This year seems to be extended family time. After Maya and Mala, another niece of mine, Veena, is in town with her daughter Vishaka. They have come from India to visit for 2 weeks. Veena felt her daughter did not know the relatives on her maternal side and decided to put that right :)
On thing that struck me was the ease with which my grand-niece Vishaka (11) talked to me. This was the case with Ananya (10) and Avinash (5) from New Zealand as well. It was the first time they had met me yet all three got over their initial shyness quickly and chatted about their lives. There was none of the monosyllabic answers I get from the children I meet here. This was the case with 2 delightful girls aged 7 and 9 from Auckland whom I met in church last week as well. It's got me thinking (again!) as to whether we really had got something wrong in our education of the young. It's not just that I was their grand-aunt - the grand-niece and nephew I have here don't even greet me though they have seen me since they were born. So why is there this reticence, this inability to have a conversation among the local children I meet? Hmmm....
On another note, I spent 5 days in Melbourne two weeks ago. D and I took a budget flight on 6th May and returned on the 11th. Very short trip but the price was too good to resist - we got 2 return tickets for $1040 - and I wanted to see how R had settled in. It was a very pleasant trip. The weather behaved and remained a manageable 18 degrees, I had a chance to see Neen, spent time with my other grand nephew and niece and celebrated Mother's Day with my niece (in-law)Ling Kuei.
I saw a sight to behold - my darling daughter who HATED supermarket shopping here and moaned every time we had to do the weekly shopping, actually buying groceries herself. Hahahaha :) So this pic deserves special mention...
But my best memory was the morning of Mothers' Day itself. We stayed in a little hotel beside R's hostel the night before our departure so that we could have some family time and as it would save an early morning commute to the airport. Rubhi disappeared early in the morning saying she had to pass something to her friend. Then she came back while we were having breakfast with a plate of scrambled eggs! Since the hotel only served continental breakfast she decided to make scrambled eggs (my favourite breakfast) for me for Mothers' Day. So she had asked the hotel staff for permission, then gone back to her hostel kitchen and scrambled the eggs and brought it over with a card. It was a really sweet sweet gesture. And I love the way my children still hand-make cards for me.
Now I'm looking forward to the end of June when both my girls will be back for holidays. We are planning a road trip to Malaysia - now that D has achieved his long dream of owning a car (what is it with men and cars??) - going to Port Dickson then KL. I kind of suspect that if we didn't take this trip, I won't see my daughters. Their list of things to do and people to see is long and the parents are number 2675 or something close :)
