A wish come true

Here's the first interlude for this month of September. Be careful what you wish for, guys...

A married couple in their mid-60s were out celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary in a quiet, romantic restaurant.

Suddenly, a tiny yet beautiful fairy appeared on their table and said, "For being such an example of married couple and for being faithful to each other for all this time, I will grant you each a wish".

"Oh, I want to travel around the world with my darling husband" said the wife.

The fairy waved her magic wand and...poof ! two tickets for the Queen Mary II luxury liner appeared in her hand.

Then it was the husband's turn. He thought for a moment and said, "Well, this is all very romantic, but an opportunity like this will never come again. I'm sorry my love, but my wish is to have a wife 30 years younger than me".

The wife and the fairy were deeply disappointed, but a wish is a wish....

So the fairy waved her magic wand and... poof!

The husband became 95 years old.

The moral of the story : -
Men who are ungrateful should remember fairies are female !!

First day of breaking fast

I've always tried my best to make sure we spend the first day of breaking fast every Ramadhan at my parent's place. It helps make a memorable start to the holy month. It's only my father and my mother left at home so they are always keen to have us come over. It gives a reason for my mother to display her cooking skills and feed her grandchildren to the max.

On the way over there, one of my sons asked, `Nenek nak masak apa untuk buka puasa, abah?' (What's grandma cooking for the breaking of fast?)

I replied, `Entahlah... kacang pool agaknya.' (I'm not sure, maybe kacang pool.)

Sure enough, that was what she prepared for our iftar or berbuka puasa meal. A mother can always read her son's mind, no matter where he may be, believe it.

As I've mentioned before in my post of 24 August 2008, my kids and I like kacang pool, especially the one cooked by my mom. My mom learned how to cook it because my father liked it in the first place. The tradition has now been passed down the line with my wife learning the recipe from my mom so that she can placate the tastes of her husband and sons.

In addition to the kacang pool, my father had brought home some bubur lambok (rice porridge) that was prepared and given away for free by the nearby mosque. My sister and her husband also came by and hence mom's tiny kitchen was packed with ten family members.

When the time to break our fast arrived, my three sons quickly tucked into the kacang pool voraciously. This prompted my father to proudly remark, `Tak rugi cucu-cucu atok minat makan kacang pool ni macam atok juga.' (It's good to see that my grandsons like to eat kacang pool just like me.') Seems that all my sons inherit their grandfather's appetite and penchant for good food.

Iftar meals at our home are mostly non-rice dishes. Dishes such as mee goreng, laksa, murtabak, mee hoon sup etc. If there are actually rice dishes, then they would be of the `special' variety such as nasi tomato or nasi beriani. Plain rice meals are served only for sahur (pre-dawn). My mother has been preparing it that way since I was growing up and now when I have a family of my own, I had my wife practice the same.

First Post

Finally got myself to set up this blog...

As a first post, let me quote an enlightening piece I received via email, relating to the paradox of our time. According to the email, the item is from American stand-up comedian George Carlin but the official Carlin website says that the work is not from him.

Although Carlin says it's a `sappy load of sh*t', I like it anyway. So here it is :

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways , but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.


Perhaps what made me select this piece was the part about taking time to share the precious thoughts. That, to me, is a good reason as any to keep a blog...

Oh, by the way... the above essay (or at least in most parts) was written by Dr. Bob Moorehead. There is an interesting background to it that you can read at Snopes.com.

Update July 2021 : I am trying to search for links that cause this blog to be marked as unsafe. Since this is a tedious process, I'm disabling or removing all links as a first step.