My favourite seafood is fish. i was 6 when i saw
the sea for the first time. our dad brought us to KK (Tanjung Aru) for jalan-jalan
and i remember telling him that, that's a huge river. he told us to sample the
seawater and can you imagine how surprised i was when i tasted the salty not so
clean seawater?. its an amazing experience, experiencing the sea for the first
time. that was years ago, but, i never really got off the sense of how small i
was when i faced the ocean.
one of disadvantages living far off from the
seaside is the lack of fresh seafood. maybe, i learned to favour fish to the
other seafood because growing up, we rarely indulged in the other relatively
more expensive seafood (prawn, squid, crab etc.). a very dear friend once
commented 'kalau hari-hari makan pucuk ubi, tanpa tahu sayur lain, kita
fikir itulah sayur yang paling sedap'. that's village venus effect (the
prettiest girl in the world is the prettiest girl in a village for the lack of
comparison). our limited experience tends to distort our preference.
fortunately for me, after sampling numerous
dishes of other seafood (our dad was relocated to Pitas, and stayed there for
more than three years), my favourite is still fish. the best and safest dried
anchovies are from Pitas (they dried it off on their bagang with no
strayed cats/dogs/chickens/kids around). while living in Pitas, we get
acquainted with lots of seafood types. fresh seafood every day and wider
choices to choose from (that sound almost like heaven, no?). my mom complained
bitterly of the lack of fresh veggies and the salty hot breeze (being used to
the abundance of veggies and hill breeze). again, our life-long experience
tends to steer our preference.
preference is made out of perspective.
perspective is made out of experience and knowledge. we see the world not as it
is, but as we are. i was mildly annoyed last week because a long-time friend
suddenly unfriend me in FB (i know, this rather sound foolish and
childish - in my part for posting this, but i need to get it off my chest). and
the reason for the act was because i posted a different view on the topic
discussed. i should have known better not to provoked a closed, stagnant mind
and her preference. i thought, i was being generous of sharing my perspective
over the matter (and i might be on the wrong side of the argument too, naaah..
she's just being silly).
sometimes, being blind sided over some matter is
a bliss. as i knew of late, there are things better left unsaid, even when our
intention is true. it'll save many heartaches. i prefer being blind sided
over matters close to my heart, but, i knew to make a relationship works, we
need to open up our perspective and see the larger picture of the matter. and
work on our preference.
