"I'm missing you... What are you going to do tomorrow evening?"
"Nothing special..." I was planning to just stay at home at Paya Rumput the whole day, which had nowadays become a luxury to me on Saturdays. However, Emmy's invitation to her house to taste her homemade food instantly succeeded in tempting me to leave my net again and abort my diet plan for the weekend. She specified that if KC was also free to the dinner, she would make it vegetarian. I immediately contacted KC and fixed an appointment to go together. Since I knew where Emmy lived at Klebang after giving her a ride the other day, I volunteered to be KC's driver.
When we rang the bell the next day, both Emmy and Felix came out to receive us. It was a typical western house in a tropical country. They used to have a nicer view with their backyard facing the Straits of Malacca. They were very upset that the water was now covered by reclamed land.
In the living room, I saw the hard copy of my blog entry which Felix had printed out in big characters so that Emmy could have a look as well. Emmy started the conversation by showing us a frame of two pictures in which her granddaughter strikingly resembled her when she was a little girl.
Felix very soon joined us at Emmy's favorite corner. Actually he preferred sitting on another set of chairs near the backyard.
In front of cheese and olives, I had the impression to be back to France.
As the green olives had the lowest calories among those appetizers, I felt free to send a few into my mouths. Emmy noticed that it was unusual for a Chinese to love those small, bitter fruits. Thus, she saw me as a westerner in terms of food. I told them about my first meal at a French house where I, without knowing that many more dishes were yet to be served, had eaten too many snacks before the real meal started .
We shifted to the dining table. Emmy had specially prepared a French leek-potato soup which made me nostalgic about those good old days in Neuves-Granges.
The main dish was lasagna. Emmy had put so many ingredients in this Italian speciality that whether there was minced meat or not made no difference to us. And the taste was much more excellent than the one I had eaten at Equatorial Hotel.
Each of us was given a small portion accompanied by salad, which already filled a big space of our stomachs.
Their Filipino maid was busy bringing new dishes and removing bowls and plates from four of us. Emmy said to KC and me, "If the MBMB people see my life here, they will take away the money they gave me during the convention!"
The dessert pudding surrounded by fruits in cubes was another masterpiece from Emmy. Moreover, it was beautifully presented in a plate with a holder. In fact, even plain water had the honour to be served in big wine glasses!
Felix had given me white wine to drink as appetizer. During the meal, he offered me red wine. Before I emptied the glass, he passed to me another cute small glass with digestive liquor named "Kahlua". 
Emmy poured some milk into hers, which looked like a strange mixture to me.
After the dinner, we continued our chatting in the lounge. As a historian, Emmy could recount Malaysia's history much better than we Malaysians did. Felix who had been reading a book per week since the age of twenty was himself a living encyclopedia! Like Emmy, he had so many stories to share with us that I began to doubt Emmy's comment that her husband was a quiet person. Listening to him talking about those countries where they had left their footprints was like watching interesting documentaries. Sometimes, Emmy interrupted with her other topics. KC and I were amused by these two "television channels" who needed no commercial break.
I had exceptionally accepted a small cup of expresso at the end of the meal earlier. So I did not feel sleepy even though my eye bags were big enough
to keep two scoops of the chocolate ice-cream which Emmy had continued to feed us at 1.30 am!
KC was more tired than I after her hectic day. We made up our mind to make a move at last. It was already over 2am. Not only Emmy insisted that we took back the bottle of sparkling juice and the cake which we had brought for them, she generously gave me all the leftover of the delicious lasagna to share with others. Felix also lent KC and me each a book about the Chinese in Hong Kong and Shanghai so that we knew our cousins better.
In this eighth year of my stay in Melaka, I finally encountered a couple who was as friendly and hospitable as Nicole and Ernest whom I had known fifteen years ago in Besançon.
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