After so long, I was craving for some 'colek' last night. Had all the ingredients to make the 'dip' but did not have any fruits at my disposal. It was too late to get some fruits from Waitrose so I had to distract myself from thinking about it too much.
Having colek reminds me of the days back in BH where I would sit with my late grandma behind the house while she sliced the crunchy papayas/mangoes/pineapples for my dip-dunk-scoffing pleasure. There was a sort of patio-like area with big shady trees where we could just sit for hours while enjoying the cool breeze (house was situated atop a hill). This sort of stopped when Tok went back to Kelantan for good due to circumstances.
I grew up, moved on and stopped having this for a long long time. Until last night when I craved for some. It brought back old memories of my childhood. Growing up alone sans siblings, I only had Tok with me most times. We shared a room cause I had the biggest room in the house. I very rarely did household chores, simply because Tok would do everysinglething. She was never idle. She kept to a daily routine which I vaguely remember now. She would usually retire at about 2 or 3-ish for Zohor prayers. Thereafter requiring my assistance to pull her white/grey hair (she claims they make her scalp itch) and to thread her needles for her to sew (eyesight not as good as it used to be). And I would teach her spelling as she could not read nor write. She had a fantastic memory mind you. There's a family joke; during all the years she stayed with us, all I taught her was B.A.I.K. Nothing more nothing less. She was much too polite to complain. Bless her cotton socks.
Cliche as it may sound, I regret not spending enough of my adult life with her apart from the annual 1/2 days raya visits. Going back to Kelantan became very rare and in between due to all sorts of reasons (excuses); college, university and then work got in the way but mostly they were due to sheer indolence.
I then got married; fortunately my in laws are Kelantanese therefore I made trips back at least once a year and had the opportunity to visit Tok on these occassions.
When we came here, all holidays back home were limited to 2 weeks at the most due to work commitment. Regrettably, I never made going back to Kelantan a priority. I think since Q3 2005 until Tok passed away last December, I only saw her once.
Having colek reminds me of the days back in BH where I would sit with my late grandma behind the house while she sliced the crunchy papayas/mangoes/pineapples for my dip-dunk-scoffing pleasure. There was a sort of patio-like area with big shady trees where we could just sit for hours while enjoying the cool breeze (house was situated atop a hill). This sort of stopped when Tok went back to Kelantan for good due to circumstances.
I grew up, moved on and stopped having this for a long long time. Until last night when I craved for some. It brought back old memories of my childhood. Growing up alone sans siblings, I only had Tok with me most times. We shared a room cause I had the biggest room in the house. I very rarely did household chores, simply because Tok would do everysinglething. She was never idle. She kept to a daily routine which I vaguely remember now. She would usually retire at about 2 or 3-ish for Zohor prayers. Thereafter requiring my assistance to pull her white/grey hair (she claims they make her scalp itch) and to thread her needles for her to sew (eyesight not as good as it used to be). And I would teach her spelling as she could not read nor write. She had a fantastic memory mind you. There's a family joke; during all the years she stayed with us, all I taught her was B.A.I.K. Nothing more nothing less. She was much too polite to complain. Bless her cotton socks.
Cliche as it may sound, I regret not spending enough of my adult life with her apart from the annual 1/2 days raya visits. Going back to Kelantan became very rare and in between due to all sorts of reasons (excuses); college, university and then work got in the way but mostly they were due to sheer indolence.
I then got married; fortunately my in laws are Kelantanese therefore I made trips back at least once a year and had the opportunity to visit Tok on these occassions.
When we came here, all holidays back home were limited to 2 weeks at the most due to work commitment. Regrettably, I never made going back to Kelantan a priority. I think since Q3 2005 until Tok passed away last December, I only saw her once.
I hope she will forgive me for not spending as much time with her as I could have, especially since she was there for me during my formative + growing up years.
2 comments:
We always unaware of how much things mean to us until we lost them. Forever.
But for you to have so much time to be with her during your growing up years is already more than good.
May your Tok be blessed in the hereafter.
H.N.R.
Thank you for kind words.
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