Monday, April 27, 2009

Tatkala Cermai diBelandakan...

Tajuk kali ini sungguh berkobar-kobar dengan semangat keMelayuan. Tatkala cermai itu diBelandakan, namanya bertukar menjadi Cermai Belanda. Sikit pun tak berkait dengan negara Malaysia lagi. Tapi bolehkah jahrera diJepunkan?

Oh NO! Tidak!

Sejak FIL balik dari hospital, setiap pagi Otto masakkan sop tauco atau miso shiru untuk sarapannya. Dalam sop ini ada miso atau tauco. Pes miso ini seakan pes tauco yang orang melayu masukkan ke dalam kuah mi rebus. Dalam sop miso ini dimasukkan juga sayur, tauhu dll. Ia boleh dimakan dengan nasi, menjadi lauk. Sudah mencukupi sebagai satu hidangan.
Otto masak seperiuk kecil tapi FIL makan hanya sebekas sahaja setiap pagi. Yang lebih dalam periuk itu kami bertigalah harus habiskan setiap hari. Kenapa Otto masak sarapan, ada yang ingin tahu bukan?
Otto masak sarapan dan membuang air kencing FIL yang disimpan dalam botol kencing setiap pagi. Jahrera masak untuk tengah hari dan malam. Tengah hari 3 jenis lauk, malam 3 jenis lauk lain. Jadi kasihanlah pada Jahrera ya pembaca yang budiman. Janganlah kata jahrera ini bini buruk pula. Sedih, rasa terharu akibatnya.
Otto paksa jahrera habiskan sop yang berlebihan itu. Nak tahu apa jahrera kata pada dia?
"I'm not a Japanese, don't force me to eat Japanese food everyday!"
Ya betul. Ke mana jahrera pergi pun, di mana jahrera menetap pun, tekak ini masih tekak melayu lagi. Hati ini masih bersemangat melayu lagi. Bahasa ini masih melayu lagi dan lidah noghori masih menjela-jela pekat lagi.
Tak macam buah cermai itu. Dia sudah menjadi Belanda. Merah bukan kuning lagi. Dia sudah lupa asal usulnya. Walaupun dia merah di luar tapi di dalam dia masih masam. Mana boleh hilang naruni seseorang yang ada di dalam? Bukan senang berpura-pura seumur hidup.

Sebenarnya cermai itu ada di kebun jahrera. Selama ini jahrera namakan aserola tapi rupanya orang melayu menamakannya sebagai cermai belanda.

Pohon Cermai Belanda

Lepas entri bunga kesum di bawah itu, ada kawan nun jauh mengajar jahrera masak nasi kerabu dengan irisan daun kesum. Jahrera cubalah cara yang diajarkan. Sedap sangat. Tiga hari jahrera makan nasi kerabu seorang diri.



Kerabu Kesum/Cermai Belanda

Tentang baja asli untuk daun kesum itu, kalau tak jadi subur macam dalam gambar jahrera itu, jangan salahkan takdir atau jangan salahkan jahrera atau jangan salahkan kesum itu. Sebenarnya blogawan budiman kena tahu terlebih dahulu kandungan kimia dalam tanah sendiri. Kalau tanah itu tanah liat bermakna lebih bahan alkali dan air kencing yang banyak mengandungi bahan asid akan mengimbangkan kandungan kimia dalam tanah tersebut.
Jadi kalau tanah itu sudah mengandungi bahan asid dari asal, janganlah ditambah lagi dengan air kencing. Itu sudah melebihi paras asid dan mungkin kesum mendapat keracunan asid dengan air kencing itu. Berwaspadalah wahai blogawan.

Jangan kencing sebarangan sebelum mengetahui keadaan yang sebenar terlebih dulu.

**********

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Tatkala terdengar bisikan "pulang kampung"...

Dear respected readers,

Would someone be so kind enough to tell me what does that voice behind the chorus says...if my hearing is right, it sounds like "pulang kampung".

I like this song so much because that "pulang kampung" keeps on coming in the song.
By the way the song is "As I lay me down to sleep" by Sophie B. Hawkins.


Note for Kimora who left a comment below, if you type "inca(say: inka)" in google search, you will know who they are, what they wear (like the fashion I had in the picture) and the rest of the story.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Tyme of iris tsunami




Iris blooms for one month only. So for those who come to this island expecting to see iris, please make sure the time is right. If you come in December and say to me you want to see iris, I will say to come back again for the tsunami blue in April.
Both of us make our way up north, driving about 100km. The weather was beautiful at 24c and this two days the rain is having time off, letting the sun glows everywhere.
When we reached the hide-out (hide-out because the valley of iris was surrounded by hills), I was totally strucked by the immensely beautiful sea of blue, waving with the gentle motion of the wind.
Like a woman crazy in love for the first time, I fly amongst the blooms. I don't know in which direction to turn to. Everywhere and I mean everywhere, far and near my eyes see, the gentle wave of blue eveloped my being, swallowed my body. I cannot breathe with this beauty. If I could paint, if only I could paint this feeling...

Iris tsunami/
drowning all eyes heartlessly/
blue souls in blue clouds.
#######
This haiku was inspired immediately.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Tatkala "tanka" diMelayukan...

Klik imej untuk dibesarkan

Tanka PERANTAU DI KAKI LAUT oleh DARMA MOHAMMAD telah disiarkan di dalam majalah bulanan DEWAN BUDAYA, April 2009, terbitan Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), Kuala Lumpur.

Puisi Darma Mohammad di atas menggunakan bentuk (teknik) tanka. Ia boleh juga dipanggil tanka berbahasa Melayu. Jika diperhatikan Darma menggunakan 5 baris dengan sukukata 5-7-5-7-7. Ketiga-tiga bait/rangkap puisi itu berbentuk tanka. Dari segi tekniknya, puisi ini adalah tanka (bentuk puisi Jepun).

Sejak setahun yang lalu Sdr Darma Mohammad telah dengan tekunnya belajar menguasai teknik penulisan haiku dan tanka daripada penulis blog ini. Beliau cuba "memelayukan" dari aspek isi puisi jenis ini. Dalam karya beliau yang lain, beliau banyak memasukkan persoalan agama, moral, pemikiran dan kemanusiaan dari kacamata orang Melayu.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Sitting on summer heat tyme


Early summer heat
looking at the whiteness on
the virgins' faces
おとめらの かんばせ白き 薄暑かな
靜堂 (by Seidou)

Narrative: In the early summer (now, on this date), it is still cool to feel the heat from the sun. No houseflies, lizards, bees or mosquitoes alive so we can open the house and let the breeze dance in. The temperature is also not high enough to create humidity, so we do not perspire at all.
We can feel the whiteness of the world in the cool sun.
White is the colour of blank paper and early summer indicates new beginning.
For people starting on a journey towards a full-time career or starting a new term on the road to learning, everything on the paper is white.
White as in the innocence of the virgins's face, young girls starting new on the road to adulthood.
On this whiteness, the recordings of their lives are written.
Just like the early summer heat...a clean, crisp, new beginning.
ps: image is not my house.

Saturday, April 04, 2009

Insane in the membrane

Picture from foilhat.com.
There was a false alarm on the national tv station today. At 12.15 in the afternoon, they falsely announced the missile is launched.

"The missile is launched, the missile is launched."

I was sitting alone on the edge of the sofa. My heart was beating painfully irregular.
Then about a half minute later, they announced it was a false alarm.

Look at him, sitting there filling up on his belly.
Do you know that half of his country's people are starving? They scratched the hills and mountains to find roots and grasses and have grass soup for dinner?

Now, with his intelligent know-how equivalent to 1970's era, he is making nuclear weapons, war heads and missiles.
Then, he tries to convince the world it is just some kind of test.
He shoot across routes of land and oceans that commercial flights use. He says he has the rights to do it.
Anyone flying across the Japan Sea from today till April 8th, will be re-routed or better still cancel your flight.

Tell me what rights does he has to cross foreign neighbours with his malfunction weapons?
Look at his belly, know what I feel?
Like crucifying him to a pole on a tip of an erupting volcano!


INSANE IN THE MEMBRANE



Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Sakura mochi/Pulut sakura/Sakura rice-cake

Picture courtesy of furusato.sanin.jp
Now is the season of sakura rice-cake. You cannot make sakura rice-cake without the sakura leave. This is a traditional dessert to be eaten during tea time by the Japanese. The method is to add to glutinous rice flour some pick colour of the sakura. Shape the flour into a ball with red bean paste and go into the steaming pot. Just before serving, wrap the steamed cake with boiled new sakura leave (old leaves have bitter after-taste).
Anyway this is not a receipe entry, though it might be a little useful to know the culture.
Since it is sakura-viewing time now, the season word related to sakura is the in-thing for haiku enthusiast. Sakura mochi is a season word or kigo for haiku.
Let's see some haiku I took from NHK.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1] 雨の日の 午後しずかなる 桜餅
Read: Ame hi no/ gogo shizuka naru/ sakura mochi
Translation: During rainy day/ in the quiet afternoon/ sakura rice-cake
Narrative: In the quiet afternoon, after the rain, the writer has tea with sakura rice-cake.
Note: the writer's emotion is for reader to guess.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2] 一茶の句 三つ覚えて 桜餅
Read: Issa no ku/ mittsu oboete/ sakura mochi
Translation: Haiku by Issa/ managed to memorize three/ sakura rice-cake
Narrative: Issa is a famous haiku writer after Bashou.
While eating sakura rice-cake, the writer managed to memorise 3 of Issa's haiku.
Note: readers is to feel the writer's feeling on the impact of eating sakura rice-cake.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3] 桜餅 正座に強く 育てられ
Read: Sakura mochi seiza ni tsuyoku sodaterare
Translation: Sakura rice-cake/ taught strongly to sit on heels/ growing up that way.
Narrative: Here sakura rice-cake is taken to be a girl, a metaphor.
Growing up in the traditional way, she is trained strictly to sit properly on her heels.
Note: In this haiku, the writer use the image of pretty sakura-cake pink in colour as a girl.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4] もの言はぬ 男のつまむ 桜餅
Read: Mono iwanu/ otoko no tsumamu/ sakura mochi
Translation: Without any words/ secret bites and snacks for men/ sakura rice-cake.
Narrative: There is some element of eroticm in this haiku. Here the sakura rice-cake is given the image of lady "entertainer". Go figure out.
Note: Once reader catch the image of the "entertainer", this haiku goes deeper that just having snacks for teatime!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Translation and narrative are my work.
Hopefully this entry would give more lights on how beautiful haiku peoms can be when you read behind the lines.