Creatures of the Heart

Eternal Hunger

My Saturday would be incomplete without my favourite fix. Mum insisted on driving that day. It was pointless to argue with her when her mind was made up.

We crawled along the busy street towards Taman Jubilee. It was the school holidays and many vehicles lined the shop fronts. Some cars double-parked and caused traffic to slow to almost a snail's pace at times.

I knew Mum disliked driving to this part of town during the holiday season and weekends. She complained the tourists who came from other states for the famous Ipoh food 'corrupted' the place where she used to live and love. She enjoyed telling me about her younger days living on the second floor of one of the old colonial houses just around the corner of Jalan Theatre.

"Those days, only locals eat here. Everyone knew everyone. Not so many cars like now. Food also not so expensive," she had told me countless times.

She was in a cheerful mood that day. She chatted about how life had been for her since I left to study in Australia a year ago. I half listened as I already knew most of what she was telling me. We stayed connected during my time away via email and Skype. I didn't mind the constant chatter of what might seemed like boring details of her life. Her company and her voice comforted me.

Being back on familiar ground also put me in high spirits. I watched the old double-storey shop houses as we drove by. The narrow colonial style buildings had wooden shutter windows painted in a variety of colours. As we moved along, I noticed some of the buildings looked different. They were newer than I remembered.

After going around for almost 20 minutes, we found a parking space just a few shop lots away from our first pit stop – a popular restaurant serving chicken and flat rice noodles. It was five minutes before noon and the corner eatery was already packed. Plastic tables and chairs filled the pavement and part of the road. Customers of all ages occupied most of the seats.

Mum walked in and spoke to the shop owner briefly. She knew almost everyone in these shops since Grandpa used to run a coffee shop in the area. The shop owner nodded and shouted orders to one of his workers, all while expertly boiling the beansprouts and tossing flat rice noodles for his customers.

We were promptly ushered to a corner table with a 'Reserved' tag placed on it. I smiled at the owner but he only glanced at me without saying a word. Mum placed the order, a plate of poached chicken, steamed bean sprouts, and two bowls of flat rice noodles.

"I really miss the food here," I said after the waiter left. "Since we have to wait for the noodles to come, I can go wait in line for the salted chicken. It's only-"

"NO," Mum blurted, "Err...tell me more about your life in Sydney."

"Mum, you know everything already. What's there to tell?"

"Got girlfriend or not? My son so handsome sure got lots of girls want. Tell me."

"No la, where got?"

Mum seemed determined to keep chatting. I was happy to entertain her. The aroma of boiled chicken and noodles was making me hungry. My stomach rumbled in anticipation of tasting my favourite food.

*

Susie Tan avoided going to Taman Jubilee especially during the school holidays but that day was special. As much as she hated the heavy traffic, hassle of finding a parking spot, and mediocre food in that area, she would do anything for Chun Kit. She had made a special arrangement with the restaurant owner. A table was reserved for her and Chun Kit even though there were customers standing in line.

The waiting customers stared at the duo as they entered and sat at their table. She ignored the sulking faces because those people didn't matter. She chatted with Chun Kit, teased him and laughed at his stories. She cherished the rapport she shared with her son which many of her friends envied.