Bird's nest drama

I've only ever eaten bird's nest in those tiny glass containers that you buy from the supermarket. You know, the ones with more sugar water than actual bird's nest. So now, being pregnant and all, thought I would milk it and ask my hubby to buy me some REAL bird's nest.

We went to the shops and got bombarded by this array of bird's nests with different colors and in different packaging with different grades etc etc. So, we asked a friend who regularly eats bird's nest to help us get some since we had zero knowledge on the subject. She recommended that we get the unprocessed ones, those with the feathers still in them, as it's better. We agreed.

When the bird's nests arrived, it was of course a costly affair. We expected it to be expensive but not THAT expensive but that's market price and well... we're just plain stingy! =)

So I heard from a friend that when you're pregnant and eat/drink nutritious stuff during the first and second trimester, it's the mother that gets most of the nutrition. But, if you do it during your third trimester, the baby gets most of it. Being a good wife (and a stinge), I decided to save my hubby some money and only start consuming the bird's nests in my third trimester. We brought some to Jakarta with us (not the whole lot in case it got confiscated by the customs).

Well, I'm not in my third trimester yet (far from it actually), but lately I have been feeling very tired and thought "Mommy needs to have some goodness of the bird's nest before I become an old hag!".

All excited, I open my tupperware of bird's nests that I brought here. The pieces are not of standard size, like those cleaned ones you see in the shops. Some are thinner and some are broader. I took a piece out (keep in mind that I planned to consume this in one go) then took another half piece out (haha..greedy). "Looks like it's very little but I guess it should be enough", I thought.

So to backtrack a little, my friend did ask me, "Do you know how to remove the feathers from the bird's nests? Do you need my mom to teach you". I told her it was OK. I should be able to handle it, thinking to myself, "How hard can it be? It's just removing some feathers, right?". She was a little worried (and with good reason, you'll soon discover) and proceeded describing to me roughly how her mom does it. Well, the gist of it was that her mom uses tweezers and plucks the feathers out under running water. "Cheh! So easy!", I thought.

Now, back to present day, armed with my tweezers, I was ready to conquer this bird's nest. The moment I gazed properly at the bird's nest, I was greeted by the thought, "Whoa! That's alot of feathers!!". Well, that didn't dampen my spirit (yet). Still, with my initial gung-ho attitude, I proceeded to try to pull the feathers out.

"Wah! I think it's stuck"
The feather's were stuck like glue to the bird's nest. So I thought I'd soak them a little, but just a little because I didn't want them to all fall apart and accidentally miss out on a few strands that floated down into the sink (a tiny strand of bird's nest prob cost me a few ringgit you know? ya, ya..i'm a stinge).

"Aiyar! Soak also still cannot. Maybe must soak longer"
So I continue half soaking, half trying to pull out the feathers. The bigger ones weren't a problem. It was those stray ones that pissed me off. I took a chair to the sink and continued my job.

"Eh! Getting a bit dark already. Can't see clearly. Need to turn on the lights. What time is it anyway?  Ha?!? 2 hours already ar?"
Yup! I started at 4 and when i checked the clock it's was already 6 (it gets dark early in Jakarta). So like the chinese say "Do until the sky also dark already". That's when I said to myself, "I think sacrificing a few ringgit worth of bird's nests is not that bad!". I let those few strands with the super glued feathers go and finished off with the rest of the bird's nests. I put the "cleaned" (yes, in parentheses, you'll see why) bird's nests in a pot with water to boil.

"Aiyor! Still got feathers one? Nevermind la, eat little bit of feathers won't die one la....kua?"
After all my hard work. I wasted 2 hours of my life. STILL GOT FEATHERS?!?! STILL GOT FEATHERS?!?! WHAT THE *#$@! After uttering a number of expletives, I soon calmed down. There must be an easier way to do this. I decided to go online and do some research.

"Ha?!? Have to soak one is it?"
Turns out you're supposed to soak the bird's nest for 3 hours before starting with the pulling of the feathers. Oh well, lesson learned. There's another twist to the story...wait for it....wait for it...

Scene: Mary checks on the currently boiling bird's nests.
"Wah!! So much one? I thought I only put in 1 1/2 tiny pieces? So "tai" one meh?
Back to my trusty internet I go. Oh...turns out it expands to 3 times it's dry size.

We learn something new everyday don't we?