Friday, November 16, 2012

Call 421 : KARAOKE DATE

Hello Son,


Thursday, November 15


Thursday, November 15 was a date your mother was so looking forward to.



You know why, right?



She has a date with Aunt JC at the ...



(and her voice drops to a low whisper)



Karaoke.



Grin. Grin. Grin.



Yeah, we're finally really gonna do it this time, after having talked and talked and talked about it for the last 2 years. You know what they say about all talk and no ... um ... karaoke, right?



It'd make anybody a dull person ...



So anyway, it was a public holiday on Thursday, so really, Mom was as free as a bird.



She was supposed to meet Aunt JC at 12:45 pm at the K place. Aunt JC had made a prior booking for our karaoke session from 1 pm to 5 pm.



Dad was leaving the condo for an appointment and had dropped Mom off at the mall.



The time was about 11:30 am.



Mom spent some time at MPH Bookstore.



Browse browse browse.



Browse browse browse some more.



Before long, she found herself checking the time.



It was a few minutes past 12 pm.



She decided to take a slow walk to the connecting mall. It would probably take 10 to 15 minutes or thereabouts, for her to get to the meeting place.



You must have seen your mother as she made her way to the K place, huh, with a big smile on her face.



If only every day was like that Thursday.



Smile smile smile.



At the connecting mall, she stopped by at another bookstore.



It was still too early to go to the K place.



So anyway, she casually picked up one book after another, glancing at her watch every minute.



How slowly time moves when you're ... (think) not in a hurry.



She received an sms from Aunt JC at 12:28:21 pm, informing that Aunt JC would be late but would arrive at 1 pm +.



Decode : 21 : 4 : 21



That sounds like a 21 from beginning to end.



A delay?



A deliberate delay?



Oh --- kay.



Pause.



Oh well, she might as well just go straight to the K place and get the room first, so as not to waste prescious time.



So, off she went to the K place.



At the counter of the K joint, Mom asked if she could go in to the room first. Her friend was late, she explained.



The counter girl replied, if Mom wanted to move the session half an hour earlier, from 1 pm to 5 pm to 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm.



Huh?



No No No ... of course not.



She didn't waste her time trying to explain, but merely said, she would wait for her friend at the entrance, which was about 20 steps away.



Strolling over to the entrance, she noticed a seat on either side of the Directory Outlet Board (whatever You call it) in front of her. A patron was sitting on the seat on the right. The one on the left was vacant.



Mom walked over to it, and casually sat down.



The moment she sat herself down, she found herself looking straight into this grafitti that was left on the Directory Board.



Staring at the grafitti, she found herself sitting quite still.







I was here ... 14 - 4 -12 ...



Hmmm ...



Would You look at the numbers? All her favourite numbers.



Decode : 14 - 4 - 21 (ALL YOU)



Should she be making something out of that? She had a feeling she was meant to see that scrawl because if she were not meant to see that, she would have been sitting on the other side. Yes, yes, the other seat on the right would have been available for her ... if she were not meant to see this scribble. Besides, did she not suspect that Aunt JC's delay was deliberate? Had Aunt JC been on time, she would not have been sitting here at all.



I --- was --- here ... Mom thought slowly, as she stared at the words on the side of the big board.



Think Think Think.



Yes, she has plenty of time on her hands to think.



Sighing, she found herself shaking her head as she spoke silently to her son.



Yes, yes, You were ... You were here ... You still are ... somehow, You still are ...



Pause.



You know huh, that Mom's gonna be karaoke-ing today.

 

She can only imagine the expression on your face when she said the K word.



Well, You put Mom to this.



Why, if You were around, she probably would not engage in so much singing. 






It was 5 minutes to 1 pm.



Mom stood up and walked over to the counter.



She said to the counter girl, "My friend is late ... I'll go in first."



The girl said okay, scribbled something on a booking - form of some sort, before signalling to one of the boys to lead your mother to the room.



She followed him.



He showed her to the room.



She wrinkled her nose.



"Is this the smoking area?"



The boy said, "Yes ..."



She replied instantly, "Oh, we need a non-smoking room ..."



He said, "No more non-smoking rooms ..."



Aiyah ...



She insisted on a non-smoking room.



Finally, the boy said, "At 2 pm ... I arrange for you a non-smoking room."



2 pm?



Mom called Aunt JC to ask if Aunt JC was okay if the booking changed to 2 pm (instead of 1 pm).



Aunt JC gave the green light. :D



Okay, good good.



So, Mom left the counter with a friendly reminder, "Don't forget, non-smoking room for us at 2 pm ..."



The counter staffs gave a courteous nod and said okay.



Mom waited at the entrance. Aunt JC arrived a few minutes later.



After all the "Omg, I can't believe we're finally doing this ..." bla bla bla, we went to a cafe for a drink.



We ordered some buns and otak-otak (yes, yes, brain food).



Mom had her usual D44 "iced milk tea less sweet" whilst Aunt JC had a hot cup of lemon tea.







We had a lovely time catching up.



Soon, it was 10 minutes before 2 pm. We made our way back to the K place.



There, we were shown to our room. Number 51.



Mom had to smile. A secret smile.



Decode : 4



You're so gonna be singing with us, aren't You, Daniel?



Mom had brought along a piece of A4 paper.



Aunt JC had laughed when Mom told her that the paper was for us to jot down all the songs that we're gonna sing. :D



"Let's see if we can do 100 songs," Mom said with a laugh, as she drew two lines down the page.



Aunt JC was tickled at the thought. :D



Hahahaha ...



Aunt JC started to fiddle with the square box, before asking Mom, "What song?"



Your mother replied, "MY HEART WILL GO ON ..." :D



We started the Karaoke session with LET IT BE.



Mom jotted down the time that first song started.



It was 2:10 pm



She wanted to know how many songs we would be able to cover by 6 pm.



To cut a long story short, we started to sing, choose songs, and keying the songs in. Each time a song came on, Mom would scribble down the title on her A4 piece of paper.



We stopped for a short break at about 3 pm. The mini buffet had a small selection of tea stuffs and we needed the energy. Hah! :D



So anyway, song after song, we sang.



We had such a wonderful time.



Time just flies when you're having fun.



It was about 5 :30 pm, when Aunt JC said, "We still have about 45 over songs to go ..."



Hahaha.



Yeah, we had keyed in way too many songs.



Quite ambitious, don't You think?



Before long, Aunt JC said, "This is the last song ..." when the song appeared on the screen.



W-what? So soon? We're ending already?



Mom picked up her pen, looked at the title, and found herself holding her breath.



21 GUNS.



That was the last song?



Oh gosh.







She suddenly noticed that 21 GUNS was song number 51 on her song list.



51? Why, wasn't that our room number?



Did she not decode it earlier as : 4 ?






Only then did she notice (and remembered) the time at the top of the paper. 



2:10 pm



Oh gosh.



Wow ...







Honestly, what are the chances of 21 GUNS being the very last song of the day? We couldn't sing another song even if we wanted to, because the K monitor was automatically shut when our time was up. We had just been randomly choosing and keying the songs into the K monitor from the start ...



Let her tell You this, but Mom sang 21 GUNS with full satisfaction.



Grin.



Especially so when it was the original band who came on the screen. Not some voice over by a fake singer singing against a beach scene. It was GREEN DAY. She checked the time when she came to an end.



It was 6:01 pm.



Wah, so right on time. We were supposed to end at 6 pm.



After our K date, your mother accompanied Aunt JC to buy some this and thats. Our parting words to each other were, "We must do this again ..." Mom met up meet up with Dad, Justine, your 2 aunties and Grandma. We were gonna be having dinner at one of the nice restaurants. Grandma will be flying to Los Angeles on Saturday, and we were all celebrating Justine's birthday in advance.



Aunty C bought an ice-cream cake. We were not allowed to eat the cake in the restaurant. They would charge us RM30 if we did.



That would probably be the first time we brought a cake to a restaurant, and not allowed to have it there.



What la ...



Ah, but on hindsight, there was a reason why.



So anyway, we decided to have the cake at Baskin-Robbins where Aunty C bought it.





Here are Dad, your sister and Mom with the birthday girl.



You wanna hear something really interesting?



Sure You do, right?



Well, at first, Mom was sitting on the other side of the table, where she faced the ice-cream counter.



However, Grandma was like, "Go sit on the other side with Bryan and Justine ... Take a family photo ..."



And that's how she ended up sitting where she did, with her back against the ice-cream counter.



It was only later when we were all ready to go home, when she suddenly realized why she had to be in the seat. Mom happened to look over to her right as a lady who had just entered the ice-cream shop dropped her bag on the seat, before going to the counter to give her orders.



Omg ...



Are You kidding?





That's Gradma in her outfit she bought from Hawaii.




Mom whispered to Dad as she pointed to the bag, "Forever 21 ... Omg ... Can You believe it? We're having Justine's birthday cake ... He definitely wouldn't want to miss it ... What are the chances?"



You certainly made your presence felt the whole day, Daniel ...



Truly, and honestly, Son ... everywhere we are, there You'll be ...



Mom sang that Faith Hill song too, did You hear her?



What an awesome day we had, Daniel ...



Truly, You were definitely with us from beginning to the end of the day.



Thanks for that, Son ...



Keep the zaps coming ... always.



Oh, by the way, when Mom wrote this call on Thursday night, she couldn't help but smile at the Call 421.



She said to Dad, "Wow, would you take a look at this? I'm on Call 421 with Son. The whole day today has been 4 and 21 ... Also, today is the 15th ... and our room number was 51 ... Gosh, Son was definitely with me the whole day today ..." :D




Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Call 420 : ELECTRIC DREAMS

Hello Son,                                 (continue from Call 418)




FRIDAY, OCT 26


It was a public holiday on Friday.



Yayyy ...



Not so fast ... plenty to do for the coming concert, remember?



Arghhhhhh ...



Mom got up early that Friday morning. She wanted to make the most of that day. She woke Dad up. No sleeping in ... maybe until the concert is over.



About 8 am or so, Dad, Mom and the maid left the condo. We drove to a coffee shop for breakfast before going to school.



For some reason, Mom knew which coffee shop she wanted to go. Normally, sbe'd be like, let's go to this one ... no, that one ... or maybe the other one ... That morning, she knew exactly which cafe we'd be having our breakfast.









You must have whispered to her.



She said, "That coffee shop ... that corner one ..." when Dad asked where we should go.



Dad asked, "Which one? There're two there ..."



"The one that has the stairs going up  ..."



Yup, the one with the stairs ... the other coffee shop has no stairs ...



Go to the one with the stairs, Ma ... :D








She's quite sure You must have whispered to her ... on hindsight.



Dad drove there. 



So anyway, at the coffee shop ...



There were tables inside the shop, as well as outside on the five foot way. Mom walked in, but then decided to walk out again. It was a bit cold inside the air-conditioned cafe



Pulling out a seat, she said, "Let's sit outside ..."  before sitting down, and started browsing through the menu. Dad sat opposite here, whilst Maid R sat beside her.



It was barely 5 minutes after we sat down, when a garbage truck passed through.



Mom held her breath, for obvious reasons ... waiting for the truck to disappear. When it finally did, she inhaled ... before cringing, and wrinkling her nose with disgust.



The stench ...



Gawd ... it smelt like shi* ...



She stood up abruptly and announced, "Let's go inside ... it stinks ..."



She went in the cafe, and plonked herself on a stool. Dad too came in and sat down. The maid followed.



A waitress came and we dictated our orders. Shortly after the waitress left our table, Mom suddenly noticed the song that had come on.



When You Believe ...



There was no music before that. That was the very first song that came on in the coffee shop.



Mom leaned over to Dad, "Listen ... Prince of Egypt ... There can be miracles when You believe ... "



Dad looked up from sms-ing a text. He heard.



Mom said, "There was no song just now. This is the first song ... and we just came in ..."



Prince of Egypt ... was one of the cartoon DVDs that Justine and You have and had seen when You both very young. To be really honest, hearing the song wasn't a zap moment for Mom at the time ... but it certainly made her start thinking of ... uh ...



E equals to am see squared ... :D



Her brain waves had definitely started to ... ummm, tingle ...



Miracles ...



One of her most favourite words in the whole wide world. Tell Jesus Mom said that, will You please?








Prince Of Egypt





Then, right after that song, guess which song came on next?



When the music started, Mom kinda smacked Dad on the hand.



Hehehe.



Reflex reflex.



"Listen listen listen ... When You Say Nothing ..." Mom pointed her finger up the ceiling.





It's amazing how You can speak right to my heart
Without saying a word, You can light up the dark
Try as I may I can never explain
What I hear when You don't say a thing
 
The smile on your face lets me know that You're near me

There's a truth in your eyes saying, You'll never leave me

The touch of your hand, say You'll catch me

whenever I fall

You say it best, when You say nothing at all  











"Is he talking to me or what ..." She heard herself speaking under her breath. Nibbling on her toast, her mind started to wander as she listened to the song.



It came to an end.



Mom held her breath for some reason. Something was happening, she wasn't sure what ... it was like she had been put on alert - mode. You know the feeling?



Then, OMG ... the TiTANiC song came on ...



My Heart Will Go On ...



She glanced at her cell. The time showed 8:45 am.



Decode : 44



A definite sign from Heaven. :D



Mom has been listening to My Heart Will Go On daily for the past 2 months now because one of her graduates is playing this song on the keyboard for the concert. He plays it with music accompaniment. Gosh, how haunting the music is to her. It gives her goose bumps each time the boy plays it.



She said passionately, "He's having a conversation with me this morning ... It's so obvious ... Omg ..."



Dad chuckled, as he sipped his kopi-o.



"I'm telling you, 3 songs now, back to back, there can be miracles when you believe ... like ... like, when you believe you can communicate with Son, you can ... isn't that like a miracle already? ... then the next song, you say it best when you say nothing at all ... isn't that what he's doing? He's not saying anything but look at all the messages I'm getting every day ... and now, Titanic ... every night in my dreams, I see you, I feel you ... far across the distance and spaces between us ... you have come to show you go on ... omg, hellowww ... I'm telling you, he's talking to me ..." :D



You are ...



You really are ...



You really are talking to Mom ...



Yes, when - she - believes ... and she does ... she does ... she does ... of course she does, are You kidding her???







Every night in my dreams 

I see You, I feel You

That is how I know You go on

Far across the distance

And spaces between us

You have come to show You go on 

Near far, wherever You are

I believe that the heart does go on

Once more You open the door
 
And You're here in my heart

And my heart will go on and on







She found it strange that she had checked her time when the Titanic song, the 3rd song, came on. Normally, Mom would check her time instantly at whatever zap song that comes to her. Only on that day, she did not. Not for the first two songs.



You must have whispered to her when the angel timing came:



Check the time NOW, Ma ... :D



And she did ... and she must have sat right up as she read the secret code behind the seemingly normal morning time 8:45 am ...



44



ZAP ZAP ZAP




She was already on cloud 9 that morning, and did not think she could get any higher ... when the next song came on and made her gasped.



Quickly, she checked her cell.



It was 8:50 am.



Decode : 4



Omg ...



Omg ...



Omg ...



Could He be any clearer?



ZAP ZAP ZAP ...










In my dreams I'll always see 

You soar above the sky

In my heart there will always 

be a place for you for all my life

I'll keep a part of You with me

And everywhere I am, there You'll be





Justine made the video for You, remember?



What are the chances of hearing all the songs that were playing in the cafe that morning that had a zap connection?



Pause.



Say, by the way, Daniel ... did You by any chance send that garbage truck?



That must have been You. Right at that specific time too ... if not for the garbage truck, Mom would have been sitting outside the cafe and would have missed all her zap song-messages that would have been playing inside the cafe.



Gosh ...



How amazing ...



Seriously, how amazing ...



Truly amazing ...



The next song that came on the radio in the cafe was Colors Of The Wind (Pocahontas).



Colours of the Wind ...



You're taking a breather, huh, Son ... she smiled to herself as she shot her thoughts across the universe with the hopes that it would land on Heaven's door. :D











Wow ...



Honestly, she was meant to be there, that's for sure. How heart-warming it was to be there to receive all the comforting songs that touch her heart, mind and soul? The school concert was in 2 weeks then, and yeah, she was all nerves, edgy and anxious.



I'm right here, Ma ... :D



She hears You, Son ...



Truly, it truly is amazing what she hears when You say absolutely nothing at all.



But then, but then, but then ...



When you believe, there can be miracles ...



Yes yes ... and ...



Far across the distance and spaces between us, You have come to show You go on ...



So how can it not be that ...



Everywhere she is, there You'll be ...



Pause ...



Sniff ...



We miss You so very much, Daniel ...



If only Mom could give You a squeeze ... Only a mother who has a child in heaven will understand that deep longing ...



Sniff ...










This Hello Son blog is truly meant to be ... She wouldn't have thought of a blog to connect with her son, in the first place if that seed had not been planted into her head ... why, she's not even a blogger ... had she and You not scorn at people who waste their time on facebook ... and now would You take a look at her ... spending so much time on the computer making calls to Heaven.



God doesn't mind, does He?



No, of course not. He wouldn't take away her son, and not give her something back.



When God takes, He always gives something back.



Always.



So anyway, Colors of the Wind came to an end.



She was all alert for the next song, her ears pricked up like an Alsation. The intro music filled the cafe and Mom found herself shaking her head slowly ...




Oh --- my --- gosh ...



She would recognize that haunting music anywhere.



It was Enya's If I Could Be Where You Are.



Why, she had uploaded that video on your Hello Son blog on your 31st month anniversary.




 




Where are you this moment?

Only in my dreams.

You're missing, but You're always

a heartbeat from me





We left the cafe after breakfast and spent the rest of the day in school, preparing stuffs for the coming concert.




It was quite late in the evening when we finally left school for home.



About 8 pm.



We drove opposite the school to tapau noodles for dinner. There was a long wait apparently, but Mom did not really notice it from inside the car, otherwise she would have suggested we went somewhere else.



Dad came into the car, awhile later, to wait for our noodles.



He went out again to check, and came back to the car and said, "Not ready yet ..."



He must have gone to check on our order another 3 more times, when finally the tapau food was ready.



It was almost 9 pm.



Mom asked in disbelief, "What time did we come here?"



Dad said, "8 pm ..."



Yes, that was what Mom thought. We waited for AN HOUR for our food???



Pause.



Something told her that there was a reason why there was a deliberate delay.



Or should she say, someone.



Oh, go straight to the point --- her son ... :D



We drove back. As we were about to approach the condo ... OMG ... Mom's hand flew to cup her mouth as she heard the intro music that had come on, filling her senses.



Her eyes shot to the dashboard.



It was 9:05 pm.



Decode : 14



Electric Dreams



That movie way back in college days in 1984 ... You first zapped us with this song about 6 months after You left for Heaven in a most awesome manner. The entry is in your facebook. Some day when Mom's free, she will transfer all those early inciDANS onto a blog.





We'll always be together

However far it seems

We'll always be together

Together in electric dreams




Dad had reached the lobby, but Mom remained in the car, to listen to the whole song before stepping out.



It was the end of the day, and she knows You're making your presence felt, reminding us that wherever we are, there You'll be.



Sniff ...



That's your style, Mom knows with a stab of pain in her heart.



She said to Dad, "No wonder, there were a long delay just now ... One hour we waited ... That's like the longest time we've waited for tapau-food ... Now we know why ... He wanted us to hear this song ... We'll always be together, however far it seems, we'll always be together, together in Electric Dreams ..."



Yes Daniel ... we'll always be together, together in Electric Dreams.



And don't You ever forget that, Son ...







Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Call 419 : CONCERT COMING

Hello Son

Just wanted to drop a note to tell You that Mom's thinking about You ... eventhough she's not free to call at the moment to tell You about the all the awesome zaps that You're sending. :D School concert is on Saturday. Yikes! So much to do. So little time. Yikes again!

Be with us huh, on Saturday ...

Keep the zaps coming.

Justine's birthday is round the corner. :D What shall we take her for dinner?

Talk to You in a bit. Be good, Son.

Love You.

Mom