Of Aliens & some stuff (No inspiration for any suitable titles)

Haiz… It was a boring morning… Me, Evelyn, Cheryl and Kenneth went to the Immigration Bureau to extend our visas. Over there has so many people of different races. BUT! The main highlight is this sign:

Any Alien who stays in the Kingdom for over 90 days have to notify the Immigration Bureau of its address. If the Alien fails to notify, the alien will be punished by a fine not exceeding 5,000 baht.

Can you see what’s so weird about the sign? No? lemme show u again:

Any Alien who stays in the Kingdom for over 90 days have to notify the Immigration Bureau of its address. If the Alien fails to notify, the alien will be punished by a fine not exceeding 5,000 baht.

See it now? And No, I’m not kidding. It’s true. I saw this sign in the immigration bureau. I was so tempted to take a photo of it but I’m afraid they will lock me up for abetting Terrorism if I do so. As such, I memorized it instead. O.O Wow, Aliens, huh? Do ya think Thailand have any space port especially catered to UFOs? :P Lame, I know ><

But seriously, labeling us as Aliens sounds so… crude? Weird? Degrading? I mean, we may be of a different nationality but hey we are still Homo Sapiens. We are still of a same race. Why on earth did you put us (I’m a foreigner, too) under Aliens? -_-lll

Anyway, after the morning, I went back to the lab where I got a shock of my life. A fellow colleague who is a researcher, Dr Nitsara, asked me whether I’m going back Singapore or not. oO For what? I didn’t know. Until she told me that my parents called and asked about the procedures to get me back to Singapore, in emergencies, Something about my grandma being really sick.

I knew my grandma’s health has been declining lately. Maybe I didn’t want to face reality of her leaving me, but I hadn’t really wanted to believe my mum when she told me that Grandma’s health is getting from bad to worse. Even when she was in hospital, I told myself that it’s grandma. She will recover and leave the hospital soon. She will still live for long.

When my supervisor, Dr Sirawut, asked me if I need to go back, the reality of my grandma’s condition finally sink in and I cried in front of him. I end up breaking down a few times in the afternoon. I hadn’t been able to concentrate on my work and end up destroying some experiments. In addition, I hadn’t managed to contact any of my family (my bro, cousins, etc), and I can’t call back because my DTAC (Thai Sim card, akin to M1 prepaid card) has not enough cash.

Finally, 5pm or rather, 6pm came. I can actually knock off at 5pm but I was waiting to report to Dr Sirawut and he has yet to return from Science Park. He left after talking to me. So I took off first and manage to top up my DTAC card and called my mum immediately.

-_- Apparently, my grandma’s condition has stabilized a little. For the time being, I have to stay put, in Thailand. That was what my mum said all the family members said.

Grandma was still ok when I left Singapore. It’s only 3 mths and her situation deteriorated so fast. Did I make the right choice in leaving Singapore? I learn a lot here, about people and culture and even in scientific techniques. But on the other hand, I gave up time I can spend with my family. My grandma, to be exact.

When I was still in Singapore, Alyssa often told me to talk to and accompany my grandma more. Having lost her grandma in this year, she regretted not spending more time with her own grandma and added that I should cherish all my time with mine. I thought I understood what she said. But apparently, I didn’t. It wasn’t until now I’m here in Thailand and my grandma is in a critical situation in Singapore that I finally realized what Alyssa had meant. Gods, I’m so stupid not to realize such an important lesson earlier, aren’t I?

Back in Singapore, I had tried to heed Alyssa’s advice and accompany my grandma more, but I find it hard to communicate with her due to language barrier. Hence, I didn’t really sit down and talk to her. What an ass I have been. Now, I sincerely prayed to the Gods up there to let her live longer. And not to take her away from me so soon. Please at least let her live until I can come back and see her again. Just… please...