15 years on....

5 years since my last letter to you,  how time flies...another 5 years of 'sunshine and rain showers' of our journey together that I have been blessed with.  I would be lying to say nothing has changed ;-). We have  changed, together and also in our own ways, grown older and hopefully wiser, more set and self centered in some ways (LOL winking) yet more tolerant in others.  I thank God for all that he has blessed us with and I pray for even more meaningful days in coming years for I know we share the same vision of seeking contentment in work beyond corporate world, whatever that may be!

5 years ago for our 10th anniversary I chose timepieces to signify the journey of our relationship,  past, present and always. I am definitely not 'big' on buying gifts for you but 15 years is another special milestone. This time I decided on Bottega, the signature weave, a special favorite representing how our paths have crossed, exquisite and beautiful with the strength to withstand the test of time. :-). Unlike the timepieces which were a pair, the Bottega will a different something for you and me - the respect for the different individuals we are in a life we weaved together.

That my dear are only the material symbols to celebrate a milestone for the true meaning is in what I have in you!

Khalil Gibran on Marriage 

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

Brother

Little brother,
Big brother,
Which one is better?
Little brother,
Big brother,
Can we compare?
Little brother,
Big brother
Which one should I have?

Iwan wrote and dedicated this poem to me, :-).

I asked him "How can you possibly get a big brother?"
Iwan said "We can adopt one!"

Ha ha.

Yesterday afternoon, just after 2pm, I was driving along Jalan Telawi, narrow road with congested 2 way traffic. I was proably going at about 40 kms max and as my car passed a couple walking by the roadside, the man decided to step into the path! The side mirror snapped closed with loud thud and I could see his shirt up closed via the front passenger window…..I stopped the car and the couple and I exchanged looks, I was in shocked and I trust they were too!

I was not sure what to do, I moved my car forward a little and pulled to a stop by the side. Placed on my emergency lights and got down with Iwan. By then the couple had gotted into their car which was parked illegally by the road side. I approached the car and tapped on the driver's window, the lady screened down. I asked if the man was alright and if he needed medical attention. The man said he is ok and the lady said he is fine too. I saw him removed his right shoe and was massaging his leg. I guess he could have lost his balance and hurt his leg.

I am still affected by the incident, how much others can affect your lives. No matter how careful you are you need others to do the same. You could be doing what you deem is the right but others could change things in a blink of an eye. I hope the man is alright.

And they called themselves.....The League of Treasure Hunters

Dear Aidan, Andrew, Ash, Beth and Iwan,

This is a quest that can only be completed as a team. There will be no single winner but if all of you work together, you will all be winners at the end of this journey.
Simple rules that you will have to remember at all times,
1. No shouting
2. No pushing
3. No crying
4. No running
5. Take good care of each other
Good Luck! You may now open the envelope labeled Quest No. 1

Quest No. 1.
Discuss and agree on a NAME for your team. A name that will make all of you champion treasure hunters!
Once you have decided on a NAME, there are nametags on the round table in front of the TV in the living room.
Each member will get ONE tag. Write your team name and your name on the tag. You may now wear this tag bearing your name.
Once all the members are ready please ask politely for Quest No. 2 from Uncle George.


Quest No. 2.
Look out the window. You will see a magic tunnel in the garden and a tent at the end of this tunnel.
Your task as a team is to get all members safely thru the tunnel, one at a time. Once you are outside the tent, ONLY the OLDEST amongst the 5 of you can enter the tent to uncover the next quest.


Quest No. 3.
Congratulations! So far so good….enjoy the ribena drinks….:-)
Now, a riddle for you….
the coldest place behind a door,
two you can find in different size,
drinks stay chill, fruits are stored,
this is where water freeze to ice.
 
Quest No. 4
Well done, well done team! You are now onto Quest No. 4.
Your next clue is in the hands of a person you know.
He is a good looking man,
He wears glasses and he works for a bank,
His wife has long hair and he has 2 children,
His youngest child is a girl.
If you know who he is, please send the youngest amongst you to ask him for your next quest…..


Quest No. 5.
Did you say Thank You to Uncle Ronald for the clue? I hope you did. Remember to be polite at all times.
Saya ada bunyi,
Saya boleh menyanyi,
Kamu semua suka sekali,
Ibu akan memarahi,
Jika menonton setiap hari,
Di bawah tersimpan surat rahsia yang satu lagi!
 
Quest No. 6.
Hello team! Now it is time to do a little mathematics. Simple, no sweat for all of you I am sure!
How old will all of you be this year? Now add up all your age this year to find the answer to this quest. Once you have the answer, send your team member with 4 letters in his / her first name to Uncle Shaun to get your next clue, remember to ask politely and say thank you.
 
Quest No. 7.
Look for a stack of newspaper piled up high. Work together as a team to remove the newspaper to reveal your next quest.

 
Quest No. 8.
Do not touch me
As you read me
Treasure oh treasure
Where can you be?
Secret is a key
Hanging from a tree!

 
Quest No. 9.
The end is very near, where all your efforts will be well rewarded or at least I hope so, ha ha.
I hope you have all enjoyed yourself and coming this far would mean you have all worked well together as a team. Great Job!
Find the “X” mark on the place in the front porch.
Now, facing the gate / car, stand is one single straight line, descending order in height, with the tallest of you on the most right and the shortest most left.
Pass the key to your tallest member. Don’t do anything yet! Read until the end first….
All must stand very still and do not move or make a noise when your tallest member counts ONE, TWO, THREE and presses the button on the key that will open the door to your treasures!
ENJOY!

Then and Now....

Wheels of "Fortune"

Peggy Ee

22 July 1950 - 26 Sept 2009
Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal - anonymous

Sky

Nov 22 2008, it must have been love at first sight for Iwan...a cloudy Saturday evening, while waiting for Daddy living his dreams in a football game, we met Sky. So tiny, helpless and all alone. I am still not sure what made me agree...Iwan's compassion or my need as a Mom to walk the talk...it was nevertheless a good decision, Sky became family.

Sky came our way unplanned, so overnight we learnt about litter boxes, immunizations, milk and food......do we keep her in doors, where would she sleep.....and the list went on. Sky's distinct limp disappeared and she thrived over the weeks and months, from a little scrawny, wearied and scared looking kitten into a beautiful, lovely, young cat. But somehow Sky kept her distance, definitely very playful but she was never overly affectionate, cuddles, mewing, patting, stroking, those of what is expected of a feline were not her cup her tea.

As she grew she was not short of suitors, where her younger days sees her bouncing back on the dot just before bedtime, the last couple of months, we had to track her down and most likely cut short her "partying" to have her home in the nights. We have never been big on pets nor do we have great love for animals so with Sky controlling population was constantly on our mind and spaying her has always been on the agenda.

Spaying, was this the trigger of it all? Probably. Was it inevitable? Probably as well. These are conflicts within me since, but will I ever find an answer? Probably Not. It was a decision that let to truly unexpected turn of events and a heartbreaking end.

Close to a week after the procedure, Sky does not look like she was any where near recovering, in fact she has developed very laboured breathing, she has not eaten, she drank very little and was hardly moving around. By the time I sent her to Healing Rooms, Dr Loh said she was in bad shape....I broke down, I was not able to decipher what that meant then. Dr Loh said possibly FIP and is terminal. I agreed to a series of test, chest x-ray, blood tests...knowing all too well that they may do Sky more harm than good. Fluids were in her lungs and that made breathing difficult. I can't recall any episode in her younger days where the coronavirus would have infected her....and now it has mutated and Sky is dying....we brought her home to give her a better life so how could this be?

Dr Loh called at 7pm, Alina and Anita were visiting, Sky was not doing well and Dr Loh thought we should make a decision. I was torn if I should tell Iwan, I eventually decided to. He cried all the way to Healing Room. Anita said she will come along and I am thankful she did. Mom, does Sky have H1N1? Why so short, she is less than 1 year old? He cried his hearts out and it broke mine. Dr Loh gave us a few minutes bid our farewell, she was on drips so her paw bandaged, she was panting for breath, the basic act of life.

July 21 2009, it must have been one of the saddest experience for Iwan and I for that matter, another couldy evening, we bid farewell to Sky. Just as I had to make a decision back in November 2009, this time though I am not sure if it was a good decision and I guess I will never know, I decided to end sufferings which can no longer be made good. We cried some more.

Friends of The Andaman

Letter to my husband....

29 April 2009


We have passed the 10th year mark of being legally married and it is about 3 weeks to our 10th wedding anniversary. It has been a long long time since I bought you a gift. I want to commemorate this milestone with something special. I have since decided on a pair of watches. A little corny maybe but I have my reasons.

Watch represents time, the past 10 years was without its challenges but I would not have walked a different path….In deciding which watch, I did not choose the latest design, nor “sporty” ones that you have been talking about, neither did I consider your minimum standard for a watch (you know what that is). Instead I settled for something simple, timeless and classic. I chose Month Blanc because it is quality that with some hard work I can afford, it will be painful to keep up with one I cannot, the like of a relationship.

Simple, timeless and classic to hopefully mirror what we have in our marriage, the past 10 years, now and always. I have yet to purchase the watches. I wanted to tell you first. Transparency, setting expectations are important in a marriage. Respect because I will be paying with our money :-) and respect is what marriages should be build on. I needed to ensure a good purchase (a feel good thing), so I made an offer which they countered for what deemed final. It should be “worthy” to symbolize what we have. I left it to fate to return if it is meant to be….that is how two people stay together, because it is meant to be.

Above everything else the gift simply represent my love.

Of writing...

Iwan has been inspired to be an author when he grows up....:-). His first 5 master pieces.....

Once upon a time, there was a bird that always wished to be friends with the sun. One day, he flew up to the sun and talked to it. It didn't reply. So the bird went home feeling very sad. He never thought about it again. THE END. IWAN.

Once upon a time, there was a planet called Pluto. There was an egg monster called the egg plotter and all the other egg monsters on planet Pluto were scared so they left. The egg plotter won and soon he went to the planet next to Pluto, the planet earth.
Then he scared everybody except the people who knew that he was the egg plotter. So they made friends and lived happily ever after. THE END. IWAN.

Once upon a time, there were some planets called org Mosket and Maximus. There were aliens that wore power bars in Maximus. There were aliens that wore mosquitoes in Mosket. And there were aliens in org that wore other aliens. THE END. IWAN.

Once upon a time, there was a boy that lives in Mars. The boy's parents were named egg yolk and egg white. The boy's name is egg sauce. They were a happy family. They helped each other out, especially when other aliens attacked them. And their food was egg. They were the egg family. THE END. IWAN.

Once upon a time, there was a table that helped people. It helped with washing, cutting and more. The people were grateful so they fed him, washed him and helped him. A few years later, the people where not grateful so they didn't help him. He was mad, so he destroyed everything. The people were sorry, so they helped him again. But he didn't forgive them. THE END. IWAN.

KONSERT ALAM MUSIK MNASIR

Favourites...

Budding photographer or paparazzi???

Ray and Kok Wai and family came by yesterday...Kok Wai of course was armed with his latest "passion", :-) his Nikon DSLR. With just our home and so few "subjects" to satisfy the insatiable clicks a digital...he could pass for a paparazzi!

Nevertheless some great moments were captured, sealed in time.....

Quest of a Primary 1 (5)....

Wow Mom! How much did you buy the cheque book for?

Huh?

You mean you can write how much you want?!!!

Ha Ha!

Remembering Fiona (2)

"I have fought the good fight,

I have finished the race,

I have kept the faith."

2Tim 4:7;

thamspace.

Remembering Fiona

Her hugs;
Introducing Wendy, who became a wonderful wonderful friend;
Amusing skills of putting on eyeliner and lipstick without a mirror;
Curry noodles with extra "see ham" and extra noodles!;
Her need for shoes to be prefectly lined up at her doorway;
Tenacious, persistent and innocently pushy colleague;
The past 6 years of determination and extraordinary fighting spirit;
Her love for Jeff.

Wendy and I had lunch with Fiona end July 2008, when we dropped her back home, we hugged goodbye. Till we meet again Fi.

Quest of a Primary 1 (4)....

Why don't we take a vacation to Heaven and check out if we like it there mom?

Hmmm dear, we can't coz they sell only one way tickets.....

Quest of a Primary 1 (3)....

Mom, Indiana Jones bought over Sri KL and his daughter is studying in Standard 2!

Who told you that?

Vishnu.

Of Cupcakes and Scones....Marmalade, BV

Silk Road @ Pavillion, KL

All American Boys Chorus

Drum Slices III - Rythm Ride

KL Sing Song 2008

Bali Hai, Penang....Simply Yummy

Neroteca...Great food Great service

Simply "Charm"ing

Quest of a Primary 1 (2).....

Mom, if God rides a motorcycle does he needs to wear a helmet?