Another Goodbye

Grandpa passed away in the comfort of his home last Sunday. 

He joined the stars up above, watching over the loved ones that he left behind.

Goodbye, Grandpa.

2 months on ...

Those we love don't go away, 

 

They walk beside us every day,

 

Unseen, unheard but always near,

 

Still loved, still missed and very dear.

 

新年快乐 2014

 

We ushered in the year of the (wooden) Horse a couple of weeks back and it was also my first CNY without baby bro. Besides lil bro who had to observe customs/traditions since he was lower in rank, the rest of us were allowed to continue with CNY celebrations. On CNY eve, we made a trip to Mandai to visit baby bro. We got new flowers and hung up the mini barney that Auntie Emily got for him. Thereafter, I headed home to both sides of the parents' place for reunion dinner. 

 

CNY day 1 was spent rushing between 3 places - parents-in-law, grandma and great grandma. I didn't take any pics on the 1st day due to the hectic rush. I even forgot to give great-granny her angpao till I reached home and discovered the angpao in my bag :( Immediately called my mum and ask her to give on my behalf while I TT the amt to her, lol!  Nevertheless, we spent CNY day 2 at my maternal grandparents' place, gambling & catching up with my cousins.    

 

Gamblers' reunite a year later. 

 

with mummy dearest :) 

 
 Mummy dearest with her sisters :)

CNY Day 3 was spent on visiting too, In the morning, we headed over to Bernard's place to visit Baby Aden + mahjong.

Last year, I had the privilege of carrying Baby Raenee, Ryan's precious girl. This year, Baby Aden came along much to the delight of their parents Bernard & Steff :) He's such a charmer!
 
First time playing mahjong without any chips. We had to record our loss/winnings on paper, lol!

Then it was off to Keith's 小舅 place for another round of gathering. 小舅 & 小舅妈 would whip up lots of dishes for everyone.
 
The cousins unite; Leecher looked really out of place amongst all his younger cousins (^^)
 
Before I end off this post, this is my collection of angpao for this year! Thanks to all those relatives who still gave us angpao even though we are married :) 

49 days

Today marks the 49th day since baby bro left the family. 

According to the Chinese custom, it will be his last day on Earth. After 11pm tonight, he will head for a new chapter of life.

As the priest performed his chanting, I told baby bro that he'll have to be on his way for a new lease of life after finishing the final meal that mummy dearest prepared for him. It was through fate that we became siblings in this lifetime & I'm very grateful for it. No matter where he is, he will always remain as my baby bro. The one that we all dote on.

Time has come for us to bid farewell (once again). I do sincerely hope/pray that he'll be a healthy child in his next life.

Perhaps, fate will let us continue our kinship in another lifetime....

Red Star Restaurant 红星酒家

It has been a long while since I had the time to sit down in front of my computer, loading and sorting out the pics into their various folders. Work has been busy - new year new challenges, but nothing beats spending quality time with the family. In the new year, I made changes to my lifestyle & decided to spend more time with my family.

 

On a particular weekend, we decided to step foot into an old neighbourhood near Chinatown. Yup, we are heading for weekend dim sum at Red Star Restaurant 红星酒家. I purposely wore a loose flowy dress so I can eat all I want, lol!

One of the oldest dim sum place in Singapore, this is where a lot of my friends had fond memories of coming here for dim sum when they were still toddlers. It was the IT place at that time to be seen and spotted. Many years later, I came here on my virgin visit with mummy dearest :) 

I was blown away by the crowd even though we arrived around noon. We had to wait for a while before being ushered to our table. Once the table setting is completed, the push-carts started to appear. 
 
Ordering card :) 

Started the meal with 皮蛋瘦肉粥. This version was slightly watered down in my opinion, but suits Leecher's tastebuds to a T.
  
猪肠粉, Leecher's must fave in every dim sum meal. They can be filled with shrimps, pork, beef, vegetables or other ingredients, but I love it the most with bits of char siew. 
 

 

 It was a tough fight b/w the egg tart and custard bun as my personal favourite. If I really had to pick one, it will go to custard bun 流沙包! The bun was fluffy & my heart nearly stopped when golden molten lava flowed out from within.
 

with my mummy dearest, who kept complaining that I'm on my quest to make her put on weight, lol! She had to walk extra rounds in the morning to work off those kilos. 
 
Desserts to end the meal.
 
A candid pic at the request of the kind push-cart auntie who helped us with the pics 
❤ ❤ ❤ 

Red Star Restaurant  红星酒家

Blk 54, Chin Swee Road

#07-23 Singapore 160054

Tel: 65325266

Opening Hours: 7am till 3pm, 6pm till 10.30pm daily

1 month on .....

Dear baby bro, 

How are you? Today marks the 1st month since you left us. As weird as it may sounds, I felt your return on the first week and mummy dearest felt you came back home last week for a quick visit. I'll still talk fondly about you - your naughtiness, laughter, everything. I don't go through a day without missing you. During my quiet moments, I'll think of you in the other world - my most worry is if there is anyone helping to look after you? I believe that you are a good child, so there will be kind souls around to help you out. 

Every night, I'll be praying that I get to see you in my dreams. However, you failed to appear apart from that brief second on 21st Jan. I wasn't even sure if it was you since I woke up from my dream shortly feeling cold, only to realize that your kor kor (Leecher) had turned on the air con while I was sleeping. In the end, kor kor is forbidden from switching on the air con for the rest of the week as punishment, lol.

When mummy dearest & I visited you the other day, we were slightly late and it seemed like you threw a bit of tantrum. Almost everything went wrong & I ended up with a small burn and a sore finger. You must be angry that 姐姐 overslept on that day and missed our scheduled timing. 姐姐 is sorry, so don't be angry ok? I'll promise not to be late :)

I miss you greatly. 

Love always, 
姐姐

3 weeks

It will be Day 21 tomorrow, 3 weeks after you left us.

Every day, I'll still think of you.

Miss you, my dearest baby bro. 

A brand new year

At the stroke of midnight on 1st Jan 2014, we welcome the new year. 

I'm not a firm believer of new year resolution, but I hope to spend more time with my family  moving forward.

I wish for health and happiness for all my loved ones. 

May baby bro be happy and healthy where ever he may be. 

****

Thank you for being there for us in this difficult time, I really appreciate this from the bottom of my heart. Life still goes on & I know baby bro is watching over us from up above.

Goodbye

At the last day of every year, it has been a tradition to sit in front of the comp and pen down my thoughts for the past year. This year, I struggled long before deciding to pen down this post. 

My beloved baby bro left us on 26th Dec 2013. Mummy once told me that when baby bro was born, the doc predicted that he only had a life expectancy of 12-16 years. We were fortunate enough to have him for 27 years in the family, which I'm extremely thankful for. His health deteoriated over the last couple of years, but that did not stop us from loving him more. He was a brave warrior with a strong will to live. 

It has been an emotional ride for the last couple of days - the reality that baby bro has left us didn't register in my brain. I kept feeling that he was just away in hospital and will be back in a couple of days. I teared whenever I think of him - sitting in his favourite chair and waiting for us to play or talk to him.

I know he is in a better place now where he is healthy & carefree. In my heart, he will always be my beloved baby bro, the one that I'll always love and care for. 

Baby, 姐姐 loves you forever. 

Always my baby bro

You will always be my beloved baby bro - my brave warrior. 姐姐 loves you forever. 

Lil Bro's NS journey: 1st Overseas Deployment

Enlistment into BMTC

Passing Out Parade

OCS Family Day

*******

Lil Bro is back to being a student for months, but I have yet to finish documenting his NS Journey, oops. He had his 1st overseas deployment during his OCS journey. This refers to the Midshipman Sea Training Deployment, where it is the practical phrase of the Midshipmen's training during the Sea Training Term. This phrase of training consists of a 7-week sailing schedule with stopovers at various foreign ports. For this deployment, lil bro was more of a tag-along to have first hand experience on how his actual deployment will be like in a few months time. 

Before his actual deployment, we were invited to a mini party hosted within Changi Naval Base. Families & friends were all invited by the delegates, but somehow, I seemed to spot more GFs than family members, tsk tsk. 

It was my first time @ Changi Naval Base, with many more to come later as Lil Bro embarked his navy journey. The event was held at the central mass, so not much security clearance was needed.

Drink for the night - we each had a coupon that we can redeem for drink, lol! I prefer my drink for the lovely shade of blue :) Leecher had a fake mojito since there wasn't any alcohol in the premises, if I recall correctly. 

I certainly feel like a parent in this youngster environment, haha!
 

The guys put up a wonderful performance which deserved a round of applause :) 

We also had a game of bingo! Sadly we didn't win any prizes :(

Old people must sit down on the sofa while the youngsters stand, lol! 

The amazing view while we had our dinner! 

This became the photo booth for the night. Families and friends crowd around this to take polarids. We took a couple and gave to lil bro, so he can look at it if he misses us during his sailing days, lol! I just hope he didn't pick up a pen and start drawing on my face!

 The day finally came when lil bro set sail for his 1st overseas deployment. Before that, I even had to change $$ for him in various currencies as he'll be visiting 3 ports during this deployment. 

Lil bro with his course mates. 

We got to tour the ship & lil bro was our guide - we visited the navigation room and it was an eye opener for me! Thankfully I was wearing flats and jeans, for the steps leading down/up to the various areas were pretty steep.

Hello World, lol!

Well, a proper post for lil bro since he can't be fooling around in his uniform. 

Last pictures before we need to leave the ship.

A group pic for the batch mates ~ honestly, they all looked similar apart from having no specs vs wearing black-rimmed specs.

It was time for the midshipmen to board RSS Resolution. Prefix RSS meaning Republic of Singapore Ship. RSS Resolution are the biggest class of ships in the Navy. The ships are also actively involved in humanitarian and disaster relief operations, notably in East Timor, the Persian Gulf and Indonesian province of Aceh.

Waving byes as they embarked on their journey to become better sea navigators :)