July 31, 2007: Put Your Head on My Shoulder

May I?

Good night everyone!

Love - Larra

July 23, 2007

....

rain drops

keep falling

on my head

....

July 22, 2007: A Beautiful Sunday!

Hi everyone,

My Saturday went well. How's yours?

It's a quiet Sunday morning here - except for the sound of birds.

Hmmmm, these birds are always early.

Have a wonderful Sunday my friends!!

Love - Larra

July 21, 2007: Answered Prayers

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I prayed for riches, and achieved success;
All that I touched turned into gold. Alas!
My cares were greater and my peace was less,
When that wish came to pass.

I prayed for glory, and I heard my name
Sung by sweet children and by hoary men.
But ah! the hurts – the hurts that come with fame.
I was not happy then.

I prayed for Love, and had my heart’s desire.
Through quivering heart and body, and through brain,
There swept the flame of its devouring fire,
And but the scars remain.

I prayed for a contented mind. At length
Great light upon my darkened spirit burst.
Great peace fell on me also, and great strength –
Oh, had that prayer been first!

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

July 20, 2007: Your Pain Is ....

Silent Suffering: by Kahlil Gibran

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Your pain is the breaking of the shell
that encloses your understanding.

Even as the stone of the fruit must break,that its
heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.

And could you keep your heart in wonder
at the daily miracles of your life, your pain
would not seem less wondrous than your joy;

And you would accept the seasons of your
heart, even as you have always accepted
the seasons that pass over your fields.

And you would watch with serenity
through the winters of your grief.

Much of your pain is self-chosen.

It is the bitter potion by which the
physician within you heals your sick self.

Therefore trust the physician, and drink
his remedy in silence and tranquillity:

For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided
by the tender hand of the Unseen,
And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips,
has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter
has moistened with His own sacred tears.


- Kahlil Gibran

July 19, 2007: Do Less

DO LESS THINKING,
and pay more attention to your heart.

DO LESS ACQUIRING,
and pay more attention to what you already have.

DO LESS COMPLAINING,
and pay more attention to giving.

DO LESS CONTROLLING,
and pay more attention to letting go.

DO LESS CRITICIZING,
and pay more attention to complementing.

DO LESS ARGUING,
and pay more attention to forgiveness.

DO LESS RUNNING AROUND,
and pay more attention to stillness.

DO LESS TALKING,
and pay more attention to silence.

(Do Less - By Unknown)

July 17, 2007: Yogurt Anyone?

I plan to prepare "Fruit and Yogurt Parfait" for breaking fast this evening. Do you have other recipe of how you serve yogurt? Please feel free to share.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium ripe fresh peach or nectarine or 2 medium kiwifruits (I'll use mango instead)
• 1 8-ounce carton plain low-fat yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup bite-size shredded wheat biscuits, coarsely crushed
• 2 teaspoons sugar-free pancake and waffle syrup or light pancake and waffle syrup product
• 1 tablespoon sliced almonds, toasted
• Dash ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. If desired, peel fruit; pit peach and nectarine. Chop fruit, reserving 2 wedges for garnish. Set aside.

2. Combine yogurt and vanilla. Spoon half of the yogurt mixture into two 8- to 10-ounce parfait glasses. Top with half of the crushed cereal, all of the chopped fruit, syrup, remaining yogurt mixture, and remaining crushed cereal. Sprinkle with almonds and cinnamon. Garnish each serving with a reserved fruit wedge. Makes 2 servings.

July 17, 2007: My Fruit and Yogurt Parfait

This is how my Fruit and Yogurt Parfait looks like.

It has been improvised of course. I used manggo and replaced wafle syrup with honey. And instead of 'shredded wheat biscuits', I accidentally bought 'whole wheat biscuits'. I thought when I saw it in the supermarket the label says 'shredded wheat biscuits', but when I took it home and showed to Herb, it turned out to be 'whole wheat biscuits'! I also forgot to sprinkle the cinnamon! And lastly, I don't have parfait glass!

But despite all that, I have to admit that it is delicious! The smell of vanila, the crunchiness of almond flakes and whole wheat biscuits, and the sweet-sour taste of manggo .... all blended very well with the taste of yogurt. Actually I never like yogurt, I eat it because it is good for my tummy. But now, I think I have found a recipe that makes yogurt taste great. For those of you who loves yogurt or those who hate yogurt but have to eat it, listen carefully: TRY THIS RECIPE!

July 15, 2007: I Feel Pink

Almost all words have color and nothing is more pleasant than

to utter a pink word and see someone's eyes light up and

know it is a pink word for him/her too. (Gladys Taber)

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Pink is the color of romance and a friend tells me that

the girl with pink dress at the party is the one who

is selected for each dance. (Alfred C. Hottes)

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The very pink of perfection. (Oliver Goldsmith)

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NOTE: Enjoy the pink flower on my balcony after rain.

July 14, 2007: Everything I Do

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July 13, 2007: 7 Habits of a Jungle Girl

Sails tagged me few days ago … and I promised to tag along

So, here are 7 random habits of mine that I can think of …

1. Beauty – the first thing that I will look at physical beauty (especially for women) is the ‘heel’! Cracked heels tell a lot about a person! Doesn’t matter how much make-up one put on the face, how expensive is the jewellery or how trendy the clothes - I’ll still be looking at the heels before I can agree with the so-called ‘beautiful’.
2. Darkness – I am scared of darkness or closed doors.
3. Eating habit – I am a small eater but I eat often. And I MUST eat rice, at least once a day (normally 3 times/day!) – otherwise I’ll still feeling hungry and can’t sleep at night. BUT I did survived 1 month in States without rice. hehee
4. Drink – my favorite drink: warm water! Yup, just plain warm water – cappuccino comes second followed by ‘teh tarik’ (pulled tea).
5. Perfume – I love perfume (so you know what to buy me for my next birthday! ). But some strong perfumes can cause me headache.
6. Migraine – I can easily get migraine when I eat food that has overdoses of MSG! Soya sauce is one of the culprits that I have identified. That’s why I always try to avoid food with lots of soya sauce (soya sauce normally has excessive amount of MSG)
7. Mad/Sad - I’ll be very quiet when I am sad or mad. I am not good in choosing words when I am in those two situations. And I’ll be extra careful with words when I am mad. I believe the word that stings the deepest is the word that is never spoke. Let the other fellow do a heap of thinking about things you didn't say.

I am not going to tag anyone, but if you want to play along you are most welcome!

July 12, 2007: Me: Pain

dreams: vanished

hope: shattered

soul: dead

reality: hurt

July 11, 2007: A Lunch Treat ...

for my upset tummy (or more accurate, for my IBS )

yogurt drink - mixed tropical fruits

yogurt - mixed berries

2 bananas - 'Pisang Berangan'

(BTW banana only RM2.89/kg)

Entry for July 10, 2007

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July 09, 2007: Don't You Love Monday?

.

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don'T YoU love MONday?

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July 08, 2007: Spring on My Balcony

Enjoying Sunday morning on my balcony. Some flowers are blooming ....

Care to join me, while sipping hot lemon with honey & slice of ginger?

July 07, 2007: @ 7 pm on 07.07.07

This is how my sky look like at 7 pm on 07.07.07!

And this is at 7.07 pm on 07.07.07

Care to share your sky?

Love - Larra

July 05, 2007: Are You Lonesome Tonight?

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July 03, 2007: Ulam raja

The above are pictures of 'Ulam raja' flowers that I took at my backyard garden in Kulim. My sister, Ramlah planted it as 'ulam' - not the flower though, but the young shoot. "Ulam raja" when literally translated means 'the King salad' (Raja=King). But I am not sure whether the King actually eat it . Some people say, the word Raja here means that this plant is the King of all ulams - especially due to it's medicinal properties. The 'ulam raja' is known for its antioxidant and also good for blood circulation. The scientific name for this plant is Cosmos caudatus.

If you notice the word 'ulam' is part of the name of this plant. In general 'ulam' is used for plants that can be eaten raw (or sometimes cooked - steamed or half boiled), as a form of local salad. The ulam is a traditional Malay dish that normally taken with 'sambal belacan' (a mixture of pounded chillies, shrimp paste 'belacan' and lime/tamarind juice) and serve during lunch or dinner.

Basically the food value and nutritional values of most ulams are very high. They are what keep our old folks and kampong folks healthy without the modern vitamins and nutritional enriched food of today's society. Ulams taken by the kampong folks are generally those that are readily obtained. Some people plant it as a back yard crop which means it is not farm based and farm ideas of using insecticides and growth hormones are not usually used. (however, nowadays due to the growing popularity, the common ulams are now beginning to be farmed). I remember those days when I was small I used to follow my mother and her 'gang' went into the jungles picking ulams - this normaly happened if it rained at night and my mother couldn't 'work' (she's a rubber tapper) the following day. To my mother and her friends, they were looking for food, but to us (normally the other mothers will take along their kids) it's fun time in the jungle!

July 02, 2007: Love

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waiting

longing

anger

sadness

hurts

love

Larra is coming home

Well, did I say that Bikan was remote, off the beaten track, there is no mobile phone coverage. No signal means no communictaion with Larra. She has now started her journey home and when she got a signal back she texted me with the news that her brother-in-law is continuing to make minor progress and can now walk slowly.

I am sure that Larra will be very tired when she gets home, both physically and emotionally, but glad in that that she has been able to provide some minor form of support for Zainab during these difficult times, Herb P.P.S. to Larra.

July 1, 2007: Larra is Away For The Weekend

Friday night / Saturday Morning Larra's brother Ramli drove her up North to Kedah. As well as Ramli and his wife there was their youngest daughter who starts another culinary course in Penang on Monday. It was a full car, because also with them for the weekend were Aiman and Putra, Ramli's 2 young grandsons whom you may have seen in Larra's blog entry and photos on Johor. The journey was quick, over 4 hours, but nowhere near the 13 hours that it took when they last went up during daytime for a bank holiday last january.

Larra rang me when she arrived, 6:20 AM at her own house on Kulim, and was tired, she had a quick chat with me before praying and going to bed.

The plan for Saturday was to rise as early as they could, consideing their late retirment, and drive the hour or so it takes to Bikan to see how their Sister Zainab is coping and if Zainab's husband has made any more recovery.

Zainab's husband is in his 70's and had a stroke 2 weeks ago. Initially he was paralysed down his whole right side. They either shunned (or were unable to be accomodated in a hospital) and Zainab herself is largely caring for him using traditional Jungle therapies, medicines and poultices and massage. The latest news Larra had was halfway through last week, he was recovering slightly and slowly managing to master speech again, and some limited walking.

Bikan is not exactly remote, but it is not in the hub of telecommunications, and Zainab's homestead has no telephone. Communication with other family members is not easy unless one of the relatives from Kulim pays a visit and can pass information out along Larra's family grapevine.

I expect to hear from Larra when she wakes in a few hours time, I hope more progress has been made in his recovery.

I also hope that Aiman and Putra have had a chance to make friends with Little Farra! Larra and I expect them to fantastic cousin - ly friends because all 3 of them are so outgoing and full of beans and energy all the time. It shoud be good for Aiman and Putra because they spend so much time with their grandparents and see relatively few children. It should be even better for Farra, living with her Grandmother (Zainab) on a Homestead well outside Bikan village (and too young for any Nursery or School) she sees even fewer children.

I hope that Larra has time to take photos of the children together, but she may be too busy helping Zainab. Zainab not only has to be Nurse and Doctor for her husband, Mother to her Granddaughter, fetch supplies from the village, run the family home, meals and laundry, but she has the homestead to run : Tapping Rubber Trees, Gathering Fruit, Feeding the Chickens and other animals, and all the other chores - like feeding the fish in the pond, chasing monkeys away, gathering wood, the list goes on and on!

Any way that is all for this update, standing by and hoping for good news, Herb PPS to Larra.