Thick Blood

HEYA! Yea...finally i'm able to move in to this place...i 'bought' this place for some while now...(meaning i registered here) yet it was under 'construction' (means i was still thinking wat would i post here) but now it has finally been done! Hehehe...thanks to those who keep urging me to update my blog...hehehe! Sori for having u guys wait so long...ur comments and encourage is wat gave me the strength to continue writing even though i feel ike i'm gonna doze off in my comfy bed anytime soon...hehe!

So, i've done some thinking and since i've not written for some times, i hav lots to say. Finally i decided on the title:Thick Blood...not a very 'sunny' title i know...but wat i hav to say here is nth close to being gorry and disgusting. You'll see...

Some of u might know...i love to read. (though i'm no nerd) Hahaha! And one of my fav authors is Amy Tan. She's popular enough in the reader's world...together wit ppl like John Grisham and Micheal Crichton but not as popular as Stephen King and Dan Brown. Amy Tan wrote some of the most fascinating books i've ever read. And believe me...i've read (and re-read) all of her books and still not gettign bored of it. Some may say tat her books are very feminine...meaning they are for 'girls and women' to read. But my dad picked it up from my bookcase one day and he read all of the others i have. Deeply intrigued. Well...wat does she write about? Simple...Mothers, mother's mother, mother's daughter and China. Sounds boring? Wait till u read wat i hav to say....

This first blog entry is dedicated to my grandmothers, whom i've never learn their real names till after they hav bid farewell. Choo Choy Ying and Wong Nyuk Ying.


I do not know my mother's mother very well...she has passed on before my mother was married to my father. But as i grew...i've heard many stories bout her. Many of which leads me to think tat my mom inherited her wittiness and cheerfulness from her...as my grandfather was a kind man...but also a man of few words. Amy Tan has wonderfully written bout the bonds between a mother and her daughter. It mainly talks bout a mother who originates from China and a daughter who is born in America. And how different and difficult for them to understand each other. A mother who wants to teach a daughter the chinese ways yet she was pulled in the american way...so, she is not either, she is not both. Until her daughter, al'd full grown has discovered the stories her mother kept hidden behind her chinese ways...therefore...her books are not only for girls and women...but rather, for chinese who left their roots.

How many of u actually feel like..."oOooHhhhh....."in understanding when i mention the difference of mother and daughter since one is born in China and the other in America? Arent we? Arent we the daughters and the sons tat has been born in a native country? Yes...your moms might not originate from China. But your grandmothers are. If not, then ur great-grandmother is. Yes, it might not be a drastic change here in Malaysia since we are still bonded in many of the chinese cultures. But have u imagine if ur grandparents have not come to malaysia? Then wat will become of u? Have u set foot on China and wonder which paths your ancestors have trotted on? Given the chance, i would love to go back to where my grandparents came from. We still have a house there. somewhere on a mountain in China. I will get the name from my dad one day. The last time my grandmother was there, the neighbours were still keeping their pots and pans for safe-keeping. ( I realized later tat pots and pans are considered a valuable property during the olden days.) I wonder wat was her life when she was growing up? Born in a typical family. She's the first born. Was she despised and a disappointment becoz she was a girl? Becoz female infants are considered a lost last time. But then she had a baby brother. And weirdly enuf, tat was the only children they had. When she grew up...did she wonder bout the life she will hav in front of her? Did she imagine her future, her marriage? Never getting to decide whom she wants to marry...but tat was the norm and they accept this. Yet my great-grandparents are not so narrowminded. Somehow, when she was around 18, she was given a stack of pictures...finding a suitor. And through all the men tat came and ask her hand in marriage, she picked one tat she will soon spend her whole life with. And only his name and tat picture as her guide. Sorting through it, she found it and immediately, she picked this one. Of all the black and white pictures she went through...a coloured one stood out. And i mean literally coloured. My grandfather, an artist himself has coloured himself in his picture wit a kungfu kick. So, they married...yet, i do not know the story how they came to Malaysia. But i knew it was before World War 2 broke out. As my Eldest uncle was born in Malaysia. Wat havoc it must have been...i've heard tat my granduncle was a intelligent man. He was a chinese doctor and he joined some war thing and was forced to fled when the war came. He was hiding in forests and jungles. And finally, he really did flew to America. (Now he is a Chinese doctor there with his daughter a medical doctor). So, i believe my grandmother came from quite a well-off family. Becoz she also married my grandfather who is not only an artist at heart, but a dentist in profession. In those days, u can only marry to the same standards. But since she came to Malaysia...i do not think they are wealthy anymore. They had 9 kids to take care off and my grandparents smoked opium...so there was where most of the money went i think. My grandmother had to work hard to earn money by selling noodles and my grandfather made great bird cages and tanglungs to sell besides opening his dental clinic which doubles up as their home. I could not imagine wat happened when the war came. My grandfather was walking wit my eldest uncle in is arms on day on the peaceful streets of Taiping when suddenly, loud noises came from the sky and the alarms went off. Everyone panicked and starts to run. Screams drowned by the alarms and the crumbling of buildings hit. Bombs were falling from the sky, my grandfather quickly held his son close and jumped. He leaped into a huge drain by the side and seek refuge in hastily moving in the drain. I heard tat if he was not to do tat..they would not have survived that bombing. Which means bad news since my dad was not born yet. He was the 7th child. How did they survive through all the torment i have no ideas. My grandfather loved animals...especially birds. He would train birds to sing in competitions. I guess there is where i inherited my love for animals and art, jus like how my dad has inherited it.


I do not know many stories from my grandmother...and i regretted tat i didnt asked her. I woud hav heard so many things about her life in China. All i can hear now are the stories she told my mom and my dad.

Actually i hav no idea how am i going to write this blog...honestly, despite wat i have written, it has not spoken wat is in my mind. Maybe u will understand more when u read one of her books. I highly recommend those who like to read to not hesitate to grab one of amy tan's book. i recommend the older ones...not the newer ones. Em...sad to say, the last two books i've read is not tat appealing.

So...their lives might not interest u, but they are all u hav. Their stories are all u could find. Becoz the girl tat once dreamt about her future will soon not be able to dream anymore as her life is nearing the end...yet remember you are tat dream, you are her dream, you are her future. Blood tat once throb in her vitality is now the same blood tat throbs in ur veins. Chinese has a saying :"huet nong yu shui". Meaning...blood is thicker than water.