RETIREMENT EXPECTATIONS

An ex-student recently contacted me to apply for the post of CEO in his newly set up private college. He was working in a bank and recently teamed up with some investors in W. Malaysia to set up a college offering diploma in several disciplines. "You are retired - still fit and able. Surely you would be bored at home all the time."

"On the contrary, I'm still enjoying the joy of being with myself and I've got lots of unfulfilled projects."
Unconvinced, he set up meeting after meeting with his partners - to get me interested in the post.

This has been the standard reaction of most people when they found that I've retired : "What are you going to do............ You must take up another job.................. You'll be bored........" or they'll think of projects for me to be involved in........Hello there - don't I deserve a bit of rest after 35 years of faithful service?

I'm now into gardening - enjoying the fruits of my labour - organic vegetables. See how lovely they are?

My mangoes - sweet and luxurious.

Cooking up a 'storm' for pre- Christmas dinner at our home.

(The turkey was so moist and tender - thanks to tips from the internet)


Singing carols.....and tucking in

Helping out in the Handprints Toy Library ( for children with special needs)


Bringing Christmas cheers to patients in Queen Elizabeth Hospital


These young guitarists reminded me of my students


## A word of note : Take care of your kidneys. Of all the wards, I find the hemodialysis center to be most difficult.

VISITING THE GRANDPARENTS

It had been a glorious week with Serene, Meng How and little Nathan's visit. WELCOME HOME !!

Hello there little fella....... Remember me??

The house has been filled with laughter of the little boy. His antics, his curiosity at his new environment and his picking up new skills all kept us engrossed. We miss his screams of delight on discovering new things. We miss going to his room, sneaking a peek at the sleeping child, and his winning smile when he spotted us..... and his peels of delight at being picked up from his cot.

Children don't need expensive toys - just an empty cookie tin, a puzzle and a small ice cream spoon go a long way in terms of entertainment. These shall be put away for future use : - )

Mr. Chewy left behind a trail of teeth marks.


Laundry day. Mr. Drooly also left his marks all over the furniture.

But this little Aussie's endearing smile melts our hearts every time .......

And the 'manja' look..... awwww

THE WATER BABIES

The video clip of "Nathan the Aqua Boy" posted by dad prompted me to search through the family album for the children's past adventures in the swimming pool. Nathan just loves the pool. Look at his obvious delight.

The cheeky grin......As if saying, "Catch me if you can!"


Going to the past - The Swim mates. See the obvious delight in their faces.

MEETING UP AGAIN

At my age, going home to meet family members still gives me the adrenalin rush. Hubby may find this quite incomprehensible. After all I spent only the first 19 years of my life with them and the rest with him. But those were the formative years of my life and definitely they had made a lasting impact on my psyche. We have come to terms with the past and learned to enjoy each others' company - warts and all. And of course good food played its part too.

So simple (but not cheap!!) pleasure like eating durians together ...... hmmm the 'musang' variety is simply the BEST.

Thanks to my brother and sister in law who went out of their way to source those delectable durians for us. And some people enjoyed it more than others !!!


Hui Min and hubby belanja us to an Indian breakfast at Raju's - the open air stall where we can eat with other millionaires - (Raju's is in Jalan Gasing area)

Roti canai, fried fish, all the different curries you can eat....... boy, were they good !!


Tosai, capatis. ... wish our tummies could take them all


Just Two happy old dames

Actually earlier the night before, we had arranged to meet up with our other nephews and nieces but unexpected circumstances cropped up. Finally only one nephew was available. "Oh no," we told him. "You don't want to be stuck with two old aunties. Go and date some younger chicks. " But the gallant nephew replied, "Oh, I'll take the old aunties anytime over the younger chicks!" WOW !! That made our day

MUMMY'S HELPER

This seems like a good idea to help working mums - like my daughter.

"Tom Nardone, author, inventor, and anal-retentive cleanliness nut from Michigan ... has figured out a foolproof method for giving his floors a little extra sheen while simultaneously supplying the next generation with a head start on a life of Felix Ungerism. How? Nardone has glued and sewn microfibre dust mops onto baby pajamas. 'That way,' says nardone, ' when the little tyke crawls around, she cleans the floor.' " (Reader's Digest, October 2011)

I figured that with Nathan's crawling antics, he could be a great help around the house. So with mum working, baby can mop the house... drool and all !!

THE SISTERS

Visiting Perth is always a reunion of some sort. It's always a pleasure to meet up with family members and share our thoughts and feelings. Sisters always have a special bond and I value this bond immensely. Alicia always manage to organise meals together. This time we had steam boat dinner.

It is heartwarming to see Eva and Yvonne together. They bond so well. I still remember Eva as a precocious little girl - showing me her history project. It was a mask of King Tutankhamen. Yvonne was a tiny tot then. And now, very much grown up, they can chat like friends

On another day, we had dinner at Dragon Palace Restaurant (Francis Street). Giant Chilli Crab ...mmmm....... After that we adjourned to Eva's place - coffee in Eva's new house. Samuel would love the way Eva and Brad renovated an old house. They kept much of the old house's features and added modern touches to it.

Here's Yvonne with her friend Winson.

And Eva with her husband, Brad. Australians are very into DIY and really good at it. Brad did much of the renovation works. Very clever. Another surprising discovery is Brad's artistic talent. A lovely couple indeed.

NATHAN'S ANTICS

The wonderful thing about being a grandparent is that one can watch the antics of one's grand kid without feeling anxious about anything. It's like "Been there, done that" kind of feeling. It's like parenting without responsibility. So watching Nathan's struggles with his crawl is deja vu.

NATHAN THE MODEL

Serene's hand-made items were on display in "The Little Glamourettes" and on opening day, both mother and child had to model their items. Nathan, as usual, was very co-operative and happily allowed himself to be photographed. Here he is, wearing his bandana bib and safely snuggled in his pouch

The opening of "Little Glamourettes" was grander than I thought. To attract the crowd, they hired a 'petting zoo' (sorry no pics), and they had a balloon man to do balloon sculpturing. He was good. I remember attending a balloon sculpturing class for sunday school activity - mine was just kindergarten stuff compared to what this chap can do. He could sculpture such amazing creatures : rabbits, dragonfly, octopus, and other complicated designs.

Here's a lovely rabbit.....

Another hit with the children is the face painting corner. The little girls loved it.

MANJA TIME

With 2 grandparents at his beck and call, Nathan really knows when to 'act up'. For example, whereas in the past, his mum would just put him down to play by himself, but now, he would whine to be carried around. Among the new tricks he picked up are : (1) stiffening his legs to avoid sitting down; (2) edging his arms towards your hands to prod you to carry him up; (3) refusing to sleep on cue; (4) looking piteously at you whenever he's put in his 'cage'... and (5) playing 0r rather poking grandpa's nose and eyes for they seem more fascinating than his toys......

Here he is again - a bit of manja-ing with grandpa. An endearing moment.

NATHAN'S COMMANDO CRAWL

Am here in Perth on a grandmotherly mission - yeah - jealous.......jealous..... I understand. Thanks to MAS direct KK-KL flight, a visit to Perth is no longer a hassle. Absolutely delighted to be able to hold the boy in flesh - istead of drooling over skype.

Nathan is just learning to crawl - commando style. This morning he squiggle and squirm but by evening, he had progressed to a quicker pace. In 2 weeks time, I think he would be moving round the house quite adeptly.

The boy is not camera-shy at all. On the contrary, he just loves the camera. He was crawling or rathe squirming quite labouriously when he suddenly looked up and saw me with a camera. Immediately he stopped and flashed me his million dollar smile.

Here he is - looking surprised at first. Then.......

Flashed his beautific smile. Coincidence....?

Here's another shot. He was busy chomping his rusk, saw the camera, stopped chomping and ..... SMILE.......

Here's another smile for YOU - Grandma. Because you love me so...... Awesome.

And another pose for you - as a bonus for coming to play with me

THE CLOCK OUT

Goodbyes are usually emotional affairs but my clocking out was a joyous occasion. I wonder who's happier - me or them.

As I posed in front of the Hilux that will take me one last round the institute, i joked that it was reminisce of my wedding.


No more walking round these corridors in search of certain people....

But I think I leave behind some achievements - notably, the institute's library. It was expanded during my tenure, equipped with more books and I had the centralized air condition going. I'm sure the students would be able to study here in comfort. I hope the librarian will set up a coffee kiosk - like the one I saw in Newcastle.

Then there's the Archive Division - where all the achievements of the institute ARE documented and displayed

My pride division - the setting up of Indigenous Study Division - this sets our institute apart from other institute as we planned to focus our research on indigenous pedagogy. I hope in 2 year's time, this institute will be able to hold a seminar or conference of international standing.... ( I must confess that I got this idea when visiting Newcastle. They had a centre for aborigine studies)

Final pose with some of the female staff - notice that some of them are already wearing my baju kurung.

Goodbye to this dining table - where I spent hours surfing the web, writing, reading and playing computer games.....

Final goodbye to this house. I have been kept safe in spite of all the stories of Toyols and "orang halus' that some of them regaled me with. My secret ? "He who is in you is stronger that he who is in the world."