Tuesday, January 27, 2009

A Quiet Celebration

It has been a quiet celebration this year. With the ushering of the new lunar year, the year of the ox, I thought I’d hear the cracking sounds from the burning of the firecrackers by the neighbours’ children. But somehow, there is none. Mr L*m, my front neighbour has been home through out the entire celebration. If in the past years, his house was closed during the holidays, this year, he opted to stay put. When asked by Bibik if he was going anywhere, he said, “Tak da mana mau pigi lorr, duduk di rumah saja.”

Same goes with Uncle Ch*rl*s my back neighbour. They too have not gone out of town, unlike the previous years. Funny, I thought to myself, as they would normally be away on the first day. Well, that was in the past, guess the arrangements have changed and perhaps now, they no longer need to travel far to visit their families.

Mr L*m and Uncle Ch*rl*s are the two Chinese families in my housing area, an area where it’s predominantly populated by Malays. There used to be an Indian family right opposite my house, but they have moved many years ago. I guess being the minority group is not easy, but being the friendly and good natured lot that they are, I see them blending in pretty well with the rest of us. As I leave for work, I always “bump” into Mr L*m when he performs the morning prayers. Always smiling he would tegur me and say, “Pigi kerja ka?” I’d say yes and wave him good bye.

On the contrary, I seldom meet Uncle Ch*rl*s. He fenced his house area with a high wall some years back, hence blocking the view of his house. When we asked why he erected the wall, he said that he segan to us, who’d have the excellent view of his back yard which at times was messy. The feeling was mutual as our backyards were not tip top either. But I am always able to have a good glimpse of his house. All I need to do is just go to Farah’s room, and I could see everything, even his fish pond. Bibik has a contrasting story to tell, of course. She said that Uncle Ch*rl*s’ “aunty” is very garang and they always have violent exchange of words. For whatever his reasons are, the wall has served its purpose and not a decibel of sound is now heard from his home.

However just a few days before new year, Uncle Ch*rl*s gave Bibik some ikan keli. He said it was from his pond. Bibik made ikan keli goreng cili padi that day and the kelis were yummylicious!! Ada budi ada balas kan, so yesterday a pot of briyani was sent over to Uncle Ch*rl*s at lunch time. Bibik said he was so happy hingga tak terkata!!

The year of the Ox has just rolled in. Much has been said about this animal, the ox (incidently ABE was born in the ox year!! I really gotta go check what is said about these "ox people"). My hopes in the Ox year?? Of course, for all good things and prosperity to come our way, and may we be strong willed and determined to face all the on coming challenges. I also wish for good health and success at fostering better and stronger relationships.

25 comments:

mamasita said...

Kat Kuantan pulak lain Kay.
Neighbours main firecrackers and fireworks bertubi2..I love to watch the fireworks tapi the firecrackers became too many and too noisy.
And I thought they banned firecrackers. Taklah nak report..bukan jari I yang lecur!hehehe

Wah untung ada jiran macam you.Homemade beriani? Pandai nya you masak.

ABE born in the year of the ox? Must be a very rajin person.And tak cakap banyak..just mooo je! hahaha

kay_leeda said...

Mamasita,

Kat sini tak de bunyi sebutir firecrackers pun and I was kinda missing its loud and fiery sound. Heh..heh..biar je lah the kids main, kalu putus jari ker, tanggung sendiri kan :0

Alah, masak biasa-biasa je the briyani. Since my son came home and he is always laparrrr, both Bibik & I decided to feed them (kids and ABE)well, hence the briyani was a good choice. Alang-alang masak, buat lebih so that can give neighbour sikit.

Yup...ABE is an ox. Kalu u tengok advert TM on tv about si Ah Ngau tu...ayooo...manyakkk traits yang sama!! Sabar je lah I...

ray said...

Komen Pak Malim kucing ray yg alim.

Kat rumah tuan saya ray, pun agak senyap, kata Pak Malim sambil memakai ketayap. Takde sangat dengar bunyi mercun, kata Pak Malim yg perasan dia 'cun'. Tak tahu kenapa, kata Pak Malim sambil mengunyah biskut kelapa.

Oh, nak perkenalkan, ini gambar girlfren saya, MT. Singkatan pada nama Minah Terpa a.k.a Minah Terjah. Tuan saya panggil dia gitu sebab dia suka terjah orang, kata Pak Malim sambil memegang parang.

kay_leeda said...

Wahai Pak Malim kucing ray yang alim,

Pak Malim suka bunyi mercun? Tanya Kay, yang bajunya basah lencun. Tak pa, since CNY tak de punyi berdentum-dentum, nanti Raya Aidilfitri kita bakar meriam sambil minum air daun ketum!! (Mabuk weh, sambil kunyah kueh)

Waduh Pak Malim udah punya GF yah, puji anak Kay yang gigi nya goyah. Cantik, cantik GF Pak Malim, si Minah Terjah, habis lah kat dalam blogLand ini yaang akan kena terjah :)

It's a pleasure meeting you MT, says Kay who doesn't like her glass half empty.

tireless mom said...

Dear Kay

Actually over here in Kinrara though first night kat sini for the CNY, we can hardly here the sound of firecrackers too. Gawat or abiding by the laws or hantu dah tak de?

Year of the Ox, hmmmm that is the start of the 12 lunar years, manyak susah oh, just like in 1997 and 1985. People born in the year of Ox, tak banyak cakap, eccentric and at times can be fierce and lose temper easily. Also easy going and mentally and physically alert. Ada sama kah?

Naz in Norway said...

Kay,
Kat sini pula sungguh sungguh meriah sehingga tak dengar apa apa :D
BTW, ada rumah kosong dekat dekat you? hehe!

kay_leeda said...

Deat TM,

Wah in Kinrara also sepi ka?? Must be reason no 3 - no more hantu lorr. All hantus are appearing on the tv screen, summa happy ghost belaka..heh..heh.

Ohh..all that you have listed down on the Ox is so true, with almost 99% accuracy. Must check if the ox is penjimat or not. If that trait is there, I'm proud to declare I have one perfect match ox under my roof. Now, this dragon has to be less fiery and explosive lah pulak. Kang ter-BBQ si ox ni..heh..heh.

kay_leeda said...

Naz,

Sepi juga di Norway? Silence is golden eh?

Rumah kosong?? Adaaaa...buleh hari-hari ambik bau..heh..heh :)

Madam Tai Tai Again said...

Kay,

Kudos to you on your semangat muhibbah! I'm sure Uncle Charles and family appreciated the nasi briyani. Untung betul dia ada neighbour mcm you! Wish I was your neighbour too!

kay_leeda said...

Tai Tai,

It's not often I get to do my good deed. Plus Bibik is a blessing. She's the one who'd be slogging in the kitchen. Maam ni tau mengarah je :)

Not too late to be my neighbour. Memang got a few rumah kosong in the area..heh..heh.

Ezza Aziz said...

kat sini pun tak berapa meriah walau pun kami dengar bunyi meletup2 macam mesin gun kat Gaza tu...

Cina depan rumah ni selalu nya ada jer,tapi tahun ni gelap pulak rumah dia ..nak jemput kenduri pun dia tak da..

hmm ada lagi tak nasi beriani tu..lauk dia apa yer..

Laracroft74 said...

Ikan Keli...that's my favourite too...that reminds me of Ikan Keli Jalan Bellamy...hhhmmm...nk kena plan a trip ni...
eh, at least you have 2 chinese families in your community.. in our neighbourhood here, I've not seen any chinese.. cina jual sayur dalam van adala... majority are the malay pensioners..so tak dapatla nak rasa the kemeriahan or at least dapat mandarin orange or lagi miss the ang pau...:-(

Lee said...

Hi Kay Leeda, always enjoy read your postings...love the way you describe things around you.
Re ikan keli or duri...thats one fish I have not tried....
You have a great year of the Ox...best regards, Lee.

kay_leeda said...

Kak Ezza,

Sepi di kebanyakkan tempat di masa CNY.

Briyani lauk nyer rendang daging, ayam goreng with briyani rempah & sambal udang yg kaw-kaw pedas nyer!! Isshhh...saya plak yg jadik lapar dah petang-petang ni :)

kay_leeda said...

Laracroft74,

So ikan keli memanggil-manggil you eh?? Memang sodap!!! Tak leh buat selalu, coz nnt ittew org (and mine too lahhh) punyer waist line akan expand!!

Angpaw...ayooo ada ka?? Siapa mau bagi daaa..heh..heh.

kay_leeda said...

And laracroft...thanks for dropping by yah :)

kay_leeda said...

Uncle Lee,

Happy New Year Sir!!

That ikan keli very nice lorr. I see off late Chinese friends so pandai eat the ikan keli. It's like ikan sembilang, but with less bones and not so smelly.

Thanks for coming by Uncle :)

Formerly known as Superwomanwannabe! said...

wah kay..u lucky ada chinese neighbours...I want kids to have non malay friends too - still working on it!

Kay said...

Salam kay,

Great blog!
I'm impressed very much.
(nama kita sama... hehehe and from shah alam too hahaha)
thanks, singgah ke blog saya!

Waterlily said...

Hi Kay!

I love this entry. Somehow it made me feel warm all over!

Ermm...I kan, tak pandai and tak berani nak siang ikan keli. Takut and geli semua ada, but its dear hubby's favourite!

In KL,terbalik pulak kes dengan we all. My neighbours are mostly chinese and indians and they are very friendly too.

kay_leeda said...

SW,

Those are the only two that we have. Unfortunately, their children are big already, none are of the play group age. Indeed, it's good to have the children mixing around with the other races. Besides the perpaduan thingy, hopefully they tak kekok later when they move on in life.

kay_leeda said...

Dear ~~~kay~~~

Hi...thanks for coming by. Glad you feel comfortable here.

kay_leeda said...

Waterlily,

Back in KL already? I pun don't know how to siang the kelis. Bibik did the stunt. Do you know that the fish still gerak-gerak even after you have cleaned it?? Memang geli BIG time.

Wahh..you got neighbours of other races, how nice :)

jabishah said...

I was at my parents' in keramat during cny, so it was rather quiet.

I love ikan keli too( what's the diff w sembilang?). Masak lomak pun sodap... I ni tho ic KL, both my parents org nogori. Read abt u asking ur abe his suku. Well mine is tanah rata ke tanah datar? We follow the maternal sides right?

I finally completed your Perth entries. Beautiful! Love the pics esp the video slide show. What prog did you use? The final video was really awesome. Great choice of song too.

kay_leeda said...

Dear Jabishah,

Difference between ikan keli and sembilang?? I think sembilang is from the river whilst keli come from the fish pond/farm. I pun baru ni mula belajar makan ikan keli ni, depends on how it's prepared and cooked.

I think it's suku Tanah Datar. I'm of that suku tu..say worigh kito??

Have you heard of Photostory? I used that tool to create the video. Saja je, to make a more lasting impact on the kids. Kita cerita-cerita they all bukan nak dengar pun. The multimedia did the trick :)