Visiting home

Kind of an oxy-moron, isn't it--"Visiting home". In some ways, even though I call Singapore "home", the thought of going back permanently has not yet occurred to me. Still it's great to be back briefly. For once, I can be part of the "Citizens" queue/line at the airport and be the intended recipient of the big "Welcome home" banner.

Dear Mama and Papa, as always, waited patiently for me just outside the baggage claim area, even though it was 12:30am on a working Monday.

Had an episode at Narita airport with a tourist on his way to Singapore while we were waiting to board the same flight. Basically he was late by a day for his planned arrival to Singapore and wanted to contact his hotel to make sure they didn't cancel his reservation. So I loaned him my laptop and called the hotel via Skype on his behalf since he couldn't speak English that well. Unfortunately they canceled his reservation so he had to pay extra for a new room, so he wasn't very happy and asked me to help him call his travel agent in the US when we reach Singapore. Naturally I agreed and arranged with him to meet at the baggage claim in Changi. But when I retrieved my luggage, he was nowhere to be found... and feeling bad that my parents were missing out on sleep, I decided that Mr. Cruz should have no trouble in tourist-friendly Singapore and left without attempting to find him. Sorry...

Anyway, once home, Mama plied me with mooncake and Vitagen before shooing me off to bed. Ah... the familiar ceiling, the scent of the furniture, the light from the streetlamps tentatively peeking into the room... during JC (high school) days, many times have I stayed awake briefly after turning off the lights, enjoying the solitude and admiring the night sky. There's this jigsaw puzzle I assembled long ago which has the night sky and all its constellations in glow-in-the-dark paint. Always wanted to put it up on the ceiling but Pa would've gone ballistic if I had done so :) It's probably still lying somewhere in the house, waiting for a chance to show another fascinated child its starry magic.

I enjoyed every such night during the week, and filled my days with an endless array of local food. What fun it was to go to a hawker center and just walk past the stalls, like a lion calmly surveying its territory, I strolled languidly up to a signboard that caught my fancy, and ordered whatever they had to offer. Can never get tired of the variety; every plate a surprise, every bowl of _whatever_ a welcome delicacy that I renewed acquaintances with. Yum yum!

My stomach wasn't so happy of course. After weeks of Japanese food, something about the famous Changi Village nasi lemak put it off balance and I had to endure a constant tummyache while continuing to stuff myself silly throughout the week. And I barely scratched the surface! Chicken rice (thrice), ban jian kuay, nasi lemak (twice), sugar cane juice (frothing and fresh--twice), soya bean (yes, soyA bean) milk, yong tau foo, chui kuay, ban mian, Eurasian cai fan, nasi padang, satay and last but not least, Mum's cooking. Four different types of chilli I believe: assam chilli, chicken rice chilli, sambal chilli, freshly-cut chilli, chui kuay chilli, yong tau foo chilli.

Home food; funny I never miss it while away but stepping into a hawker center upon return just triggers a irresistible instinct to sample every little thing. Considering that the weather typically destroys one appetite the first 3 days, that is no mean achievement :)

Just remember the following: The typical Singaporean talks about the next meal while he or she is the middle of the current one.