I imagine that if I were meeting Mo for coffee she would arrive with a book she thinks I would find interesting, order a chai latte and come fully equipped with an arsenal of laugh-out-loud yarns that would leave me with bruised cheeks. Sadly we’re a fair distance apart so we begin our first conversation over the phone and I still come away with bruised cheeks.
Maureen or Mo as she is affectionately known chats seamlessly and easily, weaving from one story to another, pausing for breath to reflect on what she has learnt from each experience. Having worked for the past 50 years, Mo has recently retired and has been saving her ‘pennies’ for a three or four month tour of Europe and the UK, throwing in a little of Asia for good measure.
“I was born in Singapore and moved to New Zealand in 1971 and my sister still lives there with her children and grandchildren and I have been across parts of Australia, but I have yet to see England and Italy and other places on my list.”
The ‘bucket list’ as she calls it, is pretty impressive, with Buckingham Palace (“I hope the queen will be there and Prince Harry, he’s a nice chappy”), Wembley Stadium (“I love football, particularly Manchester United”) and Venice (“I will go on a gondola alone, I don’t care what people say”) sitting in the top three. With relatives in Germany and one parent hailing from Ireland, Mo is keen to explore as much of Europe on her first solo OE, as she can.
“The history of these wonderful countries is amazing and the food, definitely the food. I am looking forward to eating ice cream and pizza and pasta in Rome and Paella in Spain. I can’t wait. Watching all this wonderful cooking on Masterchef makes me want to try it all for myself.”
Mo, who is allergic to chocolate and hasn’t eaten a scrap since she was 13, said she would eat her way around the world if she could, but most of all, she wants to try some nougat in the UK.
“I just want to get my hands on any food I can, but in some countries they have food that makes me want to see exactly how it’s done, you know; what goes into it.”
Travelling alone may make some people nervous, but not Mo, she has been saving and planning for some time now and is taking a few creature comforts with her, including a tatty teddy bear she has had for more than 30 years; a pair of woollen socks and her ‘special sunglasses’.
“I call them my ‘admiring sunglasses,’ because they have the side part that covers your eyes and I can admire people or just take a look around without people seeing.” What follows is a mischievous chuckle that sounds even naughtier coming from a woman in her 70s.
“I’m sure I will be told to mind my Ps and Qs plenty,” she quips.
Mo’s approach and attitude to life is to help and support others and she recently completed an 8km walk for the Angel Walk foundation raising money for the Child Cancer Charity along the way.
“I cannot bear to watch children suffer and will try and do anything I can to help. I have often offered to help mother’s out in the supermarket when I see them struggling with their little ones. I just take them in my arms and rock them a little and give them back to their mama, calm and quiet. Sometimes everyone needs a little bit of help.”
Her love of children and family comes from her very close and ‘tight knit’ relationships with her sister and extended family and she has fondly nicknamed her great nephew, ‘Tommy Tippee.’
“He is a year old and he is a chubby little fellow, so I named him after something that wobbles and rolls. He is wonderful.”
A testament to her generous nature, Mo has shared a family recipe from Singapore and hopes it will be enjoyed by other foodies.
Recipe from Singapore:
Ingredients
The flavours: One medium onion – chopped, fresh cinnamon stick, seven cloves, seven peppercorns, two aniseed, olive oil.
The munch: chicken (thighs, breasts, whatever you prefer), chicken stock (small packet or a couple of cubes)
The finishing touches: French beans chopped small, couple of potatoes, cubed; diced carrot and celery; chopped spring onion and coriander.
- Fry the flavour ingredients together in a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil and once aromatic, add the chicken and brown.
- Pop your liquidised chicken stock into the pan and simmer for 5-10 mins.
- Add your finishing touches and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes.
- While this is bubbling, cook some jasmine rice and serve together with some tomato sliced 4 ways and the chopped spring onion.
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