We had a family photography session for my side of the family today. This company prefers to photograph people in their own homes rather than having their own studio so a photographer and his assistant arrived today with all their gear in the late afternoon. Unfortunately there was a sun shower at the same and it was terribly humid. The setting was in our backyard where there is a lovely bright red brick wall.
It’s so hard to get all the family members together. My sister jumped at the opportunity when she realised that for once, we actually had every single member of our immediate family under the same roof.
I’ve done this sort of photo shoot several times and I’m used to the process of having the photographer fussing around with angles, and how your face/hands/knees/torso is positioned. My poor parents however, soon lost their patience. All of us with spectacles soon had our lenses steaming up in the humid air. The men had damp patches on their shirts. Everyone had a dewy look to their faces from the sweat. My 5 year-old nephew wasn’t too impressed and spent a lot of time running around pulling funny faces. But, I think the end results looked quite good.
My parents. The pic does not reveal how grumpy my dad was at being asked to pose…..
Besides my mother, I was also very happy to learn that another special woman was coming to visit us in our JB home, all the way from the northern Malaysian state of Penang. She played a pivotal role in our family life. A housekeeper, a nanny and baby-sitter, my mother’s trusted confidante and friend. A lady who has been part of our family for almost 5 decades. She retired from domestic service about 5 years ago, which was very sad for all of us but we understood. Still, she remains in close touch via WhatsApp.
It’s her 77th birthday today so we went out for a celebratory dinner.
Food. Always food. You cannot be a Malaysian if you don’t like food.
Queensland has the Big Banana and the Big Pineapple. Johor Bahru has the Big Crab.
This stands in front of the Garden Bayview seafood restaurant, JB.
Here is the other special woman in my life, standing at a petite 4 feet 11 inches tall. Incredibly resourceful, fiercely independent, full of practical intelligence, loyal to the nth degree, and 120% trustworthy.
