Covid-19 Eight months on, the journey is mine

Reminiscing with Alex, my ex FS, MO F&B consultant on the old days where we will meet for projects and try out all the good restaurants in new cities. Hotel bartenders will be desperately force feeding all the consultants cocktails non stop, everyday during pre-opening just to get their mix right (we are the sleep deprived, 24 hours available guinea pigs who need a drink to survive getting the damn hotel ready). 

Now, Alex is back in HK, complaining about how small his kitchen is compared to his London home, sharing recipes and cat photos with me. And what am I doing? 

.... am texting Alex why the hell is my brinjal and mince meat taste off. 

This is not a food blog. This is an expedited portfolio of one month's worth of cooking...

Now Ken, Megan and Morgan are my guinea pigs. Having captive audience, I too, force feed them new creations I just learnt. Megan likes some, Morgan hates some, Ken try not to waste proteins in general...

And I learn a very simple logic from this cooking journey. The logic why parental advise almost certainly never works.

Mimi is a good cook and the folks at home like my in laws' food. But I do not seek out mimi's recipes and I keep my in law's tips at bay. Why? Because both are not helpful, their levels are way too high for an amateur like me. 

All their tips and instructions will have 90% of the steps missing (esp my mum!!!) because they assume I have some basic knowledge, which I have none. I rather call Youtube and Google my sifu than to frustrate myself getting guidance from the pros. 

Same logic why kids will never listen to parents' advise (all the hardships condensed into one shortcut to avoid all those unnecessary pain)... Totally irrelevant. Unless the kids experience the journey for themselves, they don't even know WTH are parents talking about. 

Which brings me back to... now that I have cooked and tasted my own cooking. I am more ready to reach out, knowing what to ask and what I want to achieve. And yes, I will cook that fish... 

From staring at construction in New York, Turks & Caicos, Maldives, Beijing etc to now staring at the wok Phillips Pressure Cooker (this is hard, which button to press), I must say wow, the journey is mine...

CB is not the reason for my cooking. It is due to kar kar finally retiring after being with us for more than 9 years. Gleefully she passes me the wok at the handover ceremony. Lump in my throat.

In the first few days apart, Morgan and kar kar behave like lead characters in some star crossed lovers drama, both totally embodying the theme of love, longing and hope via long distance video calls. She will ask the male lead how he is, is he eating well, tears streaming down her cheeks. He will lower his eyes, only repeating her name ever so softly: kar kar.... kar kar.... kar kar....

In all honestly, we all know that is about all Morgan can say. Since his video calls communication skills is... you know...

Any doors opening will yield a "is kar kar home?". Every sound from the kitchen will send him running, "kar kar, you are here!?..... oh it's only mummy." Heart wrenching (only for me), almost too difficult to watch.

But LOVE NEEDS COURAGE... Helpless longing scenes change gears to brave determination. "When I am 18 years old, I can fly to Jakarta.", says the brand new man standing taller. Ticket and luggage on wheels obviously well prepared in advance as audiences wait in bated breath for "13 years later..."

For now, Mr Morg set himself to work. Chef Morg Bakery opens every Sunday. Limited Edition everything. 

Takes to gambling to numb himself... NAY this story will be too typical... No black jacks, not yet. Poker cards to train his processing speed for now. Maths board game is this month's old/new toy. Throw 2 dices, you can flip the number on either one of the dice, the addition, subtraction, multiplication or division of the numbers on two dices. Whoever finish flipping the numbers win. 

Two construction workers in "hard hats" march to the yard on night to tell me that construction in the bedroom has started. Put down the laundry and look at the clock. Ha! It's 8.30pm. Late! Night shift! 

M&M are very proud to show me the site, until I ask to check their BCA approval to resume work permit. No Permit? MOM manpower deployment plan. No? NRIC please, I need to ensure you are not underaged. 

I shut down the illegal site, off to bed! They hurry underneath their construction. Megan's bunk is on top deck and Morgan's on the floor. Ha! You guys are building worker dormitories! I just know something is fishy here! 

Every night, new construction sprout. They say, if you cannot stop them, join them. 

Raymond bought the kids some ancient relics. Bestman Balloons... Have not seen them for at least 30 years. I bet they must be toxic by today's standards but wow what fun. 

Lego Masters unleashes new ideas on what Lego can do. M&M jump to building geometry dash games... Megan transforms my 2D burger into 3D version plus an extra hard boiled egg. Awesome awesome. 

Adreinne's post a blog about how her daughter's school is becoming a UNICEF Rettighedsskole (a Rights School) and Rights schools in Denmark uses the foundation of the UN Convention of the rights of the child as the approach to their entire learning environment. I can see why she is not returning back to Singapore anytime soon. 

Explain to Megan on the way home that children have their rights which are enforced by the law. She scoffs at the notion saying teachers and adults will just override them all.... Oops. Do we? Show me, she says, what rights do I have? Luckily UNICEF has a clean poster and the whole pdf explanation is only 4 pages long... This discussion on all 54 articles will take many weeks so we start with the first 14. Gal will have many things to ponder and maybe select the top 5 rights that are most important to her for us to base our home environment on. 

But, kar kar is gone now so you still have to help with housework ya? I do respect your views but dishes don't wash themselves right?