Me and exercise

Or should it be Exercise and I? Whoa... don't get me into grammar - I hate it. Anyway after weeks of skipping my morning walk, today I finally managed to get about 30 minutes walk in, and wonder of wonders my hubby came along. We decided to go to the Bukit Serindit Recreational Park for our walk. Repin had not been there since the early 2000s, maybe the last time he went there with me was in 2004!  So he had a pleasant surprise when we arrived - the trees have matured and it's quite shady now to walk along the many paths. The lake also has been beautified - a few arched bridges and pathways have been created to give a very serene look to the park. There were lots of walkers today, families, couples, singles, old and young and the very young. We went a round which is approximately one kilometer (if you take the full circle and not a short cut through the trees). Then we stopped at the lake for a closer look at the inhabitants lurking in its murky depths - sounds like one of those horror stories. But the lake does look pretty murky - its bottom is covered with seaweed (or lake weed) and there are monitor lizards in it. You can sometimes see its head jutting out like a periscope, then when it sees a human passing by, it ducks down and sinks away into the dark green waters of the lake, appearing again some distance away. I have a fear of these unknown creatures - after all they do look like a small crocodile and although they fear humans (for good reason, I think) most people are also afraid of them. However I've never heard of any of these creatures biting or chasing after a human - it's usually the other way around because some people eat them!

After just one round I could hear my dear hubby panting slightly as  we walked uphill - and told him that I too felt tired and could we go home? He agreed and we both turned back for the car park. Like most days, exercise and me are not on good terms. Don't get me wrong - I love walking but not for exercise. I don't mind walking along a beach to admire the view or walking in the shopping malls to get a load of eye candy but just to exercise? No way, Jose! I used to join an aerobics class but that too wasn't because of the exercise but to meet friends or to dance . I think you get the picture...I hate exercise, but I'd do anything to meet a friend, or dance or watch a pretty view and the best reason of all? To be a mall rat!

Rice Pilaf

This is our family's traditional recipe and although you can find numerous pilaf recipes this one is slightly different because we often cook the meat inside the rice. I'm using ingredients for more than 4 people so if there are only two people you can halve the recipe if you like.




Rice pilaf with vegetables


The Rice

2 medium cups Basmati rice (soaked for two hours in plain water)
1 teaspn salt to taste or as you like
1 cup milk - fresh or evaporated
1 cup water
6-7 shallots (sliced thinly)
4-5 garlic (sliced thinly)
1 inch ginger (sliced thinly)
2-3 star anneseed
some peppercorns (5-6 )
piece of cinnamon stick
2-3 tablespoons of ground jintan manis mixed with dash of water
two large onions cut in slices
1 carrot - sliced about 1 inch length
baby potatoes or 2 medium sized potatoes
cauliflower (cut into small florettes)
peas
two small tomatoes cut in half
oil for frying - ghee is nice but not necessary. You can also use margarine or butter.

(Optional)

Chicken or other meat - to be cut into manageable pieces and fried slightly or  until half cooked

Method:

1. Fry the onions, ginger, garlic ,cardomom seeds, star aneseeds, cinnamon and jintan manis until light brown.
2. If you are using meat, then you may put in the meat now and fry them together with the above.
3. Mix in the vegetables - fry the harder vegetables first and keep the softer ones for last.
4. Once the potatoes are semi cooked, put in the rice, milk and stir lightly. Keep the flame at low heat.
5. Let the rice boil a bit , then mix in the water. Cover pot and let it simmer until rice looks fluffy and soft.
6. If you have a rice cooker you can also transfer the rice now to the rice cooker so that it can be cooked and left warm.
7. When rice seems done, put in the rest of the vegetables - tomatoes, peas and if you like you can add some raisins.
8. Rice is ready when it looks soft and fluffy, yet grainy. Serve either with chicken curry or dhall as a side dish.
9. Slice some large onions, tomatoes, and cucumber and add a dash of salt and vinegar and a little sugar for a side dish.

Emily Dickinson, one of my favorite poets

Browsing through some of Emily Dickinson's poems I came across this one:

A PRECIOUS, mouldering pleasure ’t is
To meet an antique book,
In just the dress his century wore;
A privilege, I think,
His venerable hand to take,	5
And warming in our own,
A passage back, or two, to make
To times when he was young.
His quaint opinions to inspect,
His knowledge to unfold	10
On what concerns our mutual mind,
The literature of old;
What interested scholars most,
What competitions ran
When Plato was a certainty,	15
And Sophocles a man;
When Sappho was a living girl,
And Beatrice wore
The gown that Dante deified.
Facts, centuries before,	20
He traverses familiar,
As one should come to town
And tell you all your dreams were true:
He lived where dreams were born.
His presence is enchantment,	25
You beg him not to go;
Old volumes shake their vellum heads
And tantalize, just so.

Family Day 2010

Yesterday was our family day - the one day in a whole year we get together as one big family - my brothers and sisters, their children and mine, our spouses and our grandchildren. We've had this organised family outing every year since the year 2000 although at first it was mainly impromptu and hardly organised at all.  At that time we just got together as a family - those of us who could attend. We would have a picnic at one of the beaches in Malacca. This was after both our parents had passed away and we felt that we needed an  activity to get the family together, to be closer as brothers and sisters. But without an organised day, not many of my brothers and sisters took the time to join us and we wanted everybody to attend. So my sisters Sabariah and Jasmine took it upon themselves to organise a proper family day - complete with games, special t-shirts, banners, prizes and all!

Yesterday's event  is the  6th such event and this time almost everybody with the exception of Zaleha, attended. Leha could not attend because she lives in Singapore and her children are schooling. Sarah was back for the summer holidays as was Amir Ridzuan and they both joined in the activities. This year Rizal and Poh Lin my son and daughter-in-law also attended with their daughter Sophia. I think everybody had fun, as can be seen in the pictures here.

There were many competitions - jigsaw puzzles for kids below 12, a Treasure Hunt, for everybody, a  Waiter Race for the nimble, Stepping the balloon,building sand castles and the grandest one of all - the karaoke competition.








My brother  Zin, taking part in the karaoke competition!

Without our knowledge, a turtle - a hawksbill turtle - had landed on the beach in the middle of the night. Some of the kids were awake to watch it laying its eggs. The turtle hatchery and conservation center is just next to the resort where we had our Family Day. Some of us could see the men collecting the eggs to be hatched in the center. Quite an educational experience, though totally unplanned.

Jakarta/ Bandung

We were in Bandung and Jakarta last weekend - for a bit of shopping and R and R. I love Bandung - its narrow, tree-lined streets, its old Dutch houses, its cool climate. Well cooler than Jakarta anyway. As usual the first place we went to was Rumah Mode and Heritage/ Cascades. After a hectic time shopping we all went to the  second floor cafe with its Koi pond and had some delicious fried ice cream and banana fritters. The Koi there are some of the biggest I've ever seen! And over fed too I think.

On Saturday we drove back to Jakarta. This time around traffic was okay on the highway - and we made it in under 3 hours. After checking in at our hotel - the Millennium - and a quick wash, Sara wanted to look at their mall. We decided against the largest and newest, Plaza Indonesia and chose to go to Senayan City instead. Even this was quite big by our standards - it had as its anchor tenant the large chain from England - Debenhams. It also boasted a Mark and Spencer outlet, Selfridges, Esprit, Guess, Jimmy Choo, Charles & Keith and so many other well known brands. Sara is in her element though as responsible as she is, she'll only buy things she knows we can afford.

Time flies when you are having fun they say. But I believe Time just flies - whether you are having fun or not. Its now July 2010. Sara is back home for the holidays - my daughter who is studying Medicine in Russia and she'll be here for almost 2 months. Its now almost 2 weeks since she came home. I look back at the year she first went to Russia, in April 2004. Its almost 6 years already. I've missed a large part of her youth - 5 years and 3 months. Today she is a self possessed, confident young woman of 22. who knows exactly  what shew wants. When she left us she was only 17 and a half - almost a baby by my reckoning. I miss the easy unconscious love she has - she is the only one of my brood who will still come and lie down beside me in bed, hug me for no reason in the world and put her head on my shoulders, even in public. Next year when she comes back for good she'll be a doctor and probably will work somewhere far away in the boondocks of Malaysia. So I say how time flies. I wish I could catch hold of it and let it stay - Time you old gypsy man, will you not stay? Put up your caravan, just for one day?

Amr diab * Tammeny 2009 &Asuured me - (English Subtitles) عمرو دياب - طمني

  I've always had a weakness for Arabic music and I found this one by Amir Diab on youtube. Really nice

Shasha's apartment

We've been slowly renovating Shasha's apartment in Klang Lama. Now the kitchen cabinets are complete - its an ivory sort of colour or off white, with soft closing drawers (they close themselves) and quite simple really, which was what she wanted. The light fixtures too have all been installed. Yesterday we put in the oven and bought her washing machine. Next on the list are the bathrooms. I will be going to the Home and Living Exhibition next week to check out the bathroom fittings - she wanted white cabinets too for the bathroom. I don't understand why our housing developers always build really tiny bathrooms - I sure wouldn't mind losing a little bit of space from the rooms just so we could have a bigger bathroom. And the places they put the toilets - actually according to Steven the contractor who is renovating our apartment, if they build the toilets seats properly they could have more space in the bathroom. As it is now it's so difficult to put in the shower stall.

I like the view of this apartment - it faces the river so there's a lot of green opposite. Ours at Melati has the Petronas Twin Tower view which is good too, especially on Merdeka Day (Malaysia's Independence day) when we can see the fireworks displays on all sides. Sometimes at night if the air quality is good we can see the Twin towers very clearly - all bright and sparkly like a pair of diamonds, shining in the dark. The lights from the other buildings beside it complement the Twin Towers' - most of them use coloured lights - bluish green, red, yellow and so on so it makes a beautiful panaroma - the city from a distance. Since our apartment is on the 12th floor we can get a fairly good view of the surrounding areas.

But the best view of all is from our old Desa View apartment - the hills of Melawati in the distance, with the craggy limestone hills that ring the eastern side of Kuala Lumpur. Every time I see it, I feel this tug in my heart - its that beautiful. Lush green vegetation spreads all over the lower part of the hills and then the whitish grey limestone escarpment rises over the vast jungles below them.  The limestone cliffs sometimes reminds me of that place we went to in King's Canyon, California  - Half Dome. Like that mountain, these cliffs look like they've been halved too. Its a pity that developers are so greedy and uncaring - if they left the hills alone, none of the natural disasters that occur here during the rainy season would happen (landslides for one) and nature enthusiasts like me could have a wonderful time admiring God's green earth.

Talking of God's green Earth, last night was Earth Hour - from 8.30 pm to 9.30pm local time. Did you switch off your lights?

Salmon for Shasha

Yesterday I made a salmon dish for Shasha my daughter. She hates fish other than salmon and Repin doesn't like salmon, so I've never cooked it at home. However yesterday since she was on leave I decided to make a salmon dish for her, using left over pasta sauce, some vegetables and lots of tomatoes. First I marinated the salmon steak with oregano, black pepper, salt and lemon juice. After marinating it for a half hour, I popped it in the oven for 10 minutes under broil. Take it out again and this time I put in the other ingredients - chopped onions, Japanese cucumber, tomatoes, a dash of pepper and finally the pasta sauce. I put it in the oven again and leave it to grill until its well done - crisp outside. It tasted great, especially after I put on some parmesan cheese on top and let it melt. Shasha loved it, finishing the whole piece of fish. I guess that's the only way she'll eat fish and salmon does have a lot of omega 3.

jottings

Actually there's nothing much to write about. I'm in Malacca over the CNY holidays and Repin is back with us after a week in the Maldives. He hates travelling and tries to avoid it as much as possible whereas I love it and wish I could travel more. BUt alas that takes money and since being retired have not really earned much in the way of income. Repin says I spend money as if there's no tomorrow - yeah, well if I die at least I'll die happy!

Here in Batu Berendam things are quite slow. Our neighbours have gone to KL - Norli wants to see her sisters for the Chinese New year. Rizal and Pohing too are with her parents and will be with them over the long weekend. I just finished planting my roses - they're doing quite well I must say. Sadly I'm not here often enough to give them a lot of TLC.

We've just finished watching the whole second season of Heroes. I think the first season was much better in terms of excitement and suspense. However the ending of this one is a real cliff hanger - Sylar is back with a vengeance and Adam Monroe aka Takezo Kensei is also alive. Yeah I know Hiro buried him alive in the coffin but I'm sure he'll come back. That's it - I wont say more.

Out in the world America is still having its presidential elections. Looks like Barrack Obama is leading the Democrats with Hilary a short step behind but the republican candidate (cant remember his name) is also quite popular. I really hope the Democrats win. I hope Hilary or Obama get to be President. High time they have a woman president I think.

In Pakistan they have finished investigating Bhutto's murder and they say its a bomb which killed her, not bullets. So there goes the the theory that it was a conspiracy and that she was killed by the pro government assasins. Anyway it could still be true, couldn't it?

Oh yeah, something interesting in the foreign news today - the Archbishop of Canterbury wants syariah law included in the legal system! Huh? What's happening here? I really dont understand his thinking. Anyway he was opposed by everyone...

Saturday

Today all the kids except Sarah are with us in Malacca, which is something that does not happen often enough. I wish they are all here - especially Sarah. Mother made ketupat and I made rendang ayam so we had that for lunch today. Wan came last night - an hour after we arrived. Rizal came this afternoon, with Pohling and Sophia. They're going to a wedding tonight and taking Sophie with them. I wish they wouldn't but Rizal wants to show her off to his friends I suppose. I'm not really in favour 0f taking babies out at night- it makes them tired and after that they will have a tantrum or a crying jag. Anyway its their baby. Let them learn.
Sophia is already six months old and can already crawl. She can also sit by herself and although cries if she's tired or frustrated about something, is generally a happy child. I hope she stays that way.
My quran reading is improving - I can recognise most words now and can more or less read on my own. I only have problems with the kaf and pha as well as nun and ba, both of which look alike except that one has a mark either at the top or the bottom. If I can finish reading Al Baqarah by the end of this month I'll be very happy. Must finish the whole quran this year!!

Just thinking

Its almost two weeks now into the new year and already so many things have happened. Another little girl has been kidnapped, a five year old Malay girl from Kg Medan in PJ. It seems she was taken screaming in front of her older sister. And yet nobody saw? Nobody helped? I wonder...

I just hope that she will be found and it does not end up like the two other girls before her. What kind of society do we live in that little girls are not safe, even in their own backyards? I remember Shasha saying that in Tokyo, a large city with millions of people, she could walk home from the underground safely, even at night. In Singapore too it's safer than here in KL. Every year we hear of young girls being raped and murdered, or like little Nurin Jazlin last year murdered horrendously and trashed in a bag.

Is Malaysia sick? The things that occur here reminds me of that line from Hamlet -"something is rotten in the state of Denmark". We have one of the highest accident rates in the world, little girls get kidnapped almost regularly then murdered, little girls raped and murdered just meters from their home, children committing suicide because they cannot face failure...babies being killed by adults who may either be their own parents or relatives... what else can happen?

What kind of year do we expect? On the political front we will be facing the polls soon but I think the government will not change. It would take a real miracle for us to get a change of government, not an election. It's not that I have lost hope in this present one - I never had much hope in the beginning. I think Dr Mahathir got it correct the first time when he said (albeit too late to effect any change) that he wanted Najib for PM. But the trouble is will that have any effect? I doubt it. In fact it might have made things worse. The problems are too entrenched for Najib to make much of a mark. The corruption that is endless - either under the table or blatantly...and so many other things.

Talking of Bangsa Malaysia - can we ever have a bangsa Malaysia? I doubt it. The disunity is too deep, the unity too farcical. Of course it would be very nice if qwe could really think one nation, one race. But the Malays love their political power, the Chinese their economical power and the Indians? Dunno lah what they want. I want to believe that one day we can have one nation and one race but the distrust of the other races I think is not easy to overcome. We have to be fair - not just seen to be fair, not only in education and the economy but also in politics. Are we ready to do that?