FINISHING WITH COCOLATE CREAM PIE

Let's just say I got a hell of a lot acomplished today. Including going down to the hospital for blood tests (part of the yearly "let us check and make certain the old fossil is still alive and kicking"), visit to the pharmacy to make sure my refills will be ready next week, caffeination and sustenance almost immediately afterward (having fasted for the required twelve hours beforehand), upgrading my transit card, grocery shopping, and a visit to the store for some illegal cigarettes.

Oh, and cussing a woman doing that wavy gesture that some anti-smoking old Karens do when they think their nostrils are being assaulted. In a language she wouldn't understand, sotto voce in any case. As she was getting into her soccer mom vehicle illegally parked.

[Karen: a venomous bitchy white woman with an attitude problem.]

So, it strikes me that now is a good time to post a list of essential Cantonese vocabulary for the middle-aged Dutch American bachelor living near Chinatown in San Francisco.
If you are a middle-aged Dutch American bachelor, you will find it useful.

VOCABULARY
貧血 ('pin huet'): Anaemia, anaemic. My apartment mate desires to donate blood again. She shouldn't. I've told her she's anaemic.
麵粉不耐症 ('min fan pat noi jing'): gluten intolerance, an imaginary ailment.
便秘 ('pin pei'): constipation, such as venomous suburban Karens often have.
走私香煙，非法香煙 ('jau si heung yin, fei faat heung yin'): illegal cigarettes smuggled in. Of which you see the empty discarded packs all over the place.
抽緊血 ('chau gan huet'): having blood drawn (抽血 'chau huet') for a test.
醫生嘅預約 ('yi sang ge yiu yeuk'): doctor's appointment.
前台登記 ('chin toi teng kei'): signing in at the front desk.
三包駱駝牌煙，唔該 ('saam baau lok to pai yin, m koi'): three packs of Camels, please. They weren't actually Camels but Wu Ye Shen filter ciggies (三葉神，過濾香煙 'ng yip san gwo leui heung yin'), but you probably prefer Camels. More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette.
嘩，我好耐冇見過小麥護士 ('waa, ngo hou noi mow kin gwo siu mak wu si'): well jeez, I haven't seen little nurse Mak in a long time!
朱古力忌廉派 ('jyu gu lik kei lim paai'): chocolate cream pie, which my apartment mate had for breakfast this morning, asserting that it would combat anaemia so that she can donate blood. She actually doesn't have anaemia, but I have a needle phobia, so ...

Some chocolate cream pies have shavings on top or even shredded coconut. Which really is overkill. Whipped cream only is fine, trust me. Contrary to popular belief, this does not counter anaemia or any other blood disorders (血液疾病 'huet yik jat peng'; 血病 'huet peng'). Though if you have impaired kidney function (腎臟功能受損 'sang jong kung nang sau suen') you might want to avoid banana chocolate cream pie because of potasium (鉀 'gaap'). 香蕉含鉀量高 ('heung jiu haam gaap leung kou'; "bananas are high in potassium").
Not my problem, but they sometimes make me itch.



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