Home Day 5

From Melbourne to Lip Sin
Youngest Sis arrives from Melbourne today. When all three sisters are in the picture, I will have to rename all of them. They will be called Big Sis, Second Sis and Youngest Sis. We pick her up at the airport at 8am and what do we do? We head off to eat. Our destination of the day is Sin Kek Seng kopitiam (coffee shop), famous for its chicken rice in Lip Sin. It is 9am and every person in the coffee house is having noodles and rice. I give up talking about elaborate breakfasts. This argument is hereby nullified, as of Day 5.

Curut pek
And of course, Grandpa comes along. Youngest Sis is his favourite grand-daughter, so naturally he makes sure he is there to see his kau kau (little puppy), his pet name for her, literally, when she was a toddler. Sin Kek Seng kopitiam is located in Lip Sin Gardens, the area where Grandpa lives. Therefore, it is no surprise that we are greeted with a commotion. Grandpa is the talk of the town in Lip Sin and beyond. He is known as curut pek, or Uncle Cigar, because he always has one in his mouth. Everybody who is anybody knows curut pek, from the noodle man to the Muslim girls. The bihun lady, the wantan mee lady and the chicken rice man ask Grandpa if we are his darling granddaughters, how old we are and why they haven’t seen much of us.

Chicken rice commotion
He loudly and proudly says YES, THEY HAVE BEEN ABROAD! This one in ENGLAND and this one in AUSTRALIA! pointing to me and then to Youngest Sis. He tells the drinks man to bring us whatever we order! Youngest Sis whips out her Canon D5 DSLR and snaps away, oblivious at all the attention and just besotted by her favourite chicken rice and the hustle and bustle of a morning coffee shop, as I bury my head in embarrassment at all the attention.