Food for thought and stomach

Sat morning, we were at tampines round market for breakfast. Ah girl is having her usual Soya milk with "You tiao" when she blurted, "Mummy look, they sell Sushi here too". I look up and indeed she was not entirely wrong, there it is... if you read the hanyu pinyin that is. in English Tasha says it is: Elephant rich Japanese sushi (heh)

-----------------

some time ago, the hubby took pains to queue two hours for this ...

It's really good and at S$1.20, it's such a bargain!

And the indulge before CNY even started.. Toast's chocolate cupcake! although steep at S$3.75, it's a reward food when you need it.

me, the monster or ...

Over the weekend, on Sat nite to be precise, I went into some hormonal rage. I realised that it was due to PMS later really.

After the dinner at Harbour city, well it had already kicked off some sparks between the hubby and I. It was just that my head was flooded with pain and I said things that provoke him, of which I had totally no intentions and did not think it was. Now, that IS a problem issn't it.
Then, in the middle of the night (1.40am) , my headache just grew and turning to him, I asked for the tiger balm that I thought it was at his side of the bed. He flared up and scream at me. I recalled being too hurt by his uncaring reaction and at the same time, afraid that he will hit me out of rage - something he had done before. All possible negative thoughts came all at once. That I did not come from a blessed family (ridiculed by my MIL a few times), that I was not someone who do work, home well. I could not hold friends together. I have no close girlfriend. No one ever replies the emails I send for encouragement etc.......
the thought of growing old with the hubby seems super bleak after I sat down at the living room to recover from the verbal blows. I felt I did not want to continue my marriage life with him at all. I proposed a divorce. Now, to think of it, I was whining for attention but did not know how.

Then, he was also not forgiving to the fact that I am so insensitive to his sleep routine and threatened that if I leave, he and the children will leave Christian faith.
I felt..... so sad or rather in mandarin 委. Throbbing with headache, not only was I not being understood and taken care of, I was repremanded for kicking a fuss and at the same time threatened.
Then, I swallowed whatever feeling I felt at that point and ask for forgiveness for disturbing him from sleep. I got some medication to treat my headache myself. We were in bed at 2.45am.

He did express his regrets later in the morning and tells me he loves me. I did not answer and it could hurt him alot.
If you ask me now what my feelings are. I am numb. I know it must be Satan's attack but I don't know what to feel towards the hubby. I need no advise for now cos I will snap at any which comes along. That could signify that I still grudge him for treating me that shabbily.

Anyways... it's over right. yeah, it's just once in a bluemoon huge marital fight. Sometimes, it emerge with victory, sometimes, like this one, I emerge more disillusioned ever.

funny how we turned out

15 years ago, when pondorosa was a common place to date. This friend,G, brought me to view the panaromic view of Singapore from Swissotel, then this hotel was by some other name. He asked me if I could be his special girl. I could not recipocate and felt really really really bad telling him I could not. Because he was really a nice guy and gave me tons of encouragements when I was down. No, I never regretted us not being together. And yes, we are still friends after that. Afterall, we really almost grew up in the same family church.

After I move out of that church, there was a few times we met but was not really able to chat. We had the opportunity to stand by the roadside and spend an hour sharing each others lives yesterday. He just finished a project for the company I'm employed and I just returned to the same company after a year out.
There were some mutual friends we brought up during our conversation. And we had to admit that it was strange how some of us took on vocations that is totally..... unexpected.

to digress a little.. it made me recall how I had a huge crush on friend, J that many moons ago. He was then a promising and talented pianist, I loved his humour - I doubt he could share mine cos I was not very vocal at that time. He had lotsa charisma (my opinion) and he also sings really well. Come to think of it, it is easier to swoon girls with great singing skills... right??
Anyhow, he didn't like me the way lovers do, I was just a friend, a good friend. He blatantly tells me that when we are older, we would laugh about how, you know, we did not get together. I did not think it was gonna be that way then. Not that I was bitter.. really. I thought being 30 is old and I'll never reach that age fast enough. haha.
Oh, I still treasure the drawing of a cartoon of me.. He remains now a sweet friend of mine. We were never soulmates anyway. Hope to meet up with him in USA when I visit the place.

there is also M, who is a dear, dear, dear friend of mine. He is so ever cynical and have all sort of weird ideas. We are not so in touch now but i have tons of memories of the way things were.

So there, we have now friends (some may be distant friend) who are pastor, entrepenuer, MNC employee, MOE teacher, SAHM, rich sales person, church worker, designer, lawyer, immigrants in USA/Australia....

some of us who did not know what be inspire, some of us are already what we inspired to be...

edit:

here is the pic which I still have from J.

Lunar New Year

Whee..with the 2 days holiday that is right after weekend, there were 4 full days to rest and not think of work. I liked the way my holidays turned out.

This year, to respect that fact that my dad passed on last March, we intent to keep CNY celebration lowkey... not as if I am in the mood too. I practically left most of the CNY stuff to my hubby, he got some goodies, put up the deco and bought the flowers. He almost bought the tulips just for me.. so sweet of him, but I didn't allow that to happen.

flowers for his mum, 20 roses at 10 bucks!

Friday nite saw me going home at 5.30pm (almost sharp) and we took the kids out for our own nuclear family dinner at soup restaurant at the airport cos it's near. It's the first for the kids and the hubby (cos they are forever tempted by sakae sushi to try others food) and they loved it. The soup has so much goodness, the begger's ribs were finger linking, the chicken and the ginger sauce so refreshing, there were 2nd, 3rd, last helpings to the claypot tofu, the veg if the kids eat chilli would have been great but it was delicious too.. we polished off the dishes and every bit of rice. So satisfying with the capital S that we did not have room to snack on Popeye wings .

We had a round of family boardgame before we hit the z-land.

The next day, the hubby and I were inspired to jog at the nearby park since we had no obligations/classes to rush. it's first for me to run continously for 2km. Nathan who is usually most unkeen to work out, ran with me too. We felt superb-ly refreshed! We promised ourselves that we must do the jog more often.

The reunion dinner with my hubby's extended family was pretty standard. At his mum's place, "free" healthy homecook food (steamboat) - what more can I asked *wink*. No, I am not complaining but every year, I always lament that it did not feel like a reunion dinner as each will take their bowls of rice and veg and sits in front of the Tee Vee. Those who mahjong-ed will rush thru meal so that players can play longer... well, that IS the tradition for their family, I guess.

The following days were bits and pieces of visitations.. there is however one which was memorable cos I almost teared on the spot. We went to my MIL's second's bro's home, he saw my girl (the only grandchild who is willing to pay visits this year) and started pouring play gifts .. poppers, fuzzy yo yo, etc. It reminded me so much of Dad as this is prob something he would have done if he is still around. I really still can't bear the thought that he's not around anymore.

Day 3 was mainly for ourselves. The hubby and I jogged again without the kids, they wanted to laze around in bed. I stretch an extra 500m to add my previous 2km.. (in hopes to rid the accumulated goodies fat). oh, and I managed to get the speakers for my ipod before before heading my mum's place. with that, it wrapped up my New year.

I did not feel like I was dragged in to work on 4th day of lunar year, so that is a good sign. Cheers to the rest of the months to come!

VD outing

Intially, the hubby wanted to bring me to Kusu Island.. It's strange how he came up with this idea.. insisting that the lagoon there is one of the best spot to swim and relag, but apparently I was totally NOT keen. For one, looking at turtles are not really romatic, right? For two, we can always check into Sentosa for some lagoon fun.

So he went along with the idea to have breakfast at Vivocity, then did almost the whole day of shopping. He did try to book a couple spa but the appointment available was at 9.30pm and will have to end the session at 11.30pm. With the thought that those spa-ers will be dog tired by then and the spa-ees (us) may not enjoy the fullest, we did not go for it.

The budget for the spa however did not go to waste.. *hee*

4 beautiful pcs for 200 bucks.

my favourite piece.

3rd level of the mall, there is a pet safari.. and look how some dogs are dressed for CNY.

see those ears on the poooodle

hey, what nice tail you have there Maltese

the retort

We were preparing to watch RENT at 10pm as it was the children's bedtime. My daughter buay-gum-wan that she cannot watch the movie, asked

Tasha: why cannot watch?!?!
Me: it's not suitable for you to watch now..
hubby: when you are 18 years old, we'll let you watch.
Tasha: but the CD would be spoilt by then and I won't be able to watch ANYMORE!!
me+hubby: o_O

Cupcakes

Had free tasting on Mong's cupcakes - a free ride from other people who will be ordering :P.

The chocolate cakes are absolutely beautiful and yummy, did not manage to eat the plain flavour though. The icing are not so sweet.

verdict: die die must try!!

The tarts are soo good too. The photos here does not make much justice cos it's taken with phone camera, I had to quickly take the shots before they are being gobbled.

Happy Valentine's

For many years, 14th Feb is always ignored.

This year, for some reason, the hubby insists that I take leave, which I reluntantly obliged. Cos for one, I am not so sure if I would enjoy the plans he may have.

I got a gift for him though. It shall be his post christmas, valentine's, pre-birthday gift as it costs me quite a bit... *ker ching*

He will be wearing the Oris, F1 skeleton face.

GE promo - Woman's outdoor challenge

Anyone's interested?
---------------------------------
The Challenge comprises an Individual Event and a Team Event: Individual Event - 5 km Run or 8 km Run Team Event (7 to 15 people) - Combat Laser or Ultimate Frisbee Individual ($20/head)) or Team event LCombat Laser ($50 per head) / Ultimate Frisbee ($20/head) You will receive an email confirmation upon successful registration Sign up now for an exciting day of sports and fun!

the whine

Listening to: Jesus is Alive

Tasha is having a flu. cannot breathe... throat really very painful.. she complains.
Poor sweetie, rushed to the pharma to buy the "pipa gao" and strepsils to soothe them a little.
After that, she rattled on to tell me the cry event that happened on the school bus. She then retreat to her room to finish up her work.

Just so please with my darling girl's progress.

All excited... for HIM

Listening to: praise and worship 2

My first love came back. With a vengence... After the teacher's retreat last month, I found my lukewarm attitude disgusting. I am falling in love over again with Christ.
I hope to spread that excitement to my cell group members then so forth. I suppose, it was a year of real test yesteryear where the workplace has totally no believers. At this new workplace, brother Isaac is so ever encouraging. My mentor wants to attend church again (he stopped going for two years now).
All fired up now, I hope to do a little more than I am doing now.
Starting by emailing encouraging experiences, for sometimes over coversation, i may miss out the most important thing - quotation from the Word.

sometime from a couple of week ago:
This morning, a colleague brought breakfast for about20 of us in the department. His reason for doing sowas to accumulate favour/blessings (ji fu) - as inconfucion studies. (kong zi)As Christians, we do not have that above concept whenwe do good deeds. But on what motivations do we actthat deed?Surely, we know that when we are filled with the loveof God and recognise it, it will become our actions. -> let's really be active in putting discipline in ourlove for others, be it the community or even our cellmembers.We discuss last BS on the love of God and one of theparable to illustrate that is the prodigal son.We know that the father in the parable RAN to hisyounger son. Giving him the robe (of righteousness),the gold ring (inheritance) and the shoes/sandals(son).There is also this elder brother who got upset withhis father for doing being so elated over the youngerunfilial son's homecoming. And reinstating all of thebrother's previous status. While all this while, theelder brother thought that he sacrifice and staybehind to work for his father.the father explained "all I have is already yours"God is concern for you, he wants to protect you andgive you all of what is His to you. However, you donot have to sacrifice for Him. In the case of theelder son, he probably was upset that he sacrifice didnot get recognition. Are we sometimes like that?Thinking that we have given the blessings to othersand seemingly has no returns. Then feel tired andupset?-> When you are feeling tired on loving others,remember that your strength comes from God.The experience of Christ love should be spread aroundus. That is a baby step to bring one to know Christ.Let's continue to uphold everyone of us in prayers.

~~~~~~~
last week :A brother in christ is stumbled by a sister in christ's testimony

Galatians 5:25-6:6 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in stepwith the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited,provoking and envying each other. 1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you whoare spiritual should restore him gently. .... 2 Carryeach other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfillthe law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks he is somethingwhen he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each oneshould test his own actions. Then he can take pride inhimself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 5for each one should carry his own load. 6 Anyone who receives instruction in the word mustshare all good things with his instructor.

----------
When we ponder upon the brother's (in christ)reaction,it is evident that he is critical of the sister'sactions. Galatians 5:25-6:5 reminds us again that weshould resolve our planks before judging. Test our ownactions but not comparing. Do not let that hinder usfrom obeying the law of Christ.We shall not dwell on the technicalities of the "moralfault" but focus on doing what is right - for thisinstance, be happy for the sister (in Christ) forbeing out of trouble and continual encourage her,gently to strengthen her walk with Christ.Remember how Jesus was different from the teachers ofthe law. Above all laws, LOVE your fellow men. This isyet another huge topic to discuss. AS for whether what the sister had done was morallyright or wrong... you decide :)Lastly, I am no instructor but please share yourinstruction from the word and share all good thingswith all.(galatians 6:6)

Nathan

The children are discouraged to have too much water before going to bed. Bedtime is strictly 10pm. Before 9pm, I make it a point to remind them to have a cup of water.. provided I am always at home by that time.
Somehow, perhaps motivated by some internal defiance, they like to have at least half a cup of water before bed. Tasha still is able to wake up and go to the toilet by herself. Nathan have had three days of bed wetting thrice in a row in Jan. Thank God for helper to clean up. However, it bothered me.
He says that he dreams of the act (going to toilet) thus it happens in reality. But so many times in a week?!
I noticed last night that his tongue has a patch that the Sinseh says that it is not normal. Something to do with his kidney. He did acupuncture on him and there were some apparent help.
Tonight, the hubby is bringing him to the sinseh to check on the condition again... have to remind him to look into his sinus problem too.

ready?

The hair is now short. Not that I am totally displeased with the cut... it's does make me look more mature and I have the tendency to worry about the visible balding patch on top of my head. on top of that, it's been a long time since i had short hair - now presenting.. the fierce look.



small editing:
it's the 2nd day I have survived at work place with my short hair. I don't even recognise myself when I see my own reflection on the windows.
Suddenly, all the MRT commuter's hair is all so much better than mine. I have the urge to buy a wig for myself. I must stand firm on my decisions of not having short hair in future. NO more short hair ever!!

Oh my!

Finally, going to the hairdresser this evening. It badly needs a trim, give the right colour for the white hair (growing old pains) and some treatment to the hair ends. This is my hair now. I will update the "then" in later post. Pics from my current sony ericsson W810i.

work front:

I felt pretty accomplished after getting back the cases to some of the sales people last evening. But this morning, it became crap all over again! And I am so stuck at most cases now, plus communicating over emails with different time zones is just too hard.. urgh. BUT, I am still glad to take a different role now esp having the experience to deal with overseas partners.

home front:

last night, Nathan and Natasha has calls from school friends.

Nathan is starting to want to hide things from moi. I asked him what is the name of the caller, in his exact words "can I don't tell you?" *grasp*, he's 9 going 10 years old and becoming so secretive?

I charmed him to tell me the name (which is Amelia). I did not comment a single thing in case he refuse to share anything with me in future. note to self : not to tease him anymore about girl school friends.

these are a few of my nice things for today...

Our corporate ang bao came in a pouch that is re-usable.. I likey... but not sure what it can be used for except as a pencil case.

last Oct, I brought the children for a studio make over photo shoot, inspired by howMong's macy turn out.

These two pics is currently part of the deco on my office table:)

Con called with USA colleagues this morning for a introductory. People are nice and pleasant but challenging market to tackle, I'll have already done some cases which is so. Thank God for good mentor, hope he'll remain helpful for a long time.

Back breaking experience

Our dept is trying to do a keep fit 2007. Most of them will need to cook up some ideas on what to do for the month. K, our yoga enthuse, put us up into a trial lesson on Kryoga yesterday. There were some last minute shift in timing, we end up joining the intermediate class. My mental state was not really prepared for it, but my body was pushing through. Some of the meditation bits, praying posture, free mind felt really unappropriate personally but I was praying the whole time. Overall it's still fun to do it with colleagues, where everyone could "complain" about the aches together.

Feb is badminton month. Looking forward to some fun.

The hubby and I will be starting on our golf lessons tomorrow. I've got some practices at the range but I always end up hurting my left palm after a few stokes. Hopefully getting the techniques will help to improve that.

some briefs over weekend

before the hubby became seriously sick.. he gave us a treat from his bonus money at Cystal Jade Palace at Ngee Ann City. love the soup.
Bought the children school shoes. The girl says that her school friends are already saying things about her shoes (worn since K2 - but hey, there ain't no hole in shoe yet).
My son says that he wants to go my parent's in law's place. We should have paid a visit but ... the man is sick.

the MC king a.k.a the hubby

Jan alone, the hubby is sick twice. the first was on the 15th when he had severe lao sai.. It was really rather serious, not that he is faking it or something. Then over the weekends, he has this swollen left eye and a large pimple that caused his throat to be scratchy and fever. And he is on sick leave again today. He says his boss is totally unhappy.

Last year, the hubby finished using all the medical entitlement. I wonder if he is going to hit the same record this year. When I cleared the fridge of the out dated medicines, I visited the doc only once last year - wow... I'm a super mum, yeah. AND, I can feel that my MIL not happy with me not taking good care of his son. hrmph.

Perhaps I should make him go into detox programme to kill his sick germs.

R.I.P. while I get my hands on the new one

that's RIP for my 43" LG standing TeeVee. It went into disco crackling mode and all of the sudden, the intestines burst and died.

We now squeeze in the master bedroom for the few shows we catch and we have to go a-TeeVee hunting. With all these plasma, HD, integrated etc etc.. to go for those or to stick to something normal and Toshiba/JVC/phillips... well well.

frustrated...

yesterday, between his 4th elder sis and hubby and myself, we had quite a bit of a heated session on whether going the Junior College (JC) route or the polytechnic one is better. To put it simply, there is no right or wrong but the husband and his sister is so mule about it. Now, that's the thing is really pissing me. I turned to my niece (who is the cause of the debate cos she is taking her 'O's this yr), and told her that long term success comes with passion. She is the president in the design and art cca and not to mention that she is really talented in that arena. Her math is really good too. She aims to VJ and she is very confident that she'll get in. Period. It's her choice.

the husband refuse to budge, insisting that what he is trying to prove is that Poly is an alternative, if not, the better alternative. *sigh* anyways, it's just that. I am so dreading the day my son or daughter has to make that choice.

then as we debated on the (same) topic even as we went on to do our weekly grocery shopping at Suntec. Upon the reaching the carpark as we were ready to leave, we found that we were stuck by a total idiot. The way he/she parked illegally made it impossible for us to get out without risking scratches. Stupid stupid toyota corolla owner.

From 5pm to 5.20pm, all I could do is stand there and get the unhelpful stares from the drivers who saw the situation. I was totally exasperated.

the open door is my car, behind my car is the pillar. how dumb can that driver get?!?!

after paging with no response, I suggested to my hubby that he drives and we try to do the reversal exit. no choice. we managed out (wished we could have done it earlier) but no other car could park into that proper lot.

1) do you think going to JC or Poly makes a difference?

2) are some Singaporean driver dense?

the difference

you know, to wake up to a day is just another wonderful day God has given. BUT, why is my body system so strange and is able to differentiate weekday and weekend??!!

Saturday saw me waking up at 7am and could not go back to sleep at all. I was like so caffine alert. Somehow, sweetie hubby could sense that i was wide awake and suggested to roller blade at EC. So we did and it was a good sweat and chill out session. It ended with a delicious morning breakfast at the famous prawn mee at Katong before we start the jam pack day to ferry children for their ballet, swimming. I was totally ALIVE throughout the day till 11pm.

Last night, I was determine to be equally alert (like Sat) when I tried to wake up at 7.15am. The body system didn't listen up. Plus, last night I had to dream peculiar stuff like... I was deliberating to go for an operation but I told them I needed to go to work. I woke at 5.56am and literally forced myself back to dreamland and that irritating dream continued till I force my feet out of the bed at 7.25am. URGH. Now at workplace, the tired eyes is calling me to take 5.. I just kinda feel like going to bed.
AND, I just started out last week at this work so it's still interesting and nice. I like my job scope and all. No reason to feel lethagic at this point!

resolutions for the brand new year

i've got some real updates to do and since i've got time be SAHM with maid at the moment, i really should buck up but well the lazy bone got better of moi.

The new year went by with us zonking out at 11pm.. i was woken up by my neighbours proclaiming with bangs and such that the count down to 2007 was done. Although it was not a wild welcome to the new year for us, at least we had peace, joy and health at the last minute of 2006.

On the 1st day of the year, after hussle and brussle to get Natasha's room done with the Princess theme (she slept in the same room with the brother since she was 6 months old)... we asked each other what is our 2007 resolution.

Hubby - exercise and sign up for gym membership. I told him to do it later cos it'll be "peak" period for at least the first 3 months of the year. I guess it's a common resolution.

Son - to get all band 1 for this year. He had 3 out of 4 subjects band 1 for P3. Chinese was the culprit.

Daughter - she er..... dunch noe. She's started her P1, will update on that soon.

moi- well, as much as i am quite done with setting resolutions ( i did not set any for 2006) . I decided to set a seemingly easy goal but actually idealistic one. NO MSG for home - at least most of the time.
That means - no instant noodles, no snacks that contain MSG. I will really have to do marketing with detail scrutinising on the packing.

so that's that. May 2007 brings pleasant memories with our loved ones.

HDB tai-tai update

As there were so many various plans that may happen - hubby's-still-in-consideration-posting to USA, my desired job pending for official reply (as it is also posting in USA)... My hubby decided to give me a half stamp to stay at home for a while, till our plans are crystalized.

It's kinda weird, i have never never been "out-of-job" status ever since.. Sec 3??? Even when I was doing my diploma and degree, i was working. I've not totally get comfy with the feeling yet but it's prob cos i've got a thousand and one things to settle at home.

Day 1 (13th dec)
woke up at 8am, shoo hubby to work. lie in bed till 8.30am. did MSN, clear songs for my iPod shuffle, load in videos for my iPod (tasks halfdone). Plan to meet sister at 1pm for massage (yippeee). children woke up at 10.30am, ate breakfast with them. brought them to Tampines by train to buy Christmas presents for gift exchange during Sat nite dinner. Came home to assign chinese homework to son and reading task to daughter. Clear cluttered study desks and very untidy drawers of rubbish. "file" my bags, clear up those that i will never use. Off i went for massage and a very stuff-ed meal at Sketches. The evening was just the norm, at my parent's in law's place.. came home and played some majong with kids before revising Nathan's homework.

Day 2 (yesterday)
woke up at 8.30am, shoo hubby to work (hope it will not any later). Checked pple's blogs, MSN, could not resists sending resume for two jobs which looks interesting. Woke the children at 10am.. watched drama serial. Assigned homework again at 11.30am, cannot kick habit of torturing them.. mwahhaha..
Wanted to buy Nathan's books for next year at 1.30pm. Decided to take a nap but alas, the super loud thunder did not allow me to laze. Since it poured super heavy, decided to pack Tasha's room to make space for new furniture. Threw away 2 huge IKEA plastic bags full of misc items.. took 2.5 hrs to do that - phew.
Then took the children for waffle teabreak at ice-cream gallery and then hit parent's in law's place for early dinner.
The usual majong then go through homework with son sessions. oh, i also packed some newspapers and did some cuttings, muz do newspaper filing soon.

Day 3 - today..
plan to buy Nathan's books now, bring children to eat lunch wif daddy, collect my shoes at Pazzion... then we'll see.


arh... one sure can get used to this lifestyle yah :)

some updates

though Tasha's BD was today - 11/12, we decided to hold it almost a month earlier on 14/11 this year cos she wanted to have one with her school friends before they bid farewell. There was the cake cutting (lychee princess cake), snack time but no games cos prob the teachers thought we did not prepare anything.. but the girl sure enjoyed herself and will remember it for a long time (i hope)

So thereafter, the daddy and I did not plan anything at all for home celeb.. prob it so close to Christmas and I have tons of pressie which i have yet to prepare.. *sigh*

tomorrow will be my last day at work. I am officially out of job but it's cos i am still waiting for an answer. There is this Global marketing position which i am really game for but have no experience. And there is this sales job which is all ready for me to take on once i say when to sign the appt letter.

well, well... for any reasons if you're reading this blog.. i need prayers. I know God will answer to my heart's desire but i still need to know His will..

must. back . up . regularly

we came home to a PC that cannot boot up. without question, it's the holiday bug that infected the children and the PC caught it. The daddy was so so mad, he lost all his software. the mum had most of the stuff backed up in an external harddisk but one can never tell what is not most updated.

anyways.. the good thing is that the daddy got it all up and thus the mum is surfing and logging this blog (gladly with all the stuff in tact).

The children understands why from hence on, the PC is out of bounds without supervision. they each got also a stroke of rattan for not listening when we repeatedly told them strictly no downloads to increase bug risk.. *tsk*

And it's Natasha's birthday today. She is officially 6 today.

the one who found rest

One thing led to another, I was catching up with Corrinnemay's latest Christmas album when I read about her granddad's demise.

Her blog reminded me that my Dad was also a bird lover. When we were little, our adventures would be amongst those forest opposite our Telok Blangah hts flat or the coffeeshops which has birds hanging on poles. He will always prepare his bird with clean cages and I remember those cloths he covers the cages meant that he is meeting his bird friends - those covers were also our props (sp?) when we role play our nuns - Jas.. remember?? haha.

From him, I know all the species of the home reared birds, white-eyed ring, long tailed, hua mei. I know the food to feed each, the little porcelein cups that is around. We watched on as our Dad often bathed his birds in those rectacular cages. How he cuts those newspaper into circles and place them under the cages. When we were young, we will never get lost in shopping malls cos his unique whistle will let us know where to go to. We were also his little birds..

During his last days, he could not keep up with the expenses on his birds anymore. he only kept two, one of which was sickly or handicapped, my Dad took care of it till it became stronger. Not sure what happened to the other.

Corrinemay's aptly put across - born free.

I certainly miss him...

Children's Day break

The children these days are really blessed and fortunate.

this is kk and I's pledge:
we the daddy and mummy of Nathan and Natasha, pledge ourselves to make them so happy, that they will not nag us again to bring them to sentosa ...

But it turned out to be a really great 2 hours at the new palawan beach. I am amaze at how Sentosa is doing reno to be a great entertainment island and yet is able to accomodate usual weekday/weekend crowds..

Mama go jogging

It started 3 months ago when we bought the mahjong table with the tiles to entertain guests when we need to.

Then, we thought of polishing up our skills since Nathan learns how to play from his paternal grandfather. But we were in a situation where we lack one player (KK, Nathan and I only).

Tasha was the only logical choice. after a few practices, she is able to "gao" by herself and dunch play play.. she is the "ze moh" queen.. princess. haha...

Ever since then, the children will say "let's play mama go jogging" and we will be at the table.. am I doing something illegal?

see the God of gambler in the makings...

Snapshot of a good rest

The nursed sandy throat has broken into a cough. A chance to take a break and work from home since it's off peak at the moment.

A 2D1N trip to Bintan two weekends ago was refreshing pleasant. We swam twice a day, took a morning stroll collecting seashells, dip our feet in the cold sea waters, watch naked babies/toddlers, breathe fresh air, no calls, no internet, no puters, make foot prints in the sand, had water massage at the jacuzzi pool, eat, eat and eat. haha, the wonder of real holiday.



the highlight for the trip was we were able to catch the turtle hatchlings release to the sea in front of our villa! AMAzing nature.

a third reminder?

The third death this year.

Shortly after my Dad's death. S.L. (hubby's eldest sis's husband)was hospitalised and admitted to ICU. His lungs then was so fill with water that he could not breathe. He was told that it was his chronic high blood that caused it.
It made sense, I recalled in 1998 when my Dad was admitted, the same thing happened and he made it thru till this year.
When S.L. was warded for further investigation, they found a black dot near his lungs but they could not do an oral biotopsy, and S.L. did not want to get cut. Instead of follow thru with the western docs, he saw a series of Chinese sinseh and hoped to find THE miracle. Everytime we discussed about S.L. (without him) during those times, i'll get irritated and told them that if the dot is not determined, how can any persons save him.
Then, his health deterioted within months... sometimes, he'll be so weak that he could not function well. Finally, it became serious enough and they did a CT scan about a month ago. Apparently, he have had brain cancer two years ago and only recently, it spread to his lymnoid, then to his lungs. The earlier detection of the black dot could be that but because it was "new", everyone thought that he was in the early stage of cancer. By then, it was late. The cancer cells also went to his bones.
Two weeks ago, he went for two ops and two Sats ago, we visited hime. Although he seems tired. It seems like God's only comfort to me when i witness his admission to accept Christ. One of my SIL's pastor came over and prayed with him. It was my heart's desire and God protected it and let me saw that thru.
We had all hopes that he will recover. He went home last Tues but his appetite was so bad that he lost a lot of weight.
He was admitted again on sun and this time, the doctors warn that if he can survive these few days, he'll make it. He didn't this evening.

May God receive his soul readily .. Amen.

blog time

M.I.A-ed for a few weeks.. It have been days of enjoying the not so early morning wakes and a trip back from M'sia.
That was a good break, this June school holiday. Away from all the cares and worries. It seems to be a tad too much this earlier half of the year.

a simple fare

My father in law is 67 years old today according to the lunar calendar. Since we (hubby n I) suggested on where to eat the last time for my mother in law's birthday, it was quite a disaster at Chef Chan We did not raise any opinion as to where to go.

So.. as it turns out, my MIL made a simple steamboat set up and storm up some dishes. Then we had an almond choc cake from Cedele.

It was a nice, relax affair where the kids (Nathan, JX, Sihong, sihao) played majong and the adults watched TV and discussed on the plans on end of year trip. . One family plans to go Disneyland , another family wants to go Japan - hokkaido. The singles are heading Tasmania (*wince* I missed that place!).

Us? we are planning a three weeks stay in New Zealand. - read: planning. I hope it'll happen though. *cross fingers*

Tomorrow, one family heads off to Guangzhou for a company's family day.

Three cheers to the bravest boy in the world

At least to me, Nathan is the bravest boy I have ever seen.

We checked in to the surgery centre at 7.30am, earlier in the morning, we did our prep talk again. My boy simply says that he is ready and not afraid, just a little worried.
The ops took an hour and a half but it took him another 3 hours to recover from the GA. Took almost a full day to truly recover from the side effect of the drugs.
He was okay general until about 11pm to 3am. The pain took over full fledge and he tried his best to endure however cannot help but threw out cries and fits. He was given pain killer - injection, brufen. Together we prayed, sang.. the finale was a lullaby and was sung over again for 45mins before he slept thru from 3am till 7.30am. I suspect he woke up in between but he did not want to wake me up.
He is totally okay in the day, Prof came by at 11am and loosen a little of the tight bandage. And Nathan blurted when asked if he is comfortable. I can tell not only is he relieve, he brightened up saying "urm.. now I can play gameboy". His appetite increase and he was able to handle lunch with a full bowl of porridge and fruit.

Daddy will be taking care of him tonight and since the checks on the BP and temp will be 4hourly instead of hourly last night, they should have no problem sleeping.

hubby called: they are making their way to 7-eleven at this hour *roll eyes*

The readiness:


The culprit:


The aftermath:





The brave boy in the recovery:

Salute to you...

http://joanchanshufang.blogspot.com/

http://www.funkygrad.com/think/displayarticle.php?artID=505&subcat=shout

When I read about Joan Chan's demise in ST today, I sob uncontrollably.
It was not because I am sad that she has passed on, she has gone to a better place. I am so touched that she is so brave. The courage to take it all and persevered despite the odds all these months.
The next thing that came to me was "what about her parents?" They have had such a lovely girl whom must have blessed them with her cheerful disposition, her successful academic and yet have to go before them...
I sob even harder.

God's way is not our way. May God bless and guide us.

the ball game

I have these balls to struggle everyday. Work ball, motherhood ball, daughter ball, daughter in law ball, wife ball...

There are two balls here which I find challenging to cope most times. Motherhood ball vs work ball. They clash constantly and I feel like I've produced half baked results on these two balls most times.

I am ever grateful that God has blessed me with a well paid job with reasonable interesting scope. I am at the same time ever grateful that God bestowed unto me two wonderful children whom till now has not given me mega major headache.

But no matter how hard I try, something will slip. I am recently told that I am not at par with key sales persons working for MNC. granted - I was not given any intensive training gerhma. I was also told that I should be more responsive to my phone calls even when I am on leave.. hmmm... how to take calls when I'm stuck at the pool for 4 hours? Or when I am travelling overseas? I'm not paid with auto roaming ..so?? hiyah.. all these trival work rant.
The gist.. not handling this ball great enough.

then, it turns out. The children were giving my MIL heaps of stress and she started to broadcast to the village of bro and sis in law. Who in turn, started to "attack" me on how inappropriately I taught my kiddos and my maid. There are some serious issue with Natasha's behaviour, that I know. I tried my utmost best to control. But hey, I was not the one who pampers her like an empress then suddenly decided to take her priviledges away. I warned them before.. I also..... I defended away...
THEN, it dawn upon me that my MIL is tired of looking after my children. I empathise with her. My two buggers can be quite a handful if they know that they can take advantage of the situation. They bicker almost from the time they got together till we are around, they do not listen to the old pair, they use loads of emotional blackmail on them... etc.

after a short one night of deliberation, It was with consensus that after June holidays, Tasha will be going to after school care direct from kinder school. Nathan will stay at home after school with my maid. The maid will collect Tasha at 5.45pm from the CC to have dinner. I target to be home at 7.30pm. Plus, me gotta do marketing every week to keep food stock up and cook up more nutritious recipes... why is my head spinning urgh. It's a chore to think of menus.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
on a happier note. Nephew baby Isaac is a chubby dude who has now mastered to do as much tentative smiles as tentative cries.

We went for all ladies ( sis, mum and I) spa out yesterday and those knots on my back are definitely feeling the p-a-i-n. But it was great. It's been a long time since my skin felt like satin.

Rooting time

It's fun this year. To be able to attend all these emotionally evoking rallies and stuff. It's clear by the numbers of people attending the rallies. Although it does not neccessarily signifies the number of votes each parties is gonna get but it certainly shout that we need to hear things that are close to us, the heartlanders.
Politics to me is nothing but words.
Say is cheap, be careful of what you say, you might get sued with what you said, people might not like some of the things you say, what you say may not make sense, say what people like to hear, some say their speech so scripted, say, say, say.

I've heard from both parties. Aiyah, at the end of the day, I just want action lah, yeah I am such a simple person. My flat's paint is wearing out and when it rains, there are bits of those peeling off paints staining the corridors. The walk to the bus terminal is so open that it burns into the skin. Not condusive for elderly to stroll to and fro in the day.

So who will be walk the talk? who will take ownership and improve things like they stay here?

Meanwhile, I will continue to try to "enjoy" my working 24 X 7 X 6 days work week, hope to be still alive when I draw my CPF monies at 62... chase that academic paper with my children.... hope not to fall sick as well.

random

slogan for the week:
Life is easy ... with directions.Travel and living Discovery channel.

I like the sketches when they describe the how-to-dos.. It'll be nice to learn how to sketch like that.

~~~~~
okay, I'm blogging cos I "sinned". I peeped. I promised I won't. sigh. at Nathan's private diary.

BUT, there's only 4 entries since Jan. All of which were on positive notes. It was all happy, fun etc. It comforts me to think he's has a cheerful outlook under our roof. He seems and told me he is but I was just not sure before.

~~~
ohh.. I hear the SDA announcing their start of rally. At last, they are making their prescence felt around here. About time.

The wild side

Our eyes lighted up as soon as we saw the place. Though small, it's a great place and I know from now on, almost every weekend will be spent here. The 10mins walk from our flat is a bonus.
The beginner's course is open to public. $400 for 10 lessons on weekday, 45mins each time. $480 on weekends.
Adult gear would cost $250 to own and children's at $198.
Pretty steep...

Nathan enjoyed the pony ride and is very keen to get on to the beginner's course. That was by far, a first for him to ask for lessons.





For those interested, it's at Pasir Ris Park, Singapore. Car Park C.

We had a whale of time at the B.Gardens for a Classics time out.

Hope that the coming long weekend would be as great. zonking out time now.

The green mother

Sis having reality bites and turning kinda green.

The tiny bully is not letting her have any rest.
It did not help when her confinement nanny was not exactly great in helping her to boost her health back.
Plus my bro in law is somewhat between a stone and a bull, stone cos he does not know what to do, bull when told what to do, refuses to do the harder task. Poor sis single-handedly clean the fan, cook and feed herself, wash clothes and dry them, clean the floor and entertain the sleep-less-than-two-hours-bully.

If I weren't there tonight at 9.30, she would not have a chance to take her dinner till erm .. 10plus? No wonder her complexion is green. Gotta check on her every night till her maid comes.

At these times, I really appreciates my hubby so much more. Even though he ain't that best help but he tries his best all the time for the kids.

hmmmm

Not bad Mona, not bad at all.

I realise that I am not very efficient in marking all that assessment I gave Nathan so Agnes tipped me on how to solve this. Simply by asking him to mark it himself. Cool.
This way, he is motivated to finish up the assessment cos he wants to know his results since HE is doing the marking. double cool.
Phew, and I am soooo taking a break since I have already done the roadmap on his study plan and he will do the execution. *cross fingers* Hope that that motivation last a long long time...

Natasha surprises me in leaps. The funny thing about her is that I have to be constantly be reminded of God's blessings. Thank God for such reminders.
When she was 3plus, she could not read to me the right colour. I was desperate as it was vague if it was colour blind or plainly, don't know, cannot register...
suddenly, one day before going to Nursery school, she ask if the door close is the one in red and the door open is green. And she was right. More testing that night confirms she is NOT colour blind.
Then came recognising alphabets. It seems to me that all her peers (and Nathan) was able to recognise those a-z (not to mention, some were able to read words) but she somehow got rather confused. It was again one day before going to K1 class, she got it all right. No sweat.
This year, I expected spelling and "ting xie" to come at later part of the year so this time, I put her in God's hands. However, her teachers started giving some words, and now sentences since Feb. Tasha gave me no hair-pulling session whilst coaching her. WOW.

I have two wonderful kids. thank God and may HE continue to bless.

Review

Just recap some of the many things had happened in a span of 4 months ...



December 05: most memorable was the Korea trip. I get to hear alot of my children's laughter and kiss my fav star.

Other significant events: New job (culture shock and all), Tasha's 5th BD, my 31st BD, fireworks at Espanade. Christmas at our place with home made Bingo.











Jan was pretty uneventful except for my mum's BD makan session. Brought my Dad to TTS hospital for check up.






Feb...
After a belated reunion dinner, we went for K-session. That's when I last saw my dad alive.

Other memorables: Lilies for post Valentines, CNY, Macy's BD at WWW.






Mar this year will be the unforgettable cos it was horrific-ly super peak at work and that resulted in my absence in visting my parents.
Till now, I still cannot rid the idea that my dad is not around anymore. I miss him a great deal.
It was not suppose to be this way cos my sis and I had been planning for his birthday bash since he would have turn 60 today. All we could not decide was the date as my nephew was due in Mar/Apr.

This April saw my mum accepting Christ, devoting her studies in the bible and praying. I can say that moving on is for the living to do and do it well.

finally did it

After three long months of deliberation, we finally did it!! Look at our new baby that will be delivered in Oct 06. Ain't she a babe?

hello time

It's phone home time these days.

Tasha and her friends are starting their phone home sessions. So far there is only Tamara and Chloe. They yak about nothing really but just enjoy calling each other. The fact is... they are only 5plus years old.

A life to be missed and a life to be cherished

A life to be missed
I have not fully recover my pain from my dad's departure to be with the Lord. Although I have the faith and am very sure that he is in heaven now, I can help but to feel pangs of sadness when I miss him.

When I saw his lifeless body on 16th March 2006 morning, I could not believe that he is gone. In April, he'll be 60 and we had intended to do a big birthday bash for him. He could have waited till then... why didn't he? I wanted to shake him up from his sleep, I was in denial at that point and thought it was all a joke. He would snap open his eyes and let out a laugh. It was only when the paramedics turned his hardened body that I realised that he is really gone. I wanted the clock to turn back to the night before, to pray with him and wish he would stay with us for a few more years. The night before, he was feeling terrible from some medication he had taken to ease the pain from his diabetic medicine, I wasn't there for him cos I thought he could pull it through like before and I would bring him to the hospital on the weekend. Before he passed on peacefully, he tidied up the mattress and blanket he was sleeping on. It seems amazing how he looked, the weight of the world had suddenly disappear and there was minimal wrinkles on his face. But he was alone sleeping in the living room when it happened.

The last time we had dinner was the reunion get together and a karaoke session. He still seemed strong at that time! I can still remember his voice, his laughter, the way he tease my children, his expression from his eyes, whatever he does he always has good intentions. Foolish maybe but never evil... I wished I had done a thousand things but it's all over. No amount of regret can fill back what I could have done. I really miss him.

A life to be cherished

My nephew Isaac was born on 23rd March 2006. It was with lotsa prayer coverage as there were three rounds of umbiblical cord around his neck. Thank God for his blessings on both my sis and him. Look at this cutie pie, I made some winter melon water and this fellow made such a funny expression and the kids were in awed.

trying to be funny?

I ask Nathan to do a science paper just to know what level is he at now.. and we sure had a good laugh over his answer. One of the hilarious one :

Group A: Pig, Chicken
Group B: Lion, Eagle

Q: which of the group do "Man" belong to? Why?

Ans: Group B. Because Man do not live in farms.

to be honest, I am also no good in this subject though I find this answer funny. So what is the answer???

a post-valentine's post

Nothing to talk about on that day actually. there was no flowers, no gifts, no surprises. I gave him a treat a friday before the V-day, wanted to spend the "just-two" time but was interrogated by my son the next day, that's another story.

Anyway, like some ladies out there. I was the one who told him not to get anything but I had hope that he would give me a little surprise, inexpensive but creative enough to make me erm.. pleased? The day started and ended with me having to work on several tenders till abt 10.45pm and then I hit on to my korean serial.

However, I was not bitter not disappointed. there are several gesture that my man always does that makes valentines an every day event.
~ His hugs are generous.
~ He never fail to pour a glass of water for me every evening.
~ I would be the first one he'll call when he has things to share.
~ I complain about aches, he'll massage for free ~ free hand with free style (haha)
~ I whine for ice-cream, 80% of the time, he'll get out there to buy a tub of Ben and Jerry's.
~ He'll fetch me as long as I ask
~ with no occasions, he'll get those mini muffins from Conrad Hotel, good stuff.
~ I suggest a new place to eat, he'll say when.
~ We smooch everyday
~ he's now cooking dinner whilst I am typing this post away.
~ I nag, he'll listen 60% (good enuff liao lah)
~ he's thinking of getting a handphone for me but waiting for the right time.
~ he fixes things in the house.
~ he gives me his opinion on the clothes I wear

many more ... but these are good reminders already that he's my best friend, my consultant, my lover, my husband and the best father I have for my children.

Treasuring what we have

This friend, we fostered through our Cell group, one and half years ago. He was our main guitarist for our song sessions. He was a fine chap, a little on the heavy side but not the obese kind. flashes of memories of his jokes, his laughter, his moustache movement, his wonderful voice, his ever messy hair, the twinkle in his eyes still cause me to choke into a sob... In his mid 40s, there should be many more things to do together. a family trip here, yet another CNY dinner to gather...

But... we could, he was.. cos he had gone to report home to our Father sooner than the rest of us. Earlier than expected, too sudden for us to realise it and reconcile with the fact. My other dear friend, his wife has more to grief.. he wanted to paint the house and discussed about it the night before the Lord called him home. Many things yet undone...
A tiny blood vessel in the brain burst and caused homorraging .. it killed him within that few minutes. After the operation, they had to take off the respiration support to let his body go. I can only be glad with the knowledge that we will meet again in our heavenly home, may God bless us all.

1 Thessalonians 5:2:
2For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night

about work stress and abbreviation

This is an example of how a stressful person under stressful working environment with emails that writes stressful abbreviation reply:

Hi C, what is the AO nbr to put in this order?

Kindly provide the AO nbr to put in the order.

1. To the untrain eye, AO number which returns for google search is
defined as
Allegheny Observatory Number
Search by unique identifier (i.e., running number) assigned to the
individual stars by staff at the Allegheny Observatory. Enter an integer
from 1 to 4 characters. This search will only return one result.
Source: http://digital.library.pitt.edu/parallax/searchparallax.html
2. In the other words, this track of communications makes no sense. I
will appreciate if you can kindly spare my time reading these materials.
3. I only ask for part numbers listed in the orders. While any other
sets of numbers offers opportunities to buy 4D, these are not exactly
requested.
4. I apologise for the spam.

--
AT
System Architect

First Entry in 2006

There's alot that to write but I'm always summarising the events..haha.

Here is a nice family foto during my BD, 'xept Nathan's eye is half shut, as usual:



We started the year with a nice touch at Esplanade. We made it at the very minute they started the laser and fireworks. While watching on the sky show, I noticed my children opened their mouth as they stared at the fireworks. so funny. the first time we brought the kiddos for a fireworks, Tasha wailed her heart out cos the effect was so loud.

What we did the next few days after that was nothing spectacular, prob cos school is starting soon. The good thing is Nathan's school is just 5 minutes walk from my home so our morning schedule would be, now that I have sent my domestic helper back. Waiting for the next one to come but definitely not looking forward *sigh*

6.30am, wake up and prepare breakfast.
6.45am, wake Nathan and let him do his morning stuff (brush teeth, eat, change into uniform). I'll then be able to do a quick shower.
7.10am, walk him to school and make sure he has pocket money
7.20am, wake Natasha to get ready for school. Has to assist her as she is still dependent.
7.45am, drive Tasha to school and go to work from there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

meanwhile, the other updates will be that irritating domestic helper. Almost everyday, I need to yell at her which is something I really hate to do. The longer she works, the worse she gets. After she left, I found a blood stained underwear of hers in the midst of our clothes when I do my laundry. double sigh. I have no confident in the new maid but well, I can just hope, else I really would need to explore any other options that comes along.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We were also looking around for car. What top our list is Toyota Wish. We test drove VW beetle, Peugeot 406, Nissan Latio sports... We'll still wait for a while before committing.

hmmm

Every year, without fail, the world counts down to the end of my birthday. I find that the older I grow, the lesser this occasion is to moi. (do I say this every year??)

Now, a couple of days ago.. i teasingly ask my ahbang to prepare some activities to make the day a surprise and see what he can come out with. Although he is really poor in that department but this sweet fellow did not even try to protest. Working in this new company has improved his sensitivity alot more. a few days ago, he saw that I asked my MIL to come along with us to see count down if we are going somewhere on NY's eve. So he decided to do something impromtu today. no pic cos it was kinda planned by ahbang to be unplanned.. am I getting somewhere with that statement?

No plans, juz go with the flow..

We went to do some mini shopping at Tangs, Isetan, Scotts, Pacific World (spent less that 20 mins in one place).. head down to Liang court's Audio place since my DVD player had given up after 2 years ++ . However, we did not invest in anything expensive on impulse. Then, since Clarke Quay is around the corner, we just checked it out. go with the flow...

We were really taking in all that's there, boy.. so much have changed and it's been sometime since we took time off by ourselves to explore. I particularly enjoyed the "free show" at G-max reverse Bungy thingy some tourist was doing. I might try that one day cos it really looks fun.

Along the way, we checked out the entire stretch of offers on food then decided on Hot Stone steak while we were on the way back to Forbidden City . I guess the latter will wait for another special day.

The food was really scrumptuous but that's besides the point. While we were hanging around for our mud pie, we heard our next table neighbour asking for 1 for 1 promotion birthday treat. Our ears picked up and ahbang found out that the person on birthday month has 1 for 1 main course with UOB card! heh, that's a real treat since we really did not plan on being C&G (cheap and good).

that about wrap up my BD celebration, it's gonna be a family day tomorrow so not so much on BD celebration. But it's nice not having the need to work or take leave :)

~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy NEW YEAR everyone!.. May 2006 be a year of accumulation of fond memories. Cheers!

wat could it be?

my Reporting officer wants to see me at 4pm to discuss "something". Being a perpetual pessimist, my thoughts are running wild.

Could it be that my performance is not up to par?
would I be ask not to blog (read/write) during office hours even if it's freaking boring at work.
Could it be that my KPI is not met thus no bonus?
....

.. what could it be??

work on it!

It was a really great and restful long weekend. recalling some highlights...

Christmas eve:
Had a nice sweet family dinner at Swensens. With topless five, each get to have their fav flavour in the same bowl.

Christmas:
quote of the day (from Tasha): We must remember to say thank you God when we eat today because it's Jesus's birthday.

another reason for family gathering at my place. We organised the games and "Bingo" was a hit. My nephew was the winner and gained $66 and his mum paid $10 for five tickets.
That 45mins was the only period ALL was involved. Usually, this would happen:
5 out 9 children stuck at X-box after a board game (varies between Risk and Monopoly).
1 niece will stick her nose in her book most of her entire attendence.
My daughter and 1 nephew will explore the other many non-electronic games in the house.
1 nephew will be at the computer with the LAN world out there.

4 adults will be together doing dry swimming.
3 ah-sohs (including moi) with Elder ah soh will chat about urm... recent trips, cooking recipes, new school...
the rest will watch Tee Vee or be spectator of the majong game that is going on.

Post Christmas:
great to wake up after a busy day and rest. The children ride their bikes and we roller blade (try to, we ain't any pro) at the nearby park. Hubby was "jioed" to play majong and the children wants to play with their cousins, I had a wonderful afternoon napping, catching up with my Korean serials.

looking forward to the up and coming long weekend :)

reminders:
Since 2005 is coming to an end soon, I have decided to kick my own ass and get some things I've procrastinated, done. Some notes to keep me noted...

1) buy Nathan's new school books ~ done this morning
2) pack up the study cum computer table ~ done yesterday
3) pack up my magazines
4) go through my cookies recipes and stock check ~ done yesterday
5) make choc chop cookies
6) file recipes from magazines and misc.
7) print some pictures and start on the scrapbook x 3, so that children can keep theirs in future and I get to keep mine with ALL pictures in tact : 3 months project.

Ho ho.. it's that time of the year again!

Let's be of good cheer.. Thank God for His great gift.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Ops update

We decided not to go ahead with Nathan's op that was suppose to happen today.

What happened was the charges came as an unpleasant surprise, I received a call on the 21st,

Admission Nurse (AN) : hello Mrs Teo, i'm calling to confirm Nathan's date for the surgery.

Moi: yes, i understand from Dr H that it will be on the 23rd but do we have to fast him from food and water and what time do we have to do that. Also, when do we admit him?

AN: you can restrict his intake on food and water from 11am onwards. By the way, did Dr mentioned to you that he will be doing the surgery at 5.30pm and that is after office hours?

Moi: no.. what does that mean?

AN: that means that if the op takes place during those timing, the patient would need to stay in a one-bedder.

Moi: so.. what are the charges?

AN: about $7000 to $8000.

Moi: er... must he schedule that during that time, we are taking leave to get him to do the op...

AN: perhaps you want to cancel this and get an appointment to see the doctor and discuss this again?

Moi: can I speak to him over the phone?

AN: no..

Back from Ko Ko korea

the ko-dest temp we encountered in Korea was -20, that was on 19th Dec in the morning at 9am. The average temp was -13 degree celcius.
It was a real eye opener for all of us. For me, I learnt more about my children, esp Tasha whom has displayed signs that she has developed some very personal character of which I have not really noticed before.

The bonus for this trip: my dream of white Christmas happened! And I spent it with my loved ones.
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...


the immediate thing I did when I reached home was to thank God for the perfect temperature we have in Singapore and the mattress I have to snooze in.

not sure if i have the mood to do a travelogue. we'll see.

before all of us turn 32

It's been a while since we last met. we met about 19 years ago (gosh!!) and this clique kinda got on rather well even though we parted ways for a while in Sec 3 and 4. Parted more ways in our tertiary days and somehow 3 or 4 years ago, we decided to do a recall and met periodically since then.

I muz try to scan one of the pic we had on the EC beach, when we were all young farts with the idealistic tots about love and life.

Today, one more month before we step into the new year and walk into our 32nd years of life, cheers!

two mummies, one attached, two very single. Guess who fits into the cat.

Rare Primate Pole dancer

a rare sight eh? but wonder why this mini orang-utan has a pained look...

:(

Last night, I hugged and kissed my children nightynight. I ask them if they loved me.
The very instant reaction:
Nathan: yes
Natasha: no la

two heartbeats later,
Nathan: yes, yes.. frown at Tasha
Natasha: okay la, yes la.

I conclude that I am not doing a good job as a mom.

so far in Dec..

The highlights of Dec.

Chestnuts was as nutty as it got. For the entire 2 hours, my cheeks were well exercised, that means during the intermission, I was smiling whilst thinking of the incredible spoof hossan and Jonathan did.
hahahahahahahaha.. Climb mountain every...... by Yoda Hossan

Aiyah, I was so filled with excitement joining a new company after so many years, I forgot about the Estee sales. Anyway, save money la.

Chicken little was a disappointment after all the hype. The only thing I learnt from him is "everyday is a new day". Smile and strive when facing adversity. Nathan says he learnt not to lie. Natasha learnt that Nathan ate more pop corns than him.

New Job.. err... I'm a moaner by nature. So here I go.

it's nuclear concept so I have no cubicle. Only tiny desk, I suppose sales must always be out thus such idea but that means no privacy.. shit.

Totally different type of business, so much to unlearn and relearn. Plus, at this level, I don't get any training at all. I'll just need to swim around and see how to survive. Got to work on 5 items ~ 3 tenders that is due this month.

Some people here has poor, erm very poor EQ. I pardon them but strange culture they have here.
They ask me not to wear heels, the guys here are generally quite short.. in height (what were you thinking?)
No good looking gals or guys.. sigh
Gals here totally don't have any regards for their work clothes. Very different from gals from City. Don't get offended please for those who fit into this category.
Lunch time includes a solemn time out of 10 mins.. nothing to say even in a group of 6 people. Except for the first two days, the heat of Standard Chart's marathon took over the entire 1 hour lunch break.

People here don't lock their notebooks or bags. It's all over the place. they say it's really safe with the highly secured environment. CCTV and access rights. Totally uncomfortable for me.
They even look the contents in your PC whilst you take a break to photocopy stuff.
I am using a very old model of laptop even though we are selling the latest model of hardware, the trackpoint sometimes goes haywire, the RAM is super low thus speed is super slow.

Some of the stuff here are like Tamil to the Mohicans as to me. I am swimming in a lost pool.
People here work 10.30am to 9pm. I prefer 8.30am to 6pm leh.
I really dunch know how long I'll stay...

The good side is:
90% lesser phonecalls and emails. My skin is improving cos lesser stress, I think.

redemption for the pissing session

Got myself feeling so unpleasant previously.

I really should be looking at the brighter side of life.

packed-schedule month coming up:

1 Dec: Revenge of shooting stars, starring Hossan Leong
2 Dec: hope to catch Chicken little with children
3 Dec: Elizabeth Arden sale at Suntec
5 Dec : start work at nice place.
10 Dec: my Ah girl's 5th birthday mini celebration.
11 Dec: Her actual day, will bring her dine out
14-20 Dec: ski tour in Korea wif children
21 Dec: small group christmas dinner at Mansonic Club
23 Dec: Nathan's operation at NUH on his right arm.
25 Dec: Home Christmas get together

CNY in Jan 06, that means the homemade egg roll exercise will start almost immediately after Christmas break.

Pissed

Pissed 1:
We were having dinner at Sakae two couple of nights ago, we had Sukiyaki, some sushi, okonomiyaki, kagiage, Unagi don ... I was famished but he has to give all the negative comments about the food. So irritating. It nearly spoilt my appetite if I did not ask him to stop.
"the soup is not as nice as the one at Wisma"
"the Kagiage is not as nice as the one at orchard"
"the standard dropped so much!"

I remain silent thru out and tried to ignore the large part of the negativity. Cos mostly, he is such.

As a result of non-response, the comments increase and there was not a single nice comments and it would somehow affect the way the food tasted even though it was originally rather palatable.

So I calmly told him that
firstly, Thank God for the spread we have and the luxury of food. Second, these are all wonderful hot food and taste is alright. Thirdly, we never had Kagiage at orchard before, Simei was the first time we had it and that was when I introduced it to him.
Adding that if he does not keep his trap shut, it is really affecting me.

He showed his frustrations that I cannot concur with him so he curl his lips for a while and ate most of his meal in silent.

That was the older man in my household and mind you, that was not the first nor the last. Besides his mum's cooking, his negativity is killing me literally.

Now, I am not saying that one should not even give any comment about food but just be polite, saying it once is more than suffice. Don't expect others to agree.
Plus, I usually do not volunteer my opinion if the food does not deserve 3/4 stars out of 5. I would only voiced it if the food was burnt, overcooked, undercooked and the comments will go straight to the restaurant and not to the people ard me, affecting their appetite.

argh, when will he learn???

Pissed 2:

After presenting the rock, he literally spend 70% of his home time with the PC on soccer results. I would rather have good quality time with him than to spend it with the ring with rock.

Pissed 3:

He was responsible for arranging for Nathan's appointment for ops since September as he laments that he is very free at work, almost bored to death. I had the RFP etc to finished. Till date, he has not given me a single confirmation and he has tai chi it to me when I kept asking him about the status.


Pissed 4:

I reminded him to do more savings since we don't have much and I can see that he is not doing a proactive job in doing that. He hurt me by commenting that we should not have gone for any overseas trip then, erm and I am the payer of the Korea trip we will be making. Co-ordinator as well, spending time to pay the monies, collect the bag, go for the briefing, finding out info... It's not appreciation I am looking, just not attack is good enough. To add to that, I have savings parked aside besides paying for this trip for the family.

Pissed 5:
I will start at my new office on 5 Dec, he kept insisting that I meet this ex-colleague of his. I told him I will do so after settling in. He gave a ton of comments about how good network is impt in the new co unlike my current co. What really cuts me is that he does not understand the depth of my job and why is he giving me so much unneccessary advise?

There, I have rant it all. I am feeling a tad better than before.

how come...

Natasha actually had fever last Friday but she recovered almost immediately so we didn't think much of it. She is one strong young lady.

Then, after a finished a karaoke session with my sis on Tues nite, I was told that Nathan had fever. Our family doc informed us that it is prob viral infection. Then, when I reached home, I realised I was running a temperature too...

So both of us had our fever see-sawing up and down yesterday. due to some event, I still had to report to work. I don't really care much about work liao la... so decided to take abreak and have a real MC for once.


erm.. say only ...

I think I am really poisoned by work, I am still accessing my work email and will be calling one of my client later.

For hubby ~ thank You!!

When we married, we were young and money was really tight. Unlike couples today, a diamond engagement ring is a must before the young lady say yes to walk the aisle. I am no different in yearning for such material things but have never let it rule over our relationship.

Although unspoken, I know that my hubby would like to give me one of those sparkling stone if the time is ripe. Yesterday, he presented me with a solitaire ring, with a lot of engineering research (colourless, minor particles include etc) and love.

I was so touched. Speechless in fact. He rave on about the research he did on diamond but I was already drunk with the love he is showering.

Well done sonny boy

Nathan's results:

English overall: 88. combined from a project work to replace CA2 which got him only 63/100.
SA2 main paper score is 92. unknown of what is the breakdown of oral, listening compre and compo.

Chinese overall: 88.

Mathematics: 98.

Now, I am pretty happy with his results but wondered why his English was pulled down so low.
I understand from the boy that it was a project work about Animals, which I vaguely remembered passing him some brochures for materials. He admitted that he did not do well for the presentation. I don't blame him.

Don't you think kids has it tough these days? Not only must they do well in oral, listening comprehension, composition, written main paper. They must be able to do well in project work plus presenting it with flair.

For hubby ~ Missing You

Phew.... what a racket the thunder created last night.
Good thing you were home to hold and be held. It would have been too traumatic to face such awful night alone.

My ah girl presents ~ hoogabangga

At 4 years and 10 months old. I thought she really did well for this year's concert.
The waiting time for the concert was unfortunately unpleasant, someone accused me of cutting queue but I chose to ignore her.

Anyway, all 5 of us managed to get a good seat and Natasha manage to be performing at the side where we were sitted. Beautiful.

It was an eye feast for that night. All the children did their part intelligently and the pre-nursary caused more commotion than the rest of the performers.