dad's culinary treats

fast forward

Subconsciously, I fast forwarded the week. I lived my Tuesday as if it was Wednesday.

Morning. Lesson would be in 10 mins, I thought to myself. Next came a call. "Ms Tan, it's your lesson now." The voice belonged to my class prefect. Shucks! I was looking at the wrong day on the timetable. Missed a period. (Just when I was actually having one. Pun intended.) I rushed up. Snapped back to reality.

Evening. Home. Stopped surfing on the Internet and switched on the TV for the usual 8pm wednesday show I catch. 5 mins passed and no sign of it. Shucks! It's Tues. I guess reality didn't hit me hard enough.

comfort food

Whenever I'm home for the weekend, I can always expect to find my comfort food on the table when I wake up in the morning. Nice. Thanks Dad. I tell him.

granny's chicken soup for the soul

1st post for the 1st day of the new year.

piping hot from the pot.

granny says there's soup for me.

chicken soup for the soul.

bittersweet.

it tasted herby bitter but

sweetened by my granny's care.

a love that went beyond words

attended a wedding. right next to a temple. religious. indian. deaf. the union of 2 persons who are passionate about life and people. i felt privileged to have been invited. i nearly walked into the temple though. just beside the temple, a flight of staircase led me to the hall where the wedding was taking place. there were shoe racks but shoes dotted the ground instead. i took mine off before ascending the stairs.

sat next to my friend and her twin daughters, leonie chen yitong and alicia chen jing. cute! they were curious as to why i wasn't wearing my shoes. i looked around me and realised that everyone had theirs! it wasn't mandatory to take shoes off. i didn't know :P i felt comfortable being barefoot though but i responded to the urging of another friend. went down, found my shoes and slipped my feet into them.

the bride's entry - her look was one of iron certainty as she walked towards her life's destiny. she was going to be anchored in her husband's love.

although i'm a hearing person, it was ironic that i understood the signed language somewhat rather than the spoken. see, i knew sign language but i didn't know the language of my friends' native tongue.

deep rich colours. glittery jewelleries. sweet scent of flowers. everyone watched as the ceremony took place with the accompaniment of 'live' religious music. after the indication from the sign interpreter that the couple was then 'officially' married, a line formed that snaked its way to the stage so that everyone could shake the couple's hands and offer blessings. that was also when one's 'red' packet could be given. before attending the wedding, i asked my indian friend if there was a special envelope i could use. he said that a simple white envelope could do the job as well. i decided to use the traditional chinese red packet. after all, it had the chinese character on it that meant blessings. i thought it would be perfect!

i felt excited as my turn came. in fact, i had 2 turns because i didn't take a picture with the couple the first time around and so i decided to line up again :) the look in the couple's eyes were sincere, gentle and full of gratitude. a love that went beyond mere words.

my life experience had certainly been enriched.

simple but nice

out of the blue, my granny brought in a bowl of man tous (plain steamed buns) which i couldn't capture a good shot of. my granny loves them. i'm quite proud of myself that i bought a pack from ntuc 2 days ago. so that she could steam and eat them.

anyway, when it comes to those pickled vegetables, i never knew there were 2 kinds, until my granny told me to get them. i failed in my first attempt, didn't manage to get the sourish one. so i tried to make it up by making another trip to suptermarket the next day. and still, it's not exactly the one, i had bought the salted sourish one, as in the combination type. they are called pickled mustard...? ok, am i hopeless or what? my granny was gracious enough to accept it.

咸菜汤 (xian cai tang) or salted vegetable soup is what we've always had for chinese new year. and interestingly, my granny always says that my brother has a sharp taste bud as he will always be able to taste the difference should an ingredient go missing to make the soup less tasty.

as for the mushroom porridge, yeah, it's just mushrooms and porridge, as you see it. but boy, was it yummy :) fish. those slim ones? i think they are the kuning fish variety, i dunno about the other one though. i just know my granny eats them often. simple but nice.

yes, that kind of feeling

today, i went into shop n save for the first time although it's been in my neighbourhood for the longest time. for some reason, something surged in my heart as i stepped into the shop. a sense of wonder? a sense of comfort? i can't say. but those feelings made me linger a little longer in the shop. i felt that i had all the time in the world to explore the place. was it because it was a cool late afternoon where i didn't have to rush anywhere? or was it because i felt good after a great session with howe jun earlier? after making the purchase, i left the shop and tried to put a finger to what i felt. as i walked, little by little, it dawned on me. it's somewhat like a sense of having discovered something new in an old neighbourhood. and so... where does this sense lead to...? oh yah, it's a little like discovering something new about an old friend. at each meet up, with every sharing, you find yourself lingering a little longer in each other's company. you wonder why you didn't know about those new things earlier. no sense of hurry but taking the time to sip that cup of tea or coffee. comfortable. yes, that kind of feeling.