Starting Over

A couple of days ago I guess I was feeling much better after being able to drive a little and was able to ride in the car around town with no pain ....... only discomfort, I decided to do something about the mini-farm. I really had to do something or the mini-farm will become a mini savannah grassland complete with creepy crawlies as residents, you know the cold and "clamy" or slimy kind ......... yeech!!!

With a hoe in hand I headed to the mini-farm to access the situation to decide from where I should start first .......... hmm ...... guess I had to clear the compost area first so that I can make use of the place to start a new compost heap after all there were going to be lots of vegetation that need to be composted. So very carefully I started to dig out the grass very gently ensuring only a very minimal of strain was allowed on any part of my anatomy. After not having done anything physical for more than a month I was really stiff all over and with a very strong fear of a relapse of the sciatica, I took a rest after not more than five strokes of the hoe.

After clearing only a very small portion of the ground like less than a square meter I decided to stop cause I thought there was small pain in the small of my back and knees. Imagination or not I rather be safe than sorry. The next day luckily it rained so rest no strain. Anyway to-date the compost area is done, not completely done, but is done and there is still a very very verrryyy long way to go!!

Chinese Beef Soup

Chinese beef soup with the inside ..... meaning the stomach, tendons, intestines, etc...... is always a favorite dish of mine. My youngest daughter is also crazy about it.

My first taste of beef soup was when I was in primary school and my mum bought it from Third Cross Street and it was really heavenly. Whenever my mum brought along a tiffin carrier like kind of contraption to pick us up from school, I would really be looking forward to lunch because the contraption was used for containing the beef soup ...... plastic bags were unheard off at that time. Anyway it was a great lost when the hawker of this delicious soup pass on because there was no successor so the recipe went with him.

Another great eating beef soup is in Seremban and it is served with noodles. The beef soup and the noodles are served separately but as a set. The noodles are served mixed with a thick sauce and the soup in a separate bowl. My cousins used to feed us with this very yummy beef noodles whenever we visit during our school holidays when I was still in school. It is nice to know that there were successors for this great beef noodles and both my daughters is just crazy about it.

Another place that serve great beef noodle is in Jasin but there was no successor so it is just a memory today. This place serves the beef noodles with a choice of either "dry" or in soup. Dry meaning that the noodles are separated from the soup and it is mixed with a thick sauce and my choice is always the dry one because it is tastier.

About more than five years ago we discovered this place called “Sup Lembu Tangkak” or Tangkak Beef Soup right in Malacca itself. Tangkak is a small town along the border of Malacca and Johore and I had heard of this very popular beef noodle soup but never did make an attempt to look for it before the few times I was in Tangkak. The next natural thing to do upon discovering this place was to patronise it. The very first time we were there I wanted the dry kind but was totally rejected by the shop owner and was told that people come here for the soup….Oh!!! OK we changed our order according to what was available and totally enjoyed it.

Today they are located along Panjang Road, a journey of a humble beginning from just a stall in a food court to a rented place and their very own building now so I was told. Whatever made them decide to operate in Malacca is really a good choice cause I can enjoy it whenever I feel like it. The original stall is still in Tangkak. Shall we??

Morning After

Ouch!! Ouch!! Ouch!! Yes it is hurting more than normal after yesterday's quest this morning but it was really a big step forward .....hmmm!! looks like it is a no pain no gain kind of situation ya!

Step Forward.

Today is the thirty sixth day of just being in a state of inertness ....... Ooops!! sorry the day before yesterday was quite eventful and did quite a fair bit of running around after being almost in a comatose stage. Thanks to my wife and wife's friend and sister I was able to take a giant step forward in my road to recovery from the arrgh!! sciatica. Yesterday was a full day of rest and I am really happy that the degree of pain did not increase after the long period of riding in the car running around town playing assistant tour guide the day before. It is still painful but bearable.

OK I think I am going to do some gardening this evening and I really do hope that there will be no consequences after that. I planted an eggplant seeds about a week ago and the seedling need to be transplanted for it to grow further. Since I think I am much better now I have to make the next step ya!! It is about twelve noon now and the sun is really scorching hot so come evening when the weather is more conducive, I will be in the garden ....... wish me luck.

Hi I am back .......... OK just had my bath and dinner ........ so far so good, just very little new pain but just some aching here and there ......... wooh!!! too early to come to any conclusion at the moment but I did it, yes I managed to clear an earlier prepared bed of weeds and planted the brinjal seedling. With a sickle in hand just after I had my afternoon nap about four o'clock I started with my quest. First the overgrown weeds around the bed was trimmed inch by inch with a sickle and having to take a break after every few strokes to give my legs and back a rest. The earth on the bed itself was loosen with a screw driver like tool and the weeds removed by hands making sure that the roots of the weeds were removed too.

After about two and a half hours the bed was ready for planting and my buttocks was starting to hurt a little. I was so close to achieving my quest so I decided to ignore the growing pains and continue to put the seedling in the ground. After another thirty minutes or so it's done complete with mulching. I am really glad that it was done feeling a sense of great achievement and taking another step forward in my recovery even though I start to limb a little from the new pain then.

Now I am just wondering whether I should had stop immediately when there was a first pinch of pain or was it foolish of me to to persevere even though some pain was developing. Well guess I will only know by tomorrow morning. Oh ya, I can now sleep a little better.

Unscheduled Stop

Last Tuesday very early morning at about 1:30AM was just like any other early morning for the past nearly one month I had to wake up to relief the pain in my right leg due to the sciatica problem. Sleeping through the night was impossible for me for the time being, it was like taking naps because every other hour I must walk around to relief the pain.

While struggling out of bed with a piercing pain from my right buttock down to my knee I heard a loud crunching noise of metal and plastic being compressed at high speed. I peeped out of the window and saw what looks like a motorcycle had collided with a car at the T-junction down the road. OOooo ouch my leg hurts and I wondered how much longer will I have to suffer this meaningless pain.

Moments later some people were shouting at each other at the top of their voice for causing their unscheduled stop. Once again I looked out of the window, this time standing up straight and was able see better. There was another car involved in the collision head on with the other car while the motor bike was lying on the side. While the people involved in the drama were accusing each other for causing the unscheduled stop passer by quickly rushed to pull the motorbike away from the two damaged cars and flames started coming out from one or both the cars ..... it was difficult to tell cause both the cars were like stuck to each other. The flame grew real fast and devoured both the cars in a matter of minutes before the firemen arrived to put it out. The crowd also grew as fast as the fire and I was surprised to see so many of them gathered in such a short time at this very early morning hour. The driver of one of the car was swearing away of being cursed ........ guess he will blame any thing but failed to be responsible of his own action. A couple of police cars and an ambulance were there to watch the drama. Both the wreckage were removed from the scene of the accident once the fire was put out and the crowd also dispersed.

I put away my camera and quietly slipped back into bed keeping my fingers crossed hoping to sleep right through till sunrise but it did not happened.

Shattered Dream

Today is the twenty ninth day since I got an wanted present from hell and I have not had a single night of decent sleep since. Yes it is the sciatica that I am talking about. The recovery process is really slow and it is really a great way to torture anyone to get information ......... I don't think Rambo can withstand this kind of torture too!!! kekeke!!

I had rehabilitated and added compost to all six of the long beds so that they would be ready for planting when the raining season starts. Mini hills were constructed for perennials because there is now a concept after gaining some very valuable hands on experience last year. It is exciting and was really looking forward to the raining season to realise my concept. I could imagine the result of an almost continuous flow of greens on the table and the sweet taste of home grown organics almost daily.

The raining season had started a while back and my mini farm is getting overgrown with weeds. The raised beds were covered with a layer of organic green not veggies but a crown of weeds. All mini hills are being slowly devoured by the weeds and so are the poor herbal plants. The compost pile is also not spared as the weeds enjoyed themselves wholeheartedly to the gourmet cuisine which I used to jealously guard against them. Sometimes I can even hear them party all night long ...hehe!! just kidding.

Every evening I am tempted to do something to check the uncontrolled growing of the weeds but the fear of aggravating the situation I am in never fail to stop me. I am still in pain not just pain but very irritating kind of pain. I really hope my mini farm would not be an undergrowth when I am fit enough to rework it. My tools are also rusting away due to the idleness ........ Anyone care to give me a hand.