chopsticks and men who cook

It’s amazing how often I get comments here about my chopsticks technique, or the fact I don’t mind chili sauce. Even my Singaporean colleagues who’ve travelled quite a bit seem amazed to see an ang mo wielding chopsticks with any proficiency.

And women I meet in Southeast Asia are amused to no end that I can cook, and even more amused to learn that I actually enjoy cooking. In traditional circles, men don’t cook. In more modern circles, no one cooks. The rat race doesn’t leave much time for domestic pursuits.

That aside, when women find out I’m 36-years-old, unmarried, and cooking for myself no less, I become either a tragedy or a comedy to them. Probably a bit of both actually.

In the wet market Saturday morning, while shopping for dinner, a chinese auntie told me it’s “high time” I found myself a good wife.

But then I’d have to kiss my CLEO cachet goodbye.