When I was driving home today,
I recalled those days when I drove to my sister's previous office to pick her up.

It's in Old Klang road.

Somehow I have fond memory of that place.

Maybe it's where my grandpa stays.

And of course, visiting my grandpa & my late grandma was one thing that me and my sis looked forward to last time.

Cos my late grandma can cook good dishes, make good bakery, good dumplings, good mooncake and of course - GOOD SOUP!

It's almost 2.5 years since she had passed away - I hope she's doing well in another world.

On 25/10/2009, I was tasked to be a photographer, last minute.

I was like - "WHAT? What do you expect from a person who does random phototaking and with a small camera?"

Well, here are some selected photographs.

Before the departure (to bridge's house) (and yah, both zodiacs are Boar, if not mistaken)


I drove as a 'heng dai' and I took photo while driving.


I acted as 'heng dai', helped to open the door (the blue colour shirt one is me), and took the photo.


Was simple but still meaningful (of course)


Unknown object (at that moment, and the objects inside were creating a lot of noises)


Seeing my dad taking photo with SLR reminds me of the days in 80's & 90's - when he used to own an SLR.


It's the birds


Mission accomplished, as heng dai cum photographer - the time showed that it's almost 11AM (took the photo while driving, again)

I shouldn't take photo while driving, I know.

Only for this time :P

Creamy... simply one of the nicest biscuit I've tried.

Got this biscuit from a far relative, from Switzerland.

The biscuit size is this big, in my palm


Paper was used for internal packaging - a good approach for cleaner earth.

It is made in France - anybody sees this biscuit next time, please buy for me!!!

Thanks! (and thanks Rebecca too)

Our family visited him today.

He mentioned that he's a person who loves to talk.

So my parents acted as listeners.

I did persuade him to settle the bankruptcy case, so that he could go back to China to visit his relatives, which some of them, he didn't see for more than half a century.

I told him to, to start with a smaller step, let's organise a trip that will gather his sons and daughters - for a family trip that didn't happen for almost two decades.

So, a tentative conclusion is that:

1) He'll consider about solving the bankruptcy case - which means we'll have to busy find a lawyer service that could do just this
2) He's keen about going for the trip - at least, he mentioned Langkawi

We'll see how. I guess him, being a Pisces (if i'm not wrong, cos the birth date during those days are not reliable), a mutable sign, is highly changeable.

But well, at least we tried.

Since my late granny's departure last year January (to be exact, it's end of Dec 07) my grandfather has been alone.

They had been together for a long time, and their relationship had been good.

Even there's one time, when my mum's relative organised a trip to Cameron, he chose not to follow because my late granny didn't wanna follow.

Two days ago, he called up my mother, told her that he felt very bored at home.

He mentioned that nobody wanted to talk to him, he had nobody to talk to, and he feels like he's dying. (he is staying with my uncle's family)

He doesn't have any hobby as well.

Story from my uncle's side - my grandpa had been fussy over a lot of things - fussy over the small little things not done, record the phone call usage, record the gas usage etc.

That could be the reason why the people around him started not to like him.

What's more, my grandpa is a person who takes monetary issue seriously - every dollar and cents could be a big issue in his eyes - which probably explains why he is recording down the utility usage.

There's no immediate solution to this situation, as he's also a very stubborn person.

What's more, he is a person listed in bankruptcy (for being a guarantor to his friend who fled overseas), he can't even go back to China to visit his relatives.

My father said that this is "the dilemma/sad story of an old man"

Thought for us? Develop a better hobby to avoid such a situation in the future? Don't stick too close with your partner?

Or, any lawyer that you can introduce to help him to get out of the bankruptcy list?

Last Tuesday I drove my grandfather and my uncle to Ipoh to visit my aunt. She's the youngest sister of my late grandmother.

She is suffering mental illness since young age and she's currently staying in old folk's home after her mother (i.e. my great grandmother) passed away in year 2004, and she is under control with medicine.

After the visit, we also visited some temple in that area.

Ipoh is a place with a lot of hills (with particularly rock hills). Therefore the temples there are like.... what we hear/imagine as those in the folklore?


Ling Xian Dong 灵仙岩 (front entrance)


Ling Xian Dong 灵仙岩 (inside)


Ling Xian Dong 灵仙岩 (surrounding)

We visited Nan Tian Dong 南天洞, which is just beside the Ling Xian Dong. Unfortunately, the temple is closed (i.e. we didn't visit at the temple operational hour）


Me and my grandpa


My uncle and his father

They are small temples so it didn't take us a long time to visit.

Oh, back to the topic, so from KL -> Ipoh, it takes about 1 hour 45 minutes.

So during the long journey, inevitably, we will talk. (of course)

So when we talk, we'll talk of the latest topic.

Then we talked about the food price, that's when we started whining.

Some short summaries:

1) The fuel price dropped, but the food price didn't
2) So did the goods price
3) Instant noodle that cost RM2.50 half year ago is now nearing RM4.00
4) The retailers claim that they couldn't drop the price earlier because "they haven't sold out the stock they bought at the higher price"
5) Few months down the road, it's still the same.
6) It is so, oh, not worth it to live in Malaysia
7) Why do we need to drive?
8) It's expensive to drive
9) Cars are very expensive
10) Why is the public transport no good?
11) Why is the road not in good condition?
12) The highway with toll is a pure blood-sucker. They take money from citizen as well as government
13) Why is the road sign not clear?
14) Oh the hills in Ipoh are losing the trees
15) No wonder the weather is getting hotter and hotter nowadays

Etc.

Apparently, whining can get everybody together, and also bridge the generation gap ;)