For my Grandma

My grandmother was born in a village in Guandong, china, on 1918. Given the name “Ah Ai” she was hoped to take up the great role of mother as she grew up, and yes, she did. A great mother which brought up 8 children and some of the grandchildren, single handedly.

She was first married to a Doctor, whom she followed to Singapore to continue his business. What seems to be a stable future was disrupted as the WW2 broke out, whereby the husband was lost. With 3 children with her, she married again, this time a worker at the port. Here the last 5 child was born, which includes my mother. Perhaps heaven really wanted to challenge her, my grandfather died of cancer, when my mother was 9.

Given today’s context this would be a really good article for the newspapers to ask for lots of donation and welfare help, but in the 50’s she only have herself to depend on. Thus she took up odd jobs in the day and night, washing of dishes and cleaning other’s house while taking care of children, slongside with the elder son sharing some responsibility of care taking the younger siblings too.

Time flies then. Kampong became HDB flat, sons became someone else’s son-in-law. Seems like the end of an happy story, but in fact, it was the start of another phrase. Years past, she did enjoy her “retirement”, but time to time conflict arises among the uncles and my mother regards many issues… Nevertheless, she still always get the care that she needs, as she lived with my eldest uncle family and my mother lived next door since she’s married. Not forgetting grandchildren’s company too… The cousins, and especially my sister.

But nature is cruel. Illness caught up with her as her health got worse. Slowly her ability to walk weakens, then she has difficulty to climb stairs, then she needs 2 persons to carry her, just to go downstairs. Not forgetting all the Diabetes, high blood pressure, etc.. And then, last year, a slept led to a stroke attack in the brain… which since then removed her ability to move her left limps, to eat and swallow, and to talk properly. How would it feel for some one not able to eat what she likes, or even to like people understand her properly?

(and again another saga of the incident with relatives… you can refer to my previous post on this, dated 15 Sep 2005 in the archive.)

The next 11 months of her life was spent on that bed in her home…under the care of the wife of her eldest son and a maid. My mother visited her every Sunday, sometimes she would be trying to communicate and sometimes she would just be sleeping. It really wasn’t easy, but there’s no choice.

And the time came. She passed away peacefully, last Friday 18th August, afternoon. No pain, nothing much I heard.


She is in peace.


--------------------------------------------


For those my friends that know, what followed for all of us were 5 days of funeral. The first few days was ok, perhaps because most of us had already been mentally prepared for this day to come since last year. Or view it as, a form or relief and rest.

The 5 days was sort of “rush” for me too, I actually pop down at Dom’s birthday (see previous below) and went school for Monday and Tuesday. I was considered as “Wai Soon” (external grandson) so it’s was quite ok if talking about ceremonial stuff.

It was also like a big relative “gathering” too. Many relatives whom we haven’t saw for a long time came, friends of our own people came too. As a matter of fact, this includes our own relatives too, since that we only saw them during New Year.

It was the last night where the mood starts to get somber. It was the ceremonial stuff for her spirit. The last day was the worst. All the time she just seems to be asleep there, peaceful. It was only when the coffin was pushed in at Mandai….then the fact came to us. She is really gone.


Many shed tears for her throughout.
There’s tears because she had left many memories in all of us, during different part of her life, be it it’s to a son, daughter, daughter in law, or grandchildren.

For me, she was the person who had taught me my basic Teochew. She the one who took care of me when parents are not around. And watched me grow from baby to that thin child to fat teen, and to the thinner now.



She will be missed.


& life goes on.

Dom Bday + abit of Derrick's PGP

Dominique Birthday Celebration
(19th August, Sat. Marina Square CA cafe)

Once again, apologises to Dom, for not able to fully attend the birthday dinner I had planned for you. No matter what, hope that you like every part of the meal, everyone that had came, and most importantly, that Red Bag which we had, brainstormed and decided to get for you as your gift.


And fortunate girl, whom had fallen in the trap set by Zhiwei. On the actual day of her birthday (21st Aug, Monday) he met her and brought her to his room in Hall…….To discovered that few of her best friends are there waiting with her cake lit with candles. Nice job done.
The culprit, in red. The nice Banana-favoured cake, foreground.


(All photos available on my Yahoo Album “Bday-dom 21st”)


-------------------------------------------

Lastly… Visited Derrick in his NUS Residences, on Friday (18th Aug) noon. Done what I had not done previously… that is to capture his beautifully resort like PGP on camera… And here you go:

"Resort" lit up at evening....And infront is a nice hill with sun set....Their cafe! Look out of the window and you see a small pool. What an ambience.



Guys, if you are free, visit him oh… before he gets bored to pieces and atoms.. hee.


.

Fireworks with OG + IMM + SRC interview

As the fireworks lit up the night sky...thoughts flows through Teck Sheng's mind...and his heart was lit up with warmth...



...okay, not so exaggerating... and i dunno what is he thinking too.. .haha..

It's Friday, 11th August, and we Og2 joined the crowds at Esplanade Bay for the Fireworks performance... And crowds indeed, very crowded. Carpark full, Fast-food long queue, traffic heavy... thankfully they were all early there to get a nice slot. (Heard that Sat's, the last day of performance, was even more packed...)
"....people mountain people sea..."

But it's worth it... The performance was great... especially when matched with the music, it's certainly entertainment blended for the eyes and ears...


What's missing here is the music... Cameras LCDs are equally bright too...haha...



And not forgetting too, the fun everyone had with taking photos, before and after the show...:



guys and girls had their equal share.....from uncool to cool shots.


Next stop, to Cineleisure to find our Yi Wei, coz it's his birthday (almost)

But journey to there wasnt easy...Due to the jam, we took almost 1 hour to drive from Esplanade area to Orchard...(inclusive of finding carpark again).... Certainly part of a "Pattern" (think IBM) after such events...


Not forgetting, my dear passengers are all being squeezed in behind... so it's not an easy hour for them! haha..







So we finally reach Orchard...

preparing the cake to the unknowing Bday boy... and serving to the now-shocked guy.


Escaped and cutting the cake safely, but not later.. still kana.. haha..






And the Group Shoot~!


Happy Birthday, Yi Wei!





Had a fun day indeed..


Note: if due to some reasons you didnt get the photos for fireworks, you can follow the link on right to my Yahoo Photo Album "OG2-Fireworks 2006 + Yi Wei Bday" to view them too.

Sunday (13th August)

Ever since Shufang shifted out of her hall, I havent explored up West for my sundays... So after a break of months, here we go again....

And IMM is upgrading... New sections in the front are now been constructed, so guess once it's done it sure will be a nice place for shop.

Plus, what used to be small offices on the 5th level are all been emptied out, and converted into extra parking spaces.. .so this is what you get:



Which looked like a car warehouse to me... quite cool eh, this idea.

Completed with lot sensor (aka those in Plaza Sing) parking there now is so much easier. Sure visit it again in my sundays to come..


Tuesday (15th August)

SIM SRC club interview, right after my afternoon class.

Certainly comforting to see some of your own OG people in the same interview, but sigh, the unprepared me....got quite anxious as the 5 of us went in (yup, conducted in groups of five) .....perhaps the aircon was too cold... or perhaps i didnt expected to the all the exco sitting on the table...

Anyway...went through it... I can do better one eh.... But nevermind...Just hope to get to the event that i opt for...


We shall see what comes. Watch this space.


.

SL bday + derrick PGP + our van + abit of Sch

Soon Leong Birthday Chalet, Sat 5th August

And it’s the first time that I had forgotten to bring my camera. (Left home in a hurry that day) …Thus no photo for this entry for now. Also the one of the few times that I went to a Chalet without driving… Which later, we miss the stop on the shuttle bus and ended up at Costa Sand instead of Downtown east. Ah…really not familiar with it.

Yup, as you had known by now, Soon Leong birthday is held at our always-familiar Downtown East Chalet… which had gotten nicer over the years. Just like Kent’s, decorations had been done up… which includes that “welcome to the party” deco that sort of “directed” me to his unit.. ‘cos it just mysteriously reminded me of his that green shirt with words “party at my house”… haha..

Anyway, quite a number of us are there…including Daryl, Chun Min, Jasmine etc. Had lots of chat around there once again, pretty much entertained. So no worries SL, you’ve not been a bad host.

Furthermore, his chalet is filled with so much people. Classmates from all levels, including his new-found NUS mates…Pretty crowded. Moreover, he got lots of relatives there…even his food not-catered but home-cooked, prepared by them. The type of bonding he have with his relatives is what I always admired.

So… Happy 21st Birthday!
Cheers!


Derrick Shifts to Prince George Residents, 6th August

Armed with my van and our arms, we arrived at his house that morning and began our long day of shifting work. Ok, actually he only have couple of bags and electronics to move, but majority of time was actually spent on the road, finding our way in NUS, to the Residents, finding the lift, and waiting for the paper work. Finally we got to the room:

<- The room. 1 bed, 2 windows.

...and 1 desk...equiped with toilet and the HDB style glass door....the view during study.


Managed by CPG (which manages some HDB estates and Gov Buildings ) the interior seems to relates to some new HDB units (like those in Sengkang) The culprits should be those glass door in the shower and the windows panes, which seems like they are from the same contractor…haha.

But this is not the main point. The main thing is, despite that, the entire place looks like a resort. As you steps in from the main entrance, you feel a strong gush of wind and the view ahead is greenery (trees and hill) To the left is a mini-mart and to the right is a café.... the feeling of HK Disneyland resort is back….

And this cool thing too... While others use card access, they use a transponder to unlock the doors and lifts... Like unlocking a car, just press a button and you get a "beep"...without the blinking signal lights of cos. Haha... guess only i will be most delighted to use it.

Overall, a very nice and cool place...if you know the way.

Meanwhile, guess it should means a lot to Derrick too…It’s the first time he gets to live alone outside. Hope that you would enjoy this life! We try visit you often okay… haha.


Our Van…


Back home after one day of running

In their article, CAR magazine writers shows how attractive a car is by mentioning people asking about the car as they stop at petrol kiosk or even the thumbs up they get. Rare for a van, but we are getting abit of this feeling now for our VW Caddy. Certainly not thumbs up, but I notice there are people taking peeps into the van or actually moving over to take a look when it’s parked. Perhaps it’s the colour that does the trick. Luckily we didn’t choose Silver or Lime. But meanwhile, seems like a window tinting process is required…Awaiting my dad decision (and financial approval)


So it’s been 5,6 weeks into ownership and it had covered almost 4000km worth of mileage. Not problems so far, just minor niggles….Like the door-ajar indicators had failed….which leads to us not realizing the rear door is not tight and thus, the rear wipers refused to work. Quite inconvenient that I have to shut the doors again when the wiper doesn’t move…so hope to get it fixed when the first service, by the VW dealer, comes.

Another interesting “problem” is that the rims seem to get dirty with brake dust, very easily. Just weeks and this is what we get…


Seem like this appears in other VW group cars too, like a new Audi A4 I seen on the road. Anyway, just need to wash more often. No excuse. Haha.

And oh yes, about getting dirty…An simple solution had been implemented to prevent the seats from getting so… that’s recycling two of my white ultra big polo shirt…

Slightly weird, but beats the trouble of finding covers…

By the way, think I had scared my dear passengers last Sunday too. Was having full load (of derrick’s stuff) as I attempted the famous-twisty-hill road of South Buona Vista…and the body sort-of sway. Ok, it was heavy. The body was telling me to relax, but meanwhile I didn’t feel anything from the steering… The problem of an electric steering: Feedback. But hey, on the other hand, life was made very easy during parking, from the lightness.

That’s why here I have my conclusion of VW Caddy after 1 month : A van which is easy to live with around town, with the sharp yet light steering and torque-ly engine. Just don’t push her limits with full load…


Lastly…a bit of school…


I mentioned previously about my then up-coming Econs lesson right? I had attended it last Friday…and thankfully it wasn’t that bad… Except that it takes abit to follow at first (you know, all those econs terms) but I managed to catch up after some time, The lecturer (Well, a pretty lame guy, from his jokes) did mentioned that the UOL Economics is something very different from the one from A-levels, from the focus to the way it’s been tested… So guess in the end it might be an advantage that I didn’t have experience before, so might that I wouldn’t be confused now.
Nevertheless, need to jia you oh….

Meanwhile for IBM… argh… Getting complicated…. Seems like there will be a lot of names and concept to remember…and be familiar with, ‘cos the exams is all about re-production…

And did I mentioned that my Sociology Lecture have not started yet? Haha… Something new is starting next Tuesday.

GAMBATTE! (to myself, and anyone who needs “oil” too)

.

First day of school!!...

....and yup, as a matter of fact it falls on Monday, 31st july. Now then i
update my blog..hehe... anyway, i had my second class today...just nice for a
small comparation now.


So...first day is IBM (intro to Business Management) and what greeted us at the
door was the overwhelmingly large amount of course material...which was handed
to us by the staff.... How large? Almost like a ream of paper.. And no, it
doesnt last for the year. It's only 3 chapters, out of 12.

Thankfully my sling bag was huge enough to carry them...wait, as quoted from the lecturer, we must use bombastic words to impress the british examinator...so yup i had an enormous bag.

Talking about this lecturer, to me, he's terrific (good). He just have the way
to keep me interested from his sharp questioning and discussion...which sets you
thinking. Not a moment you will be bored. Only problem? The notes...which, for
some parts, i have to read a few times before i can...erm....comprehend
(understand) ...Discussion group, anyone??


Fastforward to today and i had my first Maths lecture...immediately a different
experience. In comparation, the notes are much thinner, the lecture is more
peaceful/dry, and the content...is rather easy to....comprehend. Ok, thanks to
my A-maths + C-maths experience for that..But the lecturer did mention that the
paper was getting harder... so...still must work hard.



So far so good for this SIM life... Certainly challenges will come, and i'll
just take 'em up..Yeah.



Tomorrow is Economics Lecture for me. Heard from my friend that he was
de-moralised after attending the lecture few days back, despite him having econs
background and was confident initially...


...FYI...background wise, i had none.



...I said i'll take challenges right? Erm...watch this space tomorrow.




Accomplishable (No problem)....bah?


.