ME
2011 passed very quickly for me. I can still remember when I was in London with my mummy and brother on NYE 2010, too tired to wait up till midnight to welcome in the New Year because we had to get up that morning at 4am to catch our flight from Dublin to London. Time really, really flies. But I've realised that not only can I not slow it down, I also can't catch it, to make it stay just for that moment longer, because trying to catch time is like trying to hold water in your hands- the tighter you try to grip it, the faster it trickles away. So now I'm trying to learn how to really savour the moment, to fully appreciate the present.
The next 1/4 of my life holds major life-changing moments for me, and right now, I don't feel quite so prepared to handle them when they happen. But only when you are outside your comfort zone are you then forced to grow. I only pray when the time comes, God will be beside me, guiding me.
I never had the habit of making New Year's resolutions- I tried one year and failed miserably. And I only had a couple of resolutions. But I shall make one this year, just one- TO ALWAYS BE HAPPY. Really, life's too short to be otherwise.
We opened our presents when the clock struck 12 midnight, and I got the most presents hahaha:) My sister said it was because I was away so everyone thought of me the most and hence I got the most presents. We left for Melaka in the morning, where we decided to bunk over at Di Gu's house. After dropping our stuffs off at his place, we drove to Durian Tunggal to attend my cousin-in-law's family's Christmas BBQ. There was alot of food, and these incredibly yummy matcha red bean log cake and blueberry cheesecake from the famous Yeast Bakery! It's lucky I wore jeans, or else I would have able to stuff more food into my system lol. And when we got back home, Ah Jin gorgor brought us to the Portugese settlement to see the Christmas decorations that the Portugese people put up in their village. They really put in alot of effort decorating their house for Christmas! The whole street was twinkly-bright from the Christmas lights that the Portugese used to decorate their houses with.
So that was how I spent my Christmas Day. I spent Boxing Day with Di Gu and his family, travelling to Port Dickson to check out some Eagle Ranch resort that my mother is interested in collaboration with, and to play at the beach. End up we didn't go to the beach cause it was so friggin' hot, so we loitered around the shops and sat under coconut trees. After that, we changed 'hotels', going over to my Tua Kor's house to stay. Tua Kor made us dinner, and I think I ate like 6 XXXL sambal prawns o.O
The next day, we had chicken rice balls for breakfast. Thanks to Aunty Lily who queued up before 9am to get it for us. The shop is apparently so famous that people queue up for the chicken rice balls way before it opens at 9am! I have no idea what the shop's name is, or where it is located too haha. Then Tua Kor brought us out for lunch at Pizza Hut where we ate some 7-cheese pizza that was soooo good! The KL SPs came over in the afternoon so we took a car ride down to the beach (making a stopover for fruits #healthylifestyle). We went back in time for dinner (which Tua Kor and Aunty Lily cooked).
Jubie jiejie had a day off on Wednesday, so she brought my sister and me out for shopping at Pahlawan. She treated us to bubble tea at Chatime (I ended up drinking 2 cups that day!!!) and lunch at Secret Recipe. AND she bought us accessories plus a football jersey for my brother! She's such a giving and loving person, so glad I have her as my cousin-in-law<3 haha. Because we had a late lunch, we ate satay for 'dinner', and then we went for SUPPER at 11pm at Capitol Satay Celup. It's really awesome, and there was a long queue outside even though it was 11pm on a weekday night. Luckily Tua Kor knew the owner, Uncle Raymond, so he gave us a table almost instantly. And he gave us this huge tray filled with mega-assed sotong, prawns, scallops, clams, abalone, and other types of seafood, all of which he charged us only 80 cents per stick. Zomggg how to earn $$ like that!!! We had a wonderful time eating and eating until about 2am.
So if you noticed, I've been spending alot of my holiday EATING and EATING. My stomach is seriously embarrassing me now. And I'm worrying about the dangers of carrying a spare tyre now- heart attack, Type II diabetes etc. But I tell myself it's only for 3 weeks, after that I'm going back to Potatoland. So this semester, Kingfisher is going to see more of my face!!!
For the past month or so, I kept getting this feeling that something wasn't right at home. Despite my mother's constant reassurance that everything was fine back home, I knew things weren't, but I didn't probe. My exams were coming, and I didn't want to be distracted, though in the end, I got more distracted thinking about what had happened or could be happening. And when I touched down 3 days ago, I discovered what it was exactly.
I saw my father. He was wearing a cap, but I could tell that he was bald, and his left eye was swollen, with the eyelid almost shut. I just went numb with shock, and in my mind I kept thinking, "Ohmygod what happened what happened". He got emotional when he saw me, and broke down in tears and hugged me. In my entire life I've only seen my father cry once, and that was at my grandmother's (his mother) funeral. And he told me everything, about how on 30th November he had to undergo a cranial-facial surgery to remove a malignant tumour in his left ethmoid sinus. He had underwent chemotherapy before that to remove the cancerous growth but it was unsuccessful so his doctor had recommended surgery. Ordinarily they could have just accessed the tumour through his nose but because the tumour had spread, they had to access it through his skull. My father removed his cap and showed me the sutures on the top of his head, ugly brown stitches that made my heart break at the sight of them. Everything was going well, and then, the week before I was due to be home, he got a severe eye infection that had to be operated on again. This time around, the hospital stay was such a traumatic experience for him, because he had to be put on a drip constantly and made to take IV antibiotics every 6 hours. They inserted needles into the back of his hand till it swelled and the veins retracted, which made it difficult and painful to insert more needles in. The antibiotics hurt when they entered the body, because they entered by a bolus dose each time.
And as I listened to my father's story, I cried. For him, for the immense pain and suffering that he had to go through, for my mother who tirelessly took care of him despite her rheumatoid arthritis problems, for my brother and sister who had remained so strong during this difficult time for the family. And throughout this whole episode, I had been in Ireland, oblivious to it all.
I understood the reasons why my mother wouldn't tell me all this. It was my exams period, and she knew I would worry and she didn't want me to be distracted. I couldn't do anything from so far away anyway. But I still feel horrible, that I haven't done anything for my family throughout the whole thing. My mother stayed with my father every night for the 2 weeks that he was warded in hospital. My brother became more mature, more responsible and understanding. More guai and tia uwei. My little sister had to stay at home alone every night- she, who is afraid to go out and throw the rubbish at night. She also took it upon herself and went around town everyday buying Christmas presents on behalf of my parents for the rest of the family.
So this holiday, I'm going to devote my time to my family, to taking care of them. I'm going to spend time with them, especially since I'm only home for 3 months every year only. I thank God that my father is recovering well now, and I pray that he'll be back to fighting fit health soon.
<♥>
Hello, my name is Mylene.
Screams
Friday, December 30, 2011
2011 is the year that I consider myself to have grown up the most. So many, many things happened to me this year that really changed my life and mindset, but I'm glad to say that they have made me so much more mature and ready for adulthood, especially now that I'm almost turning 21. In about 2 weeks time, to be exact. I can't believe I'm almost 21- I've actually lived 2 decades on this earth already. And if I live till 80 (which I hope so!), I have already lived a quarter of my life! That leaves me with only 3/4 more to go!!!:/ I'm suffering from a quarter-life crisis here. 2011 passed very quickly for me. I can still remember when I was in London with my mummy and brother on NYE 2010, too tired to wait up till midnight to welcome in the New Year because we had to get up that morning at 4am to catch our flight from Dublin to London. Time really, really flies. But I've realised that not only can I not slow it down, I also can't catch it, to make it stay just for that moment longer, because trying to catch time is like trying to hold water in your hands- the tighter you try to grip it, the faster it trickles away. So now I'm trying to learn how to really savour the moment, to fully appreciate the present.
The next 1/4 of my life holds major life-changing moments for me, and right now, I don't feel quite so prepared to handle them when they happen. But only when you are outside your comfort zone are you then forced to grow. I only pray when the time comes, God will be beside me, guiding me.
I never had the habit of making New Year's resolutions- I tried one year and failed miserably. And I only had a couple of resolutions. But I shall make one this year, just one- TO ALWAYS BE HAPPY. Really, life's too short to be otherwise.
Labels: new year's eve
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
I spent a week in Melaka with my family, over the Christmas season. It was so that I could visit my relatives there, and also for the family to have a change of environment, especially for my father who had been stuck at home most of the time.We opened our presents when the clock struck 12 midnight, and I got the most presents hahaha:) My sister said it was because I was away so everyone thought of me the most and hence I got the most presents. We left for Melaka in the morning, where we decided to bunk over at Di Gu's house. After dropping our stuffs off at his place, we drove to Durian Tunggal to attend my cousin-in-law's family's Christmas BBQ. There was alot of food, and these incredibly yummy matcha red bean log cake and blueberry cheesecake from the famous Yeast Bakery! It's lucky I wore jeans, or else I would have able to stuff more food into my system lol. And when we got back home, Ah Jin gorgor brought us to the Portugese settlement to see the Christmas decorations that the Portugese people put up in their village. They really put in alot of effort decorating their house for Christmas! The whole street was twinkly-bright from the Christmas lights that the Portugese used to decorate their houses with.
So that was how I spent my Christmas Day. I spent Boxing Day with Di Gu and his family, travelling to Port Dickson to check out some Eagle Ranch resort that my mother is interested in collaboration with, and to play at the beach. End up we didn't go to the beach cause it was so friggin' hot, so we loitered around the shops and sat under coconut trees. After that, we changed 'hotels', going over to my Tua Kor's house to stay. Tua Kor made us dinner, and I think I ate like 6 XXXL sambal prawns o.O
The next day, we had chicken rice balls for breakfast. Thanks to Aunty Lily who queued up before 9am to get it for us. The shop is apparently so famous that people queue up for the chicken rice balls way before it opens at 9am! I have no idea what the shop's name is, or where it is located too haha. Then Tua Kor brought us out for lunch at Pizza Hut where we ate some 7-cheese pizza that was soooo good! The KL SPs came over in the afternoon so we took a car ride down to the beach (making a stopover for fruits #healthylifestyle). We went back in time for dinner (which Tua Kor and Aunty Lily cooked).
Jubie jiejie had a day off on Wednesday, so she brought my sister and me out for shopping at Pahlawan. She treated us to bubble tea at Chatime (I ended up drinking 2 cups that day!!!) and lunch at Secret Recipe. AND she bought us accessories plus a football jersey for my brother! She's such a giving and loving person, so glad I have her as my cousin-in-law<3 haha. Because we had a late lunch, we ate satay for 'dinner', and then we went for SUPPER at 11pm at Capitol Satay Celup. It's really awesome, and there was a long queue outside even though it was 11pm on a weekday night. Luckily Tua Kor knew the owner, Uncle Raymond, so he gave us a table almost instantly. And he gave us this huge tray filled with mega-assed sotong, prawns, scallops, clams, abalone, and other types of seafood, all of which he charged us only 80 cents per stick. Zomggg how to earn $$ like that!!! We had a wonderful time eating and eating until about 2am.
So if you noticed, I've been spending alot of my holiday EATING and EATING. My stomach is seriously embarrassing me now. And I'm worrying about the dangers of carrying a spare tyre now- heart attack, Type II diabetes etc. But I tell myself it's only for 3 weeks, after that I'm going back to Potatoland. So this semester, Kingfisher is going to see more of my face!!!
Labels: captiol satay celup, christmas, malacca, melaka
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
This Christmas break is a holiday like no other, and not in a good way.For the past month or so, I kept getting this feeling that something wasn't right at home. Despite my mother's constant reassurance that everything was fine back home, I knew things weren't, but I didn't probe. My exams were coming, and I didn't want to be distracted, though in the end, I got more distracted thinking about what had happened or could be happening. And when I touched down 3 days ago, I discovered what it was exactly.
I saw my father. He was wearing a cap, but I could tell that he was bald, and his left eye was swollen, with the eyelid almost shut. I just went numb with shock, and in my mind I kept thinking, "Ohmygod what happened what happened". He got emotional when he saw me, and broke down in tears and hugged me. In my entire life I've only seen my father cry once, and that was at my grandmother's (his mother) funeral. And he told me everything, about how on 30th November he had to undergo a cranial-facial surgery to remove a malignant tumour in his left ethmoid sinus. He had underwent chemotherapy before that to remove the cancerous growth but it was unsuccessful so his doctor had recommended surgery. Ordinarily they could have just accessed the tumour through his nose but because the tumour had spread, they had to access it through his skull. My father removed his cap and showed me the sutures on the top of his head, ugly brown stitches that made my heart break at the sight of them. Everything was going well, and then, the week before I was due to be home, he got a severe eye infection that had to be operated on again. This time around, the hospital stay was such a traumatic experience for him, because he had to be put on a drip constantly and made to take IV antibiotics every 6 hours. They inserted needles into the back of his hand till it swelled and the veins retracted, which made it difficult and painful to insert more needles in. The antibiotics hurt when they entered the body, because they entered by a bolus dose each time.
And as I listened to my father's story, I cried. For him, for the immense pain and suffering that he had to go through, for my mother who tirelessly took care of him despite her rheumatoid arthritis problems, for my brother and sister who had remained so strong during this difficult time for the family. And throughout this whole episode, I had been in Ireland, oblivious to it all.
I understood the reasons why my mother wouldn't tell me all this. It was my exams period, and she knew I would worry and she didn't want me to be distracted. I couldn't do anything from so far away anyway. But I still feel horrible, that I haven't done anything for my family throughout the whole thing. My mother stayed with my father every night for the 2 weeks that he was warded in hospital. My brother became more mature, more responsible and understanding. More guai and tia uwei. My little sister had to stay at home alone every night- she, who is afraid to go out and throw the rubbish at night. She also took it upon herself and went around town everyday buying Christmas presents on behalf of my parents for the rest of the family.
So this holiday, I'm going to devote my time to my family, to taking care of them. I'm going to spend time with them, especially since I'm only home for 3 months every year only. I thank God that my father is recovering well now, and I pray that he'll be back to fighting fit health soon.