"Woman charged $608 for lobster la mian"

SingPoWriMo 2023 Day 3.

The prompt is to write a poem in Singlish. I will try. I speak it everyday.

photo by Pexels at pixabay



"Woman charged $608 for lobster la mian"


I never said that hor, it was in the news. Or some social media feed. Then if you look at the picture, the dish does look like a plate of vomit. The eater said one hor. Also cannot see the lobster. For that price? No wonder the woman kao pei kao bu. But never ask the price in the first place meh? Or look at the menu? Die die must eat here meh? I think some people are blur like sotong, or so rich till dun care. I wish I am rich liddat hor. Then can eat lobster noodle also. But liddat in the picture, I also complain one even if I got money to burn. Talking about money, that 600+ can fly budget to Oz and eat the lobster there. Lagi more fresh. Maybe can also throw in scallops, prawns and if you want, hum. (hum very expensive now, the char kway teow uncle told me). Okay lah, the kopitiam downstairs just renovated and open, let me see what I can get there. La mian?


06/04/2023
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Notes :

blur like sotong : used to describe a clueless person. Sotong is Malay for squid, which squirts ink to escape from predators. The ink makes it hard to see.
char kway teow : a stir-fried dish of rice noodles.
die die must try : something so great the person must try, no matter what.
hum : blood cockles.
kao peh kao bu : complain. Usually a big complaint. From Hokkien literally meaning 'cry father cry mother'
lagi : Malay word for more, greater or further.
la mian - "pulled" noodles, i.e. hand-made noodles.
liddat : like that
uncle : a male who is middle-aged or older, not necessarilly a relative and especially not well acquainted. The female form is auntie.
hor, lah, meh :(also mah, leh, siah as other examples) these are discourse particles occurring at the end of a sentence. It does not change its grammatical meaning, but how it is spoken changes the meaning or tone of the sentence, for example indicating annoyance, disbelief, amazement , etc.

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CNA Insider - How Singlish Went From 'Cannot Make It' To National Hero | Singlish: Why We Talk Like That? - Part 1

(It's a bit longish, but interesting.)

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2023

blursday

Blursday : n. a day of the week that is indistinguishable from any other.

I am sure the word was a prompt from one of the issues of Poets & Storytellers United. Just can't remember which date.

digital montage by dsnake1 with GIMP



blursday (7th apr to 1st june 2020)


1.
Thank god the internet is alive and well.
And Netflix.

The social media videos start to arrive.
They hiss like little forked tongues.

7.
The rebels arrive. A man with full body tattoos striped down to his underwear and strutted around the town neighbourhood waving his pants. Cops tried to tackle him. They had a hard time bringing him down. He was a good rugby player.

11.
spring cleaning -
our little histories.

17.
A nice dinner of stir fried cabbage with dried shrimps and fried pork collar with chillies helps a ton. Everybody loves it.

20.
More social videos : elderly lady is unleashing a whole range of vulgarities at two cops when confronted for not wearing a mask. The two cops are hesitant to tackle the lady. They know the internet is watching. Eagerly watching.

Some people are slipping into a rabbit hole.

22.
Thank god for youtube. There's a Japanese all-girl rock band that's driving the internet (and me) crazy.

23.
cherry blossoms -
looking at my photographs
of Japan

24.
Two blackbirds perch on my air-con unit and debate the pandemic.

25.
rain
///
the silence
in the house

27.
Tried fried udon with minced meat and everybody loves it.
Home-cooked pasta with meat sauce and everybody loves it.
Perhaps i can think about a career change.

28.
A dinner of yam rice with chinese sausages. Very basic.
But everybody loves it
Hmm, about that career change...

35.
overcast skies -
looking at your old photographs
                          again

40.
another morning
counting the meds
counting the videos

43.
nicked finger -

red fish gills
in a white sink

47.
a scent of lilac your floral blouse

50?
Home stretch.
Start counting the number of brands of beer i have drunk. Give up after the 11th and start rummaging in the fridge for one. Any brand.

56.
The end of blursdays
What day is today?

The family wants me to cook dinner.

(@.@)


318 words


written in response to a prompt
revised 06/12/2022
revised 02/07/2023
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BAND-MAID - Daydreaming

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2023

breakfast talk

Too many choices may not be a good thing...

photo by dsnake1



breakfast talk


it's a good morning
i say let's walk to
the market for breakfast
i want that yong tau foo

     walk, seriously?
     let's take the bus
     it's too hot today
     we still have choices

have you seen the news
today? Kabul fell
that's far away for you
some place called Afganistan

     wait, there's an eatery
     with the same name nearby
     crispy prata, sweet tea
     but i don't fancy curry now

the people there maybe
don't even have a choice
for breakfast or transport
and you talking about the weather

     yo just throw on some
     shorts & tees and slippers
     come on i take that long walk
     i won't be mad, promise



23/09/2021
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Magaly at Poets and Storytellers United would like us to write poetry or prose that includes dialogue. Food is one of the things that gets us talking.

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Take some time and think about food waste.

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2022

poetry lesson #12

Worthy of a Michelin star, this?

homecooked fried rice by dsnake1
photo also by him



poetry lesson #12
() cooking a poem


the fire is lit
the ink is heated
but when i throw
in the words,
try to stir fry
them
trying to cook
a decent poem,
i wonder
have i chopped them
up properly
diced them verbs nicely
minced the nouns
selected the right metaphors

have i added them
in the right order
and am i
missing some spice
of adjectives.

the colours are looking right
it's almost done
ready to be served
on a new page
and garnish with line breaks.


18/04/2009
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from my old naporimo 2009 files.

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Netflix - The Glorious Food of Studio Ghibli Supercut

There is no food featured from one of my favourite Ghibli films, Grave of the Fireflies. Maybe food during wartime is deemed not attractive enough by Netflix. :)

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2021

please slow down

This is a response to the Midweek Motif prompt at Poets United, and the theme was "Food". I know, this is the weekend. The world is getting too fast for me.

photo by dsnake1




please slow down


all i had this morning
was a hasty ham sandwich
and a milo washing down
my meds

oh how i dream of my
steaming chwee kueh topped
with sinful bits of
preserved radish.

but time is a tightfisted
master swinging his whip
and there is a bus
to catch.




written 16/12/2015
revised 13/01/2016
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Note : chwee kueh is a traditional Chinese breakfast food in Singapore and Malaysia. Literally meaning "water cake", it is a steamed rice cake with an oily (and cholesterol laden) topping of preserved radish.

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"Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch.”

― Orson Welles


Shared on Poetry Pantry #285 at Poets United.

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2016