Mahjong anyone?

Hi all,
Mahjong helps to exercise the mind, like Sudoku, Scrabble, Chess etc.
I am not a good or regular mahjong player.
My aim is to have a non gambling game, that is, chips will be used. The idea is to learn to build on the doubles, not just to game small. To exercise the mind and also to socialise.
I would like to start with a small group of 4.
You may be a beginner, a regular or someone who has not played the game before.
I have a mahjong set and table at my place, which is in Pasir Ris.
I’m willing to teach the game if you are a beginner.
If there are people who wish to add some excitement to the game and not use chips only, I’m not averse to it but I play very small.
Do let me know your preference and I can have a separate group for that.
Just email me at meiliix@gmail.com .
Cheers

Looking for travel buddy/buddies for July 2012

Hi,

Come July, I will have a whole month to myself and I’m planning to go
traveling! I was thinking of a cruise but can’t seem to find one in July, so I
will settle for air or land travel, unless there is one that I’m not aware
of?

I am looking for travel buddies. I will consider joining anyone or a group if
the itinerary is to my liking.

Please write to me at my email address at meiliiX@gmail.com.

Thanks

Mary

Potluck II-Homecooked Desserts n Finger foods Potluck

All righty! The sequel to the first Homecooked Potluck will be happening sometime next month!

This time round, it’s all homecooked specialty desserts and finger food. Now before everyone starts bringing in ordinary desserts like green bean soups or yiou tiow or simple agar agar or soon kuay, I want to emphasize that the item has to be different from those stuff that can be easily obtained from food centres.
For example, if it’s going to be yiou tiow, it has to be something extraordinary that is made with it, or if it’s going to be agar agar, there must be something unusual about it, not just simple coloured and flavoured agar agar.
It would be good if potential participants can come up with a suggestion of two or more items which will be made into a ‘menu’.

Since it’s desserts and finger foods, please ensure that everyone gets a bite of each item.

Date : 21st November 2009 

Time:  3 pm to 7 pm

Venue: My Place in Pasir Ris,St 52 (off Drive 1 or Drive3).  

It’s open to both sexes, but if participants are coming as a couple, each person has to present an item.

I have a mahjong table and cards, so we could have some games if anyone is interested, but keep in mind that theses are secondary activities to the main agenda, which is eating, sharing recipes and socialising.

EO- Mary Chan

Participants:

1. Mary Chan – ‘Or Nee" with gingko nut + plates n cutlery

                        Calamansi Chicken bites

                        Chocolate banana fudge cake

                     

                       

2. Andrew Koh –  drinks and ….alcohol ? emoticon

3.Ann Chee – pulut (?)

4.Judy Lim –  longan tou foo –  sweet and cool

5. Doreen Cady – Baked Pita bread stuffed with feta, cheddar, eggs and yogurt – yum yum!

6. Robert Cady – Stuffed Chicken wings with prawns n minced pork – double yum yum!

7. Constance Wong – Vietnamese popiah  –  mmmm, healthy and delicious snack

8. James Tan –  wasabe prawns  or cereal prawns

9. Susan Tan –  kueh lapis

10. Frisna Tan – gado gado –  another healthy snack

11. Alice Seah –  chilled banana dessert –  yet to be named

12. Steven Chan – Thai glutinous rice with mango/durian

13. Sylvia Ang –  fusion braised chicken wings

                               Mmmm…. the dishes are coming together nice and dandy!

                                                         Yummilicious!

                                                         emoticonemoticon

Click here for photos

Homecooked Food Potluck – Sat, 17th Oct 2009

Rosalind Lee and Mary Chan have planned a ladies only homecooked food potluck. It’s now thrown open to men.                                                            

Number of participants is limited to 20.

Participants are invited to cook a dish and share with other participants, not only the food, but their recipes as well as their cooking tips.

Dishes have to be homecooked by participants and should be enough for at least 6 – 8 persons.

Date: 17th Oct 2009 (Saturday)
Time:  5 .30 pm to 9.30 pm
Venue: Eileen Thean’s place at Chai Chee Gardens. Address will be given later

Contributions of other items like drinks, desserts and salads are welcomed but will not be considered as a cooked dish.  Plastic plates, cups and cutlery are also welcomed.

Names of participants

  1. Rosalind Lee – fried rice n Plastic plates, cups and cutlery
  2. Mary Chan- – spicy chicken wings
  3. Maggie Teo – Shepherd’s Pie
  4. Constance Wong – Sambal cuttlefish on a bed of roses, um sorry, sedap achar.
  5. Tan Seok Wah – Dry Mee Siam
  6. Caroline Sit – Sambal goreng
  7. Eileen Thean – Hakka yeong tau foo
  8. Sylvia Ang –  cinnamon soy sauce chicken
  9. Oi Cheng – mixed vegetables
  10. Lilian Teo – Pulot Seri Kaya —– changed to corn pudding
  11. Steven Chan –  black bah kut teh (herbal pork rib)
  12. Dan Huang – English Trifle
  13. Jane Loh – Curry veg
  14. Ann Lim – ngoh hiang ———-withdrew
  15. Nina Choo – stewed pork
  16. Andrew Koh – soft drinks + wineemoticon
  17. Patrick Chan- soft drinks + wine + ice + bucket  emoticon
  18. Lydia Chin –  special Indonesian chicken
  19. Anne Chee – glutinous rice and dried sambal prawns.  
  20. Judy Lim – fried laksa                                                                            

                 Wow, the spread is looking sumptuous!emoticon With music and wine, what could be better? emoticon

                 Could all participants drop me a note by email so that I can forward to you the address of the   venue?  Thanks.                                                     

                          Registration Closed.

                          Thank you all.

Click here for photos

Pasir Ris Elias CC WEC Social Dance Night

PASIR RIS ELIAS CC WEC SOCIAL DANCE NIGHT

  • Date: 10.10.2009 (Saturday)
  • Time: 6.00pm to 9.30pm                              
  • Price: $5
  • Drinks and ight  snacks                                                                   
  • Venue:  PASIR RIS ELIAS CC, multipurpose hall, 93, Pasir Ris Drive 3, Singapore 519498.
  •  LUCKY DRAW!!  PRIZES TO BE WON!!

All SHCians, partners and friends are welcomed! Jane Wong and I will be there!     

The BUSES available from the PASIR RIS MRT station to the CC are:
Numbers 1)  58, 88, 358, 359, 518, 518A and these stop just before Elias Mall, which is next to the Pasir Ris East CC building.
                2) 403 which stops opposite Elias Mall at block 633
Buses that go to Pasir Ris bus interchange are : 3, 5, 6, 12,15,15A, 15B, 17, 21, 58, 88, 354, 358, 359, 403, 518, 518A      
                                                                    
Payment:
I will be attending several of SHC’s activities and will bring some of the tickets with me.
The activities are: 1)  the Soo Kee Nan dinner at Mariner’s Corner on the 11th of September 09
                              2)  monthly walk from Kebangan mrt stn on the 12th of September 09
                              3)  SHC monthly meeting at Gillman Hts Condo on the 17th of september 09
If I don’t meet you on any of these days, I will reserve a ticket for you to pick up, the latest, a week before the social as I will have to return the remaining tickets then.
  1. Mary Chan
  2. Jane Wong
  3. Dan Hwang
  4. Joy Chuang
  5. Patrick Chan
  6. Judy Lim
  7. Paul Kong
  8. Peggy Kong
  9. John Howe
  10. Lily Ho x4
  11. Freddy Liew
  12. Thomas Loh
  13. Susan Tan
  14. and partner
  15. Frisna

Thank you for your support!

Anyone who decides at the last minute to attend is welcome. Tickets will be available at the door. Please remember to keep your ticket stubs for the lucky draw.

Happy Dancing!

Lower Back Pain

After the two posts on diabetes and gout, I thought I’d start one that I believe is a very common occurrence amongst older people, Lower Back Pain.

Several years ago,I was unfortunate to have a fall down a flight of steps, landing heavily on my behind. At that point in time, I didn’t think much of it as I only had some bruises, so didn’t get it checked by a doctor. After several months, I started experiencing aching pains in my lower back. Then and only then did I go and see a doctor, who thought I had an impinged nerve, probably a result of the formation of bone spurs, after the fall, which were pressing on the nerve.

Well, I have been living with it, with the help of creams and gels, physiotherapy and exercises and at times pain medication.

I have come across many claims on the internet that there are certain exercise regimes that can do away completely with the pain. How true are they? Does anyone know anything about such exercises? I would love to learn them.

Please share with us any tips on back pains, be it massages, exercises or any kind of ‘holistic’ medications.

Touching poem about a “Crabby Old Woman”

Someone I know sent me this very touching poem. It refers to a nurse, but I’m sure we are all guilty of this to some extent. Do read and do some deep thinking.

Crabby Old Woman

 

  • What do you see, nurses?
  • What do you see?
  • What are you thinking,
  • When you’re looking at me?

 

  • A crabby old woman,
  • Not very wise,
  • Uncertain of habit,
  • With faraway eyes.

 

  • Who dribbles her food,
  • And makes no reply,
  • When you say in a loud voice,
  • ‘I do wish you’d try!’

 

  • Who seems not to notice,
  • The things that you do,
  • And forever is losing,
  • A stocking or shoe

 

  • Who, resisting or not
  • Lets you do as you will,
  • With bathing and feeding,
  • The long day to fill?

 

  • Is that what you’re thinking?
  • Is that what you see?
  • Then open your eyes, nurse,
  • You’re not looking at me.

 

  • I’ll tell you who I am,
  • As I sit here so still,
  • As I do at your bidding,
  • As I eat at your will.

 

  • I’m a small child of ten,
  • With a father and mother,
  • Brothers and sisters,
  • Who love one another.

 

  • A young girl of sixteen,
  • With wings on her feet,
  • Dreaming that soon now,
  • A lover she’ll meet.

 

  • A bride soon at twenty,
  • My heart gives a leap,
  • As I make the vows
  • That I promised to keep.

 

  • At twenty-five now,
  • I have young of my own,
  • Who need me to guide,
  • And a secure happy home.

 

  • A woman of thirty,
  • My young now grown fast,
  • Bound to each other,
  • With ties that should last.

 

  • At forty, my young sons,
  • Have grown and are gone,
  • But my man’s beside me,
  • To see I don’t mourn.

 

  • At fifty once more,
  • Babies play round my knee,
  • Again we know children,
  • My loved one and me.

 

  • Dark days are upon me,
  • My husband is dead,
  • I look at the future,
  • I shudder with dread.

 

  • For my young are all rearing
  • Young of their own,
  • And I think of the years,
  • And the love that I’ve known.

 

  • I’m now an old woman,
  • And nature is cruel,
  • ‘Tis jest to make old age,
  • Look like a fool.

 

  • The body, it crumbles,
  • Grace and vigour depart,
  • There is now a stone
  • Where I once had a heart.

 

  • But inside this old carcass,
  • A young girl still dwells,
  • And now and again,
  • My battered heart swells.

 

  • I remember the joys,
  • I remember the pain,
  • And I’m loving and living
  • Life over again.

 

  • I think of the years,
  • All too few, gone too fast,
  • And accept the stark fact
  • That nothing can last.

 

  • So open your eyes, people,
  • Open and see,
  • Not a crabby old woman;
  • Look closer – see ME!!

Remember this poem when you next meet an old person, whether man or woman, who you might brush aside without looking at the young soul within. We will all, one day, be there, too!

Mary Chan’s daughter Sherry and Micheal’s Wedding, by Mary Chan

Hi everybody. I survived! emoticon

I want to share my experience, joy and fun with everyone.

The wedding was a huge success. We had a very unusual one, starting at my apartment and culminating with a dinner at the Sentosa Spa and Resort Hotel.

I had and still have mixed emotions. I am happy that they are happy, yet sad that I won’t have her with me as often as before. It’s difficult adjusting to not seeing her in the apartment, which seems so empty and quiet, especially now as my second girl has flown to Melbourne for a week. So I am all alone. Sigh.emoticon

On Saturday, I got up at 6.30 am as I couldn’t sleep. emoticonWe had breakfast at 730 and got ourselves ready when the beautician came at 9am to make up the two young ladies. The guests started arriving at 1045 am and by 1100, the apartment was humming with activity as everyone wanted to take a look at and photograph the bride who was in the ‘bridal chamber’ .

The groom then arrived with his 3 escorts, who were dressed in Mandarin outfits! Hahaha. One was his good friend, a Sri Lankan, the other was his best friend, an American and the third was his brother. We were all out on the balcony and staircase landing watching them emerge from the car. We expected something sedate and solemn, but all of a sudden, they broke into a New Zealand haka dance! emoticonTheir yells brought all the neighbours to their windows. It was such a hilarious sight, 4 guys, 2 Irish, an American and a Sri Lankan, dressed in Mandarin hats and outfits, doing the haka.

The dance looked so authentic, it drew applauses from the onlookers.

Then they proceeded to climb all 4 floors up to my apartment, shunning the lift, singing all the way. They even had a huge Chinese fan and some tinfoil percussion instruments. The song had a phrase, something like, "I’ll get down on my knees for you…" and the groom arrived at the top of the stairs and actually got down on his knees when he sang that, so romantic!emoticon

The bridesmaids then got into the teasing of the groom before allowing him to enter to claim his bride, who was still ‘hiding’ in her chamber, giggling with mirth. The bridesmaids, my second daughter, and several other young ladies barred the way and refused to allow him in, asking him to serenade the bride as loudly as he could, until the bride finally agreed that he had sung loudly enough. So he got past the first barrier, easy peasy.emoticon

Then, he had to perform a Chinese dance, wearing a pair of Chinese clogs! His best men were so ingenious. They picked up their clogs and clapped them together like castanets while the groom did a hilarious ‘flamenco’ dance, with lots of stamping. It was such a cosmopolitan mix and so entertaining for the guests, who were all howling with laughter and applauding with appreciation.emoticon

The final demand was a ‘big’ ‘ang pow’, which my daughter demanded gleefully. Guess what? The groom whipped out a really BIG ‘ang pow’ the size of an A2 size paper, with a big double happiness character on it! He had his own back on my second daughter, who was taken aback at the size of the ‘big’ ang pow. Of course, the cash was ‘checked’ to see if it was ‘big’ enough too. It was so much fun.

He was then allowed in. Then the bridal march was played and the bride came slowly out. It was so touching, I think I saw quite a few wet eyes. She was a vision of loveliness and the groom looked at her so adoringly. emoticonWe did a bit of praying, the Buddist way. Then we had the ‘tea ceremony’, when the bride and groom were showered with more ‘ang pows’ and gifts of jewellery for the bride.

Everyone had lunch before leaving to go home to change and get ready for the evening, for the Chinese banquet held at the Sentosa Spa and Resort Hotel. We had a 10 course Chinese fusion cuisine dinner for the relatives and guests. emoticon

The groom and his buddies had something else up their sleeves, halfway through the dinner. They came up with a skit of Sherry and Micheal (pronounced Mi-hall the Irish way) . Micheal portrayed Sherry and one of his best men portrayed him. Micheal had on a black, long haired ‘wig’ and tied a table cloth around his waist for a makeshift skirt and acted the part of a very coy and flirty Sherry. His best man wore a longhaired, orange wig, made from some wooly material and acted as Micheal when he first met Sherry.

The other best man told the story of their courtship while the two drew a lot of laughs and hoots with their   caricature of the bride and groom’s courtship.emoticon

Then there was a toast and speech made by the groom’s father, who actually sang a beautiful Irish song. Some of the guests had a great Chinese ‘yam seng ‘for the couple too. After the dinner, most of the Chinese guests left. Such a pity. They should have stayed. The other guests were reluctant to leave and many spilled out into the beautiful garden after the dinner and carried on chatting and drinking late into the night. It was a totally beautiful evening. The groom’s parents, 2 sisters and brother entertained us with their lovely renditions of Irish songs too. The whole family had such beautiful vocal chords.emoticon

Some of us stayed the night at the hotel and didn’t leave until Sunday evening.

Well, that’s part one of the celebrations. Part two will be in September, in Ireland, where the guest list will be even longer. That will be after my 21 day tour of Europe with my second daughter. I will be staying in Ireland for a week after that.

I’m so looking forward to that.

I feel a little sad as I miss my daughter already, but I console myself that she is staying very nearby, a 5 min walk away. I’m hoping that she’ll come and visit me often. I think the best way is to entice them with home cooked meals don’t you think? Hehe. emoticon

 

Click here to view photos

 

 

Reading Circle

I enjoy reading and am keen to ‘swop’ books or exchange recommendations on books. If you are an avid reader, we could do that or even get together and talk about any book that we have read. At the moment, my interests are more on biographies, autobiographies and real life personal experiences although I read all sorts.

I have just finished "A Round-Heeled Woman"  and "Unaccompanied Women" , both by Jane Jushka. They are very good reads and surprisingly, were recommended by a man. Another good book is "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell, which I have yet to finish.

Come and join me and chat about our books :-)

Mary Chan – Profile

Hello everybody,

I’m Mary, in my fifties. I’m a teacher, but am doing only short term teaching, so I have quite a bit of free time to do as I please. The problem is, I prefer to have friends to do things withemoticon. I enjoy travelling and used to do so with my two daughters, but it’s not convenient now as they have their own agenda although they do try to spend as much time as they can with me. I also enjoy dancing a little, especially social dancing, but there again, I need a partner. Anyone interested?emoticon

What do I teach? English and Phonics. English to primary and secondary school kids and phonics to little kiddies in a phonics centre.

Where have I travelled to? I’ve been to Australia, India, France, The Philippines, Japan, Thailand mostly on conducted tours, West Malaysia, Bali, Bintan, Batam on short relaxing trips but the place I have been to the most frequently is New Zealand. I started off on conducted tours, both North and South Islands and later, free and easy when I got to know the place better. I would love to visit China and Europe as well as some places in the US, especially Hawaii and to go on a cruise some day. Oh yes, I haven’t been on a real cruise yet!emoticon

I only learnt to swim and cycle in my forties and to dance (line dance) in my fifties. Talking about late bloomers, Up till then,I had been too busy taking care of the family, bringing up my girls and teaching and the free time I had was spent on sedate activities, like craftwork of which I have lots of evidence of , all in storage now.  Hopefully one day they will be appreciated, that is if they are still in good condition by then.

Well, I better keep this short or you might lose interest in my rambling. I hope to get some response. Then I can begin to make some new friends. Write soon,

Have a great day!emoticon

Mary