As planned, Kenric and I returned for more Kanji (congee) at Buntong Market. The owner’s wife was there this time, and she was quite pleased that we chose to eat our Valentine’s Day dinner at her stall. The kanji was of course supremely delicious. Since they will be closed for Chinese New Year, we got three more orders to go. When we got home, my mother didn’t want a full order for herself.

The to-go order turned out to be larger than the dine-in order even after my mother had taken some for herself. I decided to just eat from that same order, and asked my mother to offer the remaining one to the neighbor. The neighbor asked if we were sure about that, we said yes. Her young granddaughter was smiling excitedly when she grabbed the bag through the railings. I’m glad they got their kanji fix because the stall will be closed for one week.

I went to the kanji owner and asked for a side order of meat. I made it clear that I will be giving the meat to the dog and asked that he not take offense in that. In less wealthy societies, many people struggle with the concept of spending money on animals or giving them good quality food when so many humans are struggling. I explained that I couldn’t get any dog food because the sundry shop had already closed. He did not seem to mind.

The black dog that was following me around the day before noticed me and started following me again. I got him a side order of meats too. He was wagging his tail the whole time while eating. When our Grab arrived, the poor puppy followed us out to the street. I apologized that I couldn’t take him with me.