I was delighted to discover, a few weeks ago, that Cold
Storage in Great Eastern Mall has started to open at 7.30 am daily. Since then
I have been able to finish my grocery shopping on Saturdays by 10am or so. I
get there by about 8.30 am, usually taking a ride from Idzfan on his way to Subang to
take Maklong to the wet market. A chore he is bound to after taking over Maklong’s
car since he came back from Sydney early this year. Maklong is nervous about
driving nowadays, even to the market.
Shopping is such a pleasure in that early hour…carefully
picking the freshest of items on my list, leisurely browsing of the shelves, no
clashing of trolleys, no rush as no one is waiting for me to finish my rounds.
My mind is uncluttered and I get spontaneous ideas on what to cook as I spot
some interesting items or something I
never had the time before to examine. Ah, what a luxury to explore the
section on organic foods, the selection
of cereals and muesli, different brands of hot chocolate mix. Taking over the
household chores, babysitting and part-timing on training and writing jobs,
pastime becomes scarce. So shopping in the supermarket, when I am not rushing
through to just get the weekly essentials, can be fun and relaxing, a
productive alone time too. Those times when I had to entertain clients for the
company after office hours my boss used to say we should enjoy it like it was
our leisure activity as we had so little of our own private time. Well grocery
shopping is work too now for me but I can enjoy it tremendously as I am doing
it for people I love. Idzfan, Izwin and Izaz all tend to be health conscious as
they get older and read up about foods and nutrition, so it has become a
passion we share. Zam my husband is still with his “live and let live’’ attitude
where food is concerned, taking reprieve in his chest of medications, though he
does seem to be cutting down on the amount of forbidden foods he enjoys.
Last week I asked the staff at the poultry and meat section
if he could cut up my keesong whole chicken into 10 parts and separate the backbone
for me to make stock. Another staff quipped in saying that I wanted the
carcass. The guy said he had never done it before but he would try. And he did
a beautiful job of it I was so thrilled I blurted “cantik!” ( last week my
chopping board broke into two when I tried to chop up the bones), thanked him
and breezed away, forgetting to ask for his name. His mates had actually
gathered to watch my response. I hope I get to see him again on my next trip.
At that hour you do get the best customer service from the staff. It is good to
see them starting out on their job so lively and cheerful and to hear the
sincerity in their greetings. At the cashier counter on one of those days I
asked what time the roast chicken were usually out as I didn’t see any on the
shelves where they usually are. The cashier actually ran to the kitchen and
came back beaming with a hot bird in a bag for me. Ya, it doesn’t take much to
please me or even make me feel eternally grateful these days. I’m still
conscientious about getting ‘ayam dara’ to cook (now goes under the brand name
of “keesong” taking over “sakura“) but Cold Storage roast chicken is so good
that I don’t even bother to find out if they are the antibiotic residue free
ones, my next best choice. They tend to be small, maybe even spring chicken
sometimes, so that’s great.
Muhammad Ishmael Muhammad Najmi was born in the late morning
of 3rd Nov 2015 at Pantai Cheras through normal delivery…Alhamdulillah.
Izwin endured five hours of intense labour (fully dilated throughout) before
Yishmel (his nickname already) decided to emerge from her womb. It was a
historical triumphant feat as she was determined to avoid c-section this time,
attending hypno-birthing classes and reading up voraciously on other women’s
delivery experiences. My three babies all came in less than two hours of labour
( in fact less than an hour for Izwin) so I guess I didn’t have enough horror
stories to feed her fears. At best I could only repeat my own doctor’s words
which used to give me the courage and confidence I needed…”it’s the most
natural thing in the world”. Allah is
there with you to give you ease and pain in only so much as you can bear.
Besides the gift of motherhood, pregnancy and child birth carries a thousand
and one life lessons for a woman who fully embraces the forte she is destined
for.
So with Izwin now in confinement and my two sons back home, preparing
meals has become higher on my agenda. Alman is also growing up and needing to be
trained to like the right foods which is quite a challenging task. With
everyone else out at work for most of the day, dinner becomes the only family
gathering time though it is still difficult to get Idzfan and Izaz together on
most days. Idzfan always works late and Izaz has been busy with his business
meetings after work lately, even on his off days. On the other hand, Zam and
Najmi, Izwin’s husband, are always famished by the time they get home after the
long drive. In any case, having Cold Storage open so early has brought a great
cheer to my life, a savior in fact. I am free to sneak out early on a weekday
too before anyone comes down in the morning and get my groceries done before
everyone is ready to go to work. I intend to do that when I need “ingredients” (as
Alman puts it…”Opah goes to the supermarket to buy ingredients, Alman goes for
hot wheels!”) that I don’t readily have for an unplanned dish for the day. I
was aghast when he first came running to me with one of those saying “I need
this”. Ya, they hang out strategically at the end of one of the aisles, just
high enough for even a 1 year old to grab. I give you the benefit of the doubt,
Cold Storage, that you are doing this more to help parents shop in peace than
to increase your profit margin.
Alman adores his brother, a close replica of him at that
age. He loves to be carried about which Alman describes as “tun”, rocked gently
and sung too. Alman still asks to be “tun” himself usually after his bath or
when he is sleepy. Many people frown upon it thinking it will spoil the kids or
that it will break my back. They just fail to feel, vicariously, the joy of
bonding in the act. Just like some people express disbelief and displeasure at
my choice to take care of my grandchildren full time while their parents are at
work. Well, they won’t know what they are depriving themselves of until they
try to do it once, really. I’ve done it for Alman and now I will do it for
Ishmael, but now I will need help with household chores and cooking again….as
much as I can get as the two babies are top priority. And I’ve started to get
back into my exercise routine which I’d neglected for a few months….just as
Alman prompted me to do when he was born. Alman is now more than 12 kg and
Ishmael has reached 4 kg…so Opah needs muscles, people!
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