Excess here and there

If you have relatives like mine, some of them are far than subtle. In my family, the females are vocal, while the males are a cool lot. Well, at least the generation before mine. Before you and me.

Anyway, I happened to drive back to Malacca about three weeks back when I received the news that one of my aunties fell down the mangosteen tree. Climbing the trees behind our ancestral home has always been our annual activity every time musim buah comes. She stepped on a dead branch and she fell about 15 feet. Alhamdulillah, she got away with bruises and grazes. No bones broken or cracked, just muscle strained as a result of falling face down, flat on the ground. I was in the office about half and hour, told my colleague I won't be able to make the meeting that morning, went to my boss and informed her I was taking the day off. Drove on the almost completed south bound North-South Highway, flirted with a biker on the way, and arrived in Malacca in a record time. My aunt is mending now, already driving to work, but taking two to three hours break in the afternoon to relax at home.

But this post, is not about her, actually.

As I sat there in the kitchen, with Mak and my aunties and cousins, food and cuisine and fruits in front of us, all around us, I was asked to eat. I refused the rice, and took only the lauk. But still I ate the bubur durian. Haih. Sedap, I tell you.

And suddenly, I was said to be "filling up". Muka pun dah bulat! And being moi, "Hah! Betul lah! Memang dah gemuk pun nih! Seluar semua dah ketat!"

Although knowing myself that I am indeed, filling up here and there and everywhere, it kinda gives you a jolt when someone else points it out. Not that I feel sad or overly worried, I just add to my to-do list my visit to the gym (which to date still not being ticked as DONE).

Today, Pak Ngah's family had a kenduri doa selamat. And what else do we do besides reciting the Yassin? Makan lah of course. And the chicken and the lamb and the beef and the pulut kuning all so sedap! Who can resist? Certainly not yours truly! No siree!

One of my nephews exclaimed: "Ramainya orang! Rumah ni dah gemuk! Semua orang pun gemuk!" ("So many people! The house is fat! Everyone is fat!")

I do not know whether to laugh or to cry.