History of my mom's stall

This is me helping out at my mom's stall during my last trip back to Kluang and Harrison got nothig else to do but snapped photo of me. Was preparing duck noodle. Ooooh... how i missed 'duck noodle'. So yummy. I would usually go for 'kon lo ngap mee' (dried duck noodle) or 'kuey teow sui ngap mee' (soup kuey teow duck noodle). As I am typing this, I kinda can taste it in my mouth. Talking about the power of our brain.

I grow up knowing this business outside in/inside out. Believe me, I am good at it. I still remember how I was able to tabulate the bills for 2 tables of 10 pax without a calculator and I was only 12 then. I am able to remember orders of 5 tables without having a need to write it down. That's why it always gets on my nerve whenever I am in a mamak stall or any Malay stall. Cause they take forever to calculate our bills eventhough it is only two of us and sometimes, even got that wrong. So, being the super worker I was, my mom had a big problem when I left for college. That is when the maid starts coming in. I think to date, we have more than 10 maids already (including those that ran away).

Anyway, back to my story. I know everything about the business except for the secret ingredients of our gravy. The secret ingredient of the family can only be passed on to the sons of the family. So, when I was young, I was taught everything about the business from slaughtering of ducks to chopping them up but never preparing the gravy. Bias huh??? What to do... the business belongs to my grandfather and old people are like that. Sons are more important than daughters.

Don't believe me. I am just bluffing. My mom is a daughter, she also knows the secret ingredients. And my grandfather loves his daughters as much as he loves his sons. Got you! hehehehehe..... I don't know cause it was never my department to handle that. Seriously, come to think of it, yeah hor.. how come? Maybe its true.

This stall that my mom operates now is at least 25 years old. My grandfather operates it from 1983 ~ 1991. He passed away abruptly on 11th Feb 1991 and my mom took over the business. It has been 17 years since 1991 and all is as good as before. You wouldn't believe it if I tell you before 1991, my mom knows nut about cooking. Whenever she says she's cooking, we'll all rolled our eyes... hehehehe... that is how bad she was in kitchen. To think of it, throughout my life from 1 year old till 11, I've never eaten anything she cooked except for some sandwiches which she would make once in a blue blue moon. Even that, don't really need much cooking. Just slab butter & ham. Done.

My grandparents started the food business way before 1983. I remembered how they used to operates out of a cart by the road where I would sometime sleep underneath it. 1979 I think.

(Something like this stall but not so nice. Those days, no fluorescent light. We used kerosene lamp. - photo from yahoo search)

(A 3 years old me enjoying a plate of duck noodle at my grandparents' road side stall. The aluminium table is older than me. 45 years old i think.)

Before this stall, I was told that long ago my grandfather used to carry his 'stall' over the shoulders and sell curry noodle all over the place where there are crowds. And once, he even got himself burned quite badly when he fell trying to balance the heavy wares over his shoulders which resulted him hospitalised for quite awhile...

(this is how he does his curry noodle stall minus the little boy and of course the 'songkok' as well. I am a Chinese and so is my grandfather)

Besides the above, i heard they once have a shop selling roast ducks, roast porks and steam soups. Then I also heard that my mom & her sisters used to man a cooling tea stall after school. Other than that, my grandmother also used to operates a little stall by herself selling char kuey teow (fried noodle).

Basically, that's the history of my mom's stall. All in all, I think it has a history of at least 35 years. A long time eh...? My grandparents' stall has such a good reputation that those days when I was still in Kluang, wherever I go, people will know me. Ahh.. that's Fong Kee's suin..(granddaughter). Everyone in Kluang knows my grandfather as Fong Kee (芳記). So basically, I can go everywhere without worrying that I'll be kidnapped and I can buy anything without paying first...lols... There are people watching out for me everywhere I go even the Kluang gangsters. Believe it or not, these tough macho gangsters even bought me presents during my birthday... lols...

Even now, after being away from Kluang for 13 years, they still recognised me whenever we bumped into each other here in Klang Valley. It felt all warm and fuzzy again to meet a familiar face from a long time ago in this crazy city. Ahhh.....