A treat for two

June 2, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

At breakfast, sister number 3 and I agreed, that our holiday away, just the two of us, was indeed a treat. It felt free and easy, and unencumbered. At Mangala Boutique Resort in Pahang, there was a choice of freshly squeezed juices. A selection of fruit. A variety of pastries with homemade jam and butter. […]

Closure or no closure

May 26, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

I thought closure would help me. How? Be less sad, maybe. Feel less guilty, hopefully. How though? By seeing my mum and saying to her all the things I want to say to her. Like what? Like I love her. I wish I had done better by her. I wish I had been there when […]

365 days today

May 19, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

Today is one year since my mum passed. Yes, 12 months since she hasn’t been a part of my life. 365 days that I haven’t seen nor spoken to her, for real, I mean. I speak to her. I tell her things that are going on. Which is basically me speaking to myself. A one-sided […]

A little samey

May 12, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

My husband and I returned yesterday from a 5-day holiday in Khao Lak, a quieter tourist destination some 90km north of the more popular Phuket in Thailand. We met up with my husband’s friends, who had planned this holiday, a year in advance, yes, one year ahead. We’ve had other holidays with them. One in […]

Personality types

April 21, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

I’m a combo-introvert. My husband thinks he might be a social-anxious introvert. Nephew number 2 says he’s surely an extreme introvert. Interesting diagnoses based on a spectrum of traits associated with introverts. Research on introverts for my previous post invariably produced results on other personality types. I looked them up not because I wanted to […]

Birthday month

March 24, 2025.Reading time 7 minutes.

I like birthdays. Mine, particularly. March is my birthday month, and today is my birthday. Yay. Birthday month, yes. I started feeling celebratory on March 2, not March 1, as that’s sister number 2’s birthday. I let her have that day😊 For me, my birthday month is like a licence/permission/green-light to feel special, and do […]

A good read

March 17, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

I wish I had read this book a few years ago. But then, I might not have appreciated it as much as I do now. Why? Because I didn’t really think too much about aging or the elderly. Yes, I had grandparents. They were, in my then young mind, older people who weren’t really a […]

Memories

March 10, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

Sisters number 1 and 4 were in KL last week. Spending time with them made me think of life’s luxuries. Why? A few weeks ago, I had written about life’s ‘real’ luxuries. A subjective, non-exhaustive list of 11 nice-to-have luxuries such as time, health, ability to travel, meaningful conversations, people you love and people who […]

Downsizing

February 10, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

A few weeks ago, I deposited a large bin bag at a recycling centre in KL. I’m downsizing. The bag contained mainly clothes. T-shirts and skorts that I no longer wear. Dresses that I haven’t worn in months, maybe years. They fit but they didn’t quite feel age appropriate. I was a tad sad and […]

Life’s luxuries

February 3, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

I received a text about life’s ‘real’ luxuries from one of my chat groups. ‘Real’ as in not the things that some people would consider or think of like sports cars, mansions, and fancy handbags. Around the same time, brother number 2 shared the same list with the family. Hmm. The contents of the list […]