An Anniversary

It came to pass that we celebrated our 17th Wedding Anniversary quietly last Wednesday at the House of Joy at the Jao Tsung-I Academy which we used earlier in the month when our young friends and Su marked my birthday month. We learnt through Google that the 17th anniversary features furniture as the primary theme…

Life Goes On

Finally, Portia was able to call it a day last week after the faulty air-conditioning unit was fixed and the other minor works completed. Looking back, she ended up coming to our flat a lot more times than she had planned for and in the process had shared with Su much more of her life…

A Busy April

Unlike Su’s last blog posted some three weeks ago which attracted over 100 visits in the first ten hours and still counting, the blog I posted yesterday attracted exactly one visit after one day – from none other than Su. Don’t cry for me, for I won’t stop writing anyway. We had just returned to…

Seven Foods

Earlier this week, an ex-colleague Harry sent me a video from YouTube recorded by someone who began by telling his audience that he was 112th year-old and that he wanted to share his story before he ran out of time. I asked Su to listen to the post at breakfast, and we had some good…

The Next 20 Years

We spent much time in the last two weeks housekeeping, or more specifically tidying up the flat after Portia’s contractors had had our air conditioners replaced and their piping rectified to the requirements of Mei Foo management, ahead of a general refurbishment of the external walls, which was to begin anytime now, but which could…

More Despatches

It came to past that the SIM family – or Su and her siblings – had found themselves organizing the last rites today – well, almost – for their late father who passed away nearly four weeks ago. Apart from the siblings and their immediate family members, only three other relations turned up, including Su’s…

The Waiting Game

As Portia had promised earlier, her first team of contractors arrived at the scheduled time last Thursday to put up scaffolding outside some of our windows. The two or three young men operated with military speed and efficiency, finished their work in no time and left without fanfare, leaving no trace or debris indoor. The…

We Are Back

By now, we had been back for three weeks. My last blog was somewhat a catalogue of passages of friends and the funerals I couldn’t attend. Since back, Su and I had been going between hospitals where both her parents had been staying, her mother since Christmas Eve and her father since 1 February. It…

A Sort of Year Ender

Today is the last day of the Year of the Snake and we are all anticipating the arrival of the fiery horse, which makes it the Lunar New Year Eve. We had returned from Whistler a week early for the funeral of a very good friend who had somehow regarded Su as his Goddaughter, possibly…