Pickles n' Tickles by JJ

We're back from the sandpit. One fine day in July last year, the husband woke up and said, 'Let's do it'. Boom, the resignation went in by the month end, and just like that we found ourselves with only three months in the sandpit. I didn't know what to make of it. Happy? I wanted a change, yes. Whether it's a change of location for us or perhaps another appointment for the husband, I was good either way. At that point, one thing seemed certain; there were no plans, and the open-ended nature of it thrilled me to no end. Where were we going to go, the whats, hows and whos. I liked not having any answers to the million curious, worried, concerned and just nosy questions directed at us. In November, bags packed, goodbyes said, we left Qatar.  Five months later, here we are, still in Malaysia. After a nice, long break of doing absolutely nothing but sipping coffees, going on small holidays and sorting out the home, the husband has accepted a job here in Kuala Lum...

In a couple of days, I complete and begin another year of my life, officially gravitating towards the late 30s. I don't know what to feel about it. Mostly, I'm not too happy about how time is just eating up my life. In no time, I'll be 40 and then comes the 50s. Not sure what's beyond that if I'm still around! Maybe it's the nightmare I had last night where a swamp of wasp or wasp-like insects washed over me. They didn't sting but they were kind of evil, like they had meant to harm me and they actually did. Soon, I was panicking. My legs swelled up, my face bloated with visible blisters. Mom was rushing my brother to send me to the hospital but he just stood there in his usual lackadaisical way, maybe even taking comfort with what he saw as I became frantic. And then, I woke up.  I have vivid dreams every night and I remember them in detail. During deep sleep, I know that I'm in a dream and some days, the dreams are a continuation of something I'...

I'VE had an extraordinary childhood: have definitely experienced a way of life which may have even been unfamiliar to my peers then. A part of it includes food. From growing it, getting our supply from growers in the neighbourhood and to cooking, there was plenty of good food around. A common crop in the house garden was the tapioca or cassava. We had planted like 50 of those all year round, back to back. Till now, I still couldn't figure why we did that because after harvesting what's needed for us, some neighbours and friends, we still had extras. My dad and grandma (maternal) were crazy about this root. Their sentiment, I think, wasn't something that stemmed from its lovely flavours. Rather, it was more deep-rooted than that. Both dad and grandma had lived through the dreadful Japanese occupation era in Malaya (Dec 1941 to Aug 1945) during which time, food supply was scarce. Staple rice was out of the question. People's lives depended mainly on tapioca because i...

My late grandad was the strongest man I've known. I'm talking about six packs and sculpted calves and all.  Imagine a man who still climbed three-storey high, straight up coconut trees at almost 80.  He did a lot of manual work around the house and cycled to wherever he went, near and far. At the end of a day, he relaxed with his feet soaked in a basin of hot, salted water. My grandma also sometimes used salt-in-a-sock for pain relief.   Grandpa used a British-made bicycle that looked like this.  I was given a mini version of it, also British made.  Climbing a coconut tree. I don't know why I've never thought of using salt like that but recently I've been turning to saltwater more often and loving the incredible healing effects it has on me. I come back from beaches with an uplifted spirit, relieved of physical pain (my legs). It has to be the salty ocean and breeze.  A beautiful beach here in Qatar.  Qatar has some lovel...

THESE flat, concrete roofs are cool considering the howling northerly wind at 50km/h that's going on right now. No flying roof tiles or any such threats. I actually feel safe.  We're currently in the midst of a dust storm since Friday. The weather report projects that the storm will last till Wednesday. While it's not uncommon to have dust storms here, I've never experienced a case of constant strong winds that last for days before in my life. Given the landscape, the wind brings with it tiny sand particles that layer as dust in our homes. No matter how shut you think your house is, the dust has a way to get in and line your panties (figuratively speaking that is!). The particles are that fine, as fine as how your best loose powder should be.  My cable TV has been gone since Saturday and the Internet is trippy. Outside, well, it's dusty, sandy and windy. Imagine standing next to a helicopter with its blades still running. Sometimes the wind is that int...

MY life in Doha can be summed up as a cross between Bree Vanderkamp's and Gabrielle Solis' at the moment. I find myself re-visiting an old hobby of baking like Bree and earning the right to eat the baked goods and sample new restaurants by working out like Gabby, although I do worry like Susan every now and then with the ardent hope of wanting to get back to the corporate world like Lynette. Oh, I miss the Desperate Housewives alright!  Getting back to baking has been therapeutic. I'm once again reminded of why I'd started baking during my teenage years in the first place. There's definitely something relaxing about breaking and beating and throwing things into a chamber of heat. It's a greater joy to see the beaten ingredients rise up to their best an hour later and the best est part is when I'm able to share it with others. Washing up is the only thing I absolutely dread. Right now, my Sri Lankan neighbour is enjoying the perks of living next to a baki...

THIS time when I told the front desk lady at the hospital that I was suspecting chicken pox, she was really surprised. Not sure why. But   I wasn't going to take any chances with the few blisters which had magically popped up around my neck.  Dr. R was nice. Checked me throughly and concluded that it was shingles (it's from the same virus that causes chicken pox) and further confirmed it when I told him about the one-sided neck ache. He put me on anti-viral Acyclovir which I've to take five times a day for six days, together with some tablets for itchiness and pain. PAIN . He kept stressing it though. Which got me really worried.  "You can take this for the pain . It should be okay but if you can't stand the  pain then you go on this,". I smiled a nervous smile. Shingles, one of my greatest fears, is here. I've read and heard about it. It's far worse than chicken pox on the pain scale.  "How much pain can I expect, doctor? It sou...

"HOW   prominent is your fever?" Seriously? Prominent? Can't you see that I'm prominently dying here. Idiot .  "I don't know. Why don't you check."  My temperature read 38.1 degrees. Every joint in my body ached as if there were little men with tiny hammers, going about hammering on my bones unrhythmically. The left side of head and face hurt especially more and the ears felt pressured. My eye balls were individually hurting in their sockets. With great effort,  I rolled my eyes away from the doctor who didn't quite know what she was dealing with and eyed the husband with a sense of irritation. What the hell is she doing ??? Urrrgggghhhh.   " How long have you been feeling this way?" Didn't I just tell you like a second ago? Talking hurts my entire E.N.T network! " Three days. The left side pain has been intense and I've been on Advil the whole time". By then, I think I'd told her about th...

THERE'S  no cure for stupidity. The DNA would always project what it's heavily made of and I suppose no education or medicine could change that. I mean what's up with the bible burning fest planned for this Sunday in Penang (Malaysia)? An event to burn bibles in the Malay language simply because they contain the Arabic word Allah . I wish the leader of the group knew how freely the word is being used in Christian churches here in the middle-east. It's not a word exclusive to only Muslims like how his shallow mind imagines it to be. I suppose you could call it one of the desperate sentiments leading up to the nearing general election but still...I shudder to imagine the very notion of it. I'm thinking ... what happened to the very basic respect for other religions, beliefs and way of life especially in a multi-cultural soceity such as ours? It's not cool. Not at all.  I hope the cops are on this like how they would be if the roles were reversed. Not that it wo...

HOPE that all of you've had a great start for the year. Happy 2013!  It's just day 17 and I'm sure there're broken resolutions already :) But that's okay - I just broke mine with the greedy consumption of a massive scone topped with the sweetest icing you could ever lay your hands on, and tomorrow I'm planning on baking the Totally Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies courtesy of Miss Lawson. The recipe calls for plenty of dark chocolate chunks and semi-sweet chocolate morsels and cocoa powder. No surprise there coming from the ever generous Miss Lawson but just try imagining all that. Baked and warm with half melted chocolate chunks invading your tastebuds with each bite. A total chocolate tsunami it is.  The weather in Doha has been on the low. I'm practically walking around the house with a portable heater blowing off hot air at my feet. When it overheats due to non-stop usage, I resort to sitting out in the sun, catching up on aging while at it.  The ...

ONE   would think that going from a busy working woman to currently being unemployed would give me plenty of time. You know, like many hours of don't-know-what-to-do. But it seems like I still don't have enough time. Not sure how the hours fly by but I do spend many leisurely hours basking in the sun and going for walks in the neighbourhood or stalking people on Facebook on top of the real social activities with friends here. I've also been taking some photographs. On and off Instagram and here are some.  It's one of the many sunset photographs I've been taking. Love this one though. It was caught when I was stuck during an evening rush-hour traffic. Another sunset during an evening walk. Thought it looks like a sandstorm in the sky. You could probably even catch the Sand Man if you looked harder. Very pretty. This was taken during a morning walk. I love that the sky is cloudless and so blue here.  This is a typical housing compound here. It'...

I know that I shouldn't be making assumptions and whatnot ( and I'm not ) while investigations are being carried out on the recent fire at the Villagio Mall in Doha, Qatar but hey, I can't help thinking about it. It did kill  19 people including 13 children after all.   According to some media reports, the water sprinklers and fire alarm systems were not working, and the floor planning made it a Herculean task for help to reach the nursery on the first floor. Also killed were some teachers and fire department personnels.  Pix from here  I was watching some videos of this incident on YouTube. Endless clouds of black smoke spiralled wildly over the mall's roof and there were some clips on rescuers carrying out children who seemed lifeless. What a tragedy. Imagine finding your kid dead in a diaper just hours after you've fed and sent him to a nursery. I've walked in that mall so many times before, and every time I did, I've always silently wondered abo...

HOLIDAY is over and I'm back into this time and space, trying to fit in. It's almost 3am now and I can't sleep. Current time in Doha, Qatar is about 10pm, and usually around this hour, all throughout last week, I was dining in some place nice with a bunch of fun-loving friends. I must say the city has some truly  impressive restaurants. A real test to my child-bearing hips, tease to my tastebuds. I'm still thinking of that ever-so-yummy Wagyu Steak from La Cigale (hotel) and at this quiet hour, it's even more tempting because I'm really hungry!  A survey in the kitchen turned up a high pile of chocolates, a box of Taiwainese pineapple shortbreads, a container of assorted nuts (unsalted) and dried fruits, a variety of instant noodles, some cookies and cheese, and my dad's pickles. Funny thing is I don't really eat these things (except for the nuts/ fruits, cheese and pickles) but they still somehow end up in my shelves. What I really would like right ...

SO I've been to Doha a few times already by now. Minimal or no changes at all on this flat land of sand and sandstorms, except that the population seemed to have increased by god-knows-how-many-folds judging from the volume of people seen at the popular Souk Waqif in the city centre two days ago. It's like people have multiplied like the sea sands. The last few times I was there, I remember liking the place for what it was - a perfect venue to people-watch, smoke Shisha and be a tourist. Now I don't know if that's a good thing... ...if there aren't enough social venues for this astounding volume! Perhaps, I'm a little spoiled coming from a city where food is available 24 hours a day, with freedom of alcohol consumption at random bistros and cafes and to do just about everything I wished for in a cultural setting that doesn't stare at me like I'm some kind of a three-eyed monster. I suppose people here are just a curious bunch given the potpourri of ...

     Desert   Summer  SO I'm in Doha again, this time experiencing summer since so much has been said about the Middle Eastern summers. All my trips here to visit the husband had been during its cool winters, and while I do like the region's mild winters, I'd also love to experience its legendary summer heat. "It's not too bad now, you're lucky. At its peak, which is usually in June, July and August, the temperature can go up to 52 deg (Celsius). Just stepping out of a building totally drenches you like you've taken a bath. Clothes stick to your skin and you're just sticky all over," warned a Malaysian aircraft engineer whom I met on my flight here on Tuesday. So I'll need waterproof mascaras during summer time, I thought to myself. But I still couldn't imagine such an extremity. Fifty-two degrees. I've never experienced anything more than 34 deg, which is the hottest in Kuala Lumpur and even ...