Sunday, December 30, 2007
The power of foodI was buying lunch today at the coffeeshop when I chanced upon some love letters at a nearby provision shop. The smell and taste of love letters brought by some powerful memories from my kindergarten days.
I used to live at Macpherson estate, just opposite of the old SPH building. Things were simple and life was carefree for the most of my time there (till I finished kindergarten). I used to have to cross a bridge over a large drain to get to the kindergarten every weekday. My grandma was usually the ones who brought me to and fro from school, and being a rascal that I was, I brought her plenty of trouble.
One day I was playing on the bridge when one of the stonepillars broke and fell on my toes. The pain was excruciating. Lucky for me, my toes was just badly bruised. My grandma carried me then to the nearby market to buy some ointments. It was there she brought me love letters to stop the crying.
Food has tremendous powers, it can invoke memories of the past, create religion and bring social order. Grown men has been known to be reduced to tears, when someone managed to recreate tastes identical to that of their late mothers' or wives'. The Passover meal was created when the Israelites had to eat hastily before they leave Egypt, it is now a tradition that holds the Jewish faith together. The Christian remembers the Last Supper all too well, an extension of the Passover, a meal that instituted the priesthood when Christ said: "Do this in memory of Me." In many Eastern cultures, having a meal together implies hospitality and friendship. In Japan, marriages are sealed with a drink between the bride and groom that kicks start a celebratory banquet.
As shown above, food is a powerful element in our daily lives, not just the source in which we receive our nutrients. Perhaps the next time you take a meal, you might look at the food quite differently. Right now, I will be snacking on those love letters and reminisce. Evileye | 10:28 PM
Saturday, December 29, 2007
WelcomeTo whoever is reading this
Welcome
This blog is written by 2 personalities living in 1 body
One is Jason, a fat and ugly guy doing 1st year biological sciences in NTU. He enjoys baking and cooking, and hopes one day to save enough money to go to Urasawa, and die happy. He likes reading all kinds of books (especially biographies, Catholic Theology and Molecular Biology and genetics), enjoys a little philosophical debate once in a while.
The other is Kai, an evil, manipulatic sociopath that enjoys ranting about the evil nature of Man and how it is necessary for governments to fear the people and not the other way round. He hopes to organize a caged match that includes George W. Bush, Kim Jong Il and Osama Bin Laden, slugging it out using paper fans, with a background remix of the Black-eyed Peas' "My Humps", featuring DJ PM Lee. He hopes to turn everyone into fuzzy little animals so as to bring world peace.
All in all, stay tuned. Evileye | 8:37 AM