Mum's back!

Finally after a short month, my mum's back from China, and delayed be a day too! (the China Airline plane couldn't take off and she had to stay in Xiamen for a night to return back to Singapore)

Besides herself, she brought back tonnes of exotic fruits, like pipa, yangmei, those minicsule peaches, and the white round bean( i shall call it lotus bean until I find out its true name ) and the fantastically fragrant beef balls that is unparallel. She really brought back a tonne, paying S$400 for excess luggage. Now, thats a staggering amount.

Thank God she's alright. The news about the Sichuan Earthquake didn't really scare me, I felt peace in my heart that my mum would be safe, and indeed she is. It was quite nerve wrecking when your relatives call you and interogate you how is your mum, where she is... and to reply that you don't know how to contact her. (Since my mum is travelling with my relatives across the whole of China, I can't track down the international calling code across the provinces, it shocked me to know that China had so many codes that I immediately gave up trying to call her on her phone.) I had to vouch for her safety and I daresay I wasn't convincing enough, they were rather insistent in pressing me for more details and I had to assuage their fears, instead of the other way around. :p

Another spectacle happened. When my mum came out of the belt with her luggage, the putrid smell emanating from the luggage was too palpable, and many heads were turned to my relatives and mum's company. You see, due to the delay in takeoff, the frozen stuff my relatives brought back home had dethawed and supposedly gone bad. It was thousand times worse than the wet market. Even I couldn't stand it. A few sniffs of it triggered an impulse to simulate the act of vomitting. When told to carry some of the luggage to the car boot, I was quite reluctant but still did it. (The luggage were wet and slimy cold, mind you) Even from the back of the car, I could smell the sickening smell of things gone bad.

I was in deep anguish as the food that was brought back cannot be consumed anymore and it was made worse when my mum recounted how much food she brought back; 20 packets of the lotus bean, a huge bunch of bouncing beef balls, fruits, foie gras(too bad she didn't get it) and how these perishable food would have to be thrown away. Being the passionate food lover I am, I couldn't bear the thought of such good food gone to waste.

I prayed that God will do a miracle and preserve the food, turn it from bad to good, after all Jesus could turn water to wine. What I asked was just a reverse chemical reaction. I didn't tell my family explicitly that I have prayed for the food as I was fearful that if the bad food remained bad, it would have a dampening effect on my parents' and siblings' perception of God being a Passive God, one that cannot answer prayers or do miracles.

As it turned out the food was fine! Despite the insanely vomit-inducing smell, the food was fine and eatable! I declared how God answered my prayers and such, but they didn't really believe it. This brought me to reflect my lack of faith then, to declare there and then on the car that I will be praying that the food will be ok. Had I have done it, it would really bolster our faith! Oh well next time I won't hesitate and miss out such great opportunities to share with them the power of God.

Nonetheless, I really praised God for the miracle, and the good food that ensued that night (28th) . I ate more than 5 beef balls, and had a bowl of the lotus bean soup(the beans were overcooked I think), close to midnight. I shall see what I can bring to share with you all the little things she brought back.