As I begin to wind down to another year, I will take this time to rejoice in the friendships I have cultivated throughout the year and be thankful for my blessings.... for what I have been given, my families, my colleagues, health and happiness.
2008 will be a year that will not be forgotten easily, with unprecedented turmoil leading to unprecedented levels of stress. But it is only out of these ashes, the proverbial phoenix will arise. It is at times like this that the true meaning of friendship, fellowship and family becomes apparent. The trepidation and anxiety of losing a job I've held for 32 years still flashes within the recesses of my mind. I would have found it difficult to make it through this year without the dedication and support of all.
All in all, this has been an astounding year. It's a year I re-discovered spiritual closeness, embarked on a new journey of cell groups and Christian courses, excavated my culinary interests from years of neglect , found the true meaning of physical obsession (gym hopping of course, what were you thinking! ), fell headlong by default into the technology highway and into the world of blogging, facebook, MSN, and Skype….and many more lesser but nonetheless significant milestones and firsts in my life.
To my family...I love each and everyone of you to bits. There is no better gift that that I can possibly ask for other than the one I'm grateful and honored to call 'MY FAMILY'.
To my friends...You are God's angels sent to me, the sugar to my coffee, the cherry to my cake, the ponstan to my migraine, the kerang to my Char-Kway Teow, etc etc.
May Wan......signing off for the year. Happy 2009!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
It's Christmas Time
It's the time of year again..... of resolutions, year-end parties, carols, turkeys, presents, Christmas trees and tinsels, and family gatherings. A most wondrous time of goodwill, mushy wishes, kisses, hugs and long year-end holidays. How can I ever get enough of such feelings of love, festivities and smacking good time, albeit deemed a trifle commercialized and Mickey Mouse-influenced.
I'm so glad that we took the step of celebrating Christmas more than ten years ago. I can still remember the time we had our first turkey in Desa Pandan. Nothing fancy - just the bird, sparkling juice, warm buns and mushroom soup. But what a memorable feast it was! I was absolutely enthralled by the mere size of the gigantic "chicken". It looked different, it tasted different, but a chicken nevertheless ...a very expensive chicken. The kids were still young then so we had quite a struggle trying to finish off the bird. The act of putting out the cutlery, laying the table and putting on the Christmas songs for ambience was remarkable and totally heartwarming. I remembered we had to invite mum-in-law, Mike and his kids over to help us to demolish it. Even then with the additional mouths, we had quite a fair bit of leftovers for Christmas morning.
Things sort of moved on to the next level since then. It is now a family affair and has been embraced into the annals of must-have family get-togethers. The Christmas eve menu has evolved into a lavish spread of east and west and somewhere in between. The turkey's still there (heck, it's Christmas after all and woe betide a Christmas dinner without the turkey - absolutely no compromise on this). The tree and presents are still in the package. The only difference is that the original batch of kids are now taller (except the 2 small ones), the sparkling juices have mellowed to something stronger, there are more cooks contributing to the gourmet potluck , Christmas carols are sung with gruffer karaoke-trained voices and the family's coming in more than 1 car. Other than this, nothing has changed. The merriment and camaraderie of the Christmas spirit continues to withstand time and age and hopefully for many years to come.
Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year! XXXOOO
I'm so glad that we took the step of celebrating Christmas more than ten years ago. I can still remember the time we had our first turkey in Desa Pandan. Nothing fancy - just the bird, sparkling juice, warm buns and mushroom soup. But what a memorable feast it was! I was absolutely enthralled by the mere size of the gigantic "chicken". It looked different, it tasted different, but a chicken nevertheless ...a very expensive chicken. The kids were still young then so we had quite a struggle trying to finish off the bird. The act of putting out the cutlery, laying the table and putting on the Christmas songs for ambience was remarkable and totally heartwarming. I remembered we had to invite mum-in-law, Mike and his kids over to help us to demolish it. Even then with the additional mouths, we had quite a fair bit of leftovers for Christmas morning.
Things sort of moved on to the next level since then. It is now a family affair and has been embraced into the annals of must-have family get-togethers. The Christmas eve menu has evolved into a lavish spread of east and west and somewhere in between. The turkey's still there (heck, it's Christmas after all and woe betide a Christmas dinner without the turkey - absolutely no compromise on this). The tree and presents are still in the package. The only difference is that the original batch of kids are now taller (except the 2 small ones), the sparkling juices have mellowed to something stronger, there are more cooks contributing to the gourmet potluck , Christmas carols are sung with gruffer karaoke-trained voices and the family's coming in more than 1 car. Other than this, nothing has changed. The merriment and camaraderie of the Christmas spirit continues to withstand time and age and hopefully for many years to come.
Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year! XXXOOO
Sunday, October 5, 2008
C'est La Vie
Seng has been in Newscastle exactly 3 weeks as at todate. Almost 8 more months to go. Wow, how time flies and it's not as if it has been fun. During this long acclimatization process, I've been exposed to so many technological wonders... I learnt about the use and workings of the webcam (tho not quite successful as yet, following yesterday's failed attempts), learnt how to send parcels (eh, maybe not... have not done it yet, only from theory), learnt to use the MSN, hotmail (aahh...this one I did yesterday, so considered passed the test). Next step? Explore the Skype, facebook, ...
Recently I've been exposed to quite a lot of stories told by mum and mum-in-law. Good stuff all....in fact, all the elements of a bigseller are there .... love, violence, betrayals, trials, suspense ....etc.etc. From all accounts, the stories told are so colourful, so full of human emotions and so rich in experiences, they're almost like scenes taken from the movie, Joy Luck Club.
The range of events is tremendous. Mum-in-law's life starts from the era of communist China, whilst mum's is from the era of the emerging markets. Totally different but both dynamically absorbing. Come to think about it, I also have stories from my friends' mums, but that's another story (pardon the pun). Reckon from my interest shown (aka kay-pohness), not wanting to brag... (ahem, ahem..) I feel I know more about my MIL than even her own children do. Maybe I'll write her memoir someday....for my kids so that they know who their ma-ma and ah gong are.
Mum and Dad are such good storytellers and generous with their accounts of bygone years....Dad's accounts are usually funny while mum's very detailed and animated. At various times (mostly during dinner) all of us (children and grandkids) have heard snippets of their life and experiences in some form or other. I'll write their memoirs someday, too, so as not to forget. Need help from everyone tho, my senior moments are catching up on me...getting very forgetful nowadays. My only hope is the other CNN of the family. He'll help me remember : )
That brings us to us...yes, us! I think it's important to share our experiences and life with our kids. It's good for our kids to know and understand who we really are....I call it our legacy to them before we pass on. We have been on this planet for such a long, long time (I'm talking to those in the late 40s and above)., we've done so much, gone through so much. It will be such a waste that so many memories (good and bad) go forgotten. I love stories....especially stories from our parents. They give me an identity, a sense of closeness.... and most of all, always bring a smile to my face, knowing that through it all, they did superbly well (we turned out well , didn't we???...ahem and double ahem). Luckily mum doesn't know how to read English.......mati la me ; P
Recently I've been exposed to quite a lot of stories told by mum and mum-in-law. Good stuff all....in fact, all the elements of a bigseller are there .... love, violence, betrayals, trials, suspense ....etc.etc. From all accounts, the stories told are so colourful, so full of human emotions and so rich in experiences, they're almost like scenes taken from the movie, Joy Luck Club.
The range of events is tremendous. Mum-in-law's life starts from the era of communist China, whilst mum's is from the era of the emerging markets. Totally different but both dynamically absorbing. Come to think about it, I also have stories from my friends' mums, but that's another story (pardon the pun). Reckon from my interest shown (aka kay-pohness), not wanting to brag... (ahem, ahem..) I feel I know more about my MIL than even her own children do. Maybe I'll write her memoir someday....for my kids so that they know who their ma-ma and ah gong are.
Mum and Dad are such good storytellers and generous with their accounts of bygone years....Dad's accounts are usually funny while mum's very detailed and animated. At various times (mostly during dinner) all of us (children and grandkids) have heard snippets of their life and experiences in some form or other. I'll write their memoirs someday, too, so as not to forget. Need help from everyone tho, my senior moments are catching up on me...getting very forgetful nowadays. My only hope is the other CNN of the family. He'll help me remember : )
That brings us to us...yes, us! I think it's important to share our experiences and life with our kids. It's good for our kids to know and understand who we really are....I call it our legacy to them before we pass on. We have been on this planet for such a long, long time (I'm talking to those in the late 40s and above)., we've done so much, gone through so much. It will be such a waste that so many memories (good and bad) go forgotten. I love stories....especially stories from our parents. They give me an identity, a sense of closeness.... and most of all, always bring a smile to my face, knowing that through it all, they did superbly well (we turned out well , didn't we???...ahem and double ahem). Luckily mum doesn't know how to read English.......mati la me ; P
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Empty nest syndrome
Ok, Ok....I've messed up again. Forgot to publish my post...I was wondering how come I keep seeing only 2 of my previous postings. Dinosaur, dinosaur....
Seng has left for Newcastle exactly a week from today. Surprisingly, it was not as painful as I thought....unlike the time Duke went off to Adelaide. Took me 1 full week to get over the emptiness. Poor Ee-Ee got the brunt of it. I remembered when she text me that night Boy flew off, the poor girl had to endure at least an hour of my long messages of woe and sadness. I only stopped when she said I was making her cry! She's such a dear...so far away and still have to console me.
I guess this time round the daily phone calls helped (how come I never thought about doing the same when Boy left???). Good move........until I get the phone bill at month end, that is. I'll have another kind of pain then! But seriously, having Ian with me last Monday really helped. With all the incessant "ee ma ma" questions and activities, there was really no time to mope and feel sad. Thanks Ben and Ping for letting me "adopt" him for a day. Boy has been great too. It must be tough for him to squeeze out from his busy schedules to spend some quality time with me. Really means a lot to me.
It's nice to know Seng's settling in well with his friends. Little bumps here and there (including something of the nocturnal kind) but generally smooth going. Prayers work! Now waiting for his internet to be connected so that we can go into proper and cheaper mode of communication. Apparently his room mates told him that the internet has been down for 2 weeks and nobody knew why. So much for UK technology. Can't wait to see photos of his apartment and surroundings.
Just a few days more and I can be spared of sending synopsis of the Ka Ho Yuet Yuen series. The series will be ending soon. Whew! I was beginning to feel like I was doing homework..: )
Seng has left for Newcastle exactly a week from today. Surprisingly, it was not as painful as I thought....unlike the time Duke went off to Adelaide. Took me 1 full week to get over the emptiness. Poor Ee-Ee got the brunt of it. I remembered when she text me that night Boy flew off, the poor girl had to endure at least an hour of my long messages of woe and sadness. I only stopped when she said I was making her cry! She's such a dear...so far away and still have to console me.
I guess this time round the daily phone calls helped (how come I never thought about doing the same when Boy left???). Good move........until I get the phone bill at month end, that is. I'll have another kind of pain then! But seriously, having Ian with me last Monday really helped. With all the incessant "ee ma ma" questions and activities, there was really no time to mope and feel sad. Thanks Ben and Ping for letting me "adopt" him for a day. Boy has been great too. It must be tough for him to squeeze out from his busy schedules to spend some quality time with me. Really means a lot to me.
It's nice to know Seng's settling in well with his friends. Little bumps here and there (including something of the nocturnal kind) but generally smooth going. Prayers work! Now waiting for his internet to be connected so that we can go into proper and cheaper mode of communication. Apparently his room mates told him that the internet has been down for 2 weeks and nobody knew why. So much for UK technology. Can't wait to see photos of his apartment and surroundings.
Just a few days more and I can be spared of sending synopsis of the Ka Ho Yuet Yuen series. The series will be ending soon. Whew! I was beginning to feel like I was doing homework..: )
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Life's a Roller Coaster
Hellooo world….I’m baaack! Not sure about the “with a vengeance” bit. I’m still trying to navigate within my blog. I seriously feel that those guys who designed the blog format and templates are all sadists….out to maim and torment IT dinosaurs like me.
Anyway… It’s been a long, long while since I last put in something in my blog (4 months or so??) - talk about inconsistencies.... : )
During this time of absence, the petrol price went up and sort of hit the roof (hopefully that’s the end of it), the Olympics came and went, Citibank went through or rather still going through a period of organizational turbulence, Thaksin, the ex-Thai PM absconded to London – leaving behind a very rowdy Thailand, Somalian pirates are reportedly roaming the high seas and holding seamen for ransom, Sichuan province was hard hit by a killer earthquake, US may vote in their lst black President, and so on and so forth..... And that’s some of international news.
At the homefront, Ee Ee returned for her summer break in July and just went back to Ukraine for her final year in med school last week, Seng’s leaving for Newcastle next week, the maid found 3 new boyfriends, raking up a total of RM900+ worth of phone bills, my uneventful 25th anniversary passed me by without any fanfare (sigh!), Patrick’s karaoke LakeClub team won the inter-club team event, I learnt how to use Nokia PC suite and (check this out!!) I took up a new hobby – brisk walking around KLCC in the evenings after work..…Thank goodness, other than the maid’s romantic shenanigans, things have been peaceful and normal at home.
I’m beginning to hate reading the daily news. Other than being forced fed on news of incessant political bickerings and corrupted intents of politicians, there’s really nothing else to read in the local newspapers other than the daily dosage of robberies, murders, natural disasters, country instabilities and generally blatant personifications of all the sins of mankind. But what’s most amazing is that everyone, and I mean EVERYONE’s talking about the end of time – the end days! It is indeed such a strange, but sad phenomenon in that, this belief in end times is acknowledged and embraced by all religions and non-religious bodies, without question or argument. If only carnal man can find common agreement in a less morbid subject.
Enough of the gloom and doom. Just found this song – Ordinary Miracles. Love it! It tells us to treasure the ordinary for they are miracles in themselves. Who knows what will happen in the next minute or second. It’s the present we should appreciate. Goes like this....
It’s not that unusual
When everything is beautiful
It’s just another ordinary miracle today
The sky knows when it’s time to snow,
Don’t need to teach a seed to grow
It’s just another ordinary miracle today
Life is like a gift they say,
Wrapped up for you everyday
Open up and find a way
To give some of your own
Isn’t it remarkable
Like every time a raindrop falls
It’s just another ordinary miracle today
Birds in winter have their fling
But always make it home by spring
It’s just another ordinary miracle today
When you wake up everyday
Please don’t throw your dreams away
Hold them close to your heart
Cause we’re all apart
Of the ordinary miracle
It seems so exceptional
That things just work out after all
It’s just another ordinary miracle today
Sun comes up and shines so bright
And disappears again at night
It’s just another ordinary miracle today
Got to sign off now. My new venture - write less to make up for the frequency. Chow!
Anyway… It’s been a long, long while since I last put in something in my blog (4 months or so??) - talk about inconsistencies.... : )
During this time of absence, the petrol price went up and sort of hit the roof (hopefully that’s the end of it), the Olympics came and went, Citibank went through or rather still going through a period of organizational turbulence, Thaksin, the ex-Thai PM absconded to London – leaving behind a very rowdy Thailand, Somalian pirates are reportedly roaming the high seas and holding seamen for ransom, Sichuan province was hard hit by a killer earthquake, US may vote in their lst black President, and so on and so forth..... And that’s some of international news.
At the homefront, Ee Ee returned for her summer break in July and just went back to Ukraine for her final year in med school last week, Seng’s leaving for Newcastle next week, the maid found 3 new boyfriends, raking up a total of RM900+ worth of phone bills, my uneventful 25th anniversary passed me by without any fanfare (sigh!), Patrick’s karaoke LakeClub team won the inter-club team event, I learnt how to use Nokia PC suite and (check this out!!) I took up a new hobby – brisk walking around KLCC in the evenings after work..…Thank goodness, other than the maid’s romantic shenanigans, things have been peaceful and normal at home.
I’m beginning to hate reading the daily news. Other than being forced fed on news of incessant political bickerings and corrupted intents of politicians, there’s really nothing else to read in the local newspapers other than the daily dosage of robberies, murders, natural disasters, country instabilities and generally blatant personifications of all the sins of mankind. But what’s most amazing is that everyone, and I mean EVERYONE’s talking about the end of time – the end days! It is indeed such a strange, but sad phenomenon in that, this belief in end times is acknowledged and embraced by all religions and non-religious bodies, without question or argument. If only carnal man can find common agreement in a less morbid subject.
Enough of the gloom and doom. Just found this song – Ordinary Miracles. Love it! It tells us to treasure the ordinary for they are miracles in themselves. Who knows what will happen in the next minute or second. It’s the present we should appreciate. Goes like this....
It’s not that unusual
When everything is beautiful
It’s just another ordinary miracle today
The sky knows when it’s time to snow,
Don’t need to teach a seed to grow
It’s just another ordinary miracle today
Life is like a gift they say,
Wrapped up for you everyday
Open up and find a way
To give some of your own
Isn’t it remarkable
Like every time a raindrop falls
It’s just another ordinary miracle today
Birds in winter have their fling
But always make it home by spring
It’s just another ordinary miracle today
When you wake up everyday
Please don’t throw your dreams away
Hold them close to your heart
Cause we’re all apart
Of the ordinary miracle
It seems so exceptional
That things just work out after all
It’s just another ordinary miracle today
Sun comes up and shines so bright
And disappears again at night
It’s just another ordinary miracle today
Got to sign off now. My new venture - write less to make up for the frequency. Chow!
Holiday Observations
I'm on leave today - on mum duty. Thought of doing some serious "lepaking" and catch up on some of the local and foreign political news. I'm all ready at my dining table, the fan is on, the dogs are frolicking at my feet, the indoor fountain is providing the spa ambience, and the aroma my coffee filling the air. Aah...Pure bliss...: ) I opened my copy of today's "Star". And what do I get? Headlines screaming that our grand-ole man "Dr M quits Umno" (a full 10 pages dedicated to it, mind you). Did a quick take on the rest of the papers and decided to do an analysis of contents (I'm sooo free, rite?) - 3 pages sort-of mentioning about the Chinese and Myanmese disasters and 2 pages-full advertising on Air Asia. The balance - half of the heap goes to more advertisements and sports. So what's left? Go figure. Our neighbourhood newspaper sure knows how to put things in perspective, doesn't it? Got bored and turned on the You Tube to surf a recommended-read site : the Church of Oprah. This, for the record, is now the largest church in the world. For its first service in Mar,2008, there were 300,000 people. As at end March, total attendees grew to a meteoric 2 million..and that's only in N America. Goodness knows, what the latest number. So what's she advocating? She's saying : i) Who you are, requires no belief, ii) heaven is not a location but refers to an inner realm of consciousness, iii) Jesus is an archetypal image of every man and woman, iv) your mind is part of God's, thus you are very holy and your holiness is your salvation ie it comes from you. This is the New Age Religion. In short, you don't need God, you are God. By the way, she is the High Priestess of this religion. There are tons of postings and discussion sites in the web talking about this new phenomenon. For those who disagree and condemn such teachings, they are unwittingly giving it free publicity and spreading it even more. For the curious, there are loads of high-tech multimedia presentations to interest anyone for hours - I spent 2 hours just skimming on some of these sites. Well, she's the richest woman on this planet...she can well afford the top-of-the class technology and PR.The news of today depresses me....it takes a lot of effort and hard hunting to find good news nowadays. It's as if the world is folding up into a massive mass of confusion, insecurity and misery. They have a name for it - the end time symptoms. Gives me the chills (brrr!). Call me an ostritch but I'm sticking my head into my line dancing notes and classes for entertainment and personal challenges. They're a much safer and healthier alternative. As my circle of influence progressively decreases and my impending retirement looms, it's time to take stock of my priorities and needs. Starting this blog is one of them (it's cheaper than travelling, caters to my need and love to write, feeds my ego ;-P and prevent senility, I hope.) In the meantime I'm still finding more interests to fill my time...they say gardening's fun and charity work's noble....erhm....let's see....Message to the Thams: babysitting proposals are not part of the above must-do activities nor do they fall within the category of post retirement hobbies : ) They are under the "occasional craving" group, together with the other "once-in-a-while must-have" food cravings.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
A New Beginning
My second try at blogging (lost my lst blog) and it's pretty surreal for me! There's so much to write about and yet where do I start? Like the song in "The Sound of Music" - let's start at the very beginning...a very good place to start...My first task at hand is to think of a suitable name for my blog. Shall I go for something profound eg of kings and cabbages...or something middle-of-the road eg musings...quick takes... etc? Took me quite a while to land up with "expresso88". Why the name? Firstly (and primarily) it's available and secondly I thought it fairly well represents of my upbringing - a mixture of western influence (the expresso-bit) and eastern culture (the ever-popular Chinesy 88). I suppose that's the basic composition of all 1st generation Chinese in Malaysia - educated in English but deeply rooted in the old ways of filial piety, tight family structure and submissive respect to parents and elders. Sad that with all the western influence slowly seeping into our cultural fabrics, it has become a normal and "acceptable practice" for kids nowadays to question the status quo and speak their minds openly to the elders without feeling any tinge of embarassment or remorse. In those days, arguments with parents or elders are unheard of and show of tantrums are usually ended with a tight slap across the face (not that my parents are privy to this, thank God!) or worse, a devastating, heart churning look from my mum that will transform any living creature into a quivering, self-repenting lump of human jelly. As you guessed it by now, that's an old-time skill that has been relegated to the age of dinosaurs by the advent of the television and modern media and what they call, freedom of speech and expression. I'm finally on the information highway and hurtling towards my dreams of writing my memoirs (not that I'm such an influential figure that people will scramble to buy up the rights to publish) but a simple series of musings, thoughts and reflections that, perhaps may be preserved for posterity for my kids and my kids' kids, so that one day they may understand and remember me by. Of course, also before Alzeimer sets in. Yes ,humility is something I should work on more...My earliest recollection of my childhood days was pre-school. How can I forget? I was the only kid in a house of adults. My earliest playmates were kids from the kampong settlement at the back of my grandma's house. For the likes of me, I can't remember what race they were. All I knew then was that they were MY friends and MY faithful companions.....a philosophy that I have always carried with me, even to this day - I'm colour and gender blind when it comes to friends. I just can't understand why with all the knowledge and education that's around, we have not understood nor accepted this simple concept that the only difference between one human and another is the language. Learn the language and you can bridge the gap.I remember there were 2 girls (both sisters) and an extremely naughty boy who were the group bully. All of them were older than me. Don't remember their names...we were friends for full 4 years (before we were disbanded due to geographical relocations) and somehow got through with no names mentioned. Anyway would have forgotten even though if we knew each others' names then. They were my teachers to the ways of the world...I owe them so much. The girls taught me how to "cook" berry leaves and twigs without fire and arrange a neat spread in a professional table setting (a skill I could actually use during my domestic science days in Form 3). The boy taught me the survival skills - fishing for guppies in drains, climbing trees, catching bugs to add to my culinary repertoire, and of course, smashing marbles...all amazing stuff : ) ....and we didn't have computers, PS2 or what-nots in those days. The only toys were the cheap plastic dolls, which we used for target practice. Not sure if there were Barbie dolls then. If there were, they would have ended up the same way as the plastic ones or worse, would have stood in as dunking dummies. Well...we were very much engaged most of the time. So much to do and discover, no time to disturb the adults. I don't remember my grandma having any sleepness nights over what I did , who I was with or where I was. Why should she? I was a well behaved girl (ahem!) and there were no modern day crime to worry her...no kidnapping of kids....no muggings.....no rapes....no political shenanigans. The only shocking crimes I vaguely remember (it was talked about for days among the adults) were when some "hippies" crashed their car into a cow (how yucky!) and some GIs came to my uncle's shop and teased my aunt. Wow! So happening! We weren't rich then nor had we all the trappings of modern day comfort, but it's the simple things I remember and cherish most. Nothing is worth more than such sweet (sometimes bitter) recollections that make me say...."Ah....those were the good days...".
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