[Nawooz.Com.My]

I’m so sorry for the long absence, but I’ve been playing catch-up with life lately. This post was left as a Draft for quite sometime and I finally have the time to finalize and publish it. 

This is my personal tribute to Aunt Sue, or affectionately known as Er Ee (2nd aunt). I met with my wife’s family last year in Penang. Most of her family members speak the Hokkien dialect and as such I have some communication issues. Er Ee and Xiao Ee (smallest aunt) are the only person I converse with in English. When we make our trip down to Penang, we stay at Er Ee’s place.

I would say my relationship with wifey’s family really grew stronger when her grandma passed away about 6 months ago. Fast forward 6 months and another tragedy struck her family. Er Ee suffered from a stroke during her training course here in KL. The doctors said it was very fortunate, that she was in a hospital when it happened. She was admitted into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and was deemed critical. The ironic bit, Er Ee was also an ICU nurse in Penang. In the span of 3 days, she underwent 3 operations. One to stop the bleeding, one to relieve the pressure in the brain cavity and the final one to allow easier breathing (tracheotomy).

Last Friday, 17 Aug 07 at 1.33PM, Er Ee left this mortal world behind peacefully. The doctors actually met with the family that morning, letting us know to be prepared as her situation was not good. In the middle of our lunch, we got a call from the hospital. Her condition had taken a turn for the worse. For once, I was given the green light to let my inner Schumacher speed demon out. Fortunately, I managed to bring the family to the hospital in one piece and in time for the final goodbye. By the time I parked and raced up to the ICU, she breathed her last breath.

We had to get everything done fast as the family wanted to send her body back to Penang for the last rites and cremation. Wife and I went home to pack and make the long drive down to Penang. I’m now waiting for the traffic summonses I may have chalked up during that journey up North, as we arrived about 30 minutes away from the ambulance, which left hours earlier. As usual, the trustee Atos took the flogging like a champ.

It was deja vu. The funeral parlour was at the same venue as wifey’s grandma. Only 3 blocks away. Many of her colleagues turned up for the service and many left with teary eyes. I guess it really all boils down to that very moment. The testament to how well you’ve lived your life and how many lives have your own touched. It was heart warming to see so many people there.

Fast forward to this weekend. We flew back for prayers courtesy of AirAsia (now everyone can fly). It’s actually much cheaper to fly, if you keep in mind the summonses you may get on the roadtrip. Again I had the sense of deja vu as Er Ee’s ashes were placed right next to wifey’s Grandma. She would have loved this. She was very close with her mom during her life here and now they will remain close in the spiritual world. Wife and I know she is around and looking out for all of us. May her soul rest in peace.

It’s the time when ghost and ghouls are free to roam this world. I’m not trying to scare my readers, but do take care during this month. Stay in after dark to avoid any unwanted experiences and pray to whoever you believe in.

My friends and I learnt the hard way. It was a weekend during this inauspicious month for the Chinese. Mom warned me about the dangers, but I decided to hangout with friends anyway. We had our usual yum cha session accompanied by the usual crapping. After growing restless of sitting around, we decided to get in the car for a drive. Shum wanted to explore a particular area in Cheras, where we haven’t gone before. Everyone agreed to this plan and so I drove.

Things were chillax and quiet, as it was in the wee hours of morning. We had the car windows down and we’re basically enjoying the calmness, broken occasionally by friendly banter. Out of nowhere, Shum instructed me to turn into this lane. It was really dark there. On our right were some old flats/apartments and a hill flanked the left. My headlights suddenly gave realization, that it was a dead-end road. Our eyes grew wide with fear. We were all facing Chinese burnt offerings. Hell notes, candles and joss sticks. Not a very welcoming sign. The road width was narrow, but I succeeded in performing a three-point turn. I was praying hard the wheels did not hit any of the offerings. Bad omen.

After that, we decided to call it a night and head back home to Sani’s place nearby. This was where things got interesting. I’m anal about people messing with my car. Most of my friends and even wife knows this. Slam the car doors and I will reprimand you. So we were nearing Sani’s house and negotiating this speed bump. I hear a sound from the backseat. It sounded like someone pressing down the doorlock knob on the left side. Why would my friend lock the door now when we were so close to his house?? Anyway, I ignore it and continue driving. Then I hear a noise again from the same area. This time, it sounded like someone unlocked the door. However, it did not stop. It happened a few times in a row like someone playing on the locking mechanism. Ticked off, I decided to tell Sani, who was seated behind, to knock it off. Sani replied meekly, in an almost boyish voice, that it wasn’t him. I checked the rear mirror and noticed that he was seated behind me….on the right side. Something inside me wanted to scream, “OH SHIET!!!!!!!”. I checked with Shum, who was riding shotgun, if he heard the sounds. He confirmed this as well. We all fell silent and I floored the car. Pulled up in front on Sani’s house, wound up the windows and freaking got away from the car.

Once safely inside, we huddled together in the living room with the Wadafak ™ faces. Slowly, we began to tell our side of the story of what just transpired. Shum heard it too. He thought it was Sani messing around as well. Well, so did I! Sani heard it too!!!! He just kept quiet after the first sound and didn’t dare look to his left. He kept looking out his right window. Until he heard me scold him for messing around with the car lock.

Now, I know my car was old. It was made in 1983 and was about 20+ years old at that time. However, I swear that I’ve never heard or seen my car lock acting all weird. Only on that eventful night. We shall never know what we just experienced, but we sure as hell don’t wish to go through it again. So heed my words. Stay inside.

On lighter note, I had a chat with an old friend today. I’m proud to announce that Jessica Goon, is now officially Dr. Jess Goon @ Dr. Goonie. She has more aliases, but I’m afraid she will “CSI” me later. I shall pimp this Doc’s blog (it rhymes). Check it out at: http://reverseinlife.blogspot.com/. Dr. Goon pulled the cliched, “How’s married life?” on me. Thankfully, I’ve concocted a superb comeback for this dratted question. This will be the official Nawooz ™ future response for all aunties, uncles, relatives, friends, family, pet cat and what not. Might even save my arse during Chinese New Year 2008.

Not Nawooz: Soooooooo…how’s married life ar??!!

Nawooz: It’s like bittersweet chocolates.

Nawooz: Sometimes sweet. Sometimes bitter. But you always end up wanting more.

Not Nawooz: @_@ dot dot dot

How? Good ar? Can pass or not? Give some applause leh! Not easy to come up with these crap you know…. >_<”

UPDATE FROM ICU: Wifey’s aunt is not doing well again. Her blood pressure has been on the rise. So high, that it warranted another CT scan to assess the situation. Once again, Nawooz is requesting for prayers to help her and the family, pull through this time of test.

Updates from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) 

Wife’s aunt underwent 2 operations after her angiogram results on Thursday, in the wee hours of morning. First was to stop the bleeding by inserting some coils in the damaged artery, which functioned as one of the “blood highway” supplying blood to the brain. Second op was to release the fluid pressure in her skull cavity. Pressure increased due to additional blood seeping into the skull cavity and mixing with the brain fluids. The procedure took around 3-4 hours.

She remained heavily drugged to encourage rest and recovery after that. On Friday, the doctor decided to see if she would come to by lowering the drug dosage. She is semi-conscious and slips in and out of it when we observed. She has regained some movement in her feet from what the nurses told us, but the road to recovery (physiotheraphy) will be long and painstacking.

Hopefully, she being a nurse herself in the ICU (Penang), will give her the wisdom and strength to push on. As the doctors would say, they have done their best. It’s now up to the patients will to live and fight. Thanks to all those, who prayed for her. It took us past the worse and now we have a whole new journey to embark on.

After going through so many harrowing experiences, I’ve only one wish before my death. That it be swift and painless, so that my loved ones will not have to go through what I’ve been through. Let me tell you, that watching a person close to you wither away is no bed of roses.

Anj’s taggy

Got tagged by Anj (http://anjalispeaks.blogspot.com/) and found it interesting. I’ve never actually bothered to see what else happened when I was born. So here goes…

1) BIRTHDAY TAG - 14 January

The rules for this tag are simple:
(i) Go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday (month and day)
(ii) Write down 3 events, 2 births, 1 holiday, and tag 5 friends.

3 Events (disaster themed):

1907 - An earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica kills more than 1,000.
1969 - An explosion aboard the USS Enterprise near Hawaii kills 27 people.
1998 - An Afghan cargo plane crashes into a mountain in southwest Pakistan killing more than 50 people.

2 Births (we love driving fast, apparently):

1973 - Giancarlo Fisichella, Italian race car driver
1977 - Narain Karthikeyan, Indian race car driver

1 Holiday (sometimes I wish I could tell people to fly kites on my birthday too ^__^):

Makar Sankranti in India. The event is marked by flying kites.

Done. Now I tag any of my readers (you) up for this. Who knows, maybe you will find something interesting the date you were born eh.

It’s been only a couple of months since my wife went through a family ordeal. Her grandma had 2 major strokes, which took her away from us. The wounds have just started healing, when once again we are faced with the harsh reality of life.

I woke up this evening about to prepare for work, when something told me to check my handphone. Turns out I had an SMS from my wife. Her second aunt has also suffered a stroke and is admitted into the hospital. The doctors are supposed to inform the family about the situation as I type this.

Whatever religion you are from, please take a little time of your life to sat a little prayer for her recovery if you can. There is nothing else we can do except putting faith in God and let Him decide what is best for her. Prayers to give the family members strength would be good as well seeing how this is a double blow to morale.

Nawooz wishes to thank all readres of this blog for your time and contribution. God bless you all.

P.S. No one should and ever have to endure 2 tragedies in life so close together.