Singaporeans and Food

Ever since the beginning of fatherhood, I hardly follow any TV programmes. Off went the SCV Football and Sports channels (which saved me some monies). I guess the one we follow are those meant for the daughter, such as the 9.30am Doraemon cartoons on weekends.

But few things i would try not to miss, and mostly are travel related programmes. One is hosted by Darren Lim (Lin Ming Lun) which featured the various attractions of Australia. The other is the Thursday show by Belinda Lee (Li Xin Yu) known as 【稀游记】 which featured Singaporeans in remote parts of the world. The show airs at 9.30pm and repeated at 11.30pm @ Channel U.

Both the missus and myself liked this show. Else, we would not know that our fellow countrymen are doing so much good deeds o/s as well as how individuals, esp women, were able to cope in a remote town when they followed their spouses back to the latter's hometown. You really have to admire their guts for deciding to leave their comfort zones in Singapore. Some left to do charity works in Peru, Kenya and China while others were taking care of their husbands and kids in Norway and Iceland, hardly any popular destinations for most Singaporeans. Just when you have given up hope for the locals here when no one offered you seats in the MRT as well as no one borders to press the buttons in the lifts, there are some kind and courageous souls out there sharing their love.

So much on the praises... one interesting common feature in this show is that Belinda Lee would often throw a surprise for these o/s Singaporeans - she would cook a Singaporean dish for them, always using pre-packed mix by Prima (www.primataste.com) so much so that we were wondering if this company was a sponsor for her trips. She would cook Laska, Curries, Mee Siam, etc .. and that caught the missus' interest. So one fine day, she asked if she should cook sth similar at home. Of course, i would be game for it , since i am not the one slogging in the kitchen!

So, i bought quite a few packs from Cold Storage the other day. Missus cooked the Hainanese Chicken Rice on Sat evening, and Fried Kway Teow on Sun afternoon. I would say that both myself and the daughter were impressed, esp judging from her appetite on both meals, considering that she is sick (flu again).

From the 【稀游记】, i could gather that local foods really help to brighten up the lives of Singaporeans o/s. That reminded me of my buddy Robin in China who has been away for more than two years though he came home occasionally. He has a difficult time, and i have ever motioned the idea of visiting him and his family in Beijing but i did not live to my promise. If local food are so important to Singaporeans, and i could not send prepared ones to him, i decided to send him the curry chicken and bak ku teh mix to him, bundled with a box of bak kua. Even the postage had costed more than half the delivered items, it is definitely monies well spent. If these could brighten up the day of a dear friend, why not?