What has reached you was never meant to miss you and what has missed you was never meant to reach you.
How very true! But of course, this doesn’t stop us from working towards what we want!
And I do believe that it always pays to give. Not everyone has the ability to give, the magnanimity to do so. It’s something that I’m still trying to work towards. If I’m lucky enough to have more than that others have, it’s time to give.
It’s been a week of yo-yo emotions, especially for my Mom, uncles, aunties and cousins.
My Ah Ma was sent to the hospital for a very minor procedure, to clear the blood vessels in her legs as her toes were turning gangrene. Little did we know that, the trip to the hospital was one of no return.
When we visited her one day before her procedure, she was still up and cheery. Even after her procedure, my parents visited in the afternoon and she was able to talk to them.
On that very evening, she suddenly had cardiac arrest and kidney failure. Til now, we don’t really know what happened. Then came a period of ups and downs. One moment the doctors claimed she was recovering, then the next, she was not going to make it. And finally, she left us on 23 sep. When the doctors declared that she was brain dead and it was decided that she be taken off the life support. Slowly, over a few hours, life ebbed out of her.
I hope that she had gone painlessly and peacefully. Although I’d never been as close to her as some of my cousins, who were looked after by her, were, but I was truly grateful to her. For without her, there wouldn’t have been me.
She’s led a blessed life, surrounded by loved ones and she’s given life to 4 generations of us, 39 of us.
Thank you Ah Ma and good bye!
Walking down memory lane…
Her orbituary
Oct 2013 – celebrating her last birthday with her, together with 9 months old 小小宝贝.
All of us -3rd and 4th generation
That’s us, more than 2 decades ago…
Ah ma, when she was hale and hearty.
A very youthful Ah Ma! Everyone’s young once.
We will always have you in our hearts.
Cherish your loved ones. Live in the present.
As the official chauffeur of the house, as usual, I was performing my duty of ferrying my bosses around. I had to keep my eyes peeled on the roads as my bosses relaxed behind, indulging in light banter.
宝贝 ：Simi Daiji?? (What’s up?)
小小宝贝 ：Bo Daiji! (Nothing!)
宝贝 ：Simi Daiji?? (What’s up?)
小小宝贝 ：Wu Daiji! (Something!)
宝贝 ：Siginna!! (Naughty! Well actually, the direct translation is something worse… Don’t learn lar!)
小小宝贝 ：Siginna!! (Naughty!)
*Lots of giggling and shouting behind*
Me : Ooooiii!! Are the two of you doing some Hokkien talk show behind?!?! Speak English or Mandarin OK!!!! Sheesh!
宝贝 ：OK Mama!!! Didi, Simi Daiji???
小小宝贝 ：BO DAIJI!!
Here we go again….
I’m using an iPhone 5 56gb. Believe it or not, I’m down to 500mb. My brother went…? how can anyone use up so much storage just on photos?! Don’t you back it up???
The truth is, I do. In fact I’m extremely kiasu after my phone crashed and I lost a lot of data, once upon a time… Now I back up on my iMac and I back up my iMac on another portable hdd. ? (ok ok I see people shaking their heads and tsk tsking.)
The number of photos balloons right after the birth of 宝贝 and after the arrival of 小小宝贝 it became totally unmanageable. Children tend to move so much that the multiple speed of the point and shoot camera can’t keep up with it. So it’s all trigger free with the iPhone camera. Them the trick is to delete the unwanted ones.
The problem with being a Mom is…. All the repeated photos look so adorable even though they have just a slight difference that can’t be detected by non-mom’s eyes. So…. I ended up keeping all of them. (Sheepish look). And even though I’ve made numerous copies of back up, I just can’t help keeping them with me on my mobile so that I can run through them and reminisce about the moments, especially when I’m tired and depressed.
So, ya, my 56gb iPhone is full. And I’m going on a 3 weeks’ holiday with no extra storage space for my holiday photos!!! Horror of all horrors! So being a tech idiot I wanted the easiest and no brainer way out – buy a new iPhone with larger storage space. (I know I know… People say, buy an android phone with extra mem cards. I’m a die hard apple fan and they have the best customer service around.)
I tried for day and night…. The M1 (my telco) website was either
1. Too busy – message says come back in 15 minutes (more like 15 days)
2. When I tried at unearthly hours, I managed to get to the payment page then it says “error”!!! (I swear they must have blacklisted my ip or something!!)
3. Taken down because of security loopholes.
*facepalm*
Not only that, It’s sold out on apple website.
Ok. Plan failed. ?
I was moping around and complaining to everyone, threatening to change telco, until my highly intelligent brother said “why don’t you upload it onto a cloud storage?!”
“Huh?? Safe or not?? Celebrities’ photos get splashed online leh.”
(With more eye rollings) “please lar!!! You celebrity meh?! You have nude photos?!”
“Now not. Maybe next time??? I’ve nude photos of my 宝贝s. What if they become celebrities or ministers in future?”
Ok ok. As I already have an existing google drive (there are numerous other cloud storages but this is the most convenient one for me.), I uploaded the past holiday photos with no nude ones. And freed up 2gb!! Yay!!
And if I run out of storage just buy more lor.
At US$1.99 per month, it’s way way way much cheaper than getting an iPhone 6. Now I can wait for apple to fine tune the iPhone 6 and for the mad queue to cease before I saunter into the telco shop and get my iPhone 6 without sweat.
Another tip : don’t upgrade your storage through the phone app! Do it through the desktop website. It’s 4x cheaper! ?
On this very special day 91 years ago, a legend was born.
Happy birthday Mr Lee!
Thanks to you and your comrades, we have the prosperous country we have today!
We must remember not to be complacent and rest on our laurels so that we can continue your legacy.
The mothership has compiled these quotes of Mr Lee. Candid, honest, direct and thought provoking. A tribute to our founding father. Thanks for everything!
Quotes from Mr Lee Kuan Yew! Enjoy!
Omg!!! I’ve a bald patch!! Right at the top of my head!! Did you see that?
Quick! Give me the number to the Yunnan hair thing!! I must be their first baby client! Maybe they will pay me to be their poster baby for endorsement??
Tomorrow how to go to school and face my girlfriends??? How how how???
I read in the magazines that girls like boys with skills. I’ve figured that it will be super cool to know how to fly!!
My flight training started this morning! I hope that I can pick it up before school this morning. ☺️
[youtube=http://youtu.be/eGgUFJTKVcE]
I decided that flying can’t be picked up so quickly. Some girls like the arty farty kind. I look especially suave in my green apron.
Hey babe! This is how you use the brush!!
You dab it in here. Do you need any help?? I can hold your hand over the brush. ☺️
Eating etiquette is also very important. So that I can impress my date at the French fine dining restaurant. Au Jardin, s’il vous plaît?
[youtube=http://youtu.be/yg2cpvEheE8]
I must improve on my selfie skill. ?
Especially when I need to put these darn small rice crisps into my mouth at the same time. But, I shall endeavor!!
Eee!! So ugly! Rice crisps all over my mouth!! Delete delete!! Babes will not date me after this!! ?
[youtube=http://youtu.be/PKSEA38WGr4]
My first date : so romantic. Both of us under the stars, with a choir singing behind us.
If you need any advice on picking up girls, I can give you a tip or two.
Oh man! I’m Mr Popular. All the babes love me. I’m catching her a bubble. What? Flowers? Nah! That’s so passé! Bubbles are the in the thing now. See how happy she looks??
Luckily I didn’t come to class wearing only my bib. Too sexy for these babes to handle.
Ming ming you are the MAN!! ?
Peek a boo!!!
Jie Jie peek a boo me too
Peeka peeka boo!
It’s amazing how different the world looks, through a hole in the chair.
I heard there are peepholes in Amsterdam too. I wonder if they are the same….??
I’ve heard this term Snag. I think I’m a snab. Sensitive new age baby. Other babies cry and tear pages. But me? I love to read!
Not only that, I read motherhood shopping magazines. So that I can tell Mama the clothes I want to buy. There’s a new girl in class I want to impress. ?
I eat and read at the same time. Like the adults at the cafes? Good life right?? You know, just sit there, eat, read magazines and watch people scurrying around to go to work. Shiok arh!
No, I’m not wearing a tu dou. Oh pulease! Tu dous are for girls!!! It’s a bib for goodness’ sake! And such a manly bib! Look, it’s blue ok!!! Definitely a boy bib!!
Wei!!! Why did you flip up my bib!!! I know I’m sexy! But please control yourself!
Why am I naked? I’m not!! I’m wearing a bib! Besides I like to air myself once in a while.
Should I wear this to school? Sexy huh??
Hehe! It all started when Boonk asked, “Do you know what’s Andy Lau drink?” Huh? How would I know what Andy Lau likes to drink???
Hehe. He’s referring to a term that’s commonly used in our local kopitiam. Our local kopitiam drinks uncles have given nicknames to all the commonly ordered drinks.
If you want to immerse in our local kopitiam culture try ordering these drinks!!
I’ve absolutely no idea how these names are derived. If you do, do leave a comment and enlighten all of us!
I’m venturing some guesses here:
Coke light = Lai kor – I think it’s due to the similar sounding words?
Milo = tuck kiu – the picture of someone kicking a ball on the packet
Chinese tea = diao yu – the tea bag resembles a fishing rod
Kickapoo = Kak Poh (frog) Similar sounding
Soya Bean mixed with Chin Chow = Michael Jackson – From his song Black and White (Or is it Black or white??)
Chrysanthemum tea = Ah Huay (Flower) – Chrysanthemum flowers
Sprite = Si Bai (Failure) – Similar Sounding
?? = Xiao Bai Tu (Little White Rabbit) -I seriously don’t know what drink this is!! If you do, let me know!! *a suggestion from Sharon (Thanks!) that it’s Pokka carrot juice. Makes sense!!
Mineral Water = Andy Lau – Named after his song “Wang Qing Shui” (Water to forget love?!)
Pepsi = Bek Ki Bek Lo (Climb up and down in hokkien) – Similar sounding to Pepsi’s Chinese name Ke Kou Ke Le (可口可乐) *Oops! Wrong Chinese name as pointed out by Boonk the pro. It should be 百事可乐 (bai shi ke le)
Water = Hang Qing Pai (Bad Economy) – No money so drink water lar!!
?? – Lang Lai Le (Here comes the wolf!) – I must confess that I don’t know this as well!! Can someone enlighten me?! *According to Ernest (who is part time kopitiam uncle) it is star fruit juice!! Because when the wolf comes, the sheep runs away 羊逃 it sounds similar to star fruit in mandarin.
Horlicks = Dai Ka Ho (Hi Everyone!) – Obviously the similar sounding word of Ho and Hor
I think it’s some birds’ nest drink = Jiao Zhui (Bird water) – Picture of the bird on the can
That’s all, folks!! Something bo liao for today!