Goodbye to Daddy & Grandma

It wasn't an easy begining of 2010 to start with and neither is it good ending. But we are able ti live with it.

Dad was not doing good with him loosing so much weight in such a short period of time. We were of the assumption that he was under retirement depression as his massive weight shift started in Sept 2009. However, we managed to find out after his fall and things were not the same from than on.

We were mostly travelling from hospital to home for check-ups and for results. Until finally, we decided to take him to Singapore for another check with a Chinese Medicine Practitioner, Li Choo, which many of my relatives have recommended her to be greatly accurate. And they were right. Dad was still hopeful that Li Choo can help. Without much hesitation, she just told my dad these exact word, "You should get the doctor to give you whatever treatment as you are severely critical." No treatment from her. 1 day after we arrived back in KL, dad was admitted for breathing difficulties and everything when downhill than. He passed away on 21 January 2010; 3.09am, 4 days after the visit to Li Choo.

I thought the year would end better with my wedding and all. However, it had to end with another goodbye.

Grandma was a beautiful lady with unspeakable elegance & an empress pride. Never will you see her without at least a nicely drawn eyebrow and face foundation. As far as I can remember, she never smells bad.... even after a day of cooking and cleaning for the festive season. But things started to turn 5 years ago when she had the blockage in the stomach. Doctor said there were some patches on the X-Ray located at the lower half of her body. She just need regular check-ups and medications.

She started to loose weight since. She was a 50kg, 5' 0"  lady. She lost her kilos until she was only 38kg, literally skins on bones. What really makes me cry, even till now, is that she waited until after my wedding and said to my aunt, "Finally, my granddaughter is married. I think it's time for me go." And from than on, her healtlh deteriorated further. She was bed ridden and her started to have difficulties in digesting her food. Her liver started to swell so large that she had to wear an XL top to fit her in. She started to have really inconsistent breathing on 24th Oct. However, she was still really alert and is able to react to our question via nodding and winks. At the end, she slipped away in her sleep, on 31st October 2010; 2.19am. 

Exactly 10 months, 10 days, 1 hour and 10 minutes after dad. Well planned.

I love you dad... I love you grandma... We misses you both so much...

My Apologies

It has been awhile since I wrote.

My apologies.

Well, I am preparing for my wedding and believe me..... lots of time spend getting the event up and getting the house up all at the same time is CRAZY but fulfilling..... this just makes things more interesting and memorable.

Will update soon.....

Dreams long forgotten

Have you ever dream of something as a child and wishes it will come true? 

Dreams have been described physiologically as a response to neural processes during sleep, psychologically as reflections of the subconscious, and spiritually as messages from gods, the deceased, predictions of the future or the language of the Soul.

........And when it comes pretty much close to 'true', you get all so excited as if the world is suddenly heaven, so to speak. I know I have experienced that and I can tell you that the feeling was tremendous indescribable.

But what happened to beautiful dreams coming true? There was a saying I use to say, "When there are dreams, there are hope. And when there are hope, there is a future".

I was reflecting this evening on this and found that I have not been dreaming much about anything. I find it so sad that as you grow older, the nights that you dream about beautiful things get lesser and lesser. Have I lost my world of imagination or am I merely too tired to even dream? 

However, I believe that when you start having beautiful thought every day, you should be able to have beautiful dreams. Just like a child. The subconscious mind will take over and build something you cannot imagine.

I am looking forward waking up with a beautiful smile and beautiful feeling soon.

Perfect Love Story: Together in Life and Death

I just read the Star Newspaper and 1 news in particular caught my attention, which I want to share with you How Great Love Can Be. 

Located on The Star 15 Jun; Page N3; Title: Together in Life and Death. You can also read it at:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/15/nation/6472096&sec=nation

The love between Ho Khye Soo, 90, and his wife Ong Phin Nyar, 82, seemed so great that even death could not separate them when they passed away about three hours apart.

Love at 1st sight during the Japanese Occupation. He was 24 and she was 16. From there, they have started their life together and grew a family of 5 children. Mdm Ong was already in unconsciousness due to her kidney failure. Mr Ho visit his wife on Saturday, 12 June 2010,  although his children prevented  him from doing so. He, than passed away on the following day, Sunday, 13 June 2010, at 5.45pm. Mdm Ong followed at 9.10pm, about 3 hours apart. 

 Source: The Star Newspaper (15 June 2010)

Now, where can you find such true love story other than in fairy tales. 

May God Bless this lovely couple and their family. 

Malaysia Customer Service: Where are you?

Customer Service is essential in all business today. In fact, good customer service is the lifeblood of any business. I am sure you agree with me 100%. All products offered are almost homogeneous and the only thing that differ you from others is the service you render.

So, what exactly is our expectation on Customer Service? Giving tremendous amount of freebies? 'YES' to everything a customer demands? Giving cheap price for your products? Or is it just answering to customers' complaints? These are basically the the norms already.

Good customer service is all about services offered before, during and after a purchase. And it is all about bringing customers back. It's all about sending them away happy enough to pass positive feedback about your business along to others, who may then try the product or service you offer for themselves and in their turn become repeat customers. Word of mouth is a proven fact of the rise and fall of a company/product.

Let me give you an example I encountered in IKEA, which was an incomplete process.

IKEA is known to many to have helpful staffs, so on and so forth. But not to this customer that I saw. He is a foreigner whom I would assume to have traveled and been to many places. He bought furniture worth about RM5,000 at IKEA this Sunday and he was beaming all smiles and great self satisfaction..... until he reached the home delivery section.

What happened was he wanted to deliver the furniture, inclusive, a ceiling lamp and some glass ornaments. Obviously, the glass ornaments were fragile and needed to be boxed. So, the lady behind the countered bluntly said, 'Sir, we cannot send that ceiling lamp unless YOU box it up.' And when she saw the glass ornaments, she said, 'We also cannot send that. You can take it home now instead.' That flipped the customer. He said, 'Am I at the wrong counter? Isn't this the HOME DELIVERY counter where you said you will deliver the furniture? What do you mean you cannot send this and that? And you tell me that I have to box it up or take it home MYSELF!!' The lady over the counter didn't wink a bit nether did she smile or offer an alternative solution. I believe that just blew the who experience with IKEA for that customer.

What just went wrong here? The whole Home Delivery Section was not helpful, not courteous, and not service oriented completely. What the counter lady could have done was:

 

1. Offer to assist him either to box it up or at least show him where to box it up.  

2. Help customers understand your systems. Your organization may have the world's best systems for getting things done, but if customers don't understand them, they can get confused, impatient and angry. Take time to explain how your systems work.  

3. Know how to apologize. When something goes wrong, apologize. It's easy and customers like it. The customer may not always be right, but the customer must always win. Deal with problems immediately and let customers know what you have done. Make it simple for customers to complain. Value their complaints. As much as we dislike it, it gives us an opportunity to improve. Even if customers are having a bad day, go out of your way to make them feel comfortable.  

In Malaysia, it is a norm for employee to stare blank at customer and just act ignorance. They seldom offer solutions/alternatives/simple genuine explanation, don't return call when promised to do so, and most of all, they don't listen to what customer's really want or meant in their complains/feedback.

This is an intangible, emotional satisfaction, which will bring someone back again and again. So, don't you think this is MOST important in a business structure apart from the product offered?

The Lost World of Tambun: Holiday in the middle of 'nowhere'

It was a long weekend for us here in Malaysia and we really don't know what to do. To get out of town would be a pleasure but thinking of the traffic we are to face some back home would be worst than a nightmare. So, I was pestering my hubby on not wasting the long weekend that we are not gonna often. So, he surprised me with a trip up north to Ipoh for a weekend of wet wet fun!

Comes Friday and I was so excited. We are finally going  for a holiday; off to the Water Park in Ipoh; The Lost World of Tambun.  Well, basically, Tambun is a small town located slightly off Ipoh town by approx. 10 to 15 minutes. If you have never been to Sunway Lagoon Theme Park in KL before, you certainly should try out Lost World of Tambun; if you have been to Sunway Lagoon Theme Park in KL before, how could you give up the chance to another Sunway Lagoon "branch" with a different theme? Different from Sunway lLgoon theme park in KL, which located between concrete buildings, Lost World of Tambun is hidden amongst the lush greenery of Tambun, surrounding by limestone cliffs.  

You must try the slides, especially the 'Cliff Racer' and the 'Tube Rider' where the whole ride is in total darkness. It is amazing! After the heart throbing rides, you can lay back and relax either at the man-made beach or drift in the 'Adventure River'. Or even go the the 'Petting Zoo' to check out the animals there (where my skirt was almost tea-break cookie for a goat!).There are also areas for rock climbing. Not too many rides as compared to Sunway Lagoon, KL.  

Nonetheless, this I must recommend. The scenic view just allow my jaw to drop. I really didn't expect the view to be so serene and picturesque. It does give you some sort of peace and tranquility. With that, you can actually end your day with a nice 15 to 20 minutes dip in the Natural Hot Spring. It is believe to be able to heal skin matters due to the minerals in the water. However, we are advised not to be in there for more than 20 minutes as it will be too much for the body to take. Nice and smooth skin? Take a dip and you can see the difference.

They have a cafe in the Theme park, with little huts offering fruit juices and snacks. You can get lunch between the price of RM6 to RM10. You must try the waffle witih ice-cream. They really know how to pamper their customers. They actually sprinkle chocolate rice with loads of Smartie and Strawberry Syrup. Delicious!

It is not too difficult to get to this place. When you get out of the South-North Highway at the exit 139 to Ipoh, just take a left turn at the traffic light. Then just go straight along "Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah Utara". Take another left turn at the traffic light where Pantai Putri Hospital just on your left hand side. Go straight along the road (Tambun Road). Finally, you will see the Giant shopping center on your right, and our destination - Lost World of Tambun is a bit further down on your right.

.

L.O.V.E.

LOVE. 

What is love? How to love? Who to love?

These questions always mingle in everyone mind. In fact, some even gave up thinking about it. Why is it so difficult to love and to find love?

I believe in the thing call love. Love is a many splendor thing. Love lift us up where we belong. All we need is love. Doesn't this sound familiar? People promotes love. But WHAT IS LOVE? No one actually define LOVE accurately. Nonetheless, let me tell you what is love in my context (as well as what Nat King Cole spelled it out to be).

L is for the way you look at me.
O is for the only one I see
V is very very extraordinary
E is even more than anyone that you adore.

Everyone already received & knows what love is from the day they are conceived. Your mother showers you with unconditional love by sacrificing her bed time to make sure you are taken care off when you are sick. Your father will get you gifts that you mentioned even when it means he have to skip lunch to queue to get it. Your brother would drive you to a destination without question even if it means he will miss the greatest football match he have waited for. You sister would make sure you gets all the support and encouragement even if she was having the worst day of her life. Your husband would rush home when he hears your crying over the phone even if he have to miss the important meeting. Your wife would prepare dinner for you even when she is dead tired from work.

I know I am very much loved by everyone around me. And I am very fortunate and grateful about it.

Now, when you receive so much love, it is time to shower others, especially those unfortunate ones and show them what love really feels. The kindness that comes with it. The life that it brings.

What I am trying to say is, show a little kindness and love to anything & anyone around you. And the world will be ever so beautiful.