March On!

Caught on camera - fun and frolic in rear garden!

The last few weeks whizzed by in a flurry involving cats and dogs and a deluge of Straits-born Chinese or Peranakan culture.  Yes, cats.  My feline frustrations escalated a few notches when the cats decided to make the ceiling above our kitchen their maternity ward! 

The constant mewling from new-born kittens got so distressing that I had to call in the heroes from Bomba to remove them.  Just as I thought it was all over, I heard the patter of tiny feet again and it was definitely not just my imagination because I spotted the happy family frolicking in our rear garden!

 

Sumptuous lunch at Nynoya Cafe

From cats, my focus moved to dogs.  A friend was in search of dogs to keep him company in his new place so we went around looking and found our way to a dog shelter in Lima Kedai [Five Shops!] where he picked out a pair to give them a home.  After the female was neutered and the male had recovered from kennel cough, the pair adjusted to the change and they are now living charmed lives, properly pampered by the privilege of even sleeping on custom-made doggie beds!  Ahh…not bad for a dog’s life, eh?

My series of Peranakan pleasures started with a reunion with Kim, a former schoolmate who I’ve not met for 38 years, because her choice for lunch was Nyonya food.  It was a unanimous decision to go to June’s Kitchen, now known as Nyonya Café, and to our amazement Kim decided that the food was not spicy enough for her taste.  Wow!  Even though she’s been living in the UK for her entire adult life, she certainly has a high tolerance for hot food!  

Pak kor fu chok thong sui, a Cantonese dessert

Hwee Ling warned us to keep some space for “afters” because she had prepared pai tee, a typical Peranakan delicacy and pak kor fu chok thong sui, a Cantonese dessert, for us back home.  When we returned to her house, Rose turned up with her Convent School recipe kueh kosui (best served chilled!) and fresh lemongrass tea that she brewed.  It was a veritable picnic for our makan-marathon that Sunday, so don’t ask me how our rubber stomachs managed to stretch and accommodate these lovingly homemade treats!

My delightful discoveries about the Straits-born Chinese culture are shared separately in Baba & Nyonya.

Convent School recipe kueh kosui made by Rose

Homemade pai tee delicacy by Hwee Ling

/pl