Reunion for Segamat Batch of 1962

More than six weeks have gone by since we returned to Singapore. Time has flown by and much has happened. The first week was devoted to cleaning the house and getting ready for the arrival of Denise and our grand daughter Alexa who was coming to be with us for 2 weeks. I was not looking forward to having guests but now after the event it wasn’t too bad after all. Had to cook and prepare lunch everyday for Alexa, but that was OK as I enjoy cooking anyway. My real problem was having to look after her during a great part of the days when her mother was out of the house. It has been a long time since I had young children to care for. It brought back some good memories of years gone by.

The 2 weeks with Alexa was rather good. She was a very easy child and it was not too difficult keeping her occupied. We had many painting and colouring sessions and by the end of the 2 weeks my repertoire of nursery rhymes have more than tripled. I was also very impressed by how intelligent she has become. At the tender age of 3 she could count to 100, knows her A to Z and she could add any 2 numbers between 0 and 10. A very intelligent child indeed.

We left for a 3 days trip to KL soon after Alexa and Denise left for UK. The trip was very good. Got to meet up with Onn and Julina again. Had a wonderful banana leaf lunch under a tree by a roadside on the first day. Onn and Julina were perfect hosts. Lunch was excellent and the company was better than ever. Onn, cousin of the current Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, and having 2 uncles who were former Prime Ministesr is still the same as he was during the school days when we were the best of friends. We met up for dinner again the next day and Dianne and I took them to a very peranakan restaurant. The food there was very very good and we thoroughly enjoyed the meal. Food there was so good we went back to have our last dinner before we returned to Singapore.

The next day was devoted to shopping and dinner with my brother Wee Thow and his daughter Shin Yunn. They were just leaving for a few days in UK to prepared for Shin Yunn’s entry to Cardiff university. The seafood dinner we had was rather special. Had Geoduck for the first time. For those who are not familiar with Geoduck, it is a large clam imported from the waters of Alaska. It is eaten raw, sashimi style with wasabi. Rather delicious.

After our KL trip we returned to Singapore. Gary, Dianne’s son was leaving for a 3 month stint at Nike HQ in Portland USA. We had a farewell dinner and said our goodbyes. He left alone, Carrie his wife will join him next week.

On April 27 we left for another 4 days in KL. On April 28, my school batch of 1962 held a reunion dinner at the residence of one of our classmates. A total of 26 old school friends attended. Some or most of whom I have not seen since we parted 45 years ago. It was a very nostalgic event. Some of us came with our spouses. Most of us have changed in our appearance. Almost all have retired or semi-retired. Many of us have increased waistline and many have receding hairlines. However we all remember the good old days when we were in Segamat. We had a very enjoyable reunion and we have all promised to stay in contact via telephone and email.

Lunch next day was another gathering for the batch of 62 at the Lake Club in the Lake Gardens of KL, guests of Onn who is a member. It was another wonderful get together. We all parted with good wishes to all.

The rest of our time in KL was devoted to more shopping and eating.

We may be planning another trip to KL within the next week or so. Got to visit a development site where Denise has purchased a luxury apartment. Tomorrow I have to go to the Vietnamese Embassy to collect my passport, hopefully with a visa for our planned 5 days trip to Ho Chi Minh City on May 30.

I will be glad to leave Singapore. It is getting to be boring and repetitive. I have recently taken up a course in Forex trading and I have been rather busy learning the trade. It is fun and I hope to make a few dollars to supplement my non-existence income of late. Got to earn some money to fund my travel.