Stories of my Ah Kong

Today marks the 8th year since grandpa left us. Left us while I was in medical school in Canada, and could not come home. So I thought I'd repost this in memory of him. I miss him.

Thought of my late grandpa today. And this funny story comes to mind:
Malay wasn't his strong language. Like many of the ah peks and uncles, he spoke rudimentary Malay, just enough to get by.
Sometimes when my folks went out for banquets, grandpa would babysit us. And answer whatever phonecalls dad would get.
The thing that drove dad crazy was when grandpa would say,

"Takda rumah, sudah keluar minum samsu!"

A direct (okay, somewhat direct) translation of the Hokkien lim-chiew (banquet).

Except when taken literally, means out to drink homemade (illegal) rice wine. The stuff that makes people blind.

Gawd, that would drive dad nuts, especially if it was his business colleagues who called. They must have thought he had a brewery in the basement. I remember that fondly.