24

It's 1600 on 03 Aug 2008. I am at home waiting for the taxi to pick me up to send me to LCCT. It's a friend of my sister. Mr. Goh is coming to my house at 1630.

I am recounting the events of the previous day.

02 Aug 2008 (Fri). The day started on a relaxed note. We arrived at Sunway Pyramid around 1030. We (I) queued for tickets for 3D Journey to the Centre of the Earth. We got the tickets at around 1050. The show was to start at 1100. Before the show started, my boss sent me a text message telling me to watch out in Thailand and not to go anywhere unless necessary. I told her I would cut down on the demonstration. I didn't get any reply from her. We thoroughly enjoyed the 3D viewing experience. I wondered if we could get this in DVD.

1430. I went to my parents'. Dad had been suffering from diarrhoea and fever. He was recovering. I spent time with my little niece, Jia Yee.

1745. I was half asleep at home and I called James. I wanted to get back my set of the church keys from Ben who borrowed it on Thu but forgot to bring to church on Fri. I didn't have Ben's number. I told him I'd be there to get the keys at 1815.

1820. Jesse went down to take the keys while I sent Kathleen to pay fees to the caterer. Jesse could not wait and ran to us. He was grinning happily and said he was fortunate the few dogs didn't decide to race him.

1835. We were late to the church by 5 minutes. I went down to open the church. Ps Reynold realized I didn't make arrangement to pick up Yek's family and went to fetch them.

1840. We started to go through the songs.

1900. Yek's family came. He rested at home. We had a few round of practice and touch up on the standing positions.

1925. Fatt (my youngest brother, no. 8) called and told me I better go home. He said dad was not feeling well, I told him I would come as soon as I finished practice .

1927. Peng (my younger sister, no. 7) called and told me to go home. She was on the brink of crying.

All kinds of fear tried to crept into my mind. I asked the BMCS members to pray for me. Ps Reynold said a prayer before we left.

1945. We reached my parents'. Dad was not responding to us verbally. He'd look at us. We had never seen him like this. No wonder my siblings panicked. We feared stroke. Fatt said he could control his fingers so it wasn't. I hugged my dad and said a prayer for him.

2000. Cheong (my sister, no. 5) brought the doctor. He checked my dad and suspected dehydration and low sugar level. My dad is a diabetic. Low sugar level could do that to him. I remembered Ps Michael shared about this. The doctor recommended we gave him glucose. We gave Ribena. After taking 1 cup and a half. He was better.

The doctor recommended my dad to get IV glocose drips to stablise his blood glucose level. Cheong took him back to get a letter.

2020. We went to UMMC. I expected a long wait. It was.

2045. My dad got a BP check.

2100+ (I forgot the time.) A female Malay patient's family member entered the consutlation hall and came back with a blanket for her. Dad was shivering even with a sports coat on. Cheong went. She came back empty handed. The nurse said they don't have 'tuala' (towel.) We told her to try 'selimut' (blanket.) She tried again. She came back emtpy handed again. The nurse said there were no more blanket. Are you kidding me? A big hospital like the UMMC was out of blanket? I told my family we might have better luck if we ask the Tok Haji sitting at the corner to get the blanket for us. Either way, we didn't try.

2100+ (I forgot the time) A doctor checked my dad. He tried to insert an IV needle and had to try a few times.

(It's now 1727. I have checked in. I am at the departure hall. There's more than an hour to go before I board the plane. I have Xpress Check In. Ha. And I don't check in any bags. Talk about fast exit!)

The doctor said dad's vein was hard to detect. He had to tried another time. I hugged dad so that he didn't have to see the needle entering his vein. He wanted to look. But I didn't think it made him happy. I think it made him feel the pain.

2200. Dad was in the observation ward. He was getting his IV drip. He could not really sleep. Cheong, Peng, Fatt took Jesse back to my parents' place. Kathlen and I stayed.

2300+ (I forgot the time.) Dad wanted to go to toilet. I help him get off the bed and move the pole for him. He was not steady. Kathleen and I went to the cafetaria for some food.

0000+ (I forgot the time. 03 Aug 2008). Kathleen and I walked out because we were cold. I bought a pack of black current juice with aloe vera bits. K didn't want any. I finished it myself (not at one go.)

0100+. Dad asked when he could go home. He was not shivering that bad already. I looked for the doctor. He was attending to a patient. I waited and check with him when he was free. He said the blood test result was not out yet.

0130. I went back to the observation ward and the nurse told me the doctor came and ordered another pack (500 ml) of glucose because dad's blood glucose lever was still low. The doctor also took another blood sample and that meant at least another 2 hours for the results.

0145. The nurse bid me to go to her. I went. Oh. It was a Chinese auntie who could not speak English nor Malay. The doctor and the nurse wanted me to translate. I did it. The doctor found out more about the patient and explained what was the next step. All three thanked me. The doctor said my translation was excellent. (How did he know?) I briefly thought about how I could help in this area (translating in the hospital) but then I thought, they would be able to find a nurse or a doctor who spoke Chinese. BTW, the doctor who attended to my dad was a Chinese.

0200. Cheong, Peng and Fatt were on the day. I told them the doctor wanted to see my dad's diabetic pills. They turned back to get it.

0230. The doctor came again and told us dad could go home after the 2nd bottle was done. Dad wanted the dripping speed to be higher so he could go home earlier. I told him to let it be. We agreed that Kathleen and I would go home.

0245. I parked at level 2A because the autopay stations were in level 2B abd I could not drive there without a paid ticket. I also realize I had dad's wallet with me. I passed the wallet to Fatt and paid the ticket and drove Cheong's car to my parent's. My Rusa was there. That was the first time in my life I drove a car with automatic transmission.

0305. I passed Cheong's keys to mom (thereby waking her up from her slumber.) We picked Jesse home.

0315. Kathleen and Jesse almost immediately went to sleep. I did my packing for the Bangkok trip. I took a shower and slept around 0400. I was a bit worried if I slept, I would be late for the anniversary celebration. I took DOM.

0530 I woke up at around and went back to sleep.

0730. I woked up again worrying we were late. I was glad to find that we were not. I washed up and waited for my queen and price to take their time doing the same.

0805. We started the journey. I somehow loss ALL the maps I had. I picked up one from KD. I just went ahead.

0825. I stopped at a BHP station to ask for direction to Chee Wen or Zhi Wen. The cashier were not sure. But she told me if I were to pass Summit and turn left and just went ahead, I'd get a school. She was so friendly she told me when I got into a housing area, I didn't have to panic. As I was making the left turn after Summit, I saw the sign that said Chee Wen 2 km. God was in charged all the time.

0830. We reached Chee Wen. I walked about talking to people.

0845. Ps Richard ordered the Korean King's Kids performances to be moved to the beginning because we were not sure of their time. I informed the BMCS group of the change.

0905. Ps Richard ordered the Myanmar performance to be moved together with the collection of offering and his presentation. The BMCS performace became the sole performance after Ps Malcolm's installation. I informed the BMCS group of the change.

0930. Things are falling into places.

1010. We started the service. And if you were there, you know what happened.

1230. Ministry time.

1245. Walked about. Talked with people including Joe and Carol and their daughter Alison. Joe and Carol were from Gereja Dunamis where we went before. They went to DUMC before going to CBC Puchong. They attend Chris' cell group. Jesse and I checked out the basketball court. Jesse could touch the net. I could touch the rim. The old man still got some jumping in him.

1300. We left Chee Web and move to Thong Kee in Paramount for lunch.

1320. Had sumptuos lunch. Can you say full? :)

1400+ (I forgot the time.) We reached home. I lied on the bed for awhile before Kathleen sounded the alarm. I told her the cab was coming at 1630, not 1600. Either way, I did not have time to sleep. Took a shower, washed away the gel (which I have not used for the longest time) and dressed up and started this blog post.

1615. Cab came early. The post was interrupted.

1715. Reached LCCT. Checked in. Resumed this post.

1756. Finished this post.

The intention of relaying the events is not to boast of my ability or performance despite lack of sleep. I just want to confirm that an encounter with the Holy Spirit enables us. You better believe it!