beauty world ah ma

no, the secondhand book stall has not set up stall for ages,
but there's this other shop at beauty world
which i must walk past and peep in even if i'm not buying anything

it's an old ah ma's shop at the basement
which sells dmc threads, vintagey buttons, belt buckles
and loads of other haberdashery
and the old ma has super wrinkly hands
i cannot bear not buying anything from her once i step in
she's really very old
and did i mention really wrinkly hands?
i like wrinkly hands and old leathered faces

so they were selling CNY decorations
and i saw on display these packets
containing paper filigree - so delicate and pretty right


so i asked the ah ma with my smattering teochew
how much they cost
she couldn't remember, so she went into her shop,
asked someone, and returned to tell me
that the entire packet costs 70cents
each packet containing about 3-4 pieces of cuttings
i wanted to pick only the black ones
but the ah ma asked me to take all
and since there were only 6 packets there
so i took all lah

wanted to pay her more cos my heart really goes out to old pp,
(and especially this sweet ah ma)
i passed her a $10 note and said never mind about the change
the ah ma said "buay sai! wa korh li bueh gak soin"
(translated: cannot! i give you your change of 80 cents first)
then she went into her shop to get the rest of the change
and so i followed her in

when she was in she spoke to this semi-bald man
he seemed to be clearing out some stuff
then he replied her in a really fierce manner
i couldn't really catch what they said exactly
but i kinda guessed he wanted to throw away some stuff
and she was asking him why throw? and he got frustrated
and told her not to ask so much

i felt really really sad...
aiyohs i could literally feel my heart physically ache
how i wished i could buy everything in her shop
so he won't throw her stuff away
really admirable spirit of her to still continue working
everyday even though she's so old
looking at the amount of stuff she displays outside her shop
i can only imagine much work it takes for her
to display & then keep them every single day...
her spirit and the pride she takes in her work is truly admirable

reminds me of mum...
fingers cramping all the time
but still insists on making all the kueh kuehs, tatting,
playing sudoku so as to keep her mind active...
and everything that she makes or cooks must be nicely done
otherwise it upsets her much...

*heart pain*