. By a twist of fate, I had inherited a few books from his collection and in one of them, saw a note which I thought was very personal and must be treasured by the persons named in it. And that's why I decided that Harry and Becky should be the rightful keeper.

My father in the middle (Apple iPhone 3GS)

After the gastronomic sit-down, we adjourned to my brother's place in Ara Damansara. He's migrated to Australia so we made ourselves at home. Meanwhile, my elder brother suggested that we should have some durians for dessert. Harry proclaimed durians to be expensive in the U.S., not fresh and hard to find. Not surpising that. And he added that he already had some in Johor Bahru but wouldn't mind another round. When my elder brother returned, he's actually bought enough fruits for the entire neighbourhood. On top of the durians, there were melons, mangosteens, dukongs and jambu airs as well. We sat down and stuff ourselves again although dinner was just merely an hour ago. And don't you for a second think that Rebecca made herself scarce because she did stick around and braved the offensive smell although I can't say whether or not she reached out for the kucing tidur.

Here's documentary evidence that Rebecca stayed at the table (Apple iPhone 3GS)

Next up was the photography session and we did the photos by family, by gender and by relationship. The unavoidable FB pose i.e. eyes on camera while head angled at 45 degrees was the rage. Shot after shot. Choreograph after choreograph. The Harrys just obliged.

How did the waitresses end up here? (Apple iPhone 3GS)

And the cooks too? (Apple iPhone 3GS)

For my father, Harry bought him a collection of DVD about animals; he knows what my father likes. In between our catch-up chats and watching what leopards do for a living, we managed to Skype with my brother in Melbourne but the latter soon pixelated and spoke unintelligibly, so much so that conversing became a bane. With his forced approval, we terminated the transmission. My other half received glossy magazines but Rebecca politely said no when she asked about the costs.

It's good to catch up with Harry and Becky after all these years. And pinching Zak on the cheeks.