Enchanting Easter !!!

It has been quite a long time since my last blog and this year's Easter Vigil was different indeed for me to shout out to the whole wide world !!! It was not the usual celebration at my hometown, Teluk Intan a.k.a Diamond Bay but at Ipoh, the hometown to tantalizing white coffee, the mystical drink that I would climb any mountains or fight any dragons in the dungeons (I know it's too flowery and a bit blowing the trumpet but I just had to confess openly looking at the level of addiction I have for the roasted Coffea arabica).

The celebration, to my suprise, turned from a long planned event to a sought-after moment in respect to the 40 days of abstinence by Christians during Lent at the much adored Our Lady of Lourdes, my mum's maiden parish, a famous landmark at Ipoh which rekindles back my old childhood memories where I used to go for mass with my lovely Aunt Philomena and her children, my wittiful-adventure loving cousins during primary school holidays. Those were the days in a glimpse of a moment and here I am, all dressed in my best to celebrate the coming of Christ the King at the face-lifted old church. It was definitely quite jittery passing by the parishioners who are total strangers whose eyes will be oogling at each other to look for who's who present there. Too me, a special celebration at church means more like attending a  summer fashion at Paris since most of the youngsters will be in the latest trends; guys in the latest western attires accompanied with bizarre hair-do and belles in the most recent chudithars and sarees (can't catch up anything western as I attended the Tamil mass) which might have appeared in latest release of Tamil movies.

In the slightest gap me and my mum had inside the church, we were sinful enough to actually criticize the fashion faux pas (fashion crime in laymen term) made by some female and male parishioners ('Lord' Versace and 'Saint' Donna Karan, please forgive them) for parading in odd-scary colours and aged-old outfits which was best worn in the 90's. I wonder whether they realized or were very much carried away with their faith that they had disappointed a self-proclaimed fashion critic like me who with much high expectation looking forward for something extraordinary or at least lively enough to feast my sleepy eyes ( the mass started late and the long drive was unbearable).

Moving away from the horrible sight, I managed to console myself to focus into the Eucharistic celebration and was eager for the mass to end 'peacefully' especially after hearing the parish priest's heartful speech. After mass, my mum had a short reunion with her old childhood friend, the bubbly Aunty Grace who was extremely happy to have met her beloved old friend and also stole some of her time to say a word or two of advise to me, the eligible bachelor waiting-in-line for marriage. Next and next,  did I had my eye candy after that? Yup, a bevy of beauties in breathtaking 'kanchipuram cotton' sarees did make my heart stop for awhile and left some fond memories for me to smile. With a contented heart, we left the church for a late dinner at one of the famous eateries at old town of Ipoh which used to be my mum's favourite spot to hang out when she was a young Ipoh resident. All I could say, this year, Easter was different,  people were new and life is moving into a new phase...A definite YES to the comment by Oprah in the header...it's real..

Perpetual Helper

A Belated Surprise !!!

I never thought I would get another surprise after 3 weeks had passed after my birthday. It was April Fool's day but I hardly got fooled by anybody on that day except a lame attempt by one of my Nepalese worker who wanted to fool me, being his grumpy co-superior. Nevertheless, everything went on fine on a beautiful Friday including the moment when my happening buddies invited me for a casual boys day out on the very same night and I was undecided on whether to go or not as I was drop dead tired and thought of just hanging out at home. When I called my buddy, Hamizan and wanted to call it off, he insisted on me coming to the day out and threatened me that I don't have any rights to cancel the dinner. It was kind of odd for me because I always considered myself the average guy who doesn't have much to say in the group but suddenly was given all the importance to be the distinguished guest as if I'm to be felicitated  in the dinner.

When asked the venue in the afternoon, they said it's Pizza Hut and my suggestion to change was turned down sarcastically.Why? Never knew the answer...I went back home, did my chores like a busy bee, took shower and dressed up for the 'ballroom' dinner I'm suppose to have with my '3 dates'...As it was not the usual pizza outlet we used to hang out and it's actually the Shah Alam outlet, I had to follow my wild instinct and verbal directions given to me by my buddy to find the way. Finally, I managed to find the outlet and parked my car. It was a huge outlet and basically I had to phone track my lunatic buddies amongst the sea of young people seated at the outlet. With much excitement, I reached the table, we had our usual sarcasms and crazy laughters as were we expecting  for another friend to come. While waiting for our other long-time-no-see friend, we ordered a sumptuous meal that indeed 'wowed' us since the menu said, " Be wowed". Our friend came, all of us tucked away the large meal heartily and continued with the pranks and useless jokes.And then, a moment came.. I was left alone with our guest friend  by Hamizan and the other two buddies, Yoges and Hoe who went missing-in-action for awhile. 

Appearing with a sinister smile, the three of them together with the guest friend popped a small wrapped box in front of me and said, " Happy Belated Birthday Sagaya"..I, on the other hand, sat there speechless and was basically scolding them for doing this which I felt unnecessary. Upon much persuasion by my sweet young buddies (they're all in their twenties and I'm in my pseudo-twenties), I unwrapped the box and much to my amazement, it was a white crystal slab, slightly thicker, with a pair of purple orchids entrusted into the stone with small pocket clock embedded to the surface of the stone. It was simply awesome and I thanked my friends for their humble effort to throw a belated surprise party and a gift to go along with. As I was indeed felicitated and treated, I thought it was my turn to pay them back by inviting them to catch a late night movie at the nearest cinema but unfortunately had to cancel it since all the lousy movies were going on that night.

So, the second option I had was to buy them a drink at the nearest mamak shop.Unable to have a grand feast due to the 'wowed' meal we had earlier, we ordered hot drinks and opted for satay and juicy tandoori chicken instead. There we were, all four of us, joking and laughing away like some college kids and forgetting the past and never bothered on what's to happen tomorrow. After having the long hang out together, we headed home with groggy eyes and bulgy tummies. While on my way back, all I could think of is, I'm happy for what my workmates who are now my thick friends had done for me. I don't want to sound soapy and all I could say, "Thanks a lot guys !!!".

Perpetual Helper

The New Me

I have heard the story of Mother Theresa of Calcutta whom one day had approached a wealthy man for donation and was spitted, laughed, humiliated by the very same man. After receiving all that she could get,the fragile lady bravely said," You had given all that I deserve.Now,will you please give something valuable for my children, they will be waiting for me". The man was dumbfounded and gave away a handsome amount of money to the highly spirited Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. The one thing I had learnt from the humanitarian was to bring out the sacred feeling of mankind which is PATIENCE and SELF-DETERMINATION. I am still a child in learning the skills to be patient and determined but eventually seem to enjoy after practicing it  in my life at the moment.

I am currently experimenting myself with patience or to put it in a better way,struggled actually. A skill which I feel is the tool to guide through my colourful phase I'm going through with the fraternity of people surrounding me either at home, work or even on the streets. I've learnt that the doppelganger to patience is EGO, an evil creature that does not want to be disturbed, living within all of us silently and roars aloud even at the slightest interruption. It is a cloak we wear in our daily lives to hide all the possible flaws, a gun to shoot when our opinion being attacked equally by another soul that feels their ego is much more superior to others.Letting go of our pride or ego, does it benefit us in anyway? Well, I say yes to that if it comes to us mingling with others in a circle called relationship. No matter who the person we deal, parents or siblings, neighbours or friends, lovers or spouse, ego could be a bliss or a disaster looking at how we handle it at the right place and at the right time. A positive approach could boost the pride and a slim mistake could severely bruise a person's ego.

Being a guy in the 30s, I was in a dilemma of whether to join  or not this particular group of colleagues who are in their 20s as I find it difficult to be with peers of same age who will be talking about the grades of their kindergarten-going child or happily complaining about their spouse which simply bores me to death. I am not running away from the reality that my age is catching up in the context of a typical Asian guy but can't restrain myself from joining the vibrant,witty,idealistic and happening group of guys who would secure me with excitements, both at work and outside. BUT....everything comes with a price tag and the price I had to pay...the reality of my age, my acceptance being questioned and the common issues thrown to me by these kiddos which leads to one topic- Generation Gap...all because I had Justin Timberlake when I was in my 20s and they are having Justin Bieber in their 20s. To create a mutual understanding and in order to be accepted in their cohesive group, I went through a series of transformation which I enjoyed and succeeded at the end of the day. Bringing down my weight and masking my 30s look was simply exciting and even sent shivers to my young buddies as they saw my very own changes with amaze when all my checked shirts became body-hugging size M and S T-shirts. I was thrilled and never thought it was possible for me to look simply confident in attires which I could only dream on.

What happened to me was simply self-determination and also thanks to my young buddies, their timely teases that bruised my ego paved way to tremendous changes in me, both physically and mentally. Nobody would dare to throw a word at me nowadays but simply praise me for the painstaking effort to keep up an ideal body weight, a youthful physique and a cool look too. Now, I walk tall and side-by-side with my fellow young colleagues without worrying about my bulgy tummy or my old-fashioned attire because I am in control of my trendy life and am not afraid to look youthful. I am simply going to turn a deaf ear at the old rules that says Asians of my clan should be plump, big and round and a must to have facial hairs to show my masculinity. Gone are the days into the ditch and to all the the typical-minded 30s guys out there, glam up, let your hair down and go for an awesome life because bear in mind that the 30s is the new 20s.

Perpetual Helper

My First Day Blogging

What inspired me to blog? Well, I suppose all thanks to Julie Powell acted by Amy Adams in the movie,"Julie and Julia",an inspiring movie about two individuals,Julie Powell, a present time government clerk stucked in a cubicle listening to people's application for insurance and Julia Child, an expatriate's wife living in 1950s Paris who took the guts to learn French cooking and her quest to write a cookbook in English specially made for 'servantless Americans', both women who lived in different era but shared the same common passion-COOKING. They went through series of adventures to experience and learn all the lessons in life to master cooking and shine in life as great cooks and writers.

It all started with the character, Julie Powell creating her own blog and wanted to tell the whole world her experience on experimenting Julia Child's aged-old cookbook, Mastering The Art of French Cooking within 365 days. She struggled to go through every pages of the cookbook which she 'stole' from her mother and managed to cook  her first dish of 'beef bourguignon', a memorable cuisine her mother made when she was a child and how she had felt the presence of Julia Child when the dish was made. While starting her regime to cook authentic French cuisine every night, Julie Powell went through emotional roller coaster with her charming-supportive husband and poured out her genuine feelings in her blog. Eventually, her wild attempt to blog turned out to be a campaign where bloggers and readers started to follow her blog and became her ardent fan. She was fortunate enough to even being hunted by many food critics and publishers especially by the very own editor who published Julia Child's cookbook. The auspicious day came when Julie Powell was awarded a string of genuine pearls by her husband, as to recreate a present day Julia Child in Julie Powell.

On the other side of the story, I fell in love with the gutsy Julia Child who made her way into one of Paris' distinguished cooking school to become a trained French cook. Her bubbly act and wittiness simply captured my attention and made me wanted to know this lady in person. The childless Childs made their way from Paris to Cambridge and had their very own cookbook after few rejections from some publishers. Julia Child had also made her own cook show that simply revealed her clumsiness and yet her skill to make French cuisine a joy to cook.

Thanks to the movie and the awesome ladies in the movie, I, Sagaya, the Perpetual Helper, will officially start blogging today and hope to share sweet and bitter moments that I am yet to encounter in my day-to-day life. Happy blogging to me !!! Cheers !!!!

Perpertual Helper