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.

And he's not wrong either

The home assessment really makes my brain work doubly hard.
Some interesting extracts that make us tick.

English:

John use a ______ of soap.
a) bar b) bottle c) box

Nathan's answer: bottle.
Model answer: bar

erm... these days, kids only get to use liquid soap. how long ago was this assessment compiled? dated Mar 2004.

It's been a good 8 years

He turns 8 today. He blew out all the little candles by himself and cut the cake to signify his another year of growth.

As cliche as it sounds, time sped by too fast. It's so different year on year on his expectation of this occasion but I know this child does not mind simplicity. He told me (before I even decide on anything) that he does not want anything but a meal at Sakae Sushi.

The year 8 years ago still lives vividly in my memory. I remembered 3 days after I held him home, I stared intently at him after his breastfeeding session and wondered how I brought a child who resembles somewhat like a baby of precious moments ( in my eyes). How amazing a life could be. And almost every middle of the night, I would somehow subconsciously wake up and make sure he is still breathing. The fear of losing him was so intense.

It's no different today actually. I look at his handsome face and melts when he smile so proudly at some things he has done great or like today, he felt happy that he had just a simple birthday cum extended family gathering with some sushi, pizza and a wonderful choc fudge cake from Jane's cake station.

Oh and I muz put this into record, my dear child knows the word "f**k" and also he is not into keep things from us.
Last nite, hubby and son was playing scabble and I was flipping magazine lazily whilst hearing them play on.

Father: hey, what are you trying to put? there is only space for three letters.
Son: can't I put f-*-*-k here? I know it's a bad word but there IS such word right?

Me, trying my utmost best to suppress a laugh. Locked eye with hubby. Hubby covered mouth to avoid LOL. Son still trying to fix the word in.

Me: urm, I think the word does not exist in the dictionary so it's not an official word. Furthermore, you can't put a bad word in.

Son: issit? but why s-h-i-t is okay but not f..

(you get the idea).

SSSOOOO, he ALREADY knows, despite not teaching him. mind you, we are not a family who spews words like that all over. Not even hokkien ones.

Anyway, this boy does not even bat an eye when he describes how a man and woman makes a baby. The biological way of cos.

Amidst of the guerulling week, I made it. I pluck up my courage to speak to my current RO about my intentions to leave her team.
Her eyes enlarged thrice the normal size it usually was and then it took her seconds to register, recompose and ask for the reason and whereabouts I am heading.
I have got the clearance from the SD from Marketing to join his team but I will be supporting my current group eventually. Well, at least that is the initial plan. We need to track carefully with this cos we are talking about going through 3 very shallow, shortsighted and narrow minded ladies.
haha, the funny thing is that my lateral move, she hopes, will only take place in March 2006! That is as good as my EVP's level when he decides to tender. Am I so indispensable that I can only be release to join the other group then?? Puzzled and looking innocent, I ask. If I were to tender today, clearing my leave and what naughts, I can leave within two weeks time!
She gave the reasons that there's gonna be a reorg soon and it is not fair for the replacement. Hello, if I were her, I will get in the replacement first and when the reorg takes place, let the Dir and the HR worry over the headcounts. Furthermore, I am leaving a gold mine. I have just closed a >0.5 mil worth of WAN deal and my accounts will go into perfect health and even exponential at the end of the FY. If I can even make a decision to leave those to someone else, why can't she let me go and have my life? She just want to meet her own agenda and can't she be more honest about it?

Enough said about this. Think it's just too sad that the org actually let people like them rule.

but anyway, I hope that another job I am pinning on do offers. Then I won't be at the mercy of such internal politics.

*******************************
On a happier note, a new baby is coming on board Mar/Apr 06. It's gonna be a nephew. yay!

Nathan's recent home assessement had been inconsistent, hovering in the 80s. I hope he bucks up as I know that his composition may pull some marks down.

Tasha had been keen to show us some of the movements she'll be doing for the concert. Bum shaking is taking 90% of the entire performance. haha.