Memoirs of an Ice-Cream Lady (Part 28)
By Emily Ho
Editor’s Note: The author runs an ice-cream parlor on Hong Kong’s Lamma Island. When time allows, she draws caricatures and writes. The following are semi-autobiographical anecdotes blending fact and fiction.
The Big Boat
For Emily, sea travel holds romance. Classic Hollywood movies prove it.
There was Jack and Rose in Titanic. The then-skinny Leonardo DiCaprio clung to the then-chubby Kate Winslet, hoping her fat would keep him afloat after the shipwreck. Now they appear to have swapped figures.
In The World of Suzie Wong, Nancy Kwan crossed the Star Ferry gangplank where a ferry employee spoke fluent English with an American accent. Then she met William Holden, her true love, but maybe the poorest gweilo in town.
No matter that the Star Ferry ride lasts just five minutes (now only about three minutes since land reclamation has narrowed Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor). Nor that the Titanic’s four-day journey ended in a tragedy on the Atlantic Ocean.
Mostly, romantic notions linger because of Emily’s treasured memories from traveling with her family on a “big boat” to visit her grandparents in Macau. The “big boat”, as locals called it, was the ferry to Macau before jetfoils took over in the 1980s.
Usually, Emily’s mother took her children to see their grandparents on long school holidays in the summer or at the Lunar New Year. Riding the big boat resembled a mini-cruise complete with some basic entertainment facilities. There were slot machines for the adults eager to gamble even before reaching the enclave or to take a last chance at luck before returning home. For children, the four-hour voyage had a video-games centre to ease their boredom or built-up energy.
The big boat offered bars with sofas and a large cabin with bunk beds where total strangers shared six-by-four-feet beds (with thin wooden boards separating them). There were some regular soft-padded seats like on the modern jetfoils and even “deluxe” suites with wash-basins inside. Emily called the latter “presidential suites” when she explored the ferry as everyone else slept.
Emily’s mother always bought the cheapest overnight ferry tickets. She and the children boarded before midnight and arrived in Macau before dawn. They and other passengers could choose to stay onboard until daybreak to catch taxis more easily.
The big boat has vanished in a wave of modernization. But such massive and slow vessels still sail in Emily’s mind where they carry joy and laughter that lasts forever.
The Night Ferry
“GET UP! GET UP, YOU ALL! TIME’S UP!” The sailor shouted at passengers still asleep on bunk beds in the “big boat”.
Through a round window, tiny Emily’s sluggish eyes saw little daylight. Everything remained very dark.
Emily’s mother spoke. “Get up quickly. We’re going to see your Gung-gung and Por-por (grandfather and grandmother) very soon!” She awakened her daughters one by one.
Longing to see her grandparents, Emily always rose first. She leaned toward the window for a closer look at the ferry terminal and saw murky, yellow water flowing from the Pearl River Delta. The distinct color difference from Hong Kong’s then-clear Victoria Harbor reminded her she’d arrived in Macau. Back then, the better-off Hong Kong people enjoyed teasing their family and friends in Macau about being poorer due to the unpleasant water.
“Mama, will Gung-gung pick us up at the pier?” Emily asked.
“I don’t think so. It’s still very early. We’ll take a taxi.” Emily’s mother had sadness in her eyes. Not knowing why, Emily asked no more questions.
Emily’s big sister, always the last to awaken, cursed Emily for making so much noise.
Minutes later, other passengers rose too. Some stretched their aching backs while others packed up the baggage they’d left sleepily on the floor by their beds the night before. Bad breath wafted everywhere, especially from people who had smoked the night before. Brands like Marlboro, Winston and Kent all led to the same bad smell, even though cigarettes in Chinese mean “fragrant smoke”. Gradually, the passengers took turns carrying plastic containers to the lavatory to wash away the stinky breath.
By the time Emily, her mom and sisters got into a taxi, Emily’s little heart beat rapidly. “We’re going to see Gung-gung and Por-por very soon!” She repeated what her mother had said.
To Emily, the 10-minute taxi ride seemed like a year. Moonlight beamed through the leaves of trees along the pavement and reflected shadows on the taxi windows as the vehicle sped through silent streets.
Reaching a familiar, two-storey, beige, Mediterranean-style building, Emily heard her grandparents’ white dog bark behind the green, wooden door. Once recognizing the Hong Kong visitors, the dog wagged her short tail while herding them inside.
There, Emily’s weary-eyed grandfather, who probably had stood waiting a long time, opened his arms wide to greet all his young-to-little grandchildren. Before saying a word, Emily “flew” into her grandfather’s arms and gave him a big hug.
“Where is Por-por?” asked Emily, the first to notice her grandmother’s absence.
“She’s in the hospital,” her grandfather replied.
“She’ll be alright, won’t she?” Emily asked, trembling in doubt.
Sadly, that visit marked the last time Emily could see her dear grandmother. Within another few years, her grandfather also had a disease and no longer remembered all his grandchildren’s names.
Grand Parents
Grandparents are truly grand parents. Sadly, some parents aren’t great, but grandparents nearly always excel, maybe because they were parents before. No matter how miserable a childhood one has, grandparents usually supply some sweet memories.
Most parents try to show love, but also make strict demands about behavior and school results. But the main task for grandparents can be to pamper youngsters. Often with no questions asked, they let their grandchildren eat lots of ice cream (good for Emily’s business) or stay up late for favorite TV shows.
No matter if the children look ugly or act silly, grandparents will do whatever possible to make them happy. In a world full of conflicts and disappointments, isn’t it nice to be spoiled before learning the hardships elsewhere in life?
Many of the grandparents who bring youngsters for ice cream in Emily’s shop have traveled for thousands of miles from other countries to see their grandchildren. Happily, Emily notices the beautiful scenes of kindness and close bonds between generations.
Viva les grandparents!
Coming Soon:
Bitter-Sweet: Many Flavors of Emotion (more Memoirs of an Ice-Cream Lady)
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