Bonding with food

Saturday... a day for food, food and more food. Da and I would usually have dinner on saturdays in the company of family or friends (sometimes both, such as the times when Da's cousin (MT) and the family of the Three Musketeers came to our home for dinner).

We had arranged last night with ET to go to his home for dinner today. As Da had to work this morning, we went to our favourite coffee shop at Jalan Tua Kong for breakfast. At the same time, he dropped off our car with GroomWorks (located a few shops away from the coffee shop) so that our car could be groomed by Yong's men this morning.

As we ate our breakfast, I saw an elderly gentleman approach one of the stalls in the coffee shop. He looked familiar and I thought that he might be my client. This client does not speak English. Whilst he has some understanding of Mandarin, he speaks only Hokkien. I speak Mandarin and although I do not speak Hokkien well (due to lack of practice), I do understand Hokkien when it is spoken. As such, whenever we have meetings with this client, he will speak to me in Hokkien and I will answer him in Mandarin. Somehow, we manage to understand each other all these years.

As I was not certain whether the elderly gentleman at the stall is my client (I do not meet that client often), I called out a tentative "Mr Ng" as the gentleman walked past. No response. Hmm... either that gentleman is not "Mr Ng" or my voice was not loud enough for him to hear. I did not want to call out his name too loudly in case it was not Mr Ng and it would have been embarrassing. *grin*

I was home alone this morning. I have come to appreciate not working on a saturday. I generally do not sleep in late on saturdays as I find that there is so much to do around the house. Actually, more often than not, I end up baking or cooking.

When Da came home, we decided to eat in. As such, I warmed up in the oven the sardine curry puffs that a colleague gave me yesterday as well as some of the baked goodies that I had made. Complement this with a mug of hot coffee or tea and you have a winner!

Before Da and I left for the home of the Three Musketeers, I packed a container of baked goodies for the three handsome young boys who live on the same floor as Da and I in our apartment block. I was rewarded with a shy smile from the youngest of the three boys, who happened to be at his front door when I walked over to their home. He is about the same age as Nining (the daughter of ET) or perhaps a little younger, and his favourite phrase when speaking to us is "Hello, Uncle Aunty!". He can repeat this phrase several times in a conversation. Other than this, he and his two brothers like to update me on their activities. It is such a joy to chat with them.

Goodness me! The traffic on the road was very heavy tonight. What should have been no more than a 15-minute drive to the home of the Three Musketeers took us about 50 minutes. When we arrived, I quickly handed to ET the lemon cheesecake that I had made today so that he could refrigerate it.

Nining was very sleepy and decided to skip dinner in favour of some zzzzzzz. The rest of us sat down to dinner and enjoyed a plate each of fried bee hoon (rice vermicelli) that was full of ingredients. Tiki had tossed a fruit and vegetable salad and it was very popular with everyone. It was a good meal, not just because of the food but especially because Supercute and Tau Suan sat at the dinner table even when they had finished eating and chatted with everyone. This is how a family meal should be - a time of bonding and catching up. In some families, the minute the child finishes his meal, he scoots off to his room and has his eyes glued to the computer screen for the next few hours. Half the time, the parents do not even know what is going on in the child's life nor what the child feels about this or that. Hey Supercute and Tau Suan, we enjoy your company and your insights into various issues. Continue to linger at the dinner table after meals to chat, okay?

As usual, I over-ate and had to ask for some enzymes for indigestion. ET is an excellent chef and his food is always mouth-watering.

After dinner, Supercute showed me how to use their ice shaver. It was a lot of fun! When Tiki requested for iced coffee, Supercute made a hot mug of latte before pouring it into a large mug that was filled to the brim with shaved ice. I asked him why he filled the entire mug with hot water instead of merely dissolving the coffee granules in some hot water and then topping up the rest of the mug with cold water (which is what I normally do when I make iced coffee at home). He replied that it affects the taste of the iced coffee. Interesting. I shall have to remember this. Very often, out of the mouth of babes comes words of wisdom. It would be good if adults could pay more attention to what the younger generation is saying. Many a time, we have set ways of doing things but we have to remember that many roads lead to Rome and there is sometimes more than one way of doing something and the alternative method may even be better or more efficient.

Supercute and Tau Suan were hooked to their computer while Da and I watched an English Premier League match on television. ET and Tiki were in another room watching what was supposed to be a horror movie ("Chucky" or something along those lines) but which ended up being more like a comedy. This reminds me... in 1995, I visited my penpal JMC in South Carolina, United States of America. As JMC's sister was married and had moved out of the family home, I slept in her room. She had a Chucky doll in her room and I had difficulty sleeping at night because of the doll. I was fearful of nightmares.

Dessert time! Would you like a slice of lemon cheesecake?

We had a good time at the home of the Three Musketeers. Supercute taught me how to play two games in pet society (in facebook). According to him, when I log onto pet society, the first thing that my virtual pet should do is to kiss all the other pets in my friends list so that I can get points (oops... I am not sure if I got this right. Do I get points or do I get coins?). I asked him to help me change the name and colour of my virtual pet but I was told that I do not have enough virtual coins as I would need to "pay" for this. Oh well... slowly but surely....