Food

What a boring sunday. Am quite annoyed the Eng lang department hasnt replied my email i sent to query about their minor programme. I sent in on Friday afternoon. Oh wait, NUS has a 5-day week right? Hmm. No wonder. I shall wait till Monday.

Its lunch time but there is nothing to eat. Unless you consider instant noodles and some frozen food in the fridge. I've realised lately, that my mother doesnt cook anymore. I mean, 10 years ago, she would cook everyday, without fail. She would even lament that she didnt know which dish to cook but she cooked nonetheless, even if she had to rush off to work.

These days, however, she doesnt cook. Ive narrowed it down to 2 reasons.

1) Age. My mom still works and does the laundry. Perhaps she's too tired to cook.

2) She gave up cooking cos there was always left-overs. After all, since my siblings started working and I, myself, having a tiny income of my own, we eat out for lunch and sometimes dinner cos we either work or am at school late.

And yes, I'm guilty of eating out even when she cooks simply because i can. Years ago, we couldnt afford to eat out or buy food from outside. It was a once in a bluemoon luxury. I remember, when we were younger, my mom would feed us plain rice, mixed with margarine and soy sauce, in our humble flat in bedok north. Humble humble beginnings. And i would always envy the other kids who could get their little happy meal packages and eat at fast food outlets almost every week.

Now, we can. And so i guess, ive been catching up on my end.

Throughout secondary school (especially in sec sch) and jc, i hardly ate out. It was too darn expensive. Even eating at pizza hut was a WOW. Dont even mention places like pasta mania, fish N co, swensons, or the likes of that. I would have never have heard of nor ventured into those places as regularly as i do now. Splurging over $2 for any meal was pure stupidity. Maybe it still is.

Snack wise, my siblings and i were absolutely contented with the occassional 30 cents twisties, pac man, chickadees, 10 cents bee bee snack...we hardly had marks and spencer biscuits (as we occassionally do now) or ice cream at certain ice cream parlours. We were contented with Walls ice-cream...and if we had the luxury, we would by the 2 litres Nepolitan ice cream for $4.64 that would last us for a week. Eating a Cornetto(how do you spell it) was another WOW.

Then there's the fact that my pocket money all the way to JC was not as much(read=INSANELY A LOT) as most of my peers. Some people i know get the same amount of money in a week that i get in a MONTH. Amazing.And yet, some of my friends didnt even get pocket money. One of my best friends had to deal with less than $1 a day, and that was if she was lucky. I still remember her rumaging through the front pocket of her back for change. And that is why, even then, i found myself so blessed with what i already had.

In any case, it brings me to this point. I guess, after having tasted luxury, I realise how much i miss my mom's dishes. I mean, im sick of outside food. Now, when i hang out with my friends, i cant decide where to eat. Im just tired of everything.

It is only now, that i truly believe, that homecook food is the best...it reminds you of a whole lot of things...about who you are and where you came from.Though she would never ever cook nasi mentega kicap again,(literally rice, margarine and soy sauce), the korma, kuah soup and rendang now, still tastes as good as they did years and years ago. And eating at home, would be like eating humble pie, but ironically, i now treat eating at home a luxury.

And so, from now onwards, if my mom cooks, i would, as much as i can, come home to eat. And perhaps i should resume my cooking lessons with my nenek. Its been a long time since i learnt new dishes. :)