Meeting friends

One of the interesting things that happened this week was a visit to my friend’s house in Kajang. I went with my other friend and over there I met another friend that made four of us ex-secondary school mates. Two of them I have not met since I left school. Imagine how much we had to catch up! Few hours were not enough and of course, we will be seeing each other again soon.

What did my friends say about me? Thank God, they said I don’t look sick at all. Meeting friends, giggling and laughing made me even much better. It’s really a natural therapy and all of us really enjoyed it.

So what did old girls talk about at this age? Well, mainly about health and how to stay gorgeous :-). There are few good tips too and worth sharing in this blog. The best one is the 6484 breathing technique; Inhale in the count of 6, hold in the count of 4, release in the count of 8, and hold in the count of 4. Do it as much as you can or at least 100 times a day. As I wrote previously about the lack of half moon on our nails being the sign of lack of oxygen, we managed to compare each other nails. Among us, I lack the half moon which shows I need to put into practice this 6484 breathing technique.

The other important thing is about belacan (shrimp paste) being one of the culprit. Too bad, I can’t resist not having belacan in my cooking. I have missed it when I was in the UK but over here, I have ample supply. Sambal tumis and asam pedas will not be very tasty without belacan. Well, I’d rather enjoy good food and for that, I’m willing to take the chances and continue using belacan in my cooking. I believe if we take it in moderation, it will not do any harm. On top of it, I will take something else to nutralise the toxin if there be.

One of the reasons for meeting my friend was to pick up the hempedu bumi or the scientific name - andrographis paniculata. I came across a site on this and you can refer to this for further information http://nileherb.blogspot.com/2008/09/andrographis-paniculata-hempedu-bumi_27.html . Another malay name for this is akar cerita. They say the taste of this herpedu bumi is bitter. In malay we say, pahitnya tak boleh cerita! Hence, akar cerita :-). My friend said the hempedu bumi is also sold in capsule. Ahhh, what a better solution - I got mine already while shopping for my groceries just now. I’ll start taking it tonight.

TQ Ina for driving me there and for the shifa’ dates. Thanks Zerque for the tips and last but not least, thank you Yan for hosting us and for the yummy raya pineapple tarts!