Instant Noodles..... Instant Love

Long, silky strands curl around your fork effortlessly; glistening with a coat of golden sheen and fingers of rising steam loaded with indescribable promises. The nutty fragrance of toasted sesame oil reaches your nostrils even before the noodles touch your taste buds. Intoxicating. Comforting. Home.

My all-time favourite food - the humble instant noodles. What? I hear a few mumbles and can probably spot a few raised eyebrows. The ubiquitous packet of instant noodles that costs less than a dollar is your all-time favourite food? Yes. It is my comfort food; not caviar, not foie gras and certainly not Dom Perignon.

A 50-year-old invention, I say instant noodles is the best thing next to sliced bread. In fact, I would choose the inconspicuous packet over bread anytime. It perks me up when I'm down; it fills my stomach when I'm hungry and too lazy to buy takeout or too inconvenient to order delivery. It is also my travel companion. I have not heard of any Singaporean , Japanese or Korean frequent traveler who trots the world without the packet or cup of comfort strands stashed deep into their suitcases. Instant noodles is home.

Of course, it has often been criticised as unhealthy or junk food. A single serving of instant noodles is high in carbohydrates but low in fiber, minerals and vitamins. High saturated fat or trans fat is found on the noodles as they are fried during the manufacturing process. It also contains large amounts of sodium and monosodium glutamate in the soup base. Why then, is it so popular the world over from Argentina to Ukraine to Asia to the U.S.?

For whatever it's worth, it is a food source that's easy both on the palate and on the pocket. It has been touted as an economic indicator as the sale of instant noodles the world over rose steadily in 1997, following the Asian Financial Crisis and again in 2009, the global economic downturn. With rising inflation and the soar of food prices today, will we see a surge in instant noodle sale again? Likely, I think. Very likely.

Economic reasons aside, I believe people's love with instant noodles stems from its versatility.It is fast and tasty. It is also easy. It can be eaten on its own, with condiments or as a full-fledged meal with egg, meat, slices, vegetables....the works. It can be served soup, dry, semi or fried. I love it all.

Well then.....as a lover of convenient noodles, I must be mindful of all the lowdown and potential health hazards, right? Yes, I do. So here are some cooking tips to have our noodles and eat it:

1) Boil the noodles in a pot of water till they are cooked
2) Remove noodles & pour away the water which contains wax
3) Heat another pot of water till it boils
4) Place cooked noodles into the pot & shut the fire
5) Empty the packet of seasoning into the pot of hot water

Welcome home and Bon Appetit!!!!

How much do I love you? Let me *hug* the ways....

I hugged 4 people yesterday and each hug gave me a different feeling.

I hugged my son before he left for school. It was not the usual hug I would give him. This one was long and intense. Reassuring. Reaffirming. It had to be because we had a big fight the night before. With his arms wrapped tightly around my waist, he pinned his cheek against my chest. He needed to know that he was still loved despite everything he had said and done. He was. And that hug validated and reaffirmed it for the both of us.

At my school, I noticed a Nursery 2 girl sprawled on the floor sobbing her heart out. Her teacher was at the other end of the classroom telling a story to the class. I then found out that she had been crying for sometime, refusing to be comforted simply because she had wanted to make a point to her parents that she did not relish coming to school on her birthday.

I sat on the floor next to her, scooped her up onto my lap and just rocked her gently. I felt her body soften and the sobs subside. She burrowed her face into the crux of my neck and draped her arms around me in an embrace only a 4-year-old could muster. It was tight but childlike. We held onto to each other on the floor for a long time. I think the rhythmic rocking calmed her. I then combed her hair into place with my fingers, dried her tears and brought her to sit with the rest of her classmates. She was subversive and intent on the story-telling when I left the classroom.

In the late afternoon, I met a friend, my soulmate.......who understood all my anxieties, fears, frustrations and weaknesses. We hugged and held on for a long time. I needed the reassurance. I felt the love of friendship; the grace of God through this hug. I knew that I did not have to pretend to be composed or happy or strong then. I knew I was treasured for who I was; whether I was up or down. I felt loved.

At night, I visited my mum in the hospital. She started to tear when she spoke of her pains and mortality. I reached out and put my arms around her. It was not something I would do lightly because my mum seldom hugged me. We would hug maybe once or twice a year on occasion but never this spontaneous. As I held her, I could feel how frail and bony her body was. She has lost so much weight. Why didn't I notice it before? Has age ravaged her and I couldn't even tell? I couldn't reconcile the robust and loud woman she once was to the painfully frail image I saw before me. Am I going to wait till she's gone before I can tell her how much I love her?

Four different hugs in a day.............four different emotions. But all good. All made me reflect and take stock of my relationships with people and how I can give and receive freely just by reaching out.

It's all up to me to take this gift further.

The Finish Line

A conversation I had on Friday night has entrenched itself onto my thought recesses. It has sunk its sharp claws onto the cerebral cortex and is gnawing its way into the subliminal; reflecting, probing, investigating. I know it was a ruminative question and no concrete answer was expected. Somehow, I can't help but wonder about it too.

Do nice people finish last?

Anyone who has watched 'Survivor' or 'The Apprentice' will know that beneath the fancy trappings of teamwork and camaraderie, it takes a lot of grit, determination and sometimes pure cunning to emerge the winner. It can seem like getting ahead requires putting your interests above those of others and capitalizing on the misfortune of others.

Look around us and we can see that some of the nastiest folks end up successful while those who try to abide by the rules only live mediocre lives. It does seem that the nicer you are, the harder you fall. The meaner you are, the further you get. Where's the justice here?

I have no answer for that. I only know that the immensely successful folks invariably have a certain viciousness about them. It could be the edgy outlook in life, the cold glint they wear behind their Prada shades or the hard-as-steel emotional fortitude they have painstakingly cultivated. They might be warm and nurturing in their private lives but they would never let the corporate world see that vulnerable side of their psyches. I know of people like that.

The next question is whether these people are born that way or does environment have a part to play? It's now back to the 'nature versus nurture' tango many psychologists and theorists have mulled over, researched and tried to unravel through the decades. I believe it's both genetics and environment. Our personality develops from its original genetic component. People are predisposed to have certain personality traits from birth. The environment will either augment, enhance, or stifle those natural characteristics.

I have been in situations where I did not make the right decision because I was afraid of the repercussions. Or made difficult albeit rational decisions but was later seen as unyielding. Where do we draw the line?

Whether we are predisposed to be tough or nice or whether the environment has shaped us in either direction, I believe everyone of us have our own crosses to carry......even the toughest person sometimes grapples with priorities and life-changing decisions. It is then down to a matter of prerogatives and convictions how we want to live our lives. To me, being at peace with myself is more important than how successful I become.

I also do not think that nice people finish last. They only seem to be lagging behind because they stop to reflect and help others along the way. They are in touch with their inner consciousness and they know that they will leave a legacy. They will be remembered for the lives they touched rather than the million-dollar deals they have closed.

Out, You Offensive Heels!!!!!

My 11-year-old son had been threatening to throw all my high heels away and finally did so yesterday. He read it on some newspaper that prolonged use of high heels can cause problems from hammer toes, bunions to irreversible damage to leg tendons.

But every woman should have a basic pair of high heels, right? These heels (killer heels, no doubt) that make us look oh-so-glamorous, first became popular in the 30s although they were more suited for special occasions. Today, a pair of heels is practically de rigueur for any woman worth her salt.

Yes, I know. Research has shown that a third of women who wear high heels injure themselves while falling in their heels. The posture is also compromised when the whole body is thrown out of alignment as the heels are forced to be higher than the toes. Many women suffer a shortening of the tendon because the upward tilt of the heel tightens the tendons and they become stretched and painful.

With such strong medical reasons, can I blame him for exercising tough love on me? He'd been at my back the past month but did I listen? No, I just brushed him aside and continued wearing my heels everyday. All because I was used to the high-heeled look and woe to me if I had to walk down Raffles Place with flats!

Despite his month-long nagging, I was shocked to see that my shoe rack was swept clean of heels this morning. Did he really throw away my Nine West, Charles & Keith and some other cute heels with equally cute sounding names? I made a lot of noise and complained that I had to spend money on new shoes now. He just shrugged and said it was better to spend money on new flats (key word: flats) then go for medical treatment in later years.

I couldn't believe it but I was touched. Okay, a compromise was then made. He admitted he did not throw them away after all (PHEW!) but would safe-keep them for now. I would be given a week to sort myself out and get decent walking shoes although I would still be allowed to wear those heels once in a while.

Now, who's the parent and who's the child here?

Add and Subtract (I mean......Delete)

I just deleted someone from my mobile phone. With a few tabs of the keypad, the person is gone from my contact list.....possibly forever if I don't ever reinstate her number. It had seemed so easy. But was it really?

In today's digital world, adding and deleting friends on Facebook, MySpace and other social websites are as routine as breathing and eating. Many relationships are reduced to a profile picture or a string of numbers. Gone are the days where friends would talk on the phone for hours, meet up over coffee or just generally hang out to build that relationship.

It was harder to 'un-friend' someone too. For closer friends, we had to physically and responsibly iron out the differences or risk the end of a relationship. Doing so sometimes turned the table around and the relationship became stronger. Today, a click of the mouse and the contact is gone. Some people won't even realise they've been deleted because they have hundreds and thousands of 'friends' anyway.

While the actual act of deleting this friend's contact seemed easy enough, the decision behind it wasn't. For a long time, I had agonised over whether she was a friend worth keeping. We had a good friendship and fantastic chemistry but things have happened to make me believe she was just a good-weather friend.

I hold no grudge against her because she has technically not done anything to hurt me. I just want to stay clear of people who inflate their egos at the expense of others. I guess I don't appreciate being on an emotional roller-coaster ride. I know I will not shun her if she calls or messages me but I will not be the one to initiate any communication henceforth.

Not one to forget friendships I've forged, I know I will always remember her. I guess I just needed a little reprieve from the feeling of not being appreciated. I'm not sure if I will ever 'add' her again .....but I know for now, she is deleted and shall remain in oblivion as far as my mobile phone contact list is concerned.