Meme: Childhood Memories. It's all about food.

I've been tagged by Funky Cookies to continue this meme that calls for 5 childhood memories that relate to food. Most of my childhood memories of food stuff are closely related to my grandparents and cousins. Gets me nostalgic thinking of them. But anyway, here's going back in time and here are my selected 5.

1. Junk food galore
I don't have a sweet tooth but I sure fancied the little heavenly Sugus sweets which my grandfather bought me. In my heart, he was the best magician after David Copperfield. He would make a Sugus sweet appear out of no where. I've secretly ransacked his room looking for them but never found a trace. I loved the magical Sugus moments with grandfather. I also enjoyed the little pleasures of the plastic cup jellies that come in fruity flavours and the thinly sliced hawthorn-berry strips called Haw Flakes.

Love these jellies, especially when chilled.

The Haw Flakes rolls that I still enjoy till today.

2. Puttu mayam
I don't know what puttu mayam is called in English. It's a vermicelli-like noodle that's eaten with sweetened coconut crumbs and gula melaka. An Indian man used to drive his motorcycle in the backlane of our house every morning and when he honked, that was the cue for us to dash out and buy his puttu mayam for breakfast. They're hardly around these days.

3. Sunday brunch at Klang Bak Kut Teh
Grandma loved car rides. Every Sunday we would take a drive from KL to Klang for her favourite food, bak kut teh. We savoured every bowl of soup and meat. As kids, our favourites were the yau char kwai that we soaked in the bak kut teh soup. While studying overseas, I craved for yau char kwai and to my delight, found an almost similar substitute for them in Yorkshire puddings. No kidding!

A hot steaming pot of herbal broth with meat and mushroom was our favourite Sunday specials.

4. Tong yuen
My family used to celebrate "Kuo Tong" day. It is believed that this day is even more important than the Chinese New Year. I never knew much about the history of it but what I remember most is a bunch of us kids sitting around a table with aunties and uncles making tong yuen. Tong yuen is a sweet glutinous ball soup that families make on Kuo Tong day. I don't quite like it but I loved kneading the flour into perfect balls. Cousins and I would compete to see who made better ones. The house would be brightly lit and lively.

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, who is the prettiest of us all?

5. Yau char kwai in Kopi-O
Another favourite breakfast of mine was to soak yau char kwai into black coffee. Love the aroma of the steaming coffee. Most times I only get to eat this when Mom and Dad have already left for work and my aunt gave me this treat.

That wraps up my 5 favourite childhood food memories.

The baton has been passed on from:
1. Oswego Tea
2. Masak-Masak
3. Funky Cookies
4. Eternity

I'm required to tag others to continue passing this baton. So here you go, lucky ones, enjoy!

1. FoodCrazee
2. Thinking Aloud
3. Foxynell
4. Jason Mumbles
5. Xmocha