Family Day

This morning, six of us squeezed in my dad's car and went to tomb sweepings.
Both of my great grandfathers' and grandfather's tomb are located at 2 different places in Klang.

If I am not mistaken, today is the 1st time 4 of us accompanying our parents for this festival. We might have going together like today when we were young, but I could not remember at all. Perhaps, we had not....it has been any of us who were free following or accompanying them instead. I could only remember I cried pestering my parents to follow them to tomb sweeping, I was five in that year. My dad shouldered me climbing fences surrounding tombs before reaching my grandpa's tomb. It was a raining day and both of us nearly stumbled on the fence.

We had Bak Kut Teh after sweeping my great grandfathers' tombs with uncle, aunt and cousin.
Then my family only went to sweep my grandfather's tomb at further distance from Klang downtown.Before back to KL, we looked for the "ABC" ices at the old hawker place.This was one of the food spot my father used to bring us for when we came to Klang during Sunday.

Though it was a normal Sunday or just a "duplicate" Sunday we used to have, this was a great and precious time we had other than the Chinese New Year nowsaday. In fact, we had not been living under same roof since Sept 2006:

• 1996 Sept --I left for study
• 1998 July - Chung Yau left for study at early month, I returned in month end
• 1999 Sept --I left for working
• 2004 June -Chung Yang left for study
• 2004 July -- I returned for good
• 2007 Dec - Chung Yau returned for good, but always lives outside rather than home.
• 2008 Oct -Yee Jia left for working.
• 2008 Nov - Chung Yau married and moved out.

Returning home at afternoon, Chung Yang started getting himself prepared to catch his bus back to Singapore. Chung Yau returned his home after meal, Yee Jia will return to HK in coming Thursday when she need to return to her work.

I missed those days we waited for each other watching Hong Kong drama /movie rented, or evenings we watched dramas from TV2 or TV3 with our dinner plates on our hand respectively.

She Won

My mother has become nanny to Yi-Yan again in last December and in the same period she turned into 6 years old.

When Yi-Yan was a toddler, she did not cry, whine and scream if anythings she asked for was disallowed or her request was not being fulfilled. I remembered before she knew to speak verbally, she liked to pull or push us out from our seat. Pointing to the door, she told us in her language, “ I want to go out, please bring me out for strolling….please, please.” This happened almost every evening when she approached 18 months and just few months before she followed her parents going UK.

In fact, Yi Yan’s 2 lovely aunties were staying next door to us. They mentioned to us Yi –Yan ‘s popular lines when being with them, "Auntie, you are very boring" or ' I am just a 4 years old kid, it is unfair to ask me to do homework!'

1st Incident

At her 1st day she came to my house in last December, I took a nap after lunch because I was not feeling well. She woke me up every 3 minutes pestering me to take medicine after she knew that I was not feeling well. In next few days, Yi-Yan saw me having the chewing gum and asked me on spot. I told her that the gum was the medicine as I believe she is too young to have chewing gum at her age of 6. I noticed that she observed me taking the rest of "medicine" in following days , she had only asked another time to clear her suspicious if it was really the medicine. She must have wondered how come I did not sleep or how come I took the medicine for looking healthy, but she was quiet about these. That was 1 day in the following week.

We were doing household shopping with Yi-Yan at Jaya Jusco. We pushed the trolley toward the counter when we almost finished. Supermarket always displaying various candies, chewing gums and chololates around payment counters. When Yi Yan saw these, she pointed and asked, "Is this medicine?"
Recently I took chewing gum in front of her, she asked me on spot what was I eating. I bluffed to her like 5 months ago. Standing beside my table, she picked up the wrapping paper and read the wording –Chewing Gum. Off course, she asked me: “Why it is written Chewing Gum”. She caught me wordless!

2nd Incident

Yi –Yan is a very playful kid and it is quite difficult to get her to sit well finishing her homework without any rest. Her mother has always prepared a timetable scheduling her time for games, writing, coloring , drawing, TV and anything in daytime when she stays with us

One afternoon, I requested her to replicate my drawing in an A4 side paper. She refused by saying “This is your paper.”
I mentioned that I would like her to have the paper, but she kept on rejecting my offer and told me that she could not take my office paper.
No matter how I explained and reassured her, she insisted that it was my office paper and the paper is for office used.
Our conversation was eventually ended with an open remark. She pointed to my laptop and uttered, “ Can you give me your computer? Can you give me your pencil case?”

I was astounded, I was wordless and seriously I did not know how to answer her remark.
You see, she wins ultimately !