Overheard #29

"And no country is gonna succeed if a part of its population is put on the sidelines because they are discriminated against. Malaysia won't succeed if non-Muslims don't have opportunity." - Barrack Obama.

Well said, Barrack! Unfortunately it'll be falling upon deaf ears. 

My dear fellow countrymen, as we applaud this courageous statement from arguably the most powerful leader in the world, please be reminded that nothing, absolutely NOTHING is going to change if the change is not coming from within us ourselves. 

Sorry to rain on your parade.

Groupie

We all know women are fickle creatures, but so are men too. OK maybe it's just me.

Something happened, or rather not happened over lunch today. I'm a bit conflicted over it, feeling bummed out. Here in Juba, I live in a compound with majority of non drinkers (Muslim) colleagues, and not even a handful of drinkers and pork lovers (non-Muslims, mostly Catholics). It's the Easter long weekend and a bunch of them Catholic colleagues were cooking up a storm and having a potluck lunch and drinking session outside. I wasn't invited.

Truth be told, they are not exactly the group that I want to hang out with. In fact if they would have invited me along, I'd be scratching my head making up excuses and trying to get out of it.

That said, it still hurts not being invited. To be excluded in such a small group, that hurts even more, like Jesus being condemned and crucified by his peers. I'm not trying to compare myself to Jesus, just saying how I feel.

In the end, no man is an island and we all yearn to be included. We all want to belong.

Happy Easter!

Easy Peasy Fancy Frenchie

This is perhaps one of the fanciest dessert but easiest to make. It looks classy mostly because of the velvety red and its French origin. It's called Poire belle Helene in French. But don't be fooled by the mouthful of Franco-pronunciation, it's merely pear poached in red wine with sugar and spices (I used cinnamon, star anise and clove) and vanilla beans over medium heat for 30 minutes or so. When the pear turn soft and red, remove them from the pot and set aside. Continue to reduce the poaching liquid to a third of the original volume, concentrating the sweetness, spice aroma and wine flavor into a lush thick syrup. Drizzle the syrup over the maroon pear and serve.

It's that simple. Easy peasy and super yummy!