Catching Up

It is a good idea to drop by and pay a visit to someone we do not get to see on a regular basis. I did that recently with some family members and close friends, including some past university classmates, who all reside outside Australia. True, it dawned on me, only when I reached there, that it was the fruit season over there -and I do love those fruits, especially mangosteens and durians - but more important to me was the opportunity for saying hi and having a chat, face-to-face, instead of the usual telephone, skype and email.

Mum made her jazzy and tasty version of char koay teow - stir-fried rice noodles with prawns and so forth, unique to Penang - and I did not want to eat that dish from the street hawkers anymore. My sister-in-law Sian Kin made bean paste biscuits (tau snar pneah) and I was addicted to them, they being less sweet than those made by the commercial bakeries. I bumped into my aunt Kuchai and my uncle Peter at a coffee shop near their home - and they joined us for an impromptu breakfast, even if we had met the night before.

I was taken to a live singing venue across the Penang Bridge late one week night - and I thoroughly enjoyed the renditions belted out by a three-person band, whilst also having relaxing drinks with two friends. Part of my culture is that people meet up over food on the table -and in this respect, I concurrently had a food tour of Georgetown, including Hainanese spring rolls (choon pniah), Indian spiced tea (teh tark), tandoori with bread (roti), mung bean dessert drinks (cendol) and a range of Chinese dishes at a downtown club.

Oh yes, the seasonal fruits, of which I had a chance of eating them in the three main cities I visited. The taste is different eating them in the more humid air of the equatorial belt. I had watched with some interest, on pay television at home, the white peppery soup of bak kut teh (pork rib tea)they make in Singapore, as opposed to the darker soup version they sell in Klang (and Wollongong) - and after arrival by air flight from Perth, Bee had taken me to a bright-lit place, near her Singapore home, where they serve exactly that. Cousin Lai Han introduced me to what must be the best fish head flavoured vermicelli (yee tau my fun)in Kuala Lumpur - but she also did not forget my penchant for Malaysian-styled chicken curry puffs from Petaling Jaya. Chet and Karen inculcated me in the different nuances of Katong curry laksa in a lively strip near Joo Chiat, a traditional hub for Singaporean Straits Chinese.

To be continued....