I Have to Remind Myself Not to Think Too Much

I think about it frequently.

I think about the food that I like, the food that I craved for, and the food that I missed. No, not the type of foods that I had tried while vacationing, but a more back-to-basics kind of food - school canteen food. More specifically, primary school canteen food.

I swear that I still remembered the taste of all the foods that I had eaten throughout my 6 years of primary school life. And that was more than 20 years ago. It surprises me a little. Ya I surprised myself sometimes, when it comes to food.

There were 4 food stalls and 1 drink stall (though I can't remember what the 4th one was selling, maybe it was empty all along). They were all my favourite stalls. I would alternate among the 3 stalls, depending on what they had for the day. One of my favourite foods came from one auntie who is staying in the same block as I am. Well, she had retired long ago but I still crave for her delicious laksa. This laksa, oh boy, is one of the best, I would say. I really liked the runny texture of the curry, not too heavy, yet packed with all the goodness. (I really hate the ones that is sold outside; so thick and creamy, it's choking me.) Just thinking of it makes me salivate, slurrp! I can eat this laksa forever!

And from the same stall, there was this deep-fried wanton with fish filling. I loved it. I really love it. I can't find anything similar to this at all now, no matter where. Back then, I would buy 10 of them (each cost 10 cents), drizzled some of the sweet black sauce and chilli sauce, and that was my lunch. Well, kids.

The 2nd one was also a chinese food stall. If I am tired of noodles, I would buy fried rice topped with a tiny chicken drumlet. The fried rice was a simple fare, with chopped long beans and eggs and peas and carrot bits and corn kernel. But it tasted great. That tiny chicken drumlet was also full of flavour. My mum can never replicate the same taste, though hers is just as nice :p And when the auntie decided to introduce french fries to her menu, you could see that the queue just got longer than before. I was one of them, queuing up for that oh-so-delectable fries with her oh-so-hot chilli sauce. Right, it was not straight from the bottle, it was her own recipe.

Then, there was this muslim food stall. The mak cik there served the most delicious mee rebus ever! But the downside was, it was not served everyday. It was alternated with the mee soto. I had never eaten mee soto before that. And being a small kid, I had no idea what mee rebus is neither! I just saw friends eating it and I just queued up! I didn't have to order, it was understood. So that was why sometimes I had mee rebus, sometimes mee soto. The 1st time I had mee soto I was like, hey this mee rebus tasted weird. I didn't like it at all. But I finished it all the same. Still not knowing the difference between the two, I would queue and see if I am lucky or not. Of course now, I love both the mee rebus and mee soto.

And what is a meal without drinks? The usual rose syrup with lots of "frog eggs" was one of my favourites. 10 cents a cup. And of course, fizzy drinks from the dispenser. I used to buy mixed fizzy drinks of whatever the dispenser can provide. I think it was 30 cents. Ahhh... The simple pleasures of a life of a primary school kid.


"For the amount of food that I ate, I am glad that I grew taller and not fatter."