Camaraderie at the coffee shop

Went to coffee shop to ta pau dinner. While waiting for the claypot chicken rice and fried lala, I leafed through a recipe book which had been left on the table. It belonged to the claypot chicken rice seller.

I saw a recipe for Rainbow Marshmallow made with evaporated milk and gelatin. It looked delicious. I copied down the recipe in my notebook. The loh bak seller, a plump jovial man, sat at my table and said, "Go and photostat. There's a shop nearby."

"It's okay," I said and scribbled furiously.

The claypot chicken rice seller, a woman with nicely drawn eyebrows and a smooth complexion, said, "Fifty cents per copy."

"No need, I bought food from you," I said. Though I knew she was joking, I blushed.

An old man with a beard who had sat down at our table, looked at my writing and pronounced, "Your writing like doctor's handwriting."

I nodded. My school teacher said the same thing thirty years ago.

Bearded man asked, "Is the recipe for your shop?" He thought I was a food seller too.

"No! How can it be?" Beautiful Eye-brows said. "If that's the case, I should be copying from her."

"Go photostatlah. No need to copy," Loh Bak man said again.

"He's very nice. He can photostat for you if you want. No need to do is loh bak business," Beautiful Eye-brows said.

She leafed through the colourful book and pointed out a steamed cake recipe to me.

"This is good for prayer offering. No need to go out and buy. Can make our own. My mother-in-law sometimes do this," she said.

I finished copying the recipe and went to check on the fried lala. It was ready. I took the lala and the chicken rice. On the way out I thanked Beautiful Eye-brows.

"Bye-bye," she said.

Klang is a wonderful place to live in.