Tuntung vs Penyu

When I was growing up eating turtle eggs were very common.  However, there were reports of abuse from profit making individuals as well as poaching which resulted turtle eggs became very expensive and rare.
 
In 1980 during my visit to Kuala Trengganu, it was the very first time I had the opportunity to see turtles lay their eggs. My dad who was stationed there made arrangements to drive us down to Rantau Abang. It was the place where hundreds of turtle would beached and lay their eggs. Turtle can lay as much as 50-60 eggs at one time.  Right before dawn the turtle will leave its eggs and headed for the ocean, leaving the babies (if it ever they get to hatch) to fend for themselves.  In Kuala Trengganu, turtle eggs was an easy access, you can buy it on the beach or at the local markets.  Turtle eggs are round with soft shell and looks like a ping pong ball.  The egg white is slimy but the red is semi hard. You need to boil it first before consuming it.  To eat it, you need to tear the soft shell and add a bit of salt then just suck it. By the way, Uncle Mohd Mokhtar, who was a police Inspector then, accompanied us throughout our trip.  Now he is Datuk Mohd Mokhtar Shariff, Johor Head of Police. Back then Uncle Mokhtar was single, good looking and available....hehehe.

Over time, the price of turtle eggs sky rocketed and it became very difficult to get.  Lesser and lesser turtle beached in Trengganu to lay eggs. Much later the Fishery Department declared that turtles are an endangered species. Those who were caught selling turtle eggs can be prosecuted. 

Then there was Tuntung, from similar turtle species.  I don't know what it is called in English but the scientific name is Batagur baska. The tuntung I know lay eggs by the river. But there are also sea tuntung, if I am not mistaken.  Whenever it is available at our local wet market, my grandfather, Tok Din, would buy a few tuntung eggs. It has the same soft shell and same taste as the turtle eggs.  The only difference is it's an oval shape. What irritated me was Tok Din wouldn't wanna share the tuntung eggs with us, the rest of the household.  So I saved up my daily pocket money and asked him to buy me one whenever he goes to the market.  In 1981 it cost me 75cents an egg. It was a luxury! And it was the last time I had it.

Taste wise, to me, they are the same. 

Ever since turtle and tuntung was declared as an endangered species, I have not made any attempt to look for their eggs.  But my story is worth sharing since my kids will never be able to experience eating both eggs.

Happy Birthday to Ayah Sayang

That morning of 23-Aug-2012, I woke up the kids and we went out to Jusco Equine Park.  The kids volunteered to use some of their Raya money to buy gifts for their dad.  Thank you kids!

It's their dad's birthday.

Right before we left, I left prepared 2 half boiled eggs and tea for his breakfast.

Happy Birthday to you kutuk and may Allah bless you and our small family.

Do Not Forget To Visit Them on Raya.

This Raya we were not able to stopped at Teluk Kemang, like we always do on 3rd Raya.  Instead we traveled to Teluk Kemang, Port Dickson on the 7th day of Raya.  This visit is a must!

Kubur Nenek Ramlah (my biological mother, passed away 13-Jan-1977)

Kubur Moyang Aishah (left) and kubur Moyang Taib (right) - my maternal grandparents

Moyang Aishah's mother

Nenek Ramlah's older sister. She died due to high fever when she was 4 years old.

Dear Shakira and Shakiel, when I am gone, please make it an annual pilgrimage to nenek Ramlah's grave and sedekah surah Yssin to her, her parents, her aunt and her grandmother.  I have instilled this for 10 years now and do not forget to visit them.  Kalau both of you tak ziarah kubur nenek, siapa lagi?  With that note I am attaching pictures of their graves and location so you won't forget their location. 5 kubur yang semuanya warna biru.

Finally, we still have our roots there. Jangan lupa visit Nek Wan. Kalau Nek Wan dah tak ada, visit Aunty Ijan tau.

And also jangan lupa visit Atuk Wi ye!

Niquitin

The other night my son came running into my bedroom and wanted to borrow a pen.He said he wants to write down the name of a medication which is good for me.

Later he came back and passed me a slip of tiny piece of paper with the word, 'Niquitin' on it. I know what that is! Then he said, "Mummy buy la, this is good and it will help you...."

Boy, it is easier said then done. Thank you Shakiel, I know you mean well. I love you too.

Insya Allah, jika ada kekuatan diri ini............

1st Day of Raya

It has always been our routine on every Raya: Ampang on Raya eve, 2 am on Raya we travel back to Parit, 2nd Raya we travel to Klang, after lunch we continued our journey to Melaka and finally on 3rd Raya we will stopped in Port Dickson. So far we have not diverted our Raya plan ever since we got married, let me count...14 years!

It is the best plan so far.  We have taken so many things into consideration and until now we are ok with it.  Alhamdulillah.  Don't want to get into details of how we came up with that decision for now.  That will be an entirely different post.

Those who benefit most were the kids. Collect duit raya lah kerja mereka, This year I was given the honor to prepare my Assam Laksa Penang. Unfortunately I did not take pictures of it.  My mobile phone battery has been giving me problems so I did not even bother to carry it around. Assam Laksa has been my signature dish on hari raya. We would change our main raya spread every year. Couple of times, I prepared my Laksa Johor.  Sheri like to prepare Prawn Noodles, Mee Curry and there was one year she prepared Lontong and Lodeh.

I miss my dad during Raya.  On 1st of Raya, we went to Tanah Perkuburan Talang Batin and read verses from surah Yassin for Abah. I find it hard to control my tears whenever I read Yassin for him. Then we met aunty Salmah and family who just about to leave. She is still in mourning the death of Uncle Ros. Still weeping when she saw my mom and both hugged to comfort each other.

I missed Abah who occasionally would compliment and tease my Assam Laksa was delicious or my Teh Tarik was the best, that I should open up a small stall in front of the house. Ha ha ha yeah right Abah!

I missed the times when he would accompany me in the wee morning hours of Raya while I cook. I would tell him, its ok Abah you go ahead and sleep, I will be okay.  He left but later came back, sat down, smoke another cigarette and asked me for Milo.

I missed when Abah used to squeeze my arm commented whether I gained or lose weight.

How much I wish Abah was still with us....

On a good note, this year is the very first time that my mom kissed me on both cheeks and forehead.  It was very unusual, which made me pause and think. Why? She has never done that before. Is it a sign? Just like when Abah said he loved me during his last stay at my house in Puchong? A few months later he left us. I thought I should put it in writing. But I pray mom will leave a long life just like Nenek Klang who is 92 years old.  Though she is weak and bed ridden, nenek still remembers everyone, including myself.

Aunty Aishah came back to Klang for 7 weeks holiday to spend time with nenek klang.

To all whether you celebrate Eid or not, Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri. May God bless us all!

Rendang Daging Manis Mak Tok

Every year my mother-in-law will prepare this dish.  So it is a must for us every raya. Since mom-in-law passed away, the recipe was passed down to her 2 daughters and they manage to preserve the original flavor and taste, just like 'mak tok' buat.

Its Eid Again!

How fast time flies.  Its 2012 Eid already.  Kids did very well.  They completed 29 days of fasting days.  I couldn't do that when I was at their age. Good job guys!

Here I am sitting on the couch and thinking what's my Raya going to be like. Raya is just like another day but with new clothes. I wonder what does it takes for me the get back the spirit of Raya.

As usual raya clothes for us is a must. In total I spent RM500.

Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf zahir dan Batin.

Berbuka Puasa

Hari tu iye2 je excited nak pergi berbuka dgn rakan2 mengaji. tapi tadi merampus tak nak pergi. Adik tak nak pergi, kakak pun tak nak. I negotiated I will pick them up at 9 selepas solat isya' instead of lepas tarawih. Bila kita dah sampai, tup tup dia boleh cakap, " Ala mummy, kan mummy kata nak ambik pukul 11 malam?' What?!! Was I speaking in Russian ptg tadi???? So now here I am, waiting for 11 pm to pick up pak cik gembel!!!Am I a softy? Go figure.....

My Promise To My Children

 To my dearest Shakira and Shakiel,

As long as I live - I am your Parent 1st - your Friend 2nd.  I will stalk you, flip out on you, lecture you, drive you insane, be your worst nightmare & hunt you down like a bloodhound when needed because I LOVE YOU! When you understand that, I will know that you are a responsible adult. You will NEVER find someone who loves, pray, cares and worries about you more than I do! If you don't hate me once in your life - than I am not doing my job properly.

Credit and thank you to that someone who posted and shared the above on the Facebook Wall.

The Final Journey

Al-Fatihah.

I had the opportunity to view Uncle Ros for the last time before they complete ' mengafan'. I kneel down and .....then, I said, " Assalamualaikum Uncle, sampaikan salam Shera pada Abah ye." And a kiss on his forehead.

I was emotional throughout the 'Talqin' reading.  Imam had to pause several times to control his personal emotions.

One by one left and moving forward with their lives. While, Uncle Ros awaits his journey to the after life.

Here lay, Mokhtar bin Sa'aniah, Sharkawi bin Sa'aniah and Mohd Rus bin Sa'aniah. The three TOP GUNs. Gone but never will be forgotten. Left us within 38 months.

 Uncle Mokhtar (on left) and Uncle Ros (on right)

Batu Gajah Hospital

This Sunday afternoon we went to visit Uncle Ros again.

Soon as we arrived at the WAD 2 entrance I saw my cousins, Wani and Azlina, who just visited Uncle Ros. Their eyes were red, watery and swollen. We asked what happened. They said Uncle Ros is not doing well.

The ICU ward is so quite and serene.  We walked straight to Uncle Ros and heard that Aunty Salmah wants to bring  Uncle Ros home. We were told Uncle Ros may have internal bleeding but it has not been confirmed unless scoping is conducted on him at Ipoh General Hospital.

Update : I am not able to finished this article. I just got news that Uncle Ros passed away after a short coma. Please pray for his safe journey to his Maker. Al Fatihah. We will be on our way back to Parit after sahur.

Dear Uncle Ros, Shera minta maaf banyak2 kalau Shera ada buat dosa and don't worry, semua dosa uncle telah pun Shera maafkan. Please send my regards to Tok Din, Tok Niah, Uncle Mokhtar, Uncle Meor, my Mummy and especially my ABAH. Thank you for taking care of me, Uncle.

The Visit

This weekend we went back to Parit and we want to accomplish 2 things.  The first is to break fast this Ramadhan with my mom and secondly to visit Uncle Ros in the hospital. It was a tiresome weekend but I am glad I decided to travel back home, at least should anything happened I will have some piece of mind.

We drove to Hospital Batu Gajah and headed straight to WAD 2.  When we stepped in the ward we saw Aunty Salmah sitting next to Uncle Ros's bed.  After we exchanged salams, I can no longer control my tears.  They just rolled down my cheeks. I was so surprised to see my Uncle Ros, who was a hell of a guy, laying weak and helpless.  I just don't understand how much he shrunk from my last visit.  I took his palm and he gripped and squeeze mine for a long time. It was as though he tried to say something with the groaning sounds he made. The stroke got it to him.

Since my last visit in early July, Uncle Ros had a mild stroke on his left side of body. This happened the night after his dialysis.  He was doing find after the procedure but at around 11 pm he had breathing difficulty which resulted stroke. Scans and x-ray showed Uncle Ros has a blood clot in his brain.  Doctors said they medicate the thinning of the blood clot but paralysis will take some time to recover. Ain't live so fragile. After a week or so at Pantai Puteri Hospital, Uncle Ros was discharged and re-admitted but at Ipoh General Hospital.  The hospital charges was certainly a burden.  However, the hospital bill, which came to RM11k was settled by his brothers and sisters.

Next  I heard he was recuperating at home.  Unfortunately, it wasn't easy to take care of Uncle Ros.  Tantrums. Refuse to eat. Refuse to be inserted with tubes. Due to lack of water in his body, Uncle Ros found himself with blood in urine. A house call doctor advised that the urinary track infection (hematuria) can be controlled. But things got worst when Uncle Ros got the fever.  Doctor recommended that Uncle Ros to be admitted to Batu Gajah Hospital so that he will get the proper medical attention. There was no sign of cancerous cell in him. Aunty Salmah said, apa2 nak jadi pun, biarlah jadi kat rumah ni. She sounded like dia berserah kepada takdir. Whatever will be, will be.  Yes I know they want Uncle Ros to be confortable within his environment should his life ended.

So here I am standing next to his bed with him still clasping my palm. I was touched, very touched. What can I say.....someone I knew who used to be so active, jolly, loud, the martyr of this family has shriveled and all bones. It is like watching my father all over again.  His lips were dry and I suggested Aunty Salmah use a damp cloth to wash his mouth and scrape access from the tough.  I explained in a polite manner with reasoning and I hope she will take my advise. I know what I was taking about. He was breathing through his mouth and refuse tube inserted in his throat to suck out the heavy sputum.

Not only Uncle Ros suffers, his family suffers as well. It was hard watching him deteriorate.  It's a 360 degree turn. Yes it does disrupt the normal life of people close to him but  this is pay back time. He had care for all of us and it is our turn to return the favor.  Aunty Salmah was not much help when I asked what is the medical status, or what treatment is Uncle Ros getting, etc..I know he can get better with proper care.

Now I understand why people opt for euthanasia.