One of life’s greatest gifts in life that I have received is to be “DAD”.
This “gift” of fatherhood does not deminish over time. Instead, it gets brighter.
One would think that after having gained experience of being “dad/ daddy / father” for around 24 years, I would know everything there is to know about that role. Heck no! It’s a constant learn – as – you – go – along. It is like setting out a route or drawing a map as each day comes.
Whatever it may be, I have had and am still having an amazing time of my life being the father of my daughter.
Wishing Happy Father’s Day to all dads, our heroes in life, protector, provider and promoters of your families. You have done well. God bless you!
“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.
Laura, my daughter; sent me a “Happy Father’s Day” greeting on Whatsapp; all the way from the U.S. of A. She will be calling up later this evening.
I vividly remember my feelings of becoming “DAD”; the knowledge that it is one of two highest honours that can be bestowed on anyone. The other of the two highest honours is becoming “MUM” for ladies. I remembered shortly after 9.15am, Wednesday June 27th, 2001; when the nurse brought Laura Kristen Atkinson to me and asked if I would like to carry her. I was absolutely elated.
It has been an honour of the highest order to be Laura’s dad. I made lots of slipups along the last about 21 years. For example, I was recently reminded of a booboo I did a few years ago: Jeannie was away, overseas; for work. On one of those days, I cooked up a whole lot of hashbrowns and burgers for us to eat the whole day long. As I had completed the big pile of food; Laura came into the kitchen and grabbed one of the hashbrowns to eat.
“Why does this smell like soap?”, she asked. She replaced it with another one which also smelt like soap. I told her it must be her imagination. I bit into one of the burgers. “Yuck! It does taste like soap”, I said. Then, I realised why.
The cooking oil and soap bottle containers were near each other. The cooking oil had a similar colour to the soap. Both the bottle containers were about the same shape and size, too.
So, I must have grabbed the soap container by mistake, without reading the label which had the word “soap” and a picture of glistening dishes printed on it, and poured the oil (soap) into the pan to fry the burgers and hashbrowns.
While I was frying this food, I kept wondering why the “oil” dried up so fast in the hot pan. Not checking the container, I poured more “oil”. This shows how much of time I spend in the kitchen. Haha!😂😂
It’s fun being dad!
When I was three years old; my father used to have recoding sessions with us kids – my sister Jennifer and I. Nigel was about a year old and Terence was a few months. These “recording sessions” were recorded using an open reel tape deck. He also used to play records (as they were called those days with 16, 33, 45 and 78 R.P.M. speeds. Today, they are known as “vinyls”). So, he played records of our favourite songs and tape our conversations and singing, too. My favourite songs he used to play for me was, “Me And My Teddy Bear” by Roy Rogers and “The Teddy Bear’s Picnic” by Henry Hall & His Orchestra. This was in 1962. Turn table record players with radios, open reel deck tape recorders – gadgets. Hmmm. I just realised that I’m a chip of the old block due to my interest in gadgets, too.
My dad has played this tape several times over the years to us, his children; and to relatives and friends, too. While he did this, he recorded us in the various stages of us growing up. By then, Malcolm, the youngest; was on the scene (included in the recordings😁).
Today, that open reel tape still sounds very good when played back. It is about 50 years old. On it, we hear dad’s and mum’s voices when they were younger. I am not sure whether my memories were influenced by these recordings or they are sheer memory power. All the same, lots of great memories.
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to dad and all the dads!
I managed to find the “Me And My Teddy Bear” by Roy Rogers and “The Teddy Bear’s Picnic” by Henry Hall & His Orchestra songs which I am so familiar with.
Lyrics
Me And My Teddy Bear In the house next door right next to mine A little boy lives there At Xmas time dear Santa Claus Brought him a teddy bear
He loves his little teddy bear He’s with it all day long And the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard Is to hear him sing this song
Me and my teddy bear Have no worries, have no cares Me and my teddy bear Just play and play all day
I love my teddy bear He has one eye and has no hair But I love my teddy bear We play and play all day
Every night he’s with me When I climb up the stairs And by my bed he listens Until I say my prayers
Oh, me and my teddy bear Have no worries, have no cares Me and my teddy bear Just play and play all day
Every night he’s with me When I climb up the stairs And by my bed he listens Until I say my prayers
Oh, me and my teddy bear Have no worries, have no cares Me and my teddy bear Just play and play all day Just play and play all day
Source: LyricFind Songwriters: J. Fred Coots / Jack Winters
The Teddy Bear’s Picnic If you go down in the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise If you go down in the woods today, you’d better go in disguise For every bear that ever there was Will gather there for certain because Today’s the day the teddy bears have their picnic
Every teddy bear who’s been good is sure of a treat today There’s lots of marvelous things to eat and wonderful games to play Beneath the trees where nobody sees They’ll hide and seek as long as they please That’s the way the teddy bears have their picnic
Picnic time for teddy bears The little teddy bears are having a lovely time today Watch them, catch them unawares And see them picnic on their holiday
See them gaily gad about They love to play and shout They never have any cares At six o’clock their mummies and daddies Will take them back home to bed ‘Cause they’re tired little teddy bears
If you go down in the woods today, you’d better not go alone It’s lovely down in the woods today, but safer to stay at home For every bear that ever there was Will gather there for certain because Today’s the day the teddy bears have their picnic
Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Jimmy Kennedy / John W. Bratton
“Me And My Teddy Bear” (1950) by Roy Rogers, CroonR1, YouTube
“The Teddy Bear’s Picnic” (1932) by Henry Hall & His Orchestra, retrotor, YouTube
