In 1977 when the the original Star Wars film – the one simply called Star Wars – was released, my only foreign travel until then was to Singapore. Otherwise, all our family holidays were taken in Malaysia. The premise of life in a galaxy far, far away was novel and exciting, and I fell truly, madly, deeply in love with the film. Somewhere in a past cache of souvenirs I had photo books, toy models and a Polaroid photo of me with someone dressed as Chewbacca, taken when the film was being promoted in Kuala Lumpur.
I mention Star Wars because yesterday was 4th May, and the in-joke for fans of the franchise is to greet each other with May the Fourth be with you. It is also the date my dad passed away three years ago. I wanted to gather the children round for a dinner but they were otherwise engaged, so we are marking this instead tonight.
We are also seeing Investment Banker Friend and King’s College Boy for dinner. The last time we met up (with mum Shoe Lady) was in Singapore when we were invited to a very special meal at Pangium, located within the grounds of the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Every dish was delightful and at every point in the meal I had this overwhelming thought: we are so fortunate to have someone like Chef Malcolm Lee to think through and reinterpret traditional dishes, and to take care of everything from the description and evolution of the dish, to its presentation, lighting and even a goodbye gift.