Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Sky
I've always like to watch the sky when I was in a long journey. Trapped in the car for a few hours with nothing to do really gives me the opportunity to sit back and look around. Why do I enjoy to look at the sky so much le? Hhmmm.... I always see a shape of the cloud (e.g. car, boat, some people doing things, etc...) But, if you see the same cloud at a different angle, you would see other things.... Sometimes, it just a plain cloud.... Maybe at this point of time my imaginary juice does not work... Hehehe....
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Our Parents
Daughter-In-Law: When I cooked food which is bland, you will grumble that they are tasteless. Now that I have cooked saltier, you complained that you can't swallow this at all! What exactly do you want?
When the son came back, the mother immediately ate the food without a word. She stared at him. The son tasted his mother's food and spitted out immediately. He ranted at his wife," Didn't I told you that my mother cannot take too salty food?!"
The wife shouted, "OK! She's your mum! You cook for her in future!"
After saying that, she stormed into their room angrily. Feeling helpless, the son told the mother, "Mum, don't eat this anymore. I will cook you a bowl of noodles." The mother said, "Son, you have something to tell me? Don't keep everything to yourself."
Son: "Mum, I am going to get promoted soon and my upcoming working schedule will be very, very tight...and as for my wife...ummm...she said she will be going out to work."
The mother understood what he meant and said in a begging manner, "Son, please don't send me to the Old Folks' Home.."
The son remained silent and tried to think of a good reason to persuade his mother. Then he said, "There is nothing wrong with the Old Folks' Home. Once my wife goes out to work, no one will serve you as well as the Home which provides you meals and care. It would definitely be bettter than being at home." The son went for a bath after that and went into the Study Room. He looked out the windows and thought back and hesitated a while....His mother has remained a widow since she was young, and brought him up painstakingly, single handed.
She tried all means to earn as much as she could, in order to support him in studying overseas. Yet she expected nothing nor used her past painful experience to threaten his son to be filial. While now, his wife is threatening him with the stake of their marriage. "Should I send my Mum to the Home?" He asked himself. "The only person who will accompany you till the end of your life would be your wife.." said a friend before. "Your mother is old now, and if she's lucky, she might be able to live for a few more years longer. Why not be filial to her for this period of time?" reminded some relatives. He was in a dilemma. He did not want to think anymore, in order not to affect his decision.
The son found a Home with high standards, built on a beautiful and transquil mountain top. He told himself that he would feel better the more he spent. When the son helped his mother into the lobby of the Home, the 42" TV was turned on. The program shown on screen was a comedy. But no one was laughing .A few old folks, dressed in similar clothing, were sitting there, in a daze. There was one who was sitting improperly on a sofa, there was one who was bending down to pick up a piece of biscuit from the floor, there was one who was talking to himself...The son knew that his mother likes sunlight, so he chose a room with ample sun rays shining into the room. He outside view from the room, was a big piece of greenery scene. Several nurses were wheeling some old folks out for some fresh air. It was so pathetic with silence in the background. Soon it was dusk.
The son told the mother, "Mum, I am leaving." The mother waved to him to say goodbye, opening her toothless mouth.. He turned back to look at his mother. She was full of grey hair and wrinkled skin with deep set eyes...He found that she was really old. He remembered when he was six, due to some circumstances, his mother cannot bring him along with her thus temporarily placed him at a relative's home for a few days.
He recalled hugging his mother's thigh and begged her not to leave him alone. In the end, his mother never left him alone and decided to stay with him. He stopped thinking and left. When he returned home, his wife and his mother-in-law were busy discarding things from his mother's
room, happily. One of the discarded item was his tall trophy which he won as First Prize when he was young. He wrote an essay on "MY MOTHER".
The second item discarded was a dictionary. That was the first gift from his mother, who scrimped and saved for a month in order to buy for him. He shouted, "Enough! Stop discarding anymore!". His mother-in-law cried,"There are so much rubbish. If we don't discard, there would not be any place for my stuff." His wife continued, "Yeah! Need to dump that old,
stinking bed of your mum too. We will buy a new bed for my mum later,"
He saw some pictures from the stack.. they were taken at a zoo and amusement park when his mother brought him there. "These are precious belongings of my Mum! You can't discard them!" "What sort of attitude is this? I demand you to apologise to my Mum. NOW!" ranted the wife.
The husband said," When I got married with you, that showed that I will love your Mum too. But why can't you do the same too?"
He went back to the Home and saw his mother weeping in between her frail legs. She was missing the moments when her son would apply ointment for her every night. The son kneeled before her and said, "Mum, here I come. I brought the ointment too." The mother said, "I will apply it myself, Son! You still need to work tomorrow. Go home, Son!"
Son said, "Mum, please forgive me! Let's go home!"
Hope this is inspirational and touching to you. Without our parents, we won't be here. No parents will resort to harm their own children. They only want the benefit for them.
Saturday, April 15, 2006
The Island
10 April 2006: Monday
The first day of my vacation... I was supposed to wait for Kellyn at Midvalley but oops... late... Something that I need to learn... To be on time so that people do not have to wait for me... But then, I was excited... This would be the first time I board an airplane... I got to fly... I was a little bit dissappointed when I got to know that we will be going to LCCT, not KLIA... I wan to watch the airplanes fly.... How do I feel? Hhmm... The take off was smooth... So, it was like sitting on the bus... When I was in the air, the view was great... The buildings on the land are like miniature... The cloud is like cotton candy... When the plane land down, it was a bit bumpy but I really enjoyed my first ride on the plane...
When we reach Langkawi airport, it was raining but lady luck was on our side... It stopped when we managed to get our white Proton Wira on the road. Kellyn became the navigator and Cindy Chew became the driver. The hotel was easy to find. Langkawi Lagoon was the place that we stayed in. Pulau Dangli sea villa. Wow!!! Tat was my first thought... This place is really beautiful... To stay by the sea... This will be my happy and relaxing holiday!!! The first place that Cindy Chew was so eager to introduce to us was the ..... washroom!!!! Yep... I must say the washroom was rely nice... First day in Langkawi was spent at Kuah town to shop... Chocolates !! Chocolates!! So many chocolates for me to choose but.... I can only choose the best... The one I like best... And, also my senior savignon blanc... Such a hard wine to find...
11 April 2006: Tuesday
As usual, if I'm not too tired, I would not be able to sleep no matter how comfortable the place is... So, to wake up early is usually wat I do... I choose to sleep by the window of the villa and the first thing that I saw when I open my eyes is the sea... 'Cheng' ahh... I made myself a cup of coffee and sit at the balcony... If I can spend my every morning like that would be wonderful... The view outside my balcony...
While waiting for others to wake up and have breakfast together, I went down to the beach... The place that I stayed was actually a lagoon, so the beach was not really a beach but... still I enjoyed the view and also the sound of the sea... So relaxing and calm... Any idea what kind of job that would allow me to have this kind of treat everyday? Kekekeke... This is how I look when I wake up... Without brushing my hair... Taking my own picture and alone at the beach...
When Cindy Mu, my senior reached Langkawi, we went to the cable car... Hahaha... Must go places for me... To see small small boxes hanging in the middle of the air was quite scary but I was mesmerized by the view around me... Burau Bay was rely beautiful... Clear blue water... 'Hou Leng' ahh... That was my word all the way up the hill... At the same time, my friends were so scared that they dun ever dare to look at those scenic view... Sai zhor ahh... However, there are too many fog that day... So, some of the good view was blocked... Anyway, I also got to walk on the hanging bridge... Impressive... I can actually feel the bridge swing when I stopped to take picture...
The next place that we wanted to go was Summer Palace... It was the shooting place for Chow Yun Fatt's 'Anna and the King' movie... Too bad the place was torn down... After we had our lunch at Fish Farm restaurant, we went to shopping again... I was so tempted to buy the chocolates again... Such a torture to stay there looking at the chocolates but couldn't buy them... Nite time.... Nothing much to do at nite time... They bought a few bottles of alcohol to drink together... I remember there are a few flavors of Kampai and Corona... I bought shandy so that I got something to drink when they start to drink... Kekeke... We played UNO and 'Chor Dai Di' all nite... It was actually fun...
12 April 2006: Wednesday
Today was the day for us to go out the sea... We signed up for a mangrove tour... The first place that the guy bring us was at the middle of the sea to feed the fish with bread... There were rely a lot of fish but I was actually attracted to the island nearby... The rock was nice... and how the sea water go through the passage / hole was interesting...
Then, we went to Crocodile cave... The guy explained that we came at the time when Langkawi was wet... No wonder there were rain everyday... Luckily it was at nite time when we lazed at the hotel... Although the water was high, we managed to get into the cave with the skill of the guy manouvered the boat... However, there are nothing to see in the cave... Why it was called Crocodile Cave le? According to our guide, there are a lot of crocodiles last time before it was captured and put into the Crocodile Farm in Langkawi...
Our next stop was to watch eagles... Eagle actually represents Langkawi... The famous Lang at the Dataran Lang was the symbol of Langkawi... When our guide threw the meat into the mangrove river and splash water with the engine, there was so many eagles come and feed the meat... I think there are about 10 - 20 eagles, maybe more.... Wow.... Never in my life I see so many eagles flying around... It was the highlight of the tour actually... The best I would say...
Then, we went to a fish farm and was introduced to a few types of fish which I dun remember the name now... THe interesting one was the horse shoe crab which I tried to hold on my hand... Gelinye... and also the Ikan Pari-Pari... Really BIG... Too bad I didn't take the picture... Camera run out of battery already.... Sob sob sob... And the last stop was Bat Cave before we head to Barn Thai to have our lunch... THere are a lot a lot of bat in that cave and .... the smell... the smell... uurrghhh..... yuckie.... uwek.... Not a pleasant smell at all....
After the tiring tour, we decided to go Pantai Cenang to get some massage... Since I din got to try out the foot reflextology in Penang, I decided to give it a try... My first reaction when the guy massage my leg was I laughed... He looked at me with a strange face... Are you okie ahh? Hehehe... Maybe he thinked I'm weird or crazy kua.... Kekeke...
Since this would be the last evening I spent in Langkawi, I requested that we stay at the Pantai Cenang to look at the sun set... Just love the view.... Love it!!! Love it!!! This picture was taken with my camera phone... Nice or not? Kekeke...
13 April 2006: Thursday
This is the last day and would be my departure day too... Dun feel like going back at all... I wake up early again to go to the beach... This time I was earlier and the water still not high up to the beach yet... I can see many holes inside... I tried to dig the hole and found some small crab... Hehehe... Listening to the beach and birds was great... Like the other day, I got the whole 'beach' by myself... This time I sit the rocks and watch the tide... The tide was quite fast I think... I sat on the rock which is still quite far from the water but a few minutes later, the place was filled with it... Amazed... When I failed to do something, if I can recover like the tide would be good... Tat was I'm thinking at that time... Usually, I would have a friend accompany me to enjoy the morning but tis time all by myself... Something different and I got to think of something too...
My last day at Langkawi Lagoon was greeted with a rainbow too.... I can see the clearly the 7 colours of the rainbow.... I still remember when I saw one too on my way back from Penang at Addy's car.... What a coincidence....
I really enjoy the trip... Although we din go to many places, I treasure the ease that this trip give me... Dunno why... I feel happy when I see the sea and beach... Dun know how to swim but just looking at it makes me feel relax and satisfied... Can't wait for the next trip already...