She appeared into my life 13 years ago in 1994. I remember I was a tiny little girl with limited, almost non-existent encounter with a real white lady. I was quite nervous and from the excitement of my aunt in meeting her, I could tell that I must be at my best behaviour and be the best guide of my very own city, although, at that time, I only knew very little (I think I still am).
I remember, the moment of truth finally arrived and I think we got her some Orchids, which broke the ice. We chauffeured her to Ampang for a nice Chinese dinner in a proper air-conditioned restaurant, none of the ones we always ate when no important guest around. I remember we ordered steamed prawns, some standard green vege, tofu maybe and steamed fish (my guess).
I recall that she asked a lot of questions, which I had tried my level best to answer them. She said, what lovely names you and your brother have, the same as the Prince and Princess of Monaco (at that time). Thank goodness, I knew something about Monaco and royalties, an applause to my brother’s regular diet on celebrities and royalties gossips.
After the dinner, we headed to Central Market, the local art and cultural scene in KL. We stopped by for some pictures, which I had a chance to have a look again when I met her in Zurich recently.
My visit to Switzerland two weeks ago was such a memorable one, thanks to her, my lovely Swiss Aunt. She travelled all the way from Nyon, stopped by Berne to visit her sister and then to Zurich, after my Mount Titlis conquest. I couldn’t recognise her at first but after some eye contacts and calling out of names, we finally met again!
What gradually reminded me of her was the sound of her voice, always so positive, encouraging, generous, caring, curious, enlighten, intelligent, knowledgeable and thoughtful which sum up of who she is, even back then, as how I would remember. We spent the evening, chatting over grilled prawn spaghetti, ham and cheese sandwich and the local Swiss rosé. We wrapped it up at the hotel’s bar with some port. Our topics covered the pasts, the presents and I was truly amazed how well-stocked she is with news of Singapore and Malaysia especially the general political scenes over the years!
The very next day, together with my lovely travel companion, we toured the city of Zurich, where Swiss Aunt was last there 30 years ago. It was also a sight-seeing trip for her. We went near the zoo, hoping to catch a great city view since it is situated on an elevated land, which we ended up talking and walking and missed a tram! We then travelled back to the city and spent some time in a floral café, near the landmark Zurich clock tower, St Peter’s Church. My travel companion vowed to own one like this in Singapore one day.
We also lunched at Bahnhofstrasse, where we had some good vegetarian food. And finally, when the moment arrived, for us to part, my heart felt quite wrenched to bid this farewell at Zurich Central Station. I instantly felt lost of having a companion, a friend physically although our encounter together was just less than 24 hours.
To our surprise, she bought us two pieces of the most delicious chocolate triangles ever. How thoughtful she is! While savouring the Swiss chocolate melting in our mouths, we reminisce how we miss having Swiss Aunt around with us in Zurich.
The good news is, we might be seeing her again very soon. I can’t wait.
