Market confusion

 Hi Honey!  Sorry I'm a little late today, the bugs come out this time of year and swarm around the light, so I had to shut off all the lights inside the house including the computer monitor.  Otherwise my bedroom would be a lot of bugs to clean up, plus I can't work with all those bugs in my face.  Also at the same time while I was praying, Lily escaped the house by ripping through a hole in the screen.  The last I saw of her, she was making a dash across the yard.  She's in heat too, and of course when I went outside to get her she became totally quiet.  She's at full strength now, so inshaAllah she'll be OK.  If she were to come back to me, it will most likely be with kittens.  How are you doing, Natty?  I hope all is well with you.

I had a dream last night that I was shopping at an American clothing store, and the lady at the counter refused to sell me a cheap shirt.  But the shirt was made in Cambodia!  I don't know if the dream were about racism, but Mary isn't Asian folks.  I'm the one who's Asian.  But I've never found another white girl who can sing Asian songs like Mary.  That's why I brought her here.  America isn't the place to be anymore for global music influence, especially during these Internet times.  Not because of racism, Asians are racist too (which makes racism not because of racial pride but human nature, thus the motivator is jealousy).  We can blame the business execs, owners and financiers who have lost touch with what generates revenue.  They think that they themselves generate revenue.  Asia is the center of the world now.  Because of population, language and location, location, location.  We are servants of Allah, and Mary is here to sing.

I love this guy's work!  He's excellent at what he does!

Sunday

 Hi Natty!  How are you today?  I hope everything is great with you.  It's Sunday over here for me.  I'm busy all day every Sunday, so I'm in between tasks waiting for the sunset prayer coming up soon.  I don't have much to say or report, just tired is all.  It will be the fasting month soon.  2 Tuesdays from now, beginning April 13.  Only Muslims need fast during Ramadan, so if you're not a Muslim then don't fast.  Not even to be polite or political.  Anyway, I'm going to go shower up.  I just got done cutting the grass by the side of the road.  I love you!

Green heron

 

Hi Natty!  So how's your gardening coming along?  Oh, you don't garden?  Natty, I'm shocked!  You love the clean environment but you don't contribute by nurturing plants?  You should start your garden right away.  Try some potted plants, whatever they may be, and give it your love.  Perhaps you will become a better gardener than me.  I'm just an OK gardener.

A green heron was guarding my driveway all morning!  I don't know why it was so interested in my driveway, there's no fish, frogs or rodents that I can see.  By chance, I was wearing green all day.  Neither Mary nor her avatar wore green, though.  But she looks so adorable today.  So sweet!  Especially the full length snapshots.

A miniature harvest

 Hi Natty!  How are you feeling today, my darling?  Are you as beautiful as ever?  I'm sure you are!  Please keep yourself healthy and safe.  Do you like gardening?  Some who loves green and nature as you must also love gardening.  I'm an OK gardener: some plants thrive, others don't.  Usually the ones that thrive, I don't eat.  But sometimes I get blessed.  Today is a miniature harvest, so let's go!  By the Will of Allah!  I have no power other than the Power of Allah!

First up is a cashew!  It looks like a good cashew harvest this year, and it looks like it will get better and better every year inshaAllah.  This is the first ripe fruit of this season, and I think it's pretty handsome.  I prune all my fruit trees so the branches hang low, well the ones that I planted at least.  The cashew nut is what you see at the bottom.  You never find the flesh outside of its originating country because it doesn't last, thus I have this bad boy sitting in my cooler.  I have no talent in processing the nut, so the flesh is what I eat.  I'm going to make relish out of this, to put on my cheeseburger for lunch tomorrow.

I have 4 types of mangoes in the yard, this one is directly translated as "egg mango".  As you can see, it's bigger than a grade D egg, but that's as big as the fruit gets.  It's best eaten as is, and you peel it with your teeth then suck the flesh off like you would slurp an oyster.  Something like that.

I have absolutely no talent growing tomatoes!  This is the only fruit from my last crop of tomato plants and as you can see, they are whoppers!  I don't know what to do with these.  Maybe I'll plop them into my noodle soup.

Is it ridiculous, or is it haute couture?

 

Hi Natty1  How are you today, my love?  Are you enjoying LA weather?  It's hot and muggy over here.  Ugh, I hate hot tropical weather.  Cool tropical weather is fantastic, but hot tropical weather is the pits.  When it's hot and muggy like today, even when it's not hot it's hot.  I like mountain climate.  I wish I had been born in the mountains, but I wasn't.  Mary was born in the mountains.  I was born here.  Well 40 miles from here, in the next state.  To cope with this climate, I'm pretty much half naked all the time when at home.  I would go around everywhere half naked if I could, but I need sun protection.

Who would wear such a ridiculous dress?  Why, a Pop Diva of course!

Too much sun

Natty, have you been getting too much sun?  We all know how much you love the outdoors and outdoor fun, but don't get too much sun.  I believe it is now (for you) when one gets the most skin damage, in the 20s and 30s.  I don't think any age is more vulnerable to sun damage than any other age, but that it's the 20s and 30s when people frolic more under the sun.  Sunscreen doesn't work, Honey.  The only thing that works is staying in the shade.  The sun damage may appear in places where you don't notice.  Your arms and elbows, perhaps.  Your beautiful arms and elbows.  Sure, beauty fades.  Sometimes it fades faster than others.

 

Salted fish: pekasam

 

Hi Natty!  What's going on today, beautiful girl?  Wow, it's the end of March already.  Have you got your Masters yet?  I hope everything is easy going for you.  Lol... you like challenges while I want a life of no challenges.  Ah, that must be heaven.

But since I have no cheese, there happens to be a substitute for the flavor!  I used to nibble on blue cheese and brie a lot back in the States, but over here you can get the same experience and flavor from salted fish.  Today's salted fish is called "pekasam".  Which is basically when they coat the fish with a salt and tamarind mix to create a crunchy skin when fried.

The best fish for this recipe is the puyu, which you can often see people fishing for around here in the storm drains by the roadside.  Or the rice fields, like the video below.  The small fish are the tastiest.  The fish you see in the photo above is way too big, ideally it should be a third that size.  That's because you can crunch right through the bones!  When the fish is too big, the bones are unpalatable.  I found someone selling puyu pekasam at the day market today when I went there to pick up some ant poison for my mother.  I fried some up for lunch, and they were so good!  Like a beautifully aged cheese.  Then I used the renderings left over in the pan to make broth for my noodles.  The fish I got were too big, and I had to pick the bones out of my mouth.  Remember, the smaller the better when it comes to puyu pekasam!