Will Work For Food

Hired myself out last weekend in a blue-collar capacity.

My pal, Moses, just bought a single-storey terrace fixer-upper. Had already spend some holidays helping him throw up the paint, desperately repairing the 'queer' colour scheme the original owner had. Seriously, there shouldn't be that much pink in the kitchen.

Now, there's a fresh coat of avocado green, peach, light lilac, light baby blue... Very pastel-y shades. No comments on my friend's selection of colours, but anything's better than gay-pink.

Now he's ready to move in and need some muscle to haul his worldly possessions. Cupboards. Beds. Mattresses. Sofas. He's not leaving anything behind at all for the old landlord. I even yanked out his water heater and ceiling fan and installed it at his new place.

My fees: Yau Char Kuai for breakfast; porridge for lunch; and a dinner with a fish course.

At dinner, Moses' mom-in-law said something that really got me...

I commented that I don't seem to be able to eat as much as I used to. I'm still the last person to finish eating at most meals, but I know I'm eating less. That's when Moses' mom-in-law said, "Deng dua hui bo liao."

Literally from Hokkien: "Long big years no more."

Meaning those years of growing tall and big are gone. I'm no longer in puberty.

The years, the years... they've gone...

          All the clocks in the city
         Began to whir, and chime.
         Oh, let not time deceive you,
         You can not conquer time.
         In headaches and in worry,
         Vaguely life leaks away.
         And time will have its fancy,
         Tomorrow, or today.

And on the Sunday, I popped over to Nilai to collect on a debt. That's all the way over in another state.

I had spent several late nights proof-reading this friend's Masters project. Her language really needed a lot of polishing up. And for all this work, my fees was a dinner at Mantin, which is some random little town off somewhere in the middle of nowhere with hardly anything to distinguish itself.

But it was an adventure, travelling to a new place, and the food was really delicious.


Aye, it was a good weekend. A well fed squirrel is a happy one.