Staying safe

May 31, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

Recently, a close friend tested positive for Covid-19. For weeks, she has been working from home. Not going out. Not meeting up with friends or visiting off-site family members. Her only contacts have been and are her husband and children. So naturally, her positive result was unexpected and a shock. My husband and I were […]

Vaccine hope

May 24, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

A little hope. Seven of my family members have received the first dose of vaccines against the life threatening and omnipresent Covid-19. My mum had hers on May 11. I didn’t know which vaccine she would be given. So naturally, I did the only thing I could do. I prayed for divine intervention and the […]

Daughter-mother

May 17, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

I missed the point. I’m the daughter. My mum is the mum. That’s the relationship. Yes, I’m my mum’s carer now. The roles and responsibilities may have somewhat blurred. But the relationship is clear and irrevocable. Mother’s Day was on May 9. The week leading up to it was unusually difficult for me. My tinnitus […]

Walks, parks and picnics

April 19, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

My husband and I visited Taman Eko Rimba Negeri Selangor or the Selangor State Park last Saturday. It was our second attempt. The first was in January when one of several (lost count now) Covid-19 movement control orders resulted in some parks being closed in the Klang Valley. After that trip, I didn’t hold out […]

My younger mum

April 5, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

One morning, without any prompting, my mum recalled her wedding and her early married life in Kuala Ketil estate in Kedah. She, who is always late and on a catch up mode, despite being up between 5-5.30 am every morning, was rather relaxed and in a chatty mood. Information was spewing out of her. Naturally, […]

Winnie-the-Pooh

March 22, 2021.Reading time 8 minutes.

I never owned nor read Winnie-the-Pooh before. I was introduced to Pooh late in life. Of course, I knew and heard of this adorable bear of little brain. But that was it. Until I watched the movie ‘Christopher Robin.’ It was a watershed moment for me. I became a Pooh convert. His easy and unassuming […]

My mum’s schedule

March 1, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

As my mum’s carer, I spend a fair amount of time with her. I pop down to see her about four times a day as she lives on a lower floor in the same condominium as my husband and me. I know her schedule. She is up between 5-5.30am every morning. Yes, that’s correct. I’m […]

Noisy ear

February 15, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

I have acquired another annoyance to my ready portfolio of medical ailments and complaints. Tinnitus. A paper crumpling kind of noise inside my right ear. I hear it. Sometimes, it’s loud and frantic. More so at night and for some reason when I’m close to running tap water. Sometimes, it’s quieter. During the day when […]

My mum’s sous chef

February 1, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

I am now my mum’s personal sous chef. Who would have thought? Certainly, not my mum. Not me. Not my husband. He still laughs at my current thrust-upon role. He finds the circumstance-driven transformation rather ironic. I am not at all keen on cooking, especially the savoury stuff. I even have a plaque on my […]

Pongal rice, Karthigai and festivals

December 7, 2020.Reading time 6 minutes.

I helped my mum make ‘Sakkarai Pongal’ or Pongal rice last Sunday. Obviously not biased but she does make the tastiest Pongal rice I’ve ever had. This time around, she also got the thumbs-up from my husband, who doesn’t normally like the texture or taste of sweet rice. He likened it to a really delicious version […]