In the Home of my Loved Ones & One Day, How would I say Goodbye.

I am blogging this really late. These shots were taken when the house was still new. Now that my sister's family & my parents have moved in for months, the WOW factor has past.

I am here now actually. Sitting in the living room, enjoying the serenity, the beautiful garden landscape & most of all, just hanging out with my parents. Mum's preparing a simple dinner. Dad's relaxing in his bedroom with his radio playing 95.8 Capital Radio. It feels just like the old days when I was living with them. Except now I am decades older, have seen quite a bit of the world, have been through quite a bit of stuff in my life (we all know what stuff means).

Last night I had a sudden sobering thought. Supposing I was told I had terminal cancer & would die after 3 months, how would I change my priorities?

I wasn't thinking morbid. Wasn't even trying to 'depress' myself. But just a realistic, relevant (because it can happen to anyone really) hypothetical thinking & rehearsal of sorts. I said out loud in my head, what are the things or people that will really matter to me if I have but only 3 months to live? The answer is simple. Some of the things that I've been chasing after & busying myself with obviously wouldn't matter at all.

I went through the list of names in my head - Fred, Mum, Dad, Ting & Rob, & their lovely children, Ash & Tris. That's for family. It's ok to be selective. I only have 3 months afterall, which is not incredibly long. Then, I would make peace with my Creator, in my own way, through my own prayers (no, I wouldn't be rushing off to a church for a miracle healing).

The next thought I have is how would I want to die? Now this reflection is important. Not just personally but professionally. I have been asked to teach a specialist course for nurses who work in the palliative setting. And this will be 1 question I will ask them. How would you want to die if you have 3 months left?

Most people would want to have their family by their side in their last days. But it dawned upon me, as I strolled along Tanglin Road last night (to work off my dinner), that if I could do with minimal medical attention & suppose I could still feed myself, clean myself, take walks, read, blog & do stuff, I really just want to live my last days alone. Alone but not lonely. It's quite a liberating answer to the question in my head. If I can accept that dying and death is a highly personal experience, that can only be journeyed ultimately on my own, I guess I have liberated myself from the fear of loneliness, the fear of death, the fear of leaving my treasures (both things & people) behind on earth.

The courage of living & dying is when you accept that you have to face both on your own. The paradox of existence is that you cannot appreciate true intimacy if you cannot accept your ultimate 'alone' experience.

Down on Aussie Land/Port Fairy, Grampians, Barallat & Melbourne/Healsville

This was the route we took in Victoria. Click to view an enlarged version of my twitpic.

After hitting Port Campbell, we drove further down along the coast to Port Fairy.

Above: Port Fairy & nearby Griffith Island

Next, we headed inland towards the Grampians, Victoria's famed National Park.

Beautiful MacKenzie Falls, photographed above and lush greenland with lakes below.

Our journey continued on to Ballarat, the gold-mining historical old town (below). Sadly, the artificial lake in the town was still dried up (no photograph because it really looked dismayed).

We finally hit Melbourne city again (below), this time to take in the sights and sounds.



Trams, trams, everywhere.

From Melbourne, we headed to Healsville for the wineries (below) before routing back to the airport to catch our flight home.

Down on Aussie Land/Apollo Bay, Port Campbell & The Twelve Apostles

Second day, I was feeling more rested & perky. We had coffee & brekkie (as the Aussies call it) at The Great Ocean Road Cafe at Apollo Bay, where we had spent our first night.

(Apollo Bay has a postcard landscape of rolling hills & white sand beaches)

Then, we hit the road again for Port Campbell, stopping by Cape Otway, photographed below.

Port Campbell's famous limestone formations used to be called Sow & Piglets before some brilliant chap decided to rename as The Twelve Apostles. The right branding did matter!

(We decided to have tea with the Apostles!)






Inspired by the beauty & bravery of the Apostles & refreshed by my tea, I took over the wheel & drove my historic first overseas journey from Port Campbell through to Port Fairy. Well, almost! Still 100 km or so. So proud of myself!


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Down on Aussie Land/The Great Ocean Road

After collecting our rental car at the airport, we headed towards The Great Ocean Road.







On route, we passed by seaside towns of Torquay, Anglesea & Aireys Inlet. Each of the beaches we stopped by was so beautiful!































I did manage to stay awake for the start of the spectacular coastal run of The Great Ocean Road, as evidenced in the pictures taken.















Unfortunately, I dozed off involuntarily on route to Lorne. Fred said I missed some awesome coastal scenes.

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Up in the Air /My Nifty 2 Bedder Apartment

1.50 AM. Sing time. Crossing time zone now to Australia. Dun like it at all. It's a turbulent night flight like an eternal roller coaster. Jus popped anti-histamine to drug myself to snooze but I m infamous for staying awake on the plane.

Let's catch up on blogging as I cross my fingers for my meds to work. I will write abt my apartment. A 2 bedder at the verge of the central of Singapore.











It's a carefully designed & well-planned living space. Functional with an emphasis on the asthetics. Clean lines, minimalist approach, a use of matching materials & contrasting colours & leather furnishings give the living/dining area a touch of class without being overbearing. Light & cozy. That's the feel we want. A timeless theme that we will only grow to like & not be bored with.

I am totally into my nifty apartment. Every part of this house means so much to me. It's a dream come true & a model of what is to come in future. Possibly for my retirement house, I will get a much bigger space built around the same theme.


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