BOOTH 1.02 – COME MEET WITH US

1st Floor, Amcorp Shopping Mall (1),
Booth 1.02, Level 1
Amcorp Shopping lMall,
8, Jalan, Persiaran Barat, Seksyen 52 Petaling Jaya, 46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Date: Jan 20 and Jan 21, 2024
Time: 10.00am to 5.30pm (can be extended to 7.00pm)

Yes, we, i.e. Jeannie and I; are at it again. We are at Amcorp Mall, the happening place, where discerning customers come looking for specific things of interest to purchase and collect. This is our first outing at Amcorp Mall for 2024.

Already having fun. We are entertained by Tamil (2)  rock n roll songs, and now, Kenny G, playing “I’m Dreaming Of a White Christmas” – music coming over the speakers from a booth one floor below us, selling vinyl records.

We watched the film “Shadows In The Sun”, starring  Claire Forlani, Harvey Keitel and Joshua Jackson; 5 times on tv during the week. I thought this is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. The setting: a little village in Italy. Jeremy, an editor / publisher, was tasked with getting Weldon Parish, a writer, to come out of retirement and sign with his publishing firm that he was attached with. The movie was very captivating. Claire was absolutely stunning in her role as Isabella Parish.

Weldon, the writer; wore a hat or a cap (more the “Andy Capp” [3] cap) wherever all the time. So, Jeannie thought, that me being a writer, should wear one, too. What do you think? Should I start doning a hat to have a more distinct writer image?

Here, below; is a couple of pics of me trying on a couple of hats which we are selling. One took me back to the era of the tv series, “Colombo”. However, a close friend, Patrick Archibald; may claim that he has inspired me with a hat like this. I can see the smile on his face now. 😀

Some would mistake me as Inspector Colombo, of the famed TV series, “Colombo”. Admit it, this hat does look cool on me.

The other hat was a baseball cap, with the word “Girl” in pink on the front of it.

The atmosphere, in Amcorp Mall, at least in the area we were at; was wonderful with one Christmas carol after another by Kenny G; coming over the speakers, filling the air with Christmas calm and joy. After all, Christmas is everyday.

The Batik Influencer, Jeannie; with one of her latest creations.

“Silent Night” is on now.

Met with my dear friend, Khatijah Marianne Abdullah and her husband, Fadil; at their booth. Their booth is super, super colourful; with their many colourful handmade and painted works of art. We had a nice chat. Marianne said that she now bakes homemade brownies, too; and will bring some tomorrow. Looking forward to tasting them.

The Batik Influencer (4) is making her rounds to all the booths, visiting all our new friends that we have made over the multiple times that we had set up our booth here over the last nine months.

Throughout the day, I was sipping ice-cold, super kaw kaw (5) coffee we picked up from New Apollos restaurant before coming to Amcorp. Mall. Jeannie’s ice coffee was of normal strength, without the “kaw”. The coffee remained cold throughout because we kept it in our Hydroflasks.

We have made quite a few new friends today. One of them is Jean Dorcet, who runs a women’s clothing business. Another, an engineer; who collects expensive watches. He was wearing a nice Carter Santos with leather band.

A customer browsing through the Hotwheels selection, while Jeannie is explaining the beauty of batik to one of our new friends).

The “kopi peng kaw kaw” is in the red Hydroflask (naturally, “dangerous”😂😉).

As we draw to the end of the day at Amcorp Mall, Jeannie is making her final rounds to the shops around here.

We will be back tomorrow for more fun, laughter, thrills, and excitement. Come drop by for a chat. See you.

NOTES:
1. Amcorp Shopping Mall is located in Petaling Jaya, a city in the state of Selangor, Malaysia.
2. “Tamil” language is spoken mainly by Indians in Malaysia.
3. Andy Capp is a British comic strip.
4. The well-known Batik Influencer is Jeannie Ong-Atkinson.
5. “Kaw kaw” is inb Hokkien dialect which means very thick or strong.

SAVE THE LAST DANCE FOR ME

Every day is a new day. For the last 30 years, save but 1 day; it has not just been any new day, each day.

For the last 30 years, save but 1 day, it has been with Jeannie. I never in my wildest dreams (pun?) and imagination would have thought that she was going to be with me as my life partner.

It all began 30 years ago, when I was one of the facilitators for the RCIA (Rites of Christian Initiation for Adults) programme at Church of St. Francis Xavier, Petaling Jaya. We facilitators, together with those walking in this 9 month programme; organised an outreach event to “Rumah Faith”, a children’s orphanage / home in Kajang (1), Selangor.

We gathered at the arranged meeting point early on the Saturday morning of January 18th. The sky was fairly gloomy, with large light grey clouds hanging (literally).

Jeannie arrived with her sisters. We decided to carpool and I quickly asked Jeannie to come in my car. I think that since my car was 2-doors (it was a near brand new [I already had it for 9 months] white, Ford Laser TX-3 1.8i (with the “T-spoiler”); the other people chose to go in the other cars. Which left Jeannie and I in my car.

We had a very good eventful experience at the outreach. The day ended early evening.

Come Monday, January 20th; I wanted to meet Jeannie again. By now, I had her office contact. I had to find some excuse just to meet with her. So, I telephoned (yes, “telephoned”) her and told her that I was nearby her office, whether she would like to meet for lunch. Her office was in the heart of K. L. (2) That was a huge fib! I was in my office in another part of K. L. Traffic snarls were notorious at that time and I had about 20 minutes to get to her office. She said, “O.k.”

I was to meet her at the lobby of her building, and then, we were to walk over to McD’s for our lunch. Her lunch break was limited to an hour, and I didn’t want to make it seem too forward. So McD’s it was. I put the “boy-racer” (that was what the Ford Laser TX-3 1.8i was known at that time. It was a powerful road machine) through its paces, nervously; managing to get to her office just a few minutes late.

We both ordered a McD’s “prosperity burger”. It was our first time trying this burger out. I think it was the first time that McD’s had introduced this burger. It was during lunch that Jeannie told me that her birthday was the day before (yes, I asked; trying to get as much information about her as possible).

From here on, it was history. We try to get the prosperity burger at McD’s every year. So, come every Jan 20th anniversary, we go for a prosperity burger meal.

Jeannie; our daughter, Laura; and yours truly (me or I? That is the question.)

These last 30 years, save but 1 day; Jeannie has been what a wife should always be: my better half. She has always been there for me. If there was anything that needed changing, it would definitely be my dancing.

Happy and Blessed Birthday, Jeannie!🌹🌹🌹❤️❤️❤️🌹🌹🌹

Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.; Dec 31st, 2022

NOTES:
1. Kajang is a city in the state of Selangor, Malaysia.
2. K.L. is short for Kuala Lumpur. It is the capital of Malaysia.