"Maybe they were coming soon..." I was wondering that while walking towards the main entrance again, when a van suddenly stopped in front of me and the back door was opened. It was like a scene of kidnapping in the movies.
"Hi! Get in!" Thi My was smiling to me. Her younger brother was sitting beside her.
Within one minute, I was already seated in the vehicle. Thymie's youngest brother was the driver while her mother was the front passenger.
"I thought that we were going to have dinner in your restaurant."
"We were too lazy to cook. We've decided to go to a restaurant. What would you like to eat?"
"Anything will be fine with me. I've been eating a lot since I arrived in France."
"We can either go to the 'Buffalo' American steak restaurant or a pizzeria. Which one do you prefer?"
"Since I'm in France, I'll choose European food."
So the decision was made. We went to the 'Pizza Del Arte'.
Our appetite surprised the head-waiter a bit, who did not expect small-sized Asians like us were ready to swallow pizzas for starter and pasta for main course.
Over the last few years, Aunty Hua's body had been weakened. The children had to pay extra attention to her diet as well as daily activities. They studied the ingredients properly before ordering food for their mother to make sure that she had a vegetarian-based meal. It must not have been easy for an elderly epicure not to have the food she used to enjoy. But Aunty Hua just smilingly accepted whatever was served in her plate.
"Malaysia's Cintan noodles are delicious." said Aunty Hua. She always remembered the instant noodles she had tasted in my country during the stopover of their exile from Vietnam. She had already mentioned it when I was working with them. How could I have forgot to bring two packets for them this time! I told myself that would be a must when I saw visited them again next time.
"We have a lot of nice food in Malaysia. Do come to my country when you plan an overseas holiday."
"Mum has a medical checkup soon. We'll plan our trip according to the result. But I think this year we'll just spend our holiday in France. Later when Mum's health improves, we'll go farther," Thy Mi continued,"We're very glad to learn that you've well settled down in Malaysia with a job and a house. You should come back often to visit us."
To end our meal, each of us took a dessert. Although my stomach was already filled with bread, pasta, cream and tomato sauce. The Hua siblings kept urging me not to miss the famous Italian tiramisu. Aunty Hua also had a right to share a portion of apple tart with her daughter.
Before we left the pizzeria, Thy Mi passed to me a gift on behalf of the family. She had thought of comestic products but finally decided to buy a lovely handbag from the Lafayette Galery. I had only brought them a Malaysian village painting as a souvenir to evoke their memories of the countryside in Vietnam. They gave me so much in return.
The Hua family had the kindness to send me back all the way to Neuves-Granges at the foggy night. They were not familiar with the routes since they had never been to Ernest and Nicole's house. When we arrived, Nicole heard our van and waved at us from the house window, while Ernest came out of the house to greet his Asian visitors.
The Toitot couple warmly invited the Hua family to chat for awhile in the house but the siblings preferred to just stay outside the house for five minutes so that they could go home early to get their mother some rest.
When they left, I also waved at them from the window and I promised in my heart that I would forget no more the packets of Cintan noodles on my next visit.
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