Sakana no more

A little japanese eatery along Liang Seah street. Has been serving lunch & dinner for the past 8 years by a japanese chef. Today,upon my arrival, the doors were still shut tight. Through the window display, men inside were busy dismantling the interior. Sakana@ Liang Seah St.

AuspiciousEight

The year began with an auspicious number

The Economy projecting nothing but escalating growth.

The Intergrated Resort rolling full steam ahead

Snaking queues as properties are quickly snapped up

Every graduate's aspiration: private Banker

Pinnacle of the Year: The Beijing Olympics

Then someone spilt the milk

Overnight the Medals are forgotten as children fell sick one by one

Before Asian could wiped clear the shelves of Melamine,

Many found, their investments have been wiped clean too.

Wallstreet crumbles in the weight of too many fast and loose fund hedgers

It's December, the outlook, bleak, Unemployment, retrenchment and factory closure.

Amazing all these in just less than 12 months.

Wishing.......

"A Blessed Christmas to All"

HardCopy

When all is lost, it's this, that comes to the rescue. This hardcopy backup call phonebook. For the last 10 years this has been in my handbag. A book for every itsy bitsy information. Written from back to back on every inch of space available. When the hphone malfunction last week, it was a trying time tracing back. Searching for numbers, numbers and numbers. Of friends, families and people that needs to call/sms for appointments/lessons/reservations/deliveries/services/classes. The problem is, I have not been faithfully updating it lately.

Itchy scratchy

After spending 3 weeks in Msia youngest returned home on friday last. Stratching and fretting. Must have come in contact with something she is allergic to. A visit to the pediatrician did not lessen the itchy rashes all over her limbs. Every few hours, she would apply calamine lotion hoping the itch would stop. Am really puzzle of what she could possibly have eaten/used.

KeepingFit

Pilate anyone? Eldest having a session at aunt's studio in Bangsar. Jack Lalane started the Jumping Jack in 70's. Jane Fonda quicken the pace with new moves. Calmly Yoga appeared with the breathing technique while pilate enhances the strengthening of the core muscles. A nouveau exercise for the young and restless.

Christmas

Had it been 28C lower, sunday evening would be snowing. The cool air, the lights, the people, the street performances, the carollings, the cute little santa hats, the light drizzle, strolling along Orchard Road exude the festivity ambiance of Christmas. Started from Isetan at Scotts strolled right down to Plaza Singapure absorbing in all the sights and sounds.

Carrot Power

At 13 he wanted to work, and he did. Selling bookmarks to raise money for some charity. Too young to be hired by the fastfood chains. The Carrot, extra pocket money during the holidays, for an electronic gadget. But it went to replaced the handphone he lost while working. All of 10 days.

At 14, a bakery down the road needed a part-timer. Washing, washing and washing the mountain of baking trays. For one month he gritted his teeth. This time, an MP4. Broke down after 6 months.

At 15, holiday classes kept him occupied but managed to talk dad into hiring him for 3 weeks. Data entry. Sitting and typing. Must be the most trying of all his holiday jobs despite the air-con comfort, free transport and lunch. The want of a PSP player kept him going.

This year, at 16, a restaurant at Vivocity. Clearing plates of the lunch time crowd. Another electronic gadget which I have yet to be told what.

CatchingPets

Every child from the same set of parents is different. Eldest shriek and duck at the sight of a flying bug, son has no qualms squashing them(No need to Guess who always has the task of getting rid of unwelcome flyers). Youngest would sometimes spent her recess at the little garden pond catching tadpoles and tiny fish. Quietly tuck the container into her bag and brings them home. Eldest demanded that the 'pets' stay in the balcony AND no where else! On our holiday to the beach, instintively, she dived after the tiny sandy looking crabs as they ran helter skelter. She would corner them with her palm then scooped the sand and gently picked them up. Not once thinking that the pincher might hurt her. Day one, we had no container. So she hone in her crab catching skill. Day two, woke up really early before the beach strollers frighten all the crabs back into their holes. With grandma's brillaint idea of a cut off water bottle as a container, we went crab hunting. Have to say youngest was a pro. We now have 5 tiny crabs to care for. Feeding them bread and freeze dried fish. I have no idea what these tiny custacean eats.

Green wrapper

Nasi lemak to malaysian is like char siew pao to the chinese, sandwich to the english, onigiri to japanese or hotdog bun to the americans. Concentrated in carbo for energy and enough protein and maybe a sliver of green covered with mouthwatering sauce for a complete take away meal.
Still prefer the tradition Nasi lemak wrapped in Banana leaf with just half an egg, sambal ikan bilis and a thin slice of cucumber. Found this at the food stall along Beach Street one morning while waiting for the processing of eldest's passport.

seashells on the seashores

I thought these are only found washed up on the beach. Used to look for them everytime dad took the family for a beach picnic. Little did I know people actually eat these lovely custacean!!! No wonder their shells are no longer found wash up on beach anymore.

IntrestingRead

Stroll around the ground floor of the GoldenSand Resort, one will chance upon a quaint bookshelf filled with novels in Japanese, german and english. All compliments from the guests who intentionally or accidentally left them behind. Looking for an interesting title, I came across this "The Fifth Vial" by Micheal Palmer. A doctor by profession before becoming an author. 3 pages into the book and I was hooked. Every quiet moment, before dozing off, at the beach, sitting in with MIL, I was engrossed, reading. From page one, the suspense, intrigue and plotting kept the reading pace in heighten excitement and pulse, racing. In great anticipation I look forward to reading his other novels.

BTW this book belongs to the state library of Western Australia!!!

Fun & Work

Apart from malfunctioning handphone and vibrating brakes at highspeed, this holiday was jam packed with errands and fun. Renewed eldest's passport, took mum to her doctor's appt, met a my bestfriend's mum, spent a sunday accompanying MIL being the caregive's day off and MDH turned handyman fixing all the necessary at my home and at his sis's home(where we stayed during our KL stopover). In between, we drove, in the dark into some oilpalm estate in Batu Kawan for some freshest seafood in Butterworth at the invitation of BIL. 3 days at the beach where son took a jetski ride with his father while youngest caught 5 tiny crabs (which is now our pets) as eldest had her manicure and I, a massage.

In return

While he dine and wine procuring business deals, invited to be a member of the freemason masonic lodge and rub shoulders with who's who in the business community, she sits firmly in the office from 7.30 to 6.30 running the office in shipshape efficiency. He hits the green 3 times a week, attending lunch meet and dinner talks, she prefers gardening her hundreds of potted plants, orchids, tending to her dogs and perfecting her skill in making prawn crackers, cakes and cookies. Socialising when absolutely necessary. This husband and wife partnership has been on going for the last 55 years until of late.

For the first time, the role changes. She now spends her time at home. He consults her on what she would like for meals. Coaxing her gently to take her medication. Keeping an eye on her on maid's day off. Plans each outing carefully-biscuits at hand should the wedding dinner runs behind schedule, where to alight her so she would not have to walk too far or be lost while he parks the car. Taking her for short holidays with extra precautious should a sudden hypoglycemia attack occurs. Quietly he sits by her sides and observe as she slowly goes into oblivion of the world around her. Drifting in and out of amnesia. Lovingly he cares for her notwithstanding the fact that his kidney is slowly breaking down.