THE “WHY” IN BEING A FATHER

/ Alan Atkinson

“Today is my day”. And so I am made to believe. Until…

“You still have not done an article for Father’s Day?”, asked Jeannie.

I thought I get a day off today since it is Father’s Day and on a Sunday; to boot.

We made it to St Thomas More Church just in time for mass at 8.30am. This was even after having parked our car (double-parked in an orderly fashion) about a couple of hundred meters away. Jeannie brought an umbrella with her just in case. Though there weren’t those usual dark rain clouds lurking around, the sun was no where to be seen. The sky had an overcast, with patches of light grey here and there, dabs of white, hints of dull light blue – a bit like the skies of Decatur, Illinois, U.S.A.; after a snowfall (or is it “snowfell”?) morning during winter.

As soon as mass was over, we had to rush to our car so as not to hold traffic up. Then, Jeannie started, “You still have not done an article for Father’s Day?”😅

The reason I am “Dad” / “Father”. Picture of Laura when she was about 2 months old on her baptism day. The other was with her Year 2 class in school. These pictures are placed at my work station.

“Coming, coming. First, breakfast (not “breakfast first”😉). We had to go to Court 2 (Goodyear Court 2 in USJ 2) (1) to buy “chee cheong fun” (2) for dad as the Atkinson family was meeting in Klang to celebrate Mum’s 87th birthday (her birthday was on June 14th), Mum’s & Dad’s 68th Wedding Anniversary today and Father’s Day. Dad loves the chee cheong fun from the stall at Court 2.

As we were walking in the restaurant, a very cheery lady passing us by, wished us “Good Morning” quite loudly. Even though she had a face mask on; we could see her face smiling and very friendly. We found a a table quite quickly though the place was quite crowded for the breakfast session.

Many stalls offering a wide variety of food. This is the front view of the restaurant. If you look closely, you may think there are white hanging lights. They are not. They are raindrops creating a special effect 😉 It was raining quite heavily.

Now, this is how to hold chopsticks. The lady, eating what looked like char kway teow (3), seemed to be in ecstasy. The char kway teow here is really, really good. You can tell by the lady’s expression. The guy in the white Tee, showing how to hold the handphone with chopsticks.

Jeannie ordered Wan Tan noodles. A while later, the very cheery lady who greeted us as we got in the restaurant was the one who served us our Wan Tan noodles. I told her that I had to have a picture of her taken with us. She gladly obliged.

The very, very, very cheery and pleasant lady, Amelia. She is a graphic designer by profession. On her weekends and holidays, she helps out in her family business which is running a Wan Ton noodle stall, here. With her top notch PR, people will always to come back here for more.

The Wan Tan noodles came with char siew and siew yuk (additional order). It was really, good.

The Wan Tan noodles was very delicious. The char siew was char siew, and the siew yuk was siew yuk; not just sliced pieces of pork. My kopi “o” ais kosong was pretty decent. Quite good. Breakfast here at Court 2 was good.

The Wan Ton noodles set, which includes wanton soup, and a small container of green cut chili. And my kopi “o” (meaning no milk) kosong ais (and no sugar). “Kosong” is Bahasa Malaysia for “empty”. “Ais” is Bahasa Malaysia for.. you’ve guessed it: ice.

“One, two, zoom!”
He lost.

As we made our out of the restaurant to pick up the chee cheong fun for dad; We passed by the stall where Amelia was stationed at. She introduced us to her parents and her sister. Her father and mother showed us many pictures, stories and satisfied customers’ comments on their phones. They told me that Mr. Kong’s grandfather started the business. Then, his mother took over. Now, he is running it. Soon, the 4th generation will take over.

Mr Kong cut pieces of his best char siew and pork ribs for me to try. They were really good. They definitely have earned and deserve the recognition of being amongst the top 50 Wan Tan noodle stalls in Malaysia.

Amelia’s father, Mt Kong; the head of this business. There is a newspaper article pasted on the side. This Wan Tan noodle stall is voted as one of Malaysia’s top 50 Wan Tan noodle stalls.

The whole Kong family are very friendly. You should definitely visit “Kong’s Wan Tan Mee” when you are in Subang Jaya looking for a reasonably priced meal.

Here, with Amelia (with the yellow face mask) are her parents in front and her sister, standing at the back.

What a great start to Father’s Day.

The “why” Father’s Day (which is every day) is so special to me:

HERE’S WISHING ALL FATHERS A CONTINUING JOYOUS, HAPPY, FANTASTIC AND AMAZING HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!!!

NOTES:
1. USJ2 is part of the city of Subang Jaya in the state of Selangor, Malaysia.
2. It’s just simply a flat rice noodle dish that is normally rolled up and served with simple sauces.

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