Across the Land

"The enchanting, ancient market town, whose history pre-dates the Roman occupation, was originally built around its river, the Stort..."

The most romantic accomodation we had ever experienced.  The pictures speak a thousand words. The English countryside is beautiful in this season Fortunate for us to choose this place over London I found out that they have walk trails throughout the Essex County

Copying from my fb post, these are my comments on the newly opened Cafe Jiran in Kuang. " Trying out the menus at the new Jiran cafe at Jln Melati, Kuang. The atmosphere was more lively compare to the previous tenant, Attap cafe. More western oriented with the usual menus but offers local varieties as well. The creamy cheesy fish (dory fish instead of salmon) stands out from the rest (dont u really trust my taste). I dont want to point out the negatives (if u dont like, keep mum or tell the chefs, which indirectly I did :)]. " Located off Jalan Melati, about a few hundred meters from the traffic lights junction of Jalan Melati-Jalan Kuang-Jalan Sg.Plong-Jalan Kundang, the cafe is housed in a wooden, traditional design premise.  The exterior design is pleasing to the eyes and enticing enough for us to try it out. Out of curiosity.

When I was small, besides eating fried mee for breakfast, I also took 'nasi kuning'. But fried mee was more frequent. I remember very well eating nasi kuning  when we went out to the Tawau town. Young kids peddled these two main food at the jetty, selling to the boat passengers. I dont know the origin of this yellow rice but I grew up with it. It's the mixed chilli paste, bumbu bali  ( sambal bali)  which produce its distinctive taste. The sambal should be dry not watery . Since my mother did not have a blender, all ingredients were pounded in a mortar. Thus, the pounded dried chillies were quite coarse. The types of fish used are the smaller ones, not the mackerels or red snappers. A condiment is added which is the  serunding kelapa, a savory grated coconut, fried til dry enough to not get spoilt easily. We may also add plain boiled egg to the rice. What actually made it aromatic and delicious is because the yellow rice is wrapped in banana leaves, after bei...

Ramadhan is here again. I have been fasting since I was a kid, perhaps around 9 years of age. However, I can't remember much except that my mother prepared and cooked all the foods for iftar (arabic word) or sungkai (a Bugis word). No buying of food or eating out. Those practices were non-existence when I was small. I used to be the messenger in the customary exchanging of food with our neighbors. We made only one kind of kuih but when the iftar  was drawing near, there would be several kinds of  kuih on the table.

When the 'authorities' talked about the school closure due to haze, nothing or rather no one was clear about it. School or no school? Which states? Teachers and students or only students? Whose authority it is to give directive, PMD or MOE? MOE's website was out-dated for urgent issue like this. They seemed very slow in making decision. Should it be called 'cuti berganti' or 'cuti darurat jerebu'? Then, the night before the next day. 'Teacher, got school or not?' The TV1 highlighted, 'school is still closed'. Another, 'schools may open tomorrow'. Statements are contradictory. I just want the MOE to be the only one giving one fast, short and clear announcement through its website and on television.

I think this is the first time the schools in KL and Selangor are closed due to haze. So are in several parts of West Malaysia. The topic is all over the country and all over the social networks. People hating it. Hating the people who started it. The smell of the smokey haze is so obvious as if the burnings are happening in the neighborhood. And the doors and windows are all tightly closed. Muar was on emergency status last night and it still is again, I think, this morning. The API index reading was 750! Over there in Riau, Indonesia, they are covered by double thick smoke of their doing. The lungs are crying, "hello, Indonesian Government, what are you doing?!"

Three Saturdays in a row were used and will be used for school related events. The first was the best, it was made compulsory to have fun and relaxation. Kasih disemai, Sayang dibelai . The only one working was the mouth; to chew and swallow. And for talking and laughing.

Tawau is my hometown. Not that I was born or raised in Tawau proper, the city. Nope. My Bugis father had first worked in the coconut and palm oil plantations before being employed by a logging company in Wallace Bay on the Sebatik Island. So, I grew up mostly in the planned plantation and logging communities in Sabah for the first 12 years of my life. Then, I flew off to the peninsular for my secondary studies and furthered my studies overseas before settling down in KL and Selangor with my small family. I do go back yearly to visit my mother and siblings who still live there. My father has passed away more than 15 years ago.

Canakkale is located in the Marmara Region. Kolin Hotel in Canakkale

Eidul Adha was celebrated by the Muslims around the world at the end of the hajj pilgrimage in Mecca of Saudi Arabia on Friday. It is also known as the major Eid or Eidul Akbar, commemorating the sacrifice that Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) had willingly made in his devotion to Allah. Instead of sacrifising his own son, Ismail, Allah had replaced Ismail with a ram. This Eid celebration was quite low-key here at home as the holidays were not as long as the Eidul Fitr. The Day began with a prayer which was held at 8 am sharp at the 'surau' in front of my house, followed by short sermon. After that, my husband and son sat down to small feast of lemang and rendang before they changed into their old clothes to join in the slaughtering of 8 cows. The cows  were tied to a few trees on an empty land near the 'surau'  a few days before the Eid Day. A funny thing happened when one of the cows almost escaped when Wak untied it to graze on the grass growth nearby. Wak walked with...