It certainly is a change from my previous experiences. Number one item is the food. I'm not complaining - it's a lot tastier than the typical Kelantanese offering. Although Mak would certainly not approve of all the frying and sauteing that goes into the food preparation!
A main feature in the menu seems to be 'ikan talang kering'. I'm a bit skeptical about the exact benefits of eating salty preserved fish as part of post-natal recovery, but it seems to be the staple confinement food here. The first week, even at the hospital, I would be served a small portion of this fish that has been fried (I can hear my mother gasping in horror!) with ginger and onion. Sometimes it would be 'masak asam' - similar to the fried variety but with a sourish gravy. Even the soup and vegetables I can tell have been cooked with some oil in it.
Cik Dah came up to Alor Setar with Mak on the third day and stayed on till the weekend, so during that time I was served with the more familiar menu of chinese herbal soups, 'sambal lada benar' and 'ulam'. And my favourite red dates drink! I also had my 'mandi teresak', which thankfully has become part of the current regime (I was so missing it before Cik Dah arrived). But now that she's gone back to Damansara, the Kedahan menu has returned.
The discipline of applying all the oils and wraps are also missing, in the sense that it's mostly up to me to decide whether to put them on or not. Whereas Mak was very strict about making sure I always have the 'barut'/bengkung' on, and that someone (usually Cik Dah, if not the masseuse) always applies 'minyak panas' on my legs and back before I go to bed and after I shower, there doesn't seem to be an urgency to do that in this household (saya sendiri pun malu nak mintak orang tolong - kalau dengan mak atau suami sendiri senang sikit nak mengada2). I suppose since MIL had C-sections for all 3 deliveries, the only 'pantang' she could observe was regarding the food.
It wasn't until the baby was already a week old that I had a massage. Hubby's aunt, Mak Chak, had recommended a lady called Mak Lang who had performed similar 'urut & tungku' services for her daughters during their confinement. She would only come in after my stitches healed. Well, I don't think they healed completely after just seven days, but my legs were starting to feel half-dead so I insisted that she come. So she did, for three days.
Mak Lang brought a set of oils, jamu and 'bedak boros' - a form of 'bedak sejuk' that looks and smells like kurma paste - that I apply all over my body after my bath. We started off the day with a massage, then tungku, after which I take my shower. Unlike my previous masseuses, she did not help me put on the bengkung. In fact she didn't even mention it once. Luckily I managed to put it on myself. On days or nights when I feel a bit lazy, I just use an elastic tummy wrap.
I need to engage her again after the 20th day, maybe for another 3 days. I've finished the bedak boros (only enough for 5 applications), and now using Losyen Yusmira (a 3-in-1 consisting of lime juice, citronella extract and ginger essence) instead. Less of a mess, I think.
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