Slow-Bird

Before I start eating, I should have a disclaimer read aloud: "I am about to start eating now. Please be informed that it will take me approx 1 and a half to 2 hours to munch, grind, savor, and swallow my food; during which time it may be agonizing to watch me chew a zillion times; please bear with me; and please be informed that it’s not that your food is not tasty; it’s simply me eating slow because I need to taste/savor every bit of the meal".

I have a serious disorder – despite many reports that state eating slow is actually good, when it comes to social functions I can be a drag. So far, I've met only one person who eats at the same pace as I do. So, you can deduce that the people whom I dine with are extremely patient people – my soon-to-be-husband Alfred, and my best-friend, Chin Lay. Even my family members ‘take-off’ from their seat in social events to socialize and leave me alone munching my food hamster-like. My mother commented one day that I look like a hamster when I am eating; chewing with a 'balloon-like' cheek.

That’s the reason I don’t look forward for eating at any temple functions because it’s such a rush – because it’d be crowded, you’ve got to eat quickly so that the place can be cleared for other people who are waiting in line. Rather than eating in a rush, I’d rather not eat at all – or just nibble a little.

At times, eating in large quantity is tiring for me due to ‘intense and prolonged’ munching - that's why I eat in small portions. It’s not that I eat slow deliberately. I have been eating like this ever since I was born (okay, ever since I started eating solid food). It’s only when I munch every bit of my food that I feel satisfied consuming the food. I love tasting every bit of the food - hmmmm, the joy of eating :)

My nickname given by my cousins - slow-bird; note that eating is the only activity that I do in a slow-and-steady manner. If you catch me doing grocery shopping, you’d be lucky to actually ‘catch’ me coz I’d be basically sprinting.

Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity. ~Voltaire~

One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. ~Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story~