Happy May Day to all of you. How lovely having another public holiday so we can all be together and do fun things. The first of May has been a day for celebrations and fun since pre Christian days! Europe and America continue to celebrate the day with Maypole dancing and the crowning of the Queen of May. The first of May is exactly mid year from the first of November and is the day the Northern Hemisphere celebrates the beginning of Spring!!
These days the First of May is a national public holiday in many countries and is used for marking all sorts of different things. In Malaysia it is called Labour day and is a national holiday for workers.
We were invited to join Nick and Joshua and to go to "tea" at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian Club and Country Resort, to meet a friend of Nick's. The setting for this get together was absolutely delightful and before we could do much exploring we headed for the Coffee house. We ordered our sweet lemon tea ( my spoon could stand up on its own it was so sweet) and Roti canai which is a traditional breakfast dish. I was dying to pull my camera out and take a pic of this delightful dish and a favourite of ours but it was neither the time or place!!! So I have borrowed photos from www.rasamalaysia.com
These Rotis are served with "dipping sauce" and while using your right hand, you break off a piece of the roti and dip it into the dips, remembering one is HOT and one not!The hot sauce is made from Chillies and the "not" one from Lentils.
Our host ordered ice cream for everyone and as it was being served........Nick's mobile phone rang!
Oh no, our maid Lorna called to say that she had put a pot on the stove and then went into the wet kitchen and the door slammed shut behind her and it was LOCKED. Lorna was trapped in the wet kitchen and could not get out.
To explain, Malaysian homes have two kitchens, a wet kitchen and a dry kitchen. The wet kitchen is where the big wash- up takes place, hot cooking and messy work happens while the dry kitchen is used for light work. Lorna had put a pot of noodles on the cooker in the dry kitchen which is in the main part of the apartment and had gone into the wet kitchen for something when the door slammed and she could not get out. Fortunately, she had her mobile in her pocket and could call us. The worry was the pot on the stove!
This cut short our visit to the Equestrian club and Joshua did not get to feed the horses but all's well that ends well. Lorna had finished weeping by the time we got home and the place had not burnt down. The lock on the door no longer works!
This little incident reminded me of several other experiences of being locked out. Just three weeks ago, Sarah who lives in Johannesburg, had been shopping. She arrived home and managed to get the packets of shopping upstairs and out of the elevator. Sarah opened the front door to her apartment, greeted Oscar, put her bas down and asked the maid to help her bring all the other packets in from outside the elevator. The door slammed SHUT with little Oscar inside, together with the keys and the mobile phone. PANIC. Panic. Panic.
Is the iron off? check!
Are the windows closed? Check.
Is the balcony door shut? Check
Fortunately Oscar is a chilled little fellow and thought it very amusing that his mother and the maid are on one side of the door playing peek a boo through the key hole and he is on the other side torn between watching the T.V. and joining in. His Dad was called from the neighbours phone and he had to drive across Johannesburg, at a rate of knots, with the other key! Once again all ended on a successful note and lesson learned ...keep the key in your pocket at all times.
A while back Joshua got locked in his parent's bedroom when the door slammed closed. He was on his own also did not panic too much and sat in the corner of the room, waiting and weeping quietly. The adults on the outside were all for kicking the door down and doing other desperate things until we remembered where the spare keys were kept.....and lesson learned again. Now that door too has no lock on it.
The remainder of our day was spent in our air-conditioned apartment with Joshua playing with Thomas the Tank engine and the adults just chilling.
Have you ever been locked in or locked out?? Scarey!
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| Queen of May (WIKIPEDIA) |
We were invited to join Nick and Joshua and to go to "tea" at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian Club and Country Resort, to meet a friend of Nick's. The setting for this get together was absolutely delightful and before we could do much exploring we headed for the Coffee house. We ordered our sweet lemon tea ( my spoon could stand up on its own it was so sweet) and Roti canai which is a traditional breakfast dish. I was dying to pull my camera out and take a pic of this delightful dish and a favourite of ours but it was neither the time or place!!! So I have borrowed photos from www.rasamalaysia.com
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| Making Roti |
Our host ordered ice cream for everyone and as it was being served........Nick's mobile phone rang!
Oh no, our maid Lorna called to say that she had put a pot on the stove and then went into the wet kitchen and the door slammed shut behind her and it was LOCKED. Lorna was trapped in the wet kitchen and could not get out.
To explain, Malaysian homes have two kitchens, a wet kitchen and a dry kitchen. The wet kitchen is where the big wash- up takes place, hot cooking and messy work happens while the dry kitchen is used for light work. Lorna had put a pot of noodles on the cooker in the dry kitchen which is in the main part of the apartment and had gone into the wet kitchen for something when the door slammed and she could not get out. Fortunately, she had her mobile in her pocket and could call us. The worry was the pot on the stove!
This cut short our visit to the Equestrian club and Joshua did not get to feed the horses but all's well that ends well. Lorna had finished weeping by the time we got home and the place had not burnt down. The lock on the door no longer works!
This little incident reminded me of several other experiences of being locked out. Just three weeks ago, Sarah who lives in Johannesburg, had been shopping. She arrived home and managed to get the packets of shopping upstairs and out of the elevator. Sarah opened the front door to her apartment, greeted Oscar, put her bas down and asked the maid to help her bring all the other packets in from outside the elevator. The door slammed SHUT with little Oscar inside, together with the keys and the mobile phone. PANIC. Panic. Panic.
Is the iron off? check!
Are the windows closed? Check.
Is the balcony door shut? Check
Fortunately Oscar is a chilled little fellow and thought it very amusing that his mother and the maid are on one side of the door playing peek a boo through the key hole and he is on the other side torn between watching the T.V. and joining in. His Dad was called from the neighbours phone and he had to drive across Johannesburg, at a rate of knots, with the other key! Once again all ended on a successful note and lesson learned ...keep the key in your pocket at all times.
A while back Joshua got locked in his parent's bedroom when the door slammed closed. He was on his own also did not panic too much and sat in the corner of the room, waiting and weeping quietly. The adults on the outside were all for kicking the door down and doing other desperate things until we remembered where the spare keys were kept.....and lesson learned again. Now that door too has no lock on it.
The remainder of our day was spent in our air-conditioned apartment with Joshua playing with Thomas the Tank engine and the adults just chilling.
Have you ever been locked in or locked out?? Scarey!
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