Yah yah papaya juice

Recently, my mum found a 偏方 to solve 慧's occasional constipation woes.

Papaya. One small problem though. 慧 dislikes papaya. Ever since she was a baby.

Last week, 慧 needed a little er... help with her bowel movements again. So my mum came up with this idea to get her to take some papaya.

Following conversation was actually carried out in hokkien but now translated for you...

"So I made some fruit juice, orange + apple + papaya. I tested it myself and found that there is still some residual papaya taste and smell left."

"So how leh?"

"I peeled some orange slices and got them ready on standby. Then I gave 慧 her juice as per normal, in a cup with a straw."

"So can she tell there is papaya in it?"

"Yes ah! She very 鬼靈精 one! Luckily, I got backup plan. Once she starts wincing and making funny faces at the juice, I will remove the straw and pop a slice of orange into her mouth. That got rid of the papaya smell. She finished the whole cup of juice this way!"

"Ha ha ha... impressive, mum!"

"Ha! What's more impressive is she pang sai that very afternoon! 還是我厲害！" (Translation: pang sai = pass motion)

"Mother, mai hao lian lah!" (Translation: Mother, be humble!)

"Mai hao lian mah la ei sai?!" (Translation: How can I not be proud of myself?!)

Have I just unearthed the origins of our Singaporean phrase, "yah yah papaya"?

135 days to go.