because we've been hit by the spring chill at home - it wasn't my germs, honest! - we've all been cooking porridge for dinner (and me, lunch) the past week. i used up the last of the rice for my chicken porridge, so friday after dinner xiaoyun and i went to the supermarket to get some.
the supermarket's got a really pretty name: 易初莲花 (yi4 chu4 lian2 hua1), lotus blossoms.
anyway, we'd set out for dinner pretty late so by the time we were done it was about twenty minutes to closing time.
we were at the check-out counter, me hugging a bag of rice, and both of us feeling very pleased because we'd managed to successfully communicate to the supermarket staff that we wanted to buy ikan bilis (鱼干 yu2 gan1). i set the packet of ikan bilis on the counter along with the packet of wolfberries i'd also picked up and was about to do the same with the bag of rice when it slipped out of my arms, fell to the floor, and burst open.
rice grains scattered everywhere.
(of course they scattered everywhere. where else would they have gone?)
the rice was packed in those bags that you usually get for putting fruits in, so i don't think it's my fault that it burst.
xiaoyun and i stared at each other, horrified, and then we started laughing uncontrollably, not knowing what to do.
xiaoyun recovered her senses first.
hurry chloe let's run away! i'll wait for you here hurry hurry run upstairs and get a new bag and let's go!
i ran like anything to get a new packet of rice, but after we paid i felt so bad that i decided to wait to tell the cashier that i didn't mind paying for the burst bag of rice.
but either she didn't understand me, or she just wanted to close the register and go home, because she peered over the counter and coolly handed me a plastic bag and told me to pick up the rice.
as xiaoyun pointed out, i think she wouldn't have minded me taking the spilt rice. in fact, due to my half-past-six chinese, we think she thought i'd already paid for the rice.
i scooped up as much of it as i could into the plastic bag (it scattered everywhere, remember?), set it down on the counter, and then we scurried away, me clutching the second bag of rice to my chest for dear life.
***
tuesday, after i'd picked out the chicken which ended up in my chicken porridge, i asked the guy at the supermarket to chop it into pieces for me.
he picked up the chicken (dead already, of course), put it on his chopping board, and began hacking away at it with large, lazy, careless strokes.
just before he brought down the chopper to chop off the chicken's head, i said that i didn't want it. and as he brought down the chopper, with a large, lazy, careless and heavy stroke, the head of the poor chicken flew right off the chopping board and landed a good 5 metres away.
so much for not wanting the chicken's head.
the supermarket's got a really pretty name: 易初莲花 (yi4 chu4 lian2 hua1), lotus blossoms.
anyway, we'd set out for dinner pretty late so by the time we were done it was about twenty minutes to closing time.
we were at the check-out counter, me hugging a bag of rice, and both of us feeling very pleased because we'd managed to successfully communicate to the supermarket staff that we wanted to buy ikan bilis (鱼干 yu2 gan1). i set the packet of ikan bilis on the counter along with the packet of wolfberries i'd also picked up and was about to do the same with the bag of rice when it slipped out of my arms, fell to the floor, and burst open.
rice grains scattered everywhere.
(of course they scattered everywhere. where else would they have gone?)
the rice was packed in those bags that you usually get for putting fruits in, so i don't think it's my fault that it burst.
xiaoyun and i stared at each other, horrified, and then we started laughing uncontrollably, not knowing what to do.
xiaoyun recovered her senses first.
hurry chloe let's run away! i'll wait for you here hurry hurry run upstairs and get a new bag and let's go!
i ran like anything to get a new packet of rice, but after we paid i felt so bad that i decided to wait to tell the cashier that i didn't mind paying for the burst bag of rice.
but either she didn't understand me, or she just wanted to close the register and go home, because she peered over the counter and coolly handed me a plastic bag and told me to pick up the rice.
as xiaoyun pointed out, i think she wouldn't have minded me taking the spilt rice. in fact, due to my half-past-six chinese, we think she thought i'd already paid for the rice.
i scooped up as much of it as i could into the plastic bag (it scattered everywhere, remember?), set it down on the counter, and then we scurried away, me clutching the second bag of rice to my chest for dear life.
***
tuesday, after i'd picked out the chicken which ended up in my chicken porridge, i asked the guy at the supermarket to chop it into pieces for me.
he picked up the chicken (dead already, of course), put it on his chopping board, and began hacking away at it with large, lazy, careless strokes.
just before he brought down the chopper to chop off the chicken's head, i said that i didn't want it. and as he brought down the chopper, with a large, lazy, careless and heavy stroke, the head of the poor chicken flew right off the chopping board and landed a good 5 metres away.
so much for not wanting the chicken's head.
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