December summary and (just some) new year thoughts..

Looks like my blog is heading towards a natural demise.. but i'm reluctant to let it really die..

SO MUCH had happened in December but I didn't get to blog about it.. and now we're in the 2nd day of a brand new year, or should I add, decade - 2011!

Well.. perhaps I could just summarise - more for the sake of reminding myself of the more significant things and events that took place.. all in the month of December!

• Singing and performing 3 concerts with Cantus Musicus - Christmas Tree lighting @ Equatorial KL, Nine Lessons and Carols @ St Andrews Church, Weihnachtskonzert (German Speaking Society of Kuala Lumpur) @ Bukit Nanas Chapel. Each of these concerts were followed by sumptuous (free) meals!!!
• Three new gadgets that keep me pretty occupied - Lumix Panasonic Semipro camera, iPad and iPod Touch! Ok the first was bought end of Nov. by myself , the icing of the cake must be the iPad - a birthday present from dad and mom that arrived 10 days before my actual birthday, and finally days before Christmas, got the new generation iPod Touch by a generous friend - a real nice surprise!
• My birthday new haircut - made up my mind to chop off the hair to a short bob, and did it on the day itself! Feel fresh and had quite a lot of positive feedback. Well, a change after 4 years or so of long hair!
• Birthday dinner with parents @ Hakka Republic and visited SkyBar - first time for all of us.
• Watched `Follow the Light' with friends - and after, the cast to sang happy birthday song - very nice harmony - to me! Also watched `Celebrations' by PAN production and caught up with some friends.
• Work wise - two interesting interviews - 1. with four talented performing artistes (my recorder failed me but thanksfully could be salvaged!), and 2. with YB Teresa Kok in Shah Alam.
• A busy Christmas week and weekend which involved 3 rehearsals (didn't make one cos zonked out!), leading songs for 3 services - Christmas and Sunday service on Boxing Day.
• Three dinner parties over Christmas and Boxing day - the annual Christmas party with the Boeys, my CG Christmas Party and the worship ministry Thanksgiving dinner - had to split myself for the latter two. All were really fun!
• On new year's eve, had a wonderful excursion to Bentong Farm Sanctuary - an animal haven that had so many dogs able to roam and run freely in the vast nature land.. also visited Bentong town and had nice lunch and ice-cream. (this event deserves a blog post to itself)

Of course, the above were just some highlights that came to mind.. there were many other interesting things that happened and December was definitely an eventful and exciting month..

And I'm really looking forward to the first few months of 2011 with some exciting plans installed.. details later (so I have the reasons to carry on blogging..)

Well, for a bigger picture, I have always at this time of the year, do a reflection of sort and then set out my new year resolutions.. but strangely, for some reasons unknown, I have not even given it any thoughts so I guess I won't be blogging on them as well..

Or maybe I'm just slow.. as it still hasn't sunk in that we're in 2011 already!

Having said that.. I still believe it's good to have some kind of `wish' or `direction' or whatever you choose to call it for a fresh new year, so that you start the year with a right set of mind to want to improve yourself.

So, besides the list of unwritten down resolutions which I already know I should do. ie. exercise regularly, sleep earlier, do regular quiet time (yes all these I endeavour to do) more importantly, I want to just remember this `principle' every minute, every day in 2011:

To glorify God by doing the best in whatever I am to do, and to be the `salt and light' that He calls us to be - ie. making a difference in the lives of people.

And I will say `Amen' to it. :)

Oh those sickly days..

Thank God I finally recovered from a nasty flu that lasted 3 weeks!!

It's not a norm that I get ill for so long.. normally my flu/fever never lasted more than 3 days or so.

Caught this pretty nasty viral flu while we went to Shanghai last month for the World Expo. I already had a cough and had not been resting enough. The hectic schedule and the change of temperature didn't help.. By the end of the 3rd day, I was feeling really lousy and needed to see a doctor when I got up on the 4th day - supposedly our `rest' day in between the Expo visit.

The doctor gave me anti-biotic, cough mixture and other flu med. I was told that rest was what I needed. I was thinking maybe if I rested enough I could make it to the Expo the following day.. but that was just wishful thinking.

It was indeed miserable to fall sick while travelling. I spent two whole days sleeping in our hotel room :( And then on Friday afternoon, we needed to fly back. I was afraid I couldn't make it but God gave me just enough strength to make the journey. Though I was like sleeping on the chairs when mom did her last round of shopping in the departure hall.

The 5-hour plus flight was not good.. I slept (or tried to sleep) most of it.. speaking of sleep. I had trouble sleeping when ill - mostly because the cough was so bad that it affected me, and I think the medicine too had some effect. So ya, it was terrible.. :(

I felt like collapsing when I reached home that night.. forced myself to eat a little and just climbed into bed..

Since the med had finished, I went to my trusted GP the next day. I was upset that I had to miss 3 events that I was looking forward to attend - a friend's son's dedication in the morning, an old friend's wedding luncheon and the OKR mid-autumn festival celebration in the evening! Yup, had to just cancel all and just rested at home..

Took this pic of my old (China) medicine and the medicines my GP gave

Normally, my GP's medications are very effective. But not this time. I completed the anti-biotic and everything else (he gave me 5 diff. meds) but I had not recovered. The cough was still very bad and I still felt weak.. I have abstained from lots of stuff - of course cold, icy drinks and food, fried oily stuff, spicy stuff.. and even chicken and egg!! Ya, I know it sounds like old-wife tale but somehow when I took chicken I ended up coughing really badly. So I rather just `believe' on the safe side. I also tried various remedy like Manukka honey, garlic essence and so on... in desperation to get well..

The cough was still unbearable, so I decided to try alternative treatment - ie Chinese traditional medicine since many people have recommended this for treatment of cough. And since the anti-biotics and the many meds that my GP gave me had made me feel quite week, I thot the change would be good.

I went to see a doctor from China practising at the Tung Shin Hospital in KL. He basically just felt my pulse and looked at my tongue.. also took my blood pressure. And then he wrote a long list of `prescription' for us to pick up. The `herbs' included things like tree barks, roots and even rocks!!

Comparing to Western medicine, Chinese medicine is quite a hassle to prepare. The cooking time for the medicine daily is around 1.5 hours.. And this is how it looks like

For the following six days, I faithfully cooked the Chinese herbs (ok, my maid helped) and drank two bowls of it every day. To me, the taste at least was bearable, not too bitter.. but it's not exactly very palatable too..

But sigh.. the Chinese medicine didn't have much effect on my cough. In fact, after a few days, I started having slight fever again... and the cough was still really bad, until I even felt like I wanted to die - and even ranted on my Facebook status..

I was wondering what was wrong.. and deliberating what doctor I should see next. My wise parents suggested I should go see a specialist physician - my parents' doctor actually. I also agreed.

I think it was the most thorough check-up I had - and she was my 4th doctor already! After doing some checking, she declared my lungs to be cleared.. but because I was still having slight fever, she wanted me to do an chest Xray as well as blood-count test. Good thing that the labs and all were just next door. But it took an extra hour or more for the results to be out.

Phew, everything was fine.. but, she has to give me medicine again and it included a different type of anti-biotic too. It's my third round already..

And finally...as if by miracle, the medicines were working! Just a couple of days after, I already felt vast improvement - including my cough. But I was quite tired as I think that was the side effect of the meds.

By the following Tues (this week), I already felt like I've recovered.. at least 95 per cent! I had the energy again to go out and do things.. and even looked forward to sing - having not been able to go for my vocal class for 3 weeks..

And these few days, I feel the energy was coming back. Just now I even went out to see a friend and we went for massage, dinner and shopped a bit. Yey, finally I have recovered.

(ok, I know this post is rather pathetic but like I said, is not usual that I felt this ill and for so long...)

So, yes.. so long, nasty flu. Good riddance once and for all!

Little Jam with his elder siblings - and photo gallore!

Jam has been here for six days already! I've changed the title of this blog - well, it's only appropriate.. So, now it's officially `Jess' three Js'!

It's quite funny to see how the two Js got on with him.. Of course the initial reactions were curiosity from both Jojo and Jelly. But soon, Jelly somehow had an adverse `feeling' or should I say `reaction' of Jam! Well, I think party she feels jealous and her `queen' status threatened, but also because Jam loves to `terrorise' her!!

He is really quite active and is at a stage of teething so anything becomes his `target' - not only he likes to nibble at our feet or fingers but he also always chasing Jelly to bite her tail!

No wonder she couldn't stand him.. in fact, she runs away from him and at times even growls at him.. :(

Jojo, on the other hand is always his gracious self. Like how he welcomed Jelly as his sister, so he seems to be quite to have the company of little Jam too! And he doesn't seem to feel threatened at all by Jam's presence. In fact, he seems to adore him and always getting near him..

For the first 3 nites, Jelly refused to come into my room to sleep like she usually did! Reason being Jam is inside with me. But for the last few nites, she came.. and made sure she is a good distance away from her younger brother..

As we can see from the photographs - it's quite an interesting `triangular' relationship the 3 Js share.. well maybe things will be different later.

At first Jelly was very curious and was trying to sniff Jam out!

Jam sleeping in his bed next to my bed.. :)

2nd night - taking photos with Jam!

Jelly is so reluctant to have her photo taken with Jam!!

Finally a more decent one where Jelly succumbed to struggling!

look how grouchy Jelly is! :S

The next day getting all the three Js together!

Yes you can see Jojo is quite taken by Jam still!

The diva looking unhappy :p

Jojo welcoming Jelly at his side

But Jelly rather stays a distance from him!

Dad's 70th Birthday: Celebrations and Surprises!

What exciting celebrations we had for dad's 70th Birthday!

Knowing that he's quite a low-key person and would not organise his own birthday party, I thought of throwing a surprise birthday dinner for him. After discussing with mom and sis, we decided to keep it as a family affairs - ie. have a nice Chinese dinner and invite his siblings and family as well as my mom's side.

To accommodate my sis and brother-in-law who are able to be back only after work on Friday, we decided to hold it on Saturday, after all, his Chinese birthday is not over yet.. I called my two aunts in Singapore and as well my other aunts and uncles in KL. Finally we got 29 people confirmed!

Of course he knew nothing about it. Instead, he thought of calling a few of his close friends over for dinner and drinks, and that happened on Wednesday (and some of them couldn't make it on Fri) And he didn't want to tell them it was for his birthday.

He really had a whale of a time on Wed night - after dinner, they went down for karaoke and really sang and drank the night a way!! Yes, he got pretty drunk...

And on his birthday proper, I told him I would cook him a nice Western meal. Ya, I do like cooking especially Western meals once in a while. :)

Dinner menu:

• fresh mushroom soup with dinner roll
• arugula, avocado and aspragus salad
• ribeye steak with red wine sauce
• roasted new potatoes
• buttered baby carrots
• molten chocolate cake with pecan vanilla ice-cream (no, i didn't make this ;p)
• red wine, brie with grapes

It was quite fun preparing for dinner and since I've had some experiences (ahem), the timing was pretty perfect and I thought I was quite organised! So everything was ready and dinner was served at 7:30pm sharp as expected!

And dad thought that was it, not knowing that the real two surprises were awaiting him.

He had no idea that my sister would come back for his birthday (it was a secret the whole family hid from him.. )

Earlier in the morning, sis has already sms him to wish him happy birthday and then in the afternoon, called and asked the kids to greet him too - telling him that they were going out that night!

Well, sis and brother-in-law took the late flight home from Hong Kong (as they were working and arrived at about 10pm. It was so funny when she returned dad's call, she was already on the cab home from airport! She even apologised for not being able to be with him on his birthday to which my dad said it's ok..

So, imagine his shock and surprise when my sis and b-i-l turned up at the gate at about 11:25pm! Dad's jaw dropped and his mouth agape. It was something he never thought of! And after hugs and all, I could see he was so touched and happy that tears welded in his eyes..

Dad would have thought was the ultimate birthday surprise for him..

The next day, we acted as usual and since sis and b-i-l were around, it was natural that we planned to go out for a meal. And we told him that the venue has been planned in advance. He was curious but I insisted we wanted to keep it as `secret'..

Of course, all the guests ie. our aunts and uncles from both sides and our cousins had all been informed personally about this surprise dinner and had been playing along with it. I found out that an uncle had to make up stories to dad about the date he was coming over (since he does come here quite often)

I texted the guests to remind them to be there at 7:30pm and we would arrive a bit late.. so dad would be greeted by a sea of people.

Perhaps dad was already elated enough to have sis back to celebrate his birthday with him, he really didn't suspect anything at all. Even when he saw an uncle's car parked at the car park of the restaurant, he just presumed it was a coincidence that they were also dining at the same place!

As we entered Elegant Inn, the restaurant manager played along and even pretended to have mixed up my booking and fumbling to find a table for us, as he led us to a darkened room. When dad pushed open the door, voices shouted `Happy Birthday!' and he was shell shocked as the lights were switched on.

Yes, he was literally stunned for a couple of seconds!

I think dad's reaction was a mixed one - of course he was happy to see all of them, including my two aunts who came specially from Singapore. But knowing him he also felt a bit bad as well.. he never wanted to trouble anyone and has always quite low profil.

But hey it's his 70th birthday after all, and that only happens once in a life time! :D

So all in there were 28 of us, seated in two big tables. It was a time of reunion and good company, to catch up with one another.

Of course, it was a time for feasting and drinking! The food was nice - I had spent some time and effort pondering over the menu and really glad it up to standard. And the service was very good (all included in the rather expensive prices!)

Drink wise, we had dad's favourite - whisky and also a few bottles of red wine.

Finally, we had special homemade birthday cake - a Rum & Raisin Cheesecake - ordered from my friend FBB. It was a really yummy, as extra rum has been added! Everyone loved it!

Besides a few quite hefty angpows, dad also received a beautiful framed painting and a collectable huge bottle of Johnny Walker that's more 20 years old.

But I'm sure, more importantly, it was the family get-together that surely made his birthday extra memorable..

... and not to mention the two big birthday surprises he would never forget! (phew, so glad we pulled it off and I gave myself a pat on my back as the mastermind.)

Happy 70th Birthday (again) dad, and ya, you deserve all the attention!! :D