For the last 10 years, I had been losing tooth after tooth and finally now, all my molars were gone except 1. This January, after serious consideration, I finally decided to bite the bullet and do implants for all my missing molars. However, it will be an expensive, painful and long process of almost a year.
Nevertheless, I put this as one of my new year resolution and pray for my courage, good fortune for a great doctor and also, every implant successes.
20-Jan was my first implant surgery on my right side, procedure include 2 implants on my lower right, a sinus lift on my upper right and an extraction on my upper right. It completed after slightly more than an hour, but left me with a very swollen face for the next few days.
In mid-January, I had completed my 5.5 months secondment back in Jurong and due to return to my old role in GSK Asia House. It was another stressful assignment like Boronia but fortunately ended sweetly too. :-)
Before returning back, I decided to take a short break and utilise my Hyatt points which I had accumulated from my multiple Australia trips. Andaz Hotel which was also under Hyatt management and had just been opened and available. Thus, I booked two nights stay at Andaz from 12-Jan to 14-Jan and the arrangement was that we would stay 1 night and then the kids would stay another.
Andaz Hotel was unlike a typical Hyatt hotel, it provided a cozy and friendly reception which welcomed us warmly. It was also nice that the non-alcoholic drinks in the mini bar were free to consume. Because the hotel was new, all features and furnitures in the room were modern and also up-to-date! In short, we loved the hotel and it's location too!
Coincidentally, Xuan also received her "O" levels results that day and we took this opportunity to celebrate her success at Pizza Express too.
Celebrating Xuan O levels results
After the kids left for home, we treasured our time together and went to the gym, supper and then walked around like tourist the next morning. It was simple and yet, good fun.
Late supper
Strolling at Haji Lane
32 Bali Lane, grandparent old place
When the kids came back the next day to claim their stay, we went shopping and also have dinner together. It was also a very special week in Singapore history, the highest temperature was at 24 C! And we were having hotpot outside with our jackets on!
On 12-Jan-18, Xuan received her 'O' results with a remarkably 8 distinctions! To be honest, it was pretty impressive so far for Qi and Xuan in terms of their academic grades, especially when we did nothing much but nag. They had truly demonstrated superb self-disclipine, particularly for Xuan's case where she continued to strive for excellence despite obtaining a direct entry to NYJC Arts already. Hats down and something for me to be proud about definitely. Nevertheless, I hope this learning process will also be useful in their lives later.
I think this must be the fifth time we went to a Jay Chou's concert, however this time with an additional member... 3rd time we attended his concert at the Sports Hub and probably the best sound system this time.
Three years ago, Dor and Hong started this tradition of celebrating four of our birthdays together which coincidentally are merely two days apart. It is lovely to come together as a family not only to celebrate our birthdays but also to end the current year with a good note and get ready for the new one. This year, we have the celebration at home instead of a restaurant, as usual, Dor prepared a sumptuous dinner for everyone.
This was special holiday trip which we were well protected by the Gohozon. We met quite a serious accident on our third day to Nara when a big truck knocked us from behind. Miraculously the accident happened right in front of the Nara Soka Kaikan, and we were immediately assisted by our kind members over there! None of us were injured too and we were able to continue our holidays. Such great benefit and good fortune to be protected.
In 2017, the family had our year end holiday in Japan again, for the third time! This round 'conquering' the Kansai area, Osaka, Nara, Kyoto and Awaji island. As usual, everyone was looking forward to this trip especially when we loved Japan so much. We also tried something different by staying in a AirBnB in Osaka and also renting a car to drive around for the entire trip. The experience was refreshing where we could stay together in a house, cooked, do our laundry and take our time to move around Kansai with our car.
However, the highlight of this trip was not in our itinerary... but definitely one of the best family testimonial to share by far which happened during the trip.
This was on the fourth day of our holiday when we planned to visit Nara. That day, we set off at about 8.30am and after driving for about an hour, we finally reached the town. While we were waiting at a traffic light to turn green, a 24 footer truck suddenly knocked behind our car! The next moment I was hearing En'en crying and mama chanting Nam-myo-ho-ren-ge-kyo. I came down the car to check on them immediately and luckily there was no serious injury for anyone, apart from Mama and Xuan complaining that their neck may had been jerked and injured during the impact. What was so mystical during this accident was where it had occurred, it was right in front of our Nara Soka Gakkai kaikan and we did not even planned to visit this centre that day! As soon as the accident happened, a kind gentleman who was renovating the center came running out to assist me, asking if anyone was injured and also helping me to call the police and insurance company Then, papa went into the centre to get help and soon after, a few staffs came out to understand the situation. 2 police cars arrived shortly, and the Kaiken staffs were then already busy helping us to communicate with the car rental company, insurance company as well as policemen. While i was making the police report, they even invited the rest of our family in the kaikan and hosted them warmly with tea, biscuit and brought them around the newly renovated kaikan which was about to open that very Saturday. They even showed them the room which Sensei stayed before and chanted some daimoku there together. When they were inside, they had also not forgotten about me outside the freezing weather and even bought hot tea and heat pad to keep me warm. We were so touched by their kindness and felt so fortunate to have them around during this difficult moment. After about 2 hours, a replacement car arrived for us to continue our journey, insurance matters were settled, the police report was made and ambulances were also arranged to bring papa, mama and the gals to the hospital for a checkup. Their checkup completed promptly in half an hour and everyone was fine and not injured. This would not be possible without the help of these kind kaikan staffs. It was such a wonderful good fortune for the family and definitely a fantastic testimonial in lessening our family karmic retribution!
We were able to continue enjoying our holidays without a slight impact from the accident
It was Xuan's first prom night and just a week after her 'O' levels, thus, this prom night timely served as a good celebration to end a stressful examination and also a 'final' gathering before the classmates embarked on a new journey next year.
Xuan had been looking forward to this event and already making preparation a few months ahead to make it a memorable one. She bought a new dress, a new pair of shoes, borrowed makeups from her sister and even invited her classmates over that day to get ready together! Qi was also very kind to help her sister and her friends in their hair-do and markup.
We also took out the green screen to take some shots for everyone. Some of her classmates were initially shy to pose, but eventually warmed up to have a few good photos.
On 11-Nov-17, Kia, our dear YWD happily tied her knot and had also requested me to be her wedding photographer. This made it my second time being an official wedding photographer. As there was also another photographer helping out, it was easier this time as the load was shared. However, the experience was still quite tiring, yet rewarding as you know you were capturing this couple most important event in their life. I was indeed lucky to be invited twice this year to be a wedding photographer, and grateful for the trust they had for me to capture their precious moments.
Ling and Qi Birthdays are just 2 weeks apart, although every cake cutting seems to be quite similar, it is effort that everyone comes together to celebrate and give their best wishes every time that makes each time so priceless.
