Being the lazy old donkey I refuse to go out and eat again. Anyway I'm rushing the score, so time is extremely precious. Instead I cook noodles at home.

I empty the contents in the package into the porcelain cooking pot and fill it with water. This is the second pot we own. The first one had to be thrown away because overheating resulted in cracks appearing, and hence fluids leaked from the pot.

I start the fire.

Five minutes later the bubbles appear in the water. The soup is like a stormy, untamed ocean in the pot.

This is when I start to notice: some things are not right. There are burn marks on the surface of the pot. The metal grille on the stove turns an angry red. There is an equally angry hissing sound. Smoke grows into bigger, more visible wisps.

SHIT! I dash to turn off the gas.

Too late. WHAM! A piece of porcelain flies off from the side of the pot and lands on the floor. All the soup flows onto the stove. The noodle is a dried-out block stuck to the remains of the pot.

I am traumatised by the pot rupturing before my very eyes. It takes a while before I move to clean up the mess.