Opportunities

I grew up playing with soils and seas and plants. The only bad thing I got from that is ascaris lumbricoidales which was easily rid off by antihelminths and which got rid off feeding bottle from my life.

Before formally starting school, I lived alternately between Teluk Bahang and Batu Feringghi. Chicken, is not something that I only see on my plate. I saw them running around, stepped on their stinky poo, got chased a few times by them, chased them and even had the nerve to dissect an almost mature egg, which stinks beyond their stinkiest poo.

I got to feed horses, harvested earthworms to fish for ikan pelukang, spent nights where my parents lined for fishes, watched fishes and crabs and squids still on fishermen's net and also went to korek siput. Saw my mother was followed by cows from the morning market too =p. In those days, pokok semalu, morning glory, pokok duit-duit are plentiful. I hardly see them these days. Pandan and curry leaves are something you get for free and now people start paying money for such things.

To be able to cycle to school every morning with your friends without worrying about kidnappers. The only hazard in cycling to school is that you'll most likely come across a vulgar demented old man and I once got myself and my bicycle upside down in a drain. Apart from that I was a happy girl enjoying cycling to get some bancau/fresh cut fruits/sengkuang+kuah rojak sprinkled with peanuts/pisang goreng.

I know that my future kids will not get the chance to experience an almost identical childhood but I at least want them to know things that I know like identifying pokok semalu at a glance. And yes, chicken should not be something that they only see featherless and dead. That would be too sad.