My Toast Cafe, Mid Valley
Had a chat with LTL, an old friend over black coffee and toast. The last time we sat here, in this cafe was two years ago in Nov 2010. There was a lot of catching up on what was happening to ourselves and our fami
lies since the last time we met. I remembered LTL also ordered the same black coffee and toast meal during the last meeting.
What do old guys talk about when they sit down? The usual stuff eg career, family, health, lifestyle, economy, politics, I guess not much different from what old gals talk about.
After finishing the chat including the coffee and the toasts we went separate ways, each intent upon accomplishing the most critical mission of the day : tracking down the whereabouts of the wives who were probably wandering alone who-knows-where around the mammoth mall doing their favourite thing-shopping.
"Pua chu?" (moving house in Hokkien dialect) Uncle said softly tapping my shoulders after my wife told him that the family will be moving out of Kajang to Puncak Jalil, Seri Kembangan next year.
Did I detect a tinge of melancholy in his wizened face?
After more than 20 years of patronising his family business almost weekly in the wet market my wife and I had become more than just a regular customer to this vegetable vendor who in his 70s is still hale and healthy though a bit hunched back.
On a hot Sunday afternoon five daddys decided to dine out with their family members to celebrate Father's Day
Coklat..
This brown and white beauty is the most friendly street dog that I have ever encountered. He seems to like to be around humans and have absolutely no fear of them or even malice toward humans. I have seen him hanging out with children and even allows them to pat him on his brown and white furry body.
Whenever he sees me he would just come over wagging his tails, playfully running around me in circles as if to say Hi! I have never heard him barked at me even once before, and because of that I sometimes wonder if he is speech-impaired.
This morning when I went to collect my car he came over as usual and even stood motionless in a cooperative posture to pose for pictures. In the picture below you can see that he was actually peering into the lens of my camera phone.
I don't know where he came from but I noticed him hanging around the street where I live since two months ago. He doesn't appear to have a master but I see him sleeping in one of the corner houses rented by an Indian family. I don't know if he has a name. Since he has a elegantly slim body like a sausage and neat and tidy brown and white fur I will name him "Coklat" or brown colour in Bahasa Malaysia.
Hi "Coklat" I'm very pleased to meet you.
Last night in the dimly lit street and under a slight drizzle together with your other doggy pals I was overjoyed to hear you barked for the first time. That means you are not speech-impaired as what I had assumed.
Have a nice day moving around with your other doggy pals "Coklat."
AIndian colleague "S" asked me for advice on the construction of a bridge crossing at the site of a Hindu temple. He had earlier volunteered to help his temple committee to produce working drawings for the construction. It seems that a philanthropist had donated money and purchase material including steel H-section beams for the construction project.
After examining the preliminary sketches that he was working on I felt that the steel beams that were procured seem adequate for the job, and I rightly told him so. After awhile he returned to my desk with more sketches to show. I then realised that he wanted more specific details than just a general opinion from me though he was too reluctant to say it in so many words. Probably he was under some sort of peer pressure from the temple committee to produce some details and he wasn't confident enough to do it on his own.
I then decided that since I had agree to help out I should take responsible for my action by doing it properly, and not just offer some general opinions. So with his preliminary sketches I sat down for about one hour to do the necessary stress calculations and also work out the construction details of the beams, foundation, deck, connection arrangements by hand-sketching on A4-size papers. After completing the calculations and sketches I asked him to xerox one set for my record and he take the other set to start work right away to produce the construction drawings.
Towards the end of the day he came around to my desk to invite me to have tea with him. I guess it was his way of thanking me for helping out, although I am not expecting anything in return. It is something that I could do and I did it unconditionally as a service to a friend who asked.
