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Published: October 30th 2010
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Kefhaala? Meya Meya! I am at the diver's haven in Dahab! This is where travellers come to dive at the red sea. It's beautiful here. Excellent dives for a cheap price, just my thing! The town is relaxed during the day time and bumping during the night time. This is where lots of Bedouins reside so the lifestyle here is really chill. The Bedouin people that I have met here are the most friendly and honest group of people I've ever encountered. Oh, and let's not forget, they cook the most amazing food! Fresh seafood and shish kebab everyday! Mmmm delicious... hehe, I'm a happy foodie!
Food Is My Joy Ever since I could remember, I’ve been a fatty. My first Mandarin words were 好吃(Hao Chr) meaning delicious. And my first Taiwanese words were Jia Bung, meaning let’s eat. While other mothers told their kids to completely finish their meals, my mom implored me not to keep eating. She would say, “Di di, it’s OK not to eat everything.” Because if she hadn’t told me that, I would’ve kept eating until I vomited on the restaurant table (happened twice).
Moving to Japan at the age of 5 only
Delicious Tarb
A local specialty called Tarb! its the softest lamb in the world... mmm made me love food even more. I was immersed in a culture where mouthwatering food was at every corner. Sushi, sashimi, ramen, tonkatsu, katsudon, Kobe beef, shabu shabu, tempura, miso soup, udon, onigiri rice balls and yakitori. Everything was おいしい(Oiishi). To be a chef in Japan is one of the highest honors in society and so there were many masterful chefs cooking unbelievable food. The other highest honor in Japanese society was to be a professional sumo wrestler. At that point, this chubby boy’s dream became clear: I want to eat all the food in Japan and be a sumo wrestler! I went for it. Well, actually I didn’t” go for it”, I just ate a lot because I thought the only qualification was to be fat. My mom had some obvious concerns for my health, but she couldn’t resist the pure joy on my face whenever I ate.
Instead of taking away my happiness by telling me to stop eating, she sent me to a sports camp over the summer. No, it was not a “fat camp” but it was definitely an effort to help make me lose weight. When I came back from Camp Lenox, my mom
Seafod freshness!
I came to this place that had the freshest seafod. So unbelievable asked me how much weight I had lost. I gave a big fat smile and said, “I gained 3kg!” Haha, I came out of the camp fatter. What happened was that the cafeteria allowed the students to go back for second servings. Being a hungry fatty, I ALWAYS went back for seconds and occasionally lied my way to getting a third serving. Nobody was there to tell me “it’s OK not to eat everything” and so I just kept on happily eating!
My love for food has actually taught me a lot of valuable lessons in life. The first lesson I learned was to always try new things. I used to just order food that I already tried before because it was a safe bet. But when I finally opened up, I realized how rewarding it was to discover new possibilities. Experimenting with new food is an adventure for me; I don’t know what the outcome will be, but it could be fun! The root of my adventurous personality all started with trying new food.
The 2nd lesson I learned from food was to never complain. Our family travelled to many underdeveloped countries and that exposed me to
poverty at an early age. When I first learned the true meaning of hunger, I stopped complaining about everything. Though many of them were starving, they were still able to smile more genuinely than me. How is this possible? They were happy even when they had nothing. At that moment, I understood that happiness lies in the ability to truly appreciate all that you already have and not yearn for what you want. I had to learn to appreciate everything and I started with food. After all, if I couldn’t appreciate something as simple as food, then I wouldn’t be able to appreciate anything at all. It was a very valuable lesson for such a young boy. The transformation inside me began: the spoiled fatty was becoming humbled.
My 3rd lesson from food was a big one and it came a lot later in life: Don’t be prejudice. For my whole life, I thought I was certain about some stuff; I don’t like eggplant, bitter melon, papaya and taro. I tasted it as a child and I hated it, thus my mind created the notion “I don’t like it.” As I was growing up, I would always avoid them
Welcome to the Red Sea
I was only able to take my underwater camera with me during snorkeling and not scuba dives b/c max depth for it is 10 m. and immediately put it off to one side. I continued doing this until 5 years ago, when I was invited to my girlfriend’s house to eat a home cooked meal by her mom. I was ready to impress the mom with my large appetite. The main entrée? Eggplant.
Oh shit… Haha, I inspected it and I prodded it. With all eyes on me, I had no choice but to try it. I put it in my mouth and I braced for the worst. To my surprise, it was fantastically delicious! I loved it. Suddenly, my idea of “I don’t like eggplant” was wrong.
I can’t say that I don’t like eggplants because I was obviously enjoying the eggplant that the mom cooked. Nor could I say that I like eggplant because 8 times out of 10, it tastes bad to me. But what was important about that experience was that it broke all generalizations for me. The next time an eggplant is presented to me, I will not have the notion of “this will be bad” or “this will be good” but instead, I will have an open mind and try it. I will stop my prejudice and experience
it for myself to know the truth. From that experience, it transcended into a lesson of human beings. It has taught me to see every person as an individual and not fall in the convenient trap of generalizing. Forget what I think I know, let’s try and see what I don’t know. Food has taught me to stop being prejudice and like the eggplant, I give every person a fresh chance before I meet them.
Yes, food has been my favorite teacher of all times. Now, I have the cutest and chubbiest 9 month baby niece who will also make food her teacher one day. She is happiest when she eats, just like her fatty uncle. Some people love to get drunk and party, while I love to get fat and feast. Some people absolutely love sleeping, while I absolutely love to daydream about my upcoming dinner. Some people can’t wait to get rich, while I can’t wait to eat my mom’s food again. I am happy every day because I am lucky enough to eat every day. In my heart, I will always be a chubby young boy and food will forever be my joy.
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Mama Jenny
non-member comment
My fatty son!
My dearest fatty son: I love how yu wrote this bog. This sounds more like my son that I have known> I am glad you remember many things about food and eating. I am even more glad that you transform and accept yurself as a "fatty boy" inside. It is important to remember where yu came from in the journey of finding yourself. Have you find yoruself in the food?Come back soon and mom will cook for you a lot.