Kurma oh Kurma

Semalam, tepat jer 5.15 Jade dah get ready nak balik. By 5.20 tuh Jade dah ader dalam kereta en route to Pasar Ramadhan di Telawi. Alahai, time puasa ni kan, semua orang pun nak balik awal, semua pun berebut-rebut. Cabaran on the road lebih besar lagi! Sakit hati, jangan cakap la kan, especially pada the queue jumpers. Macam la dia sorang jer yang bergegas balik nak berbuka. Kita yang dok wait in the line ni buat apa la agaknya ek? Saja suka-suka eh?

Anyway, by the time Jade dah park kereta kat Taman Bahagia, housemate Jade dah abis soping juadah berbuka. Colleague dia ikut sekali, so kene lah dia temankan dulu. Mmm.. Jade rasa kecik ati la sket mula-mula. Lepas tu ketuk kepala sendiri cakap, ntah aper-aper la Jade nih. Benda kecik pun nak terasa. Ishh.. perut dah lapar, kepala dah masuk angin sikit, nafsu amarah pun menjadi-jadi. Tak patut betul. So, untuk kawal perasaan, Jade pun put a smile on the face. Haaa... senyum lebar-lebar. Nampak orang senyum balik, sejuk hati jadi nyer. Don't belittle the power of smile, yer kawan-kawan.

Jade pun straight la cari dua benda yang Jade dah plan ealier nak makan. Pita kebab dan murtabak tiga segi. Lepas dah dapat dua benda tu, Jade terasa macam nak pusing cari makanan lain. Dalam tiga langkah gitu, tiba-tiba Jade terasa, ish tak mau lah. Tu nafsu makan jer, nanti tak habis. Membazir. So, Jade turned around, mengarah ke Bangsar Village nak cari kurma. Tak lengkap rasanya berbuka without kurma. Pusing kat dalam supermarket dia tu, tak jumpa pula yang menarik. So I made my way to TMC, kat situ pun kurma yang sama juga dijual.

So, Jade ambik jer la satu pek kurma Mariami, and pi la kat kaunter nak bayar. Tanya pada cashier tuh, ini saja ke selection kurma yang ada. Dia kata kalau nak yang fresh ada kat the other end. So, Jade pun tinggalakan kaunter tu sekejap and pegi tengok apa yang ada. Akhirnya terjumpa la kurma yang Jade dok cari-cari. Kurma Bam Iran. Kurma ni la yang Abah beli kat rumah. Jade pun cekup satu pek pegi balik kat kaunter and pegi bayar.

Sampai kat rumah, tak sabar la pulak nak berbuka. He he he.. Tak sabar nak makan kurma tu sebenarnya. Later that night, Jade buat nasi goreng. Apa yang ada dalam fridge tu la Jade campak masuk dalam kuali.

Remember not too long ago, I said something about wanting to read this. Last night HBO showed the movie. It was... stupid actually. Although the people involved are big names today. Jack Nicholson, Susan Sarandon (I love her and Julia Roberts in Stepmom), Cher and Michelle Pfeifer. They were still young those day. Mr Nicholson was half the size he is today, while Cher looked more human than today. Susan and Michelle, I guess, they age beautifully.

I guess my friend is right. I want things to move fast for me. I do not pace myself and lose the moment. I fail to enjoy the moment. So, I'm tring to slow down now. Because so far, nothing is going my way anyway. Therefore, slowing down might be the answer. I believe I can fly, but the moment will come when I'm ready for it. Not when I want to. :-)

Balik-balik pasal kawin... ish.. ish.. ish...

I prefer Michael Buble's version of Sway than the PCD's. But, Mike's was not complete, so had to settle for the Kittens'. Okay lah ek?

So, macam mana puasa dah urmm... tiga hari nih? Okay la kan? Macam tak biasa. Hari ni, Jade tak tau lagi nak pi berbuka kat mana. Petang ni ada ala-ala seminar gitu kene attend. Time dia start macam mengarut sikit, tapi tak per la kot. Jade bungkus ajer la roti from kedai Uncle kat bawah opis nih. Balik rumah nanti throw anything into the pan, makan la betul2, yer tak?

I think I'm feeling old. Getting old is one thing, you know. That's natural, nothing you can do about it. Feeling old is different. It's something within your control. Ala... bukan aper, last weekend Mak Jade again raise the same issue/question. She didn't put it into a question or made it an issue lah... rather she made a statement. She recalled years back when my late grandmother, her mother, asked her something about the condition of her (grandma's) skin. To which she replied it's aging process (or something like that). So, Mak said la the other day, when your grandma said this she already have menantus and cucus. Alahai... sebak pulak hati Jade nih. What I could do was only smile. Nak buat cemana, ek? Not within my control to produce a menantu just like that. I doubt anytime soon. Bukan sebab Jade tak nak, tapi sebab tak der calon. It's not like kita boleh main pilih kat shopping complex, yer tak?

Hehe... anyway, Jade cool jer. Tapi tu la, terpikir jugak, takkan la kita nak settle down just to make everyone else around us happy kan? Just settle for anyone so mums won't be worried anymore and dads will sigh their relieves. Tak aci la macam tu kan? Kita nak la kawin because kita suka sangat kat orang tu and orang tu memang boleh jaga kita, betul dak?

The other day Jade mention la kat Mak, Jade kata, kalau mak nak menantu Melayu it might be a long wait la kot sebab lelaki Melayu don't think your daughter is pretty enough for them. Mak tak percaya la kan. Jade cakap kat Mak, relek la Ma... nanti sampai time nanti ader la tuh. Bila dah sampai time nanti silap2 Ma plak sedih Jade nak kawin. He he he...

Iskk.. kenapa orang kita berpendapat kalau kawin baru la bahagia? Kalau kawin masalah boleh selesai ke? No... Jade bukan skeptikal. Just wondering aper la gedugahah nyer pasal kawin nih. Relek la kan. It's out of our control. Jodoh di tangan Tuhan, sampai time jadi la. Yang kita beria-ia nak buat aper, kan? Buat pening kepala. So, tak boleh ke kita just leave it to Him to decide when?

Macam ada sorang kawan Jade ni pernah cakap kat Jade, "Stop playing god, Jade. Let God do His job. You and I, we do our part..." Ni semua sebab dia rasa Jade macam nak control everything that's happening around me. Dia kata Jade ni perfectionist! Boleh ke macam tuh? Jade tak perfectionist laa... He he he...

Anyway, kekata dia tuh ada betul nya. Many a times in our lives we try to play god. Of course lah we faile miserably because we're just humans, kan? So, Jade rasa, we should wear the hats that are intended for us, and the shoes that fit us. That way, our life would be simple, straight forward and we will be happy and contented. Betul kan?

Hmm...

Walla! A new layout courtesy of Blogger Templates. It's a bit too... urmm.. girlie.. with flowers and pastel, but hey... it looks lovely, eh?

It's a cool 1st Ramadhan here in KL. I cannot see the sun, in fact it just rained briefly. I still don't know what Mak has in mind for the breakfasting tonight, but I'm craving sweet stuff. I'm thinking of kuih cara. I'm not sure if it has any other name, but its variant is cara berlauk. To those who do know this Malay delicacy, it's made of flour with melted sugar inside a.k.a syrup. The common colour is green. Bummer, I suddenly do not know how to explain how to make this kuih when I can do it with my eyes closed!

It's very simple, really. Just mix flour with water making sure the mixture turns to liquid; not too thick neither too thin. You'll need a metal mould put atop the stove to cook it. The standard one is a rounded shape metal with approximately ten flowered-shape moulds. The moulds are about one inch deep. In goes the flour mix and while it's hardening, a pinch of sugar is added. And walla! Kuih cara.

Cara Berlauk is a bit different. The colour is normally yellow and the filling varies from anchovies to dried prawns. And they are normally spicy. Hot. Hot. Hot. To me, it defeat the purpose as being deserts. This I take to make sure I burp when I finish. He he he...

If I do make this today, I'll post the picture later if I can. That is if I remember to take the picture before everything ends up in the stomachs. :-p

To everyone, Happy Ramadhan again. Take care all!

UPDATE 26/9/2006: Did not make kuih cara on Sunday. Instead we had cekodok pisang, the all time favourite. By the way, you need pandan leaves for the colour and scent. Iskk... sedap nyer...

The reality of singing reality shows

It's not about talent. It's about popularity. Sad, but true.

Let's observe the most anticipated finale of one of these shows. It's tonight. Airing live for all Malaysian viewers. Voting or not. Let's just say if there were talents in this show, they have been successfully voted out. The most recent was a popular singer. Frankly, I honestly feel that talent shows that require the contestants to alter their lives dramatically should be limited to adults. No students should be allowed. It does not give out the right or desirable message to the masses. Take two of the finalists for tonight. One is sitting for a major exam come end of the year. Instead of diligently working towards it, all the energy is spent on singing.

No, there is nothing wrong with pursuing your dreams, but one has to observe the necessities of the action at the given moment. Yes, the prize offered is too tempting to be ignored, especially when you feel that you have the talent. I do understand that one does not have to be well educated to be able to sing well. One could end up being a millionaire even when one was a 2nd grader in SPM. No big, eh?

Let's talk about the organisers and sponsors for these reality shows. They are only concerned about moolah. They are collecting a lot from the SMSes that being sent in. Therefore, there is no concern at all about real talent being wasted for as long as the green papers keep on pouring in. How much can you really rely on voters support for talent? Five percent? Ten? The majority of the audience vote based on popularity. Based on cute antics. Based on appearances. I apologise for being so sceptic on Malaysians' voting but hey, everyone's entitled to their own opinion, right?

Ponder on this. The singer was criticised for not attending to some of the events and road shows. To the singer defences, it was because the singer had paying shows and events to attend and because it is the singer's periuk nasi. Which means, if the singer didn't go, the singer will fail to provide for the family. Fair enough. We understand that, do we? But look at the critics? As if that is not a matter of importance. Attending road shows to please the public is more vital than feeding the family. Come on! And this, are presumably the voting audience. No wonder the singer was "Outed". Because the singer failed to impress the public, make them happy.

These same presumably voters, voted for the two secondary school student who were absent from school for months just so they can join a singing competition in hope to win the big money. Not only that, their so called singing talent is anything to be desired of. At least not for me. Nothing special. Do you not see the ironic of this situation? Is this the state of Malaysians' mind at this juncture of new century? If this is a prove on how Malaysians think, then I shudder to think about Vision 2020 where we should be upholding "masyarakat berilmiah".

Malaysians are dreamers. They spend hundreds, probably thousands of ringgit to vote for their favourite contestants. They spend their hard-earned money, probably their parents' hard-earned money to vote in or out contestants of singing competitions. Please make a calculation. Just imagine, we have a handful of singing competitions every year, each with at least 10 contestants in the beginning and viewers can vote as many times as they want.

It's time for us to wake up. Reality shows are not exactly reality anymore. The initial objectives are not met. It's not about talent anymore. It's about popularity. So, if you think that a high quality entertainer can be borne through out a singing reality show, you would be mistaken. If you want high quality, let the learnt people decide, and do the judging. Because they will judge on the talent and ability. If they are not corrupt of course! Ha ha ha... I am sceptic yes. But the hypocrisy in today's reality is too much for me to swallow.

So, voting audience, go all out in spending tonight. Vote your hearts out.

Jade signing off for the weekend...

Question Answered

In addition to the links that Galing (thank you!) has kindly provided in the comment box for my previous post:

1. themuslimwomen.com
2. islamqa.com

I have an issue or problem or disagreement with our attitudes. Didn't the Almighty God bestowed upon us 'akal? And wasn't there a part of the holy ayat where He said that the truth shall be revealed to those who think? And to think, aren't we supposed to have the knowledge? And to have the knowledge, aren't we supposed to ask?

So, what is it with our learnt people that always, always have the standard reply, "jangan tanya banyak sangat, ikut saja... adalah hikmahnya yang Allah dah tetapkan..." or "jangan cuba nak cari logik pada apa yang Tuhan suruh" Now, there is nothing wrong to admit that you do not know certain things, right? It doesn't make you a lesser person. We are all only human. Equal in God's eyes. The only difference is our amalan. Besides, there is always a reason why God asks us to do certain things and not to do other things. There is always hikmah behind the instructions. So, is it wrong to want to understand them and know them?

We have to be able to differentiate between the people who ask because they really want to learn and understand with people who ask only because they want to indulge in debates, just purposely being antagonistic. If we discourage people from asking, how are we supposed to educate the non-Muslims? How can we attract them to our beautiful Ad-Deen?

I apologise if I sounded harsh or impolite. I'm just exasperated. But I'm okay now. We just have to understand that even if we're born Muslims we still have to learn. Continue to learn, non-stop. If you know the answer to a question, answer it truthfully. If you don't refer the ones's asking to someone else, or try to find out together if can. Nothing wrong with it, isn't it?

Selamat Menyambut Ramadhan Al-Mubaraq!