The holidays are finally over.

It’s time to go back to slaving myself over notes and lectures. But I guess that’s still better than numbing my ass on this chair all the time. I was gonna blog about my trip to a waterfall, but the phone lines went dead when I reaced home and stayed dead right until this morning.

No mood.

Why am I sighing so much?

Is it because I’m constantly reminded of my own mistakes, my own failures, and all that has happened that has lead to this position where I am seated now?

Why am I sighing so much?

Is it because I’m incapable of realising the right thing to do, right when it counts? Incapable of grasping the situation, right when the situation demands it?

Why am I sighing so much?

Is it because I’ve been hurting myself unecesarily a few times too much. Enough for me to label myself a self-made loser?

Why am I sighing so much?

Maybe it’s because I’m capable of taking up all the punches thrown at me and still stand up to look at you with a smile.

I am a big food enthusiast. Which also explains why I’m a big-waisted person. I like to mess around the kitchen when I’m home alone, and I believe I’m pretty good at cooking up a good serve :D

A few months back [sometime in October methinks], I attended a paid workshop to prepare some Japanese food, namely maki sushi and onigiri. These are very simple but quite popular dishes, at least among those who can appreciate Japanese culture and culinary scene. Maki Sushi are actually hand-rolled sushi, like the ones you see wrapped in seaweed. Onigiri are Japanese rice balls which are triangular in shape. Sometimes they come plain, and sometimes with stuffings like tuna mayo or grilled eel.

So I attended this workshop with good old San, simply because both of have our own reasons. I love trying out new stuff, while San is just crazed about Japanese food [he especially LOVES dipping his sushi in wasabi]. We spent 2 hours on fun with food during the workshop and we both left with much satisfaction, and with some extra knowledge to boot.

On the following few weeks, I discovered that San has been making good use of his newly-acquired knowledge. He regularly makes onigiri for meals, and often times makes enough to share with his housemates. Here’s the thing. While onigiri is so fucking easy to make, it’s not exactly cheap.

Local or Siamese rice don’t hold together well enough when pressed together by hand, they crumble easily. We were told it was so because the local grains are longer than the Japanese grains, which are a lot rounder in shape. That way the grain can be packed a lot tighter while still retaining a fluffy texture. In case you don’t realize it, Japanese rice are imported, and that only means it’s fucking expensive. Not to mention that you have to buy seaweed to cook the rice with. So, it’s not exactly the most cost-efficient food to have in here Malaysia.

Yet, he continues to make them, and shares it with people around him. Which, in my book, is always a good thing. When I asked, he just mentioned about how bored he is of local food.

“Mamak, Nasi Campur, Western, Mamak, Nasi Campur, Western, Mamak, Nasi Campur, Western. Tak cool, dowh.”

I can’t deny that, actually. Gotta admire that passion, though.

So, why did you bring up this old story?

Ah yes, almost forgot. I was going to talk about a dream I had, but kinda slipped, heheh. It was a dream about San. It’s a pretty cool dream, so I thought I’d blog about it. However, I wasn’t part of it, which was a bit strange. So anyway, here’s how it went.

San emerged from his front door with a big plastic box full of stuff. He rides down the lift, and makes his way outside of the Cyberia apartments. He reaches his car, unlocks its, and starts to unload things. Umbrella, plastic folding table, metal folding chair etc. After about 10 minutes, we see him setting the table for his roadside foodstall. As a finishing touch, he put up a standing A4-sized cardboard sign that read;

“Homemade Onigiri! 3 for RM 2.00!”
That’s right, folks. He’s making a business. But it’s not some hanky panky deal here. He got various stuffings to go with his offers. There’s Tunamayo, Chickenmayo, Buttered Crabmeat, Buttered Prawn, and there’s a Premium BBQ Eel which sells for a tad bit higher at RM 2.50 for a pack of 3.

And by golly, he’s making money! People passing buy each grabbed packs of 3 and rushed off to class, or brought it back home for lunch. He gets a friend to handle the customers while he continues to make more onigiri to top up his offerings.

But yeah, as far as it goes that’s how the dream went. While it may seem simple and dull [I can hear yells of "what a n00b dream!", here's something for you *flips the bird*, now stfu] but really, I think it’s an amazing idea! I mean look, food courts and Japanese food outlets everywhere are charging 2 digit figures for a set meal of rice? It’s the rip-off of the century I tell you!

If someone wants to open up a stall, why don’t they break out of the norm. We already have too many burger stalls, tau foo fah stalls, pau stalls, even goreng pisang is getting dull [they either pick the least ripened bananas or their batter tastes like a mortar mix]. Open up a stall that sells onigiri! If you want something local, sell chicken rice balls!

[note: I love chicken rice balls. I swallowed about 5 of them under 2 minutes during an eating contest XD That was back in Melaka during a CNY Fest held at MMU]

Sell something different for a change. But then, a sad thing about being different in Malaysia is that you can’t stay different for long. I remember the first nasi lemak kukus stall that opened up in my town. A small little stall, but with plenty of regulars every night. It was the only one - for about a week. A fortnight later about 4 more nasi lemak kukus stalls popped out of nowhere. Talk about being unoriginal.

I might not get the chance to open up a stall to sell food, but I thought onigiri was a good idea, LOL. Well, that’s what this blog is for, anyway.

Sigh. Down the abyss again for me.

But then, that was how things were the last time this happened. I know I’m supposed to leave personal issues out when playing suitor, but I can’t help it. Its a personal urge of mine to offer a listening ear. I can’t just ignore it when a person I’m talking is down in the dumps. I can’t stand to end the conversation without at least making the other person feel a bit better.

I don’t know if I can rope this one in. The case sounds awfully familiar. Ears, ears, where are my ears? T_T Nobody’s listening.

update:

I find myself sighing too much. I can’t wait for the holidays to end. It almost feels like I’m in a boot camp, here.