A MATTER OF THE HEART

While a kampong boy, I used to ronda around Alok Setak town with my buddies.

Several of our schoolmates were Christians and of course, the non-Christians in us were targeted by them to come to church.

Occasionally, we did.

The hymns were a joy to listen to although I catch no ball on what they meant...

And what more; the girls were irresistibly cute...

See, I was but a green seventeen then...

The one time that I truly enjoyed going to church was when there were parties...

Makan parties, I mean, usually held at year-end...

Lots of good food and charming company...

These days, whenever I return to Malaysia, some old pals of mine would give me bibles with extremely minute fonts, plus CDs and DVDs on Christianity...

I am almost always lost as to how to respond to their noble offers...

Most of the time, I 'accepted' their offer politely but left them at another good friend's house for his perusal...

* If you are reading this, my sincerest apologies, guys... *

But come Christmas time, I take delight in listening to Christmas songs...

And my favorites are Kenny G's and Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas albums...

I don't seem to get tired of them, no matter how many repetitions I hear...

As for my dear friends' efforts, I once mustered up my courage to make a stand...

But like a wimp, no doubt, I beat around the bush...

Whispering... almost to myself...

'I think religion is very much a matter of the individual heart...'

Duh! So much making my stand...

Meanwhile, yours truly is heading to Tokyo tomorrow to attend a symposium at Waseda University...

The main aim is to listen to the presentations on cross-border higher education policies...

Incidentally, Waseda University is conferring an Honorary Doctorate on Dr. Mahathir for all he did or did not do for Malaysia...

Your man here shall probably be sitting incognito in the auditorium to witness the ceremony...

BLUE DRAGON

This pretty nudibranch specimen is about three centimeters long.

I have seen them in Perhentian and Sipadan but have never been able to take a good shot of them because of the currents.

Location: Che Isa, Redang

MAN LEFT HANGING IN MIDAIR

Just sent my missus off at the airport…

She’s heading to her mum’s place four days earlier than I do, to assist in the preparations for the third anniversary ceremonies of her dad’s demise…

Man, suddenly feel so lonely here…

For the next four long days, will be returning to a ‘cold’ house…

Eating dinner all by myself…

(Menu for tonight: last night’s leftover fish head curry)

Meanwhile, will have to re-learn how to turn on that washing machine…

And, I have to search for that electric cooker switch, too…

Used to do quite a bit of cooking and chores while a single man…

Even after marriage, still could whip up a dish or two…

But after almost 20 years of marriage (and pampered life?)…

I became quite ‘lame’ and ‘hopeless’ with domestic utensils…

Four long days to the ‘reunion’…

I can’t wait…

APPLE SEEDLINGS

Went shopping for apple seedlings last weekend at the local DIY...

Saw some palm trees for sale...

Eyes almost shot out of their sockets upon seeing the prices...

Almost US$150.00 for one palm tree...

Oh man... to think that I had just lopped off three of those palm trees in my garden some weeks ago...

Rugi again...

Bought two apple tree seedlings...

One Fuji and the other, Tsugaru...

They are supposed to bear fruits in about five years' time...

Meanwhile, see some fruits from my garden...

VEGETABLES, HOMEGROWN...

Pulled out two turnips from the garden patch yesterday evening to put in the miso soup...

The feeling of sinking my teeth into the fresh, sturdy, turnip flesh was... ummmmpphh...

Jane was a bit curious about how my vegetable plot looks like...

Well, here it is...

There are four types of vegetables in the picture...

Readers may know the turnips as having jagged edges on the leaves...

Tasai is a very pretty Chinese vegetable...

Dark green leaves that remind me of the shape of spoons...

When the cold creeps in, the Tasai spreads out sideways like a large flower...

The taste is very crunchy...

Chingensai is also another Chinese vegetable...

Its 'bottom' is a quite stubby ... kind of like oversize for its leaves...

So, rather than eating the leaves, connoisseurs go for the chunky 'stem'...

Mamba is obviously not a dance here...

The purplish veins on the leaves characterizes the vegetable...

Easy to grow and a joy to eat...

We pluck off the large mature leaves to cook with tofu and sometimes, with ikan bilis...

I never get sick of this stuff...

Next post... more on my veggies...

THE NOODLES WILL BECOME FAT

In my personal and professional capacities, I have the privilege to do some air travel.

As a poor student, I flew Malaysia Airlines often (on student discount, that is).

Switched to All Nippon Airways in the early part of my professional career.

And then, to Singapore Airlines before reverting to Malaysia Airlines...

The other day, I got a big shock upon discovering that a major chunk of our frequent miles with Singapore Airlines had expired.

Kaput, as in 'evaporated'...

Could have traveled for free to as far as Africa...

Dei !!!
Have a 'corporate-man' buddy who has accumulated gazillions of miles from frequent business trips.

For him, expiring miles are nothing because he does not have the time to use them...

But for a small-time kuchiku player like yours truly...

Adoooi... rugi maximum...
Another life-lesson that, there is a time for everything...

And that, nothing lasts forever...

So, better eat those noodles before they get too soaked up...

Adoooi... it hurts... *slaps forehead repeatedly*

PS: This post could have been titled, 'IT'S THE TIMING, STUPID!'

No?