home sweet home

At last, after two weeks absence, I'm back home for a few days. Nothing beats coming home to your own roost! I know... KL is also home but I'm there almost every day of the week and to be able to come back to Malacca is just bliss. We arrived to day at about 1.46pm, quite early because there wasn't that much traffic on the highway. I think the weather here has been just hot and windy - my ferns all look wilted and some are very dry. My mother-in-law suggested putting them under the waterfall which is a good idea - maybe I'll try that.But won't too much water also kill the plants? I'm not sure but ferns do love water, that much I know. At least none of my roses have died - and one is even blooming well. I gave them all some much needed plant food, cleared out the weeds and cut off some of the bamboo branches, as well as the heloconia. I notice that the impatiens too are wilting - maybe its time to re plant them. Looks like this week end I'll be quite busy repairing and feeding the plants. Weather not helping - too hot and windy this whole week. A bit of rain might be a blessing. The roses I transplanted two weeks ago are doing fairly well, in fact one of them is already budding now. I think roses do better on the ground than in pots and the soil was already infected with the white worms in my pots so after taking them out of the pots they are doing so much better.

Visiting the little one

Sophia, now 2 and a half years old is very vocal and has a wide range of vocabulary. She speaks in perfect sentences - "Are we not taking this train mummy?" is just one example of her sentences. Sometimes she breaks into song as she did when we were on our way to Fidgets, a children's amusement gym cum playground. She was singing loudly in the taxi - in Japanese no less, and the Totoro theme song from the Japanese anime - Totoro. I know I sound like the doting grandma who thinks her grand child is perfect but actually I'm being very subjective! Ha ha! I love listening to her conversations - she talks to her toys as well as Totoro, the soft toy and imaginary Totoro always lurking outside. She calls him on the phone and asks him questions. This is a typical conversation: 

 "Hello Totoro, what are you doing?" 

She listens, as if listening to his answer and then says,"Really... ? Are you buying groceries?"

Then she looks at us and in a matter of fact way tells us," Totoro is going to the shop. He's buying groceries."

I ask,"What is Totoro buying?"

"Pasta and noodles," she answers promptly. Pasta and noodles are her favourite foods.

Sometimes Totoro will go to the library, which is also her favourite place. When you ask her what Totoro is doing there, her answer will be," Borrowing books!"

Whenever we go out  she sees Totoro everywhere. Sometimes he's on the tree tops, sometimes in the bus, sometimes walking with his umbrella. She is so imaginative and creative.  She used to love doing  jigsaw puzzles but right now she's off jigsaw puzzles and in love with Charlie and Lola - a British television series about a 4-year-old girl and her big brother Charlie. She would sit through the cartoon quietly. I notice that much of her speech patterns is imitated from this show - very British indeed. 

by train to Singapore

Since it had been some time we hadn't seen Sophie, Repin and I decided to go over to Singapore to spend the weekend with Rizal and Poh Ling. To save time we decided to take the night train - we journey late in the evening and arrive early in the morning of the next day - Friday. So at least we'd have two whole days with them before going back to KL on Sunday.

I hadn't taken the train for ages - the last time was somewhere in the mid 90s when Sarah was just 5 years old. The compartment we were in was L5 and Repin had taken two sleeping berths, opposite each other. Surprisingly it was fairly comfortable. There was a narrow bed with a pillow and a blanket even! The coach was air conditioned so it was a very comfortable ride for only half the amount we normally paid for the bus fare - RM133 for two people, return. Is that cheap or what!

By the time the train moved out of the station I was already lulled by the slow undulating movements. Since this was the night train there was no buffet car and both Repin and I had stocked ourselves with drinks and snacks as well as books if we could not sleep. It was a long and slow journey, but if you have plenty of time it's a good one. The movement of the train and the sound of the engines had a kind of soporific effect and Repin said by the time we arrived in Seremban, I was already snoring away in dreamland!

Early the next day we arrived at the causeway and the Immigration checkpoint in Singapore. Before that the Malaysian Immigration officers had boarded the train in Johore and had checked our passports, so we only had to get our passports stamped by the Singapore Immigration. By 8 am we were already at the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. I went to the toilets there to have a quick wash and comb my hair, then we had breakfast at the mamak stall inside the station. The food was quite delicious - capati with kheema and a mug of hot milk tea - teh tarik! Replenished and fresh we then walked out through the main hall and was pleasantly surprised to see that the main hall is really great. A high roof with large murals decorating the walls, it reminded me of the big station at Paddington. Indeed it was built during Queen Victoria's reign so the architecture is rather Victorian. What was even more surprising is the large sign on the front entrance - FMSR - Federated Malay States Railway - one of the few signs of British occupancy that had not been obliterated by our Malaysian government. This is a bit of history that should be preserved I think.