7. bowlful of canned longans + canned sea coconut slices: dessert matchmade in heaven. Must be the boxfuls of canned longans my dad used to feed me when I was young. Always reminded me of the musty little grocery shop we had in the old part of JB town where it was always dark and draughty and forever smelled like salted fish. And I was always so fascinated by the old black thousand-year-old abacus my grandfather had on the counter in the shop. I would watch him click click click away on the beads with a lit cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. And I would cringe but stare unblinkingly at the ashtrayful of dirty water and cigarette butts beside him. It's one of those disgusting sights that you know you should look away but you just find yourself morbidly fascinated by it. And there were always a couple of cats around in the old shop to keep the mice away. Grandfather wasn't exactly the 'pops' Enid Blyton described, he was a typical Chinaman: distant in his affections, few in his words. Even though so, I still regret the fact that I've never learnt that bit more Teochew. I've always wanted to experience that grandparent-grandchild relationship, but never had the chance to. And if he was still alive today, and if my Teochew still fails me, I would try and pluck up that bit more courage and sit beside him when he drinks his pot of tea after dinner everyday. We would probably be silent through most of the pot of tea but at the end when the tea tastes bitter and I'm drinking more of the tea dregs and less of the tea itself, I hope the air between us grows that bit more warmer. And then one day eventually, he would start telling me stories about him growing up, meeting grandma, surviving WWII, having a family. And I want him to tell me things that only a grandfather would know after so many years living life. He would probably tell me to study hard so I wouldn't end up like him toiling hard most of his life. He would probably tell me that the business world is one for the fierce and ruthless and one that is not for his granddaughter. He would then tell me how to choose my partner in life, to choose someone of that certain animal zodiac. He would then probably grill me in the duties of being a wife and mother, being traditional as he is.

Yes, I missed out on being someone's granddaughter.