Malaysians LAH !!!

Theres one thing we Malaysians can talk about on and on.... FOOD !!! :)

When in India, i realised people loved talking about politics and cricket, when in England i saw how people spoke proudly about their Queen and their country , but in Malaysia our all time favourite topic is FOOD ! You can see more FB status updates on what they had for breakfast and lunch ( with photographs of it attached of course !) then about anything else...we also have friends responding with LIKES and COMMENTS almost immediately. 

Then, we start discussing the recipe and tips or secrets from mom to make those dishes...and you will be surprised to see how joyfully people discuss FOOD while they are all working , probably cracking their heads to prepare a presentation or frustrated for not being able to balance the accounts or keying in endless data into the system and having sales target or running round doing housework, rushing through the traffic jams and yet nothing will stop us from discussing FOOD !

We Malaysians have the privilege of having such varieties of food that we are truly spoilt for choice !!

Everytime we meet friends or have a family outing the most important question is : Where are we eating ...then Chinese or Indian or Malay or Western or .......if Indian, Northern Indian or Chettinad ...if Chinese, steamboat or mixed rice or Dim Sum or .....well by the time we decide the kind of food we want, we are so hungry that we then decide on which will be the nearest place. Then again, the questions start... hawker stalls or the cafes or Kopitiam or the more expensive restaurants....then if we manage to decide the place finally we still get a Menu with like a 100 options ! Noodles with soup or curry or fried , penang style or Ipoh style or ....spicy or not spicy....if its Indian then...do you want thosai or idly or briyani , or if thosai then do you want to have it plain or buttered or with masala or ..gosh... its a neverending decisions to be made ...and believe me it is all for ONE meal !!

Then say the next day, you decide to eat at home with friends / family....then again, the questions start...shall i tapau chinese food or Indian food...? or who wants nasi kandar ?? shall we just order a pizza ?? 

Malaysians are also famous for having food outlets that stay open 24 hours !! We dont have to be hungry ...we go out to the stalls if are bored at home...the so called ...  "lets go for a teh tarik ( tea)" at about 11 pm...would end up with a roti canai shared , or a maggie goreng shared ...and while we are chatting we realise its almost 12 midnight and we are still sitting there but we feel uneasy taking up the space if we are not eating anymore. So go home ? ? No way lah! Lets go to the other stall just for another drink...then, we order something like teh O , Milo Kosong or limau panas ...and we cont chatting...then we see the kesari or karipap and one of us would ask.."eh wanna share a karipap?? " then..


Well this is what we Malaysians do...we enjoy food !! More than anything else...but that doesnt mean we are not concerned about health..We of course oder...drinks "Kurang manis" mee goreng with "Less oil" Milo nipis and so on :):) 

hahaha...well we are Malaysians Lah ! we cant help it :)

So, this national day...i am sure , there will more food shared , with more decisions to make and i wish you luck with that ! have a patriotic weekend with Malaysian super yummy and heavenly food!

HAPPY MERDEKA to all MALAYSIANS !! 

  

Manuscript Found In Accra

Have you ever looked at life as if it was your FIRST day ?

We often hear " Live your life as though it is your last day " so you would live it to the fullest, and would forgive everyone and everything, hold no grudges, and say I love you to all that you care about....but then, theres a pinch of sadness if you imagine your day to be the LAST...so how about we see it as though it was the first!!?? :)

I didnt think much about this...till i read Paulo Coelho's latest book, Manuscript Found In Accra. The part that says ...

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" Tomorrow when the sun rises, all you have to say to yourselves is : I am going to think of this day as the first day of my life. I will look on the members of my family with surprise and amazement, glad to discover that they are by my side, silently sharing that much-talked about but little understood thing called love"

I will Look at everything and everyone as if for the first time, especially the small things that i have grown used to, quite forgetting the magic surrounding them. The dessert sands for example, which are moved by an energy i cannot understand - because i cannot see the wind. 

If its sunny tomorrow, I want to look at the sun properly for the first time. If its cloudy, I want to watch to see in which directions the clouds are going. I always think i dont have time or that i dont pay enough attention. Tomorrow, though, i will concentrate on the direction taken by the clouds, or on the sun rays and the shadows they create.

Above my head exists a sky about which all humanity, over thousands of years, has woven a series of reasonable explanations.

Well , i will forget everything i learned about the stars and they will be transformed once more into angels or children or whatever i feel like believing at that moment.

I will not complain about life, saying " everything's always the same and i can do nothing to change it." Because I am living this day as if it were my first and, while it lasts, i will discover things that I did not even know were there. "

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Now...see the DIFFERENCE ??

There is so much joy and excitement when you see something for the FIRST time, you will be amazed, puzzled, mystified, and totally indulged in life if you could see it for the first time ...

What a beautiful thought by this amazing writer...how positive and joyful his mind is to think this way...

Here i wish to share my own little story ... my mother is from India and from a very remote village way down south. Ive been there and noticed that there are no mountains or hills surrounding this particular village. The land is almost totally flat. So, when my parents got married and mom came to Malaysia for the first time, to Ipoh, Perak....she was just about 14 years old then, and she said the FIRST thing she remembers is how amazed she was to see the mountains and hills ! she has never seen anything like it before and she thought it was strange to have those bulging green pieces of land up so close !! She thought it was SO beautiful and strange ! And now , after being here for about 47 years...she still remembers how these mountains caught her attention and how it made her feel...though she doesnt marvel looking at it now simply because she has grown used to it...If only she would look at it as it was her first time again :)

We Malaysians have all seen the ocean for sure...as we are surrounded by it so closely...but imagine those coming from countries where they have never seen the ocean..How magical it would seem to them ! right ? just like how i felt when i experienced walking on snow for the FIRST time! How amazing it was! But people who live through winter year after year may not think it is anything great ! 

So , its magical to see anything for the first time...the soft Roses, the strong bamboo shoots and the music coming through it, the flowing river, the pretty lady bug, the slimy frog , the calming swan, the fluttering butterflies...the fragrant jasmine , the divine Lotus , the mighty oak trees, the brown soil that produces crops and all other plants...the tweeting birds, the billions of twinkling stars...the shining moon, the majestic sunrise , the moving clouds, the invisible breeze that brushes through our cheeks...the vibrant colours on peacocks and its dance, the mysterious rainbow through rain and shine, the reflections on ponds and the life beneath the ocean, the multicoloured corals , and above all, Human Beings...!!! the walking, talking, thinking, laughing, crying figures that we share this planet with, what are we ??? 

Well i think i can go on forever with the list...Coz every single thing from a grain of sand to the blazing sun is magical. And sad that we do not notice it anymore because we have simply gotten used to it ! Lets take a day to remember looking at it all for the first time ! Well not just looking, but listening, smelling and feeling for the first time too ! See how much we have taken for granted ! How much we have grown used to ... how much we have forgotten !

And ohh...if we see life as it is the First day, then we will be so immersed in discovering things that we will have no time to Judge people, be envious, hold grudges, be sad or be angry with anything or anyone. It saves a lot of energy and precious time, dont you think?:)

So, dear friends , have a BEAUTIFUL and JOYFUL FIRST MAGICAL DAY of your lives and rediscover the joy we once felt as children !!! :)