The Tse's "Quick Dating" Agency

My sis said if we had had a "quick dating" agency instead, we should be rich long ago.

The younger ones in the family shouldn't know that we used to have a garment factory. It experienced the same ups and downs as the HK light industry, and it was long gone by now. During different periods of time, Dad, Uncles 2, 3, 4, 5, Aunt 7 and Uncle 10 had all worked there before, and more of us had helped doing packaging and cutting stitches during peak seasons.

However, the factory was only a mask to hide it's true identity. Its true self was "The Tse's Quick Dating Agency". Dad, Uncles 3, 4, 5 and 10 had all met their wives there. The only exception was Uncle 2. Uncle and Aunt 2 met each other else where. Nonetheless, the Consultant of The Facts and the Myths of the Tse Family said Aunt 2 had also worked at the factory. After Uncle and Aunt 2 were married and before Aunt 2 moved to Edmonton, someone said it would be easier for Aunt 2 to find a job there if she knew how to sew. Hence, Aunt 2 came to learn sewing and worked there for a year or so before she moved to Edmonton.

That makes a complete set of my grandparents' daughters-in-law, who had all worked in Dad's factory.

Mom and the Aunts came in two very different stages. During the first stage (Mom, Aunt 2, 3 and 4), there were really sewing machines in the factory and they all know how to sew. During the second stage (Aunts 5 and 10), however, the "production" part of the factory had already moved to the Mainland, and the factory sort of became a trading film. Hence, unlike the other daughters-in-law, I don't think Aunts 5 and 10 know how to sew and they worked on some paper works kind of things in the company.

Originally, I wanted to add that all the "sewing expert moms" had helped their daughters to do needle work homeworks, except Aunt 3 who only has a son. However, Rose and Di told me that they didn't have needle work class those days, which made my generalization fell :( However, I want to stress that I did all my needle work homeworks myself and thought myself quite gifted. So you know whom Mom had helped :P

P.S. Special thanks to Sara who had contributed a topics. Others should throw me some ideas too or the series will end soon!

Iron Ring

Everyone who received engineering education in Canada wears an iron ring on the little finger of his/her working hand (the one who hold the pen or pencil). It reminds us our obligation and responsibility to the society being an engineer. We have to attend an Iron Rings Ceremony during graduation year to receive the Ring, and we are not supposed to share the details to whom who had not attended the Ceremony :)

Although I have not been in the field for a long long time, the Iron Ring still gives me courage and strength at times of difficulties.

How do you eat your oranges?

I eat oranges only by peeling off the skin. That is, not by cutting them into pieces with skin, but by peeling off the skin only.

Yes, I only eat oranges this way. (Well, except drinking fresh orange juice, I guess.)

I don't know how the younger ones in the Tse Family eat oranges nowadays. But for most of the older ones, peeling off the skin is the only way we eat oranges :)

When Uncle and Aunt 10 were just married (or before they were married), Aunt 10 saw me peeling orange skin and said "all those in the Tse Family eat oranges by peeling off the skin." I said "it's because when I was little, Grandma and Aunt 7 peeled the orange for me so now I peel it myself and for the younger ones too." I remember when Ed was a small kid, he would put an orange and a knife on the dining table after a meal without saying anything. Then, I would peel one for him, may be one for Di and one for myself. It usually took quite a while.

I suddently remember that when Aunt 7 was still in HK, after dinner, she would peel oranges for herself too. Not only she would peel off the skin, but she would also separate each orange into 10 pieces, and line them up on the dinning table one by one before she ate it. (Count it! There're 10 pieces in each orange.) But with five older brothers and one younger one and also Baby Ida, you could easily imagine that she could hardly eat any of them every night :P

There's also one time when my sis was still a baby (really a baby, those that don't know how to speak yet), Aunt 7 gave her oranges. She had one piece of orange per hand, one in her mouth and eyed on the fourth. This was how my sis ate 20+ years ago.

And this is also stories of the Tse Family about oranges.

P.S. I remember this when I saw "thick skin" oranges in grocery store tonight. Why "thick skin"? It's because unless you are very "skillful", your orange will become orange juice if you choose a thin skin one. So, I only eat "thick skin" oranges :>