Burwood, Victoria
Tentatively, I shall be going over in June for an entire month- then have Tat join me in July for about two weeks- then it’s either Sydney or Gold Coast then back home by mid July. Sounds like a plan :)
Sorry in advance Suet, Tze and Aud if I won’t be here for a bit :( I’ll be back I promise!
Recent photo of Mother and Aunty Su’s baby girl in Melbourne
Well at least she looks like she’s having fun… :)
She cried when my dad left Melb :( And made him promise to see her in June. The only thing she’d asked me so far (besides the usual have-you-been-good nonsense) was if Daddy missed her… and don’t tell him it was her who asked ok! Hee.
Bro: Why do you have to go over in June anyway? Why not later?
Dad: ‘Cause I have an obligation…
Bro: What obligation?
Dad: I have to look after your mother :)
My dad’s awfully protective over his garden. It’s HIS garden as it’s only him who’s willing to tend it… the rest of us can’t really be arsed to slog over grass and potted plants.
There’s this stray cat that never fails to return to the garden for a nice poop/pee. And the poop/pee leaves yellow patches on the grass. It’s asking for an early death, I think. Nobody messes with Mr. Chen’s garden. Nobody.
My dad would whiz a pebble or two at the cat after the deed is done, but halfheartedly as we wouldn’t want a dead cat on our lawn now would we… But there was ONCE. My dad completely lost his temper, and gathered as many ammo (pebbles) as he could. The stupid cat was sitting smug nearby licking its paws, perfect for a close head shot. It would’ve been brain dead if not for the fact I stopped my dad with a firm growl before he could lob one at the cat.
“But it kills the garden,” he whinged, looking wistfully at the cat which was already scaling the walls to its freedom.
Anyway, since daddy’s not here, I decided to salvage what’s left of the 3 weeks neglect of a garden.
I see skies of blue
I had to be sprinkler of the day
Sorry brother’s gym shoes
Baby plant wants water too
The other half GROAN
Cat ammo
The sweaty squinty gardener
Wind twirler thingie
The house on my right is empty… no guesses where the poop went
Since it was lunch time, I saw the neighbours returning home from work in ‘em fancy cars for lunch. Can’t help but wish my dad would return at that very moment…
As I trudged back to the comforts of air conditioning amidst the sound of my squelching Crocs, I realised that I really, really missed my dad.
Can’t wait for him to walk through the door.
Three more days
Angpao na lai.
Wishing everyone a Happy Chinese New Year!!! Rake in more money ya
Celebrating the new year with a different set of family… but still family nonetheless :) Though… I really miss the rest of the Melb folks. I love you Pa, Mother, Gor and Ge.
Feeling grumps because:
1. I didn’t get to say goodbye properly, just managed to scrape in 3 second hugs and a choked up “I’ll miss you” complete with my signature twitchy expression to stop the tears from falling
2. School tomorrow.
I know random emo sentences are quite confusing; but I’m just not in the mood…
Late dinner at IKEA after, refusing to smile
…3/5 of the Chen family be off to Melbourne, Australia.
My mum a year, my dad a month
The youngest brat… forever?
Meh. It’s just me and Gor now. Oh and ‘course, Tat.
Mucking around before the last dinner for a very long time…
Don’t go.
My mother asked me to see my grandmother once I stepped into the house. Being a little afraid, I averted my eyes to the floor but I could see the gleaming brown of the wood at the corner of my eye perfectly.
My mother nudged me forward and I reluctantly stood on tiptoes to peer into the casket. There was a glass pane which separated my late Porpor from us, but we could still see in clearly.
She looked as though she was sound asleep. Very much like the fragile grandmother I saw this Chinese New Year; but a far cry from the grandmother who ate curry laksa, drank kopi-o and played cards before her health deteriorated.
My grandfather kept urging us to see Porpor, because after the burial tomorrow, we won’t be able to do so anymore. His earnest expression, watery eyes and broken voice turned me into a sewer rat- my eyes and nose instantly turned pink and I started crying, then blubbering.
There was a lot of praying, kneeling, and walking around outside barefoot (a fear which I overcame, I had to). Then it was time to burn the paper goods. There were a paper house, a paper Mercedes (complete with a driver AND JPJ road tax), a paper telly plus a paper DVD player, paper maids (which the sifu asked to listen to Porpor and buy vegetables from Cameron Highlands for her meals, heh), paper clothes, and of course tons of paper money etc.
Once they were lit, it was as though the fire swallowed all the paper goods and transferred them into a smoke medium, which would then rise up, up, up into the heavens to form heavenly goods for my Porpor to live in comfort (and style, okayyy).
The reason why I’m jotting this down freely is because I want to remember every single detail about her, and I do know that she will always look over us :)
The third day of Chinese New Year is going to be less joyful from now on. It was her birthday.