The day after Christmas

The first time I spent my Christmas holidays at a place where most of the people actually celebrated Christmas, was in 1980 in the small town of Wrexham, in the northern part of Wales, in the United Kingdom. The bunch of us students from Malaysia didn't actually do very much during that term break. It was freezing cold outside so we just stayed at home, kept warm and watch TV. No snow though, so it wasn't a white Christmas.

It was the first time I heard the term Boxing Day, the day after the 25th of December. It is also a public holiday in the UK. If we in Malaysia can have 2 days off for Aidilfitri plus another 2 days off for Chinese New Year, then it is not difficult to understand why the Matsallehs cannot have 2 days off too.

I was puzzled why they called the 26th of December as Boxing Day, so I asked my British friends. None of them could give me a definitive answer. Even today, trying to search for the origin of the name via online sources does not give clear results. The name has nothing to do with the sport of boxing (you know, the game where one man punch another man, in a ring which is actually square in shape). The most accepted theory is that it has to do with boxes (the thing that we keep stuff in), whereby charity boxes containing donations from the public during the Christmas service the previous day are collected and then shared with the poor.

Well, what ever the origin of the name, I remember Boxing Day for another reason. It is a full day programme for English league football. So I'll be tied in front of the telly tonight.

Hoping my friends had a lovely day-off yesterday. Me and the missus had a quiet day resting at home. Our son with a number of his cousins, had a blast spending the whole day at Universal Studios in Singapore.

Once a lifetime experience...

Swift as an arrow

I drive to work this morning (yes, I work on Saturdays). The traffic on the highway to Pasir Gudang is lighter today compared to the weekdays, but still busy nonetheless.

I am on the right lane of the two-lane road, driving at a leisurely 70km/h. A few cars are not far in front, at the same pace. The left lane is conquered by the slow heavy lorries, as usual. I glance at the rear-view mirror and see a car in the distance, speeding towards me. Pretty soon it is right up on my tail and I see it is a red Suzuki Swift. It is so close. The sight of the car fills the whole rear-view mirror. The driver seems to be bugging me to move over but not poking my bum with his headlights. I buat bodo aje...

Image borrowed from
Suzuki Malaysia website

A gap in between the trucks on the left-hand side appears. The Swift makes a quick lane switch, overtakes me on the left and weaves in back in front of me. I see a young man driving and a young lady in the passenger seat... a prick impressing his girlfriend, no doubt. He continues to weave in and out to overtake the other cars in front.

As I watch him fly away in the distance, I realise that another car is close behind my tail. Another Swift! This one is black. It has a lone driver. The same thing happens... as gaps on the left lane present itself, blackie makes swift lane-switch manoeuvres to get to the front. Crap, I thought. I'm being hit for a double trouble this morning. Tak boleh jadi ni...

A thought crosses my mind... I should give them a chase. But then I realise that this old car of mine is no longer a sprinter but a long-distance runner. A few years ago, I would've stepped on the accelerator and perform them nifty moves myself. Age is catching up on me.

Turns out to be a good decision. As if on cue, I hear the sound of a siren behind me. A police patrol car is crawling on my back. I move to the left when I see a safe gap. The coppers zoom past, switch on the flashing blue lights and catch up to the two Swifts. Both Suzuki cars are directed to pull over to the road shoulder.

As I pass them, I note that it could've been three cars in the police summons book. God is kind to me today...

Ain't no sunshine when she's gone

The original singer of this song, Bill Withers, released it in 1971. The song became a classic hit. Since then, a number of other singers have performed cover versions. A few months back, I discovered this youtube video of Joe Cocker singing the hit in his distinctively raspy style and I like it very much. I thought it appropriate to share at this present time... what with the weather being gloomy and rainy for the past few weeks.

Youtube credit to : Andranik Azizbekyan



"It's not warm when she's away...."

Yeah, you're right Joe. The missus has been away at the hospital for ten days now. The doctor says she may be discharged tomorrow if everything's okay.

Common and self-admiration

As a young boy in primary school, my interest in reading was sustained by poring over Enid Blyton's books, particularly the Famous Five and Secret Seven series. Whenever I come across a new word, I would borrow my father's pocket-sized Collins English-Malay dictionary. That tiny book became my reference companion for a few years until my father, either on seeing my keen reading habit or wanting his own dictionary back, bought me a thick full-fledged dictionary published by Larousse. I was in awe when I received it as a present. It must have cost my father a bomb to buy it and I treasured it very much.

From reading Blyton, I went on to read more classical authors like Charles Dickens and Jane Austen. Reading Dickens was tough. He used so many words I didn't understand that I had to refer to the dictionary too often. This took out the fun in reading so I went back to reading mystery and adventure stories. The Three Investigators and The Hardy Boys were among my favourites. As I entered late teens, my reading scope expanded to include horror by Stephen King and spy thrillers by Frederick Forsyth and Robert Ludlum. Most of the thrillers that I read are fast-paced and I can become so engrossed as to miss dinners and postpone sleep. Unputdownable, if there is such a word.

If I come across new words while reading such thrillers, I never stop to check their meaning in the dictionary. It spoils the momentum. Usually I just try to guess what they mean from the context of the sentence. Only after finishing the book would I flip the dictionary to check if my guess was right... but I'll do that only if I remember or if the word interests me. Sometimes I wouldn't bother... especially if I think the word is too complicated and that I'd never use it myself, either in speech or in writing. Sounds like I'm limiting my vocabulary, but hey... there are millions of words out there, so it's okay if we don't know a few.

I was listening to a classic song recently when I heard a particular word that I didn't know the meaning of. I googled the lyrics and part of it I reproduce here :

You drove me, nearly drove me, out of my head
While you never shed a tear
Remember, I remember, all that you said
You told me love was too plebeian
Told me you were through with me and...

The word that stumped me is plebeian. According to my dictionary, the word means something relating to ordinary people or the common folk. If used as a noun, it is a degrading word for someone of low social class. Now how's that for an insult.

Click on this link to have a listen to the Susan Boyle version of the song -> Cry Me A River

Ok then, for good measure, I'll give you another word that is in my `hard to understand' category - narcissistic. I'm having trouble even pronouncing it. I first came across this word in a novel but I can't remember the novel's title. It means having an obsession with one's own image and ego.

So there you have it - plebeian and narcissistic. Two words I doubt I'll ever use...

A Good Makan Spot in JB (4)

With the missus lodged in the 1st Class Ward of Hospital Sultanah Aminah, it has been consecutive dining out experience for my youngest son and me for the past three nights. Not that I don't know how to cook... but with the rush back from work, battling the evening traffic and trying to reach the hospital before end of visiting hours, I can't be bothered to spend time in the kitchen.

What I've been doing is to get home as early as I can, pick up my son and then head off to the hospital to visit his mother. On the way back, we stop by any convenient makan place to grab a bite to eat.

For our dinner tonight, I decided to re-visit a classy restaurant located at Jalan Abdullah Tahir, not far from JB city centre. Actually, the main reason for dinner at this place is because I wanted to wash my car. Jalan Abdullah Tahir is the carwash centre of JB.... there are maybe 7 or 8 places (I've lost count) where you can have your car cleaned.

Banafee Village Restaurant is located next to such a carwash and so it's terribly convenient to let your car have a shower while you have some chow. We first tried out this restaurant when it opened for business around two years ago. It was a Ramadhan buffet spread and I wasn't very much impressed at that time because the food wasn't that tasty. As such, it never crossed my mind to give the place another try.... until tonight.

This time around, I am happy to note that there have been improvements. The menu now is quite extensive. They offer Chinese, Western and even Arabic cuisine. I decided to try out the Lamb Hanith, a traditional Yemeni dish while my young man went  for the Baked Lamb Leg. I believe I've mentioned this before... father and son are both lamb enthusiasts.

The leg arrived first and my son quickly tucked into it. I asked him if it tasted good and he simply nodded. I always trust his judgement when it comes to the taste of lamb dishes. I cut off a piece of the meat from his plate and tried it myself and sure enough, the dish was cooked by a pro.

My order of lamb and rice arrived. When I opened the foil package containing the lamb, my first impression was that it looked a bit dry. Upon the actual eating of it, I decided that the taste was not too bad. Maybe slightly below my favourite lamb hanith dish at Saba Restaurant in KL, but I'll give Banafee the thumbs up. My plate of rice and the accompanying salad was wiped clean.

I believe Banafee Village also offer live music entertainment but we didn't stay to watch. My car is already washed and it was time to head home and blog about it.

Baked lamb leg

Hot and cold. Teh halia in the mug and choco milkshake for the young man

Lamb hanith... delicious.