A Very Nice Lunch

Date: 03 January 2005 04:43:51

Thanks be to God that my cold seems to have departed. My brain actually seems to be fuctioning today.

I had a wonderful lunch at Cabramatta [a suburb of Sydney with a very high Vietnamese and Cambodian population -- and the delicious food that comes with the cultures] today with a friend from Brisbane (R) and her friend (P). I'm only about 15 minutes from Cabramatta (an Aboriginal name meaning 'home of the cobra grub'), where I can indulge in Asian cuisine, and 15 minutes from Fairfield, where Middle Eastern and Turkish food reigns, so I am rather blessed.

The lunch was tinged with sadness as R's father had died that morning. May his memory be eternal! No flights were available today, unless one leaped through flaming hoops, so R is staying until tomorrow. It was wonderful to see her and we did have a wonderful time.

Lunch consisted of a variety of Vietnamese foods: prawns and vegetables wrapped in rice paper; a crispy pancake-esque base with meat and vegetables [and a tad too much chilli for me] on it; spicy quail; and campfire chicken with vermicelli and vegetables which we wrapped up in rice paper. The campfire's flames took a particular liking to R and P, and thus fired up in their direction. After lunch P and I had jackfruit juice and R, after initially considering something named SourSop, decided upon a strawberry juice. R and P had also partaken of a sugar cane juice beforehand, so I think they had quite a good selection of food.

R was mentioning that Brisbane isn't as culturally diverse as Sydney, and I then realised how blessed I've been -- and yet not realised it. Anglos are definitely in the minority where I live, but I can't say I ever noticed it: my friends have always been from the four corners of the earth (East Asian and Middle Eastern mainly) and I haven't thought it could be any different. Through them I've not only gained the benefits of the mighty fine cuisine present in Asia and the Middle East (as well as the numerous Italian restaurants and bakeries in the area), but gained a different outlook through their lives and beliefs, and also come to realise that not all people think as we in "the West" do. But more importantly, to me, I've found true friends: for which I give thanks to God.

Please pray for R, her father, and R's family. May his memory be eternal!