August 8, 2021

My dearest,

You take such beautiful photographs of your meals in Bangkok. Today’s dish of midnight-purple riceberry topped with a careful measure of your ayam masak merah, complete with a swoosh of gravy on the side, is something any Michelin-starred restaurant would be proud to serve.

The pictures I take of my meals in our home, back in KL, are more mundane. I don’t bother with natural light. Just one snap, no multiple shots to get it just right. I merely want you to know I have eaten and eaten well.

I think of one of our favourite Japanese shows, What Did You Eat Yesterday? (きのう何食べた?), where the solemn lawyer Shiro Kakei would get a gleam in his eyes as he perused supermarket aisles for the best deals of the day, figuring out his menu as he conjures up dinner for him and his partner, the merry hairdresser Kenji Yabuki.

And I think of the day that will arrive when you are back and we cook our meals together.

We won’t have to ask each other “What are you having today?” and we don’t have to take pictures of our dishes, whether magnificent or mediocre, for their beauty is in cooking and enjoying them together.

Yours, ever and always.