Catching Up with Marjorie

Marjorie and Tsai @ The House of Suzie Wong (photo: Corinne Robson)

With AFCC over,  the Paper Tiger ladies, Marjorie Coughlan and Corinne Robson headed up to KL for a few days' R & R. While there, they visited the Batu Caves, which they said could be skipped unless you have a penchant for the odour of monkey piss; the Petronas Twin Towers which can't be missed, and the place which definitely is the MUST STOP in KL, The House of Suzie Wong on the fourth floor of Lot 10.

Corinne flew back to Vancouver via Hong Kong from KL, but Marjorie bussed it down on Aeroline and I

met her at the Habourfront Terminal for coffee before we went back to my place so she could take a bit of a rest after her five-hour bus journey.

Ken and Marjorie at Taste Paradise

We spent some time talking about her trip to KL and  illustrations in picture books before Mum joined us for a bit of the conversation. As Marjorie  had to be at the airport by 9pm, we decided on a 7pm dinner at Taste Paradise at the Ion. I suggested a pit stop at books Kinokuniya on our way there and by the time we got to the restaurant, a long line of hungry diners had formed. Thankfully the wait wasn't that bad, and Kenneth arrived just as our table was ready.

Mr Quek did the ordering, then we discussed AFCC and how much fun it had all been. After we polished off  dinner, we called for a cab, headed back to my place to pick up Marjorie's luggage and floored it  to the airport.

I have to say that I was very jealous that Marjorie was going back to the UK. If I had a choice I would stay there for an extended period of time, but life so often gets in the way of our plans. However, I'm already looking at my options. (Thanks for the accommodations, Marjorie...hint, hint). As Marjorie had already checked in online, her time with us was up all too soon. So with goodbye hugs and a few "we'll see you soons" she headed off to the departure gate and was off to London on British Airways.

After a last wave goodbye, we grabbed a cup of coffee and a hot chocolate at one of the cafes before sharing a cab back to town. With Marjorie's departure, it hit me that AFCC 2013 was truly over. I was about to ask Kenneth when he was going to start planning next year's festival, but fatigue and the adrenaline crash from the previous week's event was beginning to take its toll and he was already nodding off. I decided to save that question for another time. Kenneth had just pulled off one of the biggest festivals of the year with great success and he needed a rest, a good rest, and without a doubt, he deserved it.