I visited Mr Tay on 12th Oct and I was actually a little stressed when I knew that we need to speak hokkien >.< because I don't know how to speak hokkien. Fortunately, the other group members could speak hokkien so basically I just listened and asked them to translate for me when needed. I think language barrier is definitely an obstacle for me. I shall learn some hokkien so I could converse with Mr Tay next time :D

Mr Tay was quite happy when he first see us and he immediately prepare himself to go down to the coffeeshop with us. He was grateful that we visited him and he kept on saying thank you. He is very friendly too! We sat down at the coffeeshop and he had his usual coffee with butter. 2 of my groupmates bought him 2 tins of biscuits and newspaper too. I was a little surprised because I didn't know that Mr Tay uses newspaper to clean himself (I learn something new about Mr Tay during this visit :) ) Throughout the time spent at the coffeeshop, we chatted with Mr Tay. But I guess our topics are quite limited due to our language ability. We tried to keep the conversation going and it really makes me happy when we come to a certain topic that made Mr Tay talked a lot. He is very excited about it and he shares many detail about it. I could sensed that he was really proud and happy to share the fond memories because those were the happy days for him. Even though I may not understand everything he said (because I know vvvv little hokkien), i tried to acknowledge by saying "en, en" frequently so he would know that we are still listening to him. I hope that he could continue to be that cheerful! However, there are times that he suddenly talks about how sad and difficult his life is as a blind man. This is the part we get a bit nervous and stressed up to change topic >.< It is a little bit challenging for me because I would need to be cautious of how I initiate a topic. I would need to be careful not to be bring up inappropriate topics.

We also helped Mr Tay to read his letter and cut his finger & toenails for him. He is constantly showing gratitude towards us. He kept on saying thank you thank you, countless times. I felt that this is something that I learnt from him- that is to be thankful of small little things that happen in our lives. Being grateful makes one feel happy or satisfied with life no matter how good or bad it may be.

Before we left Mr Tay's house (after bringing him home), we also helped him call his god-granddaughter (?) and his sister because he would like to talk to them. I could sensed his disappointment plus a little bit anger when they didn't answer the call. I was feeling nervous because I was little afraid that he maybe upset by that. We tried several times, and finally one of them finally return the call!! I was so glad that he managed to talk to one of them (i forgot is it his sister of god-granddaughter) and he is little bit more happy after that :)

There is a little bit tension when we were monitoring Mr Tay's mood as it fluctuates. Sometimes he is happy and sometimes he is very sad. Despite that it was a little stressed due to the language barrier, we had fun trying to speak hokkien haha! The greatest satisfaction is to bring joy to the elderly. Making Mr Tay happy makes me feel happy too. I wished that I could do more for him. I hope Mr Tay could stay more cheerful and less pessimistic sometimes. :D Im looking forward to the next visit! :D

ps: sorry luting! :/ I forgot to help you take your phone at Mr Tay's house before we left for the coffeeshop :/ So sorry! :/

Eileen (: