Serendipitous Christmas

Christmas Day was spent unwrapping the one gift from Wuan that I have been hunting high and low for and window shopping with her at Mid Valley Megamall. After a morning of reflection, I needed some diversion to relax my tired mind from the weeks of intense schedule that I had been keeping since November. It is difficult not to acknowledge that age is catching up when body and mind are no longer able to endure stress like they used to.

A young woman came up to me at Carrefour and asked if I am Peter Tan. Hi Mei Keng! She blogs at Through My Eyes. When I asked for her blog URL, she told me it was an amateurish effort. That was how I started anyway. To me, personal blogs should have some form of amateur personality to it. Otherwise, a well polished blog would make it cold and distant and difficult to approach. And Hi Darlene! Darlene is Mei Kengโ€™s friend.

It looked like everything in the mall was on sale. Having lived in Kuala Lumpur most of this year, I am beginning to wonder if there ever was a time when shops did not hold those 70% off promotions. Being a dupe for such bargains, I got myself a long-sleeved shirt and a polo tee for 50% and 70% off respectively. This year alone, I have increased my wardrobe by two-fold. I should seriously stop spending so much time in shopping malls.

After a full day of traipsing, Wuan and I settled down at Nam Heong Hainanese Chicken Rice for dinner. This is my favourite Hainanese chicken rice shop. I have not found any place serving chicken as tender and juicy as here. It was there that my school buddy William called out to me. He was also there for dinner with his wife Belinda and their daughter. After dinner, they came over to our table and we chatted and updated each other on our lives.

It is unimaginable that we were studying together in the same school more than twenty years ago. I still have many fond memories of our day in St. Xavierโ€™s Institution in Penang although I was there for two years only. Those were the carefree times. It had been a good Christmas day today. Those two unexpected encounters made it all the more interesting. Unanticipated meetings like that are always pleasant. God knows I need more of those to perk up my days.

Author: Peter Tan

Peter Gabriel Tan. Penangite residing in the Klang Valley. Blissfully married to Wuan. A LaSallian through and through. Slave to three cats. Wheelchair user since 1984. End-stage renal disease since 2017. Principal Facilitator at Peter Tan Training specialising in Disability Equality Training. Former columnist of Breaking Barriers with The Borneo Post. This blog chronicles my life, thoughts and opinions. Connect with me on Twitter and Facebook.

8 thoughts on “Serendipitous Christmas”

  1. Happy Christmas and merry new year Pete!! SXI bay kiam chye, bay lai bay kee boh lang ai! Learnt that in school! About the only thing I remember from 7years of schooling other than the CLS girls and Bro. Michael (lauhor)!

    Peter:
    You must be very very my senior. ๐Ÿ˜› Never heard of that before. Here is wishing you a blessed New Year.

  2. Hi Peter,

    Wishing you Compliments of the Season.. and a great year ahead. We will all have to have the usual Chinese New Year reunion gathering and catch up. Good to hear that William’s well in KL. It seems more and more of our old school mates (including yourself) have been lured by the bright lights of the big city. Don’t forget to “Penang Mali” this coming CNY. Cheers and take care!

    Peter:
    I was lured by the easier life in KL ๐Ÿ˜€ Actually, there are a number of projects and trainings here that I am participating in hence my squatting here most of the time. Happy New Year.

  3. belated x’mas wishes to u and wuan!!

    Peter:
    Happy belated Christmas and New Year to you too!

  4. hey mr tan, when did you go to midvalley? i was there three times in the past two weeks! how come i didn’t get to meet you there! haha. do tell me whenever you’re going to anywhere that can be reached by komuter or monorail or putra or star lrt. you have my maxis number don’t you? i’m not using the digi one anymore. and before i forget, merry belated christmas and a happy new year!

    Peter:
    Ms. Leong, I was there so many times. Aiyah, next time call me when you are there lar. Happy New Year.

  5. Hi Peter

    A blessed new year ahead for all of us in such challenging times we live in. Remembering the good old days at Saints do make one’s heart flutter. Mine does whenever I meet up with my old classmates. Have a good year ahead. Take and god bless.

    Peter:
    I guess as we age the desire to collect pieces of our past gets even stronger. SXI was definitely those wonder years for me. I miss them so much. Happy New Year.

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