on a serious note

yes i am Malay.
you are Chinese. the one next to you, Indian. we're all fine with that.
but i don't understand the huge fuss about "lain-lain bangsa"?
they are indeed "lain-lain" bangsa. haven't you people heard of statistics, bancian, and the likes? why take it so personally? unless, everyone memorizes the extremely long list of races in malaysia and would love to put their capabilities to the test.

i believe that if it was left to just the people, politics aside, we can live side by side happily like we always have. sure we have our major differences. but isn't that supposed to be more fun and challenging? similarities don't strike a balance. differences do.

all politicians do is try to stroke the fire. burning bridges. making gaps.
why? because they need the rift. it's the only trick left to play. incite fear and people will only trust their own race. all for the sake of survival.
try talking to the next bloke beside you like a human being first before you size them up by the colour of their skin or the language they speak. you just might be surprised how much you have in common.

Race..two ways of seeing it. half full or half empty. you take your pick. then ask yourself, are you being racist or are you being stupid?

DOT.

time spent

i've noticed the long quiet silence more and more lately.
the times when it feels so comfortable to be together but in our own thoughts.
i'm happy with the comfort.
i'm happy.

donning the robe

graduation should be an elevating experience for anyone. it should. but I'm freaking out. maybe it's the balancing act on stage that i must master by next Saturday.
**note to self: will be piling up some books on the head to practice the walk :p

maybe it's the concept of graduating that freaks me out. the one that means I'm officially out of the basic education stage. that responsibilities are looming left right and center. that i should be about done being mom and dad's little girl. (yes. my definition of 'little' includes 23 year old girls). err..no. I think I'll always stay their little girl. hehe.

so, in the spirit of easing my nerves for the graduation. I'm trying to make sense of the whole oversized, not in the least bit flattering robe and hood ala KKK. and the extent of my fun today was...

BOOOOO!!!! WAAAARRRGGGHHH!!! hehehehhehe

DOT.

i'm no tin man

if I could throw away this invisibility cloak that surrounds me, I would.
so tired of being the shoulder. tired of being the composed one. tired of being a shrink. tired of you saying I am who you think I am. I'm not invisible.
i'm only human. i'm allowed to feel.

DOT.

raya dah nak tiba, rendang nogori dah siap

This year, both me and ma are working..
so, timetable for hari raya cooking must not be done at the very last minute as we normally do every year. it's impossible to prepare so much with only a saturday holiday. saturday is booked for soto and the last minute cakes and cookies.

a week away from raya, today..

we made the must have rendang nogori. extra spicy!
slow cook, just like it's done in kampung. minus the log woods lah. just charcoal fire. hehehe.
thing is, we forgot to buy the starter for the charcoal. so abang burnt some rubber bands. toxic!! ma and nen went down. both pening. my guess it was actually fatigue from morning run at the market and here there everywhere looking for the necessities to cook. have to say, i love markets. it's one of the must go to places during travels. every market is different.

anyway, with 2 women down, it was only me in the kitchen healthily chopping and blending the ingredients together. (from mixing the ingredients alone, i had a full on lesson from ma on the health benefits of each spice from jintan to kunyit to lengkuas to...)

Extra spicy please..dried chillies and some cili padi

this is the most important part. all herbs and spices must be blended together correctly!

fire and yucky smoke was put off. then ma burnt some kain buruk to start the fire again minus the smell of rubber. yeay! a healthy bara we got.


loads of santan in..



it took hours to dry the rendang! started at 2pm finished cooking at 10.30pm. phew!

a tradition from daddy's side of the family..rendang nogori

rendang stored! just need to keringkan a bit more come raya morning! yeay!

DOT.