Watching Flowers Bloom

Chalk up a new thing on my list of experiences I never thought I would have. Okay, don't expect a rush of adrenaline (it wasn't all that exciting), but last night the whole family (YT's sisters Caro & Karrie and their respective husbands and children) came over for a special event. It wasn't just for the sake of coming over (as they often do). This time, the event was the blooming of a special flower that supposedly opens only once a year. It's called 'tan hua' [曇花], and it only opens at night. Dad was really excited the whole evening. The bloom hangs down from the plant like a meat hook, and looks sort of like a wadded-up ball of socks. Then, it opens gradually into a huge white flower with spindles floating off of the sides. It fully bloomed around 930pm, at which point we went outside to accompany Dad on the deck to admire the flowers.

Then guess what we had in our soup at dinner tonight? Yep, tan hua, at least the ones that had bloomed already. Later in the evening tonight, Dad saw that more flowers had bloomed, which was surprising since they had already come out in the spring. Dad said it was because YT was back and they were celebrating : ) Other family came this evening (YT's aunt & uncle, Aunt Meinu, and a cousin and her child) and the process was repeated. More sitting around and chatting, and eating lots of fruit.

At any rate, in the US, I've never had the chance to sit around with family watching flowers that only bloom once a year, and then have it for dinner the next night. It seemed like a special thing. We'll see if the flowers are in the soup tomorrow night.
BB