Today is the 1st time Feng and I eat "Hum" together! Yummy fresh cockles, though abit bloody..It's an impromptu decision to order it..We went to this crowded market near Henderson, with the intention of eating either the famous black pepper chicken chop or "zi char" for dinner. However, when we reached there, Feng was tempted by the gleaming roasted chicken hanging by the chicken rice stall. Next to it is a stall selling wanton noodles. So, we decided to order roasted chicken + char siew + roasted pork rice, with "shui jiao" soup.

While waiting for the food to arrive, i caught sight of another stall next to the wanton noodle stall. It's decorated with sleazy neon lights, and it sells BBQ seafood. Looking at the arrays of seafood on the huge metal tray loaded with ice, a basket of cockles "screamed" out to me. That's when i thought of buying a small plate of it, just to add variety to our dinner.
Half way through our dinner, the cockles arrived. It doesn't look appealing. It came across to me as a plate full of hard seashells, with 3 toothpicks next to it, accompanied by a small dish of red-hot sambal chilli sauce, with a fat lime sitting on it.

I picked up 1 seashell, and attempted to prise it open with the tip of my nails. After some struggle, I suceeded. Felt a sense of satisfaction when i finally tasted the 1st hum prised open by myself. Feng forced open the rest of it and left the hums on my plate. I told him he is the 2nd person in my life to help mi prise open hums. The 1st one is my mum, when i was still a little girl. After a long time of slurping up the hums and its blood, we realised that 1/3 of the table is filled with the empty seashells. Felt damn pai-seh when the cleaner walked past our table..
By then, the both of us have finished 3 big glasses of teh-o-bing already.

I feel so loved, when eating our simple spread of dinner in the hot market. The small action of us attempting to prise open more hums so we can feed each other is so warm-hearted. ( Prising it open is not EZ, perharps the hums are not boiled long enough, so its tightly clapsed together.)

I asked Feng, if a very very rich guy falls in love with a poor girl, will he feel happy eating in a hot, noisy, crowded and not-so-hygenic market with that girl? Or will that poor girl feels happier eating at a posh restaurant with great ambience with that guy?
Feng feels that the guy would be happier, being spared with the formalities that is required of him to dine in a posh restaurant. He can feel more relaxed, and experience the care-free feeling of eating in a market with his girl, as well as her lifestyle. I told him I beg to differ. Some girls really might feel happier eating in posh restaurants, tasting fine cuisine and experiencing the high-life that she has been deprived of all her life. Its another egg-and chicken question.

However, I just want u to know, Feng, that i enjoy every moment with you, although we are just lazing around at home, or eating at nearby coffee-shops. I'll continue to prise open hums for you, though it might chip my nails...for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to hold u as my beloved laogong....i love u.