Preparations

Went with Noi to Geylang market and then a little shop on Onan Road this afternoon to help her do some shopping. We were buying what she broadly terms 'spices', these being necessary for the industrial scale cooking she'll be undertaking next weekend for her sister Rozaidah's wedding. Given the scale of the cooking, the amounts of 'spices' involved were not small, I can assure you. It was fascinating to watch the lady serving us at the market itself dole it all out, filling large plastic bags with colourful heaps of various powders, hardly missing a beat to consider what should come next in the various mixtures. It also smelled wonderful.

We'll be shipping everything across the border into Melaka around the middle of the week and from then on it will be serious preparations all the way - from which I'll stand well clear. It isn't that I don't want to help. It's simply that I know I'll just get in the way of everyone else who'll know what to do. My job is to make up the numbers, try not to create any further unnecessary fuss, and smile amiably when required. And I'm very happy to try and do so.

One of the (many, many) qualities I admire in my wife is her expertise in these matters, and desire to put it to use simply to help the family and make everyone happy. A tall order - but somehow she succeeds.