Saygor

Blogging boleh jadi satu aktiviti mental yang buatkan si penulis/pembaca penat, dahaga & lapar. Bila jadi macam tu kenalah makan. Oleh itu kali ni nak tulis pasal macam mana nak buat saygor (sayur goreng) untuk makan. tudia aih mukadimah justifikasi. Post resepi la ni senang cakap kahkah.

Ada macam-macam style masak, dan berikut adalah style memasak sap sap soi bujang - ringkas, ekonomik, berkhasiat (kind of) tapi tak semestinya cepat (bergantung kepada skill). Aku cuma reti masak beberapa juadah je, ikut selera tekak aku. Saygor jadi pilihan sebab harini cuti Thaipusam & ini yang aku masak.

Bahan-bahan:
-Sayur-sayuran (ikut suka makan sayur apa. Tak kisah, semua boleh campur).
-bawang putih & bawang besar.
-Ayam/daging (sebab aku bukan herbivor).
-sedikit sos tiram & kicap manis.
-sangat sedikit minyak masak
-perencah SayGor Adabi.

Cara-masak:
1)Potong semua bahan ikut kesesuaian takkan tu pun susah kan.
2)Guna sikit je minyak, tumis sebentar bawang putih & bawang besar dengan ayam/daging sampai 3/4 masak camtu. Asingkan.
3) Guna pot kuali sama, goreng kilas sayur-sayuran tanpa tambah minyak baru. Tapi masukkan 3 4 titis kicap manis cair sekadar nak bagi moist sikit nanti kering sangat kang cepat hangus.
4) *Kalau ada guna sayuran yang lebih tough macam mcm kacang panjang, terung, bendi dll; goreng depa ni dulu bagi lembut sikit. Lepas tu baru campur sekali dengan sayuran lain yang less tough. Pasal kita tak mau goreng sayuran jadi terlampau layu, tapi taknak mentah2 sangat yang kalau campak kat tanah boleh tumbuh lagi.
5) Bila dah nampak sayuran layu sikit, tambah ayam tadi. Kacau2.
6) Masukkan 1 pek perencah SayGor (dengan 1/4 cup air), dan sesudu sos tiram.
7) Kacau lagi sambil menyanyi dan menari lagu kegemaran anda.
8) Siap untuk hidang & makan. Lepas makan jangan tangguh basuh semua alatan dapur yang dah guna tadi kalau tak nanti yilekkk.

Sekian.

Hunger games

Baru-baru ni viral di media sosial tentang kes mahasiswa tahan kelaparan sampai sakit di sebuah ipt. Susulan tu timbul jugak beberapa laporan lain tentang keadaan siswa/i yang tak mampu makan dengan proper di lain-lain ipt. Respons netizen macam-macam, ada yang bersimpati & ada yang suspicious macam mana boleh jadi sampai macam tu. Tak kurang juga yang main blame game.

Individu-individu yang dilaporkan media ni lebih tahu tentang keadaan sebenar situasi mereka. Pasti ada sebab jadi macam tu, walau apapun sebabnya. Aku pun tak follow sangat cerita ni, jadi aku suspend sebarang judgement dulu.

Perkara ni memang realiti di satu sudut kampus & perlu diberi perhatian, tapi melihat kepada sebegini cara coverage media dicampur pulak respons masyarakat ia jadi bad press untuk komuniti universiti. Kompetensi mahasiwa/i sedikit sebanyak jadi questionable . Mungkin belajar pandai, tapi lemah survival & praktikaliti sampai aspek penjagaan diri asas macam pemakanan pun tak terurus. Stigma ni of course tak bagus untuk mahasiswa yang dulunya satu perkumpulan yang dihormati & diharap2 untuk mengangkat masyarakat. Tapi chill dulu, sebab zaman di universiti ni sebahagian dari learning curve mereka juga. Belajar tentang segala.

Tapi betul ke kelaparan ni suatu penanda kelemahan? Isu ni memang sangat delicate, semuanya bergantung kat macam mana kita tengok situasi . Bila kita dengar berita orang kelaparan ni, memang emosi kita akan rasa simpati & tak boleh tahan kesian sebab kita bayangkan betapa sukarnya bagi mereka bila takde makanan macam kita.
(Tapi bagaimana kalau mereka sebenarnya happy & merasa kecukupan dalam simplicity tu?)

Yes.kelaparan nya bukan menggambarkan kelemahan & kedaifan..sehinggalah kita sendiri concede ianya sebegitu. Ada banyak school of thought yang menganjurkan kepentingan berlapar (secara deliberate) sebagai 'gerbang' ke tahap insani lebih tinggi. Contoh paling jelas ialah dalam Islam; bagaimana berlapar (berpuasa) jadi instrumen mengawal hawa nafsu & menanam sifat kehambaan. Selain tu, pemikir falsafah macam Aristotle, Plato & ramai lagi tokoh hebat setuju yang pemikiran lebih tajam bila berpuasa (lapar). Ajaran Buddha, Zen, dan lain-lain turut menganjurkan amalan berlapar dalam kaedah masing-masing untuk pensucian diri spiritually.

Cuma kalau tak cukup bersedia dan matang, pengalaman berlapar memang akan jadi serba tak kena. Perut kosong buat mood jadi cranky tak memasal, produktiviti drop sebab rasa tak bertenaga, jiwa kacau sebab tertekan bila membandingkan diri dengan orang lain, dan sebagainya.

Apapun, nutrisi badan adalah sesuatu yang no nonsense & patut diurus sebaiknya untuk kesihatan & performance aktiviti seharian. Dulu2 masa zaman universiti, aku pun ada ketikanya berlapar sampai rasa lembik je- bukan sebab ada masalah kewangan tapi sebab tak ada kawan nak makan sekali so aku pun skip skip skip je meal time dari makan seorang. Tapi dari situ akhirnya aku sedar, yang kita tak perlukan orang lain pun untuk sama-sama sertai buat sesuatu untuk gain sendiri (macam makan contohnya). Ever since, aku tak ada masalah buat semua benda sendiri2.

Pulau

Aku tak pernah excited pasal idea escapade ke pantai atau pulau. Not that I'm againts these places cuma mungkin sebab pernah 12 tahun menetap kat Labuan (pantai cantik belakang rumah je), jadi 'pantai & pulau' tak muncul dalam kepala bila aku fikir pasal escape. Tak kira mengembara dalam atau luar negara aku tak aturkan pun lawatan ke spot pulau & pantai, I'd prefer going into the wilderness & backcountry & mountains instead. Dan sebab tu dah lama sejak aku sengaja ke pantai.

Tapi last weekend I went camping with a small group of friends to Blue Lagoon (Tanjung Biru) PD. The whole experience; starting from ideas leading up to the event itself & the aftermath- all are thoughtfully noteworthy to me.

There were 5 of us, all are old buddies from varsity years that shares similar  passion in outdoors & adventuras. Back in the younger days we scale mountains together in hiking trips on ends. Then we are separated to each of our own working life. Recently, stars aligned & all of us managed to gather for some catching ups & coffee, to which an idea emerged- "hey let's go somewhere next weekend? it's been ages since we escape together."

Well, although separated all are still active and each of us has grown to adopt different styles of explorer/traveller. Which means everyone has different ideas of an 'escape' in their mind. And with less than a week to plan things up via fb messenger (actually things were only coming together in the final 3 days), I find it very interesting how we discuss ideas through our differences. Ok kidding it was actually comical how disoriented we were, just throwing new ideas around everytime someone disagree. Anyway finally our commitments prevail, with Blue Lagoon+Tg.Tuan plan. Walaupun aku kata tak gemar ke pantai, tapi aku decide untuk fokus kepada quality time with good people.

And I'm glad I gave myself that chance. Sebab Blue Lagoon sangat cantik (kawasan tercantik di seluruh Port Dickson kata orang). Pantai bersih, air jernih dengan view ala kepulauan Maldives bila air surut, ditambah pulak dengan Bukit Batu Putih yang berhampiran (elevation ~100m je, quick hike untuk nice sunset view). Even so, still ada jugak insiden2 yang kelakar terjadi kat tempat kejadian sebab memang kami semua jenis traveller berbeza, so masing2 ada impromptu idea  untuk escalate  plan kolektif ni kepada versi yang ada dalam kepala masing-masing hahaha. Semua nak redah je hahaha. Tapi akhirnya kami setuju untuk keep this one plain & simple je dulu, nanti next visit kita elaborate plan lagi kemas. 

Takeaways yang aku dapat dari trip ni adalah tentang 

1) jenis traveller yang aku sendiri dah adopted to be. Seorang solo traveller dengan simple budget & keperluan basic, suka local ambience dari touristy hype, cenderung outdoor dari indoor, dengan soft spot terhadap budaya & sejarah setempat, dan tak selesa dengan perhatian berlebihan.  

2) aku menghargai diversiti & similariti yang wujud bila kami berkumpul. Membuatkan aku lebih menekuni falsafah aku mengembara & lebih menghargai komuniti yang berkongsi minat dan kelainan2 yang ada.

3) penghargaan aku terhadap pantai dan pulau di'refresh' kembali.

4) Di persisir pantai Blue Lagoon pada waktu pekat malam berbumbungkan bintang dan tiupan bayu lembut, aku menghayati salah satu puisi favourite aku karya John Donne.

No Man Is An Island

No man is an island, 
Entire of itself, 
Every man is a piece of the continent, 
A part of the main. 
If a clod be washed away by the sea, 
Europe is the less. 
As well as if a promontory were. 
As well as if a manor of thy friend's 
Or of thine own were: 
Any man's death diminishes me, 
Because I am involved in mankind, 
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; 
It tolls for thee.

P/s: apepun buat masa ni untuk full swing travel, aku stick dengan secara solo dulu teehee.

Sekolah bawang

Cuti sekolah pun melabuhkan tirai, dan sesi 2016 kick start dengan magicnya (jalanraya tetiba penuh).

Pagi Isnin hari pertama persekolahan aku pergi singgah satu sekolah rendah dikawasan kejiranan ni. Kemain meriahnya..havoc penuh aksi. Bukan setakat ramai budak-budak, ramai orang tua sekali. Berikutan kelonggaran sehingga 4 hari yang diberikan kepada penjawat awam (T&C apply) untuk luangkan masa urus anak-anak yang baru mula bersekolah, tak pelik kenapa ramai betul parents kat sini.
Aku bukanlah ada anak baru daftar sekolah yang kena uruskan, saje je datang melawat kawasan...ambik feel, serap ambience.

Terlalu tinggi nilai moment ni pada aku tak tergambarkan. Ia mengingatkan balik pasal permulaan kita dulu2 macam mana. Suatu ketika dulu kita pernah berada ditempat budak2 ni, masuk dunia baru bernama sekolah dengan perasaan bercampur-baur, "Apa yang akan jadi kat sini?", " Siapa ramai-ramai tak kenal ni?",  "Mama papa don't leave me!!"  Tidak sedikit air mata yang tumpah. Kahkah.

Kedatangan aku masuk dalam sekolah ni pun perasaan tetap bercampur-baur melihat semua yang berlaku disekeliling. Sengih sorang-sorang tengok wajah2 kecil confuse dan 'pemantau' mereka yang resah gelisah diluar kelas. Terasa sentimental pulak mengenangkan mak & ayah punya kasih sayang time2 aku masuk darjah satu dulu pun. Satu persatu memori digamit sebab apa yang nampak depan mata, semuanya pengkisahan yang sama. Dramatik tak payah kata lah, ada nangis tak nak berenggang dengan mak. Ada jugak yang mak ayah lebih, anak rileks je.

Terasa sayu melihat dalam kalangan anak-anak cilik ni, ada yang notably beruniform rapi namun lusuh, kasut bersih namun lama , berbanding rakan-rakan yang serba serbi baru. Bukak fb pulak ternampak post-post perkongsian guru-guru tentang alkisah anak-anak didik mereka cekal yang dalam kedaifan tapi tetap semangat untuk menimba ilmu. Ada kena bergilir uniform baru boleh datang sekolah, ada yang beg tembus terlalu usang, ada yang xmampu beli makanan waktu rehat. Makin terkengsot jiwa bila baca cerita-cerita ni.

Dipermulaan alam sekolah ni berbagai ragamnya yang dapat dilihat. Melihat zahirnya kasih sayang ibubapa kepada anak, melihat kenaifan kekudusan anak-anak kecil (cerminan kita suatu masa dulu), melihat dugaan Tuhan terhadap hambaNya, melihat semangat yang anak-anak ini tunjukkan. Bagi aku sekali sekala kita kena revisit balik benda2 macamni, untuk jumpa balik diri kita yang mungkin dah lama sangat kita tinggalkan..dan terlupakan..

Memang sentimental. Ini sekolah bawang ke apa sampai pedih2 mata ni!

Lesson learnt: Aras lebih tinggi memberikan pandangan teropong yang lebih jauh & jelas.

If a tree falls

If a tree falls in an inhabited forest
and no one is around to hear it,
does it make a sound?

This riddle first came from philosopher George Berkeley in 1710 in one of his book, and since then has taken multiple forms and variants but nevertheless, all still pose the similar question. 

The answer can be from both technical & philosophical viewpoints. An example of scientific explanation is like: “If there be no ears to pickup the air vibrations & nerve centers to recognize it, there will be no sound. The definition of sound simplified is- hearable noise. ”

That feels rather jarring and hard to swallow isn't it? Is sound only a sound if a person hears it? From our knowledge in physics & all, we believe we know how things operate and in this case the fallen tree WOULD have undisputedly make a lot of sound...that's how our learnings thought us.

This is where the philosophical mind frame sets in. This riddle is a philosophical thought experiment that raises questions regarding observation & knowledge of reality.  In its most simplest definition, it challenges the concept of how we understand things based on our sensory perception, and the exhausting process to extrapolate unknown things. Can we assume the unobserved world functions the same as the observed world? Is there only one realm and logic? Is universe that linear?

This is one of those stuffs that'll just break the conventional box & stretches the paradigm. It opens your mind to new planes of thinking. This idea is a common practice in areas like quantum physics, space exploration, futurist & several others- because it pushes the frontier and helps them develop new theories in their ever challenging pursuit to discover and understand new depths. It really does- unimaginable new innovations & milestones have materialized throughout time.

It's one of my favourite. And for me this idea applies to things as close as everyday perception too. Just because we don't see it, doesn't mean it doesn't happen & vice versa. There's always a twist. Everything is never only as it seems. Judgements are flawed if made based on the limited ability to perceive. So in this context the riddle can sound like:

If one experiences something
and nobody is made to know it
does it actually happens?

As far as I'm concerned it does, if one believes that it only matters to the doer not on other's validation . My personal testament is; I travel to places and do things- all without sharing/posting photos or updates on social medias. My friends may not know what I did & where I went, but still they happened and I profoundly experienced them all nevertheless. By nature, most everyday things we do don't straightaway concerns other people,  and whatever motives/interests that might exist are purely induced behavior. Those who really wants to know will eventually know because they asks. Everything in this life breaks down to individual experience tbh.

The celebrated speaker, Sir Ken Robinson once jokingly told the audiences in one of his TEDTalks;

If a man speaks his mind out in a forest,
and his woman is not around to hear him,
Is he still wrong?

:P

I had cereal for breakfast this morning, and a photo like this tells people that it happened. But even if I don't tell & nobody knows, it still happened as far as my tummy is concerned.

D'bait

One of the clever things I heard this time around is about the Malaysia's UiTM debater duo winning streak in the World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC), placed second amongst all formidable names in the world of varsity debate.

While certain local political quarters might have implied debating is not a productive practice and not a Malaysian culture in dealing with disputes (It's Najib) , the duo's amazing feat needs no further validation. The volume & prestige of the stage speaks for itself..and they've made the country proud. Congrats guys.

Mifzal & Jasmine, I was made aware of their journey juuust recently from last week's Bella@NTV7's interview where Elaine Daly hosts them in an another good show (as Bella always managed to do). When the show was aired they were about to fly to Greece for the WUDC in a couple of days I think.

What amuses  me is their (1) flair and articulation in conveying their (2) outlook on things.

When asked about the most valuable takeaways from involvement in debates:
It's teaches oneself to be more understanding. Stripped from all prejudice. Because debates often put oneself to thoroughly represent another's shoes and viewpoints- be it majority speaking on behalf of minority, male to female, people from different walks of life, etc. In that sense, debating is very empowering because misunderstanding is the root of all problems. Better understanding can just lift so much wight on many crisis, and acceptance that'll follow after understanding is achieved will solve many issues that we are dealing now.

When asked about what virtue does debate teaches them personally:
Contrary to the popular notion that debate grooms oneself to be dominantly critical, eloquent & assertive verbally, debate actually teaches a lot about listening with composure and talk less but wisely. Impact is of higher importance than just vocal. Debate hone the skill of  controlled delivery of ideas, instead of just just go all machine gun style. It grooms oneself to listen more than speak.

These are just some catch I got from the interview. Rephrased.

During MRSM days I was part of the english debate team myself, and albeit not winning anything worth mentioning I always have this liking for duel between fronts of different ideas. I still have, until this day. And I gained some great memories too from that experience.

One weaponly word that my debate teacher (she's a lawyer by training) gave me back then that I still remember is “I believe you have just twisted your tongue mister with that fact, because  actually blabla”. That was supposed to shake the foundations of the other party, instill fearrr hahaha.