Hello! This time it's Pheng Heong bringing you the exciting happenings from the Chinese dialect group.

Our last visit on 1st Oct kicked off with a birthday celebration for Mr Chiu. He'll be 74 years old this coming Sat, quite the young one huh (: Mr Chiu loves singing. He even wrote a song himself! He was too shy to sing it at first, saying it's too 肉麻 (mushy), but his inner showman couldn't resist in the end.

His songbook

Charming the girls. Guys, you know what to do! (:

He had a lot of wishes... Pic from our Facebook Group

Next we went to Mdm Ho's house where the mood wasn't quite as jovial. Apparently she's been troubled by bedbugs recently. The guys dusted out her mattress and made sparing use of insecticide as a temporary measure, on top of our usual housekeeping.

Mdm Ho is one well-travelled and chatty lady, and shares with us stories of her visits to countries like Hokkaido, Japan. She must really have been something to be seeing the world back in those days. If she's in the mood she'd show us photos, and tell us about "wa ey da por lang" (literally "my man" in Hokkien).

But that day Mdm Ho was a little more pessimistic. You know, when it was her time to go, that kind of stuff. It's inevitable that the elderly will have these thoughts, and consoling them beyond the usual "Choi!" and "Take each day as it comes" remains an art for me.

Cheer up, Mdm Ho!
We'll see you again on our next visit on the 15th.

All the best to people who still have their mid-term exams!

Pheng Heong