In memory of .....

The past year and a half have not been too good for the pets in the Tan family. This is a tribute to the animals who have entered our lives and enriched it while they were with us.

Raisin....why we called her Raisin (I mean it's a snack not a dog's name) was because when we first bought her, she was tiny, had black, coarse hair and shiny, inquisitive eyes. Btw, the name on her birthcert is HAVAGO GOLD BUTTERFLY.

She was the boss amongst my 3 dogs. Raisin would snap at Mac (my other dog and her doggy husband)when he irritated her or growl at Sasha (her daughter) if she got too near her food bowl. She absolutely hated contractors and would nip at their ankles whenever she could. I've seen her bring big dogs to their knees and they would kowtow to her alpha femaleness. Unbelievable.

Raisin was really TH's baby. He used to spend a long time grooming her and getting her top knot juuust right. Her fur changed and she was gorgeous with her long silky gold and silver coat. She knew she was good looking and loved compliments.

For a tiny dog, she was really the best gauge as to who was at the door.From her bark I would know if it was TH/friend/ stranger at the gate even before the door bell rang. Once, she actually deterred an intruder who had broken into our home by barking furiously . I only thank god he didn't kick her or kill her.

Raisin loved us and was loved for 14 years before leaving us. We have been blessed to have had her for so long and there is a huge space left by this tiny dog who will always be remembered and loved.

Oscar.... Sean's first pet. She was a hamster and yes, she was a girl but Sean didn't care and gave her a boy's name.

She would nip our finger and cling on as she was carried out of the cage. She loved the wheel in her cage. First night, I had a fright when I heard a whirring sound. She was just going for a run.

Sean loved her and I am quite proud of him for cleaning her cage out every week (with some nagging from me).

I wasn't too keen to have a member of the rodent family in our house but grew to love Oscar who definitely had a winning personality.

Muffin...Sean's second hamster. unfortunately, she wasn't as playful nor as good tempered as Oscar. She'd bite and draw blood. So much so that when we had to get her out of the cage, we'd use a kitchen mitt or a fishing net.

She'd run on the wheel morning, noon and night. She'd run so fast that she'll fly out of the wheel and then stumble back on it again! DUH!

Cookie...the soi (stray) dog that wriggled across the road one afternoon on our way home from school and right into our lives. Cookie was paralysed from the back down from a car accident. We found him wondering along the road and took him in.

Poor Cookie had his hind legs almost worn down to the bone from the dragging of his legs on the rough gravel. He had open sores and being a street dog, had a multitude of viruses that needed strong anti biotics.

I had the most memorable car ride when Cookie left the vet's. Let's just say it involved an overflowing doggie diaper, my car seat, gear stick, brand new sandals and not so new Gucci bag....I think it might have been worse if Sean wasn't there to calm him while I was driving.

Cookie was Sean's dog (Sean doesn't consider the other 3 as his dogs cos they were with us before he was born ).

For a street dog, he was a sweet and trusting animal and would actually lick Sean's face! Being a street dog also meant that he wasn't used to being tied or caged up and broke out of the cage the first night and tried to run away.

He was a young dog when he came to us but died when his curiosity got the better of him and chewed on a wire.

Suffice to say, Sean was devastated and took him a long time to get over Cookie.

Cookie showed us that he may have been hurt by humans but he still had a heart big enough to love and trust us.

Last but not least Cupcake... he was a stray cat that decided to take refuge under my car one rainy, rainy day.

I learnt that male cat pee stinks, stinks, stinks (this was when he peed on me as I was carrying him) and that even though he was probably in pain, he let me drag him out from under the car.

It was yet another trip to the vet who discovered that Cupcake had feline AIDS. The most humane thing to do was to put him to sleep. We had no choice but to say goodbye to him.

I always wondered why he chose my house as we have the most number of dogs in the compound. Someone said that he knew we would do the right thing.

All these pets made an impression on our lives in one way or other. As a mum, it heartens me when I see my son feel for them and want to help them. Through them, Sean has had to learn one of life's hard lessons, death. He mourns their deaths and believes that they are in heaven keeping grandma company.


NOTE: The names that denote desserts were chosen by Sean. Don't ask me why.

Why is it?

I came up with this when I was reflecting on certain things. This is what happens when I have too much time on my hands.


1.Why is it such a chore to get up in the morning on a weekday and yet I bounce right out of bed at the same time on the weekend???

2. Why is it that when men look for things, if it's not right in front of them, they can't find it?

3. Why is it so depressing that some mums are sooooo well groomed and my attempts last for 5 minutes? That's when I start rooting in my bag for keys/wallet/tissue etc

4. Why is it that Thai ladies DO NOT sweat while I look like my face is melting in the heat?

5. Why is it that the minute I became a mum, I became like my mum??? AAARRGGG...

6. Why is it that motorcyclists here somehow aim for your car and not try to avoid it?

7. Why is it that my son somehow says the most embarrassing thing at the most inappropriate moment? Eg.. (in a lift) "Ewwww... I think that man farted" (in a stage whisper and pointing)

8. Why is it that when other people tell you about their children's embarrassing outbursts it doesn't seem so bad?

9. Why is it that little boys love gross things like farting, pooing, burping?

10. Why is it that grown men like farting, pooing, burping?

11. Why is it that the male species doesn't turn green at the sight of gushing blood, heads being chopped off, body parts being blown off..... but cringe at a really good romantic movie?

12. Why is it that when you really, really, really want THAT pair of pants, they don't have it in your size?

13. Why is it that that sinful, fattening chocolate cakes look and taste soooo good while healthy stuff somehow doesn't appeal as much?

14. Why is it so much harder to exercise than it is to open a pack of chips?

15. Why is it that men (OK, my husband) eats like a pig (seriously) and loses weight???? OK, he does exercise, but so do I (to a certain extent)

16. Why is it men and women have different levels as to what 'clean' means?

17. Why is it that all other infants I have seen are placid and coo while Sean was a whirl of arms and legs and screeched?

18. Why is it that I am heavier now than when I was 9 months pregnant?

19. Why is it that people can be mean and cruel to the helpless like children and animals?

20. Why is it that my dogs will always be happy to see me while my son may not when he grows up?

Balloons, balloons everywhere

Last weekend at yet another mall, we ventured into a wonderful, colourful land of..balloons! As it is the Thai school holidays, many malls have activities geared towards entertaining the children (so as not to drive their parents mad after 50 long days of no school).

Last weekend, at Central World (a huge mall with Isetan and loads of other brand name shops, plus lots of places to eat) they had a balloon festival. Part of the mall was turned into a 'jungle'. I am not too keen on balloons, hate it when it pops (yes, I know it's wimpy). Surprisingly there were no pops to be heard when we were there. It could be that the music drowned whatever sounds the balloons were making.

I think it's meant to be Horton (from the Dr Seuss book)

I thought these 3 guys were so sporting. Not fun dressed in balloons right down to balloon 'shoes'!

Dress up

When I was in school, we never had things like dress up day, Halloween dress up day etc. Ever since Sean has been to school, there is always something or other to dress up for. The school he attends usually takes these dress up days to raise funds for a certain charity.

Point to note: I am NOT a creative person so I've had to really crack my head to come up with things sometimes. These are some of the things I have made/bought for Sean over the past few years.






(from top and left to right)

He went as scubaman for Halloween. Am quite proud to say the costume was REALLY easy, just paint 2 water bottles silver and use black thread to make loops for the arms. He won for best costume at school and at a birthday party.

He was supposed to be a knight and I made a 'coat' of mail (made out of tin foil cupcake holder). But it ripped after a rolled around. Sigh... I really like this pic cos he is with his two best pals and they look so happy!

Every boy has to go as a pirate just once!.

For International Day in Kindergarten. Bought the Chinese outfit.

Here is ....Garfield (can't you tell?). This was taken just this morning (hence the pic is not so clear cos it was at 6.30am and I am NOT too sharp at that time of the day). School had a dress up as your favourite book character for Book Week. My friend pointed out that he sure was a skinny Garfield.

Flora and Fauna

One of my favourite department stores in Bangkok is Emporium. It's got everything ie supermarket, cinema, loads and loads of food, bookshops, banks etc.. Yesterday, we headed down there for the Flora and Fauna exhibition that was held in the store.

An aviary in the middle of the store.

This was IN the building. The queue was too long so we didn't bother.

Of course there were hordes of people but everything was surprisingly orderly. What I like was they used the whole store to showcase the plants and animals.

A white cheeked gibbon. This was outside the building

A common sight in Bangkok,sadly many can be seen walking along the busy roads.

Sean loved this dinosaur skeleton.

Stories by Sean

The author

My friends on Facebook would have already read this. I thought I'd share this with everyone as I think it shows how innocent Sean still is.

At the end of every school year, parents get all the work the children have been doing over the past year. This is an essay by Sean as part of his English work. note: spelling and punctuation are all his.

Title: how the lion got the fish tail

{Long, Long ago in ancient times in Singapore there was a lion who was walking by a lake. He steped on a rock and fell in to the lake. Then a fish saw the lion so he helped him. He said "wake up lion". Suddenly he woke up and he saw the fish "thanks for helping me" said the lion in a soft voice. The the fish said "would you marry me" he said "yes". Then me marryed him and after that thay had a parrty. It had food, games, movies, songs and best of all rides. Then one day the fish babby came out. It hurt allot. But she did it. The babby looked like this body is a lion and her legs were like a fish. Her name was merlion. And thats why the merlion repesents singapore. }

I thought it's a new spin on our merlion....

This next one is play. He is learning about the different types of writing (fiction, poems etc)

Title: A play about princess willy and princess maggi

Prince willy:"ahhhhh! Help! Help!"
Princess maddi: "Oh! what is that thing?"
(Looking surprised)
Prince w:"it's my pet rabbit"
Princess:"oh it's your rabbit"
Prince:"Why?"
Princess:"I thought it was a frog and you know how I hate frogs"
Prince:"O yes I know"
Princess:"It's OK"
Prince:"Can you help me put my rabbit in the cage"
Princess:"OK"
Prince:"thanks"
Princess:"come back here"
Prince:"I will not work"
Princess:"Oh"
Prince:"I got an idai put some carrat's in hes cage"
Princess:"OK"
Prince:"And wait"
Princess:"He's comeing"
Prince:"1,2,3 let GO!"
Princess:"finely"
Prince:"Thanks again"
Princess:"It's OK"
Prince:"Oh"
Princess:"Why?"
Prince:"never mind"
Princess:"OK"

The End

I thought this was pretty funny. It reminded me of a lit play I had to study called "waiting for Godot".
And best thing is Sean had to act it OUT!!!

Is it 'ka' or 'krup'?

After living here for some time, one would guess that I'd be fluent in Thai. Wrong! Before I came here, I went for Thai lessons in Singapore thinking that I'd be conversant once I moved here. Wrong! What I learnt in the classroom was a very formal way of speaking. Like any language, the day-to-day usage is very different from the textbook.

I'm hopeless at languages. When I speak Mandarin I'm told I sound constipated, my Hokkien is non-existent and my Malay is limited to 'how are you' and 'eat'. So, when faced with Thai which has not 1 or 2 tones but 5..... you can imagine some comedy of errors along the way.

So, how have I picked up the language? I've learned from my maids who all spoke Thai only, from taxi-drivers, vendors etc...

I've learnt that ladies use 'ka' (for yes/OK) and men use 'krup'.

Ladies use 'chan' (me) while men use 'phom'. However, most Thais will refer to themselves by name when talking. Instead of saying "I am going", they'll say "Eunice is going". Took me some time to get used to it but I do it now unknowingly while speaking English.

Thai grammer is like Mandarin. Eg, we'll say 'I am going" while in Thai, it is 'going am I'. For a while, when TH first arrived he he thought he was saying 'my car' but was actually saying 'I am a car'! No wonder they looked at him funny.

A bit of trivia: A vegetable with an interesting Thai name is the pumpkin which is called 'fark'. So now, instead of cussing, I have friends who go 'pumpkin'! I seriously thought that the vegetable vendor was kidding me when she told me it's name.

Some of the words sound like they were derived from Chinese. Example is 'chair' is called 'kaw yi' and 'leg' is 'kar'.

Thais generally appreciate a foreigner trying to speak their language. They will laugh at your mistakes but it's not done in an unkind way. They especially find it amusing that my 8 year old son, Sean speaks Thai. His Thai is better than his Mandarin and that is because he came here when he was 3 months old. Children's minds are really like sponges. His grammer and intonation is way better than mine.

I am still learning but I think when it comes to the really important stuff ie anything pertaining to shopping and food, I've got it covered!