A Wedding, A Surgery, And A New Chapter Soon Coming

We attended Dao Han and Cheryl's wedding today, the first of such after grandma's passing in August. Images of her passed me by as I witnessed the fun and cheery ceremony. Dao Han and I, however, are not exactly cousins. His dad and I are cousins, hence that makes us cousin and nephew.

This Wednesday, Iris also would undergo the surgery knife. Day surgery it is, however, the risks are still there. We have come pretty far to this, having gone through a scope to her womb and me undergoing two attempts to get fresh sperms samples for analysis.

Come this month end, I would leave my work place after two years in service. It seems long, but in actual fact it's been tiring especially in the past year.

But again, a new chapter would open in the new year. In another 21 days, the year would draw to an end. 

My Grandma's Passing (Part 3)

This would be the final day we would say our goodbyes to grandma.

I woke up with a heavy heart and a tired body. As usual, I went on ahead to make the last deposit of the wake and returned to find everyone getting ready for the last rites and prayers before sending grandma to the crematorium.

Many would turned up to pay their last respects and there were two big-head dolls who would dance to appease and humour grandma. We would then last make our last prayers to grandma before, again, kneeling down and crying out to grandma before her coffin was loaded unto the hearse.

The funeral uncle in charge then instructed Dad, myself, Mum and Iris to begin pushing the hearse as we make the last journey with grandma to Mandai crematorium. As we began to move out, I specifically noticed a butterfly flying over the hearse into the space as we walked on. About fifty minutes later, Dad was asked to kneel by the roadside and cried out to grandma as the hearse passed by.

Somewhere down a few hundred metres later, we were told to board the coaches as we were to cease the last walk with the hearse. Mum, Iris and I hurriedly went to our car in our wake clothing, and putting on my boat shoes, I drove down with a burdened heart and tired and exhausted, none of us really spoke in the car and we quietly drove to the crematorium.

We arrived first in the crematorium hall where the last rites and prayers would take place and walked the last time around grandma's coffin. Minutes later, we were ushered into the viewing hall where we knew we would see grandma's coffin the very last time before it would be sent into the furnace.

Dad carefully carried grandma's portrait into the viewing room, and all of grandma's daughters stood with us in the front viewing row. Sobs begun to creep into the quiet room and as soon as we see grandma's coffin being wheeled onwards, sobs turned into loud wailing and tears begun to flow.

I hugged Dad from behind when I heard him cried (for only the second time in my entire life) and before long, we waved goodbye to grandma's coffin as it was sent into the furnace. Our hearts sank and none of us were consolable. When all was finished, we were again ushered into another bigger space to return our mourning pins and washed ourselves up.

We made our way back to the Yishun temple where grandma's tablet would reside for the next hundred days. The rest, meanwhile, would return wake at the void deck and have a late lunch and finished off from there. I drove Dad and Mum back to Sembawang before Iris and I returned back home wearied and tired from an eventful Friday.

Sunday would come by very fast and we would make our way back to Mandai crematorium to collect grandma's ashes. All of grandma's children, including Iris, my sister and family, would drop in a coin as symbol of luck would pick one of grandma's remains into the urn before it would be sealed up.

Dad then carefully carried grandma for one last time under a wooden umbrella and hopped into my car, where I drove grandma to the Yishun columbarium. For the first time, we saw grandpa's niche which was nicely located in the middle with a great view on the very first block.

There, a contractor explained to us that he would need to open up grandpa's niche to examine his urn and determine if grandma's urn would fit in together with grandpa's. It turned out that grandpa's urn was larger and had to be transferred to a small urn.

We were however rather surprised when grandpa's urn was opened up and we saw almost a full urn of grandpa's ashes. Similar to grandma's ashes, we each put in a coin and transferred grandpa's ashes in his new urn. Then, together with grandma's urn, both of their urns were placed side by side in the niche, and a new niche tablet has been crafted earlier to reflect both grandpa's and grandma's names on the original grandpa's niche.

Over the next few multiple of seven days, we would gather at grandma's tablet at the Yishun temple to pay our respect to her. In fact, the last of the seven times seven days after grandma's death was to be 1st of October 2017, where grandma would continue to rest at the temple for a year before finally moving to the columbarium to be rested with grandpa.

My Grandma's Passing (Part 2)

We had only a short wink before we knew it was nearly nine in the morning. Grandma's body would be embalmed and returned to us before eleven at the void deck. So we dressed ourselves simply and made our way to Aunty Gek's house, which was a few streets away.

Some of the aunties were already there when Iris and I arrived. Pa and Ma were already there, who had briefly took a short rest at home before coming over, like Iris and myself. Most of them showed a certain weariness from the long night and the emotional loss.

Workers from the funeral services were already pitching the tents and setting up the lights, drinkers chiller, etc., among many other set ups that they had arranged. A young man in the trade with a bluetooth earpiece came along and asked us for the details of the family tree: how many sons and daughters, how many grandchildren, how many sons-in-law, daughters-in-law etc.

We paused for a long while, doing the calculations before realizing that our family is really big, nearing 70 children, grandchildren and great grandchilden in all. Grandma was indeed very blessed.

Before long, grandma's body came along and the uncle in charge, who happened to be related to Jason, took over. He instructed Pa to shelter grandma's body as it was being carried in, while having us kneeled over and crying out for grandma while she was taking her place at the wake.

Prayers were swiftly offered to grandma with the monk leading and chanting. For the first time, I saw how Pa took charge of things, and people were all going to him for decisions and opinions. He soldiered on, even though I knew he was mentally and physically getting tired by the hour.

After all the initial traditions, we finally get to see grandma face to face. Grandma looked peaceful, while the make-up on her was nicely done. Round incense were scattered on her before a golden pearl was put between her lips.

Sadly, I saw that the embalmers have wrapped grandma's right arm with a clear wrap, very possibly due to her skin cancer condition. Nonetheless, we knew grandma has finally been relieved of all these physical pain and aliments she has suffered these years.

Going into the afternoon, Iris and I went back again to our home for a rest before coming back to do the first night duty of attending to the wake. The first night was pretty quiet, as word of my grandma's passing has yet to reach others. Dad in the mean time was busy making sure that things were organized and important decisions were made. Yet the weariness was slowly being to dawn upon him.

The very next day on the second day of the wake, I made a trip to the bank with Aunt Gek after watching the night on the first evening of the wake, before sending my dad and my mum to Yishun to enquire on the resting place for grandma for the first hundred days. We scouted around, made our enquiries before we headed over to Yishun Columbarium where grandpa has been resting for the past 40 over years.

The second evening of the wake saw a lot more guests as they came and offered their last respects to grandma. Iris and I let the others watched the night as we were on rotation shift. On the first night when the few of us were on duty, we struggled to keep awake. Jernice, Ruqing and Iris tried to keep ourselves awake by playing handphone group games while Diona was promptly knocked out shortly after midnight.

My evening and morning duties during the four nights had been tiring, mainly with accounting for the condolences monetary gifts around the stroke of midnight and depositing the money early in the morning. So Iris and I took time whenever we can, for a quick wash up and rest in the afternoons whenever we had the luxury of time.

On and off, I would take time to take a peep at grandma at her resting place whenever I can. That would be the last few times I would be able to see her face to face, except that I could no longer hold her hand and converse with her.

During the five days of the wake, we were all very concerned for Dad as he was running about and busy most of the time. Furthermore, he was manning around during the evenings and watching the night along with us cousins on duty. Thankfully, on the fourth night we managed to persuade him to come to our house to sleep for the night, even though it was only for a short six to eight hours. Nonetheless, it was the first time Dad stepped into our house also, and I was privately delighted.

On the last night of the wake, scores of people came and paid their respect to grandma. While they were having their rites and prayers, about twenty of us gathered behind the tent and prayed for grandma. It was our first time where us Christians gathered together to pray in our languages, whether in English or in Mandarin. It was just a sweet picture of aunties, uncles, nephews and nieces gathering together in unison and in harmony unto the Lord.

My Grandma's Passing (Part 1)

Grandma passed away on the early morning hours on Monday, 14 August 2017. She was 95 this year. 

I could clearly remember that as Iris and I were first awoken by her iPad mini's incoming call rings. Initially, I tried to brushed off the distraction by shoving the tablet into her face, before we were confronted with an unknown hand phone number. Out of curiosity, I checked my handphone as per my usual habit, and saw a list of familiar unanswered calls. They were from my Aunt Gek and my cousin Dionna. 

Before long, that small innocent device on my palm rang. It was from Aunt Gek. I picked up her call and greeted her in an unpolished raw voice. "Hello, Aunt Gek." 

"Hi James."

"Sorry to call you so late," she said. That was her usual apologetic yet polite way of greeting.

"The hospital just called. Grandma is not making it. You want to make a trip down immediately?"

I went into a state of shock. Iris, who was looking at me, probably overheard our conversation and stared into me with her sympathic eyes. 

"Ok, I'll rush down now," I replied. 

"Can you call your parents also? I called them but cannot get them," she asked. 

"Sure, I'll call them," and I hung up after recovering and composing myself. 

I searched through my handphone's contact list and called my dad almost immediately. No reply. He must be sleeping and left his handphone in the living room, I thought. I searched through my dad's contact profile again and dialed home instead. The phone began to ring. Within a minute, my dad picked up the call. 

"Pa, Aunt Gek just called. The hospital just called and said ah ma is not making it. We need to rush to the hospital now," I said in an unhurried voice. 

"Ok, can you come and pick ma and me up," he asked. "Sure, I'll come over in half an hour. See you downstairs," I replied, before hanging up the phone call. 

I composed myself, got out of my bed, and I asked Iris if she should like to go hospital with me. Yes, she said. So we changed in an unfashioned manner and without hesitation, and collected our car in the multi storey carpark. I sped almost every kilometre of my journey from Buangkok to Sembawang where my parents lived, mindful of the hidden traffic speed cameras and the occasional road blocks. Thankfully, I was not picked and there were no road blocks. 

Pa and Ma were patiently waiting at the deck of their housing block when we arrived about 20 minutes. The time was around 1.20am, I vividly remembered. I sped through the traffic again, clocking almost a record speed of 120km/hr, the fastest in my short 5 years of driving on Singapore roads. Pa asked me to slow down and not to rush, but for the first time probably in our relationship, I could not listen to him. Ah Ma is leaving us, I need to see her for the last time, I thought to myself.

I alighted Pa, Ma, and Iris when we reached Tan Tock Seng Hospital at around 1.40am. Finding a car lot was not a hassle, but finding my way out of the basement carpark proved a bit daunting. I rushed to the reception cum security counter, shouted to them "Ward 7B, Bed 43!"

The security lady was understanding. The gantry barrier to the lifts was almost immediately lifted, and I took the lift to the ward.

A crowd was already forming at Ward 7B. Aunt Gek, the rest of the aunties and their spouses, Pa, Ma, Iris and my sister Fann were already there. And I saw a curtain that was already drawn around grandma's bed.

I rushed over and went through the crowd to my grandma. I called out to her gently and said, "Grandma, it's me. It's James," and I gently rubbed her left hand. It was getting cold.

Tears began to fall down my cheeks as I tried to hold back. I could not.

I sobbed silently. The time has finally come for me to say my final goodbye and feel my grandma for the last time.

We waited for a few more relatives to come say their goodbyes and see grandma for the last time.

We tried in vain also to reach a few other cousins, like Jernice, who was not reachable. Aunt Gam (the fourth child of my grandma) was also not there as we heard she was sick.

Quiet conversations began to take place in small groups among us. Shortly after, the attending doctor came by and reported to us the ordeal:

The time was around 1am. The nurse on her hourly rounds checked on grandma, but found her pulse very weak. She alerted the attending doctor, who told her to immediately notify my Aunt Gek. That was when all the wee hours calls took place. In the meantime, at around 1.27am, the attending doctor checked on my grandma again, and that was where she found her pulse flat.

Grandma's death was then certified to be at 1.27am. Cause of death was due to kidney failure last stage.

And thus, very likely when we were all there, grandma has already breathed her last without seeing most of us. But scientifically, we thought that her brain was probably still active even when the heart has stopped pumping. Aunty Choo even thought that she saw tears flowing down grandma's eyes when she was beside her.

But the fact remained: grandma has passed on.

The following few hours seemed long and grim. We waited for the doctor to give us the certificate of death, while we arranged for the undertaker to come collect grandma's body. Meanwhile, we cleared out grandma's belongings at the bed and we set aside another set of clothes for grandma after the undertaker has cleaned her up.

The hours passed by slowly, and painfully.

Dad went on to collect the certificate, and after some instructions from the hospital staff, we went on to claim her body. There was another Malay family at the waiting area, and within a while we met Jason's father-in-law who was in the undertaker business.

After Dad signed all the necessary documents at the counter, we were ushered into a small room where grandma was dressed in her home clothes but wrapped in a white plastic sheet. My heart sank when I saw how she was treated.

The undertaker, Meng, went through some traditions with us which included telling grandma that she would be going to Toa Payoh to be dressed up, in what they believed would call the spirit along with the body.

Then they loaded grandma up in what seems to be a careless transfer, that I almost call out to the bearers to be gentle with my grandma. And the Toyota Hiace van was shut. I couldn't see grandma for that moment from then on.

We were told to be ready at Block 533 Hougang Avenue 8 by 10am the next day, where grandma would come back, dressed and beautified for one last time.

We quietly made arrangements to ferry the aunties and uncles who were there. I drove Aunt Gek, her husband, Dionna, and the maid, Angel, back. But the ride was unusually quiet for all of us as we were individually trying to process and begin the grief of losing our beloved grandma. In the unearthly hours, I made a long detour back home too.

We dropped off Aunt Gek and her family, and Iris and I decided to have an early breakfast at nearly 5am. We haven't quite slept a bit, and after making all the necessary leave arrangements, we could only finish a simple Teochew fishball noodles before making our way back home for a quick rest.

Our Greece Trip (03 to 09 Aug 2017)

3 Aug (Thu)
We survived the ordeal of an 11-hour budget airline flight from Singapore to Athens, Greece, arriving around 9am in the morning. Having started our flight in Singapore time 2am, our body clock struggled to come to terms with a 5-hour longer day time. Not to mentioned, we were slightly deprived of sleep and water (and semi professional airline service).

All these deprivation was short lived as we landed onto the beautiful Athens. Greece greeted us with their paced command of English, as we checked out of the international airport and headed towards the domestic departure to our first destination--Santorini. Our first impression of Athens International airport was a little disappointing, as we thought the Bangkok International airport was far more impressive.

Nonetheless, the flight to Santorini was surprising fast, with the flight less than 45 mins. However, the airport was least impressive and as soon as we collected our luggage, we hurried our way to the taxi queue and headed to our hotel at Imerovigli, a town in between the famous Oia and Fira. We lugged our luggage down a steep flight of steps and entered our hotel room which looked like the traditional Greek home.

Soon, we walked our way to Fira which took us an hour. We were caught on many occasions the beautiful sight of the Santorini white and blue buildings, including the famed blue dome churches. We took the challenge and rode the bus to Oia, whose journey took us down the steep and winding mountaneous road.

We initially was a little lost at the Oia village, but soon enough we found ourselves walking alongside other tourists, stopping by frequently to snap a photo of the beautiful and amazing landscape. We were lucky to find a bar with a roof top view and treated ourselves to a nice meatballs and fried calamari dinner with a good glass of white wine.

Our legs could not hold up any further as the skies begun to turn darker. We took the same bus route back to our town and treated ourselves to a nice, homely Greek apartment room by the cliff and called it a day.

4 Aug (Fri)
We woke up this morning, ready for a good Greek breakfast to start our day. We were not disappointed as the hotel had a good spread of their breakfast and with a breath taking view, we shuddered to think of the challenge of steep steps and a heavy suitcase. True enough, I was almost breathless carrying the heavy suitcase up the steps and out onto the small alley to catch a taxi to the airport.

Our domestic transfer today was a tad disappointing with flight delay and a cramped waiting hall. Much to our surprise, we were issued the first two seats of the aircraft at Seats 1A and 1B. We enjoyed the extra leg room and again, within an hour we arrived back at Athens.

We were greeted heartily by our taxi driver who chatted with us as he drove us to our hotel along Ermou Street. Within a short while of setting down, we changed into casual clothing and headed down to the shopping district, Ermou Street.

Ermou Street was wisely closed for pedestrians and it was a breeze walking down the street that featured Sara, Mango, H&M, etc. Having missed our lunch, we scoured around and found an exciting shop that sells gyros which are essentially Greek wraps. And on mine, the chicken gyros did not disappoint and we soon found the energy to make our way to the flea market.

As we walked by, it was not difficult to notice some old abandoned buildings scribbled with graffiti. Occasional beggars littered the streets, while old men sat around yaking away the afternoon. We found the Monastiraki flea market but we were a little too late for the day's business. We wandered our way past the Hadrian Library toward the Temple of the Olympian Zeus.

We walked as we usually do, and managed to reach the Syntagma Square and caught the changing of guards at the hour. By then, our legs were aching for a rest and our stomachs grouching for food. We stopped by a Greek restaurant for a burger meal but alas, it could not beat our late lunch of Gyros chicken.

5 Aug (Sat)
We started the day at 6pm as we needed to arrive at the New Hotel by 8.15am with our luggage. The breakfast at our budget hotel was so-so, offering nothing more than some toasted bread, cereal and processed meat. Our hotel room was even more surprising: it was so old that we didn't know how to use the lift (it could only fetch 3 pax at any one time) and we could only find 1 free power socket for our electronics charging.

By 8am we made our way to the New Hotel. We were given a scare when by 8.35am we had no sight of our tour guide nor the coach. We panicked and tried calling and emailing he tour agency. Finally by nearly 9am the tour guide (or rather, the assistant) found us and we made our way out of Athens.

The journey to Delphi was by no means easy. The coach went up and round the mountaneous regions. Before lunch, we saw the ruins at Delphi under the scorching sun before we made the 5-hour journey to Meteora. Nearing 7pm after 2 coffee breaks, we arrived at Kalambaka and spent the night there at the isolated hotel.

6 Aug (Sun)
The day started at 8.15am for us again as we made the first road out to the nearby Meteora monasteries. The windy road up was quickly forgotten as we were gradually captured by the beauty of these monasteries resting at the edge of the cliff. We first reached the Varlaam monoastery for the monks, before going to the nearby monast ran by nuns only.

We were so quickly captured by the beauty and engineering feats of these monasteries, from how they were built so closely to the edge of the cliff to the beauty of the reflections (or drawings on the walls) inside the building itself. It was spectacular and definitely breathtaking.

Soon after an authentic Greek cuisine lunch, we made our 5-hour journey back to Athens, stopping by twice for coffee breaks and arriving in Athens around 6.30pm. We headed to our air bnb host who gave us a good introduction to the city before Iris and I took a walk to the Panathenaic Stadium and had our dinner at the heart of Adrianou Street where pubs and shops congregate.

7 Aug (Mon)
This is our last morning before we would fly out tomorrow out of Athens. Our itinerary was to explore the Acropolis of Athens which included the Parthenon, Erechtheion and the Temple of Athena. From there, we took a downhill walk to the Acropolis Museum which was amazing.

We strolled our way back at the familiar Adrianou Street into Ermou Street where we had our all-delicious gyros chicken wrap and fried feta cheese again. Shopping begun then for Iris and strolling through the scotching sun, she nonetheless had a few success without hurting much purse.

Unbearable under the hot sun and shopping bags, we decided to head back to our Airbnb apartment for a short rest. With mainly the local produce such as olive oils and baglava, we lugged our trophies back and rested our tired feet.

Before long we took out again to the streets looking for the best restaurant with a good roof top garden view. By then, my feet was sored from the walk to the flea market which we were told Hotel 360 and A for Athens Hotel offered the best roof top garden view.

Dinner was however at a more humble local Greek cuisine restaurant where we tried their fried feta fish, mixed grill and grilled fish. The dinner didn't come cheap in comparison with the other meals but was nonetheless satisfying.

8 Aug (Tue)
We packed our luggages and were all ready to head to the airport. From our Airbnb apartment, we dragged our luggages to less than a 10-minute walk to the Syntagma square where we paid €6 per pax for a 1-hour ride to the airport. The journey was quite smooth, with a few stops to pick up other passengers.

The airport was not to world class standard yet. We were a bit lost differentiating between the domestic and international flights customs check. Shopping wise, there were not many options so we grabbed a quick bite at McDonald's and headed to our gate. Oh mine, the gate was yet to be opened but the passengers flooded the waiting area.

Our Greece Travel Overview

1) Weather was hotter than expected for the summer. It was about 35 degrees and higher during the day. Bring along sun block, hats and caps, sunglasses and light, casual clothing, and sandals for easy walking.
2) Water is essential there. But the best part of it is that you can easily get bottled mineral water at the many executive kiosk (we called them mini marts) at a standard €0.50 per 500ml bottle.
3) Greeks are friendly and speaks good English. But expect them to go about their daily activities at their own pace. Most Greeks smoke as well, but their cigarettes aren't of a strong after-taste as others. In other words, they are bearable.
4) Coffee cafes are almost every where. The common chains, Coffee Island and Everest, offer good coffee at an affordable price.
5) Data SIM card wasn't as easily available all around. This is the same with their trash bins. So good to have a travel data sim router instead, if you prefer.
6) Toilets have limited cubicles. Be prepared to wait in queue.
7) Greek food is of a standard in Athens. So they don't really have "best of the best" but of course they do have TripAdvisor recommendations but it comes at a price.
8) Athens is generally safe, even as you walk at night. Graffiti is a common sight but avoid certain streets outside of the main counties like Syntagma Square, Plaka, etc.
9) Daylight is a lot longer than night in the summer. Expect the sun to rise after 6am and sets only after 8.30pm.
10) Greek cuisine can be generally "saltier". Common ones are gyros (wraps with chicken, beef or pork slices, sauces, veggies and French fries), souvlaki (meat skewers), moussaka (lasagna-like with beef, potatoes and egg plants).

A Valentine's Day Post

Today is 14th February 2017, Valentine's Day.

To the young and single, it is a day where you shower the ones you love with gifts and presents. To the happily married ones, it is nonetheless a time to rekindle your love for each other, with or without gifts. Iris and I have talked about this, and I am glad that she understood the extravagant spending, over hyped special occasion is not for everyone, us included.

Valentine should not be celebrated only on 14th Feb. It should be celebrated every day of our lives, as long as we live and breath with our loved ones. Every day and every hour spent with them is an opportunity to love and cherish the ones we love, before and after the sacred marriage vows.

True, on Valentine's Day, we see on the streets couples with a bouquet of flowers in their hands, Facebook posts of gifts and presents from their loved ones, and it is not hard to think if you have been missed out by your loved ones. Yet at the same time you cringed hard wondering if your partner has given to the pressure of buying a bouquet or a expensive gift just like the rest of the world.

But sometimes we can be creative. And different.

Hence I bought Iris her favourite Awfully Chocolate truffles and a tiramisu which both of us have yet to try. (A great excuse to try out my favourite tiramisu as well, and see how nice Awfully Chocolate has made them.) The lady was surprised and clearly delighted, and it is a mission accomplished for me.

2017 so far has been fast and furious. I thought we had just celebrated the turn of a new year, and within the blink of an eye, we were fast celebrating Chinese New Year (which was at the end of January itself). Gave it another 2 weeks or so, we had arrived on 14 February 2017.

Work has not been easy for me either. While we were settling into the new year and giving ourselves a little luxury (well, we've upgraded our queen size bed to a king), we also had not much of a time to do the usual Chinese New Year spring cleaning as well. Hence we tried to tighten up our purses and refrain from unnecessary spending, except for the little pleasures and luxuries we spend on ourselves.

Yet on some items we did not try save. Iris had a fall recently we had already spend a few hundreds on TCM to get her pain going off. We worked hard and so sometimes on weekends we splurged on ourselves a little (but not going overboard with it).

And as a working couple we both faced work pressures and exhaustion. My team of six at the start of January 2016 dwindled down to four by the second half of last year, with no replacements and instead more projections on hands. In early February we would be shocked to learned that another two had tendered and hence now on ground there is only I and another team member shouldering all the workload.

With more work stresses and exhaustion, there is unfortunately sometimes a few more arguments and quarrels. Iris and I were not spared with that either.

We shouted, we screamed, and we cried. We blamed each other and bluntly pointed out on each other's faults and flaws. Iris blasted me on my time on games and I chided her for the time spent on online shopping. But at the end of the day, what was truly the source of our quarrels weren't so much on our shortcomings and flaws, but it was from the pressures and stress we faced at work. And from there, we allowed our emotions to be brought home, crossing the boundaries of work into home.

But yet we don't despair or feel dismay. Every day, we learn something new. Every journey we take, we learn something from it. With each fall, we learn to pick ourselves (and others when we encounter). We laugh at ourselves instead of frown. We choose to stay positive instead of looking at the negatives. We look at life with hope instead of desperation. With God, we take each step by faith and hope, knowing that God will lead us through no matter what the circumstances or situations may be.

We may not know what 2017 may bring us. But we know where God will lead us, as long as we walk in faith and tandem with Him. We learn to walk in balance with God and His word, and as well as every aspect of our lives. We learn to live in brokenness with God and allow Him to break and mold us. We live each day not by our own wisdom but from learning to hear the voice of God.

Our Japan Trip (17 to 26 Nov 2016)

17 Nov 2016 (Thu) 

We woke up in the wee hours of a Thursday morning to catch our 6.30am flight to Osaka, after struggling to clear my work and do our last minute packing at night. Much could be said if we had not done much planning to our itinerary as much as we had wanted. Nonetheless, the day came for us to embrace and go on our much awaited holiday trip. 

We checked in at the airport as soon as we reach Terminal 2. Checking in was swift, and we collected our pocket wifi on-the-go for our data needs in Japan. As soon as we were able, we made our way to the departing gate and boarded the plane. ANA lived up to its name and the plane swiftly took off to Tokyo. The 6.5 hours flight was bearable, save for a few bum-aches, a decent meal and limited selection of movies. 

We arrived in Narita quite on time, and we're quickly greeted by the courteous Japanese. Customs were a little confusing though, as we weren't informed of and given the customs declaration forms. But soon we found our way out and collected our luggage. Impressively, the Japanese was superbly organised and efficient, albeit their limited written and spoken command of the English language. 

We had our first meal, ramen, at the Narita airport and had the on-the-go wifi working. Before long, we checked in the domestic flight, and boy, the customs were strict. The flight was slightly delayed and though operated by ANA, the services and plane were to be much less expected. 

Again, we were greeted by wonderful and helpful Japanese and as well as the cold chilly weather. The information desk we approached directed us to the airport limousine coach which cost us ¥1,000 for 2 and 30 minutes to Shin Osaka where our hotel awaited us. Thankfully, our hotel, though small, was just a short 3-min walking distance to the train station. 

Dinner was a simple but expensive Mos Burger meal, and we supplemented it with onsen (local street food but found at convenient stores). We were absolutely exhausted and we turned in as early as 10pm into the cold winter night. 

18 Nov 2016 (Fri)

Iris and I were just too tired to wake up early. We've discovered the day started early for Osaka and guessed it was a shorter day time for Japan. Our day started with redeeming the JR pass for Kansai West Area and onigiri (Japanese rice cubes) bought at the local 7-11 convenience store. We were a little lost trying to figure out how to use and where to board the trains, but after a few minutes we were on our way to our first destination--Kobe Sannomiya. 

Kobe is where you will find the famous beef, and our hunt for a popular steak restaurant brought us to Steak Land, where we've discovered they were so famous they had the whole building and a couple of branches all within walking distance. Of course, our ¥7,760 lunch (about S$100) didn't disappoint us, with the kobe steak (200g) totally tender, chewable, juicy and sweet. 

Next stop was Himeiji, where we would find ourselves racing against time to reach Himeiji Castle before the closing time at 4pm. The white beauty stood with its grandeur, welcoming us despite one hour to the day's closure. We climbed our way up to the highest point (seven floors high) and were treated to a rare, spectacular scenery of the Himeiji area. 

Naturally, our legs brought us down the main keep of the castle faster than we went up. We strolled the streets of Himeiji and went to Daiso, Piole (their local Takashimaya) before making our way back to Shin Osaka. And as expected, the day was turning dark at 4.30pm, before the weather dropped to about 13-14 degrees. 

19 Nov 2016 (Sat) 

We lazily begun our day checking out of the hotel at Shin Osaka and making our way to the train station. We tried the famous takoyaki and figured out with a bit of fuss our way to Namba station. Their train station lines, to my amazement, was so complex and slightly complicated that it took us a couple of flight of stairs trying to figure out which platform we out to go to. Not to mention that these train stations did not have any escalators. 

After a while of figuring out, we finally reached JR Namba and thanks to our a good sense of orientation, we got to our Air BnB apartment which was double the size of our hotel at Shin Osaka. But that definitely came without a bit of fanfare--we literally walked around the building before getting to the right unit number! Once there, however, we were an hour too early so we settle for a nice cozy meal at a local restaurant (which featured automated payment system) and hung around there until our room was ready. 

Our Air BnB room really surprised us. It featured double beds, had a mini bath tub, a separate toilet, washing machine, microwave, etc. The only downside was a lack of TV, interesting shops, and a 700m-walk to the nearest JR Namba station. Nonetheless, we were still very pleased with our apartment and the hassle-free access into the otherwise condo-like apartment building.

Without much ado after our checking in, we made our way to the fame Dontonburi area, a street shopping and eating heaven for all. Naturally, it did not disappoint. Our first walk about let us to the 3-floors high Starbucks with ample seats that even on a weekends you could find a seat to rest your tired legs without much of a difficulty. 

We walked further down the street and saw much more, from cosmetics stores to eateries and convenience stores. Of course, we tried the popular okonomiyaki and yaki-soba which satisfied our appetites. Not to be contented, we walked to the recommended BIC Camera mall which featured almost every available electronics and electrical appliance. We literally had our hands on a pair of G-Shock watches for a discounted price. 

Our last stop for the day was an unforgettable dessert at the Pablo cheese tart. The take-away queue was never ending and we chose to rest our achy legs and indulge in a melting cheesecake. This was probably the highlight and absolutely satisfying dessert we had of all times! It was amazing!

We made our back back to our Air BnB apartment which was about a kilometre away, and spent a couple of minutes to get the water heater going (that was quite amusing--we almost searched every corner of the apartment including the distribution board!). Exhausted, we bathed and wasted no time and turned in for the night. Day achieved, next exciting day coming up.  

20 Nov 2016 (Sun)

Today was one of the rare mornings we woke up as early as 7am. We had our on-the-go breakfast at the Family Mart, another version of their 7-11 outlet. But food wise, we favoured the latter for their selection and quality. But nonetheless, most of these convenience stores had window counter seats where you could rest, relax, have a quick bite and also recharge your handphone!

We soon made our way to Inari Station via transfer at Kyoto Station. Kyoto is another prefecture which is largely different from Osaka. It breathes of a strong cultural heritage and ageing landscape. Inari station is where it houses the famous Fushimi-Inari-Taisha Shrine. Unaware, we begun our journey up, which turned into a mountainous trek up Mount Inari. 3/4 up, which is about 40 floors up, our aching legs could no longer bring us another further and we trekked down to a small food street that featured interesting menus. 

Our next stop was Nishiki market in the north-eastern part of Kyoto. We were awed by the landscape and cooling weather, and before long we reached this stretch of streets which reminded us of Orchard Road. Famished and tired from the long walk at the Fushimi-Inari-Taisha Shrine, we took shelter at the Ichiran ramen store, before standing in queue for a good 20 minutes. Needless to say, the popular ramen did not disappoint and we left with a satisfied appetite and a full stomach.

At the end, we decided to give up looking for Nishiki market and head back to Osaka station instead. By then, we had realized that the JR Pass we bought for us in the Kansai Area had only served us for a good area, while some harder to reach areas served by Midosuji and other lines had to be assessed by other line tickets.

So we took the Kyoto line to bring us back to Osaka, while surviving the long train ride on our feets in a packed peak period train carriage. We reached Osaka nearly exhausted and went to Daimaru for a quick shopping buy and strolled the alleys behind the shopping malls. And boy, we found a ramen stall serving great food at local prices and that soon became our dinner. 

Our last pit stop for the day was Dotonburi (though we were there only the day before). However, this time round we took the train from Umeda and Shinsaibashi. Only there did we discover that the Dotonburi shopping stretch begun at Shinsaibashi. We walked, we shopped and ended up at this comic portrait shop where we had our portraits drawn into a comic-like colour sketch. 

Back at the apartment, it was only then that I discovered the extent of the Mount Inari climb--a big blister the size of a 5-cent coin on my toe! That explained why my left foot was hurting so badly after the mountainous trek.

So far, we had been enjoying our Air BnB apartment. It had allowed us to sleep spaciously and as well as to do our laundry so that really lightens our load. We have another 2 more days in Namba, Osaka, before we leave for Tokyo via Shinkansen (bullet trains) on the coming Tuesday. 

21 Nov 2016 (Mon)

The day begun slightly later for us. As usual, we could not drag ourselves out from the comfortable bed. We decided that we would take another route to try get some breakfast at the Aeon supermarket, and that did not disappoint. There was a huge selection from pastry, confectionery, sandwiches to sushi, grilled, and deep fried. There was even an eat-in cafe area for you to have your breakfast and recharge! 

We took the JR line to Nara where we were warmed by the chilling weather. The streets of Nara towards Nara Park was so different--it was surreal, clean and peaceful, quite unlike other places in Japan we had been to. Feeding the deers was definitely an experience for Iris, while I was busy fending myself off from the poos the deers left on the grass! 

We walked the streets from Nara Park back to the station, and again, we chanced upon another local restaurant that served decent udon and oden which cost us reasonable. From there, we struggled against the cold weather and took a ride to Osakako where the highly recommended Osaka Aquarium was. The ride was a bit long so we took time for a short nap in between. 

The Osaka Aquarium definitely did not disappoint as there was a huge display of big fishes like the whole to small ones like the anchovies. The only downside was that the aquarium was circularly built, so we had to go round and round it to get to the lower floors. And some of the aquariums seemed too small for the faster, bigger fishes. Funnily, after the exhibit we sure felt a bit hungry for a sushi / sashimi dinner. 

We made our way back to Osakako station, by then it had begun to drizzle. The weather forecast for our next destination, Tokyo, which we would be leaving for the following day, was expected to drop further to near zero degrees. Nonetheless, we made no hesitation to troll through the Dotonburi Street for one last time before we leave Osaka for Tokyo. 

Our sushi / sashimi dinner did not materialise until near 10pm where we walked back from Dotonburi to our area where the popular Kura Sushi was. However, we were taken aback by the long queue (which estimated about 45 mins to our turn), so we headed off to another restaurant that served us deep fried food that turned out to be rather tasty. And after which, our curiosity brought us back to Kura Sushi where we were the next in line and tried a couple plates of sushi. And boy, our dinners took us to nearly midnight before we headed back to our apartment. 

22 Nov 2016 (Tue)

What happens when you've over stretched yourself at trekking? You would wake up with a sore calf. That's what happened to us in the morning. 

Morning was a struggle with our physical limitations and last minute packing before we leave for Tokyo. We dragged our luggage from our Air BnB apartment to the nearby subway and boarded the train to Shin Osaka station. We packed some bento lunch boxes and waited patiently for our 11.20am Shinkansen bullet train to Tokyo. 

Excitement filled the air as we made our way past the gantry to the platform where we stood in line with the rest of the reserved seats passengers headed towards the same destination. Business travellers, holiday couples with luggages such as us, and as well as single casual travellers boarded the clean, in-flight-like train carriages that have rightfully established the Shinkansen as a first class world transportation. 

Our Shinkansen experience was a pleasant and peaceful one. Just like taking a flight, every facility is well provided for, from food and beverages, to washrooms and reclining seats (that didn't give me backache, by the way). It was so comfortable that I could seamlessly fall right asleep and awake only when I was hungry or when my wife needed to get pass me! 

In what seems like only a short ride, we reached Tokyo in under 3 hours from Osaka. We dragged our luggage out into the open and was greeted by a cool breezy weather. With some experience garnered from our Osaka endeavours, we headed in the right direction to our hotel where it would be our accommodation for the next 4 evenings. 

Our Tokyo hotel was much better than the one we had stayed in Osaka, though it was slightly more inconvenient. We've checked in without much of a fuss, and unpacked a little before making our way to the Snoopy Museum. Tokyo itself is much served by many different subways plying in different directions, so it took us a little while to figure out which subway line to take and which entrance we can get into. 

Tokyo was more hilly than I've expected. Walking to Snoopy Museum was not a stroll in the park but a gentle climb up of the street that was probably about 20-25 degrees steep! Nonetheless, the Snoopy Museum was a little disappointing. It did feature how the cartoon strip Peanuts had evolved through the ages, but there was an apparent lack of variety of the Snoopy merchandise. 

We made our way from the museum to the foot of Tokyo Tower. By then, the weather has dropped drastically to about 15 degrees Celsius. We shivered in the cold weather of the night and made our way to Tokyo Station. We were caught by surprise upon our arrival as we were mazed out by how gigantic Tokyo station itself was. 

On our way back after a long and tiring day (not to mention our aching legs), we stopped by 7-11 convenience store and bought some small bites on the back to the hotel. It was such fun as having an ice cream in the cold breezy weather could be so satisfying. 

23 Nov 2016 (Wed)

It was some sort of a Japanese public holiday today. The weather dropped drastically to about 9 degrees in Tokyo as well. As we made our way to Yoyogi station en route to Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, we walked in the cold breezy weather and our reward is a nice paranomatic view of Tokyo itself. We spent about an hour there before we make our next stop to the Meiji Shrine. 

It was quite a walk to Meiji Shrine as we had discovered. Greeted by the yellow leaves of the maple trees, we were excited to explore what was inside. About near a kilometre later, we saw huge crowds with young children with their families all in Japanese traditional costumes. Together with what seemed like load full of fruit and vegetables on display, it became more apparent that it was some sort of a harvest festival that featured children of ages three, five and seven. 

We continued our long walk in the cold weather to the nearby Shibuya shopping district. Soon, we found ourselves indulging in our own shopping and I soon found myself being the carrier man for shopping bags and carriers. Not to forget, we found and tried the Nanbantei at Shibuya which cost us a hefty meal of ¥6,600+ for lunch. 

Before long, we encountered the amazing Shibuya crossing where at a traffic intersection of various roads when the lights all turned red, road users from all directions made amazing crosses to their designations. It was quite a peculiar sight and was what made Shibuya famous on the Japan map. 

We almost forgot about dinner until we had dessert at this pancake shop. Our late lunch at Nanbantei sustained us until then when we braved the cold and headed back to our hotel with our stomachs filled only with hot pancakes. But alas, we had some planning to do for our Disney trip tomorrow. 

24 Nov 2016 (Thu) 

The weather forecast the day before was snow for today as the day begin. True to the predictions, it begun snowing at about 7am in what seemed like heavy water droplets. But as we walked out into the streets, it became more apparent that it was not rain but snow. 

We had been and encountered close to zero-degree weather conditions, but this day we were totally caught off guard before we set off for the trip. We left our gloves, our scarves, and our waterproof footwear back at home. So, armed with only a padded windbreaker, a padded gloves and an umbrella, we braved the wind, the snow and the chilling temperature to the nearest station that could take us to Disney Resorts. 

It would really have looked like a wet morning, if not for the closer examination of the water form that rained down on you. Iris and I took a 600 metre walk to the nearest train station, one-third of us wet from waist down, and upon reaching Maihama station where the Disney Resorts are, it became more apparent that snow was upon Tokyo. 

We have to yet take another train line to get to Disney Sea where we had earlier purchased our tickets. Baggage checks were strict but we had earlier hidden our onigiri lunch bites somewhere in our backpacks. Still, the cold weather was the one most torturing, with my nose beginning to feel numb. 

We went around with an umbrella in hand, and most areas of attractions were beginning to be packed with queues and lines. We only managed one ride, one show, before we stopped to recover from the snow, after which we continued with another onr-hour queue for "Tower of Terror" ride (which I thought was very exhilarating).

When it was closer to 4pm, we decided that we should go as the skies were beginning to darken. We stopped by the mall there for cheese tart and waffle before we took off to Tokyo station by which the snow had begun to cease but breezy conditions continued.  

We continued with some brief shopping here before having a late dinner at McDonald's. We were quite delighted with their chicken wing which cost only ¥150. After which, we put on all the outer wear we had and headed on the 2-degree Celsius temperature and took a 700-metre walk back. 

25 Nov 2016 (Fri) 

This was our last full day in Japan. We laze around a little late and got out only to Tsujiki station around 10am. We wondered around a little bit before we found Tsujiki fish market where it had to be the highlight of our Tokyo expedition. 

Tsujiki fish market is more than the wet, fish auctioning market that is meant only for fish mongers and restaurant chefs. There are other stalls along the street sides that sells cooked food such as tamago, steamed oysters, and onigiri (really fat and gigantic) and as well as raw food like sushi. It was such a feast to the eyes, the mouth and the stomach and we had a great time there. 

Reluctantly, we left Tsujiki market for Asakusa where the famous Senso-ji temple is. It was quite a beauty where the birth of Buddhism began in Japan. We were also stopped by high school students who had to practice their English with us for a couple of minutes. We bought quite a fair bit of Japanese biscuits here as well. 

When it was nearer to sunset, we made our way to Shinjuku station where another amazing shopping belt awaited us. We had a couple of boo-boo incidents at the train stations such as buying the tickets for the wrong train lines, going onto the wrong platform, and boarding the wrong direction trains. Anyway, all these add to our fun experience, so we have nothing much to complain about.

In the evening, we landed at Shinjuku which seemed like another Shibuya area. Malls and speciality stores filled the streets and we were soon off to explore the area. Being our last day, we did the shopping that we could and the feasting too. We decided not to return to our hotel too late as we sure have much to pack.

Sure enough, our packing held us back until past midnight, and as with other trips, our luggages were almost filled to the brim and zip edges. Nonetheless, we felt we had yet to complete all the shopping that we would have wanted, but alas we could make another Japan trip the next time. 

26 Nov 2016 (Sat) 

Today was our last day of our trip. We awoke to a slow morning, interrupted by a hasty trip to the morning breakfast before resuming back to the hotel for some last minute packing. 

We checked out just before our shuttle bus arrived to bring us to Tokyo Station, and while I rest at Starbucks, Iris made some last minute shopping at Daimaru before we rushed off to catch our Narita Express train. 

The Narita Express, operated by JR lines, did not disappoint. The experience and feel was very much similar to Shinkansen and we were able to catch a short nap after the initial hussle with other commuters on board the same carriage. Within an hour, we reached Narita Airport and checked in our baggages. We had lunch at the same ramen stall we had on our very first day landing onto Japan and soon, we were on our way to checking in. 

As usual, the checking in was very strict--all electronics, odd-shaped items (even empty water bottles), jackets/coats, had to be laid in the open in a tray for the customs officers to check through. Items that were suspicious were scanned through again and this caused a huge jam at the initial check-in, and we were not any comforted when we saw the long passport customs check. 

After all the necessary checks, we were left with only about half an hour to get all the desirable things. Iris got her Issey Miyake bag and we bought some very famous and popular Tokyo bananas and other edible souvenirs back for our friends and colleagues. Some how, I felt that our air plane back to Singapore was an older plane with ageing fitted facilities and seats were not as comfortable as the one I've taken 10 days ago. 

These past 10 days in Japan has been very exciting. We've experienced quite a fair bit of excitement, from the sudden snow to the wonderful feast of excellent food and shopping. In comparison, Japan feels very much like Korea but a different feel overall. I would have loved Japan for the weather (less windy) and people, but Korea for its food and its shopping.