Think that it’s quite ironic that it’s in here of all places that i pick up more Cantonese and eat more Chinese food rather than in Singapore – since the family we stay with is a Chilipino one, with the mother’s side being Cantonese-speaking, I’ve been hearing a lot of Cantonese here, there and everywhere. And drawing on my limited skills at picking up similarities between Cantonese and Mandarin, i’ve managed to understand maybe 30% of what is going on, particularly if the conversation revolves around food.
Talking about food, basically every lunch and dinner that i’ve eaten so far since i’ve come here has consisted of Asian food of some form or other – quite not what I expected, but ah well, when you stay with an Asian family in a Western place I guess that this is but expected… Particularly, a lot of these meals have consisted of Chinese food – thankfully not that of the corrupted American Chinese variety with stuff like Moo Goo Gai Pan and Chop Suey, but of the somewhat more authentic variety, though you do get a Singapore Fried Noodle or a pink-sauced Sweet and Sour Chicken here and there… I stick to my belief that when in a foreign country (at least for a short term), the last thing that I’d want to eat is food that I can find at hom (and heck even at home I prefer ang moh food), but I suppose since i’m gonna be here for a long time, and once I reach UNC there ain’t exactly gonna be much Asian stuff, no harm in eating some now…
Today for brunch we went to some dim sum place, which proudly proclaimed itself as having won the “Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in America” award. I was initially skeptical about eating there since i normally hate dim sum because of the amount of seafood that goes into many of the varieties, but thankfully by now my host family has familiarized themselves with my eating preferences, and asked for stuff that mo har (or something that sounds like that – no shrimp) so I was quite content with what I ended up eating. And nethinks that by and large the restaurant lived up to its billing…
It was only yesterday that I put two and two together and realized that guo tie actually means pot stickers. i always had thought that pot stickers were some tacky American Chinese concoction until when i had it at lunch yesterday and was informed that it’s the same thing as guo tie… You learn something new everyday – and once again, how ironic that i learn about Chinese food in America…
As I’ve mentioned before though, the thing that I am a little worried about food wise is the lack of chilli. The main chilli sauce available here is either of the akin-to-sinsin-garlic-chilli-sauce variety or the crushed-dried-chillies-with-tau-cheo-and-swimming-in-oil variety. Neither really meets my preference, but I’m not complaining – at least there’s something. Now what I really liked was when we bought some green Serrano chillies from the supermarket and pickled them, those were nice and hot – but too raw – but it will make do… On the other hand, however, I have no intention of bringing over a giant bottle of chilli and smothering whatever I eat with it – I clearly remember when my family was touring Europe when I was in p2, and the only other Singaporean family in the multi-national tour group (who *slaps forehead* also happened to be the Tay family) brought along this bottle of sambal belachan, which they proceeded to eat along with whatever European food we were eating – now that was embarrassing…
Hmm i can’t believe i was as hedonistic as to make this entire post about food =p
Just for the sake of making this post not entirely on food, i am starting to get worried that I will not have enough luggage space when I get back – cos I’ve realised that i’ve seriously packed too much stuff as it is, and though there’s still room in my bags, by the time I’ve accumulated a semester’s worth of purchases and what nots things may never be the same again… At least Mark could tompang things with my parents but i don’t share the same luxury (though i’ll ask my mother to bring back unneeded stuff that I packed) – so here’s a shout out to any Singaporean who’s reading this to feel free to visit me in the US come December/January, and while you’re at it help me carry stuff back, I’ll look forward to both parts equally =p
Oh and happy National Day! Honestly, I’m very happy to miss all the rahrah stuff but that’s another story…
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