Stairway to Haven

These steps have borne witness and the weight of 3 generations of Tans starting with my grandfather, my father and finally me.

My very first memory of these steps were from the black & whites i have of my mother standing with my grandfather's very first grandson...me. My mom had on the shortest mini skirt i ever saw. The kind that Lulu wears. My dad stood on these steps in his black pants and shirt and a fedora on his Elvis-curry-puff hairdo with a kapok slung on his shoulders. I don't know if he actually knows how to play the damn thing. A kapok is a guitar by the way. My dad's i presume. My dad used to think he was John Wayne that's why till this day he wears boots. He also believes he is Elvis and Jim Reeves. Jake was his nick.

These are the same steps my ah kung & ah poh walked up when they first set foot on these hills to be caretakers of Speedy's Resthouse. We hainanese are known for our culinary skills. My ah kung made one of the best custards ever. His chicken chop, inchikabin and scrambled eggs were the best in the world.

Beyond these trumpet-like flowers lies the jeep stop which my ah poh would wait for the jeep to bring her downhill to Taiping to do her marketing. These trumpet-like flowers are not natives to these hills, well they were not here 40 years ago.

The jeep stop is also where the resthouse guest would alight and make their way up the steps and to their lodgings. They had Speedy's, The Nest or Box to choose from.

These steps lead me to a place i once called home. A place where a million memories come flooding back as i acsend each step. A place where i spent the first 6 years of my life.