2008 Year End Note

Overall it’s been a very good year especially because I found someone that has brought ample joy to my life.

1) Certificate in Gerontology – I completed my Graduate Certificate in Gerontology through Des Moines University, and to the best of my knowledge, I’m the only person who graduated with the certificate because the program was terminated and the other students were not disciplined enough to follow through with their projects.

2) Cindy & EJ Wedding/St. Louis – A dear friend from Drake was married in St. Louis, and Charlene and I attended the wedding. It was such a joyous occasion, and I met up with a number of Drake alum. It was definitely a most memorable weekend.

3) 30th Birthday celebration – I celebrated my 30th birthday celebration with some of the dearest and closest people in my life at a restaurant, and we all had a blast. In case you’re wondering, turning 30 is plain awesome!

4) Matt & Alisha Wedding – I was a groomsman for the very first time in my life at Matt Pokorny and Alisha Lundberg’s wedding. I’ve known the Pokorny family as long as I’ve been in DM, and it was an honor to be part of the wedding party. By the way, I looked pretty darn snazzy in pink!

5) Dan’s ordination – Dan Schuster was ordained a priest in Green Bay, WI and John, Carola and I attended his ordination. In some ways, I feel I had a role to play in his ordination because Dan and I talked a number of times when he was discerning the call to priesthood. He studied and graduated from Mundelein Seminary where I spent a year and a half discerning the priesthood.

6) 2008 Flood – Who could forget the Iowa floods of 2008? Our agency was affected by it, and I was very much involved with some aspect of the disaster relief. It was an interesting experience working with federal government employees to say the least.

7) Malaysia & Australia vacation – After six long years of being away, I finally made it back to Malaysia. That was one of the biggest highlights of the year. I caught up with friends, family and also got to visit my sister and her husband in Melbourne. Our family also vacationed in Sydney. One of these days, I’ll definitely return to Australia. It’s a gorgeous county. Oh, I stuffed myself silly too!

8) Anna – After being single for seven years, I would rank Anna as being the most important highlight of the year. Anna and I officially started dating in October, but we’ve known each other for at least ten years. She’s been active in the young adults group which I’m the coordinator, and that’s helped us discover more about each other. She has brought immeasurable joy to my life, and the journey has been a blast. I know we’re both definitely looking to what the future holds.

9) Barrack Obama – America elected its first African American president. It’s monumental to say the least. He has a tough road ahead of him, but something tells me he’s more than up for the challenge.

The economy has been unkind to very many people, and I know some people who have suffered tremendously because of it. My heart goes out to them. I’m just thankful that I still have a job, a roof over my head, and someone who loves me unconditionally.

Cheers to a bigger and much better year ahead for all of us! Let’s ring in 2009!!!

Christmas Vacation

So, I should be writing quite a lot since I did not write anything all last week. The one big thing that took place last week was Anna’s Christmas party. She had invited a bunch of her friends to her annual Christmas party. One difference this year was that usually it’s Anna and Gretchen. Gretchen was not going to be able to make it to the party so Anna organized it. A couple of days earlier, Rob had called to say that he was heading through DM on his way back to Texas for Christmas and was wondering if we could meet up. We did meet up and he ended up coming to the party. Two of my friends came which was nice, but the rest of the people were pretty much Anna’s friends. It was my introduction to them and I think it went pretty well. They were all wonderful people. Oh, since Anna was leaving for Maple Grove, MN the day after the party, we had decided to exchange Christmas presents in the morning. I had gotten her a scrapbook since she’s really into scrapbooking, one of my all time favorite books which is the “Alchemist” by Paolo Coelho and the grand gift was season subscription to the rest of the DM Symphony. I managed to snag the single seat next to John and I. Yay! She enjoyed the gifts. For my presents, she had gotten me a gift certificate to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and two wine stoppers which were really nice. The third gift arrived after we came back from Maple Grove. More on that gift later. Her drive up was not too bad. She did say that there was quite a lot of blowing snow, but apart from that, the roads were fine.

I left for Maple Grove on Christmas Eve and apart from some slick and icy spots, the drive was fine. It took me roughly four hours to get to Heidi (Anna’s twin sister) and Mark’s place. They live in a very affluent suburb and have a beautiful house. The house has four bedrooms on the second floor and a fully finished basement which is where I slept since there was a bathroom and shower there. The living, dining room and kitchen is located on the main floor. I was reintroduced to her parents since I did meet them briefly at my 30th birthday party at the restaurant. Not too long after I arrived, Mark’s parents (Jack and Carol) arrived from Bismarck, ND. They too would be spending Christmas at Heidi and Mark’s. It was such a fun and relaxing time with everyone. For dinner, Carol made lasagna which was utterly delectable and decadent. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. It dawned on me that this was the first time in a good number of years I did not have steak on Christmas Eve which had been my personal tradition. That was fine by me. After dinner, it was time for everyone to open their presents. I had brought a bottle of wine for Heidi and Mark and gotten a pewter gift for Al and Karen (Anna’s parents). Unbeknownst to me, Al and Karen got me presents too. I got a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble and a wine that was produced by Anna’s cousin who is a winemaker out in Oregon. How thoughtful of them. Joel and I would most definitely be enjoying this bottle of wine. After opening the presents, we sang some carols and had some homemade alcohol beverages which was pretty potent. All of us then pretty much called it a night.

The weather was pretty darn beautiful on Christmas Day and we went to Mass that morning. I am used to going to Mass on Christmas Eve so that too was something new and different. The church that we went to was an amazing church. It was very contemporary and I liked it a lot. The musicians did a mighty fine job with the music and all in all it was a great celebration. We then went back to the house for brunch prepared by Anna’s mom. Everyone kind of sat around and just relaxed while eating brunch. We watched the movie version of Mamma Mia since most of the people had not seen it and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. Once the movie was done, most everyone went for a nap. Al, Karen and I were the only ones who did not nap. So, the three of us ended up playing Rummikub which was a tile version of Gin Rummy. Al won almost all the games since he had a knack for playing the game. I just had fun learning a new game. That evening, we had dinner at Mark’s family in Edina, MN. The host family was such gracious people and there were quite a lot of people at the house. The meal was pretty simple, but it was very, very good. We had salad, wild rice, grass-fed beef and cheesecake for dessert. It was such a good meal all around. I got to meet Mark’s side of the family and were involved in a couple of really good conversations pertaining to my job and the future of the US health system. Everyone truly had a good time at the dinner. I even got to talk about wine with one of the guests which was pretty neat.

The day after Christmas was supposed to be a big day for various sales, but no one really needed or wanted to buy anything. Heidi, Mark, Anna and I did run some errands and in the midst of that did some shopping. Heidi was on the lookout for an artificial tree but did not find one to her liking. I was just content to tag along with them. Maple Grove is definitely a burgeoning suburb and I got to see a lot of it. After coming back, we hung out before going out for dinner at Bucca De Beppo where the Italian food is served family style. Anna and Gretchen’s childhood friend and her husband joined all of us at dinner and I got to meet her. Anna told me a little about her so it was nice to meet her in person. Everyone was more than stuffed at the end of the meal and dinner was on Al. He was just happy that he could spend time with everyone and that all of us had a grand time.

Anna and I drove back to DM on Saturday at around 11:30AM. Heidi had to work at 11AM and we left after she did. The drive was uneventful and we stopped at Albert Lea which is a pretty big truck stop just to stretch a little while Anna grabbed something to eat for the final leg. I could not believe how icy DM was. Her driveway was entirely covered in ice which made things pretty darn slick. We watched the movie, “Seven Pounds” starring Will Smith which was a very good movie. It was a very poignant drama and I can understand why it got rave reviews. After having such rich meals over Christmas, we settled for some very simple food for dinner which was just fine by me.

All in all, I had a very good time in Maple Grove and in many ways, spending time with Anna’s family reminded me of what Christmas at home was. Family got together and just shared a meal and lots of conversation. It’s the simplicity of Christmas that I treasure the most …not the presents and I’m glad I got to experience it this year.

Christmas is right around the corner.

Can you believe that Christmas is right around the corner? That’s pretty scary! It’s a week from Thursday and I have a feeling that it really kind of snuck up on me. I had forgotten to mention that I’ll be spending Christmas with Anna and her family. No, I’m not headed up to Bismarck, ND. Her twin sister will be hosting so I’ll be driving up to Maple Grove, MN which is NW of the Twin Cities. Anna will be headed up there on Sunday while I’ll be driving on Christmas Eve. I took the day off from work. I’ll most probably be coming back on Sunday after Christmas. It should be a fun Christmas spent with someone else’s family. It’s too bad that I’ll miss Gretchen. She’ll be leaving the day I’m arriving. Shucks. While I’m up there, I’m sure we’ll spend some time visiting some of the area attractions.

This past weekend, not too much took place. On Saturday, Anna and I went to Ann’s place. I stayed for dinner and a conversation, but Anna could not stay for dinner since her band was performing that evening. She did manage to stay and chat for a while. Kathy and Donnie Sargent were there too. Everyone thoroughly loved Anna and thought she’s a really neat person. That’s good, right?! We had Harley’s stew for dinner and my oh my, it just hit the spot. It was oh so good. During the day, we ran a couple of errands which made for a nice, relaxing day.

After Mass on Sunday, Anna and I went to a coffee shop and had brunch. It was good to just sit and chat. The RCIA group no longer meets after Mass since we’ve moved on to Scripture discussion right after the homily. This pretty much meant that I have at least two hours after Mass to chill with Anna.

This weekend she’s having a Christmas party and a number of her friends will be there. Some of our friends from St. Kate’s will be there too. It should be a fun evening for all. That’s pretty much the week and weekend in a nutshell. Something tells me the week will go by pretty fast.

Come to Jesus meeting.

Boy, talk about an interesting week/weekend last week. I had two come to Jesus meetings back to back days. On Thursday at the facility, we had the monthly mandatory meeting and I knew something was up when the CEO, CFO, HR etc were there. They never come to these meeting. What it basically came down to was the fact that some staff were not documenting properly. So, when the documenting is not correct, the agency does not get reimbursed for services rendered. The meeting itself was not bad because it helped clarify a number of things some staff had questions and concerns about. For me, the meeting gave me an opportunity to address something that has been on my mind for some time. A new assistant to the administrator was hired roughly a month ago and one of the things she has been doing is writing memos left and right in caps which pretty much means she’s yelling/shouting at us. Another thing pertains to cooking and how some of us are not following the menu. Needless to say her comments have not set down well with many of us and I figured Thursday would be a good time to bring it up which I did. She apologized to all of us saying she did not know that writing in caps meant that she was shouting and all of us had a very open communication pertaining to cooking and following the menu. I did meet with her one on one after the meeting to talk about more stuff and it was a very good and productive meeting.

On Friday, a facilitator was called in to assist with some issues a number of staff at Aging Resources have been dealing with. Long story short, a former colleague left the agency the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and prior to her leaving told everyone that she was going to spend time at home with her daughter who is autistic. We soon found out that she actually left to join an agency that was started by two former employees. Leaving to work for a competitor is fine – it happens all the time in every organization. However, she downright lied to everyone’s face and came up with this story about taking care of her daughter etc. Feelings of anger, betrayal, etc. are some of the stuff her co-workers are dealing with which is why this facilitator came in. Overall, it was a very good meeting for all who went. I did say a couple of things that kind of rubbed some people the wrong way, but that was not my intention. I was being brutally honest and some people just can’t take honesty and internalize it and also thing it’s a personal attack on them. We’ll see how long I’ll be given the cold shoulder by some of them. At the end of the day, it does not make one difference in my job whatsoever. I say let’s move on and focus on the real reason why we do what we do.

Later that evening, Anna and I had dinner at this wonderful restaurant called “Proof” which is a couple of blocks from where I live. It’s open for lunch Mon-Friday, and only open for dinner on Friday. This was my opportunity to have dinner. The food was amazingly wonderful and I think that’s where we’ll be having our New Year’s Eve dinner. The view from the restaurant could not be beat. After dinner, Anna’s band had a gig and I was off to the Civic Center for a concert by Jim Brickman. He’s a new age pianist whom I’ve followed for some time now and I just love his music. John was supposed to go with me, but he was down with the cold. Thank goodness Carola came with me. I warned her that it’s New Age piano music, not classical music but at the end of the show, she commented on how much she thoroughly enjoyed herself. I think it was a great concert and it definitely got me in the Christmas mood.

Saturday morning, I watching Liverpool live while Anna slept in. After she got up, we kind of drove around town and went shopping a little. At 3PM I was given tickets to the Drake Men’s basketball game and it was great to see the team play. The game was a blowout and Drake hit fifteen three pointers. We won by at least forty points. Talk about a fun game to attend. After the game, I cooked dinner for Anna. I made chicken satay, fish, egg and some sweet corn that was in my freezer. We had more than enough to eat, for sure. After dinner, we walked to the Civic Center to attend the Wartburg College Christmas Concert. A number of years ago, I went with Joel, Kathy and some people from St. Kate’s. We had a blast and the music was spectacular. Since Anna teaches vocal music, I figured she would enjoy it. The performance itself was fine, but nothing really wowed us. I remember when I went, there was always a song or two that would just wow you, but this year, nothing really stood out. However, it was still good to attend the performance and support the students.

Sunday was a regular day with nothing too exciting going on. Oh, we did have the Rite of Acceptance for my RCIA candidates. That was nice. The congregation got to meet them and they were formally “presented” to the community. Work at the facility was quiet to say the least and you won’t hear me complaining about that.

That’s all the news from me.

Thanksgiving weekend.

Last weekend was Thanksgiving and it was a pretty nice and relaxing weekend.

On Thursday, I coordinated the Thanksgiving meals and 52 meals came out of my site. Before the coordination, I met up with Charlene since it was her birthday. It was a nice way for her to start her birthday. Heath, Sarah’s boyfriend was preparing the Thanksgiving meal for a good number of people and Charlene was getting some items at the grocery store prior to meeting up with the rest of the family. We just had a nice breakfast before I had the coordinate the meals. I recognized a number of people who picked up the meals for delivery so that was nice. For my Thanksgiving meal, I ended up going to Eileen and Bernie’s for dinner. They are a wonderful couple from St. Catherine’s. Joel and Kathy were there too together with two other couples. We all knew one another so it meant a fun and joyful evening for all. We started at 2PM and I left their house at 7PM. Nothing was rushed and everyone had a good time. Oh, I’m not really a fan of turkey, but this turkey was delectable. It was a farm raised, free ranged organic turkey and my oh my, was it tasty.

I had no intention of shopping on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving which is the craziest shopping day of the entire year) so I had a leisurely morning. John had called to invite me over to visit his sister, Carol from Florida together with the rest of the Ludwig family. That’s kind of where I spent the morning – catching up with Carol and Warren and also just seeing the rest of the Ludwigs. Warren’s mother is in the early to middle stages of dementia so he had a number of questions for me especially since I work in the aging field. I felt I did my best to answer his questions. Later that afternoon, I worked at the facility and it was a real low key day. Some of the residents spent Thanksgiving with their family, but were just chilling the day after Thanksgiving.

Saturday morning, I spent a good portion of the day in the library since I knew there were not going to be a lot of people especially because of the amount of sales at the departmental stores. I borrowed a couple of cds to burn for my office computer and then went back to my apartment and read a book that I’ve been meaning to read for some time. Carola and I went to the Nutcracker Ballet performance at the Civic Center and I must say it was a wonderful experience. Carola insisted that the Nutcracker is one of those holiday traditions that I must experience once in my lifetime and I’m glad I did. There were so many dancers from so many age groups and dance schools. I think overall they all did a fine job. In the audience too, there were lots of kids especially girls all dressed to the nines excited about the performance. Anna came back from her Thanksgiving with her family and we met up with Charlene and family for dinner. They had prepared a meal for a number of international faculty and students at 2PM, but I told her I would not be able to make it until after the performance. I saw Sonia and Sarah too, so that was nice. There was more than enough food leftover for me and Anna. We helped clean a little but Charlene insisted we leave to do our own thing since we’ve not seen each other prior to Thanksgiving. After dinner, went to visit Paul and Heidi. Heidi gave birth to an adorable little baby girl named Catherine Elizabeth Kraus a week ago and we were both excited to see her. Paul and Heidi both belong to the young adults group and I’ve known Paul since my time at Drake. We graduated the same year at Drake. Talk about a great way to end the evening.

Sunday was pretty much the same stuff. Nothing too exciting happened. The residents all behaved themselves which meant that it was a quiet day.

This coming weekend will be packed with different activities going on and I’m looking forward to it. A number of my residents have fallen ill and I’m hoping and praying that I’m not going to. It is the season when people fall sick and that’s the last thing I need to have happen.

A fast week/weekend for sure.

It was definitely one fast week/weekend for me. I had a couple of meetings over the week which kind of got me out of the office doing things I don’t normally do at my desk. It was a change. On Friday, Joel, Kathy and I attended a classical pianist concert at Drake. Anna was supposed to go with Joel and me, but she was feeling under the weather so Kathy came along. The artiste was a pianist from Germany and he was spectacular. Technically brilliant and just did a wonderful job overall. I told Anna that she definitely missed a grand opportunity. She would have loved it considering she’s a piano teacher.

On Saturday, we went to the indoor farmers market located downtown – just a couple of block from my building. It was well attended, but certain parts were a little claustrophobic where people were crammed like sardines. Most of the vendors were at the downtown farmers market and there were a number of them who sold their wares specifically for the holiday season. We had a good time just window shopping. Anna’s band had another gig that evening so she had to set up while I got my laundry done.

Both of us went to Mass that evening. I was there because a colleague was going to make an announcement regarding some donations for his home country, Uganda. Jim wanted me to introduce him so people could make the connection. I guess a lot or rather more and more people from St. Kate’s are recognizing me. Samuel did a great job with the announcement so I’m sure there will be a lot of donations coming his way. I met up Kristi for dinner after Mass and I commented to her that we’ve not really met up for many months which is just so unlike us. A lot has happened with her and I’ve been updated with all her going on. She just cracks me up at times. After dinner I hung out at her house and chatted with her housemate, Mark whom I know through Brian. Then it was off to the bar where Anna’s band was performing. I could not believe how packed it was and the only place available was towards the back, but Anna did see me so that was good. Brian met up with me at the bar later that evening and we chatted too. It was weird chatting with Kristi and Brian the same evening, but not together. They are amicable to one another, but things definitely aren’t what it used to be which is sad. Anna was pooped after the band got done playing and we called it a night probably close to 2:30AM which is late for my books.

I went to Mass the next day since the 2nd Sunday group was responsible for the music. We did a fine job and after that it was off to work for me. For some reason or another, I was really hungry so I ended up eating a ton for dinner. Not to worry, I did not deprive any residents of their food. I pretty much ate the leftover from lunch and had some dinner which was spaghetti. Overall it was a quiet night which is always a good thing. I did have one resident in distress because she was having a conversation with her deceased brother who was getting her to do things she did not want and was making her extremely frustrated. Just another day at the facility. Nothing unusual which sounds really weird, but it is.

Thanksgiving is Thursday and I’ll be coordinating the meal delivery at one of the area Hy-Vee then instead of heading to Joel and Kathy’s for dinner, we were all invited to someone else’s house. She used to be a former nun, and he a former priest and they’ve been married a number of years now. She’s a foodie like me so I love chatting with her because we can always talk about food. It should be a very relaxing Thanksgiving afternoon and evening. Charlene’s birthday is on Thanksgiving Day this year so I’ll probably end up dropping by her house too.

That’s all the news for this time.

One month anniversary

So, Anna and I celebrated our one month anniversary this past weekend. I know you’re all probably thinking what’s the big deal? Well, any small anniversary should be celebrated and I’m all for any reason to dress up and to go out for a nice meal.

Thursday was kind of a long day because we had the annual all staff in-service that lasted three hours on the evening when I would normally have off. It was fine and I learned some stuff.

Dan Schuster, my priest friend spent the weekend in DM. He came as part of his annual dinner with his fraternity brothers. John, Carola, Anna and I had breakfast with him on Saturday morning. He’s doing well and is definitely enjoying the priesthood. In so many ways, he’s the same old Dan and that’s kind of what you want. You don’t really want someone to change just because they are not a priest. Later that morning, Anna and I watched the latest Bond flick which was pretty good. After watching dramas the past weekends, it was a nice change to watch an action movie. We then got dressed and headed to Mass before going out for dinner. We ate my favorite French restaurant that I’ve not been to for a long time. I usually go there for special occasions and a one month anniversary is a special occasion. The food was excellent as always. I actually had two entrée. The first was split between Anna and I so I consider it an appetizer. It was rabbit meat which was classically prepared and it was oh so good. Anna likes ravioli and that’s what she had. I’m not a fan of it so I ended up with Guinea Fowl which taste very similar to chicken. They baked the fowl and when it came out, the skin was crispy and it was served on top of a risotto. An excellent meal, I must say. We both had desserts which was very good also. What a wonderful way to celebrate a one month anniversary!

After dinner, we went to the DM Symphony where they showed some Bugs Bunny cartoons and the symphony played classical music to the cartoons. It was an amazing experience. The program is called Bugs Bunny on Broadway and it’s been shown/performed all around the country and the world. It even had a three week sold out performance at the Sydney Opera House. Since there were cartoons, a good number of kids were in attendance and you could tell they had a blast. I loved seeing the boys all dressed up in their mini suits and girls in beautiful gowns and dresses. John, Anna and I got to sit together which was great. Talk about a great way to end the evening. I asked Anna if she wanted to do anything after the symphony and she said she was tired so we pretty much called it a night.

I met up with my friend, Alyssa from the Twin Cities on Sunday morning. She was driving back from Kansas City after attending a wedding and she decided to look me up. We had a good time catching up with one another. It’s been more than a year since we got in touch with one another. Dan celebrated Mass that morning and it so many ways, he came full circle because Drake was pretty much where he started discerning his call to priesthood. Now that he’s ordained, he came back to where it all began to celebrate Mass. People were happy to see him and I know he was happy to see a good number of people too.

There was nothing else too eventful the rest of Sunday. Work at the facility was pretty quiet which was nice. I don’t have too much going on this week/weekend. The facility has its holiday party tomorrow evening and I’ll go if my colleague at the facility is not planning on going. Our young adults will have dinner at one couple’s home and on Friday, Joel and I will be going to a classical concert at Drake. The artist is a pianist who is supposed to be really good. We shall see.

A fantabulous weekend.

Well, we got our first snow on Friday. There was no accumulation, but rest assured it was snow that was falling down. It’s unseasonably cold for this time of the year so who knows what this coming winter will be like. I think it’s supposed to get to more normal weather by the end of the week. There was a staff meeting on Thursday which did not go as late as I thought so that was a nice surprise. We now have a psychiatrist who comes to the meetings and it’s been very helpful to hear his take on some of the mental illnesses the residents are dealing with.

We had new documentation to work with on Friday so it made for a longer night at the facility. I thought I had needed to work until midnight but that was not to be the case. Anna and I had plans to listen to this performer at one of the local bars, but by the time I got off work, I was pretty darn tired. She graciously said it was OK and that we would just not do anything that night.

On Saturday, I accompanied her grocery shopping which was pretty fun actually. It was more fun because I got to drive her sports car with a stick shift. I’m so proud that I can still shift gears and drive a stick shift without a problem. I told Anna that she’s probably seen the last time she drove a car and she has no problems with that. I just love driving her car. Before we went for lunch, I met up with some of her friends from a scrapbooking group. They are all very nice people. At the same time, I can’t for the life of me understand how people can scrapbook for hours on end. We watched the movie “Secret Life of Bees” which was a very good movie. The movie is based on the bestseller by Sue Monk Kid and I’ve been told it’s an amazing read. I may just have to grab a copy to read myself. Saturday evening was the annual St. Kate’s fundraiser/auction for the students to go to El Salvador. Both Anna and I donated stuff so it was only right that we were there. She had donated a package of Mary Kay products and I donated my Malaysian dinner. A number of the “power players” were not there which meant that the fundraiser was not going to raise that much money. I ended up donating two Malaysian meals for $500 each which was not a bad deal. I know both couples that won the bid so it’ll be a good evening for sure. After the auction we were both pretty much pooped so we just watched a movie at her place. It was a captivating drama entitled, “Fracture” starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosseling.

On Sunday, we both got to sleep in since we went to Mass the evening before. I made it to church in time to lead the RCIA group. It’s hard to believe that there’s just a couple of weeks left before they move on to the next stage in the process. I must say that it’s been a good group overall. I got to leave the facility earlier because I was headed up to Ames for a concert by the Jerusalem Symphony. Talk about a powerful concert. The first two pieces they played were by Jewish composers and after the intermission, they played Aaron Copeland’s Symphony #3 which has the infamous piece, “Fanfare for the Common Man”. Talk about getting the chills listening to that piece live! It was such a wonderful evening and we all gave them a standing ovation. They more than deserved it in my books.

That’s how the week and weekend went. This coming weekend, Anna, John and I will be listening to the DM Symphony play tunes from Bugs Bunny while on the screen they will be showing a number of Bugs Bunny cartoon. I’m sure it’ll be a fun evening for all in attendance.

This day in history.

I just got done listening to President elect Barrack Obama's speech and I could not help but feel inspired by what he said. Having lived in the USA for a good eleven years, I would have to say that this is the first time I've felt excited about the future of America and what it holds. In four years, I'll be applying to become a citizen and words cannot describe how excited I am for the future of this country. Change is coming not just for US citizens, but for people the world over.

From an outsider's standpoint, I've felt that America has been in a rut for quite some time and after his victory today, I truly feel deep down that things will be different and I'm proud that I'll be sticking around to be part of it. Whether it's work related or in my daily life, I just feel that things are going to look up.

My hope and prayer for Obama in the coming years is to never lose sight of where he came from and for the promises he made.

It's going to be one heck of a ride!

Talk about a fun and relaxing weekend.

Before I forget, I should remind everyone that we turned our clocks back an hour so that means Malaysia is a good fourteen hours ahead and I think Australia would be seventeen. That’s more of an FYI for all of you.

So, on Thursday, the young adults group went out for dinner at Skips Restaurant which is an amazing local, mom and pop restaurant that’s been around for ages. The menu is not overwhelming and everything they do there is wonderful. I was amazed by the number of people from the group who have never been there before. Everyone in the group thoroughly enjoyed their meal. I also let them know that Ann and I are dating and they all commented that we make such a cute couple. Not sure what I should make of that comment! I’m guessing it’s a good thing. Those who have known us for some time said that it does not come as a surprise.

I really did not do a whole lot on Friday especially because Anna was out of town. She was an accompanist for some students who were involved in a competition at a college two hours north of DM. I did get my laundry done which was good.

On Saturday, John and I had breakfast. It’s been some time since I’ve seen John so that was good to catch up with him. We had breakfast at the Gateway Market West which opened not too long ago. I’ve been to the original Gateway Market, but not the one out west. It’s pretty much the same stuff and they continue to have amazing breakfasts. When we were done, we walked around Costco and I got myself some contact lens solutions and Lactaid for my lactose intolerance. Anna came back at around 11:30AM and she had lunch before I accompanied her shopping for some 70s clothing. That night, her band had a gig at a bar and since they play a lot of 70s music, they were to dress up since it was Halloween. We ended up at this funky shop in Valley Junction and all their clothes were 70s clothing. It’s kind of like a thrift shop. Anna ended up renting the clothing and she definitely looked pretty funny in her outfit. I motored over to Ann’s place to help with some yard work. The weather was immaculate so it made working outside so much easier. After dinner we just sat and chatted and it was wonderful as always. This was the first time Ann and I met up after Anna and I started dating so needless to say, she had a lot of questions for me. I had to leave at 10:30PM because I told Anna I would see her band play later that night. A couple of friends were already at the bar and I sat with them. They kept harassing me that it was cool to be dating someone who belonged in a band, and a rather popular local band. I got a kick out of a couple of news people who were in attendance they were definitely roadies with the band! Anna plays the trombone and keyboard and I had a great time listening to them. They were done by 1AM and she was pooped.

On Sunday I did not work at the facility which gave me a whole afternoon and evening off. Anna’s sister, Gretchen whom I know from my Drake years was coming into DM so we met up with her for lunch. Gretchen is such a cool cat. She was in town to attend a training since she would be volunteering as a lawyer at the voting sites for tomorrow’s election. After lunch, Anna and I watched the movie, “Fireproof” and it had gotten rave reviews from those who saw it. I was excited to see it. Now, the movie itself was good, BUT I could have done without the whole push towards Jesus Christ being the only salvation etc. I had no idea that the movie had a very significant Christian theme to it. Oh well. By no means was it a bad movie, I just wished they had toned down the reference to Christianity a little. The connection to Christianity could be why a lot of people related to it. Trust me, there were quite a lot of sniffling going on during the movie.

I called it a night extremely early and that surprised Anna tremendously. I guess it had to do with the fact that the night before I had trouble sleeping and probably had at the most four hours of sleep. That’s not a good thing.

That’s the news from me. This Saturday, St. Kate’s is having its annual fundraiser/auction to send the students to El Salvador. Anna and I will be going since we had a lot of fun last year. I need to be there because I had donated a Malaysian dinner and some people would like to bid, but would also like to know what type of meal they would be getting.

Definitely a classical concert weekend.

It was definitely a classical weekend to say the least. On Friday night, I attended a classical concert by the chamber ensemble of the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields Orchestra. This is only one of the best orchestras in the world and anyone who knows anything about classical music would have heard of this group. Needless to say the music was flawless and the playing was technically brilliant. The Brahms and Mendelssohn pieces were exquisite. The Shostakovich piece was a little too dark for my taste but still amazing nonetheless. By far, this was definitely one of the best classical concerts I’ve ever attended. We gave them a standing ovation. It would have been nice if the auditorium was packed, but those of us in attendance knew we experienced a magical evening.

Anna and I went to the last downtown Farmer’s Market for the season. As expected there were not too many produce vendors around since it’s pretty much the fall season and soon it’ll be winter. I did have Anna try the famous breakfast burrito which I utterly adore and she liked it. We then went to the Science Center of Iowa where they had trick or treat for little kids. There were so many kids dressed up in their cute little costumes. How adorable! Anna had never been into the Science Center so it was a fun experience for her. We then watched the movie, “Robots” on the IMAX screen and that was pretty darn cool to say the least. Anna had to go and set up for a concert later that evening. The group that she belongs to (www.facultylounge.net) was playing at a fundraiser sponsored by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

That evening, I went to the DM Symphony performance and it was outstanding. Definitely a great selection of music. One of the pieces was a world premier by a music professor at a local college. It had a very Midwest feel to it and resonated with many people in attendance. If you’re familiar with American composers and their music, you would be somewhat familiar with the piece that was played. We living in the Midwest definitely appreciated it.

Sunday was not too eventful. The young adults served coffee and donuts then I had RCIA. Work at the facility was pretty low key which was nice. However, I heard the cops were called at the other facility. I’m sure I’ll find out more about it when I’m there on Wednesday.

That really was the week/weekend in a nutshell.

Anna.

Well, I guess I should let you know that I’m no longer in the “market”. I’m now dating Anna. A little background about Anna. We went to Drake together and I knew her older sister who was active at St. Catherine. Anna actually transferred to Drake. We are the same age and during the last two years at Drake, we hung out with the same people especially those who went to St. Catherine. She’s a vocal music teacher at an area high school and has been doing that for a number of years although, she may be thinking of changing her profession. We’ll just have to wait and see where that goes. Anna’s from Bismark, North Dakota which is pretty north. She has a fraternal twin sister who is married and living in Minneapolis. Gretchen, her older sister whom I know is a lawyer and working in downtown Chicago. That’s Anna for you. So, how did we end up dating? Well, like I said we’ve known each other for quite some time and she’s been part of the young adults group and just spending time in a group or together has been a lot of fun. Moreover, we’re comfortable with one another. It helps that I find her tremendously attractive too! We have a lot of similar interests (musicals, movies, etc.) so that made the decision much easier. I kind of took the plunge the middle of last week by sending her an e mail – I like to write and tend to do a better job expressing myself in words. In the e mail I basically asked her if she would be open to the possibility of us pursuing this friendship further and added more flowery words in the e mail. Her answer cracked me up. It was a simple sentence which went, “I thought you’d never ask!” With a smiley face to end it. The weekend was spent talking and getting to know one another better. We watched a movie and had a couple of meals together. So, am I happy? You bet I am. Only time will tell where this will lead, but for right now, we’re both enjoying each other’s company as much as we’re able to spend time together. Be happy for me.

Saturday evening, I had dinner at Panom and David’s house. She prepared “pho” and some spring and egg rolls for dinner. It was an amazing meal and all of us had such a fun time with one another. Like I told Panom, I had a blast just spending time with her kids. Both Aiden and Keegen are such cuties. It did not take as long for Keegen to warm up to me compared to the last time I saw him. Aiden and I had a blast. He’s definitely lost his baby looks and is looking like a young kid. I hope I get to meet up with them more often since I really do think the world of her kids.

That was the weekend in a nutshell.

Malaysian dinner and MET Opera.

It was a pretty fun week I must say. Thursday I cooked the Malaysian dinner for the young adults. I actually took half a day off from work. I started prepping and cooking at 1:30PM and things were pretty much ready by 6PM. Once both curries were in the pot, I just left it on low and let it cook. I even had time to go to Mass that evening. The beef and chicken were bought from Costco and it was very good and flavorful. As soon as my friends through the door, the first comment they made was that it smelled good. I have to say that everything really turned out well and we had more than enough to eat. Everyone was stuffed beyond belief. No one brought appetizers. They all brought dessert. I actually had three waves of people come over the course of the evening due to people’s schedule. That worked out well and everyone had a good time eating and conversing. My dvd player had difficulty showing the photos that were on the DVD-R and the CD-R so I had the photos on my laptop. Brian was the one person who wanted to see the photos and asked me a number of questions about different things. He and his brother, Bill were the last to leave but they are such fun guys. They brought some food back for their mom whose never had Malaysian cuisine before. Bill cracked me up because while he was in Boston, he went to a Malaysian restaurant and as soon as he stepped into my apartment, he made the comment that it definitely brings back memories and the smell of the Malaysian restaurant. It was indeed a fun evening.

On Saturday, Carola and I went to the cinema to watch a live HD showing of the NY Metropolitan Opera (MET) “Salome”. Salome is based on the biblical passage where John the Baptist was beheaded and his head served on a platter. I’ve been wanting to go to an opera performance for quite some time and when this opportunity presented itself, I was not going to pass it up. I joked with Carola that this is the only time people can watch the MET live and chew on popcorn at the same time! There were some minor hitches during the live broadcast, but that’s to be expected with a HD screening live via the satellite. Overall, I would definitely go to other performances at the cinema in a heartbeat. I’ll definitely try my best to make it to the live opera next year in Indianola which is 30 minutes south of DM. What’s really neat about the live broadcast is the fact that you really get to see the performers up close and personal. If one were to go to the MET to watch the performance, the tickets would probably cost close to $350. Carola was happy I thoroughly enjoyed it. We then went to an Italian restaurant close to the cinema for a late lunch. The weather was downright spectacular albeit a little windy, but even the wind did not last long.

Later that evening, I had left a message on a friend’s phone asking her if she wanted to join me at the World Food Festival, but I never heard back from her. I was keen on going and probably should have just gone by myself, but after we got done with lunch, I started watching the fourth season of Boston Legal on DVD and I was too engrossed in it that I really did not mind spending time in my apartment. I had leftover fried rice for dinner and it was more than enough. I have two more discs left to watch and I’ll be done with the fourth season.

That’s kind of how the weekend went for me.

Not too shabby of a week/weekend.

It was a pretty busy week and weekend for me but all in a very good way. I’’ll be attending a number of webinars – web seminars in the office. The beauty of these seminars is that I’m able to attend it yet stay where I am instead of going to a certain location. More and more organizations are doing this and it’s a good way to utilize the technology that’s already there. A couple of upcoming webinars deal with some pretty good issues like depression in older adults so not only I am able to benefit through Aging Resources, it’s also going to help me at the second job. I can’t ask for more.

On Thursday, I went to the play Frost/Nixon based on the Nixon interview a couple of years after Watergate by this British interviewer. It was a very good play and for someone who was not at all familiar with this interview, I learned a lot. I know of Watergate, but nothing more beyond it. Anna and I went to the play together. Previous years, I attended these plays/musicals alone, but Anna was interested too so we ended up getting our tickets together for this year. Well, the first play of the season was very good so I’m definitely looking forward to the others.

I watched one of my dvds on Saturday morning before going shopping at Costco with John later that morning. John left me a voicemail to check up on me and I told him that I’ll be headed to Costco and invited him to join me if he did not have anything going on that morning. We had a fun time. I managed to get some stuff – food wise and also misc. stuff. This Thursday, the young adults will be coming to my apartment and I’ll be cooking a Malaysian meal for all of them in addition to showing them the photos of my trip and sharing my vacation stories. So, I was in need of a couple of stuff from Costco like meat for example! I’m glad I got that taken care off. I’ll actually take half a day off on Thursday to prep and cook the meal so I’m not stressed about trying to get it all done in a very short period of time. Later that evening, Anna and I went to her high school play. She’s the music teacher there and a number of her students were in the play. The title of the play was Lost in Yonkers. It was a good play and I was surprised how much I liked it. I told Anna that I’m glad she invited me because I tend to be a little anti-social when there’s nothing going on. So, I needed a reason to leave my apartment and that was a very good reason.

Sunday was pretty laid back. RCIA program has started so we met after Mass. Then it was off to work at the facility. It was a very quiet day and the residents were all well behaved which made for a good working day and environment.

That’s all the news from me for the week.

Talk about a lazy weekend.

Boy, talk about a lazy weekend for me. On Friday I went to Brian’s beer and cookies party right after work. It was tons of fun. I saw a couple of people from the young adults group who I’ve not seen since I got back and they all wanted to know how the trip went. Thank goodness they will be attending the next dinner at my place where I’ll be preparing a Malaysian meal for them. I’ve kind of made it a pot luck and told them to either bring an appetizer or dessert since I’ll be preparing rice (white and fried) and two different curry dishes. As of right now I think I have roughly six people. In the background, I’ll be showing photos from the trip since a number of them wanted to see photos from the trip. I would have stayed longer at Brian’s if not for the fact that Liverpool was playing Everton the next morning at 6:30AM – any die hard Liverpool fan would not miss a derby game. By the time I went to bed it was 1:30PM which pretty much gave me five hours of sleep.

Thank goodness Liverpool won pretty convincingly. They are looking very good this year and it might just be the year when they finally win the premiership after over twenty years. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed. After the game, I went to the Farmers Market. Needless to say it’s coming to an end so there’s not a whole lot of vendors especially those selling produce. For me, it was just nice to walk around and see the people. I also got to eat my breakfast burrito which was yummy. Oh, since I’ve gotten back, I’ve not had any seafood or Chinese food because I definitely had my fill during my three weeks vacation. Right now I say bring on the American, Italian, French etc cuisines! A movie rental shop had an offer of four dvds for $20 so I perused through it and ended up buying eight dvds. That’s how I ended up with an extremely lazy weekend. I watched four of them back to back and by the time I was done, it was close to 10PM.

Sunday was not really eventful at all. I had my first meeting with my RCIA group at two different times because there was a conflict with one of them. It’s a younger group because one is a freshman at Drake and the other a sophomore. I just got word last night that another person will be joining the group and she’s a little older. We’ll see how it goes.

That’s pretty much it from me for this time.

Ah, it's good to be back.

I now have time to write to all of you. As expected, work more than piled up while I was gone. However, I was expecting a lot worse. I came into the office the Sunday after I got back to get through my e mails and that definitely helped my Monday morning. Joel celebrated his 60th birthday party that evening so we had a blast. Just two other couples from St. Kate’s were invited so it was a small intimate gathering of friends. That weekend really was not too bad because I did my best to stay awake and force my body to get used to the time change. I did nap a couple of afternoons. Thank goodness I was not scheduled to work on Monday and Tuesday because both days after I got back from work, I slept for a couple of hours. I would say it was the remnants of my jet lag. By Wednesday, my body was fine.

Wednesday was the first day I made it back to the residential facility and they were happy to see me. A couple of them asked me about the trip and how things were. There were a couple of incidents that happened while I was away and the other staff updated me on it. Overall, it was very good to get back into the swing of things. On Thursday, I went to a jazz concert by Regina Carter and she’s this amazing African American Jazz violinist. She’s part of a quartet and this is the first time I’ve attended a jazz concert where there was an accordion. The guy who played the accordion was amazingly talented and it was such a great concert. The only way to describe the music would be to term it jazz-fusion-funk. People were tapping their feet and having the time of their lives.

Saturday I worked at the other facility and this group of residents are the ones who have taken a liking to me and I heard through the grapevine that the past week, they’ve been “harassing” different staff asking them when I’ll be back from my vacation. They were told that I would be working on Saturday and one resident got up at 6:30AM because she knew I was going to be making pancakes for breakfast and she was more than excited to see me again. In so very many ways, it felt really good to be back working at this facility. They were more than happy with lunch and a number of them came up to me and said that it’s good to have me back working again. I guess they really did miss me. After work, I went to Ann’s house and we just chatted for hours. She wanted to know everything about the trip and then some. On Friday she told me that Harley would be grilling steaks since they figured I probably did not have steak while I was away. She knows me so well. She thoroughly enjoyed the conversation and the souvenirs I got for her. More importantly, she said that it’s good to know that I made it back into the country without any problem and it must have been a good feeling to know that international travel will not pose a problem to me again.

I met up with a two students who are going to be in the RCIA program this year and got to know them better and gave them the opportunity to ask questions about the program. It should be a good group although it’s definitely the smallest group I’ve had since I started. This would be the third year I’m the RCIA coordinator. It was a very quiet Sunday at the facility as a couple of them were out with family. That made for a nice and relaxing work environment.

So, it looks like things are pretty much back to normal with me. Work will be keeping me busy for some time especially with entering the forms, but it’s a great feeling to know that the reports were sent to the state yesterday without a glitch. Now, I have two weeks of just plain entering the forms and we’ll see how much will be able to be accomplished.

That’s the news from me.

Malaysia and Australia.

August 22nd, 23rd and 24th.

The first day of my three weeks long vacation to Malaysia and Australia began today at 3:30AM which was the time I got up to get ready to be picked up to make it to the airport by 4:40AM. Joel as always was more than gracious to drive me to the airport at that ungodly hours since he’s up at 4AM each morning. I can thankfully report that I did not encounter any problem whatsoever with the check in process. The reason why I could not check in online was because it was an international flight and they needed to enter some information from my passport. Duh?! The flights in and of itself were pretty uneventful and let’s just say it was an extremely long traveling day. I should say that I did sit next to this charming and cute girl who was headed to Korea to visit her sister and her kids. Her husband is in the army and based in Korea for three years and this was the first time she made an international trip and was a little apprehensive about it although she was happy to be visiting her sister, brother in law a niece and nephew. It helped to have someone who has made a number of overseas trips sit next to her. Actually, I had to move my seat twice (no, I did not finagle my way to sit next to her!) and it just so happened that I ended up next to her. She graduated with a Psychology major and just got done sitting her for LSAT which she will be taking again since she was not too happy with her scores. The trip to Korea provided her with some nice respite before she hits the books again. The flight to Korea from Atlanta was thirteen and a half hours long and the flight from Korea to Malaysia was six hours long. When I arrived in KL, I was more than happy to be done with my travels because for some reason or another, this time my flight just felt extremely long. I basically lost two days since I left at 4:30AM on Friday and arrived in KL at 11:45PM. At the arrival gate, I was greeted by dad, mom and my closest cousin names Chee Heng. He’s been an awesome cousin especially for my dad who calls on him for a lot of computer questions. Once we arrived home, I took a nice cold shower and after packing dad and mom off to bed, Chee Heng and I went out. We had a simple meal at roughly 2:15AM then he drove me around town to see some of the different changes that took place. My oh my, let’s just say there were quite a number of new corporate building that were built and they weren’t your small sized building. Malaysia is very much alive and prospering in my view. We drove around different parts of town and even made it to the entertainment district packed with tons of teenagers and young adults. Let’s just say I’m extremely happy I’m not a teenager growing up in Malaysia now. My cousin bought a new condo and he showed it to me. It’s located right across the street from where they are currently living. It’s a nice condo that would be perfect for him and his wife. We got back at roughly 4AM and chatted for some time. He left my house at around 5:30AM and that’s when I got situated with the new home. My comment to mom earlier when I first arrived at the house was that it felt like home yet it’s not home especially since this was not the home I grew up in, if you know what I mean. I took a shower not too long later to freshen myself up and before I knew it, mom and dad got up to get ready for Mass. It’s nice to know some things just do not change and the church that we have always gone to was exactly that. It was really nice to see the people who have always been there at Mass. I said my hellos and there was genuine interest from them wanting to know how I’ve been. The priest was a visiting priest who gave a wonderful homily. I had a little flashback when I saw the alter servers especially the oldest kid because many moons ago, I trained him to be a server. Now it’s his turn to be a mentor to the other kids and he did a fine job. After Mass, as usual a group of people headed for breakfast at the regular joint and this was the first time I joined up with the group – my mom calls them the crazy group! And boy oh boy they were a little crazy. The kind of conversations that took place were out of this world and I could not help but laugh out loud numerous times. Dad went camera shopping with his friend while mom dropped me off at a restaurant where I was meeting up elementary school friends for lunch. The luncheon took place at this restaurant that served Arabic cuisine and it was pretty darn good. A friend and her husband from Singapore who were not able to make it arrived just as I was about to make it into the restaurant. How cool was that?! It was so good to see them and I was more than happy to catch up with them. Other friends started arriving and it was so cool to see all my friends again. Words really can’t describe the feeling that went through my mind, but it was all so positive. My friend’s kid were asked to call me “Uncle” and they obliged me albeit a little shyly. They were all so darn cute and adorable. Out of the eight of us in attendance, only three of us were single. My, how times have changed. All in all, everyone had a fantastic time catching up with one another and just reminiscing old times. I had one of my friends give me a ride home since she still lived in the house where she grew up in which was not more than a mile from my house. It was interesting to hear her take on Malaysian politics especially since she works for the government. Like she said, working for the government does not necessarily mean you support anything and everything by the government. We had planned on eating durian – the king of fruits for dinner at home because dad wanted to watch the closing ceremony of the Olympics. It has been a good number of years since I ate durian and as soon as dad brought it in, the smell emanating from it brought back childhood memories. Durian stories are legendary and I’m not going to bore you with them. Suffice to say it has earned its reputation for being called the king of fruit! All in all, between dad, mom and I, we devoured the fruits and you could tell from our faces that we were more than happy campers! Ah, the simple pleasures of life. I was literally running on empty and mom suggested I take another shower to freshen myself up and stay awake as long as possible before calling it a night. I ended up going to bed at roughly 9PM which was definitely early, but if the only amount of sleep you’ve had since Thursday night was two hours, you probably would have crashed sooner.

August 25th

It’s pretty amazing what close to ten hours of sleep can do to you! That’s the amount of sleep I got last night and boy did it help me. I kind of surprised my parents because they thought I would have needed more sleep to catch up on my lack of sleep. To their amazement, I got up before they did and was ready and rearing to go. The most important thing that needed to be done today was getting my Malaysian ID renewed. Let’s see, the ID I currently have is at least fifteen years old and renewing this ID was high on the priority list. Thank goodness the license renewal center was located real close to the house. Since everything is now computerized, it took not more than ten minutes to get it all taken care of. Yes, I said it right, it took not more than ten minutes to get it taken care of. Needless to say I was more than flabbergasted. Malaysia has come a long way in its efficiency. Once we got back to the house, dad and I started figuring and writing out who I will be meeting up with and when. Yes, we‘re both big organizers and let’s say it really helped. We started calling different people and booked then for either dinner or lunch. Thank goodness my friends were more than willing to meet up with me after my parents went to bed so I need not worry about catching up with them during the day. Later that morning, we visited an aunt of mine whom I’m real close with and someone who I would say lives the “high life”. My uncle, her husband is a man of few words but when he does say things, more often than not, it’s hilarious. They were there and it was good to catch up with them. She was close to tears when she saw me because it has been a long time. She asked the how things were going etc. and that’s when things kind of got a little personal for me. As she asked about my job and how much I was making, she basically told me in no uncertain terms that I am worth a whole lot more in the job market and I should just quit my job and find another one. Her comments literally threw me for a loop and it really stayed with me for a long time. Now, there were things I wanted to say to her but I just did not and could not out of respect. There’s still quite a lot that I’m not really writing down right now. Suffice to say, her comments did not sit well with me. After visiting her, we went to visit an old family friend. Their daughter and I were born in the same month and year and we’ve been in touch with one another for all these years. Actually, Adele made it back to KL not too long ago for an extended vacation and I really wished out paths could have crossed. We went out for lunch at a place that served a multitude of hawker food which was downright amazing. This may sound like a pretty darn petty comment, but it’s more an observation on my part. The price of food has definitely gone up over the years. By no means are they exorbitant, but I definitely noticed it. Yes, I’m sure in your mind you’re thinking that one should expect that in six years, but for some reason or another, I was not mentally ready for it. All in all, we had a feast and I ate to my heart’s content. We went back to their house and just sat around the table to chat for a couple of hours. For me, it felt like the good old times. The only difference is that this time, Adele and her younger brother, Andrew were not around. Dad needed his nap and took it while mom and I went out shopping for a pair of shoe for me. There were a couple of pairs I saw but they did not have my size. It’s too bad and I guess my search continues. Dinner was with my God-parents who insisted on taking me out and that’s when I got to order my favorite Chinese dishes. My, oh my, was I a happy camper. I also got to catch up with my God-brother Ben who is now unemployed after resigning from his job not too long ago. It felt a little weird talking to him about the working world and all its trials and tribulations because he’s always been a young kid to me. Nope, he’s no longer a young kid. After dinner with my God-parents, dad, mom and I went to meet up with my three nieces at my cousin’s house. My aunt (whom we visited earlier in the day) had invited over and said it would be a great opportunity for me to see the kids and my cousin’s house. Well, what can I say about my cousin’s house? It was a million dollar home and it looked its part. I was downright awed by its grandeur and from their bedroom, you had a clear view of the Malaysian Twin Towers. Needless to say, he’s doing very well. I was very hurt because my nieces did not remember me and in many ways it was awkward for them to see me because in their mind I was this foreigner and in many ways I was. I guess I’ll just have to cling on to memories of them when they were kids. Yes, it was sad. My other cousin, Rose was also present at dinner. Now, Rose is a highly successful lawyer who is raking in money I can and will only ever dream of seeing in my lifetime. She was extremely interested in what I was doing and asked me a number of excellent questions pertaining to my job. At the end of the conversation she told me to continue doing what I was doing since she could tell that I was definitely enjoying it and it’s few and far between to see people my age having the kind of feelings related to their job especially in this day and age. I could not resist telling her about her mom’s comments to me and she was more than a little shocked to say the least. Her advice to me was to nod my head in agreement, and not even try to explain to her what I did and why I’m passionate about my job. She truly felt that I’ve found my niche and to continue with it even though I’m not making a ton of money. In so very many ways, her comments really helped me feel better because it validated what I’m doing in the USA. Here she was a highly successful and financially well off person who is telling me to continue staying true to my call of helping others. It made a lot of sense to me. Later that night, after we got home, I met up with two of my oldest friends and it felt like time just froze up as we reminisce the old times and caught up with each other’s doing. One of my friends is a guy of few words but in the few words he says, a lot is spoken. The other is downright insane and we’ve been through so much up and down with one another yet have continued to remain dear friends – it helps that she’s this cute little Asian girls of mixed ancestry who is downright gorgeous so her stories more often than not involve men (or boys as she would put it!). I wish the night did not end and I’m happy that we’ll be meeting up at least once again before I leave. It was an extremely fulfilling day where my emotions ran the whole gamut.

August 26th

Today was about visiting family and family friends. This morning, dad and I went out for breakfast and it was kind of nice for the both of us to spend time together since mom was still asleep. Dad updated me a little about the family especially his brothers and my cousins whom I will be visiting later in the morning. The three of us, dad, mom and I went to my cousin’s shop to meet up with my uncles and they would be my dad’s first, second and fifth brothers. Their wives were there too and it was really nice to see them once again. Only the fifth uncle speaks English while the rest of them do speak Cantonese and at least two other languages. Whenever they spoke Cantonese, I understood them. However, once they starting mixing up the languages, I was a little lost. The long and short of it all was the fact that they were all very happy to see me after all these years. My cousin’s son was taking care of the shop while my cousin was out at a business meeting. I approached my nephew and asked him if it was him and his brother I saw early Sunday morning outside the bars/clubs. He insisted it was not him but could have been his brother because he was at another neighbourhood playing computer games. I kind of fumbled my way speaking to him and told him that I’ll speak to him in English and thank goodness he understood me! He was an extremely respectful young man and it was very good to see him all grown up now helping his dad’s business. My second uncle and his wife are vegetarian so we ended up having a vegetarian lunch which was pretty darn good. Now, I’m not saying that I’ll be giving up my steak, but this vegetarian meal was more than tolerable. To see the brothers chatting with one another and just shooting the breeze was a cool experience. In this day and age and with everyone having different schedules, it’s extremely tough for them to catch up with one another and the only opportunity for them to do that would be at a relative’s wedding. Coincidently a cousin will be getting married the end of September and I’m sad I’ll be missing it. The weather has been pretty typical which means it’s been hot and humid during the morning and raining in the afternoon. When we left my cousin’s shop, it was raining cats and dogs which made the drive home a little long because in KL, the weather has a significant influence on traffic. We made it back home for dad to take his nap. Mom and I sat around and confirmed our plans or she informed me of things that we’ll be doing in Melbourne and Sydney. The more we talked about it, we decided that instead of spending a day in Singapore, we’ll be coming back to Malaysia and making a half a day trip to visit my fourth and sixth uncle at dad’s hometown. I thought it was only appropriate. For dinner that night, we met up with another dear family friend whose daughter I’ve known since we were babies. She’s now working in Singapore and will be getting married next year to this guy from Spain. Her parents are such fun people and some of the fondest childhood memories I’ve had were our families spending time with them traveling or discovering the new and latest food trend. We’ve been known to get a call late at night and asking us if we would like to join them for a snack and the location could be found a good hour or two away from where we lived. We never batted an eye and just went along with them. When I called them up the night before to ask if we could meet up with them, they asked me what I wanted to eat and I pretty much blurted out crabs. They knew exactly where they wanted to take me. Let’s just say the food was, “Shoot me now and I’m ready to die because I’ve had one of the best meals in my life” experience. It was that good. Was I stuffed? Not quite, but after dinner we went to a shop that they owned to cap dinner off with some traditional desserts. The restaurant is called Uncle Lim’s and it has since expanded to three different locations and is booming. I kind of got a chuckle because we took a photo near to a sign that showed the restaurant. It was indeed a fantastic day just meeting up with them and having some amazing meals. Life really can’t get any better than this. I was supposed to meet up with a friend from high school but ended up rescheduling it to tomorrow since I knew timing wise it was not going to work out. She was glad I rescheduled because she had a couple of friends from Singapore who wanted to meet up with her that evening. Things definitely worked out for the better.

August 27th

Dad and I went out for breakfast this morning and I accompanied him to look at some shirts at the mall which was having a sale. I knew I had to buy a pair of black formal shoes before leaving for Australia tomorrow. Lucky for me I did manage to find a pair of shoe for a good price. While walking towards the mall, we came across the rehearsal for the Independence Day parade that will take place on August 31st. I snapped a couple of photos for memory sake. Later in the morning I met up with a dear friend from college named Adam. We have been tight with one another especially during our college years in Malaysia. Adam had informed me a couple of months back that he had a stroke and that blew my mind. He was unable to speak for a full year and lost motion in his right hand. It’s been a rough journey for him but he’s made it back and is definitely on the road to recovery. Words do not come as easily as they once did which he said was an OK thing because he does not waste his words. He still looks the same which is great but I can tell that he’s had difficulty speaking. I could not imagine him not speaking for a whole year. Like he said, both he and his daughter learned to speak at the same time. In so very many ways, I’m glad I got to spend as much time with Adam as I could. He’s a dear friend to me our friendship has always meant the world to me. After meeting up with Adam, I took the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) back home and on my way, snapped a number of shots of KL in all its grandeur and glory. Dinner was one of most favorite food ever – Satay! A family friend took me out for dinner and my, oh my was it good. I can’t believe how commercialized it’s gotten over the years, but it was darn good and I just ate it all up. Later that night I met up with Carol, a friend from my high school years. We’ve known each other for the longest time and I was so happy to meet up with her and her girlfriend. They both looked so cute and adorable together. Another friend was there and the three of us just had a blast chatting with one another. I think I ended up providing the most entertainment to all three of them which tends to happen quite a lot. Before dropping me home, I looked at their condo and it was really nice. Carol did a great job decorating it and there were a number of arty stuff that were intriguing to say the least. It was a good time shared by all.

August 28th.

A family friend took me out for breakfast then it was off to meet some of dad’s hiking friends. They were a friendly bunch of people and it was the first time I met them. Dad has been on this hiking kick for quite some time and it’s definitely given him an outlet that he enjoys and I’m happy for him. I’ve always said that once you’re retired, you need to find your niche. In dad’s case, it’s something he likes doing, but he also knows that he won’t be able to do it for that many more years. Another thing I learned about retirement is the fact that you need to be flexible with your plans because plans will change as you age so you need to go with the flow. After breakfast, mom and I visited another family friend then headed out for lunch and it was a meal of a certain type of noodles and beef I’ve not had in a long time. The lunch was very good. We then came back, showered, and got ready for the trip to Australia. The airport limo arrived to pick us up to the airport. We ended up taking the limo because it was the best bang for the buck not to mention it was hassle free. The drive was uneventful and we made it to the airport with a lot of time to spare. We are dinner at the airport and the food was not too bad at all and the price more than decent. The flights were all fine and there was not a problem.

August 29th.

We arrived in Sydney without any problem and while on the transit bus, met a couple from Iowa who live in Iowa county. She told me she graduated from Drake and I shared with her that I too graduated from Drake! What a small world we live in! Dad and I had a little disagreement/miscommunication while at the airport café in Sydney. I’ve noticed that dad tends to have a scowl on his face like he’s angry with the world that something is not going right all the time. I on the other hand tend to be a very happy go lucky guy and take things really easy. Evidently in one of the comments I made, he was not happy with it because all I wanted him to do was to lighten up and enjoy things and not get too worked up about the slightest thing. It proves that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Sis and Ram met us at the gate and that was such a nice surprise. I’ve not seen sis sin six years and Ram in more than eleven years. Both of them looked good. Rarm’s hair is all white now which is kind of funny considering he’s only fifteen years older than me! My first trip to Melbourne was to the factory outlet – not by choice. Dad wanted to have a look around. As much as I have a disdain towards shopping, dad wanted to shop and that’s what we did. After showering back in the apartment, sis, Ram and I went around Melbourne city. We did a lot of walking, and I had a good time discovering the city. Melbourne city definitely impressed me. I like the layout of the city and it’s what I would call a very accessible city. There’s nothing like jumping right into things and getting the feel for the heart and soul of the city. I walked to a couple of places that I’ll be visiting in a number of days. I’m more than pumped for some of these places. After we got back, it was dinner at Crown Promenade – a casino. The dinner was buffet and we had the amount of food no sane human person should eat! The food was amazing and the fresh oysters divine, but all the same, it was way too much food. All of us had a wonderful evening just enjoying the meal, each other’s company and catching up with one another. After dinner we walked around the promenade and witness a “fire” show that’s put on by the casino. It’s the casino’s take on Bellagio’s water fountain. The light show was impressive. Oh while walking through the casino, I got carded! Mind you, in Australia, you need to be 18 years old to enter a casino. I could not believe the guy thought I was younger than 18!

August 30th.

Today was spent traveling a lot. We went on a ferry ride and it was a very nice and relaxing ride. Oh, I should comment about breakfast. We all know Americans eat a lot of food. I cannot believe how much food was served at breakfast – it was a lot of food even for me. I was more than floored by the sheer amount of food. I tried to capture the sheer portion of it on my camera. I can see why it was a little expensive because after having that breakfast, there’s no way you’ll be able to eat lunch. Back to the ferry ride, we had a nice time taking in the late winter/early spring weather. I love the water. So, get me on or close to water/ocean and I’m like a kid in a candy store. After the ferry reached across, we headed to the Great Ocean Road. It was an amazing ride and there’s nothing like looking at the ocean by the side of the road throughout the entire drive. Words can’t really describe the drive – you really have to see and experience the drive to fully take it all in. We stopped a couple of times to take a couple of photos. I even took a shot with two surfer dudes. I just could not resist it. The drive on the Great Ocean Road lasted a couple of hours, but it was more than well worth it. We then headed to the “Twelve Apostles” and that was an inspiring sight to behold. I took a number of great photos. Throughout the time we were at the “Twelve Apostles”, it was raining although it was not a heavy rain. The rain did let up a little bit when we got out of the car to walk around the location. Sis got into a verbal disagreement with a guy and there was some name calling. Like father, like daughter. In many ways, they are very much alike. We headed back to Melbourne to have dinner with a family friend from church who migrated to Australia a good fifteen years ago. His daughter is my age and we were in the same religious education class. Dinner was at this Malaysian restaurant and the food was scrumptious. It was good to see Stephen after all these years. We were the last to leave the restaurant and even had complimentary dessert from the owner.

August 31st.

We went to Mass at the basilica and it was a nice Mass. It could have been more traditional like other basilicas but it wasn’t, and I was more than happy with it. We then had Dim Sum for brunch which is one of my all time favorite cuisines. My cousins treated us and it was definitely one of the best Dim Sums I’ve had in my life. These cousins are on my mom’s side and one of them is doing extremely well. Whenever mom makes it to Melbourne, he makes it a point to visit or treat mom. His parents live in KL and they are such nice people.I was dropped off at the National Gallery of Victoria for an afternoon of art. I had a grand time looking at the different art exhibits. The collection was not huge, but they had a good selection. I took a ride on the visitor shuttle which gave me a tour of a couple of other sites that would be of interest to me. I’ll be spending all day in the city tomorrow and pretty much know what I’ll see and do. The rest of the family did not do anything too interesting. You see, mom and dad have been to Melbourne a number of times and they really did not need to do as much as me. Considering this was my first time, I wanted to see and do as much as I could. I took the train back to the apartment without any problem. My family was concerned that I would be lost. I did play a prank on sis which was hilarious. Dad and Ram were in on it too. I got sis worried but it was all in jest. I basically told her that I took the wrong train and did not know where I was. She was almost in a panic and started acting all older sisterly on me which just cracked me up beyond belief. You should have seen the look on the face when I was in the car to pick sis and mom up from the movies! Dinner was at dad’s friend’s house. They’ve known each other for many years and it was good to reminisce with them. I met up with his sons who were all grown up. I probably have not seen them in twenty years. I do believe everyone had a great time catching up with one another and seeing what each other is doing. Dad had a very good time with his friend. It was definitely a fun evening had by all. When we got back, everyone except me spent time on the Wii fit which provided more than enough entertainment for me. I spend time journaling but also was able to watch everyon’s antics on the Wii.

September 1st.

It was a packed day of plain just doing visitor stuff. I took the free shuttle and went to a ton of places and also took a ton of photos. The highlight would have to be the Shrine of Remembrance. It was captivating to say the least and awe inspiring. I spent the most time there. The free shuttle was extremely efficient and to have it be so accessible was awesome. For dinner, I met up with a dear friend whom I’ve not seen in at least eleven years. I knew her from some church camp then later we hung out with the same group of people and went to the same college back in KL. We reconnected through Facebook. When I told her I was going to be in Melbourne, she was gracious enough to meet up with me. It felt like yesterday when we saw each other and as if time had stood still. We had Japanese food for dinner and the meal was delectable. We walked and talked for a number of hours and it was wonderful to meet up with Jessie. I was supposed to meet up with her at her birthday celebration in a club on Friday, but that did not happen which ended up working for the best because she shared that there were a number of things that did not go right during the course of the evening. My family ended up staying in and Ram cooked dinner for them. All in all we each had a good time doing our own thing.

September 2nd.

All of us got up a little later than usual which was out of the ordinary. We did not have anything planned for the morning so it was a very leisurely morning. We met up with my fourth grand aunt for Dim Sum at the same restaurant a couple of days back. It truly has been eons since I saw my grand aunt and I was more than happy to see her once again. Two of her daughters accompanied her and I remember one of them, but not the other. After Dim Sum, we went back to my grand aunt’s house. I had the time of my life listening to her tell a bunch of stories in Cantonese. I understood almost all of what she said which totally cracked me up. There were tons of stories that were shared with all of us. I could tell she was having a jolly good time reminiscing the past. It’s things like this that I miss being away from home. Granted she was tickled silly that someone my age would be interested in her stories, but I do work with the older population and there’s a lot of wisdom there. She treated all of us and two of her kids to a sumptious ten course dinner at this Chinese restaurant. Every course had it’s own symbolism and meant something in Cantonese. We all had more than our fair share of food to eat. Today was definitely one of the most memorable days of my trip in Australia thus far. There’s something to be said about paying one’s respect to one’s elders. I’m not sure if and when I’ll see her again so even though I’ve spent a good eleven years in the US, I still have not forgotten my roots.

September 3rd.

Today was the day to say goodbye to Melbourne. It was kind of sad yet at the same time I knew the Sydney adventure was about to begin. The flight was uneventful and we all made it to Sydney without any problem. It’s really a short flight – kind of like flying from DM to Chicago. We did not find a problem locating the hotel and it was a boutique hotel – just the way I like my hotels. There was concern with the family that it would be a dinky hotels. On the contrary, it more than met our needs and for the price of $30 a night, no one was complaining. I love the fact that I got to sleep on a bunk bed. The last time I did that was at Drake. After settling in, I broke away from my family for the rest of the evening. I went to the Art Gallery of NSW. The collections were downright amazing and I must say that I was impressed especially with the Asian collection. There was a special “Lost Buddha” exhibit and that was more than inspiring. Taking public transportation was definitely the way to go and Sydney is a very accessible city. For dinner, I went to a very nice tapas restaurant called Kika recommended by the staff at the hotel. Later that night, Sis, Ram and I went walking around the King Cross area where the hotel was located. King Cross has a reputation for being a red light and extremely seedy neighborhood. They’ve cleaned it up a lot and we felt safe walking around by ourselves.

September 4th.

Today was dad’s birthday. Ram and I got up earlier so we got breakfast from a French bakery that I passed by yesterday. There’s nothing like fresh French pastry from a bakery. We got a bunch of pastries for breakfast to appease everyone and went to Bar Colluzi to get some coffee. It’s THE place to go for amazing coffee in Darlinghurst. After breakfast, we walked to the “Rocks” and took the ferry over to Darling Harbor. There’s some history abot the rocks and it’s not like you’re looking for rocks per se, but more a location where Australia kind of all began. The ferry ride was very nice and relaxing. Oh, prior to going to the Rocks, we spent a good amount of time taking in the Sydney Opera House. Now I know why it’s called one of the seven modern wonders of the world. It’s truly a sight to behold. In Darling Harbor, we walked to the Sydney Fish Market where we gorged ourselves silly with seafood caught that morning. It was truly a seafood feast and I don’t ever recall eating seafood this fresh. Trust me, it was that good! I’ve been feeling ill a couple of days now and finally called it a day for the rest of the afternoon. You know things are not well when I need to sleep/nap in the afternoon. For dinner, we went to Nick’s Bar and Grill since dad wanted steak. The food was really good, but since I had no appetite, I had a chowder as my entrée and it was good. Dinner was very nice and relaxing and all of us took all the sights in. Everyone more than enjoyed their meal and we had a nice leisurely walk to train station.

September 5th.

Today was raining all day which pretty much put a damper on the whole day. We went to Queen Victoria Building which is now a mall. The building itself is an old ornate building. After QVB, we went to Paddy’s Market which is a covered market that sells tons of Australian stuff in addition to being a fresh fruit market. Everyone got some stuff except for me. Since the weather was pretty darn crummy, we went back to the hotel where Ram and I enjoyed a couple of rounds of pool before I got ready for my “date” with mom at the Opera House. The tour of the Opera House was more than impressive. The building is an engineering wonder to say the least and you appreciate it so much more after the tour. I was awe-struck. Dinner and the view during dinner was amazing. I could not recall the last time it was just mom and I having a meal. It’s good to chat with her. Sitting down in the opera hall and listening to the Sydney Orchestra play has got to be one of the most memorable life experiences ever. I always thought that the hall itself was huge, but in reality it’s not. It still impressed me. Talk about a very memorable day. Gabriela Montero was the soloist and she played Grieg’s famous piano concerto. For the encores, she asked the audience to hum a theme and she played her own variation of the themes on the piano. It was mighty impressive to say the least.

September 6th.

Once again it rained pretty much all day. We did not have anything planned, but a luncheon with my third grand aunt. It too has been ages since I saw her and apart from growing older, she looks the same. Two of her daughters came along, but I only recognized the youngest daughter. The other daughter spent some years in New Zealand. We all had a good time catching up with one another. We spent at least four hours chatting in the restaurant but it never felt long. They live in the outskirts of Sydney and it took them a while to get to the restaurant because of road diversions and detours, but they made it and I’m glad they did. I too felt that I’m not sure if and when I’ll see her again. There was just not enough time to catch up with each other. Later that evening, Ram, sis and I went out for dinner at the same tapas restaurant I went to a couple of days back. Dad and mom decided to stay in since they were full from lunch. Ram and sis had not had tapas before, but they thoroughly enjoyed it. Can you believe we did not do anything spectacular on the last night in Sydney? Well we didn’t. Everyone was tired and there was nothing wrong with calling it an early night. It must be a sign of old age!

September 7th.

Bye bye Sydney and Australia. Today was the last day we spent in Australia. It was bittersweet in very many ways. The family vacation was indeed a pleasure for all of us. Speaking on behalf of everyone, all of us had a grand old time. It was sad to leave everyone but we can all look forward to another family vacation in a couple of years. The cab got us to the airport without any problem and the flights were all A OK except for the fact that dad left his camera bag at customs and only realized it when we were ready to board the plane. He was in a slight panic, and had given up hope that the bag was gone when he saw it held by one of the air stewardess. He informed them that it was his and had no problem proving it by the ample family photos be took while on vacation. Phew. Everything else was smooth sailing. We were picked up in Singapore by a family friend and since we had not eaten, we were taken out for a late night dinner. We ended up in Singapore because the originally scheduled flight was cancelled which sucked, but at least I got to see Singapore. I’ve not been there since I was probably 14 years old.

September 8th.

We left Singapore by coach at 8:30AM and arrived in KL right on the dot at 2:30PM. A family friend was gracious enough to pick us up from the LRT station and gave us a ride home. I paid a visit to godma and godpa and that was nice. I’ve always loved their garden and took a number of photos of her flowers and plants. I told them that I would be visiting them after we got back from Australia. For dinner that night, a dear family friend cooked “Kuching Laksa” which is a hot and spicy noodle soup that is very native to the people of Sarawak. This meal was something on my list of must eat food and I’m so glad she obliged me. I “only” had four bowls and was stuffed beyond belief. Oh, it was an oh so good a meal! Other family friends came for dinner and everyone had a jolly good old time. Anthony Bourdain of the No Reservations fame loves Kuching Laksa and it was one of the meals that was featured on his trip to Malaysia. Cool, eh?!

September 9th.

The goal was to renew my passport this morning, but that did not happen due to some paperwork snafu. Oh well. Dad and I had another disagreement right outside the passport office and it was a good shouting match. I was getting a little tired with his lack of patience and the way everyone needs to be at his beck and call. I pretty much told him how I felt and I think for the first time he realized that I’m no longer a kid but an adult who is more than capable of standing up to him. It kind of surprised him and he knew he was in the wrong, but in dad’s mind, apologies are few and far between. Breakfast was a little awkward, but things clamed down and we then drove back to dad’s hometown to visit two of his brothers and a cousin who still lives and run the family business. I have not seen all of them since the last time I was back in Malaysia so it was definitely good to meet up with them. Everyone was glad and happy to see one another. My fourth uncle treated us to a seafood lunch which was really good. We then made a whirlwind trip back to KL and on the way back picked up my Malaysian ID to the relief of my parents. That pretty much meant that I would be able to apply for my passport. Later that evening, I met up with Jaime, a dear old friend from childhood. We had dinner at this spectacular Korean restaurant. The food was amazing and the conversation stimulating and engaging to say the least. There’s nothing like reconnecting with an old friend. We both had a blast. After dinner, we met up with Jaime’s boyfriend as I’ve heard a lot about him. It was good to put a face to the name. Loke’s colleagues joined up with us later that night and Jaime dropped me off at 1AM. It was indeed a very good evening spent with her. That says a lot about the level of our friendship after all these years.

September 10th.

I did not feel too well after I got up this morning – my tummy was giving me some problems. I did get my passport renewed without a problem, and that was a very good thing. I spent the afternoon souvenir shopping and was very happy with my purchases. I’m pretty sure I did not forget anyone, but if I did, I’m pretty sure I have more than enough extra goodies. After coming home, I took a nap and for someone who does not nap, it pretty much tells you that I was not feeling well. I spent the first night at home later that evening which was nice. Some time was spent looking through old photo albums and it brought back so many memories and much of it was fond memories. Mom too had a good time looking at the photos.

September 11th.

My last day in Malaysia. We had Dim Sum for breakfast and that was good. It was at a restaurant where dad had celebrated his birthday a number of times. Later that morning, I visited godma and godpa. Actually, I spent different times visiting people and saying my goodbyes to them throughout the day. I could not believe that I had not taken any photos of the Petronas Twin Tower and I made sure I took more than enough shots of the tower. Talk about a fitting finale before leaving for DM. John and I chatted before I headed home to finalize my packing and take a shower. Satay at my all time favorite shop is where I had my last meal in KL. It was so, so good! I even remembered the guy who helped with the serving. The only thing that’s changed is that he’s gotten older. Before leaving for the airport, we visited my cousin and his wife at their home. A great way to spend the last night. Carol, her girlfriend and another friend met up with all of us and everyone ended up at my cousin’s house. The drive to the airport was not too eventful, but we did miss a couple of turns here and there since we tried a new route. I got checked in with more than enough time to spare with my new passport. I’ll be going back to Malaysia in four years to celebrate dad’s 70th birthday if not sooner. A three weeks vacation has come to an end, but the fond memories continue to live on.

A pretty darn mundane weekend.

Well, the last weekend in DM before I head back to KL was not too exciting. Friday night was a little interesting as I needed to work later than usual at the facility because one of the residents refused to return to the facility and therefore was in violation of her parole and that’s never a good thing. The cops were called and a missing person’s report was filed but nothing could be done because the cops knew where she was and unless there was a warrant out for her arrest, their hands were tied. My concern was my female colleague would have had to deal with the situation with a staff from an agency and I did not want her to carry the responsibility herself so I stayed until she left.

On Saturday, John and I headed to the Farmers Market – I’ve not been there for a couple of weeks so it was nice to walk and the weather was most perfect. While walking, John bumped into a couple of people he knew and one of the guys and his wife and family just got back from spending over two months in Singapore. He went back and forth between Singapore and Malaysia for business and commented that even in the two years since he went to Malaysia, quite a lot of change had taken place. So, he told me to be surprised by the amount of change since it’s been six years for me. I pretty much spent the rest of the afternoon in the apartment before heading to Ann’s house for dinner. I brought some steak for all of us to eat and Harley grilled it since I can’t have a grill at my apartment. My word, talk about a good piece of steak that was grilled to perfection. All of us had more than enough to eat. The conversation was exhilarating as always and I could tell that Ann was definitely excited for me with regards to my trip home.

That really was the weekend. The international students attending Drake have their orientation on Wednesday so they will be arriving in a couple of days if they have not already arrived. Classes begin next Monday. Where oh where has summer gone?! It’s weird because as school and college starts for most people it’s the end of their vacation, but in my case, my vacation is just beginning. Oh I should say that the excitement really hit me before and after Mass when I informed a couple of people that they won’t be seeing me for a couple of weeks because I’ll be going to Malaysia. They were all so excited for me because they know how long it’s been since I was back in KL. The thing I like most is the sincerity in their wishes.

So, that’s all the news from me. Next week at this time I’ll be basking in the heat and humidity of KL!