ƸӜƷ•¨¯`•My Recuerdos•¨¯`•ƸӜƷ

PEOPLE!!!!!!
I have been shamefully neglecting my blog. Haven't had much chance to online properly to update and circumstances did not allow (connection problem and laziness...) I'll skip the bumbling excuses...

07/08/2008 - 08/08/2008

Morning faces

I used my shades to hide my squinting eyes.(sea breeze too strong)

The hotel was pretty nice.The beach was directly linked to it...

Everyone grinning into the camera...

Girls only line-up...

Someone captured this picture of Anna and me looking totally EVIL...Anna: You take the 5 people on the right and I'll take care of the rest.
Joyce: No problem. They won't stand a chance. HOHOHOHOHO!!!!!!!

After games,we went for a swim in the sea...."We are the champions!!!!!"
(Doesn't this picture make you feel like braking out into that Queen's song??)

Time to leave...

Some random picture of me looking like I was about to kill Joash...

Rattan weaving....

Apparently that was my "I wanna go to QueensBay " face... =.="

Well,nothing much to tell about my shopping spree at QueensBay. I was thrilled with the clothes I got at bargain prices!!!!(And I did NOT go,"Aaaahhhhh!!!!!S-H-O-P-S!!!!!!!" like Joash said,thank you very much...)

Dinner at Bukit Tambun. It was supposed to be seafood but I joined Mei Theng at the 'allergic' table. The food was okay...A group of the students from China were with us on this trip and they were keener on the TV at the restaurant which was showing the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony more than the food. They were patriotic and all stood up when their National Anthem was played on TV.

After dinner,back to the bus and headed for home. Everyone was tired and it was dark and quiet in the bus. Let me show you an interesting photo I took in the bus:-

The ghosts of Yin Yep and Joyce...
(I accidentally turned off the flash)

-----------------------------------

Worshipping ass....
(I was hanging my head down because I was too tired)

I have badly neglected my blog and am really really outdated on my posts...
SORRY to all who bother to check my blog!!!!

This post was supposed to have been put up AGES ago...

Anyway...here goes:-

Two July babies..
Shobana and Stephanie celebrated their birthdays on 19/07/2008 and 22/07/2008 respectively.Stephanie's last year as a '-teen' and Shobana reaching the golden key age (21 years old). We decided to celebrated both the girls' birthdays together and hence a little lunch gathering of friends at the Ola-Ola Cafe on the 13th hour of the day in the 22nd day of July...(Okay Okay...I'll stop the funny phrasing...)Even though it was a total last minute thing (I'm not gifted with networking skills) we managed to procure a nice cake for the girls and quite a number turned up to have lunch to mark the celebration. XD

I guess the it really was a special day because things just fell smoothly into place despite me worrying about this and that (I've said before,I don't like last minute outing plans). Ola-Ola was having a birthday offer where there was a discount for birthday celebrations in July (that fact was unknown to me when I picked the place) and although I asked the waitresses to prepare more places at the table than the number I expected to come;last minute participants filled up the extra places..making the number just right. Don't you think God was at work there??

Well,the food there was good and I think everyone enjoyed their orders. After eating...we brought out the nice cake you saw up there and made the birthday girls stand and pose before the cake (ahaha). Photos courtesy of Yin Yep,who went around snapping and snapping pictures. The interior lighting was quite dim so the not-so-many-mega-pixels cameras didn't take very nice photos.

The birthday girls...

Since they were different ages,I couldn't decide how many candles to put and ended up just putting on candle for each...hehehe....Blowing out the candles...

Everyone waiting for a slice of the succuelent cake.... XP

The girls got the nice Ferrero Rocher chocolates....one each. (darn..I was hoping they would forget..ahaha...)

(Pssst!!!!!notice what's on Mei Theng's shirt?????)

Everybody smiling...
And someone trying to look 'cool".... XS

I am totally IN LOVE with this CUTE Pixar short animation clip!!!!!!

LOVE IT!!!!!!!

26 July 2008
Saturday, 8 a.m.

I was woken up by my dad's insistent tapping on my bedroom door. I sleep-walked towards the door and opened it with slow,sleep-drugged movements. My parents normally let me have my lie-in on bed during weekends, you see. As soon as the door was unbolted and opened,my dad said in a low,urgent tone :

"Joyce,wake up,you need to pack your things. We have to go back to Klang later. Por-Por has just passed away."
"Okay..."
The news did not fully register in my brain until I had closed the door and sunk into my chair. My maternal grandmother.........................gone. . . . . . .??
Sadness was a very painful feeling at that moment. I stared at the picture of my grandmother which I pinned up two years ago. Was that old lady,whom;in that picture,smiling softly and whose hand I held,really gone??

. . . . . . . . . . .
It was very unexpected. I had thought she was going to stay. After all she had been through...heart attacks,followed by a stroke that left her paralyzed on her left side. She was bedridden,but we all had thought,she would stay with us longer.

I recall my last moments with her. In the hospital,where she was recuperating from the heart attacks,before her stroke. The most vivid in my mind;she was sitting on the bed,eating a bowl of porridge and making small talk with my mother. After that,I was left alone with her to keep her company while the rest of my family went out to lunch. I was never very good at making conversation with her with my limited Chinese vocabulary. But I tried,I enquired about some small bruises on her hand (result of needles) and from there,I ended up holding her hand until she fell asleep. The day after,I had returned Ipoh, with assurance that Por-Por was going to be okay. The doctor had assured us she was fine.

I did not see her when she had a stroke because only my mother rushed there and back. My parents had planned a family trip back to Klang to visit her but before that weekend came,she had breathed her last.

When I reached Klang,the old family house where my grandma stayed looked alien to me. Two temporary dark blue tents were erected at the porch with white banners fluttering from them. I could not read the chinese characters on the banners but this sign shook the calm composure which we had been constructing throughout the 2 and 1/2 hours journey to Klang.

The living room was unrecognizable.
I felt like asking them to clean up everything and return the furniture back to their normal places. But;the next room I went into made me break down completely. My Por-Por's room. Her still body on the bed;my aunts,my mother,around her..sobbing.

I won't describe the events in detail. We (my family members) cried a lot during the two days where wake services were conducted by my grandma's church members,the funeral service and the burial ground. I would like to highlight that I was truly touched at the way my grandma's church members went about doing all they could to help. From advising on the funeral arrangements,helping to find the right people to do what was needed,giving comfort where and when it was needed....and most importantly,that GOD's plan was at work.


I found this double-budded rose (unique because it has two buds) in one of the many wreaths which people offering condolences sent for my grandma's funeral. My grandma loved flowers. I wish i could have shown this to her....
We were mourning...
But this last hymn which was sung at my grandma's wake gave the best reassurance to us.

'Safe in the Arms of Jesus'

1. Safe in the arms of Jesus,
   Safe on His gentle breast,
   There by His love o'ershaded,
   Sweetly my soul doth rest.
   Hark! 'tis a song of heaven
   Borne in the sweetest voice,
   Echoed by saints in spirit,
   Making my heart rejoice.
   
   
• Safe in the arms of Jesus,
  Safe on His gentle breast,
  There by His love o'ershaded,
  Sweetly my soul doth rest.
  
  
2. Safe in the arms of Jesus,
   Safe from corroding care,
   Safe from the world's temptations,
   Sin cannot harm me there.
   Free from the blight of sorrow,
   Free from my doubts and fears;
   Only a few more trials,
   Only a few more tears.
   
   
3. Jesus, my heart's dear Refuge,
   Jesus has died for me;
   

3. Firm on the Rock of Ages
   Ever my trust shall be.
   Here let me wait with patience,
   Wait till the night is o'er,
   Wait till I see the morning
   Break on the golden shore

NO
MORE
PAPAYAS
FOR
ME!!!!!

Hello to all who have bothered to check my blog.
I'm afraid I've been wasting your good efforts.
Sorry.

To be honest,the past two weeks have been rough.
And it's not just coping with my new semester and a few changes that have been happening..
One of the things I try NOT to do in my blog is to write posts which are sad. However,let me break my resolution for now. I'm tired of putting up a happy front. Just so tired..

My maternal grandma had heart attack.
And barely a week after her condition stabilized from the attack,she suffered a serious stroke. She is still in the hospital. I do not know exactly what is her condition now but I do know that she really had go through a lot of pain;and life is not going to be easy for her from now on. When she had her first serious heart attack,my aunt called and my whole family packed and rushed back to Klang at 5 a.m. in the morning. We stayed and spent time with her for a few days and went back to Ipoh after assuring ourselves that she seemed to be none worse after the attack.

I'm growing to dread the times when my house phone rings;or when my mobile rings with the caller ID showing its my Klang cousin.
On Thursday morning, the phone rang and bad news came. My dad answered the phone because I was still in my room. The news really stunned me because I had thought my grandma would be alright. My mum rushed back from work and announced she was driving down to Klang immediately. My dad had to work,my brother was in school and I was about to leave for my first class. My mum had to make the trip alone. Perhaps it was a good thing I had to be in college. Other things demanded my focus and my cousin updated me through sms.

I can tell you that there were times where I felt my emotional chords being stretched to a breaking point. I can't imagine what my Mum must have felt. It was her mum hovering between life and death on that hospital bed,hooked with tubes and a cardiac monitor.

Thank you God for sparing my grandma.
Please keep my grandma and my family in prayer.

To those who have been in the know and have been following up with concerned questions about my grandma,provided me with the optimistic support,prayer and sympathy that was needed at that time;thank you very much. Thank you for showing that you love me. I love you guys.