Call 372 : GEYLANG SURIRAM

Hello Son,                                                                                     (continue from Call 366)


This draft has been waiting patiently in the draft box to be completed and published.

MONDAY, MAY 21

Your 28th month.


That morning in school, this photo below of this 6 year old boy, was taken. Mom can't remember now whether she took this photo or one of the teachers did. She only noticed the hand sign upon downloading on to the computer.



21 ...



Yes Son ... it was your 21st that day.



How queer that this kid put up his fingers in this manner.



What a coinciDANS, don't You think?

The photo was taken at 8:32 am, as recorded.



Decode : 4



21 and  4 ...



Who else could it be?


Nobody, nobody but YOU ...


That was easy, Son ...

Later that morning, a 3 year old boy saw your mother entering his class, and came running towards her. He ran into her open arms and gave her a big hug. This is one of the little things that happen in school to keep your mother going. Anyway, as Mom loosened her embrace and gently pulled him apart, she saw the DINOSAUR and the HARRY POTTER SLASH on his tee shirt.


ZAP ZAP ZAP.


She had mentioned both DINOSAUR and HARRY POTTER SLASH in your Orange Dot Blog.

ORANGE DOT BLOG

DOT 2 : DISTANCE 

"Fliends for Linner."

ORANGE DOT BLOG

DOT 38 : FISHMONGER

"Harry Potter slash."

Bear in mind that the boy who played Harry Potter is named DANIEL.


Somehow, things just have a way of being connected to You.


How is that possible ... unless it's been -- planned?


This is surely to remind your family that you're near near NEAR. :D


And all the time too. :D

TUESDAY, MAY 22


Fast forward ...



Mom was on the way back to school after dropping the last kid off at Taman Seputeh.


She was at the time singing GEYLANG SI PAKU GEYLANG loudly in the car.


Yeah, loudly ...


Haha.

Our Parents' Day was on Saturday May 26 ... and the children would be demonstrating their musical skills on rhythm sticks and shakers to this song ... apart from two other songs. The GEYLANG song had stuck in her head and she had in fact been humming it the whole time in the car. It was only after ALL the kids were sent home, and she was ALONE, did she begin to ummm, exercise, her lungs.


Grin.


Here are the lyrics.

Geylang sipaku geylang

Geylang si rama - rama

Pulang marilah pulang

Marilah pulang bersama-sama

Jangan memegang arang

Letak di dalam raga

Jangan mengata orang

Diri sendiri baik dijaga

Those are the lyrics that your mother was singing to in the car.


Dengan bersungguh-sungguh.


Grin.


As she was turning into Taman Desa, she suddenly noticed the car in front of her with the number plate :

JGN 442

Decode :  24 | 4

The time on the dashboard showed 4:59 pm.



Decode : 144



Omg ...


Your mother was suddenly alerted to the letters JGN.


Oh Gosh ...


ZAP ZAP ZAP ...


JGN ...

JGN ???

Are You kidding her?


JGN ???


As in --- JANGAN ... memegang arang ...


JANGAN ... mengata orang ... ???



Oh Gosh ...


Are You singing along with Mom, Daniel?


You are, aren't You?


Otherwise, Mom wouldn't have seen the JGN 442 sign.


You must have whispered to Mom to take notice of the car.

What are the chances?


Honestly, what are the chances?


That was just super-awesome.


Everywhere we are, there You'll be ... :D


Always, Daniel ...

FRIDAY, MAY 25

There was a period of 10 days that Mom was not able to call You.


From May 21st to May 31st.


Despite not being able to make those calls, You continued to send your mother little signs here and there to remind her again and again and again that You are near.


Anyway ...

On Friday, a day before our Parents' Day, as we were leaving the house, Mom spotted a moth / butterfly along the corridor to the lift.


It was orange and black/white.


Instantly, she thought of the GEYLANG song.


That must be the si rama-rama. :D

Mom snapped a photo.


Dad was with her. He looked on as she crouched down slowly to take a shot.


Geylang si rama-rama ...

Pulang, marilah pulang ...

Marilah pulang, bersama-sama ...


For many reasons, those lyrics brought a big smile to your mother's face. :D


Only God knows ... her own personal interpretation of those lines.


And You, of course.


You know everything now.

Marilah pulang, bersama-sama ...

Sunday, May 27


Parents' Day came and went smoothly. Although one of the staff called at the very last minute to say she was unable to attend to assist, Mom had the spiritual assurance that the day would go okay.


Yup, sometimes she surprises herself with her ...a fraction of a dot-sized mustard seed of faith.


So anyway ...


On Sunday, whilst waiting for Justine and Dad to get ready for church, Mom logged on to check the HELLO SON blog. Her last call then was on May 21st.

Call 366 : 28th Month

She went through that entry, was reminded of the inciDANS by the photos, in particular the photo of the time on the dashboard showing 1:11 pm, and the photo of the car with the number plate DH 1111 ...


Not surprisingly, she found herself thinking out loud, "So many ones that day ..."



Both decoded as : 21 / 4



At the end of that call - entry, she found her eyes setting on the time of publication.
 

Posted by Lynn Phua at 11:12 pm.

Hmmm ...


She had noted lightly at the time, and thought nothing more of it.


She started her call ...

Hello Son ...

Pause ...

Pause ...


Pause some more ...


After a few minutes, of staring at your blog and photos of your handsome face on the panel :D (every mother is programmed to see their child as beautiful), including that HAND SIGN by YOU and Justine on the WE ARE YOUNG photo, Mom decided to log off. She was not able to gather her thoughts to write in peace, as the maid was ambitiously busy with the crankily disobedient vacuum cleaner then.


Some more pause ...

Showing off, are we, Ma? :D

Hahaha ...


So anyway, when it was time, we went to church.


We were not late, we were right on time.


Everybody else was just too darn early.


By the way, don't pick up the darn word. Mama Mary will disapprove. :D


The church was already packed ... as usual.


We sat outside.


There was a projector screen hanging just right in front of us.


Mom looked at it.


She blinked ... and looked again.


Omg ...

ZAP ZAP ZAP ...


What a coinciDANS ...


You must have whispered to Mom to take notice of the publication time on the blog earlier :



11:12 pm



What are the chances of seeing these numbers again so soon after she saw it on the blog?


Mom had to smile. You really have a way of making your presence felt.


Mom whispered to Dad, on her right ... and then leaned over to whisper to Justine, who was sitting on the right of Dad.


This morning bla bla bla 1112 ...


Now look up there bla bla bla 2111 ...


Omg 



Mom took out her cellphone to take her eviDANS. She ignored the people sitting around her, who definitely must have seen her taking a photo of the projector screen ... probably thinking she would be doing some intense reading of the Bible that night.


Hahaha ...


After church, we went for breakfast.


Then we dropped Justine and the maid back at the condo ... your sister is in the middle of her exam period ... whilst Dad and Mom went to the mall. Mom's computer crashed that time, and there was a PC fair at the mall. Sunday being the last day.


In the car, Mom was singing softly to herself.


Parents' Day was over.


She was thinking of a new song for the kindermusical band. This time, the children would use castanets, she thought. They have done a demonstration with hand bells, rhythm sticks and shakers.


The song SURIRAM came to mind.


 

It was a favorite of your mother's. S


She was just waiting for the right time to introduce the song to the children.


That time has come ...


Here are the lyrics ...


Note the ram, ram, ram ...

Suriram ram, Suri ram ram ram

Suriram ku yang manis

Aduhai Suriram sayang

Makin dipandang semakin manis

It is interesting to note that some of the lyrics have "evolved" and different singers may pronounce our Malay word differently. Nevertheless, it is adorable to see and hear other children / adults beyond our shores sing this song that is dear to our hearts.


How cute is that. <3


You probably did not learn this song in school, Daniel, although Mom learned it in kindergarten. Our traditional songs kinda disappeared when your generation came.


Here are 3 videos of Suriram.


Go have a listen. :D


It's not too late to learn it ...

SULIRAM

Pittsford, New York

SURIRAM

Singapore

SULIRAM

Grammy award winning South African Singer, Miriam Makeba

So anyway ...


Where were we?


Ah, yes ... Dad and Mom were in the car, on the way to the mall. Mom was singing SURIRAM softly to herself. Loud enough for Dad to hear, of course. You'll see why that is important.


Your father is a potential witness to an inciDAN which was about to happen. :D


We parked the car, and walked to the mall. Mom was still singing.


Suriram, ram, Suriram, ram ram ...


Passing by a computer outlet, Dad went in. Mom stayed outside the shop, entertaining herself as she continued to sing, at the same time, thinking of how the castanets would come in and at which part of the SURIRAM song.


Dad called Mom to go over. He wanted to show Mom a model.


Your mother does not have the faintest idea of which model to consider. She would leave it to Dad to decide.


So Mom walked over, to take a look at the models that were on offer.


She saw this one and ...


Omg ...


Gasp ...

Mom pointed to the RRR - AYE - AMM.


You see the RAM?


"Omg, he's singing the SURIRAM with me ..."



Dad kinda laughed.



Mom was all serious as she stared at the screen.


She caught sight of the word FREE.


Gasp ...

FREE ???

Omg ...

 
See the photo of You in your pink FREE tee shirt, on the left side of the panel on the blog.



Before she knew it, she was alerted to the price : NOW AT RM1,999



That triggered her brains to work faster - than - the - speed - of - light to reveal the secret code that lies within.



Decode :  244



Omg ...


You can't be serious ...


What are the chances ...


That was the number that Mom had spotted when she was singing the GEYLANG song in the car earlier that week, on Tuesday. 

 
Mom burst out excitedly, "Son's singing with me ... Omg ... The first time, was GEYLANG ... JGN 442 ... You remember, I told You ... Jangan memegang arang ... This is the second time ... You see the RAM ... You heard me, I was singing SURIRAM since church and in the car, and even now at the shop .... See the 1999 ... That's 244 ... And FREE ... don't forget the FREE ... Omg ... I can't believe this ... What are the chances??? He's really singing with me ..."


Honestly, what are the chances of finding all the uh, eviDANS?

Would You look at all the clues?


Gosh, no chance ...


Only angel chance ...


You must have whispered to Dad to get Mom to go over to the screen ... because once she got there, it was ZAP ZAP ZAP all the way. :D


How incredible.


Honestly, how incredible.


Every little thing reminds us of You.


It's awesome ...


Allow a few minutes here for the dust to settle.


So Daniel ...


Don't You like the song?



Suriram ram, Suriram ram ram ... :D



Hahaha ...


Mom knew You'd catch on ...

Call 371 : 14 FINCHES

Hello Son,


Monday, June 4


It was after school in the evening.


Dad came to fetch her home.


She had just about buckled herself up in the seat, when she heard the song A THOUSAND YEARS filling up her senses. The radio was on. Her eyes darted to the dashboard.



It was 7:23 pm.



Decode : 21



She had to smile. :D


Her son always knew how to make his presence felt.

Mom found it necessary to enlighten Dad, in case he was not aware.


Chuckle.


Haha ...


Who was she kidding?


Of course Dad is aware of the connecton of the song A THOUSAND YEARS.


Mom was recently zapped some 4 days ago on Saturday, June 2.


See Call 368 : HERCULES ZAP and Call 369 : GRANDMA'S BIRTHDAY.


Mom said, "A Thousand Years ... You remember that Saturday night? The 8:44 pm ... And then on Sunday, the car 4408?"


Dad nodded with a smile.


She continued, to make a point, "It's only like what, 5 minutes to reach home (evening time less traffic) from school, and yet THIS song has to come on. C'mon on ... Can You see he's zapping to me?" :D:D:D


Dad nodded thoughtfully.


We reached home.   


In the lift going up to our condo, a thought did cross your mother's mind ...


The second sign ... Is there a second sign? There should always be two signs, that's the understanding between mother on earth and her son in heaven.


Oh well ...


The lift stopped at our floor. The door slid open. She walked out.


Maybe ... maybe the first sign was that PARROT and the CAGE picture she saw that afternoon whilst a 6 year old girl was reading to her. Mom had looked at both the illustrations, the bird in the cage on the left page, and the bird saying HELO on the right ... with keen interest. For some reason, she had not felt the need to snap a photo then. This photo is only taken at the time of writing this paragraph.


And the song (A THOUSAND YEARS) was the second sign ...


She shrugged ...

That evening, we had dinner on the sofa in front of the television.


Dad had cooked pilau rice with lamb in the pressure cooker pot earlier. The fragrant of the rice was amazingly heavenly.


A Disney movie was on.


Mom asked, "What show is this?"


Justine said, "Kicking And Screaming."


Mom watched ...


There were boys in a field playing soccer ...


The boys were wearing jerseys with numbers on them.


She had exclaimed loudly, when she spotted a jersey with the number 14.


Justine noticed that too, nodding as she chomped on her food.


The next minute, the coach brought a tray of small BIRD CAGES with finches, in them.


What's a finch, You might ask?


Here's a picture of a finch.

It's a song bird that people like to have in their backyard, apparently. :D


Mom had blurted out, "Eh, bird cage ..."


That made her think of the picture of the bird cage she saw this afternoon in the reading book.


What a coinciDANS ...


After the movie was over, Justine sprang up from the carpet, went to her desk and pulled out one of her thick serious-looking book.


Flip flip flip ...


"I knew it!" your sister exclaimed, as she brought the book to Mom.


She showed Mom an image of a number of finches in her Biology text book.


Justine counted and announced, "14 finches ..."


Mom counted, slowly ... pointing to the image one by one, and confirmed, "Yeah, 14 finches ..."


Your sister pointed to the top of the page, and said, " See here - Topic 4 ..."


and then, she pointed to the bottom of the page, with a "I rest my case" submission, "Page 242 ..."


Mom responded, "That's 24, two times ..."


Quite clearly, we heard a :

It's Me, la ... It's Me ... :D

 At a Baby Contest. You were 16 months old. Contestant Number 24.

Also your birthdate : Dec 24

 ORANGE DOT BLOG

 Dot 37 : Dense

Or 242 can be plainly and simply decoded as 44.


Code 44 : Everywhere we are, there You'll be.


However way we look at it, we see YOU, Daniel.


Nobody, nobody but YOU.


ZAP ZAP ZAP ...


You're just -- everywhere ...


It's so easy ...  :D

Call 370 : BEEF NOODLES

Hello Son,


Something amazing happened today. :D


Dad and Mom went to town. Maid R came with us. Justine was at home.


Mom needed to get some supplies for school to prepare for 2nd term, which will begin in a week's time.


So anyway, we arrived at 9:30 am. Maid R followed Mom, from one floor to another.


After getting the school's stuffs, Mom went to household dept to get ... oh, You know, this and that, bin bags, biscuits, detergent and the like.


While we were there, there was an announcement from the PA speakers above that said :

Wishing all mothers a Happy Mother's Day!

Mom heard that, and thought to herself, "It's June. Mother's Day was like 2 weeks ago ..."


Anyway, that announcement made her think of our Parents' Day, two Saturdays ago.


The kids had sang some songs specially for Mommies and had recited  

BECAUSE YOU LOVE ME ... right after that, they'd yelled out LOUDLY :

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY !!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY !!!

Yeah ...


Twice. :D


Don't ask WHY ... but Mom instructed the children to wish twice.


All Mommies were proudly wearing the necklace that their child had made for them. Some necklaces were a bit too long, and some not long enough, but all were made with lots of love. <3


We left the supermarket and walked to the car, which was parked in the open air car park.


Packing the stuffs into the boot, Dad said, "Let's have something to eat ..."


There was a coffee shop which is famous for its beef noodles some 100 m away.


We walked there.


Reaching the coffee shop, Dad said, "Never mind, let's go somewhere else. It's packed."

(actual place)

Yeah, it was ...


All the tables were occupied. Not only that, but there were patrons standing beside the occupied tables waiting, for the seated patrons to finish up and leave.


It had been a long walk ... for Mom la. She wasn't about to leave and go somewhere else ... like what, another 100 m away? Aiyoh, please ...


Silently, she sent a telepathic sms to her Son, "Where's our table, Daniel?"


Mom looked around ... expecting a table right after her um, sms.


She saw some people leaving their tables but then, the tables were taken up almost immediately.


Judging by the crowd, it did not look possible for us to get a table - quickly.


Arghhh ...

A waitress signaled to Mom to go over.


Mom went over. There was a lady having her noodles on a table meant for 4.


The waitress, without asking the lady whether it would be okay for us to join her, pulled out a chair for Mom ... totally ignoring the lady.


Hahaha ...


Hehehe ...


Hohoho ...


We are Asians ...


We can get away with rude behaviour, especially if in a packed coffee shop.


Mom made eye contact with the lady, and offered an apologetic smile.


"Is it okay? Can we sit here?" your mother asked.


The lady was nice ... and gestured us to sit down.


Thank you, Son ... the lady is nice. You know how to pick them. :D


Anyway, we enjoyed the noodles very much. The meat was oh-so-very-tender ... the soup was super delicious ... the noodles were just mouth-watering yummy.

Got this photo from the internet. Take note of the WHY. This blogger went to the same place. He said in his blog that the beef noodles opposite this place is much better. That's what Dad said too. Oh well ... tomorrow, we go to the coffee shop opposite ... :D

After our noodles, we took a quick stroll to China Town.


Mom wanted to check out the price for chinese costumes, for our concert purposes.


We did not stay long.


Half way through the long stretch of ChinaTown, Mom told Dad, "Let's go back ..."


And so we made our way back ...


We were finally in the car.


Okay, now listen carefully ...

Are You ready?


Dad started the engine.


The time on the dashboard showed 12:34 pm.


Mom pointed excitedly, "Omg ... 1234 ... He's saying, I Love You ..."


A few seconds later, the song BECAUSE YOU LOVE ME came on the radio.


ZAP ZAP ZAP ...


OMG ...


Are You kidding?

BECAUSE YOU LOVE ME???

Mom started speaking in tongues ...


You know, the one thousand words per minute ...

Dad could not make a word she was saying.


She had to repeat it again, and again ... carefully and not so loudly.


Maid R was at the back seat and Mom did not want the maid to see her Ma'am so hyper-excited.


"The shop wished all mothers a Happy Mother's Day just now ...  

Because You Love Me ...

the kids did that for Mother's Day ...

You remember, I told him before that all mothers would love to have this song dedicated to them ...

and 1234 ...

OMG, 1234 ...

You know WHY that's him?

Do you know WHY?"

Flustered ...


Mom was totally having a hard time trying to remain calm, as You would have seen.

There's only 

1 way

2 say

3 words 

4 You

I love You

On Mom's birthday the year You left us (2010), Justine and her were in the car. It was night time, we were driving home after a whole day out. Your sister suddenly spotted the number plate DAN on the vehicle in front of us. Right after she pointed and kinda yelled, "Hey, DAN ..." would You believe it but the song 1234 I LOVE YOU came on the radio.


That's WHY ... 1234 is YOU.


Nobody, nobody but YOU. <3


Also, You used to sing it now and then, and irritated your sister when you stuck your fingers up her face at 1234.


Grin ...


We miss that, Daniel ...

 Soon, we were driving behind this vehicle. Mom couldn't help but notice the number plate. 

WHY 8621

Decode : WHY 44

It was quite funny for your parents to see this WHY word on the car in front of them ... especially when your mother was just asking your father two minutes ago : WHY WHY WHY ...


Chuckle.


Were You listening? You were / are definitely with us. You're practically in the conversation.


Woah Daniel ... the signs today were awesome.


Totally.


Super-awesome ... the 12:34 pm and Celine Dion's BECAUSE YOU LOVE ME.


That was definitely YOU making your presence felt very strongly.


Mom knows.


And You know.


We both know.


The signs are clear.


No need for words.


So much was spoken.

I love You, Ma ... Happy Mother's Day ... again ... :D

Mom heard that.


Yes, she has super-sonic ears.


 

Honestly, You must have whispered to Mom when we were in China Town to ...

Go back now, Ma ... :D

... otherwise we would have walked on and covered the whole stretch of China Town, and miss the song.


Gosh the timing, as always is perfect.


Dad turned into Taman Desa.


We would soon reach home.


For some reason, Mom couldn't help but think, "Is there a 2nd zap? Shouldn't there be 2?"


You must have been shaking your head, huh ...


Tsk Tsk Tsk ...


We were about 200 m away from the condo, when a car suddenly cut into our lane. We were on the right lane, about to turn right ... and this car from the left lane, appeared abruptly in front of us.


W-what the ...


Gasp!


Omg ...


Are You kidding?


What are the chances?


Mom grabbed her cellphone and snapped a shot.

Mom blurted, "4408 ... Omg ... You remember? Last night?"


Dad looked a bit blank.


Mom's tone was impatient when she explained, "Last night ... remember I switched the channel and A THOUSAND YEARS was on? I showed you the time? 8:44 pm? Remember?"


Mom told You about this inciDAN on Saturday (yesterday) on Call 369 : Grandma's Birthday.


Dad remembered. There must be a reason WHY Mom showed Dad the time last night.


Hellooo ...


THIS (4408) -- is the reason.


ZAP ZAP ZAP ...


Gosh, what are the chances for this number to appear in front of your mother's face? In the first place, how could she remember and connect this number (4408) to the time last night (8:44 pm)? You are definitely whispering to her ... Her memory is not that great ... Especially when the present number is not even the exact number of last night's ... it's terbalik ...


And yet ... yet ... she was able to make the connection.


My oh my, was she impressed with herself at that moment.

Haha.


Thank you for being with us, Daniel ...


Please keep the zaps coming, Son. Always let Mom know that You're near, okay?


Always ...


As Mom is making this call, Dad discovered this video, and asked Mom to stop to listen.


Here You listen to it.


The girl is dedicating this song to her friend, DANIEL, who went to Heaven at 15 years old.


Now WHY does that sound familiar ...


Even GOD wants 2 ...

DANIEL'S SONG

by Lauren Lee

Mom sees the 21 on the video ...

Call 369 : GRANDMA'S BIRTHDAY

Hello Son,                                                                          (continue from Call 368)


Dad came to school to fetch Mom for lunch. We had some noodles.

On the way back to the condo, with Justine's food, would You believe it but A THOUSAND YEARS came on the radio.

Omg ...

ZAP ZAP ZAP ...

It was surreal ...

What are the chances?

Mom shot a glance at the dashboard.

The time showed 2:07 pm.

No ...

It wasn't the usual angel-zap time but what the heck.

Mom blurted out to Dad excitedly, "Omg ... A Thousand Years ... I was telling Son about A Thousand Years on the blog just now ... Omg ... He's talking to me ... He's like, I read your message, Ma ... A Thousand Years ... Awww, I'm so happy ..." :D:D:D

Honestly, we would have been in the car for not more than 15 minutes. Yet, this song had come on. A thousand and one songs that could have come on the radio during that brief 15 minutes, it had to be THIS one. The one your mother told You about when she called You earlier.

A THOUSAND YEARS.

Gosh Son ... How absolutely perfect is your angel timing.

You really do know how to make your presence felt all the time. :D

So anyway ... where were we?

Ah, Grandma's birthday yesterday (FRIDAY, JUNE 1).

After work, Aunty C came to school to pick Mom up, and then we went home to fetch Justine (who had come home from college by then), before heading to the mall. Dad would meet us there later.

In the car, Mom told Aunty C about the inciDAN that happened on THURSDAY, MAY 31.

She had told You about it on Call 367 : PHONE DANIEL

Can You imagine? The last time your mother called You then was on your 21st, 10 days ago, and 10 days later on the 31st, You were like reminding Mom, with the registration plate:

PDM 1398 

Secret code : Phone Daniel, Ma ... 21

Hmmm, no wonder ... it must not have been easy to find a vehicle with that secret code, huh. Is that why it took You so long to lead us to an empty spot?

We entered the mall, and pulled out a ticket from the dispenser. Aunty C drove through the NO ENTRY lane on the right ...

Hahaha ...

Ahh yes, there was a nice parking bay waiting for us right opposite the scribble on the wall that says  

JASON <3 M  

You will remember that Mom interprets that graffiti as JASON LOVES MOM ...

Your mother's told You about this inciDAN in one of our calls earlier, remember?

"He got this parking for us," Mom said with a happy smile.

It's that obvious.

You were definitely with us that evening.

Aunty C chuckled.

We hurried to the Japanese restaurant.

There, we were led to a nice cozy corner, with a long table, and 8 seats on each side.

We pumped up the balloons, laid down the table gifts and hung up a HAPPY BIRTHDAY sign Aunty C bought from TOYS R US the day before. Grandma and her friends soon appeared.

Wow ... your grandmother was all dressed up like a celebrity. :D

Very hot, lo ...

Dinner soon started.

Mom noticed, with a knowing smile, that the chair next to your sister was empty.

Deep in her heart, she knew why.

Of course she knew why. 

You were / are with us, Daniel.

It's so easy ... :D

She hears You.

Truly, it's amazing how You can speak right to her heart,

Without saying a word, You can light up the dark,

Try as she may she can never explain,

What she hears when You don't say a thing.

Yeah Son, You say it best when You say nothing at all ... <3


It turned out that 2 guests were not able to make it that night, despite confirming earlier that they would be attending.

Let's see ...

2 guests missing ...

Which means 14 guests were present that night.

What better number of guests than one that shows your mother her angel sign?

Oh, it's so easy ...

Chuckle.

So anyway, it was after 11 pm when we were finally done with the birthday dinner.


In the car, Aunty C started the engine.

The digital time on the dashboard showed 11:13 pm.

Mom said, "That's 24 ..."

Aunty C responded, "Yeah, I know ..."

24 being your birthdate.

It can't get easier than this, Daniel ...

Smile.

To complete the perfect night, would You believe it but A THOUSAND YEARS came on the radio as we were leaving the mall.

Omg ... :D




This entry was published at this point ...

Then ...


9:09 pm (Saturday) : Omg ... You won't believe this ... We were having dinner in front of the television ... How I Met Your Mother Was On ... Then, at one point, Mom picked up the remote, with the intention of increasing the volume but accidentally changed the channel instead... How surprised she was to hear the immediate lyrics that filled the living room that instant ...

I have died every day waiting for you ...

Lyrics from A THOUSAND YEARS.


Mom gave a shriek ... Justine and Dad were / are here with her ... Your mother leaped to her cell phone, checked the time, and gave another shriek ...

OMG ...

She thrust her handphone to Dad's face ...

A witness ... She must have a witness ... It's too incredible ...

"Look at the time ... It's 8:44 pm ... OMG ... 8:44 ...Can You believe this?"



Decode : 4444

Dad saw the time and smiled.

OMG ... What are the chances?

"The whole day today, I was telling him about A THOUSAND YEARS ... That was just a short advertisement of her (Christina Perri's) concert (says Justine) and in that few seconds that I accidentally switched the channel, I got to hear a few lines from the song? OMG ...

"Son whispered to me ... He whispered to me ... How would I know to change the channel right at that time to hear the song? The ad is only for a few seconds ... Only 4 or 5 lines of the song ... Yet, I heard it ... I heard it ... I was meant to hear it ... OMG ..."

Omg ...

How awesome ...

How incredibly awesome ...

At the same time, Dad exclaimed unexpectedly when he saw Justine playing a POKEMON game on her phone.

"Isn't that the game that Daniel used to play?"

Justine said, "Yes ..."

Dad reminded Mom of your GameBoy, how You loved to play your POKEMON game and that You were very good at it.

"He beat the computer a few times," Dad said, proudly.

Pause ...
 
Yes Daniel ... We all remember your GameBoy days ...

How engrossed You used to be when You were at it ...

We miss all that, Daniel ...

Call 368 : HERCULES ZAP

Hello Son,

It's 8:36 am on a beautiful Saturday morning.

Mom's in school. Maid R needs to do some cleaning, so your mother is here on the desk computer. It sure feels so very good and right to be able to write to You after that 10 long days of absence. Now, Mom's not sure how to tell You all those inciDANs that happened since she last called You on your 21st.

Plenty, plenty ... happened.

All so zapping awesome. :D

All YOU ... Nobody, nobody but You. :D

Your mother knows.

God really is so good to us. Please tell Him Mom said that, would You? Really ... Jesus does sound like a really cool guy, huh. He doesn't take away without giving back ... and making sure we are okay. Honestly, why your mother has to go through this path in life, she will never know ... but someday, she's gonna have a long chat with God. Tell Him that, would You please? Maybe from up there, You can see the maze clearly now ... or like The Quilt story goes, above the messy criss-cross patterns of patchwork, lies a beautiful picture. 

Pause.

Not the exact inspirational line.

Oh well ...

You know what she means, right? She means like, if You were to look under the works of a cross-stitch, You would see untidy and disorientated patterns ... but if You were to look from the other side ...


I know what you mean, Ma ... :D 

Chuckle.

So anyway ...

Let Mom tell You about yesterday, Friday, June 1st.

Gramdma's birthday.

Mom was in school as usual.

Aunty C was in the hospital.

Justine was in college.

Dad was having an appointment.

The 4 of us were supposed to meet at home about 5:30 pm to go to the restaurant to decorate the place with balloons before Grandma's birthday dinner at 7 pm. She would be having 16 guests altogether, including family and herself, she had said the day before.

By the way, your hyper-energetic Grandma (big, big grin) and her girl-friends spent the entire afternoon at the Karoake in Gardens Mall. :D

From 1 pm apparently to 5 pm, and extended to 7 pm.

Can You imagine that?

What did Grandad say? :D

Hahaha ...
 
Anyway, at one point in the afternoon, Dad came to fetch Mom and two of her teachers to check out concert costumes at a uh, faraway place. Yup faraway ... As in your father had to google and print out the location and directions to the place ... which we go every year for costumes.

Concert is in November and yes, of course it's still early, but Mom wanted to see what kind of costumes the boutique has this year to get a little inspiration of what dance performances we should do.

Anyway, we went to that faraway place ... can't remember the name of the place now ... had a bit of vegetarian lunch first (one of the teachers is vegetarian), then went to the boutique, browsed around for about an hour, before leaving. The new collection is not in yet, and the present costumes that were hanging on the racks were ... um, kinda miserable - looking. None of the costumes, jumped out, to catch your mother's attention.

No electrifying moment.

So ...

No ...

No inspiration was sparked there. :(

We'll check again end of June when the new collection comes in.

We went back to school. After dropping the teachers at their parked car, Dad dropped Mom off at the entrance of our kindy.

LAND BEFORE TIME (Yes Son, your cartoon CD still works) was playing on the DVD player at the time. Just as Dad stopped, and Mom was about to get out of the car, the dinosaurs broke into the song :

FRIENDS FOR DINNER

ZAP ZAP ZAP ...

Dad and Mom turned to look at each other before echoing in unison, "FLIENDS for LINNER."

That was how You used to say it. :D

FLIENDS FOR LINNER ...

Remember?

Oh Gee Wow Son ...

Mom just got zapped the last few minutes.

She had gone to your ORANGE DOT BLOG to check DOT 2 : DISTANCE ...

ORANGE DOT BLOG 

DOT 2 : DISTANCE

She remembers mentioning FLIENDS FOR LINNER somewhere in that entry.  She couldn't remember if she had uploaded that song-video in that entry.

Mom scrolled down and saw the I CAN GO THE DISTANCE video at the bottom of the entry ...

Oh well, she did not ...

She clicked on it, and noted with a grimace that the Hercules video had been blocked for COPYRIGHT reasons.

Pause ...

Yeah ...

Very irritating, all these copyright issues ...

There's just nothing right about copying, is there?

Don't worry.

She googled for another video. She would upload another one. She will not accept defeat.

HAH!!!


Wahhh, so dramatic, Ma ... :D


Yes yes ...

She keyed in the words :


youtube i can go the distance michael bolton lyrics


This page popped up.

Mom found herself staring at the 3 videos.

Do You see what she sees?

Oh boy ...

ZAP ZAP ZAP ...

Would You pook at the recorded length of time for the 3 videos.

Don't the numbers strike You?

They struck her.

Yup. they struck her.

All her angel signs were staring back at her in the face.

Like ...

BOOM went the thunder ... 

and ZAP, went the lightning ...

Spring time storm can be really frightening ...

(part of our Speech & Drama on Five Spring Flowers)

Yes Son, You really can go the distance.

And You have.

You used to sing this one line I CAN GO THE DISTANCE when You were first introduced to the cartoon movie HERCULES. Many times, Dad and Mom found themselves watching with a smile how You'd wait for that line, and when that part came, You'd open your mouth and sing out loud :



I CAN GO THE DISTANCE ...



Mom clicked on the 3rd video ... the 4:44 video and sang along.

Sing along too, Daniel ...

You'd probably know ALL the lyrics by now ...

I have often dreamed

Of a far off place

Where a hero's welcome

Will be waiting for me

Where the crowds will cheer

When they see my face

And a voice keeps saying

This is where I'm meant to be

 

I will find my way
 

I can go the distance
 

I'll be there someday
 

If I can be strong
 

I know every mile
 

Will be worth my while
 

I will go most anywhere
 

To feel like I belong

 

Down an unknown road
 

To embrace my fate
 

Though that road may wander
 

It will lead me to you
 

And a thousand years
 

Would be worth the wait
 

It might take a lifetime
 

But somehow I'll see it through

 

And I won't look back

I can go the distance
 

And I'll stay on track
 

No I won't accept defeat
 

It's an uphill slope
 

But I won't lose hope
 

Till I go the distance
 

And my journey is complete
 

But to look beyond the glory is the hardest part
 

For a hero's strength is measured by his heart

 

Like a shooting star
 

I will go the distance
 

I will search the world
 

I will face its harms
 

I don't care how far
 

I can go the distance
 

Till I find my hero's welcome
 

Waiting in your arms

You would have seen your mother gasped and stopping abruptly at the line : "a thousand years."

Omg ...

A Thousand Years?

Like A THOUSAND YEARS by Christina Perri? 

The song that was brought to your mother's attention by a complete stranger on the blog?

Everything is just so connected, isn't it?

I CAN GO THE DISTANCE 

michael bolton 

Gee Son ... Even searching for an image for HERCULES, You can zap Mom.

Why, that's a HARRY PORTER slash ...

Even though it's longer than the original zig-zag mark.

Your mother remembers instantly that she had mentioned this HP slash in your Orange Dot Blog.

Yes, yes, yes ...

Everything is connected ...

Every little thing reminds Mom of You ...

Every - single - little - thing ...

How's that possible?

You must be whispering to your mother, huh ...

ORANGE DOT BLOG

 DOT 38 : FISHMONGER

Hmmm, as You can see your mother has side-tracked a bit here. She was telling You about Grandma's birthday yesterday on Friday, June 1 when she first started. Will continue in a bit. Be patient. Need to get some lunch for Dad and Justine.





(continue on Call 369)