I have wayyyy too many travel posts to update but too bad, I've got other priorities. Like a few upcoming trips which I've just done planning. By now I should have at least 10-20 still-trying-to-complete drafts. To think of it... I've got too much to do. Athens post will come in in a bit!

 Meanwhile, take a look at London from Heron Tower :) There's this amazing restaurant Duck & Waffle which serves really good food. Well this is the view of it.. I wouldn't say amazing much but yup, it still is as there are not many tall buildings in London.

It's summer time!! Well, summer isn't really summer hot. It's still chilly during the night, goes down to 12 degrees occasionally. What's this - summer gone wrong! It's time to go, we need that Summer after having 6 months of Winter! Well, weather is too extreme - let's hope for the best... or just JET OFF TO SANTORINI! :D

i went through the files in my hard disk and i found a few pictures. both were taken two years ago. it was the usual family gathering at yee poh's house...

rather that just "routine" i would say that this is always the time where everyone gather for family bonding session. everyone's busy and the best time to gather us all together is during chinese festivals.

be it chinese new year, mooncake festival or dong zhi. this is where we gather.

but... our gatherings won't be the same anymore. yeepoh and yeegong had already left us earlier this year, but i'm pretty sure they'll be in our hearts for each and every single upcoming gathering.

just a few days agos, mom texted me and said yee poh is in a critical condition and she's on morphine. i had absolutely zero clue on what was going on. in my mind, she's probably on it because it was too pain for her and the pain will reduce. she'll then recover after that. but later on my cousin said she has only a few days left.. this is so unexpected.

according to chongsusu, yee poh's condition is pulmonary edema. she was in pantai hospital's ICU before i left to melbourne. i never had the slightest idea that this will happen. none at all. this year we didn't go to yee poh's house for CNY because yee gong passed away just 2 months ago, in january.

she was already recovering when i visited her before i left. although she was a bit thinner, but looking at the rate, she's definitely recovering. who in the world knows that her condition has gone from bad to worst. she was then surviving on the machines, don't ask me what.. i really don't know. :(

and today, she's no longer with us anymore. in 23 years of my life, going to yee poh's house for any festive season is a routine. we all love the food so much, chicken, char yuk, tomato prawn, yong lat chiu, etc. it will be a new routine starting from this year. i still remember yee poh told mommy that she prepared some food when i was back in malaysia mid of last year. but then i left in just a short period of time, and mom brought the food back home for dad to share it with me through msn. i know you can eat, but i can't!! and i won't anymore. :(

no matter what, this is part of life. you won't know what happens the next minute, so appreciate.

i celebrated 2010 in a hotel room, mariott manila to be exact. don't think otherwiseeee.. with julia. :) some of the pictures are already on facebook.. i'm just too lazy to post the remaining ones. i'll update the philippines trip real soon.

2010, a new beginning. there were so many unexpected incidents which happened last year, the countless times of stepping into the hospital. it's really saddening to watch their health worsen day by day.. these are the people whom i've grown up with.. cycling to buy us ice cream every cny, driving us to school almost every morning, cooking for us every festive. it's not one person i'm talking about.. more than one, so can you imagine how bad it is?

my grand uncle, yee gong, is what we(cousins and i) usually address him. we hardly talk, we only greet him whenever we enter his house almost every festive. chinese new year, dumpling festival, mooncake festival, dong zhi, you name it. we always greet him with a smile and enter the house. as far as i know, he had really bad eyesight and can't really hear well anymore. an operation he went for just recently, improved his eyesight. today morning, he collapsed and it was so early that nobody realized it immediately. before he was sent to the hospital, his body was already cold. he has left us for 2-3 hours by the time he arrived the nearest hospital, pantai. we attended his funeral after dinner. we paid our respects and saw him for the last time. he's no longer the man who sits by the door every festive day, waiting for us to arrive and greet us with a smile. he left us just like that, to a better world we call heaven. rest in peace, yee gong.

also in year 2010, i'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone best of luck, health and wealth.