England

October 7, 2024.Reading time 6 minutes.

England has always been and still is a special place/destination for me. Weirdly, when I was growing up in Alor Setar, I used to either dream or imagine about sycamore trees in England. Yes, weird. Why? Because I didn’t know what a sycamore tree was or looked like. And, I didn’t know what England was […]

Dogs and cats

March 4, 2024.Reading time 6 minutes.

Niece number 3’s stories about her pet-children, Coco the dog and Zupa the cat, made me smile and go awww. My husband also smiled when I related the antics of these two animal species that are not usually friends or friendly. I especially liked the photo of Zupa waiting for Coco to return to the dog-and-cat […]

Losing my jolly

February 12, 2024.Reading time 6 minutes.

I’ve lost my jolly, and I want it back. I know the reasons for my general melancholy. It started with Covid and the restricted movement controls in 2020. Holidays became scarce. The rigmarole involved in organising any form of travel was a deterrent, as was the infectious disease itself. I remember the arduous loops my […]

Thinking,talking,remembering

December 18, 2023.Reading time 6 minutes.

I feel unsettled. More than a week has passed. I think of Gunda, brother number 1, almost all of the time. It’s no exaggeration when I say I wake up thinking about him. Go to bed thinking about him. Remembering that he is no longer with us. This is on top of talking about brother […]

Brother number 1

December 11, 2023.Reading time 6 minutes.

I am sad and tearful when I think that my Gunda is no more. I know what has happened but my head and heart are having a hard time accepting, believing. Most of this year, brother number 1 was not in a good way. In and out of hospitals for his protracted prostate condition. And […]

Deepavali 2023

November 20, 2023.Reading time 6 minutes.

Deepavali came and went last Sunday. It was the most low key in recent years. Even my mum, who looks forward to and gets excited to this one festival in a whole series of Indian celebrations each year, was reticent. This despite the presence of sister number 3, the family’s in-house chef, who returned home […]

Revolving door

October 30, 2023.Reading time 6 minutes.

The onion man made me think of the revolving door of people, shops and trends my husband and I have encountered/experienced in the 15 years we’ve lived in our condominium in Kuala Lumpur. We have remainers. Owner-occupiers like us and many of our neighbours. We are mostly lift or lobby buddies. The usual meeting place […]

Also overrated

August 21, 2023.Reading time 6 minutes.

I used to buy into overrated, and sometimes pointless, waste of money things. Younger and gullible, I believed/half-believed the hype and marketing. Still gullible but a little less so now. I accept that people place different importance on different things in life. No judgement. Me, I will no longer book with Airbnb and operators of […]

Navigating life

March 6, 2023.Reading time 8 minutes.

Niece number 3 recommended it. ‘Stutz’ a 2022 documentary directed by Jonah Hill about his therapist, Dr. Phil Stutz. I like Jonah Hill. I’ve watched him in several movies, including ‘Moneyball,’ ‘War Dogs’ and more recently, ‘You People.’ He is a good actor and funny, I think. ‘Stutz’ was enlightening. It had plenty of useful […]

Trying to be mindful

January 30, 2023.Reading time 6 minutes.

I stubbed my toes against chairs, beds and doors. Repeatedly. It wasn’t like I didn’t know the furniture was there. I just didn’t have the ability to avoid bumping into them. I also managed to slice the skin off the top of one of my fingers trying to open a can of peaches. Why I […]