REMEMBRANCE 65: SHARING THE SAME FATE

REMEMBRANCE 64: BLOOMINGS

For the past few years, Zam has diligently concentrated caringly to her very limited flower garden of various species of flowers. Zam's sacrifices of her free times on her flower garden has not gone in vain. Now, whenever I am fraught with problems, the blooming of flowers of different colours are soothing to the eyes and has provided me with tranquility which are very harmonious with nature. Alhamdullillah

O.H.M.S. 15: TANJUNG CHARLIE

SAHOCA 20: OBLIGATION

H.S.(D} 34/95 Mukim Naga, District of Kubang Pasu

Two months ago, Halim has entrusted to me the land title (H.S.(D) 34/95, PT 3053, Mukim Naga, District of Kubang Pasu) in which his bungalow was located in Bandar Darul Aman, Jitra. My mission was to get the registered land owner, Dato’ Idrus Zainol to transfer the said land to Halim because Halim has unknowingly built his bungalow on Darus’s plot of land. As age is catching up very fast with us, naturally both of them would like to see their dispute settled.

Luckily for me, Dato’ Idrus Zainol did came back to Kedah on 10.01.2010. On Monday,11.01.2010 after having our traditional breakfast of Nasi Ayam Kampung at Mejeed Restaurant, Darus has graciously agreed to accompany me to the Kubang Pasu District Land Office. Mr. Amirul Hidayat Shahbuddin, the Assistant Land Administer attested the transfer of the said land from Darus to Halim. With that attestation and with the blessing of Allah, I was able to accomplish my mission as entrusted by Halim. That is what friends are for.

SIBLINGS 62: ASAM PEDAS IKAN SEMBILANG

Nampaknya bubur asyura Mak Teh di dalam blog Siblings 61 telah mendapat sambutan yang menggalakkan di kalangan pelayar blog yang setia. Di atas permintaan Marini yang pandai makan dan kempunan asam pedas ikan sembilang tetapi tidak pandai memasaknya, Mak Teh telah menyahut cabaran ini dan menyediakan asam pedas ikan sembilang khas untuk santapan warga Alor Setar sahaja.

Marini memperakui bahawa asam pedas ikan sembilang Mak Teh sedap gila (saduran ungkapan Alin). Untuk yang kempunan seperti Marini dan juga menyahut permintaan daripada Nana, maka diperturunkan resipi Mak Teh khusus untuk pelayar blog yang setia abadi.


ASAM PEDAS IKAN SEMBILANG

BAHAN-BAHANNYA:

1. Ikan sembilang – 1 ekor

Basuh ikan dahulu, kemudian rendam selama 30 minit dengan asam limau dan garam.
Kalau ada telor ikan, basuh telor ikan dan remdam dengan sedikit cuka dan asam limau. Perap seketika dan kemudiannya dibasuh semula. Rebus dan selepas itu ditapis sejat.

2. Cabai kering - 8 tangkai
3. Bawang puteh - 2 ulas
4. Bawang merah - 6 ulas
5. Serai - 1 batang
6. Bunga kantan - 1 kuntum
7. Daun kesum (bukan daun ketum) - 5 tangkai
8. Belacan - sebesar ibu jari
9. Beras - 1 sudu besar (digoreng dan dikisar halus)
10. Asam jawa - Sedikit
11. Asam keping - 3 keping (direndam sebentar)
12. Garam secukup rasa.

CARA MEMBUATNYA

Cabai kering, bawang puteh, bawah merah dan belacan dikisar (blend).
Rebus bahan-bahan tadi dengan 1 liter air
Masukkan air asam jawa, asam gelugor, bunga kantan, daun kesum, serai dan garam secukup rasa. Kemudian masukkan ikan dan telor ikan yang telah direbus. Setelah rebusan mendidih, masukkan serbuk beras yang sudah digoreng dan dikisar.

Selamat mencuba sendiri,
Kalau tak menjadi,
Tanggunglah sendiri. .
Bukanlah salah resipi,
Mungkin yang empunya diri,

REMEMBRANCE 63: NEW DISCOVERY OR JUST IGNORANCE

Zam at the Kuala Kedah fishing jetty

Competing with Zhohir from PKNK for quality fishes

Our antique Pak Teh

'Siput shell' in the frying pot

Identical to the "SHELL" logo

Clamped 'siput shell'

The tasty and fleshy content of 'siput shell'

'Jambu mawar' on the plate

Very tempting to the eyes and stomach

Zam has kept the seeds for for fertilization

On Saturday, 9.1.2010 we went to Kuala Kedah to look for mackerels for our domesticated cats. In my 63 years of life, I was astounded when the fish vendor urged my to buy ‘siput shell”. To me and Zam, it was indeed a new discovery to us because we have not come across the ‘siput shell’ in our entire life. Our new discovery was also verified by our antique 77 years old Uncle Khalid who was also a stranger to the ‘siput shell’. .


On the next day, it was again a new discovery to Marini and Ezman when our antique Uncle Khalid brought some ‘jambu mawar’ or rose guavas for their consumption. ‘Jambu mawar’ is an endangered fruit which is very tasty and possesses a distinct aroma of rose fragrance.

I was not very certain whether it was our own ignorance or in fact it was indeed a new discovery to us non antiques..

REMEMBRANCE 62: LOSS OF HOPE

I was grateful to Marini and Didie for accompanying me to the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital on the last day of 2009. It was my stipulated day to have my blood sample taken and also to hand over my 24 hours urine sample that I had diligently collected on the previous day.

I told Marini and Didie to go home and wait for my call after I have finished all my medical tasks at the hospital. Based on my previous experiences and looking at the number of patients in that morning, I was very certain that it would take at least about three hours for my mission to be accomplished. However Marini chose to wait for me at the hospital. Sure enough both of them were bored to the teeth waiting for me to finish off my mission which was only over at 12.15 pm.

For me, the three hours waiting period was not a burden because it was in fact an opportunity for me to meet my friends and former staffs. Since my appointment number was 2994, I met with two pensioners bearing the appointment numbers of 2992 and 2998 respectively. The patient with the number 2992 was the wife of the pensioner of a State Clerical Service while the patient with the waiting number 2998 was a pensioner from the State Town and Country Planning Department.

I knew the wife of the clerk as she was also a clerk at the school where my daughter was schooling in the eighties. From my official acquaintances with her at the school, I found out that she was a hot tempered lady and also was not a customer friendly lady either. I pity her husband but at the same time admired him for taking a very good care of her after she suffered a stroke a few years ago.

From her behaviour on the wheel chair, I believed her ill tempered character has not changed for the better all over these years. Although she was having a constraint on her speech, yet she was even complaining aloud because she could not stand the slow waiting process before her appointment number was up. When she started raising her voice to the annoyance of the other patients, her husband would push her wheel chair around the hospital to appease her. I admired her husband who has not lost his confidence on the prospect of her recovery. He told me with confidence that as he has tried every remedy for his wife that he could hold on. Money is not a hindrance for him but his priority is the recovery of his wife health. I pray to Allah that she would experience a speedy recovery. Insya Allah.

In contrast to our caring husband who has very high hope on the chances of his wife’s recovery, our retiree friend from the State Department of Town and Country Planning has entirely lost hope on his own recovery. He was suffering from the same ailments that I am experiencing i.e. heart ailment, gout, osteoarthritis and renal ailment.

Although I am having multiple ailments, yet my medical treatments is more structured than his because I followed to the toe on whatever advice or treatment that has been prescribed by my attending doctors. I have gathered vast knowledge about my ailments which I have used them to the fullest during my discussions with my attending doctors. I advised him that since we are having multiple ailments, we should synchronise our multiple treatments so that it could compliment each other. I told him that we could not stop our aging process but we could alter our aging process and improve our quality of life if could practice self discipline in our approach towards sickness..


There are living testimony that growing older doesn’t necessarily equate with aging. All of us grow older, but aging is a choice. There is a clear cause and effect between aging conditions, your diet and lifestyle. Modifying simple daily activities will help you to achieve fitness goals, sculpt a more youthful body contour, improve memory, improve energy levels and relieve the severity of age related conditions.

My parting advice to my retiree friend was for him to fathom the knowledge from his doctors about his actual medical condition and to follow through on all the advice prescribed by his attending doctors. As Allah is great and merciful, we should not easily loss hope on our own self. Instead we should pray for Allah’s blessing in our battle against our own apathy towards life or our own ailments. .

Later at the pharmacy department, I met with my former boss’s son, Ariff who was suffering from severe heart ailment but he was very confident in life. He refused to go for his by pass operation for he was really scared of the operation theater. He was very confident with the greatness of Allah as he was blessed with a twenty years of prolonged injury time life after he bolted away from the operating table twenty years ago. Alhamdullillah.

Tired of waiting for the completion of my medical tasks, Marini and Didie spent their time just by admiring the beauty of the Hospital garden.

REMEMBRANCE 61: AM I THAT FOOLISH

When my son asked for my assistance in locating a certain artist that could draw a drawing for the purpose as souvenir within 20 days, I immediately jumped to the request. He told me that the motif of the drawing was to be of the splendour of Gunung Jerai. With that in mind I told my son that I could bring him to a renowned artist in Kedah which I really admire his workmanship especially in the drawing of realist art with the medium of water colour which could easily befit as a royal souvenir.

After listening to my intention of visiting him, the artist assured me he could produce the painting as specified by my son’s organization. I asked him for the estimated cost of his works with the element of discounting. He gave us the estimated cost taking into account of my acquaintance with him for the past 40 years.

As my son has not got the authority to decide, so I told him that my son must get the clearance before assigning him with the proposed work of arts. He agreed to follow my son up to Gunung Jerai after my son has obtained the official clearance for the proposed assignment. My son obtained the official clearance on 4.1.2010 and he brought the artist up to Gunung Jerai on 6.1.2010.

On the evening of 6.1.2010 when I asked my son about the outcome of the visit to Gunung Jerai, I was aghast when my son told me that another renowned artist of Kedah has also went up the mountain with the assignment of producing a drawing of 8 times the size of our proposed drawing but 10 times the cost of the initial drawing proposed to my son’s organization.

I could not sleep the whole night because I kept thinking about whether it was my foolish act that has created the unintentional mess and sentimental confrontations between the artist fraternity up at Gunung Jerai. My genuine intention of getting the best deal for my son's organisation has indeed gone awry. Without realising it, the mess has also damaged my integrity and reputation that I has built with artist fraternity in Kedah. I really pray and hope that my son’s organization which has a very reputable standings would take the honourable decision of a win-win solution which does not hurt anybody’s feeling and ego. Insya Allah