Bruno and I went to see Summie over exeat weekend. On Saturday, there was a brief, furious hail storm. At night, she cupped my face and whispered, Mom? I'm really happy you are here in the UK.
Tuesday I made it on board SQ 319, right in the nick of time. Eight hours into the journey, the air hostess serving me tells me I am the most polite passenger she's ever served. Fourteen hours later, I am in Singapore. The sky is too bright a blue, the heat has ferocity, and of course the taxi driver attempts ripping me off. Note to self- cashmere tights betray alien status.
Yesterday was New Year's Eve. A New Year's Eve ritual is The Haircut. I was thinking, off balance, edgy. By the time Reunion Dinner was served, the heat from the steamboat reshaped my locks. Ah, my $160 haircut now looks like a coconut. Sweet!
Every smart girl knows, that a Chinese daughter-in-law has no worth. So to survive Reunion Dinner, and Chan Clan Lunch over the last 18 years, I have mastered The Art of Smiling & Nodding, Smiling & Nodding.
But at last night's dinner, I didn't have to exercise my grasp of Smiling & Nodding! I actually had an enjoyable time! Perhaps too much time has passed. I'm more familiar with the Chans, and the Chews. There is a new baby present. The sweet, young cousin gifts us with home-made pineapple tarts, Mil is in a good mood, and Angel the Beloved who nearly died last Chinese New Year, celebrates with us.
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| Off to Reunion Dinner |
Across the island, my cousin B has prepared a Peranakan Feast. Some of the traditional foods Popo unfailingly made during our growing up years, are dextrously re-created by her.
I sit at Mil's table and think of the spread in front of me, so different from the spread at Popo's house. At Popo's house...
Ayam Buah Keluak!
Chap Chai!
Itek Sio!
(* All of the above photographs belong to Cousin B)
Mil makes Claypot Rice, Soup, and delicate dumplings with a Hokkien Name that her mother used to make.
On my fourth bowl of soup, I wished someone had informed me, that when you marry especially a very traditional Chinese man, you truly end up marrying his family as well.
The people at the dinner table yesterday were once strangers. They eat different foods, like different things. They speak a Chinese dialect I do not understand. But as the lo hei is tossed, wine consumed and as we helped each other dish out more soup, more meat, more vegetables, there was a sense of warmth and camaraderie. Nothing felt forced last night. And I felt, immensely grateful.
photo credit- A. Chew
Reunion Dinner
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