I discovered this on turning up to the Tibetan Kitchen on Petrie Terrace for dinner with my folks and Queen Pat (my champagne-guzzling, Vanuatu-dwelling, sole-remaining grandparent) and discovering they had an excellent $25-a-head buffet dinner going on.
I had a moment of "But we just had Chinese New Y.... oh, yeah. Yeah, I can see how they'd want to avoid that."The best thing was the fortune cookies served with dessert. The instructional letter left on each table explicitly stated the fortune cookies were "NOT to be eaten!". And with good reason. Made out of dough, they each contain one of 13 items, many of which could choke you to death. But the items correspond with a character trait, which "may or may not" match your own personality.
I got cotton. "Somebody that is very soft-hearted". Kinda true, I guess. The Wah will attest to the fact I do have an affinity for freaks. I also can't tell lies, and am easily influenced. I even shed a tear at the end of Love, Actually - even though I hated the film and everything it stood for.
My Mum got chili seeds. "Angry and outrageous". She's very shy, my Mum, and in fact, a very classy lady. But then again, she IS Irish by birth...
My Dad got a woodstick: "Who can build as many houses as possible". Somewhat true, if you take it in a figurative "good provider" kind of way, or in a more literal "excellent with tools and various stuff about the house".
We all had a gut laugh when my Gran finally got into hers. "Stone!" said the nice waitress who'd helped Gran crack open the dough ball on the side of the table. "Stubborn!" I exclaimed. This is the woman who refused to get a computer for years, but is now all "Just drop me an email". The woman who paddled a canoe out to a ship to make sure her younger brother was OK during WWII (she was in the WRNS; he the RN) even though he begged her not to because everyone would tease him. She's mellowed over the years but I'm reliably informed that my Gran is in fact one of the most Terrifying People to Ever Have Lived. It's pretty much Boadicea, Genghis Khan, and Queen Pat. There'll be a seat for her somewhere in Valhalla.
So you know four of the items and their corresponding traits. But there's another nine. So let's play a game.
Pick a number between 1 and 13, and post it here (along with any comments you have to make about the ferocity of my Gran, or indeed any grandparent of your own). Once I get a few, I'll post up what item you chose (in accordance with the Tibetan Kitchen's list), and what it means. And no Googling! It'll spoil the fun.
