I received this story through my email and I would like to share with you all.


POWER OF LOVE

A long time ago in China, a girl named Li-Li got married and went tolive with her husband and mother-in-law. In a very short time, Li-Lifound that she couldn't get along with her mother-in-law at all.

Their personalities were very different, and Li-Li was angered by many of her mother-in-law's habits. In addition, she criticized Li-Li constantly.

Days passed, and weeks passed. Li-Li and her mother-in-law neverstopped arguing and fighting. But what made the situation even worse was that, according to ancient Chinese tradition, Li-Li had to bow to hermother-in-law and obey her every wish. All the anger and unhappinessin the house was causing Li-Li's poor husband great distress.

Finally, Li-Li could not stand her mother-in-law's bad temper and dictatorship any longer, and she decided to do something about it.Li-Li went to see her father's good friend, Mr. Huang, who sold herbs. She told him the situation and asked if he would give her some poison So that she could solve the problem once and for all.

Mr. Huang thought for awhile, and finally said, "Li-Li, I will help yousolve your problem, but you must listen to me and obey what I tell you.

Li-Li said, "Yes, Mr. Huang, I will do whatever you tell me to do".

Mr. Huang went into the back room, and returned in a few minutes witha package of herbs.

He told Li-Li, "You can't use a quick-acting poisonto get rid of your mother-in-law, because that would cause people tobecome suspicious. Therefore, I have given you a number of herbsthat will slowly build up poison in her body. Every other day preparesome delicious meal and put a little of these herbs in her serving.Now, in order to make sure that nobody suspects you when she dies, you mustbe very careful to act very friendly towards her. Don't argue withher, obey her every wish, and treat her like a queen".

Li-Li was so happy. She thanked Mr. Huang and hurried home to start herplot of murdering her mother-in-law.

Weeks went by, and months went by, and every other day, Li-Li served the specially treated food to her mother-in-law. She remembered what Mr. Huang had said about avoiding suspicion, so she controlled her temper, obeyed her mother-in-law, and treated her like her own mother.After six months had passed, the whole household had changed.

Li-Li had practiced controlling her temper so much that she found thatshe almost never got mad or upset. She hadn't had an argument with hermother-in-law in six months because she now seemed much kinder and easier to get along with.

The mother-in-law's attitude toward Li-Li changed, and she began tolove Li-Li like her own daughter. She kept telling friends and relatives that Li-Li was the best daughter-in-law one could ever find.

Li-Li and her mother-in-law were now treating each other like a realmother and daughter.

Li-Li's husband was very happy to see what was happening.

One day, Li-Li came to see Mr. Huang and asked for his help again. She said, "Dear Mr. Huang, please help me to keep the poison from killing my mother-in-law! She's changed into such a nice woman, and I love her like my own mother. I do not want her to die because of the poison I gave her".

Mr. Huang smiled and nodded his head. "Li-Li, there's nothing to worryabout. I never gave you any poison. The herbs I gave you were vitaminsto improve her health. The only poison was in your mind and yourattitude toward her, but that has been all washed away by the lovewhich you gave to her".

HAVE YOU REALIZED that how you treat others is exactly how they willtreat you?


There is a wise Chinese saying: "The person who lovesothers will also be loved in return. God might be trying to work in anotherperson's life through you.

Share this to your friends and spread the POWER OF LOVE.

Remember, if you read this and forget about it nothing will happen. No one will dieor fall sick. But... if you share it to others your may change their life.After all you have got nothing to lose but a lot to gain.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

My posting is all about food @ eating out @ favorite food @ how we eat it and many more that I can think of. Whether eating during a wedding reception or whatever that concerned about food.

Good Food
My favorite food during weekend is Noodles soup with fresh fish and fish cake. It is a healthy food mix with pickle vegetable, slices of Tomatoes, Ginger and mix with juice of one ‘Limau Kasturi’. When you dipped the slices of fish to your ‘Chili Padi’ sauce it will make you sweat due to the hotness of the soup and the sauce. I tell you, even your in-laws passing by, you would not be aware. The restaurant uses only the fresh ikan Kerapu and besides the fish flesh you can also ask for the fish balls, fish skin and many more but it will cost more. The restaurant is situated along jalan Bundusan. Actually, there are two restaurants and both have the same taste. The other weekend favorite food that I really like is ‘Baikut Men’, ‘Pork Chop Men’, ‘Chicken Chop Men’ and Porridge (fish or Meat). Those foods are taken in the morning as my breakfast extravaganza.

Buffet – Kampung style
Most of us must have attended a Wedding reception or any party Buffet style @ala Kampung, where you find yourself lining up in a long queue. In my place for that matter, community hall is the most popular place for the reception for convenience sake. All the food and preparation of the hall can be done by your caterer and what have you. You just have to come for the reception and wait at the entrance of the hall thinking in mind that you get a good ‘Ang Pow’ from your invited guests. Forget about the food whether enough or not, let the food caterer worry about that, after all at the end of the day you’re the one paying for it.

Have you seen someone with a pile of food on his plate as high as Mount Kinabalu. I wondered how they would eat all those food. If there were ten dishes on the table and you take a portion of it, for sure your plate will be like Mount Kinabalu. What I usually take when there’s a buffet party, I just took the food that I like and I don’t embarrass myself with piles of food on my plate. If I need another helping then why not just help myself but don’t fill up your plate.

I attended a wedding of a relative who married from another District and observed some of embarrassing situation. I can’t even remember where there were so many children attending a wedding reception with their clothes good enough for ‘Mamalastic Burung’. I think it was a common situation for the host because they were well prepared for the kids. There were piles of take away ‘Tao Pow’ food for the kids. I thought the kids were well fed after taking their take away food but alas I saw them again queuing with the adults. I don’t blame the Kids but their parent should teach them the dos and don’ts.

Kampung Delicacies
There are some interesting dishes that our kampung folks like to prepare during some occasions. The most popular must be the ‘Sup Terjun’ as some like to name them. You don’t see the soup doing the diving as the words means. It is because everything from meat and spices and what have you; are thrown inside a big pot and boil till tender. If you’re a health conscious and have a history of high cholesterol and high blood pressure better don’t take it. Usually the best part of the meat is around the leg of Buffalo or a Cow. When cooked for a longer period of time all the meat and juices inside the bones will thicken the ‘Sup Terjun’. It is better to eat it with a group of friends with few glasses of the local brew called Lihing, Talak, Tuak and the most popular Beer …. Aramai Tii …until morning. Usually this soup is not served to the guest but rather as a side dish. If you intend to find out whether they have it, find your way to the back of the house and look for a group of people in the kitchen with a big pot nearby.

Outdated Practice
There was an outdated practice that’s no longer relevant with the changing time. Imagine the leg of a buffalo being cooked after 7 days without being refrigerated. It was practiced after someone passed away and a buffalo was slaughted to respect the dead. The leg of the buffalo must be hung to a tree and after the 7 days it must be cook and eaten. It was cooked just like the ‘Sup Terjun’ style. To those people passed our time, they had no problem eating it as it was part of their practices then. Can you imagine the taste and the smell of the rotten buffalo legs?

Disgusting Habit
I was attending orientation before proceeding for a course and we were staying in a Hostel and having a good time with friends from the same district. Every morning our groups would sit together for our breakfast. We were served with bread, fried noodles and half boiled Eggs. One day we were served with half boiled Egg and at that particular morning, my friend Robert was breaking his egg when it broke and landed on the table. Without even thinking my friend slurps the egg from the table with his mouth. It was really disgusting, until now when I saw my friend I will remember him slurping the egg from the table.

Appetizers
There are a lot of appetizers that you can prepare or buy from the Local ‘Tamu’ market especially kampong style appetizer. There is the ever popular ‘Nonsom Bambangan’ a preserved local fruits called Bambangan. Apart of preserving the Bambangan fruit, it can also be eaten after removing the skin and slicing the flesh. It can be mix with shrimp paste or ‘Belacan’, shallot, Chilli and a pinch of salt and can be taken with a bowl of rice as well as ‘Pinaasakan’ or Basungan cooked with a lime, Kunit and a lot of salt.

Conclusion
Some of us might not have experience the food and practices that being mentioned here but at least we know how we appreciate food and the practices then. Hopefully you guys out there did enjoy reading it.

dV

HELPING OUT A FRIEND – Traditional Practices @ Translator

I was asked by a Local University student regarding traditional practices that once being practiced by the KadazanDusun before. The targeted village that was selected was a remote village in the Tambunan District. It was a week before they depart to the village that this friend approached me. As a Penampang resident, I told him that I do not have any idea about practices that they practiced there. He insisted that maybe we have the same practices and forced me to tell him any practices that I knew. I told him to let me asked few friends and will call him back.

I contacted a friend from Tambunan and asked him about the village that my friend will visit. The village was a KadazanDusun village but mostly of the Muslim faith. My Tambunan friend assured me that some of the practices before are still practiced in some village. As my university friend was calling me again so I suggested him few traditional practices that I knew.

MIZUNGGU
This practice consists of a group of neighbors eating lunch or Dinner together. A family will bring their own food to a neighbor’s house. The amount of food you bring is not fixed, the more the better. I usually ended eating without touching our own food as I found out the neighbor’s food was delicious than my mother's cooking then. It is still being practiced now on a bigger scale called Potluck when there is a family party, but usually some just “Tao Pao” from the restaurant to avoid embarrasment when nobody touched their food.

MOGINGGAT
A global practice as most of the asian countries practices this betel chewing or “Makan Sirih”. I reminded my friend also the ‘Inai-Inai’ sticking out big rolls of tobacco sticking out of the lips or more known as Mangabu or tobacco chewing. I don’t know why some of our ‘Inai-Inai’ likes to stick their big tobacco rolls in between their teeth and lips which is really awkward.

I suggested few more practices for my friend to choose from before they stick to any topic for their assignment. I think my friend was happy to at least have something to start on with their project.

It was about a week later that I received another call from my friend. He had another problem that was finding a KadazanDusun word for “Semangat Kejiranan”. I think it was something about their assignment in Tambunan and looking for a good Title to be submitted to their lecturer. To translate and looking for the word “Semangat” in KadazanDusun was not a problem but “Kejiranan” was really difficult. I remember I heard the Radio Kadazan DJ’s translation for the word “Kejiranan” as ‘Sungkad-Tukad’ I did told my friend to contact any of the DJ of the Kadazan Radio section. As the translation for “Semangat” in Kadazan is ‘SUNDUVAN’, the translation was SUNDUVAN SUNGKAD –TUKAD.

I was later told by my friend that the Title of their assignment ‘SUNDUVAN SUNGKAD-TUKAD & AMALAN MOGINGGAT was given a positive response from their lecturer due to the uniqueness of the title and also they used the KadazanDusun language which was seldom used by the student.

BILA RASA BERTEMBUNG @ When Tastes Collide

Mungkin banyak dari kita sudah merasai macam mana makanan barat ini iaitu Spaghetti. Mesti kebanyakan yang tidak suka makanan ini ialah orang orang kampungan seperti sia ini. Apa bah sedap sangat dengan makanan ini sebab rasanya macam sia mau muntah saja. Selalu juga sia tengok dalam channel 11 tu cara memasak.

Selalunya mereka prepare dengan mengunakan spices seperti oregano, Basil dan satu ton tomatoes paste mangkali itu. Sia indak tau kalu mereka guna daging kah tidak itu sebab mereka kasih puok/potong daging tu sampai hancur. (Kawan kestau yang kuah tu ada daging tapi sia rasa macam tomato sauce sija sia rasa … masam lagi tu).

Ari .. itu cousin sia perempuan ada masak Spaghetti ini dan kami lah jadi mangsa untuk mencuba masakannya. Adoi … banyaknya dia masak dan sudah kena hidang dalam plate yang besar. Saya ini kalau cakap makanan seperti ini kureng sikit tapi supaya ambil hati cousin sia ini kami politely makanlah. Alamak … masamnya … adi macam mana mau kasih abis ni .. Sia kestau cousin sia yang rasa masinnya kurang sikit jadi sia pi ambil garam satu senduk ( Teknik sia mau kasih kurang masam bah ) Itu pun macam sia mau muntah tapi sia makan separuh saja dengan alasan heavy breakfast pagi tadi.

Aku masih ingat cerita aunty sia bila musim pi kasih bersih sawah padi waktu dulu-dulu. Ada nenek yang tinggal berdekatan dengan sawah padi aunty sia dan nenek ini panggil aunty sia untuk berehat sebentar. Nenek tu pun bawah minuman untuk aunty. Bila nampak cawan kopi itu …. Alala kotornya macam tidak kena cuci bah. Ngam-ngam aunty sia duduk dekat tangga saja sebab seluar panjangnya basah sebab baru dari sawah yang penuh air tu. Mau tidak mau kasih abis juga mau minum tapi bila nampak kekotoran itu selera tidak ada. Aunty dapat satu idea dan bila nenek itu tidak tengok ke arahnya aunty sikit sikit dia tuangkan diatas seluar basahnya itu … nasib air tidak brapa panas. Aunty buat cara ini sampai lah habis kopi itu. Tapi kalau tuangkan Spaghetti diatas@seluar apa kan jadi? Fikir-fikirkan lah.

BUTIZA'ON - Intro

After reading some blogs way back then, I decided to create my own but never materialize due to work commitments and my writing sucks and guess I am lazy too. Anyway, who cares whether is is bad or not but I will try to make it more interesting. I decided to use Rojak language as I find it more interesting and humorous at time.

The Subject or Topic that I will post here is more on everyday life and anything that catches my attention. Hopefully to do that and can be shared to you all.

Butiza as in the Theme BUTIZA'ON means precious and priceless in the KadazanDusun language and i regard this blog as it is.

dV