Bye Bye Yaya

I should have wished all of you a little sooner, otherwise I wouldn't have to use this title. A Happy Chinese New Year to everyone. May this year bring you joy, prosperity, and everything in between.

Had the usual reunion dinner, which was a little like Kee's World's "they all take food and watch TV" style this year. But one way or the other, we all had our dinners together =) Celebrated the first day of New Year with angpaus from relatives and other adults, kenal or tak kenal also can get one. Second day, went back to Pahang to celebrate with mom's side punya family. Third day, did nothing much except goofing around with cousins till 5.30 in the morning. It was overall a happy few days for me.

I can only post her picture with the face hidden or else she'll chop me alive. No, it's not her face, she's just camera shy xD and oh, she's exactly a week younger than me =)






It's the same cousin with the one right above this picture. I only have 5 cousins from this side of the family, and only 3 staying over during new year.

Enough joy. My grandpa passed away last Sunday, the fourth day of New Year. He was 96.

From what I heard, grandpa, or "ah ya" left in a rather blissful manner. No signs of suffering whatsoever, which was quite a relief to everyone. I would rather not elaborate on that, so yeah.

Had his funeral from Sunday till Tuesday. Abit tiring, but I'm not complaining. Yeah, I actually took pictures during a Chinese funeral. I got the permission to snap pictures beforehand though. You may think it's very rude of me, but this is my grandpa. You can choose to not read beyond this point if you're so scared of getting jinxed, especially when it's new year, but I think he's much too nice to want to curse anyone.

This post is for you, Ah Ya.

According to the Chinese calendar and customs, he's already 100. So the funeral was actually a near-happy occasion. It's not that everyone's happy because he passed on, but it's because my grandpa had lived a very long life =)

Grandpa has always been a very nice grandpa, a very patient man with very good manners. Never scolded us grandchildren before. A far cry from the usual prototype of "grandfather" with bad temper and nags non-stop at anything and everyone.

I used to see him burn incense at 4pm sharp everyday, before he fell sick. Sometimes he even let me help him with it. I can't really remember how many joss sticks to light for each altar anymore, it's quite sad because I used to know the numbers by heart.

Grandpa had a principle which almost everyone in our family knows; only eat till you're 70% full. And he's never choosy with food. Chilly or no chilly, tasty or lousy, he'd eat anything you buy for him. A perfect example of someone who eats to live.

He is also one of the most considerate person I've ever met. Last time, he would leave the hall and go to bed whenever I come home from school. I used to wonder why, until I realised he was actually giving me a chance to watch the channels I want on TV without having to worry about what he would like to watch.

There are more things I would like to say about him, but I don't intend to make this a tear-jerking post (if it's even possible for me to write one). So again, pictures will do.

The pictures below were taken today, when we scattered grandpa's ashes into the sea at Port Klang. Mostly just scenery, I'm not posting the pictures of his ashes, they're for keepsakes, not public viewing. In fact, even pictures of his portrait, paper house, paper car, and paper money have not been posted, for they're also only meant for our family members to keep as a remembrance of him =)

A rather interesting picture if you ask me.

All the major stuff had been completed by today. It ended well.

It's hard to find a grandfather like you anywhere in this world, I'm glad I actually had you as a grandfather. Sorry for not visiting you that often while you were still alive, even though I live just a highway away from your house. Even when you were at the stage of not remembering our names anymore, you remained the same nice polite old man every time we visited you. For that, I must say that I really admire you, because you're not the person who does things out of formality alone, but from your very own heart all the time.

You are my chi hou keh ah ya, now and always.

Hope you'll have a safe journey to the afterlife. Rest in peace, Yaya!