I had chips and beans for tea this evening at the Tak Awa. I dont have that dish often..but theres something homely about it isnt there ? And thats what it reminds me of ...Home. Good old Scottish Chips cooked in Beef dripping and beans ! Isnt it funny, how a smell, an aroma or even a taste, reminds us of a place weve maybe visited, or even an experience weve had in our lives. Whether it be good or bad. When I was child, even through my teenage years, when visiting Edinburgh.... After entering the City via the Waverley Station..Id swear the whole place smelled of bread ! So wherever I travelled to in the World, over the years. The smell of freshly baked bread..reminded me of Edinburgh ! Theres an open air noodle stall, at the bottom of Hankow Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, in Hong Kong...under a flyover ! They have these free standing industrial type fans that send a breeze through the seating area, to keep the patrons comfortable in the Summer ... they dont really help, as most of the diners sit with sweat dripping from their brow and often into their noodle bowl !! But the place is famous for its stewed beef and noodles with fermented chilli. The aromas are fantastic ! The huge soup cauldrons boiling away, the steaming noodles and the stewed beef ..all catch your senses and tastebuds. Its when Im sitting at one of the tables, breathing all of this in and I eventually taste the fresh noodles... do I actually realise ...Im in Hong Kong. Starbucks produce a hot tuna melt panini. They were one of the first to do so..I recall. On Sunday, I had to drive to Edinburgh for my Good Lady to attend a Course. We arrived very early and looked for a place to grab a coffee. Walking through the City..I caught the bread smell..once again ! We settled in the Starbucks on George Street. I ordered the Tuna Melt panini. As I began to eat it ..the taste and aroma, took me back ... to around 11/12 years ago..to be precise. In my first marriage, I think I was rather rushed and impulsive. I was married too young and the consequences were met, more than a decade later....with a not so acrimonious divorce. At the latter end of our marriage, we tried to, I suppose ..rekindle but maybe prolong the relationship, is a better description...... by leaving our jobs and careers in Hong Kong and preceding to pursue a family...back here where I called home. Which in hindsight, probably was a Godsend that we didnt succeed ! We had extremely wealthy friends that had success with IVF treatment, that was available from a famous Private Practice in London. They recommended it to us, as it had a high success rate. At first, I didnt know what I was letting myself in for. The financial burden, is still tying me down now. I suppose, I just wanted to keep my partner at the time, happy ...and if she wanted children ..then this was the way to keep her content. We werent wealthy in any shape or form and we had to be quite frugal with what we had, as there was a lot of things to be paid for. To save money, we had to suffer overnight trains and horrible buses to London and stay in some horrible Guest Houses... though in my defence, during the treatment stage ..we stayed at a local Four Star Hotel. The treatment itself, involved ..self injecting of hormones, that was probably the worst bit ..it upset me to see her bruising after a few injections. The gathering and fertilisation of the eggs... And of course putting the fertilised eggs back inside. Brilliant ! I thought, ready made babies ! The whole process was quite straightforward and comprehensible. You just needed money and in my ignorant eyes, an extremely large amount of luck ! Thats what it read and sounded like. But for anyone thats been there, especially if you have been unsuccessful, its not that straightforward. Its a very sad place to be in life, when you think youre attained something that you really wanted, but it hasnt materialise, The treatments werent successful and although it was a painstakingly, sad time... I do believe now, maybe it was for the better, that it wasnt successful, as the marriage was in my opinion over. When we would arrive into London in the early hours, we would always have to wait for the clinic to open. We would frequent Starbucks, as it was the only place open in the morning. I would have the Tuna melt panini. My ex wife would often have two !! She was the only human being that could consume a dozen Crispy Kremes and still want for more ! I think this was one of the reasons, I wanted to end the marriage. Her insatiable demand for high calorific food. When I had the same sandwich yesterday morning. It took me back. Back to all the overnight journeys, discussions, arguments, being with her through the treatments, phoning the clinic to be told It hasnt been successful and crying with her, through these difficult times. Im in a much better place now and had it not for us ending. I would not be able to enjoy the fruits from my tree of life today. We dont keep in touch..understandably. But I have knowledge that she does well in New York. I wish her success and happiness, in everything she does in life ... and all the Tuna Melt paninis and Krispy Kremes she can physically consume ! Im never going back to a Starbucks again ! Nite Nite Campers. O
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 21:45:05 +0000
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