A couple of weeks ago I moved out of my on-campus studio room and in with my office-mate, Ayu, from Indonesia. *Damn yearly contracts!*

Ayu’s 80-something year old dad has been visiting Canberra for the past month. Ever so often Eyang (“Grandpa” in Javanese) would have a look of disbelief when he sees me having oats and fruit in the morning and other veggie stuff for dinner. “Is that enough? Are you sure you are not hungry???”

There’s also a look of curiosity when I’m cooking, and I’ve always been more than happy to serve some of my flexitarian meals to Eyang… All very new and “strange” to his tastebuds.

He seemed to really like my vegetarian Chinese style crispy noodles (first time I cooked it for at least 3 people!) and had seconds.

Today, he seemed enthralled with the aroma of dhal that I was cooking — i.e. the smell of dried chilli, garlic and bit of butter tossed in a pan before adding it to the boiling lentils.

I think I’m getting better at this. Definitely upping those domestic skills. And if I don’t survive PhD, at least I know I’ve earned brownie points on the marriage meter! Haha!

The power of the pot will prevail.

Anyway, here’s wishing one and all a prosperous Year of the Snake.
GONG XI FA CAI!!