Saturday, January 22, 2011

This week..

Time really flies..

My late grandpa has passed away for more than a week already..

I still think of him very often & definitely do miss him still..

But life still has to go on for our entire family..

Thus this week, I still went ahead with my activities..

On Tuesday, I went to Parkway Parade shopping centre to do some shopping..

Went to the photo shop I regularly frequent, to get at least 200 pieces of photographs developed.. :p

Bought a Winnie the Pooh cap for our younger son, Jonathan Ezra..

Bought 2 black leggings & a black top from the Cotton On outlet there..

Bought some bread from BreadTalk to munch on..

And needless to say, purchased my usual Bubble Milk Tea drink from KOI at its Marine Parade outlet..

I purchased a medium sized Bubble Milk Tea drink from them, but the girl working there made a mistake & gave me a large sized one instead..

Because it was their mistake, they didn't charge me extra for it..

Guess they wanted me to drown my sorrows with KOI?! ;p

On Thursday, I visited Marina Bay Sands again..

Had lunch at its super huge food court which is located just next to their skating rink..

Also had the opportunity to visit Animal Resort that afternoon!

It's located @ 81 Seletar West Farmway 5..

There's a horse, goat, birds, lots of dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, etc. there..

Love the place!

Will definitely bring the boys here soon!

Took these few snapshots (via my iPhone 4 32GB) of the following animals while I was there..

A pretty horse..

A cute goat..

A pretty bird..

Also visited Jurong Point shopping centre yesterday..

Had pratas for lunch @ Prata Wala! :d

My egg, cheese, mushroom & plain pratas, accompanied with ice teh chino!

Yummy! :d

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

A eulogy for my grandpa.. (Delivered this eulogy for my late grandpa at his cremation service dated Monday, 17/01/2011)

Hi everybody, I'm Grace & I'm here to give a short eulogy about my grandpa, Joseph and of course, I'm his only granddaughter..

I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of my entire family & my late grandpa, we would like to thank all of you for being here today..

For most of our family occasions, my grandpa would make it a point to do 2 things: 1) to dress up in his most stylish clothes, 2) to make a speech.. thus I will not fail him & make it a point to do likewise here..

I've always respected my grandpa very much as I've always look up to him as the big guy who's experienced lots of adventures in his life..

He used to tell me stories of his youth & all the adventures he had during his growing up days in his hometown, how he courted my grandma & his adventures working as a teacher during the Japanese Occupation..

And of course, me & grandpa had our share of adventures as well..

Ever since I was a kid, we shared enjoyable trips to the market, shopping malls, simple walks in the park, even till last year, when we took mrt rides & bus rides together etc.

I'll never forget those fun times we had when I was only a kid in kindergarten when grandpa would bring me for car rides after school & despite me having a cough then, grandpa would secretly bring me to my favourite coffeehouse in Chinatown for ice-cream & we would promise each other to keep this to ourselves..

Besides our adventures, grandpa & I had a very close relationship.. To an extent that I remembered that he would eat whatever leftovers I had & vice versa..

Grandpa loved me lots..

From the day I was born.. He brought me for outings, played with me, bought me lots of stuff, gave me pocket money everytime he sees me..

He has never failed to show me love & affection in every way he could..

I will never forget how happy grandpa & I was on my wedding day..

He was so happy that he was able to be discharged from the hospital, after his 1st operation, to see me get married, he actually cried..

And I'm so glad that he not only saw me married, he also lived to see both of his great grandsons (my 2 sons) & he loved them & cared for them as much as how he loved & cared for me..

Grandpa loves food, thus he would never fail to shower us with love & food as well.. He never fails to provide food for the family.. He's a very domestic man.. He's someone who loves his family & loved ones alot..

I thank God he was able to fulfil his last simple wish of celebrating his 90th birthday on the 1st of January 2011 this year & I was able to see him for the very last time on the evening just before he peacefully passed away the next morning..

My grandpa was always a strong man.. Strong in stature, physique & will.. Till the very end..

For the past 33 years of my life, I've had lots of, uncountable, wonderful times & memories I've shared with my grandpa..

If I were to share every bit of them here, my eulogy would be an extremely long one instead..

My grandpa was an awesome man, a very loving husband; father; grandfather & great grandfather..

He taught me to love, to live..

His life (90 years of it) was an amazing adventure.. Lots of ups & downs, just like those Taiwanese drama series, which he enjoyed watching..

He has served his generation well & now it is time for us to live & serve ours..

Cheers to you, grandpa!

You have fought the good fight to the end. You have run the race to the finish. You have kept the faith.

I've always been & always will be proud of you..

Having you as my grandpa has been & always will be my pride, privilege & honour!

We thank & praise God for you in our lives.. always have & always will..

We will definitely miss you & love you forever, grandpa..

Till we meet again..

Monday, January 17, 2011

My late maternal grandpa, Joseph Chee's funeral mass, followed by cremation service and lunch for the relatives @ Peng Restaurant today..

Today's the day..

Today was the final day of my late maternal grandpa, Joseph Chee's funeral wake..

A funeral mass was held this morning, 9am @ The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Chinese: 圣母圣诞堂)

Here are a few snapshots I "stole" via my iPhone 4 32GB while the funeral mass was being conducted in the church..

*At the bottom right of the photo is my late grandpa's coffin which has been covered with a white cloth*

After the mass, my late grandpa's body & coffin was then transported from the church to Mandai Crematorium for the cremation service..

The cremation service held, 11am @ Mandai Crematorium, was a rather brief one..

It was at the cremation service which I gave a eulogy for my grandpa whom I loved dearly..

I cried while I did so..

Will upload my eulogy in my next blog post..

Then the toughest moment for every single one of us in the family & our relatives was the moment when we had to say our last goodbyes before my late grandpa was slowly wheeled into the cremation chamber to be cremated..

All of us cried..

It was an extremely solemn moment..

It was so sad but we knew our sorrow is not forever cos' we'll meet him in heaven again someday..

Jonathan Ezra was so adorable..

He actually called "Chor Chor" (meaning: great grandfather in Hokkien).. Waved & said.. "Bye Bye".. And gave a flying kiss..

We all slowly & tearily bade our final farewell as the cremation chamber closed its doors...

After the cremation, our entire family invited all the relatives who came for the cremation service for lunch @ Peng Restaurant..

Only some of them joined us as most of them had to returned to work in the afternoon..

Took these few snapshots via my iPhone 4 32GB of some of my relatives having lunch @ Peng Restaurant, located @ Lorong 1 Realty Park..

From left: Jonathan Ezra, my cousin - Samuel,  Shawn Ethan..

After lunch, our relatives left & our entire family retired back to my uncle Anthony's residence @ Rio Vista Condominium to rest..