Storm recently lent me a book title simply "Class" by Jane Beaton. It is about life in an all-girl boarding school (a private one too where all the girls there are from super rich families - except for scholarship students); which covers not only the students, but also the teacher - mainly centers on the new English teacher (a Scottish lady from Glasgow who, against all odd, move down south where the northerners deem as snobbish society) & the old headteacher with a past.
The book started ok - it kept my attention, but was not too impressed by it. But as the characters developed & interesting events happened - some comical, some very catty students, a bit of romance & some teenage rebellion, golly... it was really a good read! (hehe... not to mention tht I'm just a sucker for British upper-crust lifestyle & boarding school story).
However, the same as Malory Towers & St. Claire's, it's just too good to be a REAL boarding school. No doubt, there's the customary; lights-off, prep classes, dorms, dining hall, no valuable items allowed & restrictions to leaving the school compounds; but did you read about the food they served? Goodness! It just sounds heavenly compared to our local boarding school fare of - Nasi kawah, horrible tasting vege (tasted like bitter unwashed pesticides... if you're lucky, you may find a bonus poached worm / two), "ikan kayu" curry (as the name suggests, rough & tough as "kayu") etc... etc... But then again.... what to expect when we're paying only RM1/day (i.e. USD0.30) for 6 "meals"!
Am sure my boarding school friends can fondly recall the meals that we had in the ol' school:
Breakfast:
Can be fried noodle / bihun / bread with butter & jam... Not very sure cos' I always skip breakfast.... :-p
Morning recess:
2 types of kuih Again.... there may be variation day-on-day but I wouldn't know cos' I skip this as well / go to the other canteen where we had to ay for our own food
Lunch:
Mon-Fri has fixed meal plan. I remember on days when we have fish, the line at the dining hall will be extremely short & everyone adjourn to either the canteen / eat maggie mee in the dorm. On days when it's chicken / kerang! (cockles), the line will be so long tht if we're late there'll be none left!
Tea Break:
2 types of kuih. I remember dreading days when they have the fried sesame seed covered mochi with red bean paste /grounded kacang. The mochi was so tough & hard that chewing it can be quite a workout & the jaw will feel so achy after tht.
Dinner:
Same like lunch, we know exactly wht we'll be getting for dinner - so we'll know which day to avoid the dining hall like the plague!
Supper:
Usually a hot drink & some "cream" crackers (biskut kering) that are not creamy at all. However on special occasions sponsored by PIBG / whenever KFC sponsor us for some special festive season, we get to have a box of KFC snack plate each! yummy! (although admittedly it was a bit soggy fr the condensation, as a result of being crammed in plastic bags while it was still hot & transported over to the school - still it was a major treat!)
Those were the days.....