Friday, December 13, 2013

Life is like a box of chocolates [or curry puff]

Bismillah.

Excuse me. I might be chocolates overdosed. Can't help it. 

I saw something funny on a menu at a 5-star restaurant in KL. I think I want to ask the hotel's General Manager later why they let a slippage occur on their menu.

You know curry puffs? It's like danish pastry with a savory filling i.e. potatoes/beef/chicken? That's the internationally accepted name of such a delicacy. In the Malay language we spell/call it Karipap [pronounce curry-pulp; curry with a 'k' sound; pulp without emphasizing the 'l' in the pulp.] Follow me?

Our version of karipap does not taste as exquisite as the curry puffs you might get at some posh cafes. Fine. But I cannot understand why a 5-star hotel actually direct translates curry puff to kari pap with a white space in between. It should be karipap, just one word. I am making a big fuss over this, yes I know. LOL.

But life is like karipap, you never know what you're gonna get inside. It can be potatoes with beef or chicken or sardine or plain potatoes. You really will never know unless the seller puts a proper label on the counter [rarely] or she/he somehow knows it by heart and inform you verbally. LOL.

"Life is like a karipap" - I think, is a better expression than "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

I picked that up from watching Forrest Gump the movie. I am not a movie person. I have a small brain. I don't remember 98% of the movies I watched. But I remembered that expression from the movie. I remembered crying buckets watching it.

Less expensive chocolates would have a clear label on the packaging, so you know what you'll get. More expensive chocolates tend to have a beautiful box with minimal info on the outside, but as you open the flap you'll see descriptions of what's inside each of the chocolates. You won't know the contents only for a small window of time. So "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get" is just OK as an expression but not that accurate.

Interestingly enough, according to Wikipedia, the expression appeared in a book by a Japanese author circa '87/'89; earlier than the film Forrest Gump. I quote from Wiki what the author wrote which is worth quoting so we can all ponder while enjoying karipap or chocolates.

"Just remember, life is like a box of chocolates."..."You know, they've got these chocolate assortments and you like some but you don't like others? And you eat all the ones you don't like as much. I always think about that when something painful comes up. 'Now just polish these off, and everything will be OK.' Life is like a box of chocolates." - wrote Haruki Murakami

How true!


p/s 
Just another laid-back posting before the next one about a talented writer from South Africa who is working on a translation/commentary of 'Fayd al-Litaf 'ala Jawhara al-Tawhid' by Imam Ebrahim Laqqani. Sidi Allie Khalfe the translator, calls his forthcoming work 'The Outpouring of Subtleties upon the Precious Pearl of Divine Oneness.'
Click here to read:

If his work may be represented by a brand of chocolates. It's got to be Godiva!
:)


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