Tribute To Dada.

A loving, devoted husband, a caring father, and a doting grandfather; my Dada was all of it, and he excelled greatly.

From the memories of most of the Grandchildren, we remember Dada as a humorous man, and a man of great wisdom. More often than not, he will impart us with his knowledge and wisdom, and Dada was a great inspiration to each and every one of us.

I remember as a young child, Dada would bring me along when he brought tour groups around.

I remember going to Sentosa, Haw Par Villa and a few more places with Dada and his tour groups.

I remember how the staffs always teased Dada and I, asking if I was his daughter, to which he would proudly say, "No, she's my Grand-daughter!"

I remember the days in 1998 where I spent one whole year at Holland Road with Dada and Popo after school.

I remember buying candies and tidbits and hiding them in my bag, only to sneak a nibble at them when Dada was not looking, for the fear of getting nagged at for "eating rubbish".

I remember Dada always telling me to go to the dining table to take so-and-so to eat.

I remember Dada telling me to cut my nails and aim them into the bin.

I remember falling asleep on the smelly-but-comfortable sofa every afternoon, with Dada and Popo taking their afternoon naps as well.

I remember Dada showing off his "little mouse" to us Grandchildren often. He had 2, and they were mounted on each of his upper arm.

I remember dreading to eat the papayas from Dada's garden, because they were always being "watered" with all the males' liquid waste.

I remember rushing to eat the mangoes from Dada's garden, because they were always huge, yellow and sweet.

I remember, I remember, I remember. The list of things I remember about my Dada can go on for days, which I will not be able to list all of them out.

My beloved Dada was called home by His Father on 13 June 2009 at 1.19am. The Chan Yiptong family is greatly comforted knowing that Dada has returned home and is in the Lord's safe arms.

With so much to say, yet unable to pen down every single train of thoughts, pictures and videos of my Grandfather's wake and funeral will sum up everything.





And because I was hospitalised the very same morning that Dada passed away, I was unable to attend the wake for the first 2 days. Da Jie said that they all had mental block when it came to writing in the memories book, but I had no trouble, because I knew exactly the important highlights that imprinted lasting memories in my head. So this was what I wrote to Dada:


For memories sake, we took tons of pictures during the wake and these were the few I took with my camera.



On the 16th, a service was held, and for those who are interested, I have broken the service into snippets of 5 parts.








This has got the be the best picture, ever. With Popo looking down lovingly at the picture of her late husband. Priceless.

The Chan Yiptongs donned black suits and dresses, for the last service and cremation of Dada. No doubt it was heart wrenching, but we all knew Dada is well and always living in our hearts.




Encoffin

At Mandai Crematorium


On the 18th, a few of us went down to collect Dada's remains and I'm glad that although I was not able to attend the first 2 days of Dada's wake, I was there to place a part of him into the urn.



Bye bye Dada, rest in peace. We will always love and remember you. I hope I will be able to remember your voice in the many years to come. And I know for sure there's one thing I will never forget, and that's the way you call me, Seh Moi. Love.

A Taxing Week.

A series of unfortunate events came our way this entire week.

13th June:
- Dada's passing
- My Pneumothorax attack
- Korkor's RX8 rim got scratched while he was on his way to visit me
- Dad's tyre punctured

16th June:
- Dad's car ass got kissed by a taxi
- Sparky ran away (or got dog-napped)

It has been a really tiring week, and a taxing one for the Chan Yiptong family. The sending off of my Dada was a grand and formal affair, with the males in suits and ties, and the females in dresses/pant suit.

Dada would have been pleased, I know that for sure. And like what our Da Jie said, "Now there's one more Angel up above watching over us, and that is our Dada. No running away because Dada knows each and everyone of us inside out."

Thank you Dada, for watching over all of us. We love you. =)

Too Many In A Day.

13th June 2009 was a day filled with too many major events at one go.

My Dearest Grandfather, my Dada, was called home to be with His Father on 13 June at about 1.30am. I arrived at the hospital after his passing, and was still in time to catch the warmth of his body. Seeing his peaceful face was painful yet comforting.

Tears, hugs and comforting words were passed around, and at 4am, we had to say our goodbyes before Dada was being wheeled away to the mortuary. I planted a soft kiss on his already cold cheeks, and walked away with a painful heart.

While the family was discussing on the further arrangements, sharp pains shot through my right chest, and I immediately knew it was Pneumothorax again. Already at TTSH, my Mom and brother sat me down in a wheelchair and wheeled me to A&E. Confirmed case of my 3rd Pneumothorax attack and after a needle aspiration and observation 6 hours later, the Doctor had to hospitalise me, which I stayed till 15th. I now have an appointment with 2 specialists, my lung specialist, and that specialist which I was forced coerced into seeing.

I was angry at myself, for I missed the first 2 days of my Dada's wake. But I know Dada will understand and not blame me.

Sitting here at the wake at The Lady of Lourdes Church, 50 Ophir Road, is the closest I can be to my One & Only Dada. I will dedicate a tribute when the wake and funeral is over. He is worth everything, the time and the effort. Rest in peace, Dada. I love you, always.

MUAHAHAHAHAHA! Another item off my list!

The only down side is that this is the 1st Canon point and shoot camera that doesn't have the 'Colour Accent' function. That was actually what I wanted Canon for. =( Still, I love love love the colour! =D

It sucks that my laptop died (and is still dead). I feel so handicapped because I don't get to surf the websites saved in my "Favourites", and I don't get to blog with pictures. Because of that, I cannot blog about a number of stuff, and that really upsets me.

Talking about pictures, I'm going down to the IT Fair later to get my Canon Ixus 95 IS in ORANGE! Super good deal, and I'd be really dumb if I don't get it at the fair. I'm so looking forward to getting off work! =D

p/s: The camera is my birthday gift from Mommy! Thanks Mommy!

My laptop's hard disk crashed. I'm only hoping that my data can all be retrieved. It'd be a bonus if the hard disk can be reformatted and used again. If not, whether to get a new laptop/desktop or to get a new hard disk will be a decision I have to make. Damn. =(

I have never liked the Terminator series before because as a kid, I guess I was just too dull to get the gist of the story, or to put it more bluntly, I couldn't be bothered to.

I remember watching Terminator (#???) on TV when I was younger, but I didn't sit through the entire show, because like I have mentioned, I was not able to catch the show.



However, Terminator Salvation changed my perception of it, and although the story line was slightly complex and nonsensical, it still appealed to me very much with all its effects and such.

Watch it, it's nice.

Phuket Getaway!

DAY 1 - 23 May 09


Sky still dark, air still cold, they could have stayed in bed and snooze longer but my loving parents made the effort to get up early in the morning just to send us to the Airport. Little actions like this makes me know I'm loved.


While waiting to board the plane, we got bored and decided to amuse ourselves with some arty farty things meant for kids to doodle and hone their artistic skills.


We soon boarded the plane and took the 1.5 hours flight and finally...




We arrived at Sugar Palm Resort & Spa @ Kata Beach! We had amazing bed decorations because when we booked the room online, there was a portion that asked what was our purpose there for and looking at the various options, we decided to amuse ourselves by selecting the "honeymoon" node. It was indeed a pleasant surprise when we stepped into our room. =)

Without any further procrastination, we hopped into our swim wear and headed to the beach which was a 5 minutes walk from our resort.



The beach was AMAZING! And if you think the water here looks very clear and nice, wait till you see Phi Phi Island's clear blue sea!

The rest of the afternoon was spent travelling around, shopping and getting familiarised with the area in our rented vehicle - Toyota Vios. At 5pm (SG 6pm), we finally had our first real meal for the day.


Although this was just a run down eatery, the food was delicious and the best part, it was so freaking cheap! $1.70 for the Kway Teow and $3.40 for that hugeass bowl of Tom Yum soup which had 9-10 fat prawns in it. SLURPS!

Our day ended with a shock to learn that the petrol stations in Phuket closes at night, unlike Singapore which runs 24 hours. Desperate to refill the tank, we drove around and I was sharp to spot a vending-machine-like self service gasoline kiosk!


This is seriously one cool invention! And after this find, we realised that there were many of such kiosks around Phuket! No wonder their petrol stations can afford to close at night.

Oh, amusement for the day:


They have a Cafe Del Mar too! =D

And that concluded our Day 1 at Phuket. For a more comprehensive set of pictures, view them at Facebook.

Day 2 - 24 May 09

Day 2 was covered entirely by a Phi Phi Island tour that we booked. We visited so many islands that I lost count and all I can remember is that the beaches were beautiful, with water so clear and sand so fine. I was in paradise!



Viking Cave


Snorkeling at Loh Samah Bay
My very first time snorkeling and it was extremely fun despite the fact that I drank some sea water when water seeped into my goggles and entered my nose.


Maya Bay

Monkey Beach (but there were no monkeys that day)
Lunch was settled at Phi Phi Don. Nothing spectacular, but enjoyable nonetheless. Last stop for the entire trip was Khai Nok Island, where we spent over an hour soaking up the sun, enjoying the breeze, waddling/snorkeling in the clear blue water.


Khai Nok Island
And then it was time to go back to mainland, where NJ4 and I watched the sunset at Kata Beach while settling dinner at road side food stalls.


Likewise, more pictures can be viewed at Facebook.

Day 3 - 25 May 09

On my birthday, we rushed through shooting, bungy jump and shopping because it was also the day we had to return to Singapore. =(


Again, we rented a vehicle and this time it was a Jeep. Honestly, driving is a wiser choice because their Tuk-Tuk Taxi is exorbitantly priced. So if you have a driving/riding licence and can read the map, good for you! Otherwise, lie on the chopping board.


After 5 years of not handling a weapon, I can still shoot! LOL! My knack for shooting is still there.


After shooting, we drove to Patong and put our lives at risk, literally putting our lives on a thin line. We went BUNGY JUMPING! 60m in height, the tallest in Phuket!


With that, the following videos will do it's part.


Jay-Jay's bungy

May Anne's bungy

Again, rest of the pictures can be viewed at Facebook.

With that, our Phuket trip was a fun-filled and fufilling one! We already miss Phuket! =(

Day 2 at Phuket has come to an (early) end. So far so good. Phi Phi Island tour today was freaking awesome! Snorkeling with the fishes was so fun, less the times the clear sea water entered my goggles and made me swallow a few good big gulps of it via my nose. HAHA!

All the different islands were so damn pretty, with the water so clear and the sand so fine. I was in paradise. =)

Will be back tomorrow night and if I'm not too tired and/or lazy, I'll upload the tons of pictures we took!

Totally anticipating tomorrow's fun-filled activities!

p/s: NJ4 got his camera (the one I've been holding on to all these while) wet, and it's a gone case now. The camera has served us well and he's totally sore about its death. -hugs- Don't be overly upset!

Jetting off in a few hours' time to the sunny beachy island! I pray that the weather will be bright and sunny and breezy and nice altogether for the next few days that I'm there.

Bye bye Singapore (for now), hello Phuket! =)

Happy Birthday Daddykins! ♥

High-tea at Shangri-La's 'The Rose Veranda' left us all stuffed.

This is the very first and way in advance birthday present to me from my elder brother and sister-in-law. ♥ The Swatch watch is so pretty, with my favourite colour on it! My SIL has great taste and really knows what I like. =) And Incanto Charms is finally off my wishlist. Thank you korkor and da sao!
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Food have always been seasonal for me, and now it's that time for bars and more bars again. It has been months since I last stock up on so many bars at one go, but I'm a seasonal eater and I need changes. =)

More buys from the last few days, with some Larabars already long gone in my stomach:


And together with the last round of stock, I have a massive number of bars to keep me going for another few months or so. But I'm pretty sure that there will be more varieties of energy bars to be added to this stash in time to come.


Bars Galore!

It's the 14th again, and we're 27 months into our journey. Time really flies, and it's really not all that good when one is reaching mid 20s in a couple of years.

Today is also the opening of Angels & Demons and knowing that I must watch it , Nj4 brought me for its screening!

Honestly, I believe if I had not read the book, I would be totally lost, because as always, the progression of movies are way faster than the story in the book itself. A great watch!

The auditors from KPMG are here and it was a weird feeling to see that 2 out of the 4 auditors are my Secondary School mates. Singapore is just so small. Hah.

It has been a while since NJ4 and I dined at a place out of the ordinary and because we had a lot of time to kill before meeting up with Shinyu and Aaron for a movie, we decided to roam Upper Thomson.

Other than the crazy chocolate cake craving I had yesterday, I was also dying to have some fish, and so we did. =)



Our shared dinner: Pan-grilled Seabass with Pasta
Watched "Taken" at AMKHub with the 2 lovebirds and this show was worth every minute of my time! Honestly, I wouldn't mind watching it one more time. And Liam Neeson has that "old man charm" that I like. =x

On an extremely random note, I have bought so many energy bars over the last couple of days that I really do not know when I'd be able to finish them all. I believe that the bars are somewhat a good investment.


Almost $100 worth of energy bars waiting for me to eat them, and I totally cannot wait to try the new and exorbitantly priced bars I bought. I must be crazy.

Cough, flu, mucus as thick as gelatin, and voice a few octaves lower than usual. Despite those, I have this really bad craving for some sinful devil's chocolate cake. I never believed in abstinence from "heaty" food when I'm sick. Fine, call me crazy.

First and foremost, happy birthday to my one and only Mommy. =)
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When there is a party, there are people. When there is a party, there is booze. When there is booze, there are bound to be people who are totally wasted or semi-wasted. And so the story goes...


The party and the people.


The people and the booze.



The booze and the fun.


The wasted and tired people.
And as usual, for the rest of the pictures, view them on Facebook.

In celebration of Susanty's 25th birthday, we went down to Boiler Room and had balls of fun! But the fun only lasted 1/3 of the night for me because my stomach went against me and I had a food poisoning sort of experience. Anal diarrhoea + verbal diarrhoea = nasty.

Still feeling absolutely unfit to move after the various diarrhoea, I was surprised to see pictures of me being able to smile for the camera! The following pictures are all taken at 1.15am, so I'm guessing they are just seconds apart.

In chronological order, we have the following shots:




Wow, that smile was a chore to summon when I was in excruciating pain. And please ignore my fat and distorted looking arm. I have no idea where that ET-like arm came from. A photo log will be up after I get all the other pictures from the various camera holders! =)