How to spark an owl, old school style...
Music: Primal Scream - Suicide Sally And Johnny Guitar (click to download)
My grandfather used to tell me stories about his life, with the scent of Javanese tobacco (tembakau kretek) under his breath. It's pretty much a norm back in the days when I was a very young and innocent lad, watching my grandfather roll a brand new joint everytime he finished his. What my grandfather used was the straw paper substituting the commonly seen and used chalk ('kalk') paper, which is made of calcium carbonate, seen in all branded 'Virginia tobacco' cigarettes in convenient stores. Growing up, it still amazes me to see that not many Malaysians roll their own cigarette. After all, with the latest National budget increasing cigarette prices to brand new heights, Javanese tobacco is probably the best way to cut down on your vice expenditures. Cost-wise, the straw paper (kertas nipah) costs MYR 1.00 - MYR 2.00 for 150 sheets and the tobacco would cost around MYR 2.50 for 40-50 grams.
Cigarettes with high tar and nicotine count are bad anyway so lower down your health risk, spark an owl with cheaper Javanese tobacco today!
Last week, I attempted in vain to roll a cigarette with the aforementioned straw paper for the sake of it. Figured that I'd ask a colleague of mine to show me how it's done correctly. He agreed and resulting from that, some shots were taken to illustrate the methodology. Of course, the same applys when you are rolling a marijuana joint using straw paper.
Firstly, one must spread the straw paper evenly as depicted above.
The end of the straw paper should then be folded as such.
Repeat this process on the other end.
Roll the straw paper inwards thrice.
And now you have a piece of straw paper ready for use!
My colleague Amir strictly recommends 'Jawakia' Javanese tobacco. He says its of premium quality.
Place the tobacco, 3/4 in length, alongside the top corner of the straw paper you've just rolled.
Roll it up.
Spark it and enjoy your tar-free death stick! That's Amir(+), the gym buff from my warehouse team...
+ Thank you Amir for the assistance renderred in illustrating your cigarette-rolling skills.
