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Monday, July 15, 2002 Ah, Singapore! In some places, people die from starvation. In Singapore, people probably die from overeating... LOL. Not really, but food is a huge thing here. A typical greeting in Cantonese (rather than saying hello) is translated as, "Have you eaten?" The guest speaker at my cousin's church commented that eating food is a pastime in this country. And he's right. With good reason though--I've been eating lots of stuff I can only get here (or that is waaay better here)--durian, laksa, mee siam, pandan chiffon cake, soybean milk, fish head curry, etc. Some of my favorites wouldn't be touched by most Americans, and many of them are really spicy. Unless you've been to Asia you probably have no real concept of spicy food--for an American I have a great spice tolerance. For an Asian I'm pathetic. Oh--the last note on the food topic--one of my uncles owns a vegetarian restaurant. It's pretty different than most of the same in the US; he's a veggie because of his religion (Buddhism) and a lot of what he makes looks like meat, even though it isn't. He makes traditional Singaporean/Chinese meat dishes and replaces the meat with some form of starch that looks almost exactly the same and usually tastes pretty close. Interesting, huh? More fun--I got a Thai massage the other day. Most of it was relaxing, if a bit unusual--it's a combination of "normal" massage, stretching, cracking (they cracked my fingers, toes, back, and neck--the neck was soooo loud!), and hitting pressure points. And they don't just use their hands--they use elbows, knees, and feet too. Apparently a lot of people in this part of the world are really into it. The best thing about this trip has been spending time with my relatives, though. It's amusing to watch my mom interact with her sisters--she laughs all the time (maybe that's where I got it from!) and seems a lot younger. My grandmother (Por Por, my Mom's mom, as opposed to Mama, my dad's mom) is 82 years old and shows no signs of letting down--her hair is gray instead of white and she's still incredibly active and has all of her faculties. She looks like a "typical" Chinese lady--about 5'1", I think, and skinny too--and wears traditional clothes. And she only speaks Cantonese, which makes things interesting for me since I don't know any Chinese languages at all. I've been trying to pick up a little, but communication with her is funny--but she's really great. She's also an amazing cook. Seriously, you'd never guess the ages of most of that side of the family... I definitely want to age like her. ^ Top | 9:33 PM | | | 
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