The sooner you accept that some things are not to be the sooner that piece of delicacy is going to find its way into your mouth, propelling you into gastronomic heaven; the less eyebrows raised and eyes rolled; the more at ease your dining companions.
Yes, I love food and I love to write, AND I eat out all the time AND I think I’m a half-decent photographer with a decent camera but *SOBS* I just won’t cut it as a food blogger!
I get very self-conscious each time I try to compose a shot, so my furtive efforts have always yielded either blah or out-of-focus pictures.
Well, I behaved a little out-of-character when I was back in KL 2 weeks ago, which is why the following images are some of the better food pictures I’ve taken OUTSIDE home. It must be from the lack of sleep (having to catch the first flight out) and hunger - I was completely disinhibited! My gracious host must be thinking, “Wah, must be never eat in Japanese restaurant before!” while I snapped away at the sushis and sashimis. Well we got ourselves a private room and there were ONLY 7 people there to judge me, so what the heck!
A little about the food…I’m not exactly the best person to be writing reviews of Japanese restaurants. I don’t think I’ve acquired the skill to discern between raw fish that move on a kaiten belt and ones that come presented in a barrel of shaved ice and adorned by orchids, but top points to Yuzu@Gardens for presentation. It’s the one place we’ve always wanted to try but each time hijacked by our less learned tastebuds to Paddington’s House of Pancakes or Chilli”s. Will resist the Treasure Box and Flame-grilled citrus prawns the next time!
Oh, a note about the ambient music - eclectic to the point of being inappropriate! We heard the main theme from Jurassic Park, a bit of Enya, some Top 40 pop hits and the ethereal music from Sister Drum all in one session.
I was more restrained the next day while lunching at Chynna@Hilton lest people think I’ve never seen a Peking duck in my life! I’m not a big fan of Chinese cuisine, but I do love the interior, very Chinoiserie chic if you ask me. As for the Peking duck, I’ve certainly tasted better!
I want to do a post about lunch.
I’m pretty much a lunch person, obviously because I’ve never been a breakfast person. I could be a breakfast person if every breakfast is a La Bodega affair, but preparation usually takes a lot of time and not worth the sleep I’d have to sacrifice. So over the years I mastered the fresh-milk-in-a-jiffy-and cereal-bar-in-the-car kind of breakfast.
That’s why lunch is a big deal, because by late morning, after the 50th patient in the ward/clinic (you either burn calories sweating buckets in the stifling heat of third class wards or generating body warmth not to succumb to hypothermia in temperatures of Artic proportions in the OVER-air conditioned clinic), you feel ravenously hungry.
When I worked in Seremban lunch was somewhat a headache. Being the misfit that I always am I never quite succeeded in infiltrating into any established lunch parties, maybe from the lack of trying :p So lunch became a dreaded, solo affair, a non-experience beginning with apprehensive foray into the greasy (yes, greasy) hospital cafeteria and ending with several mouthfuls of E.coli in my stomach (lab sampling PROVED it!) but totally devoid of any gastronomic pleasure!
Do you know how fervently I have prayed for Subway or Starbucks to open just outside the hospital?!!
The yummy stuff of my dreams
Anyway, now that I’m back here in Kuching I’m so delighted to find that our usual makan place has stayed open. It’s not much, just another neighbourhood kopitiam strategically located outside the hospital selling watered-down over-priced drinks (damn the monopoly!) but at least we could have something different every day. Monday : Laksa. Tuesday : Claypot Tomyam Noodles. Wednesday : Nasi Ayam Penyet. Thursday : Nasi Pattaya. Friday : Rice Wine Mee Sua (hic!). Sure, we endure the indignity of walking through an illegal man-made opening in the hospital perimeter, ingloriously billed lubang anjing or lubang tikus, and risk being run over by traffic plying the small road that separates us from our food heaven but the call of the kampua mee is strong. And sometimes, when we are really really hungry AND free (free time seems to augment craving, somehow…an idle mind is the waistline’s downfall?) we’d find ourselves devouring nasi briyani and honey chicken with chutney and dhall on the side and downing teh tarik (there’s Kopi Jantan on the menu, but I won’t be the one adventurous enough to test its claim on virility).
Ah, how I love being a lunch person.
Separation anxiety finally struck, but the victim wasn’t the one in diapers.
Can you blame me? I’m a control freak who has NEVER been apart from baby for more than a few hours since well, conception! Returning to work and having to surrender “control” for at least 10 hours a day (longer if I were on call) was tolerable, but leaving home (and country!) for 4 days? *freaked-out mother alert* Who would put her to bed ON time? Who would make sure her diaper is fastened PROPERLY before bed? Who would comfort her when she fusses? Who? Who?!!!
Flash back to those care-free, child-free days…I would relish every single opportunity to travel. Now the Wanderlust has been subdued, replaced by a greater force (or non-force, depending on your take on life) called Inertia. Inertia dictates that an object in mother mode stays in mother mode, whatever form it assumes - in harried homemakers, trailblazing corporate types, or stethoscope-toting, MRSA-disseminating types. It’s the Law of Physics, which a mere mortal like me cannot defy.
But work is work, and this was an opportunity I couldn’t and didn’t want to pass up. So with trepidation I packed my bag at literally the very last minute, with mini-breaks to study the face of my peaceful sleeping child. It was hard, really hard.
Oh did I not mention that I was flying to Bangkok? The idiots - sorry for the harsh term, but I happen to view such blatant disregard for the sanctity of the human body with utter contempt - hadn’t spilled REAL blood all over the city yet, but the court ruling on Mr T’s asset was to be made the week I was there. With an email from the meeting organiser that the meeting would proceed as planned BUT that we were to exercise caution and keep abreast of any new development. *gulp* The last time I was caught in any form of protest was in Kathmandu, which screwed up our itinerary. Frenzied crowd burning tires and and waving banners.
But hubby was with me, and things always seem less harrowing when he’s around.
Took along my 7-year-old *gasp* 4-MP compact (a dinosaur by even the most conservative standard) instead of a more respectable camera, and no charger. Brought along a cartoonish, ridiculously not-to-scale “Bangkok Map” one can easily sapu from the hotel lobby (someone sapu-ed this during his last trip there and gave it to me) instead of a Lonely Planet guidebook. Packed just right instead of just-in-case (little black dress and strappy heels in case there’s a formal do, shorts and sandals in case we go elephant riding…it’s Bangkok what!). Proved just how much - or little - I was looking forward to the trip.
Because of the volatile political situation I remained ensconed in the safe but boring confines of 5-star luxury after hours, marveling at the cityscape from the 23rd floor. Watched Rainman on HBO. Caught the US Health reform debate live, and couldn’t help but draw comparisons with our own breed of politicians, so sorely lacking in finesse. Had a Perrier. Had more Perrier. Took still life shots of Jack Daniels, Asahis and Smirnoffs - oh what a well-stocked minibar! All these in the hotel room.
Shopped a little, mostly in the airport. Experienced Thai fine dining for the first time - you know, small dainty portions in XL size crockery, twirls of colored sauce, long slender whatchamacallit that soars into the air, and a postprandial stomach that doesn’t feel filled. Took a ride in the Skytrain (the local LRT). No temple, no elephant ride! In the end, there was no ugly incident. Heaved a sigh of relief when the plane taxied down the runway for take-off. You can seize the airport now for all I care!
It was midnight by the time I reached home, and my dear girl woke up to flash me a toothless grin. She was in good hands in my absence and all my worries had seemed unnecessary, but I’d hate to be away from her again.
Until my next call of duty.
I have no use for these anymore...not in Kuching anyway :)
Shoes…while you once stirred desires and quickened heartbeats you now merit only a passing glance, as I breeze past you on my sensibly-shod feet on the way to the baby’s department. Somewhere between the acquisition of a pair of hot pink sandals (which I wore to work when I ballooned up during pregnancy) and then boring but oh-so-comfy pair of flats (which is getting a lot of wear and mileage at work now) - incidentally both Clarks, a most glaring giveaway of my current fashion state of mind - Steve Maddens, Nine Wests and Fioruccis have lost their hold on me - heels, straps and buckles.
Designer bags…while you were once firmly in my sight (but alas not too many in my possession!), with the power to, someday at least, make me voluntarily squander my paycheck and still feel good about it (which makes these indulgences value-for-money), you now seem like such foolish extravagances. No amount of Prada or Chanel is going to make me a better mother, and besides, when I’m out and about with baby, who needs a Kelly, Madison or Sabrina when I have Allison?
Tech gadgets and gizmos…while you once induced a must-buy compulsion, you have been bumped from my wishlist. My inner geek is now satiated - I have all I need to keep up with the smartphone-toting colleague, the DSLRed shutterbug friend and the MacBook exhibitionist at Starbucks. I don’t need a new lens, when my value-for-money 50 mm prime is good enough to capture Allison in full glory!
On the other hand if you are marketing baby apparel, baby bath products, developmental toys, carriers, diapers, food…I am easy meat. ME! Ready to be seduced by the idea of safer, more convenient child-rearing (patented bathtubs! sturdy lightweight strollers! parabens-free wipes and bath foams! organic baby food!) and coerced into parting with hard-earned money for the promise of a brighter (first books!), happier (musical toys! activity mats!) and cuter (corduroy shorts! rainbow-hued tights! red leather “shoos”!) baby. Being a mother to a baby girl naturally confers an additional vulnerability to frivolous purchases.
I shop avidly, online and in-store. I’m not averse to buying from thrift shops selling BabyGap export overruns, neither do I deliberate before forking out a fortune for a fancy dress she’s likely to wear only occasionally before outgrowing it. I spend hours researching products online, comparing reviews and prices. I will never visit a mall without dropping by the baby section.
I represent a new demographic. If you target me and countless other young mummies like me, my guess is you won’t do too shabbily. New product? Bring it on!
For an occasion as momentous as Allison’s first Chinese New Year celebration, it sure was a let down.
For starters, she fell sick. Chinese New Year 2010 shall hereafter be known as The-One-Where-The-Baby-Lost-Her-Voice. Poor girl; spiked a temperature on the first day, coughed her lungs out and vocalized like a broken record on the second and struggled to breathe through her tiny obstructed nasal passages on the third. Oh, throw in an emergency room visit too. Still remained somewhat good-spirited despite the discomfort. Brave child.
Plan B took effect in lieu of A, the latter being dressing her up in a cute dress and taking her along to visit our friends. We had to leave her in the care of her grandparents instead, while we pigged out sans baby in several houses. I overdosed on cheese in my boss’ home (there’s the brownie with cheese, choc cheese, cheese cheese, and cheese BALLs…amusingly reminiscent of Forrest Gump’s best friend Bubba’s shrimp-this-and-shrimp-that scene) and still managed to return home to care for a sick baby.
I’ve had to return to work on the fourth day. The hospital was blissfully deserted, and parking was a dream. This of course IS the calm before the storm - any healthcare workers will attest to that. Just glad I won’t be on call next week to manage all the complications of over feeding and drinking!
So there, another CNY come and gone. The fireworks were spectacular though, always have been here in Kuching. I’d have enjoyed them more if the explosions in the sky hadn’t jolted my baby from sleep every 2 minutes.
We’re definitely going to return to our hometown for the celebration next year. The hunt for a baby cheongsam begins now!
Funky New Year do