Replete

Noi conjured up her patented salmon dinner this evening. Difficult to think of a better way to finish the working week, so I'm not bothering to think at all.

Worth Forgetting

Somehow in my dotage I managed to completely forget that we have a school holiday next week, on Monday, to celebrate the Youth Day decreed for this Far Place. Must say, the pleasure of remembering was worth the minor inconvenience of forgetting the occasion.

A Lost Cause

Got involved in a genuinely interesting meeting this morning throwing around terms like 'AI Slop'. Realised I had a better understanding of the perils of misinformation in the media than any of my colleagues, which is particularly ironic since they are the ones who are facing years of dealing with this in the classroom (if schools don't turn a blind eye to the phenomenon and try and find ways of educating against it) and I'll soon be observing the war on ignorance from the sidelines.

I like to think that people of goodwill will find some way of dealing with the challenges ahead. But deep down I can't see any way of avoiding catastrophic defeat in the conflict.

More Pieces

Back to the gym this evening, my usual gym, that is. I didn't particularly enjoy working out at the hotel in KL, though I was pleased to be able to get something genuinely physical done. To be honest, I can't say I enjoyed myself this evening, but being back on a machine and working with weights that I understood lent me a greater sense of focus and, I suppose, purpose.

In the end though it boils down to putting the pieces together, each step forward, each lift adding something to one's sense of well-being, even when that piece hurts; overall seeking to cultivate a feeling of unhurried but purposefully active patience.

In Pieces

Starting a new term and remembering to put things together bit by bit by bit by bit. And then another bit.

Of Good Cheer

Driving through Alor Gajah the other day Noi asked how I thought it compared to Denton & Hyde in terms of the essential health of the township. We both thought it came out of the comparison well. There's no sense of the death of the High Street as in so many small towns in the UK. No boarding up of shops and vacant spaces appearing. Quite the opposite. And I'd say the same is true of Tampin from what we saw of the town last night. If folks are struggling here, and I'm sure that's true of at least a few, probably more, it isn't visibly manifesting as a general sense of economic woe. And similarly this morning as we were eating a late breakfast at Warung Nek Muna's next door, the crowd there, with lots of small children in tow, appeared full of vim, ready to get on with the business of living in cheerful fashion.

Mind you, I'm inclined to think that a bit more attention being paid to reducing the general amount of litter defacing the streets and drains would add even more good cheer.

Not In Fashion

Drove out to Tampin this evening, quite a distance from Alor Gajah. Enjoyed ourselves at the Kayo Cafe with Yazir & Wan & Maya. An old-fashioned place for an old-fashioned dinner for old-fashioned kind of people.

Left Undone

No work could be done at Maison KL today as it's a public holiday here in Malaysia. But Ah Sing reckons he needs a couple of weeks more to complete all that needs completing and to put things back in some kind of order. So we made our way to Melaka in the afternoon, figuring that Noi will make her way back to the homestead some time in late July when all's done to re-establish ordinary life.

We're lucky not to have strict deadlines on our domestic arrangements over here. We've got a range of places to retreat to when necessary, which is an unusual privilege, to say the least. I really don't mind if we're still putting the final touches to the place as late as December this year; I'm pretty good at delaying gratification.

Questions Of Value

Decided that I need to consciously restrict myself to watching material of genuine value on YouTube. To that end I thoroughly enjoyed an illuminating lecture on Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time this evening, learning a lot about the exact circumstances in which it was composed and how the great composer understood the notion of time in relation to his own music. Unfortunately I also watched some celebrity-related rubbish in the course of the day which I'm too embarrassed to link to. It's so easy to be shallow, eh?

Visiting

Drove over to Shah Alam today to see Sharifah & Hamza. Sharifah isn’t feeling too well at present. She’s been bruising easily and her blood count doesn’t look good at all - now awaiting the results of further testing. We’re hoping for the best.

Managed a thoroughly cheerful evening despite our concerns, so in that sense all is well.