Chill Out - 16 years on

When I was 16... wonder if I am still recognizable

Most of my friends who are also the readers of this blog are from GenX or earlier so I reckon this nostalgic moment that I experienced, you guys could somehow relate to it...

I was invited to attend a last chill-out session at my old primary & secondary school (St Nicholas Girls').  The building which I spend almost my entire childhood will soon be demolished to make way for a new school building for the ...GenZ or GenZa perhaps.. 

Going back and bumping into my junior in the 14th company of girl guides which I belonged to and seeing them "fully grown" suddenly made me laugh. Of course they are grown up and no longer are the yearlings that were quiet and needing of guidance... I have since left school 16 years ago!! (now you can all know my exact age)

It was heartwarming to see the same old "Teh Tarik" Uncle Mobee still there making the best Teh that I ever drank. How about the fried chicken auntie who still wears the same type of hair clip and still frying the best chicken wings in the world.... oh not forgetting the chilli which I secretly drowned my chick wings in!! Imagine, I consumed so much chilli that it turned my lips purple with the vinegar content. I remember competing with my friend on whose lips can turn purple earlier.

Looking at the stall menus now, I am quite impressed with the range of food schools now serve the young generation. Imagine, they are having JAPANESE CURRY RICE now!!! I heard that schools are even serving sushi and the kids now need at least 3-4 bucks for their daily meals. Wow, then when I was in primary school, I only had my mum's packed lunch and 50 cents daily which i sparingly bought the chick wings and of course dunked the poor wing in chilli. Well for the new generation.. parents out there, gotta work harder boy!

Walking through our foyer, I suddenly remembered how I "led" a group of friends during my secondary 4 year and "illegally" bought durians from a durian truck that came into school to sell to the canteen aunties / uncles (think they had some kind of pre-arrangement). My nose led me to it and of we all pooled money and bought I think 1 to 2 fruits. We were happily tucking in when our chemistry teacher came earlier into class and caught us with our hands 

deep into the fruit. She was cool about it to our relief. She even asked us where we bought it from. My was I relieved as I hardly get much into trouble and this was my boldest quest. Haha!

At the end of the evening, we had a good time laughing at all these past events. But most importantly, I got to meet up with friends whom I have not seen for the longest time and it was good to see that it is going on well for them!

Jasmine - classmate in secondary school (left)

Debbie (right) - my pre-primary classmate when we were 6 years old

Qing Qing - The 2nd longest friend since Primary 2 after Debbie

The infamous Uncle Mobee (in white) and his fabulous Teh Tarik!

A Special Place

Everyday for the last 5 months I wake from my dreams to yet another day without hearing the soothing low voice that I am so accustomed and in-tuned with for more than a third of my life. Fast as it seems that time has passed, it also feels like a lifetime without his presence.

Each day is largely filled with activities at work but I deeply miss our lost routine. The lost routine of calling him the minute I leave the same office building... counting the train stations while co-ordinating with him the exact time he should leave home to ensure we step into our dinner venue almost simultaneously... walking our dogs... contemplating if we should break our diet and indulge in a sundae... and so much more.

His fighting spirit still lives on and it propels me to make good of my life and to cherish all around me. Each time I encounter a difficult situation, I still feel and hear him beside me, rooting for me. 

I recall the day before he left me, we were driving home from his little birthday celebration at Sentosa, he said to me "Dear, you must have confidence in the decisions you make, have faith that they are right and follow them" At that juncture, I was in a hurry in trying to maneuver out from a bad jam along ECP as I wanted to fly him home, I reckoned he was telling me to have more confidence in cutting onto another lane as he is a very steady driver. 

Days after he was called home , I tried to put the recent events in place as everything prior seemed like a blur to me. It then came to full realisation to me that those were some of his parting words and he was preparing me for my journey ahead. That is so very like Kevin, he always have my interest in mind and it is very much still.

While I have to get accustomed to my new routines, the old routines will always have a special place in my heart.

Bad Hair Day

Again, over the weekend, I tried my hand in shaving my baby girl's fur.

In the midst of action, I could almost hear Kevin chastising me as he always did each time I tried shaving our dogs "Dear, for goodness sake, bring them to the groomers for a good haircut! How would you like to go out with an uneven haircut like theirs!"

As usual, I would blame it on the shaver blade... not sharp enough, too old a model, angle not right. Sad to say, she IS very patchy but at least i got the job done! My famlily says she now looks like a kampong dog...

Well, the consolation is - FUR GROWS!!

This was taken during her better hair days!