The wonder of Chilli mix....

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Afternoon all,

How's things? Hope you're fine and/or dandy….

It's September, and dutiful osstrayan that I am, I watched my footy team on TV over the weekend and amazingly they won. Fingers crossed for next week 😊

No blurb today. This week's entry is thus:


"No no limits, we'll reach for the sky!
No valley too deep, no mountain too high,
No no limits, won't give up the fight!
We do what we want and we do it with pride...."
2 Unlimited - No limits


In Vietnam I sometimes feel like I'm stuck in a time warp. There'll be days when I have moments that make me feel like I've regressed to being a teenager again in the mid 90s.

This was definitely the case on my visit to Dam Sen water park. I was at a park enjoying waterslides with 2 Unlimited blaring away in the background. It must be 1993.

But in actual fact, it's 2007, and I'm at a waterslide park with the rest of my colleagues for another bi-monthly birthday celebration. In all the time I've spent with my colleagues, the thing I find most surprising is what their idea of fun is. I liken it to being a teenager until you hit your 30s 😊

As part of the celebration, we're competing in events such as waterslide races, tug of war, and other games like 'how long can you keep a balloon between you and your gyrating partner to early 90s doof doof?'

Conducting a 'it's a knockout' type event as an exercise in team building I've noticed is not too out of the ordinary for my colleagues at the cards centre. The culture is just plainly different, and working here is akin to being in a really friendly high school where you still play together, having all day outings at parks going down slides, having water fights and trying to remove each other's swimming shorts. Thankfully I kept mine on, but it was a touch and go moment.

Like any high school, you kind of get the innocent and geeky type people as well as the delinquent hard drinking types. I'd like to think I'm the exchange student that hangs out with everyone and just smiles politely because he has no idea what anyone's saying. 'Oh where you from? Korea?'

Anyway, after the fun and games where my team came 2nd (the story of my life so far), we retired to a buffet lunch. Aha, my favourite part of the day. We all descend on the buffet like vultures to a carcass and return to our tables where each person has their own personal dipping plate choc full of Chilli mix.

Ah Chilli mix, now one of the things I've yet to mention is the wonder that is Chilli mix.

Chilli mix is like the WD40 of Vietnamese food. When in doubt, just bring it out and you're a grandmaster Chef, everything slides down the gullet with ease and tastes great. Whoever came up with the simple combination of chilli, salt, sugar (and lime juice when required) has single-handedly changed the landscape of Vietnamese food.

It gets put on everything. Too sour, too sweet, or too bitter? No problem, Chilli mix makes it all better.
For example:

On fruit: Your guava too sour or gummy? dust it with chilli mix and it becomes the party in your mouth that everyone's invited to.

Seafood: If you're on the beach eating freshly cooked seafood that still tastes like the ocean floor from whence it came, a sprinkle of lime juice and chilli mix will renovate that faltering flavour shack into a taj mahal for your palate.

Poultry: Got bird flu? Fool! It's because you hadn't lathered your chicken or duck in enough chilli mix. Chilli mix is the flavour enhancer of the gods, it maketh the unpalatable palatable. It's the naturopathic cure for all your wussy-ness. IT PUTS THE 'ILLI' IN YOUR WILLIES....

Put it into you and feel the Power!

Sorry, I've digressed again. What was I talking about? No matter, I need to get back to work.

Til next time, See ya.

cheers,
Ben

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Comments

[Forever Young]

Hilarious
Ben. I love reading your blogs. You have such a great sense of humor in your writing style. Please keep it coming.