Books, Books And More Books Part 28

And I finished flipping through the pages of this book ~ The Big Book of Juices & Smoothies. It was on sale and the cover looked too delicious to resist.

I did read the first few pages on ingredients and the techniques to puree and juice up stuff. I went over the recipes (is it called a recipe anyway when all you do is put an array of different stuff into the blender / processor / juicer?) and selected a few to try.

So for the past few days we've had one smoothie / fruit juice after another. Let's see now - we had watermelon with lychees (yang biasa anak2 order di kedai. I had to show them we can make that stuff at home), mangoes with rock melon. We had pears with pineapple. Orange with watermelon. Apples with mangoes. Carrot, tomatoes with celery (this turned out better than I thought it would). And mango lassi - which we had for breakfast.

There are unlikely recipes also in the book that I would never try. Like blended raw sweet potatoes (I suppose my mum would faint). Or spinach and beetroot smoothie (which sounds rather dubious to me).

It was rather interesting experimenting the different concoctions. And I found out that it was pretty easy to come up with a decent smoothie or lassi.


Unfortunately on a less happier note, I had to admit that I gave up on a classic book I was reading. Sense and sensibility by Jane Austen. With no disrespect intended to the late author, I find the book too slow, with not enough substance or excitement (call it what you like) to keep me glued to the pages. But written in the late 1700s I suppose there is not much to tell about the ladies of that era except begetting a suitable suitor.

So I bid the book adieu and we parted separate ways, much as I dislike not finishing anything I have started to read. I will do Dickens next, I think, in the conquest of understanding the classics.

Currently I am still hanging on to Dr M's memoir and the new book by Prof Dr Muhd Kamil. As usual I take the prof's book slow, savoring the words written dan menyelami intipati yang tersurat & tersirat.

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Books, Books and More Books Part 27

I have just finished this book. Maka Bermadahlah Masa. It is given and signed by the author. Who is actually a cousin of mine.

Do you know him? Muhammad Haji Salleh. He was the 6th Sasterawan Negara and has written since 1963 - almost 50 years! He's a busy man; living in KL but working in Penang and travels all over the globe for talks, teachings and everything else. Occasionally he will show up at family weddings. The photo below is him with Ilyas at my nephew's wedding.


The boys read sastera in school written by Abang Mat (as we call him) called Perjalanan Si Tenggang. They were surprised and pretty excited when I told them the author of the book they read is their Pak Penakan (bapa saudara lah tu if you arent familiar with the Northern slang).

Anyway. I am never a sastera person. I do not understand the old Malay speak; I dont 'get' pretty phrases written in rhythmic lines. I dont understand them. But I was curious to see how, what Abang Mat writes. He must be good if his books are selected to be read in school. Some of the puisi in the book are modern, which sounded quite biasa although some words he uses are so luar biasa. I like his puisi on Sajak2 Sejarah Melayu and si Tenggang; they are different, distinctive, and have got quality. And sort of reminds me of the old b&w Malay movies.

I myself have written one or two poems - like this dumb one here. Yes, I agree with you - no sastera candidate at all!

I googled a bit on this Sasterawan Negara and found this written about him. To us he is just Abang Mat, our cousin.

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SAJ : A Memoir Part II ~ Family Weddings

As an after-thought, I think I will change further memoir posts (the first one here) as my mother’s instead. Which is only right, as the stories are told by my mum anyway. That SAJ is mum’s initials.

Anyway. I went back to see mum again a few days back. It was a short and an unplanned trip. We chatted over tea on the patio. Serving and drinking afternoon tea with kueh is a tradition at mum’s. A must. Almost sacred if I may say. It could be 40° degrees outside, but tea will still be served (and you aren’t getting any iced lemon tea either; ah-ah, this is hot, piping afternoon tea. A very civil affair, let me tell you). Throughout my life all I see my mother drinking only teh ‘o’. Only lately has she added anmum to her morning tea.

Her topic that afternoon was about weddings in our family. She said Abg Nan (my eldest brother) kawen kat rumah lama tu (pointing to our old-er wooden house. We have the old house and the new – baru pun dah 30 tahun dah rumah tu - concrete house. The patio joined the two houses together. I wish I had photos. I love the house). Hujan masa dia kawen tu ,my mum added.

Rumah ni (the new-er one) dah siap masa Abg Ki & Tiah kawen (that’s the second and the third). Depa kawen sekali. Yang lain semua kawen kat rumah ni la. Leli (she's the 9th in the family) tak, said mum after a pause (my sister’s name is Laili Mazni; which had prompted my son Ilyas asking me many times, kenapa nama dia sedap? Ala like nama mama dia tak sedap. I always tell him that by the time I was born my mum had run out of naming ideas already! *note – I come from a big, big family). Leli kawen kat dewan sebab kenduri tu buat sekali keluarga perempuan & lelaki. Masa tu pun arwah ayah dah takdak, mak sambung lagi.

When I got home I noticed my mother is having the old house re-painted. Yang kelakar nye the towkay painting the house is as old as my mum! He said he is 76 and laughed when I asked how much longer he is going to continue working. I told him towkay ni pun dah tua macam mak saya la! He said he only do work for his old (pun intended here) customers.

I thought my mother looked healthy that day, but she herself said she feels leee-tih sangat. Memang dah tak larat. Hari2 macam ni, mak tarik buku je lah baca kat sini (I wondered how I would be at her age - if I live to be her age, that is).

When I was leaving, my mother gave me a small box wrapped in a white tissue paper. She said ni barang mak, ambik la buat kenangan (sedih pulak menulis pasal nih). Jangan la bukak la ni, mak kata. I opened the box in the car. She had given me a pair of her ear rings. A traditional design not unlike bunga tanjung. I remember seeing her wearing those in her younger days. And she had looked pretty too.

There is only one thing wrong with her gift – I cant show you how pretty they are when worn.

Pix : mak & arwah ayah when young (I must ask her how old she was when this was taken).

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