Malaysia is Wonderful For These Three Things.

بِسْــــــــــــــــــــــمِ اﷲِارَّحْمَنِ ارَّحِيم

Alhamdulillah..

Thank you for the weekend, Allah. I really needed it.
Have you been in a situation where you feel so anxious, adrenaline is pumping like crazy because you find yourself in deep trouble but at the same time you know Allah got your back so, you're sort of contained. It's like thunders of anxiety and tranquility come striking all at once. It's the craziest feeling. A roller coaster ride is happening in your tummy.

That's what I felt about the past week.
When I look into the past, I still wonder how I got here today.

Reflections on Malaysia.

There are three things I really appreciated about Malaysia during my last visit.

1. Air
2. Pasar pagi dan malam
3. Kucing

Air

1. For a tropical climate country, a peninsular surrounded by seawater, Malaysia has abundance of water supply. Not to say it's perfect for every place but in general where ever I went, there wasn't a water issue. Ada sorang nenek yang saya kenal dia kata bila dia balik Malaysia she had shower five times a day! Plus, water from kolah and timba are still around which is very refreshing. Water supply is everywhere in Malaysia that the Muslims never have to do istinjak with anything other than air. Clean. Muslim women in the States are often seen to be carrying water bottles with them in the bathroom. When they fill up their bottles, some confused and concerned people would say "Oh, this tap is not for drinking water, ma'am". But when Muslim women forget their bottles, they get creative. Never mind praying anywhere besides the surau or masjid. You see, that, is beyond imagination for me in the US to always pray in the masjid/surau. Malaysians are lucky having to always pray in the masjid/surau. But alhamdulillah, I don't feel any less able/blessed having to pray in the public while my head touches the cold bare floor or having a piece of paper as my praying mat. I feel appreciate that Islam is easy like that. Alhamdulillah, Allahu akbar.

Additionally, about the water in Malaysia, it's never too cold nor too hot. The temperature is well adjusted. In the UK, you'd still have to adjust the cold and hot water manually. It's funny.

I told you it's funny.

Pasar Pagi & Pasar Malam.

It's amazing to find organic food bersepah kat Malaysia (bersepah atas meja/dlm kebun bukan bersepah atas jalan raya). I wanted to cry thinking subhanallah untungnyeeeeeeeee orang Malaysia, organic food is still easily accessible! Alhamdulillah I thank God KFC/McD and all that junk foods are expensive. Subhanallah if you scrutinize over it, this is really a blessing. The capitalists still haven't been able to exploit fully of the food in Malaysia. We're still eating quality food. I watched a documentary once upon a time ago, of a girl who asked her parents to buy apples. They couldn't afford it because a bag of apples costed more than their budget. So like many days, they had to settle for something that's 'filling' but cheap - McD cheese burger for 99 cent/unit. So say alhamdulillah that KFC and McD are expensive because that should discourage us from killing ourselves blissfully.

I used to wonder a lot, why are the poor here, huge? In fact, excessively huge. Aren't you supposed to be skinny or something because of food scarcity? That's because they don't have any other option other than junk food to eat because that's what they can afford. Its hard to feel sorry for someone when you think gemuk tu sihat, gemuk tu cukup makan, in fact terlebih makan, gemuk tu adalah gluttony, greedy semata2. These people are eating their way to sickness. Junk, fast and processed food are dirt cheap here. Organic food isn't. Whatever comes out naturally basically as how Allah created them, they are price tagged for the middle and upper class. Suddenly they've become luxurious and hard-to-get food. Whatever food that they've chemically injected, engineered, mass produced, are made as the common people's food. It's what you're expected to eat. They are easily accessible and made affordable for everyone.

In Malaysia, fresh meat and organic groceries are still abundant. Let's give our farmers and fishermen some respect. Learn to appreciate and by taking care of your diet. Get the right nutritions. Stay in the right BMI (body mass index). Don't get freaked out of natural fat nor oil. Some purposely take milk low in fat - for me, I might as well not drink milk and just have water with my cereals. Just have it as is and in moderation. Otherwise, it still is a processed food. Someone must have messed around with your food. I've never heard of anyone getting fat from drinking milk. But from too much chocolate, pasta, soda, or compulsive food consumption, yes I have.

However, there's an increasing worry about our society that's getting fattier. Malaysia ranks the first in South East Asia for obesity. I really am worried. I worry especially for the younger generations. The people in the US may have an excuse for their lack of organic food or shall I say, exploited food, but what about Malaysia? What's our excuse? Yes we can be proud of our amazing tasting food but shouldn't let gluttony get the better of us. Badan kita ada hak ke atas kita. Bila ia lapar, suap dengan makanan secukupnya bukan dengan nafsu. The tips is by Paul McKenna,

1. When you're hungry, eat. 
2. Enjoy every mouthful.
3. Eat what you want, not what you think you should. 
4. When you think you're full, stop. 

Kucing

I learned to love kucing when I realized I can't find kucing in the street wandering about. In Malaysia, they are everywhere. I said hi to every kucing that I met in Malaysia. They are like babies just crawling away, doing their own sweet thing, freely and cutely pretending that no one's looking. When mamat and I stopped by at an RnR (which subhanallah was another thing that I was thankful for. Gee when it comes to food, Malaysia takes care of it. It's like none other. It's like comparing Hilton hotel to Travel Inn) we bumped into seekor kucing.

Kucing ajak gi terawih.

Mamat: Nah kucing. Makan ayam ni.
Minah: Tapi kucing mana makan daging ayam...
Mamat: Dia taktau aih.
Kucing: Meowww..[Takmawww].
Minah: I told you..
Mamat: Meh try bg nasi pulak.
Minah: Tapi nasi tu dah campur dengan kuah ayam apa semua.
Mamat: Takpa aih.
Kucing: Meowww...[Takmawww]
Minah: Lemme give him my keropok ikan.
Kucing: Meow Meow...[Mau Mau]

Subhanallah bila reflect balik, kadang2 haiwan ni lebih peka tentang perihal halal haram pemakanan dia. Biarpun ayam tu sgt tender dan nasi berkuah tu saaangat lazat and easy to chew, the cat knew they weren't his food. Hard rock the keropok may be, but at least it was halal for me, says the cat in his heart. I'm good at mind reading. In the US, when there's a soup or gravy that physically doesn't have meat in it, you'd think it's halal. Why not? Because whatever is absent of meat, must be suitable for vegetarian, right? Wrong. Little do we know that the cook might have used non-halal chicken/meat/pork stock cube for flavor. Even blended baby food, they have it in ham flavor. I won't be able to distinguish the taste of ham in the midst of apples, pineapple and rice. Hmm. Subhanallah. genius la makhluk ciptaan Allah ni kan.

Beech Nut Baby Food.

Ok. A bientôt! Ha? ape? kentut? :D
See you later lah.