Saturday morning, after exchanging "I love you-s" while still in bed, Kiki had a troubled look. I asked if she has anything to tell me. She hesitated for a while and then told me that our helper had grabbed her left ear and shouted - "Tanga!, Tanga!" into her ear. Plus slap her on the thigh. I felt troubled because firstly, I don't think our helper would do that but at the same time, I don't think Kiki would cook up a tale like this. I asked Kiki for the context, what was she doing before that incident, where were both of them etc. She was evasive but told me she was practising violin when it happened. I asked what Tanga meant, Kiki said - Dunno, maybe it means "Stupid".
Well, Stupid it is. I Googled it, in Tangalog, it meant-
Idiot, Idiotic, Stupid.
So I met her in our kitchen and told her that Kiki told me about her grabbing her ear. I asked her what was the trigger. She explained that Kiki kept watching TV and had to be nagged at before she would practise piano and violin. She added that Kiki had stared at her in a challenging manner.
I said okay, I have noted. I said if Kiki doesn't practise, just tell me. Don't deal with her because that is my job. I don't condone but I didn't blame her because I think she was over-zealous or she might be afraid that I follow-up about practise hence stressed. She had been my proxy, my aide, and she takes being my proxy seriously.
So, what shall I do?
I shall take a chill pill.
You see, the only solution is for me to be calm and collected. I have never been this mad a woman before. It is terrible. If I continue to behave out-of-controlled, all my proxies will become mad men, mad women. Because they love and care about me, they want to help fulfill my aspirations. So I got to chill before everyone gets over-heated.
Saturday, we were running late and I asked Kiki to quicken her pace while we walked to the violin class. She was walking so slowly and I imagined she must be pouting or something and I hated it when I am hurrying and she lagging. I grabbed her arm, pulled her in front of me and smacked her head like five or six times. Until her hair were all over her face. I didn't know how ridiculous I must have been until we walked past a wall of mirror. Gosh, her hair like a haystack. Do you know how painful it is to be smacked on the head? I tested by smacking my own head and it was painful.
Teacher probably recognised a tear stained face even though it was wiped dry.
While she tuned her violin, she asked Kiki what happened. Kiki told her that I slapped her. And that I flicked my fingers on her. I didn't slap her lah, I smacked her head. And that flicking of fingers was an old incident, it didn't just happened. How could she lump her complaints in one sitting to of all persons her teacher! But still, how could I do that. No kid will ever forget the first sting of being caned or slapped or smacked or pinched or flicked. I never forget about mine. I never even forgave my aunt who made me kneel until the joss stick finished burning as a punishment for venturing too far away from the house, almost reaching a small side lane. I wasn't venturing away, my younger cousin kept pulling me to bring him further out into the street and I had to persuade him to come back. If I don't follow him, he would be running on the street on his own and we were too far from our house for me to call for help. I had to keep an eye on him. His father drove past and saw the two of us. Naturally, me being to older one got hell of scolding plus kneeling in front of the Buddha statue in the duration of one joss stick. I never forgave them not because I was five-year-old but because they never listened nor did they believe me. They just have to punish someone over something they deem dangerous. So, how have my childhood influenced my parenting outlook? Actually, I don't have an ounce of bad feelings about the treatments I've had as a child. I was angry, bitter, filled with hatred for a large part of the first nine years of my life and then one day, it all dissipated. I didn't become an empathetic person straight away. It took years of darkness before I finally become an empathetic person that I believe is my core. I think people only behaved badly because they lost sight of their good-self. So, it is important to always take a dozen steps back to look at myself. What have I become.
Relax. Take a chill pill and take stock of all the blessings that have already been bestowed upon me.
Since CNY, I've started using the Grab App to call for car rides.
I don't like Uber because the prices are not fixed. Grab, on the other hand, is fixed. (car rides fixed prices, taxi rides accordingly to meter reader). If you're more adventurous, you can Grab share a car (eg 2 or 3 passengers share cost). If you don't like to make small talks, then just be the sole passenger.
My Cedele Sunday
Brendan made Shepherd's Pie
KiCo loves it.
used a plastic box to makea hologram projector
My mom, Kico & Maricar were all impressed by the technology.
My mom kept asking where to buy the projector.
I've given Maricar the measurements and asked her to make a few projectors for herself and her friends and an extra one for my sis.
Don't let my lack of enthusiasm affect you. It is interesting and truly some people would be in awe to see 3D holographic moving pictures and video clips projected from our humble phones.
My seemingly lack of awe is only because I have watched the KitKat advertisement few weeks ago and my maiden awe had been spent. hence. But please, go ahead and be impressed.
Holographic videos are available on YouTube- just search "Holographic videos".
The box of KitKat comes with the plastic projector, a QR code for you to scan and download an embed video.
My awe had been spent on this, but still, do make one projector and proceed to be impressed.
Next time, face-time will be in 3D. Phone calls, video calls will be in 3D. Just pass the image through an App to convert the image. When these kind of Apps become cheap, they will become a norm.
Welcome to our New World. Fiction no more.
