note from a young and naïve

That, and having absolutely no choice in the matter on whether you want to pull it together or not. I find not having choices makes it easier to grit your teeth, tighten the belt and to steal a Nike ad, 'Just Do It'.

Parents separating is always hard. I should know, I've been there several times. Surprisingly, with the same pair of parents each time. One would only hope that they would make up their minds.

But you want to know what's harder? Parents that stay together for the wrong reasons. It makes you long for the lull in the screaming and plate breaking that indicates a separation.

We all have our demons, unfortunately, some of them happen to be related to us. At the worst of times, it helps to remember that it always ends, one way or another.

And what doesn't kill you only makes you angrier.

Hmm... I think I come across as cynical and angsty. I'm not really. I'm actually more self-absorbed and neurotic. Honest.

No need to point it out - nice ambush - his post was clearly directed at someone else and you missed the point

As if an unnecessary rebuke had any place here either; drop it.

LOL. And I was merely adding my own two cents of advice to the mix, to put a title to it 'Things Could Be Worse'. I know that the post was directed at someone else. Did I sound that particularly dense? Oh dear. *worried frown*

(In self-appointed meddlesome peace-maker role.)

All right, all right, everyone, (adopting a comic Scouse accent) "calm down, calm down!"; there was just some kind of misunderstanding. I'm sure no-one intended to insult anyone or make anyone feel bigger or smaller than they are. No harm done.

(Thinks to himself: "My work here is done, and now I must move on to another hotspot on this planet..." Cue the music: "Dum, dum, dummmmm!!!")

Get some sleep, my friend; the melodrama eluded me anyhow ;)

Oh, and look, the clocks have changed - I'm an hour younger.

There was drama?

Note: Out of curiosity, are you observing Ramadan?

Selamat berpuasa; semoga tuhan memberkati ibadat kita! Bukan...

When translated literally I think I get what you mean. When translated properly it doesn't make much sense. ;)

Bukan doesn't translate that way methinks.

Jadi kamu takkan menuruti bulan Ramadan tahun ni ke? Kebanyakan kawan saya dah mula berpuasa semalam. Macam mana dengan Hari Raya? Ada balik kampung ke? Tanya saja. ;)

Aww, one lousy word :( Of course, your pedantry is appreciated; should I have used "tidak"?

I believe I gave you the gist in a message this morning, but to answer your inordinately personal question with an appropriate degree of vagueness; I will do so on a number of days tetapi - as stated - orthodoxy is hardly fitting of me. Of course, most of my family began at the same time as your friends, and yes I'm bloody well doing Hari Raya, even if I have to starve myself as penance whilst people stuff themselves with roti canai, kangkong belacan, mee goreng and kari ayam! Alas, saya tak boleh balik tahun ni; time and money.

I assume you'll be doing Hari Raya, given that Malaysian tradition dictates that we celebrate everyone else's festivals alongside our own? I love Thaipusam... Batu Caves turn into something out of an S&M flick.

'Tidak' would have worked better I think. 'Bukan' seems 'off'. But I think it's really more a case of a 'does-not-translate'.

Ahh, sorry, I didn't realize it was that personal. Here it's pretty much a very public thing, my malay friends have been griping to me about christians not having to fast since Monday. Apparently not everyone fasts gracefully.

As for celebrating Hari Raya, who doesn't?! Lemang, kuih raya, telampok, nasi kandar, bubur durian, dodol, belacan, those funny rice thingies that I always forget the name of... It's basically an all you can eat time of year.

Of course, I'd already stuffed myself on Deepavali (The Festival of Lights) with Indian cuisine, but each must have their turn!

I understand the 'time and money' part all too well. Travelling is always expensive.

... Thaipusam has a kind of horrible fascination for me. It's rather like my fear of needles and my fear of strange dark men getting together and having a party...

Doing a number of days tetapi?

Doing Hari Raya?

"I love Thaipusam... Batu Caves turn into something out of an S&M flick."

[Insert emoticon for bewilderment here.]

Any chance of any clues being thrown out for the benefit of a wider readership? :-)

Well, now you know; wasn't that fun! If in doubt, there's always Google with its DEEP DARK SECRET to accurate, informative hits.

Helo, bocah bocah. Saya melayu adalah enggak baik. Minta maaf. Dan Google tolong enggak. :-(

Oh Lordy.

When the readership starts spouting Bahasa, I start to feel concerned. This is Indonesian though, no?

Indonesian and Bahasa are very similar. Well, the formal versions are anyway.

As for what he's saying... I'm not quite sure. My bahasa pasar is a bit off these days.

Well, both countries speak Bahasa, the difference being dialectal (Indonesian being considered "lower", not in a value-sense, mind!).

Bahasa pasar - you snob! ;) Well let's see; "Hey kids. My Malay is not good (enggak is a funny negative to use here, but intelligible - much the mistake I made, eh!). I apologise. And Google didn't help :-("

As you can see, I had some trouble transliterating the emoticon, but my novel approximation should do.

Very good!

Yes, the translate word-by-word approach, following the rules of English grammar (apart from the 'help not' bit and the noun repetition for the plural), and selecting each word by pure guesswork when there was a choice of more than one. Clearly I know nothing of any form of Bahasa, so I didn't even know which option to pick for a translation of the word Malay - melayu or jawi.

By the way, the system I used was: http://sangenjaya.arc.net.my/dict/index-e.html