7 Apr 2010 – On the Go Again!

Will be off to Kuantan/E Malaysia tomorrow bright and early and back in SIN Sun. Do not know if there will be a chance to blog? Sun: AmyR baked a yummy pineapple cake and it was warm and fresh with the morning coffee. Thanks Amy and belated Happy Passover. Easter lunch not quite the traditional food but Richard from NZ requested for Paragon’s Crystal Jade’s Dim Sum**** Good food will always be tasty no matter what kind or where or when it is eaten.

Mon: breakfast with Jane, Yong Tau Foo=stuffed tofu, is a clear soup containing a varied selection of vegetables stuffed with  surimi=fish paste These are then sliced into bite-size pieces, cooked briefly in boiling broth and then served either in the broth as soup or with the broth in a separate bowl. Essential accompaniments are spicy, vinegary chili sauce and hoisin sauce. The market@North Bridge Rd- Special Yong Tau Foo*** is one of the stalls with an A for hygiene and A for the food too! Have not been to this market since before the renovation, 5 years ago.

Tue: met Henry for early lunch and looking forward to visiting him in HKG next week. A Single Man**** excellent acting from Colin FIRTH as George, a 52 year old British college professor who is struggling to find meaning to his life after the death of his long time partner, Jim. George wonders if there is a meaning to life without his partner and is consoled by his closest friend Charley who is wrestling with her own questions about the future. A young student Kenny, who is coming to terms with his true nature, stalks George as he feels in him a kindred spirit. This is a romantic tale of love interrupted, the isolation that is an inherent part of the human condition and ultimately the importance of the seemingly smaller moments in life.

A few times in my life I’ve had moments of absolute clarity, when for a few brief seconds the silence drowns out the noise and I can feel rather than think, and things seem so sharp and the world seems so fresh. I can never make these moments last. I cling to them, but like everything, they fade. I have lived my life on these moments. They pull me back to the present, and I realize that everything is exactly the way it was meant to be.

4 Apr 2010 – Happy Bday Richard YUNG

Easter/Påske (Norwegian), Pesakh (Hebrew), is the central religious feast for the Christians. After Good Fri is Easter Sun/Resurrection Day, when Jesus rose from the dead and stayed around for 40 days before he ascended into heaven. Easter and the holidays do not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian or Julian calendars. Instead, the date for Easter is determined on a lunisolar calendar similar to the Hebrew calendar. In Western Christianity, Easter marks the ending of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline in preparation for Easter. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Sunday.

It’s pretty much common knowledge that Easter is a Christian celebration of Christ’s rising, but this holiday also has pagan origins. Where did the colored eggs, cute little bunnies, baby chicks, leg of lamb dinners and lilies come from? They are all symbols of rebirth and the lamb was a traditional religious sacrifice.

Good Fri: family dinner at Les & Ivy’s Sentosa Cove condo. While I was in KCH, a naked body of a young Chinese woman was found drowned in a lap pool of a bungalow just down the road from the condo! What really happened? 

Sat: Tea with Leonard@Max Brenner Chocolate Bar*** Tried to get a ticket@Esplanade for Antonín Dvořák‘s New World Symphony (Czech: Symfonie č. 9 e moll „Z nového světa“), unfortunately sold out. C’est la vie, win some (Buko Nero****) and lose some! Instead had a lovely dinner@Leong Kee’s (Klang) Bah Kut Teh***/pork ribs herbal soup and a pleasant cool drizzly evening walk around the colourful Arab St area.

Reincarnation, resurrection, rebirth, reawakening, renew, revival, etc. For me all those words=learning at various stages in life. Casting away ignorance, prejudices, destructive and negative thoughts or ideas clearing space & room to move forward towards maturity; evolving and flying freely like the beautiful butterfly after the gestation in a cocoon! Am now truly ready for a double rebirth with Resurrection Day falling on the same day as ChingMing 🙂

The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances – Robert Flatt

2 Apr 2010 – Betrayal & Crucifixion in AD33

Arrived back in SIN Tue evening, met with Garry ROGERS who was passing by from Australia. Had a great evening catching up with ‘another ageing non-conformist’ 🙂 his words! Thanks for the champagne and the delightful company. Garry has recently built a house in Bali and I am looking forward to taking up his invitation to visit. Relaxing Wed morning, updating mail etc. Later at the office to drop off the lapis in the afternoon and bday dinner with Jo & her family.

May, the adorable and cheeky 31yrs young second daughter managed to pull an April Fool on me over the phone from Norway yesterday! So good to hear her voice and that she is out enjoying nature up in some mountains skiing for the Easter break. Met up for a long breakfast with Lynne ONG, married MICHAELS who is here visiting her son & family. Lynne & I go a long way back… classmate & friend from 1962. She now lives in Cornwall with her husband and hopes to visit her there sometime this year!

Dinner at Buko Nero****@ Tanjong Pager. Italian restaurant with simple decor, managed and owned by a couple, Tracy & Oscar. The food is good for the value, unfortunately I was not allowed to take any pictures of the dishes. While waiting, read Her World and strangely this restaurant is featured in April’s issue. The signature dish Tau Kwa Tower is from the magazine. Have tried to get there a couple of times but there was never an available space in these 20 seats for my big butt! Wise to call and make a reservation, at least a couple of months ahead!

Apr Special Dates:

2 Apr – Happy Bday Marianne HUSTAD

4 Apr – Happy Bday Richard YUNG, Happy Easter and ChingMing

5 Apr – Happy Bday Shirley TONG

12 Apr – Happy Bday Peggy TAN

15 Apr – Happy Bday Lynne ONG/MICHEALS & Aileen KOH

17 Apr – Happy Bdays Anne STENSETH, Sharon KOH & Sara LAM

22 Apr – Happy Bday Ike BOROWSKY

29 Apr – Happy Bday Stanley LAM

30 Apr – Happy Bday JohnWT CHENG

1 April is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four – Mark Twain

29 Mar 2010 – What a weekend!

ChingMing, held on the day of the Third Moon and for this year, 4/5 Apr. This day is also known as the Grave-Sweeping or Spring Remembrance Day, literally means ‘clear and bright’ and is the time of the year when Chinese families visit the graves of their ancestors to clean the gravesite and pay their respects. It’s common for families to make offerings of rice, fruit and wine to ensure their loved ones have enough food and drink in the afterlife. Some families burn incense and paper money by the graveside, believing that the smoke rises to the after-world and can be used by their ancestors.

Sat: out of the house by 0600hrs to the grave of Mabel’s parents. As some of her family members could only be here this weekend, ChingMing for them is a week earlier. In my childhood days, we would carry wine and a whole sucking-pig up to my paternal grandfather LAM Song Kee’s grave in SIN when burial was still the norm. Today, due to lack of land in SIN, cremation is the usual way is go and grandfather’s remains have been cremated and kept in an urn.

By lunch I was giving another AT Thru-Hike talk to the Rotary International/Rotary Club of KCH Central, Sarawak, Malaysia/District 3310. Thank you for the a lovely lunch. Appreciations to the ONG family for including me for their ChingMing dinner, another sumptuous spread with two sucking-pigs.

Sun: app 55km from KCH is the border town Serikin/Bau, not known to the tourists. There are over 200 stalls of both fresh produce and stuff where the traders cross into Sarawak from Indonesia to sell their goods. One can get good bargains… the cane furniture were tempting me! The grandchildren would have loved the rocking horse and the chairs but shipping them would have cost much more than the goods!

Dinner at the Bla bla bla Restaurant**** for the charming ambiance located a shop-house where you need to stay sober to get thru’ two waterways 🙂 for the fusion food*** The lamb-shank was OK and I have had better midin=fiddlehead, a local fern which is one of my favourite KCH greens and can only be found here.

Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there. I do not sleep… – Elizabeth Frye

27 Mar 2010 – In Memory of Kelly Xuan

2010, this beautiful butterfly picture was Kelly Xuan’s last drawing. Now a loving guardian angel, she is helping her loved ones to ease their grief with her butterflies. She will be greatly missed but the memories will always stay in the heart and mind of her loved ones. May she rest in peace.

The Ancient Greek word for butterfly is ψυχή=psȳchē, which primarily means soul or mind. There are many links with butterflies in mythology from all over the world, many of which, in particular Greek mythology, link butterflies to the human soul. Butterflies are considered as the souls of those who had passed away. Many people reported receiving a sign which affirmed that their deceased family member or friend had survived physical death and continues to live in another dimension of existence, known as ADC signs. They are a relatively common type of after-death communication. Depending on their belief system, they may ask their deceased loved one to give them a sign, or they may pray to God or the universe for one.

Typical symbolic ADC include butterflies and rainbows. Whether a sign comes immediately or takes days or weeks to arrive, most people intuitively recognize their sign right away and feel it was intended just for them. These signs provide much hope to those who are grieving deeply. But because they are a symbolic form of communication, the receiver must interpret his or her own experience and assign personal meaning to it.

June 1965, there was a butterfly on my mother’s coffin lid all night while I was keeping watch. 15 June 2005 (Day 47 of my AT Thru-Hike) would have been my father’s 94th bday (he died in 1996) and there were butterflies galore around me that day. The Buddhists believe in reincarnation…  were all my ancestors keeping an eye on me during my hike?

Butterfly, butterfly Bright as can be. Fly pretty butterfly, Fly down to me!

26 Mar 2010 – Memories from 1973

The first time I set foot here was in 1973. Brother Lawrence & his wife Mabel were having combined bday party for their sons John & Larry. They had a pool with a slide and the children were having a blast sliding into the water. John HALD, my children’s father was one of the life guards. Was observing this sweet Japanese girl who was at the side of the pool carefully taking in all the excitement. She then timidly climbed up the stairs to the slide and looked apprehensive before sitting down on the slide, still have a picture which I took of her sliding down. The moment she landed in the water, I knew she could not swim. Thank goodness John, being over 6′ could stand on the deepest end of the pool, and he picked her up after my frantic yelling to him. Memories of this incident flashed back with a recent sad and tragic swimming pool accident.

Found KCH to be charming and delightful then and still do. Have been a couple of time since 1973 and will be returning. Was hoping to travel on to Sibu & Sarikei to do more research on the bank but seems like time is not on my side for this trip, so will stay around to catch up with family & friends who are important for me. The delicious KCH laksa is one of the must-try dish when in KCH. Coincidentally, all of Mabel’s siblings are here visiting and like us she also has 6 siblings and a chance for a Kodah moment should not be missed! The picture of me is with one of Mabel’s niece, Angelina ONG who will be moving to Belgium next week. Good Luck to her.

To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward – Margaret Fairless Barber

24 Mar 2010 – And Mar Movies/2

Spent a delightful day catching up with Gene who introduced me the iRobot vacuum cleaner. It was fascinating to watch this round-shaped machine suck up all the dust and it is definitely on the top of my wish-list! G also lives in the same condo complex as nephew Lee & family. Thank you G for having me, Lee, Adeline & SunSun in your beautiful home for sushi and wine. Have to head to the airport for a Tiger flight towards KCH. Tying up the loose ends for the LAM-Heritage trail book so that I can get a start on a first rough draft… a project to keep me out of trouble for the next three years 🙂 Hopefully there will be a chance to blog there.

Crazy Heart**** great acting from Jeff Bridges in this semi-tragic romantic. Bad Blake is a broken-down, hard-living country music singer who’s had way too many marriages, too many years on the road and drinks way too many times. With the help a journalist and her son, Bad learns the hard way to be the real man behind the musician.

Ain’t rememberin’ wonderful?

The Class*** screened by SFS is a winner of 2008 Palme d’Or at the 61st Cannes film festival with the original French title is Entre les murs= between the walls. In a multiracial middle school in inner Paris, a languages teacher struggles to hold the attention of a class of 14/15-year-olds throughout the academic year. This movie is a reminder why I do not ever want to teach in a public school. Somehow education today is baby-sitting kids whose parents are not there for them or are there but not daring to discipline them. There seems to be a miscommunication or misunderstanding that education = upbringing!

Up in the Air*** this poster shows the vast emptiness of the man’s life with 2 unconnected strangers, no where close to him, and it is on the mark! A fresh comedy surrounding a human resource administrator whose life up in the friendly skies becomes his only world as he works to reach his one-millionth frequent flyer miles when he meets the frequent-traveller woman of his dreams and ready to make a connection.

Never get behind old people. Their bodies are littered with hidden metal and they never seem to appreciate how little time they have left. Bingo, Asians. They pack light, travel efficiently, and they have a thing for slip on shoes – on getting through airport security

Remember Me*** In the romantic drama about Tyler whose parents have split in the wake of his brother’s suicide and Ally who lives each day to the fullest since witnessing her mother’s murder. Tyler, a rebellious young man who has a strained relationship with his father, didn’t think anyone could possibly understand what he was going through until he met Ally through an unusual twist of fate. They fall in love but hidden secrets are revealed and the circumstances that brought them together slowly threaten to tear them apart.

If you could hear me, I would say that our finger prints don’t fade from the lives we’ve touched

22 Mar 2010 – Ramayana Revisited

The Peranakan Museum exhibits the most famous works of ancient India where Prince of Ayodhya with an army of monkeys recuse his wife from the King of Lanka… universal and timeless concepts of love, honour, deceit and duty! In this exhibition, the 7 chapters are illustrated with beautiful shadow puppets which are my high points.

There were some slight miscommunication over the weekend. Thought that the Tubbs told me that they will be back on Sun morning. My original plans for Sat was, first Stanley‘s swimming competition, then pay respect at my parents’ crematorium (around the same area as SSS) and meet AmyR at the Peranaken Museum. As it turned out, Stanley had a fever and could not swim. The Tubbs arrived Sat morning in the pouring rain and we had a relaxing morning. After the museum with AmyR, it was perfect to walk around CHIJMES (my old school), Arab Street and Little India under the cool cloudy skies. Believe it or not but 3 cups of green tea at Raffles Ah Ting’s Cafe cost over S$40! Somehow it does NOT justify that kind of price but there are other ways to get even 🙂

Sun at the airport. Janice, being an ex-airline employee travels on space available. Fortunately they got on their flight to BKK and hope that they managed their connection to LAX. Safe journeys to them and hope that we will not wait for another 10 years before our next meeting. It was so nice to catch up and we had such fond memories from my FL days. Had quite a shopping spree and experience at T3 as there is no GST(7%) at some of the shops. Joined the Changi Rewards Club (no charge or fees), a point system. For a non-shopper like me, this is quite a change…

The odds of going to the store for a loaf of bread and coming out with only a loaf of bread are three billion to one – Erma Bombeck