Drama from Sunrise to Sunset.

Last Saturday (14/3), J decided to lift up a grate to clean the drain underneath. Along came the Princess, Emma, who ran right into it. Sustaining a deep cut on her right foot, she was rushed to KK Hospital.

I was having lunch at Sentosa with wife and son, when I got the news. After lunch, my son brought us to KK Hospital. I saw a rather forlorn looking Emma sitting on her pram with her feet sticking out. The right foot was covered with a white plaster. She had sustained a deep cut between her big toe and second toe.

After her X-ray, she was anesthetized and given eight stitches to seal up the wound. When she was finally discharged, she looked none the worse for her ordeal. She did not cry until they jabbed her (I was told). But she remained very calm throughout.

When we all sat down to eat dinner at the Kopi Tiam, Emma saw the small play area and asked her mother to carry her there. Carefully, she was placed on the floor. Moments later, we were surprised to see Emma standing up supported by the bars on the side. She had overcome the pain by standing on the side of the right foot. Surrounded by everyone, including Sam and Tim, Emma was happy and singing away in the car all the way home.

On Tuesday, Emma spent the day with us. I was surprised to see her walking and almost running around, and noticed that she did all these standing on the side of her right foot. She had overcome a temporary adversity.

In the afternoon, I was playing with Emma on the sofa. She was very happy and was playing rather rough. I had just gone to the toilet, when I heard a heavy object fall on the floor, followed by Emma screaming and crying. I rushed out to find that Emma was playing by the grotto, and a brick had accidentally fallen on her left foot. This time she was really in pain and I got very worried for her.

Fearing for the worse, J took Emma to Gleneagles where they x-rayed her left foot. There was no visible fracture and they dressed her bruises and bandaged her foot.

The following Wednesday, Emma spent the day with us. With both feet bandaged, she was not able to walk. We were advised by the doctors to observe when she would start to walk again. Otherwise, Emma would have to go to Gleneagles by Friday for further treatment. By afternoon we were trying to coax Emma to walk, but she told us she was still in pain.

Throughout the day, Emma was very happy and cheerful and even played rough with me on the sofa. She found a way of sliding around kneeling on a cushion.

Thursday, Emma was not with us and spent the day with her aunt and cousins. I have been told that Emma had started to walk again and was her usual mischievous self again.

As I am trying to close this posting on Saturday morning, Emma had spent yesterday with us. She was able to walk again but insisted on being carried when she felt like it. Playing by the metal gate, she had accidentally slam her fingers and began crying. I guess she is as accident-prone as her mother. When her mother was very young, I was playing with her, and when I gave her a hug, I found I had accidentally dislocated her shoulder. Like mother, like daughter!

Yesterday, I had a fun day with Emma at home, as I always do. She was up to her mischievous antics and wrestled with me on the sofa. I expressed my concern about Emma's left foot to J, and hope he will take appropriate medical action, because next week, school re-opens, and Emma will be back to school. Life at home is very dull, until Emma comes and bring some fun and cheers to a lonely old man.

Till then....

Karaoke

Yes, I am crazy enough to go out and buy a karaoke set. This thought has been buzzing round my head for some time now, after seeing some of my friends singing away, and my neighbour Stephen inviting me to his place to join in the singing.

So I ventured out to Sim Lim Square and bought one. The set included two wireless microphone with buttons to select tunes and functions. It has a console and remote control. The whole thing comes in a carrying case like a laptop, and is portable. I can carry it anywhere and set it up as long as there is a television available. The hard disk and SD card hold a repertoire of 27,000 songs. Besides English songs, there were Chinese, Tagaloc, Vietnamese, Indonesian and some Spanish songs.

The first person to use the microphone was the Princess - Emma. She was thrilled to sing into the microphone and had a fun day with it. There were some nursery tunes in the repertoire and she enjoyed singing them. She even sang a song she picked up from the maid.

Despite my love for music from the classical to the oldies, except the contemporary noisy pop songs, I made the amazing discovery that my singing is simply horrible! Luckily there was no one to hear me, as I made my debut in trying to sing. I ran out of voice! What to do? I guess I will have to sing quietly without the microphone. Any one for a song?

Till then....