YKYCW.. #2 Red Beans

You know you're chinese when.. you've eaten red beans in (at least) 3 different ways.

Its reads a bit like a whos-whos in red bean recipes. Kinda like Bubba's shrimp menu.

Red bean desert soup, 3 layered red bean ice drink, sweet red bean paste pancakes, fried sesame seed balls with red bean paste (jin dui), red bean filled moon cakes, azuki frappaccino (seen in Starbucks Japan circa April 2008), coconut red bean pudding, lotus seed and red bean congee, green tea and red bean cake, sago pudding with red beans, steamed buns with red beans, red bean ice cream, red bean soy smoothie, red bean McFlurry (Chinese New year edition), red bean rice cake, red bean soup with rice dumplings, red bean paste jelly, red bean and pumpkin curry, red bean soup dumplings, red bean steamed tea cakes..

Anpanman! (even though he's japanese) His head is a bean filled bun!

YKYCW... #1 Slippers

You Know You're Chinese When.. you leave your shoes at the front door.



This is customary with many chinese (and other asian) households. It doesnt actually happen at my parent's house as the whole bottom level of the house is tiled and they tend not to expect guests to walk around on cold floors. But if you've ever come to visit or stay with us, my mum would've certainly offered you a pair of slippers from her stash in the cupboard.




I think some of you may have even accepted, but you'd probably find that these Hong Kong bargain bought styles do not fit our general fish-bowl-effected size feet. When I was younger, my mum told me that if I walked around bare-footed, I'd grow up with really big feet (doh!) and she'd lure me with pink ug boots or ones that looked like animal's feet. The funniest was when my dad used to (recently) wear red ones with flowers and teddy bears on them.

Why do asians like wearing slippers?
I think its obviously because they dont want you trudging outdoor crap all over their expensive stone flooring or oriental rugs and white carpets. Perhaps its an indoor footwear vogue that just makes sense and westerners just dont get? Remember when girls were wearing those silky/velevety embroidered slippers as outdoor wear before the Havaiana explosion?

If anyone has any other theories, I'd like to know.