Dubai Update: Goodbye 2009

2009 is fast coming to an end, and there are so many things that I did not do, especially when it comes to family and friends.

I did not manage to spend enough time with Grandma. Grandma is old, and is starting to lose some of her physical and mental capabilities. I want to be able to see her happy and spend some intimate times with her before she loses recognition of her surroundings. It’s been only less than a year since I last saw her and took pictures of her (see previous blog, Grandma's Birthday), but she’s aged considerably since according to my dad. She used to nag me …to take my bath, to eat, to talk nicer and be closer to my dad and mom, to not smoke, to not party so hard. I’ve stopped so many of my bad habits now, but will she know now?

She used to wait up at night for me to get home after a hard night’s drinking. She used to make soup and cook some dishes for me when she knows I’m coming home. Sometimes she botches up, like mistaking the day I’m coming or going, or mistaking which food I like. Thinking back, it doesn’t matter, it’s the thought and act that count and I really appreciate all that she’s done, but how can I show my appreciation?

I want to spend a little more time in Malaysia, to catch up with family and friends whom I’ve sort of lost contact with. All in, I’ve spent only one measly week in Malaysia this year, only enough time to celebrate Grandma’s 92nd birthday and to have some short bonding time with the family who’re around at that time. But that doesn’t mean that friends don’t mean anything to me. They’ve been there when times are bad, and of course when times are good. They’ve made me sane when I feel the world is all bleak and colourless. Some have helped a lot, even going out of their ways to do it. To these I should feel indebted, but how do I repay their kindness when sometimes I don’t remember. I am not the most sensitive of kinds, I am sometimes full of myself, thinking that all, should be done for my sake. I don’t want that to be true. And so, for the friends who happen to read this entry, I want them to know, that whatever is done, is appreciated, and I hope I can repay whatever kindness is shown to me and my loved ones.

To those I or my loved ones have caused hurt, or have ignored, whether intentionally or unintentionally, I ask for forgiveness. And I hope there will be a chance for me to make it up to you.

On a brighter note, 2009 is also an accomplishment of sorts for me. As some would have been aware, I became a father to a baby boy recently. I survived the recession intact (and I hope I continue to survive). And we’ve bought our own little house in India. It’s not much to go by, by modern standards, it’s a slightly weathered village-type house (timber columns, bamboo & mud partitions, zinc sheet roof) with a neat little compound in front, but still it’s our own home, and Anu and her sister’s family have made it quite nice and cosy.

Before I end, I wish all a Happy New Year! May 2010 be a wonderful and successful year for you and your family. May your careers be blessed with spurts of growth! May your families be ever more harmonious! May love, peace and hope pervade your every doing! May you and your loved ones be protected from harm and be in good health!

With love, Gary, Anu and our beloved little terrorist, Justin.

Our little bundle of joy

This is Justin, Day 1, born right after midnight on the 1st of December.

He was expected originally on 10th December. But he started giving us warning signs as early as Nov 22, that’s when Anu started leaking amniotic fluid. Early morning Nov 29, Anu had blood in her urine. We went to the hospital but they told us to wait, until the water breaks or when there was more pain ...like when Anu starts to cry and when the cramp comes every 3 minutes! That night, after picking Auntie Helen up from the airport, we went straight to the hospital. Anu was finally deemed to be in enough distress to be checked into the hospital at 3am on Nov 30. She was moved to the delivery room at 9.30am. The pushing stage started that night, at 10.30pm, after more than 12 hours, but it wasn’t until Dec 1 before the little fellow came out into the world.


Day 3 – Justin Nikhil Ong


Justin (Day 18) having a sunbath (to get rid of the jaundice) and doing what he does best – cry.


Justin, with Ravini, our colleague’s daughter, doing another thing he does best – sleep, we prefer this activity.


Day 11 – Baby with eyes wide open, for a change. He usually likes to wake up only in the wee hours of the morning, when everyone else is sleeping.


Baby with Jiko in front of the Malaysian Consulate General in Dubai