Thank You BYL

With all of my love I want to thank BYL for everything she has done while Mom has been here. XXXOOOXXXOOOXXX

I know that Mom appreciates everything BYL has done and Mom thinks that BYL is a WONDERFUL wife for Ah Don !!!

It has been difficult for BYL to think, cook, etc. American for Mom but she has worked and tried very hard to do just that. This is one of the many reasons that Ah Don loves BYL :) :) :)

Communication between BYL and Mom has been difficult and the main reason is that Mom is VERY HARD OF HEARING !!! Mom is scheduled to get hearing aids when she returns to Indiana.

Again, I want to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to BYL. I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH AND YOU HAVE MADE MOM'S STAY A JOY. Thank you love. XXXX

OUR OUTING ON SATURDAY

It's Sunday !! I am all by myself again.! Mom & Ah Don has gone to St Thomos Catholic Church. After which they will visit Uncle Al and the family. Mom will be going back to Indiana on Monday. So this may be the last time that she can visit her sick brother.

As usual, I have a long list of "works to do" on Sunday. First of all, I would like to transfer some plants to the bigger pots that I've just bought yesterday from the gagage sale. Oh no ! before that I have to write something on our blog !

Here we go ...... mom went with us to some Garage sales yesterday. Unlike her very first time here struggled with shortness of breath after a little walk , she was able to walk through all the "stops of garage sale" that we frequented Yesterday! Definately, the pacemaker has done a wonderful job on her.

Look at the pic here! Shefound something she wanted in her hand......A new shower curtain!

Next , Look at her clothing !!!!! she dressed for winter ???You may also want to know what did I get , right ??

Needless to say, I got plenty of additional stuff for our kitchen at bargain price;

Will show you if you visit us!

After the good shopping, we went for a quick lunch before moving on to "Marie Selby Botanical Gardens" -It's known as a respected world center for tropical plant research, conservation and education; also famous for Orchid showplace. ( Honestly, I think Singapore's Botanical Garden has a larger varieties of orchids ; Don and I were there in year 2004) Don't miss out if you visit Singapore!

Selby is holding a 2-day Asian Cultural Festival. I was very impressed with the performance of "Taiko Drummers" from Japan, It was my first time to see such performance in person. Unlike the Chinese 24 -Drums which is full of energy and aggression, Japan's drummers' perforamance has its own characteristic. The group consists of 4 Japanese ( 2 young sweeties) and 1 American. They each did a very significant different beats on the drum that turned out to be very pleasant and shooting. Great applause to their performance

I like this performance!

Next, was the Chinese Performance of martial arts (Kung Fu), Qi Gong and Tai Chi.... these are my favorite sports. I learn and practised Huang Tai Chi since 1985 back in Malaysia. What I learn include Sword, Stick,walking stick etc. ( Since I have stopped practising for almost 3 years now, I am doubtful I can complete the complete set of Tai Chi ! :(:(:.. I may be able to do the 1st set of short series ) I need to see my Master Chua for revision at my next trip home to Malaysia) -> -> let take a look of what I have seen yesterday!

Hey hey hey .. this is my cutie Kung Fu Team !

I like this American kid!

Some slow movements of Tai Chi that are good for blood circulation

This is what the crowd enjoyed the most !! Ang Mo Lion dance. Interesting!!!
But wait till you see the performance from our World champion Lion Dance team from Muar !!

They are Orang Puteh, Not chinese !!!!!

I love the sword.. graceful movement but enough to kill!

Since we were in the Botanic garden... I have taken pics of some plants

that look funny to me but are the beauty of nature!

Look at the roots ! Tree from 1903

Eh ! Not this ... It's too common in Malaysian but rare here !!

A fish in the plant ??

Ha ha ha ha ... tiny coconuts in Florida!

(Unfortunately we were unable to be there for long as there was a shower after the above performance; On the other hand , it could be too hectic for mom to walk too much.)

To me Saturday is always a most dynamic day for me.....away from home for half a day to garage sale, go Chinese buffet, no need to cook..... but as soon as I got home, 3 loads of laundry were there waiting for me !!!:(:(:(:(

Lastly, a sweet pic of Mom & Ah Don

Hope Mom has a wonderful stay here in Sarasota with us. ( Mind you, mom has a super memory with her age ! She is 87; she can remember every single thing /happening . I believe she has a real good time with Ah Don.... She was talking with him about allthings that happened in the past .. she is super to recall and recaptured every single word that people related to her or she overheard !!!

( But I still havethe problem to communicate with her..... whenever I said something to her she would say" What did you say ? I do get frustrated sometime ! Why Americans don't speak or understand British English ?? Banyak Susah lah and ma fun leh!! )

WHERE IS THE UPDATE , AH DON ???

Ah Don & Mom left for Church early this morning. After the service, they will proceed to visit Uncle Al. I did not join them.... just want to let them have the time of one on one... Perhaps, mom may give some thumb-up complement or .... oh No! may be some complaints about me being unable to offer foods she likes on the table .... :(:(:(....

Since, I have the whole day to myself, I started to browse through some of my old collection in e mail folders.... there are some collection of Chat that I had with Ah Don during those old days; some pics taken in my old office Seloga, some activities and events with MCA and Chinese Assembly Hall and even Umno functions etc... They are all sweet memories that would never be played again in my life. Whenever these memories came to my mind, I always tell myself life can never be the same all the time....we have to move on and expect new things and new happenings.

*******************************************************************

Sometimes ago before we got married, Ah Don built a homepage for me.....(I like all the pics there.. because when I sent him my pics, I would pick the best to send to him. Surely, there are some pics that do not look good; Reason : those were taken with Ah Don's camera where I had no control !!! :(:(

http://mybyl.itgo.com/

He posted a message back in Feb 2004, which says ->" Come Back Often - I Will Be Continually Adding To This Collection"

Sound very welcoming , right ??? How come I did not see any update since then ??

Would someone offer the reason, please ?? Ha ha ha ha..........

Oh! that remind me of an email that I received not long ago ....

It goes like this ->

Before marriage....
He: Yes. At last, it was so hard to wait.
She: Do you want me to leave?
He: No! Don't even think about it.
She: Do you love me?
He: Of course! Over and over!
She: Have you ever cheated on me?
He: No! Why are you even asking?
She: Will you kiss me?
He: Every chance I get.
She: Will you hit me?
He: Are you crazy! I'm not that kind of person!
She: Can I trust you?
He: Yes.
She: Darling!

After marriage.... Simply read from bottom to top

WOW! MORE CARDS FOR MOM

Mom is receiving more cards today..................

VALENTINE'S DAY

Cards in display are from me, Ah Don, Sister Theresita, Taylor Anna,

Barb & Steve, Hannerose, and Davis

Mom gives us a nice "Purple Heart" card plus $20.00.

Hmmm... the money is good enough for the Garage Sale this Saturday.

I am sure she would love to come along with us too. She can walk about freely

No More Short of Breath and dizziness !!!

Her heart Rate is now up to 60 as compared to 25 before her operation.

FLOWERS FOR MOM

Many thanks to Sue, Adrienne & Kathleen

for sending these lovely daffodil

to mom yesterday

Message :

" Get Better As Fast As You Can and Happy Valentine's Day "

YEE SANG ON THE 5TH DAY OF CNY

This is the "Yee Sang in the box" that was sent to us by my daughter Su-Yee from Malaysia. Ah Don received the parcel a few days ago but hide it from me until Chinese New Year Eve. Since I had prepared steamboat for the eve, I decided to keep it for dinner on the 1st day of the CNY. Unfortunately, mom was short of breath and had to be admiited to ICU for close monitoring of her heart beat and preparation for a pacemaker to be installed. Everything is fine after her operation and she came home on Saturday afternoon. Yesterday, we took her together with Chris to St Armand Circle for lunch and Siesta Key to walk on the soft and fine sand beach! Today, she is so much better...... So, here we are! We have Yee Sang for dinner !! To Mom, this is the 1st time to see this kind of "food" ! To Ah Don, this is the 2nd time ! It's interesting to see "Orang Puteh" taking Yee Sang !! Mom said " It is spicy ! "

These are all packed in the box

Need some preparation work

Very colorful!

Ladies first - Mom & me

Next, Ah Don & Mom

OMG ! it's all gone !

All Yee Sang is gone !...... The winner is Ah Don........Because he ate the MOST !

CHRIS & MOM

It's Chris's Birthday !

We have an Ice Cream Cake !

Chris was supposed to arrive sometime afternoon,but he missed his connecting flight. He reached here about 8:00PM so it was a big surprise to Mom !!

These are the photos taken today (02/09/2008) before Mom was discharged from Doctors Hospital at Sarasota. She is doing fine and getting better. She still has some pain on her left chest when she got up from bed. Meanwhile, she is taking some pain killer to reduce the pain. As soon as she is fit to walk about, we have to take her out!!!!

Great News!!!

Mom had the pacemaker installed this afternoon and everything went well !!! She looks much better and is doing fine. She will be out of the hospital tomorrow. The only restriction she has is that she has to be careful of the incision they made. That will heal soon and she ill be better than before.

Am very happy and relieved that things have gone so well. Looks like we will be able to enjoy the rest of her visit and she will go home in better shape than when she arrived. :) :) :)

Oh Shucks !!!

I know some of you have come to our blog to see the pics from our CNY. Well, they will have to wait for awhile.

As you know, my mother is here visiting us. Since Monday, she has been having some problems with shortness of breath and getting dizzy. Well yesterday I decided that it was time to go see a doctor about these symptons, because they were not getting any better.

We took her to the local hospital. After monitoring her for a while, they decided that she needs to have a pacemaker install. So, she spent the night in ICU (not because she is in any immediate danger, but because her heart rate is at 30 or below and they need to monitor her constantly). This afternoon she will have the surgery. If everything goes well she should be home here sometime tomorrow.

It is almost 08:00 now and we need to get ready to go back to the hospital. So, the posting of our CNY pics, etc. will have to wait. I can tell you that we had a very nice steamboat dinner on the eve of CNY.

OK, have to run now. Will give you updates here as they develop.

TIME FlIES........

Just can't imagine that it is February ! It seem to me that it was like a while ago that I was talking about the the Chrismas and the New Year.... and now we are into the Chinese New Year.

We did not purchase any new thing specially for this CNY. But we do purchase a NEW BED !!!YOu may question ...Why should we need a new bed when we just got one new bed for our wedding in May 2005 ??. Ah eh .... because we have to furnish the guest room for Mom's visit on 1st Feb!!!

We hopped in and out most of the masttress store in town about 3 weeks ago. Ah Don tested almost most of the beds in every store we visited. He was looking for good quality and comfortable bed whereby I just need a reasonable bed to rest at Low Price (preferaable with super discount) ( Well, some of you know that I have been a "cheap shopper"). When he had the bed in mind, he checked on line and ordered the same bed right away! The price was much lower than those in the store even with the shipping cost included !! I was surprise and doubtful if we were able to get the bed before Mom's arrival. We even plan to sleep on the floor if the bed did not show up before her.... Thanks God ! The bed was here safely on 30th Jan with the frame !!

Now ... can you guess what we do with that " not so old bed" in our room ????? ha ha ha... surely, it was moved to the guest room. How could we leave this new bed that costs us 4 digits $$$ like a white elephant ! right ? It is certainly a nice bed to rest .... but there is a drawback !! I tend to overslept !

Mom arrived safely yesterday; she has not travel on air by herself for some years. We are glad that she was alright with the bed when we told her right. We are happy to hear that she was impressed with the guest room. And..... she likes all my collections from Garage Sales !!!!!

This morning, we took her to various garage sale in the area...... She enjoyed the good shopping and the bargain!!

Come on.... if you want to know what the fun we are talking about..........join me next Saturday ! :):)):)

KONG XI FATT CHAI TO EVERYONE

Hello, for some reasons, some of my CNY message failed to reach you !

So, I take some time to cut and paste here... ( Hey it's not an easy task for me though! remember,I am matured enough to learn this skill! :):):)

CNY is just 5 days away. I am sure everyone back home is super busy! I know my brother's family would be busy in their supermarket! How I wish I would be back at this time.... In those olden days when I was back home for the CNY, I would keep myself busy too .... I helped in packing hampers and hanging up all the CNY cards.!!! Then a day before CNY, my youngest brother Alan would hand Hundred RM of flowers for me to arrange. So, on CNY days you would see all lovely flowers at every corner of the house.

Come evening of New Year Eve, our super Chef Jenny Woo ( my sis-in -law) would cook her special dishes ( which she learns from her brother who is a great chef in some 5 stars hotel in singapore ) so you see, how lucky I was to have this kind of treatment back home !!!

Balik Kampong is always the best thing that I like to do! It is the best time where all family members can sit around to chat and chat.... and we would always talk about our beloved mother.

How we wish she is still around with us to see how her children are today. She should be proud of everyone of us.... We have always followed her advices and behaved well in any situations.