Friday, December 12, 2008
It's Christmas Time!
It's the time of year again..... of resolutions, year-end parties,carols, turkeys, presents, Christmas trees and tinsels, and family gatherings. A most wondrous time of goodwill, mushy wishes, kisses, hugs and long year-end holidays. How can I ever get enough of such feelings of love, festivities and smacking good time, albeit deemed a trifle commercialized and Mickey Mouse-influenced.
I'm so glad that we took the step of celebrating Christmas more than ten years ago. I can still remember the time we had our first turkey in Desa Pandan. Nothing fancy - just the bird, sparkling juice, warm buns and mushroom soup. But what a memorable feast it was! I was absolutely enthralled by the mere size of the gigantic "chicken". It looked different, it tasted different, but a chicken nevertheless ...a very expensive chicken. The kids were still young then so we had quite a struggle trying to finish off the bird. The act of putting out the cutlery, laying the table and putting on the Christmas songs for ambience was remarkable and totally heartwarming. I remembered we had to invite mum-in-law, Mike and his kids over to help us to demolish it. Even then with the additional mouths, we had quite a fair bit of leftovers for Christmas morning.
Things sort of moved on to the next level since then. It is now a family affair and has been embraced into the annals of must-have family get-togethers. The Christmas eve menu has evolved into a lavish spread of east and west and somewhere in between. The turkey's still there (heck, it's Christmas after all and woe betide a Christmas dinner without the turkey - absolutely no compromise on this). The tree and presents are still in the package. The only difference is that the original batch of kids are now taller (except the 2 small ones), thesparkling juices have mellowed to something stronger, there are more cooks contributing to the gourmet potluck , Christmas carols are sung with gruffer karaoke-trained voices and the family's coming in more than1 car. Other than this, nothing has changed. The merriment andcamaraderie of the Christmas spirit continues to withstand time and ageand hopefully for many years to come.
Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year! XXXOOO
Monday, May 19, 2008
Holiday Observations
I'm on leave today - on mum duty. Thought of doing some serious "lepaking" and catch up on some of the local and foreign political news. I'm all ready at my dining table, the fan is on, the dogs are frolicking at my feet, the indoor fountain is providing the spa ambience, and the aroma my coffee filling the air. Aah...Pure bliss...: ) I opened my copy of today's "Star". And what do I get? Headlines screaming that our grand-ole man "Dr M quits Umno" (a full 10 pages dedicated to it, mind you). Did a quick take on the rest of the papers and decided to do an analysis of contents (I'm sooo free, rite?) - 3 pages sort-of mentioning about the Chinese and Myanmese disasters and 2 pages-full advertising on Air Asia. The balance - half of the heap goes to more advertisements and sports. So what's left? Go figure. Our neighbourhood newspaper sure knows how to put things in perspective, doesn't it?
Got bored and turned on the You Tube to surf a recommended-read site : the Church of Oprah. This, for the record, is now the largest church in the world. For its first service in Mar,2008, there were 300,000 people. As at end March, total attendees grew to a meteoric 2 million..and that's only in N America. Goodness knows, what the latest number. So what's she advocating? She's saying : i) Who you are, requires no belief, ii) heaven is not a location but refers to an inner realm of consciousness, iii) Jesus is an archetypal image of every man and woman, iv) your mind is part of God's, thus you are very holy and your holiness is your salvation ie it comes from you. This is the New Age Religion. In short, you don't need God, you are God. By the way, she is the High Priestess of this religion. There are tons of postings and discussion sites in the web talking about this new phenomenon. For those who disagree and condemn such teachings, they are unwittingly giving it free publicity and spreading it even more. For the curious, there are loads of high-tech multimedia presentations to interest anyone for hours - I spent 2 hours just skimming on some of these sites. Well, she's the richest woman on this planet...she can well afford the top-of-the class technology and PR.
The news of today depresses me....it takes a lot of effort and hard hunting to find good news nowadays. It's as if the world is folding up into a massive mass of confusion, insecurity and misery. They have a name for it - the end time symptoms. Gives me the chills (brrr!). Call me an ostritch but I'm sticking my head into my line dancing notes and classes for entertainment and personal challenges. They're a much safer and healthier alternative.
As my circle of influence progressively decreases and my impending retirement looms, it's time to take stock of my priorities and needs. Starting this blog is one of them (it's cheaper than travelling, caters to my need and love to write, feeds my ego ;-P and prevent senility, I hope.) In the meantime I'm still finding more interests to fill my time...they say gardening's fun and charity work's noble....erhm....let's see....
Message to the Thams: babysitting proposals are not part of the above must-do activities nor do they fall within the category of post retirement hobbies : ) They are under the "occasional craving" group, together with the other "once-in-a-while must-have" food cravings.
Got bored and turned on the You Tube to surf a recommended-read site : the Church of Oprah. This, for the record, is now the largest church in the world. For its first service in Mar,2008, there were 300,000 people. As at end March, total attendees grew to a meteoric 2 million..and that's only in N America. Goodness knows, what the latest number. So what's she advocating? She's saying : i) Who you are, requires no belief, ii) heaven is not a location but refers to an inner realm of consciousness, iii) Jesus is an archetypal image of every man and woman, iv) your mind is part of God's, thus you are very holy and your holiness is your salvation ie it comes from you. This is the New Age Religion. In short, you don't need God, you are God. By the way, she is the High Priestess of this religion. There are tons of postings and discussion sites in the web talking about this new phenomenon. For those who disagree and condemn such teachings, they are unwittingly giving it free publicity and spreading it even more. For the curious, there are loads of high-tech multimedia presentations to interest anyone for hours - I spent 2 hours just skimming on some of these sites. Well, she's the richest woman on this planet...she can well afford the top-of-the class technology and PR.
The news of today depresses me....it takes a lot of effort and hard hunting to find good news nowadays. It's as if the world is folding up into a massive mass of confusion, insecurity and misery. They have a name for it - the end time symptoms. Gives me the chills (brrr!). Call me an ostritch but I'm sticking my head into my line dancing notes and classes for entertainment and personal challenges. They're a much safer and healthier alternative.
As my circle of influence progressively decreases and my impending retirement looms, it's time to take stock of my priorities and needs. Starting this blog is one of them (it's cheaper than travelling, caters to my need and love to write, feeds my ego ;-P and prevent senility, I hope.) In the meantime I'm still finding more interests to fill my time...they say gardening's fun and charity work's noble....erhm....let's see....
Message to the Thams: babysitting proposals are not part of the above must-do activities nor do they fall within the category of post retirement hobbies : ) They are under the "occasional craving" group, together with the other "once-in-a-while must-have" food cravings.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Alpha - my first entry
My second try at blogging (lost my lst blog) and it's pretty surreal for me! There's so much to write about and yet where do I start? Like the song in "The Sound of Music" - let's start at the very beginning...a very good place to start...
My first task at hand is to think of a suitable name for my blog. Shall I go for something profound eg of kings and cabbages...or something middle-of-the road eg musings...quick takes... etc? Took me quite a while to land up with "expresso88". Why the name? Firstly (and primarily) it's available and secondly I thought it fairly well represents of my upbringing - a mixture of western influence (the expresso-bit) and eastern culture (the ever-popular Chinesy 88). I suppose that's the basic composition of all 1st generation Chinese in Malaysia - educated in English but deeply rooted in the old ways of filial piety, tight family structure and submissive respect to parents and elders. Sad that with all the western influence slowly seeping into our cultural fabrics, it has become a normal and "acceptable practice" for kids nowadays to question the status quo and speak their minds openly to the elders without feeling any tinge of embarassment or remorse. In those days, arguments with parents or elders are unheard of and show of tantrums are usually ended with a tight slap across the face (not that my parents are privy to this, thank God!) or worse, a devastating, heart churning look from my mum that will transform any living creature into a quivering, self-repenting lump of human jelly. As you guessed it by now, that's an old-time skill that has been relegated to the age of dinosaurs by the advent of the television and modern media and what they call, freedom of speech and expression.
I'm finally on the information highway and hurtling towards my dreams of writing my memoirs (not that I'm such an influential figure that people will scramble to buy up the rights to publish) but a simple series of musings, thoughts and reflections that, perhaps may be preserved for posterity for my kids and my kids' kids, so that one day they may understand and remember me by. Of course, also before Alzeimer sets in. Yes ,humility is something I should work on more...
My earliest recollection of my childhood days was pre-school. How can I forget? I was the only kid in a house of adults. My earliest playmates were kids from the kampong settlement at the back of my grandma's house. For the likes of me, I can't remember what race they were. All I knew then was that they were MY friends and MY faithful companions.....a philosophy that I have always carried with me, even to this day - I'm colour and gender blind when it comes to friends. I just can't understand why with all the knowledge and education that's around, we have not understood nor accepted this simple concept that the only difference between one human and another is the language. Learn the language and you can bridge the gap.
I remember there were 2 girls (both sisters) and an extremely naughty boy who were the group bully. All of them were older than me. Don't remember their names...we were friends for full 4 years (before we were disbanded due to geographical relocations) and somehow got through with no names mentioned. Anyway would have forgotten even though if we knew each others' names then. They were my teachers to the ways of the world...I owe them so much. The girls taught me how to "cook" berry leaves and twigs without fire and arrange a neat spread in a professional table setting (a skill I could actually use during my domestic science days in Form 3). The boy taught me the survival skills - fishing for guppies in drains, climbing trees, catching bugs to add to my culinary repertoire, and of course, smashing marbles...all amazing stuff : ) ....and we didn't have computers, PS2 or what-nots in those days. The only toys were the cheap plastic dolls, which we used for target practice. Not sure if there were Barbie dolls then. If there were, they would have ended up the same way as the plastic ones or worse, would have stood in as dunking dummies. Well...we were very much engaged most of the time. So much to do and discover, no time to disturb the adults. I don't remember my grandma having any sleepness nights over what I did , who I was with or where I was. Why should she? I was a well behaved girl (ahem!) and there were no modern day crime to worry her...no kidnapping of kids....no muggings.....no rapes....no political shenanigans. The only shocking crimes I vaguely remember (it was talked about for days among the adults) were when some "hippies" crashed their car into a cow (how yucky!) and some GIs came to my uncle's shop and teased my aunt. Wow! So happening!
We weren't rich then nor had we all the trappings of modern day comfort, but it's the simple things I remember and cherish most. Nothing is worth more than such sweet (sometimes bitter) recollections that make me say...."Ah....those were the good days..."
My first task at hand is to think of a suitable name for my blog. Shall I go for something profound eg of kings and cabbages...or something middle-of-the road eg musings...quick takes... etc? Took me quite a while to land up with "expresso88". Why the name? Firstly (and primarily) it's available and secondly I thought it fairly well represents of my upbringing - a mixture of western influence (the expresso-bit) and eastern culture (the ever-popular Chinesy 88). I suppose that's the basic composition of all 1st generation Chinese in Malaysia - educated in English but deeply rooted in the old ways of filial piety, tight family structure and submissive respect to parents and elders. Sad that with all the western influence slowly seeping into our cultural fabrics, it has become a normal and "acceptable practice" for kids nowadays to question the status quo and speak their minds openly to the elders without feeling any tinge of embarassment or remorse. In those days, arguments with parents or elders are unheard of and show of tantrums are usually ended with a tight slap across the face (not that my parents are privy to this, thank God!) or worse, a devastating, heart churning look from my mum that will transform any living creature into a quivering, self-repenting lump of human jelly. As you guessed it by now, that's an old-time skill that has been relegated to the age of dinosaurs by the advent of the television and modern media and what they call, freedom of speech and expression.
I'm finally on the information highway and hurtling towards my dreams of writing my memoirs (not that I'm such an influential figure that people will scramble to buy up the rights to publish) but a simple series of musings, thoughts and reflections that, perhaps may be preserved for posterity for my kids and my kids' kids, so that one day they may understand and remember me by. Of course, also before Alzeimer sets in. Yes ,humility is something I should work on more...
My earliest recollection of my childhood days was pre-school. How can I forget? I was the only kid in a house of adults. My earliest playmates were kids from the kampong settlement at the back of my grandma's house. For the likes of me, I can't remember what race they were. All I knew then was that they were MY friends and MY faithful companions.....a philosophy that I have always carried with me, even to this day - I'm colour and gender blind when it comes to friends. I just can't understand why with all the knowledge and education that's around, we have not understood nor accepted this simple concept that the only difference between one human and another is the language. Learn the language and you can bridge the gap.
I remember there were 2 girls (both sisters) and an extremely naughty boy who were the group bully. All of them were older than me. Don't remember their names...we were friends for full 4 years (before we were disbanded due to geographical relocations) and somehow got through with no names mentioned. Anyway would have forgotten even though if we knew each others' names then. They were my teachers to the ways of the world...I owe them so much. The girls taught me how to "cook" berry leaves and twigs without fire and arrange a neat spread in a professional table setting (a skill I could actually use during my domestic science days in Form 3). The boy taught me the survival skills - fishing for guppies in drains, climbing trees, catching bugs to add to my culinary repertoire, and of course, smashing marbles...all amazing stuff : ) ....and we didn't have computers, PS2 or what-nots in those days. The only toys were the cheap plastic dolls, which we used for target practice. Not sure if there were Barbie dolls then. If there were, they would have ended up the same way as the plastic ones or worse, would have stood in as dunking dummies. Well...we were very much engaged most of the time. So much to do and discover, no time to disturb the adults. I don't remember my grandma having any sleepness nights over what I did , who I was with or where I was. Why should she? I was a well behaved girl (ahem!) and there were no modern day crime to worry her...no kidnapping of kids....no muggings.....no rapes....no political shenanigans. The only shocking crimes I vaguely remember (it was talked about for days among the adults) were when some "hippies" crashed their car into a cow (how yucky!) and some GIs came to my uncle's shop and teased my aunt. Wow! So happening!
We weren't rich then nor had we all the trappings of modern day comfort, but it's the simple things I remember and cherish most. Nothing is worth more than such sweet (sometimes bitter) recollections that make me say...."Ah....those were the good days..."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
