Monday 26 January 2009

Mother

This month I am dedicating my thoughts to my elderly mother who has not been in good health. Despite her suffering from osteoprosis, diabetes and high blood pressure and well as loneliness of old age, she is positive. Love and marriage have separated us. I remember on the day my husband and I got married, her advice to me was.."Look after him". Did I think of looking after her at that time? No..I was madly in love and want to be with my English husband.
She lives in a tropical island of Borneo, surrounded by my other siblings, while, I am here in England, thousands of miles away. As a dutiful daughter, my relationship with her is strong, even stronger despite the fact that we see each other maybe two or three times a year. At this stage in life, I am preoccupied with the thoughts of old age, death and life.
I miss her dearly....

Sunday 18 January 2009

A Poem for you..



A Mother to her Waking Infant
Now in thy dazzling half-oped eye,
Thy curled nose and lip awry
Thy up-hoist arms and noddling head,
And little chin with chrystal spread,
Poor helpless thing! what do I see,
That I should sing of thee?
From thy poor tongue no accents come,
Which can but rub thy toothless gum;
Small understanding boasts thy face,
Thy shapeless limbs nor step nor grace;
A few short words thy feats may tell,
And yet I love thee well.
When sudden wakes the bitter shriek,
And redder swells thy little cheek;
When rattled keys thy woes beguile,
And through the wet eye gleams the smile,
Still for thy weakly self is spent
Thy little silly plaint.
.......
Perhaps when time shall add a few
Short years to thee, thou'lt love me too,
Then wilt thou through life's weary way
Become my sure and cheering stay:
Wilt care for me, and be my hold,
When I am weak and old.
Thou'lt listen to my lengthened tale,
And pity me when I am frail -
But see, the sweepy spinning fly
Upon the window takes thine eye.
Go to thy little senseless play-
Thou dost not heed my lay.
Joanna Baillie
(1762-1851)

Saturday 17 January 2009

beginning of the new year

Beloved Mother and The moon...



Oh my beloved Mother

I feel close to you

yet I am very far


I remember in your sweet voice you told me about the moon

How it shines the world

how an owl cries

how an owl feels lonely being far away from it

Beloved Mother,

The moon shines here now

in this cold winter night

the pleasant noise of people

the rumble of the London buses,

the gurgle of dieseled taxis

there is no owl

there is a quiet moon

but my heart is warm for your love


I feel close to you my beloved Mother

yet I am very far


I want to touch and kiss your hand

the hands which helped me to walk

I want to hug and give you my warmest love

yet I am very far


Your spirits are all with your children

where are they?

my own and others are still the same?

I am sure you know

my spirits are with you


Where are you now my beloved Mother?

on your bed you lie

on your wheel-chair you sit

in the bliss of solitude

your gentle breathings


This cold winter night

the moon is shining

there is no owl, Mother


You are in me

round me

every where

to be beloved

and

whom I love, my beloved Mother

Oh my beloved Mother

I want to wish you

a happy new year!!



Thursday 15 January 2009

the beginning of year 2009...

Hello 2009, goodbye 2008!



The day when new year comes in and the old year goes out has never changed as far as we human being can remember - the last day and night of the month of December



Hello new year!

We wish friends, members of families, strangers, people in the street and everyone we meet - happy new year!!! Hope 2009 is going to be a good year for you and family!.

Hold on..have I said good bye to the old year? Good bye 2008, let you rest in peace..



My husband and I walked along Westbourne Grove, in Central London after our evening meal on 31st December. We refused to attend many celebrations and the new year parties with firiends and their friends. With my thick overcoat, hat and gloves on, going out in the evening in cold winter is quite a refreshing exercise before going to bed. It was not that very cold afterall. When I looked up amongst the tall old buildings I saw a glimpse of the almost full moon. My heart leapt. Oh what a joy to see such nature. The moon is still in one piece and not very full yet, I thought. I walked in steady pace on the uneven concrete pavement but suddenly it disappeared in the thick night quite rapidly. Now and then, I looked down on the uneven concrete pavement as I made my steps. After 50 metres away from one of the many blocks if buildings, I looked up into the sky and the moon has disappeared. It was hidding behind a new all glass building which used to be a church. Instantly my thoughts...

were with the unfortunate
... people who have been made redundant who cant afford to pay their mortgage that the authorities have kicked them out of their houses,
...people who have lost their jobs, parents who cannot afford to pay their children school fees any longer,
...people who have to think twice spending their money,
...elderly and pensioners who cannot afford to heat their homes and live in very cold condition;
...children and babies being killed by their parents and carers,
...children, women and men who were caught up and killed in the throwing of weapon of mass destructions of two parties who try to wipe each other out of this planet,

an endless list.....

"let's go home" I said to my husband.

We headed towards our Victorian house which is about three streets away from where we were..along Portobello Road. The house was built in 1840s...where I am sure the previous occupants must have gone through recessions..losing their jobs, losing their partners, losing their children, losing their parents, thinking twice about spending their money, in their old age couldnot afford to heat the house, going through World War One, WW Two, Cold War, and have heard and seen..war after war in the Middle East....

Welcome 2009..I am stepping into this new year with full of good expectations!!







a pilot has been hailed as a hero..all passengers have survived...

Monday 29 December 2008

RECIPES

PAHD THAI
(Fried rice noodles)


125 gm/ 4 ozs dry sen lek (rice noodles), soaked in warm water for
15 to 20 minutes to soften
30 ml/ 2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
4 – 6 prawns fresh, peeled and deveined
30 ml/ 2 tbsp dried shrimps, soaked and pounded
1 large egg, slightly beaten
30 ml ml/ 2 tbsp lime juice
25 ml/ 1 ½ tbsp nam pla (fish sauce)
5 ml/1 tsp sugar
30 ml/2 tbsp raw peanuts, roasted & chopped
2.5 ml/ ½ tsp chilli powder
25 gm/ 1 oz bean sprouts
15 ml/ 1 tbsp preserved turnips
3 spring onions, cut in 1 inch lengths
A lime & a sprig of coriander leaves for garnish

1) Prepare all the ingredients and place them near the stove.

2) Heat 15 ml/ 1 tbsp of the oil and swirl to coat the surface. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and toss until golden . Add the fresh prawns and toss until they turn pink and opaque, remove from the wok and set aside.

3) Add the egg to the wok and tilt the wok to spread it into a thin sheet. As soon as it begins to set and is opaque, scramble and break it into small lumps. Remove from the wok and set aside.

4) Add the remaining oil, heat for about 30 seconds, and add the softened noodles. Spread and pull the noodles into a thin layer covering the surface of the wok. Add the fish sauce, ½ of the pounded shrimps, ½ of lemon juice, sugar, ½ of the peanuts, spring onions, ½ of the turnips, and chilli powder. Toss and mix after adding each ingredient. Continue to stir-fry for 15 seconds.

5) Add ½ of the bean sprouts; toss the scrambled egg and cooked prawns. Stir-fry for another 15 seconds. Season to taste.

7) Transfer the noodles to a serving plate. Sprinkle with the rest of the lemon juice. Garnish with the remaining peanuts, dried shrimps, bean sprouts, and coriander leaves, and lime wedges.

Serve immediately.

Serves 2 - 4


TAMARIND SAUCE


5 ml/ 1 tsp tapioca flour
200 g/ 7 oz palm sugar
200 ml/ 7 fl oz tamarind juice
25 gm/ 1 oz caster sugar
45 ml/ 3 tbsp light soy sauce


Dissolve the tapioca flour in 10 ml/ 2 tsp water, set aside.
Bring the tamarind juice to the boil, add the sugar and soy sauce. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Leave to simmer for 15 minutes. Mix in the tapioca paste. Cook for a further 1 minute, before allowing to cool.

This sauce can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

Thursday 4 December 2008

Teaching & Food

Time flies.
It was late september when I was introduced to 16 new students who enrolled in my Thai Cookery Classes. After a long summer break it took quite a while to adjust your frame of mind and your thoughts into teaching mood. Sometime I wonder my motivation for teaching these new students...but they want to learn how to cook and I want to teach them how to cook. So the wavelength exists. Before the students, all eager, with their apron tied neatly on their waists, start to cook, I explored this wavelengths further by asking them to work in a pair, give them list of questions...what exactly do they want to learn? what are their learning objectives? What made them attracted to Thai food etc etc.
Hence the ice-breaking has started. A tall, grey-haired 73 year old man was paired with a French mother of 37 year old; a Pilipino nanny whose command of English of good was paired with a young man from Canada; a Japanese housewife with limited English with an Indian mother of 3 teenagers; a Lebanese woman whose husband is a business with a young and handsome French man, etc, etc...Within five minutes the class atmosphere and ambience began to warm up with exchanges of questions. The class began to glow with bubbles of conversations. Meanwhile I gathered all my thoughts and teaching resources. I have my information regarding the College, the safety and health regulation, student handbooks, scheme of work, lesson plans and recipes ready. My kitchen technician was also ready with her tasks as kitchen assustant. She has to get all the tools, equipment and utensil we needed for the class ready. All the cookers and stoves are function well without any problem.

'Right!' I could hear my voice through the microphone.
'Can we all gather together in the front here and let us introduce ourselves'....

so it started.....

Wednesday 29 October 2008

Cold Sore!!

I have heard and seen people suffer from cold sore...I thought it was something to do with hygiene. My ignorance proved me wrong. Last week for days I did not go to my health club for my regular exercises. My arms, legs and in fact, my entire body was aching. For days I felt quite unwell. I thought I was going to catch a cold. There were no symptoms of having a cold like sore throat and headache. So I ignored my body until next morning when I looked on the mirror I saw a little blister on my left lower lip.

Aaahhh..what is this? My local pharmacist asked me if I could feel a tingle. I said "No". She looked at it and said "yes, it is a cold sore"!! Cold sore I thought. Hmmnn...SO she sold me a 2g tube of Zovirax for almost 6 pounds!!..She advised me to apply the cream to the affected area 4-5 times a day. I tried to read the small prints on the tube when she loudly said...DO NOT USE IN EYES OR ON GENITAL.. Am I that stupid enough that I could not read the prints. Anyway, that is what you get.. I walked out of the pharmacy with '''aarrrhhhh'''to let out my stress.
I must stay away from cafes....restaurants....
and from all public places...
No it is the sign of winter, stupid! I said to myself....