Monday, December 12, 2005  12:59 AM
penang.
I have eaten enough to last me for a lifetime. Penang food is undoubtedly and immeasurably the best stuff on this planet - in their spelling - char koay teow, koay teow th'ng (suddenly Jing's 'koay' isn't so unique anymore), the curries, deep fried belachan chicken, chee cheong fun, sambal kangkong, the kuehs, iced milo and this pancake-like thing called apom which tastes alot like the 'gai dan zai' in Hong Kong except in a different shape. And I had my fill of A & W once again with my over-ambitious cousin ordering FIVE large curly fries to be shared between three people, already loaded with burgers and root-beer floats. My Penang hokkien has also improved leaps and bounds hearing it 24/7 for the last five days, even in my sleep because my grandma just cannot stop talking especially when she's with her relatives. I go back to Penang almost every year that it's become a yearly pilgrimmage thing because we visit our relatives there; I'm terribly familiar with the roads and the comfort of going back to the same few eating places. But I know that once my grandma and the rest of the grandaunties in Penang pass on, it will hardly be a place on mine and my cousins' holiday destination list. Which frightens me a little because I realise that one day that place will have no more purpose for me to return any longer and all I have are the wonderful childhood memories of my cousins and I playing on the Penang beaches at age five, our grandma buying little treats and toys for us at age six, tearing down the entire hotel room at age eight, finding fascination with this haunted house called 'Adorable' which used to belong to my grandma at age twelve and shopping ourselves silly in the only two decent shopping centres they have there and getting upgraded to business class on the flight back at age nineteen. I must cherish these yearly pilgrimmages more.
On another note, don't ever trust me with your supermarket shopping list. I went grocery shopping with Daddy today with a trusty list and one of the items was "Big White Onions". I happily grabbed a huge pack of it, smiling to myself and feeling clever as I picked out the ones with the least blemishes on it. What do you know - now my house is stocked with some neverending supply of garlic. In my defense, they look the same.
And Secret Santa with the Innies has brightened up the Christmas mood a little! Although (the gossip mongers that we are) we're dying to tell each other who we got, and I can't ask for advice from anyone what to buy the person I picked, it kind of heightens the surprise. I cannot wait for our Christmas dinner when the identities will finally be revealed!
Thirteen days to Christmas! :)
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