We hung out, The Parent and I, around the 'hood at a (very fantastic) hour for a birthday celebration that weeks prior we'd already agreed upon, and already arranged.
And so off we went to the food court space near the community centre for Small-Bowl-Noodles and wanton mee because The Parent had eaten from this particular stall several times before and felt that the noodles were exceptionally good.
The Parent was right.
Some of us will say that it really isn't that big a deal to have such a (commonplace) meal, but when it is just the two of you in the sprawling space at that hour of quiet, having one big pot of soup laden with pork slices, meat balls, crab meat sticks, lettuce, fish balls, bak chor, and egg served steaming hot still over a little flame can be a very heartwarming affair. And then we had a large bowl of mee pok served dry with no chili each, and I'm telling you, that bowl of noodles on a quiet night is a memory to withhold.
We didn't even have just the noodles alone.
It being a birthday meal we didn't stop at just one bowl of noodles. We had prepared an additional order of half spring chicken and fries dipped in chili sauce. (Chicken and duck both roasted and fried are also family favorites, by the way) I think we split the meat and the skin half half. I'm glad to say that the chicken was pretty good- despite us having bought it an hour beforehand, and saving it for the last. :D
It was cool (literally) to stroll through the silence of the hour amidst a fantastic seasonal wind that had come early in the year.
We must have walked for a good half hour, traversing the distance between the community centre, a couple of coffee shops, past the fence of the boys' school, and through the blocks all the way until we reached another side of the 'hood.
It was just as quiet here- the entire 'hood tends to be silent at such hours- and we made our way to the only place where the lights were on and where there were others besides ourselves.
The bus interchange.
Where we had a cup of coffee each (because I love it), a bit of kueh and noodles (because The Parent knows I like noodles) and where, may I say, at its canteen one might find a cup extremely good, extremely affordable kopi.
We didn't even have just the noodles alone.
It being a birthday meal we didn't stop at just one bowl of noodles. We had prepared an additional order of half spring chicken and fries dipped in chili sauce. (Chicken and duck both roasted and fried are also family favorites, by the way) I think we split the meat and the skin half half. I'm glad to say that the chicken was pretty good- despite us having bought it an hour beforehand, and saving it for the last. :D
It was cool (literally) to stroll through the silence of the hour amidst a fantastic seasonal wind that had come early in the year.
We must have walked for a good half hour, traversing the distance between the community centre, a couple of coffee shops, past the fence of the boys' school, and through the blocks all the way until we reached another side of the 'hood.
It was just as quiet here- the entire 'hood tends to be silent at such hours- and we made our way to the only place where the lights were on and where there were others besides ourselves.
The bus interchange.
Where we had a cup of coffee each (because I love it), a bit of kueh and noodles (because The Parent knows I like noodles) and where, may I say, at its canteen one might find a cup extremely good, extremely affordable kopi.