Sometimes when I wash a bowl which I have used for steaming white rice, a scent will lazily waft up. Not a pungent smell, nor rich. A gentle smell, simple and soft.
It reminds me of my grandfather: a tall thin man who ate less and less as the cancer ate more and more of him. White rice was important to every single meal and sometimes when I was small and stayed over with them, rice was even part of breakfast.
It reminds me of my grandmother: a short round woman, who cooks amazing meals. Delicious meats and vegetables, stewed, stir-fried, deepfried, steamed, braised, rich with sauces and gravies; steaming pots of soup, crammed with ingredients, intense flavours and magnificently aromatic but in the way of Chinese soups, light and liquid. 73 and still going strong! Go popo!
It makes me think of my daddy, who never feels full without rice in the meal. Rice is not the foil to this man - it's ESSENTIAL.
It makes me think of a time when I was small and very skinny (SIGH), all arms and legs and mouth and stomach.
It makes me think of Chinese New Year Eve and its requisite reunion dinner: never complete with rice, and with plenty of food to liven up the meal. Spicy soya sauce prawns, batter-fried prawns, giant steamed fresh fish, stewed pork with mushrooms, meatballs in peppery soup, literally a giant platter of stirfried vegetables and also a huge dish of fried vegetable, omelette strips and fishcake beehoon.
Oooww!I want Chinese New Year to come now!In the meantime, white rice with a sunny-side-up egg dripped with dark soya sauce will do. Egg-yolk oozy please!Mmmm....
Monday, August 28, 2006
Sunday, August 27, 2006
First
This is my first time blogging on this brand new baby blog of mine. And it reminds me of all the firsts I've ever had...
My first blog - which was not regularly updated. Sad but true and will now be discontinued because I don't want certain people to be reading it.
My first kiss ever - a sweet maddening gentle swirl of sensation fumes in my brain. To this day, I can remember exactly how it felt, how we smelt, how we touched. He is now not in my life, for reasons I shall keep to myself as it's a long story but for some reason, the memory of this kiss is untainted.
My first memory of primary school - a crazy kaleidoscope of people. I still remember how my mother brought me to school late and we sat down at the end of a big open hall, with slate-gray tiles.
My first time getting lost - I was in school for a dance class, but it had been canceled and I didn't know. I decided I would go home by myself. I was 6 or 7. This was also the first time I received the kindness of a stranger.
The first maid we ever had - a sweet thin competent Filipino lady named Elsa. She was around more than my mother and she cooked fantastic fried chicken wings.
The first book I can remember ever having bought for myself with my own pocket money - Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. I still have that book. I still love it.
I can remember many many more, but then, I'm feeling rather sentimental tonight. So I will now bid a goodnight and go to kiss the bonny boy I love.
My first blog - which was not regularly updated. Sad but true and will now be discontinued because I don't want certain people to be reading it.
My first kiss ever - a sweet maddening gentle swirl of sensation fumes in my brain. To this day, I can remember exactly how it felt, how we smelt, how we touched. He is now not in my life, for reasons I shall keep to myself as it's a long story but for some reason, the memory of this kiss is untainted.
My first memory of primary school - a crazy kaleidoscope of people. I still remember how my mother brought me to school late and we sat down at the end of a big open hall, with slate-gray tiles.
My first time getting lost - I was in school for a dance class, but it had been canceled and I didn't know. I decided I would go home by myself. I was 6 or 7. This was also the first time I received the kindness of a stranger.
The first maid we ever had - a sweet thin competent Filipino lady named Elsa. She was around more than my mother and she cooked fantastic fried chicken wings.
The first book I can remember ever having bought for myself with my own pocket money - Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. I still have that book. I still love it.
I can remember many many more, but then, I'm feeling rather sentimental tonight. So I will now bid a goodnight and go to kiss the bonny boy I love.
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