Granny

June 2, 2012 Leave a comment

It is a dark weekend for all of us. Yesterday afternoon, I received a bad news from my cousin, Leon. My granny in Muar fell into a coma and is dying. She was in perfect health when my families gathered in Bintan last year. She has always been cheerful, bubbly, and energetic.

To keep our families from worrying, my mum kept my granny’s illness a secret. She was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer a while ago. My mum, aunties and uncles didn’t want her to occupy too much thoughts about her health. Depression and negativeness would make worse for her illness. Thus, they tried all ways to keep her spirits high and happy. Somehow, this formula worked. For a long while, my granny was in high spirits until recently, the cancer cells prevailed and took over her frail body. She eventually collapsed into a coma yesterday.

I called my mum yesterday and she told me to be strong and happy. “There is nothing to be sad about. Don’t worry about granny. It is her time for her to move on. She has had a great life and she wants us to be happy too. We should celebrate her passing instead of grieve.” My mum reminded me how short life is and we should live a great life like my granny. She has been a tough lady, bringing up 9 children all by herself. She is blessed with 17 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren. Her words and strength moved me to tears. Trying hard to hold my sadness and tears, I couldn’t find my voice to answer her. My mum almost couldn’t hear me further, as I was choking in tears. Thinking the line went off, she hanged up the call.

It was an unbearable night.  I couldn’t sleep well, kept thinking of my granny. I was browsing all the old photographs of my granny the whole night. Just realised I didn’t have a lot of photos of her. She visited us in Hong Kong 2 years ago. And that was the last time we met and chatted. Every time we meet, she will always remind me to live life fruitfully.. stay healthy and be happy. (And I did – all these years – trying to balance my life, keep them colorful for my family and loved ones.) Sadly, these farewell shots at the Hong Kong Airport Express are the last I took of her.

Granny, no matter how bad and uncertain life can be, I will live positively, strongly and happily like you did. I miss you so much.

Filed under Family, Jo's Thoughts

Little Towkay at his first flea market

May 28, 2012 Leave a comment

BLOG BY FELICIA (27th May 2012)

It has been a tiring but happy day for me. I got a flea market booth at a new mall called Scape. Located just behind Orchard Cine Leisure. There were booths from the ground floor to the 4th floor. Ground floor booths are mainly selling new stuffs. While the 2nd to 4th floor booths are for resale of preloved clothes, shoes, bags and toys. We got a spacious corner on the 4th level. In less than 15min setting up, we got our first sale! Sold 2 pairs of sunnies!

This is Elkan’s first flea market experience. In the beginning when customers were browsing the clothes, he came to me and ask: “Mummy, that t-shirt so old! Can still sell?” …. the customer smiled at us and left….. So I explained to him what he should avoid saying especially when customers are around. Or at least whisper in my ear.

Later in the afternoon, Elkan started to get bored as the sale slowed down, so he started playing with his iPad. He was playing a heated game of ping pong with Kenneth and Karen (my sharing partners for the booth sale). Not a wise choice as those 2 are supposed to be the “key salesmen” of the booth.

Towards the evening, Elkan got bored again and started doodling and drew very nice $2 price tags and started shouting out to the crowd: “$2 clothes here! $2 clothes here!” So unlike me, quiet and shy. He was so bold and such a natural!! And he attracted quite a bit of attention. Other booth owners were taking pictures of him and also started shouting like him too. The flea market got livelier and was bustling with shouts from different booths.

We managed to sold lots of Joe’s collection of Transformer toys! A guy was happy to find our very old but well kept box of Risk board game! Shrek soft toys were more popular than Pooh bears! Poor Elmo was molested by so many customers but still not taken. I suggested to Elkan, maybe he should hug it and walk around the whole floor and shout: “Elmo for sale!!” And he did that! I hear people saying: “So cute!!” but still Elmo came back to us. Nevertheless, it was a good try and Elkan was enjoying himself. He even made friends with other booth owners, getting their names and guessing their age. They let him stand at their booths and shout $2 bucks sale driving crowd to our corner!

The sale ended at 8pm. We were quite exhausted. After packing up quickly, we had a nice dinner over at Orchard Cine Leisure before heading home. I think I may try get another booth soon to clear more stuff and Elkan will be my very good sales kid! 

Filed under Family, Life in Singapore

And when he danced…

May 15, 2012 Leave a comment

I am so glad to be back and just in time to catch Elkan’s debut stage performance at the Singapore National Library last Sunday (Mother’s Day). Being the only boy (and shortest) in his hip-hop class, Elkan rocks and shines on stage. This is the first time I watch him dance on the big stage, in front of an live audience. (Elkan is shy and dislikes showing us his dance moves at home!) And when he danced, Elkan was a different person. He was so confident (his expression, his moves) and he fired up the stage! I completely lost myself in his suave hip-hopping moves.  This is the perfect Mother’s Gift performance for Mummy Felicia and his favorite grannies. Indeed, Elkan is a natural charmer amongst these beautiful roses! I can’t wait for the official DVD.

Filed under Family, Life in Singapore

Happy Mothers’ Day & 60th Birthday!

May 13, 2012 Leave a comment

Our little and simple Mother’s Day celebration with 5 mothers (including 3 grandmas). We decided to give Auntie Amy a surprise by bringing forward her 60th birthday celebration. (Watch Video below – Enjoy the 2 moving Mother’s Day viral videos 2012)


Filed under Family, Jo's Thoughts

Kinectic Kids

April 10, 2012 2 Comments

(Photo Taken: Kinect Dance Central Challenge, Plaza Singapura, Singapore – So cool! My boy Elkan was dancing on the big stage with 4 cute girls! The kids were the crowd magnet at Kinect Try-Out Event at Plaza Singapura. Elkan danced 4 rounds on the big stage and won himself a Kinect Dance Cap.)

Filed under Family, Life in Singapore

Happy 10th Anniversary (24th March 2002 – 24th March 2012)

March 24, 2012 3 Comments

Filed under Family, Jo's Thoughts

Back to Monkey Hill 2

March 18, 2012 1 Comment

My wife and boy were in town for a week. We didn’t go anywhere as I was down with sickness at home. Weather was haywire too. Last week, temperature dropped from 25 to 11 degrees. Most of the time, it was gloomy and wet. There were many places I planned to bring them (like watching the circus at Macau, theme-park at Shenzhen and a short weekend trip to Xiamen), guess we have to postpone these for the next trip.  Being bored at home, our little monkey, Elkan was pestering us to bring him out. We went hiking at the Monkey Hill.

Elkan wasn’t happy when we told him we wanted to set him free at his new home. He didn’t really like the monkeys (well, I don’t think the monkeys like him too!) We took the forest trail. Crossing dams and streams, this was quite a pleasant hike. The forest floor was littered with red brown leaves and mini mushrooms… it felt like an enchanted forest. So cozy Autumn.

Filed under Family, Life in Hong Kong

Love and Bread

February 12, 2012 Leave a comment

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Felicia organized a lovely “Valentine Breakfast” activity for the family. Over Facetime, we spent an hour creating our own “Love Sandwiches”. We were comparing and sharing our “heart-shaped” breads and eggs online. It was really fun and a great way to bond with my boy. Kudos to my wife for the sweet and yummy session! Now, I know how to make heart-shaped hard-boiled egg. (Visit: http://www.kuchkhaashai.com/2011/02/how-to-make-heart-shaped-eggs.html)

Filed under Family, Life in Hong Kong, Life in Singapore

Spring Cleaning – Treasures from the Past

January 29, 2012 Leave a comment

My last spring cleaning blog was written 6 years ago on 19 March 2006 (See 2006 Blog: Nostalgia). I love spring cleaning. It is like opening a time-capsule. There are so many things to rediscover – my life, my tokens and my past.

Since the day I left Singapore for Shanghai, we have vacated our apartment and moved our stuffs to my in-law’s place. My mother-in-law has been very kind to allow me to store 40 boxes of my belongings/junks in her living room. (Honestly, it was unsightly and Felicia did a great job to conceal the boxes.) Last week, I was back in Singapore to celebrate Chinese New Year with my family. Felicia and I decided to clear those boxes. It is time to unpack, thrash or sell those old junks. Well, I am accumulating another 40 boxes of stuffs from my stay in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

It is rather strange to do “spring-cleaning” on the 1st day of spring. And to most Chinese, it is inauspicious (a common taboo) to clean the house on the first day as it will drive the Fortune God away. Well, that was what I did this Chinese New Year – breaking the taboo. We spent the first 3 days of the Chinese New Year clearing out all the junks. My in-laws weren’t around and this was the only free time I have to spare. (We didn’t let her know till today.)

Instead of the planned 1-day cleanup, we took more than 3 days going through all those mementos. Those boxes were precious time capsules. They were priceless recollection of my most beautiful memories. Box after box, I “rediscovered” so many long-forgotten tokens of my life. My student works, my wedding photos, my toys and those old newspaper clippings.

Elkan was as excited as me. He was only 2 when we sealed the boxes back in 2006. He has never seen these things that his dad and mummy owned. Lucky for him, I was a avid toy collector. I have a big collection of his favourite Marvel (X-men, Spider-man) and Toy Story figurines. Those toys were at least 15-year old. Nope, there wasn’t any priceless heirlooms (gems and watches) for my boy. I passed him all my toys and a complete hard-cover 1995 edition of Tintin comics.

I found many hand-written letters and gifts which I have sent to Felicia during our courtship days (1992) and her university days (1997-1999) in Australia. Back then, there is no Facebook, FaceTime or even Whatsapp. I used to send her letters and my cartoons weekly. It took 1 week to reach her. It was slow but precious. Reading the letters and seeing those cartoon cards again made me realized how much our lives have changed over the years. My gosh, we have been couple for almost 20 years! Those were bitter-sweet memories.

While our loved ones were busily visiting friends and relatives during the first 3 days of Chinese New Year, three of us were at home revisiting our own pasts. It was an unique reunion and bonding time for 3 of us. Especially for Elkan. For the first time, he got to know so much more about his dad and mum (and the drawings his dad drew for his mum). In the end, there wasn’t much junks to throw. Just lots of stories and memories to share with my little boy.

Filed under Family, Jo's Thoughts, Life in Singapore

Elkan Rocks China (Updated)

January 7, 2012 1 Comment

Above: Elkan and Harshad rocked their way in China! Enjoy the video and their funny dance moves! Just uploaded the full clip of our China holidays (below). Some of the key moments: [1:28] Felicia was nervous on the chair-lift. [2:26] The 3 girls disrupted such a nice morning Great Walk walk. [5:50] Poor Harshad clearing snow for the group. [10:35] Poor Harshad again..hahaha.

Filed under Cool Stuffs, Family, Music, Travel

← Older posts

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.