on the matter of preference

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.