Colombo - Part 5

Abdul Rahman our tuk tuk driver finally managed to win my heart. His sweet talking about the gem factory was slowly getting the curiosity out of me. And he could sense that.

Abe was cool about it. He had not shown any facial signals nor body gestures indicating interest on the gem place. But he lembut hati after I said, "Gi je lah...bagi lah this guy his commission cut for today."

So we agreed to go look look.

The Lanka Gem & Jewelery Exchange was located in Colombo 3, not far from the museum actually. Abdul Rahman took us on a somewhat longer route. Okay by me coz I got to see the more of city as well.

When we arrived at the place, we were greeted by an elderly man. "Assalamualaikum Madam...please come in and take a seat." he said. I wouldn't call the place a factory, it was more like a gem stones showroom. And then the lesson begun. We were shown one stone after the other. Banyak lah.....topaz ada, sapphire ada, aquamarine ada, cats eyes ada..... The list went on and on.....(teringat one fall semester in UW when I took geology. Rock recognition was one practical assignment I had to do. Sampai sekarang pun couldn't tell which is which...)

Anyway...cut the story short lah kan coz I'm sure you guys nak tau if I bought ke tidak lah kan. This weak-at-heart-for-anything-that-glitters sure lah akan beli kan..... Since the sales person took all the trouble to explain the so many different rocks and their compositions, kesian pulak nak leave the place empty handed. Plus the stones they had were pretty unique.

And you know these guys were really superb salesman (kalu bagi pangkat grade, harus grade Jusa kot!!). And why do I say that? Read on...

Initially, I had gotten two pendants for both Farah and Nissa - one was an deep coloured onyx and the other was a green & purplish rubylite. Just as we almost completed the purchase the sales person (a guy by the way....sebab tu lah I boleh tercair dgn pujuk rayu dia!!) mentioned this to me.

"You know Madam, you are so sincere about your buying, " he said.

"Why do you say that?" I asked again.

"Instead of getting something for yourself, you got for your daughters first," he replied and looked me in the eyes. Duhhhh.....terpanah terus ke lubuk hati..... Rasa nak menitis air mata there and then. I could only remain quiet for a while. I never expected anyone to have observed me in such a manner. So hati sudah sangat, sangat vulnerable and if he had asked me to buy a big diamond chunk I think I would have given him my card and swiped my life away...heh heh.

But thank God that didn't happen. He did manage to coax me into buying something for myself. No need to cerita lah what it is (takut timbul riak la pulak). But I was one very happy person when we walked out the door.

In fact I wasn't the only happy person. Abdul Rahman was too; his commission awaits him. Alhamdulillah...rezeki for him and his family.