Six months on

November 18, 2024.Reading time 6 minutes.

Tomorrow is six months since my mum passed. I’m not keeping count of the days or months, but the 19th is difficult to forget. It’s etched in my heart and head, as is my mum. I see my mum every day, everywhere. I have a photo wall, photos on my side table and more photos […]

Keeping in touch

November 11, 2024.Reading time 6 minutes.

I met up with seven school mates a fortnight ago. One of them lives in England, and it was her ‘Balik Kampung,’ the reason for the get together. Our collective home town/kampung is Alor Setar, Kedah. We went to the same primary and secondary school until form five – St. Nicholas Convent (as did sisters’ […]

London

October 28, 2024.Reading time 6 minutes.

Sister number 3 and I did a two-night stay in London. The idea was to spend ‘we’ time together. Leisurely do or don’t do stuff. Maybe, revisit places that we visited when I first came to London over 40 years ago. That long ago, yes. Hmm. This was after a day trip to sister number […]

Still in England

October 21, 2024.Reading time 6 minutes.

I didn’t know what a trolleybus was. A tram yes, but not a trolleybus. The Trolleybus Weekend was brother-in-law number 3’s suggestion, an avid steam engine enthusiast. A good suggestion, it was. More so as it was conveniently held in Carlton Corville, a town south of Great Yarmouth – the seaside resort where my mum-in-law, […]

Back in England

October 14, 2024.Reading time 6 minutes.

I enjoyed my first greyhound race at Caister-on-Sea. A village south of Great Yarmouth, the seaside resort that my mum-in-law, my husband, and I visited about two weeks ago in England. Yes, we were back in England. One of my favourite places, and my husband’s home or ‘kampung.’ His ‘kampung’ is not Great Yarmouth but Kent. […]

England

October 7, 2024.Reading time 6 minutes.

England has always been and still is a special place/destination for me. Weirdly, when I was growing up in Alor Setar, I used to either dream or imagine about sycamore trees in England. Yes, weird. Why? Because I didn’t know what a sycamore tree was or looked like. And, I didn’t know what England was […]

91 this week

September 23, 2024.Reading time 6 minutes.

My mum would have been 91 this Friday. It’s not wishful thinking. It’s not a lament. It’s just … I miss her. I’m so grateful to have had my mum for as long as I did. 90 years and 8 months is pretty good innings, by any measure. I can’t ask for more, and honestly, […]

Generations

September 16, 2024.Reading time 6 minutes.

Last week I wrote about my mum and the Silent Generation. I wasn’t sure if my mum fitted the definition of that generation but the characteristics, generalised as they were, seemed to have generally fitted her. I’m still unsure because generational studies were mainly done in the United States. That said, as I am the […]

Silent generation

September 9, 2024.Reading time 6 minutes.

My mum was 28 years old when she had me. A generation apart, based roughly on a 20-year time interval. She and I were from different generations, and we were different. But not so dissimilar that we didn’t see eye to eye and/or were embroiled in constant arguments. No, not at all. She was […]

Nice, interesting, unusual…

August 26, 2024.Reading time 6 minutes.

I listen to the radio most mornings. A couple of weeks ago whilst reviewing the global markets, the announcer pointed out that the Nikkei 225 was closed for Mountain Day. Yes, Mountain Day. I smiled. Aww. Nice. When I think of the Land of the Rising Sun, I think of salarymen, in dark suits, working […]