The results of the numerous tests have all come in, tests for celiac disease and what not and thankfully, they are all negative, praise the Lord. In the meantime, after avoiding wheat and other gluten-containing products, the symptoms have disappeared – things like the horrifying rashes on the back, constant migraine and body aches, excessive gas and gastric problems, irregular bowel movement – sometimes constipation and sometimes diarrhoea, always falling sick…and racing pulse rate up to over 120 per minute!
That was why when my girl came home after school closed for the year-end holidays, looking as thin as a rake, so sickly and so very stressed out and depressed, I told her it would just be something we would need to get used to, a change in lifestyle and diet and everything would be all right – think positive…and happy! There are people with all kinds of allergies and sicknesses and they would have to avoid certain things at all cost. I knew someone who was allergic to protein and could not even drink soya bean milk or eat vegetables like bean sprouts, long beans and all those and of course, eggs and all kinds of meat and seafood would be out of the question.
Well, things are getting better. Of course, sometimes we forget…like when we went for chicken rice here…
…that day, I ordered the stewed eggs…
…which had soy sauce (there is wheat in the ingredients) and she was about to eat it too when the mum who remembered said that she shouldn’t.
I don’t know what sauce they poured over the meat…
…probably plum sauce and all the fat that had dripped down in the course of roasting but to be safe, the next time we eat here or anywhere else, I would have to tell them to leave out the sauce…completely. Thankfully, my girl was all right after eating that so my guess is she is more gluten sensitive or intolerant so if she avoids the offensive stuff most of the time, just a little bit shouldn’t bring any drastically serious consequence but of course, it is best avoided.
Everything was fine here that day when she had the bryani rice with mutton curry (RM8.00) as always…and the mum had the nasi campur with one meat and two vegetables (RM6.00) while I had this (RM9.00)…
– their bryani rice with a piece of papadum by the side but with sambal chicken…
…and sambal egg plus a bit of paku (wild jungle fern) instead of one of the many curries available there. Wowwwww!!!! The sambal, both the chicken and the egg, was so very nice but so very very hot even for someone like me – definitely not something for the faint-hearted, I must say!
But when we dropped by here…
*the shadow on the wall inside, the result of the reflection of the bright sunlight on the windscreen of the car parked in front, of the name stuck to the restaurant’s glass door*
…for lunch that day, I ordered the sweet potato leaves, ching chao (fried plain)…
…and I was wondering why there was a bit of sauce in it, black in colour. I tasted it – it came across like there was some of our traditional Foochow red wine, no soy sauce. My girl had that and she enjoyed it…and no, there were no reactions after that.
There was no problem, of course, with the bitter gourd with salted egg…
…and I ordered fish, steamed…
…with red wine as usually the fried ones would be coated in wheat flour and fried before cooking. That slab of tapah cost a bomb – RM35.00 and it would not have been so bad if it had been really very nice. They do have a lot of very nice dishes here, which probably explains why there were so many people – a full house, lunch time on a week day! Unfortunately, we would have to refrain from ordering most of those dishes now, but, in my honest opinion, you can give their steamed tapah (dunno about the other varieties of fish) a miss.
So, as one can see, actually it isn’t so bad, after all…and we are coping very well with it – as a matter of fact, my girl is looking less thinner now and a lot happier! Still a few weeks left to the holidays and till Christmas!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Here in Montreal, whenever egg rolls are ordered in a Chinese restaurant, they always put out some plum sauce. I like egg rolls by themselves, without plum sauce, so I don’t need plum sauce. But of course the egg or Spring rolls have to be tasty which for me, they always are. 🙂
Yes, I only resort to sauces when something is bland or does not taste nice. Not all the sauces will complement the taste of the thing all the time – some will drown out the taste so bad that you can hardly detect it. That is why I am not all that into soy sauce.
Poor Melissa. I could imagine her condition and stress working in the jungle school. Glad she is back at home and you could feed her well.
Indeed have to watch out what she eat. Dont want serious reaction.
We’re getting quite used to it now. They say after 60 days of cold turkey, a little bit once in a long while would be fine.
Glad to hear your daughter’s better. Gluten intolerance is quite common here, too.
Yes, and it is much more of a problem there as bread is the staple…and cakes and pastries and pies and pastas and pizzas are the usual things people eat a lot there. I guess that is why there is greater awareness and hence all the highlights and the warnings on all labels, unlike here. On the other hand, I suppose gluten-free products are a lot more easily available there.
All looks good. Glad that Melissa can still enjoy some of the dishes you ordered.
Yes, guess in time we will be so used to it that we do not even have to be this careful anymore. In fact, I hear that after 60 days, it is quite all right if one eats a little…on purpose or by accident.
Glad to know that Melissa is coping well with her dietary issues. You are right, it is a matter of adapting and making the necessary changes. In time to come, it becomes second nature and not so bothersome anymore. Melissa must be so relieved to be home.
Yes, especially with the frequent blackouts in her quarters at school and the food going bad, it was quite a problem when it came to eating there. Doing ok now. We’ve tried the Tamari sauce, nice…something like the sauce in those cans of pickled lettuce and not as strong and as salty as soy sauce. Thanks again for telling me about it.