This promises to be a most unusual blog. And I have only just begun. I am beginning with the title. It has already been approved of by the other woman. I am one and Alice is the other.
My early morning began in typical fashion. An alarm announcing Fajr prayer time, my obligatory prayer offered, sincerely and meaningfully- not ritualistically.
I usually send out morning greetings but this morning I was the proud recipient of three in a row. All from wonderful caring women who have came into my life – all recently when you think that I am 83. The first a Muslim sister, met at Lyf, only about a month ago. She lives in KL but will return to Penang on business and we will go shopping for a Malay dress for me to wear to the wedding of the century (as I call it).
The next message from my incredible Sarawak visa agent Theresa. Her message led on to bigger and bette things. Hahaha
She: Good morning to you. It’s Monday and hoping you have a great week ahead.
Me: What a blessing to hear from you this morning!!!
She: Trust you had a beautiful weekend.
Me: I did in many ways. My dear friend Alice is the chef at a newly opened Penang restaurant. It is a spectacular Japanese restaurant. I visited it for the first time yesterday. I am SO happy for her.
I then sent Theresa a photo which you shall view at the conclusion of the blog.
Me: Me by the sign. She is in the background.
Who did I hear from next??? Go ahead guess I dare you!!!
If you guessed Alice, you were right. If you did not you were wrong. And if you did not guess at all – you are lazy. Hahahaha
Alice sent a good morning GIF and a photo of a sunflower. She and I love ❤️sunflowers as you shall soon see. I immediately responded.
Me: Love your message. What a blessing!!! A sunflower. I love that flower.
I then sent her the photo I had sent to Theresa, saying
Me: I sent this to my Sarawak visa agent telling her of visiting your restaurant and what a great experience it was.
Alice: Thank you so much. I’m really happy to hear you had such a great experience at our restaurant. It means a lot that you shared it with your Sarawak agent. I truly appreciate your support.
She sent a great GIF which you shall see at the conclusion of the blog.
Me: I am thinking of writing about it on my blog of today.
She: ❤️
Me: The story of our accidental meeting and how it grew. And now you are successful in your restaurant and I am a Malaysian living in Lyf in Penang. I will call it The Tale of Two Women.
Alice: Hahaha great
Me: We both blossomed into sunflowers. Hahahaha
Alice: That’s a lovely title.
Me: I agree. Hahaha
So here we go, It is a lengthy tale. So it may take more than one blog to tell. Perhaps three or four, maybe all week. But like a fairy tale – it does have a happy ending. The events leading up to the happy ending are unfortunately real. You shall hear of my pain, not Alice’s as I respect her privacy. I have thrown caution to the winds with mine. Hahaha Oops another idiom.
Throw caution to the wind means : to stop being careful and do something that is dangerous or that might result in failure.
The beginnings of this blog is interesting. The phrase is rooted in nautical terminology, where to “throw something to the wind” referred to casting away or utterly disregarding it. When sailors let go of the control lines (or “sheets”) that manage a sail, the canvas would flap uncontrollably in the wind. This act of relinquishing control to nature perfectly birthed the metaphor of abandoning caution. The exact, modern wording of the idiom emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It meant to be utterly lost during the 1600s. I was utterly lost when I first met Alice but now I am found. I am alive and well and living in Penang Lyf. Hahaha
I have been writing this in the lobby of Lyf sipping coffee from a machine where I am my own barista. But off to breakfast at Kenny Hill’s. What a life I lead!!!!
It is now 1:20 in the afternoon. I am in Lyf – now in Mojo the restaurant. Independent from the hotel – under separate ownership and management. The food delicious. It is fusion – so the best of all worlds when you come to think of it. I may ask Artificial Intelligence a couple of questions about fusion food but not at the moment.
I did check in with AI this morning. I am writing about Alice’s Restaurant and I did remember a song. This my query. “Tell me about a barely remembered song Alice’s Restaurant.” Of course I got a lengthy answer with AI trying to write my blog. I ended up saying “You are like a hyperactive bratty kind that needs a stern grandmother with a sense of humor. Hahaha.
An extremely lengthy interchange but this is how it resolved. In may favor of course.
AI: You are saying. Sit down. One question at a time. No essays unless I ask or them. Fair enough. I can work with it.
Me: You got it!! Good job we Granny’s say.
He: Good job. Now don’t get ahead of yourself.
Well I will consolidate the never ending answer to Alice’s Restaurant. It was ‘written’ by Arlo Guthrie in 1967 and is not really about a restaurant at all. The refrain is what I remembered. You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant.” My Alice’s Restaurant is a different kind. Unlike the fictionalized rambling folk tale hers is a real place where hospitality is practiced every day (except for Wednesday and Thursday this week, I think Hahaha). By the way the recording is as endlessly long as AI’s response – 18 minutes and 34 seconds. More than you ever wanted to know about that. TMI in initials. Hahaha
Back to the task at hand which is to tell the Tale of Two Women. I spent the morning in conversation with my close intimates. Perhaps we should define Intimates – to make sure we are on the same page. Oh My Allah – another idiom?!?!
First to define intimates. By the way, it is also a comic book. Used as a noun it is a very close friend. Being on the same page Being “on the same page” means having a shared understanding, agreement, or alignment on a particular topic or issue. It implies that individuals or groups are working together towards a common goal and have a coherent and unified approach.
For the moment I am going to skip telling the Tale of Two Women and instead take to the ending, which has been discussed with one of my intimate women friends. It is amusing as you shall see.
We were discussing the telling of Tale of Two Women.
Me: It resembles a fairy tale only because it has a happy ending.
She: Cool Agree.
Me: With NO Prince Charming. Hahaha
She: 😂 Would be great either without the prince.
Me: I am really laughing. It is best without the (censored) prince!!!
She: True!!!!
Me: I will clean up the language. Those princes just get in the way and can only be charming for ten minutes. And that is on a good day!!! Hahahaha
She: Yup…they are just minor characters in a movie.
Me: Cameo roles it is called. In my life anyway. Cast of thousands.
She: 😂
Me: The jokes on them. Hahaha All of them!!
She: 😂
But to get on with the Tale of Two Women. Another intimate replied to my morning greeting in the following way.
She: Morning nice!! I’m assuming food is really good. Lovely dress.
Me: Thanks. The food is amazing. I will send you a photo or two of the food,
I sent three photos. One of the sashimi with seaweed. As you can see plated so artfully and perfectly on ice. Then a photo of the salmon salad. The green is spinach. Then a photo of the beef ramen. They make their own noodles. The best ramen noodles have ever tasted.
The food photos will follow. The exterior of the restaurant with the two women of the tale pictured, one in a nice dress. Hahaha. Then a couple of glimpses of the interior of the restaurant. I WhatsApped the address etc to Chris and hopefully my blog master can include it on the blog. We shall see. I am giving it my best shot, as they say. I used WarmUp as a noun in the title. Wikipedia discusses it at length under different scenarios. This is the closest.
Wikipedia: “Psychologists, educators, singers, and similar professionals use warm-ups in therapeutic or learning sessions before starting or after a break; these warm-ups can include vocal and physical exercises, interactive and improvisational games, role plays, etc. A vocal warm-up can be especially important for actors and singers.” Hopefully this Warm-Up will prepare you for the telling of the Tale of Two Women. Hahaha
