Letter 259: Sawadee Kah!

I have been warned about the incorrigibility of the food paparazzi when it comes to spying grub on the table.


At my first floggers' meet-up, I finally had the opportunity to witness this zealous act of fanaticism that has transpired into most people's daily inspiration for places to wine and dine around town.

Kom's Chicken Wings with Mango-Kiwi Dressing; Choo Chee Goong (Thai yellow curry with river prawns, served with curry-soaked bread)


When food arrived on the table, conversation would come to a halt, and the spotlight would automatically shift to the "victims" lying helplessly on the dining table, like a reluctant bleary-eyed celebrity being photographed stepping out of a post-cocaine binge party.

Plah Nung Manow (steamed fish)

Even a normal plate of brown rice was not spared the shutterbugs' modus operandi

Though my love for eating borders along the pathological, and (food) photography has emerged as a sideline passion in recent years, I now know why I don't consider myself to be a "professional flogger".

Foreground: Pak Choop Pang Tod (Thai style veg tempura)
Background: Som Tam Malakor (green papaya salad with dried prawns and peanuts)

Because I seldom take pics of the place unless it's really pretty.

Because I don't ever bother finding out the address of the places I eat (since there's bound to be a flogger somewhere in cyberspace who has already done their homework for me to link up ;p).

Because I like to write-- about that which inspires me other than food, just like Keat, Kenny, Kiasu"Folitical"Activist and Riz. (It's an urban myth that I only write about food and "boring medical posts", Sid ;p)

Red Duck Curry with Konnyaku Jelly, Avocado Slices and Rambutan. (I never did like Konnyaku jelly so I thought the addition of this artefact was unnecessary. Wise *cough cough* Nipples explained that it was to neutralise the spiciness of the curry )

ANYWAY. By the time the mellow me waited for the profligate professionals to snap up their targets to their hearts' content ("WAIT!!! Must take from this angle also!!"), I was on the brink of starvation.

The nugget of flogging wisdom I learnt from Teckiee-- "You have to feed your camera first before feeding your stomach!"

Which further explains why I can never go into full-time food blogging/reviewing like Nic, Jackson, Jason, Christine, Ai Wei, Ekeng, SC, The Hungry Rabbit, Xiu Long Bao, KampungBoyCityGal, Adly and The Most Idolised Flogger.

Chillied Lamb

I only took my turn at snapping pics when the "professionals" started turning their attention to other dishes. Shy mah Not wanting to delay the meal, I only hurriedly took some pics which didn't turn out to my liking. For awesome pics of the food, check out Lianne's, who lifted the spirits of our table with her flask of sweet Japanese plum wine (thanks for inadvertantly heeding the needs of Yours Truly ;p).

Tom Klong (Northern Thai Tom Yam with Fish Cutlets)

Sago Pudding with Thai Mangoes

Dessert wasn't just confined to the sago pudding on the menu. There was the infamous Chilled Durian Cheesecake courtesy of Fat Boy Bakes. For the durian lover whose blog name was inspired by her liking for all-things durian, she was certainly taken to durian heaven upon her first bite of this sinfully rich amalgamation of durian and cheese *swoon~*

I dunno which part of me is "sweet"-- except maybe my sweet tooth ;p

Floggers are a bunch of jovial souls, united by their passion for food. Without bubbly organisers Queen Crab/Food Surgeon, Lyrical Lemongrass and WMW (of course it was weird lah identifying all them floggers by their screen names before getting to know their real names), such an event wouldn't be possible.

So thank you once again for organising a get-together for carrying out the nation's fav pastime. It has certainly been a pleasurable eye-opener meeting you guys :)

Happy New Year people!!!

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