Makcik-makcik

So I've been kind of moonlighting as warong girl at the nearby evening bazaar on weekends. We have two stalls, though we might wind it down to one as more shoppers head over to Geylang Bazaar as Hari Raya approaches.

The profits are reasonable - just something extra my dad wanted to do; partly for my sister but also to provide some employment to people who were in need of some extra work.

Anyway, there I was sitting around the tables preparing to buka. There is a frenzy of food exchanging as everyone starts to give away excess food to everyone else. Today like any other day, we had biryani dam, calamari, mee siam and air katira with a few blue and green coloured drinks - courtesy of the neigbouring stalls.

It had been a long 5 hours of shouting ourselves hoarse, "Kueh lapan pohsen kak. Mari-mari nasi tomato. Kueh raya kak cuba kak. Cempedak goreng empat dua dollar!"

My mental calculation skills have since soared exponentially and my Malay vocabulary has expanded to include many Malay kuehs that I have never heard of but am now selling like my soul depended on it. Kueh ikan bakar lauk, keuh jongkang, kueh som som, agar gudel, and many more I have yet to commit to memory.

I was feeling very rimas - felt like minyak. And smelling of biryani.

The azan is heard on the radio and I broke my fast with my mak and 4 other makciks who were working with us. We all ate from the same bungkus nasi - something that used to be a norm in most mosques (a big round metal tray of biryani is shared by 4-5 people and everyone eats from the same tray - do they still do it?).

Makcik 1 (pregnant) : Tadi I rasa mabuk ah cik. Itu pasal saya mesti duduk.

Makcik 2: Itulah gatal nak ade anak lagi. Baru kahwin satu tahun, dah mengandung dua kali. (Turns to other makciks) Eh bilang berapa umur suami awak.

Makcik 1: Saya kahwin lambat cik. Saya punya umur tiga puluh tujuh tahun. Suami saya dua puluh tujuh tahun. Dia itu memang lah gatal.

Makcik 3 pulak sampuk: Ia ke? Eh eh, dua puluh tujuh tahun?! Oh hari-hari itu.... (kening pun naik)

Makcik 2: Ye ciik, hari-hari gooreng ciik.

I nearly choked. Seriously goreng?

Makcik 4 (sees my expression starts laughing at me): "Nirah, tutup telinga tu. Buat tak dengar lah. Ha ha ha ha." She was clearly delighted.

Makcik 1: Itulah cik, suami saya itu......hari ini sudah tiga kali ciik!

OMG, seriously I cannot believe I am part of this conversation and hearing Malay makciks discussing this topic.

Makcik 3: Aa aah Munirah, orang mamak memang kuat taauu.

I promptly stood up - feeling a bit prudish. I did not want any visuals of the makcik in front of me. I might not be able to see her the same way again.

But seriously why goreng???