Wedding Invitation.

Mr. Yap has been a loyal customer to the company for almost 25 years and over the period we have became friends.

So, when I received the invitation, I was very happy not only because I get to participate in the merriment of a marriage but more meaningfully I get to see a child who has grown up to be someone’s husband over a period of time that flashes by....... underscoring our coming of age.....and that in a year or so........ my friends will be the grandparents...and that’s one of life’s greatest gift.

......and with that I would like to extend my Heartiest Congratulation to both Mr. and Mrs. Yap (sr.) for being Successful Parents ...and to Mr. and Mrs. Yap ( jr.) may you both lead a successful life following the road laid by your parents...a road that was once just a path.

The King of Fruit.

This had been a very hectic and trying week...It’s too “hot”....stressful that I decided again to take Sam to the countryside to “cool” down.

... Nothing takes the mind away from the toil and broil of the ‘rat race’ better than a good drive to nowhere... [minus the traffic]......ending up in the Durian collection centre ...where we can buy the “King of Fruits” for a fraction of the price that we pay for in the city.

Here too, we have a wider selection of different so called “generic made-to-order, cutting edge technological invent” type of Durian.....of even more mind boggling “what/who in heaven”....and “where in heaven” did the name derive from...

.........We have today:

.....Mountain Cat King...famous for its rich creamy sweet taste..

.....Red grass prawn...famed for its Red orangy color with a tinge of bitterness..

....then we have ...Ah Kow’s cocktail...a new breed [not tried yet]..heard it tasted like sweet wine......

..and there is the early fav. called .. the Red meat crab...my fav. too though I am not sure why the name..

..then...the Hair Rejuvenator commonly known as 101 [hair growth hormones from China]........very VeRY rich creamy sweet bitter seedless....Yummy!!....not sure why the name also!

Today , we have .....21 [blackjack].....777 [jackpot]...102...103......333 [live forever]
808 [prosperity]...........008 [I prosper]..............888 [forever prosper]...and many more names and permutations.... [if space permits]......

...and NO!......we don’t have the 444 [die foever]...404 [forever die]

The Good Son.

I took the beaten track off- road to a small village to visit an acquaintance whom I have not seen for a while. I love the warm friendly people there.

Here I met the “Boss” of the small stall...it was like a step backward into time....about 40 years back.....
.........and in this modern era......it is like a life museum ...a reminder of the past
.......the conservatory of the bygone years etched onto the surrealistic templates of our conscience of what is now the extension of the new age morality accelerated beyond wisdom.

Today, the Story is about the Allegiance of a filial son.

In our country, where admission into Public University is based on “birth right of the right skin color” and not meritocracy....countless top grades students of other skin color were/are deprived off a chance of furthering their education giving ways to much lesser and inferiorly graded student of the right color. The country’s statespersons called it “Social re-Engineering”.....who are we to argue!!!

....and so countless parents like the “old uncle” slogged day and night to finance their children’s education.....hoping that their children will lead a better life than they themselves...thus breaking the chain of hardship...doing their ancestors proud with the unwritten ancestral pledges of each and every child of the Chinese origin by way of Confucianism ingrained into the very core fabric of the Chinese psyche.

Old Uncle is the “Good Son”.

Uncle’s son is now working in the editorial of a newspaper company.

* [He was educated in England]

.....uncle does not accept money from him because the cost of living in the city is very high and he wants him to save enough money to start a family of his own.

The elder daughter is married and uncle is staying with his wife and a young teenage daughter. He has no plan to retire as he still has to finance his youngest daughter’s education... She is 15year of age.

Happy Father’s Day.

Gonna miss them.

TRUSTY





Trusty is recovering well under medication and the “new growth” receded.
Dr. Kanda told us that she’s lucky but bear in mind that it may come back and told us that he would not operate on it again as it would be pointless to prolong the suffering....
...Euthanasia is the only answer.

Touch wood!!!!! Trusty will be here with us for many more years to come.

*The Elizabeth collars on Trusty is not wide enough to prevent her long tongue from licking the growth and the wound....a plastic sheet was cellophaned to it.......It works!!
She’s very obedient as she did not try removing it.


STEADY.



We found Steady 13years ago abandoned by the roadside...brought her home and she became the Matriarch of our dogs......respected by all.

My family love her dearly and .......I..I ....I.....luf her too....[She drives me up the walls]..
....for the past 10 years .

....Steady has been nagging me every morning and evening ....
..she would ...grunt...groan.....bark.....HOWL........whimper...whine.....HOWL....awoooo
....wooo.....awuuuu..awoooouuuu....the VERY moment step out from the door..put on my exercise shoes ..SHE WANT TO TAG ALONG!!!!!!!.....she want to exercise with me..
....she want to go trekking with me...........run....walk with me .

When I refuse to bring her along...she would try ways and means to free herself from the chaining...most of the time she figured out how [She’s Houdini]...and the few time that she failed to release herself [It’s hell for me when I got back]....she SULK!!!...refuses to eat...you can see 2 streaks of wet tears from the corner of her eyes....its Heart breaking!!!

Thinking of the times she got me into trouble...chasing people’s prized chicken...killing it
..the owners’ waited for us with the machete.[don’t want to talk about it].......killing the neighborhood children prized pet rabbit....the owners waited with the shotgun [don’t want to talk about it]

...the time she got me lost in the jungle chasing after her.....chasing some small animals..
..leading the whole troop [Trusty, Ashitaka and Lucky].....all over the terrain at 8pm..when it was pitch black!!......emerging out from the jungle at 10pm.

With Steady ...who needs a cat!!...she is the Terminator.....rats ..shrews...birds....lizards..
..monitors.....sniff!!!..Our pet rabbit [recently]........Steady would deposit the killed prey right on the doorstep to show off and we would praise her......[our pet rabbit ..Mama Mia].
Our house is pest free.

I patted her for the first time...a few days ago...I love her!

.....took her to the good Dr....she was groaning in pain....she had rheumatism and arthritis
.....she’s deaf now....she had cataract...Nothing much the Dr. could for her except providing painkillers...to be administered only when absolutely necessary as it might lead to complication at her advanced age.

Sam is nursing her.

* Steady was hit by a car 2 weeks ago...she wasn’t hurt....I was sure...[..or else I might wait for he car owner with the machete]....this was the 2nd. time .

......the 1st. time she was hit by a car...and she was hurt badly..and all medical charges was borne by the car owner.

Taking Steady out is very STRESSFUL......at times.

Everyday is a bonus for Steady.....I now realize how much I would miss her...I shall pat her more....stop asking her to SHUT UP!!!!!!


Gonna miss them both...but NOT JUST YET!!!!