'Why, Lord, did You remain silent?

'Why, Lord, did You remain silent?These words were uttered by Pope Benedict when he visited the Auschwitz Nazi concentration camp in Poland on Sunday 28 May 2006. I cannot recall any other Priest, let alone Pope, ask this question of the Almighty for any catastrophe that happened in this world. And as he prayed before the camp's execution wall with his hands clasped tightly together, a rainbow appeared behind him. He was not aware of it but some survivors of Auschwitz hailed it as a sign from God, that He was indeed present at this poignant event.
How do we come to terms with a human genocide like this? It must have weighed terribly on the Pope's conscience as he was part of Hitler's Nazi Youth Movement. I remember that the previous Pope, John Paul II, had asked for forgiveness for the Church's silence during the persecution of the Jews during WW II. He had started the ball rolling it what seems to be a more open minded Vatican. One that is ready to face the many mistakes that the Catholic Church has made over the centuries. Pope Benedict has taken it one step further by this visit to Auschwitz, being a German.

Something Arabic

My blood sugar got a boost today. At the Al Diafah restaurant in Sri Petaling near the Overseas Union Gardens, a suburb in Kuala Lumpur. My colleague, http://foodthesaurus.blogspot.com had invited me and another colleague for lunch since I had twisted her arm into buying us lunch with her first pay packet. I thought that she would have settled, or rather I would have settled for a simple lunch of noodles. But she had better plans and we were whisked off to Al Diafah in her Kancil. The ride to the restaurant was quite hectic, given the twists, turns and bumps that we had to endure but it did work up an appetite, for me at least.
Al Diafah is really quite a classy outfit. I never realised that a restaurant like this existed in a place like Sri Petaling, no offence to those living in and around there. But we were given to think that these Arabic restaurants would only thrive in places like Bukit Bintang or Ampang. The ambience of the place was really cool. The decor was precise with artifacts from the Middle East placed in quiet corners of the restaurant.
We were served with dates and Arabic coffee first as we sat down. The latter was a mild brown in colour as it was made, not from roasted coffee, but raw. Tasted kind off funny but went well with the dates. Next, we had a little salad before the main course arrived. The main entree was the mixed grill which came in a large plate. It consisted of grilled lamb chops, minced lamb kebabs, chicken and some garnishing. I thought the minced kebabs were nice and juicy, the lamb chops were a little disappointing as they did not have much taste and was rather bland. The chicken, however, was excellent with a tangy flavour. My colleague had also ordered some deep fried vegetable cutlets that came with a kind of salad sauce which was unique but lent a good tinge to the cutlets. Then came some samosas, the kind that you will find in Indian restaurants except that these were stuffed with minced lamb. It was piping hot and was ok.
To finish off the meal we were served with a fruit cocktail and some 'baklova'. The backlova was really sweet and good but at my age I had to restrain myself from going overboard. So I took quite a few little nips of the sweets and washed it down with the fruit cocktail.
The service was comforting. I can't remember whether there was piped music but, ah, when you have good food you tend to lose some of your senses, don't you?

A wonderful woman

My sis- in- law should be at home cuddling her twin grandaughters born just two weeks ago. But she is fighting cancer of the tongue at the Universiti Hospital. Her tongue has been removed partially to stop the spread of the dreaded disease. She has been cut open from her shoulder up to her chin and her jaw split into two to to get to the infected area. She has a very good chance of recovery the specialists say. And we all are praying that she does. But what a fantastic woman she is. Any other person in her predicament would have resigned to her fate and gone into depression. Not her. She is already planning what she would do once she is out of the hospital. Having been once a lecturer at a university she has been told that her voice may be muffled. Her days as a lecturer are over. A Masters in Education holder she has vowed not to leave the profession and plans to mark dissertations, edit educational books, publish books on education and perhaps even give tuition.
When she first came out of the op she had tubes running all over her and her face swollen. The next day she had her husband get a exercise book and pen and began to communicate with everyone who came to visit. The book is almost full with all kinds of messages, but most inspiring of all, she has given glory to God for helping her.
" Praise the Lord for He is good " " I shall bless the Lord for the great things He has done for me" is written all over the book. " Blessed are those who suffer for the Lord" " Everyone day I look out of this window and I can see the wonderful creations of our Lord" is her latest entry.
How does she do it? Any lesser person would have asked why this has happened to her when she has all to live for. She has two wonderful children who adore her. And now she has been blessed with a pair of twins by her daughter. Her son's wife is now expecting. She writes in her book to her husband that she wants another 10 years with him after he said that he would like to live for another 5 years with her. He smiles at her and says, " but I will be well into my seventies lah!" And they laugh together.

Seafood soup at Seaview Restaurant

The bustling little shop tucked in the corner of the Section 17 district of Petaling Jaya is the favourite haunt of some of my colleagues who swear that the seafood noodles is a cure for any cold or flu. I am not a believer of this, coming more from a traditional Indian background where the cure for a cold was the good old fashioned ' nandu rasam' (crab soup with spices) and a nice hot glass of plain ginger tea.
The noodles are good with a dash of pepper,sometimes a bit too salty but nevertheless still good eating. The place is a cornucorpia of little stalls rented by small hawkers who sell other stuff for lunch. Try the stewed duck, egg and taufu that can accompany the seafood noodles or the 'bakchang' that is noted for its deliciousness.
End the meal with a baked cha siew pau or a plate of mixed fruits. Prices are the ones you would have to pay for food anywhere in PJ. As usual the service is good as the place is not really that crowded.
Don't, however, order the popiah from the old bat at the corner of the shop. It is is a horrendous version of the one in Section 22. The owner of the stall is really duping her customers with nothing but menkuang stuffed in the rolls.