Well, I am back!
After a 2 week sorjourn in London, which was quite an experience for me and Tim, I felt happy to be home. Sleeping on my thick comfortable bed and eating my usual meals (chinese dim sum, fishballs, yong tau foo, fried koay teow, rice with dishes) and drinking teh tarik from porcelain cups made me glad that I was not a permanent resident of Britain!
Unlike my sister who has been there for the past 30 years, this was my second trip. Each time after flying into England, I will be suffering from homesickness. Homesick for teh tarik and chinese food!
Our journey started on 25th July in the afternoon. We chose Air Lanka as it was the cheapest. At RM3k per person round trip from KL to Heathrow, it was a real steal. The only snag was the short transit at Singapore. We had to disembark at Changi and let the authorities rummage through our bags. Singapore was so much stricter than KLIA. Tim lost his favorite scissors key chain. They made him threw it away at the security check. From Singapore we flew for 3 hours to Colombo. Air Lanka is not too bad if you don't mind the food. Sometimes the food you want may not be available thus you would have to eat whatever is available. In my case it was some kind of cheesy pasta that neither looked nor tasted appealing.
It was about 9 pm Colombo time when we touched down. Bandaranaike airport was very sparse. Small black chairs lined the arrival and departure halls. Looking at the chairs, I was just thinking 'how could we possibly lie down on those uncomfortable chairs'. They look like office chairs with their low backs and small seats. Yet I could see many transit travellers having a shut eye on them.
The immigration officers who stamped our passports did not seem too friendly. One guy even asked us why we were in Colombo until his colleague told him that we were in transit! There was only one restaurant but many small stalls selling handicrafts. There was one duty free shop and a shop selling electrical items.
However we were delighted when Air Lanka told us that we were to be given accomodation at the Jetwing Star due to the long wait till 6 am for our connecting flight. God is good! We met a Pakistani family travelling back to Karachi who was also given accomodation in Colombo while waiting for thier connecting flight. I told him 'Wasn't Pakistan the place where Osama was killed?' The friendly father told us that Pakistan is really safe and a nice place to visit. They told us not to believe everything we read in the papers about Pakistan!
Thank God for Air Lanka! We will certainly consider flying her the next time although we may have to endure the food on board.
AYU BUYON (Singhalese for Welcome)!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
A very present help in times of trouble
Ps 46:1 "God is my refuge and my strength, a very present help in times of trouble"
When I read this, it felt that God was speaking to me directly about my situation in the office. God has helped me in the past and will help me in the future but more than that he is also my helper in the present. Everyday in the office there I faced new and difficult challenges. Some of them really test my patience and my staying power. Many times, I felt like it would be easier to just throw in the letter and stay at home like my husband. Nobody to return you documents you have drafted (and redrafted) with remarks in red ink all over, no one to ask you to 'explain' why you had overlooked certain things and made you feel like you have done a big mistake that would put your job on the line, nobody to make hurtful comments about you, nobody to do things to you that tend to humiliate you (signing in/signing out/barring you from the internet) and the list goes on. However to her credit and as a testimony to God who answers prayers, my boss has changed much over the years I have worked with her. Indeed she had lost a lot of her hardness and unreasonableness and what I call 'scolding zeal'. As my relationship with her improved so the scoldings also became more manageable. It is not to say that they ceased all together, it is just that I responded better.
Anyway this verse really encouraged me. I kept praying over it and meditating on it all day long. God is my present help. He is not just my past help or my future help, he has promised to give me help NOW and TODAY!
There was a particular paper I dreaded doing. I kept putting it off day after day as I knew that it would be difficult to write. However when I read this verse, I knew that God will certainly be more than able to help me write it. So write I did....in 3 days or so I finished a 9 page paper with over 8 attachments! Finally what I kept putting off was crystallized into words! Praise God!
However boss wanted me to put all that I had written in the 9 page paper in a pictorial format. Now how could I possibly do that? She said that I had used too many words! I told her that I wanted a comprehensive paper. I prayed and prayed. God, you are my present help in times of trouble. Help me Lord!
While praying during lunch time, I saw the whole picture! God gave me the pictorial format! I was able to put it in a one-page diagram and I must say it looked very impressive....Thank you Lord!
When I read this, it felt that God was speaking to me directly about my situation in the office. God has helped me in the past and will help me in the future but more than that he is also my helper in the present. Everyday in the office there I faced new and difficult challenges. Some of them really test my patience and my staying power. Many times, I felt like it would be easier to just throw in the letter and stay at home like my husband. Nobody to return you documents you have drafted (and redrafted) with remarks in red ink all over, no one to ask you to 'explain' why you had overlooked certain things and made you feel like you have done a big mistake that would put your job on the line, nobody to make hurtful comments about you, nobody to do things to you that tend to humiliate you (signing in/signing out/barring you from the internet) and the list goes on. However to her credit and as a testimony to God who answers prayers, my boss has changed much over the years I have worked with her. Indeed she had lost a lot of her hardness and unreasonableness and what I call 'scolding zeal'. As my relationship with her improved so the scoldings also became more manageable. It is not to say that they ceased all together, it is just that I responded better.
Anyway this verse really encouraged me. I kept praying over it and meditating on it all day long. God is my present help. He is not just my past help or my future help, he has promised to give me help NOW and TODAY!
There was a particular paper I dreaded doing. I kept putting it off day after day as I knew that it would be difficult to write. However when I read this verse, I knew that God will certainly be more than able to help me write it. So write I did....in 3 days or so I finished a 9 page paper with over 8 attachments! Finally what I kept putting off was crystallized into words! Praise God!
However boss wanted me to put all that I had written in the 9 page paper in a pictorial format. Now how could I possibly do that? She said that I had used too many words! I told her that I wanted a comprehensive paper. I prayed and prayed. God, you are my present help in times of trouble. Help me Lord!
While praying during lunch time, I saw the whole picture! God gave me the pictorial format! I was able to put it in a one-page diagram and I must say it looked very impressive....Thank you Lord!
Invasion of the young people
Well, over the past months, our youngest daughter had her Uni friends stayed over at the house. At one time, I had to gingerly stepped over sleeping bodies all over my living room! There were young people sleeping on the floor, on the sofa, 3 to a bed in the bedrooms....I think if the kitchen floor had wood panelling, some of them might even sleep there too! Anyway, I was glad to get to know Amanda's friends. These bunch of boys and girls conversed mainly in Mandarin. Thanks to them my youngest daughter could speak Mandarin fluently. What we could not achieve with all the tuition teachers when she was young was achieved with her spending a year and a half at the University up north! God had given my youngest daughter a special grace to adapt and to pick up languages with ease.
Anyway, at least 2 young men and a young lady stayed for a slightly longer period than the others. One of them had started working in the No. 1 Japanese boutique, Uniclo and needed a place to stay. Being the kind hearted folks we were, we agreed to Amanda's proposal to let him stay for a nominal sum. The other stayed for about 2 weeks as he had was from Penang and needed a place to stay temporarily. Like Amanda, he had to repeat some foundation year papers at President College. The other girl opted to re-sit 4 papers. Many of my daughter's classmates did not get the required CGPA for dentistry or medicine but they were a determined lot. Re-sitting the papers in another college was the best option in order to ensure a place in the private medical universities for the courses they wanted!
Seeing them in the house, talking to them and watching them interact with each other made me recall the question I was asked during the supermum contest on board the Virgo "Do you think you could have been a better mum with more children?". I answered that its not the quantity but the quality that matters. But seriously looking at the young men and young women playing cards, cluedo, monopoly and badminton with each other, hearing their light and easy banter and seeing them giving Samuel other options of leisure rather than his computer....I really wonder....would it have been different for my son if he had a brother to play with?
Anyway, at least 2 young men and a young lady stayed for a slightly longer period than the others. One of them had started working in the No. 1 Japanese boutique, Uniclo and needed a place to stay. Being the kind hearted folks we were, we agreed to Amanda's proposal to let him stay for a nominal sum. The other stayed for about 2 weeks as he had was from Penang and needed a place to stay temporarily. Like Amanda, he had to repeat some foundation year papers at President College. The other girl opted to re-sit 4 papers. Many of my daughter's classmates did not get the required CGPA for dentistry or medicine but they were a determined lot. Re-sitting the papers in another college was the best option in order to ensure a place in the private medical universities for the courses they wanted!
Seeing them in the house, talking to them and watching them interact with each other made me recall the question I was asked during the supermum contest on board the Virgo "Do you think you could have been a better mum with more children?". I answered that its not the quantity but the quality that matters. But seriously looking at the young men and young women playing cards, cluedo, monopoly and badminton with each other, hearing their light and easy banter and seeing them giving Samuel other options of leisure rather than his computer....I really wonder....would it have been different for my son if he had a brother to play with?
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Hard Rock Hotel Singapore
Day 4 (Wednesday), whilst the children played chess with giant chess pieces on the 13th deck, Tim and I played several rounds of ping pong. Other than ping pong, there is a mini golf course, a small wall for climbing, a basketball court and a games room where we could borrow board games to play. After having a hearty lunch at the Pavillion, we checked out and said farewell to the lovely cruise staff on the Virgo and stepped off the beautiful ship....we will be back next year! O yes, I also bought the supermum video for keepsakes! Imagine being the 1st runner up of a beauty and talent contest at 51 years old!
The check out was dissapointing as we had to queue for almost an hour or more before leaving Harbour Front. We took a taxi to Resorts World Sentosa and checked into Hard Rock Hotel. This boutique hotel has black and purple as its theme color accentuated with bright white and orange lights. The concierge was really friendly and helpful giving us maps, umbrellas and MRT cards. The reception staff did not wear uniforms but dressed like they were on a night out!
The Hotel is dedicated to all things rock. Black and white pictures of rock stars adorn their walls from the foyer to the corridors to the rooms. The lifts had crystals covering the mirrors on the side panels giving the place a cosy and romantic feel. The rooms were huge - it could easily accomodate 4 persons. The beds were soft and downy....like Amanda says "I can fall asleep just putting my head on the pillow". The room chandelier was unique as it dropped down from the ceiling encased in a cylinder. As for the bathrooms the dressing mirrors looked like mirrors from the changing rooms of a theater or concert hall with round orange bulbs encircling its sides. Hard Rock Hotel had humonguous rooms, almost twice the size of my bedroom back home!
On the first night, we decided to watch the much acclaimed show "Voyage de la vie" at Resorts World. The performances comprised unique chereography, lavish period costumes, singing interspersed with acrobatic acts never seen before by us and a story-line. We saw world class trapeze artists, motorcycle riders weaving up and down cylindrical globes, a William Tell-like archery demonstration, rope acrobats, a juggler whose little balls literally flowed out of his fingers, a comedic illusionist and his team which did a stunning illusion right in front of our eyes...and many more! In Amanda's words "This is the best show I have seen. It made the Virgo shows seems so 'chapalang' (slang for low class)" - sorry Harold Q, no hard feelings!
The illusionist deserved a little mention as he did one illusion which was very clever. He sawed his partner (who happens to be a guy and a pianist) into 2 and pushed the front part of his body close to the piano and as far away from his pair of legs as possible.The partner then played the piano face up in a reclining position with half of his body showing, the other half was sent to the far side of the stage! Long after the show, we were still trying to figure out how it was done. (You see, Tim and the children have watched the show "Breaking the magician's code" several times and something they like to do is to figure out how a certain magic act/illusion was carried out).
The following day we had a hearty buffet breakfast at the Starz and made our way to Vivo City at Harbour Front to do some shopping. For one thing, electrical gadgets such as hand phones and computers were cheap (even after conversion into SGD) and we inspected and tried out many models of i-phones, i-pads, berry(s) at the different shops at Vivo City. I toyed with the idea of an i-phone so that I could update my blog anytime any place....however I just did not feel that I could take on the responsibility of taking care of such an expensive piece of gadget, having lost my phone on the monorail sometime ago.
Needless to say, we also visited the Uniqlo outlet and admired the wide range of clothes available.
We took the cable car back to the Hotel and enjoyed a scenic view of Singapore. Towering buildings, hotels and the theme park dotted the landscape. We checked out about 1 pm and took a cab to the Golden Mile Complex at Beach Road where our double decker bus fully equipped with an in-house TV, kitchenette and plush chairs was waiting for us....
This holiday bonded the family together like never before. Somehow we always feel closer to our children after a few days away together....(see our photos on facebook)!
Goodbye Singapore, goodbye Virgo....see you next year!
The check out was dissapointing as we had to queue for almost an hour or more before leaving Harbour Front. We took a taxi to Resorts World Sentosa and checked into Hard Rock Hotel. This boutique hotel has black and purple as its theme color accentuated with bright white and orange lights. The concierge was really friendly and helpful giving us maps, umbrellas and MRT cards. The reception staff did not wear uniforms but dressed like they were on a night out!
The Hotel is dedicated to all things rock. Black and white pictures of rock stars adorn their walls from the foyer to the corridors to the rooms. The lifts had crystals covering the mirrors on the side panels giving the place a cosy and romantic feel. The rooms were huge - it could easily accomodate 4 persons. The beds were soft and downy....like Amanda says "I can fall asleep just putting my head on the pillow". The room chandelier was unique as it dropped down from the ceiling encased in a cylinder. As for the bathrooms the dressing mirrors looked like mirrors from the changing rooms of a theater or concert hall with round orange bulbs encircling its sides. Hard Rock Hotel had humonguous rooms, almost twice the size of my bedroom back home!
On the first night, we decided to watch the much acclaimed show "Voyage de la vie" at Resorts World. The performances comprised unique chereography, lavish period costumes, singing interspersed with acrobatic acts never seen before by us and a story-line. We saw world class trapeze artists, motorcycle riders weaving up and down cylindrical globes, a William Tell-like archery demonstration, rope acrobats, a juggler whose little balls literally flowed out of his fingers, a comedic illusionist and his team which did a stunning illusion right in front of our eyes...and many more! In Amanda's words "This is the best show I have seen. It made the Virgo shows seems so 'chapalang' (slang for low class)" - sorry Harold Q, no hard feelings!
The illusionist deserved a little mention as he did one illusion which was very clever. He sawed his partner (who happens to be a guy and a pianist) into 2 and pushed the front part of his body close to the piano and as far away from his pair of legs as possible.The partner then played the piano face up in a reclining position with half of his body showing, the other half was sent to the far side of the stage! Long after the show, we were still trying to figure out how it was done. (You see, Tim and the children have watched the show "Breaking the magician's code" several times and something they like to do is to figure out how a certain magic act/illusion was carried out).
The following day we had a hearty buffet breakfast at the Starz and made our way to Vivo City at Harbour Front to do some shopping. For one thing, electrical gadgets such as hand phones and computers were cheap (even after conversion into SGD) and we inspected and tried out many models of i-phones, i-pads, berry(s) at the different shops at Vivo City. I toyed with the idea of an i-phone so that I could update my blog anytime any place....however I just did not feel that I could take on the responsibility of taking care of such an expensive piece of gadget, having lost my phone on the monorail sometime ago.
Needless to say, we also visited the Uniqlo outlet and admired the wide range of clothes available.
We took the cable car back to the Hotel and enjoyed a scenic view of Singapore. Towering buildings, hotels and the theme park dotted the landscape. We checked out about 1 pm and took a cab to the Golden Mile Complex at Beach Road where our double decker bus fully equipped with an in-house TV, kitchenette and plush chairs was waiting for us....
This holiday bonded the family together like never before. Somehow we always feel closer to our children after a few days away together....(see our photos on facebook)!
Goodbye Singapore, goodbye Virgo....see you next year!
Tuesday on the Virgo
We had a lovely Chinese breakfast on Tuesday at the Pavillion. The ship had docked at Langkawi about 8 am in the morning and many guests were signing up for the several tour packages available. The children wanted to go on the flying fox and abseiling but we were told that the tour had to be cancelled as they did not have enough participants. Many opted for eagle feeding and fish farm visits. We chose the shopping tour with stops at the Underwater Seaworld and the Eagle Square at Langkawi.
Much had changed since we last came to this beautiful island. For starters there were whole families of dwarf African penguins in a glass aquarium which we had not seen before. The colorful fishes, sharks, stingrays, starfishes, arowana, eels etc were simply stunning. After the aquarium visit, the tour bus took us to the fame Eagle Square for some photo shoots. The last stop was to a duty free shop to buy some of Langkawi's cheap chocolates...forero roches, after 8s, hersheys, mentos, tobblerones truffles were relatively cheaper than those back home. We must have spent over RM300 at the shop...I also bought some chocolates for church members and colleagues.
Back at the ship we got ready for the pre dinner cocktails with the captain and the ship senior management. We also had photo taking sessions with the captain. Pre dinner cocktails of champagne, mix cocktails, Japanese sushis were served also served. Every Tuesday on board the Virgo is gala dinner time, a time for guests to dress in their best finery and dine on an exclusive dinner menu. We saw a group of Chinese nationals dressed to the nines....the men were in tux, the ladies in black dresses and decked with jewelry. Some were dressed casually but most were formerly dressed. I had to buy a lovely (bling bling) necklace from the shop on board the ship to add a little pizzaz to my white Uniqlo top in order not to look too casual.
The Western dinner at the Bella Vista was a memorable experience. Lovely salads, soups and fish were served in just the right portions. Before the dinner ended, the kitchen staff came out with flags from their respective countries and greeted us with cheers and singing....it was an atmosphere of great fun and camarederie!
On this final night (tomorrow we would have to bid farewell to a wonderful cruise) we opted to watch the 10 pm Russian acrobatic show. The Russian acrobats were truly Olympic standard.....a lady who could twirl many hula hoops around her body, a young boy with strong arms who did some stunning acrobatic moves just twirling and twisting on a rope right in front of us, two men in flowing white pants did some stunning visual aerial acrobats that were just exquisite, a couple who did some incredible pole aerobics......!
The acrobatic performances were interspersed with dancers in beautiful shimmering costumes dancing traditional Russian folk dances with stunning chereography....truly an apt finale!
Tomorrow - Hard Rock Hotel, Singapore!
Much had changed since we last came to this beautiful island. For starters there were whole families of dwarf African penguins in a glass aquarium which we had not seen before. The colorful fishes, sharks, stingrays, starfishes, arowana, eels etc were simply stunning. After the aquarium visit, the tour bus took us to the fame Eagle Square for some photo shoots. The last stop was to a duty free shop to buy some of Langkawi's cheap chocolates...forero roches, after 8s, hersheys, mentos, tobblerones truffles were relatively cheaper than those back home. We must have spent over RM300 at the shop...I also bought some chocolates for church members and colleagues.
Back at the ship we got ready for the pre dinner cocktails with the captain and the ship senior management. We also had photo taking sessions with the captain. Pre dinner cocktails of champagne, mix cocktails, Japanese sushis were served also served. Every Tuesday on board the Virgo is gala dinner time, a time for guests to dress in their best finery and dine on an exclusive dinner menu. We saw a group of Chinese nationals dressed to the nines....the men were in tux, the ladies in black dresses and decked with jewelry. Some were dressed casually but most were formerly dressed. I had to buy a lovely (bling bling) necklace from the shop on board the ship to add a little pizzaz to my white Uniqlo top in order not to look too casual.
The Western dinner at the Bella Vista was a memorable experience. Lovely salads, soups and fish were served in just the right portions. Before the dinner ended, the kitchen staff came out with flags from their respective countries and greeted us with cheers and singing....it was an atmosphere of great fun and camarederie!
On this final night (tomorrow we would have to bid farewell to a wonderful cruise) we opted to watch the 10 pm Russian acrobatic show. The Russian acrobats were truly Olympic standard.....a lady who could twirl many hula hoops around her body, a young boy with strong arms who did some stunning acrobatic moves just twirling and twisting on a rope right in front of us, two men in flowing white pants did some stunning visual aerial acrobats that were just exquisite, a couple who did some incredible pole aerobics......!
The acrobatic performances were interspersed with dancers in beautiful shimmering costumes dancing traditional Russian folk dances with stunning chereography....truly an apt finale!
Tomorrow - Hard Rock Hotel, Singapore!
Friday, May 13, 2011
Monday on the Virgo
On Monday, I decided to join the Superstar Virgo Supermum contest. What was required for me was to show my talent in any area, singing, dancing etc. I told my family that if I could write a poem on mothers I will sign up for the contest. After a delicious western breakfast of several varieties of eggs: poached, sunny side, runny, omelette, croissant, brioche, cereals. nasi lemak, turkey ham etc, I rushed to the Celebrity Disco for the rehearsal.
10 of us had signed up for the contest: 8 Indians, 1 Filipino and me the only Malaysian. We had to give a short intro of ourselves. We were then ushered into the Lido where we were required to rehearse the following:
1. give our names, country and a one liner on "A mum is.....",
2. our standing positions, our numbers which were pinned to us (yours truly was no: 4), our posing and our movements on stage,
3. our talents (I did not read out my poem as I had not really finalized it. First Harold gave us one minute then he decided to increase it to 2 minutes, so I had to write 2 poems to accomodate the time!),
4. 3 pieces of linen bedsheets were given to us. To show our creativity we had to wrap it around our bodies and come up with the most creative wear. It was not easy as the linen was long and the size of a single bed. I spent the whole afternoon trying to figure out what to do with them. For the first piece I made a pareo with it. For the second, I made a long wrap. For the remaining piece, I folded it into a handbag and tied it loosely with a beautiful necklace I had bought from the Ports O' Call,
4. we then had to wear our evening wear (clothes we bought for the gala dinner, though I did not bring anything special as I had no idea about it) and show it off to the judges,
5. finally we had to answer one question from our judges.
My family waited around for me from 11 am to about 2 pm and then we had a quick lunch at the Mediterranean buffet. At about 3 pm, they went to see the magic show, while I continued fine tuning my poem about my mother. At about 4 pm, the crew gave a lively dance performance (again I had seen it before on the Libra last year).
Well all the hard work finally paid off. The judges loved my poem and I won the first runner up! The prizes were: a bottle of champagne and a ticket to the Las Vegas show 'Casanova'. I was also given a certificate and a sash. The winner was a Filipino Chinese who won a ticket for 2 on board the Libra! Well never mind if I missed that as I made some nice friends from India. They were really talented. Some of them did Bollywood dances, some sang, one did a yoga....it was all good fun! One of the judges came up to me later and told me that he really loved my poem!
Here is the poem for my mum written on the Virgo that clinced me the prize (for the record, this is the first time I wrote a poem on board a ship and the first time at 50 years old I had entered a Supermum contest and won!):
"Though my mother is not with me on this beautiful ship today
Allow me to say a few words on her behalf on Mother's Day
Mum is 76 years old this year, but really her eyesight is good, her mind is clear.
She did not go to University but her words of wisdom remain with me.
She did not climb Mount Everest but she ensured that we (her 5 children) had the very best.
Cooking the most nutritious home cooked fare, yes, my mum is truly chef extraordinaire!
Though she did not sail the seven seas, her zest for life inspires me!
I remember how at each festivity, she will have lovely dresses sown for me.
She made sure that we dress nice and neat, politeness and respect for others
the hallmark of our speech!
And when we fall sick, she even treats our maladies, cough medicine, aspirins and medicated oil for all emergencies!
She is no Donald Trump or Bill Gates, she did not start a business conglomerate,
but all 5 of us had a good education - an auditor, a lawyer, a speech therapist, a business woman and a trainer economist!
To all mothers on holiday here today, this is just what I want to say.
Thank you for taking care of us with unceasing patience and unfailing love!
Your work is 24 hours and your salary is pure love!
And if we have not said it before, we want to say it again....
Thank you mums and a million thanks, hugs and kisses again and again!"
The question the judge I chose (he was the head chef) was: Would having more children make you a better mum? My answer: It is not the quantity but the quality as the job of the mum is to raise up children who are well behaved, polite, hard working and responsible citizens of a country and who themselves will be examples and models for their own children!
What an experience! We could not stop talking about it after the contest and there were endless photo taking. In the evening we had a lovely western dinner and decided to take a taxi to the Sri Bhurapa cashew nut factory at Phuket. There we bought many packets of cashew nuts and my favorite anchovies.
The only disappointment was that Samuel did not get to watch Phuket Fantasea. Daddy did not want to take him as 1) he did not have enought bhat and 2) he had seen the show before on Astro. It was also raining heavily in Phuket. The taxi driver was friendly and spoke really good English. I promised Samuel that if we come back to Phuket for the next cruise, I will make sure that I had enough money to take him for the show.
What about Amanda? She was busy studying her Maths. She had to re-sit her Maths paper as she had failed in it. Her exam was on Friday, one day after our return to Malaysia. Before we left, Amanda got her results for her foundation in science. She had a B and 2 Cs. That put paid to her desire to do dentistry as the minimum was 3 Bs. Finally daddy relented and agreed to let her do law, apparently her first choice. When she went to HELP to see whether they could take her in, they told her that she had to pass her Maths.
I guess sometimes as parents we really want the best for our children (maybe even for ourselves). Children with vocations like doctors and dentists will earn more money, more money means bigger allowances for us in our old age!However I realize that this may not be what our children wants. Further we need to be fully aware of what they can/cannot do and their natural inclination.
From this experience, I can see that things will always come full circle. Water will always rise to its own level. I truly hope that Amanda will shine and excel in her chosen career...will write later!
10 of us had signed up for the contest: 8 Indians, 1 Filipino and me the only Malaysian. We had to give a short intro of ourselves. We were then ushered into the Lido where we were required to rehearse the following:
1. give our names, country and a one liner on "A mum is.....",
2. our standing positions, our numbers which were pinned to us (yours truly was no: 4), our posing and our movements on stage,
3. our talents (I did not read out my poem as I had not really finalized it. First Harold gave us one minute then he decided to increase it to 2 minutes, so I had to write 2 poems to accomodate the time!),
4. 3 pieces of linen bedsheets were given to us. To show our creativity we had to wrap it around our bodies and come up with the most creative wear. It was not easy as the linen was long and the size of a single bed. I spent the whole afternoon trying to figure out what to do with them. For the first piece I made a pareo with it. For the second, I made a long wrap. For the remaining piece, I folded it into a handbag and tied it loosely with a beautiful necklace I had bought from the Ports O' Call,
4. we then had to wear our evening wear (clothes we bought for the gala dinner, though I did not bring anything special as I had no idea about it) and show it off to the judges,
5. finally we had to answer one question from our judges.
My family waited around for me from 11 am to about 2 pm and then we had a quick lunch at the Mediterranean buffet. At about 3 pm, they went to see the magic show, while I continued fine tuning my poem about my mother. At about 4 pm, the crew gave a lively dance performance (again I had seen it before on the Libra last year).
Well all the hard work finally paid off. The judges loved my poem and I won the first runner up! The prizes were: a bottle of champagne and a ticket to the Las Vegas show 'Casanova'. I was also given a certificate and a sash. The winner was a Filipino Chinese who won a ticket for 2 on board the Libra! Well never mind if I missed that as I made some nice friends from India. They were really talented. Some of them did Bollywood dances, some sang, one did a yoga....it was all good fun! One of the judges came up to me later and told me that he really loved my poem!
Here is the poem for my mum written on the Virgo that clinced me the prize (for the record, this is the first time I wrote a poem on board a ship and the first time at 50 years old I had entered a Supermum contest and won!):
"Though my mother is not with me on this beautiful ship today
Allow me to say a few words on her behalf on Mother's Day
Mum is 76 years old this year, but really her eyesight is good, her mind is clear.
She did not go to University but her words of wisdom remain with me.
She did not climb Mount Everest but she ensured that we (her 5 children) had the very best.
Cooking the most nutritious home cooked fare, yes, my mum is truly chef extraordinaire!
Though she did not sail the seven seas, her zest for life inspires me!
I remember how at each festivity, she will have lovely dresses sown for me.
She made sure that we dress nice and neat, politeness and respect for others
the hallmark of our speech!
And when we fall sick, she even treats our maladies, cough medicine, aspirins and medicated oil for all emergencies!
She is no Donald Trump or Bill Gates, she did not start a business conglomerate,
but all 5 of us had a good education - an auditor, a lawyer, a speech therapist, a business woman and a trainer economist!
To all mothers on holiday here today, this is just what I want to say.
Thank you for taking care of us with unceasing patience and unfailing love!
Your work is 24 hours and your salary is pure love!
And if we have not said it before, we want to say it again....
Thank you mums and a million thanks, hugs and kisses again and again!"
The question the judge I chose (he was the head chef) was: Would having more children make you a better mum? My answer: It is not the quantity but the quality as the job of the mum is to raise up children who are well behaved, polite, hard working and responsible citizens of a country and who themselves will be examples and models for their own children!
What an experience! We could not stop talking about it after the contest and there were endless photo taking. In the evening we had a lovely western dinner and decided to take a taxi to the Sri Bhurapa cashew nut factory at Phuket. There we bought many packets of cashew nuts and my favorite anchovies.
The only disappointment was that Samuel did not get to watch Phuket Fantasea. Daddy did not want to take him as 1) he did not have enought bhat and 2) he had seen the show before on Astro. It was also raining heavily in Phuket. The taxi driver was friendly and spoke really good English. I promised Samuel that if we come back to Phuket for the next cruise, I will make sure that I had enough money to take him for the show.
What about Amanda? She was busy studying her Maths. She had to re-sit her Maths paper as she had failed in it. Her exam was on Friday, one day after our return to Malaysia. Before we left, Amanda got her results for her foundation in science. She had a B and 2 Cs. That put paid to her desire to do dentistry as the minimum was 3 Bs. Finally daddy relented and agreed to let her do law, apparently her first choice. When she went to HELP to see whether they could take her in, they told her that she had to pass her Maths.
I guess sometimes as parents we really want the best for our children (maybe even for ourselves). Children with vocations like doctors and dentists will earn more money, more money means bigger allowances for us in our old age!However I realize that this may not be what our children wants. Further we need to be fully aware of what they can/cannot do and their natural inclination.
From this experience, I can see that things will always come full circle. Water will always rise to its own level. I truly hope that Amanda will shine and excel in her chosen career...will write later!
Superstar Virgo
Family holidays are happy events. We look forward to them as they are fun and enjoyable and present great opportunities for family bonding. Well, for this year, our family signed up for a 4 day 3 night cruise on board a ship. This time, we took a bus to Singapore to Harbour Front for a cruise to Phuket and Langkawi aboard the Superstar Virgo, the largest ship in the Star Cruise family.
We left on Sunday May 8 which was Mother's Day. Amanda treated us to a wonderful Macd breakfast with her first pay from Uniclo (the no. 1 clothing store in Japan and no 3 in the world). The day before we had spent over RM1,400 buying all sorts of shirts and cardigans from the store which had newly opened at KLCC. I had to take leave for half a day to buy a few things for Amanda and get some freebies like tote bags and a one of its kind tumbler for a certain amount of purchase. I take it as us 'supporting' Japan in her recent earthquake.
For the first time, Amanda gave me money to buy her clothes and money for her hand phone bill. This is a record of sorts as usually poor mummy has to pick up her bills. Sometimes her hand phone bill can exceed RM200 a month!
The double decker bus which we took at Corus Hotel was very comfortable. However I prayed hard for safety and protection as I was well aware of a recent accident involving a double decker which overturned and killed a number of people in a serious road accident.
Mamak mee was served on board with hot drinks. There was also a small toilet for light usage. The journey was restful and we stopped at the Pagoh rest area. We reached Singapore about 1 pm. At the immigration, we were told to throw away our chewing gums....I had no choice but to throw away a brand new pack of mints (won that during team activity at church camp recently). We were made to bring down all our bags. The Singapore Customs police were really fierce. They literally shouted at a group of Indian tourists. Our conductor told us that you cannot answer them back, they will 'bark' at you.
We reached Harbour Front at about 2 pm and checked in our 5 bags. We then visited Uniclo outlet at Vivo City which was adjacent to Harbour Front.
At about 3 pm we boarded the ship. Took us an hour to queue. Many holiday makers from India, Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, France and other countries also boarded with us. We were informed by one of the guest that India was having a 6 weeks school holiday (no wonder half the guests were from India). We seem to be the only Malaysian family!
The room at Virgo was bigger than the Libra. 2 beds facing one another and a retractable upper bunk. There was a sofa bed for the 4th person. I really love the plush carpet with sea motives. The toilet also was bigger.
We ate our tea ravenously...fried rice, pizza, muffins, pitas, sausages, sandwiches...at the Mediterranean restaurant. This proved to be a favorite restaurant among the Indian guests as they served a variety of delicious vegetarian fare as we found out later. However it was not so popular with the children and Tim. I loved buffet restaurants generally because of the salads available.
About 1,600 guests had boarded the Virgo for a 4 days 3 night holiday to Phuket and Langkawi. We also found out latter that the Cruise director was Harold Q (bald headed young looking chap with little dimples when he talked). He told us that he was transferred from Libra (yes, we met him and Hendricks last year). Harold is something like a drag queen!
The ship was huge. It has 13 levels. Facilities include a well equipped gym, 2 pools, 2 jacuzzis, a winding slide snaking down to the pools, a spa, a theatre (Lido) with terraced seats, a smaller hall (Galaxy of the Stars) for game shows, a library with many books, 3 restaurants (non paying) and 4 more (paying), 2 shops, karaokes, glass encased lifts, hair saloon, nail art shop, photo gallery, games room, mini golf course, wall climbing (or is it rock climbing?), a movie theater hall.....and many more. To truly explore the ship will take us a week, I think...
At night we had dinner at the Chinese Restaurant. The food was delicious. We then watched a world class magic show Philippart and Anja. I was a tad disappointed because I had seen an identical show on board the Libra last December....but never mind, its so good that its worth re-watch!
We had our first and last supper on board the ship on our first night stay. We had salads, bread, porridge, koay teow, fruits, India vegetarian food, cakes, muffins, sandwiches.....Stay tuned.....
We left on Sunday May 8 which was Mother's Day. Amanda treated us to a wonderful Macd breakfast with her first pay from Uniclo (the no. 1 clothing store in Japan and no 3 in the world). The day before we had spent over RM1,400 buying all sorts of shirts and cardigans from the store which had newly opened at KLCC. I had to take leave for half a day to buy a few things for Amanda and get some freebies like tote bags and a one of its kind tumbler for a certain amount of purchase. I take it as us 'supporting' Japan in her recent earthquake.
For the first time, Amanda gave me money to buy her clothes and money for her hand phone bill. This is a record of sorts as usually poor mummy has to pick up her bills. Sometimes her hand phone bill can exceed RM200 a month!
The double decker bus which we took at Corus Hotel was very comfortable. However I prayed hard for safety and protection as I was well aware of a recent accident involving a double decker which overturned and killed a number of people in a serious road accident.
Mamak mee was served on board with hot drinks. There was also a small toilet for light usage. The journey was restful and we stopped at the Pagoh rest area. We reached Singapore about 1 pm. At the immigration, we were told to throw away our chewing gums....I had no choice but to throw away a brand new pack of mints (won that during team activity at church camp recently). We were made to bring down all our bags. The Singapore Customs police were really fierce. They literally shouted at a group of Indian tourists. Our conductor told us that you cannot answer them back, they will 'bark' at you.
We reached Harbour Front at about 2 pm and checked in our 5 bags. We then visited Uniclo outlet at Vivo City which was adjacent to Harbour Front.
At about 3 pm we boarded the ship. Took us an hour to queue. Many holiday makers from India, Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, France and other countries also boarded with us. We were informed by one of the guest that India was having a 6 weeks school holiday (no wonder half the guests were from India). We seem to be the only Malaysian family!
The room at Virgo was bigger than the Libra. 2 beds facing one another and a retractable upper bunk. There was a sofa bed for the 4th person. I really love the plush carpet with sea motives. The toilet also was bigger.
We ate our tea ravenously...fried rice, pizza, muffins, pitas, sausages, sandwiches...at the Mediterranean restaurant. This proved to be a favorite restaurant among the Indian guests as they served a variety of delicious vegetarian fare as we found out later. However it was not so popular with the children and Tim. I loved buffet restaurants generally because of the salads available.
About 1,600 guests had boarded the Virgo for a 4 days 3 night holiday to Phuket and Langkawi. We also found out latter that the Cruise director was Harold Q (bald headed young looking chap with little dimples when he talked). He told us that he was transferred from Libra (yes, we met him and Hendricks last year). Harold is something like a drag queen!
The ship was huge. It has 13 levels. Facilities include a well equipped gym, 2 pools, 2 jacuzzis, a winding slide snaking down to the pools, a spa, a theatre (Lido) with terraced seats, a smaller hall (Galaxy of the Stars) for game shows, a library with many books, 3 restaurants (non paying) and 4 more (paying), 2 shops, karaokes, glass encased lifts, hair saloon, nail art shop, photo gallery, games room, mini golf course, wall climbing (or is it rock climbing?), a movie theater hall.....and many more. To truly explore the ship will take us a week, I think...
At night we had dinner at the Chinese Restaurant. The food was delicious. We then watched a world class magic show Philippart and Anja. I was a tad disappointed because I had seen an identical show on board the Libra last December....but never mind, its so good that its worth re-watch!
We had our first and last supper on board the ship on our first night stay. We had salads, bread, porridge, koay teow, fruits, India vegetarian food, cakes, muffins, sandwiches.....Stay tuned.....
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