Yang istimewa untuk kami budak budak
Bukan biskut, bukan mercun katak.
Yang paling kami suka, STEAMBOAT namanya.
FUH, sedap dan lazat, terliur dibuatnya.

Dalam periuk steamboat ada macam macam,
Udang, ikan, kerang dan ketam.
Yang paling aku suka SOTONG BALL yang chewy,
Perghh, bolehku makan sepuluh, memang yummy!

Sepupu aku memanglah ramai,
Kalau nak dapat sotong ball, kenalah pandai.
Lepas makcikku bubuh dalam periuk sop,
Cepat cepat akan aku “CHOP”.

Selalu jugak aku kena marah,
Sotong ball aku conquer, orang lain takdak.
Kena la bagi jalan, makan yang lain,
Tapi orait la, bagi sotong ball, mercun lebih akan ku bargain.

Itu pengalamanku makan steamboat masa budak,
Sekarang dah besar, balik rumah pun tidak
Apa nak buat, sekarang di luar negara,
Steamboat, angpow, sotong ball, semua tak ada.

Tapi New Year ni akan ku pulang,
Ke Malaysia negara tercinta dan gemilang.
Harap harapnya dapat makan steamboat,
Dapat menang voucher Suanie kot!

but i have a story about other things… just not steamboat… double bummer…

Right. So, as a kid, the most exciting thing about steamboat is the part where you crack the egg and drop it into the soup. At least for me it is. But also as a kid, your parents are least inclined to let you handle eggs. Because you know, the tendency for kids to drop breakable objects are directly proportionate to the breakability of said object.

Case in point:
Sponge – 0 breakability – 0 dropability
Egg – 10000000000 breakability – 10000000000 dropability

So anyway, I had to beg my dad to pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeee let me crack the egg. Ten sen face, puppy-dog eyes and an extended pout later, he relents, I was a happy child =D

I gleefully accepted the egg, carefully used my spoon to knock knock on the shell and *crack* Slowly and even more carefully reach over to the ‘boat’ to dorp it in. Alas, this happy child’s hands were too short to reach the ‘boat’. Thus resulting in 3/4 of the egg on the table and another 1/4 on the rim of the ‘boat’. Cis.

Natually, my dad said I wasted the egg blablablablablablabla.

Good news was, the restaurant gave us TWO eggs. Bad news is, one’s wasted so the chances of me cracking the other one was non-existent. Still, I begged my dad once more – the whole pitiful face routine in tow and pumped up. Success! He relented again and I was once more a happy child.

And thennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn…(and you have to picture this in slow motion)

The universe decided to realign the planets and my stars were changed. I’m holding my tiny hands out like a cup, so I’m extra careful this time. Something catches my dad’s attention, it was a friend. He turns his head to say hi. I suddenly had an itch on my knee and decided to scratch it. He drops the egg. My cupped hands were not there to catch it. The egg falls to its demise on the ground in a defeaning SPLAT!!

Horrors of horrors!! I was whimpering and about to burst into tears. My dad’s almost done with his conversation. He doesn’t hear the sound of a broken egg. My hands are still cupped but trembling, lips quivering, I’m panicking…I’m gonna get it this time. For sureeeeeeeee die.

But then out of nowhere…an angel appeared! She looked resplendent in her floral apron. She drops another egg into my hands, and motions with her finger to her lips “shhhh”. She winks, then turns to walk away. It was the waitress.

My dad turns to look at me, sees the egg in my hands, smiles and asks “when is my little girl going to make me my egg?”.

Hehe…this time though, I smartened up. I cracked the egg into a bowl first, then got my dad to pour it into the ‘boat’.

The end.

My friend Tony was truly amazed,
The spread of food left him in a daze.
Steamed whole fish, prawns and BBQ pork,
Tony dug in heartily with his knife and fork.

But a while later dear Elder Aunt called out,
“Be patient! Be patient! Finish those not!
Try this special dish, it is truly delicious,
We Chinese people, consider it auspicious!”
Tony was curious, “Wow!! more dishes??!”

And placed in front of him was huge bubbling pot,
Of what it was called, Tony knew not.
Elder aunt looked at him, and she gave a nod,
“Try the steamboat, it is filled with treasure”
And Tony saw the look on everyone’s face, the look of pleasure!

“This stuff must be good”, thought Tony,
He scooped into the pot, and WOW! Huge prawns, mussels, fishball and ABALONE!!!
From then on, Tony looked back no more,
He ate and ate and ate, and wished he had a cow’s stomach of four.

My family and I were truly amused,
Over the months, the tale of The Steamboat Loving American we would enthuse,
Tony who had gone home to America
Waxed lyrical about the food in Malaysia
He loved char kuay teow, nasi lemak, roti canai and “biryani glue”
But above all he loved “THE KICKASS CHINESE FONDUE”!!!!!!!!!!!

:d :d :d

”
Sigh, Chinese New Year 2009 looks to be a sucky one for me. Family’s away in Aussie, meaning less ang pows. Worse thing ah, no ang pow, where got money? On CNY i enter this restaurant ar also they want to charge me 150RM for steamboat for 2 people so I ask 20RM can la they say cannot. Ended up eating 2RM nasi lemak. Aih, should’ve entered that competition on Suanie’s blog….
”

Yes, true story.