I used to eat wantan mee for lunch almost everyday, right after school ends. I'll hop on a 5 minute bus ride, costing about 40 cents to Ujong Pasir and get down right in front of the stall.
The stall sells only wantan mee and has put up roof on a sidestreet between two rows of terrace houses. There is a canopy and electric fans which kept the place cool and comfortable amidst the blazing 2pm sun.
Here, I will order my usual wantan mee (big) with a nice cold glass of barley ice. It's a good filling lunch and over the years, became almost a staple.
These days, I still do enjoy a bowl of wantan mee now and then. Sometimes it's over-priced and over-hyped at places like KLCC, other times very casual and down-to-earth from cooks who appear to be doing this for years on end. However, no matter where I eat it, I will always compare it to the one in my memory.
Every new variation, new place, new style will be subjected to comparison with the stall of my school days. No matter how much better, or tastier, or even healthier the wantan mee available to me now can be, what I sometimes want is just the one I am used to.
In life, I guess, sometimes we just want to have things the way we are used to. However imperfect it may be.
