The Foodie is back!

When I was in the throes of first trimester nausea, Henry had lamented that he has lost his foodie partner. Our diet then had shrunk dramatically.  This was the list of banned food, banned by me, 'cos they had suddenly become repulsive:

• garlic
• onion
• peppers
• beef, esp. steaks
• fish
• seafood
• vegetables
• miso
• alcohol

And all I really wanted was carbohydrates - rice, noodles, fried bee hoon, pasta, potatoes. That's all I wanted.

Even in my last trimester, I still could not stomach these foods, especially garlic and onions. I was no longer puking when I had them, but after eating them, I always had a lingering bad aftertaste in the mouth. In fact, after a while, this horrible aftertaste was always there after every meal, no matter what I eat. Henry struggled to understand and asked me many times to describe this horrible aftertaste, and I struggled to answer him... It was just hard to pin it down exactly. In the end, I gave up and just sort of accepted with a sinking heart that my tastebuds have died, that it no longer mattered what food I eat, because good or bad quality, they all end up in that horrible aftertaste anyway.

For a foodie who would seek out acclaimed restaurants and enjoy trying different cuisines, this is a miserable state indeed. And one of life's joys for me includes taking beautiful photographs of the food we try in different places, especially when we travel and it becomes part of the foreign experience.

Then, one day, I was struck with fear, when this thought came to my mind and would not go away - Will my tastebuds recover? Or, horror of horrors, what if they have died permanently? No more trying different tastes, seeing the world through different cuisines, no more food photographs?! It was depressing.

So, it goes without saying that I am absolutely delighted at the complete recovery of my tastebuds. I did not realize it consciously at first; it sort of creeps up on you and gets back into your life unnoticed. And then, you realize it finally when you are heartily enjoying garlicky stuff and drinking glass after glass of wine. I remember in my 3rd week of confinement, I was still wrinkling up my nose at Henry's delicious chicken rice (because of the garlic inside) and sipping tentatively at my glass of Sauvignon Blanc...

But by my 4th week, I started to be more adventurous and tried a glass of Pinot Grigio and to my utter surprise, it was lovely. In fact, to be sure, I had another glass and it was still beautiful. I nearly cried in relief. That night, I had whites followed by a red. I can't remember now, but I think it was a Merlot :) and soon, I was onto Prosecco and there is a bottle of champagne in the fridge right now. And Henry got me my longed-for bottle of Bailey's. Have tried the beers too and so loved the smoothness of my first Stella Artois after so long. Now, am sorely missing Oktoberfest...

And this is only about the alcohol!

For food, have been on prawns, king crab, fish, squid, oysters, vongole, mussels... And garlic, onions, leeks, peppers... they are all great now. Suddenly, there are possibilities in food again and they have such flavor too! I feel like I have been brought back to life.

We have since been to a Turkish restaurant and a Thai restaurant. Yes! The foodie is back! And foodie heaven tastes as good as ever, if not better. It's easy to take our tastebuds for granted, but after this experience, I am just so appreciative and thankful for mine. Now, we just have to work out some time to download those photos and start posting again. I say, let's start living again, Baby! :)