Firstly, on Friday 17th Feb, I had dinner at the City Bayview for Chambering Pupils partaking in the Ethics Course organised by the Bar Council. I had been asked to speak at a session which was to be at 2pm on Saturday. The dinner was kinda lame and we ended the dreadfully dull night at 9.30pm. Jo and Jinny had dinner at Waka on the first floor of the same hotel so I barged in on their gossip session and hung out with them.
The next morning, Saturday 18th Feb, we had the official opening of the newly renovated Bar Premises. I was asked to emcee the event which went on without a hitch. Lunch was at Rama's "Spice & Rice" which is fast becoming a regular lawyers' hang-out. After a good (albeit pungent) meal, I headed to the City Bayview again for my lecture. Jo waited for me at Segafredo nearby. The lecture went well, seeing that no one fell asleep and most paid attention.
We dashed home after that to prepare for little Naomi's 2nd Birthday party at the Penang Club. Since it was to be a kiddies do, we brought Ethan along and I reckon the little terror enjoyed himself. The others who went were - Nazriah, Mazri with Mikhail & Mia Sara; Hooi Lin, Kenzu with Zerlynde; Carolyn; and arriving late was KC (Sue Khoon's brother) with Jay Han.
The tastefully decorated place...
Jo & Ethan with Stacy & the Birthday Girl...
The Dads and their kids...
Mums in a row...
Ethan with Aunty Carolyn's balloon gift...
Tuesday 21st Feb was mum's first appointment for chemotherapy at the GH. We were all so clueless as to how it all works, the dosage, the procedures, the effects...
Anyway, mum was admitted and the first dose was administered at 2.30pm. The drip process would be a continuous one for the next three days. Mum seemed more lethargic and bored from the whole experience when I picked her up on Thursday night than anything else. Quite remarkable considering she had almost gallons of saline pumped into her along with the cytotoxic drugs. Heh, my medical knowledge has improved and increased considerably.
Mum'll need to keep her health up and eat right to help fight this battle. The surgery only removed the tumour and we are afraid if any cancer cells may have spread into the lymph nodes. She has a good chance to avoid re-occurence with a strict chemo regime and proper diet throughout.
Anyway, after a busy Friday, Saturday came along filled with fun. In the morning we went for the Bar Annual Bowling Tournament. This was started by me some time ago and we are in the 5th year now. Not many people came although it was heartening to see Pam & Wei Lin coming to join in the fun. Ethan made his presence felt running throughout the alley and got a little restless in the end not interested in the least that his dad ended up 6th overall. This year the winner was Guan Tong which made it 5 different champions in 5 years. That just shows there are many good bowlers out there.
Jo & I had decided to use up our E&O Hotel free stay voucher tonight. So, we brought Ethan after the tournament to the hotel and let him enjoy the amenities in the room - primarily the huge bath tub. He splashed around and made a right mess of the place but had a smile on his face worth a million bucks after that.
We dropped Ethan at Jo's mum's in the evening where he would be staying overnight. We then took our time to get to mass at the Church of the Assumption in town at 6.30pm. Dinner that night was at the Wine & Dine buffet at the Sarkies Corner which as usual was fully booked. Luckily we had the foresight to call up beforehand. We met Michael Saxon again there, the guy's been promoted to Hotel Manager. Good for him. We stuffed ourselves amidst the rowdy but cheery atmosphere. Plans were afoot to meet up with Sue & Yan and Mel & Stacy at Segafredo's at Upper Penang Road at 10pm. Later, we imbibed in our drinks accompanied by lively banter on Sue & Yan's impending wedding. Mel joined us a bit later on without Stacy as Naomi fell asleep in the car.
We adjourned to S3 (the new dance bistro) soon after and were "treated" to the sight of pole dancing girls gyrating on stage in various stages of undress. The first two minutes was interesting but after that, I was more interested in the fact that Blackburn Rovers was leading Arsenal but one solitary goal. The ambience in there was noisy and lacked the edge of a good pulsating dance club. It was fairly full but the place was large enough to allow free movements which we saw from the youngish crowd moving to the music. Pretty much a "head shaking" place, i think. We all generally felt that we could get more exciting, elctrifying atmosphere elsewhere...
The next morning, we met up with Jinny & KH, Raphael, Chris & Eva with little Danielle for brunch at the Sri Bahari Road corner coffeeshop. We then went to Jo's mum's for lunch and later on home again.
The coming week will be another busy one. I suppose its a good sign for the office that I'm swamped with things to do lately. However this Thursday 2nd March, we will be headed to KL for some matters for a couple of days. Sadly its the Penang Bar AGM on Friday and we are likely to miss it cos I doubt we will make it back in time. The Bar AGM is turning into an interesting one with Darshan Singh throwing his hat into the ring. The straight battle between Lalitha Menon & Darshan is still too close to call. I will be stepping out from the Bar Committee this year after six (6) years. Its about time to put some new faces in there. Jo has indicated she would be ready to serve on the committee so I can concentrate on the business. Let's see how the drama unfolds...
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