Wednesday, April 8, 2015

As A Man Sows, So Shall He Reap



Hello my Buddha Within friends,

Another two weeks have gone by and I've finished another chapter called "Knowledge in Youth is Wisdom". Those of you that know me in person  are well aware that I love food. In this chapter, I will talk more about some of my favorite food like apam balik and fruits such as durian, rambutan, langsat, jackfruit, guava, papaya, cempedak, soursoup in Malaysia. If you are interested in learning more on the different types of fruits and food in Malaysia, I suggest you check out my board on Pinterest.

Pasar is a term we used to describe the farmers market. I used to love going grocery shopping at the farmers market with my mom or grandma. It was a way to break the morning routine and a chance to choose my yummy breakfast. Pasar malam refers to the night market. They generally sell t-shirts, snacks, CDs, and all kind of junks that we don't really need. But it's such a fun thing to do with friends and family at night to visit the night market.

The first two chapters of the book were about setting up the background stories. This chapter really delves into a lot of my first experiences in life - my introduction to Chinese medicine; learning how to ride a bike; playing Nintendo Mario Brothers for the first time; watching my first porn, and for the first time living semi-independently without too much adult supervision.

I may not have expressed it in my writing as often it's hard for me to do, but writing these chapters made me extremely homesick. I thought that my childhood was not all that great, but now that it's presented in front of me in digital form, it doesn't look too bad after all. I grew up in a dramatic alcoholic family and I can see that I inherited some of that traits into my adulthood, but nevertheless my childhood was colorful and there wasn't a dull moment. I wish that I am in Malaysia right now, giving my mom and dad big hugs and thank them for what they have done for me the first 20 years of my life before I moved to United States. I wish to spend some time with my mom today, share meals with my family, let them know about all the exciting things that's happening in my life today. I want them to know how much I have missed home, and how grateful that I am for what they have given me with their best ability and intent. Raising kids isn't easy, but with a gay son in the mix, I am sure they have their own challenge and difficulties as well. I would love to hear their stories and have my mom tell me the difficulties that she experienced. I am sure she has plenty to share.

In case you are wondering, Chinese idioms and proverbs were a big part of my Chinese education. I have been trying to incorporate them into my writing as well. These idioms became the titles for my entries and also the title for the chapters of my book.

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