BODY WORK

Pok Od arrived early Wednesday morning from Kuala Terengganu. He brought a plastic bag full of mas cotek leaves and some kerepok keping (fish crackers) samples.
Apart from the knack of putting me to sleep with his non-stop monologues, Pok Od is also a skilled masseur. He studied the art of massage from several masters in Terengganu and combined what he learned from books. He is so good at massaging that the cycling fraternity turned him from a coach to a physiotherapist.
The last time Pok Od was in KL, he brought along his new wife and he did not have time to straighten and tone my muscles. This time, Pok Od got tired too quickly and retired early. Yesterday we went shopping for a stationary bicycle that he wanted. I took the shortest route the gym section in Carrefour, showed him the bike but told him not to buy it yet but to wait until after lunch. Otherwise we would be lugging the heavy bike all over Mid Valley Megamall. He agreed and we set off to find something to eat. I did not get to eat that soon because Pok Od got distracted by a lot of things. He got held up in the hardware section, he tarried in the furniture section and had to touch every plant in the Gardens section. He even had time to tell a middle-aged lady the properties of a plant on sale.
We finally got to Ayamas where Pok Od told me that he was not really hungry. I asked him to choose between Black Pepper Chicken and Ayam Percik. He chose the more familiar Ayam Percik and I ordered two sets to go. We had to wait 10 minutes. We then proceeded back to Carrefour to get the bike. I decided rather unwisely to let Pok Od go in and buy the while I waited outside and read the papers. Half an hour later he came back to get a trolley and almost an hour later he came back with the bike, a towel and some bathroom accessories.
On our way down the ramp, we saw a familiar face coming up. Looked like a classmate of ours. He was with a very young lady. He saw me and then he saw Pok Od. He saw that we have seen the young lady and pretended not to recognize us. We had a good laugh and I told Pok Od to stop giving massages to the man.
By the way, massage is a very ancient art. Go here and read.