It Has Been A Long Time

It has been a long time since I last saw her. About 3 decades ago, to be exact.

I was driving along Medical Store Road in Miri in the early 1980s when I saw a roadside stall selling rambutans. I pulled over and parked my car. Alighting from my car, I realised that the woman selling rambutans was the hawker who used to operate the hawker stall outside Kolej Tun Datu Taunku Haji Bujang . And she could still remember me as I frequently had ais kacang at her stall during my Kolej days. She told me that her family were living in the house near the roadside stall. Her rambutans were very good.

In the subsequent years, I did not see her selling rambutans anymore though I purposely drove to that area hoping to buy her rambutans again.

A pleasant surprise was in store for me when I dropped by the hawker stall outside the Kolej this afternoon. Parking my car outside the Kolej gate, I made my way to the hawker stall. There were a few customers blocking my view as I walked towards the hawker stall. When I reached the stall, I saw her. She has of course aged a lot but is still recognisable.

She agreed to have her photos taken.

She failed to recognise me this time.  I presume she is probably in her 80s so maybe at her age, her memory is not that great anymore. I chatted with her and she kept on asking me what drink I wanted. I noticed that she does not use shaved ice for her ABC anymore. Instead she is using some crushed ice. And when I asked her about her ais kacang, she told me she don’t use red beans in her ABC anymore. ABC without shaved ice and red beans is a definitely NO for me so I bought a packet of soya bean milk.

Making a drink for a customer

Snacks at her stall

A group of Kolej students arrived at the stall ordering their drinks. As she had to attend to them, I said goodbye to her and left.