We had to take the tube to a village called Kew in order to visit the famed gardens. At the village, we sat down for lunch at a country shop selling fish and chips. Kew village reminded us of the small villages north of Newcastle. It was quiet and had quaint speciality shops selling all kinds of stuff that were uniquely English. I am always fascinated by the English butchers as they operate from shops and display their ham and sausages in glass showcases. I love looking at the different meats on display. After a good meal, we were ready for our long walk! One had to be physically fit to move around in London. Imagine walking over 6 hours a day traversing the tube up and down the stairs and then walking again once we reached our destination.
Kew gardens does not charge visitors but do accept donations in order to ensure that the gardens are well cared for and beautifully manicured. Many themed gardens such as tropical, alpine, japanese, chinese, mediteranean dot the landscape of the gardens. The Princess of Wales greenhouse is located here. However because of the garden's sheer size it is practically impossible to see it all in one day. Almost 3 hours admiring the gardens, the green houses and exploring some of the themed gardens, my legs were giving up on me. I gave up and opted to wait for Tim at the cafe. The cafe itself was interesting with many items that were perculiar only to the gardens like potted plants, postcards of the flowers, pots and seedlings. There was also chocolates specially packed for sale at Kew. I bought some unusual chocolates like the sea-salt and elderflower bars to give away as gifts.
After about an hour or so, Tim returned from exploring the gardens and told me that he too could not visit all of the themed gardens. On the way back to the station, we stopped at the butchers (I was admiring the showcases earlier) and bought 2 ham and chicken french loaf for our dinner. The sandwiches were fresh and tasty but did not quite satisfy our hunger.
We then made the journey back to Southwark for Anne Boleyn. I sat in the gentlemen's box on a very high stool which was not comfortable at all. However it was better than the crowd standing and watching the play. All in all, it was a bit of a dissapointment as I could not hear the dialogue (the actors and actresses did not use any mircrophone or sound systerm). I was a bit envious of the standing crowd who was laughing away at the jokes of Henry the 8th!
Tim met me after the show at the entrance of the teater. He had a good time taking pictures of London by night. We then took a train back to Lambeth North and ordered chicken chow mein takeaway from any Chinese takeaway near the hotel. The chow mein had bits of char siew and onions and was delicious. The only setback was that it was cooked with bean sprouts, which I did not like.
I woke up at 3 am and decided to go the 24 hour store opposite the hotel to buy a bottle of aspirin. With 2 aspirins, I managed to sleep till about 7 in the morning. I was still in the throes of my jet lag.....
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Globe Teater
On our second day we had breakfast at Costa, a cafe next door to the hotel. We had croissants, tea and coffee. After breakfast, we took the Jubilee line to Waterloo station. At the Waterloo intersection, we took the grey line (District line) to Southwark for our guided tour of the Globe Teater.
Tim had booked a visit to Globe Teater on the internet before our London trip. Before the tour, there was an exhibition on Shakespeare, his works, his life and his plays. A very animated guide took us on a tour around the teater. The heart of the teater is a circular open-air teater with seats in an ascending manner and arranged in a semi-circle. The seats looked out onto a stage with an extended platform in the middle of the stage. Unlike the stage which is covered, the extended platform is not. Spectators can buy tickets for shows performed on the stage, the cheapest being the 'standing' ticket i.e standing up in the open space before the stage to watch plays being performed. GBP 5 for 2 hours standing up watching a play with a 15 minute toilet break!
The roof covered the ascending seats. According to the guide, the straw and hay used to make the roof had to be imported with Norway as England had run out of it due to global warming! Over time, due to pollution the straw changed to a silvery grey from its original color of golden brown. The seats and the teater were made of oak with nary a nail in place. What held them together was only giant wooden pegs! Amazing.
In the 1600, Shakespeare's plays were performed for the working folks at 1 p per show standing up. For those desiring to sit in the stalls or the gentlemen's box i.e where the gentitlity sat be prepared to pay up to GBP75. In fact when the queen attended one of the shows at the teater, she sat at the gentlemen's box. There were also seats or stalls with railings for the more bawdy kind. The railings were to prevent the drunkards from falling over onto the stage below! In those days going to the teater like the Globe Teater was like going to the cinema. On the spur of the moment I decided to buy the last seat in the gentlemen's box i.e. seat no: 6 for the 7.30 pm show of Anne Boleyn. Tim decided to spend the time taking pictures of London after.
However as the guided tour ended about 11 am and we had time to spare before the show at night, we decided to visit Kew Gardens.
Tim had booked a visit to Globe Teater on the internet before our London trip. Before the tour, there was an exhibition on Shakespeare, his works, his life and his plays. A very animated guide took us on a tour around the teater. The heart of the teater is a circular open-air teater with seats in an ascending manner and arranged in a semi-circle. The seats looked out onto a stage with an extended platform in the middle of the stage. Unlike the stage which is covered, the extended platform is not. Spectators can buy tickets for shows performed on the stage, the cheapest being the 'standing' ticket i.e standing up in the open space before the stage to watch plays being performed. GBP 5 for 2 hours standing up watching a play with a 15 minute toilet break!
The roof covered the ascending seats. According to the guide, the straw and hay used to make the roof had to be imported with Norway as England had run out of it due to global warming! Over time, due to pollution the straw changed to a silvery grey from its original color of golden brown. The seats and the teater were made of oak with nary a nail in place. What held them together was only giant wooden pegs! Amazing.
In the 1600, Shakespeare's plays were performed for the working folks at 1 p per show standing up. For those desiring to sit in the stalls or the gentlemen's box i.e where the gentitlity sat be prepared to pay up to GBP75. In fact when the queen attended one of the shows at the teater, she sat at the gentlemen's box. There were also seats or stalls with railings for the more bawdy kind. The railings were to prevent the drunkards from falling over onto the stage below! In those days going to the teater like the Globe Teater was like going to the cinema. On the spur of the moment I decided to buy the last seat in the gentlemen's box i.e. seat no: 6 for the 7.30 pm show of Anne Boleyn. Tim decided to spend the time taking pictures of London after.
However as the guided tour ended about 11 am and we had time to spare before the show at night, we decided to visit Kew Gardens.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
First night in London
As it was still very bright (in summer, the sun sets only about 9.30 pm), we took a walk to the Imperial War Musuem. We saw some graduates having a dinner reception in the garden of the Musuem. We took photos posing beside a huge cannon and some of the lovely flowers grown in the gardens. In Britain, lovely flowers of all colors and designs bloom freely especially in parks and gardens.
We took a slow walk along the river Thames. We saw many big and small ships carrying tourists on board. Almost every major city in England is located near a river. For e.g. Newcastle upon Tyne is located on the Tyne river. Arundell is located on the river Avon. Llangollen is on the river Dee. London on the river Thames. Many centuries ago, the river Thames was a bustling commercial waterway on which many merchant ships sailed up and down loading and off-loading their wares. It was the Thames river that brought about London's economic prosperity. Life revolved around the rivers in every major cities in England!
We saw many cyclists and joggers along the banks of the river. The beautiful Westminster and the Houses of Parliament are located here along the river banks. Malaysia's parliamentary democracy is based on the Westminster model. To see the intricate and detailed building from afar with its golden hues practically shimmering in the setting sun was something special. It was simply stunning and truly an architectural marvel!
I bought the local mobile phone pack for GBP10 called Lycamobile at the convenience store opposite our hotel. It was really cost savings as I still had credit left even when I left England!
We ate at Meeting Point, a chinese restaurant that opened till past 11 pm near the hotel. For GBP15.90 we had spring rolls, soup and rice with chinese and pork dishes ladled onto our plate. It was a bargain by London standards as we were also given fresh fruits and a pot of chinese tea. Despite the heavy meal, I woke up at 1 am and could not sleep till 6 am....was it the jet lag or the chinese tea?
We took a slow walk along the river Thames. We saw many big and small ships carrying tourists on board. Almost every major city in England is located near a river. For e.g. Newcastle upon Tyne is located on the Tyne river. Arundell is located on the river Avon. Llangollen is on the river Dee. London on the river Thames. Many centuries ago, the river Thames was a bustling commercial waterway on which many merchant ships sailed up and down loading and off-loading their wares. It was the Thames river that brought about London's economic prosperity. Life revolved around the rivers in every major cities in England!
We saw many cyclists and joggers along the banks of the river. The beautiful Westminster and the Houses of Parliament are located here along the river banks. Malaysia's parliamentary democracy is based on the Westminster model. To see the intricate and detailed building from afar with its golden hues practically shimmering in the setting sun was something special. It was simply stunning and truly an architectural marvel!
I bought the local mobile phone pack for GBP10 called Lycamobile at the convenience store opposite our hotel. It was really cost savings as I still had credit left even when I left England!
We ate at Meeting Point, a chinese restaurant that opened till past 11 pm near the hotel. For GBP15.90 we had spring rolls, soup and rice with chinese and pork dishes ladled onto our plate. It was a bargain by London standards as we were also given fresh fruits and a pot of chinese tea. Despite the heavy meal, I woke up at 1 am and could not sleep till 6 am....was it the jet lag or the chinese tea?
Heathrow and the tubes
First time in Colombo and we could not see much of the city in the dark. The van took us past winding roads to a seaside hotel called Jetwing Star. Opposite the hotel we could see rows and rows of shops and restaurants very much like Tanjung Bungah in Penang. Although it was almost 11 pm, the shops and restaurants were still opened. The hotel is a 5 star hotel located near the ocean. The moment we stepped into the cool interior, we could hear the roar of the ocean. It felt like the ocean was just at our doorstep! We could smell and feel the salty tang of the sea. The friendly receptionist and waiter served us a glass of papaya juice each and it was delicious. I loved papaya but papaya juice.....? This was something unique.
We were led to our room. There was a big comfortable bed almost 10 inch thick. It was a marvel because the bed was placed on a cement platform! We marveled at the bathroom. With its brown marbled floor and our essential toiletries in little gunny sacks, we were thanking Air Lanka for this special treat! The room itself was really 5 star by any standards. Unique lampshade accentuated the white marbled floor and brown wooden walls. We were told that dinner was free. We took some photos at the poolside and had dinner at the restaurant facing the roaring sea. We had fruits and cauliflower soup....again something unique to Colombo.
We slept fitfully and had to wake up at about 2.30 pm to wait for the van to take us to the airport. To our surprise the van driver could speak good English. However when we gave him RM5, he asked for RM10 instead saying that he can change it for 50 rupees. We said no! This was something we did not quite like about Colombo. Even in the airport toilet, the cleaning lady waits upon us to hand out toilet tissue and then ask for money!
Will we make a trip to Colombo? After the experience of losing my neck pillow in the van (I was very sure that I lost it while getting down from it), I will not give it a priority that's for sure.
An 8-hour flight took us to Heathrow. Why is it that whatever my meal choice for breakfast and lunch could not be accomodated by the air stewardess? On both occasions I was given what I did not ask for. Some kind of cheesy seafood with rice and vegetarian vermicelli which tasted dry.
We reached Heathrow Terminal 4 (I don't know why there were so many terminals). We were really tired after the long flight. We had to take a red Avis bus to Avis office to confirm our car booking. Avis allowed us to take the car from their office near Waterloo station on the 1st of August as coming back to Heathrow would be really troublesome. From Avis, we took the bus provided to Hatton Cross station at Terminal 5 to Picadilly Circus. From Picadilly Circus, we then took the tube running on the Bakerloo line to Lambeth North.
This was to be our routine for the next one week in London, getting on tubes, changing tubes, checking out the different colored lines on the signboards to find out how to go from one place to another. The most convenient and cheapest way to travel around in London is by the tube or the underground stations. You could get from one town to another just by changing trains. Trains run on different lines for e.g. Bakerloo, Picadilly, Victoria, Central London. Waterloo, Kew, Lambeth North and others. They are denoted by different colors such as white, black, blue, green, yellow, red. You just need to check out the different lines on the many signboards all over the station and then disembark and embark on the stations where the train lines intersect.
If you know English, you can never get lost in London as the signs are really really clear and are located everywhere in the stations. You only need a strong pair of legs and hands if you are carrying luggage as there are long flights of stairs to climb in order to change stations (not all the undergrounds have lifts or escalators).
At GBP7 a day, you can hop on hop off at different stations the whole day long and travel the length and breadth of London.
At Lambeth North, Tune hotel (our home for the next one week in London) was just a block away from the station. Facing the hotel was 2 chinese restaurants and a 24-hour convenience store. A very good location indeed!
For GBP 65 a night per room, Tune hotel is a bargain! TV is free for the first 24 hours, thereafter GBP 10 for the duration of our stay. Breakfast is GBP5 per day (we only paid for 3 days). New towels and toiletries will all be charged extra. London is expensive but Tune hotel is considered cheap compared with the other London hotels (some charged upto GBP 100 a day).
Our hotel room is windowless so we lost track of night and day. There was no wardrobe (we had to hang our clothes on racks above the mirror). The only was to keep our luggage and boxes was under our bed. However it was clean and the bed and pillows were super-comfortable. The toilet was very small but clean.
More coming up.....
We were led to our room. There was a big comfortable bed almost 10 inch thick. It was a marvel because the bed was placed on a cement platform! We marveled at the bathroom. With its brown marbled floor and our essential toiletries in little gunny sacks, we were thanking Air Lanka for this special treat! The room itself was really 5 star by any standards. Unique lampshade accentuated the white marbled floor and brown wooden walls. We were told that dinner was free. We took some photos at the poolside and had dinner at the restaurant facing the roaring sea. We had fruits and cauliflower soup....again something unique to Colombo.
We slept fitfully and had to wake up at about 2.30 pm to wait for the van to take us to the airport. To our surprise the van driver could speak good English. However when we gave him RM5, he asked for RM10 instead saying that he can change it for 50 rupees. We said no! This was something we did not quite like about Colombo. Even in the airport toilet, the cleaning lady waits upon us to hand out toilet tissue and then ask for money!
Will we make a trip to Colombo? After the experience of losing my neck pillow in the van (I was very sure that I lost it while getting down from it), I will not give it a priority that's for sure.
An 8-hour flight took us to Heathrow. Why is it that whatever my meal choice for breakfast and lunch could not be accomodated by the air stewardess? On both occasions I was given what I did not ask for. Some kind of cheesy seafood with rice and vegetarian vermicelli which tasted dry.
We reached Heathrow Terminal 4 (I don't know why there were so many terminals). We were really tired after the long flight. We had to take a red Avis bus to Avis office to confirm our car booking. Avis allowed us to take the car from their office near Waterloo station on the 1st of August as coming back to Heathrow would be really troublesome. From Avis, we took the bus provided to Hatton Cross station at Terminal 5 to Picadilly Circus. From Picadilly Circus, we then took the tube running on the Bakerloo line to Lambeth North.
This was to be our routine for the next one week in London, getting on tubes, changing tubes, checking out the different colored lines on the signboards to find out how to go from one place to another. The most convenient and cheapest way to travel around in London is by the tube or the underground stations. You could get from one town to another just by changing trains. Trains run on different lines for e.g. Bakerloo, Picadilly, Victoria, Central London. Waterloo, Kew, Lambeth North and others. They are denoted by different colors such as white, black, blue, green, yellow, red. You just need to check out the different lines on the many signboards all over the station and then disembark and embark on the stations where the train lines intersect.
If you know English, you can never get lost in London as the signs are really really clear and are located everywhere in the stations. You only need a strong pair of legs and hands if you are carrying luggage as there are long flights of stairs to climb in order to change stations (not all the undergrounds have lifts or escalators).
At GBP7 a day, you can hop on hop off at different stations the whole day long and travel the length and breadth of London.
At Lambeth North, Tune hotel (our home for the next one week in London) was just a block away from the station. Facing the hotel was 2 chinese restaurants and a 24-hour convenience store. A very good location indeed!
For GBP 65 a night per room, Tune hotel is a bargain! TV is free for the first 24 hours, thereafter GBP 10 for the duration of our stay. Breakfast is GBP5 per day (we only paid for 3 days). New towels and toiletries will all be charged extra. London is expensive but Tune hotel is considered cheap compared with the other London hotels (some charged upto GBP 100 a day).
Our hotel room is windowless so we lost track of night and day. There was no wardrobe (we had to hang our clothes on racks above the mirror). The only was to keep our luggage and boxes was under our bed. However it was clean and the bed and pillows were super-comfortable. The toilet was very small but clean.
More coming up.....
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Ayu Buyon
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)!
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)!
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?
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