Short Stay in Hainan Ancestral Village 回祖籍家乡海南岛短住

I had to return to Hainan Island for our extended family's annual ancestral worship ceremony. My husband was too caught up with work, so I went back alone. My brother-in-law and his elder son fetched me at Haikou Airport which is 70 minutes drive by car from our village.

It was my first time meeting this eldest nephew. He was working in another province, he flew home to meet me.

My sister-in-law and my second nephew's wife cooked a simple lunch for us as it was a hot day - temperature was 33°C outdoors. Phew.

I woke up at 5 that morning to get on that flight, so I was really exhausted after lunch. I excused myself to wash up and take a nap. The capable and considerate second nephew's wife had prepared a room for me, she even prepared new sets of bath accessories and toiletries.

Glad that there is an air-conditioner in my room and I was thrilled to sleep under a mosquito net.

 

Woke up at 5 pm to the aroma of food. Brother-in-law served me coffee (I don't drink coffee but couldn't refuse his kind gesture as he is my elder), my nephews joined us for coffee and chit chat while waiting for dinner.

An hour later, my sister-in-law's eldest brother and his wife arrived. They had migrated to UK and were back for the ancestral worship ceremony. They brought two friends and another sister-in-law.

We sat down to a sumptuous home cooked dinner. The family had slaughtered and cooked a chicken and goose each to serve to the guests. Except for the pork, the poultry and vegetables were produce from our land..... yes, including the steamed white rice.

This melt-in-the-mouth braised pork belly with dried bamboo shoots was so heavenly delicious! It's my first time tasting dried bamboo shoots, they were so crunchy and yummy. This dish is a family heritage passed down from generation to generation. Wow! I must learn how to cook this.

I should have taken a video of the dish. It's so hard to describe the taste to my salivating husband. LOL


回祖籍家乡祭祖, 本来打算在海南岛短住两个星期。海南岛长夏无冬, 最近几周大部分地区气温快速攀升。白天最高气温升到38度, 晚上又太凉。真受不了白天那酷热的天气!

户外活动时没有做好防暑准备, 发生头昏、胸闷等中暑症状。仅住了6天, 我必须提早回新加坡。