Growing Old

Just came back from a holiday in Japan. Saw the sights and enjoyed myself. Its a nice place to visit although I think that a lot is lost as I do not speak the language and the tour was conducted in Mandarin, which is not my strongest language.

What struck me during the trip is that I am getting old. I have never really thought of myself that way. Old always meant my bosses or my parents. A few things happened during the trip that really stuck to me. The first was when a young man (about 21 years old) called my wife “auntie”. (In Singapore, you generally refer to those that are a generation above you as “uncle” or “auntie” as a sign of respect. Blood relation is not a requirement.) I sniggered a little about this until the next morning when I was walking past another family which had a son that was much taller than me who said “Good morning, uncle.”. Up till then, I only expected people my kids’ age to be calling me that. (Primary school and below.)

The second sign of aging was the fact that I spent most of the trip with my knee aching on one leg and my ankle aching on the other. Made walking and climbing up stairs rather difficult. I reminded myself of my late grandmother in the way I was moving at times.

Finally, I realized during my flight back that my ankle was actually swelling during the flight. This was something that had never ever happened to me before. I realized then that it had actually happened during the trip as well to the extent that my shoes were actually too tight for me.

Well, I am not quite ready to breakdown yet but it is getting clear the I am becoming part of the “uncle” generation.

Kid’s Camp

My daughter is away from home for the first time.  She is attending a brownie camp at her school.  Had to let her go as she needs to be exposed to new experiences and become more independent.  Nevertheless, there are so many things to worry about.  Will she be able to eat properly.  With the hyper-sensitivity of her taste buds linked to her Aspergers, there are so many things that she just cannot tolerate eating which other kids can.  Will she do anything that will alienate her from the other kids despite all our reminders?  Will she be able to sleep away from home?  Will she be bullied?

I know that all parents go through this when their kid goes away from home for the first time and perhaps even when they go away for the second, third, fortieth time.  I know that more often than not, nothing happens and the kid returns safe and happy.  Still cannot help having a little worry deep down inside.  The Aspergers does not help either. 😦

English

Was told about the following video.  It is something that is very Singaporean.

When I was younger, what was referred to as ‘Modern English’ was known to me as the Queen’s English.  I suppose that was because it originated from England which was ruled over by the Queen or perhaps it was due to the colonial history of Singapore.

While most of us speak proper English, the fact of the matter is that we often do not.  We only think that we do.  The most common error that I see (and make) is one of using the sentence structure of another language such as Mandarin when speaking.  This cuts both ways with the sentence structure used for English being transposed when speaking Mandarin.

I have always thought that the one person on Earth who will never get the English language wrong would be the Queen or King of England (since it is afterall the Queen’s English).  What would happen if there was ever a day that the ruling monarch of England speaks English incorrectly (God forbid)?  Does it mean that he or she is wrong or that the rest of the world is?

Of Hot Pants and Dirty Old Men

Read the article in the Sunday Times (15 Nov 09) on the trend of ladies wearing hot pants more frequently and to more venues these days.  Reasons cited were the hot weather in Singapore and comfort.  Have to say that while there are indeed many ladies wearing very short shorts (counted about five on Monday just walking down from the third floor of Raffles City to the MRT), they were not hot pants in the sense that they were so short and so tight that the butt was spilling out.

Back to the article.  Disadvantage of wearing hot pants – Dirty Old Men (‘DOM).  Cited as the disadvantage as the ladies do not like these DOM looking at their legs.  While I can respect that ladies wear clothes for their own satisfaction, sense of style and comfort and not necessarily for others to view them, I have to wonder why they never complain about the handsome young men that may be admiring them in their clothes (or scarcity of).  Is it because it is okay to look if you are young and handsome but not if you are old and/or ugly?  Or perhaps it is that all men who look at them are immediately considered as dirty old men (even if they are just 18 years old).  I suspect it is the former although I am sure that many ladies will declare that it is the latter.

Like Me for Myself

You see cases where people are attracted to the opposite sex for because of money, power, looks, fame, youth.  You hear as well the refrain that goes in the vein of ‘I want to be liked / loved for who I am.  Not for how I look or how much money I have, etc as all these can fade or disappear’.

It is true that looks, money, fame, power may not last and youth, for certain, will never last.  But what does it mean to be liked for oneself.  What is ‘myself’ in this case?  Is it our personality?  Our intelligence?  Our ability to make others laugh?  While these are harder to lose, it is still possible.  What if I have a stroke and ‘lose’ my personality as a result?  What if I have an accident or a disease that cost me my mind?  Will I still be liked / loved by those I hold dear?  I certainly hope so.

I suppose that when we say that we want to be liked for ourselves, we are saying that we want to be liked / loved no matter what happens to us.  Hence the traditional marriage vow which goes ‘for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health’.  I like to think that I have found someone like that and hope that those who are still looking will too.

Unleashing the Beast Within

Was just thinking about what people mean when they talk about unleashing the beast within.  Are they referring to letting loose the animalistic portion within us?  Was also thinking about why the beast within is usually considered to be some fierce predator, dangerous animal or something savage.  Why isn’t anyone’s beast a rabbit?  Or how about a tortoise?

Unleash the beast within and suddenly you have someone who appears extremely cuddly (and have a strong desire for carrots).  Or how about unleashing the beast within and suddenly starting to …. move….. very…… slowly.   🙂

What is your beast within?

A Different Perspective

My father succeeded in mating a pair of canaries recently and we had the opportunity to see the eggs laid and hatched.  We saw the chicks in their nest growing from little wet creatures who could not open their eyes to little birds who craned their necks out for food and who are now rather big and moving about the cage on their own.

Throughout all these stages, I have had my mum and my wife going on about how cute or how amazing they are.  Agreed with them and didn’t think any further about it.  That is until one morning when my daughter told me that she is glad that her grandfather raised the baby birds because it gave her a chance to witness the life cycle first hand.  Wow.  I never looked at it that way and I believe no one else in the family did either.

My daughter has Aspergers.  It makes her different from ‘normal’ children but that is not necessarily a bad thing.  Her view of the world is different and reminds me that there is a different way to view things that we take for granted.

Loop

Too many interests, too little time – Again.

Christmas time is coming.  the time for making cards for close friends / family is here again.  Something that I have neglected to do for the past couple of years.  At the same time, I am reminded that I have not been scrapbooking for ages.  My supplies are pretty dated for those in the know.  The list is not done yet – I have awakened my interest in photography again.  Taking lessons to learn how to better use my DSLR beyond the auto function.  This year is one for a family vacation again which means planning, admin details, etc has to be taken care off.

If I just get down to it, I’m sure all this can be done but instead, I get distracted from these tasks by my books, facebook, writing this blog and a myriad of other excuses.  End results seems to be that I end up sitting down and going through the things that needs to be done in an infinite loop instead of simply getting down to the tasks.

I will try my daughter’s method and imagine a giant hand giving me a smack at the back of my head and getting down to work.  (That is if I can stop myself from reading a few more pages of the book that is lying open beside me right now).

Guys think about sex every seven seconds?

Heard on the radio a few times that guys think about sex every seven seconds. {sex} How do they know this?  Do they hook up a monitor to the brain?  Was it a representative sampling? How does it even {sex} work?  Do guys just think the word “sex” or do they think about it in detail?  {sex}  No one has every mentioned how long {sex} guys spends thinking about sex every seven seconds.  Is it a split second?  5 seconds? 10? 30? A minute? {sex}

How do they get any work done if this is true {sex}?  Perhaps that is why they have such short attention {sex} spans?  Perhaps this is how multi-tasking was created.  {sex}.

Jokes aside, I think it is just another label that guys get labelled with and just accept along with all the other unfair baggage (don’t do housework, spends all the time watching soccer, etc).

Well, I am taking a stand here against at least one of these stereotypes and declare that I do not like soccer!   🙂

Super Woman

As I sat down to dinner today, I realised once again what a fantastic woman my wife is and how lucky I am that she agreed to marry me all those years ago.

She actually had to cook three separate types of pasta for dinner.  Angel hair scallop pasta for herself and me, spaghetti carbonara for the boy and macaroni for the girl.  Some days, its a separate dish for each and most days it is at least a dish for the kids and a dish for the adults.  Considering that this is usually done after a hard day’s work, it makes things even more amazing.

Looking at most families today where everyone is working and has a maid, it is more common where the maid cooks.  I have joked before that in the future, home economics classes will no longer teach about cooking and cleaning but more about maid management.  Many of the people I know do not cook.  In view of all this, I consider myself very lucky indeed.