Dawn yoga

 

6 blueberry n cranberry chai masala muffin

 I baked some chai masala blueberry n cranberry muffins as gifts to the caring Indian physician who is treating Jun at a govt hospital.He is recovering n getting back on his feet.as a mother,theres nothing worse than when your child is sick .his appetite is back as he ate the greek yoghurt n portugese egg tarts i had baked.i also baked hong kong egg tarts which doesnt use puff pastry base.so hot baking but aroma fills the kitchen

he got back his zest for life and food and hanging out at mamak with his macha or taking his HK friend to try street food.

I love experimenting with recipes,next im gonna bake a malaysian style quiche lorraine with kangkung leaves,serunding ikan and cherry tomatoes.

Budget food

 Prices of food has come down a bit.i got 30 B size eggs for rm12.90 when previously it was rm14.90.got my favourite jade lychee at rm15.90 and 3 drumsticks at rm7,a pack of dumplings at rm 7 and a tilapia fillet at rm 7.

Jun had viral flu and high fever so i took him to the govt clinic.it was efficient n well organized and they had lab facility to check for dengue.luckily no dengue but viral sore throat inflammation.in the heatwave must drink lots of cold water coz he had allergic conjunctivitis and rhinitis.its the hazy,dry weather.im gonna buy lots of oranges n lemons to make juice.i switch grocery shopping to lotus,giant n jaya grocer from aeon n bens  as things are cheaper.i got 8 oranges from south africa at rm 5.90blueberry at rm8.90 and a soursop drink at rm5.90.i can get a barammundi fish at giant for rm9.90.cheaper than wet market at rm16.90

Cooked last nite nasi briyani and grilled turkish minced chicken kofta kebab but i cant find sumac spices so i used morroco spice mix.i love turkish food so why dont they open a turkish cafe instead of selling turkish sweets n ice cream n nuts.i love savoury pide,stuffed egg plant n pilaf n kofta kebab.

The argumentative Indian

 Years of western colonization has helped Indians master the lingua franca of their colonial masters.A shining example is Gandhi who trained as a lawyer and his eloquence as an orator helped as an independence freedom fighter so the great Winston Churchill grossly underestimated the steely determination of the "half naked fakir "from the subcontinent His satyagraha or soul force that galvanised the passive resistance of a nation defeated the militarily superior and technically trained soldiers of the army.this non violencr resistance  revolution later spread and inspired freedom fighters like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King.

So im trying to wean Jun from mindless smartphone  addiction to the intelligent discourses on the internet and he has discovered what Amartya Sen calls the Argumentative Indian.He says the thought provoking discussions by Prof Kishore Mahbubani of Singapore is riveting.his book Can Asians think is a bestseller.i say try google up Dr Jaishankar press interviews and you will see how eloquent and argumentative a good speaker he is when he stands up to Western hypocrisy and double standards.thats the epitome of wolf warrior diplomacy.

a seditious Middle Temple lawyer, now posing as a fakir... striding half-naked up the steps of the Viceregal Palace." Churchill was unhappy at Gandhi's participation at the Second Round Table Conference in London in 1931.

Kid at play

 Kids need space n time to play to activate their imagination n creativity.too much tuition causes stress and puts too much pressure on kids and it affects mental n emotional health.i remember running wild with neighbours kids playing jump rope,tig tag toe,spinning tops and catching spiders to put in matchboxes.we cteate games like policemen catching thief,flew paper airplanes or used our slippers as bowling balls to hit a pack of coveted playcards.

Now kids are not allowed to play outdoors for fear of safety.sad childhood as my cousins in the rural areas taught us to fetch water from a well,use a long pole to bring down rambutans or catch tadpoles so we see them metamorphize to frogs or giant grasshoppers that we tied to a string to fly like aeroplane.

I baked bread,cakes n muffins every weekend and share some with my neighbours kid who is 7 going on 8 years old.hes a cute kid,full of energy and lively.last week i baked portugese egg tarts to give him.in return he threw this thank you note over my fence which i found while sweeping the porch.i prefer to play with kids as they are simple and innocent without the pretentious ways of adults.his note really was so touching so i told my neighbour that i will give my scooter n helmet to him since im into zumba these days.hope the kid learns it and not e scooter which doesnt exercise the legs at all.

How to spice up boring chores

 Weekends spent on cleaning house,mopping floor.then its cleaning fridge n pantry and the dreaded washing toilets n car wash.the necessary chores this domestic slave hates so to spice things up,i blast rock music from wang fengs existence,cui jian nothing to my name to cold play viva la vida and tina turners whats love got to do.after shaking and dancing n using my mop as a microphone stand,im having fun.

So thats the tip to spice up chores.

 

Kiara park

 Kiara park has a new zumba queen.i like her hot moves n groovy music

 

Old shanghai dance hall music

 I love old school big band music

Dance craze

8

 

Fun n dance

 Birthday party for zumba teacher.all girls day out fun n dance n soo cheerful

Food

I had fingerfood for lunch.fruit salad,kuih caras a malay cake with rice flour n tumeric,pie tee or nyonya pastry shells  fill with yam bean,carrot n bean sprouts dip in sweet chilli sauce.in heatwave i eat lighter food.dinner i cooked seafood nasi briyani and a fried spicy tandoori chicken drumstick.the price of chicken has dropped and i bought 6 drumsticks at rm9 and rm 2.50 for a packet of green veg.i seldom eat durians and soursop as they are costly but mangos are cheaper.watermelon has dropped in price after fasting montb.but my favourite fruit is jade lychee from china i got for rm15.90 at jaya grocer.its cheaper than 2 slices of soursop at rm 14.90.local fruits like soursop ,cempedak and durian are more costly than imported ones

A guiding principle

 Pŕoverbs distill the essence of a culture so its the values they teach that is a guide on our lives.Bah perpatah or a peribahasa is succvinct and subtle message unlike the coarse,vulgar language of internet trolls that insult our sensibility like dumbfu#£ or big dick energy or

I feel that i use outdated language so to be in touch with trends,i need to fit in.i stick to cara halus untuk bertutur .i like the Malay proverb

"Gajah mati,tinggal gadimg.

Harimau mati,tinggal belamg.

Manusia mati,tinggal nama."

So after we die,we may be forgotten but our good name and deeds live on.when an elephant dies,he lives behind his tusk.when a tiger dies,he lives behind his stripes but when a man dies,he lives behind his name.

The Chinese proverb that teaches one to be humble and not overinflate his ego is my favourite.

山还比一山高 ( yi shan hai bi yi shan gao)

Tian wai you tian

Yi shan hai bi yi shan gao

Beyond the sky is even more space

One mountain is tall but the next mountain is even taller

So when one feels he is good,there is another better.

When one feels he is strong,there is another stronger

Congrats Malaysia boleh

 Um im so so damn proud another Malaysian director Amanda Neil Eu who  won the top prize in Cannes film festival for her movie Tiger Stripes.After Michelle Yeohs Oscar win,this female malaysian made us proud that our creatives are recognised globally for our talents.

Yasmin Ahmad would be so proud that our young creatives with unique storytelling is gaining tecognition.like bong joon ho the south korean director of okja and parasite ,They are reaching international level of achievement.They should offer free screening of the movie Tigers stripes on puberty of ypung females to all Malaysian students to inspire them in the creative industry Instead of the personality cult propaganda Untold Story of some bigshot,its the everyday hero,the man in the street,the rakyat biasa that foreign audience like to know better.

War and peace

 Its epic the grand old man of msia politics said

To japan foreign correspondent club that the world is integrated as one.so because of interdependence,war will not be limited to one nation but have massive devastation on a global scale.

 Now thats the man that pushed modernization of msian industries and infrastructure but at the same time masterminded divide and rule politics of ethnic exclusiveness and racial superiority,the rise of cronyism and nepotism,use of draconian laws to jail political dissidents to his dictatorial ways,suppress free press and rise of massive political corruption thats become endemic in public sectors.

Rereading will durants the lessons of history is mind blowing foresight into future.a debate between a philosopher n a general goes:

Yes and the devastating results will be in accord with history,except that they will be multiplied in proportion to the increased no and mobility of the engaged forces and the unparallelled destructiveness of the weapons used.there is something greater than history.somewhere,sometime in the name of humanitywe must challenge 1,000 evil precedents and dare to apply the Golden rule to nations,as the buddhist king asoka did in 162 bc or at least what Augustus did when he bade Tiberius desist from further invasion of germany in ad.9 Let us refuse,at whatever cost to ourselves,to make 100 Hiroshimas in China

Magnanimity in politics said edward burke is not seldom the truest wisdom and a great empire and little minds go ill together.imagine an american president saying to the leaders of China and Russia..

"If we should follow the usual course of history,we should make war with you for fear of what you may do a generation hence.or we should follow the dismal precedent of the holy alliance of 1815,and dedicate our wealth and our soundest youths to suppressing any revolt against the existing order anywhere.but we are willing to try a new approach.we respect your people and your civilization as among the most creative in history.we shall try to understand your feelings and your desire to develop your own institutions without fear of attack.we must not allow our mutual fears to lead us into war for the unparalleled murderousness of our weapons and yours brings into the situation an element un familiar in history.

Let us open our doors to each other and organize cultural exchanges that will promote mutual understanding.we are not afraid that your economics system will replace ours nor need you fear that ours will displace yours.we believe each system will learn from the other and be able to live with it in cooperation and peace.

If you and we succeed,we shall merit a place for centuries to come in the grateful memory of mankind.

The general smiles,

Such interludes of widespread peace are unnatural and exceptional.they will soon be ended by changes in the distribution of military power.

Man is a competitive animal,that his states must so be like himself and that natural selection now operates on an international plane.

States will unite in basic cooperation only when they are in common attacked from without.we may make contact in future with ambitious species on other planets,soon tbereafter there will be interplanetary war.then and only then,will we of this earth be one.

So when the Martians come will we set aside our differences and behave like humans.humans vs aliens.cool .will durant is a historian.if we want to understand the present,look at the past precedents.if you want to look to the future,look at our present trajectory.man is wired for mutual destruction and the biggest existential risk is self made either the climate change destroys human species or a nuclear apocalypse nuke us all to bits and peaces.

After the rain

 Air is cool after the rain.nice gteenery

rain pray it rains n stops before i exercise.negative ions make me calm n i dont get heatstroke.the mangrove sea hibiscus has variegated leaves n yellow blooms that fade to orange.ive one small plant in my garden .now looking for the rose of sharon hibiscus thats dual pink n white flowers.its common in kampungs and no value to nursery like baby roses or thai hibisbus with double petals.

Chinese poems

 Despite the chasm of centuries n ancient era,the poignancy of separation n loneliness is a human comdition.Du Fu wrote a restless night and Li Bai farewell to a friend.

Hot as hell

 Yesterday i exercised outdoors on workout machines at 10am at temp of 31 celsius.a bad move as i got heat exhaustion.came down with migraine,fever,bone aches,chills.felt weak n slept on sofa whole day,no energy to cook or eat.drank ice water n took an aspirin.skipped dinner n drank cold water.this morning while walking to mini market downstairs,my blood sugar plunged.felt dizzy n head swimming so i sat down on benches as my leg had cramps.i need to readjust exercise to swimmimg in evening or go air condiioned gym.this hot as hell weather is bad for my body

Dont feed monkeys

 

Home cooked dinner

 Jun has been dining out with his hongkie pal on street food and also to a treat his pal gave him to a buffet at 5 star hotel.he said he ate 30 types of dishes at buffet from malay,chinese,indian,western food like rice,noodles,salad,soup,confectionery,pastry,shaved ice until he vomitted in toilet amd had indigestion.he asked for simple home cooked dinner.i made water cress soup with dried oysters n honey dates,tempura shrimp and fishmeat stuffed taufu

 puffs braised in bean paste.he says simple meals are easier to digest.what a glutton he is.

Orange cake

 I love the bakery supply shop madeline.baked an orange cake for next week breakfast.the smell is warm n delicious with green tea.