Spaghetti Blue.

Bob in Wok ........not ....Wok with Bob.... .......for the time being.......



Man.......I am feeling the blues..............I stayed off Spaghetti since Wednesday....and I am not feeling quite myself .............................it is like ..............blank!.............................
........................................blur.............

I seek comfort in noodles......any cooked noodles......soup noodles.....wantan noodles......... fried Singapore noodles ............braised duck noodles........curry noodles ......prawn noodles...............
....beef stomach noodles .....pork balls noodles......fish balls noodles.....fish head noodles..
..sour Assam curry noodles .........pork belly herbal noodles ..........tom yam noodles.......
...claypot braised noodles ......soto noodles ...........fried hokkien noodles.........Cantonese noodles ......... live prawns noodles...........spaghetti fried ala Chinese style noodles!!!!!!!!
....and many more.


I had better eased off the Italiano spaghetti .......for a period or else........ the last ‘date’ with Spaghetti I had on Wednesday (24/3)........ would be the last plate ....reason being that............my blood sugar level reading is on the bother-line...........and if I don’t take heed ....I will be a diabetic................in a year time..........


I don’t know .................................what my world would be like without Spaghetti.....


...........I don’t know ..............................how on earth my world would be..... ..........IF......... I have to..........put a brake to the carefree voyeuristic pursuit of ‘chow’ to satisfy the ‘foodie’ in me.......and to satiate the gluttony in my system.....


I just don’t know.


...Time passes too fast.........tomorrow is a few hours away......

....YES!!!..YES!!!!..YES!!!!!!
...and come Monday is SPAGHETTI Day ..... a day I designated to be ....the one weekly ‘bonding session’ with good old Italiano.....


I feel good already...YES!!!!!!!!!!

Spaghetti.

Wok with Bob.



After I got over the craving for Tom Yam.........I revisited an “Old Friend”...whom I never gave a hoot for ......and strangely, the second chance meeting ....saw me falling head over heel in love with ......the Spaghetti.

I just had to have Spaghetti...where ever I went............and this “(un)-holy alliance”........... so to speak, has been tagged on me for a few months now and there is no sign of it wavering....w0w!!!!...

I travelled the length and breadth of my small world........visiting every eatery.........every nook and corner .......... “four stars restaurant” ......established brands ....in search of the “Best Spaghetti”.....

...and...

...I HAVE FOUND MINE!!!!!! .....absolute BEST ........surprisingly delicious....like straight out from Rome .........authentically Italian ...
........ I have not been there (Italy)...... but it is not hard to imagine ....and it is easy to imagine that the Romans would make a ‘bee line’ for the eatery if they had known its whereabouts......and I am NOT TELLING.

The outstanding qualities that brought me here and again to this particular eatery to have my favourite spaghetti ......is simply the fact that it is just right in everyway ..... the.... PERFECT pinch of salt ........the TELLING chunks of tomato ..... ..the CLEVER dash of herbs and spices..........the MEASURED teaspoons of vinegars and whatever....and so on.............
....and the MAMA MIA touched of spaghetti ....right down to the servings.

My journey in search of the Best Spaghetti did not end here.....I am still searching....and at the same time learning the “SECRETs” of the Master Chef .......................deciphering the recipe .......perfecting my skill to conjure up the “BETTER of the BEST” spaghetti for my family ..................friends too.

I am having “you-know-what” for lunch soon after .....bye!

My Lunch.

My lunch.


I was with a friend........a gregariously jolly fella ...who when in his element...is capable of cooking up the silliest silly jokes ...and this time round.....with a small windfall at the casino and a couple of self-congratulatory boozes .....he outdid himself.

Met him and his colleagues at the designated eatery .....a joint we frequented.....to have lunch.....
...in came the Fella .......half sober from the congratulatory boozes.....and half somber from the few thousands winning at the casino.

Robert! ...on me.....on me.....on me...., he joyously said ...

Waiter...waiter.....order...ORDER..... .....the boss came............the Fella told the boss
...that he is tired of the same old dishes......and he pointed to the big water tank outside...I want that big FISH....how much!!!!!!

........the Boss quiped..... but that’s my pet......he has been with me for years.......[ We know....I have seen it when it was a baby of about a few inches long ] ......

...ONE THOUSAND DOLLAR for him....ok!....my friend said......
...and cooked it “Teo Chew Steam Style” with extra tomatoes and ginger.....ok!

....ok! said the Boss............ he disappeared into the kitchen...and from the kitchen I heard pleading voices.....squealing ..Cussing.......and the Boss came out with the net.....went back into the kitchen.....some more noises...

...some 45 minutes later........the red- faced Son of the boss...came out with the biggest serving plate .......and few other smaller plates of other dishes .....and bowls of rice.

They were having a great time ...and I had to be the spoiler...I couldn’t bring myself to eat somebody else’s pet...all I had was the “Egg FooYong” ..... they told me that it was very very sweet and the meat was delicately delicious ..... I envied them.

Many years ago...I bought 2 baby chicks as pets for my daughters......and they gave them names...one being Flowery and the other was called Roadrunner....we rare them for a period...and they grew up to be very big , strong and handsome......Cockerel and Hen...

One morning....Sam and the maid....together with my children took Flowery and Roadrunner to the market to be slaughtered.....without my knowing.......and the children were too young to know........

...that evening ...we had Friend Chicken.........on the table.....I saw the biggest drumsticks .......Sam put one each on the children’s plate ....and I had the whitest breast meat ........

........just before I bit into it........I habitually looked out of the window to look at the dogs
...and the garden ....and I saw the familiar cage ...it was emptied.......

I enquired .................................. Sam said ...Just eat!...very delicious!...free range chicken is very sweet and best!

I didn’t eat....I cried silently....and puke inside, literally.... ...but I understand.

Is it me.

Wok with Bob.


I was at the McDonald a few days ago.....I had McChicken...and I was SURPRISED!.....it didn’t taste quite the same....it wasn’t quite so delicious...
.............it tasted a far cry from my first bite of the McChicken I have had the pleasure to indulge some twenty years ago ..........and also now the chicken patty was somewhat less...somewhat smaller....somehow thinner.........and the spinach
......less crunchy....less salad....and LESS.

..or is it me..

The next time ...I have the McChicken.... will be a few months later....and if it doesn’t change for the better.....that will be the Last time. [ Hope some McDonald’s Clowns read this.....]

I remembered when I was little (4years and on)......I look forward to my mother given birth to all my younger siblings ...(and never stop giving birth).........memorably it was one of the most satisfying moment because I get to eat all the good stuffs .........that relatives and friends brought for my mother during her confinement.
........... heehee...Yum.. mummy is a very fussy eater...and I had everything else....like the chocolates......Brands.......Dom Perignon cooked with Chicken and loads of Gingers ...Ovaltines , the cocoa drink I missed so much .....and MOST of all I missed the Jacob’s cream crackers....I craved so much.

I just cannot explain the deliciousness ......it was so good then............and...
....Over the years, I bought Jacobs on and off....hoping to get that deliciousness......sadly, it never ever came near as being quite as good as.................Oh! how I miss the creamy deliciousness of the golden years.

...or is it me......

I don’t think so!

I made a yearly pilgrimage, so to speak , to the Kampar Noodle Stall about 200 km from where I stay....My father took me here when I was young...his father brought him there ....I took Sam here to savor the honest-to-goodness bowl of fish balls noodles....and I brought my children here....


It tasted just as delicious...maybe not quite so.....but it was still satisfyingly just as good.

The stall was managed by the old matriarch ...who has been operating here for the past 50 years.......those days she was helped by her late husband and during the school holidays by her children....
..............Her children are all professionals ...receiving the best education financed by the Matriarch’s Enterprise........Many of her children have their own family and staying away in the city...and some emigrated abroad.

The Matriarch stayed with one of the children once for a very brief period...she couldn’t take the inactivity.....and she returned here to do the business that had serve her and the family so well....and she DOES all the preparation by herself......she is in her mid-70s....
........That might explained the slight dip in the deliciousness of her famous “Kampar Fish Balls Noodles”....an institution in this small town...known by all in this country.


Is it me?
No ..my taste bug hadn’t change....
...........profitability replaced honest-to-goodness deliciousness.