Why Would I Write

  • Pan Mee is

    One of the greatest foods known to mankind, in my opinion at least.

    Pan Mee or flour noodles (what I called it growing up), one of the few good things from Malaysia, has been a staple of my diet ever since I was a young boy. There’s just something wonderful about sinking your teeth into juicy chunks of flour dough that’s been cooked in delicious soup. Add in some minced pork, mushrooms, mani cai, deep-fried shallots, a helpful serving of sambal and you couldn’t ask for more. My favorite part about pan mee – when eating the hand-pulled variants, you can finish the meal with just a spoon.

    It’s also deceptively filling. I’m not sure if it’s because the flour expands in your stomach (that’s what I’ve heard), but it’s not hard to get full on a single bowl (especially if you take it with soup). While it’s one of the best dishes available in Malaysia, and it’s not too hard to cook, it makes me wonder why it isn’t a widespread phenomenon yet. It’s not outlandish or filled with exotic ingredients, I can’t believe it hasn’t spread globally yet. I’m pretty sure someone could start up a Pan Mee restaurant in a western country and do well there.

    Pan Mee is widely available in Kuala Lumpur and is cooked in many different styles depending on which restaurant you go to. The most common ones are cooked with soup, dry with black sauce (with optional chili flakes). One of the things I like about the dish is that you can’t really go wrong ordering it – the worst you’ll get is something with insufficient flavor or stale anchovies. Also, super biased opinion, my mom makes the best Pan Mee ever.

    While typing this piece, I realized why I never write about food. I have no idea how to describe flavor. Or appearance. Or aroma. Or whatever goes into describing food. Also, I have no idea why I wanted to write about Pan Mee – I was just inspired after having a delicious bowl of it for dinner. Feel free to drop any Pan Mee restaurant recommendations you have if you think I should check it out!

  • Sleeping Upright

    Back when I flew a lot for work, one of the things which annoyed me were flight attendants waking me up before landing to straighten my seat and pull the window shades up. While I knew it was protocol and they were just doing their job, I never understood the reasons for it. To me it seemed like they were being anal about something so trivial because it was never explained to me before. Today, I decided to Google why and according to these articles, it’s mainly for passenger safety. I learned something new.

    Anyway, since the frequent interruption of my sleep, I adapted by learning how to sleep in an upright position, and I have a beanie pulled over my head to block out light. Now the flight attendants don’t bother me on flights anymore, unless I put the sticker for them to wake me up for meals.

    I still haven’t learned how to not drool during sleep. My only tip is to not wear black so your saliva stains don’t show on your shirts.

    I kinda miss flying long distances. Long hours in a cozy seat, while you enjoy old movies, music or podcasts with no interruptions. No texts, emails or phone calls. Just you, alone with your own thoughts, soaring through the sky.

    Alone time is good time.

  • A Couple of Strange Dreams

    It’s been a while since I’ve had some dreams worth writing about, but the other day and earlier this month I had two that I remembered to write down on my phone.

    March 24th
    One of my friends hosted a big ass party for his whole neighborhood. The roads were closed so that people could walk around freely. There were tables and chairs set up along the side of the roads for people to sit and enjoy their food. It seemed to be some sort of Chinese New Year themed event, as I remember a lot of red decorations and fireworks. There was roasted pork, grilled chicken wings and satay. Everybody was having a good time until some troublemakers arrived.

    I was chilling with some friends, enjoying our food when a bunch of Chinese gangsters showed up wielding knives, guns and slingshots that fired long needles (don’t ask me why, it’s just what I remembered in the dream). They walked around with masks and bandannas around their faces to protect their identities. I had no reason why they were at the party. I just assumed that they had something against the host. Anyway, they went around the neighborhood killing random people – I had no idea who the victims were, but quite a lot of people died.

    I remember cowering in fear, crouched by some walls, trying to hide from the gangsters. None of us could do anything to stop them. Even my friends who were trained in combat didn’t dare to attack them because they had weapons. It was a very strange feeling. I knew it was a dream, yet I felt so helpless and hopeless. We were such cowards.

    The dream was still going on when I woke up. One of the gangsters had found me and my friends and was threatening to kill some of us. I don’t know how it concluded, but I felt pretty bad about it.

    March 5th
    I was walking home one night and as I approached my condominium, I saw a guy I had been trying to avoid waiting for me outside the guard-house. Since he was some distance away, I didn’t think he saw me so I decided to avoid him by sneaking into the condominium through the side entrance. However, he managed to spot me and followed after me. I took the elevators to the wrong floors, and used the stairs to throw him off but somehow he managed to stay on my trail. It was like he knew my every move.

    In the end, I decided to confront him instead of hide from him. I questioned him – what do you want from me? Why are you following me? He told me that he needed my help. He wanted me to sell drugs for him. The kicker? He took his arms out of his pockets to reveal two stumps where his hands used to be. They had been chopped off.

    I’m pretty sure I declined his proposition – I woke up after that.

    Two vivid dreams. Strangely violent. I haven’t been watching violent or gang-related movies recently, so I’m not sure what influenced my mind to concoct such stories. Also, they seem too literal to have any symbolism though I could be wrong. Any dream interpreters out there care to shed some light?