Sun, sea and sardine sandwiches.

One day I thought of “Sardine sandwiches” and remembered the taste of them. Tinned sardines, mashed in tomato sauce, mixed in with raw purple onion rings, a squeeze of lime sprinkled in, salt and pepper to taste. Perhaps with a bit of sliced red chillie thrown into the mix to give a spicy ‘kick’. Spread on buttered bread and sandwiched with a slice of fresh crunchy cucumber.

This evoked memories of sunny days at the beach, digging for clams at the water’s edge where the waves crashed in foamy dissolution with great sighs of relief. Splashing in the shallows, braving the wave swells into deeper water. Floating on my back, looking up into the wide sky and watching the sea kites and gulls winging overhead. Swimming further out and looking back at the land with its dark tree line. Sitting on an inner car tyre tube we used as a float. I was then small enough to find it a comfortable seat, just floating out and paddling with my hands and legs in the water to propel me in any direction I chose.

We took the public bus to the beach, a noisy, excited bunch of teenagers and children, so care free and happy to be alive. However well prepared we were with skin creams and oils, we always got sun-burned into various shades of brown, from the nut brown to the over-baked cake.

The aftermath of this wonderful time on a sunny beach in Batu Ferringh was felt a day or two later. With smarting burnt skin on face, neck, arms, legs and all areas exposed for hours to the sun. Lying down was painful, especially if our backs were sun-burned.

This symptom was treated with olive or gingerly oil, and various cold creams. Then came the ugly part. The burnt skin would start peeling off when the smarting subsided. We’d look like “lepers” with skin coming off our noses, shoulders, backs etc. leaving a two toned giraffe like effect on our skins for a few days. We would suffer then but go back for more when the school holidays came round again.

Waking from this reverie, my main complaint was that tinned sardines from supermarket shelves today are a far cry from the wonderful tinned sardines we used to enjoy. There’s less fish and too much tomato sauce to make up the stated weight of the product. They don’t make them like they used to!

Fewer families go on picnics by the sea nowadays. The sea is also polluted and many of the younger generation prefer virtual reality to the real McCoy. Sad isn’t it?