The story

I LOVE watching travel channel. There are quite a number of shows on Malaysia, from culinary to travel destination. They really bring out the best of us and of course, make me feel homesick. The producers take an extra step to cover the simplest thing like wet market, life of orang asli, fishermen etc.

When I see these shows, a sense of pride emerges and I long to be back to experience our local wonders.

Of course my idea of excitement is a walk to my nearby mamak joint, sip a glass of teh tarik while reading newspaper. On weekends, I head to pasar malam where my usual targets are nasi lemak kerang, hot tau fu fah and bihun soup with those chilli birds. At night, I can be spotted at regular hangout for mee goreng mamak, nasi lemak bungkus, roti canai or tandoori with friends or if they are busy, my brother will be the victim and unwillingly, accompanies me.

Looking back at the shows, sometimes I wished the young lady experiences what I had when I was growing up. I was fortunate that my late grandparents lived in villages instead of towns. Well, one side stayed in an upmarket area and they were considered as a privileged family as my grandpa was a religious scholar and worked for government. During those times, those professions were highly respected. Still, I looked forward whenever I had the chance to go back to either ‘kampungs’. From swimming in a river to trips to ‘pasar tani’, I had a blast each time the opportunity arose. Even when my parents were too busy to send me, my late grandma would take the bus and fetch me.

From time to time, I share these stories with the young lady. One of my grandparents’ places still stands and my uncle lives there now. The last time the young lady was there, she truly enjoyed the long house and ran from the living room to the kitchen, back and forth. We would sit on the kitchen verandah and listen to the sounds of roosters, ducks and goats.

I know she has a part of me in her through her love for nature. She’s a traveller, explorer and she digs deep to understand stuff (which sometimes tests my patience of course). Instead of chickens, she feeds squirrels and swans at the parks. My masak-masak game under the wooden house is reflected by her art of making meals from leaves and flowers.

We may have different childhood but ingredients are more or less the same.


All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I've been
And how I got to where I am
But these stories don't mean anything
When you've got no one to tell them to
It's true...I was made for you

I climbed across the mountain tops
Swam all across the ocean blue
I crossed all the lines and I broke all the rules
But baby I broke them all for you
Because even when I was flat broke
You made me feel like a million bucks
You do
I was made for you

You see the smile that's on my mouth
It's hiding the words that don't come out
And all of my friends who think that I'm blessed
They don't know my head is a mess
No, they don't know who I really am
And they don't know what
I've been through like you do
And I was made for you...

Forget about the price tag

The current song simply reflects how I feel strongly at the moment. I have been trying to channel this message across but sometimes it gets lost in translation, much to my dismay. The London trip was much needed, reminding me all the simple things that the young lady and I miss.

Oh, by the way, I sleep much better since I left the ‘job’. Money aint e’thing, eh? *wide smile*

Enjoy the song!



Seems like everybody's got a price,
I wonder how they sleep at night.
When the sale comes first,
And the truth comes second,
Just stop, for a minute and
Smile

Why is everybody so serious
Acting so damn mysterious
Got your shades on your eyes
And your heels so high
That you can't even have a good time

Everybody look to their left (yeah)
Everybody look to their right (ha)
Can you feel that (yeah)
We're paying with love tonight
It's not about the money, money, money
We don't need your money, money, money
We just wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the Price Tag
Ain't about the (uh) Cha-Ching Cha-Ching.
Aint about the (yeah) Ba-Bling Ba-Bling
Wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the Price Tag.

Okay!
We need to take it back in time,
When music made us all unite
And it wasn't low blows and video hoes,
Am I the only one getting tired
Why is everybody so obsessed
Money can't buy us happiness
Can we all slow down and enjoy right now
Guarantee we'll be feeling Alright.

Making headlines

Sometimes our local columnists crack me up with their take on “issues” arising in our country. Their bold opinion from ‘forever young’ to ‘getting lucky’ certainly keeps me entertained. They are not alone. Even the partner has questioned my choice of daily news, thinking they are from the tabloids until I pointed out that they are from the mainstream.

It raised his eyebrows indeed.

Being abroad, you just couldn’t help feeling bemused at the highlights that make on the other side of the world as if we do not have pressing issues to be noticed by outsiders. Yet I am sure most of us are able to talk about it to people around us with a sense of humour as they would the same when similar news surfaces on their dailies. In fact, since everyone is engrossed with the hot topic in town, why not just join the debate? It’d be a good subject to kill time at mamak joints, with flows of teh tarik to keep it going.

Anyway, the young lady asked if it’s ok for her friend who lives nearby to come to our place after school. Since they are on the same bus, it makes sense for Kay to follow the young lady home straight. Thankfully the partner bought some mini pizzas yesterday. That should keep them entertained, apart from other girly stuff in her room.

Have a nice weekend!

of food and TV shows

I am slowly getting used of not working (like a mad woman) and try to find myself a routine which involves none other than tv series, cooking and housekeeping, in that particular order. We still have the nanny but I am quite fussy when it comes to privacy and my room is strictly out of bounds, hence cleaning duty on me. It seems everyone is happier of having me home and so far, we managed to have nasi minyak with kari ayam, fried soles, lamb chops served with mashed potatoes and salad. In fact, we even had bihun goreng for tea yesterday. I wonder if the young lady will gain some weight after few weeks of having spontaneous dishes from me. Unfortunately, we do not have a weighing scale to measure her development.

Oh, did I mention she’s growing at a rate that will burn my wallet? Sigh... I thought we purchased those Espr*t jeans not long ago and they look rather short now.

Being at home allows me to catch up on tv series such as Ellen, Mentalist, No Ordinary Family, White Collar, TVD, Greys, Glee, NCIS (I am sure there are more). I haven’t figured out which channel has Bones but once I do, it’d be on my list. I also got myself hooked on ‘travel channel’ and ‘E!’. It beats me on how ‘Married to Rock’ managed to be aired here cos they can be quite flashy, if you get the idea. Maybe I should go through the network guide and spot the good shows.

The trip

I have nothing to blame except on myself for the lack of blogging. I have been lazy and as I was in between places, it was just inevitable.
We came back from London two days ago and last night, the young lady suffered bad jetlag that she only fell asleep at 1am. Obviously she had to skip the bus ride which allowed her an extra 45 minutes of sleep and we sent her to school instead.

*The new cycles-for-hire which can be found at many spots in the city*

The trip went well with Mother Nature granted us beautiful weather throughout our stay. We spent our days at the parks, Regent St, Covent Garden to name a few. Trips to the museums were a must as well as indulging ourselves with M&S and Wasabi sushi. Oh, not forgetting countless visits to her old school that I kept asking myself whether we were on holiday.

It was refreshing to be back on familiar ground as if we never left this place. The young lady even remarked, “we are not tourist Mummy. We live here. This is our home.”

Indeed we had a wonderful journey in this city and those bittersweet memories will always play in our mind. Perhaps someday we will return to this place and write more beautiful chapters.

Plans

There is one thing we should know about plans - they always change. Anyway, we're off to London tomorrow for school hols. Will try to keep you posted.