Bringing My Little “Precious”(s) Back to Singapore

My last night in Houston ~ a place I called home for the last 22 weeks.

Sitting in my apartment, knowing I have a couple of hours more to pack my luggage before dawn breaks.  And tonight, Houston is snowing, the temperature outside is 1 deg celcius.  Am I not blessed… Houston snows approximately every 4 years and tonight it is snowing… my last evening in Houston.

I just got back … from sipping warm coffee near a cozy fire place, with nice company on a snowing winter night … hmm when I wrote this, I thought it was so beautiful, yes it was indeed, and I know I am indeed so blessed.  No more words needed. 

I have been staring at my apartment for a while now.  I put the valuables to one side so I remember to pack them, and my precious to another coz I will never leave them behind or trash them.

Leaving with me tomorrow are 7 little rats or mice I have received in Houston - 3 of them are of the same breed but have different shades, and a cartoon book.

This mousey was from BK when he visited me in Houston on 30 Oct.  It was his birthday the following day but I received the present instead.  This mousey flew in with him from Singapore…  Before this, we were apart for 17 weeks since the day he left for Singapore on 5 July 2008 after settling me in Houston.  

This mousey was from a special couple … interestingly I wondered why someone would make a cheese knife in the form of a mouse and gave it 2 ears and a long tail??!!  Isn’t it such a wonder…  a symbol of my friendship with the special couple which began less than 10 weeks ago.  And this mousey will certainly reside comfortably in my precious collection and will go nowhere near my car boot sales. 

These mouseys were from Jennie.  She gave me 3 as the 3 symbolized the friendship between 3 friends who met in Houston – Jennie is Indonesian Chinese who has adopted Houston as her home, Rafaella from Brazil and I from Singapore … guess who the fair one represents, who loves to show her left profile?  The amazing thing was we were not even from the same batch but we graduated together and we shared many a moments together in the last 20 weeks. 

This mousey was from Elizabeth.  On the second last day of school – 26 Nov, she gave it to me before class started, and she said she found it over the weekend and she hoped I would like it.  Of course, and no doubt about it!  Liz was my first partner on my Day 1 at CIAML on 7 July 2008 … and knowing I am double her age and I would usually give in to her, she knew she could try many things on me ;)  Then she helped me matter of factly on many occasions.

This mousey was from Missshu, who shipped it to me from Sydney.  It was the first mousey that accompanied me through a couple of weeks in Houston while I worked on the laptop.  What made it so special was she got this for me during a time when beautiful things were happening to her.  And she now knew what I meant, when I told her last year – when it happened, you would know it … with your heart!  

This mousey cartoon book was bought over amazon.com, when I was researching on sugar flower books for my wedding cake.  It detailed the traits of persons born in the year of Rat through the journey of Ralph the rat who rescued his friend using traits others frowned upon.

The conclusion of the book ~ People born in the Year of the Rat are ambitious, clever, and thrifty.  They are nimble, optimistic, and sensitive.  But sometimes they can be competitive and possessive.  Though they may be nosey and a little thin-skinned, rats are truly resourceful and trusty pals.

Traits can’t be generalized based on birth year alone, it takes a character to become who he really is.  Be.

Along the way … I met and made friends who shared significant moments of my life at this point or another and friends who continued to hold me dear even tho’ I decided to relocate to Houston and now I am relocating back to Singapore… and I truly believe this friendship will continue to hold us dear through the distance, wherever we are.

You know what, I am ready to go home.