As mentioned previously, my kong kong passed away on early Monday (10/10/2011) morning at 1.30am.
Monday, 10.10.11
Slept at 1.30am after playing Maple Story on FB. Set 2 alarm clocks as I was afraid to over sleep and couldnt go to work on time.
At 3am sharp, received a call from Popo's house. I immediately knew kong kong is dead. there is no reason why anyone will call from Popo's house at 3am. It was my mom. I literally jumped up from my bed. And i was surprised the 1st person i called was my brother in USA. I never expect him to come back, coz i figure by the time he reach this part of the world, it will be too late. called minger. she didnt answer. called belinda's house phone. no answer. called belinda's hp. no answer. called tony's number and informed him. called kaima. she wants to follow my car back. called kuku, she already knew and is preparing to go back. called minger again. still no answer. called kaiyeh to inform him that kaima is going back as well. went to pack my bags. in the mean time, calling minger on her hp and house phone at the same time non stop - by the time she woke up, there were 47 missed calls. i think i called small cow as well. i waited 1hr... she didnt answer. i went over to her house to knock and shouted her name, she didnt answer as well. i gave up. called kuku to inform her that i cant wait anymore. so i smsed minger to inform her kong kong has passed away and she is to call me as soon as she sees the message. i want to go back kluang asap. went to kota kemuning to fetch belinda. on the way to puchong to fetch kaima that time, minger called crying. told her to pack her stuffs. i will go fetch kaima then fetch her. after fetching her, we head down to Dengkil for me to top up my petrol. by then, it was almost 7am. and was dying already. only slept for 1.5hrs!! minger took over the driving and we sped all the way back. crying in between. the rest of the karchengs were keeping in touch via FB.
Reached Kluang around 9ish. Dropped kaima at the hotel and went to popo's house. Tears were flowing freely everywhere. I've never seen my Taipak cried before. it was really heart wrenching. he couldnt talk and just gesture us to go to kong kong's room to see kong kong. taiku, kaiyeh and unc henry were inside crying whilst taiku were trying to put on shoes for kong kong. kong kong looks peaceful but i thought the make up that the undertaker applied on kong kong was too much. but minger they all say it's quite ok.
everything became a blur to me then. we went to the hotel to book the rooms as there is no space in popo's house since the funeral will be held there and kongkong's coffin will be in the living room. we packed the sweets and red string into the angpau for "white gold" / silver money / donations / contributions. we rushed for the obituary. ate some food. laughed. updated fb. listening to my taiku, kaiyeh, unc henry, liz sing song. basically bonded. went to get refreshments for the 1st service which was at 2.30pm
The receipt for the obituary.
Ya... this is quite a typical scene with my family we need our gadgets at all times :D
Taiku, Kai Yeh, Unc Henry & Liz rehearsing for the English service the next night
1st service started, saw taipak cried until super kelian. i ended up crying. the pastor who were standing next to me kept on looking at me one kind coz we were singing halfway and i cried :P minger and belinda also scratched heads. why i mou tuin tuin cry. after the whole service over, kaiyeh told taipak in a joking way, come on la! be a man! u cry until make us all cry!! :P
after the service, we continue to rush for the obituary. i dont remember much. all i knw was, we were super busy until dinner time, we gotta rushed to eat dinner then the 2nd service started at 8pm. oh and sometime during that time, Terence informed us that my brother is coming back. :D was super happy and we started to plan how to fetch him from Changi Airport. Eugene came back before dinner. Taiku shared her story about kongkong with us. which makes everyone cried. after the service ended, we lepak a bit. and then around 11something, we went back to the hotel room to rest.
oh, and Belinda used her HTC as mobile wifi hub and she became the popular karcheng. everyone wants to be be near her :D
Tuesday, 11.10.11
my bro called at 12.55am to confirmed he is coming back. woke up at 7am to get ready as we planned to meet at the lobby at 8am for quick breakfast before going to popo's house to help out. loads of relatives arrived. taiku, terence, liz, karen and i went out to meet taiku's friends from Singapore. the karchengs started to share our own memories of kong kong. and we all agreed Terence should share something for the service that nite.
went back to popo's place, took a nap and got woken up by more singing. yes, as karen put it, our family is like the Von Trapp family from Sound of Music. took loads of vids. there were loads of singing and laughing.
This is a vid of them singing All I Have To Do is Dream :)
This is a vid of my Unc Richard caught redhanded in planning his gag :D
then kevin and daph arrive. long lost karchengs. we were soooooo happy :) been more than 20 yrs since we last saw each other!! after some catching up, was asked to bring amy and her family to makan pork balls noodles. ended up tapau-ing 20packets back for the rest. we smuggled in a box :D
Old folks catching up at one corner
The musically inclined singing more songs at another corner
The Karchengs obsessed with internet courtesy of Linda ;)
english service starts at 8.30pm. met alot of highschoolmates' parents. cried like mad. then lepak abit before we went for supper at some loklok joint and then went back to hotel to bathe before shooting down to JB to pick my brother. Terence went back to Singapore a few hours before as he gotta work the next day. Eugene started a whatsapp group for us to communicate. the plan was, terence will be fetching my bro from airport and pass my bro to us in JB. and we made it seems like some kinda mission. the chat went something like that:
Terence: the eagle has landed
Me: affirmative :D
Terence: the package is on the move. see you at rendezvous point ;)
Me: roger. etd Kluang in 17mins. eta destination 0200hrs. location check.
then no reply jor. i gave wrong timing :P they ended up waited for us for 30mins :D
Wednesday, 12.10.11
my head hit the pillow at 4am. dorene called at 5am to check if my bro has arrived. woke up at 7am. almost died. went breakfast then went over to popo's place. the funeral service starts at 10.30am. when it was over and when the guests all came and give their condolences, tears were flowing freely. i am gonna miss kong kong so much!!!
we walked the last walk behind the hearse and cried and cried. they were playing Amazing Grace. how not to cry?? we went up the bus and reached the cemetery to have another short service. more crying. then laughed. then cry. and when we were singing Amazing Grace, i choked and couldnt continue to sing.
went for lunch after that and bonded with the karchengs. went back to popo's place and most of them went back. took a shower and went to take a nap as i needed to drive back to kl.
had a quick dinner with the remaining karchengs in kluang before heading back to kl.
reached kl ard 11ish. bathed and straightaway collapsed and sleep till next day 10ish.
Thursday, 13.10.11
still on compassionate leave as i needed the rest. met small cow in the late afternoon. suppose to go sing k, but we ended up going to Big Bad Wolf. bad choice... really really bad choice. retail therapy during the time of grief is a bad bad thing. i bought waaaaaaayyyy too many books.
after big bad wolf, we got lost for a bit and then decided to go Pyramid for ramen. after dinner, balik and i continue to rest.
Friday, 14.10.11
went to work as usual. bro called to ask if i really dont wanna send him off in SG. told him i am pretty shagged. i need rest. then he gave me some guilt trip plus he say he will pay for my flight tickets. told him i will check the price 1st. the cheapest was AirAsia @ RM300 return. so i bought. went to mv after work to buy bak kwa for my bro to bring back to USA. ya, i know, it's prohibited to bring processed meat into Singapore and USA. since when do i really abide the law? ;) bought gift wrapping papers to gift wrap the bak kwa :D ya, a trick i've learned from a friend :D
Saturday, 15.10.11
minger sent me to airport early in the morn as she has another appointment elsewhere. had breakfast and then check in and hang out at the transit area for about 2hrs.
arrived SG 20mins earlier than scheduled. Got lost at the airport. it has changed soooooo much!! it was nice to walk down memory lane.....:D took a train to Buona Vista to meet Karen jiejie. Then we waited for taiku to fetch us.
Spotted this at the Changi Airport and i find it innovating. Ppl will not have any excuse of simply throwing wrong stuffs into the wrong bin! :D
Really good Chicken pie!! :D
Next, taiku asked what's my craving. told her i wanna eat chwee kueh, bak chor mee or mee pok tah. so she brought us to Bt Timah Hawker Centre to nom the best chwee kueh in Singapore. Also to visit one of my aunts who operates one of the best tau hway stall in Singapore :D We had chwee kueh, pad thai, popiah, mee pok tah, super yummy tong yuen (Aunty Doris made for me) assorted desserts that she sells at her stall (too many to mentioned... seriously!)
The best chwee kueh in the world wide world!! :D
after stuffing my face, we head back home to taiku's place at Greenleaf View. Been a long long time since i've stepped into that house. we rested for awhile before my parents and bro arrived. after another round of coffee, we head over to Jurong Country Club for Oktoberfest - drinking for Kong kong ;) after drinking and more eating, and having funny whatsapp conversations with the rest of the SG karchengs that were not there, we headed over to Dempsey for more wine and catching up with more karchengs :D Met Eileen for the 1st time and then we went over to her great grandfather's road (really!! Cheong Chin Nam Rd) for supper and we walked on the road as if it's OUR grandfather's road :D
Old school but effective coupon system at the Oktoberfest @ Jurong Country Club :)
Beer of the night. :) (taste like Carlsberg)
Dr Tan Cheng Bock playing the ukelele! :)
What's Oktoberfest without long tables and benches? ;-)
The Wine Company @ Dempsey was our next stop :)
Superb satay at a mamak shop on Eileen's great grandfather's road
I love SG coz their ice kacang got green syrup one!! :D
Went back and slept at around 2am.
Sunday, 16.10.11
Woke up at 8.30 to get ready for church. after church, we went to the food court at Vivo City for lunch. Then head down to Singapore Swimming Club to lepak a bit before heading to airport to send my bro off and for me to fly back to kl.
Chicken Pie @ Singapore Swimming Club - ya, my family is currently obsessed with Chicken Pies :D
Was in the airport for a looooong time. explored the transit area of T1 and it brings back loads of memories. T1 has changed soooooooo much!!
bought a carton of ciggie coz it's 25% cheaper than Malaysia. :D
25% cheaper and without the disgusting picture :D
arrived Malaysia at around 10something. by the time i arrive via KL Sentral was already 12something.it has been a super exhausting week.
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