A special message

Even though I am very sleepy now, the reason I wanted to stay awake and spend a good chunk of my time typing instead of sleeping was actually to wait till its 9am in Singapore to call my mum.

Why call her? Well its her birthday and calling her to wish her a happy 50th birthday would be the least her son could do. Also, I thought that it will be a good way to pen down words of thanks which I would not be able to express too well in my much deteriorated Mandarin.

To my dearest mama,

Thank you so much for your nod of approval to letting me leave the comforts of our home and venture into somewhere as far as Amsterdam. While it has been perceived by many as a dangerous place where drugs and vice are mistaken to be the only things found here, it is actually very safe and nice here. I will also like to thank you for all the amount of financial and emotional support you have been me all these years. These have been especially significant in these recent years, when university bills, I swear have been the same numbers but they just appear in a longer chains. I know it is hard on you to work 10 hours a day, to serve the most difficult customers, to endure the little annoying things that the suppliers or the employees would give you, or the tantrums that the sisters will throw even after you come home from a hard day's work. I think it is compounded by the fact that I will not be physically around to be the one you can vent your frustration on, or be there to help you in any way possible. For all these compromises and sarifices you have to make, on top of the support you provide, I am most thankful. I promise, like I have previously done, that I will be very careful and safe, I will not do anything risky or dangerous, I will be careful with spending the money, and I will continue to call you at least once a day to ensure that I am fine. I will be back home really soon and it will be soon when things will be back to how they are with me around and I certainly hope I will even be a better son from then on. I wish you the best of health and look forward to giving you a big hug when I see you in 5 months' time.

Love,
Son