Pickles n' Tickles by JJ

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 been a little unwell recently. I guess I've just been tired and being outdoors in the sandy atmosphere has taken a toll on me. The indoors, however, drives me mad especially in these past two weeks when I've had lesser work to do. Meaning, nothing much to focus on. I don't really like watching TV during the day, I can only read so much and cooking for two doesn't take forever. In short, my movements are restricted indoors. I suppose for me, moving about, is key to sanity.  I had spent the last ten days, walking. With a small bag pack carrying water, towel, bananas, an extra pair of pants and a note book, I left home around 3pm, walked through the city for about 2-3 hours before going to my evening bootcamp sessions. I had also kept my RunKeeper app turned on so I could track my distance, time and route.   Well, I didn't see much on my routes except for a dead kitten and a bird but I did notice the amount of roadworks that's been taking place. It...

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...

BEFORE we left for Africa, we were bombarded with crime alerts from concerned friends and family. In fact, safety was the only thing that got mentioned when we announced our dream holiday plans to them. By the time we left, we were quite bothered by all those alerts. And then, we landed in Johannesburg.  We took a cab and went out that very night when I realised what I was doing: I was looking at every person on the street and judging them indiscriminately. And I was very ashamed of myself for that. That night, I changed my tarnished mindset about the whole safety issue. Would I go out alone on foot or even in a car to some places in my own country? No! Why, I don't even have the peace of mind to walk in some areas during the day in Bangsar (Kuala Lumpur)! Crime risks are anywhere and everywhere, we just have to be street smart. I could have been pick-pocketed in Paris or robbed at gunpoint in New York too. When I was able to release that mindset, I saw the people ...

OF all my travels, I had the best one last week in South Africa. Africa is officially my favourite continent in the world and I vow to travel parts of it in the years to come. Our trip began with a brief stay at Johannesberg for the night before we were whisked off to Northeast where we stayed three, wonderful nights at a game lodge. It has always been my dream to experience an African safari so the main agenda of this trip was the Kruger National Park.  What can I say. It has been the most interesting few days of my life among the lives I've only used to read about, watch in documentaries and imagine in my head. Over the days, I've had a frog half the size of my pinky jump out of my hair, suffered various insect bites on my face, avoided bee stings (although I've been stung half a dozen times before), walked about after dark to my room so fearful thinking that I may be in the way of the hippos in the lake outside my room and watched a man shiver right next to me due to ...

IT'S like a scene from a horror movie outside. The weather department did warn us of the storm but at this intensity, it's something I've never experienced before. At 65kmph, the wind is howling angry. The air is thick with dust that I can't see my neighbour's house. I could taste sand particles in my mouth and nose when I was at the balcony earlier. Why, I'm on the sofa now and still get a strange smell in the air.  Times like this, I really don't mind a thunderstorm instead. Visibility is off, the roads are equally messed up, it's not safe to be out and there're flood possibilities. But at least, during and after a thunderstorm, the air is clean and everything looks new and hopeful again. I walked into the bathroom and ran my finger along the bathtub. There is already a layer of dust. The hub had just washed it earlier. I could see a coat of grey matter on the brown TV cabinet from where I am now. This is just in the city, inside of an almost so...

And it's April.  In four days, my mom turns 59. We celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary on the 5th and on the next day, the husband inches closer to 40. At this phase in life, time is something I have plenty of yet I'm losing it at a pace I cannot justify.   Today, I'm missing my mom and dad pretty bad. I don't think I've spent much time being with them even when I was with them. There was always school or they were working. But we lived together, ate dinner at the table every day and spent Sunday evenings as a family.  I measured time by school year and every year seemed like a lot of time then. It felt like I owned forever. It felt like the dame old tree was old while I bounced in eternal youth. It felt like I was going to school my whole life and eating dinner together at home.  But the years never missed a minute and still caught up with me: it was time to leave home. My parents wished me well and sent me off with pride. I wasn't living with the...