“It just hit me that I won’t have Mum’s Cooking for long”: A Chinese New Year Story
Chinese New Year meals at my Mum’s home for the first 2-3 days of Chinese New Year is always re-heated leftover food.
Jessica, my Mum would spend over 7 hours chopping vegetables mainly Jicama/Yambean (Chinese Turnip), shredded cuttlefish, pork, black mushrooms, carrot, and big shallots to make a Penang Nyonya dish called ” Jiu Hu Char”. The wrapped JHC with lettuce with a bit of Mum’s famous Sambal Belacan is super delicious.
The other Mum’s 3 CNY dishes are the Ngar Ku (looks like a yam-textured tiny potato), pork, and chicken liver dish, and steamed CNY Combo of pork lean meat and liver sausages, waxed duck (steamed in a small plate on top of the rice in the rice cooker), and black pepper pig’s stomach soup.
Mum would cook 2 big pots of Jiu Hu Char, and will reheat the 4 CNY dishes for the first 3 days of Chinese New Year for a quick lunch and dinner as CNY guests will visit my parents throughout the first 2 days or so.
Jiu Hu Char was not my favorite until the last few years. I only go back to my hometown Ipoh a few times a year so with my built-up craving for Ipoh (aka EATpoh) hawker food, I openly try to eat less of Mum’s cooking and go for a Seng Kee’s Ipoh Curry Beehoon-Mee breakfast (Old Hugh Low Street), Old Town Sin Lean Lee Gold Char Koay Teow (3 tiny plates) lunch, and Nam Heong Old Town White Coffee high tea.
And I’ll convince my mum to go to Kafe Hillview for dinner or supper for Ipoh Sar Hor Fun, Ipoh Rojak.
This year “It just hit me that I won’t have Mum’s Cooking for long” as Mum is getting much older. Over CNY lunch she mentioned about the famous Hong Kong phrase spoken in TVB dramas or movies “Ho Loy Mo Sek Jee Kar Farn” – “so long didn’t eat Mum’s family home-cooking”. Believe me I never enjoyed my Mum’s Jee Kar Fan so much – every bite of it.
Coincidentally my Dad, Michael Chen Kim Foo, died on Chinese New Year’s Day One at 12:03 am on 19 February 2015. So my Mum will take us to St. Michael’s Church Ipoh to light 2 candles and place some flowers by Dad’s Ossuary. I miss Dad. He does send me and Mum Afterlife Signs.
Now, I truly TREASURE Mum’s Jee Kar Farn home-cooking immensely, and still enjoy the Best EATpoh food – the best of both worlds.
Robert Chaen, Whisperer CEO of http://www.ChangeU.co
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Robert Chaen
Global CEO-Founder of ChangeU and Movsha Movers & Shakers, Hero-CEO Whisperer, Writer, The #1 Alpha Change Expert, Father of Asian FireWalking
Robert Chaen is an International Keynote Speaker, writer, researcher, and corp games designer. He is famously known to be the “Hero-CEO Whisperer”, 1-on1 coaching with many CEOs and Celebrities for corporate strategies, staff & office political issues, personal branding, and even public figure OSHA safety drilling called Drager Defense.
He has transformed CEOs and managers in Coca-Cola China, TVB Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong Airport Services, VADS, TM, Public Bank, Auditor General's Office Maldives, etc.
He is the prolific creator and online Author of innovative management tools such as DragonCEO, Diamond Leader, Papillon Personal Effectiveness, OSHA Drager Defense, KPI Bank, etc. He is also the Founder of Movsha, an international networking with monthly mingles with MOVers & SHAkers, Angels, Entrepreneurs, CEOs, Celebrities, HR-PR-CSR, HODs, and the Most Influential IDEA people.
Chaen is widely considered as one of the top International Platform Keynote Speakers for Resorts World Genting Senior Management Conference (Manila), 7-Eleven HK, Samsung, Coca-Cola China Mini-MBA @Tsing Hua University, Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong Jockey Club, The Story Conference where he interviewed Datuk Kamarudin (Chairman of AirAsia) and Siti Nurhaliza.
He has been widely featured in TVB, AWSJ, CNBC, SCMP, The Star, and Sin Chew. As “The Father of Asian FireWalking”, he coached TVB celebrities (Ekin Cheng Yee-Kin) to walk on 650°C fire; and raised HK$68M in the world’s 1st and only live TV Charity FireWalk (TVB Tung Wah Charity Show), before Tony Robbins even came to Asia. If Robert can get you to walk on 650⁰C fire, he can inspire you to be THE BEST.
He champions CN-HK-EU-US Tycoons to be philanthropic, and to be angel investors to support the next generation of Jack Mas, Steve Jobs, Richard Bransons, Steven Spielbergs, or Barrack Obamas.
With some slick motivational speakers with fake doctorates out there, graduates often describe Robert to be "the most credible, empowering, truthful Coach" who believe in his graduates to believe in themselves.
However, clients have described Robert as "The #1 Cool Badass Alpha Change Expert". He has the coolest first class stature, rapport and trust from clients. He will not hesitate to tell the badass truth ever so gently because clients are paying him big bucks to reveal the truth, find solutions, persuade the hostile HODs, and align cross-teams within the organization.
Originally based in Hong Kong for 20+ years, he had worked with top Branding/Ad agencies at J Walter Thompson and Leo Burnett, and was a certified FranklinCovey (7 Habits) in USA, and NLP MasterCoach (USA). His warmth is known to soften the most hardened, resistant sceptics. He will inspire your team to Go for Top 1, or to be a Dragon CEO.
With boundless energies, Robert owns 15+ successful business Joint-Ventures, and created unique products under his global VC network called Chaen's Angels VC. He is deeply passionate about ChangeUTH Youth CSR, Science-Based Medicine (vs. quackery), short films and Reality TV.
Touched by a personal tragedy through the loss of his HK-born Portuguese wife, co-coach and business partner, Brenda José of 18 years, Robert explores the many ways in which the spirit world is communicating with the living with real scientific studies and evidence. He gives inspiring conferences on The Secret Afterlife.
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