2012 Reflections

It seems like only yesterday that I was writing my reflections for 2011, but suddenly it’s December the 31^st, 2012, and here I am yet again to write my reflections for another year!

I quite like the template I’ve used for the past few years, so will stick with that:

Uni-wise: alas, I have officially given up on any prospects of me ever returning to tertiary study. >< the volunteer tutor course that mother demanded I do for her was nice, but ultimately, it did not lead onto a paid job, so once I was done with the number of hours required by the course (fifty), I stopped immediately.

Sporting-wise: again, phew, the parents have abandoned the notion of gleefully forcing me to attend badminton with them; my personal contribution to the sporting arena has been thankfully limited to enthusiastically waving the Wii controller around while playing Wii Sports Resort. Oh, and did you hear about the new sponsors the Maroons and Blues have found as their sponsors for next year’s Origin matches? Queensland’s: seven UP; New South Wales will just have Coke ZERO. XD

Politically-wise: again, Julia Gillard’s still the head honcho of Australia; the main difference has been that Anna Bligh has been replaced by Can-do Campbell Newman!

Spiritually-wise: well, five years since the cruel and unfaithful god so wantonly destroyed my life with the brain tumour and stroke went by virtually unnoticed. We were in Hong Kong at that time; mother was too busy partying and catching up with all her high school and workmates to care about that day coming and passing; as for dad, I simply don’t think he had a clue. XD God has shown me that my life is simply worth piss to him; however, it’s MY life, and it’s VERY important to me! This year, I stumbled on two quotes that I think relate to me personally: “Our thoughts are free” and “My soul is not for you to possess”. I guess that’s just my own way of telling God that while he can totally destroy my life, restrict my mobility and everything else, my thoughts are still mine, as is my soul. I’m probably not making too much sense here, so go read the next line. XD

Work-wise: alas, because of some government funding cuts, the (useless XD) disability employment agency assigned to find me paid work simply just let me go! Thankfully, a brother from church has been offering me some paid editing work (his English is already quite good, but having not grown up in Australia like me, there are small areas where his English falls through and that’s where I come in!) meaning I at least have a very small income with which I can buy the parents birthday, anniversary and Christmas presents with. However, I will again state that I am looking for steady, paid part-time work; I’m ready to do ANYTHING (even wash toilets XD) provided I can do so sitting down.

Everything-else wise: alas, physio still consumes a ridiculous portion of my life; this year, I did 128 sessions of that, which lasted more than 100.5 hours! >< Vincent the physio probably enjoys my entire disability pension. XD

Oh, and mustn’t forget my new year’s resolutions! Like last year, the aim will be to always continue to improve the mobility of my affected left hand side and to fall as little as possible this year. Amazingly, I only crashed to the ground four times this year! Let’s aim for no more than five falls this year, then~

Alrighteo, wishing everyone a safe and prosperous 2013! See you next year!

Cheers,

Em. ^^

Xmas and Boxing Day 2012

Heylo one and all! Yup, I’ve fully recovered from the verbal diarrhoea I suffered during national novel writing month (I will put up a post about that in due time, I promise! XD) and I wanna tell you all about how I spent my Christmas and Boxing days!

Like we’ve done for the past two and a bit decades, Christmas means going to church. This year, the English service was held downstairs; I remember, in past years, there was just one service held in the main hall, with an interpreter helpfully turning the sermon into English from Cantonese for us ABCs.

In the morning, when mother fed me two yummy Weetbix with the merest, thinnest and shortest streak of honey ever, I’d complained at her, “Gee whiz, mum, you’re supposed to feed me something SPECIAL today, it is CHRISTMAS, after all!” XD

After breakfast, dad tootled us off to church for the Christmas service. While he drove, I happily but quietly sang five secular Christmas carols, knowing that once at church, we’d only be singing Christian ones.

On arrival, I headed downstairs, used the bathroom once then took a seat and waited for service to begin.

For worship, I was lucky enough to remain seated, although I sang everything.

Afterwards, Pastor Chris gave a Christmas message!

There was communion afterwards to end service. Mother came and retrieved me, took me once more to the loo, then I grabbed some morning tea and took a seat.

Morning tea was accompanied with yakking to fellow randoms of BCAC. When morning tea concluded, we left for Leanne’s place in Carindale!

Aunty Diana welcomed us into her home~ I took and seat and started yakking with Leanne and Nat, while Lee enticed dad to watch some kinda EPL soccer game in the living room with him. Dad became so engrossed with the game, he stayed there and didn’t join the rest of us for lunch; he just brought his plate over to the television with him and ate while watching some game. XD

Lunch was yummy! Mother kindly got me little bits of everything. And I tried cous cous (sp?) for the first time! It tasted interesting~ but the yummiest was definitely aunty Diana’s potato bake~

After lunch, Leanne walked behind me over to the television, where I flopped into an armchair. Oh, while walking over there, I stopped and pointed to the piano. “Hey, is that the piano battery?” I smirked at Leanne.

“Shut up, you.” She mock-glared back. (A/N: if anyone wants to hear the hilarious tale of the piano battery and the revenge prank pulled like five years later, you have but to leave me a comment and ask! XD)

Anyways, over at the sofa, Nat, Lee and two of their church friends were watching snooker on ESPN. Now, someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t ESPN a sports channel? And since when was snooker considered a ‘sport’? XD

After watching snooker for awhile, Leanne suggested we all play a board game. Pictionary won the vote, and we all had great fun drawing and guessing. Alas, I’m still as useless at drawing and guessing as ever. XD

Mother came and helped me once to the loo; when I needed to go again, she decided we’d head home.

After dad tootled us home, mother demanded that I shower (poor Ela). Afterwards, I plopped briefly online while she went for a shower herself.

Then, ‘twas time to head over to Pole’s place!

On arrival, I sat at their fat round circular table and snacked on nibblies until dinner was called. And did you know, I was so touched that Uncle Calvin actually knew my name! See, usually he just refers to me (and everyone else) as ‘bin gor bin gor’ (say that in canto) but that night, he poured me some orange juice and actually wrote ‘Emily’ over it! I wiped away a mock tear and laughed, “Uncle Calvin, you’ve made my day!” XD

When dinner was called, we all moved over to the big dining table and the little round table placed beside it. Lol, for the first time in like fifteen years, we were relegated to the ‘little kids’ table! XD

For Christmas dinner, there was roast pork with gravy and roast turkey with applesauce! Oh, and probably salad, but my selective memory only chooses to remember the yummy stuff. XD

So we all ate and yakked. Many thanks to Pole who cut up my turkey for me~

After dinner, uncle Calvin led us all in singing Christmas carols! Christian, of course. Pole played the piano for us. Personally, I was just disgusted with myself to realise that I needed to warm-up before singing; my voice went disgustingly out of tune during the first few choruses! XD

After the carol singing, ‘twas time for presents! And guess what?? Pole found me some DVD of Despicable Me mini-movies from like k-mart!!! *excited squee* XD

All too soon, ‘twas time to head home. I hit the sack immediately, all ready for the Boxing Day sales tomorrow!

The next morning, when mother came and poked me with “fifteen more minutes,” Bear Bear and I immediately gave her our best rendition of  the Happy Birthday song. (Well, okay, only I sang, but he danced along to my voice. XD)

After brushing teeth, breakfast and one more toilet trip, dad tootled us off to Carindale for the Boxing Day sales!

Thankfully, the parents lemme use sparkless all day, phew. And how many levels does Carindale have of car parks? Coz it seemed like we went up, and up, and up! XD

On arrival, mother helped me once to the loo, then we had to go validate my disabled parking permit. Turns out only the first three hours of parking at Carindale are free; after that, you have to pay. Huh, talk about incentive to shop quickly then leave! XD

Lol, the shopping was funny: mother kept demanding we go to the big stores like Myer and David Jones, whereas dad kept trying to make us look at all the little specialty stores located along the sidewalks. As for me, I was just super-happy that I picked up a book from Dymocks (anyone know why that store name’s pronounced ‘dimicks’?) by this author called kylie Chan (same surname as me!) set in Hong Kong!

For lunch, I was hoping to get some warm food; however, the parents decided that we were all having sushi. No biggie; I happily chomped one eel one and one chicken one. And while we were eating, we bumped into Pole’s family! I was surprised, coz I remember Pole telling me the night before that they weren’t planning to attend the Boxing Day sales, but Aunty Catherine explained to me that ‘twas Matthew who persuaded them all to go. Turns out they’d just finished having yum cha. As for us, after we finished, dad sent mum and I to buy us an ice-cream cone to share! I only got about three small bites; the parents chomped the rest, but hey, no biggie.

All too soon, ‘twas time to head home. For some reason, dad decided to chuck a cow @ me; mother wasn’t helpful in the slightest, telling me to shut up and allowing dad to continue ranting at me. *sigh*

Back home, I plopped online, mother hit the sack and dad started cooking!

When mother awoke from pigland, she again demanded I shower (poor ela). Then I sat at the gobbling: P table and awaited our dinner guests!

The Chows and aunty A arrived, in that order. Dad went and picked up from Carmen from somewhere. Did you know, Carmen’s a beauty therapist!

Then, ‘twas dinnertime! Lol, I’ve honestly forgotten what I had, but I do remember that there was chicken. XD

After dinner, everyone just sat and yakked the night away. After using the loo once, I did so too.

Suddenly, all the lights went out! Enter dearest dad with a cheesecake, with birthday candles lit, for mother! A hearty rendition of the happy birthday song followed, and then we all stood and posed for photos.

And, following cake, ‘twas time to open presents! Mother would only let me open one, but I was left excitedly squeeing again after Vicky found me this Despicable Me minion pen! Lol, seems like everyone’s well aware of the infatuation I have with all the Despicable Me minion franchise. XD Vicky says she found the pen somewhere for me down in NSW.

After aunty A and the Chow’s left, Carmen, mother and I sat down to enjoy one of the mini-movies from the DVD that Pole had brought for me! Mother kindly bought Oem out for me (I presume little Voem had already fallen asleep XD), I introduced him to Carmen, then we all watched happily until Carmen decided ‘twas time to head home. I wonder where she lives?

As for me, I happily finished watching the first mini-movie, then allowed mother to boot me off to bed. Only, ‘twas nowhere near bedtime yet!

Nope … ‘twas time to open all the presents that Santa had bought me this year! :D and, I’ve got to say, despite the lateness of my Christmas wishlist for this year, I must’ve been a very good girl indeed, for Santa to bring me that many presents! XD

Actually, speaking about presents, I’ve just remembered that I used to keep a blog noting down any new presents I received! The URL’s taleofepic3.livejournal.com; if I can remember my password for that account, I’ll put up all the cool presents I received from Santa this year!

Anyways, all Christmas wrapping was ripped apart (I totally lack the patience to pick off each individual piece of sticky tape, leaving the wrapping paper reusable for another present XD) each and every present was cooed and squeed over and I hit the sack sometime after midnight! XD

‘Twas definitely an awesome 25^th and 26^th December for me this year!

Next post here … must come toms: New Year ’s Eve! All my thoughts and reflections for 2012 will be posted and awaiting your reading shortly before midnight tomorrow! Righteo, until then!

Cheers,

Em. ^^

xmas greetings 2012

Heylo one and all! Hope you’ve settled well into this new decade; has 2012 been an enjoyable year for you?

I remember at the end of last year, when I said that my parents and I were all very excited to be returning to Hong Kong and visiting our family, especially my ninety-two year old paternal grandma; unfortunately, however, she passed away the night we were due to return to Hong Kong and see her. Still, she leaves behind six kids (my dad’s the youngest), thirteen grandkids (I’m the eleventh and the youngest girl) and four great-grandkids (the oldest one turned twelve this year!), which I think is an amazing legacy!

For me, personally … this year has unfortunately been filled with endless physio; I was aghast to have reached fifty sessions of physio by 1^st of June, distraught to have reached seventy-five sessions of physio by the 8^th of August and simply devastated to reach a whopping one hundred sessions of physio by the 2^nd of October. Back at the beginning of February, I was very upset to have reached the fifth year since the cruel and unfaithful god destroyed my life with the disabling brain tumour, with no sign that he would see fit to heal me. See, when I was still living in the insane asylum (more commonly known to by everyone else as the Princess Alexandra hospital XD), every night, after god had terrified me awake with some jeering nightmare that I’d be alone and disabled forever, I’d cry out to him (silently inside my head, of course; you’re not allowed to make a ruckus in a hospital ward! XD), “How long will you hate me for, God? How long will it take until you turn your incredible wrath onto someone else? Will five years be long enough I mean, surely, surely, I can’t be the most hateful person in the world to you?” Unfortunately, it’s now been just over 5.5 years since the cruel and unfaithful God decided to totally destroy my life; obviously, he’s not interested in the slightest in helping me regain any sense of … well, anything. XD I guess all I can do is continue trying to improve my mobility, trying to overcome whatever disabilities, barriers and hindrances that the cruel and unfaithful God has left me with, and try and live my life to the full! I mean, I’ve only got one life; I must show God that my life is important to me!

For the year about to arrive … well, by now, I’ve more or less given up on the prospect of ever returning to tertiary study; what I aim to focus on is finding paid employment. Yes, I am disabled and yes, I am limited in what I am able to do, but I’m willing to try my hand at anything (yes, even wash toilets! XD) as long as I can do it sitting down and it gets me paid.

My wish for you is that you and your family have a very merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous New Year; good luck with whatever new endeavours you may be pursuing  and  hope that whatever you’re already undertaking will continue to go well for you. Hopefully we’ll keep in touch all throughout 2013!

Cheers,

Em. ^^

christmas wish list 2012

EEP! Santa, I am so sorry, I meant to put out my Christmas wishlist out for you to read on December the 1^st, but last month I was doing nanowrimo, caught a very severe case of verbal diarrhoea (XD I’ll write a post about that in due time) and didn’t feel recovered enough until today to send my Christmas wishlist to you! My primary school buddy Cass tells me that you still accept Christmas wishlists after December the 1^st; I sure hope she’s correct! Anyways, Santa, here’s what I’m after this year:

(1)            A book by M.K Hume – I found out about this author through the Logan City council libraries monthly e-newsletter; he was doing some author visit to this Logan City council library, and I thought he sounded pretty interesting, so I’d like one of his novels to try reading, please!

(2)            Scattergories – think this may have been on my Christmas wishlist last year … I remember playing this game once with the letter ‘u’, and some silly sod filled in a colour beginning with the letter ‘u’ as ‘urine’! XD but this game sounds promisingly fun! (A/N: kwany bought this game for me last wednesday! you can go choose something else from my wish list and buy me that instead! XD)

(3)            Hunger Games, book two – Kylie and Mel, I remember you guys bought me the first book when we met up for Christmas last year/my birthday this year; how about you guys buy me the second book for Christmas? XD

(4)            I Hate Everyone – Starting With Me by Joan Rivers – okay, I have no idea how this book appeared on my Christmas wishlist for this year; I presume I must’ve been feeling not the best when I stumbled over this title. XD

(5)            Girl: the Ultimate Guide to Being You by Anna Barnes – lol, I’m not entirely sure how I would benefit from a book teaching me how to be me, but hey, it sounds interesting! XD

(6)            The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking – again, I can’t quite remember how this title made it into my Christmas wishlist for 2012, coz I think I’m a fairly positive person and I honestly try my hardest to not let the cruel and unfaithful God get me down too often, but hey. XD

(7)            The Boy Who Wouldn’t Die – this title sounds intriguing. I mean, who was trying to kill him? Why? And how come he wouldn’t die?

(8)            Band-aid For a Broken Leg – obviously, I must be attracted to books with absurd titles, because obviously, a band-aid sure as hell won’t fix a broken leg! XD

(9)            Age of Miracles by Karen Walker – this sounds like a fantasy title to me… and me being a big fantasy novel buff, someone please get me this book for Christmas!

(10)         Hello Panda strawberry flavoured – originally, I thought these little delicacies (they come thirteen to one pack) only came in chocolate flavour, but I recently found out that they came in strawberry flavour too! This is the one food item on my Christmas wishlist this year~

(11)         The Mansion of Happiness – a History of Life and Death by Jill Lepore – again, some random book that made it into my Christmas wishlist. XD hey, it sounds interesting!

(12)         Salvage by Jason Nahrung – yet another book I can’t remember how it made my Christmas wishlist for 2012, but if I wrote it down, it must look promising. XD

(13)         Black Mountain by Venero Armanno – teeheehee, I keep running into titles I have no recollection of ever finding, but hey, like I said for the last title, if I wrote it down, it must look promising! XD

(14)         Westlife – our story – righteo, this one’s a must-have! I can’t believe that just when I was about to go see their live concert, the cruel and unfaithful god completely wrecked my life with the disabling brain tumour, and now they’ve finished!!! >< *distraught* even worse, Westlife are so unpopular in Brisbane their albums aren’t even sold here, so could I please ask one of my awesome cousins from Hong Kong or my aunty Amelia from Canada to please get and send that for me? Puh-lease?? XD

(15)         Into that Gorest by Louis Nowra – okay, I honestly can’t remember anything about why I thought this book was so appealing, but like the previous two, will someone please get me it? ^^

(16)         The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers – hmm … I’m not at all a bird-watcher; not sure why this book got into my Christmas wishlist, but hey, it must be worth a read. XD

(17)         The Casual Vacancy by J.K Rowling – well, Santa, if you don’t accept late Christmas wishlists, I’ll still content myself with the fact I’ll get this book – my awesome Australian godmother has already said she’d get it for me. XD

(18)         Earth Unaware – okay, I confess: I have absolutely zero idea if this is a book, a movie or something else completely random, but hey, if I listed it, it must be worth getting! Thanks in advance, someone! XD

(19)         69 days in Europe – Di and Bill Perkins – Perky, I had to include the book by you and Bill onto my Christmas wishlist! How about you get me this for Christmas and also give me some feedback on the fifty thousand word novel I bashed out last month?? XD

you will all note that I haven’t included a walking stick into my wishlist this year; last year, my awesome half-aunty aunty Amelia did send me one, but my evil mother immediately took it away, hid it and wouldn’t even lemme see it until I asked to just look at it! Nowadays, she uses the stick only to gleefully force me to do more stupid exercises for her … talk about the total waste of good equipment … ><

Anyways, again, santa, I apologise for the lateness of my Christmas wishlist for this year, but I sincerely hope you can find some Christmas elves to get me all these cool pressies~ now go forth, and secure me Christmas presents!

Cheers,

Em. ^^

MRI 2012

After the cruel and unfaithful god smited/smote/whatever the past tense of the word ‘smite’ is XD with a brain tumour back in 2007, I’ve had to have an MRI every six months to check that the stupid brain tumour taking up precious brain space inside my head hadn’t suddenly hit a growth spurt or anything stupid like that. When I got the all-clear for my MRI in September 2010, the doctors said, “It’s great that your six-month scans have showed no regrowth; we’ll see you once a year, from here on.”

The one stressful thing I dislike about MRI scans is that a nurse must first insert a cannula into your arm, so that the MRI technician can inject your vein with dye towards the end of the MRI scan, which will then apparently light up your brain. Or something like that. XD

The reason why I hate this procedure so much is because I’ve got very fine veins, and it’s very hard for the nurses to get the needle in and successfully find a vein! Back when I was still living in the insane asylum (more commonly known to everyone as the Princess Alexandra Hospital XD), one blood lady would try two needles, have them both fail, then she’d get the other blood lady also doing the rounds with her to try. Two more needles later, they’d both give up and find a doctor to insert the damn thing in! Actually, near my release from the insane asylum back in 2008, I grew so panicked when I heard the blood ladies enter the ward that I took the current book that I was reading, fled to the nearest toilet, locked myself inside, and read for like forty-five minutes, until a nurse came and knocked on the door, curious that I may have fallen in! XD Suspiciously, I asked, “Have they gone yet?”

“Who?” the confused nurse asked.

“The blood ladies. I’m not coming back out until they’ve left.”

“Oh, they left ages ago. You really shouldn’t hide from them, you know, if they need to take your blood.”

“Well, I’ll come out now, now that you said they’ve left.” XD

My arms have been alternating whose turn it is for the needle-sticking, and this year, ‘twas the left. She was still feeling traumatised from 2010, though, because she had endured not five, but NINE needles! >< See, two different nurses both tried two needles, all to no avail. They then get a doctor. Mr. useless doctor tries THREE, but they all fail! In the end, he applies a shot of local anaesthetic (which STINGS like HELL, BTW! ><) and finally, finally, with the help of an ultrasound machine gets the cannula in with his NINTH needle! My poor left arm was so traumatised, she showed the doctor the huge bruise she’d developed along the elbow crease because of all those needles, and the good doctor promises to give her a miss with the acupuncture needles that particular week.

Last year, ‘twas my right arm’s turn to suffer the needles, and it took three attempts before the nurse found the vein.

Come this year, my poor left arm was wailing that she didn’t want an ouchy needle, but my right arm told her, “Shut up. I endured it last year, so it’s your turn this year.”

But then, miracle of miracles! The nurse managed to get the cannula in the VERY FIRST GO!

“Quick, tell me your name!” I urge the nurse. “That way, I can ask for you when I come for another MRI next year!”

“I’m getting married in January,” the nurse laughs.

“Then tell me your married name!”

She does, but alas, I’ve already forgotten it. XD

Anyways, before each MRI, I also haveta get an x-ray done first, so the technicians know where the shunt is located inside my head.

I transfer myself into one of their wheelchairs, and then some technician and I wheel me into the MRI room.

First of all, another technician goes through the form I’ve filled out with me. It’s just to clarify that I’m not wearing a pacemaker, hearing aids, any type of metal, etc.

After I transfer onto the MRI tube, the technician gives me the alarm bell, which I can press in any emergency. Last year was funny; I accidentally sneezed and squeezed the thing; immediately, the technician was over the intercom, saying, “Emily, is everything alright?” I’d given a sheepish apology: “sorry, sorry! I just sneezed and squeezed the thing; I’m fine, thanks.”  XD Then he puts the headphones over my head, allowing me to listen to the Westlife album that mother had so kindly brought along for me.

And into the tube I go. Funny pounding and whirring noises start; I relax, close my eyes and have another serious talk to God, probably the first one since I last fully talked to him during my last MRI. I told him how much I still seriously DESPISED him for ruining my life, how disappointed I was that he hadn’t seen fit to heal me and how I was still living everyday rising above his hatred.

The MRI lasted about five songs, and after I slid back out of the tube, the technician remembered that I wasn’t supposed to sit up! See, after an MRI, the magnetics of that machine can throw out the settings and pressure of my shunt, and I’m not supposed to sit back up afterwards until a doctor comes around with some gadget, presses it against my head and resets the settings. Last year, the technician hadn’t a clue, and told me, “Okay, can you sit back up now,” but luckily, this year’s technician was smarter; he simply called over another technician and nurse and they  slid me onto some plinth, which only has a short side rail, not like the ones I was used to when I lived in the insane asylum, which were full length rails. But this side rail was placed in the direct centre of the bed; there was no way I’d fall out.

Two people rolled my bed back to the area where mother was waiting, but I didn’t stay there long, coz I was quickly whisked back off to the x-ray department, where I told my brain (or what’s left of it XD) to smile for the camera while the x-ray technicians (are they called radiographers?) took another shot to check if my shunt had wiggled elsewhere during the MRI.

Back where mother was waiting, I tell her I’m really hungry, and she kindly opens a packet of white, rectangular cream bikkies and I munch two. I also use a bedpan once, then just doze, awaiting for the doctor to check my x-ray then come and reset the shunt, if need be.

The call comes well past 4pm that the shunt settings weren’t changed and that I’m free to go.

Mother drives us back home, but we forget one thing: It’s peak hour traffic! So we crawl along the highway, crawl along Logan road and finally, finally make it back home at like 5:50pm!

Thankfully, there are no phone calls waiting for us; nor does the phone ring all night, for which I’m exceedingly grateful. See, if there’s anything amiss with your MRI, the hospital notifies you immediately. As such, the night before, I’d gotten on Facebook, thanking everybody for keeping me in their thoughts and prayers, then adding, please DO NOT ring our home number and scare the bejeebers outta me! Just ring our mobiles, please!

I’m super-duper relieved that the phone stays silent all night, and look forward to my follow-up, where basically, I’ll head into the consulting room, take a seat, hear the doctor go, “your MRI was all-clear. See you next year.” XD

Actually, I had a question to ask the doctor. It’s the same question I asked the two doctors I saw last year and the year before. Remember how I said that after my MRI, I’m not allowed to sit back upright until the neurosurgeon comes to reset the shunt with some little handheld gadget device thing? Well, now that I suffer from memory loss, what would happen if idiot me forgot and sat upright? Would I, like, DIE?! XD Two years ago, the doctor had said, “Well, you might get a small headache,” but the doctor last year totally dismissed my question with, “Nah, nothing will happen.” So I explained this situation to the doctor I saw for my follow-up, and then said, “I’ll let you be the be-all and end-all of the question. What will happen to me if I’m forgetful and sit back up? Instant death or something particularly gruesome like that?”

She laughed, and reassured, “No, don’t worry. The chances of you even getting a slight headache if you sit upright are remotely minute; in fact, we often walk patients down to the MRI area just to get their shunts reset.”

Well, phew. That’s a huge relief to know, and indeed, when I get back home from the hospital, I post up the James Bond theme song ‘Die Another Day’ on Facebook, meaning that I will indeed live to fight and die another day!

So ends the saga of me having another MRI next year; again, huge thanks to everyone who kept me in their thoughts and prayers. :o)

Next post here … well, depending on how punctual I am, my next post may come on Sunday night! See, the parents and I are attending our church camp tonight for the weekend! Righteo, until then!

Cheers,

Em. ^^

3rd time lucky

So often, we say “oh, third time lucky, maybe!” and for me, that’s exactly what happened!

Sure enough, mother was so grumpy that the silly Broncos had lost to the BOTTOM-PLACED eEels, she demanded dad take us to another match!

So dad goes out and buys three more tickets to the next Broncos match, against the Melbourne Storm. I just moan to mother, “Remember how we got flogged by twenty points to the cellar-dwelling Eels? Well, against the Storm (who are like, minor premiers/close to the top), we’ll probably get thrashed by FORTY! XD

So again mother and I buy two pork salad rolls for our dinner, and again dad drives us to the Eight Mile lains busway station, where we board a bus directly heading for Suncorp stadium. Thankfully, the bus driver knows the way to Suncorp stadium this time, and doesn’t require dad to stand beside him and give him directions. XD

Same as last time, I gently hold dad’s hand and walk well into the stadium. Again, we’re offered those clap banner things; dad takes three, one for each of us.

Mother takes me to the bathroom once shortly before kick-off.

It’s a tight match, and sadly, our hearts are broken when Cooper Cronk breaks the 18-all deadlock with a field goal. And to think I held him in that high regard, too, when he slotted in the winning field goal for the origin series this year! XD

Anyways, in the days after the match, I wonder will mother order dad to take us to yet another game; I think she’s insistent we keep going until we finally win one. XD

Instead, CODA South (the agency that provides me with carers) offered us two free tickets instead! And not just to any match, but the one for Petero Civonaceva’s final match at Suncorp stadium! The really cool thing is that after the full-time siren gets blown, we (the audience) will be allowed down onto the field to farewell Petero! Trust me, when mother rings CODA south to let them know we’ve received the tickets, I lustily yell my heartfelt thanks. XD

Like both times before, I tell Jess, my UQ physio, that dad and I are attending, and she again promises to come visit.

Then I find out that Joshels will be attending, too!

Anyways, just with the last two matches, mother and I go to buy two pork salad rolls and a bottle of water for dinner during the match. The funny thing is, by the time mother pulls into the car park outside Coles, I’m like, busting and unsure whether I can last the long walk to Coles, then the bakery, then the trip home! XD

So I come up with this harebrained idea: “mother, how about you buy the water and I’ll get the pork salad rolls?” mother agrees, then I tentatively make my way over to the Runcorn Plaza Hot Bread, hoping with every timid step that God won’t push me over.

The funny thing is, mother and I frequent the Runcorn Plaza Hot Bread so often (like, at least once every fortnight), the owner lady recognises us! Meaning, as I was making my mincing way over to the counter, she sees me and calls, “Where is your mother?” I don’t answer her until I’ve reached the front counter and have something to brace against. Then I look up, grin, and say, “She’s gone on holiday somewhere. That’s why it’s just me here today.” Obviously, she doesn’t believe me; we both have a good laugh then I tell her the real reason, before ordering the two pork salad rolls.

Suddenly, it’s Friday afternoon, and after aunty Lucia (she’s from Cathay Community Association, which specialises in looking after Asians like myself) helps me with a shower, I munch some afternoon tea (one yummy chicken sushi roll I got from Sushi Paradise that afternoon after ordering a kebab from Naz the kebab guy), use the loo once more before aunty Lucia leaves, plop briefly back online then suddenly, it’s time to head off!

I wave bye to mother then dad drives us to the Eight Mile Plains busway station. Getting out of the car, we suddenly bump into our neighbour, uncle Alan! “Hey, I’m just picking up my daughter (Sharon) from the bus,” he greets us. Then, just as dad and I cross the road, we pass Sharon, who looks up in surprise. “Oh, hi, uncle!” she greets dad.

Luckily, there’s barely any waiting time before we board the bus. Dad and I squish onto the first seat, which, he tells me, is actually only designed for one person. “Luckily, neither of us are very fat,” he laughs. XD

Fortunately, the bus driver knows the way to Suncorp stadium (seems like the first bus driver, who needed dad’s navigational skills to drive everyone to Suncorp stadium, was an aberration. XD)

Dad and I hold hands, and I walk well into the stadium. Again, we each take a proffered clap-banner, which dad folds once we’re seated. Dad also grabs a Petero mask, which is basically a cardboard cut-out of his face with two holes for your eyes. XD

I wonder how dad picks our seats? Or, are they just allocated to us? (Remember, this time, the tickets were free, courtesy of CODA South) Anyways, again, we’re seated slightly to the right of the try line.

It’s about 6:50pm by then, and the under 20’s game is being played. I’m proud to report that the junior broncos won that match, by the way! XD

Anyways, once they end, it’s about 7pm, so dad takes me once to the loo first. Back in our seats, he hands me his mobile and tells me to ring mother, who answers and says she’s just cooking some vermicelli for dinner right then. Again, I see the Courier Mail blimp flying around, and just before the match the broncos cheerleaders prance out onto the field and strut their stuff.

All too soon, kick-off! I cheer loudly for the Broncos, getting a pretty good view, coz for the first half, their try line’s on my side.

Jess appears somewhere during the first half; she and dad nod to each other and she sits beside me. Actually, correction: I don’t think she actually appears until the second half. Oh, curse my shoddy memory, I can’t remember at all when she came, just that she did, okies?! >< XD

Anyways, she tells me that Katrina actually dropped off harry at her place, meaning the lucky lad got to come see the game! “I ordered Jack (that’s his name, I think/hope XD) to grow an extra eye and not lose him!” Jess confides to me, and we both have a laugh.

Alas, the smelly Panthers go into the half time break with a six-nil lead over the poor Broncos. “The Broncos need to step up, we can’t send off Petero with a loss!” I moan to Jess.

Luckily, Hook (dunno how the coach got such a weird nickname XD) must’ve ripped into them something almighty, coz they return on field with all guns a-blazing, and soon, the scores are level, before they pull ahead by one try! Then, just to seal the victory, Peter Wallace slots a field goal, thus sealing the match and sending 35178 spectators (well, the ones that were Broncos supporters, anyway XD) into jubilation.

As the match was nearing completion, some announcement went through the entire stadium, saying that we fans were allowed down onto the playing field to bid Petero Civonaceva a final farewell.

Everyone immediately started rushing down while I waited. Earlier, during the match, I’d asked jess, “Hey, can you please help me down to the field afterwards? Coz we fans are allowed to head down and bid farewell to Petero!”

“You’ll haveta ask your dad first.” Jess replied.

So I did, then turned excitedly back to jess and said, “Dad said yes!” we high-fived, then kept watching the match.

Anyways, after almost everyone had flooded down onto the field, I too went down myself slowly, Jess behind me and dad in front, holding onto my hands. Once onto the pitch, I asked jess, “Where can I sit?” she replied, “Wherever you want.” So I aimed for the try area, sat down, then cheered, “Yeah, I’m four points!” XD

Jess and I posed for several photos, then, suddenly, who should plonk his butt beside me on the turf and say, “Hey, Em,” but Joshels! He’d come to watch this game with some … working people, and they had a corporate box to watch from with catering and everything!

So we took more photos, after which I ordered Jess, “You. Go and find some big strong Broncos player to carry me back up to the bus stop. I’m not hiking up all those bloody stairs I came down on earlier. Jess just laughed. “Sure thing, Emilah,” she laughed, but made absolutely no move to do so. Guess I was gonna haveta haul myself back up there myself. Damn. XD

Anyways, dad walked behind me all the way back up the stairs; there were like ninety-one!

And right at the top, we bumped into that guy who supports the Eels and took our tickets the first time we went to watch a Broncos match! He recognised me too, and we had a good laugh when I asked him, “Who’d you go for this time, sir? I remember you don’t like the Broncos, but ha, we won.” XD

Anyways, turns out Joshels and Mr. Meggs waited for me when I reached the top of the stairs! We all walked together to the bus; thankfully there was only a short wait until we boarded one. Dad and I squeezed in together into the first seat, Joshels just stood beside dad, and Mr. Meggs … “Umm, where’s your dad gone?” I asked Joshels. A happy voice called back, “I’m behind you. Hiding.” XD

Anyways, while the bus driver tootled us home, dad and Josh yakked about work-related topics.

We all got off at the Eight Mile Plains busway station, and I bid Joshels and Mr. Meggs a good night, before dad tootled us home.

Back inside, the first thing I yelled in the direction of upstairs was, “Mum! We won!!” Mother quickly came down to celebrate with us~

Anyways, the Broncos are up tomorrow night against the Cowboys in a do-or-die match! I hope we can win!!

Next post here … umm, perhaps my MRI follow-up, which happens sometime next week. Righteo, until then!

Cheers,

Em. ^^

Susan Gouchee

Heylo one and all~

Sorry, this post isn’t about the most recent Broncos game I went to, like I said in my previous post; rather, it’s about my awesome music teacher, Susan Gouchee, who passed away yesterday with cancer. L

Firstly, her surname is pronounced ‘go-shayy’, not ‘goo-chee’. XD

I was never good enough at singing to be in either the senior A nor the senior B choirs that she conducted, but she was both my music and music extension teacher! (in my defence, I can say that I’m lucky enough to have somehow acquired perfect pitch along the way (although Mikey’s much cooler with absolute pitch XD) and I’m fairly sure that I can sing in tune. XD)

Music extension is a subject that’s only available in year twelve, but you’re supposed to drop one of the six senior subjects you’re currently doing to pick it up.

All throughout year eleven, Mrs. G had been telling me, “Emily, do music extension. Emily, do music extension,” and all throughout year eleven, I’d been responding, “Mrs. G., I’m not willing to drop a subject just to do music extension. Mrs. G., I’m not willing to drop a subject just to take up music extension.” XD Come year twelve, term one, continue that nagging. XD It wasn’t until the beginning of term two that Mrs. G approached me and asked, “Emily, if I ask the headmaster for you and he approves, would you be willing to take up music extension as a seventh senior subject?” my response had been something along the lines of, “Of course! That’s what I’ve been waiting for you to do all along!” Actually, if I remember correctly, which unfortunately, I probably don’t ><, I was lucky enough to top music extension class right when I joined in term two! Poor Josh Mckechie had been so pissed with me. XD

A big part of music extension focuses on composing; Canterbury College used an awesome program called Sibelius, and it was so cool, you could hit the ‘record’ button, playyour tune and the music would automatically be transcribed onto the score for you!

Now, I had the creativity to compose several pieces, but I lacked the creativity to name them! From memory, I simply called them ‘Untitled 1’, ‘Untitled 2’, ‘Untitled 3’, ‘Untitled 4’ and Untitled 5’. Obviously, Mrs. G. wasn’t impressed and sent them back, demanding that I rename them. Fine, whatever. XD So the songs became ‘Piece 1’, ‘Piece 2’, ‘Piece 3’, ‘Piece 4’ and ‘Piece 5’. Unsurprisingly, these names were rejected too; so next, I tried ‘Song 1’, ‘Song 2’, ‘Song 3’, ‘Song 4’ and ‘Song 5’. XD The final ultimatum comes from Mrs. G. “Emily, you give these compositions PROPER names, or I WILL fail you!” Fine, fine. So they get proper names. Actually, BCAC people, you may be familiar with one song: I actually wrote the opening song for PPP back in 2007! I’d called it ‘Power’ or something silly like that, but someone had kindly renamed it something like ‘Overture’ for me. The funny thing was that I didn’t know I had given my song to some PPP higher-up! It wasn’t until the opening night, after all the lights had been turned off, that my song had come on, and I’d been like, “Hey, that sounds familiar … wonder what it’s called?” then, looking at the program, I was like, “Oh my gosh! I wrote that song! Actually, Dr. Lee/fFsobao/Janice, did I send the song to either of you guys?

But back to Mrs. G. After the cruel and unfaithful god so wantonly destroyed my life back in 2007 with the brain tumour, I’d somehow forgotten that I could play piano semi-decently with both hands. Telling Mr. Hall (I wrote a post on him ages back) that, he’d said, “No worries. I’ll go back to Canterbury and ask Mrs. Gouchee (a proper man like him isn’t about to abbreviate anyone’s name XD) if she could find a recording of you playing piano.”

Awesome Mrs. G. did, and after Mr. Hall had brought back a DVD of me playing the piano, I’d e-mailed her, thanking her from the bottom of my heart. She’d replied back almost immediately, with “Of COURSE I remember you!  In fact, Mr Hall has been keeping me up to date with what's been going on - hence, the hunt for the video.

As you would see from the video, you were a lot more than "half-way decent".  I not only remember you for your excellent musicianship and intelligence, but you were also the first student to undertake Music Extension as a 7th subject AND you got straight A's.  You were always a very clever girl and an excellent musician.”

After that, she’d invited me to a Cantabile (Canterbury College’s top girls choir) concert, complete with a free ticket! (usually, they’re fifty bucks.) Mr. Hall had kindly driven mother and I along to St. Paul’s/John’s cathedral, and I’d been so excited to see Mrs. G., I called out her name! Lol, I got SLAPPED by mother for that, but I didn’t really care, coz I was just so excited to see Mrs. G.! Obviously, she was too, coz she immediately jumped down from the stage and rushed over for a quick hug and chat before returning to her singers. XD

Unfortunately, that was basically the last time I kept in touch with Mrs. G. We did exchange Christmas greetings, where she did hint about being ill, but really, I didn’t know anything was seriously amiss until Julz rang mother last night to let us know that Mrs. G. was seriously ill with breast cancer. ><

And the final devastation this afternoon, when I logged into Facebook to find my news feed littered with messages of R.I.P to Mrs. Gouchee. ><

So here’s to the bestest music teacher I was lucky to have; hopefully you’ll be happy in heaven. You’ll be sorely missed, mrs. G.~

Anyways, next post here … really, I’ve gotta post about that absolutely heartbreaking Broncos match the parents and I attended last Friday! Righteo, until then~

Cheers,

Em. ^^

P.S. if anyone/any place is offended by me mentionng them in this post, please let me know and I’ll immediately erase  all traces of you being here.

People's Day 2012

Someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the EKK day public show holiday called “People’s Day?”

Ever since the cruel and unfaithful god so wantonly destroyed my life with the disabling brain tumour back in 2007, obviously I haven’t been in any shape physically to attend the EKKA. Furthermore, I now have a drain running from my abdomen running all the way up to my brain, and mother insists that if I catch any kinda sickness in my tummy, it’ll travel straight up to my brain and I’d be six feet under quicker than … well, anything. XD

But I had a super good day that Wednesday, and here’s why:

Aunty Shuk Lai has been living with us the past several days. She used to attend AIC (Antioch International Church, our old church at Sunnybank Hills), but several years ago moved up to Townsville to teach English. However, she’s recently moved back down to Brisbane, and before she settles her own home down here, she’s been staying with us.

Anyways, dad decides to take us all down to the Gold Coast for fish and chips! And after breakfast of half a slice of yummy thick raisin toast with the merest dab of butter ever and one mug of warm Horlicks, we’re off! (Dad had somehow gotten three slices of raisin toast; he and Aunty Shuk Lai got one each, while mother and I halved the remaining slice)

Dad drives, obviously, with Aunty Shuk Lai sitting in the passenger seat, while mother and I sit in the back.

We have a smooth run down to Ian Dipple Lagoon (the place where Charis Seafood is, where they feed the pelicans everyday at 1:30pm) and arrive there about thirty minutes after midday. But did you know, those smart/hungry birds are already waiting for their meal! XD

Dad buys us all some fish and chips. I happily munch on one yummy scallop, (anyone know, are the orangey parts inside really their intestines?! Sounds disgusting, anyhow XD), one calamari ring, one wee chunk of battered fish and exactly ten chips. Originally, dad had only given me nine, but I begged mum for just one more, just “to reach double digits.” XD

After lunch and one loo trip, dad takes us walking along … lol, I dunno, the promenade? We get turned back at one area, though; some woman explains to us that they’re filming some kids cartoon series about dolphins that will be aired on channel Ten!

After our stroll, our other destination for the day is Reverend Lam’s house! See, we’d all been invited to dinner with them. ^^

The day before, dad had received an SMS from Reverend Lam’s number, but signed ‘ci mo’. Mother asked who that was, and I replied, “Duh, say that in canto. ‘Ci mo’ is the reverend’s wife, obviously.” XD

When we arrive, mother helps me once to the loo, after which I make a direct beeline for the pastor’s comfy armchair.

Again, he notices, and again, he says, “That’s the pastor’s chair! Only pastors are allowed to sit in there!’ Again, I reply, “But Reverend Lam, I thought only males were allowed to become pastors?” Only this time, there’s a difference! “Nope!” he grins, “Females are allowed to become pastors too, now!” Lol, fine. I may as well become one, seeing as the cruel and unfaithful god has left me too disabled and useless to become anything else. >< *sigh*

The parents, Aunty Shuk Lai and ci mo (the pastor’s wife) all head out to stroll the area around Reverend Lam’s place, while I doze in his comfy armchair. Reverend Lam whips up dinner, fields a phone call (so now, I will forever remember his car licence plate number has RBC on it, coz he told some guy, “RBC, radio broadcasting commission,” and when the guy didn’t understand, tried again with “RBC. Red blood cell.” XD) and even turns on the television for me so I can watch Ten’s news at 5pm, before I watch Seven’s at 6pm.

When Mrs. Lam, Aunty Shuk Lai and the parents return home from their stroll, mother helps me once again to the toilet. Then it’s dinner time!

Alas, the pastor and his wife eat what I call the ‘yucky rice’, which is like purple, red and brown grains of rice! Lol, I don’t think any white rice was used at all! There were also lotsa yummy beans (grown by mrs. Lam herself!) and most amazingly, some KFC chicken! I asked Reverend Lam, “Umm … you didn’t go out and specifically buy us some KFC for dinner tonight, did you?” to which he laughed and replied, “No, no! Him Wong (‘him sook’ in canto) came over this morning and brought us lots of KFC! You’re just eating the leftovers!” XD

Thankfully, reverend lam DIDN’T make us his famous chocolate COLOURED cake this time around! (You can read my reaction to it in a previous blog post, from memory entitled ‘pastoral visit2’.) We just had tea in little thimble cups and fruit (pear, strawberries and oranges, if memory serves me correctly, which alas, so often does not ><).

After chatting away till almost 9pm, mother decided ‘twas time we took leave of Reverend Lam and his wife. Before we left, Reverend Lam asked dad, “Do you know how to get home from here? And dad laughs, replying, “Sure! I got home last time, didn’t i?” XD

Anyways, I definitely really enjoyed the public holiday last Wednesday! Does anyone know when the next one is? Hopefully not Christmas, coz that’s still MONTHS away! XD

Next post here … should come by this Friday, at the latest. See, mother really DID order dad to take us to watch another broncos game; I’ll tell you the whole heartbreaking story of that hopefully sometime this week. XD righteo, until then!

Cheers,

Em. ^^

P.S. I realise the EKKA public holiday’s over, but I still haven’t gotten a showbag yet! >< anyone going that can please buy one for me? I’m after the one called ‘Domo’; it’s twenty bucks and I’ll pay you back for it, of course! Please lemme know if you can help; many thanks! ^^

broncos

Having lived in Brisbane for the past twenty-odd years (the parents and I immigrated here from Hong Kong around October 1990) and being a rugby league, not rugby union, fan, it should come as no surprise to you when I proudly declare that I’m a supporter of the Brisbane Broncos!

I’ve only ever been to see one live match, though, and that was more than twenty years ago! I went to ANZ Stadium with dad, Pole, Pole’s dad and her grandpa, although I must confess that I’ve forgotten who we played, where we sat and even if we won or lost the match! The only thing I remembered about the match is that they let off fireworks before play began, and poor Pole was scared of all the noise. XD

For the State of Origin decider this year, someone had actually offered my dad two free tickets, but unfortunately, dad had to turn them down coz he wasn’t sure if I’d be able to manage the stairs involved with sitting at a stadium.

However, when I asked my UQ physio facilitator about them, she said, “Of course you can manage the stairs, Em! Here, how about this: when you come on Friday, you can trying climbing the little staircase we’ve got here (it’s four steps); I’ll even deck it out in Broncos colours all for you, how does that sound?’

That sounded like a plan to me, but when I came on Friday, I practised taking those stairs about twelve times, sans decorations. Why? Because just after I arrived and gone once to the bathroom, another teacher came out to the waiting room and told mother and I, “Sorry, there’s a little emergency going on. One of our elderly patients may be having a minor heart attack; we’ve called an ambulance for him, just in case.”

Anyways, after dad came home with our tickets, I e-mailed my UQ teacher, Jess, and she quickly responded, “Cool. My boyfriend and I have season tickets; I promise I’ll come find you during the match, okay?” Awesome~

The only thing I was debating about was what to wear. See, mother owns a Broncos polo, but I’ve only got a Queenslander State of Origin jersey. I thought I’d just wear that, but my awesome father goes out somewhere and buys a Broncos jersey for me, too! :D

Monday afternoon, and mother stops at the Runcorn Plaza bakery to buy us pork salad rolls, which she says will serve as our dinner that night.

And all too soon, it’s time to head off! Dad drives us all to the Eight Mile Plains busway station, where we board a special bus directly headed for Suncorp stadium!

When we arrive, dad leads me into the stadium. There’s people handing out these broncos coloured cardboard things; I take one, telling myself we’ll investigate it once we find our seats.

As we approach the seats, there’s a man standing there, taking our tickets. As I walk up to him, I cheer, “Go the Broncos!” He laughs, then apologises, “Sorry, I’m an Eels supporter.” I point my palm to his face – “In that case, sir, speak to the hand.” He laughs again, and then asks for our tickets. Mother hands them over to him; he takes a quick look, and then looks back at me, eyes twinkling. “Sorry, miss; there are only two tickets here. One for your mum and one for your dad. Guess you’ll haveta turn around and go home.”

“Damn, you win,” I grumbled back at him, and he laughs again before pointing us in the direction of our seats.

And dad found us very good seats, indeed! We were just slightly to the side of the goal posts!

The teams come out to warm-up, as do the cheerleaders. There’s even a courier mail blimp flying around the stadium somewhere!

For some odd reason, I was expecting the national anthem to get played, although of course it wasn’t; that only gets played for tests against other counties, grand finals and the like!

The teams come out, and all too soon, the whistle gets blown and the game starts! I cheer loudly every time I hear the Broncos supporters sitting directly in front of me cheer. XD

Because it was still the end of July, it was still fairly cold, and mother had put a beanie onto my head; actually, it was the bunny rabbit-ish hat that my cousin Carrie had sent me along with the rabbit head hat my uncle Dick Dick had sent me from Hong Kong early 2011. Anyways, I was watching the game, when I felt someone tugging at one of the rabbit ears. Annoyed, I turned around to tell dad off, but he was intently watching the match. Perhaps I’d imagined it, then. So I turned back around and continued to watch the game, only for the tugging to start again! This time, I turned my whole body around to try and see who the hell was playing with my hat, and there, grinning maniacally at me, was my UQ teacher, Jess! “Hey, Emilah,” she laughs. I may just tell you now that she finds ‘Emily’ too boring a name for me, and has come up with all these ones starting with ‘em’; like, Emilah, Embo, Eminem, etc. XD I said ‘no’ to Embo coz it made me sound like a bogan, and ‘no’ to Eminem coz I’m not a rapper! XD

So I introduce her to dad, and they shake hands. Then Jess tells me that she’s actually here with her boyfriend and some of his mates. “Just out of curiosity,’ I ask her, “how long did you play with my beanie until I noticed and turned around? Please don’t tell me that you’ve been sitting behind me doing that for the last twenty minutes, and I’ve only just noticed!’ ><’ “Oh, no, no,” Jess laughs. “Only like ten seconds.” Phew! XD

Unfortunately, the time that Jess wanders over to visit is about the time the Eels quickly pile on two more tries, and Jess stands to take her leave of us. “I’d better get back,’ she explains, “need to make sure my boyfriend hasn’t done anything drastic like commit seppuku or something because of those two tries.” XD

Anyways, once the half-time siren sounds, mother takes me to the bathroom once. As I climb the stairs, I see the guy who’d taken our tickets before the match and I moaned to him. “You must be happy; the poor Broncos are losing!’ he grins and says, “Don’t worry, here’s what we’ll do; we’re gonna plant a bomb in the Parramatta dressing room, okay?” Suspicious, I ask him, “But when will the bomb go off?’ he considers for a second, then replies, “when they’re coming back out of the change room.” I shake my head at him. “No, that won’t do at all, sir, I need the bomb to go off while all the players are still INSIDE the change room, not when they’re all starting to come out, coz that way, the bomb blast will miss some of them! No, for the biggest number of casualties, the bomb must go off while they’re all still INSIDE their dressing room.” He laughs and replies, “I’ll see what I can do.”

Anyways, after mother helps me once in the loo, I sit back down and munch like 2/3 of a pork salad roll for dinner, while waiting for the lads to come back out and play the second half.

Oh, and those cardboard things handed out before the match? They’re called ‘clappers’, and after you fold them up like a fan and bang them against any surface, they produce a really loud clapping sound! How cool~XD

When the players come back out and resume play, I watch the second half with great enthusiasm. For a short while, it looks like the Broncos are making a strong comeback, but in the end, the Eels whop the lads by twenty points. *cringe* XD

After the match, I leave the stadium with the parents. There’s about a five minute wait for the buses; we make it into the third or fourth bus that comes our way.

This time, it’s a female bus driver that takes us all back to the Eight Mile Plains busway station. Oh, something else I forgot to mention; the male bus driver that drove us to Suncorp Stadium, he didn’t know the way! Dad ended up standing beside him and giving him directions! XD

Once we get back into our 4WD, I was actually quite starving! 2/3 of a pork salad roll really isn’t that filling for dinner, see. But Mum tells dad to get us some Maccas! Dad orders a Mc Chicken medium meal for himself, then a Filet-o-fish for mother and I to share. Hey, does anyone know, are those burgers pronounced ‘fillet-o-fish,’ or ‘fill-aye-o-fish’?

Anyways, back home, I happily munch on my half a fillet-o-fish burger. Mother only gives me nine chips, but I ask dad please for one more, just to reach double digits, and he gives me two! :D

So ends the adventure of this Chan family going to watch the NRL last Monday night, actually, wait! Mother was so grumpy that we got flogged by Parramatta, I think she demanded dad take us to see another game next next Friday or sth like that! XD

Next post here … perhaps this Thursday night, after the monthly book club! The book we are doing for august is a HORROR novel, eep! XD righteo, until then!

Cheers,

Em. ^^

SHINE dinner

Well, last Friday, I joined the rest of SHINE fellowship for dinner somewhere in Woolloongabba (sp? Sorry, I can never remember how many double o’s, l’s and b’s are in that name XD), where a member of SHINE fellowship is a chef there!

I’d RSVP’d earlier that week to Michael, and added that I’d join in the carpool, which was to all meet up at Sunnybank Plaza somewhere before setting off. Only, I never heard back from him! It wasn’t until when I got back home from late night shopping at Garbo with my carer/life coach/support worker/whatever they’re called now :P that mother told me, “Oh, Thomas rang tonight and said he’d pick you up at 6:15pm then drive you to the restaurant.”

Come 6:15pm that Friday night, Thomas’s car pulls into our driveway. Inside is seated also his mother and little baby Karis! (well, she’s not really that little anymore, I think she’s nearing eight months!)

I pile into the car also, and Thomas drives away, but not to the restaurant! Nope, he goes to pick up Alfee, who lives near Pinelands Plaza.

By the time we arrive at the restaurant (which I’ve forgotten the name of, terribly sorry XD), it’s already pitch black. Alfee kindly lends me her arm to hold while we walk up some stairs to the restaurant’s entrance, then Uncle Kelvin Cham grabs me a seat while everyone else waits to be seated inside the restaurant.

Walking up the four steps, I spend the next five minutes leaning against the counter as everyone fills in some forms. When it’s my turn, the bouncer dude hands me the pen and book; I fill out my name, address and get handed a little slip of paper in return. Then, Alfee walks with me to some long table that’s been reserved for us under Michael’s name.

I sit down one seat to the side of the head seat; Michael and Anna sit to either side of me.

Browsing the menu, I note with interest that most meals are over twenty dollars! “I thought Michael said we only needed twenty bucks?” I asked Dr. Dr. Tai. “That’s all I brought.”

“Oh, no, chose whatever you want,” she replied, laughing. “I’m shouting.”

“Umm … why?” I wondered.

“Coz you shouted me dinner over at your place last week!”

Huh, that’s not a good enough reason. I make up my mind to pay whoever’s collecting the money quickly and deny Dr. Dr. Tai the chance to shout me. XD

Michael says the restaurant’s famous for the sticky pork belly, and that’s what both he and Dr. Dr. Tai order. Me, with only my twenty bucks, decide on the chicken schnitzel. But then Dr. Dr. Tai has a suggestion. “Hey, I wanna try some chicken too! How about we share?” Sounds good~

Our food arrives quickly, and after someone prays for us, we dig in! Thanks to Dr. Dr. Tai who cut up my chicken schnitzel for me, and Michael who poured my gravy all over my plate for me.

The food is delicious. I eat all my vegetables first, asking and gaining permission from Dr. Dr. Tai to dump all my cucumber over the plate. Sorry, but it tasted feral. XD

Dr. Dr. Tai passed me three large chunks of her pork belly, and after eating them, I can understand why Michael said they were famous for that dish, coz ‘twas simply scrumptious! Only, noticing that Dr. Dr. Tai had passed me three slices of pork but not taken any of my chicken in return, I spear the largest slice of chicken left on my plate and drop it onto hers. She looks up with surprise, and I order, “Eat. You’ve already given me lots of pork, but you haven’t taken any in return.” She laughs, then is a good girl and complies. XD

Partway through dinner, chef dude (huge apologies, I’ve honestly forgotten his name! ><”) wanders out and asks if we’re all enjoying our meals. I ask him, “What did you cook for us tonight?”

He asks back, “What did you eat?”

‘I had the chicken schnitzel; Michael and Anna here both had the pork belly.”

Chef dude considers for a moment. “Well … I cooked the vegetables on your dish!”

Ah, I had a point to pick with him, then. Pointing to the little green pieces lying on the tablecloth around my plate, I ask, “Is that cucumber? Normally, I like cucumber, but that’s really disgusting, sorry.” Chef dude peers at my vegetables, and then shakes his head. “Uh, nope, sorry, that’s not cucumber. That’s zucchini.’

Thank-you. From now on, I will know to avoid zucchini like the blazes! XD

As we near the end of dinner, Dr. Dr. Tai suddenly declares that she wants wine! Two bottles are promptly ordered, and I try some of each. The white wine’s a fail, coz it’s fizzy and I don’t like fizzy drinks, but the red wine’s a fail too, coz it’s simply REVOLTING! XD

But have you ever burped after you drink alcohol? It’s really weird, even your nose clears! ><”

After dinner, I ask Dr. Dr. Tai please to help me once to the loo. Dunno why the place didn’t have a disabled loo, but I manage fine by myself without a handrail. Dr. Dr. Tai kindly gives me some privacy by turning around and facing the door.

Back outside, one of the Chow sister’s is collecting money. I quickly pay, and then say triumphantly to Dr. Dr. Tai, “Ha, I’ve already paid for myself! You didn’t get to shout me!” She laughs and retorts, “Next time.” XD

Suddenly, a security guard/restaurant employee wanders over and tells Dr. Dr. Tai that all minors must be out of the restaurant by 10pm. I ask Dr. Dr. Tai, “What’s wrong with that? The youngest person here is Bernard, and he turned twenty-five in May!” She laughs, then answers, “You forgot baby Karis.” Whoops, I did too! XD

Dr. Dr. Tai helps me walk out to the entrance, where we wait for Michael (earlier, Thomas had told me that Michael would drive me home tonight. When he arrives, I climb into the front seat and somehow manage to buckle my own seatbelt without sight (the cruel and unfaithful God’s left me with crappy night vision, sorry). After everyone else piles into Michael’s car, I do a head count. “Driver Michael, are you here?” he laughs and replies, “I’m here.” Then I move onto the three backseat passengers. “Big Chow, where are you?’ another laugh, then Smoky replies, “I’m here!” Good. So I move along. “Medium chow, are you here too?’ this time, it’s Kathy who replies, “I’m here too!” Awesome. Last one, then. “And where are you, little Chow?” this time, it’s Vicky’s turn to laugh as she replies, “I’m here too!” so I turn back to Michael. “We’re all present and accounted for, Mr. Driver.” I tell him. “Please drive us home.”

And he does, driving the three Chow sisters home first (they live in Underwood somewhere, methinks) before dropping me back to my place.

And thus ends a great night out. :)

Next post here … should come next Tuesday! See, dad’s taking mother and I to Suncorp Stadium, and we’re all watching the Broncos match on Monday night! If we win, I’ll try manage a post on Tuesday! (If we lose, however, I’ll prolly just sulk and refuse to type up anything. XD)Righteo, until then!~

Cheers,

Em. ^^

origin three 2012

Back at the end of 2010, after the mighty Maroons had won five successive origin series, I said to the smelly Blues, “Well, thanks, that’s a new record, winning five straight years. If you guys really insist, you guys can win next year’s series. We’ve gotta keep some competition running, you know.”

Only when I realised that last year was Darren Lockyer’s final swansong year, I had to take that statement back. I mean, can you imagine winning five straight years, then for your sixth and final year, going out with a loss? That’d be a TERRIBLE way to finish your career! So I said to the  Blues, “Sorry, guys, you gotta let the mighty Maroons win this year too.”

They did, and come 2012, I was fully prepared to let the Blues win the series this year; I mean, six straight losses and their morale must be pretty low.

But the mighty Maroons showed what true champions they are by taking out this series too, taking their dominance to SEVEN consecutive years!

Before the first game, I’d gotten permission from dad to invite Uncle Colbert over for the game. My invitation was more or less the same as last year’s invite: “You are formally invited to the Chan household to watch the opening State of Origin match. Just remember, the same rules as last year apply: wear NOTHING blue. If you come wearing anything blue, I simply won’t let you inside the house, or, if you get inside before I notice you’re wearing something blue, I’ll simply push you back out the door. If you’re too strong for me to accomplish that, I’ll simply call for my dad to toss you out. That won’t be any problem, you see: he’s a bigger build than you.” XD last year, Uncle Colbert had replied, “Message received. Don’t worry; I have a pair of brown pants that I can wear. I just have to do some ironing first.” So this year, I suggested, “Perhaps you should find those brown pants you wore last year and get your iron ready?” but he replied, “Don’t worry, because I went back to Hong Kong at the beginning of this year and bought many pairs of non-blue pants.” XD

Come the afternoon of the first origin, my carer/life coach/support worker/whatever you call them now :P had wizened up after last year’s State of Origin and not gotten me anything blue to wear. Last year, she’d passed me a pair of blue underwear to put on, and I’d demanded, “Carol, please get me a pair of white underwear, or something not blue. I’m not wearing this pair!” She argued back, ‘but Em, it’s not like anyone’s gonna see you wearing the blue knickers. You’ll be fine.” But I insisted, “Carol, if we lose the first game tonight, I’ll KNOW for SURE that it was my fault coz I wore blue underwear! Now hurry up and get me another coloured pair, please.” Laughing, she did so. XD

I’d also brought along a packet of chips to serve as our snack food for the game; they came with a funny story behind them, too! See, one morning, when I was at UQ doing physio, Karen the teacher (actually, I believe they’re called ‘facilitators’) had wandered over and said, “Emily, if you can clasp both hands together, bend down and touch the floor with your hands, I’ll buy you a bag of chips.” I’d done so, and then asked her if she’d keep her promise. She’d laughed, saying, “Sure. But it’ll be a very small bag of chips, and we’ll eat most of them for you.” Lol, that was fine with me, coz I hadn’t been expecting any chips!

Most days, I end my UQ physio session by walking two laps down and back the hallway before leaving. However, that day, karen suddenly had the insane idea of turning me around and sending me walking down the hallway again! I’d complied, but not before grumbling, “You’d better buy me a BLOODY big bag of chips! And I get to eat some, too!” Karen had laughed and agreed, before asking me which kinda chips did I want? I’d answered, “There’s this brand called ‘Red Rock Deli, and they have this flavour called ‘honey soy chicken’. I want that, please.” Laughing, she’d agreed, and then sent me down plodding those extra two laps. XD

When Uncle Colbert had arrived at our place that Wednesday evening, I’d gone and opened the door for him. The moment I saw him, he’d waved his hands around himself, saying, “See? Nothing blue, honestly!” I’d laughed, opened the door and beckoned him inside, saying, “Come inside first, Uncle Colbert. It’s too dark outside, I can’t see what you’re wearing at all!” once he’d entered our hallway and was illuminated by the lights, I’d ordered, “Freeze. Uniform inspection.” He was a sport and obediently stood stock still. My eyes gave him a very thorough inspection, but like last year, I could detect nothing wrong, so I just said, in the end, “Welcome to our house!” (What I actually said was like “Thanks for not wearing anything visibly blue. You could be wearing blue underwear for all I care, but obviously I’m not gonna check that!” XD

The game was awesome, probably because the mighty Maroons prevailed and we won. : P Mother fed me about 1.5 tofu containers of the delicious honey soy chicken chips that I’d won from Karen; dad and Uncle Colbert gobbled the rest up.

The next day, Thursday, I attended writers group. Having won, I of course rewore my Queensland jersey to show off the power of the mighty Maroons!

Fast forward like one month, and the second state of origin loomed. Again, Uncle Colbert was invited and again, he passed my strict uniform inspection. : P Unfortunately, the smelly blues won the second match (it being held in Sydney probably helped) so I didn’t bother wearing my Queenslander jersey the next day nor did I ask mother to buy the paper for me. XD

However, Uncle Colbert didn’t watch the decider with us! See, Aunty Winnie had already organised a short family holiday up to the Sunshine Coast for that. I sent him an e-mail with the subject heading ‘your choice’, explaining to him how I’d bumped into his wife at Warrigal Square that afternoon and how she’d explained that their family was going on holiday somewhere. Near the end of the e-mail, I asked him, “If we lose this match and therefore the series, may I have your permission to send you a very irate e-mail blaming you for Queensland’s loss?” XD

Uncle Colbert replied immediately (he’s got an iphone, which instantly notifies him of any new received e-mail) and said that he was going on holiday ‘in order to show a wider base of support’. XD

I e-mailed him back, saying “Oops, sorry, I forgot! Do you remember Bear Bear, my favourite teddy? Well, he’s turning NINETEEN at the end of this year, and mother says it’s time to retire him, lest he fall apart completely. So he’d just like to say bye to you.” Nice Uncle Colbert immediately responded with “Please wish old ted a peaceful retirement for me.” :)

Anyway, that Sunday, Janice came over to visit me, and when we were discussing the final origin game and I told her about how uncle Colbert couldn’t come watch it with dad and I, she said, “Hey, you should ask my dad along instead! He loves that kinda stuff!” so after asking dad for permission, I invited him through Facebook.

The next day, Uncle Yuk Tai replied, thanking me for the invite but having to decline coz he was spending Wednesday night having dinner with some missionaries.

So the audience for the final origin decider was whittled down to just three: Bear Bear, dad and I. Mother avoids these games, because she gets way too over excited and starts screeching things like “RUN!!!” at the players, even though they’re on the television set and can’t hear her. XD

Because it was the final ever origin series for Bear Bear, we stood along with the rest of the crowd for the national anthem, and I placed Bear Bear’s arm against his heart for him. XD

The game itself was nerve-wracking! When the clock hit sixty-five minutes, I asked mother please to put my dessert in the oven for me. (usually, I get only like 1.5 level spoonfuls of ice-cream for dessert every Wednesday night, but now that it’s Winter, mother has decided that it’s now too cold for ice-cream and instead feeds me this little custard puff pastry thing. It’s quite yummy!)

So it bakes, and the game draws to a tie. It’s nerve-wracking, and all kudos goes to Cooper Cronk for slotting that field goal that eventually won the mighty Maroons the match and their seventh consecutive series, so perfectly!

Only … we were all so engrossed with watching the Origin decider that we all totally forgot about my custard puff that was baking in the oven! That is, until, our fire alarm starts SHRIEKING at us! *BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!!!* It yells. “Eep!” wails mother, as she flies to open all the windows. But hot air rises, yes? And once dad managed to defuse the downstairs smoke alarm, the upstairs one joins in! *BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!!!* XD

Sometime during all that commotion, the phone suddenly rings. “Oh, that’s Uncle Colbert, I bet,” says mother, taking the phone. “Hi, Colbert!” she greets him without even asking who was speaking. “We won!” and she was right! I have a cheer on the phone to him also, and dad tries to have Facetime with him using my ipad, but uncle Colbert calls suddenly over the phone, “Oh, sorry! No wi-fi reception here!” XD

When Darren Lockyer retired last year, he was carried off on the shoulders of his team mates. This year, they did the same for Petero, although, of course, he needed two of the bigger guys in the team to carry him off. Personally, I did the same for Bear Bear. XD

Anyways, when I got inside, I announced to Bluetooth (the blue Ikea nightlight that dearest dad bought for me) “We won!” and the silly light burst into tears! “Thank god!” the silly light sobbed! “I was so afraid the Blues were gonna win! Bear Bear and Daddy Bear already told me that if NSW won, they wouldn’t speak to me for a week!” aww, poor Bluetooth. It’s not his fault that he’s blue coloured. XD

Anyways, I had great fun rubbing it in to my high school buddy Mel and one of my carers, Annette that their beloved Blues had lost. AGAIN. XD

But seriously, isn’t it time NSW won a series again? See, we’ve gotta keep the competition going, you know!

My UQ physio teacher certainly doesn’t agree with me, though! “No way, Em!” jess says. “We should only consider letting them win after we win TEN series in a row!” XD

Anyways, next post here … well, maybe this Thursday, coz our monthly book club’s happening! I haven’t blogged about a book club meeting for ages! Righteo, until then!

Cheers,

Em. ^^