... it is so good to catch up on the entries

It has been almost 3.5 years since I last posted. What happened? 

A couple of things - Connie retired end 2015 and Nathan arrived in Feb 2016!

Connie retirement means that I have less access to iMac and the photos that are stored there. We also fired the maid so I am busy doing most of the house work - cleaning, ironing and washing. Nathan's arrival meant a lot less 'me' time was we have grandparent duties from early in the morning till the evening every weekday. So much so I am now referred to by friends as 'grandpa' and everyone know that I am only available on Thursday afternoon for golf or DDZ. All in all life seems to be too hectic to post.

Going forward the posts will be infrequent as Dylan has arrived and we are even more busy. Even though J&A has hired a maid, life is just activity packed. From sending and fetching Nate from kindergarten, buying lunch, bringing him to swim lessons, putting him down to nap, ...

Life is busy, hectic and tiring but still great ... as we watch Nathan and Dylan grow! They are real cuties and brings lots of joy. 

Also am really happy that Ken has found his niche - living in SF, enjoying the life style there, playing golf, squash and skiing and meeting Audrie. Hopefully things will take it's natural course and he will have a life partner.

I have always expressed that my expiry date is 65 and in half a year I will reach that mile stone - also eligible to start receiving my retirement monthly payout. As of now - I am happy to say good bye if it so happens. Life has been good and regrets have been few.

Life has been and is great! 

... so good to celebrate Connie's 60th Birthday

10 July 2016 marks not only Connie's 60th birthday (and officially becoming a senior citizen) but also marks our 34th wedding anniversary. 

As in our tradition, we gathered our close friends for a Chinese dinner with karaoke! This year the group was extended to include Lawrence and Cindy. Lawrence has always been a close friend of Connie and unfortunately the relationship was strained over the last decade but things seems to have been patched up. 

It was additionally special that Kenneth was back from US for a friend's wedding but also managed to celebrate the occasion with us. He made a guest appearance before heading off to the wedding. Of course, her BFF were all present. We thank God for these friends that have shared our lives over the last 40-50 years through thick and thin, ups and downs. joy and pain! 

We had a second round of celebration with the family at Woollonmooloo Steak House. Though the name is Australian (Woolloomooloo is a suburb of Sydney) it is actually an Hong Kong chain.

Their speciality is the Tomahawk steak which was about 2+kg of meat that we shared. We definitely rate it better than Morton or Lawry. Great food and feeling so blessed to be surrounded by family. Nathan is 4 months old and a very behaved baby - such a blessing that he can be with us through dinner without fussing.

Thank you, Connie for 34 years of continually supporting me. I know at times you may disagree with my decision but you have never failed to stand beside me. As the mother to our children and grandmother to Nathan you have done an excellent job of loving and caring for them. I am eternally grateful to God for bringing you into my life!

.. so good to extend the Chan family line

12 Feb marks a major milestone for the entire family with the birth of Nathan Chan at 10.03am. But the drama started the night before around 10pm when the contractions started. From then it was a real roller coaster experience for his parents and the grandparents.

Before that Andrea had requested that we prepare some jello for her to have as sustenance during labor. Connie was supposed to cook that night but the call came in even before the jello set.

We all rushed down to the hospital but the dilation was so slow that we were advised to go home and come back the next day. Furthermore only Jon was allowed to be in the delivery room with her. So reluctantly we left but even before we could drive out of the car park, Jon called to say that Andrea wanted to come out and be with us. So we all turned around and headed up the delivery area again.

Andrea was determined to deliver naturally without any pain killer but we could see that she was in intense pain though dilation was extremely slow. We stayed for a couple of hours after which Andrea really had to go back in and rest as the pain was getting too intense.

We went home but for the rest of the night, we slept fitfully half expecting a call from Jon to say Nathan was delivered. It wasn't until early morning to say that the gynecologist was coming in to deliver Nathan. So we rushed down again at about 7am. But we had to wait for another 3 hours before we could see Nathan being wheeled out of the delivery ward to his room.

We went through the whole range of emotion - excitement when we first heard that Andrea was going into labour, to pain as we shared the intense pain of her labour, to anxiety as we did not know what was happening through the night and finally the joy of seeing Nathan - healthy and full of hair!

When Jon was born it was an amazing miracle to us - how we could instant love him and want to protect him. Nathan's delivery brought us to an even higher level of love! This day will always be a special day in our lives along side our wedding day, the birth of each of our son! Praise God for the miracle of life!

Thank you Jon and Andrea for sharing with us this wonderful day!

... so good to start a new tradition

This is the first Chinese New Year since Jon and Andrea got married. So Connie wanted to start a new tradition of having a steamboat dinner on CNY eve. Looking forward to many more such meals especially when we can have 3 generations at the same table!

Connie prepared a great spread with scallops, sliced beef, sliced pork, prawns, crab sticks, many different kind of balls and lots of veggie.

Though Andrea was close to the delivery date of our first grand kid she continues to have a healthy appetite as she did not experience any morning sickness. Actually she had a great pregnancy with little discomfort.

Really thank God for the easy pregnancy and the gift of a grand kid!

... so good to celebrate Sau Chee's 60th birthday

Connie's best friend for over half a century celebrated her 60th birthday! Sau Chee (Eileen) not only has been a faithful and great friend but she also gave half her life to serve God as a missionary in Indonesia. Her life is an inspiration to all around her.

She is truly a gift from God to all of us. It was a joy and privilege to share the celebration with her! God is great ... life is good!

... so good to have another break at the beginning of the year

To kick off the year - 3 couples (Gabriel & Maria, Wilson & Selina, Connie & I) decided to take a quick break to Bangkok for golf, massage, food, shopping and relaxation!

It was so good to be with friends and enjoy chit chatting over wine and snacks during happy hour. Thai food is delicious and not so expensive! 

Golf was fun though we all played less than good. Ended up how many balls were lost instead of strokes!! But it was fun walking 2 X 18 holes around some beautiful scenery. 

No sight-seeing this trip as we did all that in May last year. So we spend the rest day at Healthland Spa - loved the massage. Followed by shopping at Thaniya Plaza with 5 storeys of golf shops. Bought some cheap arm sleeves, belts, gloves, legging, etc

All in all - a great start to the year with a quick break! Life is great!

... so good to start the year celebrating Stephanie's wedding

Stephanie (my colleague from Infor) got hitched on the second day of the new year! Her wedding dinner almost became an Infor D&D event!! Lots of old colleagues catching up over cocktails and dinner. We were the noisiest tables that night - including the loudest 'yum seng'.

It was also an opportunity to pull out the casual jacket that Jon bought for me! No bad looking couple at almost 60! Mary Loo had an application on her phone that was supposed to beautify selfies - I guess to remove wrinkles and blemishes! 

Stephanie was a lovely gal that helped organised many Infor gathering and we are so happy for her that she found her special one! Congrats! Life is so good when we can celebrate!