Dear Emily

How we wish we can be with you on your third birthday.

Well, we may be separated by distance, but our hearts are closely knitted to yours.

A card specially drawn for you from grand dad. 

E     ever so ready to bring joy

          M         molding play dough your toy

I         in all ways you employ

L  leaving grand dad a bellboy

Y        your requests his ahoy. 

May you grow in the favour of God each day and be blessed.

Just as you have been blessed, bring joy and care to others around you.
My prayer that you be a child of joy be ever true.

Happy Birthday from grandpa and grandma
We love you.

The Fever

How do we treat fever in a child?

When I was small and when fever was high, I got special treatment from my father. He would feel my forehead and then touch my feet. When they are cold, he would ask if I were feeling the chill. Then the blanket would be pulled up to my cheek and I would be kept warmer.
What was the logic?
That the cover would further add heat and in the process cause sweating. Fever would in most times be broken in this manner. Then to cool the heat, I would be given 'butter' treats. He said slices of butter could cool my throat and lower the heat in my body.
My mother would insist that a bath would add harm to my hot body as I would then catch another 'chill'. So, I would just give the body a wipe.
So the hot and cold episodes grew with me.
In school, my children added more tales to the fever treatment episodes. "Madam Chong, my mother says I cannot take chicken because I have just recovered from fever". Apparently fever would spike on again if one were to consume the meat after recovery. Another gave this version, " My mother says cannot take rice because I have fever." Oh. It does indeed sound so gloomy.

Grace came back for the weekend. "I hate fevers", she ranted as Emily had just been diagnosed with the foot and mouth disease contracted from day school. Emily has been having bouts of fever and it was frustrating. "Mum, fever is not good. You do not know what is bothering and it can be worrisome." But of course, this time around the cause was known. However, a fever is a fever. You have to go through the agony of controlling it in a child.

When I suggested my great treatment styles except for the barley drinking proposal, she stared at me and said "Mum , what are you talking about?"
When the fever was high, she sponged Emily. Actually, I was thinking about the chill. Then when I said not to allow her to swim, she went against all instruction and dipped her in the pool. The result?
She affirmed that the swim was good as it brought the fever down. How to reconcile? Not me till today. Then when I mentioned not to give too much solids, she would just give that stare and halted me from suggesting 'illogical' ideas.
Known cause of fever is treated by giving liquids including coconut water, sponging, swimming and paracetamol. That is how the doctor would do to her child.

Me, the mother and grandmother would concede to keeping quiet and observe in silence. No need to suggest anything, It doesn't work.

But whatever way, a bothersome fever cannot by pass the prayer of the grandmother.
"Emily, let us pray to Jesus to remove your fever so you can swim tomorrow."
 Praise God fever went away after three days and it was fun to have her fever- free for two days for us to enjoy her.

The evening when she left for Singapore, her rantings of "I want to stay here with Kong Kong, I want to stay here with Kong Kong" caught our hearts and the night seemed long and lonely.

But Emily will be happy again with an ice cream from mama.

Swimming is a good way to bring down temperature?

Of fevers and treatments.

40 years later...

In the Good Book, we were told that God took 40 years to discipline, retrain and to prepare His people for the promised land. That they will know gratitude and walk worthy steps. It seemed a long time. Otherwise, how can values be learnt and practised?

Yesterday, was a classic day. Friends of 40 years met again. 

What transpired after all those years?

The Geography Department of the then University of Malaya 1978. We have changed in size, height, hair volume and all things physical. We did not dwell on health; but it was unanimously agreed that at this point of life, health is the key priority.

Among us are once financial controllers, educationists and business personnel ; but now all have retired with some being reemployed.

We looked into a little booklet which recorded some personal details of all of us and were happy to discover that all of us except for one or two have left for greater calling. So, while it took me some time to consider about meeting up, I decided that it is a must to see them. Some came from Johor Bahru, Kelantan, Kedah, Bentong, Perak and in the name of camaraderie met. 

Exchanges were made; how many grand children? I came in very low since I have only one. It is difficult to remind my girls of their duties. They must know that when we meet friends we want to relate about a rich heritage.

One character, Mr Wahab is already a grandfather of 16. I suspect he is senior to us a little ; otherwise this seems an impossible feat. In our meet besides children we do not talk about wives and husbands; we were too engrossed at chatting about our moments together.

Nanda, in particular has a good memory. He remembers vividly how when he and I were 5th RC, we struggled for the dreaded meteorology paper; how we comforted each other the day before the exam and miraculously made it. At our age, even memories like these can evoke some nostalgia and deepen a friendship. An ex principal, his jovial disposition added so much joy to the reunion.

Datin Jessie, third from the left, was host for the day. Her residence at Taman Seputeh tells it all. She is a humble host and made the afternoon comfortable and warm. She is blessed with 6 grand children and all her 4 sons reside in a house next to her. Oh, how life has determined our walk on earth.

Foo, Bala, Wahab, Repin, Nanda, Lee and Yap; the clowns of those years.

Today, it reminded me of this poem .

The Road Not Taken (Robert Frost)

Two Roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent int he undergrowth

Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same

And both the morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the fruit for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood and I -
I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference.

Indeed we have all taken different roads.
We wondered if it had been the right road.

May we meet many times again in the future.

Hi Lucy

 Lucy

The girl I heard of from her mum but have never met. Mum Sandra has been a friend of mine since childhood days. Life can be strange. Sandra resides in the UK but we meet almost every year for the last 10 years. She makes it a point to be in Malaysia at least once a year. The 12 hour flight is nothing when she reminisces on the good food; ice kacang, cendol, hokkien mee, rojak and all ! 

Shopping is thrilling as the pound can buy almost anything under the sun. 

So, this annual affair can never be a miss. 

The Easter break gave Lucy a chance to be in Malaysia with mum.
I was not sure how she would respond to me, the Asian aunt. But all doubts melted away after an exchange and soon we seem to have known each other for all the years we had never met. Lucy has an English dad and a Chinese mum. But she has nothing Asian in her looks. She is absolutely dad's daughter. At some moments I would ask her how it felt to have mama in a Chinese lady and she shrugged her shoulders indifferently. Mother and daughter has a close relationship I can see. They shared tender moments when Lucy would occasionally squeezed mama's cheeks while mama gave the karate hit. A mother loves unconditionally and the daughter must feel it.
"Aunty Poh, I want to eat ice kacang."
When did she learn about this dessert? Later, I was told that she first had the taste of it a decade ago while visiting Penang.
In her short visit here, she was introduced to more local desserts and she developed an instant love for them. However, the mention of the king of fruit sent her off her mind. "No"; the adamant distaste.
Oh she sure has missed the best of desserts; her animosity was the exact reaction I had towards the 'stinking tofu' of China.

Ice kacang served in a typically local metal bowl found at Central Market. It was ecstasy. But how does one manage all that sweet all by yourself? She indeed has a sweet tooth. Roti tisu on the right is a first try. She will remember this , I am sure. A plain piece of Indian bread served with with dhal curry. Unlike mama, she cannot handle any form of spiciness. 

The coconut shake is another hit for her. Oh , how does one handle all that sweet? The hot afternoon heat caused the drink to be even more appealing. At one of the local malls, we found an"egglet " pancake dipped in peanut butter. She sure had a treat on local sweets.

This Hanna dye was perhaps one of the highlights of her trip here. Thrilled to the core, she was informed that the dye would only stand good for a week or so. The special needs teacher said that her children will not be too surprised at the new feature on her hand; I wondered why she felt that way.

The last supper at Ravi's. We thought the meal will do them good. But Lucy only indulged in roti canai as the spicy banana rice was not her cup of tea. I suspect it is because she could not handle the spicy dish. After hokkien mee and prawn noodles, what else can one crave for? Her short stay here was running between malls and tasting local sweets including kueh lapis, ondeh ondeh, and other nyonya delicacies. Yes, she had a whale of a time consuming sweets. That I can vouch.

Actually Lucy is a good girl. She has taken the initiative to help children going through challenging times. She told me that the publicly run school has a small population with about 9 children in a class. She confessed that even with a small number, she finds it hard to give a one to one attention to her wards. In a one hour period, at the most she can spare is 10 minutes on a single child. 

So, it is truly challenging if she needs to give individual attention. 

How many her age would want to deal with difficult teaching moments? At a local store when she saw play dough products she quickly bent down to touch and feel its texture and could tell whether it was good dough. She must have played with it long enough to make a conclusion. Mama Sandra said Lucy's hands are deft and good at using play dough for children's learning.

At one point she shared that she had to see to many needs of her children including toilet and meal duties. We pondered and later agreed that she sometimes functioned as a 'maid' all in the name of compassion and empathy for the less fortunate. That makes her a good girl at heart.

This picture is epic. The characters of Sesame Street have been in town ever since memory stretches. It brought good memories to my girls in their growing years and it is still fondly enjoyed by my grand daughter today. Some things just don't change; like the values you embraced from your parents. You can be rebellious at one point but the true self will eventually emerge and you will discern right from wrong. Of course rights and wrongs can be subjective but as mothers we can only utter silent prayers that our daughters will be protected against wrong decisions and circumstances and that life will be under the favour and mercy of God.

Lucy is no exception. May she taste of the good things of life and continue to contribute to the needy and reap the fruits of her hard work among them.

Come and visit me again Lucy.

Sending her off at the airport she hugged and said "I love meeting you Aunty Poh " .

I love meeting you too, Lucy.

The Suburbia

Away from the City.

After 2 days in the city , it was now time to move to the suburbia. Grace picked Margaret River, a good 4 hours drive from Perth. We were told that there was a beautiful beach to indulge in and folks go there to breathe in unpolluted air and get a feel of the outskirt.

As the journey was a good many hours away, there was reason to occupy the little one with Peppa Pig tales and videos. Eating crunchy noodles was her favourite and all adults had to entertain for peace. When it was nap time, it was truly peaceful. Grace could not stop laughing at the grandmother duties I had to perform.

 Busselton was a stop over before reaching Margaret River.

The clearly beautiful, sandy beach fronting a pier was a sight.

The clean, clear skies allow the scorching sun to dry almost anything that came along its way.
 It was dry and hot. 

Mother and daughter are equally overjoyed having a chance to play on the soft , sandy beach

The sea gulls are also not afraid of the human race.
 They fight fearlessly among themselves to prove their territorial prowess at pecking food.

Yes, they came near enough to us wanting to have their share. Emily was the kindest soul. She happily distributed the fries to the oncoming birds.

You need to pay a fee to be given a tour on that jetty. Apparently species of sea creatures and plants could be viewed. The hot afternoon sun I must admit was a deterrent for us to attempt a walk along it.

I wanted to hold an umbrella but was stopped by Grace.

En route to Margaret River, we stopped by a winery and a chocolate factory. They sell light and dark chocolate from cocoa of many cocoa-producing nations even from South America. The chocolate was palatable. 

Everyone is tempted to buy.

So I bought some too; some for relatives, others for friends.

The chocolate milk was an instant great drink for Emily, sweet and yummy.

By evening, we reached our boarding place. Names to the chalets caught our attention and we were assigned Calgardup. 

Lovely and comfortable, we were provided cooking facilities that facilitated our cooking. It was good to taste the local cuisines of fries, chips and potatoes but after a while you long for noodles and curry. So, it was acceptable to cook. There was reason for it.

Pristine and peaceful, there was hardly pollution at this time of the day and the walk along the street was pleasant and relaxing. So quiet. By five in the evening almost everything was shut down.

It was a breeze walking along the five-foot way. We tried to get wine from the local outlets and the price was really attractive. Cheap and excellent. The wineries there are a competition to one another.

We walked and walked. Early morning walks were a must. We paid to relax and so we must savor in all good things. The landscape was dry and barren unlike the lush bushes back home.Short and stunted , the scrubs must be a result of little rainfall. Perth is Mediterranean in weather; thus accounting for the scrub like feature.

On another day, we move to the caves. Caves always seem to have a story connected to limestone. On most trips where limestone is prominent, we never fail to visit caves. So, what is the difference here?

The climb was inevitable. Well, still young enough for it. It did not pose much challenge but poor Grace has to lug Emily on a child strap. Grace is strong. Climbing up and down those stairs with Emily on her. Why was daddy not doing it? Emily was temperamental; only mama can carry.

Going down was a breeze. Climbing up was not. many hundreds of steps.

 How about the Great Wall? Is it time to see it? It is either now or never, right?

The image is not sharp. But you can imagine if you were to see it for yourself. Majestic and awesome. The rain droplets can create a landscape feature so unique and amazing. We were warned not to touch anything. Nothing. It is so well preserved and a great offence to disturb nature here.

The guide told us stories of the images formed by the stalactites, stalagmites and pillars. Was it a dragon head on the left? But one thing is sure. The cave harbored mysterious streaks and feelings.

The cave was neat and clean; underground stream untouched.

At an outback cultural hut, we saw local crafts and read some history of the place. It intrigued me to have glimpses of Australian way of outback living and practices. Malaysian line dancing is nothing in comparison to the 'line' dance on poles. It is truly outback where courage measured your popularity in ones' eyes.

Fine workmanship on household gadgets and difficult to emulate.

The long coast also meant we had a chance to see the resplendent sea. Actually, the endless horizon only reflects our fragile frame. We are so small in this world. Dad loves nature ; anything to do with the jungle, sea and tree houses. I like the malls.

Father and daughter appreciating the coastal scene while the sun is setting for the day.

The Historic Water Wheel ; an important feature offering water for living, cleaning, agriculture and all. It was interesting to examine how man created solutions to challenges.

The Lighthouse which must have helped seamen in

their sea endeavors. It was still well kept.

Lunch at Cape Leeuwin. Lunch at awesome price. 

I guess the vast, flat grassland can be used for functions of all kinds; weddings, parties and more. Incidentally, we witnessed 2 ladies arriving in a helicopter from Perth? They came for lunch, Fanciful.

Grace and Aaron insisted on breakfast at this place; I have forgotten its name. 

They love to pamper themselves; we just followed suit.

The pier leading to the open sea was a sight.

More wines.

Here, it is wine and chocolates.

Miss Busybody is always so busy about birds, chickens and grapes.

The lush grapevine.

Locally produced products for sale; jams, olive oil, wines, honey and pastes.

We were given a chance to taste all wines produced.

I will miss her growing days.

Though not very attached to me, I love to hear her utterances and see her hilarious gestures.

But these two are great pals. They can do anything together. Grandpa gives in to her at all times.

That is reason why when the video call is on, it is always "Where is Kong Kong? I want to go Kong Kong house..."

Grandpa says she is growing up too fast.

Slow down a little.