One the 7th Day of CNY My Mother Gave to Me...

... a plate of pie tees! Or top hats.

Stir-fried jicama and layers of egg omelette, fried dry tofu, and chopped shrimps topped with garlic-chilli (not sure how to name this). Throwing all etiquette to the wind, the only way I know to eat these savoury lil'... thing... is to lift it upright and then drop it into the mouth.

Crush it and enjoy the sudden burst of flavours; checking every now and then that the gravy from the jicama didn't dribble from the corner of the mouth. Chew them and freeze that moment.

Repeat.

My camera's under the weather lately (and I don't think it's going to get any better with time) so a little Ps magic did salvage some of the dulcet sight I beheld during lunch.

Being a Nyonya dish, untold efforts went into the preparation of each components.

For better quality pictures, Google Images' the place to go.
      

And So It's Over

Many will start work tomorrow and reports of traffic congestion are testament to that. Ten years back, I'd still be lazing on the couch facing the TV with a half eaten mandarine in my hand.

It's all in my head like it was last week. And it's a shame my mobile phone camera will no longer focus properly. Not because it was smudged by my oily, saliva-covered fingers. Speaking of that unsightly digits, I didn't get to eat kuih kapit (love letters) this year. It was nowhere to be seen and nobody brings them.

Prelude to an epicurean overindulgence: Steamboat for the dinner before New Year's Eve dinner at my uncle's.

It all seems to fizzle out way too quickly. A prayer of thanks. Dinner 1 (uncle's). Dinner 2 (potluck at another uncle's). Dinner 3 (at your truly's). I don't have to start work tomorrow (not in the employment sense, not yet) but I have my work cut out alright. When I'm nearly out of my reticent shell, I will be back to being surrounded by the four walls in a quasi-asylum milieu.

It's all peace and quiet (punctuated by the occasional screams of that spoiled brat below) on the outside but there's a flurry of chicken feathers in my head.

And so, it's over for 2012. Aww, maaaann !

             

Going Home for Dinner

Wait! I've always been home. And I could only imagine what it's like to celebrate new year in a foreign land.

Some are still on their way. In time for lunch on the first day of new year. Some has gone home and mope around until dinnertime. In any case, meal time's over and it was a blessing. I didn't snap any pictures tonight but I did so last night. Yes, yes. We have had dinner two nights in a row now. *ha!*

This one's a foreign TVC about homecoming. Not bad.

Daughtry's Home ain't bad too. Ah, me and videos!

Boom! There goes the opening salvo marking the Chinese New Year and time to sign off. Everyone's home. The American troop's home from Iraq. Truly, home is where the heart is.

Gong Xi Fa Cai !!

CNY Cometh

Lent my strength today at Tesco to help cart away two boxes of honey mandarines and three cartons of canned drinks. I'll settle for the two cans of Coke Light in the fridge during the holidays. I know, artificial sweeteners aren't the best thing around.

As I grow older, preparation for reunion dinner gets more wearing. Part of growing up and growing old I suppose. Luckily I can still choose to not go to the wet market. The atmosphere's the same (excited, anticipatory, and work done in a feverish manner) but the feeling's different now. Is it because there's nothing great lined up for prime time TV? Maybe it's the nagging feeling telling you work ain't done yet and the deadline's coming soon?

How I miss those harum-scarum days of yore when the sum of the two digits of my age is more than 1 and less than or equals 10. Or in recent years, the tear-jerking TVCs by Yasmin Ahmad [for Petronas]. This year's – I missed the last – TVC ain't that great. There's too much going on in the first two minutes I started to lose interest by the 60th second.

You've been warned.

The other locally-produced CNY vid on YouTube has more views and less painful comments. More importantly, the message is clear. I felt Malaysians can better relate to this video than, say, someone who never lived here before. And the subtitles didn't help much. =)

The Prime Minister's CNY wish to all Malaysians is that we "continue with our best Malaysian tradition by sharing the celebration with all communities; to open our doors to all Malaysians."

Point well taken. The last thing he was quoted as saying is, "Let's tear down the divisive walls and barriers and build bridges between our hearts."

Well Mr PM, the walls and barriers that divide and separate us were built and preserved by the present government. How long more do you want to be in denial? I guess you've stopped listening long ago.

Happy Chinese New Year, people!

        

Stuck in a Rut, I Went to Town

Need to break out!

Ever since the victory at Water-flu, I went back to the countryside and retired to a life of monotonous routine. Instead of growing tubers, weeding the garden, and tending to the chickens, I invested in some black and white seedlings sold under the trade name "Standard 102/102 Microsoft Natural *". I was told I'd reap the rewards in about 3 months from the day I finished planting them.

Daily, I obediently got up and selected the "seeds" to be sowed. This morning was a departure from the norm. I went to the town hall to support a fellow "farmer", also a war veteran, in his bid to obtain certification for his produce from two goodness-knows-who appointed officials.

Witnessed by representatives of the village chief and friends, he gingerly detailed his farming techniques and at the same time flashed rough sketches of the root system he'd made. Nobody knows if the occasional nods from the officials signaled their comprehension or an exercise to relief pressure on the neck.

I held my breath when the inquiry began. My farmer friend was quizzed about the Five Wives and One Husband **. One by one he answered them all until they came to the Husband. Try as he might, he couldn't seem to satisfy the inquirer. By now, even the cat that was lying by the wooden barrel began to walk away – uninterested.

The bell tolled and I guess the season's harvest wasn't quite what everyone was expecting. Apparently, some in the hall had already made up their mind on what they wanted even before descending upon our town. They wouldn't compromise. It doesn't matter that there was indeed a product. They were looking for a certain shape, size, colour, and weight.

A modern "reenactment" of that medieval scene at the "town hall"

Sadly, the colours olive, emerald, jade, lime, turquoise, teal, moss, chartreuse, pistachio, and avocado aren't green. See, he said green and they said, "Moss and teal". Never mind they weren't in agreement. The farmer's got it wrong alright.

Ah, soon I'll be sitting on that chair facing my own demons. When the time comes, I hope I match my shades of blue correctly. Absurd? You bet!

_________________

* Keyboard [layout]
** What, When, Where, Who, Why, and How?

Wednesday. The day I went and lend support to my friend who has to defend his thesis; an oral examination also known as - to be pretentiously genteel - viva voce.

    

New Year, New Intruder, Same Old Response

The new year brings with it new, and previously unknown viral particles; at least to the men and women of the armed forces garrisoned within. I'm wondering how they got to me since I've been home the past few days.

I look a little better (Source: The Columbia Sun)

Post-nasal drip when I lie down and an "outward-nasal flow" when I'm not; they're driving me nuts. Now the tear gland's acting up. Soon, as the battle rages on, the aches will become more pronounced and my strength will eventually ebb away.

Things to do when the battle's over: wipe my keyboard and phone. For now, a little peace and quiet.

La Garde meurt mais ne se rend pas! We shall overcome the Battle of Water-Flu.