没妈的孩子像根草？

妈妈不在的那段时间，三舅每天放工回来都叫我煲热水给他冲凉，妈妈回来后，他竟一时还未醒起，放工回来大叫我煲水，妈妈站出来问他；‘你叫什么？’他也就住口了。

其妻也是恶毒之女人，二婶告诉妈她有一次骂了我，下大雨我还帮她将她放在窗旁的学生练习簿收进来免得弄湿。。

妈妈啊！妳如一只张开翅膀保护我们的母鸡。。

酒徒 Drunkard

夜深沉，妈妈还带着两个年幼的孩子与这个叫‘爸爸’的男人跟他的‘猪朋狗友’围桌而坐着喝啤酒，十几个啤酒瓶子放在地上，不知是应酬还是满足自己的酒欲，然后带着满身酒气与一家大小，蹒跚的走回家。。。

Deep in the Night, Mamma with two young children and this man called ' O my Papa' with his sort of friends were sitting round the table drinking beer, dozens of beer bottles were lying on the floor, I didn’t know whether he was socializing or just satisfying himself with beer, the whole body full of the stinking smell of alcohol, and then shambling walking home with children and wife . . .

妈妈回来了！ Mamma is back!

一切如常，今天放学回家，16岁的女佣妹仔向我大声报告‘二姑回来了！’，我无动于衷，不知她讲的是谁？她才加多一句‘妳妈妈回来了！’我急急忙忙跑进天井，妈妈正坐在那张笨重的‘孟加厘木床上，这张床太大及太笨重，所以被放在天井当座位用。

妈妈一看见我就打开双臂将我迎进她的怀抱，给我一个大大的拥抱，然后看着我说 ‘刘海都这么长了没剪’，即刻找来一把剪刀将我的头发剪短了。其实是我叫阿嬷买那黑色的‘顶夹’给我将前面的头发夹上来的，学校里每一个同学都是如此的发型。

从今以后我又与妈妈同睡一房了！

Everything was as usual, but today as I came back from school, the 16-year-old maid ‘Moi Gia’ reported loudly to me 'Second Auntie is back!’ I was unmoved, I didn’t know who she was referring to? She added 'your Mamma is back! 'I hurriedly ran into the courtyard, Mamma was sitting on that bulky ‘Bangeli wooden bed’, this bed was too big and too heavy, so they placed it in the courtyard as a seat.
Mamma opened her arms and gave me a big hug, then looked at me and said, 'the fringe so long and didn’t trim', immediately she got a pair of scissors and had my hair cut short. In fact, I asked Grandma to buy hairpin for me to clip up my front hair, all of us in school had the same hairstyle.
From now on I sleep in the same room with Mamma again!

半夜的哭泣 Weeping in the night



阿嬷为我庆祝生日当妈妈不在的时候

妈妈离开了我们，不知过了多少个数不尽的夜晚，有一晚我睡着了，但喉咙痒痒，咳嗽而醒了过来，再也睡不着而哭泣起来，二舅把我牵下楼，让我坐在楼梯口，尽讲些无聊的笑话来逗我笑，那些笑话一点都不好笑，但小小年纪的我也会应酬似的假假的笑起来。

听表妹说，在我疲倦而再睡过去时，阿嬷上来摸摸我，口中喃喃自语‘可怜的孩子！’。

I did not know how many countless nights since Mamma had left, one night I was asleep, but my throat was itchy, coughing woke me up and couldn’t get to sleep again, so I wept, second uncle held my hand and took me downstairs, let me sat at the foot of the staircase and telling me some silly jokes to make me laugh, but the joke was not funny at all, at that tender age, I knew how to pretend it was funny and tried to laugh.
I heard my cousin said, after I slept that night, Grandma came up stroked me and murmuring "Poor child!”

妈妈妳要去哪儿？Where are you going, Mamma?

一车子的人往飞机场直奔，原来妈妈要乘飞机不知要飞去哪儿？为什么不带我们一起去呢？

那时候的怡保机场只要站在草坪上就可以望到那架将要起飞的飞机，妈妈坐在机舱内的窗旁，手中拿着扇一直在扇，机舱内一定是很热的了。我呆呆的瞪着机舱内的妈妈，直到三舅叫我上车回家，他以为我不舍得妈妈的离去，其实我是被眼前这庞然大物吸引过去才真！

One whole load of passengers was in the car heading for the airport, because Mamma was taking a flight and I didn’t know where she wanted to go? Why didn’t you take us along, Mamma?
During that time, we just had to stand on the lawn of the Ipoh Aerodrome and we would see the aeroplane took off, Mamma was sitting by the window in the cabin, her hand was holding a fan to fan, it must be very hot inside the cabin. I stared blankly at Mamma who was in the cabin until my third uncle called me to go home, he thought I was not willing to leave my Mamma, in fact, I was attracted by this huge aircraft!

外祖父的书柜 Grandpa's bookcases

老家的楼上，有墙壁的地方，就必有书柜依偎着。让我来数数看，有五六个之多，外祖父的收藏都是一些中国文学以及翻译的名著。我自小就喜欢打开书柜，一本本书抽出来看，然后再放回去，最怕是看到那本书名叫‘地下的笑声’的书，犹如真的听到了从地底下发出的笑声！

外祖母到接近逝世的那几天还在重读‘红楼梦’，遗憾的是还未读完就走了！

Old house’s upstairs, bookcases lined the wall. Let me count them, there were five or six of them, grandpa’s collections most of them were Chinese literature and famous foreign languages’ translations. I was fond of opening the bookcase, took the books out one by one to view, then put them back, I was quite scared as I looked at the book with the title 'underground laughter', imagining the laughter emanating from beneath the ground!
Grandma a few days before she passed away still rereading the book 'Dream of the Red Chamber ", unfortunately, she left this world without finishing the book!

书虫 Bookworm

爱好看书的妈妈也想影响她的儿女成为爱看书之人，于是在‘励士书局’订了‘儿童乐园’与‘世界儿童’给我们，书一到手，我就惊喜万分，爱不释手，一篇篇慢慢的看，细细的嚼，不舍得那么快把它看完，那时候才二三年级的我，尤其喜欢看那充满色彩，大大格的漫画如‘小圆圆’和‘小强的故事’，看完后就一本本的收进小纸箱内推进床底下收好好，不知不觉就放满了一大箱，有同学来我家玩，这些儿童读物也是我展示朋友们的宝物，但是从不往外借！

Mamma’s hobby was reading so she wanted to influence her children too, so she ordered  children’s books 'children's paradise' and 'children of the world' from Rex Book Shop, when the books arrived and handed to me, I was full of joy, took my own sweet time to read and digest slowly, didn’t want to finish it so fast, that time I was in Standard two or three, especially the colourful comics strip such as ‘Little Round Girl’ and ‘Little Keong’s story’, I kept the books carefully in a cardboard  box and placed it under the bed after finished reading, unwittingly it filled a large box, some classmates came to visit me, I showed off my treasures to all of my friends, but never lend out!

学做女红 Learning needlework

做女红一流的妈妈，竟然生了一个女红白痴之女。开始训练女儿是买了一块白布，妈妈用铅笔画上花草，夹进木制的圆形绣花夹内，教女儿如何穿针，如何绣花，懒惰的女儿每次都将绣花线拉得长长如手臂可伸的长度，为了怕穿针的麻烦，并不知道太长的线很容易打结的，每当打结，也不管三七二十一继续上上下下的乱绣，往往翻开后面一看，哎哟！我的妈呀！后面一团乱七八糟纠结成一堆的线头，还将整块白布变成灰布，湿湿皱皱的，手汗太多之缘故。

索性用花架夹上毛巾，戴在头上当阿拉伯人来玩算了，也是好有创意的女儿！

Mamma was excellent in needlework, but she had a totally ignorant daughter.

She started training her daughter by buying a piece of white cloth, using pencil to draw the outline of some flowers, clipped into a round wooden embroidery clip, started by teaching her daughter how to thread a needle, how to embroider, lazy daughter every time pulled the embroidery thread as long as the arms could stretch to save the trouble of treading a needle, didn’t  know the long thread would easily tied into knots, she simply continued using the needle up and down in embroidery, when turned back the cloth and have a look, ouch! My goodness! At the back of the cloth was a mass of tangled thread, and the piece of white cloth turned into a gray cloth, which was wet and wrinkled as my hands sweat too much.
Might as well clip with towel, put on the head like an Arabs to play, what a creative daughter!

鲜奶 Fresh Milk

最喜欢跟妈妈到处找吃的了。休罗街头靠近红毛丹巴士车站那儿，有一间印度人开的‘嘛嘛’店，妈妈一说‘我们喝生牛奶去！’我们就雀跃万分。进入此店，只叫生牛奶，热腾腾的鲜奶用高高的玻璃杯子盛着，妈妈会放一小茶匙的糖下去搅匀，然后将牛奶倒进两个放咖啡的碟子，我与哥哥每人一碟，用小小的瓷匙一匙匙的舀进口中，半温时会生出一层薄薄的膜，据妈妈说此膜是精华，也是好香甜的。有时候，妈妈会叫一块‘母打爸’Mutabat来吃，是一种印度煎饼Roti Canai 的料加入鸡蛋与肉碎和大葱煎成的，煎熟了，切成四四方方的小块，妈妈与孩子三人吃饱了回去不用吃晚饭！

The thing we liked most was following Mamma everywhere finding food to eat. At the head of Hugh Low street near to the Tg Rambutan bus station, there was a Indian Mamak shop, when Mamma chirped, ‘Let’s go for the fresh milk!’ We jumped for joy. As we entered the shop, we ordered fresh milk only, hot milk served in a tall glass, Mamma would put a small teaspoon of sugar in and stirred well, then poured out the fresh milk into two small coffee dishes for my brother and I, with a small porcelain spoon we scooped the fresh milk into our mouth, when the milk cool down a bit a thin film would form on top of the milk, according to Mamma this is the essence of the milk, it tasted good too. Sometimes, Mamma would order a ‘Mutabat’, an Indian pancake Roti Canai mixed with egg and minced meat and onion fried in the big round pan, cut into small square pieces and served, Mamma and her two children filled the stomach and went home without taking supper anymore!

三宝洞 Sambo Cave

很奇怪的现象，逢年过节，住在怡保或从外地回来的亲朋戚友必挤上汽车往‘三宝洞’一游，要找泊车的位子都很难，人山人海，冰水零食档也都乘机赚点钱。

车子一停，小孩子如出笼的小鸟般，到处乱飞，坐上洞口的石狮子拍一张照后，就窜进阴阴凉凉的‘大宏宝殿’，善男信女每人手中一支香，我们没有兴趣而往狭长阴暗的洞穴内慢慢移近，前面有光的地方就是出口了，外面真是名副其实的‘别有一番洞天’，三面围绕着高山，向上看是圆圆的洞天，下面是好大的一个龟池，几百只大龟小龟都是善心人士放的生，包着头的女人及小孩子，手中抱着一扎扎的空心菜，等着卖给要餵龟子的人，大人也买了好几扎等着让我们餵，空心菜一丢下池，就有一大群的龟子龟孙抢着来吃了！

龟池旁边有一个三宝井，用铁线网盖着，是怕小孩子跌下去吧？里面有好多银币，也是许愿井吧？

A strange phenomenon, during Lunar New Year, those live in Ipoh or returned home from outstation, all family members and relatives would squeeze in one car and took a tour to 'Sambo Cave', it was difficult to look for a parking lot, as everywhere was so packed, ice and titbit hawker stalls also took the opportunity to earn some money.
As our car stopped, children flew out from the car like birds, climbed up the stone lion in front of the cave and snapped a photo, then walked into the cooling interior, men and women were holding burning incense, We have no interest in it, we ran into the dark and narrow tunnel straight away, light appeared as we walked toward the exit, outside was like in another world, three sides surrounded by mountains, as we looked up we could see only a round sky above, there was a big a turtle pond with hundreds of small and big turtle which were put alive by good wisher, women with head scarf and children with hands holding and selling a type of vegetable that feed the tortoises, waiting for visitors to buy, adults bought several bunch for us to feed, as we threw the vegetable in, a large group of old and young tortoises rushing toward the vegetables!
Next to the pond was a ‘Sambo Well’, covered with wire mesh, afraid of children falling into it? There were lots of coins inside the well, maybe it was a wishing well?

暴风雨之夜 Stormy Night

狂风暴雨一来，全家人都躲进有天花板的尾房。外面一大块一大块的灰尘从屋顶如雪花般飘下来，有时大风还掀起屋瓦，雨水如瀑布般射下来，那时阿嬤是最忙的一个了，拿出大桶小盆来接脏水。整个楼上满天神佛，阿嬤的形容词，脏水与灰尘打成一片。。

雨过天晴，全家动工收拾残局，又扫又抹，做个半死！半夜来的暴风雨是最折磨人的了！

During the stormy night, all the family members would hide in the back room as it had cardboard ceiling. Outside large chunk of dirt from the roof brown down like snowflakes, sometimes strong winds would blow off a few roof tiles, rain water cascading down like waterfall, that time grandma was the busiest person, she took out all sorts of vats to receive the dirty water pouring down from the ceiling. Entire upstairs was in a mess, Dirt and dirty water everywhere.

When the storm had gone, the whole family started to clean up the mess, swept and wiped until half dead! Stormy night was the most grueling of all!

 

洋娃娃的衣服 Dolly’s clothing

我七岁的生日，妈妈买了一个穿着漂亮裙子的洋娃娃给我，我好喜欢她的衣服，于是妈妈就去布店买了一匹差不多同样颜色的圆点子布，就把一件漂漂亮亮的裙子缝好了给我，我好喜欢此布，是软绵绵的呢绒，又再一次的带我去照相馆拍照留念！感谢妈妈留了那么多童年照片给我们回忆！

Mamma bought a doll wearing beautiful dresses for my 7 years old birthday, I love the dolly’s clothing, so Mamma went to buy a Polka dot cloth almost the same color as the doll’s clothe, sewed a skirt for me, I love this soft fabric cloth, once again she took me to the studio to take photos! A big thank you to Mamma for leaving so many childhood photos for our remembrance.

仙人掌衫 Cactus dress

就是这一件仙人掌衫

妈妈真的是一个了不起的裁缝，她照着小孩子的服装簿裁剪小女孩子的衣服真是一流，当时是称为‘红毛装’，是外国小孩子的服装也。我全部的衣服都是她一手包办的，穿起来显得我特别美丽与可爱，每一个见了我的人都称赞一番，是我的衣服不是我的人！

只有一件衣裙是我最讨厌穿的，就是用浅紫色的薄纱裁剪成的，又不垫上滑滑的底层，一穿上就刺得我半死，尤其是腋窝底及领口，一出汗就好像贴在身上的刺猬，妈妈认为很美，一有大场面，必要我穿上此刺猬皮。还带我去照相馆拍了一系列的刺猬照片。

有一次，当时的香港大明星葛兰在国泰戏院有一个与影迷交流签名会，做记者的二舅带我去，妈妈必要我穿上此可怕的裙子，一点都不舒服的我脸黑黑的来到葛兰小姐的面前，拿着她的玉照给她签名，她微微的笑着还问我一些问题，她心中一定想为何穿这着漂亮衣服的小女孩脸上露出不高兴的样子。

一回到家，立即将刺猬皮丢下，变回人皮，全身松晒，后来妈妈将这仙人掌衫不知收到哪里去了。

Mamma was a great tailor indeed, she follow the children's pattern book and sews beautiful little girl's clothes, these type of clothing at that time was known as 'westerner’s dress', only worn by westerner’s children. All my dresses were her masterpiece, it made me looked beautiful and lovely, Mamma’s friends would praise me when they saw me, actually praising my dress and not me I think!
I hated to wear one particular dress, it was made out of light purple chiffon, Mamma didn’t know how to make the lining then, every time when I put on this dress was like thorns in the fresh, especially under the armpits and collar, when I sweat as if attached to the body of a hedgehog, Mamma said it was beautiful, in every big occasions, Mamma would force me to put on this hedgehog skin. She took me to the studio to shoot a series of the hedgehog photos too.
I remember one occasion, a famous Hong Kong star Ge Lan who held a fans signature meeting in Cathay Cinema, my reporter second uncle took me to the fans gathering, Mamma wanted me to wear this horrible dress, I felt so uncomfortable as my face turned grumpy once the I had the hedgehog skin on. Miss Ge Lan smiled and asked me some questions as she autographed her photo, she  must wondering why this little girl with a beautiful dress looked so annoyed.
Once back home, immediately leave the hedgehog skin, change back to human skin, I felt so relaxed, later on I wouldn’t  know where Mamma had hide the cactus dress?

该打! You deserved it!

有一次又搬了去‘静安寿’街住，要上一个斜坡才到达的，好像是双层店屋，我们住在楼下。

与哥哥闲来无事就在屋前的沟渠边採那臭臭的小花，好像有白色与紫色的。

那时候，上学与放学都有三轮车载我们的。

厅内有一张长长的饭桌是我们兄妹俩做功课与家人吃饭之桌，在此桌子我又弄翻了‘美禄’一杯，手臂又中了一巴掌，然后见妈妈趴在地上抹倒泻的‘美禄’，觉得自己真的是该打！

At one time we moved to the 'Jing On Sau' street, the double stories shop houses located on top of a slope, we lived downstairs.
One of our leisure activities was picking the stinking little white or purple flowers at the side of the ditch in front of our house.

That time we went to school with trishaw.

A long dining table was placed in the hall, a place for my brother and I doing our school work and also serve as a dining table for the family. At this table, I spilt a cup of 'Milo' again, a slap in the arm by mamma, and then I saw mamma squatted on the floor and wiped the ‘Milo’ that was spilt everywhere, I think I deserved the slap!

片段的回忆 Fragmentary memories

。。。 在实兆远的时候，记得有两个伯伯时常来找老爸。

。。。 还有那硬硬的‘福州’圈圈饼，用绳子串起来卖的。

。。。 有一次早餐，很不小心的我把手一扫，打翻了桌上的一杯’美禄’, 给妈妈在手臂上打了 一把掌，还留下红红的手印。

… In Sitiawan, I remembered two uncles came to visit father quite often.
… And the hard ‘Fu Zhou’ biscuit looked like doughnuts, they used a rope to string together to sell.
… One day during breakfast, my elbow accidently knocked over a cup of 'Milo' spilt all over the table and floor, got a big slap on the arm from mamma,  leaving red fingerprint mark on my poor arm.

大春虫 Spring worm

在实兆远的时候，有一个吊着鼻涕的小男孩，时常跑过来，妈妈教我们读书，他也跟着学习，有一次妈妈问他叫什么名字，他不会答，妈妈用纸写上‘蠢’，我问妈妈：“他的名字是‘大春虫’啊？”，从此以后这就成了他的名字了。

In Sitiawan, there was a little boy always with nasal mucus hanging down his nose, he came to our house quite often, when mamma taught us to read, he was standing there learning too, mamma asked him his name, he didn’t know how to answer, so naughty mamma wrote on the paper in Chinese character 'silly', I asked my mamma: "His name is' big Spring worm' ah?", (the word ‘蠢’ made out of the word spring and two worms at the bottom), it became his name from that day onward.

不好意思 Feeling Embarrassed

到达实兆远的第一天晚上，妈妈叫我唱歌给她听，我一面唱还一面做动作，忽然间发现窗口及大门都挤满了大人与小孩子，都是左邻右舍的朋友，我觉得不好意思再唱下去了，但妈妈脸上露出笑容。我想那是妈妈最快乐的时刻了！

On the first night we arrived in Sitiawan, Mamma asked me to sing to her, I sang the songs which I learnt from school with action, as I turned back I saw so many audiences, adults and children squeezed at the windows and front door, they were our neighbors, I felt embarrassed and stopped singing, bur Mamma was smiling.  I think it was Mamma’s happiest moment!

实兆远 Sitiawan

依稀记得有一段时间，妈妈不见了，我们因为要上学的关系，又住回阿嬤的家。

每逢假期一到，妈妈 & 老爸把兄妹俩接去她们在实兆远的家，犹记得是一间木板屋，天井有一水井，水井里面的水冷冰冰的。晚上都是一起挤在蚊帐内的大床睡。

I vaguely remember a time, Mamma had disappeared, because of going to school we had to go back to Grandma’s house.
When holiday came, Mamma & O my Papa would take us both brother and sister to their home in Sitiawan, I remember it was a wooden house, there was a well at the back patio, and the well water was chilly. At night all of us would squeeze in a big bed which was covered with mosquito nets.

陌生的男人 A Stranger

谦街老屋的楼梯口

1956 年某一天的夜晚，一个陌生的男人来到我们的家，妈妈将他的破皮箱拿上楼上的后房，我与哥哥也跟在妈妈的后面，看看皮箱内卖的是什么药？妈妈把皮箱一打开，映入我眼帘的是一双木屐。。。

后来才知道原来这陌生男人竟是我们的老爸，那时候我6岁，哥哥8岁，我们也就搬离公公阿嬤的家了。

One night in the year of 1956, a stranger stepped into our house, mamma took his old suitcase upstairs to the back room, my brother and I followed behind, to see what was inside the old suitcase? As mamma opened the suitcase, what caught my eyes was a pair of clogs. . .
Later I realized that this stranger was actually our Papa, that time I was 6 years old and my brother was 8 years old, we moved out from Grandpa and Grandma’s house since then.

红木屐 Red Clogs

阿嬤的木屐走起路来‘咯咯’响，她也买给家中每个人一双冲凉的时候穿，她自己的是黑木屐，上面的塑胶皮只有平常木屐的一半，下面的木底也被削掉一半，她说这样走起来才不会跌倒。

华灯初上，家务告一段落，我们尾随阿嬤走过几条街道到电房附近，所有卖木屐的档口已经开了，五颜六色大大小小的木屐摆得满地都是，在一支支火水灯的照耀之下，好些女人都蹲着选她们心目中的木屐。

阿嬤给二舅，三舅买的是粗糙未上漆的木屐，沉闷颜色的两片树胶饤在其上，我们小孩子的是圆圆身材而不是葫芦形的那种，上了红漆还绘上花草，美丽极了！都是削低了给我们，那人用剪刀剪下了塑胶片然后‘嗒嗒嗒’的用小钉子钉上木屐，用一条麻绳将一对对的木屐配搭好绑起来，每个小孩子手中提着一对小红木屐欢欢喜喜的往家中跑。。。

Grandma's clogs made a ‘klog klog’ sound when she walked, she bought each one of the family members a pair for taking our shower, she wore a black clogs, the plastic on top of her clogs only half the size of the normal clogs, the wood at the bottom of the clogs also cut into a comfortable height, it would not made you fall, she said.
When the night fall, house work all had been done, we walked to the stalls selling clogs which was located near the power station, all the stalls selling clogs were opened, large and small, colorful clogs all over the places, under the kerosene lamps were the women squatting down choosing the clogs which they liked.
Grandma chose the unpainted clogs for my second and third uncle, on top of the clogs were 2 dull colours flap, the children’s clogs were round and fat and not like the gourd-shaped, painted with flowers, very beautiful! Grandma requested the clogs seller to chip the bottom a bit lower for us, the man cut the plastic with scissors used the small nails 'tat tat tat' nailed onto the clogs, then used a hemp cordage to tie up the pair of clogs, every one of us carrying a pair of red clogs in our hands running home with joy . . .

浪恰 Lang Chia

福建话的‘人车’，也就是人力三轮车。

只付三毛钱就把我们送去‘国泰’戏院了。有两个一高一矮的三轮车夫，时常停在我们家对面的角落，公公有时也叫一辆来送他去‘细嬷’处。

白色粗布包着的坐垫也蛮干净的。有时妈妈，哥哥，我挤在座位上，如表弟跟着来就坐在妈妈的大腿或蹲在前面。

不喜欢下雨天坐三轮车，因为有一大幅不好嗅的油布挡在前面，看不到外面的景色。

车夫是在后面踏车,伎俩熟悉, 左闪右避往来的车辆。晚上还点燃两旁的火水灯来照耀黑暗的路呢！

In Hokkien means trishaw.
We paid only thirty cents to take us to the Cathay Theatre. There were two trishaw puller, one short and one tall, often seen them at the corner of the opposite of our house, sometimes grandpa would call one to send him to the second grandma's place.
The seat was wrapped with white canvas and was quite clean.

Sometimes Mamma, my brother and I were squeeze in the seat, if the little cousin brother wanted to come along, he would sit on Mamma’s lap or squatting in front. We didn’t like to ride the trishaw on rainy days, because the smell of the linoleum in front blocking the rain had a stinking smell, blocking the scenery outside too.
The trishaw man behind the tricycle was pedalling with good skill, shying away between vehicles. At night, kerosene lamps were lit on both sides of the trishaw as the road was too dark to see!

噹噹啰地 Dangdang Roti

啰地Roti面包也！有好多辆噹噹啰地三轮车满怡保跑，多数是印度人卖的，印度老兄骑在车后面，前面是玻璃柜，下层装满啰地，长，圆，扁的都有，上面那层才吸引我们，一盒盒不同包装的糖果零食，只看不买也过瘾。

一点都不浪费空间的他，两旁还吊满虾饼，红色一圈圈入口即溶的那种，还有许许多多忘了是啥的食品。

他一面骑一面手敲小钟，噹噹之声不绝于耳就知道‘噹噹啰地’来也！

Roti means bread! There were a lot of Dangdang Roti tricycle running around Ipoh town, mostly Indians selling, Indian men riding at the back of the tricycle, in front of him was a glass case, the lower case filled with all sorts of Roti, long, round, big and small, upper shelf which attracted us were boxes of sweets and snacks in different packaging, we enjoyed just by looking at them and not buying anything.
He didn’t waste space, he hung packets of fried shrimp biscuits (a red doughnut shape biscuit that melts in your mouth) and other food stuff all over both sides of the tricycle, and many other goodies that I have forgotten the name.
As he rode he struck a small bell, when we heard the sound of ‘Dangdang’ we knew that the ‘Dangdang Roti’ man was coming!

沉默寡言的小老太婆 Taciturn little old woman

默默无言，也不知道是拜几才来，小小的档口就摆在‘顺德会馆’的门前，时间是两三点，放学后有时走出门口，一望到她，惊喜万分，卖得都是我所爱吃得小食。

她的白发齐耳，梳得整整齐齐，前面的刘海用两个小夹子往后夹着。手一指你所要之物，她就用机械似的动作包给你。

篮子内装的有一玻璃瓶的脆蚕豆，一油纸袋盛的蒸熟蚕豆，我买的是口开开对着我笑得微咸软蚕豆，剥开皮丢入口中慢慢细嚼，一下子就全部吃个光光。

还有腌木瓜片，内有丝碎的辣椒，特别好味！腌猪皮也是如此泡制，吃完后连油纸沾着的汁都给我舐清光。

A very silent woman, didn’t even know which day she would come, her baskets were placed in front of the 'Shunde Association', may be two or three o’clock in the afternoon, sometimes as I stepped out of the front door after school, once beheld her, feeling very happy and surprised, because she was selling all the snacks that I love to eat.
Her white hair was at ears length, neatly combed, front bangs tucked back with two small clips. As you pointed to the titbit you wanted, she would wrap the snacks with a mechanical action and gave it to you.
Inside the basket there were glass bottle full of crispy broad beans, an oil paper bag containing steamed broad beans, I always had the brackish soft broad beans that looked like a big mouth smiling to me, slowly peeling the skin and thrown into my mouth as I pondered over, and finished within second.
The pickled papaya slices, with finely chopped chili inside, extremely good taste! The pickled pig skin was preserved the same way as the pickled papaya slices, I licked the sauce on the oil paper too after finishing the yummy snacks.

南乳花生肉 Marinated fried peanut

在我还没有忘记之前，赶快把它写下来。

苍老的声音唱着‘粒粒脆南乳肉，南乳花生肉，粒粒都是肉，粒粒生南肉。。。’ 卖的是剥剥脆的炒南乳花生，他沙哑的声音一唱，我们也跟着他随口而唱。

这个干瘪矮小的老人，一边肩膀用皮带吊着铁做的罐子，罐子前面镶着透明玻璃可一睹里面装着的花生，用油纸卷成下尖上阔的小筒来装那还未褪薄衣的花生。

另一只手提着用木盖子盖着的铁桶，卖的是‘麦芽糖’，全部小孩子都喜爱的零食，他用一支支的椰骨慢慢的将‘麦芽糖’拉上来卷成一粒粒圆圆的棒棒糖 （如Lollipop 般）。这种有害于牙齿的零食我们很久才有机会吃一次。

Let me write it down before I forget.

Hoarse voices calling 'crispy marinated fried peanut, marinated fried peanut, every peanut so big and fat, all the marinated peanut . . .’  the man was Selling crispy fried peanut, when his hoarse voice singing, we would sing along with him.
The shriveled little old man, one shoulder with a strap hanging a square tin with transparent glass in front of the tin so that we could see the peanuts inside, he used oil paper to make into a cone to wrap the peanuts still coated with the thin skin.

The other hand holding a small tin barrel covered with a wooden lid, inside was 'maltose', the children’s favorite snack, he used a coconut leaf bristle slowly pulled up and curled the ‘maltose’ into a round ball like lollipop. This snack was bad for the teeth so we have a chance to eat only once in awhile.

叉烧佬 ‘Char Siew’ guy (roast pork)

回顾以前的生活，多么简单与方便，卖小食的小贩络绎不绝的经过门前。

傍晚五六点多，骑着三轮车卖叉烧的来了！全部叉烧都置于一特别制造的铁箱内，还蛮卫生的上面有两扇玻璃门盖着。那卖叉烧的人黑黑干干瘦瘦的，犹如一条穿着衣服的叉烧!

阿嬷招手叫他停在石阶下，给我们每一个小孩子一块有一寸半长的瘦叉烧包在沙纸内让我们握在手中扯着来吃，有一点点烧焦的边的更可口。恰逢我们生日的那一天，一定会给我们买一只烧鸭腿握着啃。

‘Char Siew’ guy (roast pork)
Recalling old times, so simple and convenient, many hawkers selling food passing by.
In the evening 5 or 6pm, a guy riding a tricycle selling roast port was coming by! All roasted stuff were placed in a specially made metal box, quite hygienic as on top of the metal box was covered with two glass doors. That guy’s appearance was very dark and slim and dry, like a ‘Char Siew’ with cloths on!
Grandma beckoned him to stop at the stony steps, bought each of us a piece of 1 ½  inches long lean ‘Char Siew’ or roast pork wrapped in the sand paper letting us holding in our hand tore it with our teeth and ate, those with a little charred edges was the best. If coincides with our birthday, we would be given a roast duck drumstick to gnaw.

新鲜面包 Fresh bread

一位孟咖哩大兄，头顶着一大箩筐，内有大大小小各式各样的面包，用广东话喊着‘新鲜面包，有中的没中的新鲜面包’，口音还蛮准的，他口中的有中及无中讲的是他同时所卖的福利彩票。

一经过家大门， 就被大人叫了进来，顶着箩筐直直走进二厅，，将箩筐往云石饭桌上一放，打开盖子，孩子们全爬上木椅，一颗颗头颅往箩内伸，我拿的是还存余温圆圆饱满的椰丝面包，跳下椅子就一口咬下去，脸上呈现出满足感！

A Bengali man, with a big basket on his head, inside the basket there were a variety of big and small breads, shouting with Cantonese 'fresh bread, can strike or cannot strike, fresh bread', accent quite accurate, what he meant was the welfare lottery tickets he was selling at the same time, some can ‘strike’ and some ‘cannot strike’.
As he walked by the front door, he was called in by the adults, with the basket on his head he walked straight into the dining halls, put down the big basket on the marble table, opened up the lid, we kids climbed up the wooden chair, heads all surrounding the basket, I took that still warm round coconut bun, jumped off the chair and have a big bite on it, with satisfaction!

扁担娘惹糕点 soulder pole Nyonya Kueh

一阵阵‘叻沙’的香味传入鼻子中，就知道是卖娘惹糕点的印度人经过了。公公把他请入大厅，放下扁担, 打开那三层的竹篮子，里面摆放着娘惹弄的可口糕点，有红姑（绿豆茸的馅），糕打蓝 – Kueh Dalam（下面是青色香叶上面铺椰浆层），哦爹哦爹 – Ondeh Ondeh（用香蕉叶包着的小丸子内有椰糖），一口咬下去全部椰糖喷得满脸都是，九层糕，蓝花糯米饭加上咖央，肥猪肉（不是真的猪肉，是如肥肉般的糕点），木薯糕，糕果子山丹- Kueh Kohchi Santan（山丹马来语是椰浆，软软黏黏的椰汁皮内包着椰渣，也是包在香蕉叶内）还有一中黑墨墨的叫‘多堆’- Dodol（也是椰糖煮成的糕），香料虾米（Rempah Udang）是包在香蕉叶内的虾米糯米饭，我每一样都喜爱，但大多数是选‘红姑’ 与‘木薯糕’，照我的猜测这些扁担糕点都是娘惹在家做好了派发给那些要赚点钱糊口的印度人沿街而卖的，我注意到有好几个不同的面孔在卖。

扁担中间吊着一煲‘叻沙’汤，一片片的‘赖粉’放在篮子的最下面，谁要吃，他就一碗碗来弄，放上切得幼幼的大葱，青瓜，辣椒，香花菜，香蕉花等等配料，勺上浓浓的酸辣鱼汤，从未吃过如此好吃的东西，也是他所卖比较贵的一种。

We smelled the aroma of 'Laksa', as the Indian man selling Nyonya Kueh was passing by.  Grandpa invited him into the hall, he put down the pole, opened the three-tier bamboo basket which inside placed the delicious Nyonya Kueh, there was Hong Gu (green bean stuffing), Kueh Dalam (green Pandang leaf topped with coconut milk type of Kueh), Ondeh Ondeh (small balls with shredded coconut wrapped with banana leaves), one bite of the ball and the coconut syrup would besprinkle all over your face, Nine-Layered Kueh, blue flower sticky rice with Kaya, fat pork meat (not really pork, white colour Kueh looks like fat meat), 'tapioca Kueh',  Kueh Kohchi Santan (Sandan in Malay means coconut milk, soft sticky coconut sort of skin wrapped with shredded coconut, wrapped in banana leaves too), another black Kueh called 'Dodol’ (made with coconut syrup), spice shrimp (Rempah Udang) shrimp and spice wrapped with sticky rice inside banana leaves, all the Kuehs were my favorite, but I chose 'Hong Gu' and 'tapioca Kueh'.

I presumed these pole Nyonya Keuh were made at home by the Nyonya women and distributed to the hard working Indians who needs to make ends meet to sell along the street, I noticed there were several different faces selling.

In between the 2 baskets hung a pot of 'Laksa' soup, the 'Lai Fun' was place at the bottom of the basket, if we ordered, he would cook it bowl by bowl, sprinkled some sliced onions, cucumber, peppermint leaf, fragrant leaf, banana flower etc., scooped up the hot and sour soup from the pot, never tasted such delicious Laksa, it was also the most expensive item among the food he sells.