Reunion dinner

We held hands around the table today and my father said grace. And I remembered the very first time we stood and prayed as a family like that. It was at my grandmother's wake at All Saints' Memorial at Poh Huat Road.

And we stood like that again, except that my grandfather has since passed on, as we will all do one day or other. And it felt as if they were watching us.

We had yusheng (raw fish salad), steamboat (pot of soup), tofu, shabu shabu, pork ribs, and teriyaki salmon. Then cheng teng (chinese desert), pineapple tarts and almond cookies to cap. When I was young, we would always have steamboat and steamed chicken. (When my dad was young, Chinese New Year was the only time he got to have chicken!) Nowadays we experiment a little and have to catch up with each other more, but the formula remains the same: simple food, regular conversation.

And you come out feeling better for it.

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!