My mom only had one eye. I hated her... She was such an embarrassment. She cooked for students & teachers to support the family.There was this one day during elementary school where my mom came to say hello to me. I was so embarrassed.How could she do this to me? I ignored her, threw her a hateful look and ran out. The next day at school one of my classmates said, 'EEEE, your mom only has one eye!'I wanted to bury myself. I also wanted my mom to just disappear. I confronted her that day and said, ' If you're only goanna make me a laughing stock, why don't you just die?'My mom did not respond...I didn't even stop to think for a second about what I had said, because I was full of anger.I was oblivious to her feelings. I wanted out of that house, and have nothing to do with her. So I studied real hard , got a chance to go abroad to study.
Then, I got married. I bought a house of my own. I had kids of my own. I was happy with my life, my kids and the comforts, Then one day, my mother came to visit me.She hadn't seen me in years and she didn't even meet herGrandchildren.When she stood by the door, my children laughed at her, and I yelled at her for coming over uninvited. I screamed at her, 'How dare you come to my house and scare myChildren!' GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!!!' and to this, my mother quietly answered, 'Oh, I'm so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address,' and she disappeared out of sight.
One day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house. So I lied to my wife that I was going on a business trip. After the reunion, I went to the old shack just out of curiosity.My neighbors said that she died. I did not shed a single tear. They handed me a letter that she had wanted me to have.
'My dearest son,I think of you all the time. I'm sorry that I came to your house and scared your children. I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I may not be able to even get out of bed to see you. I'm sorry that I was a constant embarrassment to you when you were growing up.You see........when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye. As a mother, I couldn't stand watching you having to grow up with one eye. So I gave you mine. I was so proud of my son who was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye.
With all my love to you,Your mother.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Xong Xi Fa Cia - Happy Chinese New Year !!!
Today is Chinese New Year Day, the start of year of the Ox. The Chinese in Penang would take days to prepare for the celebration, making CNY cookies, shopping for new clothes, shoes, purses. I remember when I was a kid, those from affordable families, would have 15 new clothes, one for each day of celebration. The adults work hard and many people take 15 days off from work to celebrate with their family. It is all about eating, visiting family members and friends, some take the opportunity to gamble and try their new year luck; and the kids enjoy collecting red packets from their married family members. It is so much much for the old and the young. The best time of the year; a time for tourist to visit Penang and enjoy the fun. Hotels will be full, food prices normally go up and the market place will be closed during the first few days. So make sure you stock up your food for the next few days. Xong Xi Fa Cai - Have a Blessed New Year!!!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Indonesian Layered Cake
This is one of my favorite cakes. I used to make this cake and took them to the office for my colleagues. Taste really delicious. Made from grounded plain crackers, cocoa, sugar and butter. I literally poured a thin layer and steamed it until cooked; each time wiping the cover dry to prevent the water droplets collecting on the cake. Usually there are about 12 to 15 layers and it is cooked layer by layer; alternately one layer chocolate and one layer plain. Worth the effort as the cake tastes so gooood...
Penang Dim sum
You find eateries selling Dim Sum almost everywhere in Penang. Where there is food, there are crowds of people. Somehow men have very sensitive nostrils that can sense the aroma of food no matter how far away. Though Dim Sum is most popular for breakfast, there are coffee shops and restaurants selling Dim Sum for lunch and dinner. Most people never get tired of eating Dimsum as there are plenty of varieties to choose from. The Dim Sum that I enjoyed the most were the ones at the Shang Palace, Shangri-La Hotel, Penang. The Dim Sum are so authentic and taste similar to the ones you eat in Hong Kong. When my husband visited me in Penang (before we were married), he was facinated by the food. Not only were there lots of choices, the costs were so cheap. A morning breakfast for 4 adults costed us less than US$10 at one of the restaurants along Gurney Drive. He never stops telling his friends in California what a food paradise, the island is. I yearn for Dim Sum and when we want to savor the food, we would drive down to Fresno's Imperial Garden for our Dim Sum meal. Penang Dim Sum is still better!!!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Simplicity
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated”, a famous quote of Confucius in Successconciousness.com
There can never be more truth. Simplicity is the key to living a contented, fulfilling and meaningful life; a life well lived, one of quality instead of quantity. A simple life has a different meaning and a different value for every person. For me, it means eliminating all but the essential, abstaining from chaos for peace, and spending my time doing what is important to me. I might be here today and gone tomorrow, so why live a clustered and complicating life?
However, getting to simplicity isn’t always easy. It’s a journey, not a destination. It is a matter of exploring my inner self as part of the process of becoming whole. My journey through life has been partly rocky and partly smooth; each time I fell, I brushed the dust from my knees, picked myself up and learned to be more careful to walk the rest of the way, as stated by Frank A. Clark, “If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere”. I have no regrets in my life. I believe that everything happens to me for a reason. The difficult times I go through build my character, making me a much stronger person.
I always describe myself as “what you see is what you get”, devoid of pretenses, hypocrisies and deceits; everything I do, comes from the bottom of my heart, with no expectation nor tinted with any intention and ulterior motive: either I do it with passion and to the best of my ability, or not do it at all. I believe in myself, and my conscience is my guide. Simplicity doesn’t allow me to have a lackadaisical attitude, be irresponsible and non-committal.
My parents were the role models to all my siblings and me, they taught us what living a simple life was all about. Despite being illiterate and poor, my father was a simple and honest man – he didn’t lie; he didn’t cheat; he didn’t steal; he had no foes, instead he would mind his own business and worked hard to put food on the table for the eight of us. For that we will forever be grateful to him.
Simplicity is achieved when everything means something. It is about being appreciative and thankful, being grateful and looking at the glass half full instead of half empty; it is about giving, about an act of kindness and making a difference in somebody’s life. “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel” (qtd. In Kelly 263).
To live a simple life is not to deny myself the things I want, but to free myself from the things that I don’t want, for wise men and women have found that the secret to happiness is not in getting more but in wanting less. I have learned to be content with the things I have that allow me to live my life with purpose. Those who have enough but not too much are those that are the happiest, for wealth is not measured by all the tangible things of a big house, a luxury car, a big screen TV, or a huge bank account; it is what inside the person that matters most of all. Because of our preoccupation with materialism we often miss the best things in life, which are free. To the world I may look poor because I am simple, but little do they know that I am really very rich in blessings which no amount of money could buy - health and happiness and inner peace.
I have discovered that living a simple life gives me the freedom and power to decide and to do what I truly want to do, thereby releasing me from the shackles of the “cycle” that most people are caught living in the first place.
You can’t force simplicity; but you can invite it in by finding as much richness as possible in the few things at hand. Simplicity doesn’t mean meagerness but rather a certain kind of richness, the fullness that appears when we stop stuffing the world with things (Moore, Thomas).
There can never be more truth. Simplicity is the key to living a contented, fulfilling and meaningful life; a life well lived, one of quality instead of quantity. A simple life has a different meaning and a different value for every person. For me, it means eliminating all but the essential, abstaining from chaos for peace, and spending my time doing what is important to me. I might be here today and gone tomorrow, so why live a clustered and complicating life?
However, getting to simplicity isn’t always easy. It’s a journey, not a destination. It is a matter of exploring my inner self as part of the process of becoming whole. My journey through life has been partly rocky and partly smooth; each time I fell, I brushed the dust from my knees, picked myself up and learned to be more careful to walk the rest of the way, as stated by Frank A. Clark, “If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere”. I have no regrets in my life. I believe that everything happens to me for a reason. The difficult times I go through build my character, making me a much stronger person.
I always describe myself as “what you see is what you get”, devoid of pretenses, hypocrisies and deceits; everything I do, comes from the bottom of my heart, with no expectation nor tinted with any intention and ulterior motive: either I do it with passion and to the best of my ability, or not do it at all. I believe in myself, and my conscience is my guide. Simplicity doesn’t allow me to have a lackadaisical attitude, be irresponsible and non-committal.
My parents were the role models to all my siblings and me, they taught us what living a simple life was all about. Despite being illiterate and poor, my father was a simple and honest man – he didn’t lie; he didn’t cheat; he didn’t steal; he had no foes, instead he would mind his own business and worked hard to put food on the table for the eight of us. For that we will forever be grateful to him.
Simplicity is achieved when everything means something. It is about being appreciative and thankful, being grateful and looking at the glass half full instead of half empty; it is about giving, about an act of kindness and making a difference in somebody’s life. “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel” (qtd. In Kelly 263).
To live a simple life is not to deny myself the things I want, but to free myself from the things that I don’t want, for wise men and women have found that the secret to happiness is not in getting more but in wanting less. I have learned to be content with the things I have that allow me to live my life with purpose. Those who have enough but not too much are those that are the happiest, for wealth is not measured by all the tangible things of a big house, a luxury car, a big screen TV, or a huge bank account; it is what inside the person that matters most of all. Because of our preoccupation with materialism we often miss the best things in life, which are free. To the world I may look poor because I am simple, but little do they know that I am really very rich in blessings which no amount of money could buy - health and happiness and inner peace.
I have discovered that living a simple life gives me the freedom and power to decide and to do what I truly want to do, thereby releasing me from the shackles of the “cycle” that most people are caught living in the first place.
You can’t force simplicity; but you can invite it in by finding as much richness as possible in the few things at hand. Simplicity doesn’t mean meagerness but rather a certain kind of richness, the fullness that appears when we stop stuffing the world with things (Moore, Thomas).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
