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Sek Fan Lo! : Taste of Memories “A memories I Can't eat anymore” Taiping’s Pho Soup is not like Kuala Lumpur’s Pho Soup with fish balls and pork balls; nor is Penang’s Pho Soup with a layer of chilli oil floating on it on the soup. Taip- ing Hor Fun Soup is just a bowl of plain, light chicken soup, with hor fun, shredded chicken and some chopped green onion added to the table. When I was a child, I could only eat this dish when I went back to my hometown during the Chinese New Year, or when my father went to work in North Malaysia and packed it back. So pho soup is equal to Taiping to me, and Taiping is like this bowl of pho soup, simple but special. Now that I am older, many things have changed. The house of my hometown is no longer there, and naturally, there is less time to go back. I only have the opportunity to eat once in a few years. It is a pity that the taste of the hor fun soup has also changed, because many chefs have changed in the past few years, and the taste in my original memory has disappeared. It feels like at the end of the day, change is the only constant. Contributor: Lim Wei Ying 188

“I wil never forget the taste of Chapter 2 : That Irreplacable Home Taste my hometown” Ever since I was a child, I was taken care of by my grandma’s sister, also known as “aunt”. Because of this, our relationship is very good, so I also call her popo (grandma). She treats me and my brother as her own grandson, she will think of us first, especially me, they all love me very much. And my favourite food is the “fun kueh”, or pan mee, made by my popo. Personally, I like to knead the noodles into flaky shapes, and the noodles that popo roll. The softness is just right, it is really delicious, haha! For me, making noodles is not easy! First, kneading dough requires a lot of effort and patience. Every time popo finished kneading, she would see a lot of hard, dehydrated flour crumbs on her fingers. Next is the soup base of the pan mee. In the beginning, she would use anchovies to make soup first, and the soup that she boiled was really sweet and delicious. Then put sweet potato leaves, minced meat and so on. Adding a proper amount of fried shallots before eating would make it really fragrant and delicious! From before to now, every time popo cooks pan mee, I have to eat at least three bowls. 189

Sek Fan Lo! : Taste of Memories In the past few years, I have lived in the dormitory of the middle school. I didn’t realize this before, but recently, at a certain moment, I suddenly realized that my gonggong(uncle) and popo are old. I’m going to study abroad in a few months. When I’m abroad, I won’t be able to eat popo’s pan noodles. Although they encouraged me to study abroad, they would still miss me. They will tell me from time to time, not to forget them. So now when I get home, I ask popo if she has cooked pan mee, or other dishes (for example, during the reunion dinner, her pineapple ribs are also delicious!) I really think the outside pan mee is delicious but can’t compare to popo’s! I don’t know if there is any food from your grandma? Take advantage of the opportunity now to spend time with them more, eat more food made by them, and if you have time, you can learn it and pass it onto the next generation! Contributor: Cheng Yong Yan 190

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Chapter 3 Capturing Your Heart, with My Cook

Sek Fan Lo! : Taste of Memories “That person who taste al the food with me” At first, having mutual friends, me and Mandy fol- lowed each other on Instagram for a while. Mandy is a per- son who liked to go strolling around and clubbing during that time, so when there was an event in the TV studio, I kept teasing her because of her slippers: “Super dry, Su- per Dry, are you dry(craving for love)?” Because of that, we started chatting to each other. We talked for a while and there was a period of time that we didn’t talk to each other. We just kept texting, stopped for some time, then contin- ued back, until we went out together for the first time. Until now, she’s complaining that I brought her to mamak at that time. After that, we went into our relationship one day after Valentine’s Day. We both enjoy eating animal organs a lot, like pork intestine, pork stomach, pork liver as well. But our friends don’t really eat organs, so every time before we eat, we will ask them, “Is there anything that you guys don’t eat? If you guys don’t, we won’t order; if you’re okay, then we will order.” We are okay with it, because to some people, they can’t stand the taste, like my best friend saying, “Why do 194

you guys eat things like that? It’s disgusting!” while to some Chapter 3 : Capturing Yout Heart, with My Cook of them, it tastes powdery. We can understand that, at least we will ask them to try if they haven’t tried before, usually they’re scared of the blood smell. But most of the case after trying, they’ll just say, “Oh, it’s actually okay, quite normal, just a little powdery.” We just hope that they don’t gener- alize every food as disgusting before trying it. It’s all about appreciating when eating food, at least they’ll know how it taste like. Previously, I only know how to cook maggie mee. While the Movement Control Order (MCO) hits, I learn to cook, little by little, because I have nothing to do as well. Mandy will usually look through TikTok, and then ask me to cook. She taught me how to use an app call ‘Little Red’, so that I can see the recipes and reference photos inside, like which ingredients to put, because it’s a bit difficult for me to read the Mandarin words. Sometimes if I want to cook Western dish, and the app doesn’t have the recipe, I’ll search on YouTube for tutorials. I learned an Italian dish, it was like Pizza, and easy to make. Usually when I cook at home, Mandy will be waiting in te living room. She felt bored really often, since she 195

Sek Fan Lo! : Taste of Memories thinks I’m slow when cooking. She would often walk into the kitchen and say, “I’ll do it instead! You’re so slow, it take you a few hundred years even just by cutting the ingredi- ents!” “I will fall asleep while waiting for you to cook!” “At this case, we don’t need to sleep anymore!” Sometimes when she cooks, I’ll help her out, while when I cook, she’ll help me out. Sometimes, I’ll help her to cut ingredients if they’re not pretty, or help her to wash the plates. Most of the time, We prepare our dishes together. Contributor：See Wellym 196

Pork Liver with Bell Pepper Chapter 3 : Capturing Yout Heart, with My Cook Ingredients: Sauce: Pork sliced sliced Dark soy sauce 2 tbp Ginger shredded Oyster sauce 1 tbp Minced garlic Salt right amount Cooking wine 1 tbp Water 2 tbp Potato starch 1 tbp Bell pepper cubed Recipe: 1. Wash the pork liver, wash it several times to filter away all the dirty blood. 2. Add cooking wine and potato starch to marinate for 10 to 20 min- utes. 3. Boil water in the pot and put the pork liver inside, cook it for quite some time. 4. Heat the oil on a pan, saute the minced garlic and ginger. 5. Then put in your vegetables, then only put your pork liver. 5. Pour the sauce mixture. 6. Fry it until the taste you prefer, and the dish is done. 197

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“He always remembered everything Chapter 3 : Capturing Yout Heart, with My Cook that I like” I chose to share about this dish because it was too unforgettable and cherishable to me — Seafood Fried Rice. It may sound ordinary, but it meant the world to me. That’s because it was the first dish my boyfriend cooked for me. How did this dish come about? The story starts a few years back, when I was doing my internship in a hotel. In the year 2017, I was a first year student studying Hotel Management course, and was doing my internship for two months in the F&B department of a hotel. I was assigned to work in three separate zones, which are the kitchen, lobby and the hotel cafe. Working in the kitchen was where I first met my boyfriend. My boyfriend was a chef in that kitchen at that time. He appeared cold and was emotionless when he dealt with the interns, thus, I had quite a bad impression of him. However, what he did for me revealed the warm side of him. I was working as an intern in the kitchen and met him. Not long after, I was switched to intern at the lobby. I recall that my working hours in the lobby were from 4PM to 199

Sek Fan Lo! : Taste of Memories midnight 12AM. Coincidentally, he was assigned the night shift in the kitchen, so he was basically still working even after my working hours had ended. It was just a short 5 minutes walk from the lobby to the kitchen, as they’re on the same floor. One night, we were texting each other and around 10PM, I casually mentioned that “I’m hungry”. He replied to me without hesitation: “After you have finished your work, come stop by at the kitchen and find me. I’ll cook something for you to eat.” I was dumbfounded as I wasn’t sure if he was serious about it. Well, it’s quite impossible for him to cook exclusively for me, just because I casually mentioned the word “hungry”. Even then, we’re not together, and we’re just friends. However, upon hearing what he said, I had butterflies in my stomach, my heart was filled with warmth, like how someone delivered warmth straight to you in the middle of a cold, cold night. Perhaps, it’s because aside from my own father, I rarely felt cared for by a man? It’s time for me to finish working, unknowingly. I hesitated if I should really go over to him. But I considered and decided eventually that I should go and take a look. I anxiously walked into the kitchen. At that time, only 1 person was working the night shift, so basically there was 200

no one else there. I entered the kitchen and saw someone Chapter 3 : Capturing Yout Heart, with My Cook busy like a bee. It was him. I wanted to tell him that: “ It’s okay, no need for the hassle. I’ll leave soon”. To my surprise, he served me a hot plate of seafood fried rice, and even topped it with my favourite— cheese. I only told him before when we texted that cheese is my favourite food and I basically love eating anything with cheese. I was so shocked because I never thought that he would remember everything that I said and deeply ingrained my words in his heart. This incident made me have good feelings about him. This is why I wanted to express my gratefulness for this dish, as it made me think of him better and liked him more… and thus successfully got into this relationship from being single. Contributor：Chew Jia Hui 201

Sek Fan Lo! : Taste of Memories Seafood Fried Rice Here, I’d like to share with everyone that: Love is truly simple. It doesn’t need a grand ceremony. Just a small act, and you’ll be touched. Up until now, my boyfriend cooks occasionally and makes me a variety of dishes. It can be Chinese, Western, Japanese, Taiwanese or even Thai food, but I will always love what he cooks. Finally, the main reason I chose to share about this dish is to let more people know it’s not always expensive dishes that make a good dish, but a simple and ordinary dish is the best, it is even more unforgettable and it is missed more often. Ingredients: ： Garlic 1tsp Soy sauce to taste Onion 1tsp Salt to taste Crab meat 1pc Pepper to taste Egg 1pc Cheese 1 slice White rice 1 bowl Crab shell decorative Recipe:： 1. Heat up the wok, then add a small amount of oil. 2. Sautée the garlic and onion until fragrant and add in the egg, stir-fry for a short while. Add in the crab meat and continue stir-frying. Then, add in the rice and soy sauce. 3. Turn the heat up to high and stir-fry until well mixed 4. Add the salt and pepper to taste. 5. When the ingredients are well mixed, pour the fried rice onto a clean plate. 202

6. Place a slice of cheese on top and place the crab shell for Chapter 3 : Capturing Yout Heart, with My Cook decoration. 7. A hot plate of seafood fried rice is served, enjoy! 203

Sek Fan Lo! : Taste of Memories “My girlfriend is the best!” My girlfriend is someone who works their best in everything, including taking care of me. We promised each other to take good care of each other, since we both travelled far away from our hometown to Kuala Lumpur to work and thrive. If I fell sick, she would always be the first to take care of me. One day, the sun was scorching hot. I was sunburnt, working in the hot sun without any sunblock. My skin became hot and red. She bought me aloe vera gel right after knowing I got sunburnt, but gave me a good scolding too, as I forgot to bring the sunblock she prepared for me to work . Though I was scolded about it, it made me love her even more with this incident. One night recently, she asked me what I wanted to eat for breakfast for the next day. I was very busy preparing for the tools needed for work for the next day. Since I had to get up very early for work the next day, I told her there was no need to prepare breakfast. I knew that she has a hectic, packed week of schedule, and that she must be too tired, 204

but she insisted on preparing some food for me. Then, Chapter 3 : Capturing Yout Heart, with My Cook she ran down to the supermarket right away to buy some ingredients, and decided to make me a sandwich for breakfast - simple, yet filling. I was touched because she was too busy and yet she squeezed out the precious time to take care of me. The next day, she woke up way earlier than I did in the morning, around 5AM. I faintly felt her waking up as I could feel the bed becoming colder after she left. I heard her working in the kitchen and after a few minutes, she came back to wake me up. I will forever remember that she kissed me on my forehead to wake me up that time. I washed up after waking up to prepare to go to work. She wrapped the breakfast beautifully and it looked very appetising. I’m truly grateful to have such a girlfriend. Contributor：Chen Yi 205

Sek Fan Lo! : Taste of Memories A Sandwich Filled With Love Ingredients: Eggs Butter Chicken slices Crab sticks Lettuce Salt Pepper Bread Recipe: 1. Beat 2 eggs. 2. Heat a pan and place some butter. Pour in the egg mixture and cook with low heat, using the spatula to lightly push the egg around. When the egg is almost cooked, take it out of the pan. 3. Add salt and pepper to the egg to taste. 4. Place a bit of butter into the hot pan, and pan-fry the chicken slices and crab stick pieces. Take them out once cooked. 5. Place the lettuce, chicken slices, crabs sticks and egg in between two slices of bread to make a sandwich. 6. Cut the sandwich in half, and it’s done! 206

“My Valentine’s Day surprise for him” Chapter 3 : Capturing Yout Heart, with My Cook The reason I share this dish is because it was the first bento I prepared for my boyfriend. Before we got together, he requested many times for me to cook for him. The dish is fairly simple for me, as I usually cook quite often, but I rejected him with the excuse that I was in no mood to cook. But actually, I planned in secret to make this dish for him on the 14th of February - Valentine’s Day to surprise him! As I was worried that the bento would turn cold after he brought it to his workplace, I purposely bought a self-heating bento box online, just for it. So, he could just heat up the bento whenever he likes to eat, and he could enjoy the warm food in the bento. It was so unfortunate that things don’t always go to plan. He fell sick and was hospitalised, and even required an operation. After the operation, he could only take simple food for his recovery. So, I could only postpone my plans to make him the bento. It was coincident that he recovered near the White Day / White Valentine’s Day on March 14th! Thank goodness! The self-heating bento box also arrived right on time, and this means that I can continue with my 207

Sek Fan Lo! : Taste of Memories plan to surprise him! On March 14th, I made this bento and sent it to him at his workplace. He was so surprised when he saw me appearing at the shop he worked at. When he knew that I prepared this bento for him, he was beyond happy as he could finally eat what I cooked for him, even if it was something simple. Seeing that he likes eating what I made, I was also very happy to have someone who appreciates everything I do for him. Contributor：Little Sheep 208

Chicken Teriyaki Rice Bento Chapter 3 : Capturing Yout Heart, with My Cook Ingredients: Marinate: Teriyaki Sauce: Rice Cooking wine Thick soy sauce Half tbp Boneless chicken thigh Salt Light soy sauce 2 tbp Rice wine 3 tbp Your preferred Black pepper powder Honey/ White sugar 2 tbp vegetables Minced garlic Water Half small bowl (Half cup) Recipe: 1. Make slight cuts on the chicken thigh (Cross a few times), so that it won’t shrink and curl when pan-frying. 2. Add in the marinate to the chicken to marinade for 10 minutes. 3. In the pan, heat up a bit of oil, pan fry the chicken with the skin side facing down with medium heat. Pan-fry the other side as well, until both sides are golden brown. 4. Take the chicken thigh out of the pan, and pour the teriyaki sauce in the same pan with low heat until the sauce thickens slightly. 5. Put the chicken thigh into the pan and coat it with the sauce. Cook it for around 1 minute. 6. Cut the chicken thigh into pieces and put them into the bento box, pour over the teriyaki sauce. 7. Match it with your favourite vegetables in the bento box and it’s done! 209

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“The joy of cooking together with you” Chapter 3 : Capturing Yout Heart, with My Cook I’d like to share this recipe for Dong Quai Goji Berry Chicken Soup Rice as I personally think its creation was quite interesting. It was the year 2020 when the pandemic hit and all university campuses were in lock down. I was with my girlfriend in the same course, busy completing our undergraduate thesis of our final year project in the campus, thus, we were both stuck there. In that period of time, we were only allowed to go out of campus for 4 hours a week. There were also not many choices of food in the cafeteria. For quite some time, we were bored of the food on campus and thought of cooking dishes that can be made with ingredients we can get from the campus hostel. Because of that, the two of us succeeded in cooking this dish - Dong Quai Goji Berry Chicken Soup Rice. It was a warm, hearty dish that fulfilled our cravings for hot foods. Moreover, as we were stuck on campus and busy completing our thesis, having this dish felt as good as having instant noodles while travelling far out. It was a refreshing and exciting experience for us. 211

Sek Fan Lo! : Taste of Memories I remember the first time we cooked this dish. We both sat on the bed, with the small study table opened and the plates and cutleries arranged on the table. Then, the dish was placed on top and after snapping a few photos, we enjoyed this simple dish. It was a fairly simple process to make it, but it was ceremonial and cherishable for us both. It was the pleasure of enjoying the dish made out of our hard work. As I was stuck on campus, I had not been at home for a very long time. Sometimes, during dinner, I could still see the home-cooked dishes on the table through the screen when I was video-calling my parents. The moment I could eat the soup rice dish was a touching experience for me - This dish filled our regretful void of not being able to go out, or go back home, or eat home-cooked dishes as we were stuck on campus. Contributor：Wong Tuck Hou 212

Dong Quai Goji Berry Chicken Chapter 3 : Capturing Yout Heart, with My Cook Soup Rice Ingredients: Rice Chicken stok Chicken meat Water Dong Quai Goji Berry Recipe： 1. Cook the rice. 2. To make the soup, boil some water and into it, add chicken stock and chicken meat pieces. 3. When it is almost cooked through, put in the Dong Quai slices and Goji berries and cook until fragrant. 4. Add the cooked rice into the soup and the dish is done. 213

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“Destined to be together” Chapter 3 : Capturing Yout Heart, with My Cook My grandpa passed away around this time 18 years ago. For as long as I can remember, Mama would wake up and make a variety of Yeh Yeh’s favourite dishes (Curry Chicken, Loh Bak, etc). But it was Mama’s handmade Ji Hoo Char that Yeh Yeh adored the most. Ji Hoo Char is a dish that is served in my family, but not for the usual festivities such as the traditional Chinese New Year, Cheng Beng (Qingming), Month of the Hungry Ghost, Winter Festival (Tang Chek Or), and prayers to our ancestors. Mama would never fail to prepare this dish for Yeh Yeh on the occasions when we had to pray to him. Others may regard it as a simple dish cooked for the deceased, but it was a representation of her never-ending love for him. The reason I chose to share this dish is that growing up in an Asian family, we rarely say I love you to each other, but my Mama’s way of saying so is expressed through the food she puts on the table daily. Hopefully one day I will be able to make this dish as well as she did. Contributor： Brandon Choy Fatt Meng 215

Sek Fan Lo! : Taste of Memories Jiu Hoo Char Ingredients: Cabbage 150g Pepper 1 dash Onion 1 Cooking oil 3 tbs Dried shiitake Pork belly 200g mushrooms Garlic 3, soaked in warm 3 cloves, chopped water Shredded dried Salt 1-1/2 tsp cuttlefish 60g Sugar 1 tsp Yam bean 400g Carrot 80g Recipe: 1. Peel the skin of jicama/yambean and carrot. Slice and cut yambean, carrot, cabbage, mushrooms and shallots finely into thin strips/threads. 2. Boil the pork belly until it’s cooked. Cut the meat into fine strips and set aside. 3. Heat up wok, pour in cooking oil and add in garlic. Stir-fry the garlic until aromatic, add in the dried cuttlefish and continue to stir. 4. Add in the vegetables and meat. Stir-fry until the vegetables are soft. 5. Add salt, sugar and pepper to taste. 6. Dish out and serve immediately with fresh lettuce leaves, tee cheo (sweet sauce) and chilli sauce. 216

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Chaopter 4 My Friends and Those Heartwarming Food

Sek Fan Lo! : Taste of Memories “Speaking of gathering, it has to be steamboat~” I’m a person that is good at socializing, so I have a lot of friends, ever since in my hometown. Since I came to Kuala Lumpur area to study after graduating from high school, I got to know my university friends from the same course as well. I also rented a house in Kuala Lumpur, so I met my roommates too. I also met some of my friends from different courses. Sometimes, our school has that kind of CSC activity, I also met a lot of friends there. I choose to share this dish because first of all, when I was studying, whether it’s my roommate, friends from the same course as me, or friends from different course, everytime when we go out to eat, we don’t know what to eat. We would usually search the Internet to see if there’s any delicious food or Internet viral food nearby, then we’ll play rock-paper-scissors to decide. But sometimes, what the winning person decided to eat is not what most of us wanted to. Also, when we went out to eat, it usually happened to be in a traffic jam period. So in the end, we would usually end up eating hot pot. Because hot pot is convenient, we don’t need to accommodate to each others’ 220

preferences - after all, we all have different tastes. If it’s hot Chapter 4 : My Friends and Those Heartwarming Food pot, we can choose our hot pot ingredients. Even if there’s food we don’t like, we don’t feel conflicted or having quarrel. Some people would prefer spicy food while some people don’t. And this will be convenient to both parties. We can choose our favourite soup base in the mix hot pot, and we can also mix the sauce we like. And even sometimes, we have friends that don’t like to eat vegetables. I’m sure you’ll have friends like this, right? I take hot pot as the first choice for parties and gatherings, on the one hand, it’s because some of my friends are busy at work while some are busy with exams. It’ll be hard to make arrangements to meet up, and the atmosphere of hot pot is very relaxed and lively. We can eat slowly, drink some wine, chat and complain about school, work, or those stupid little things. In short, we can share things that we can’t usually share, and it’s relaxing, as well as enhancing our friendship. It has been almost three years since the pandemic happened, so it was hard for us to meet and communicate phyusically. We’ll usually talk through the phone screen or internet, and it’s very emotionless. We had a gathering last December and it was not 221

Sek Fan Lo! : Taste of Memories easy to make an arrangement with everyone. We rent a homestay in Malacca for two days and one night, since we didn’t get together for almost two years after graduation, plus the pandemic. Since we didn’t want to make the whole trip leaving us a sad feeling upon departing in the end, we decided to have our hot pot session in homestay. Since hot pot is easy to be prepared , and we can took it as an opportunity to bond and have fun with each other, like how we used to. It was also near Christmas during the trip, so we also took a lot of pictures along with the session. We were really happy at that time, it was like letting go of the pain of our lives, leaving only the sweetness of life, as well as maintaining our friendship. I don’t know if you have heard of this, “Whether you are in love, friendship or family, if you lost the desire to share with each other, you won’t be that close with them anymore.” Taking food as an example, if you are online and you notice there are some good food suggestions on Facebook, naturally, you’ll want to share with your friends. When your friends get this share, they will naturally give you a response. Then in the next time they see something delicious, they’ll share it with you, so then a relationship generates within it, and your friendship will last for a long 222

time. Besides, when it comes to food, as long as it is Chapter 4 : My Friends and Those Heartwarming Food delicious, even it is a simple meal, you’ll be happy when you eat it together with your cared ones. As you know, being happy is always important. Contributor：Tan Inn Ching 223

Sek Fan Lo! : Taste of Memories Double Flavour Hotpot Usually when me and my friends prepare our hot pot. We’ll get the in- gredients from the nearby supermarket. For the soup base, no matter what brand it is, as long as it is good and there is a spicy and light base for the mixed hot pot. Even if some of our friends don’t eat vegetables, we’ll still buy some. Ingredients: Cheese hotdog Instant noodles Cheese seafood tofu Bean thread noodles Pork slices Egg Fishballs Soybean roll Meatballs Shrimp paste Vegetables Fish paste Enoki mushroom Recipe: 1. Follow the instructions of cooking the soup base. 2. Once the soup is boiled, you can start putting in the ingredients. 3. Once the ingredients are cooked, the hot pot is ready to be served! 224

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Sek Fan Lo! : Taste of Memories “My scout buddies, my friends” The first time we participated in the Scout’s Prehistoric Cooking Competition, my friends and I were only 14 years old and foolishly won second place in this first cooking competition we joined. I could clearly remember that the prize of winning that competition was two pieces of cotton candy, hahaha. Well, the competition was held by the Tangkak District’s 43rd Boy Scout’s Troop. We found out about this activity through the WeChat group. As we always loved team activities, have an adventurous trait, and had never tried participating in this kind of competition, we decided to take the first step to join this competition out of our school. We chose to cook Bolognese pasta for the competition as my teammates and I always loved eating pastas. Just for this competition, we even practised starting a fire in the wide and empty basketball court in school. It was also our first time starting a fire independently, and I love the vibe of the scout activities since then. Although it was a competition, everyone was like a family, helping each other out and sharing their cookery with one another. I also 226

recalled one time, we couldn’t start a fire during the Chapter 4 : My Friends and Those Heartwarming Food competition, and the seniors came over to guide us, everyone was so friendly and so I met many new friends. Perhaps, it was the vibes that added a special taste to this simple bolognese pasta dish. Because it was a “prehistoric” cooking competition, we even prepared some bamboo tubes on our own, then cut them into skewer sticks to make grilled chicken skewers. It was an especially hot day, our seniors bought us all some ice-cold watermelon for everyone to share. A bunch of people sitting in a circle, eating watermelon became a beautiful memory that I will never forget. 5 years had passed since then, and yet, I felt grateful to have joined the scouts and the unity, grit and teamwork spirit are still deeply ingrained and felt inside of me. I’m thankful to have gone through the blood, sweat and tears in those years because I truly found cherishable buddies in that time. Contributor：Lam Zi Yuan 227

Sek Fan Lo! : Taste of Memories Bolognese Pasta Grilled Chicken Skewers Bolognese Pasta: Grilled Chicken Skewers: Pasta Chicken meat cubes Tomato sauce (Tomato Pepper Purée) Oyster sauce Sugar Soy sauce Salt Salt Garlic Butter Onion Honey Sausage Recipe: 1. Marinate the chicken meat cubes with a mixture of pepper, oyster sauce, soy sauce and salt and let it sit aside for later. 2. Cook the pasta and set it aside after draining the pasta water. 3. Heat up the wok, and heat up some oil, sautee the garlic and onion with high heat. 4. Add in the sausage and stir-fry, set aside the cooked ingredients. 5. In the wok, add in the tomato sauce/puree, water and sugar. Toss it around until hot. 6. Add in the cooked pasta, sausages and other ingredients, toss it around. Add some pepper to taste and the pasta is done! 7. Make skewers of the marinated chicken meat cubes, and brush them with some butter and honey, grill the skewers near the fire until cooked through. 8. Done! 228

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Sek Fan Lo! : Taste of Memories “I want to share the taste of home with my friends” In the year 2020, the pandemic hit suddenly. Many people were stuck in a city far away from home, unable to be at home. A friend told me: He missed home very much. Mother would prepare a sandwich for his breakfast every morning. Though it was very simple, it was truly warm. At a friend’s birthday, I made a simple sandwich for him and his colleagues. They enjoyed it very much, and mentioned many times that it felt like having breakfast at home. An intern thanked me many times, that he missed his mother a lot, and thanks to me, he could taste his mother’s cooking again. Actually, at that time, I was also very lost as I was laid off right before starting my work due to the pandemic. This incident of people enjoying my food was inspirational for me. Looking at their happy faces, I wanted for many more people who are homesick and were stuck in the city to experience the same. I started an online business to promote and sell my sandwich. The contents that I share on Facebook gained many likes from people. The customers who have tried my sandwich loved it and gave happy 230

feedback that they could taste their mother’s cooking from Chapter 4 : My Friends and Those Heartwarming Food it. It gave me a lot of motivation and I stopped feeling lost, but rather found my way to work harder. Despite it was already the second year of my on- line sandwich business, and perhaps not every single one of the customers could find the taste of home through my sandwich, I was really happy that I could initially bring forth warmth and happiness to those who missed their mother’s breakfast. Contributor：Candice Yap Sin Mun 231

Sek Fan Lo! : Taste of Memories Sunny Day Sandwich Ingredients: Bread 2 slices Egg 1 pcs Chicken slice 1 pcs Cheese slice 1 pcs Salad/lettuce Proper amount Tomato slices Proper amount Recipe: 1. Toast 2 pieces of bread. 2. Fry an egg and pan fry 1 piece of chicken slice. 3. Place some lettuce/salad and a piece of tomato slice onto the toasted bread. 4. Place on it, a piece of fried egg and then put on the chicken slice. 5. Add on a piece of cheese slice and top it off with another toasted bread. 6. Cut the sandwich in half and enjoy! 232

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Sek Fan Lo! : Taste of Memories “The warmth of friendship blossomed in a Cold Crowd” I had an irritable personality back when I was 14 years old. I wasn’t sociable which made me distant to most of my classmates, and even had a bad relationship with my classmate sitting beside me. I cared so much about what others think of me, yet I don’t show any signs of it. Which caused most of the people to think that I don’t mind or I don’t care, but I was very hurt inside. I remembered that it was the year-end class trip. I might be an idiot, as I wasn’t very close with most of my classmates, but I chose to join the trip. Perhaps I still cared a lot about our relationship, and thought that there weren’t many chances left for my classmates and I to hang out together anymore, that I still wanted to have fun with them. The first day we were at Malacca, everyone was choosing which rooms to sleep in, and they were asking who wanted to be in the same room as me. I never thought that I had such a bad reputation that not a single person wanted to share a room with me. Perhaps I was still too young to feel hurt at that time, but even after so many years, the pain never left. At that time, however, he stood up, and said it’s 234

alright, he’ll share a room with me. In that moment, I was Chapter 4 : My Friends and Those Heartwarming Food dumbfounded, and it was never in my mind that someone was willing to be with me. We went to A-Famosa and did not stay in a hotel, but instead rented a homestay villa so everyone could share the place. I almost forgot to mention that I’m vegetarian, so usually I could still eat those typical hotel breakfasts, but it was a homestay villa, so naturally I had nothing to eat. We went to the water park to play in the afternoon, and yet no one else wanted to be with me. I could tell you that I had experienced playing alone by myself in a water park. Even after everyone went back to the homestay, I had no idea they left. I sat alone in a public bus ride in A-Famosa, to go back to the villa, and saw that my classmates were all happily enjoying a hotpot, having BBQ meat. In the villa, there was a swimming pool. Some boys were playing in the pool, jumping into the pool and the girls were watching at the side. While I was ironically alone, tired, hungry and had an emotionless face, which was a big contrast to the playful, crowded, fun scenery at that time. Perhaps it’s my own people-pleaser personality that made me have the idea to do something so that they’ll like 235

Sek Fan Lo! : Taste of Memories I took a shower, and I saw that everyone was almost done with their meal, and the house was full of trash from the kitchen, food and the dirty plates and cutleries all over the table. This was my chance, I thought. I hurried up to help clean up the house, tidied up the kitchen and table area, and even cleaned all the dishes and cutleries. As someone who was vegetarian since I was born, I had never touched a single piece of meat, but that night was my first time cleaning up the bones, flesh and picking up pieces of shrimp shell. It wasn’t anything too much of a burden to me, but actually, I was starved and had not eaten lunch, dinner or anything as there wasn’t food I could eat from the water park, and for dinner, none of the food they had was vegetarian. To be honest, as a vegetarian, I thought it was my own problem. They prepared food, it was just food that I can’t eat, so I didn’t mind. When I was cleaning up the kitchen, I felt pain in my stomach. In my hand were dirty dishes, and in my ear echoes the loud cheers of my classmates. I had an instant hatred towards myself in my heart, and felt terrible. Tears streamed down my face. Then, someobdy 236