May 6th (2020)

 

May 6th
I am awake at 5.15am.

My brain says 'enough, no more sleep.' So I Facebook until I feel guilty, and start writing this.

I need coffee. I need real coffee, like I have in my studio/penthouse in Malaysia. Not this 'Red' nonsense. I need something exotic, like Mexican coffee and a McVities Chocolate Digestive, or three. Being Denholm Elliot is wearing a bit thin now. Journaling in a foreign land was all very nice, and thank you for the experience, but I do feel that it's time to go now, thank you very much now just give me a quick peck on the cheek, and I'll be off then.

 "The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
'T is not too late to seek a newer world."

(Ulysses, Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1833.)

Being plagued by mosquitoes and tiny black ants is no longer amusing, especially when trying to write. I want to scream to the universe.."Oi! Enough, it's just not bloody funny any more." I no longer want to play Prisoner of Zenda (Anthony Hope, 1894) or any other Role Playing Game.

I remember, from younger days, the phrase "s'amuser à la moutarde", which was then translated as 'to stand on trifles'.which seemed to a sixteen year old boy a bit daft, because wouldn't you sink. Anyway, you'd have to be a bit small, like Thumbelina, to actually stand on a trifle, or any other fool.

These days, 's'amuser à la moutarde'  in the Google Translate app becomes 'mustard fun', which leads us down a very different path. I feel that much gets lost in translation.

I sit in Curry Walla drinking Mango Lassi and eating poppadoms while waiting for my budget lunch. Both are good. Above the cooling cabinet a smokey bronze Ganapati oversees the restaurant, while ambient music sings of Krishna.

The Garlic Naan, rice and Butter Masala Chicken are good for the price. Filling. In fact so filling that I take half back for dinner.

It seems that I am not the only one doing a bit of soul searching. Friends on Facebook tell me that they too are reassessing their lives, thinking back and considering how to move forward. Yes, perhaps it’s an age thing, and a by-product of having more time to think rather than do.

I juggle eating the remains of the Masala etc etc with typing. Hmmmm.

I bought a beer, a tin of ‘Gansberg Premium Beer’ in fact. even though I don't drink beer it is the cheapest alcohol, and I fancied alcohol well, actually, I fancied something else but I make do with beer. That’ll teach me to read SCI FI detective stories about naked prostitutes being murdered. Of course it’s not the murdered part…..ho hum.

It’s an odd sort of routine. Wake up, write, decide if I can afford breakfast out, or lunch. Today I opted to eat the bread which is getting staler by the day, and to have lunch out. Probably tomorrow I will have to stay in all day, eat pot noodles, and save money. Today,

 I was lucky to miss my turning, as I was heading to KFC, but overshot the road and had to walk back towards it on the main road. It was then that I passed Curry Walla, did a ‘U’ turn, went back to look at their special offer and decided that it was cheaper than my planned meal at KFC. It was fortuitous, I was lucky. The meal was fine, but not to be repeated anytime soon, mind you. Indian food tends to linger for a while, not just the aroma but perhaps the taste and the idea. Maybe I have been fortunate in living in Malaysia, where there is so much good food from different ethnicities. On my present budget I cannot access the foods I normally come here for - gourmet Western or some sort of fusion cuisine. Next time, maybe.

Today's spend
Curry Walla; Butter Masala Chicken…$5.00
Thai Huot Market (Dasani Water; Arla Organic Milk; Myojo Bowl Soto Ayam x2; Ganzberg Beer; Cucumber and Tomatoes)....$8.15

Total spend $13.15