Truely Italian

       Hiking up and down the wonders of the suburban 'shopping jungles'-- Festival Walk, I was 

surrounded by well -known boutiques and beauty houeses. But at a tranquil and peaceful corner 

on the 3rd floor, an easily overlooked part of the jungle, I could instantly see 2 big yellow  words 

'Page One'. It's a bookshop in which mild lights were shining with peace and warmth. In contrast, next to it

 was a traditional restaurant . Exactly! It was Amoron's, the restaurant that I was looking for.

	Once I stepped into Amaroni's, a waiter, dressed in balck and white, smiled at me and said, 'Weclome

sir ! Would you mind sitting over there? I think the lights are bright enough for you to read your Asia

 Week when enjoying your lunch.' I agreed and then followed her, which signified the begining of my 

memorable eating journey.

	On the way to my seating, I saw many pictures of different people hanged on the wall. It seemed

they were trying to get me to notice them. Looking to  the left, tables for a group of 4 fell in a 

vertical line almost reaching the far end.  Looking to the right, some big family tables were

standing on a balcony. On the ceiling, a team of wooden, clumsy fans were performing an ice-skating

show. They kept turning round and round, but surprisingly, they did not feel dizzy at all.

	It was a big headache for me when choosing my selections. But family style service there fully settle

my worries. A waiter, with a mild  smile, came and said,

'Sir, in our restaurant, authentic Southern Italian cooking methods are employed to make all sorts of mouth

watering food. Could I introduce you to some of our house specialties?'

'Sure.'

'Um...Bruschetta is one of our most popular foods. It's a great bagatte topped with reddish tomatoes, basili,

garlic and olive oil. Umm... if you like pasta, Carnello is strongly  recommended. It's pasta mixed with meat

and...'

	After ordering my favorites, I couldn't stop thinking about the dishes. So I was running out of saliva, 

which really made me thirsty.  I gupled several galsses of icy water and, at the same time, listened to the 

folk music. Then I closed my eyes and tried to catch the Italian syllables dancing in the air.

	When Carnello arrived, I was immediately surrounded by air filled with the 'fragrance' of cheese and 

tomato. At that time, my mouth was flooding and I couldn't help gulping down all the pasta right away. It's 

really diffiuclt to think of a word to describe the taste. Maybe it's what the real 'traditional Italian food'

means.

	Steak Pizzaida came just a couple of minutes after the Carnellow. But at that moment, I forgot the pasta

because I believed that the steak could give me another surprise. Wow! I found the sirlon steak was really tender.

 When I was chewing it, different small pieces of steak were massaging every part of my mouth. I wondered

whether it is the tenderest piece of steak in the world. On the other hand, the mushroom tomato sauce lying

 on the steak was different from that in supermarkets. It kept attracting my saliva to rush out from my tongue. 

I had never got this feeling before.

	I chewed and swallowed. I swallowed and then drank. I found everybody around was chating and eating.

So I thought of my 2 best friends, Tony and Jim. I was sure that they must love the food here. I called Jim 

first, but no one answered. Then I called Tony and this time somebody picked up the phone. But it is not 

Tony. It's just a woman asking me to leave him a message. Maybe they were busy and could not spend

any minute accompanying me. Yes. They were busy. They were busy dating with thier sweat hearts. So I 

could only eat and drink, chew and swallow in silence. But the food was not as tasty as before...

	Suddenly, I noticed that several people were looking at me. I slowly put down my glass of water, rolled

my eyes to the right but found nothing. Then I looked forward and only saw a huge wall with many pictures.

At that moment, I knew that the disgusting people must be gazing at me behind. Were they my funny classmates?

Were they my old friends? When I was trying to look back, I suddenly returned my sight to the wall in front.

No, I was not stared by any of my friends. I was stared by the people in the pictures hanged on the wall.

	Yes. I almost forgot. Italians are passionate and always greet  new faces with sincere and warm 

weclome. Hence, I was sure that they were not hungry or jealous of my Carnellow or Steak Pizzaida. 

They were just inviting me to have lunch with them. My heart was then  filled with thier passion, making me

 unable to utter a word to thank them. What I could only do was to smile at them when I was chewing 

my steak or swallowing the pasta. Suddenly, the food returned to be tasty again.

	Finishing my meals, it's 4:20pm already. I needed to leave immediatey for I had a lecture at 4:30pm!

But when I was leaving, I couldn't help looking around once more. Of course, I needed to say good  bye to my new 

friends whom I would miss always.

	Two weeks later, Jim and Tony talked about the Italian food in my school canteen. Subsequently, 

words like Carnello and Steak Pizzaida ringed into my ears and I couldn't help salving. But I think 

it takes me a long time to save money to go there again. Anyway, no matte how long it takes, I will

never give up becasue it is worthwhile...