I think I've learnt to love the family more. Not that I didn't before, just MORE.
I think I spent some quality time with my brother yesterday, even if it was just helping him set up his facebook account and sitting beside him while I watched him play. Haha!
He complained of boredom, so I dug out photos.
"OMG, I was such a noob!"
"OMG, I looked like Jordi then!"
"I want this. Scan for me to put on blog leh!"
Aiights, my troublesome brother.
I even had to accompany him downstairs for lunch. His eyes nearly popped out when he realised the bowl of yupianmifen he ordered cost $4. Oh, his ice coffee was CMI too.
When my dad asked me to go drive mum home from work, I asked him to come with me because "you asked me to go for lunch with you while I WATCHED as you EAT." Haha! Stupid Rong says he's lazy and when I asked him to sleep in the car, he said he did not dare to because I was the one driving.
But anyway, he did go with me in the end, and I refused to on the air-con and wound down the windows instead. Lol! Think we were quite noisy cuz he blasted music in the car. He has a very bad habit of switching between stations every few minutes. Tsk!
Japan - Rong with his weird pose.
Rong with his trademark smirk then, and Hao with his very big-bro-like hand-over-shoulder act when I was the eldest.
That ah gong's no longer around - it will take a while to sink in.
This whole thing just feels so surreal.
One day it was seeing him still on his bed, breathing a little harder than usual.
Next was the sms that he's gone.
Then it was the wake. Folding/ burning joss papers day in and day out. Ritual after ritual.
Cremation. Collection of ashes, bringing them out to sea.
A coin and a lighter from his collection.
That scene at the crematorium keeps flashing in my mind.
Tired.
I know he came back, because we saw that handprint on the rice.
When saying goodbye gets hard.
It was a good thing we went to visit Grandpa after shopping that day, cuz that was the last I saw of him.
We knew it was only a matter of hours - it was just too hard seeing him like that. The tears flowed more freely with each passing hour, and I was praying really hard he would hold out till my brother got back. Because I knew he wouldn't pass on peacefully before he got to see him; and I knew that my brother would have regrets thereafter.
Very much to my relief, he got back in time. Grandpa seemed to be much more at ease, and we headed back home cuz my uncle thinks he'd most likely be holding out till he sees my other uncle, who happened to be overseas.
Unfortunately, he didn't and about 1 hour into the next morning, he was gone.
I only learnt of it the next morning from my brother, went about with school before going to the wake.
Couldn't stop crying having breakfast and even in the bus on my way to school. Yet, I was surprisingly stoic at the wake. Not totally indifferent cuz it sucks big time to see a face so familiar behind that little window. I try not to stare too hard because I very much prefer how he looked like when he was better.
The photo's really well taken. In fact, it was taken last CNY, when he and grandma took part in this yuanxiao event where they renewed their marriage vows.
They had his mouth stitched up cuz I think it was wide agape when he breathed his last.
I wasn't there when they wanted to nail the coffin. And HE knew I was not there, cuz apparently they couldn't get any 'puay' when they prayed. Haiz. My father had some explaining to do, and they got the 'puay' they wanted and nailed. It was how my grandpa would have liked it - he always wanted everyone to be there, at every gathering, celebration....
2 more days, and it'll really be goodbye.
I just hope everyone pulls through it.
That, even if we won't ever see him again, he'll be remembered as the grandpa that loves his Carlsberg, offers to buy chicken wings whenever we visit, laughed when we asked if he still wanted his Carlsberg when he got sick, and insisted it was milo he puked when it really was blood.
Bye Grandpa.
today
Audition for further perc elective was on today. Walking down NIE's corridors brought back fond memories of NYPF!
Heart in mouth when he called me into the room. Trembled a little as he proceeded to ask, "Any experience in playing? With which band? Who was the conductor? Do you play piano?"
Started with the marimba. Took the mallets and almost started off on the wrong octave, and proceeded to play about 16 bars before he asked me to stop...There were bars and bars of semiquavers I got kinda freaked out. Continued with the snare which had lots of drags and somehow I screwed that up real badly. Rhythm was way off because the drags threw me off track and I couldn't even play the crotchets and quavers properly. zomg. I PRAY I get this elective.
Laying hands on the mallets felt like saying hi to a long lost friend. :)
Anyway, Dad asked if I'd like to go pick mum up, like he always do. Except, this time round, he asked me to go alone. I stared at him, and he said, "Or later ask your brother to go with you la."
Not a chance, since my brother wasn't even home.
Usually, we'd leave the house at 1015, and then I'd slowly drive there, under his supervision and nagging. Haha. Today, I waited till 1030 only to realise he'd fallen asleep infront of the television. So I screamed for him to wake up, and just when I thought he'd relented and decided to come along with me again, he passed me the car key and said, "You know where the exit is, where to turn right? Don't miss it ah."
So I wound down the windows and switched to my favourite radio station and went off, ALONE.
Oh, and it only took me 15 min to reach Mum's workplace. =x
My parking skills always go haywire at night.
All at once.
Tired but happy.
Had a long day at rehearsal for Chingay.
It was like a scene right out from some "pageant's behind-the-scenes".There were make-up artistes and hairstylists when we got to the room. We had to take turns going to each one for foundation/eye-shadow/face-art etc... It'd been quite a sight!
Everyone started whipping out their cameras and snapped away.
Some whined about the head-gear; others about their costumes...
But in my opinion, nothing beats having that THING on your head for over 6 hours.
Make-up and hair were done before the contingent adjourned to PA from school in 2 buses. We had to stoop down a little so that we wouldn't subject ourselves to more torture brushing the head-gears against the buses' tops.
At PA, we were greeted with an array of colours and huge crowds of performers. In comparison, ours looked the most cheena and wayang-ish. Haha! But again, it is not everyday you get to slap on hues as dark as ours.
Once for an experience would be quite sufficient. At times, it gets so grueling having to do mini-sprints continuously I really feel like giving up/ trip and fall and excuse myself from there. Even the turnings and spinnings make me a little disoriented.
Nonetheless, I'm looking forward to both parades on the 30th and 31st! :)
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Grandma's really enjoying talking to her little great-grandson over the phone. As I'm typing this, she's going "hello. hello. hello. hello. hello. hello. hello. hello. hello. hello. hello. hello. hello.", "boyboy. boyboy. boyboy. boyboy. boyboy. boyboy. boyboy." with a one-second pause between each "hello" and "boyboy". I gave up counting exactly how many times my cute grandma's repeated that! Haha.
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It's a small country we're living in. Last night when we sent home in cabs in groups of 4, I happened to be in the one with 2 others who were from the same primary school! One's my age (who happens to be Celia's friend) and the other's a school junior. Haha! Oh, then there's one other in the cab too, with whom I share the same name, and she lives only 2 bus stops away from me! Somehow, we were all quite excited, despite the number of pins that were still sticking into our heads, and yakked for the whole journey. Maybe that's why the taxi driver got a irritated and sped because the monitor read "Warning: Please drive carefully!". It was alarming to see that. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I couldn't see the speedometer from where I was seated.
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I'm really fascinated with photography. I wonder if an SLR camera makes it all different. Perhaps with my non-existent photography skills (seeing how my 'speciality' lies in taking shots with covered faces/ getting into flash-fights with Stephie), even the SLR camera won't help.
But pictures, like those seen in
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chewmyheadoff make me go "wow" and I do hope that someday I will be able to take snapshots like that too!
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Grandpa's getting weaker, I heard. Ya, HEARD. In other words, I haven't seen him since Christmas. I feel so unfilial. Hope he gets better...
Post ching-reh grouses
They do have their reasons for disallowing us to cut our hair...
The head gear wouldn't stay! There're shells, flowers and some other wire stuffs (i don't know what that's called) on it, and it's heavy. :x
Oh, let's not get started on the costume. Haha! Everyone's feeling a bit, exposed.
I think I've forgotten what it felt like to enjoy singing. Perhaps, I'll want out after the concert and go join YJ instead. Hopefully doing something more meaningful...
See how it goes.
Anw, am I gonna get reimbursements for those textbooks?!
I just blew close to $110 on them! And that's not including the one for stats, (holding back cuz it's $50 for a book that's not even the height of my thumb).
I'm already missing the hols!
one week into the new year...
If I can just pull those socks up. Except, I hardly see them.
A week since start of the year, and already I'm feeling sluggish.
7 pounds was not entirely how I anticipated it to be. It was off to a slow start, leaving me completely clueless. Revelation and oh! enlightenment at the end. Found the beating heart and the jellyfish sting suicide method a wee bit gruesome but still bearable. Thought-provoking.
Got my new specs, but I think she didn't do a good job cleaning off the marks and I can't clean those off with only water. Probably need to get it back there. =/
I am so not for lecturers putting up notes AFTER lectures.
Bedtime.
Before the new semester begins
Linn complained I didn't blog about my belated bday celeb. Haha!
M.O.F. dinner, with aManda, YJ, Bin and Linn =D
A red packet from them with cards in the pictures of cars! toot toot! Evidently quieter than the group of guys (who were celebrating their friend's bday as well) seated 2 tables behind us. Joined in the singing his bday song (just for the fun of it) and quietly continued with dinner.
Civilised people don't talk and cackle when eating. Haha!Photos, and a "goddamn long vid" *quote from Linn*
Didn't do much cuz we had a short night, but enjoyed their company nonetheless :)
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That dreadful feeling's so immense now it's overwhelming.
School's starting tomorrow, that's what.On the bright side, I had a great time with Stephie and Ying, and Ying's cousins, today!
Mac breakfast for starters, before we took the cable car down to Sentosa! Been years since I last took the cable car.
Headed for the attractions (F.O.C. courtesy of Ying).
Late lunch at Harbourfront, and decided (with the help of a coin) to go ahead with the cruise trip.
Midway through the journey, decided against it. Ying headed home with her cousins, so Steph and I went to watch BedtimeStories at P.S.
I'd think it was quite worth my 10 bucks, cuz I found it pretty hilarious.
And I had my first Pepper Lunch meal today :)
Zhen loves her salmon, raw and cooked.
Looking forward to picnics and more meetups!
A little of everything please.
The music plays only if you click on the "Tagboard" tab. Stops the minute you navigate to other tabs. (As if anyone cares...hoho!)
I'll try to keep this blogskin on till 2010 rolls around.
Love the little old hag at the side under the disclaimer. <3
Shopping for presents do reveal how much you really know about the intended receiver.
Saw the heels in Marks & Spencers again, but they didn't have it in my size. =/
It's a dread thinking about Monday.
AND, I didn't get any electives, despite having 3 on waitlist! -pouts-
Pray that I pass auditions on Monday for that elective. Then I won't have to worry about sourcing for another.
Another long day at Chingay tomorrow.
Can't wait for Sunday! :)
It's the NEW YEAR!
A short one before I turn in for the night.
It's 2009! Late, but better late than never. :D
In 2008, YZ...
got her license!
got her dip. in Accountancy
worked for a long period (attachment + part time)
got her G7
turned 20
put on a lot of weight [haha!]
MADE DECISIONS
and
a whole truckload of stuffs she can't really recall in detail now.
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First day of the year 2009
she's got-
a new dress! :)
new spectacles (whee! after 4 years, with a 25 deg increase in both eyes)
and still trying to finish up 7th book of Potter.
Haha!
