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Of Chap Goh Meh and Birthday Dinners

9 Mar

Chinese New Year is officially over with Chap Goh Meh celebrated last Thursday; Chap Goh Meh being the 15th day of the Lunar New Year calendar. Mom insisted on feeding the family with a home-cooked meal during the gathering on Thursday, a workday instead of going out for the occasion.

It was a great time and the last time for M1 to savor the home cooking and cherish the times before she goes off to college. And as if this family time together was not enough, my sibling scheduled Sunday to meet again for yet another meal! He wanted to give her a farewell dinner and yesterday was the only window every family member could make it.

The dinner was fancy, at a restaurant in the heart of the city. We had fine Malay food which was really good. It’s not often we make this choice but I think it’s apt. It will be a flavor M1 will miss.

What was even more special was the dessert that came after the meal. M1’s cousin, K1, painstakingly stayed up until the wee hours of the morning the day before to bake it for her. Such love. It was supposed to be a farewell cake. However, when the cake was brought out, the restaurant automatically blared out the standard ‘Happy Birthday’ song! It was hilarious as we all sang along. Heheh…

Such good memories especially for M1. Time is moving too fast.





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The Preparations

6 Mar

Unlike the time when I was preparing to leave home for college, the preparations now for M1 are so much easier. With the computer and internet, we can find out just about everything we need to know about the city, the university and its requirements; we can also do everything online so nothing is amiss and on time. We also have the advantage to google up the street level to see the surrounding of her new place or map her walk from the dorm to class! Amazing. None of these available during my time of course as everything was via faxes, snail mail and college prospectus.

And back then, Mom and Dad did not accompany me on my journey simply because Mom said, they wouldn’t know how or what to do to help me. Going along would almost be like a blind leading the blind. But they had faith in me to cope and I did. 

Are we like my parents now and not accompanying M1 on her trip? Well, put it this way, all her needs are taken care of already by the university, what more can we do or offer? Furthermore in this era, I feel we would be suppressing her growth, her journey into adulthood if we went along just to ensure all is fine. She may experience some challenges along the way but didn’t we all? It’s all part of growing up.

Nonetheless, I take comfort of the fact that, unlike before, now with the availability of the mobile phone, we are constantly connected and will be updated 24×7, be it the journey itself or the new life she will lead; and this gives me (and hubby) the assurance that she will cope well. 

Honestly, I do have faith in the young adult that my M1 has grown up to be because if my parents had faith in me when I was at her age, I should be of the same for my child.

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Chasing Time

5 Mar

Every weekend some activity is lined up with the girls. We kept the fun family outings to weekends because we wanted to also include M2 who has school during the weekdays. We must not forget we have two girls and only one is going off to university while the other is still going to high school.

Last weekend, we decided to visit Menara KL and have lunch at Atmosphere 360, the revolving restaurant in the tower at 282m high. We opted for the later lunch session of 1.30pm to 3.00pm instead of earlier 11.30am to 1.00pm, otherwise we would have to do high tea or dinner.

The buffet spread was good I must admit and the view quite breathtaking. And the one and a half hour session was just about right for the restaurant to revolve one complete round to see the overall skyline of the city.

We have two more weekends left…





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Everyday is So Precious

2 Mar

As time ticks away until M1 leaves for college, everyday spent with her is so precious. Suddenly, there is still so much to do, see and eat. Things that we have always taken for granted suddenly has been elevated to become a priority. So we’ve been cramping in as much as we can.

This reminds me of my time when I was leaving for college, dinosaur years ago. Mom and Dad spent as much time as possible with me – taking me to do this, see that and eat just about everything.

Funny how life repeats itself when one becomes a parent and now understand what their parents did for them.

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Letting My Baby Go

27 Feb

It is inevitable. M1 turned 18 early this year and it is college-bound year. Hubby and I have decided for her to go overseas for a four-year course, letting her go early instead of doing a year or so locally. She leaves in three weeks.

In short, we have to learn to let our baby (and Humphrey) go off, on her own (but with Humphrey), to college as a freshman and learn to be independent and be an adult.

Sob, sniffle and bawl…

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What’s with the Hair?

29 Jan

When I was little, I had short hair. When I grew up, I still have short hair. My mother never made a fuss about my short hairstyle. Fast forward to me being a mother now with two girls.

And long hair!

Eeeks! Where did they get that inkling to want long hair? My mother has short hair, my mother-in-law has short hair and my hubby hardly has hair. Yet both M1 and M2 have abundance of hair! The ironic part is they chose to have it long yet they complain about how it takes forever to blow-dry after a wash; sometimes even questioning how come mine dries so fast. Gee, I wonder why.

I feel it’s cumbersome to have so much hair to wash and maintain especially for young people. So it’s a constant battle when it comes to grooming. I am always threatening to have 4 inches off their heads while they would negotiate for it to be only an inch or two off. Someone will always end up unhappy leaving the salon, I tell you.

Amazingly, last week when M2 made a trip to the saloon, she agreed to have 4 inches off but wished it was another inch or two cut off after coming home! Interesting.

Maybe she has come to her senses to have shorter hair. Dare I hope she may want a short hairstyle like me? It remains to be seen. M1, however, still has her precious locks intact.

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A Birthday and A Blundstone

20 Jan

Monday was a good day. Two significant things happened; one being my parcel from Blundstone arrived from Tasmania, Australia when I least expected it. What can I say? Customer service at its best here. Thank you!

The second being my M1 turned 18 years old.

Gosh. Wasn’t it just yesterday I was seated at the sofa in mom and dad’s home watching Mulder and Sculley in action in yet another weekly X-Files TV show? Then I had my contractions. Uh-oh… It’s time.

The next thing I knew, I was at the hospital, ready to welcome my firstborn. Scared, excited, anxious, nervousness all rolled in. Hubby was like, “Don’t breathe that in!”

That, being the laughing gas. I was in too much pain then to curse him and passed the point for an epidural (I did, cursed him that is, the second time around when M2 came along). Then wham, bam, kabam, we became parents to a 3.04kg bundle of joy. Wow.

The last 18 years has been a roller coaster ride. The many emotions felt dealing with a very strong minded child… yet despite the challenges, we have been very blessed with a very smart child.

All grown up now and ready for college and the world. I can just feel another white hair readying itself to sprout out from my crown…

Okay enough, I am going bawl my eyes out.

The parcel arrived!

The parcel arrived!


So exciting!

So exciting!


Happy birthday to you!

Happy birthday to you!

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The Joy of Driving, Part 1

19 Jan

Towards the end of last year, M1 started driving lessons. Soon she will be able to drive and take us out for a spin. She was telling us, over dinner one night, her experience on the road. In short, she thought it was scary.

And this reminded me of my time when I first drove in town after returning from college. Unlike her situation on a crowded road, mine was in a parking lot in a very crowded area. It may have been dinosaur years ago but I still remember vividly, I was parked on a roadside downward slope and had to reverse out from the parking spot. In short, I thought this was scary.

I couldn’t coordinate the clutch and the accelerator well and was revving up a storm. MY little manual car died several times. Embarrassing! And when it didn’t die, it hardly moved and beads of sweat were building up on my forehead!

Thank goodness, that moment was short-lived (but felt like forever) and I survived to tell the tale. Well, I hope M1 would overcome her scary moments and enjoy driving well into the future. She sits for her driving exam today after clocking in enough hours in lessons.

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The Working Life

5 Jan

Soon after her exams were over, M1, together with her cousin, came to work for hubby and I at the office. Although workload has been quite easy, I managed to find things to keep them occupied.

The family insisted we assign them things to learn or keep them busy to understand the hardship of real work; even if it means cleaning the store room.

It’s been over a month already that the both of them worked for me and cleaned the store room they did. However the timing of their employment, being the year end, I have to plan their time well as a lot of projects are either completed or pushed to the new year. I shouldn’t allow the both of them to just twiddle their thumbs in the office, painting a false picture of the work environment. Nor can I have them surfing the internet, on YouTube or whatever, doing unproductive computer activity. Both are, after all, on the payroll by the hour.

So cleaning the store room was apt.
Store1
Store2

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There’s No Free Lunch But There’s Free Dinner!

19 Dec

It’s awkward when etched-in-stone philosophies imparted on our young ones are challenged. I was just talking (and writing) about no free lunches to M2 and guess what? I was proven wrong. It is almost quite embarrassing…

Yesterday, I went to the mall (number one) with M1 after work to buy something. We walked past the supermarket and M1 said she was hungry—as it was close to dinner time—thinking maybe we could enjoy some free food samples from the supermarket (having learnt from my post the day before). Unfortunately the timing did not allow us as we had to make our way to mall number two to purchase something else which mall number one did not have.

At mall number two, we walked into Tesco and tadaa, right in front of us, there were several booths with free food samples! Hungry and unabashed, we both tried the spaghetti bolognese, beef soup, curry chicken, chicken-flavored rice and tempura onions. We even had coffee!

What can I say? Burp…

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