Cards courtesy of Endota Spa

1. She may be a fireball at work (she has made grown men cry. Kid you not), but she’s a gentle soul at home.
2. She makes the best oriental chicken chop in the world. She keeps her best mismatched plates just for the chicken chops. We don’t get to eat from those plates unless it’s Chicken Chop Day.
3. She always thinks of the worst that can happen and prepares herself for it. It’s also something I’ve learned from her. Some call it paranoia. Us, we like to be prepared.
4. She worked very hard for over 30 years along with my dad to give my brother and I a comfortable lifestyle.

5. She worked that long and only bought her first designer handbags a few years after she retired.
6. She reluctantly learned to play golf to accompany my dad on his games. Now that she’s better than him (she’s won competitions) in the game, she absolutely loves it. She had Lasik done on her eyes purely to improve her game!
7. She’s a worry wart and would only sleep after my brother and I are safely home.
8. She was quietly there for me during the worst times of my life, would not intrude in our personal lives but would gently encourage and support us.

9. She has an impressive perfume collection thanks to my dad (he gets her a new bottle of perfume every time he’s on business trips).
10. She taught me all about skincare. The amount of skincare she uses may shock you. 😛
11. She taught me the Chinese saying “one hundred patience will yield gold” (at least, that’s what I think the literal translation from Cantonese is). No matter how bad the situation is, don’t lose your temper. Be patient. It’s still a learning process for me.
12. She cried when I presented her with a watch with my paltry intern earnings just before I left for the UK for uni. Aww.

13. Her way of showing love to those who aren’t her children is to feed them well. Every time we went back to Penang, she’ll buy the best fish and cook really good chicken soup for Tim because he loves them.
14. She gets cold easily. To her, anything less than 25C is cold.
15. She would never impose on anyone. Just like her late father, my beloved grandpa, whom I dearly miss.
16. She’s very creative with her hands.

17. She does amazing cross stitch pieces (we have some displayed in my family home), 3D art, crochet and more. When she picked up Chinese watercolours, she became really good at it. At the moment, she’s creating a few pieces for me to hang in our home.
18. She’s completely hooked on Korean drama.
19. She has the neatest handwriting I’ve ever seen. Even when writing in a hurry, it’s good. Seriously, I should make a web font out of her handwriting.
20. Just like touch typing, she can use the calculator without even looking at it. I’ve seen her fingers fly on the calculator while looking at lots of figures, not looking at the calculator and the results will still be 100% accurate. It’s mind-boggling.

I can write so much more about mum but I’ll leave it here for now. My mum’s not the perfect woman nor is she the perfect mother but she’s the best to me.

To my mum, happy Mother’s Day Mee. Thank you for being the best mother to Boy (that’s what we call my brother), Tim and I. We love you and can’t wait for you to visit soon.

To all mums out there, whether you’re a mum to kids, to furkids, a single dad to kids and more, this is your day. Happy Mother’s Day to you too.

Tine xx