It doesn't take a lot to make me happy

It doesn’t take a lot to make me happy

Last week, while waiting for the elevator, a Japanese stranger complimented my dressing in nihongo. It was nothing unusual – a long pink blouse, a matching skirt and a matching tudung, but he said it looked nice and bright. His comment in turn, brightened my day. (I later found out that the stranger is in fact one of the faculty’s professors, so I intend to enroll for his course next semester)

Last Thursday, I received a parcel from Malaysia. Ayah and Mak sent me a pair of baju kurung with a matching tudung, a case of pineapple jam tarts, a package of batang buruk and some photos taken on the night I left for Tokyo. The baju kurung and tudung are old ones, not the one I bought for Raya (Mak could not find it), but I’m happy that at least I could wear a baju kurung on Eid. (Yes, I’m a bit conservative and traditional on that). There was no almond london biscuits for me and the jam tarts are mostly lunyai – but I’m happy that I have the chance to still introduce it to my foreign friends. And I'm really happy that the batang buruk are mostly intact.

Last Friday, I received a raya card (I like receiving e-cards, but I just loveeee actual old-fashioned cards) from hubby. Last year, as my fiancé, he sent a pretty ordinary card, so I must say that I did not expect much from him this year. He surprised me by sending a really sweet card with loving words and he even attached a CD with 16 classic raya songs. The CD doesn’t include my favourite raya song, Suasana Hari Raya by Anuar and Ellina, but yes, the card and that CD are currently among my most prized possessions.

Yesterday I went to the local supa to get some stuff in my preparation for Eid. Found eggplants, beans and tofu (for kuah lodeh) all sold at good price (for Tokyo anyway). Found peanuts (for kuah kacang) at 99 shop too. I'm so looking forward to making some Malaysian traditional dishes on Eid. I already got a packet of instant ketupat from a friend who’s going back to celebrate Eid in Malaysia（lucky him!). I already bought 2kg of diced beef at the halal store. Even got some vanilla flavoured custard to make some fruit pudding. Am thinking of hunting for some lengkuas, daun kunyit, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves at Shin Okubo today and really hope that I could get some, if not all, of the traditional ingredients for rendang, kuah lodeh and kuah kacang. But even if I don’t get them all, I’ll just improvise and make do with what’s available. So long as the dishes turn out ok and the taste still resemble the real McCoys...

Oh yes, it doesn’t take a lot to make me happy.