9/11 is one day that everyone throughout the world will remember. It has been 15 years – those who were kids at the time would be teenagers now and they may not feel that same horror that everybody felt when it all happened.
9/11 is also my mum’s birthday and every year, we would all go out to some restaurant in town for dinner and that year was no different. We got home at around 9 in the night and that would be around 9 in the morning in the US. I switched on the tv and saw it on the news – a plane stuck in the burning tower and I called out to my girl and the mum thinking that it was the Millennium Bug gone awry and that was when the second plane came and crashed into the next tower and my blood ran cold. It certainly was something a lot more serious than I thought.
We no longer go out for dinner anymore, not since my mum became bedridden in 2007, 9 years ago so every year, we would go to my parents’ house to have a little celebration and that was what we did the other day.
My sister went and ordered a few dishes from this restaurant including the must-have longevity noodles, the mee sua, fried…
…and served with the lightly-fried golden eggs…and also my girl’s favourite – their deep fried bawal putih (white pomfret) fillet with the very nice sauce…
Other than the two, we also had these chicken…
…and sea cucumber…
…dishes and also one vegetable dish…
…as well.
I went to another restaurant in town – this one – and bought the fish maw clear soup…
*Archive photo*
…that I do enjoy a lot without fail everytime I get the chance to have that and I also bought their prawn fritters and ngor hiang (meat rolls)…
…that we have enjoyed for as long as I can remember and that sure has been a long long time now.
It was quite simple, the lunch with my parents and sister and me and my missus and my girl, just the six of us but what mattered most was how happy it made my mum to see everybody gathered together on her special day – she certainly was smiling and talking a lot more and eating much more too. Nothing beats having one’s loved and dear ones around on such special occasions, that’s for sure.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Another stella food post! Yum, yum.
I didn’t know that mee sau can be fried. Yours look
so appealing and no sign of sogginess. Is this a Foochow speciality? I had only eaten it in soup with mixed meat or red eggs (??).
What sauce was the white pomfret cooked in? Soya sauce? It doesn’t appear to be greasy.
Stellar, you mean? And mee sua? If you do not overcook it and rinse in cold water after draining well, it will not look soggy and will not stick together in a clump. I think I did blog about this once. Mixed meat? Unheard of! Here, it is with traditional red wine chicken soup…or fragrant root chicken soup or the eight treasures – pek ting eyok. I’ve blogged about all these before. My girl loves it with “egg purse” soup, poached or fried with lots of ginger and our traditional Foochow red wine.
Soya sauce!!! God forbid!!! The white pomfret with soya sauce!!! That’s sacrilegious! It’s their variation of the sweet and sour sauce, not ALL tomato and so it is not so red. The all tomato version is good enough for the cheaper black pomfret, the white one would have to be treated with a lot more respect – so so expensive.
Happy Belated Birthday to your mum’s 🙂
Thank you.
I remember the night , i was at cellgroup and we were at the host house watching the tv about this 9/11 incident…
How old are you? That was 15 years ago, how old were you then? In your teens, twenties?
A very beautiful gathering and celebration. So your mum’s birthday falls on same day as Jamie’s. I will remember that.
Happy belated birthday to your mum. The dishes looked so good and home-cooked. Make me miss the time when I were younger and almost every month we had potluck in my grandparents’ house back then. All aunties cooked and brought their specialties over. Kacangma and curry were a common dishes on table. ^^
We used to have that very often when all my relatives were in Sibu and somebody would bring curry – now they have all moved to Kuching and some of them have passed away. They would have these get-togethers there quite often…and somebody would bring kacang ma, that’s for sure. Thanks for the birthday greetings. Jamie was born in Sibu, right?
Aww. Happy belated Birthday to the birthday girl, any presents for her?
Thank you. I just gave her an ang pao. My girl bought her lots of cookies, Scottish shortbread and stuff and also gave an ang pao.
I remember my son was living in Melbourne at that time and rang me to tell me to turn on the tv, as there was an attack on the Twin Towers. My mind must have found it hard to register the fact, as I watched it thinking it was an accident, until the second plane came!
Happy birthday to your mother!
Thanks. I was kind of amused at first till the second plane crashed into the next tower. Stayed up all night watching the news on CNN, also the one at the Pnetagon and the other one on the way to Fort Knox or some place. There were four planes, if I remember correctly.
As long as everyone is happy, enjoy the food & fellowship, I don’t mind the celebration is simple & on a small scale. My niece’s birthday falls on the same date as your mum. Happy Belated Birthday to your mum & hope many many more to come.
Thank you. Wow! So many born on that same day.
I remember that morning and hearing the news here in Montreal…it was devastating.
It was. Tragic. It was night here, 12 hours difference, same day.
Blessed birthday to your mom.
Me too, I saw the news in the tv. I thought it was a movie but when another plane struck, it was a horror sight.
Thank you.
You saw? But you are so young. Must have been a kid then? 😉
I’m glad you could celebrate your mum’s birthday with her. It’s so much easier to buy food home rather than sweat in the kitchen. I love fried mee sua and I remember your blogpost on how to do it once but I haven’t gotten down to it yet.
Yes, we were glad too especially when we could see that it made her so very happy.
Happy Birthday to your mama!! Yes, I can imagine her happiness to see her kids around on this special day. I miss my mama so much till this day… Really treasure the moments… We have only one mom…
Thanks. Yes, cherish every moment together, treasure every little joy, all the happiness we get to share. I sure was glad that she was very happy that we went and celebrated her special day with her.
It’s surreal to imagine that 15 yeas have gone by since 2001. That’s a lot of years. Happy belated birthday to your mom, btw!
Thank you. Yes, time sure does fly, doesn’t it?