My mum’s recipe 6: Upma

October 5, 2020.Reading time 7 minutes.

I don’t like Upma. I don’t like its taste, texture or look. My mum likes it. So much that she’d probably have it every Friday, her second vegetarian day in the week, if she could. Monday is her first designated non-meat day. My mum’s vegetarian days go up each month correspondingly with the number of […]

Take heed

September 28, 2020.Reading time 6 minutes.

I smelt gas as I walked out of the lift to my condo. I sniffed harder. There was the smell of gas in the air. I walked into our condo and asked my husband if he smelt it. He opened the cupboard that housed the gas tank. Nothing. But the cupboard adjacent to the electric […]

Memory lane

September 21, 2020.Reading time 6 minutes.

I love my mum. Always have. She turns 87 next Sunday. With her birthday around the corner, I was thinking more about her. As she is now. An old girl. Hearing suspect. Memory failing. Sleepy dopey. Heart and head willing, but body lagging behind. With flashes of determination and stubbornness. And, as she was many […]

Forgiving

September 14, 2020.Reading time 6 minutes.

I had watched the movie, ‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.’ The same week, my mum told me a story about her estrangement with her stepsister’s sister-in-law. It made me think about family and friends. People, who have fallen out, and have not spoken or visited for years. Deleted from each other’s lives. With no […]

Mothagam

August 31, 2020.Reading time 6 minutes.

August 22 was Vinayagar Chathurti. My mum was fretting leading up to the big day for Lord Ganesha. She usually gets excited when there is a celebration on the horizon, particularly Deepavali. But this time she seemed concerned with her ‘To-do’ list. Shopping, cleaning the altar, sprucing up the condo and especially making ‘Mothagam’ or […]

Putrajaya and pavements

August 24, 2020.Reading time 6 minutes.

Pavements and pedestrian footpaths. It was a treat to walk. Yes, to walk from Putra Square in the north to Gemilang Square in the south. Continuously, without any encumbrances. Through a magnificent boulevard – 4 km long and 100 meter wide[1] – lined with plants, trees, parks, kiosks and Government offices. My husband and I […]

Changing expectations

August 17, 2020.Reading time 6 minutes.

Back in January, I scoffed at the idea of a Fixed Deposit (FD) rate lower than 3%. I usually scour the business pages and online promotions to compare the best FD rates offered by financial institutions. Homework is a must for a safe home for my hard earned money. Especially when the journey was long, […]

DIY

August 10, 2020.Reading time 6 minutes.

I am not a DIY- er. I have never tried to make, fix or learn how to repair things that are broken or stopped working. I don’t like DIY. Which by the way is not part of the Malaysian culture. At least, not this Malaysian. It also doesn’t help that I am hopeless at it. That […]

Mask police

July 27, 2020.Reading time 6 minutes.

I don’t want to be a mask police. I don’t want to police people or business. That said, in one week, I had to question the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) at two well established restaurants. Staff with no masks or masks worn under the chin. I was disappointment. I expected better. One, situated along Jalan […]

Sound of music

July 20, 2020.Reading time 6 minutes.

Caught in a massive back to before Covid-19 traffic congestion. Searched endlessly for a bay in a multi-storey, not cheap, car park. I was running late. And, on the verge of turning a little green and grumpy. When just like that. My mood lifted. A smile spread across my face. ‘Limbo Rock’ was being played […]