Today is the first Monday I've had off in ages!!  So what do I do ... spend my morning changing the bedsheets, of course.  Ughhh.

 

Not only do I have a natural aversion to anything vaguely domesticated (washing, cleaning, ironing, cooking) - I have a particular loathing towards changing bedsheets.  But the way I was brought up, it is ingrained into me that bedsheets need to be changed once every month, at the beginning of the new month.  So that's what I did this morning, for Mel and me.

 

For whatever reason, the bed posts on any bed hold extreme grudges against me, and so this morning, as always whenever I change the bedsheets, they jumped out and knocked me on my thigh and knee.  One of the bed legs also stretched out and tripped me up, thus bruising my toe.  That could be why I hate changing bedsheets so much, I always get injured!  You'd be amazed at how much I bruise just doing this simple chore.

 

Anyways ... am off to Tioman this Thursday with some open water students, so that should be cool!  Am looking forward to going, even though that means I won't be around when my sister and the Prince fly in on Saturday.  I shall see them on Monday, though - can't wait for that!!

 

 

 

 

Some good news!  My sister and the Prince will be visiting us early April for about two weeks!  Am really excited about that, as I LURVE the Prince to bits.  Plus it will raise my mom's spirits too, I think.

 

Yay!

For some reason, this one memory stands out very clearly in my mind.  My sister and I, along with my cousins, Kok Wye and Suk Harn, were in their home.  My sister and I were spending the night there.  I have no recollection of where our parents were - probably at some dinner somewhere - but I remember my grandfather was babysitting us.  I was maybe about 7 or 8 years old.

 

My grandpa had this way of unhooking his dentures with his tongue, and he would do that to our squeals of laughter - over and over again, much to our delight.  This I remember very clearly.  I suppose it didn't take much to amuse us.

 

Then in the morning, we would wake up, and he would cook us a scrumptious breakfast - luncheon meat and baked beans and eggs and fries (for breakfast!) ... and it would be extra yummy, even though they basically came from tins.  Maybe like my cousin said in his eulogy - it was his special touch that no one else could recreate.

 

I also remember very vividly that during Christmas, when we'd sing carols after dinner, he would either sing the wrong verse, or sing slightly off key, or sing a couple of bars behind - but he would sing with feeling and gusto, in this booming loud voice - and it would make us smile and laugh.

 

He was an amazing grandfather and lived an amazingly long and healthy life.  It was only in the last 2 years of his life that he fell ill. 

 

Being the thoughtful person that he was, he chose to leave us 3 days before a public holiday so that none of us would have to take time off work to attend his funeral.  Being the positive person that he was, he chose to go home during Easter - a season that speaks of ressurection and hope and eternal life.  Even in death, he was considerate, passing on spiritual values and lessons. 

 

He died the way he lived - THAT is the legacy he left us with.

This is the eulogy read by the oldest of us cousins here in KL, on behalf of all the grandchildren, at my grandpa's funeral this morning ...

 

My grandfather Ah Yei was a man of many facets. First and foremost, he was a loving husband and caring father. Always putting family first above all else, he was an exemplary example of a committed family man. Whether it was being the breadwinner of the family or cooking up a storm for the entire clan during festivals, he was very much the epitome of unconditional love.

 

A legacy that Ah Yei has left behind is a treasure trove of recipes. Those who have had the good fortune of celebrating festive and special occasions with our family would have enjoyed the many wonderful dishes he was adept at. Possessing excellent culinary skills, each celebration would be a feast with no less than 9 dishes to savour. A testament to his great skill is the fact that none of my aunties or my mother for that matter has managed to reproduce one of his signature dishes – fried prawn fritters. Although they have followed his recipe very much to a ‘T’, I guess what is missing is that special touch.

 

This special touch was not restricted to cooking only. In fact, he touched many people’s lives in a very special way. Always jovial and amiable, he was able to mix freely with young and old, and with many from all strata of society. His easy going manner was very much reflected in the way in which he was able to break the ice easily whenever meeting someone for the first time. His large circle of friends is very much evident in the SEA Park neighbourhood. The aunties and uncles in the market, his ‘kaki’ in the coffee shops where he enjoyed hanging out and the many small business owners in the vicinity counted him as a generous friend. Indeed, he was very much a man-about-town. Many remember him as someone who enjoyed brisk walks around the neighbourhood on a daily basis, stopping to banter with those he would meet on his way. In the later years of his life when his mobility was limited, it was not uncommon for the SEA Park folk to ask about his wellbeing when they chanced upon any of our other family members.

 

Most would not have been aware that he was also a keen blood donor. Up to the age of 60, he was a fixture at Assunta Hospital during their numerous blood donation drives. The hospital even presented him with a certificate of appreciation for this kind deed. This enthusiastic trait extended to other areas of his life. Those who have worshipped with him here in church would remember his joyful take on hymms as well as his participation as an usher on many a Sunday. And those of you who have had the pleasure of sharing a drink with him would know that he very much enjoyed a tipple every now and then.

 

93 years of a fruitful life should be celebrated. Sure, we will miss him, but the wonderful memories will always remain in our hearts. So, go in peace Ah Yei. I know you’ll be watching over us. Most of all, we will cherish the love you showered upon us, and for all of us grandchildren here in Malaysia as well as our cousins whom we have been in constant touch – Aaron and Satoko, Moses and Poi Lai, Ivan, Raymond and Lori, Loretta and Michael, Elaine and David, Stephenie and Richard, and their children, who could not be here on such short notice but are nevertheless here in spirit and prayer, the time spent babysitting us when we were toddlers. We’ll do our best to emulate the life that you have lived – one that resonates with happiness, unconditional love and an enthusiastic spirit.  

 

So here’s to you Ah Yei!

I've had a rough couple of days, so forgive me if I vent a little on here.

 

So you must be wondering why I'm blogging, since I'm supposed to be away at Lang Tengah still, in the middle of nowhere, with no internet access.

 

Where do I begin ...

 

The first night at Lang Tengah and one of the teachers fell ill with severe vomitting.  So we begin the next day's actvities with one adult short.  Remember that we have 26 kids, aged between 10 and 14.  Not the most obedient of ages.

 

The kids, especially the boys, on this trip were loads of fun - but with that comes a price, I suppose.  They are naturally curious, reckless and just plain naughty.  The gist of it is that Lang Tengah has these gorgeous rocks out in the sea, and the snorkeling in that area is awesome - you see sharks and bumphead parrotfish and huge eels and groupers and stuff.  But - the rocks can also be harzadous because of sharp sharp barnacles and stuff growing on them.  And they're slippery too.  In short, the kids were told that they were NOT to climb the rocks under any circumstances at all. 

 

One of the girls accidentally cut her foot on some pieces of coral, so I take her back to my room for some first aid.  It's about a 10 minute walk from the end of the rocks to the resort where we're staying.  By the time I clean her up and we start walking back to join the rest, I see another teacher with a boy.  He's holidng his arm up and he's limping, and even from a distance I can tell it's a bad injury.  What he had done was climbed on the rocks (of course) - and then he had slipped and scraped himself on the barnacles.

 

So I take him to my room and he's just dripping blood everywhere.  The other teacher takes him into my bathroom to wash the wound, and I'm rummaging through the first aid kit to get the antiseptic wash and the gauzes and the pressure bandage.  And I go into the bathroom, and this guy starts hyperventilating and having trouble breathing - just from the shock, I guess, or losing that much of blood.  In any case - he passes out for about 30 secs - and when he comes to, I tend to his wound.  It's a HUGE gash - about 3.5 inches long, and so deep that I can see his layers of fat.  I knew immediately that it would require some stitching.  I douse it in antiseptic, put a gauze on it and then wrap it up with the pressure bandage. 

 

I leave the teacher with him, and now I'm running around trying to arrange for a boat to take him out because obviously there's no doctor on Lang Tengah.  Turns out the closest clinic is in Redang island.  So now we have to take a boat out to Redang, which was about a 40 min boat ride, and then take a van to the local clinic - another 10 minute ride.  The doctor opens up the wound and concurs with my observation.  Two jabs, six stitches, some painkillers and a dose of antibiotics later, we're back on our way to Lang Tengah.

 

He loved it, of course, lapping up all the attention from the girls and telling and re-telling his story - but all I could think about was what could have happened if I didn't know first aid.  It was scary.  Then I thought I'd go up to my room after lunch just to get away for a bit and to calm down - and my bathroom is full of blood, which I then had to wash off. 

 

Just when I think it couldn't get any worse, I receive a phone call from home telling me that my grandfather had passed away.

 

I spent the rest of the day torn between my duties to my job, which is to stay with the kids - and just wanting to be back home with the rest of the family.  The teachers were wonderfully kind and told me I should go home and not worry about them.

 

Then I had to rush around and arrange the boat transfer out, and the van transfer to the airport and the next available flight back.  The thing was I couldn't book any flights by phone because it was less than 24 hours to flight time - and even after calling, Firefly had already flown for the day, Air Asia said they had seats still, but to go to their sales counter at the airport to buy the ticket, and MAS said I could do a booking but pay at the ticket counter at the airport.

 

So I take a boat out to Merang, then a van to Kuala Terengganu airport - and lo and behold, there's NO Malaysian Airlines ticketing office.  A lot of stress and a couple of phone calls later, I finally get my ticket for the 9pm flight.  By the time I arrived in KL, I was cold, tired, hungry and feeling lost.  I went immediately to my grandpa's house.  He had a really peaceful look on his face, which I was relieved to see because I know he was in pain a lot in the last few months.  Apparently he had two big meals prior to passing away in his sleep, which is also out of the ordinary as he would often refuse to eat.

 

So by the time I get home, it was almost 1am, and I was exhausted - physically, mentally, emotionally.  Within the last 24 hours, I have felt fear, anxiousness, guilt, anger, confusion, helplessness, hopelesness, relief, and a conflict and contrast of every emotion known to man.

 

After I put Mel to bed, I curled up like a baby and wept.

 

I love my grandfather, and while I'm glad he's not in pain anymore and has gone home to be with my grandmother, there is still a feeling of loss.

 

Expressing such raw emotion takes me out of my comfort zone and makes me uncomfortable. 

 

The funeral is on Thursday morning at 10am.

I am SO mentally beat!  At night when I lie down in bed, I just feel soooooooo tired - I read a page or two of my book .... I currently have two books going, which more or less describes my state of mind at the moment - one is Sidney Poitier's spiritual autobiography "Measure of a Man" (I really want to be a more spiritual, zen-type person) - and the other is Scott Adam's 'business book', starring Dilbert, Dogbert & Catbert (so I know what pitfalls to avoid when setting up the new shop, namely, don't put marketing and engineering within the same four walls) ...

 

Having said that, I've been reading a page or two with nothing registering (I've read the same two pages from each book on alternate days for the last 3 weeks) - reserving any remaining energy in me to flip over and turn off the reading light - and then more or less slipping into a semi-comatose state, only to be rudely awakened by my alarm clock every morning.  I hate alarm clocks with a vengeance.  They rate second to back-stabbers on my hate list. 

 

Off in two days for my trip to Lang Tengah with the international school kids (26 or them!) - so am looking forward to a change of scenery, for one - just getting out of this office and its present environment of total chaos and mountains of paperwork - and also, last year's trip was really really fun for me, so am hoping the group this year will be just as entertaining.  Whatever it is, I still have the white sand and the sea - so just taking a long solitary walk by the water's edge before the kids get up and start their programmes for the day would be a balm to my soul. 

 

Not only am I solar-powered (so you can imagine what being in the office for ten hours a day, every day, for the last month has done to drain me), but also - nothing stirs my passion for living like sun and sea. 

 

Back next week with pictures, a write-up, a spirit that is fully-charged, and a renewed sense of purpose!

 

 

I've been SO busy at work - we've all been working seven days a week for the last month, and will probably have to keep working seven days a week, at least till the middle of April.  Crazy! 

 

BUT ... all for a good cause - I hope it's not premature mentioning this on my blog, but we are opening another branch early next month, at Plaza Berjaya in the heart of town.   

 

It will be much the same as the outfit we have now, except on a smaller scale - we'll also be conducting courses there, as well as selling and servicing equipment.  We have people staying on that side of town complaining that our dive shop is too far away - so hopefully this will eliminate one of their excuses!  In any case, it's business as usual for us at Damansara now - but with the additional paperwork, planning and stress that comes from dealing with two outlets.  That is not a complaint, merely an observation!

 

We also have our annual big trip with the international school students, covering four islands - so that has kept us busy too.  The trip is next week , and I'm really looking forward to it, as it's always heaps of fun!

 

And THEN we have the possibility of another underwater shoot, much like what we did for the Reshmonu music video - but I am not at liberty to write about that yet until things are confirmed.

 

SO ... that's why I've been so busy of late - but good what, hor?!

Guess what??  I heard through the grapevine today that the instructor who was previously working with us and who stabbed me in the back (read my blog entitled 'Betrayed') - has had to go back to her dead-end IT job, and will no longer be working in the dive industry. 

 

She LEFT her IT job to join the dive industry in the first place, so for her to be going back ... mwahaha ... it must be pret-ty demoralizing ...

 

In any case, I am not magnanimous enough to NOT gloat, so I am sitting here, feeling pleased as punch, with this huge grin on my face, because you know what?  When you stab someone in the back, it's bound to come full circle and bite you in the ass.

 

And that's exactly what happened - a lot quicker than I expected it to - but hey, you create shit for others, you have to be able to accept shit when it is thrown back at ya and hits the fan.

 

I shall enjoy watching her try and scrape it off the ceiling.

 

 

 

 

 

You know how I thought my streamyx was down the other day and called the phone company guys, and they sent this guy to come check the line, and then I find out that it's not the internet but the router which was screwed?

 

Well, while the guy is checking my line, we have this rather interesting conversation about the upcoming elections.  I say "interesting" because the guy is so typical of the everyday person that I wonder about the results of these elections.

 

We had a dialogue that went like this:

 

Streamyx dude:  Ah Moi, you ada ikut itu elections ka?

Me:  Ada ... kenapa?

SD:  You tau ah, itu orang ah, sudah terlalu lama diberi power tau.  Itu awek semua sudah tua, skarang tengah menopause.  Bila itu perempuan menopause ah, emosi dia banyak terganggu.  Setiap decision dia orang buat, terpulang kepada emosi.

Me:  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

SD:  Lagi pun ah ... banyak makan duit tau dia orang.

Me:  Ye ke?

SD:  Ya la ... kami panggil corruption, dia orang panggil commission - masuk pocket juga - tada beza ...

Me:  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

Translation:

 

Streamyx dude:   Miss, are you up-tp-date on the news of the elections?

Me:  Yes, why?

SD:  You know, the current party has been in power too long.  All the lady ministers are going through menopause.  When a lady goes through menopause, her emotions are haywire.  Every decision she makes, is based on emotions.

Me:  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

SD:  What's more, they are corrupt.

Me:  Oh really?

SD:  Yes!  We call it 'corruption', they call it 'commission' - eventually, it all goes into their pockets - there's no difference ..

Me:  (more hysterical laughter)

 

And so the conversation went - with me not contributing an opinion, but being greatly amused by his ....

 

 

Just came home after an extremely satisfying banana leaf curry dinner at Kanna Curry House - while the food was great, as always - this time I didn't overeat, which was a real accomplishment on my part. 

 

The company was EXCELLENT - thanks, guys, I had a really fun evening!  And this puts you in the top 10% of people I don't end up insulting on my blog - subconsciously or otherwise!