valentine's day

Ji sent out his annual Valentine's card to his aunties and other darlings with this photo attached:

In return he heard back from practically EVERYONE on his mailing list. Now, Ji understands that it's not usually so polite to send people mass emails. Especially when they contain a "be my valentine!" request. However, typing is dang hard on his little fingers. We're harsh taskmasters here at fixed address, you know, and we force him to type his own email. So Ji would like to say a big huge thank you for all the lovely emails and cards he's received. He sat with me last night and we read them all - yeah, yeah, I know, the school's supposedly 'teaching him to read' but so far he can't get through a single sentence on his own, jeez, except for SJ luv M, which means Super Ji loves Mum, but I'm hoping he'll be onto Dostoyesvski shortly. Anyways, he just thought that getting those emails was the greatest. So: thanks!

In other Ji news, my favourite quote from Sloane's visit the past few weeks was when Ji asked me, "Mum, is Sloane speaking Thai or is that all burbledy gurbledy?"

I was actually, truly impressed with Ji's powers of observation when he opined that Sloane's eyes were the colour of preserved eggs. Now, that may not sound so great to you western readers out there. But preserved eggs (also known as 'century eggs') are incredibly beautiful. Not to mention delicious. We usually eat them in congee and Phet's aunt also makes a tasty dish with them sliced on fresh tofu with scallions and soy sauce on top. Now, I don't want to infer that we want to munch on Sloaner's eyes of course. But Ji's description is incredibly accurate. On a preserved egg, the white of the egg turns a lovely translucent browny-gold colour that reflects the green yolk within. Yes, perhaps these eggs ARE the inspiration for Green Eggs and Ham. But really, look at these close-up photos of preserved eggs and if you know Sloane, aren't these pretty much bang-on in terms of her eyes? Gorgeous, rich golden brown with just a shadow of hazel, like topaz and tiger's eye stones mixed together...

[Ji Hong-19-February-2006]