周華健 - 朋友

As part of my mum's YAH (Young at Heart) course, she will be travelling to Nanjing, China for a study trip. Sounds interesting! To continue learning and making new friends at this age is indeed something not easy and should be applauded. I suppose the organisers realise this also, hence the rule that spouses cannot accompany unless they are students as well.

Mum said in Nanjing, they have to sing Emil Chau's popular song so I am appending the MTV and lyrics for her reference.

Happy travelling, mum.


作曲：刘志宏 作词：刘思铭

　 这些年 一个人 风也过 雨也走
有过泪 有过错 还记得坚持什么
真爱过 才会懂 会寂寞 会回首
终有梦 终有你 在心中

朋友 一生一起走 那些日子 不再有
一句话 一辈子 一生情 一杯酒
朋友 不曾孤单过 一声朋友 你会懂
还有伤 还有痛 还要走 还有我

北京欢迎你--奥运2008主题曲

《北京欢迎你》
词：林夕 曲：小柯
制作：陈少琪 小柯 余秉翰


迎接另一个晨曦 带来全新空气——陈天佳
气息改变情味不变 茶香飘满情谊——刘欢
我家大门常打开 开放怀抱等你——那英
拥抱过就有了默契 你会爱上这里——孙燕姿
不管远近都是客人请不用客气——孙悦
相约好了在一起 我们欢迎你——王力宏
我家种着万年青 开放每段传奇——韩红
为传统的土壤播种 为你留下回忆——周华健
陌生熟悉都是客人请不用拘礼——梁咏琪
第几次来没关系 有太多话题——羽泉
北京欢迎你 为你开天辟地——成龙
流动中的魅力充满着朝气——任贤齐
北京欢迎你 在太阳下分享呼吸——蔡依林
在黄土地刷新成绩——孙楠
我家大门常打开 开怀容纳天地——周笔畅
岁月绽放青春笑容 迎接这个日期——韦唯
天大地大都是朋友请不用客气——黄晓明
画意诗情带笑意 只为等待你——韩庚
北京欢迎你 像音乐感动你——汪峰
让我们都加油去超越自己——莫文蔚
北京欢迎你 有梦想谁都了不起——谭晶
有勇气就会有奇迹——陈奕迅
北京欢迎你 为你开天辟地——阎维文
流动中的魅力充满着朝气——戴玉强
北京欢迎你 在太阳下分享呼吸——王霞 李双松
在黄土地刷新成绩——廖昌永
北京欢迎你 像音乐感动你——林依轮
让我们都加油去超越自己——张娜拉
北京欢迎你 有梦想谁都了不起——林俊杰
有勇气就会有奇迹——阿杜
我家大门常打开 开放怀抱等你——容祖儿
拥抱过就有了默契 你会爱上这里——李宇春
不管远近都是客人请不用客气——黄大炜
相约好了在一起 我们欢迎你——陈坤
北京欢迎你 为你开天辟地——谢霆锋
流动中的魅力充满着朝气——韩磊
北京欢迎你 在太阳下分享呼吸——徐若瑄
在黄土地刷新成绩——费翔
我家大门常打开 开怀容纳天地——汤灿
岁月绽放青春笑容 迎接这个日期——林志玲 张梓琳
天大地大都是朋友请不用客气——张靓颖
画意诗情带笑意 只为等待你——许茹芸 伍思凯
北京欢迎你 像音乐感动你——杨坤 范玮琪
让我们都加油去超越自己——游鸿明 周晓欧
北京欢迎你 有梦想谁都了不起——沙宝亮 满文军
有勇气就会有奇迹——金海心 何润东
北京欢迎你 为你开天辟地——飞儿 庞龙
流动中的魅力充满着朝气——吴克群 齐峰
北京欢迎你 在太阳下分享呼吸——5566 胡彦斌
在黄土地刷新成绩——郑希怡 刀郎
北京欢迎你 像音乐感动你——纪敏佳 屠洪刚 吴彤
让我们都加油去超越自己——郭容 刘耕宏 腾格尔
北京欢迎你 有梦想谁都了不起——金莎
苏醒 韦嘉 有勇气就会有奇迹——付丽珊 黄征 房祖明
北京欢迎你 有梦想谁都了不起——全体群唱
有勇气就会有奇迹——全体群唱
北京欢迎你 有梦想谁都了不起——全体群唱
有勇气就会有奇迹——全体群唱

Mother's Day celebration - Karaoke!

Today, my mum had a full day of mother's day activities. Starting at 1pm, we had lunch at the NUSS Guild House where I have recently become a member. The food was of good quality and portions generous as usual. Then I remembered there the Guild House had karaoke rooms so we reserved a room for 4-6 pm.

In the meantime, we went to pick out two shirt/blouse for mum who is going to Nanjing in end May with her YAH (acronym for Young at Heart) classmates. Apparently, as part of the program in Nanjing, the class is going to meet a Chinese professor so mum wanted to make sure she looked the part. She picked a shirt and a blouse for around $100 (after 40% discount as my sis-in-law had VIP card) paid for by my dad.

And it was off to the karaoke session, the first then in which my family sang karaoke together. we enjoyed it so much that we extended the session to another hour! See the pics below.

Ben's going to post a video of my mum dancing while singing. Watch out for that! It's hilarious =)

Updates on Grandpa

The results of the biopsy was finally out yesterday. I had an important presentation that late morning so could not meet the surgeon with Uncle Keong.

Grandpa was admitted to hospital last week after complaining of dizziness. He said that he was often short of breath and had to stop to rest after walking 5 shopfronts. In the hospital, they had him transfused with blood as his red blood cell count was low -- something was taking away the blood.

An endoscope was ordered. It was discovered that were growths in his big intestine in particular one in his colon ie the lower part of the intestine. It was here that samples were taken for the biopsy to determine whether it was malignant. One of the doctor then informed us that chances of it being malignant was high, as there was spreading to the liver.

Because of the growth, when food (or digested food) passed thru the colon, it brushed on the growth causing it to bleed hence the low red blood cell count.

So the news yesterday was not good, but was expected. The growth was malignant. Apparently, grandpa was dead against surgery -- there was higher risk as he had high blood pressure. Chemo is an option but at his age, it would be too much for him to take.

Obviously, doing nothing is also an option, but it would be painful for him, and for us, to see the illness slowly take him away. His pain would be physical, ours would be psychological.

We are really not in control of our bodies nor our destiny, no matter what people say about taking control of your life.

I just hope it will be as painless for him as possible.

Dinner at Dian Xiao Er

Had dinner last Sunday to celebrate the birthday of my bro, GH.

Queuing up outside the restaurant (Causeway Point). Huge crowd and long queue.
Their speciality was their herb roasted duck.

西游记主题曲

敢问路在何方

与公司一位小朋友谈天，想不到他也知道《西游记》，谈到孙猴子和它背后的六小龄童。激情的回顾当年父亲带着我们去看来到新加坡的演员们的演出，历历在目。还有那一首《敢问路在何方》。

=====================
敢问路在何方
(电视连续剧"西游记"片尾曲）
作曲：许镜清 作词：阎肃　 　

你挑着担 我牵着马
迎来日出 送走晚霞
踏平坎坷 成大道
斗罢艰险 又出发 又出发
一番番春秋冬夏
一场场酸甜苦辣
敢问路在何方 路在脚下

你挑着担 我牵着马
翻山涉水 两肩霜花
风云雷电任叱咤 一路豪歌响天涯
一番番春秋冬夏 一场场酸甜苦辣
敢问路在何方 路在脚下
================

Mum's 1st email

My mum sent out her first email yesterday....to the wrong party!
Anyway, it is a milestone and showed that she is on the right path to computer literacy.

If only it was as easy as changing cars

Being an owner of two previous cars, the time to decide whether to sell and scrap the vehicle into a lump of metal is when the car starts giving you problems. I remember my first car, a eight-year old manual transmission Suzuki Swift. After driving it for a year plus, I realised the radiator was leaking, this was followed by a tear along the exhaust pipe making the sound very very loud, like it was going very fast but actually not. The last straw came when the car brakes locked during rain, and the car skidded and knocked onto the road curb. So, I changed the car and spent almost all of my savings to pay for the down payment for my Lancer.

But what happens when the 'car' is your body. Now at 33 years old, my 'vehicle' is starting to have creaks and groans. Besides tearing my left knee ligament, I am feeling a continual pain on my right foot (its a medical condition that I have to rest my foot more), needing more time to recover after sports and so on. But still I am considered young.

These two days after visiting the hospital, the insight I get is that you really got to make use of your 'vehicle' whilst it is still working but on the other hand, treat the 'engine' well enough, not stress it too much, bring it for regular maintenance, use good oil so that you can renew the COE many times over.

But of course, the toughest part is letting go of it when it is finally time to.

Retirement Announcement

I am proud to announce on behalf of my dear mother that she is now officially retired. And she is living life up. Instead of slipping into zombie mode, she has signed up for a host of courses, to name a few, computer classes, magic classes, hanyu pinyin classes and others. As her son, I am happy that she is not taking the path that MM Lee has cautioned senior citizens from taking, away from friends and society. Instead, she is healthily engaging society. But all this comes at a cost. We got her a new HP PC yesterday with a large 19 inch monitor, 4 gig of ram (thrown in by the vendor), licensed Microsoft Office and BitDefender anti virus. I also got her two pairs of Clarks shoes (she said she was going to walk a lot to take MRT and buses), and my dad bought her a Nike cotton windbreaker (just to shield her arms when taking computer classes). BTW, the PC was paid for by dad!

Will post photos of her workstation at home next.