Pack and go

I always have the idea that "pack and go" is simply not for mothers.

Just recently, my eldest son, working already for a year since last July was back home for a short break. He gladly told me that he had paid up his study loan within the interest-free period. And as for the surplus he had in the bank account, he wanted to treat us to a cruise vacation.

"Next week? No, it's too rush! I am unable to get myself prepared. " I said.

"What do you need to prepare? Just pack and go! Even if you need to take the whole week to pack, there's still time." he sounded a bit puzzled what I meant by "too rush"!

"Now that only two of you are at home, it makes no difference whether you are home or out travelling. Why worry ?" he continued as he scrolled down the computer screen, looking for more information.

I didn't answer him. I was not prepared psychologically. I still felt it's bit too rush for me.

"Well, if you really can't make up your mind now, let me know later and I will book for you. " thank goodness he read my mind and didn't pursue any further.

"Just pack and go?" Yes, why can't I just pack and go? What's there to worry?

Putting aside temporarily the cruise vacation, what about just pack and go to somewhere near ?Yes, why not just pack and go for once! That could be fun!

I searched my handbag for the hotel voucher given by my brother some time ago. "The Pearl of the Orient" was just the right place to begin with! I dialled immediately to book for a room. "Madam, so I confirm your booking for a three-night stay, checking in tomorrow....." The receptionist on the line repeated my request just to be sure.

It was 10pm when I put down the phone and I was serious this time to just pack and go, the very next morning. No detailed planning, no preparation whatsoever, nor taking the trouble to inform anyone including my children. Yeah, just pack and go!

After 41/2 hours' of driving, which included stop over at two places for durian and "local delicacies", we finally arrived at our destination,  "The Pearl of the Orient" (a beautiful island that held many of my fondest memories during varsity days). A relaxing and hassle free journey heading north, we enjoyed both food and great scenery all the way.

Haha..... it's not really that difficult to just pack and go after all.

Stepping into the cool hotel lobby, we couldn't wait a second to register at the reception desk. And just at that moment, my husband's mobile phone which happened to be in my hand rang. He asked me to answer as he continued searching for his identity card in the wallet for registration ...

"Mum, my computer is down. I put it in the school bag together with my water tumbler and it's all wet now..... . I need a spare computer urgently as I have a lot of projects to do this week ....." it was my youngest son who was studying at a boarding school 300km away from home. And at this moment, oh my God, the distance was doubled, after we had travelled another 300km in the opposite direction, in this exciting "pack and go" bliss.

"Sir, so your booking is for three nights and we have great deals..." I heard the pretty receptionist talking to my husband whilst my son was still on the line. Before my husband could open his mouth to answer, I  turned to tell her off quickly, "Oh no, sorry, I think we have just changed our mind....".  I didn't know how to tell her we had a "fire-fighting" task to attend to ...

Haven't I tried to just pack and go? I sighed. And as we were about to walk off, the enthusiastic receptionist still tried her luck explaining to my husband the irresistible deals in our Malaysian English, " Stay three nights is very worth, 1st night 50% off, 2nd night 70% off, 3rd night free ......".

Alvin and the Chipmunks

My husband and I have bought quite a lot of old records recently. His favourite includes the violin, trumpet, guitar and jazz music and he looks for records with good recording. Being a practical person, I am not that particular. "Value for money" is my first consideration, with some exceptions of course.

In our collections, there are albums by Elvis, Beatles, Bee Gees, Tom Jones, Cliff Richard and many other artistes who were our teen idols. In those days, there were no computers and internet, listening to pop songs was teenagers' favourite pastime, a real "cool" thing in that era!

Last weekend, in our usual routine of treasure-hunting (looking for records and other collectables in the flea markets), I came across three albums of animated music by "Avin and the Chipmunks". Over excited with the rare find, I grabbed them all without hesitation and forgot even to bargain as I normally did. "Avin and the Chipmunks" was one of the favourite TV series which I watched together with my children many years back. I had never missed any of its episodes. Their songs were just beautiful.

To be more specific, I love songs by all animated groups. And as I recall, it was not "Alvin and the Chipmunks" that had first enchanted me. Yes, it was another group, "The Grasshoppers", in the 60s when I was around ten. The "singing bugs" were brought home all the way from Singapore by my uncle. Very attractive album cover, depicting three grasshoppers, wearing straw hats and bow-ties, leaning against the piano and singing joyfully. Songs in the album were lively and catchy and I learnt my first English song, "how much is the doggie in the window" with these grasshoppers. May be that's the reason I have deep feelings for songs by animated characters!

Introducing my "Alvin and the Chipmunks" collections to my husband, I could not wait to spin them on the turntable. "Songs by the chipmunks? I didn't know chipmunks could sing!" I heard him mumbling to himself as I walked into my room.

I turned on the record player. The needle was making its journey through the record groove. I was excited to hear the sweet voices of the trio wafting through the air.....

It was the album - "Around the world with the Chipmunks". The Chipmunks were singing in Japanese .....

All of a sudden, my husband peeped his head through the door I left ajar, "Chipmunks are really clever; not only they can sing, they even know Japanese...." 

Frankly, you may laugh, I also thought so when I first heard the "singing bugs" (grasshoppers could sing!?), not knowing that it was a technique of speeding up the playback to get that higher pitch voices.....

Embrace aging

I had been telling my children that my memory seemed deteriorating quite sharply recently; I couldn't remember events that had just happened one or two days ago; I couldn't recall where I had kept my things; I had forgotten how to write/spell a lot of words..... .

"Oh, that's just sign of aging. It is perfectly normal.... " They would console me and at the same time reminded me that I was no longer as young as I thought myself to be.

Clearly, aging has made its appearance in my life; so it is not just "loss of memory", it is "loss of youth" that I am facing! "Loss of memory" is merely a subset of "loss of youth" if I were to use set theory to explain (thank God, I still remember set theory! ). Well, don't tell me further what are the other elements in this set of "loss of youth" as I already know that all of them would begin with the four letters word - "loss"!

Fearful of aging? I can't say "No". On and off, I think of dementia, Alzheimer diseases, etc.

On the other hand, my husband who is two years older than me has quite a different perspective on aging. His "theory" is since we can't possibly predict what is our own journey ahead, it is no point preoccupying our mind with unnecessary and unfruitful thoughts; we should be thinking of how best to spend the "limited" time we have in hand. 

Yes, I should be thinking of what I can do now that will take root in my children; I should be thinking of doing something that will outlast me; I should be thinking of pursuing my unfulfilled dreams that most probably would bring me joy ......

No doubt I can't bring back the bygone days of my youth, but I certainly can bring back the same joy felt in my youth.