Friday, May 24, 2013

Call 471 : MOTHER'S DAY

Hello Son,                                                      (continue from Call 470)



Mother's Day Week



That was what happened on Monday 6th.



The FREE dinner treat from her son all the way from somewhere over the rainbow.



That week, being Mother's Day theme, the children in school were busy preparing a craft for their mommies. Mom had searched for a suitable craft for the kids to do, and had decided on a HAND print project for the whole school. 



Yes, every child, from 2 years old right up to 6 years old, would be doing a HAND print craft for their mama. 



So, that was what the children were doing the whole week in school. Every day, they would do a little bit, whether cutting or crumpling or pasting or decorating. 



By Friday, the children's masterpieces were ready.They took home their HAND PRINT craft for their mommies.






So anyway, Mother's Day was on Sunday 12th.




 
The night before, on Saturday, Justine, Dad and Mom were at Grandma's condo. 



We were having dinner. 



After dinner, we were in the living room. 



Aunty C, Dad, Justine and Mom.



Kish came to the carpet and rolled over. 



Soon, she was doing Hands.



You remember the time when Mom tried to teach Kish to do Hands? Mom would put her two hands together and say HANDS ... and once or twice (out of many many many attempts) Kish actually put her two paws together? So that's hands for Kish.



Turned out, Kish was kinda squealing and making a lot of noise at that moment, and she continued to put her two paws together. 



Mom was so excited to see that, and kept yelling out, "Hands ... Look! Kish is doing Hands ... Look Look Look ... Omg ... Carol ... Look, Kish is doing Hands ... Justine look ..." 



Mom grabbed Dad's arm to get his attention. Dad looked up from the newspaper, and yes, he saw Kish doing Hands.



Justine saw that too.


And Aunty C.



Kish was just squealing and yelping as she held her two paws together ... with Mom yelling excitedly, and repeatedly, "Omg ... Hands Kish ... Hands ... Hands ... Omg you guys ... do you see that???"



Everyone saw it.



That was just so cute. Mom wondered if You held Kish's paws together. Kish normally can't even put her two paws together, and when she did, those very few times, it was for a quick moment. Like 3 seconds.



This however, went on for -- what felt like a minute.



Honestly, it was for a significant amount of time.



Plus Kish was squealing the whole time she did Hands ...



Now what was that?



So anyway, Mom did not make head or tail of that inciDAN until on Sunday night, the next day, on Mother's Day ... after we came home from the karaoke and dinner.










That Sunday, Aunty Carol and Justine had booked a karaoke room for the family to celebrate together. Grandma would be joining us.



Dad, Mom and Justine woke up early that Sunday to go to church. Aunty C followed us. We were supposed to pick up Grandma later after mass (she goes to another church as You know) for our lunch cum karaoke session.



So anyway, when Dad went to get the car, at the basement 4 parking, he appeared later from the staircase, and grumbled, "Why didn't you tell me you parked the car outside?" (outside the condo compound)



Mom forgot about that.



Dad walked out the exit barrier to get the car. Mom waited by the porch. A few minutes passed before Dad appeared with the car.



Mom hopped in.



Desperado came on the radio.







Humph ...



Desperado ...



She wasn't really listening to the song until she heard the word rainbow mentioned somewhere in one of the lines toward the end.



It may be rainin' but there's a rainbow above you ...



A sense of warmness began to fill her heart.



Rainbow ...



It wasn't until she came home later that night and googled the whole lyrics to find the second zap word in the song:



Freedom ...







Desperado

Ohhhh you ain't getting no younger

Your pain and your hunger

They're driving you home

And freedom, ohh freedom

Well that's just some people talking

Your prison is walking through this world all alone



Pause to reflect.





Early in the morning, You made your presence felt.



The first song that she hears when she got into the car, had two zap words. 



Rainbow and Free.



That would not have been the first song had Dad got the car when he first went down to the basement. Meant to be.



So meant to be.



In church, mass went on as usual.



At the end of mass, the priest called for all MOTHERS to go forward to the altar for special blessings. Mom stood up without hesitation and walked towards the altar. Justine said in the car later that she saw Mom rushing to the altar.



Hahahaha ...



She didn't okay ... she didn't ...



Mothers were gathered by the altar steps. The priest said a prayer and proceeded to shower us earthly mothers with holy water. Mom lowered her head and hoped that she would receive lots of droplets of holy water.



Grin.



She did.



She was really happy about that. Father walked by her and she got a nice drizzle of holy water on her.



That was a nice blessing from above, Son. :D



So anyway ... that was Sunday morning ...



Fast forward ...



At the karaoke ... lunch time till tea time ...



Here are some photos we took at the place ...










We had a really nice time.



After the singing session, we shopped for a bit ... until it was time for dinner.



Fast forward some more ...



Later that night at home ...



Mom was preparing her school blog. 



She was uploading photos of the activities the children did that week for Mother's Day.  



As she uploaded photos of the HAND crafts, she found herself toying with several captions for the photos : Mama Hands & Mine, Mommy's Hand & My Hand, Flower Hand For Mom, Pretty Hands etc. 



Hands Hands Hands ...



Then it happened.



The sudden jolt.



The Omg ... 



EUREKA !!!



Omg ... Hands ...



Hands???



Kish did Hands the night before ...



Mom literally ran into the bedroom to get Dad. 



"Omg ... You're so not gonna believe this ... You remember last night? Kish doing Hands ... and she was squealing and squealing ... Omg ... the whole week this week, the children did HANDS for their Mother's Day craft ... Omg ... don't You see? Son is sending me a Mother's Day greeting ... HANDS ... HANDS ... HANDS ..."



She choked ... with emotion.



Mom was totally overwhelmed. 



Omg, Daniel Phua ... You must be whispering into Mom's ears ...



Hands Ma ... Hands ... Hands ... :D








Aww Son ...



Message so received, Son ...



HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MA ... :D


That was unbelievable.



Totally. 



A week later, a similar thing happened on Teacher's Day on the 16th. 



See Call 469 : Teacher's Day



Twice ...



Yeah, twice ... Mom received her greetings from her son in heaven in the same manner.



ZAP ZAP ZAP ...




 


 click to view blog



Call 470 : SOON HOCK

Hello Son, 



As promised, Mom's gonna tell You about her Mother's Day zaps.



Omg ...



That was incredible.



So, Mother's Day was on Sunday, May 12



Remember?



Even that is a special day ... decoded as 21



Ah, that is super easy.



Earlier in that week on Monday 6th, something unusual happened. Uncle KL, who was staying at our home for a few days, took us out to dinner. It was a simple Chinese restaurant in Taman Desa.



Uncle KL made the orders, speaking to the waiter in Cantonese. 



Mom overheard him say soon hock ... 





steamed soon hock 

(image from internet)




W-what? She thought to herself.  



She whispered to Dad, "Eh, just order fried ikan bawal will do la ... soon hock is so expensive ..." 






goreng ikan bawal

image from internet
  


You know right ... that Uncle KL, Dad's elder brother, always buy extravagant dinners when he takes us out. There was no special occasion, and only the 4 of us - Dad, Justine, Uncle KL and Mom ... Mom didn't think we need to order the soon hock.



Dad mouthed the words, "KL likes that fish ..."



Oh ... well, okay then ...



Uncle KL called a few more dishes.



Fast forward ...



Shortly after, all the dishes were brought to our table, along with 4 bowls of steamed rice. All ... except the soon hock fish. We didn't wait for the fish but started eating the dishes that were on the table.



Half an hour later, You could see that everyone was almost finishing the food on their plates. Still, the soon hock made no appearance.  



Uncle KL called the waiter and asked the obvious. The waiter went to the kitchen to get the boss/chef. The latter apologized profusely and said the fish would be ready in a few more minutes.

 

Slowly sipping her drink, Mom listened to Uncle KL and Dad talking about the Election and what has become of this country and the leaders in it.



Finally, the soon hock came.



Dad cut and scooped a portion of the fish onto Mom's plate.



Mom took a mouthful ... and then commented that there were scales on the skin. This is an expensive fish - You have to eat the skin, right? How could there be scales on the skin? Totally unacceptable.







Found this image under searched words : 

 fish scales illustration


THE RAINBOW FISH? 


 RAINBOW? What are the chances? 


You're definitely talking to Mom, confirming what she's about to tell You. 






Uncle KL had also taken a few bites, and said the fish was undercooked. Dad said the same thing, as he pried the fish apart to check it further.



Mom watched Uncle KL signal to the waiter. 



The boy came to our table. Uncle KL complained that the fish was not cook properly and the scales were still on the fish etc. Dad also added his dissatisfaction. Understandably, the boy quickly went to get the chef.


 
Mom whispered to Dad, "I told you we should have ordered the bawal ..."



Dad pretended not to hear.



That didn't stop Mom from expressing her opinion a little further



She mumbled under her breath, "We shouldn't have ordered that soon hock ... this place is not known for that ..."



Dad replied in low tones, "KL want that fish ..."



Pause ...

 
 
Why, is he having some kind of craving or what? She thought silently, a little irritated that this restaurant was about to RIP your family off. We should have just ordered the bawal and be done with dinner. Had you guys listened to her, she rolled her eyes in silent - belated protest, you would have saved RM200.








After a few awkward moments of trying to explain that the new kitchen helper was the one responsible in preparing the fish, the chef finally had no choice but to announce that he would replace the fish for us



Your uncle replied that we had already finished dinner. He went straight to the point and asked what kind of fish will the restaurant be giving us in replacement?



The chef replied, "Soon Hock ..." 



The chef asked us to come by the restaurant another day for dinner, and said he will serve us the same steamed soon hock, for FREE.



Free???



Omg ...



ZAP ZAP ZAP ...


 
Still, Mom heard herself suggesting, "No need to replace the fish la ... just take it out from the bill ..."



Uncle KL accepted the FREE dinner offer, and told the chef that he, Uncle KL would not be coming with us for dinner the next day, as he would be leaving KL that night. The chef replied that it would not be a problem, and that he would be expecting your family the next day ... or later. 



Whichever day convenient to us. 



Mom couldn't believe her ears. 



Seriously? 



Like -- seriously ???



We were gonna get a FREE soon hock dinner






Wow Son ... this is surely ... surely ... surely ... your doing. 



There is no way a restaurant would offer to give a soon hock dinner for FREE.



No way. 



Absolutely no way. 



Hmmm, this must be your treat for your family for Mother's Day, huh?



Gosh Daniel ...



Mom's speechless ...









It was time to go.



The chef brought the bill to the table.



Uncle KL pulled out some notes and handed to the chef



Dad turned to Mom. He had a big smile on his face.  



Your father showed Mom the hand written bill. 



Mom peered to look.






Gasp ... 



Omg ...



She spotted her angel numbers immediately. 


44 



Omg ...
 


Seriously??? 


 
Gosh, what are the chances?



No chance. Absolutely no chance.



Angel chance. The 44th bill of the day for the restaurant. 



Mom's assuming it's the 44h bill since it can't be the table number as there were only about 10 tables in that small eatery.




With that, Mom heard a loud --



HAPPY MOTHER's DAY, MA ...

Dinner on me ... :D
 







in her heart, mind and soul. 



Gosh Daniel ... Mom has said this before but she must say it again ...








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 ...



 
It is the most amazing feeling when she receives her zaps from her son in heaven. 



God is really good to us. He really really is. Please tell Jesus Mom said THANK YOU, will You? And maybe, maybe give Him a big squeeze from your ecstatic mother. 



Pause ...



Are You allowed to give Jesus a hug, Son? 



She's pretty sure You are. Still, she can't help but wonder what that must be like, giving God a hug.




If she thought that that was all she was gonna get from her son in heaven for Mother's Day, she should and must think again.



Boy, was she in for another big surprise ... <3



Totally unexpected ... 



but very very clever ...





(continue on Call 471)





Friday, May 24 @ 11:10 am ...


Gosh, You're so not gonna believe this, but a few minutes ago, about half-way writing that WHEN YOU SAY NOTHING song, Grandma called to say :



"Call Father Daniel now ... he's expecting your call ..."



Mom was supposed to call Father Daniel to invite him for Grandma's birthday dinner.



Oh gosh ...


  
ZAP ZAP ZAP ...