Hello Son,
We are on our last day of Chinese New Year break.
Will be back in school tomorrow.
Daniel, Mom knows the FREE basket of fruits came from You.
How You are able to arrange for that basket of fruits all the way from Heaven to come to Mom's hands is -- unbelievable. It could only have come from You because the circumstance was just too extreme.
Thanks Son, for making your presence felt daily.
So anyway ...
On Valentine's Day ...
Mom would be preparing dinner for the family.
Normally, Dad does the cooking ... but today, on Valentine's Day, Mom told Dad that she would cook dinner.
Menu for the night would be :
1. Tamarind prawns
2. Stir fried broccoli with shitake mushrooms and carrots.
3. Basmati rice.
Dessert would be mangoes and ice cream.
Aunty Carol would be bringing a bottle of champaign.
It would be perfect.
A simple recipe.
No complications.
Or so your mother thought ...
About 3 pm on Valentine's afternoon, Mom was in the kitchen preparing the prawns.
She in fact impressed herself with her trimming and de-veining skills.
When was the last time we had assam prawns?
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| photo from the internet |
our food blog
After the prawns were ready, Mom marinated them and kept them to chill in the fridge.
She then prepared the vegetables and the mushrooms.
Chop chop chopped the onions and garlic.
Into the fridge the ingredients went - to sit and chill - until it was cooking time.
Fast Forward to dinner time ...
Grandma, Aunty C, Aunty D and kids came to the house.
It was about 7:45 pm.
We were all seated at the dining table.
The pot of rice, the assam prawns and the vegetables were on the table.
They looked promising.
Pause ...
Looks can be so so deceiving.
So anyway, we sang our Bless our Food song.
Dad served the rice on all the plates.
Mom happened to glance at the rice and noticed it did not look the same as usual.
Oh oh ...
Soon it was apparent to all that the rice was undercooked and the prawns were soft and mushy.
How could the rice be undercooked when Mom was using the rice cooker?
It's automatic.
The grain automatically becomes rice.
HelloOoOo ...
The basmati rice always ... always ... comes out fluffy and nice.
What happened???
Well Son, Mom will tell You what happened.
Mom was the chef.
That's what happened.
And so ...
throughout dinner, Mom had to apologize for the disappointing meal.
It was embarrassing.
She ran out of lines to say how sorry she was ...
The assam prawns were a disaster by itself.
King prawns lead to king disaster.
Who knew ...
Mom had to explain, "the prawns are actually very fresh (it's true) but I think there were too many prawns in the saucepan ..."
In your mother's defense ... it's true that there were too many prawns in the pan ... normally we would have cooked maybe 8 to 12 pieces ... but that Valentine's night, a special dinner, Mom had used 2 trays of de-frozen fresh prawns ... like about 30 to 40 of the sea creatures ... and to be honest, it was difficult to cook them all properly ...
Lame excuse.
The prawns should be firm and springy, Mom said apologetically.
Our family just laughed and said, it's okay ...
it's nice ...
it's not too bad ...
can still be eaten ...
don't worry about it ...
hmmmm ...
can still taste the assam ...
etc.
Silence.
Awkward silence.
Why did Mom not feel better after all the assurances?
You must have seen your mother shake her head to herself.
She wished she could turn back the clock.
We were all eating grain-y rice and mushy prawns.
Only the vegetables were edible ... but then, there was no excitement in that dish.
Darn.
This would not have happened had Dad been in the kitchen ...
Gawd, why did Mom shoo your father out when he came in to check when Mom was cooking?
Did You send Dad in?
Anyway ...
Dad later announced that the rice cooker plug was taken out of the socket, and maybe that's why the rice was not cooked properly.
Why is the rice cooker plug out of the socket? Dad asked again.
Oh ...
Darn.
Is that what happened???
So that's why.
No wonder.
Mom had taken out the wrong plug ... she was supposed to have removed the plug of the electric kettle which was not in used but instead she had taken out the rice cooker's plug (before the rice was thoroughly cooked) (grave error on her part right there) ... when she needed the socket for the induction cooker.
Why did she not check???
So that was our family's Valentine's dinner.
We drank more champagne and ate more ice cream than usual.
So Valentine's dinner is the first part of the story.
One word to describe that evening : Disaster
Now for the second part of the story, which happened 2 days earlier.
On February 12.
The Story of The 3 Baskets of Fruits.
You will not believe the adventure these 3 baskets of fruits encountered.
So Aunty J (in the States) ordered 3 baskets of fruits to be delivered to us (in KL, Malaysia).
Fruit seller is in KL, of course.
First of all, the date of delivery was (wrongly) given.
Aunty J, in the USA, put down delivery date to be 1/11/2021 ...
In the States, that date reads : January 11th.
However, on our side, that date reads : 1st of November
Mom saw the date 1/11/2021 and immediately the image of her angel numbers appeared in her head.
21 21 2x
You must have seen your mother smile ... a secret smile.
Nobody would understand her ZAP explanations, and she didn't bother to explain.
But something was gonna happen ... Mom could feel it ...
What were You up to?
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| image from the internet |
The mistake on delivery date was discovered when Aunty J, who kept asking us if we had received the fruits and we kept telling her no, not yet ... checked with the seller.
So, error was rectified.
The basket of fruits will be delivered on 11/2/2021, confirmed the seller.
11th of February, 2 days before Valentine's.
Those numbers instantly translated into ZAP numbers for Mom.
21 21 21
Three times 21 now.
Hot.
Very hot.
What are You up to, Son?
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| internet |
Are You following the story so far?
The fruit baskets were supposed to be delivered on February 11.
On February 11 ...
Day passed ...
And night came ...
No fruit delivery.
The next day, on the 12th ...
It was about 10 pm when Grandma said to check with the guard house.
Aunty C went to the guard house.
The guards informed no fruit baskets at the guard house.
Dad said we have to ask the guards in the morning shift ... the night guards are different people, they might not know. The guards (morning shift) may have kept it in the management office, since we did not collect during the day and it was already 10 pm.
Hmmm ...
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| internet |
On the 13th, still no sign.
So anyway, on Valentine's day ...
Dad went to the guard house in the morning, and was informed that the 3 baskets of fruit had been claimed by a resident.
The guards took a snapshot and gave the unit number.
Mom looked at the unit number : D-5-3
D? Who else could that be, Daniel?
And 5-3 ...
Why, that's 8 ..
A clear 44 in disguise.
Mom called and told Grandma.
"Somebody has collected the 3 baskets ... resident in unit D.5.3 ..."
Grandma exclaimed, "Oh, that's my friend ... wait let me call her."
Grandma contacted her friend. As it turned out, her friend had given away all the 3 baskets to her - own - friends.
Take a minute to let that sink in.
So our family people were like :
What???
Why???
How???
When???
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| internet |
Grandma explained, "Yesterday, my friend X called me and asked if I ordered anything online ... I said no ..."
It's too weird that the 3 baskets all had Grandma's name and unit number on them, and still that X friend claimed it as her own -- X said later on because Grandma said the baskets were not Grandma's -- which is a stupid excuse -- X should have just left the baskets at the guard house -- since they were not addressed to X.
And as for Grandma, we were all like, "Why did you say they are not yours???" to which Grandma replied, she thought X was asking if Grandma had ordered anything online, which she did not -- totally did not think about Aunty J's delivery.
And so, Grandma called up her X friend and pressured X to get the baskets back -- from whoever X gave the baskets to.
Meanwhile, texts in the family chat went on back and forth.
One line that Mom read, "One basket is coming back all the way from Ampang."
Hmmm.
All the way ... from Ampang.
All the way ... from umm, Angel city.
The sentence could have been written as "One basket is coming back from Ampang."
All the way -- was added to impress upon the distance.
It's that far away ... like perhaps, heaven far?
Is Mom solving the puzzle right?
Is she hot on your trail?
So anyway, the 3 baskets, which had been distributed by X to her own friends, would be returned to us later that day (Valentine's Day).
Now on to Part 3 of the story ...
Mom's dinner was a disaster.
However, the main topic of conversation was not on how bad the food was, but of course, about the fruit baskets.
"How could X take those baskets and just gave them away?" was repeated throughout dinner.
So, after dinner, Grandma and Aunty C had gone back.
Aunty D was still at our place.
Mom took her basket of fruit ... to take a photo.
It was then when she saw the condition of the fruits.
OMG.
Seriously???
There are more photos of a promegranate with a punctured hole and a mango with ugly black lines on the skin.
And another of the dragon fruit that was practically shriveled up.
The grapes were all sticky as the bottom ones had burst.
The lemon was a ball of fungus.
Mom was so shocked to see so many bad fruits.
All in one basket.
It was unbelievable.
No fruit seller would have dared to put so many rotten fruits in one basket.
What was the seller thinking???
It was all very gross and disgusting.
The basket was still intact with the plastic on -- it had not been opened -- which means, the seller intentionally packed all these bad fruits ... then it went on an adventure for a day ... only God knows where this particular one had been.
All the way from -- ???
So anyway, Mom sent the photos of all the fruits to Aunty J.
Lesson learned : Never order a fruit basket for a friend if you do not know the seller.
That night, Mom could not stop lamenting and complaining about the ridiculous incident of bad dinner and bad fruit basket.
On Valentine's Day.
Why did this happened???
As it turned out, Grandma's basket also had rotten fruits.
Aunty D's also ... but not as bad as Mom's.
The next day, post Valentine's Day ...
Dad and Mom were lazing in front of the TV.
Mom had picked a movie.
What's Your Number?
She has not read any reviews on this show.
It was the title that had intrigued her.
Numbers ...
Ah, as You know, your mother has this -- unexplained -- connection with numbers.
Plus, there was the shape of the heart -- Valentine's day had just passed.
Whilst watching the movie, Mom received 3 ZAPs.
1. Chris Evans was wearing a FREE licks tee shirt.
2. Ralph Macchio's name was mentioned. Karate Kid 1984. Daniel - Son.
3. Anna Faris said, "I love you, 21."
Omg ...
I love you, twenty-one ...
Seriously, who says that???
Dad was beside Mom, and yes, Dad heard that too.
ZAP ZAP ZAP ...
After the movie ended, Mom browsed through PRIME VIDEO and selected another movie.
This time, she chose : Unfinished Business
She has not heard of this movie before, but the title was clearly calling out to her.
Especially when she saw the word SON (Tom WilkinSON) in the intro.
Yup, we have some unfinished business here, You and Mom, Son.
She still has no clue as to what happened the day before.
The bad dinner and the bad fruits.
So Unfinished Business it is.
The movie started and before long, Mom heard your name.
Dan ...
Daniel ...
Oh Wow ...
What are the chances???
At one point, these lines were mentioned.
Danielle Trunkman
Daniel ... not Danielle ... Trunkman
You and your sister's name (Justine Danielle).
And then came this part : "I didn't know that means, the E word."
Omg.
The E word???
Mom turned abruptly to Dad, "Omg. Did you hear that? The E word. Remember his E word?"
Flashback :
When you were in lower primary, one day, you came to your parents and said out loud, "Justine said a bad word."
Your parents were like, what word did she say?
Do you mean to say the F word? Mom had thought quietly in her mind.
You insisted urgently, "The E word. The E word."
Finally, Dad and Mom asked, "What's the E word?"
And You said, "E - diot!"
We all burst out laughing.
That's your E word.
Whist UNFINISHED BUSINESS was still on, Mom received a text.
It was Aunty C telling us that a basket of fruit had arrived.
Only one basket.
A FREE basket to replace all the rotten fruits.
Right in the middle of Unfinished Business.
You had worked your way up to Mom -- preparing her with the first movie -- What's your number? and then continued with Unfinished Business -- imagine the timing, imagine the choice of movies -- there is no way Mom would have picked the movies so correctly unless You had whispered in her ear.
These are movies that are not familiar to Mom.
Not at all.
Yet, all the ZAP lines were there to ZAP Mom.
A FREE basket of fruit all the way from heaven has arrived for Mom.
You surely know how to arrange for the delivery, Daniel.
That was amazing.
It was YOU all the time.
ZAP ZAP ZAP!!!
Happy Valentine's Day, Son.
Hugs & Kisses
Mom and all at home
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| Reunion's Dinner at Grandma's (Aunty C in blue) |
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| First day of CNY dinner at our place |
