Saturday, June 2, 2007
Ah Kong 
What did Sushi A say to Sushi B?
What's up, B?
What's up, B?
It was a joke my sister told over my last family dinner, probably in honour of my moving to Tokyo.
She's one of the few people I know who tells jokes with the most deadpan expression, and she had P and I in stitches although in retrospect it probably isn't that funny.
I miss my family a lot.
She's one of the few people I know who tells jokes with the most deadpan expression, and she had P and I in stitches although in retrospect it probably isn't that funny.
I miss my family a lot.
Being away from the comfort and familiarity of home has helped me appreciate what I had in Singapore a lot more- I went from being completely taken care of to being fully independent here almost overnight, and in two weeks I have had to both learn and undo habits that never occurred to me before.
This is also a constant point of contention between P and I - I am always defensive about my behaviour ("Well, back in Singapore we do/don't _____", "No one has ever picked a bone about my _____") and he is always trying to explain how things are and should be done.
Anyways, today was P's first day at his new job and I spent my day packing and cleaning and doing the laundry. I think I might be growing to enjoy the domestic life.
I also found out on MSN from my sister that Ah Kong passed away today. He had internal bleeding but went peacefully. He was in his 90s and the last grandparent left, and in recent years he has forgotten most of his family and would nod absent-mindedly when we visited him at the home.
She told me that almost everyone was at the hospital and they all cried at the news, and I immediately felt bad for being a 7-hour flight away. I had been planning to go home for a couple of days in June to process my work visa, but there was no way I could rush home in time for the funeral which ends on Tuesday.
I also found out on MSN from my sister that Ah Kong passed away today. He had internal bleeding but went peacefully. He was in his 90s and the last grandparent left, and in recent years he has forgotten most of his family and would nod absent-mindedly when we visited him at the home.
She told me that almost everyone was at the hospital and they all cried at the news, and I immediately felt bad for being a 7-hour flight away. I had been planning to go home for a couple of days in June to process my work visa, but there was no way I could rush home in time for the funeral which ends on Tuesday.
But I guess this is all part of the "being away from home" experience, not being there in times of crisis and celebration.
I texted my mum to send her my condolences and will call her tomorrow evening to check up on her again.
I didn't mention this but I brought all my Singapore dollars to Japan thinking that I could change it at the Post Office at the best rate, but upon arrival we found out that my currency is worth almost nothing. For some reason not many places here (we tried the post office, banks and departmental stores) accept SGD and those that do offered such crap rates I would lost a couple hundred of dollars if I were to change.
Tomorrow P and I are going to try the Shinsei bank which allows despositing in a special account in foreign currency and withdrawing in yen. I really hope that works because I had long used up the 20,000 yen I came here with and have been borrowing money from P for my daily expenses.
It warms my heart to receive e-mails from friends back home too.
It warms my heart to receive e-mails from friends back home too.
Labels: family, life, money, tokyo
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