Stir-fried jicama and layers of egg omelette, fried dry tofu, and chopped shrimps topped with garlic-chilli (not sure how to name this). Throwing all etiquette to the wind, the only way I know to eat these savoury lil'... thing... is to lift it upright and then drop it into the mouth.
Crush it and enjoy the sudden burst of flavours; checking every now and then that the gravy from the jicama didn't dribble from the corner of the mouth. Chew them and freeze that moment.
Repeat.
My camera's under the weather lately (and I don't think it's going to get any better with time) so a little Ps magic did salvage some of the dulcet sight I beheld during lunch.
Being a Nyonya dish, untold efforts went into the preparation of each components.
For better quality pictures, Google Images' the place to go.
Many will start work tomorrow and reports of traffic congestion are testament to that. Ten years back, I'd still be lazing on the couch facing the TV with a half eaten mandarine in my hand.
It's all in my head like it was last week. And it's a shame my mobile phone camera will no longer focus properly. Not because it was smudged by my oily, saliva-covered fingers. Speaking of that unsightly digits, I didn't get to eat kuih kapit (love letters) this year. It was nowhere to be seen and nobody brings them.
Prelude to an epicurean overindulgence: Steamboat for the dinner before New Year's Eve dinner at my uncle's.
It all seems to fizzle out way too quickly. A prayer of thanks. Dinner 1 (uncle's). Dinner 2 (potluck at another uncle's). Dinner 3 (at your truly's). I don't have to start work tomorrow (not in the employment sense, not yet) but I have my work cut out alright. When I'm nearly out of my reticent shell, I will be back to being surrounded by the four walls in a quasi-asylum milieu.
It's all peace and quiet (punctuated by the occasional screams of that spoiled brat below) on the outside but there's a flurry of chicken feathers in my head.
Wait! I've always been home. And I could only imagine what it's like to celebrate new year in a foreign land.
Some are still on their way. In time for lunch on the first day of new year. Some has gone home and mope around until dinnertime. In any case, meal time's over and it was a blessing. I didn't snap any pictures tonight but I did so last night. Yes, yes. We have had dinner two nights in a row now. *ha!*
This one's a foreign TVC about homecoming. Not bad.
Daughtry's Home ain't bad too. Ah, me and videos!
Boom! There goes the opening salvo marking the Chinese New Year and time to sign off. Everyone's home. The American troop's home from Iraq. Truly, home is where the heart is.
Lent my strength today at Tesco to help cart away two boxes of honey mandarines and three cartons of canned drinks. I'll settle for the two cans of Coke Light in the fridge during the holidays. I know, artificial sweeteners aren't the best thing around.
As I grow older, preparation for reunion dinner gets more wearing. Part of growing up and growing old I suppose. Luckily I can still choose to not go to the wet market. The atmosphere's the same (excited, anticipatory, and work done in a feverish manner) but the feeling's different now. Is it because there's nothing great lined up for prime time TV? Maybe it's the nagging feeling telling you work ain't done yet and the deadline's coming soon?
How I miss those harum-scarum days of yore when the sum of the two digits of my age is more than 1 and less than or equals 10. Or in recent years, the tear-jerking TVCs by Yasmin Ahmad [for Petronas]. This year's – I missed the last – TVC ain't that great. There's too much going on in the first two minutes I started to lose interest by the 60th second.
You've been warned.
The other locally-produced CNY vid on YouTube has more views and less painful comments. More importantly, the message is clear. I felt Malaysians can better relate to this video than, say, someone who never lived here before. And the subtitles didn't help much. =)
The Prime Minister's CNY wish to all Malaysians is that we "continue with our best Malaysian tradition by sharing the celebration with all communities; to open our doors to all Malaysians."
Point well taken. The last thing he was quoted as saying is, "Let's tear down the divisive walls and barriers and build bridges between our hearts."
Well Mr PM, the walls and barriers that divide and separate us were built and preserved by the present government. How long more do you want to be in denial? I guess you've stopped listening long ago.
