Generation Gap

In my opinion, generation gap exist when the older generation stop learning and the younger generation stop talking. When the former refuse to keep up with the latest, the latter will find it difficult to strike up a conversation. Conversation is always two ways. Can't expect the former to keep on talking about the good old days, like a broken record, when the latter had never been there or done that. The latter on the other hand find it difficult to bring up current issues as the former will not understand their jargon, if they don't keep themselves up to date. Eventually all these leads to a deadlock and everyone stops talking, claiming that they don't understand each other.

I always wonder why, to some, as they grow older, perhaps upgraded themselves to be parents or grandparents, they tend to forget what it was like to be a child, a teenager or a young adult. Their role or purpose in life is to get more money and ensure all in the family have a good life. As they were striving out there to get more and more money, some how that part of their brain that keeps memories of their younger days got erased, unintentionally. They forget how it feels like to be a "younger generation" with the same "generation gap" they faces last time.

If only they could remember, then they would be able to empathize what the younger generation is going through and narrow the gap. I find that it is easier for the older generation to close the gap than the other way round. Most young people are not a very patience species. They get fire up very easily. So how can we expect them to close the gap when they themselves could not empathize how hurt the older generation feels when ever they snap back or stop talking all together. They have never been parents or grandparents before.

Is it so difficult to learn how to use the computer, take photos with a digital camera, use an Ipod, keep up with latest technology, understand the latest jargon that youngster speaks now a days. Is it so horrible to learn stuffs from a younger person. Yes, no doubt they have no patience and get agitated when asked to repeat. When there is a will there is always a way, right. Perhaps it was their pride, thinking that it is always the youngster to learn from the older person and not the other way round.

I have teenagers telling me that their mum thinks that facebooking are for children, blogging is a big deal because it is complicated. They even think that a personal computer is just another of those toys. Obviously they don't know how useful the internet is now a days.

By now you would be wondering who's side am I on. Well, I am a mother of two teenagers, in her early forties with a hubby that is 8 years my senior and I have to deal with a mother, a mother-in-law and a father-in-law who are in their 60s and 80s, not to mentioned dozens of in-laws, nieces and nephews. I get along very well with all generations and even there might be a small gap, to me it is just a crack. no ones perfect. I learned that in order to close that gap, just empathize.

To all those older folks who think that there is a generation gap, just swallow your pride and start learning. It is that simple. Thank you for you empathy and thanks for reading. Hope there will be no such thing as "generation gap" in your home.

Lets forget about the good old days for a while. Be a student again and start learning.

Tofu with minced meat on lettuce

Click picture for clearer view.

This is easy to make. All you need is tofu, minced meat, dried shrimps (optional) , minced garlic and chopped shallots or onions. I am using pork here. You can even use minced beef or minced mutton. You can also add mushrooms. I ran out of mushrooms that day.

Marinate the minced meat with light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, a bit of corn flour, a bit of oyster sauce if you are not using dried shrimp. Dried shrimp are quite salty. Marinate for about half an hour will do.

Cut tofu into cubes and leave aside. Cut it at least half an hour before you start cooking. After a while you can see water coming out from the tofu. Drain it.

Heat non stick pan. Add a bit of oil and saute garlic and shallots or onions. Before it turns brown, add dried shrimp now, if you opt to use it. Then add diced mushrooms if you have any. Remove from pan. Now fry minced meat.

Once minced meat is cook, add those ingredients that you cook earlier and add tofu too. Once you add tofu don't stir so often, if not you would mash those tofu. As you are cooking, water from tofu will sip out. Taste first to see if you need salt or more oyster sauce or replace it with soya sauce. Now thicken the dish with some corn starch (mix some corn flour with a bit of water). This dish is suppose to be dry.

I normally will get those smaller lettuce where each leaves look like a small bowl. Serve a spoonful of the dish on a lettuce. It looks lovely for parties and it is easy to prepare too. Hope you like it and thanks for reading.

Grandma's love story

Grandma came from China with her dad and step-mum. Those days they thought Malaysia was a rich land. All who came will be rich in no time. Didn't take them long to realize, no doubt, the land was rich but not all who work here were. Her dad work very hard trying to make ends meet. By the time grandma was in her early teens, her step-mum had three kids of her own to care for. So they decided to lessen their burden by marrying off grandma, who was only 13 at that time, to a man in his 30s. He had never been married before.

The man she married was a tailor and had a shop of his own. He was such a gentleman that he and grandma slept in separate rooms for the first few years. He claims that he doesn't want to frighten her off. That first few years, they had a father and daughter relationship instead of a husband and wife.

Every morning he would cook, does house work and off he goes to work in his shop. Grandma, on the other hand, had breakfast and later of the day goes out to play with the kids in the neighborhood. When it is meal time again, she would return home to eat and out she go to play. Sometime she would help around the shop.

Mum was conceived when grandma was 16, if I remember the age correctly. Few years later grandma got pregnant again. During her second pregnancy, her husband became very ill and passed away when he was only in his late 40s.

Grandma was devastated at that time. She had never been to school, she was quite illiterate. The only word she could write was her name and the number zero to ten. She can't sew, so the shop was of no use to her either. It seems like it was a small shop and don't worth much either.

She knew there is no way she could support 2 kids as a single mum. Left her with no choice but to give up the unborn child for adoption. She manage to find a childless couple, from the same neighborhood, who is willing to pay her some money to adopt.

Grandma used to tell us how she only manage to spend a night with her second daughter, the night she was born. After that, she never get to see her again. She kept the shirt that her new born wore on the first day, never dare to wash it for fear of losing that lovely baby scent. Every night, for the first few months, she would hold that shirt, sniffs it and cry herself to sleep.

I am not sure if this counts as a love story, because I am not sure if she had ever loved her husband. She did respect him and were grateful that he treats her very well. Guess not all love story ends with a "happily ever after", but I hope mine and yours do. Thanks for reading and have a lovely day.

Train your dog - joke

One day, Sam answered his doorbell and greeted his friend Eric who walked in followed by a very large dog. The dog immediately jumped up on the sofa with his muddy feet and proceed to knock over a lamp and chew on the cushions.

The outraged householder began to scold his friend Sam. "Don't you think you should train your dog a little better?"

"My dog?" exclaimed a surprised Sam . "I thought it was your dog!"

*************************************************************************************************
Pet Shop

Mr Ng walks into a pet shop and asks the shop assistant, "Do you have any dogs that go cheap?"
The shop assistant replies, "I don't think so, sir. But we have birds that go cheep; our dogs go bow-wow!"

**************************************************************************************************
Difference Between a Bird and a Fly

Question : What's the difference between a bird and a fly?

Answer : A bird can fly, but a fly can't bird.

***************************************************************************************************

Just for laughs, hope you enjoy reading it and thanks for reading.

Helpless

Watching someone suffer in extreme pain makes me so helpless, especially if that someone happens to be my most beloved grandma. Every night when the pain of cancer was too unbearable for her to fall asleep, she would sit on a small stool, by the balcony of our flat, looking down at the empty road. She was so tough that never once did I hear her sigh or grumble or even cry, but her facial expression could not hide the excruciating pain from me. I watch helplessly, day by day, how my chubby bubbly happy-go-lucky grandma slowly turned into a skeleton wrap only in skin as all her flesh was eaten up by cancer cells. Although she had passed away many years ago, my eyes still fill with tears whenever I mentioned her or cancer and others could notice the change in my voice and sense that I am trying very hard to hide my tears. Just like Mariah Carey's song, grandma, we will never say bye bye and I will always cherish those many years that we had together.


*****************************************************************************************************

Sad stories should only be told in just six sentences. Thanks for reading.

Starfruit Tree

Click on the photo for clearer view.

My hubby managed to get a pot of star fruit tree that is already bearing fruits, in a pot. The flowers are lovely but very small. Now a days, they are selling miniature fruit tress in pots. Lovely. The first batch of fruits, the one at the bottom on its own, manage to grow into a size of a normal starfruit, about the size of my palm. After that it kept blooming almost every month, but the fruits won't stick very long. It will drop before it grows full size. Now we planted it in the ground.

Guess it would not really grow well in a pot. Wishful thinking. We just couldn't resist. Trees look so cute in pots rather then the normal gigantic fruit tress. My husband's aunt manage to grow green apples in pot. The fruit is just the size of a ping pong ball. It is really crunchy but tasteless. At least it is edible. Gosh I didn't get a snap shot of it. Maybe the next visit.

Happy gardening and thanks for reading. Happy mothers day to all mummy out there.

Two Size Up

This is something my mum witnessed many years ago. This is a hilarious accident that my mum told me and I could not forget till today.

My mum can't drive. She did sat for the test though but afraid to. So in the end she uses the public transport everyday to work. That fine day, as usual, she boarded a bus. Before she could balance herself on the bus, the driver put on a high gear and speed off.

Those days buses in town earns on commission. The more rounds they make the more money they earn. So they were always speeding like mad. Nothing that the authorities could do. Well, this has nothing to do with the story.

My mum, with her handbag and heels, tried to grab hold of the bar near the front sit, to avoid falling. Instead of getting hold of the bar, she unintentionally punch the young girl sitting in the front sit. Guess where she was punched? Mum immediately apologized to her. The young girl didn't look at mum. Her face was red. Mum thought she must have hurt her bad. Then she realize she had punched her on her right breast and the sharp tip of her bra bended inwards.

The girl was wearing a tight blouse and the shape of the bra was very very visible to everyone. Some starts giggling. She tried and tried but fail to make the tip of the bra bend outwards. Mum felt terrible having to cause such a dilemma to such a young lovely girl. At the end of the day when mum told us of what had happen, all of us could not stop laughing.

Maybe those days they don't have padded bra or water bra or wonder bra, what ever you called it now a days. So in order to make their assets look bigger, guess the best way to do is wear a "two size up" bra. Guess she learned the hard way, sorry, embarrassing way that when a person wear a bra which is two size up, it appears hollow in between.

Wonder what type of bra is she wearing now? Hope you like another of my true but funny tale. Thanks for reading and have a hilarious day ahead.

Doctor Uses Four-letter Word

A man is recovering from surgery when a nurse asks him how he is feeling. "I'm OK but I didn't like the four-letter word the doctor used during surgery," He answered. "What did he say?" asked the nurse. "OOPS!" the man retorted.



***************************************************************************************************

Does it bite.

Sam : Hey Peter, want to come over my house to play, today after school? I just got a dog.

Peter : Does it bite.

Sam: I'm not sure. That's why I want you to come over to find out.


************************************************************************************************

Just for laughs. Have a happy week ahead.