Dinner With My Former TESL Students

Last month, I saw Hazween in the Graha Maju building. Since the second half of 2008, I hardly met my first batch of nine TESL students whom I had taught during three semesters. Hazween was one of them. She informed me that they were organizing movie nights on campus to raise fund for their faculty. To support their event financially and physically, I bought five tickets and invited Siew Hong and her three children to watch "Fantastic Mr Fox" on a Wednesday night.

The next day when I came out from my class, Hazween and Ridhwan were selling tickets for that evening. I told them that I and my guests had liked the movie and the snacks. In our conversation, I also mentioned how much I missed their active participation in class and our meals à la française. Hazween promised to call upon the same gang to gather for a dinner during the fasting month.

This Wednesday, she contacted me and fixed an appointment for the next evening. Thursday afternoon when I asked her what she would like me to contribute, she was glad to specify the cheese she had forgot in her earlier shopping.

"It's cheddar cheese. There are three colours of packaging. Take the red one. It costs... Don't buy the other brand which is more expensive..." She was much more familiar with the cheese department in Tesco hypermarket than I who nowadays seldom stored dairy products in my fridge since I no longer lived in France.

Hazween also drew a simple map for me to indicate the location of her apartment at Batu Berendam. It did not take me too long to find her place before sunset. Her balcony was facing a small river and forests at Ayer Keroh, which formed a nice view.

Hazween had prepared her speciality lamb stew again. According to her, she had to chop the meat into small pieces without the butcher's help. The scars on her arm were the "souvenir" of an oil accident while frying fish exactly a year ago. Reading from her smiling eyes urging you to taste her good food, you know that this chef's passion for cooking will never diminish.

Ridhwan might not be an excellent cook. However his zeal for his work to promote the salad would lead you to dump your whole face into the plastic bowl to munch those fresh leaves mixed with orange pulp.

The sous-chefs Aafina and Hani helped to arrange the salad nicely in a plate and cut the cheddar cheese in half to accompany the lamb stew.

Syahida and another TESL classmate Balqis who had not taken my subject were waiting to break the fast.

Everything was laid on the tables very soon--Carlifonian dates as starter, baguette to be spread with cream cheese or dipped into the lamb stew juice, cheddar cheese to be grated and melted in the hot soup, etc. Hazween showed me a packet of toffee sweets which she had made herself. I was very impressed by her various culinary skills.

Maslinda arrived a bit later. This time, three other boys Farril, Ariff and Syed were not joining us. Nevertheless, with the presence of the seven cheerful future teachers, laughter was often flowing in the air.

Hazween asked me how I found her lamb stew.

I answered, "If you opened a restaurant at Hang Tuah, I'd eat there every day." While I was saying that, I was already foreseeing my waist line to continue to increase by inches.

Despite two servings of the tasty main dish full of calories, I could not bear to say no to the fattening dessert--pancake served with Neapolitan ice-cream.

After the heavy meal, we remained seated on the floor to watch the movie "Miss Congeniality" on DVD. I left before 9.30pm as I needed to get up early the next day.

I am not sure if these young people put on weight or lost weight at the end of that fasting day. All I know is that my jeans gave me signals of being more suffocated by my tummy. But it was worth it, wasn't it?

Merci encore pour la soirée, mes chers.