Moments...

.....of trips, t-shirts and tents....

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Scooted to two places for a breather from home within a week, one after another. Lesson learnt from experience: where possible, avoid attempting to leave for another trip in the morning after returning from one the afternoon before, ESPECIALLY when there are loose ends, urgent matters and instructions to be attended to. However....things have a way of working out (or off...) and it proved to be as a good a break as any.

In the charmingly chaotic city of Bangkok, where food is heavenly (especially with the "gunpowder" guaranteed to work wonders for your throat!) and shopping is for those "till-you-drop" species, there are ceaseless wonders to awaken your senses - besides the spices and prices, of course - the food peddled by roadside hawkers and the consumers of these food; the size of their shopping malls in which one day is insufficient to cover; the types of fashion available; notices of t-shirts: waiting for my boss; l love my boyfriend/girlfriend; sick my duck (to be reflected on by some sick people or is it supposed to be creative!?!).....

But the most incredible part of my trip was that in the food haven where I relish all the noodles, I had actually ended up the last evening with a Starbucks mushroom chicken pie! Boo hoo hoo.....

The cause of it: unfruitful shopping - note UNFRUITFUL!!

If it had been the consequence of happy successful shopping, it would have remedied stomach matters, but.......... Alas, it is too miserable to describe, the time wastage that particular evening for the sacrificial dinner is totally woeful, to say the least.

It was fortunate that I was able to do a fair job in the earlier part of the day, and that, I presume, should suffice for this short swift sweet trip till I get another opportunity.

The clouds and drizzle at Penang (the second destination) were greeted with much glee by my kids and I, though there are some who vehemently object! We were able to hang around the pool (at least I hung around whilst the kids were in it) for a major part of the day. It was joyously cool and fantastically "un-sunny"..... bless God! It did nothing to dampen spirits or our meals in or out of the hotel.

The highlight to note was our stroll along Batu Ferringhi's night market - not the merchandise, mind you but the sights along the way: a woman with a head of meat floss hair (a snack in which we happened to be happily indulging that very afternoon!); walking tents with slits showing roving eyes (these can definitely be scary). Not to mention that we had to be careful of tents on the right and left and their stands, we had to be ever mindful of these ones that move or better yet stand in middle of the narrow passage having a discussion (so there we were, tents on left, right and centre!)

The second day with a bit more sun had me scooting off to the shopping complex....aha, to compensate for the inadequacy of the last night in Bangkok!!! (well, you do remember one of my interests listed...) And it was successful!

To cap it all, we even managed to end up at End Of The World for the evening; but of course, unlike Captain Jack Sparrow, we also managed to get home...CHEERS!

Now....life resumes to its normalcy and stability - but it sure helped to get something out of the ordinary for a while to appreciate the realities of life and to enjoy the safe sound comfort of HOME.........

***peace from ahfun***

...the proud and happy parent...

Sunday, December 2, 2007

I have greatly been urged to write something, the reason being that I am all-inspiring (hahaha...though I would like some all-inspiring wizard to visit me at times). Not that it is not a nice feeling being told that...it is delirously wonderful and puts me on seven heaven! (especially when it comes forth from someone very important in one's life...top of the world, man!)

Perhaps I ought to rename my blog for a simple reason that I am inclined to relate to all sorts of moments in life (those engaged in typical feminine emotions) rather than just satirical snapshots!

I am currently enjoying the best blessed things in life - comfort at home and two wonderful children who I can relate to (though I am uncertain whether this is reciprocated but I shall live in the blissful ignorance and assumption that it is).

The most important factors that make me feel so proud and happy, which simply cannot be put into words to express the exact magnitude of these emotions, are

* to be able to encourage, inspire and actually witness a person to work on something which would have been inconcievable to another human being eg: to revise and make study notes during a school holiday;

* to see my own offsprings in a stage where they are able to exercise self-discipline and keep true to themselves in setting their goals;

* crucially, and most of all, to revel in the ability of witnessing someone able to implement and execute the plans/schedule set for oneself.....in any aspect of life.

* to view creativity as it comes from individuals, which has always been elusive in my own pathetic life, no matter how hard I wish to be!

It is with some guilt that I cannot be objective in this posting as I am so proud and happy with my children for this period of time for all their efforts and truly spectacular activities:-

Shufei - for her hard input into the subjects taken in F1 and F2 (an undertaking which is immeasurable and deserves immense respect for the exercise of such self-discipline); in addition to her sports regime of tennis lessons and competitive swimming; and her creativeness in all things.

Wensheng - for his effort in competitive swimming (such an unimaginable feat for all the laps which he did, in my opinion) and tennis lessons; his talents in drawing and animation; and his studies.

I applaud them for keeping up with a balanced life, and the discipline to keep all in line.

the proud and happy parent,
***peace from ahfun***