Three days before my 21st, they struck. This is what friends are for. hahah. They knew my parents will be here in perth on the 28th. So they gave me a huge surprise on the 27th. Had a lil party in my flat, a surprise party in fact. Drank a couple bottles of beer. and then got thrown into the pool, on a winter night. It was 9 degrees then and I swear nobody would want to be anywhere near the pool.
Then on the morning of the faithful day, my birthday. Charmaine and her mom came over to my campus and passed me some food and sang me a sweet birthday song! The best part of the whole thing was the 'kong ba bao'. my goodness. her mom made it herself, and it was the best thing I've ever tasted since I came over to perth. Simply loved it. =) Appreciated it!
Then at about noon time, parents and bro came over. With a cake and presents. Had this cookbook from weiming. He passed it to my parents in singapore so they could bring it over. (: yup. Now I've a few recipes to follow.
- choco cake.
Went to spend my entire day at Caversham wildlife park.!
Then on a roadtrip, down south. and back up north to The Pinnacles! The Pinnacles is the desert area up north. It was pretty amazing. Spent 4 days on a roadtrip. It was very tiring but now I'm beginning to appreciate the outbacks of Western Australia. I love the farms and vineyards along the way. I love the way the weather is. I love the little suburbs away from perth city. They seemed so peaceful. Tranquility is all I seek.
On their last day in perth, I brought them around the city to different places. Tried the famous dim sum restaurant..had a few bites here and there. Went to a couple of shopping centres. We had dinner together every night and I'd never in my life forget the days when they came over for my 21st. It wasn't a planned trip. I only heard from my dad that they're coming to perth two weeks before my birthday and poof! here they come. Yup and a week is all we have in perth.
Then on the night they were supposed to leave for home, we had a last dinner together at a chinese restaurant before they dropped me off at my campus. That was about 9pm and off they go. It was a midnight flight. Although I only had their company for 7 days, but the memories left behind for me will last me a lifetime. Personally I would rather them save up the money and not come over to perth but all that done, I'm truly touched and and how I feel is beyond words.
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So here comes spring with crazy winds and rain everyday. I never fail to not get caught in the rain every morning I step out of my flat and headed for classes. Winds are getting crazier and it just amuses me to see the umbrella of the girl in front of me get wrecked as soon as we suffer the full onslaught of head winds. School's back to how it was before the study break and workload's simply piling up.
Sometimes I look at my friends and I admire them for having their family here and so they would return to a place call home after classes. One returns to a home knowing that dinner will be ready in a while, clothes can be left in the washing machine and gets washed somehow by the weekend, a quiet and peaceful night to study. You can be half awake and still walk to the kitchen to get a glass of water withoutu tripping over any furniture. You know you're safe because mom and dad is around. You know it's home because you hear the usual television program that is on air. You know it's home because you can smell it. You know it's home because you see your loved ones.
I never once realise how I should have cherish the place I call home, back then. Not many can understand what I'm blabbering about for the fact that I never did. Till today I can only reassure myself all that I'm going through now is for the future.
This brings me to another point. If given a second chance, I'd want to treat my parents and grandma better (not that I've been rude and ill treating them!). There was a night when it suddenly dawn upon me that when I was still a baby and I shitted in my diapers, who were the ones who cleaned me up? When my diaper was soaked with urine at the end of the day, who were the ones who changed a clean diaper for me, and wash the soiled one? When I cried, who carried and rocked me to sleep? When I learned to walk and fell, who was the first to rush to pick me up and dust away the sand and dirt off my hands? When I climbed the stairs, who was the one who encouraged me to finish the flight of stairs? Who taught me my first timetable of math? And when I kept asking 'Why?", I don't remember anyone who ignored me.
I look at my brother and thought, when we were young our parents gave us everything they could. We were inquisitive and wanted to poke our noses into everything we see. We wanted to touch and ask "what is this?". I can't emphasize how important these lessons are in life, that when we grow older and start to have a life of our own. It's about time, to give back. When parents grow old they start to give up many things in life, because they believe their sacrifices are definitely worth for the sake of the kids.
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One day when I was still in singapore, in the car with dad. He told me how he gave up certain dreams in life, because he said when one settles down and start a family, one will slowly learn to let go and make sacrifices. Everyone has dreams. When you were young, remember you said you wanted to be pilot, policeman, teacher, sportsman...scientist..?
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I can't express in words the immense amount of sacrifices from them till this date. Yes I want to be a veterinarian, I want to have a family and settle down, I want to travel the world and get involved in animal rescue missions, I want to travel and give lectures and talks. I have a plan for my future. You have your plan. But before all these, shouldn't we take a step back and think about the future of our parents? Others before self; too big a word for me. Parents before self; certainly.
Cheers.
