Malaysian Mega Sale

Did you know that besides the usual clothes, books and toys, there is also a sale on humiliation? Yep, right there in Bangsar Shopping Centre (BSC).

My sister and I took her boys (Cuz and AJ) and my mine (Abang) and our cousin’s son (no names mentioned!) to BSC. We had lunch and then my sister had to meet with some other parents at DOME regarding her work. So I, being the sucker for stress that I am, offered to take the boys to see the train at the new wing of BSC. Luckily she offered to have AJ with her so I only had to contend with 3 boys.

Firstly, I don’t understand why the BSC management would put 2 train displays in the middle of the concourse area filled with stalls selling fragile items like Christmas tree displays, little glass decorations, fancy-schmancy tableware of the not-cheap variety, jewellery and assorted other knick-knacks. Don’t they realise that trains attract boys with too much energy?

Luckily there were no mishaps. That’s probably more from my nagging “DON’T TOUCH-LA”, then when I get answered back “but we’re just touching it, it’s not going to break” the stall owner very kindly helps me out by telling them, “Don’t touch-aa, don’t touch-aa.” I suspect she wasn’t doing it to help me out, but who cares.

Then Abang yells out, “Abang nak KENCING!” I frantically started looking for a toilet when I remembered I had 2 other children in my charge. We had to look for them – off playing hide and don’t seek – and when we found them, Abang only wanted to go to the men’s toilet with them, not to the ladies' with Mummy.

I had to give instructions to the older boys from outside the men’s toilet, all the while enduring stares from men going in and out of the toilet. Then after an eternity they appeared, giggling, laughing, making funny faces and I asked Abang if he’d washed his hands and he said no. Sigh. More instructions through the toilet door. More staring.

Eventually they all came out again and Abang's shorts were all wet!

“He pulled his shorts down on to the wet floor,” Cuz told me, “and he kept doing it in public too.” Ok, never mind, we have spare shorts for Abang.

I thought the boys would appreciate some McDonald’s ice-cream. I guess you could call it a mistake when we decided to sit at DOME and finish our respective ice-cream (our cousin’s son had a milkshake).

Abang got restless so we went out to look at more displays. When we got back to DOME, lo and behold, the milkshake was ALL over the floor and the chair. All together now – DEEP siiiiigh.

This time the stares came not just from the other customers but the waiters too! And all the time at BSC I was having a sneezing fit – or, rather, sdeezing fid ad by dose got stuffed ub. Abang saw the mess on the floor and asked for a tissue. I was too busy blowing my nose and didn’t ask what he wanted it for. Then I looked down and he was wiping the floor with it!

I’m not sure which was more embarrassing, all that spilt (non-DOME) milkshake or my 3.5year old son wiping the floor with a tissue. Whatever it is, I know I’m not showing my face anywhere near DOME in the foreseeable future.