Memoirs of an Ice-Cream Lady (Part 13)
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.
Love, Beauty
“You’re as ugly as a tiny, black rat on the street!” That was how little Emily’s elder sisters used to tease her.
Being small and dark with tiny eyes and short, boyish hair, even little Emily admitted that she looked really ugly! She was the fourth and final girl born into a traditional Chinese family that longed for a boy to perpetuate the family name. Predictably, her parents felt disappointed that their last hope had vanished. One sister, with fair skin and big eyes the color of black jelly, still received some favors from her parents.
“Isn’t it bad enough for me, a little girl who is the least wanted and ugly, but I’m also too poor to have new clothes for the Chinese New Year?” That’s what Emily asked herself.
Back then, even many of the poorest children could have new clothes for that most important holiday festival. Poor Emily only “inherited” her sisters’ used clothing. Some garments reaching her weren’t just second-hand, but third- or fourth-hand.
Finally, little Emily found a way to make herself look “pretty”. One day she saw a new TV advertisement showing a beautiful lady who put soap on her face and claimed it made her look “great”. Instantly, Emily decided to use the soap at home to become as beautiful as the lady on TV.
At the first chance, she put a lot of soap on her face and turned it to foam until she almost couldn’t open her eyes. Suddenly one of her sisters showed up at the bathroom door and saw the spectacular sight.
Of course, the incident turned into another joke that Emily’s sisters used to laugh at her.
Children’s Paradise
Certainly, Lamma Island is a children’s paradise. Youngsters walk safely by themselves since there’s no motor traffic on the streets, except for small village vehicles (VVs) to carry goods or garbage.
Although we hear of burglaries sometimes, Lamma is safer than the city. The children can climb trees, swim at the beach or attend school (nursery or elementary), all within a half-hour walking distance.
City children lack such freedoms. Normally, they’re confined to small flats to do homework or play video games until midnight. After school, they seldom can stay in touch with other youngsters or the outside world, except at cram-schools or shopping malls.
Actually, Lamma reminds Emily of her early childhood on Cheung Chau, another outlying island once home to a fishing village. At age four, Emily moved with her family to the Kowloon Peninsula. How clearly she remembers the days after the relocation when iron bars on every window and door made her feel like a prisoner!
Back on Cheung Chau, all the neighbors knew each other and didn’t need to close their doors at night. But what most impressed little Emily was that she often got candies from her neighbor, a handsome teenage boy whom she liked to visualize as her “first love”. Really, he just treated her like a baby sister.
Sometimes his mother beat him for wanting extra pocket money. Then with tears still in his eyes and candies in his hands, he offered all the candies to Emily. She just grabbed the goodies while teasing him for crying like a baby. Then she fled without even saying “thank you”. That was the cheekiest thing little Emily ever did, but it was sweet too – not just because of the candies, but because she knew he loved her.
These days, many Lamma children ask for free lollipops at Emily’s shop or shout “Hello, Emily!” when passing. This also makes her feel sweet, knowing they also love her or the lollipops.
I Scream. You Scream. Ice Cream
What are the first words that English-speaking toddlers learn other than Papa and Mama? What are the first English words spoken by non-English-speaking children?
What can make a child stop crying at once? Or what can make a child cry if not having it?
The answers are obvious and all the same: ICE CREAM.
Definitely, ice cream has some magical qualities. Basically, it contains milk, sugar and other simple ingredients like chocolate, cookies, fruit, nuts, coffee, sometimes a little rum and many innovative flavors. But it makes people instantly happy, especially children.
Once, a little Japanese girl living on Lamma learned that her grandmother would take her to Emily’s ice-cream shop. Thrilled, she ran there like crazy until her flip-flops flew off in mid-air!
Another time, a party of Eurasian children came to Emily’s shop and looked for their favorite flavors. As they jostled for the best positions in front of the freezer, a little girl cried loudly because she couldn’t see the selection. A passing Hong Kong tourist heard the little girl cry, entered the shop and treated all the children to ice cream.
By comparison, city children often can’t choose their favorite flavors because parents don’t let them. The parents insist on avoiding this or that flavor simply because they dislike it. No wonder the city children can look miserable even when licking ice cream.
Coming soon:
Will Powers Prevail?
(more Memoirs of an Ice-Cream Lady)
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