Friday, May 8, 2009

The Flour Bin


Do take a look at this unrepossessing, white-painted tin with the word FLOUR printed on one side of it. Yes, it's the Abus' spanking new flour bin and it contains (surprise, surprise)...... flour!

My youngest daughter Nawwar and I went to the Amcorp Mall flea market last Sunday, supposedly for a look-see. By the time we were ready to wrap up our look-see mission, it had had turned into some heavy-duty 'look-buy'!

[By the way, the Mall trip was the real reason why I withdrew some cash last weekend].

It was the first time ever that I hauled my ample derriere to the Mall's flea market, although I had known of its existence for the longest time - from the time it first started years ago.

I had never really thought about visiting it, until Nawwar suggested we go check out the stalls for reasonably priced blouses and tudungs.

[Without a doubt, Nawwar was a regular; that girl simply loves to 'merayap' along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Petaling Street, and the flea markets of Mont Kiara, The Curve and Amcorp Mall].

Of course, in the wake of ancient irons (the kind that used embers) that can crack your skull open with just one whack, stamps and coins, second-hand books and magazines, hundreds of vinyls, and turntables and radios with compartment for cassettes, the bajus and tudungs were left trailing behind.

Then I spotted a stall selling, among other things, tin cannisters. They came in all shapes and sizes, the biggest being a bread bin that could hold a few loaves at any one time.

There is something to be said about tin cannisters, colourful or otherwise. They captivate totally, leaving me breathless. I can never seem to get enough of these containers.

I can spend hours browsing among this myriad of receptacles; jars and bottles, decanters and flagons, caddies and carafes, pitchers and gourds, barrels and bins, and naturally, tin cannisters.

So it was that I ended up owning the first proper flour bin of my life, and a few other tin cannisters besides. Initially it wasn't meant to hold anything, let alone flour. I thought it would look good on the kitchen self, that's all.

Yesterday however, I decided to rearrange my kitchen and so the flour bag somehow found itself deposited in the bin. Last night Nawwar got home, took the lid off the bin and squealed in surprise: "There's flour in the bin!"

Now, if I were her, I would be dumbfounded too. This is because I have been known to keep rubber bands in cookie jars, loose buttons in coin banks, light bulbs and adaptors in plastic tubs, soya sauce in a flagon marked 'vinegar' and washing powder in a container marked "Cat Food."

Life in this house is an endless round of surprises. You never know what you may find when you lift the lid off a tub marked 'ice cream' for it may well hold 'ikan pekasam' (it does!) given by a friend who had just returned from Sungai Petani....


21 comments:

Unknown said...

Salam kak...
Ah so you were in Amcorp Mall and kebetulan la pulak we all didn't do the normal biz...if not we would have met!

I also like you suka sgt belek all kinds of canisters but refrainnnn myself from buying sbb I don'tuse them pun... takut it goes out of the nessecities... my sis selalu kata: kak jgn kufur nikmat, ada barang tak guna...bak meh aku guna... pandai dia psycho saya kak...hahaha

btw, the canisters are all so english kan kak? lovely..lovely...

mamasita said...

hahahaha
Puteri! You're not alone! But I would call you our 'sifu'! Yes Master!! hehe

Haritu Dato' kan ambik pingat dia kat istana..ramai sangat pingat recipients of all types that day.Now after the function one has to get the proper container to keep the pingat nicely.Guess what..dia malas nak berasak2..its kept beautifully tucked in my cadbury haselnut chocolate tin! hehe!!

Unknown said...

Kak Puteri,

I too am gulity of such tin collection pleasures. My current craze is Emma Bridgewater.... U'd love them too if u see them. Go ahead goolde that name and look under Black Toast.

To Die For!!!!!

Anyhoooo... I love urs too. I go to the stalls on some weekends too but they never had those lovely tins when I went there. Drats.

Kama At-Tarawis said...

Raden - Patutla we couldnt find you.. you weren't even there! Trouble is, Raden, bila dah belek.. berat nak letak balik....aduhai, longlai rasanya..

Mamasita - hehehe, I'm always good at buat kerja yg tak berpekdah..

Aida - You evil woman, you! How could you lead this poor, weak-hearted Mak Aji astray ... down the road to Emma Bridgewater's too! :)

Unknown said...

Kak,

I have a EB coffee tin to spare... I think I do... kalau u nak just holler. ehehehhe

mayang mengurai said...

There's no end to collecting, is there? I collect old biscuit tins, percaya tak? What to do...simply incorrigible ;)

Salam.

Kak Teh said...

we collect ferraro rocher's boxes to keep mnDV tapes. Padat elok pun. Tapi tak makan coklatnya.
Recently I went to a meeting. During lunch, they had boatlike containers for salads - to be thrown away after eating. I took two back - now isi pin dan kerongsang untuk tudung. Berpekdah dak?

kay_leeda said...

Kak Puteri,

I used to frequent the flea market at Amcorp Mall. Lots of look-buys, I couldn't agree with you more.

During my teaching days, I used to carry with me those nice Christmas perfume coffrets. In it I'd put my whiteboard markers and duster. Remarks by the students would be, "Wow..puan, do you carry your perfume everywhere you go on campus??!!"

Fadhil said...

Salam Kak Aji Kama,

Lovely flour tin. Bila dah habis tepung tu, jgn isi benda lain pulak ye, heheheh.

My missus is another person who does not know (or want) to use proper containers. I bought her a container for rice but she used it for a month or two. After that, the rice remains in their original plastic bags.

She buys Nescafe refill packs but does not put the coffee grains into the original empty bottle. She snips of the top of the pack to spoon out the Nescafe when she wants to make the drink. The open top is then folded and fastened with a rubber band. The banded pack is then kept in the fridge.

Padahal ada banyak tupperware kosong tersimpan dalam store, tapi tak nak digunanya. Heran betul saya.

Ida Hariati Hashim said...

Salam Hajah,

Mak oii cantik nye tempat tepung, kat umah i, kalau benda colour putih, abih le..maklum le anak ramai yg nak mengusik, besides, the lady of the manor is not so rajin to mempolish any canisters or jars..

I love decorative boxes and baskets, bukan ada isi pun kat dalam..saja suka tgk benda2 tu stacked on the kitchen cabinet, sekali-sekala i suruh le my maid kasi lap, most of the time depa dok atas tu je..apa pekdah nya ni?

Kama At-Tarawis said...

Aida - tq for the offer. I paid a visit to EB's site.. mak datuk, cantik2nya her barangs!

MM - Readig your comment I am reminded of my late mum.. she simpan her sewing stuffs dalam tin biskut that once held butter cookies..

KT - I would rather think of what we do as recycling, Kak Teh..

Kay - Wah! that's quite creative of you!

Oldstock - she is just living up to the ideals of a normal housewife, like the rest of us.. tupperware berlambak tapi still simpan stuffs dalam plastic bags.. hehehe

Ida - speaking of pekdah.. takda langsung! But it gives us a nice feeling kan to see them lined up cantik aja.. it's good to hv penyedap mata in the house..

~ said...

kebetulan Kak Kama, Sya balik Sg Petani this weekend. And I'm going shopping for ikan pekasam come Sunday morning!! nak bawak balik KL :D :D hehehehe


Sya
stf937

Kama At-Tarawis said...

Sya - the Sg petani ikan pekasam tu memang sedap betul. our friend Rahmat selalu travel to SP sebab his company ada project kat sana dan dia yg introduce us to the SP ikan pekasam (ikan sungai).

CS said...

Salam. Tak tahan nak menyampuk sama. My hubby selalu 'ingatkan' I to throw those plastic yg kita dpt free when tapau food. "Kan you ada tupperware", katanyaaa. I know he will come to me eventually "mana banyak2 plastik yg you simpan tu?". Aha! my time to paku buah keraskan dia, but kita ni mithali, khan?? I just ask him "nak buat apa"?. You know, those plastics are very useful, they act as bowls and platters for our beloved cats. Eh, panjang pulak bercerita. Ampun.

Kama At-Tarawis said...

Muff - at the end of the day, we women memang hoarders.. hehehe.. nak buang sayang! Yang nak tergelak tu, sometimes rela beli something just to get the freebie plastic container that comes with it.. astagaaa perempuan!

Anonymous said...

Kak,

Guess what? Semalam saya pun pergi beli tin flour tuh. Huhuhuhhuhuhu, cepat sungguh terpengaruh. But I also found few sastera titles (2nd hand of course) selling at dirt-cheap price. Had a ball of a time with J. Bumped into Dalilah at the taxi stand. Chat with Saiful at their booth. Oh, seronoknya...

I wish everyday is Sunday!

Tommy Yewfigure said...

Psst Puteri,

Promise I won’t tell others what you have got stashed in all those “empty” Khong Guan biscuits tins (Cream cracker, Marie, Iced Gems) under your bed. Hehehe…don’t blame u lah, Ah Soh also got no confident with the financial institutions in this current financial climate mah.

Cheers,

Tommy

P/S – I still got my collection of old cigarettes tins (Capstan, Old Navy, JPS, 555, etc..). U know the ones that holds 50 sticks each.

Unknown said...

saw your inquiry in AG's blog about supek gelenya.
in their early days those plastic bags were thicker and gives out a certain sound i.e a raspy sound 'rokrak rokrak' when used.
Rok-rak in Kelantanspeak is a cruder term for gelenya (miang) as in "baso tino rok rak".
So supek rokrak has been 'refined' to supek gelenya now.
NOW YOU KNOW...he..he

Unknown said...

oops...sorry to come in uninvited..but couldn't resist giving my take on supek gelenya

Kama At-Tarawis said...

Elviza - soooo easy to corrupt you lah, sweetie! hehehe

Tommy - I used to simpan those biscuit tins too, but after a while the clutter got to me. Now I pick and choose. btw, you still hv those round tins!! Whaaa.. I love them! My late grandma ws a heavy smoker and I used to keep the tins for my coins (duit sekolah).

Zam - tq for dropping by and for the explanation. Tergelak I baca 'tino rok rak'!!

Kamarulzaman said...

Assalammua'laikum akak .. just drop by to say hi ... long see no time ey? ... semoga every1 sihat sejahtera .... ler ni udah maleh nak nnuleh ... tatau la kenaper ... udah tuer maybe ... take care ey ...