Letter to Erin 20150809

In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Merciful.

Hello there, my beloved Erin.  How are you feeling today?  Ya Allah, please protect my Erin, and give her good health.  I am writing this letter today kind of late.  It's because I woke up at 5:30 this morning.  I usually wake at about that time anyway, but this morning right after the dawn prayer I went to the main market downtown.  I hardly go downtown anymore, I try to make do with what I have at the kampung.  There was nothing all that special downtown.  The good stuff gets sold out quickly, even at 7 am.  So I find value with what people overlook.  I bought won tons, tofu, fish balls, and 2 kilos of lala.  You remember lala, right?  Those dime sized clams.  Yeah, they're tiny and tedious, but they generate more meat and broth than 2 kilos of larger clams.  Density.  So the first thing I did when I got home was to separate the meat from the broth, which is my normal procedure with clams.  By the time I got done shucking all those clams, it was 10:30 am.  I was too drowsy to continue cooking, so I took a shower and a nap.  I woke again at noon, made my coffee and tea, and had a small steak for lunch.  Just a steak the size of a candy bar, and nothing else.  Beef goes a long way.  But dinner was stuffed won tons with clams, tofu, garlic, and kaffir lime leaves.  Alhamdulillah!  I gave some to my Mom, and ate the rest.  Then after the sunset prayer, I had to take another nap.

I want you to take good, loving care of yourself in my absence.  You are my Queen, and you mean the world to me.  I love you, and I need you.