Monday, February 22, 2010

if only it were a genetic trait

I really like when my parents say nice things about each other.

A few months ago, talking with my dad while walking down a street in Argentina. (All the following conversations were in Mandarin, and I've translated them.)

Me: "Mom is the best cook of chinese food that I've ever encountered, except professional chefs. I've never gone to anyone's house and been served a chinese meal that tastes better than my mom's cooking."

Dad: "That's true. Sometimes when I see a mediocre Chinese restaurant, I don't even go in, because their cooking won't be as good as your mom's."

Me: "爸, 你捞着了! (Dad, you really lucked out!) Did you know Mom was such a good cook before you got married?"

Dad: "No. In fact, I didn't realize for years after we got married. I thought everyone else's wife was just as good."

Me: "How did you figure out the truth?"

Dad: "XXX [name of relative] invited us to dinner. She clearly spent a lot of time preparing, but it couldn't compare to your mom's food. Then another relative invited us, and the same thing happened. That's when I realized."

Me: "You get to eat restaurant-quality food every day. That's so fortunate!"

Dad: "恩, 不错。 [Yup, not bad.]"





At lunch in Irvine today, with my brother.

Me: "I think Dad's basic need out of marriage is to have someone cook a good meal for him twice a day."

Tom: "Whenever I call him, he always ends by saying, 'I gotta go. 你妈给我做了两菜一汤 (Your mom has cooked me two dishes and a soup.)' He doesn't just say 'I gotta go.'"

Me: "Hee hee. That's so adorable."

3 comments:

Guiseppe said...

If you could try a batch of my girlfriend's ribs, you'd be offering to marry her too--even if your door doesn't swing that way! They are THAT good, yum! :)

Anonymous said...

Um, to prove the word Guiseppe, you should have called her 'fiancee' by now. ;-)

Guiseppe said...

Still working on that, lol. She's awesome!