Tradional vs Modern

I never thought I'd be the type of person to cave under pressure. Maybe it's because I work full-time and I'm used to being independent and active. The thing is, this confinement is killing me! While I was preggers with Ray and still working I had grand ideas on how to fully utilize my maternity leave. You know.. do it the traditional way like eating pegaga, wearing my bengkung for the full 44 days, eating jamu, jaga makan, wearing socks 24/7, not going out... I got some pegaga plants a friend and planted them in a pot in my back-yard. I even googled and saved all sorts of healthy pantang recipes to try out.

Now, 3-and-a-half weeks into my confinement, I feel my resolve weakening. I've eaten ulam pegaga about 3 or 4 times only. I've had pizza twice and McD a few times. And during this first week of Raya I'm ashamed to admit my socks and bengkung have been sitting in my wardrobe! On the 2nd day of Raya my MIL actually let me follow them to visit the houses of 2 relatives. Some of you traditionalists must be shaking your heads in disapproval. Okay, I'm not so proud of myself, either! I do take the jamu every day, though. And also the jeli ibu gamat my dad got from Langkawi. And instead of socks I wear my fluffy bedroom slippers. And apart from my mom's birthday dinner and the Raya visits I haven't gone out.

But.. the bengkung is a torture in itself. During the first week the bidan urut put chalk and lime juice on my tummy before strapping me in. Nice and hot plus not so messy but hard to put on by yourself. After my massage sessions ended I couldn't be bothered to mix up the chalk and lime juice so I just used the Minyak Herbanika from Nona Roguy. Then a friend gave me her left over Herbanika Barut to use. Aiyoo.. first you have to cook the thing with tamarind juice into a paste. Nak pakai is another thing... so messy. And later in the afternoon the paste will dry and harden all over your tummy under the bengkung and start to itch! So I used that about 3 times before reverting to just the minyak. I've promised hubs I'll start wearing it again next week... hmmmm...

As I've mentioned before, my mom has a real modern approach when it comes to confinement. She's not really that strict on what I eat as long as it's not too spicy or contains anything sejuk. Her usage of black pepper in the preparation of my meals is quite moderate though she did make me these nasty ginger pickles to eat with my rice. My MIL is more traditional. She cooks me a lot of fish sprinkled liberally with ginger and black pepper and all sorts of other good, healthy pantang type dishes. Unlike during my first confinement, this time I can drink as much water as I want as long as it's not icy or refrigerated. I'm also not allowed to go up and down the stairs too much. So I sort of swing back and forth in my confinement practices, depending on where I'm currently staying!

In the end, I'm trying to keep a balance between the two. I'm eating as healthily as I can and am putting off going out for another week or so. Meanwhile, the bottle of Pepsi given to me by Ms M waits faithfully on top of my wardrobe...