Battle of the Sexes...

The perennial battle of the sexes plays out every day, ever so readily in my kitchen.

My dad and mum, always seeking ways to improve how things are done, are in this constant battle to outdo each other, just so the winner could say to the other party, "See! I told you i'm right!"

This morning, i woke up late -- as usual for weekends -- and was pleasantly surprised that my dad was supposed to prepare breakfast for me. (Yes, guilty as charged. I'm not the one to prepare breakfast. Or lunch. Or dinner. Or supper. Or teabreaks. Or anything...I only prepare my stomach to eat. -_-''' )

Mum cooked dao-suan in the morning. (For the uninitiated, dao-suan is the hot dessert made from some beans. Some say it's yellow beans. Some say it's green. Some say it's just made from flour, judging by what you get in foodcourts now.) But dad complained that it was too sweet and concentrated. So mum retorted, " why don't you cook it then?"

So dad cooked. "How sweet do you want it? How do you like the beans done? Do you like it starchy?" Very personalised service, i must say. If my dad was a waiter, i bet he'll get an excellent service award.

End result was not too bad. When my mum tried it, she retaliated, " It's better only because you're cooking a one-person portion. I cooked a whole pot this morning. It's more difficult to cook in bulk. It's also better cos she's getting it hot now."

And so the battle of the sexes continued, day after day.

To be fair, my mum is nowhere near mediocrity when it comes to whipping up 10 dishes in 2 minnutes flat. In fact, that she is a superb cook is a known fact in our fraternity a.k.a our large extended family that runs into more than 80.

So what i had today was as follows:
Breakfast: 2 bowls of dao suan
Lunch: 1 1/2 plate of chicken rice + lettuce soup. (A copyrighted speciality that serves rice with chicken as a whole entity, quite unlike Hainanese chicken rice)
Dinner: 5 hand-made dumplings with yellow mee. Two golf-sized fishballs. One square chunk of fried toufu. A splash of honey tomatoes and cucumber. Durian.

Is it any wonder why my dad could only talk about slimming down without getting it done? His waistline is expanding exponentially.

But technically, he has no waistline left to speak of anymore, because he no longer has one. Sigh.