I have stumbled upon many quotes on life – many mesmerizing at the fact that life is too short to waste, musings of a beautiful life and reflections of how unexpected life’s journey can unfold. And I have recently pondered on thought of aging gracefully even as we celebrated my grandmother’s 90th birthday.

What a privilege and blessing it is to live ninety decades of life to witnesses marriages, births, graduations, celebrations, umpteen birthdays and a throng of other family gatherings. And on hindsight, this privilege is also tainted with bitter sweet memories played out at funerals, farewells and hardship.

Grandma whom I fondly call ‘Mama’ has played a significant role in my life – sowing seeds of endurance, perseverance, passion and love since I was a little girl. She vividly remembers the nightmarish days of World War 2 when she was working as a midwife travelling from village to village delivering babies. She recounts the ghoulish escape routes she took in order to stay clear of Japanese invaders. That day of sheer determination and passion in carrying out her mission as a midwife gives me the drive to live for what I believe in.

She grimly speaks of how poverty nearly robbed her of her dream to study – but a miracle happened when someone sponsored her to continue her studies in midwifery. As a child, her pursuit for knowledge gave me the rise to never stop attaining knowledge, even if I had it much easier these days (with extra to spare, google university at my finger tips and a sea of books to choose from).

Above all, it was Mama’s generosity that touched my heart the most. In her adulthood, she married my grandfather – ‘Yeh Yeh’ who was a principal of a school. They got along pretty well and soon earned a little more to afford a helper in the house to help with the children. Mama never mistreated the helpers, instead most of them ended up working with her for more than 10 years.

During family gatherings as a child, I would be introduced to aunty so-and-so and uncle so-and-so. When asked how we are related to them, my parents would often sit me down for a story or two about how Mama used to take in poor neighbours and friends and raised them up by helping with their school fees, medical bills and basic supplies. And that’s how we are related – Mama made them part of her family… our family.

How at 90 years old, she’s unable to walk due to a fall about a year and a half ago, her memory is fading and she is a lot less active. A year and a half ago, I was worried we might lose her – but she braved through another operation at 89! Such a fighter… Her eyes still lights up whenever I visit her at my parents’ home. She eagerly waits for our weekly visits and constantly asks when our next visits will be.

Her greatest strength has been God and her daily conversations with Him. Prayer her lifeline and it has been our family’s lifeline too… Through prayer she has sown eternal gifts that no money or wealth can buy. Through prayer, she has built a foundation in our home that’s unshakable and unmovable.

Photos taken by Joshua Chan

After reading an article in Action Asia and missing the sight of a leopard during our South African safari, Yala National Park was a must as encounters with the agile spotted cat is almost guarantee (as safari guide claims). Descending from chilly Nuwara Eliya snaking down mountain slopes and onto wide open roads, the trip to Tissamaharama, a small town 24kms from Yala, was smooth one. The weather gradually changed from cold and dry to hot, arid and humid. Yala reflected the weather in the deserts of Dubai leaving a knot of dryness in our throats and trickles of sweat on our skin.

At Tissamaharama a, we checked into our hotel, treated ourselves to a serve of rice and curry and curd for dessert. We retired early that night to reserve energy for a pre-dawn start to our safari experience.  Yala National Park covers a vast area of 97,878 hectares mostly covered with dry vegetation of short thorny shrubs with patches of secondary forest interspersed between. The park is well known for it’s wildlife. Dubbed by Action Asia magazine as the “asian safari” spot, this national park is home to Asian Elephants, sambar deer, mongoose, water buffalos, sloth bear, crocodiles, pangolins and over 120 species of birds. The park’s coastline is a beautiful sight with historical significance and blocks of half torn buildings standing as a solemn memory of the 2004 tsunami.

We hired a safari guide who brought us into the park in his jeep at about 530am to beat the growing queue of jeeps rushing to go in. The atmosphere was tense, guides waited to purchase permits to enter while guests wait patiently in respective jeeps. This was incredible different from the South African safari experience we had in Kruger National Park. As soon as we got the permit, our guide rushed into the driver seat and drove rapidly pass the park gates.

We watched the solo elephant gallantly stroll pass swinging his clumsy trunk right and left. And we caught a peacock parading his fan in the bushes as we munched on our roti for breakfast. Yala is a pretty sight and the local guides need to learn how to respect it for what it has to offer, less nature and wildlife take a backseat.

While at Kandy we engaged a travel assistant named Pio Mendis who would be our driver / guide for the next 5 days. Traveling in Sri Lanka with a limited time frame is best to be done with a guide who can take you from one place to another.

Pio, a jovial and ‘giant’ hearted man was a pleasure to travel with. We talked about everything under the sun, from politics to tradition to our families – Pio was a marketing manager in a manufacturing company who quit his job to help his brother-in-law in his travel business. Pio chimes, “I love my job, I get to meet new people, bring them around and show them my country. These people usually end up being my friends.”

Continuing our journey on an ascend, we climbed 2000m above sea level on tight two lanes roads avoiding potholes, oncoming traffic and the occasional villager who decides to walk halfway into the road. It was a long ride but we finally arrived and ready to sprint out of the van for a stretch. Surrounded by lush tea plantations and a breath of crisp cool air, the washed out sign saying “Welcome to Nuwara Eliya” beckons us.

Known as the “Little England” of Sri Lanka, this region is a haven for tea lovers. A pleasurable retreat with many old colonial style guest houses refurbished to treat the tasteful traveler. This is also the base for those who want to climb Horton Plains to catch a glimpse of the breathtaking panoramic view of World’s End – an abrupt end to a cliff that overlooks several mountain ranges. The latter was the main reason we decided to stay a night at Nuwara Eliya.

We checked into an unusual place to stay – a Catholic convent / kindergarden that has several rooms situation at the top of the convent block. Basic, simple and more importantly clean; we decided this was the place to stay as we were on a budget. The sisters were extremely friendly too attending to our every request for extra towels and a speedy repair for our shower heater.

Nuwara Eliya has a lot to offer tourists including visits tea plantations, horse riding, hiking, exploring the beauty of the landscaped gardens or simply retreating to a cup of aromatic warm tea. We visited to Heritance Tea Factory hotel about 45 mins from the town centre an old factory, restored and refurbished elegantly. Tucked away on a hill surrounded by tea plantations, this hotel is a sanctuary for those who opt just to relax and unwind. Since we just came from the Heritance Kandalama, we thought it would only be far to pay their ‘sister’ a visit. We were in awe at how much they managed to salvage keeping the main structures in place.

Oh joy! I really don’t remember when was the last time I actually had a weekend absolutely free – and by that, I mean no appointments, no Rangers, no house chores… essentially just a blot-free calendar.

Taking advantage of the free weekend which incidentally coincides with Terence’s birthday, we found ourselves in Malacca. Checking into Cyclamen Cottage, an old-fashioned town house refurbished and restored to accommodate 11 guest rooms was idyllic. Located just 5 mins from Jonker Street where the buzz is, this is an ideal find as we were hoping for some peace and quiet.

Armed with trip advisor best finds on where to eat and what to see, we roamed the streets like how we would in another country or city. We visited most of the art galleries along Jalan Tun Cheng Lock, surveyed antiques stores inspecting every tiny relic, chatted up with some locals and found some interesting stories of life, history and the phases of development Malacca has gone through.

We walked Jonker Street after dinner and were mesmerized at how different the night market is from the ones in Petaling Jaya. Different delicacies and sweets laid out for the those with an eager taste bud, fridge magnets shouting Malacca’s quintessential notables like plastic durian cendol  and red wooden strappy clogs and pretty lanterns as deco.

Fortuitously stumbling into Hajjah Mona Assam Pedas, we were spelled into having our first dinner of fish bathing in red hot assam pedas gravy. Sweat broke out freely but who’s to bother when the whole restaurant sweats with you?!

The next day we uncovered this hidden gem called Baba Charlie a haven for homemade Nyonya kuih. We paid at visit to No.72, Lorong Pantai Tengkera 2C (about 2 mins drive from Jonker along Jalan Tun Cheng Lock).  The house exterior actually looks like a mega-sized kitchen with trays, pots, kuali’s and kitchen utensils spread out. I started to doubt if I got the right place, but as soon as I stepped into the house, my doubts melted away. A colourful patchwork of delectable kuih’s filled the table and I was transported back to my childhood days when my grandmother tagged me along on her market sprees.

We also found another obscure stall that sells Putu Piring (a light fluffy dough cake filled with palm sugar nodules that burst in your mouth as soon as you bit into it). Incidentally this home/stall is also located along Jalan Tenkera at No.252 (next to the Sports Toto shop). It opens only in the evening from about 7pm till late. The putu pirings cost 80c each. A bit pricey just for dough and sugar but definitely worth the try!

And for tea, we had Nyonya Laksa and Popiah at Poh Piah Lwee located at the intersection between Jonker Street and Tun Cheng Lock. The small shop often goes unnoticed as tourists bypass it to get to the buzz at Jonker. The laksa soup is velvety with a mild piquant taste stirring our appetite for more – but we resisted. The popiah although tasty, didn’t really stir me for more as I found out that the secret ingredient for its fantastic flavor are small pieces of fried lard hidden between the veggie fold.

Soon after we returned from Malacca, our bodies cried out for justice and we hit Gasing Hill for a power pack exercise regime to avoid the pending food guilt.

July seems to be a month of celebrations, festivities, homecomings and farewells. Usually what that means is that there’ll be a feast! An ongoing, perpetual feast for this month particularly. Dinner parties, tea parties and lazy weekend lunches… It’s a dinner party at ours last night and we made homemade pizzas and chicken wings. Decked with salami, ham, bell peppers, olives, onions and garlic (yes garlic!), the Italian pancakes oozed over with mozzarella cheese and filled our kitchen with tantalizing aroma!

This no-brainer recipe was shared to me by Lee Yen when I was there in June bunking over at the Singapore apartment. Since good food is for all, here’s the recipe:

The Dough
175g plain white flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp yeast
½ tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
120ml warm water

How? Mix all ingredients together and knead (with love and soft piping music in air). Leave to rise for 1 hr. Roll our dough, spread tomato base and sprinkle with anything your heart desires! 230c in the oven and Walla – you’ve made yourself an Italian chef!