Breakfast

what kind of "breakfast person" are you?

i am a pastry & coffee breakfast person

my colleagues could eat things like a whole pack of bee hoon for breakfast.

i couldn't

i never used to take breakfast until just a few months ago, kind of forced myself to make a point to have at least some cereal.

on saturdays, i will have my my usual set of "peng loh ti" toast, 2 half boiled eggs and a cuppa coffee. $2.20 at my market stall. same old thing week after week. i don't know why i keep eating at the same stalls every time. peng loh ti brings me good memory of my father. i always remember when i was young, we shared a set of peng loh ti with milo. my dad would pour some milo on the saucer and i would drink like a cat. no lah. joking. we would walk from home to killiney road to have breakfast. then, continue our journey to cuppage market where my mom worked. my mom was always working day and night. she has only one day of rest, that is the CNY day one. so, i don't have much memory of leisure time with my mother. the only events i remember of her was that she was tired, needed to rest, or that she was sobbing her heart out about the problems she had. so much so that i grew up really a little screwed up up there. but hey, i am not just fine now but i am great. i always feel that i couldn't have been such at ease with myself now had i not gone through my emotional and mental challenges. i am always thankful for them as i have gain such perspective few others would have. so, ok, back to my dad. food brings memory because it is to do with taste, smell (olfactory) and gastronomies. when i was young, i remember going to the old, old people's park / chinatown / bukit ho swee areas with my dad for firstly, our all time favourite Or Luak! and char kway tiao. dad would portion one fifth for me while he wolfed down his share. we always shared a plate and eat from a plate. he would just get me an extra pair of chopsticks. we would always pass by those motorized mobile cars in shapes of Aeroplane, police motorbike and racing car. 20 cents a ride, circling the area. i would beg to watch. i know i have no chance to get a ride. most of the time i watched. 20 cents was a lot of money in 1977, 78 i guess. i think a plate of or luak was probably 80 cents or less? i grew up with poverty mentality which was hard to break but i am glad i broke it, although sometimes some old fear lurks in the shadow. my dad was a movie buff and i remember going to the cinemas countless times. capitol at the city hall was our favourite. all the james bond, jaws, and chinese kung fu movies i watched. i would always beg for some sweets but the only sweet i get is the black halls in orange plastic wrapper, the hottest of the lot, cos that was the sweet my dad carried most of the time.