My Kids Visit from California and Mom has the Runs

My kids came to visit from California. My son and I went to Cheung Chau, where he remembered going to see my mom years ago. We walked along the waterfront, dodging bicycles and electric carts. I was surprised to see good-sized, modern fishing trawlers– the fishing industry seems to have grown. We stopped at a beach, then cooled off in a cafe with air conditioning, where we enjoyed an assortment of mini desserts and cold drinks.

There was a mural of the 搶包山 coeng²baau¹saan¹/qiǎng​bāoshān tradition, which I would translate as “Bun Snatching Contest,” the popular translation being “Bun Scrambling Contest.” The last word 山 means “hill” or “mound.” Contestants climb up these mounds to collect as many buns as they can. The words 平安 ping⁴ on¹/píng​’ān on the buns can be translated as “safety” or “peace.”

My kids both went to see my mom at her nursing home. When my mom saw my daughter, she was quick to point out my daughter had gained weight. While this was not endearing, I was relieved to see clear signs of recognition. Last time my mom saw my daughter, before the pandemic, she hardly said anything to her, despite having taken care of my daughter from birth to around the age of twelve. When I tried to talk to her about my daughter earlier this year, she seemed to have forgotten who she was and needed to be reminded. She’s consistently recognized my son, though when he visited last summer, she forgot he was a teenager and asked him how his marriage was going.

I thought this would be a good time to introduce my kids to Chiu Chow/Chao Zhou food, from my mom’s side of the family. We went to 潮江春 ciu⁴gong¹ceon¹/cháojiāngchūn Chiuchow Garden, the only Chiu Chow/Chao Zhou restaurant my mom approves of. She ordered 水晶包 seoi²zing¹baau¹/shuǐ​jīng​bāo, “crystal bun,” a bun with lotus paste and a translucent skin. My son ordered 梅菜扣肉 mui⁴coi³kau³juk⁶/méicàikòu​ròu, braised pork with a thick layer of fat and pickled vegetables. After dinner, my mom’s diaper leaked. I took her to the bathroom, where she waited for my daughter to buy her another pair of pants and some wipes. My son dutifully waited outside the bathroom in case we needed extra help. I realized the fatty pork wasn’t the best for me, given the nursing home staff already told me she had the runs before we left.

For a week, I only gave or ordered her bread, even when we ate out. She ate all three slices of this cat-shaped bread in one sitting.

Today, I arrived during lunch. She’d finished her soup and wasn’t interested in eating, according to the staff. She said she wanted to leave the nursing home and find someone to take care of her. I took her to the park and to a restaurant, where she finished most of her beef curry. While we were eating, she asked me to tell my ex-husband his niece had announced X’mas was going to be three years early. She laughed.