DON'T START THE DAY THAT WAY

My cardiologist speaks English as his first language, and, like many locally born San Franciscans of a certain type, does not understand the language of Hong Kong and Canton City, being only slightly familiar with his parents' dialect of Cantonese. Evenso, his idea of what many Americans eat is a bit skewed, although in the case of his clientele (mostly overweight Blacks and Whites) probably dangerously and painfully accurate.

Like him, I am not entirely familiar with what most Americans eat. So his recitation of all the evil things that I should avoid was a marvelous litany, and had a fun ritualistic ring to it. Bacon. Sausages. Fried eggs. Ham.
Pancakes.

Pancakes? Good lord. Can't stand the American flapjack. A thick doughy greasy fried bread-like substance, round and gooey, which my apartment mate often has for breakfast. Like all Anglo morning food, it's nasty.

Can't quite figure out how she developed an affection for the short stack, as she's of Cantonese ancestry. Must be her older brothers. One of them was a football player, in college, in the Midwest. That'll corrupt you.

A pancake should be like a crêpe. Perhaps with slices of apple in the batter. It's a snack-type thing, good in winter.


Largely I have avoided breakfast since returning to the States years ago. Cup and a half of strong coffee, cigarillo, then off to the shower. On workdays, a baked thing, three and half hours after I get up.

The "American Breakfast" is a nightmare.

Yesterday I rolled out of bed at eight, saw my cardiologist at two, got back to Chinatown just before teatime, and then broke my fast with battered and deepfried chops and curry sauce over rice. It was delicious!

First meal since coffee at eight.

So. Breakfast.



日式咖哩豬排飯
['yat sik gaa lei chyu paai fan']

It needed Sriracha, of course. Whenever Hong Kong people do "curry", it tends to be flavourful, but very low on heat. And this glow-in-the-dark big-nosed white person likes a piquancy. The breaded and fried porkchop is a relatively new item on the menu, and the "Japanese style" curry gravy is considerably nicer than the old-style Canto curry. Yeah, my cardiologist, the dietitian I saw last week, and my regular doctor could all be quite disturbed, as there was not a single vegetable there. But on the other hand, both members of the nursing staff I see at the hospital might approve.
Tasty, exciting, the perfect meal!

When I'm at work nowadays, I eat salad for lunch.
Lordy, but salads are vicious.
Even with Sriracha.



Smoked my pipe on the sidewalk alongside the park afterwards. The two filthy naked crazies from the previous day weren't there -- perhaps men with butterfly nets took them away -- and there were more children and old people, fewer bums. Maybe somebody complained.

The black female loonie who wears dirty towels is back.
Grant Avenue and Wentworth Place. Usually.
Sometimes she has a sheet.





APPENDIX

Cardio-vascular disease: 心血管疾病 ('sam huet kun jat beng'; "heart blood-tubes illness ailment/sickness"). Cardiology: 心臟病學 ('sam jong beng hok'; "heart-organ disease study"). Also 心臟內科 ('sam jong noi fo'; "heart-organ internal science"). Cardiologist: 心臟病醫生 ('sam jong beng yi saang'; "heart disease doctor"). Also 心臟病專家 ('sam jong beng juen gaa'; "heart disease specialist"). Note that 臟病 ('jong beng'; "organ disease") sounds very similar to 髒病 ('jong beng'; "venereal disease").

Context is everything, the more the better. Include 血液循環 ('huet yat cheun waan'; or 循環系統 'cheun waan hai tung' in your discussion; circulation and circulatory system respectively.





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