This summer vacation turned our fast, and 2 days left till my flight to Korea before transiting to Vancouver. I went to Suria Sabah with Ivy a few times already, and the last time we went was yesterday. Ivy and I had one last sleepover. We went to One Borneo hypermall late at night, and you wouldn't believe what we actually did. We watched The Amazing Spiderman at around 9pm, and we arrived home around midnight! And then the next morning (yesterday), we drove to Grace Chapel church in Kingfisher to see our dear secondary school English teacher, Mrs. Chu who gave a testimony about her late father and how her family loves the Lord. Mrs.Chu also invited us to her house after the meeting, since we had to be in Suria Sabah around 3pm. Knowing that the father is now working in Perth to support the family, I pray that Mrs. Chu's family would make ends meet.
At Suria Sabah, (sorry we were half an hour late =P) I was totally glad to see my friends once again. Eloise just couldn't make it. Pity. Paulette also had to leave early that very noon.
Okay. First, we met Haznol who worked at the Times bookstore there. Then, we headed to the arcade before making our way to the theatres for Ice Age 4:Continental Drift. I never knew that I've grown so tall! I was stunned to see Vanessa and Michelle John were shorter than me. Okay..back to the hangout. We didn't did much shopping, but we had a blast at dinner that night. Brenda and Haznol finally joined us. We had a good dinner at Upperstar restaurant, and had a game of UNO after that, which brought back memories back in tuition and secondary school.
Finally! All gifts are distributed! But I was sad to leave them again. That night when Ivy and I rushed home, I was actually thinking that we had one last hangout this Tuesday before my flight. But it turned out that she needs to work. After one last hug, I watched as she left my house. God! How come tears didn't come out in my sleep? Was it because I'm too tired? =(
The previous days went well too. We didn't exactly went shopping. More like window shopping. I received tips of fashion from her, like I don't know layers? And mix n match. And colour blocking. It's like wearing your summer wardrobe for the fall.
Oh! We went to Sutera Harbour too! My little pain-in-the-neck sister Mona tagged along, but I didn't really mind anyway. We went for a swim, had drinks and snacks at Magellen's MacMuffins cafe, and sat in those wide bed-like seats down the seaside of Magellen resort. It was fun, though Mona had her blabbermouth engine on towards me and Ivy. I just need some peace please! XD
Well, here I am, longing heavy-heartedly at the screen. At least tonight I'll be having dinner with Teacher Florence! Let's see what will happen. I have saved one last gift for her.
Sunday 29 July 2012
Wednesday 25 July 2012
Once In A Lifetime Family Vacation
My summer vacation supposed to be staying back at home in Malaysia, soaking under the scorching sun, and see the friends from previous school. But instead, we're going on a family reunion in Sarawak and a trip to China, which cuts my time in spending more time with my friends.
It started on July 12, when Megan and I flew to Sibu, Sarawak to help with the preparation for Grandpa's 80th birthday party. Then the next day we flew to Kuching for a big family photo shoot at Jacky Studio. You never notice me wearing my only dress (black halter), white heels, and make-up on. The photographer was crazy. He gave orders and told us to say silly words like "ah moi" =.= He also gave me a phrase I'll never forget:" When your mind is empty, you will smile. When your mind has something, you won't smile."
Anyway, the photo shoot went brilliant! When it comes to individual photos, I was nervous. I strike a pose ordered by the photographer, and he loved it! XD
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3919782764341&set=o.124512874276995&type=1&theater
can you see me in this photo? =)
Then we head back to Sibu for the celebration. Guests were invited to dinner at our mansion while we grandchildren performed on the stage which was set at a far end. I was included, reciting a poem I wrote for my grandfather. It's simple, yet heartwarming (I guess XD). Everyone praised that the poem I wrote is good. I wonder whether Gong Gong himself like it as well?
A few days later, we headed off to FuZhou via Singapore and Xiamen. Unfortunately, yet slightly relieved XD, the flight from Changi Airport, Singapore, to FuZhou is delayed! TWICE! We stayed in Traders Hotel till the next day, and we switched flights to Xiamen instead. At FuZhou, the story of my grandfather was revealed to us like a real-life novel. When we arrived at his mansion where his father had built, we all were greeted warmly like VIP! Firecrackers popped like bombs. Two lines of musicians played cymbals and other Chinese instruments. The mansion was HUMONGOUS!!! Of course, it's ancient. It's built centuries ago. We're given a tour around the house, including great grandfather's room, the worship room where a sad story was hidden, the kitchen, the dining rooms, and more. We had lunch, an enormous lunch there. Then, we went to two churches, one where Grandpa got baptised, and another one where Grandpa donated money for the building of a new church. We also get to see a few remained mud houses! We passed by a long river where another story was hidden. We finally stopped by a house which stored the "Lau" ancestors' portraits. Guess who's in one of the rooms? Grandpa and Grandma's picture hung on a wall in a room of opened doors.
Then 2 days later, we had a flight to LiJiang. I wouldn't want to talk about the short flights to Kunming or whatsoever. I was too dazed! Anyway, LiJiang is more like a village. It has a higher altitude, so it's cold! I should have bring a jacket along! We followed a tour bus to YuLong Snow Mountains National Park, where we get to see the unique YuLong glaciers. Unfortunately, it was raining. Drizzling at first, then cats and dogs. We watched a musical show at an open-space theatre. It was not bad though. It was about the ancient Chinese tribes, telling a story of nature and losing someone (I think). There's a scene when a man wailed of his sister leaving him. I'm confused by that. XD
Okay,back to the trip. Besides the show, we also saw posters of ancient pictorial symbols called "Dong Ba". It was an old language used in LiJiang before Chinese words were born! Cool,huh? I was totally lost by it! I wonder how do those ancient people create those pictures? 0.0 I'm into history??? Help, get this crap out of my head!
It's a pity that we missed the chance of seeing the glaciers.
That night, we watched another performance given by a Chinese orchestra in the concert hall. The music was of course, screechy and whiny and..stringy.The tour guide probably planned this for us just to make us sleepy. XD And I was right! Cause during the subsequent day, the tour guide took the words right out of my mouth. She took us to a better performance at a huge auditorium. The dances revealed blown us away and made us laughed our heads off. I liked the little scenes of a romantic story shown by the actors and actresses.
One thing I only liked about LiJiang was the paper store which was situated in a small village in LiJiang. I loved the notebooks made by colourful bamboo papers! And the dong ba writings on books just made me curious! I got my only China souvenir: a handbook with pink bamboo papers, perfect for notes and ideas of my stories/poems!
It was a good experience for me, and a once in a lifetime family gathering. Our flight back to kk got delayed once again, so we returned to kk 2 nights ago. >.< I'm tired of delays! We stayed in a run-down hotel that stormy night, but I got cheered up because of the hilarious mini concert performed by two cousins and my sister, Megan, with Titus playing his ukulele as background music. Still, the journey to our flight had been tragedic, because of an slightly accident caused by a taxi cab. Don't ask. I would be pissed off if I faced him just like Megan faced him.
This would be my first and last China trip! If there's another vacation, just switch to Paris or Europe XD.
It started on July 12, when Megan and I flew to Sibu, Sarawak to help with the preparation for Grandpa's 80th birthday party. Then the next day we flew to Kuching for a big family photo shoot at Jacky Studio. You never notice me wearing my only dress (black halter), white heels, and make-up on. The photographer was crazy. He gave orders and told us to say silly words like "ah moi" =.= He also gave me a phrase I'll never forget:" When your mind is empty, you will smile. When your mind has something, you won't smile."
Anyway, the photo shoot went brilliant! When it comes to individual photos, I was nervous. I strike a pose ordered by the photographer, and he loved it! XD
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3919782764341&set=o.124512874276995&type=1&theater
can you see me in this photo? =)
Then we head back to Sibu for the celebration. Guests were invited to dinner at our mansion while we grandchildren performed on the stage which was set at a far end. I was included, reciting a poem I wrote for my grandfather. It's simple, yet heartwarming (I guess XD). Everyone praised that the poem I wrote is good. I wonder whether Gong Gong himself like it as well?
A few days later, we headed off to FuZhou via Singapore and Xiamen. Unfortunately, yet slightly relieved XD, the flight from Changi Airport, Singapore, to FuZhou is delayed! TWICE! We stayed in Traders Hotel till the next day, and we switched flights to Xiamen instead. At FuZhou, the story of my grandfather was revealed to us like a real-life novel. When we arrived at his mansion where his father had built, we all were greeted warmly like VIP! Firecrackers popped like bombs. Two lines of musicians played cymbals and other Chinese instruments. The mansion was HUMONGOUS!!! Of course, it's ancient. It's built centuries ago. We're given a tour around the house, including great grandfather's room, the worship room where a sad story was hidden, the kitchen, the dining rooms, and more. We had lunch, an enormous lunch there. Then, we went to two churches, one where Grandpa got baptised, and another one where Grandpa donated money for the building of a new church. We also get to see a few remained mud houses! We passed by a long river where another story was hidden. We finally stopped by a house which stored the "Lau" ancestors' portraits. Guess who's in one of the rooms? Grandpa and Grandma's picture hung on a wall in a room of opened doors.
Then 2 days later, we had a flight to LiJiang. I wouldn't want to talk about the short flights to Kunming or whatsoever. I was too dazed! Anyway, LiJiang is more like a village. It has a higher altitude, so it's cold! I should have bring a jacket along! We followed a tour bus to YuLong Snow Mountains National Park, where we get to see the unique YuLong glaciers. Unfortunately, it was raining. Drizzling at first, then cats and dogs. We watched a musical show at an open-space theatre. It was not bad though. It was about the ancient Chinese tribes, telling a story of nature and losing someone (I think). There's a scene when a man wailed of his sister leaving him. I'm confused by that. XD
Okay,back to the trip. Besides the show, we also saw posters of ancient pictorial symbols called "Dong Ba". It was an old language used in LiJiang before Chinese words were born! Cool,huh? I was totally lost by it! I wonder how do those ancient people create those pictures? 0.0 I'm into history??? Help, get this crap out of my head!
It's a pity that we missed the chance of seeing the glaciers.
That night, we watched another performance given by a Chinese orchestra in the concert hall. The music was of course, screechy and whiny and..stringy.The tour guide probably planned this for us just to make us sleepy. XD And I was right! Cause during the subsequent day, the tour guide took the words right out of my mouth. She took us to a better performance at a huge auditorium. The dances revealed blown us away and made us laughed our heads off. I liked the little scenes of a romantic story shown by the actors and actresses.
One thing I only liked about LiJiang was the paper store which was situated in a small village in LiJiang. I loved the notebooks made by colourful bamboo papers! And the dong ba writings on books just made me curious! I got my only China souvenir: a handbook with pink bamboo papers, perfect for notes and ideas of my stories/poems!
It was a good experience for me, and a once in a lifetime family gathering. Our flight back to kk got delayed once again, so we returned to kk 2 nights ago. >.< I'm tired of delays! We stayed in a run-down hotel that stormy night, but I got cheered up because of the hilarious mini concert performed by two cousins and my sister, Megan, with Titus playing his ukulele as background music. Still, the journey to our flight had been tragedic, because of an slightly accident caused by a taxi cab. Don't ask. I would be pissed off if I faced him just like Megan faced him.
This would be my first and last China trip! If there's another vacation, just switch to Paris or Europe XD.
Tuesday 10 July 2012
Missing Piece
The florets of a dandelion floats away,
Carried by the wind,
As I watch the flowery snow revealed,
I find myself in the place I once call home,
After being divorced temporarily from my old life back here,
I realized that I've changed,
Forgetting something incredibly, yet bitterly sweet, important feeling.
As I indulge myself into the intense scorching heat,
The humid environment,
I forget how in the world I am able to survive in such a temperature,
As I see the faces of the people I once care and love,
A lightning of nostalgic pain strikes in my heart,
Telling myself not to cry,
As I recall the memories I had back then,
I never know how time flies quickly,
Like an hourglass.
The new place I currently enjoy living in,
Is like a whole new dimension to me,
But here back home,
A vanishing fragment appears in my stoned, cold heart,
Like as if I'm rebelling against God,
Or as if I'm fighting against my will,
I never know how painful it was,
To see that I've left everything here for a new beginning of life.
Now,
The bonds are mended,
Giving little gifts of gratitude to my loyal friends and teachers,
Warms my heart,
Drop by drop,
This vacation of mine is not over yet,
There's still a whole lot more memories to be recovered,
A whole lot more people to encounter once again,
And looking back how I really was in the past.
This missing piece inside me,
Is still burning and churning in my chest,
Like as if my heart is really aching,
The future,
Of course,
Awaits,
But now,
My goal is to heal my wounds of nostalgia,
Seeing those I miss very much,
And hold my true feelings till they flow away.
Within 10 to 15 minutes, I wrote this poem to spill out my pain of missing my beloved Malaysian friends. Seriously, my heart just went heavy. My heart really aches. Once I return here I realize that I forgot what I used to do here. And the teachers. How come I forget the great ways they teach English? I've spent time with Ivy yesterday and today. It was fun. Before I knew it, I was helping her out with some pharmacy work yesterday noon. And today, we went to our secondary school Lok Yuk to visit English teacher Pn.Chu Siew Mei and get my SPM certificate. I'm running out of gifts! I should have bought more! Anyway, I gave a Canada Maple Leaves key chain to Pn.Chu as a memory. Yeah, I definitely gained weight and I was called "chubby" and "cute". Seriously, this sickens me. And my Malay tongue just got tumbled up! XD
It was great to talk to some teachers back in the teachers' office though. And guess what? My poem "Memory" will be on the cover of 2012's Hornbill Magazine! =)
And then this afternoon, we had lunch at Sutera Harbour with Satya who came back from Australia. Plus, not to mention a glass of iced chocolate and a cup of warm mocha cappuccino at some sort of coffee shop. =.= Please don't tell me I won't get enough sleep again tonight! I woke up at 2am this morning!
Anyway, one more day left till my flight to Sibu, Sarawak. I would rather just skip to July 20/travel further in time to go back to k.k. XD There's still more friends to see, and more things to do!
Carried by the wind,
As I watch the flowery snow revealed,
I find myself in the place I once call home,
After being divorced temporarily from my old life back here,
I realized that I've changed,
Forgetting something incredibly, yet bitterly sweet, important feeling.
As I indulge myself into the intense scorching heat,
The humid environment,
I forget how in the world I am able to survive in such a temperature,
As I see the faces of the people I once care and love,
A lightning of nostalgic pain strikes in my heart,
Telling myself not to cry,
As I recall the memories I had back then,
I never know how time flies quickly,
Like an hourglass.
The new place I currently enjoy living in,
Is like a whole new dimension to me,
But here back home,
A vanishing fragment appears in my stoned, cold heart,
Like as if I'm rebelling against God,
Or as if I'm fighting against my will,
I never know how painful it was,
To see that I've left everything here for a new beginning of life.
Now,
The bonds are mended,
Giving little gifts of gratitude to my loyal friends and teachers,
Warms my heart,
Drop by drop,
This vacation of mine is not over yet,
There's still a whole lot more memories to be recovered,
A whole lot more people to encounter once again,
And looking back how I really was in the past.
This missing piece inside me,
Is still burning and churning in my chest,
Like as if my heart is really aching,
The future,
Of course,
Awaits,
But now,
My goal is to heal my wounds of nostalgia,
Seeing those I miss very much,
And hold my true feelings till they flow away.
Within 10 to 15 minutes, I wrote this poem to spill out my pain of missing my beloved Malaysian friends. Seriously, my heart just went heavy. My heart really aches. Once I return here I realize that I forgot what I used to do here. And the teachers. How come I forget the great ways they teach English? I've spent time with Ivy yesterday and today. It was fun. Before I knew it, I was helping her out with some pharmacy work yesterday noon. And today, we went to our secondary school Lok Yuk to visit English teacher Pn.Chu Siew Mei and get my SPM certificate. I'm running out of gifts! I should have bought more! Anyway, I gave a Canada Maple Leaves key chain to Pn.Chu as a memory. Yeah, I definitely gained weight and I was called "chubby" and "cute". Seriously, this sickens me. And my Malay tongue just got tumbled up! XD
It was great to talk to some teachers back in the teachers' office though. And guess what? My poem "Memory" will be on the cover of 2012's Hornbill Magazine! =)
And then this afternoon, we had lunch at Sutera Harbour with Satya who came back from Australia. Plus, not to mention a glass of iced chocolate and a cup of warm mocha cappuccino at some sort of coffee shop. =.= Please don't tell me I won't get enough sleep again tonight! I woke up at 2am this morning!
Anyway, one more day left till my flight to Sibu, Sarawak. I would rather just skip to July 20/travel further in time to go back to k.k. XD There's still more friends to see, and more things to do!
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