I am Raintea

Gone Fishing

2016-07-14T08:10:00.000+08:00

It always makes me happy to see seedlings and young shoots. Even on bad days. Or, perhaps especially on bad days since green kind of makes the day a little brighter.

Sis got me a mother leaf with an exquisite terrarium accessory; an angler in a boat! I have been buying terrarium accessories online, and most of them aren't as detailed in their craft, but of course, since I don't really pay a lot for them, I can't expect a lot too.

This little piece that Sis got for me is definitely of a higher quality, with a little boat made of a wood-like material (it feels just like wood, perhaps it is wood) and an uncle with a beefy chest! The piece is made in Germany by Preiser and hand-painted in Mauritius.

Check out the "angler in a boat" on Amazon!

Since I intend to let the Mother Leaf sprout, Sis suggested a fishing-setup. This is very different from my usual soil-based terrarium, and it looks extremely zen on my work table! It's simple and elegant; an easy distraction from work. Till I get a tiny enough pole to put it into his hands, the angler really has to make do with just enjoying the water and breeze!

Sis bought two pieces of Mother Leaf. I left the other piece on the bookshelf where there's more light. More shoots are sprouting than the leaf on my table. We are guessing more will shoots will sprout since the lighting is stronger.

Terrarium seems to be in trend again suddenly. And, I truly hope the trend continues and goes beyond what we have seen in the past. There has not been much advancement in terms of the accessories and set-up ideas.

I also bought a few pots of succulents and HAPPY PLANTS!

Happy plants are supposedly the little black seeds in dragon fruits. They would eventually grow to be full grown plants after a few years if given the right condition, according to the vendor.

After three weeks, and not dying on me, I decided it was time to re-pot the happy plants. Sis commented it was cute, so it was "adopted" as soon as it was made!

Nothing very fanciful, but the bathtub container kind of liven up the look. Ladybird has never failed me so far. They are good in almost any situation that calls for a little touch-up, not too overwhelming but it brings a touch of colour. Red just so happens to match nicely with green, always.

The bathtub is now happily sitting on Sis's work desk. I read reports that happy plants are able to absorb radiation emitted by the computer. Not sure how true this is, though. If it truly works, I guess they should be all over Japan?

And, the kale seeds that I bought during the Gardeners' Day Out is finally sprouting!

The seeds germinated 2 days after they were planted. I planted 5 seeds, and 4 germinated! That's a pretty good success rate!

Check out the kale seeds available on Amazon!

Kale seems to thrive better in slightly acidic soil, with pH not exceeding 6.8. Therefore, coffee grounds should be a good booster since its pH is around there. I am now using the coffee grounds that my family throws out after their morning coffee. Nothing like blue mountain, just the normal local coffee.

I am quite excited to see how the kale would turn out. If my setup works, there would definitely be more veggie projects coming up!

Be Prepared

2016-07-10T01:20:00.000+08:00

It was heart aching watching Ma carried out the instructions of her doctor during her Parkinson's Disease review.

Her index finger moved in a slow motion from her nose to her doctor's index finger.

It looked almost a replica of that famous scene in the movie E.T.

About a year ago, Ma couldn't walk overnight. Ma has a very high threshold for pain. The pain must have been unimaginable for her to shed tears.

Ma suffered from leg and shoulder pain for some years before this incident. Sometimes, she would complain of weakness in her legs too. Though this was mentioned frequently to her doctors at her reviews, they generally put it down to degeneration due to old age and did not go further other than prescribing painkillers.

We sent Ma to Mount Alvernia Hospital after deliberating between private and public hospital. Our first option was to the public hospital as we were worried about the medical expenses, but no one in the family had the heart to put Ma through the wait and queue. We did our sums quickly and did what we thought was the best for her.

The lumbar spine has five vertebrae which are abbreviated as L1 through L5. After Ma's MRI, we were advised (in layman terms) that Ma's nerves were compressed at L4 and L5, therefore the severe pain.

Within a week, Ma was admitted and operated on. We were lucky to have found Dr Tan Siah Heng, James. Dr Tan performed a laminectomy for Ma successfully. Thankfully, Ma did not need screws to stabilise her spine.

Dr Tan has a lot of empathy for our situation as a middle-income family. We could not have asked for a better doctor. It’s not easy to find a doctor who treats patients with dignity.

A lot of people feel the sick needs pitying. But, no, what is needed is compassion, not pitying. Pitying takes away one's dignity, but compassion allows one to feel for the sick with the dignity that they still deserved.

It's very difficult to sugarcoat Ma's recovery process, especially with her Parkinson's Disease. C'est la vie.

Tearing was easy during the over-a-month intensive caring period, especially with Ma slipping into mild depression post surgery. Crying was a norm in the house.

Things had gotten so tiring that my tear ducts were triggered constantly. TV dialogues, newspapers articles, old photographs, elderly tissue-sellers, babies. Even fighting scenes.

Being the only one who worked from home, I shared the caring duties with sis. She woke up early to change Ma's diapers, prepared her for the day and put her to bed when she was back from work. I took on the day shift; looking after her medication feeds, preparing her meals, helping her with her toilet visits, naps and shower.

Like what people always say, "You won't understand."

Seriously, no one would because it was a journey that needs one's presence.

Inevitably, my work soon suffered. Having to keep a constant ear-out for Ma, I became very highly strung. I could hardly focus on my work during the day. I could only re-look at my work when she slept. That led to a 5-hour sleep daily, which eventually took its toll on my work and body.

Moral support was important but it was also frivolous at the same time. The act of being there and helping was more important than anything else.

Halfway, I needed something to look forward to, something to soothe my highly-active-but-unsettled mind. I happened to see a lotus anklet charm on Etsy and ordered it to be delivered via normal post from the States.

It would take approximately two weeks for the anklet to be delivered. By the time the anklet reaches my hand, the caring-journey would almost be completed.

With a deadline in sight, my state of mind improved slightly.

As Father Time promises, everything heals with time. Ma's much better now. While her Parkinson's-body didn't take the episode well and she's not as agile as before, she has regained a lot of stability after a series of physiotherapy.

We are thankful she's no longer in tears when she tries to get up from the bed. We are thankful that she is able to move around the house with a walking aid and go for short walks with a company.

With a reduction in her mobility, she needs to be accompanied most of the time and watching TV was probably the only activity she could do on her own. Having spent most of her life supporting and caring for the maternal family before she was married, and taking care of her own family after she was married, she's never had the chance to cultivate any hobbies or develop friendships.

Ma's a very strong-willed woman. While she frustrates us sometimes with her antics of self-deluded independence, it can be sad to watch her losing her independence and freedom, to a certain extent.

So, what are the lessons learned?

I walked away with the understanding that the ability to be grateful is not an innate trait of humans. We always want more, and are seldom content with what we already have.

For our generation and the generations to come, life is hardly going to be as tough as our parents' generation or the generations before that. We want more and more of material quality; better accommodation, better cars, latest smart devices, further and more exotic holiday destinations, the best school for the kids, the softest cotton on our backs, and the most luxurious leather for our soles. So, we chase after a life that's beyond us, and, in the progress, making our souls suffer.

A good work-life balance is very important. Be the best employee, but set aside time for the deserving people; people who walk and would walk your life with you. A job has an end to it, but a heart continues to ache long after a loved one is six-feet underground.

A relationship does not grow organically, it needs nurturing. Like plants, it would simply wither away when left alone. Do your due diligence, and it promises its loyalty. Keep friends who are always there for you close.

Cultivate hobbies. When agility and mobility leave you, you would be thankful that they are there to fill your days. You deserve more than just watching TV programmes or thumbing the games on the smart devices. More so, the person lying next to you.

Illnesses cannot be foretold and, unfortunately, avoided totally. Take care of your health for the sake of your loved ones, you would not want your loved ones to suffer.

Don't wait to do what you're supposed to do. Father Time promises healing with time, but he doesn't wait too. When the moment is gone, it's gone.

Ma's fortunate. She has a husband, three children and three grandkids to walk the rocky path with her. For childless couples, be kind to yourself and your partner. Be well physically and mentally, so that there are more happy years ahead.

Ubud 2016

2016-07-07T21:51:00.001+08:00

Back to the reality of parents honking non-stop for their kids to step out of the house doused out the last shreds of the post travel mood.

The plan was to visit Perth in May was shelved so we went to Ubud instead. The travelling party started with the Kohs and us but the Yongs joined us at the last minute, bringing the group to a total of six. The largest travel group ever for us!

This worked well since we could share the transport fees and order more variety of food to share!

Airfare: Air Asia flight, slightly over RM1,100 inclusive of all the taxes and the service charges, with 20kg of luggage to and 25kg forth.

Accommodation:

Anahatan Villas & Spa Resort. Booked at Hotels.com for about SGD75 per night, inclusive of breakfast and free wifi. The room was very big with a small hall with TV and a small balcony. The pool and jacuzzi corner were beautiful with lots of foliage around.

Guests who are into yoga could also make a booking for a session within the compound. This service comes free during the weekdays. This accommodation was pretty deep into the rural area, among the trees and even had a river within its compound!

By car, it took about 10 to 15 minutes to Ubud city centre. The area was pretty dark from 6pm, so walking to the city centre was not much of an option. The hotel offered an interval shuttle service, all before 5pm, and charged IDR100,000 for pickup from the city centre outside of the shuttle service timing.

Places of interest:

Hubs and I went to Bali a couple of years ago and visited places like Tanah Lot, Monkey Forest, Jimbaran beach, a volcano, which we've forgotten the name, and saw some really nice paddy fields.

We thought we covered enough places of interest the last trip, sort of. So, we really wanted to enjoy the accommodation and spend time looking at crafty stuff especially, since we were staying in Ubud.

Kohs did most of the research and we visited Tirta Empul Temple (aka Temple of Hoy Water), Uluwatu Temple (aka Pura Luhur Uluwatu) and Mount Batur.

Tirta Empul Temple is a Unesco Heritage site, and an inscription dates the founding of the temple to 926AD. Worshippers are drawn to the temple for the supposed curative properties of the spring water within the compound.

Take note of an entrance fee of IDR15,000, and proper dress code must be adhered to. A sarong and a sash are issued at the entrance after the payment of entrance fee.

An inscription dates the founding of the temple to 926AD.

Female is not allowed into the temple during the time of the month. And, for obvious reason, they are strictly banned from dipping into the water during that time too.

The queue to get into the holy water!

The Kohs took a dip, and filled up a bottle to bless us outside the temple!

As we walked around, we saw this beautiful pale blue pond with bubbling water and lots of water weed in it. I was definitely more intrigued with this pond than the queue into the holy water.

Bubbling and extremely clear water at one of the ponds within the temple compound.

My favourite within the compound.

Next up, Mount Batur, an active volcano, and its last eruption was in 2000.

We lunched at one of the restaurants facing the mountain, Grand Puncak Sari Restaurant. The restaurant is located in Kintamani that is 1,500m above sea level, hence offering a fantastic view of the volcano.

A note of caution: it might be better to spend a little time to walk around the area to look for an eatery with lesser flies. There were so many flies around that it was difficult to eat and swat flies at the same time. The restaurant amazingly did not installed any insect zappers. The restaurant served only buffet, and the bill came up to about IDR150,000 per pax. The food wasn't especially nice, it was perhaps normal at best. A lot of the food was rather cold.

We were sat outdoor and the view was fantastic. I guess we were mostly paying for a good view.

There were spots along the way up and down to stop for photos but, of course, it was crowded with people since there was no fee.

Lastly, Uluwatu Temple, otherwise also known as Pura Luhur Uluwatu. This temple is believed to be one of the six temples of Bali's spiritual pillars. An entrance fee of RP40,000 applied.

Before departing for the temple, we were warned to keep our sunglasses, earrings, caps and anything that dangle as the monkeys were notorious for snatching away items. I held dearly to my camera.

Uluwatu Temple reminded me a lot of Tanah Lot's beautiful sunset. The walk from the entrance seemed long because the weather was so hot! The sarong, that we were required to wear, intensified the heat. I was literally dripping with sweat.

For the record, we saw only a couple of monkeys and nothing disastrous happen. Perhaps they were affected by the heat too?

The sunset was beautiful with the Indian Ocean as the backdrop. There was supposed to be a Kecak dance but we didn't stay on for the dance because we wanted to be at The Rock Bar for sunset.

To get to the sitting area, we had to take an elevator but found out later that it was also possible to get to the area by stairs from the other side.

We wanted to get a nice seat by the cliff, but not being the hotel's guests meant we need to have a minimal spending of IDR1.5 million.

In the end, the staff found us a sea-facing seat. It was another sauna session with almost no breeze but Mrs Koh was still as chirpy as ever (in orange)!

I guess The Rock Bar is not a place that we would want to visit for the next trip unless we are staying at its hotel. I had pretty high expectation of the place but was mildly disappointed. The heat definitely played a big part. Frankly, unless one is willing to spend and get the by-the-cliff seats, the money can be spent jolly well on something else, like at a nice cafe in Ubud city centre with a wonderful spread of desserts and drinks.

The sunset was beautiful, though.

Food:

Breakfast was a simple affair in the hotel, but they served freshly cooked omelette and sunny side ups. The juice was a tad too sweet for my liking, and the tea too weak. Yes, I am a fussy pot! They served the local food like fried rice, fried noodles and some heavier stuff like stir-fry chicken and veggies for people who take early brunch. There were cereal, milk and bacon too. I was pretty happy with my wholemeal bread and 2 sunny side ups :) Of course, as usual, fruits were served too.

The best food for this trip, personally, was the local food, taken daily by the locals, not those at Jimbaran beach or any of the restaurants that we went to.

Trivia:

The river is about 10 minutes walk from our room. According to the staff, the water would be crystal clear had it not rained. I did a session of yoga at the platform along the river, and the most amazing thing happened!

On the third day, while Hubs went breakfast with the gang, I journeyed down to the river in my yoga paws without shoes since I rather not carry anything on my way to breakfast after that. The foot pads were good enough to protect my soles from the sands.

I was at the river at about 810am or thereabouts. Just as I got ready at the wooden platform by the river, a shower of soil and tiny rocks fell upon me! It was followed by some loose branches. I scrambled to my feet and rushed to the stairs leading back to the hotel. The platform was built above the river, and I definitely didn't want to be drifting away in the river, and drowning, if it was an earthquake!

The shower of soil and all continued for a minute or so and stopped. I looked around to see if it could be a snake sliding down hence causing the shower. Then, it occurred to me that it could the monkeys! That was when I heard branches shaking on the other side of the river. True enough, a group of monkeys were frolicking!

So fear aside, I got into proper and started the practice. The area was a little chilling. But I knew once my practice starts, my body would heat up and the chill would not be an issue. 20 minutes into the practice, and as I was looking back to my toes in downward dog, I saw a steam of vapour rising around me!

It felt so surreal watching my body heating up the atmospheric vapour. It's a pity Hubs was not around to take a shot for me.

Conclusion: Somehow, we only spent a good half day at the accommodation, again, similar to our last trip to Bali. My favourite day was actually the day when it was just Hubs and I walking around Ubud City Centre while waiting for the gang to be back from Tanah Lot, and walking down the craft lane not far from Ubud.

I kind of wish we have spent more a little more time at the accommodation.
A video of the roaring river in the hotel to end the post:

Damaged

2016-06-20T00:16:00.003+08:00

I bought Damaged many years ago but had never gotten around to reading it.

A couple of days ago, I was cleaning my bookshelves and it was there, still waiting to be read. I placed it into my bag so that I could read it on the train the next morning.

I couldn't put the book down once I started. I finished the book within 2 days.

Damaged is a true story about a girl, Jodie, whose world was unbelievably messed up by the people who were supposed to protect and love her; her parents.

Cathy Glass is a foster carer, and Jodie was an almost-eight-year-old girl who was placed under her care. Jodie was extremely difficult in the beginning (think using poo-smearing as a threat), and took on such threatening, scary behaviour that I seriously thought Jodie had to be possessed by an evil spirit. However, as time passed, Cathay uncovered Jodie's painful and absurd past.

She was her parents' and their friends' sexual toy.

It was painful to read the abuse of such a young child. Not only was Jodie's learning ability comprised, she also switched between personalities to protect herself, unknowingly.

As Jodie divulged more, she began to spiral out of control mentally. She was eventually sent to an institution to get better.

I was very keen to know how Jodie turned out in the end. I really didn't want a sad ending, or not knowing how Jodie's story ended. Glass provided a closure thankfully. While Jodie never made a full recovery due to the extensive damage caused when she was young, she did become better. It kind of made things better for me, as a very-emotionally-involved reader. There was something sweet at the end. Read to find out.

For such a gloomy subject, the story unfolded in a rather fast pace. This made the read refreshing despite the depressing material.

If you think you have it tough, read this book.

Surprisingly, Singapore National Library does not seem to carry this book (at the time when I was preparing the post) though it carries Glass's other titles.

Check out the book at Book Depository or Amazon. Don't forget to take the shipping cost into consideration!

Concrete-Everyday A, B, C

2016-06-18T15:56:00.000+08:00

credit: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/546835579731796815/

Geometric planters are raging through Pinterest and Instagram accounts.

I tried to construct with the online templates using cardboard but failed big time.

Hence, I started researching on creating a mould and it led to the purchase of a 3D printer!

I followed M3D printer for a brief period of time when it launched on the crowdfunding platform. And, the reviews were mostly good. It's popular with 3D printer novice since the price is not exorbitant.

Most of the projects that I want to create a mould for are small in size, or they can be pieced together to form a big piece. So, this printer made a good trial.

I actually paid extra for a transparent piece. But, after using it, actually, a normal opaque piece would have been better. The printer comes with backlight and being a transparent piece, the light can be obstructing to sight when one looks in to check the printing on the print bed.

While it's not mandatory to use M3D's propriety filament, I chose to simply because I wanted to keep it simple should I run into a technical issue. M3D had been relatively helpful and fast in their response the few times when I wrote in.

Along the way, I realised that it's better to use 3D Ink filament than the normal PLA filament. PLA filament is cheaper, but I was deeply frustrated when the filament didn't stick to the print bed, or it just couldn't stick together when layering up. After seeking technical advice from M3D, I learned to adjust the temperature of the nozzle and resolved the issue. For a beginner, it might perhaps be better to go with the 3D Ink filament.

I tried a couple of software and to stay with Google's Sketchup. Though I am using the free version, it's enough to serve my needs.

I was totally new to 3D printing when I first started. Reading up helped a lot. If you have a library within your vicinity, that would be your best learning resource. Otherwise, check out Amazon for their list of books. Somehow, the dummy series work well for me.

Next, concrete sealer.

I wanted to use the concrete planter for herbs and veggies, so I was trawling the web for a food grade sealer. Man... it was tougher than looking for a 3D printer.

Cheng Concrete Sealer appears to be the only concrete sealer which is food safe and contains no toxic substance. The application seems to be easy enough by wetting the object with water; diluting the sealer with 1 part of sealer to 3 parts of water, wiping the mixture over the object and wiping the excess away. Repeat the last two steps for a couple of times until the concrete object's surface appears to be evenly coated with an even tone across the surface. Leave the object overnight to dry and do a water test. Leave a small amount of water on the object and if the water does not seep through, all's well. If the water seeps through, repeat the last 2 steps again.

I am likely to get the Cheng Concrete Countertop Wax, just to complete the look for projects that I want a slicker look.

Looking forward to sharing some pictures when the projects are ready!

If I have a child...

2016-06-09T19:20:00.000+08:00

There's a common question that follows after a wedding:

"When's the baby coming?"

People ask with concern, but, often, they know the answer.

I am not a baby person. By that, I mean, I do not hate baby, or children for that matter. The love part may or may not come, depending on situation.

It may be surprising, but there are people who really cannot stand the sight of babies, no matter how cute they are. I used to love all babies and children till my mid-twenties. Somehow, another part of my gene took over, and I am sitting on top of the fence ever since.

So, I am not a baby-hater, but I adore my nieces and nephews. They are family and fall into a different category. Friends' children mostly fall into this category too. I seldom go woo-ah over babies on street. I would still smile at them; it's not nice to be rude.

Hubs can be considered a baby person, when compared with me. I find this put us into a pretty balanced state of mind somehow. So, if we have a baby, one would be estatically happy and the other calm. The baby wouldn't be suffocated with the endless hugs.

We are still childless. We did try, but no, we are still childless.

It's common that when a couple is childless, the first piece of advice would always go to the wife. Yes? No?

"Try this. It will help warm your womb."

"It must be the green tea that you drink every morning. It's too cooling."

"Prob your tube is blocked, see a doctor."

"You shouldn't take cold drinks during the time of the month. It's bad for trying."

It's amazing how the fingers are seldom directed at the men in the quest for child.

People, woman can't simply get pregnant by herself! There's always a father, regardless willingly, or not.

We are lucky. My parents in-laws are pretty cool with our status quo. They are the "IN" in-laws like what I always tell people. I couldn't have ask for more.

Would I like to have a child? Yes, there's no doubt.

It's very exciting to think that we could mould the little mind into what I wish people nowadays are, especially the polite part, less eye-time on the smart device part, see rather than look, listen rather than hear. Perhaps the ability to play a musical instrument too so that s/he can have a channel to express a lot in little words (and so that there's less time on the smart device again. I have little faith that smart phone or tablet can help in fostering relationship)? I know I would teach my child how to trade, especially if it's a she.

At the end of the day, it's just nice to have a little being and a warm sack to hold onto. A nice-smelling sack to love, no matter how many shitty diapers we need to change, and the endless heartaches that s/he would inflict upon us growing up. Of course, we could also be asking for trouble. But no one knows for sure. I didn't turn out too badly, neither did hubs. So I think the little "us" should be fine?

Is there a terrible ache in the heart for that little-us? A little, but it's not going to kill us.

A Chinese saying has somehow put it nicely and brings some comfort, i.e. for us: Children are karma from one's previous life. They are either here to pay back a debt or collect one.

So, try hard but don't be too hard on yourself, especially the wife, or allow others be hard on you, if the little-you just decide not to come. As long as we try, the best we couldthere's no regret in our post-working-factory age, it could be better to let the karma unroll itself.

Five Days Left

2016-05-14T17:41:00.003+08:00

Twenty minutes into “Five Days Left”, I dissolved into tears.

There's no mystery or thrill. This book tells the story of two persons' journey to their intended final destination.

Five Days Left is a story about Mara and Scott, two cyber friends who knew each other only by their nicknames. Their common thread was a parenting forum.

Mara had Huntington disease. Not long after she was diagnosed, and knew how the disease would bring her down, she started planning her departure. A departure by choice and on her own terms. She did not want to burden her husband and neither did she want to embarrass her young adopted daughter when the disease was in the advance stage. She was now five days away from her birthday.

Scott had all the right “ingredients” of the perfect father, except he was yet a father. He was a teacher by profession, and a saviour by heart. He volunteered to foster the younger brother of a student once his, when their mother was locked away for drugs. His wife was pregnant with their first child and they were three months away from welcoming their firstborn. The wife sympathised with Scott when Little Man, as Scott had called him, was scheduled to return to his mother after her release. But she was also insistent on forming a family of their own blood lineage.

Five Days Left is a great book for people, especially females, who want to curl up in the bed over a long weekend with a reason to be emotional, however though you might be happy with your life!

Hover over the bold, italicised title for a sample read of Five Days Left.

Julie Lawson Timmer , a lawyer by profession, is a first-time author. Perhaps it is no coincidence that Mara is a lawyer by profession. Timmer reminded me of Jodi Picoult, but just a tad less heavy.

Her second book, Untethered, is coming out in June 2016.

Looking forward to another good read!

Both books are available on Amazon and Book Depository:

Five Days Left: Amazon & Book Depository
Untethered: Amazon & Book Depository

Remember to take the shipping costs into consideration!

Enjoy!

This is Singapore

2015-08-21T20:03:00.000+08:00

I saw a heartful sight when I hopped onto the bus for home from Changi Airport.

An elderly auntie boarded the bus with me and took the seat in front of me. At the Terminal 2, an Indian family boarded the bus. The mother took the seat closer to the front door, with her son, and the father took the seat behind me with an infant.

At the next stop, the father decided to take the inner empty seat nearer to the back door. As he moved in, the bus moved. He almost dropped the baby, but luckily the lady and the elderly auntie gave him a hand. All's fine, and he sat. I saw the mother turned around and gave the dad a smile.

Well, the air-conditioning was comfortable, and the weather was nice, so I fell asleep. When I woke, I saw the mother had moved to the seat next to the father. I saw her son sitting behind them. I fell asleep again.

The next time, I woke up, I saw the son was asleep. In the arms of the elderly auntie.

This is Singapore.

Mayday

2014-10-31T18:30:00.000+08:00

I am never much of a car fan. The first vehicle that I ever thought of owning was a Renualt Kangoo, a van that I could drive around comfortably with Jackie.

I never did get around to buying one. Too much of a liability, and I have no excuse. Singapore has excellent public transport.

Hence Singapore F1 Night Race did not really trigger much of my interest, but I am very proud of Singapore.

That was until W got Walkabout tickets, wohoo! And Mayday was performing!

Truthfully, I am not exactly a 100% true blue Mayday fan, but I like their songs. I like bands in general. Like Wu Bai (伍佰) and China Blues. Yes, I know some would probably categorise them into the auntie, uncle category, but hey they are good! I used to like Beyond, Gun N' Roses and Red Hot Chilli Peppers, but that was really ages ago when I stayed up late in the night to watch the MTV.

So yes, I like bands.

I like bands because it is not solo effort, and especially when it centres around creativity. Having a couple of creative creatures coming together is hell of a tough task.

SO for the first time in many years, I left home at 930pm; in Singapore that is. Malaysia is a different story though it is not that frequent too. Well, I am getting older after all.

Once I met W, things were FUN!

I never knew the night race was organised in a fun-fair style. It was more than just hanging around the grand stand trying to catch a glimpse of the racing cars. I tried taking photos of the cars, but no luck, they were too fast, and I was too uninterested.

The Padang where the concert was held was cool! Plenty of people sitting on the grass, chilling and relaxing with beers, food, and nothing.

I wanted to squeeze right up to the front of the stage, but as what W said, we were no match to the true blue Mayday fans.

I never take W as a concert goer; as in doing everything that the performer asks. Man, I was totally wrong! She is one fellow that I am keeping in the list for concerts! She was SO MUCH FUN!!!

I had a great time during the two hours! W was jumping, singing, shouting, waving, everything that I thought that she would not be doing, haha! It was great to have someone shout/sing with, somehow the stress that I was carrying the last couple of days before the concert kind of evaporated too :)

Mayday belted out numbers but they interacted too. I like performers who interact and not sing throughout the concert in their own world. Hmm... a CD would serve pretty much the same purpose in the comfort on my bed. True? No?

There was this part when Mayday told everyone to activate the handphone's torchlight. It was beautiful from the giant screen, and I am sure it looked lovely from the stage. Well, Mayday said so :)

The concert and Mayday reminded me of my love for the language; Chinese in this instance. Nowadays, mostly due to work, English dominates as my choice of language. But I continue to use Mandarin in most of my social settings, except for a couple of friends whom I used English as the primary language.

Somehow it saddens me ever so slightly when I see Chinese parents using English as their main mode of language with their kid(s). I am not judging. Every family has their reasons and rights to use whichever language they prefer. I just thought if we are Chinese, it would be good to keep the mother tongue going. It would be great if the kids can speak the parents' dialect too.

During my time, when technology was so minimal in our life, we learnt Chinese by memorising and writing out the characters again and again. It was that simple and straight forward. Chinese was always the easiest subject. Our parents spoke to us in Chinese and dialect. I only started to speak actively in English from primary three. Believe it or not, and I do not think it was a deliberate choice made by the school, the entire school had Chinese students only, except for an Indian boy who spoke Chinese too. It was only when the school moved and became a government primary school that the race mixture was a lot more balance. I think my siblings and friends did not fare too badly in our mother tongue or English. We speak and write okay English? I think so.

How did we get to today when Chinese become such a difficult language? Especially with the advancement in technology.

By the time, the concert ended, it was way past the usual public transport service time. But hey, it's Singapore - the trains and buses' services had been extended to cater for the event, and I was home in a jiff - 40 min!

From Our Porch

2014-10-29T07:20:00.000+08:00

Watching the guppies in the mini-water garden has became a habit.

Once in the morning, once in the afternoon, once just before dinner and the last time before bed. Sort of like tucking them in, haha!

My favourite is the morning slot. When the light is good, and the sun still gentle.

One morning, as I squatted and fed the guppies, I saw a tiny brown speck that was moving.

It was a water snail.

It had been a while since I saw one. I like the colour and lighting, so I hooked on the macro lens to the iphone for a closer shoot.

Halfway, amazingly, the water snail made an impressive effort to float towards the nearest fish feed and attached itself onto it, and started nibbling away!

I had to bring the iphone just about a centimetre from the snail to get the below shoots. All the while, I kept reminding myself to hold on tight to the phone or it could end up being a permanent fixture in the water tank...

We have our doubts about allowing the snail to stay in the water garden.

It is an interesting addition to just the fishes. And it does help with the algae. So instead of hauling it out now, we are keeping our eyes close.

For now; that is.

Ah Bea

2014-09-22T07:20:00.000+08:00

Ah Bea is the first baby in the family.

And of course, we all fell in love with this chubby pie.

She used to get free bread bun when she passed by a bakery after dad fetched her from the childcare center. Simply because she was so cute and chubby.

Video taken from Shangcapella's channel.

Ah Bea has a pretty good nature, and is kind most of the time. A bit impatient at times, and of course like all kids, she sometimes bully her sister but of course we know she still loves her. But somehow gives in to her little brother all the time. She wants to be a vet, and she loves pink stuff.

This is her selfie at six years old.

At ten today (yes exactly today), Ah Bea is still chubby, and her adorable double chin is still there, haha! She is almost my height now. She promised to take care of both her 姑姑 when we need walking sticks.

Ah Bea, happy birthday, and may you always be this happy!

A Perfect Night

2014-09-13T00:22:00.000+08:00

Tonight is a good night.

Before the clock ticked 830pm, all was busy and busy.

Frenzy working, cleaning up, trying all my might trying to stop myself from scratcing the tiny red bumps across my body, and making sure I did not burn the pumpkin porridge while I fit the sofa covers back. All were crazy before I stepped into the yoga room for a 15 minute peace.

Right after the shower, sitting in the living room with the golden porridge and toasted salted fish slices made the earlier manic rush so insignificant. The doubled-vacuumed floor, knowing Brownie (aka Brown eyes) was fed, and of course the air con (:>), plus Jesse Cook and hubby.

I have not enjoy such a peaceful Friday night for a while.

Good night world!

I No Longer Have Patience

2014-09-02T11:47:00.000+08:00

This is a borrowed content; saw in Facebook shared by a friend.

Right on the bull's eye.

"I no longer have patience for certain things, not because I've become arrogant, but simply because I reached a point in my life where I do not want to waste more time with what displeases me or hurts me. I have no patience for cynicism, excessive criticism and demands of any nature. I lost the will to please those who do not like me, to love those who does not love me and to smile at those who do not want to smile at me. I no longer spend a minute on those who lie or want to manipulate. I decided not to coexist anymore with pretense, hypocrisy, dishonesty and cheap praise. I do not tolerate selective erudition nor academic arrogance. I do not adjust either to popular gossiping. I hate conflicts and comparisons. I believe in a world of opposites and that's why I avoid people with rigid and inflexible personalities. In friendship, I disike the lack of loyalty and betrayal. I do not get along with those who do not know how to give a compliment or a word of encouragement. Exaggerations bore me and I have difficulty accepting those who do not like animals. And on top of everything I have no patience for anyone who does not deserve my patience."_Meryl Streep

Visitor

2014-08-29T07:20:00.000+08:00

Lucy came visiting one of the days.

She has gotten a lot more stronger, better built, but somehow still manages to "yoga" her way out of the openings in between the gate. So she needed to be leashed unfortunately. I do not think my arms can survive another of her escape; be it carrying her back to the house or walking her. I think she would be walking me... I made a mental note to get a longer leash chain for her next visit. If I can't walk her, it would be humane to at least allow her to stretch her legs in the car porch.

Came night fall, Lucy had a visitor.

A new friend.

The guard dog in our estate.

I called her Brown Eyes. She has this lovely pair of brown gentle eyes. Why the h*%^ is she a guard dog?

She had a good time with Lucy that night, running around the estate. Totally high spirits.

Perhaps that was why she came back the next day. For her friend.

No Lucy, only me. Well, she did not seem to be too disappointed because she hung around for a while while I tended to the garden.

Ears pulling back, and tail down. Totally submissive. I think she likes me :)

I opened the gate, and stroked her for a while. That was when I saw her rashes, and her slightly sore eyes. I tried to bring her in for a shower, but no success.

Went back to the house, took out the can of tuna that I was preparing for my lunch. I scooped some out for myself, and fed her the rest of it.

She just gave birth to a litter. Having something other than rubbish would be good for her. The next day, we brought back some of the bones and chicken wings from our meals for Brown Eyes.

I don't think I mind feeding her whenever I am in KL; I would love to feed her. Just an additional bit of rice with some of our food. Just like how mom fed Jackie, and our kampong dogs. They grew well and strong.

Hubby still fed her whenever she came by after I left for Singapore. It kind of make me feel good to know she could still find food at our door.

Gardening Ideas!

2014-08-26T07:30:00.000+08:00

I am so hooked on Pinterest recently; I am prowling through it constantly. Especially on the gardening board.

There are just so many darned good ideas that I am itching to try!

First of all, a string garden.

source: http://www.culturewick.com/2012/03/string-gardens.html

This would act so well as a curtain for the backyard; which is one of my favourite spots in the house. A string garden would look perfect since the awning's structure provides ready structure to anchor the string.

Second - terrarium. I fell hopelessly in love with terrarium only from end of last year after a LA trip. Little glass bubbles of terrarium; I never thought I would find something else more beautiful than that.

It looks easy to assemble the tiny garden, but gosh... easy is so far away from that innocent look. Lots of patience and trials. But it is totally worth it.

Third - a herb garden. A vertical one. This might go in the backyard too? Easily within reach when I cook :)

source: http://homemade-modern.com/ep29-hanging-garden/

Plenty of sunlight, partially shaded in the backyard. Watering would be easy too. Plus, this can be moved easily. Perhaps a smaller row nearer to the sink?

Lastly - a water feature. We love the idea of a pond in our tiny garden, but come on, it is after all a small plot in the car porch, not a full blown garden space. Then this comes along...

source: http://www.thegardenglove.com/diy-project-contemporary-garden-water-feature-less-than-30/

Looks fairly simply right?! Can't believe we were thinking of cementing, this solves everything! And it can be a small pond! Just big enough to rear our colourful guppies!

Now we just need to shop for the drills, circular saw and find the time to do all these... I can't wait!

Gardens by the Bay - Conservatories

2014-08-21T07:20:00.000+08:00

I decided to be a better host when hubby came to Singapore.

I usually starve him and we would do our rounds at the usual malls. Nothing interesting. Thereafter he would be on his way home. On the contrary, when we are in Batu, I would need to stop him from overfeeding me. Come to think of it, I am really a terrible wife.

So we went to Gardens by the Bay (GB).

We decided to visit the cool conservatories and the Supertree Grove, and give the rest a miss for this time round.

We reached GB slightly before 6pm; after taking into consideration that Garden Rhapsody @ Supertree Grove happens at 745pm and 845pm.

We parked at Meadow car park. Bad choice given our intention was the conservatories.

We had no idea it would take at least 10 min to get to the ticketing area and conservatories by parking here.

Walking out at the end of the visit was kind of eerie given most visitors parked at the basement parking that was a lot closer to the conservatories. We were practically alone when we walked back to the car.

But we saw a bit more when we walked from this parking lot. Giant baby. Marina Bay Sands.

Tickets first - we bought two tickets to the cooled conservatories - Cloud Forest and Flower Dome. My passion card gotten me an additional discount, not much, but pretty happy about it since I did not expect it. This card is serving me pretty well; especially when I am at the library. Instead of the usual 8 books, I can borrow up to 10 books!

First stop - Flower Dome.

The theme is desert. Plenty of succulents, cactus.

The display gave us some inspirations on how we should do up our garden next. Minimal care and water needed, it seems... We were pretty surprised that groups of succulents put together could look so cool!

I like the glass / metal structure. Minimalist, plus lot of views through the glass. Iconic structure like Singapore Flyer complimented the dome well.

The level below had lot of pretty flowers, but it was kind of dark already. We were kind of surprise the place was not really well lit. Was it meant to be such?

While walking down to the next level, we simply took in the gardens without taking much photo since it was already dark.

Next stop - Cloud Forest.

It was completely dark when we visited the Cloud Forest. With the conservatory already pretty cool, the giant waterfall at the entrance made a chilling entrance. Hubby loved it; I was only interested to take a proper photo of the water fall and to move away from the chilliness.

After some exploring, we went all the way up to the highest level - level 6, and started from there. A sight of cloud / mist greeted us. Plenty of it as we walked our way down the metal bridge. Besides the flowers and greenery, it would make sense to admire the beautiful night scenes outside of the dome.

We caught the Garden Rhapsody at 845pm and the light display accompanied with the music was spectacular. The performance was named "Rainforest Orchestra - Australasia and Oceania". I like the fact that the performance is not limited to ticket holder only. Anyone can sit around and enjoy the performance.

My camera lens blurred once we were out of the conservatories. I had wanted to video the rhapsody...the condensation did not clear until we were about to leave. In the end, I had to made do with iPhone photo. Boohoo...

When I was sorting out the photos, I was pretty surprised with the little flower photos I took. It was more of an experience this round. Our next visit, it would make sense to be there earlier, about 4pm or so. So that we can experience the conservatories in light.

The next time hubby is in town, I know where we could go too - Night Safari! I heard he had some adventures at Singapore Zoological Gardens many years ago. Wondering if anything interesting would happen this time ;)

Garden Make-over

2014-08-18T18:30:00.000+08:00

Came weekend, and we went nursery-hopping at Sungai Buloh :)

We came to love nursery-hopping after moving into our current home. But still we do not do this every weekend. Right day, right time; this is one activity that we really enjoy. We spent close to five hours driving around and popping in and out of the nurseries. It was only when the skylight started to filter out did we realised it was almost 7pm.

Our trophies:

Enough succulents to cover the tail of the garden. We wanted to model portion of the garden to what we saw at Gardens by the Bay - lots of succulents.

Enough white and yellow marigolds to cover the other portion of the front part of the garden. Marigolds need plenty of direct sun, and they bloom without the need for fertiliser. This is a plant that is supposedly to be very easy to maintain. Just water nearer to the soil instead of over the bloom. It thrives even in bad soil condition as long as there is water and the soil is well drain.

Some green oval shaped, low growing plants that hubby might like if they continue to stay low. No idea what is the name of it, but they complement the marigolds well. Something that we saw at Gardens by the Bay too.

Water hyacinth; our bonus! This has become our cultivating pot, and hopefully we can have not just more hyacinth but some guppy babies too :) As I googled more on hyacinth, pretty surprised to find water hyacinth is considered as a pest plant. Mainly because it is very invasive, and could cover the entire water body in a short period of time. This causes sun deficiency; aquatic plants below water surface could die and the fishes are not able to get their supply of oxygen too. Hence, never throw these plants into a water body.

Got some pretty glass bubbles recently, and we wanted to get some air plants for it. We did not find the air plant that we wanted at Sungai Buloh, but we found it at another nursery. A pretty blooming air plant :) After the bloom, we would most probably break up the cluster into individual plant to put it into the glass bubbles.

I am not able to get a nice wide shoot of the entire garden, so have decided to do without it instead.

The marigolds are right at the front, the water hyacinth is in the center and the succulents at the tail of the garden. The air plant is hanging some where at the further end of the succulents, near the wall.

We still have our basil and pomegranate around, and we intend to check out the Vietnam apple tree soon!

Honey, are you for real?

2014-08-14T18:30:00.000+08:00

I used to be very sceptical when it comes to honey.

When sugar is melted over a pot, it turns into a golden syrup too. Which looks too similar to honey.

Recently my mother in law gave us some honey that she bought from a friend's friend. Haha, sounds all too familiar right?

Anyway, she bought five bottles and told us to take all if we want to. Yes, I have a fabulous mother in law, just as generous as my mom :)

The honey smells and tastes "flowery", but there is this slight soury smell that comes with it.

I googled and found the following properties of authentic honey:

Ants do not visit real honey, i.e. honey that does not have sugar added to it. Bees are clever, they added some of their own stuff to the honey to keep the ants away.

Bubbles. Real honey should have bubbles and sediments in it.

Real honey settles down at the bottle of a glass of water. It does not just melt in the water without stirring.

A drop of honey on a tissue stays on the tissue. It does not get absorb by the tissue since honey does not have water.

Real honey has a slight sour smell :)

My mother in law did the ants test, and I did the bubbles and "does not melt" tests. I am definitely ordering in bulk whenever we are going back to Batu!

Water-Garden

2014-08-09T13:51:00.000+08:00

We tried to create a container-water-garden earlier this year with money plants and two swordtail fishes. Unfortunately, we failed miserably. We started to look around for proper aquatic plant, and we narrowed down to water hyacinth. It was ridiculously priced at a shop that we saw, something in the range of RM30 to RM50. It's afterall a water plant that is considered as a pest plant at the down under, the hobbit land and the states.

We sort of just lay low and kept the idea at the back of our mind, and continue our weekend nursery visits. We had been hoping to find it or something suitable to replace it.

And, lucky us! We found a big pot for a nice price (RM18) along the stretch of Sungai Buloh. We were over the moon when we saw it!

The hyacinth bloomed about five days later, and the bloom lasted only for a day. Pretty things don't last...but still it was beautiful while it lasted.

We wanted to get swordtail fish for the pot in the house. The bright orange goes extremely well with the green, but swordtail was out of stock in all those aquariums that we went to. When our friends finally bought a pair for us, they did not last for more than two days... One jumped out of the pot and died, the other just died.

We managed to find some pretty guppies. They seemed to adapt rather quickly and we decided to stick to guppies for future pots. They somehow seem pretty happy with the aquatic-plant environment.

We ended with two pots, one in the house and the other in the car porch. We decided to use the one in the car porch to cultivate more hyacinth, hence we left the yellow soil in the pot. According to the nursery, yellow soil aids water hyacinth's growth. We gotten a bigger pot and another three pairs of guppies for that.

The pot in the house is without soil for aesthetics reason. We have two pairs of guppies in it, and it would help to eliminate the possibility of the breeding of mozzies.

Hubby has a theory; he said the guppies' would develop nicer scale colour if the guppies have the chance to be in the sun. Well... the guppies in the pond do look nicer. So, I have been bringing it out to the back yard for sun almost daily.

Check out the air bubbles between the roots! Water hyacinth has pretty purplish roots, and with the air bubbles, they look rather exquisite :)

One of the female guppies seems to be pregnant. Her tummy is bulging. We are getting ready another pot for the adult fishes so that they won't have the chance eat up all the babies when they are here.

It's pretty therapeutic to watch them swim around. Kind of good to know that they would not die of hunger if we are back in Batu or away for holidays :)

Update @ 28 Sep 2016:
This is an update to share where we got our water hyacinth. For easy reference, I will call the nursery where I got my water hyacinth as the water-hyacinth nursery. I didn't note the shop name of the watery-hyacinth nursery, but I got a picture of the nursery that's next to it:

This is NOT the water-hyacinth nursery, this is the nursery on the immediate left of it.

The water-hyacinth nursery is on the immediate right side of this nursery in the picture. The address that waze gave us is "Jalan BRP 7/1, Sungai Buloh, Selangor".

We last visited the water-hyacinth nursery about 6 to 8 months ago. It was still there and we still saw water hyacinth around. There were occasions when we went and they did not have stock.

Honey Lemon

2014-07-31T16:55:00.000+08:00

I am proud to say I can choose a good lemon 90% of the time. My definition of a lemon is one that is citrusy but with a tinge of sweetness.

The trick is to look for a rounder lemon, rather than the usual one with pointed ends. Next, look for one that does not feel too hard. There are lemons which are really hard and simply refuse to budge even when you really press it. You want to get one which would yield to your pressing, but yet still firm.

I am a fan of hot lemon water. And a good lemon is essential to a cup of hot lemon water.

I am sure there are plenty of benefits to a mug of hot lemon water, but I just like it for the taste and smell of it. Ya, sometimes, I am that superficial ;>

I had a pretty bad case of congested chest recently, and it is still lingering. I do not like this feeling for the most obvious reason - it feels too familiar to pnuemothorax. The same chesty cough and the same suppressed breathing. It made me worry enough to have an x ray taken...

With google, I think a lot of people has started to self medicate, and so have I :) Glad to find out lemon and honey can help to expectorate phlegm! I am not a sugar person, but honey I can live with. Apparently, the mixture is good for sore throat and cough too.

Talk about good luck, my mother-in-law somehow bought us some honey when we went back to Batu for our long overdue home trip! Wonder of the law of attraction :)

Stuff you would need for two, three weeks of supply:

A jar that has a rubber seal or use a good mason jar. I usually get mine from Ikea - the type that has a rubber seal to prevent leakage
Two lemons
Honey

Clean your lemon well - brush it, scrub it. Make sure the skin is clean because we are keeping the skin. Thereafter, slice it up. I like to slice it as thin as I can, so that the marinating can be more thorough. Cut it however you like it - one full slice or half it. I do a bit of both, just to make sure I can stuff the halves into corners to make full use of the honey.

As I start to stack the lemon it, I would drizzle some honey along the way. Then I would lay more lemon slices and drizzle more. I like it this way, than top load when all the lemon slices are stacked in.

Once all slices are in, I would drizzle more honey over the lemon slices. By the time I am done, I can see the lemon juices and honey hovering at about 1/3 of the jar. Somehow lemon juice would start to fill up close to half of the jar when I am done, even though no squeezing is involved.

I let it sit for about 2, 3 days in the fridge, turning it upside down whenever I open the fridge to just mix it up properly. Hence the need for a lid with a good rubber seal.

After about a month or two, the entire mixture turns a bit gooey. I scoop it out and mix it with warm water. You can take it with cold water or tea too. Take care not to mix it with water that is too hot. It would end up destroying the properties of the honey.

Lemon has a beautiful chinese name - 宜母果. It simply means "beneficial fruit for the mother". This is mainly because of the vitamins and nutrients in a lemon, plus the sourness that a mom-to-be would really appreciate!

I am in a Good Mood

2014-07-22T07:20:00.000+08:00

I am in such good mood these few days :)

It is only because hubby would be in town in another couple more days!

I have not see him for a while, probably nobody would believe we are still happily married, haha! Even my mother in law was wondering where the heck did we go. We are real bad; we haven't been home since Chinese New Year.

I miss our Malaysia home too - kind of wondering did the basil go out on a full revenge because no one groom her, if the weeds have overtaken our aloe vera and if my baby pomegranate seedlings are still growing.

Sorry friends, hubby is only in town for two nights, and I intend to keep him to myself during this period :>

Onwards

2014-07-14T07:20:00.000+08:00

I love Starbucks even though I am not a coffee fan. So when I saw the new book, Onward, I just picked it up and paid for it.

I know there are people who would go for a kopitiam's coffee anytime, and proclaim Starbucks's coffee is overpriced etc. I do not even drink coffee, what do I know, right?

I like the coffee smell that engulfs me when I step into a Starbucks cafe. I like the design of the cafe and I like the environment.

Yup, I know, very superficial stuff. So what? I think I am am allow to indulge in small luxury like this... hmmm.. right?

There are reasons why I like Starbucks as a company first.

Many years ago, when I was looking for a job, I went to Starbucks for an operational post. Similar experience per the prior job, but different product. I was asked to work for a day in one of their stores. I was glad to find everything is pretty much similar in terms of operations. But guess what I like best? I came to know that if I think I am ready for a promotion, besides the recommendation from the superior, I could actually recommend myself and ask to be tested!

People who have worked for a while know much as we want a perfect environment where we hope the immediate superior is most willing to teach and fair person, it is not easy to find one. I have only met one such person in my 20 years. While the system did had its flaw but it was very appealing to me. To me, it represented a fairness that rely on skill and capability, where the influence of human factor could be reduced dramatically.

A lot of people would know health care in US is expensive. Starbucks provide healthcare benefits as long as you work 20 hours a week. Their coffee comes from ethical source. In 2008, they held their biennial meeting in New Orleans, which had yet recovered from Hurricane Katrina. They had helped many people paid their mortgages and bills that month with the amount of money that they spent there.

These are what I like about the company. When it has the ability, choices made to benefit themselves include those who need it. Besides building a powerful brand, there is also a big heart.

I like the values behind this company.

People can question whether this is truly the values of the company or it is a front that is being put out for business and PR sake.

I have kind of gave up this train of thoughts many years ago. I can either be a cynic and have all type of thoughts about the company or I can read a bit more and decide for myself if I am going to go with what is presented to me.

Life is kind of busy with so much of things happening all at the same time. Frankly, I do not mind being a bit naive at times and take it at face value. After all I am not like giving them my life savings.

I can only say I am happy to buy from Starbucks because even if it is for business front; I am glad to know that I am helping the farmers in the struggling developing countries one way or the other.

Onward is heartful read. It is not just about Starbucks. I like the messages that were presented in the book - values, innovation, humanity, responsibilities and social contribution.

Howard Schultz's proceeds from the sale of the book would be donated to the Starbucks Foundation. So, good to know I am contributing again :)

Singapore National Library Board has the book for a loan.

Or check it out at Book Depository or Amazon if you would like to add it to your collection. Remember to take shipping cost into consideration!

Jackie

2014-07-03T07:20:00.000+08:00

Jackie would have been 15 this year. She passed away in Jul 2011. I am not someone who put photo around, but I have four, five of Jackie's photo in my room. Once in a while, I would take it out and rub her forehead, and it seems like I am still about to smell her special puppy smell.

I got Jackie when I was in my early twenties. I had just ended my first relationship, and needless to say it was the end of the world for me. I worked but it was difficult to eat; I was around, but I was drifting too. I was just waiting for the time to pass so that the wound to heal. Perhaps my colleague knew the one thing to heal my broken heart was a puppy, and she brought me to a pet shop one night after work.

She was right. I fell in love with Jackie the minute I saw her.

There were litters of jack russell around, mostly white with spots of brown. Jackie was alone in a cage by herself. I asked for the reason and was told she was too tiny and could not fight her way to the food. Hence need to be separated so that she could be fed properly.

The shop assistant passed me two puppies, one was Jackie and another was a white coat with brown spots puppy. The later was about a size bigger than Jackie. The minute I set both of them on the floor, the "whitie" went off on her own happily while Jackie hung pretty close to me.

I brought Jackie home that night.

Mom and dad weren't too hot about having a dog in a flat. But they did not raise too much of a protest given it was my down time :>

So there was a reason for the unfortunate breakup; we got Jackie!

I never had a pre conception as to what type of dog I would like to have, but I am a big-dog person. I like to be able to ride my dog, and able play rough when I want to without hurting my dog. We had big dogs since we were young, those days when we still lived in the kampong. So it was true love with Jackie, though she was tiny. She fitted nicely into my palms when I first got her. When she was still small, we used to put her into a big plastic bag and hung her up by the door knob when we were mopping the floor. She would sticked her head out once in a while, other than that, she would be curled up, napping till we are done.

Jackie brought us a lot of joy over the 13 years that she was with us. She was usually the first one to greet me when I was back from my night shift. She was also the first to wake in the morning. Dad trained her pretty well, she knew how to find her way to the toilet for her big and small businesses. She did the same when she visited our auntie with her. It was amazing how she did that, given that we never really showed her where the toilet was. When she was about a year old, she would carry the toys that she brought out to play back to where it was.

See how tiny she was, the ball of wool was used as a comparison.

When the grandchildren came, her jumpiness mellowed. Perhaps she knew that she was upgraded in status, and she needed to help to watch over the kids. Jackie seemed to get along best with the youngest. Whenever the little guy sat next to her, she would lick him slightly on the hand and allow him to stroke her head.

The last two months of Jackie's life was really painful for everyone. Her stomach started to bloat one day after she lost control of her bowel. For the next couple of days, she could not really eat nor could she shit.

We brought her to the vet at Mount Pleasant. I knew there was some issues with the vet at Mount Pleasant many years ago, but I speak for ourselves. I love the vet and the nurses there. I could feel they love animal genuinely. I had been to quite a couple of vets before we finally settled at Mount Pleasant. I could never felt any love for Jackie from the previous vets. I was comfortable with Mount Pleasant, and had always brought Jackie to Mount Pleasant ever since we found them.

The vet did an x-ray and could not really tell what was wrong. She said the best way would be to open her up so that they could fix her on the spot if they could do so upon opening her up. They said they could run other tests as well, but instead of poking Jackie all round, and also to reduce the cost, it would be better to open her up.

The operation went well. But her diagnosis was bad. Jackie had cancer, and the vet told us it was amazing how she could handle the pain. The vet provided the option of putting her to sleep during the operation. Yes, they were that good - they called before the operation and they called during the operation. But I was selfish, I could not let her go without the good bye. The vet stitched her up, and I went down after work to see her.

Jackie was groggy but she was awake when I reached. She tried to stand when she saw me, and wagged her tail hard... I stayed with her for about 45 minutes and stroked her to sleep before I went off. The doctor could only put her on steroid and pain killer to ease her swollen body, but she warned Jackie would not last long.

The next two months was a lot of care. I placed Jackie in my room, and I would help to rest her, and re tucked her middle of the night so that she would be more comfortable. My sister did plenty too, and so did our parents. Everyone just wanted to let Jackie be as comfortable as possible.

Finally one day, I accidentally saw Jackie trembling in pain. I knew she needed to go, and we had to bring her back to Mount Pleasant. I would never want to let go of her, but she was suffering. The vet asked, "If it is you at your 90s, and you are suffering, do you want to stay or go? "

That was a crying day for the family. Even my dad shed some tears. After all, Jackie was family.

I love dog and I think most of our family members do too. There is connection between the dog and us. I swore to not have a dog as a pet after Jackie; the parting was just too painful. But who would swore off family? So I do see dogs in my life again.

Jackie, we love you.

By the way... Zurich

2014-06-30T07:20:00.000+08:00

Zurich was really by the way; I had a six hour transit at Zurich airport on my way back to Singapore from Nice airport.

I did not plan for Zurich, and I know nothing much about Zurich except for the financial institutions that originated from there, Zurich Life, Pictet Funds etc from my previous work. And of course, not forgetting the chocolate, Lindt :>

My travelling colleague, flew to Zurich often in her previous job, told me to get out of the airport and go to Zurich central and Zurich Lake for a walk. She said there was plenty of time, and I should make full use of the transit instead of waiting around in the airport.

She was right, there was really plenty of time, and Zurich central was really near, slightly over 10 minutes by train.

I changed my remaining 100 euros into Swiss Francs, there was no research except for the drop off train station and street name which the colleague helped google.

Feeling excited about an unplanned trip.

I reached Zurich airport at about 4pm+. I somehow had the impression that Swiss speak French, and I was only half right. They speak German too, and seems to be more German than French. Most of them speak English too, some better than the other.

Once I reached the arrival hall, I found the tourist desk with plenty of guides with good map, recommendations and an efficient officer who spoke good English.

From the arrival hall, I needed to walk to the other side of the airport, which is actually the departure hall, to get to the train station, which is still within the airport.

Zurich airport is very relatively easy to navigate, there are plenty of signage. The plan was simple - get a train ticket to Zürich HB Main Railway Station where Zurich city centre is, get out of the station, walk around the lake and the streets, get back to the station for the train to the airport.

The ride was supposed to be 10 to 15 min one way.

My first challenge - I found the train ticket vending machine but I had no idea how to get the ticket. I tried for a good 10 min, and, lucky me, a kind airport staff, Dave, asked if I needed help. He was the superman of the day - he not only got me a return ticket (that cost about 15CHF), the ticket also allowed free rides on all trams, a lot of museums and even a free boat ride in the Zurich Lake. He took time to mark out the route around Zurich Lake and the best route to walk, and even gave me his number to call in the event if I was lost.

Dave had been to Singapore many years ago and liked Singapore very much. He felt Switzerland and Singapore has a lot in common. He particularly loved the fact that chewing gum is banned in Singapore, he hated the unsightly gum stain that were everywhere in Zurich.

His last piece of advice was Zurich has fountains that provides fresh potable water, straight from the lake, and I need to make sure I try that.

Thereafter, Dave pointed out the correct train track, and I was in Zurich city centre swiftly. I found another tourist office in the train station, I made a few more queries and things were easy from there.

By the time I reached the station, it was about 530pm, and I would leave for the airport latest by 7pm. I did not want any mishap and miss my flight.

I walked out from the station and crossed over to the other side. The weather was beautiful and it was cooling. A tad too sunny though, but I was not complaining.

After I crossed the road, I came into a stretch of shops and eatery. If I was not wrong, this should be the old town area. Plenty of unique brands, no flashy brands. I liked the colour of the buildings. The pavements were clean, and there was no discomfort or fear walking on my own.

I came across the first fountain with potable water. I was kind of hesitant to take a drink from there. I was not sure if I should scope the water in the fountain or from the sprout.

The water in the well had some litter, so I just waited around for someone to take water from the fountain but no luck. Come to think about it, I was pretty silly - if the water was not clean in the fountain pool, then isn't it obvious, I should take the water from the sprout?

Duh...

After a while, I decided to walk along the road 'cos the trees that lined the road were huge and beautiful. On the other side of the trees is Zurich Lake.

As I walked, I crossed over to the other side of the road, Banhofstrasse. It was not easy to get lost because a lot of the places were in plain sight - you see everything. At the worst, I know I could use the river to guide me back to the train station.

Banhofstrasse has a lot of branded stuff, and most were closed at that time. I particularly like a cafe right in the square. I did not stop for a drink there; I was walking throughout. Non stop.

Right where this cafe was, you can see a beautiful stretch of the river and some mountain view with snow-capped mountains! My picture right at this spot is too pixelated to share, I would share those that I took from Lindenhof, a slightly elevated point in the city, later in this post.

I was in for a treat when I walked up this tiring slope. I wanted to see what was at the top of slope. And it was Lindenhof. Its elevated position allows a very good view of the city centre, the lake and the snow capped mountain.

While I think the view from the square was nicer, I was totally happy to get this shoot.

The view was far more magnificent than the photos. There was a constant gentle breeze, and it was so relaxing to sit there and enjoy the wind and view.

There is a potable water fountain in Lindenhof too. Here I got a lot of demonstration of how I should take the water. Actually it was simple, just fill up your bottle straight from the sprout. I was thinking too hard.

Once I saw this bird drinking for a full minute at the sprout, I just had to try the water.

The water was icy cold, and it was so sweet! I was there for about a full minute too, drinking from my cupping hand, haha!

I wanted to take the boat ride out to the lake, but I could not locate the ferry station. Dave said the ride would take about 90 minutes, and it was already 630pm at that time. Hence I decided to skip the boat ride with much regret and started to make my way back to the airport. Home was definitely the priority.

Zurich airport is pretty compact; I found a supermarket! I bought a pair of socks for flight use, and a bag of cherries, and I checked in. I walked around the duty free area for about an hour before I threw in my towel. I was simply too tired to walk anymore. I took a seat next to the glass panels that overlooked the areobridge and sat there. Watching the planes landing and taking off for about an hour.

When it was finally time, I washed my face, brushed my teeth and got my neck pillow out. My legs and feet were really tired, and I was really looking forward to a good sleep on plane :>

PS: If you intend to visit Zurich centre during a long transit, having 50CHF would be more than enough because water is free and easy to get. The water from the potable water is definitely something everyone MUST try. I spent about 20CHF only - for my socks, a bottle of water at the airport and the bag of cherries.

PPS: All photos were taken with iPhone4.

Running and my Life

2014-06-19T00:26:00.003+08:00

I love running. It is the only sport that compete my time for yoga.

I try to run daily as long as the weather allows it. If the stress piles on, the more I run. Even if I reach home at 9pm.

I like the time to myself during the run. Just the music and myself. As my feet pound on the pavement, the sweat oozes. It works perfect for me. The stress doesn't lift like a fog after the run; it is not that magical. However, I do sleep better and I do think better after the run. This help in managing the stress level.

Shoes are important, very important. I was silly once; I ran with the same pair of running shoes for slightly over two years. My knees and my heels suffered for that mistake. Never think that your shoes look alright and it is alright. I did some calculation - once I hit between 750km to 850km, I change my shoes.

Nowadays, I change my shoes about once every year. And I made it an easy date to remember to change my shoes - on my birthday. I also made a change to my running habit. I bought two pairs of running shoes starting last year, and use them on alternative day. This would allow the "sole's sponge" to re inflate in between the runs, and hence the shoes can last longer.

As long as I can and able to, I would continue to run. I appreciate the calm and sweat that come with it. But whatever it is, remember to run for yourself and enjoy it :)