Going places

I used to be a workaholic, and my wife will vouch vehemently that I am still one till these days.

I completed my undergraduate course and started my career in medical profession since1989. During those carefree bachelor years, I had only made two short-distance tours to Jakarta/Bandung and Bangkok/Patthya in 1990 and 1991 respectively. On both occasions, Keng Leong was my travel companion. In those early years of my careers, it is not uncommon for junior doctors to do average of 6-7 calls per month. I spend most of my "free time" catching up on my readings / preparing for examinations, and watching movies mostly.

I met my wife in 1992, and tied the knot the following year. We joined a package tour to Rocky Mountain/Vancouver for our honeymoon, followed by short trips to Shantou (1994) and Yangtze River /Chengdu (1995). We did not go for any long distance holiday travels till much later.

In July 1997, I took up a fellowship training course in Child Neurology at Birmingham, Alabama. Cheng Kai (my second child) was only 3 month-old then. I travel to Birmingham alone to a completely foreign place. I was fortunate to have a good boss, Dr Allan Percy, who waited for me till midnight in the airport (the flight was delayed for a few hours), and brought me to his home for the night. I was even blessed to have Susan Branscome, the department secretary, driving me around the following day looking out for used car / getting my driving licence for my stay in Birmingham. I managed to rent a place in Long Leave Lodge @ Hoover for the first year. My wife, my mother-in-law and two children (Cheng Yee and Cheng Kai) flew in 3 months later. We have another addition (Cheng Jie) to our family one year later. The following year in 1998, we moved to Vestawood Apartment which was nearer to the pre-school that Cheng Yee and Cheng Kai would be attending for the next 1 1/2 year.  My mother-in-law returned to Singapore just before Cheng Jie was born. You could imagine how busy my wife and I were during the confinement period all on our own.  Temper flew at times when both of us were exasperated; but fortunately all went well subsequently.

We made it a point to visit nearby cities and attractions during the one week Christmas/New Year holiday breaks. We covered several tourist spots in Gulf Coast of  Mexico and East Coast of US (travelling as far north to Washington DC). The kids were probably too young to remember their helicopter ride to view the  Tennessee National Park, the trip to the White House and Disney World @ Orlando, and that our car ran into a deer while travelling in Smoky Mountain. But surprisingly, Cheng Kai still remembered fondly the wooden axe that we bought as a souvenir from Grandfather Mountain.

The last 3 months of my training was spend in Boston Children's Hospital. I rented a UHAUL trailer, dumped all our luggage/spartan furniture into it, and towed it all the way from Birmingham to Boston (it took us three days to drive all the way there). And what a world apart - the apartment in Boston cost 2x that of Birmingham, and the place was rather cosmopolitan and the living pace too hectic for our liking. We managed to cover some of the tourist spots in Boston and Massachusetts, and made a trip to Niagara Falls / Toronto, and then visited New York before our return to Singapore in July 2000. We visited the Twin Towers in New York before its disastrous demolition in 911.

Both my wife and I were so busy with our works and children when we returned to Singapore, that we did not go for any long distance family holidays till a few years later.

We started to embark on our annual holiday sprees starting with Phuket (2004), then South Island of New Zealand (2006), South Korea (2008), Tasmania (2008), California(2009),  Greece(2010) and Melbourne (2011).

TASMANIA                                                   

Hobart, Tasmania

Visiting one of the caves near Hobart

Cheng Kai and Cheng Jie

Cheng Yee

An unexpected tour @ Tree top Adventure, Launcester

CALIFORNIA

Disney World, LA

Waiting for sunrise @ Grand Canyon

Hoover Dam

Grand Canyon

Las Vegas

Yosemite National Park

 GREECE

Acropolis @ Athens

Acropolis

Waiting for Sunset

Monemvasia

Monemvasia

Lighting the flames of Olympic

Meteora

Meteora

Meteora

Except for the trip to South Korea, the rest was free and easy / self driving tours. My wife and I prefer self driving tours as we are able to stop and go at our own pace, visiting places that we fascinate. Package tour can be quite rush at times, and everything has to go according to schedule - we are not allow to spend more than the allocated times at places of interests.

Looking back, it is certainly more fun and exciting traveling with family members. Family holidays are good time for bonding while exploring new places. Fortunately for the family, we are not particularly about food or lodgings. Our top priorities are to explore the local natures / scenery / attractions (The Glaciers in New Zealand, Mt Cradle in Tasmania, Night tours/Ghost Stories in Port Arthur, the ruins in Greece), try new adventurous spots (e.g Jetboat in New Zealand, Tree top gliding in Tasmania) as much as possible. We may at any restaurant along the road trips - as long as they served cook food. My children love Fish & Chips, Kebab, Slovekia, which can be whipped up quite fast and taken away to be eaten in the car (when we were rushing for time).
Even though we had planned our routes before hand, it was not uncommon for us to spend to much time at certain places. Hence, we usually did not book our hotels before hand. We would lodge in any reasonable hotels that we encountered at the end of the day. Sometimes, we ended up driving in circle for 1 hour or more looking for suitable hotel to stay for the night; and tempers might fly when it was late at night and everyone was tired and hungry! All would be forgotten when we woke up for new adventures the following day.

The cars that I have driven over the years

I learnt to drive a car after completing my SPM (O level equivalent examination), and successfully obtained my driving licence a few months later.

I took my motorbike driving test around the same time, but unfortunately did not clear the test. As I didn't anticipate myself driving motorbikes that much in the future, I had perished the thought of sitting for another motorcycle driving test for good. My family did not own any car then. So the driving licence was left idle for a while.

I then pursued my pre-university study in Singapore after being granted Asean Scholarship. My father bought a family car in 1981-82 - my elder sister was the only person with driving licence then, and she was the chauffeur driving my parents around for supper/errands when the needs arise. I would have some practice runs when I returned home during school holidays.

The first family car that my father bought happened to be a 1.3L Toyota Corolla. It was a small but reliable car, but had served our family very well. It left a very good impression on me - so much so that the subsequent cars I bought had all being Toyota Models!

I bought my first car in 1993 after I got married. Car is considered as a luxury item in Singapore. The COE (certificate of entitlement) the piece of paper that entitled you to purchase/ own a car for 10 years cost about $30,000 then. The meager salary that I earned as a medical officer was certainly insufficient for me to get a new car then. I bought a pre-owned Toyota Starlet (3-4 year-old model). Apart from a major breakdown which occurred when we were shopping in Johor Bahru (and we had to get the AAS to tow the car all the way across the causeway back to Singapore), the car was quite reliable and did not give us much trouble. Another major repair took place sometime in 1997, when my car was rammed from behind by a Mercedes Benz while driving along Upper Bukit Timah Road (caught in the early morning rush hours then). I left for Alabama for my subspecialty training in Child Neurology in 1997, and sold my Toyota Starlet to my brother-in-law.

My wife posing with our first car:  Toyota Starlet

I bought another pre-owned 1.5L Toyota Corolla on arrival to Alabama. It served us well for the next 3 years, bringing us to various places along the east coast and north-east region of USA (Alabama, Mississippi, Disney World at Florida, Smoky Mountain, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Niagara Falls, Toronto). I rammed my car into a deer when driving in the Smoky Mountain (it was dark with heavy fog then), leaving a small dent on the front bonnet; the deer miraculously was still able to limp away to the woods. I chalked up two traffic offences in US. I was stopped by traffic police for speeding through a town (I drove at 80miles/hour, when it was supposed to be 50 miles/hour) when driving towards Florida, and was fined over USD100 for the offence. I was also fined for failing to put my infant child in the car seat once. I bought the car for about US7,000, and sold it off for about US4,000 to a car dealer in Boston then.

Our car covered with snow on the rare occasion it snowed in Alabama:
Kids having fun

Driving our car all the way from Birmingham, AL to Boston, pulling the UHaul trolley along

Upon our return to Singapore in 2000, I bought a 1.6 L Toyota Corolla for about $80,000 (COE was about $30K); this served me well till 2008, when I turned over the car to a car dealer and bought a new Camry 2.0 for $86,000 (COE was at miraculously low of $6K then). The interior of Camry was indeed spacious, with a lot of leg-room for passengers. However, it is quite bulky and has inevitably suffered a few scratches here and there. I was involved in a chain collision along PIE during morning rush hour 2 years ago - I managed to stop in time and narrowly avoided ramming into the car in front - and the boot was badly damaged and had to be kept in body repair shop for 5 days for overhaul. I was given hybrid car Prius to drive during those 5 days.

With the recent COE sky-rocketing to the high of 70-80K for small car (<1.6L), and $90K for large car (2L and above), I am not sure whether I should dump the car for public transport when the current COE of my car expired in another 5 years' time!

Old House and the family tussles

The old house that I stayed in my early childhood has gone through quite a drastic transformation over the years. The external facade and internal layout have changed.

In the 70s, it was a double storey house with wooden wall. The main door opened to a cemented corridor in front, beyond which was an open space big enough for us to play badminton / high jump in those days. As the house was west facing, a tree was planted at the left and right front corner of the open yard respectively. Apart from shading the house, it acted as an indirect landmark separating our front yard from the unpaved main road (which was plied by cars, motorbikes and bicycles).

In those days, we did not have the luxury of flushing toilet. The old toilet was located about 10 yards away from the house in the backyard, and mind you there was no covered walkway then. We had to brave the rain when it rained to reach the toilet. It would be pitch dark at night; a torch light or candle light would be a necessity to brighten up the place. The night soil carrier would clear the human wastes on regular basis.

The old house was built in a low lying area and flood-prone. The water level had reached to the level a few inches above ankles on several occasions. In those years, the children would be overjoyed; these were the rare occasions we could play with water without being reprimanded. However, it had also caused many inconveniences - one of them coincided with Chinese New Year celebration. I had the misfortune of coming down with measles infection in one of the floods ... and was forbidden to touch or play with water then... how miserable!

To circumvent the flood, the ground level was gradually elevated, starting from the kitchen, then the main hall, and eventually the front yard. With each step of elevation of the ground level (without altering the height of the roof/ceiling), our main hall became more "cramped" or literally shorter. Fortunately, we managed to avert floods for quite a few years since.

The kitchen and bathroom had also undergone tremendous changes. A brick stove used to occupy a big space in the kitchen - we used charcoals to start fire and cook in those days. Gradually, this was knocked down and gave way to gas stove. The bathroom used to have a big sink which collects water for bathing purpose. We as kids might surreptitiously dip ourselves inside the pool of water in the sink, fantasizing ourselves playing in the swimming pool. And of course, we had been scolded for contaminating the water time and again... After renovation, the big sink had been knocked down, and replaced by a small tub instead.

Somewhere in the mid 90s, the trees in the two corners of our house were removed, and a concrete fence with automated door was build to give added security (my mother was robbed by a thief in the early morning when doing some chores in the backyard once).

And this is how my old house looks like now:

The external fence

We used to play badminton in this open front yard...

My late father's bike

the automated gate

Parking space at beside our house

The paved road in front of our house

The main hall of our house

In the early 60s-70s, the old house was occupied by three families - my paternal 3rd uncle and his family (with 6 children), my paternal 5th uncle and his family (3 children), and my father and his family (5 children). In those days, my paternal grandmother was still around; and the house was dedicated as the "common property" of all the siblings. We did not own the land initially, but rented the plot of land from another person.  You could imagine the chaos and complexity of communal family life in the household in those days.

Needless to say, with three families staying together, there were bound to be some squabbles. Along the way, the three families started to part ways. My 3rd uncle eventually moved out to a new place in the same town, while 2/5 of the plot of land occupied by our old house was carved out to my 5th uncle (who went on to build a brand new house on it).

My father eventually bought over the plot of land from the landowner in the 80s when it was open for tender. Even though my father was the one who foot the bill, the title deed of the land belonged to both my father and my 5th uncle. The reason was simple - it was and would always remain a "common" property for my father and his siblings. And I was told that my father had to pay my 2nd uncle certain amount of money so that they would not lay claim to the house.

My father has since passed on. My mother now shares the deed with my paternal 5th uncle. It remains to be seen what will happen in the future...

Last journey with my father

The last journey I had with my father was also the last trip for my father.

My father passed away in March 2007. He died from acute myocardiac ischemia (heart attack), secondary to underlying diabetes mellitus and renal failure. I was with at his bedside in the intensive care throughout the last week of his life.

It is our cultural belief that one should preferably depart from one's own home. We had made prior arrangement with the hospital staff to alert us should his condition turned for the worse, so that we could bring him home before he passed on.When his condition deteriorated on the fateful morning of 30th March, the hospital staff promptly summoned us.

Immediately, the ambulance officers were alerted, and my father was rushed home all the way from the hospital in Penang Island. I sat in the ambulance and accompanied by father who was lying unconscious on the stretcher throughout the journey, while my sisters led the ambulance in another car. My father was on ventilator support as he was unable to breath by himself. I bagged him via the ventilator bag, and had to constantly whisper to him that we were on our way home.

I have resuscitated many dying patients throughout my career previously, but bagging my father to maintain his breathing was something that I had never thought off. While trying to soothe him that we were going home and asked him not to worry, memories of the happy times we spent together flashes through my mind intermittently.

When we reached home and disembark from the ambulance, I told my dad that we had arrived at our home - and I could never forget what happened next - my father suddenly opened his eyes widely, as if acknowledging his return. I extubated him subsequently and he passed away peacefully, in the company my mother and all his children.

My father was hospitalized initially for breathlessness, and subsequently found to have renal failure requiring dialysis. He had a heart attack during dialysis, and had to be put on ventilator support. He was still aware of the surrounding but unable to to move his limbs or talk while being treated in ICU. He was there for about one week. The day before his death, he became more alert and able to acknowledge our presence by nodding his head whenever we talked to him. I thought he might be able to pull through this time. Hence, it came as a shock to my siblings and I when he suddenly deteriorated the following day. The Chinese saying "回光返照“ (a phenomenon where a person who is dying suddenly becomes alert and chirpy the day before he expires) is real after all.

I am the eldest son the family. I had always done well in my primary school days. In those days,  many of us would have continued our secondary school education in our hometown. To my surprise, my father had helped to get me enroll into Chung Ling High School (the renowned secondary school in Penang Island) instead. This paved the way for my eventual achievements in later years - I did well in my secondary 3 and secondary 5 major examinations, came to Singapore for my A Level study in Hwa Chong Junior College under Asean Scholarships, and the completed my medicine undergraduate course in Singapore.

Even though we hardly engaged in long conversations, I could sense that my father was quite proud of my achievements. I treasured every moment spent with him previously - waiting for him to return home at night and then going out for supper together whenever I returned home from Singapore. We ate a lot of Bak Kut Teh for supper at one stage!

Looking back, I should have spend more time with him previously ...

My parents

My dad and Cheng Yee (top) / Cheng Jie (bottom)

My dad and Cheng Kai

Hometown @ Nibong Tebal

I came from Nibong Tebal, a small village in the state of Penang. People not familiar with Malaysia will inevitably conjure up the image of the small town in the world renowned island of Penang. I often have to explain that it is not on the island, but at Province Wellesley South (now called Seberang Perai) within Malaysia peninsula.

Before the construction of North-South Highway that links Ayer Hitam at northern tip of Malaysia to Singapore at the southern end, all vehicles from the south have to travel pass Nibong Tebal before reaching Penang Bridge or Penang Ferry Terminal. Now, travelers have to exit at Sungai Bakap (Jawi) if they want to visit Nibong Tebal.

It is a small town which still retains some of its rustic charm to date. The shop houses lining up along both sides of the main road remain almost unchanged since my early childhood days (>40 years ago). The two primary schools still remain at the same place, albeit having gone through some renovations. The obvious changes are that rubber plantations have gradually given way to new housing estates, and there are more eating places sprouting out in various corners of housing estates. The one and only cinema in town had been closed down during the heyday of video-cassettes recording, with many people hooked to the small TV screen watching Hong Kong Cantonese TV series.

Old residential houses that have been built since 50s

In the 70s and early 80s, if you were to ask around for good places to eat, three choices would probably come out consistently - Chiang Kee Restaurant (offering meals during lunch./ dinner), food stalls at public square (offering only lunch and afternoon meals) and at basketball court next to the only cinema in town. My late father used to run one of the food stalls at the public square, dishing out fried noodles/kwayteow/ rice, wanton noodles, Hokkien noodles etc. The stall was a local favourite, with throng of customers queuing for their orders for up to 1 hours at time. I used to help out in the stall, serving food to the customers during school breaks. The rewards - a large plate of fried horfun, with sauce laced with eggs, specially prepared by my father, at the end of my work schedule.

I was pleasantly surprised when I found out Nibong Tebal has a new tourist attraction: Firefly Sightseeing at night. This was introduced over 5 years ago. You have to take a boat ride to a not so far away place, where the sparkling lights of fireflies can be seen scattered around the tree branches/leaves. The boat crew may even pull down the tree branches for you to have a close encounter of the fireflies; you may even catch them with your hands if you fancy. It is a trip worth taking, if you have not seen thousands of fireflies clustering together, lighting up the dark night before.

Ferry terminal for fireflies sightseeing excursion ...of course, you have to go there at night only

Fishing village

The One and Only Chinese Primary School in Town

The School Hall .. it was build when I was in Primary 4, in the  late 70s