kopi talk

I was having dinner with my mister at our ever favourite kopitiam tonite when I come to realise that my kopitiam lingo is hmm...not that fantastic I think :)

Try to read aloud my hanyu pinyin below to understand:

Kopitiam auntie : "Lemon tea gao3!"
Me, turning to my dinner date : "Huh? What is lemon tea gao3?"
Dinner date : "Not lemon tea gao lah, it's lemon tea pao3!"
Me, *TinK* enlightened : "Orrrrrh!!!! Ya hor!!Hahaha"
(Tried to cover up the embarassing deafness with a chuckle, but still succeeded in appearing stupid :P)
It's actually handmade lemon tea.

And as I gorge my dinner (yum yum fish head curry),
I hear more of the lingos I cannot understand.
But still kept my curiosity under wraps to avoid possible embarassment AGAIN.

Just then, I heard something I couldn't help but have to ask :

Kopitiam auntie : " AWW WOO!"
Me, in shock : "Huh???????? AWW WOO???? What the hell is AWW WOO?????"
My gosh. Have I really not been patronising kopitiams? That much has change since the last time I came???

Me, still in shock and unable to comprehend, dying to make sense out of all these : " Si mi si AWW WOO????"
Dinner date : "What AWW WOO?? She said 'LAO3 HU4' lah" (not my hanyu pinyu lousy ok, it is spelt the way she pronounced it)
Me: "What 'LAO3 HU4'?"
Dinner date: "Tiger lah!"
Me : "... ..."

I am bewildered by these lingos.
And I have to say,
these kopitiam aunties/uncle really make their daily routine fun.

Because, even one of our common beverage has a funny name -
Dai3 gei1 ho4.

no prizes for knowing what that drink is.
but if you know the answer,
you'd have known that,
your Hokkien is better than mine :P