Ohana means family~

The other day my friend Zee the provider lent me Xiao Zhu's concert DVD,
and I found a particular segment especially touching.
So touched was I that I could not help turning into a watery mess each time I watched it.

It was an inspiring show of ultimate filial piety.
His father passed away some time ago,
and ever since,
he has always kept an empty seat beside his mother in all of his concerts,
firmly believing in the presence of his father being there,
despite his physical absence.
During this concert,
it was his mother who fell seriously ill.
In his frustration,
he lost his temper at (I suppose) the divine being
that HE was being extremely cruel to him
by always threatening to take away people who are dearest to him
whenever he stages a concert

Life is an extremely fragile thing.
And family,
it takes a special kind of affinity to be one.

Although mine is a lil wacky,
it is whole.

So, in celebration of this completeness,
I took them out to sample some good food lately.

The day after National Day we went to try out their set lunch for 4,
all thanks to Thomas Ng advertising it,
then starring in "a perfect cut" which left my mum with a serious crush over him.
That was about $185 worth of crush.
Food's not bad,
especially the coconut seafood soup,
which appealed to me aesthetically.
Best is what I call the quality of the spare ribs.
The set comes with desert that's supposedly
Hashima (background pic)

The last time I went to peony jade with the star-bers left me wanting for more.
So I took my family, plus grandma there yesterday afternoon.

Unfortunately, my pathetic paycheck could only afford their lunch buffet,
which amounted to close to $40/ pax after all the irritating pluses.
Boo boo to the replacement of my wasabi prawn with oats prawn.
I miss my WASABI PRAWNSSSSS!!!!
Kudos to the soft shell crab with pork floss-Still as good as I remember.
Other worth mentioning is the shark's fin soup which REALLY has flakes
yes, I mean it, thick thick FLAKES of fin.
My brother fell in love with the black peppered beef
and stir fried venison.
The other dishes are good too.
You noe how it is tt restaurants often make their buffet food substandard.
Peony Jade on the other hand,
is worthy of the many awards they have stacked on their walls.
Even buffet food is just as carefully prepared.
The fact that I haf no time to snap pics of food should be testimony enough.
Given how satisfied everyone is with the meal,
I foresee me bringin them back for more,
hence, delicious pics soon.
*After my pay comes in that is.
One day, when my paycheck gets fatter,
I'll bring them back for a real treat from their ala carte menu*

So more human pics to make up for the lack of food pics.



So there, my family.
A bimbo mum,
a himbo dad who cracks jokes that only he himself finds funny,
and a leech of a brother.
A little abnormal, but happy unit.

*And we can DEFINITELY be happier if ti gong pohpi tt my parents strike behpio then maybe I can claim some "reimbursements"*

You can probably tell, the elders are not that young anymore.
As we walked to the restaurant, you can see grandmother lagging at the back.
The brat of a brother slowed his steps and fell into line beside her.
As much a rascal as he is, he has heart :)

Daddy is the man of the family.
Although most of the time,
the one you see shouting the commands
and sending all of us into a panicked scatter is my mum.
He is still the quiet one,
still mumbling his words inaudibly,
and we still hafta "huh" him at least twice
before we caught the unfunny jokes that he tells.
Sometimes, most of the time,
his jokes are really not worth the extra effort to "huh".
Lately, his hunchback has been getting worst.
My daddy isn't getting any younger,
yet he still works just as hard,
doing his best,
carrying the heavy load around the warehouse.

My mum still is the blur bimbo that she always has been.
Just last week,
she put on her new wig and shades
and insisted that I take a photo of her

"So Korean Tai Tai!!!" she gushed as she admires her photo,
"Send me send me!!" she pleaded like a giggly little girl.
But lately, she doesn't seem to remember things as well as before.
And she certainly isn't as alert as she used to be.

Age is certainly catching up on them.
Yet most often than not,
we are sadly too engrossed in our own busy lives to notice that.
It is true that we only live once,
and there's this saying that we should always live our lives to the fullest,
live high when we're young,
collect interesting stories so we can relive their glory when we're old and wrinkly
or like some irritating others do,
brag about them to others whenever the chance arises.

And in our selfishness,
we forget,
that our parents too,
only live once.

And the scariest thing is,
You never know just when that "once"
would be up.