Chilli attack

In the late afternoon, I was hungry so I looked for something to eat. I saw a bowl of Sweet Potato Fa Kueh, left over from the morning, in the mircowave. Before I could bite into my fa kueh, my two girls saw me and asked to have a bite too. So I had to share the "already not a lot left" fa kueh with them. Marieann had a bite first, followed by Juliane and I took the last bite of the fa kueh. Before I could even start to chew, Juliane started crying out in tears, "Pain, pain". Marieann also started crying and whining about something and running straight for the kitchen dustbin. I was like "HUH?!? What's going on??". I thought my girls have gone nuts or something. Then it HIT me too, MAJOR TIME. I joined my girls in tearing.

Friends, don't worry, there is a very simple and logical explanation for our seemingly strange outburst. The "pain, pain" that Juliane had cried out, was actually meant to be "SPICY! SPICY!" or colloquially, "HOT! HOT!". The bowl that contained the fa kueh was the same bowl that had earlier contained chopped chilli padi!!! (The chilli padi was for a family friend who came over for our Red wine chicken mee sua.) I think the maid might have forgotten to wash the bowl. For those of you who can take spicy food, you can imagine how SPICY it was for a 3-year-old, a 5-year-old and for me who haven't taken any chilli in my life!

We must have been a comical sight as the three of us were trying to squeeze in front of the tap and trying to cool our mouths and lips down with water. For a good half an hour after, our lips and mouths were still tingling away. Hahaha.

I realised that I actually lose out alot because I don't take chilli. There is this whole spread of delicious spicy food (smells good so must taste good) that I can't take, in all the different cuisine! I would like for my girls to learn how to take chilli so that they will not lose out like me, but not in this way. I really hope they have not been traumatised by this accident. We can find out - by giving them another piece of fa kueh. Hahaha.

Updated 10 April 07, 11:45am
PS. Some of you sharp-eyed friends noticed the inconsistency. If I don't take spicy food, how did I manage to eat the vegetarian laksa served at my temple? Well, simple, I washed it with water first before eating it. Yes, yes, I know that really just destroyed the taste of the dish. But it is the ONLY way I could eat "spicy" food. :P Okay lah, I will try to learn to take spicy food.