Yep, my parents have been married for 50 years! Hard to believe in this day and age, but then, within our community/church many have been married for even longer than that. Of course, this particular celebration was particularly meaningful for my folks, cos they are now psyching themselves up for my Mum's bypass operation next Monday, and mentally preparing themselves for the worst, though they are hoping for the best, as are we all.
The event was held at the church (St. Thomas Church, on St. Thomas Road, off Jalan Ipoh, in Kuala Lumpur) on Saturday 25th Oct (though the actual date of their anniversary is 20th October). My parents sorted out the catering, tables/chairs, canopy, etc. My sister sorted out the programme (including design and copy!!), another friend sorted out the song sheets, our very good friend (S) did all the flower arrangements and they were GORGEOUS! I arranged for dessert (orange flavour cup cakes with multi-colour icing made by a good friend), my sister and I were the MC's, my brother did the welcome address, my sis-in-law did the thank you's, and all 4 nieces and nephews that were present all presented an item each. The missing niece (#1 grandchild) who is in Moscow, studying medicine, sent a message for her grandparents, which her mum (my sis-in-law) read out before the thank you's. Some of my parents very good friends did the opening and closing prayers, as well as the felicitations (which was really very funny!) We started at 6.30pm sharp, and managed to pretty much keep everyone ON time (or even slightly BEFORE time), and were able to finish by 8.00pm!! Following which there was a general charge for the food.
Anyway, the whole programme went on as below, as detailed in the script that my sister and I put together:
=================
6.30pm: Started with singing
Sis: Will everyone please stand for the opening hymn “Great is Thy Faithfulness”, followed by the Kauma, led by George Vergis Achen.
ALL: Hymn
Rev George Vergis: Kauma
Aby: Opening Prayer
Me: Thank you Aby. We would like to now ask our brother, Ashok, to come up for the welcome address. After that, IF anyone is interested, we can tell you how all 3 of our fates hung by the thickness of a HAIR.
Brother: Welcome Address
Sis: So, anyone want to hear about the HAIR that controlled our fate?
Me: Let’s take you back about 50 years
Sis: Picture PZ – young, with a bit more hair, and a tad slimmer. With HIS father (our grandfather), going from house to house, checking out the GALS… seeking the “RIGHT BRIDE”
ME: Picture MP – young, demure, shy, nervously serving tea. Picture the tray, with two cups and two saucers.
Sis: The young PZ picks up a cup and saucer, as does his father. And, ON PZ’S SAUCER, …….
ME: A HAIR
Sis: A single strand of LONG, BLACK, HAIR…..
ME: And, to cut a long story short…
Sis: Let’s just say that if our Grandfather had got “THAT” cup, we would NOT be here, and neither would the grandchildren
ME: Which brings us to two of the grandchildren (#2, A, and #3, R) who will now be giving us the Bible Readings for this evening.
A: Bible reading
R: Bible reading
Sis: Achen, can we now call on you for a brief message – following which we will sing Malayalam Hymn No. 108
Rev George Vergis: Message
ALL: Malayalam Hymn No. 108
ME: Let’s have A back here again, followed by Grandson #2, L, to do something special for their grandparents.
A: Piano
L: Dedication to Grandma, plus bible verse reading
Sis: We would like to ask Philip Mathews, Sunny, to come up to give the felicitations
Sunny: Felicitations
ME: Now we have Grandsons #1 and #3, R and S, with their contributions to this event for their grandparents.
R: Piano
S: Dedication to Granddad, plus bible verse reading
Sis: We have now heard from 4 grandchildren, but I’m sure you all know there actually IS one more – the #1 grandchild, M, who is not able to be here today.
ME: For this we want to ask P, our very FIRST in-law, and more sister than sister-in-law, to read this special message from her daughter to our golden couple. P will also give the Vote of Thanks.
P: M’s message
P: Vote of Thanks
ME: We would now like to ask Mrs Susan John to come and do the Closing Prayer
Mrs Susan John: Closing prayer
Sis: I can almost hear some tummy’s rumbling away – but before we head out for the food, let’s all give thanks for the food we are about to eat by singing grace – Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow
Singing of Grace.
=======DINNER======
For anyone who tried the cupcakes and liked them (everyone must have liked them - I ordered 200 cupcakes, and there were only about 25 left at the end of the day!), go check out http://mamamin.wordpress.com/. Min has made birthday cakes, house warming cakes, etc, for me, and her designs are excellent and innovative!
As to the caterer, they were the BIG RAJAH caterers...you can get their details at http://www.thebigrajah.com.my/. Their food was really excellent and more than sufficient to cater to everyone, despite the fact that MORE than the expected number of people turned up eventually!!!
And that was it folks....
Till next time, have a good day!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Malaysia - what's happening?
First, most important, for anyone who is interested, go to the Malaysia Today site (http://mt.m2day.org/2008/) for the latest news (on the alternative news media, as opposed to the mainstream media) for what is happening in my beautiful country.
It is scary, sad, horrifying, to see that those in the government are more concerned with:
- in-fighting
- back-stabbing
- putting down all those who are not in "their" party
- scare-mongering
- bull-shitting
- making racist comments
- staying in power
- and the list goes on and on
RATHER THAN GOOD GOVERNANCE!!
With the world in meltdown, those in power in Malaysia are more concerned with lining their own pockets and taking as much as they can for themselves, with NO concern at all for the people of Malaysia.
People who speak out against this get arrested and thrown in jail under the repressive ISA. Even those who DON'T say anything wrong get thrown into jail under the ISA simply on the say-so of supposedly upright government members (case in point - Teresa Kok, and the journalist who reported what was said by a racist member of the BN govt).
Unfortunately for the govt, who are living with their heads well swathed in b-s, the arrest of Raja Petra Kamaruddin (RPK, or Pete, as he is better known) has served as a key catalyst to get the people of Malaysia, who generally don't kick up a fuss, to rally to his cause. His arrest seems to have started a movement for FREEDOM FROM TYRANNY which is slowly but surely gaining momentum. Even if Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (DSAI) does not put his money where his mouth is and actually take over the government soon, it is possible to see that by the next General Election there will be a huge seismic change - especially if Najib takes over from Badawi and returns us to the Mahathir era of complete despotic tyrranical control.
And though it would be nice to think that it was Badawi who allowed us more freedom of speech than was possible under Mahathir, it is actually more because we have access to more alternative media than we did before. The Internet has proved to be a bane to the govt, and a boon to the opposition.
If the opposition does come into power, they must also remember that the Internet can also work against them if they do not walk the talk, and GOVERN the country fairly.
My prayers for RPK in his current predicament, and to his wife and kids, that they all have the strength of will to get through this very difficult time. My prayers for the people of Malaysia that together - Malays, Chinese, Indians, the Orang Asli, the "Others" - we will succeed and we WILL get the RIGHT govt, to move us all forward and steer us right, fairly and TOGETHER, in this global economy!
It is scary, sad, horrifying, to see that those in the government are more concerned with:
- in-fighting
- back-stabbing
- putting down all those who are not in "their" party
- scare-mongering
- bull-shitting
- making racist comments
- staying in power
- and the list goes on and on
RATHER THAN GOOD GOVERNANCE!!
With the world in meltdown, those in power in Malaysia are more concerned with lining their own pockets and taking as much as they can for themselves, with NO concern at all for the people of Malaysia.
People who speak out against this get arrested and thrown in jail under the repressive ISA. Even those who DON'T say anything wrong get thrown into jail under the ISA simply on the say-so of supposedly upright government members (case in point - Teresa Kok, and the journalist who reported what was said by a racist member of the BN govt).
Unfortunately for the govt, who are living with their heads well swathed in b-s, the arrest of Raja Petra Kamaruddin (RPK, or Pete, as he is better known) has served as a key catalyst to get the people of Malaysia, who generally don't kick up a fuss, to rally to his cause. His arrest seems to have started a movement for FREEDOM FROM TYRANNY which is slowly but surely gaining momentum. Even if Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (DSAI) does not put his money where his mouth is and actually take over the government soon, it is possible to see that by the next General Election there will be a huge seismic change - especially if Najib takes over from Badawi and returns us to the Mahathir era of complete despotic tyrranical control.
And though it would be nice to think that it was Badawi who allowed us more freedom of speech than was possible under Mahathir, it is actually more because we have access to more alternative media than we did before. The Internet has proved to be a bane to the govt, and a boon to the opposition.
If the opposition does come into power, they must also remember that the Internet can also work against them if they do not walk the talk, and GOVERN the country fairly.
My prayers for RPK in his current predicament, and to his wife and kids, that they all have the strength of will to get through this very difficult time. My prayers for the people of Malaysia that together - Malays, Chinese, Indians, the Orang Asli, the "Others" - we will succeed and we WILL get the RIGHT govt, to move us all forward and steer us right, fairly and TOGETHER, in this global economy!
Sunday, October 05, 2008
More details on Mum and her need for a bypass....
... got some questions from some of our friends for more detail on my Mum and the need for a bypass, so thought I might as well put the details here.
About 3 - 4 weeks ago, my Mum started experiencing extremely debilitating pain on the left side of her (wait for it) NECK and SHOULDER, radiating down her left arm. She put this down to a bad attack of "gas" and starting taking medication for that. It SEEMED to help, but then the pain would return again. Finally she decided to ask about it on one of her regular visits to the hospital for her diabetes check up - and, sadly, what they told her was basically that at her age (she is a pretty young 71!) she should expect such things to happen, and they just brushed it off. Then one of her good friends, also a doctor, told her not to take any chances, since the pain was on the left side, and go do an ECG. My brother (doctor in Melaka) was trying to persuade her to get down to Melaka to do an ECG and run other tests as well, and she finally agreed, putting it off till 18th Sept. THEN, on Sunday 14th Sept, while walking back from buying bread at the neighbourhood shop, the pain came back again, SO BAD, that my Dad immediately called my brother and said he and Mum would be at Melaka on the Monday instead.
Anyway, they went, she had various tests done, and my brother was able to confirm that she has one or more blockages in the blood vessels around her heart. She was given strict instructions NOT to exert herself, and we waited till our absolute favourite cardiac surgeon (Dr. V) got back to IJN (National Heart Institute, KL) on 19th Sept, which is when he arranged for an angiogram for my Mum on 29th Sept, to be carried out by another surgeon at IJN (Dr B).
My Mum went in to IJN on 28th Sept, and went into the op theatre for the angiogram mid morning on 29th Sept (co-incidentally, that was my Dad's 75th birthday!). By the time I flew in from SG and arrived at the IJN (around noon on 29th Sept), she had already come out of the angiogram with the findings as follows:
- In one blood vessel there are THREE blocks in a row
- In another blood vessel there are TWO blocks in a row
- The surgeon COULD have pushed the balloon through to unblock the blood vessels BUT he felt that this was not the best solution, and he asked my Mum whether he should go ahead and unblock the vessels (and put in Stents) or whether she would prefer to go for a bypass (the 'better' long-term option).
- She could not decide, so she asked for my Dad, and after my Dad had been shown the blockages on the video screen (LIVE!!!) he said he would like to discuss the situation with my brother, my sis and I, and, of course, Dr V, so she got taken back to her room with no angioplasty done.
We had to wait till 8pm before we got to see Dr. V as he was in surgery pretty much the whole day. When he did see us, he explained that, at best, given my Mum's diabetes, stents would only work for 5 years at most. At which time she would have to go through a bypass anyway. And, at that time, she would be 5 years older and correspondingly weaker. In addition with FIVE stents at one shot, there is a higher risk that something could go wrong, whereas given my Mum's age and general good health, there would be only a 5 - 8% chance of something going wrong with a bypass. SO, his recommendation (which we all agreed with) was for the bypass.
He said he could do the bypass as soon as 6th Oct, but then, Dad asked, they are planning to celebrate their 50th (Yes, FIFTIETH) wedding anniversary on 25th Oct, and what were the chances that my Mum would be out of hospital AND well enough to attend the function by then? Dr V explained that it would be quite unlikely, so the next suggested date was 28th Oct - but then Dr V himself would be out of the country from 30th Oct for a few days and he did not feel comfortable leaving my Mum unattended so soon after the op.... So, FINALLY, the date of 3rd November was agreed.
My Mum, though she has no issue with going for the operation itself, is more worried about AFTER the operation, as she feels it will be too difficult for my Dad to look after her (she knows what she is talking about as she had to look after my Dad after he had his bypass in Nov last year!!!!). Anyway, we figured that was more manageable, and that the bypass was critical, so we will work out arrangements for someone (a nurse type person) to help her once she gets home from the op, for a period of at least 2 months.
That's it folks - the full story.... keep her in your prayers that she will come through the operation smoothly and recover fast.
Till next time... have a good life.
About 3 - 4 weeks ago, my Mum started experiencing extremely debilitating pain on the left side of her (wait for it) NECK and SHOULDER, radiating down her left arm. She put this down to a bad attack of "gas" and starting taking medication for that. It SEEMED to help, but then the pain would return again. Finally she decided to ask about it on one of her regular visits to the hospital for her diabetes check up - and, sadly, what they told her was basically that at her age (she is a pretty young 71!) she should expect such things to happen, and they just brushed it off. Then one of her good friends, also a doctor, told her not to take any chances, since the pain was on the left side, and go do an ECG. My brother (doctor in Melaka) was trying to persuade her to get down to Melaka to do an ECG and run other tests as well, and she finally agreed, putting it off till 18th Sept. THEN, on Sunday 14th Sept, while walking back from buying bread at the neighbourhood shop, the pain came back again, SO BAD, that my Dad immediately called my brother and said he and Mum would be at Melaka on the Monday instead.
Anyway, they went, she had various tests done, and my brother was able to confirm that she has one or more blockages in the blood vessels around her heart. She was given strict instructions NOT to exert herself, and we waited till our absolute favourite cardiac surgeon (Dr. V) got back to IJN (National Heart Institute, KL) on 19th Sept, which is when he arranged for an angiogram for my Mum on 29th Sept, to be carried out by another surgeon at IJN (Dr B).
My Mum went in to IJN on 28th Sept, and went into the op theatre for the angiogram mid morning on 29th Sept (co-incidentally, that was my Dad's 75th birthday!). By the time I flew in from SG and arrived at the IJN (around noon on 29th Sept), she had already come out of the angiogram with the findings as follows:
- In one blood vessel there are THREE blocks in a row
- In another blood vessel there are TWO blocks in a row
- The surgeon COULD have pushed the balloon through to unblock the blood vessels BUT he felt that this was not the best solution, and he asked my Mum whether he should go ahead and unblock the vessels (and put in Stents) or whether she would prefer to go for a bypass (the 'better' long-term option).
- She could not decide, so she asked for my Dad, and after my Dad had been shown the blockages on the video screen (LIVE!!!) he said he would like to discuss the situation with my brother, my sis and I, and, of course, Dr V, so she got taken back to her room with no angioplasty done.
We had to wait till 8pm before we got to see Dr. V as he was in surgery pretty much the whole day. When he did see us, he explained that, at best, given my Mum's diabetes, stents would only work for 5 years at most. At which time she would have to go through a bypass anyway. And, at that time, she would be 5 years older and correspondingly weaker. In addition with FIVE stents at one shot, there is a higher risk that something could go wrong, whereas given my Mum's age and general good health, there would be only a 5 - 8% chance of something going wrong with a bypass. SO, his recommendation (which we all agreed with) was for the bypass.
He said he could do the bypass as soon as 6th Oct, but then, Dad asked, they are planning to celebrate their 50th (Yes, FIFTIETH) wedding anniversary on 25th Oct, and what were the chances that my Mum would be out of hospital AND well enough to attend the function by then? Dr V explained that it would be quite unlikely, so the next suggested date was 28th Oct - but then Dr V himself would be out of the country from 30th Oct for a few days and he did not feel comfortable leaving my Mum unattended so soon after the op.... So, FINALLY, the date of 3rd November was agreed.
My Mum, though she has no issue with going for the operation itself, is more worried about AFTER the operation, as she feels it will be too difficult for my Dad to look after her (she knows what she is talking about as she had to look after my Dad after he had his bypass in Nov last year!!!!). Anyway, we figured that was more manageable, and that the bypass was critical, so we will work out arrangements for someone (a nurse type person) to help her once she gets home from the op, for a period of at least 2 months.
That's it folks - the full story.... keep her in your prayers that she will come through the operation smoothly and recover fast.
Till next time... have a good life.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
What a holiday!!!
Yep, we were on holiday... from 20th to 28th Sept inclusive, and it was, to put it mildly, quite interesting. I had planned a sailing holiday in Phuket for Husband, myself, and another couple (B & C) who are very good friends of ours. B is someone who has sailed for more than 50 years, and owns AND sails his own boat (a 37' Bavaria sailing boat) back in the Netherlands, while his wife, C, has picked up the finer points of (as she puts it) "ropes and fenders". The PERFECT people to have with you on a sailing holiday - the Captain and the Chief Crew (aka the "Chief Petting Officer" to the Captain!). Since Husband and I (especially me!) dont know much about sailing, he became Chief Cook, while I became Chief Bottle Washer (aka the Dishwasher!).
To tell you a bit about it, we flew to Phuket early 20th morning, were picked up at the airport, taken to the Tesco supermarket, and there we stocked up on provisions for the boat - edible as well as potable. We were at the Yachthaven Marina before 1pm, where we were greeted by the GM of the yachting company we were hiring the boat from (JH). We loaded up the boat (called the TONICOLA), stowed everything away, and JH walked B through the entire boat to familiarise him with it. This was actually pretty straightforward as the boat we hired was a 39' Bavaria sailing boat, not too different from the one B himself has at home. JH also showed us, on the map, various points where there are good anchorages, places to stop for restaurants, etc.
Anyway, to make sure I dont miss out on the interesting bits, let me do this point by point:
- Day 1, Sat, decided to spend the night at the Marina and leave early on Day 2. We had dinner at the Marina - YUM.
- Day 2, Sun, early, left the Marina under engine power, guided by the Marina people. Switched to sail as soon as we could, and eventually ended up at the Muslim Village at Phang Nga Bay, where we anchored in the bay, found we couldnt get the motor on the dinghy started (let's call this breakdown #1), hitched a ride with one of the little tourist sampan style boats to get to the jetty, wandered a bit, had dinner, called JH about the dinghy engine, and then got a ride back to the Tonicola, and spent the night on the boat in the bay. Talk about being rocked to sleep!
- Day 3, Mon, early, left the bay, heading back to the Marina to get the dinghy engine changed, were met by the Yacht company guys half-way, and they changed the engine out in the middle of the water - we were impressed by the service!! Continued sailing, till we reached a bay at the top of an island called Koh Yao Noi, which had a resort called Paradise! Anchored in the bay, dinghy to shore, dinner and drinks at Paradise, and back to the boat for nightcap. Breakdown #2 took place - the pump in the aft shower (which pumps out the water from the shower floor after one has had a shower) stopped working - overheated!!
- Day 4, Tues, back to Paradise for breakfast, where we acquired the MOST EXPENSIVE two loaves of bread any of us have ever eaten - made at the hotel, costing THB 300 EACH!!! In case you are wondering - that is equivalent to MYR30/SGD14. Then back to the boat, where B stripped the shower pump and fixed it - using my little container of Tiger Balm as a lubricant. At least the pump wouldn't have any headaches :-D. Then we sailed down the coast of the island to the very tip of the next island (Koh Yao Yai), to another bay - peaceful, quiet, beautiful - but couldnt swim, as there were jelly fish! Breakdown #3 at this point - the FRIDGE stopped working!! Called JH. He asked us to sail round to Chalong Bay on Phuket the next morning, and he would send someone to fix it.
- Day 5, Wed, PART 1: early breakfast (using up as much of the perishables as we could) then engine on to chug to Chalong Bay (couldnt use sails as we were heading DIRECTLY INTO the wind, and didnt want to waste time tacking). 2 hours into the journey, the battery warning alarm started up (Breakdown #4a). B stopped the engine straight away, checked everything, couldnt find anything wrong, Husband figured out how to switch off the AUDIBLE part of the alarm, and we continued chugging to Chalong. A little while later, the engine revs started dropping and fluctuating up and down. Husband figured - either water in the fuel OR NO FUEL - but fuel indicator still read as full! Called JH, he said he would have the Volvo engine guy at the jetty with the fridge guy. 10 minutes short of Panwa Cape, the engine started misfiring badly - B sailed directly INTO the wind, and when the engine died, he turned the boat around with back to wind and SAILED into Panwa - which is just BEFORE Chalong. We called JH, told him where to find us, took the dinghy to the jetty, met the fridge and engine guys, C and I went wandering for about 30 mins on shore while B took the guys to the boat to fix things. Then, just as C and I were deciding to go for a foot massage, B asked us to come back to the jetty as he was bringing the guys back to shore - fridge fixed and as to the engine.... well, let's just say that the fuel indicator was not working and there WAS NO FUEL IN THE TANKS!! So the engine guy had to go get a jerry can of fuel for us to be able to continue to Chalong Bay where we could re-fuel properly, so B, C and I waited at the jetty for him to get the jerry can of fuel, then he and us headed back to the boat, where he poured enough of the fuel into the engine to enable us to get moving again.
- Day 5, Wed, PART 2: Sailed aound to Chalong bay, which was almost as crowded with boats and mooring buoys as Orchard Road Singapore on a Saturday afternoon is crowded with people and cars(!) and ended up running over a mooring buoy which promptly wrapped its rope around our prop shaft. Luckily B cut the engine immediately, so nothing was damaged, but we were LITERALLY stuck to the spot. B tried cutting us free, but couldnt reach far enough under the boat - so Husband suggested getting hold of the guys from the dive boats that were anchored all over the place - and, Yes, they were able to dive in and cut us free! Thank goodness!! Anyway, we got to the re-fueling jetty and tied up, and filled up the fuel and water tanks both - 246 litres of fuel the pump showed us... which was surprising given the fuel capacity of the boat is only 220 litres(!) so maybe the fuel pump was slightly 'bent'!! Anyway, while we were re-fueling, the Volvo engine guy was fiddling with the lever that controls the forward/reverse/stop of the boat for a while. After the refueling, B put the lever into reverse to move back AND THE BOAT WENT FORWARD - Breakdown #5!! He immediately cut the engine, just avoiding ramming into a big dive boat that was waiting its turn to re-fuel and we managed to tie up back to the jetty again. Turned out that the engineer had, in his fiddling, broken some tiny piece in the lever that controlled the movements, and it was stuck! In the end, Husband went forward to man the anchor, engineer went down into engine room to control forward, reverse and stop, B took control of steering, and relayed commands to the engineer by having me stand on the steps and tell the engineer whether to go Forward, Reverse or Stop based on B's instructions! We managed to get back into Chalong Bay to anchor, and then called JH again. He promised to have the relevant spare part to us the next morning, with the same engineer, to get it fixed. So we spent the night anchored in Chalong Bay, going onshore in the dinghy to have dinner at one of the little restaurants on the beach. Oh, one more thing happened that day: the little plug at the back of the dinghy, below water line, that allows draining of water from the dinghy when it is pulled up, got lost! Guess what we used as a replacement plug? I had a small bottle of Estee Lauder toner which was conical in shape, but went from a smaller size at the base to a larger size at the top - and it was the absolute PERFECT size to be used as the plug! MacGyver has nothing on us - what with cosmetic bottles for dinghy plugs, and tiger balm as a lubricant!
- Day 6, Thu: We woke up to find that the battery alarm that had been constantly flashing was not a false alarm. The main battery (which normally gets charged when the engine is running) was NOT CHARGING, and because of that, we had not enough power to run lights and pumps on the boat! That was breakdown #4b. Well we agreed that we were all fed up with the boat and all its breakdowns, and worried about the potential for more breakdowns, so we called JH, and told him we want to cancel our boat usage. He offered to give us a replacement boat, but we refused because by the time he got the boat down to us we would have wasted Thursday as well. We then packed, unloaded ourselves and the bags - put the engineer back on the boat - and waited for JH at a hotel on the beach. He was prompt, and came prepared to return 4.5 days of our money, the money we spent on the fuel, and even some money for taxi fare! He also apologised for the whole experience, and thanked B for looking after (and even improving) the boat. SO, I called up Phuket Pavilions, and Yes, they had TWO Chalets available, so we headed there, and spent Thu-Sun at the Pavilions and had a WONDERFUL time - great food, private pool, great spa experience, etc, etc, etc.
So, to sum it up... despite the negative experience with the boat itself, our experience with the yacht company was very very positive, we had a great holiday, we really enjoyed our time spent with B&C (and hopefully they enjoyed our company too) and we WILL hire a boat from that company again in the future. The manner in which JH treated us was EXACTLY what you expect when you talk about excellent customer service, and that is why we WILL definitely go back to him when we next want to go sailing in Phuket (hmmm, maybe next Sept?).
As to Phuket, we were amazed with how FANTASTIC the food - whether Thai or Western style - and drink was, wherever we stopped, and how incredibly CLEAN the toilets are even when the whole building looks run down and dilapidated! And, of course, the people are so very very friendly and helpful.
Got back to SG on Sunday night, and then early Monday morning I flew to KL, as my Mum had gone into hospital to have an angiogram. The outcome of that was that they found that she had TWO blocked blood vessels - one of which had 3 blockages, and another which had 2 blockages. Based on that, they decided not to put in stents, as the risk of having 5 stents in 2 blood vessels is far higher than doing a bypass - so a bypass has been scheduled, on 3rd November, by our favourite cardiac surgeon at the National Heart Institute in KL. Till then, Mum is on blood thinners and strict instructions not to exert herself... Keep her in your thoughts and your prayers!
Enough for now! Till next time, have a good life.
To tell you a bit about it, we flew to Phuket early 20th morning, were picked up at the airport, taken to the Tesco supermarket, and there we stocked up on provisions for the boat - edible as well as potable. We were at the Yachthaven Marina before 1pm, where we were greeted by the GM of the yachting company we were hiring the boat from (JH). We loaded up the boat (called the TONICOLA), stowed everything away, and JH walked B through the entire boat to familiarise him with it. This was actually pretty straightforward as the boat we hired was a 39' Bavaria sailing boat, not too different from the one B himself has at home. JH also showed us, on the map, various points where there are good anchorages, places to stop for restaurants, etc.
Anyway, to make sure I dont miss out on the interesting bits, let me do this point by point:
- Day 1, Sat, decided to spend the night at the Marina and leave early on Day 2. We had dinner at the Marina - YUM.
- Day 2, Sun, early, left the Marina under engine power, guided by the Marina people. Switched to sail as soon as we could, and eventually ended up at the Muslim Village at Phang Nga Bay, where we anchored in the bay, found we couldnt get the motor on the dinghy started (let's call this breakdown #1), hitched a ride with one of the little tourist sampan style boats to get to the jetty, wandered a bit, had dinner, called JH about the dinghy engine, and then got a ride back to the Tonicola, and spent the night on the boat in the bay. Talk about being rocked to sleep!
- Day 3, Mon, early, left the bay, heading back to the Marina to get the dinghy engine changed, were met by the Yacht company guys half-way, and they changed the engine out in the middle of the water - we were impressed by the service!! Continued sailing, till we reached a bay at the top of an island called Koh Yao Noi, which had a resort called Paradise! Anchored in the bay, dinghy to shore, dinner and drinks at Paradise, and back to the boat for nightcap. Breakdown #2 took place - the pump in the aft shower (which pumps out the water from the shower floor after one has had a shower) stopped working - overheated!!
- Day 4, Tues, back to Paradise for breakfast, where we acquired the MOST EXPENSIVE two loaves of bread any of us have ever eaten - made at the hotel, costing THB 300 EACH!!! In case you are wondering - that is equivalent to MYR30/SGD14. Then back to the boat, where B stripped the shower pump and fixed it - using my little container of Tiger Balm as a lubricant. At least the pump wouldn't have any headaches :-D. Then we sailed down the coast of the island to the very tip of the next island (Koh Yao Yai), to another bay - peaceful, quiet, beautiful - but couldnt swim, as there were jelly fish! Breakdown #3 at this point - the FRIDGE stopped working!! Called JH. He asked us to sail round to Chalong Bay on Phuket the next morning, and he would send someone to fix it.
- Day 5, Wed, PART 1: early breakfast (using up as much of the perishables as we could) then engine on to chug to Chalong Bay (couldnt use sails as we were heading DIRECTLY INTO the wind, and didnt want to waste time tacking). 2 hours into the journey, the battery warning alarm started up (Breakdown #4a). B stopped the engine straight away, checked everything, couldnt find anything wrong, Husband figured out how to switch off the AUDIBLE part of the alarm, and we continued chugging to Chalong. A little while later, the engine revs started dropping and fluctuating up and down. Husband figured - either water in the fuel OR NO FUEL - but fuel indicator still read as full! Called JH, he said he would have the Volvo engine guy at the jetty with the fridge guy. 10 minutes short of Panwa Cape, the engine started misfiring badly - B sailed directly INTO the wind, and when the engine died, he turned the boat around with back to wind and SAILED into Panwa - which is just BEFORE Chalong. We called JH, told him where to find us, took the dinghy to the jetty, met the fridge and engine guys, C and I went wandering for about 30 mins on shore while B took the guys to the boat to fix things. Then, just as C and I were deciding to go for a foot massage, B asked us to come back to the jetty as he was bringing the guys back to shore - fridge fixed and as to the engine.... well, let's just say that the fuel indicator was not working and there WAS NO FUEL IN THE TANKS!! So the engine guy had to go get a jerry can of fuel for us to be able to continue to Chalong Bay where we could re-fuel properly, so B, C and I waited at the jetty for him to get the jerry can of fuel, then he and us headed back to the boat, where he poured enough of the fuel into the engine to enable us to get moving again.
- Day 5, Wed, PART 2: Sailed aound to Chalong bay, which was almost as crowded with boats and mooring buoys as Orchard Road Singapore on a Saturday afternoon is crowded with people and cars(!) and ended up running over a mooring buoy which promptly wrapped its rope around our prop shaft. Luckily B cut the engine immediately, so nothing was damaged, but we were LITERALLY stuck to the spot. B tried cutting us free, but couldnt reach far enough under the boat - so Husband suggested getting hold of the guys from the dive boats that were anchored all over the place - and, Yes, they were able to dive in and cut us free! Thank goodness!! Anyway, we got to the re-fueling jetty and tied up, and filled up the fuel and water tanks both - 246 litres of fuel the pump showed us... which was surprising given the fuel capacity of the boat is only 220 litres(!) so maybe the fuel pump was slightly 'bent'!! Anyway, while we were re-fueling, the Volvo engine guy was fiddling with the lever that controls the forward/reverse/stop of the boat for a while. After the refueling, B put the lever into reverse to move back AND THE BOAT WENT FORWARD - Breakdown #5!! He immediately cut the engine, just avoiding ramming into a big dive boat that was waiting its turn to re-fuel and we managed to tie up back to the jetty again. Turned out that the engineer had, in his fiddling, broken some tiny piece in the lever that controlled the movements, and it was stuck! In the end, Husband went forward to man the anchor, engineer went down into engine room to control forward, reverse and stop, B took control of steering, and relayed commands to the engineer by having me stand on the steps and tell the engineer whether to go Forward, Reverse or Stop based on B's instructions! We managed to get back into Chalong Bay to anchor, and then called JH again. He promised to have the relevant spare part to us the next morning, with the same engineer, to get it fixed. So we spent the night anchored in Chalong Bay, going onshore in the dinghy to have dinner at one of the little restaurants on the beach. Oh, one more thing happened that day: the little plug at the back of the dinghy, below water line, that allows draining of water from the dinghy when it is pulled up, got lost! Guess what we used as a replacement plug? I had a small bottle of Estee Lauder toner which was conical in shape, but went from a smaller size at the base to a larger size at the top - and it was the absolute PERFECT size to be used as the plug! MacGyver has nothing on us - what with cosmetic bottles for dinghy plugs, and tiger balm as a lubricant!
- Day 6, Thu: We woke up to find that the battery alarm that had been constantly flashing was not a false alarm. The main battery (which normally gets charged when the engine is running) was NOT CHARGING, and because of that, we had not enough power to run lights and pumps on the boat! That was breakdown #4b. Well we agreed that we were all fed up with the boat and all its breakdowns, and worried about the potential for more breakdowns, so we called JH, and told him we want to cancel our boat usage. He offered to give us a replacement boat, but we refused because by the time he got the boat down to us we would have wasted Thursday as well. We then packed, unloaded ourselves and the bags - put the engineer back on the boat - and waited for JH at a hotel on the beach. He was prompt, and came prepared to return 4.5 days of our money, the money we spent on the fuel, and even some money for taxi fare! He also apologised for the whole experience, and thanked B for looking after (and even improving) the boat. SO, I called up Phuket Pavilions, and Yes, they had TWO Chalets available, so we headed there, and spent Thu-Sun at the Pavilions and had a WONDERFUL time - great food, private pool, great spa experience, etc, etc, etc.
So, to sum it up... despite the negative experience with the boat itself, our experience with the yacht company was very very positive, we had a great holiday, we really enjoyed our time spent with B&C (and hopefully they enjoyed our company too) and we WILL hire a boat from that company again in the future. The manner in which JH treated us was EXACTLY what you expect when you talk about excellent customer service, and that is why we WILL definitely go back to him when we next want to go sailing in Phuket (hmmm, maybe next Sept?).
As to Phuket, we were amazed with how FANTASTIC the food - whether Thai or Western style - and drink was, wherever we stopped, and how incredibly CLEAN the toilets are even when the whole building looks run down and dilapidated! And, of course, the people are so very very friendly and helpful.
Got back to SG on Sunday night, and then early Monday morning I flew to KL, as my Mum had gone into hospital to have an angiogram. The outcome of that was that they found that she had TWO blocked blood vessels - one of which had 3 blockages, and another which had 2 blockages. Based on that, they decided not to put in stents, as the risk of having 5 stents in 2 blood vessels is far higher than doing a bypass - so a bypass has been scheduled, on 3rd November, by our favourite cardiac surgeon at the National Heart Institute in KL. Till then, Mum is on blood thinners and strict instructions not to exert herself... Keep her in your thoughts and your prayers!
Enough for now! Till next time, have a good life.
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