Cats who teach me to fly…

Mel and I went to Hainan Dao last Thursday. She booked a room at Meritus Mandarin, which was at the business centre. The surroundings were quiet. There was little activity around there.

We had wenchang chicken for lunch. Mel said that our hainan chicken rice is so much better than their wenchang chicken. For me, their sauce is the same as our hainan chicken rice but the texture of the chicken was different. The wenchang chicken was hard to chew. It was not as smooth as what we had in Singapore. Mel and I simply laughed at ourselves with the way we ate.
Before we got back to the hotel, Mel was worried that she might not have breakfast on the next so she bought a loaf of bread and a piece of cake.

We went back to the hotel and rest. We also bought a ticket to Zhang Yimou live show which was called the “Impression Hainan Island”. The show plays in the evening.

We had dinner at 8pm which was before the show. I had a seafood hotplate rice and Mel has a fish hotplate. We were quite satisfied with the meals.

The show started at 8.30pm. I found the performances impressive and Mel loved it too. I especially liked the “coconut” performance where the dancers were all dressed up in green suit. I would recommend everyone to watch. We went straight to the hotel to rest and get ready for our Sanya trip on the next morning.

The trip was a two day one night tour to Sanya, which cost RMB360 per pax. It was pretty cheap. Converting it to S$, it was less than S$80. This was coupled with a night’s stay at a hotel and four meals. Yeah… sounds good!

We woke up at 5.30am on the next day. Our coach arrived at 7am. Happily we went up the bus and started our journey.

So where did we go? We visited the beach at Sanya, which is call “Dadonghai”.

It’s a nice beach. Just a little crowded. The weather was hot and humid. Mel and I hid ourselves at one of the nearby hotels and had a banana split. We also rode a speed boat to some rock formations known as “Tianya Haijiao”. They are just big rocks engraved with “天涯海角”. What we loved was the speed boat ride:).

We had dinner at the hotel and went back to our room to rest cos both of us were exhausted with the day trip. I slept at 9.30pm while poor Mel had to do some marking.

We woke up at 5.30am and got ourselves ready to visit 南海观音. It was so amazing to see such a hugh statue situated at such a perfect location.

I loved the surrounding. Too bad this place is built as a tourist attraction. Should it be built as a buddhist retreat, it would really help many of us fulfil our dream to become a buddhisattva or buddha:). I told Mel that I would love to come here again and live in the hotel nearby and do some meditation.

The photos on top are the surroundings.

The sad thing that Mel and I felt was that we have to pay in order to make a prayer as well as a wish. Mel and I did not pay to get in. We think it is not right for them to charge us. We prayed silently in our heart.

We had lunch and it was time to go back to Haikou. We had checked out from Meritus Mandarin and we had not found a hotel at that time. Mel is always a panicky type. For me, I believe as long as we have money, we can get any hotel anywhere.

Yes, we checked into a hotel which was so much cheaper than Meritus Mandarin and there were night market just outside the hotel. We were happy buying food from the stall and eating it.

On our last night in Hainan dao, Miemi visited me again. I knew she did.

It has been three weeks and I am still grieving over Miemi. I can’t stop crying, can’t stop thinking of her. Why should I stop or even control myself?

Everyday I call out her name and tell her I love her and love her always. Whenever my heart aches for her, I would call and tell her “Miemi, Mummy loves you. Mummy always do”, several times per day.

I didn’t sleep well every night. I woke up in the middle of the night, feeling painful… And whenever the pain arise, I would tell her that I love her.

I have been thinking a lot about life. It’s meaningless after all. Miemi has taught me to live at the moment and I am happy living at the moment and not to think too much about how tomorrow is going to be or how I was being hurt in the past.

I also tell Miemi to go play, be safe and happy. I keep telling her that she always has a place in my heart and wherever I go, she will always be with me. She lives in my heart forever…

It’s been a week since Miemi has gone and I still miss her so much. Miss her lovely face, miss petting her, miss stroking her, miss watching her, miss kissing her, miss doing everything with her…
I know she will be sad looking at me feeling sad. If she was still around, she would rub against me and comfort me. Although she is no longer by my side, I believe that she would continue watching me like she always did.
Miemi will live in my heart forever until the day we meet at the rainbow bridge…
I love Miemi…

A Tribute to Miemi

I have never been partial to cats.
I had a puppy once but it was taken away from me as my mother didn’t want to
keep it.
But you have changed my perception of cats.
You were a very sweet and
independent cat.
You allowed me to pet you and purred and
stretched your neck whenever I massaged your chin.
You would brush yourself against
me to show your affection.
Although I have know you for only four years,
you have never made us angry and
was always sensitive and sensible.
You would mind your own business,
sleeping under the pillow just like your mummy,
lying on your back with your limbs in the air.
I miss watching you sleep deeply.
You hadn’t slept well for a long time ever since your illness.
It pains to watch you shrink in size,
eventually reducing to bones and skin in your later days.
Despite the painful and stressful weekly jabs of chemo and
countless trips to the vet,
you did not hate us.
I remembered your round,
soulful eyes when you were very sick once.
You kept looking at me as if it was the last.
In your final days, you called out to me to tell me you were in pain.
You took turns to look at mummy and I to tell us how much you love us and
would miss us.
We know, and that was why it was so painful that we had to let you go.
You were a remarkable cat.
I learnt how unconditional your love
was, how giving you were.
Through you, I had a deeper realisation of how
like nature works in cycle. Energy will neither be created nor destroyed.
Even rocks and water change from one form to another.
Even leaves fall and decay,
but provide nutrients for new leaves to grow again.
I become more convinced about how we would all go,
but we will merely change form.
You have taught me the cycle of life and death, Miemi, and
how we need to get out of it.
Although you were a cat, you have taught us a lot.
To me, you are a Bodhisattva, helping the people around you.
Rest in peace Miemi.
Your mummy and I miss you every single day…

Mel Mummy