THERAPY

Psychologists say mild physical labor can be a form of therapy for stressed out souls. I agree. To me washing dishes & wine glasses after a party is a good way to unwind. In the early days of our marriage (before children pirated our serenity) Dora & I had no helper, yet we entertained almost as frequently as we do nowadays. She did most of the cooking, I helped with mise en place. My main role, however, was cleaning the kitchen afterwards, a task I loved. A bottle of Johnny Walker Black, a bucket of ice, radio on - no IPODs then - I would be happy as a lark for a couple of hours, relishing every moment. I am certain the therapy bit has lots to do with 'satisfactory completion'. These tasks are not demanding, one just gets on, in whatever fashion one wants until they are done. It is something the work place today does not offer what with clients, bosses, coworkers, revenues, profits & of course, office politics .... ad nauseum. Who needs any of it?

Coming to the main point of this blog : that strange object in the picture is an item some of you might still remember, albeit remotely. It is called, very good .... an ironing board! You may not be as far gone the Hong Kong Way as I suspect. You are not going to believe it but you all have one at home and someone (obviously NOT you) actually uses it every day. Unimaginable, isn't it? In my book ironing is a close second to kitchen cleaning as therapy for stress. My ironing board is a permanent fixture in the room now since I have to 'look my best' at LCB so I iron my uniform, my scarf, my hat ... every night.

You see how blessed I am here in Sydney? On a daily basis I get to act out my passion, I become a student all over again, I am taught by the best in the culinary discipline .... above all, I get therapy from cleaning the kitchen during the day, and ironing at night.