Thursday, December 24, 2009
Cambodia
3 air tickets + tax + surchages S$648. Accommodation for 4 nights + airport transfers + daily breakfast + 1 dinner + 1 hour massage for each pax US$160 (S$280).
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
The madness continues.
IS it really possible?
Checked out the price for RTW (round-the-world) tickets for the three people - 1 big, 1 medium and 1 small - was $18K for 13 stops and 16 segments ( not quite sure what the definition of a segment is).
http://www.sixintheworld.com/ travelled round the world for US$87K (about SG$130K).
I think we can do well on a budget of $300/day and If we're going to do it in 2014, we got to put aside 32.5K/yr or 2.7K/mth starting Jan 2010!
Checked out the price for RTW (round-the-world) tickets for the three people - 1 big, 1 medium and 1 small - was $18K for 13 stops and 16 segments ( not quite sure what the definition of a segment is).
http://www.sixintheworld.com/ travelled round the world for US$87K (about SG$130K).
I think we can do well on a budget of $300/day and If we're going to do it in 2014, we got to put aside 32.5K/yr or 2.7K/mth starting Jan 2010!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Travels...
Looking through where we've been this year.
DID
Jan - A cruise ( Port Klang / Phuket)
May - Bali
September - Tokyo
DID NOT
Maldives - the big one went without me because I had an event to run! =(
Wanted to go to India for a wedding - wasn't well and couldn't travel.
Arranged a road trip to Genting / Sunway Lagoon - still not sure if we can.
Thought of going to Korea to ski - too late!!! All tours now fully booked!
OK
So 'I should plan better' next year is going to my 2010 new year's resolution.
Proud to announce I'm already 2-up!
I've booked the flights for Siem Reap (end Jan) and Darwin (end April)
Hip hip hurray! Cambodia
Hip hip hurray! Australia
.......... let me book another one and then we can complete the 3 cheers!
Travel bugs.... I think the big one would much rather prefer I had pms.
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Say you're one of them
What time is it?
The boy received a very generous gift in his goodie-haul ( I won't even say it's a goodie bag!) from Athena's birthday party. A 'Thomas the tank engine' branded "tell the time" learning pack. He was quite interested to 'play' with it. Unfortunately I dragged my feet around it and it took quite a while for me to show him how it works.
Took it out for the 2nd time last night and was delighted he still remembered how to tell time by the hour, know what's "half past", "quarter to" and quarter past". So I showed him how to count by 5's. By the way, these are all marked on the clock. So he's able to quickly identify what's 1:10; 2:25 etc. Challenge will come on a real clock.
Which makes me wonder, when will he discover that the 10 minutes of violin practice I ask of him each day is in fact closer to 20.
Took it out for the 2nd time last night and was delighted he still remembered how to tell time by the hour, know what's "half past", "quarter to" and quarter past". So I showed him how to count by 5's. By the way, these are all marked on the clock. So he's able to quickly identify what's 1:10; 2:25 etc. Challenge will come on a real clock.
Which makes me wonder, when will he discover that the 10 minutes of violin practice I ask of him each day is in fact closer to 20.
Addictions
Current addiction. "kinder bueno". Guardian is selling them really cheap.
$2.80 for a pack of 3. Otherwise, get them from Sheng Siong.
$2.80 for a pack of 3. Otherwise, get them from Sheng Siong.
Friday, December 04, 2009
Violin
He's performing tomorrow!
A colleague loan me her son's tux.
The big one says, "Wear so nice, later............(blar blar blar)"
7dec09update | It went well.
He played 3 pieces. Solo for 'Hunter's Chorus' and as a group, 'Deck the Hall with Boughs of Holly' & 'Jingle Bells'.
A colleague loan me her son's tux.
The big one says, "Wear so nice, later............(blar blar blar)"
7dec09update | It went well.
He played 3 pieces. Solo for 'Hunter's Chorus' and as a group, 'Deck the Hall with Boughs of Holly' & 'Jingle Bells'.
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Real, True or Truth.
So how much of this blog content is real?
If I wrote: The boy played at the playground with 3 boys, all of whom was older than him and got kicked in the butt a couple of times by one of them.
... and ended there, it would be true. That really happened.
If I continued: And when he got kicked the 3rd time, I intervened, shouting at the boy, "Why did you kick him? Can you stop?"
... and ended there, it would be true too.
And then: The other boy replied, " He threw his shoe on my head! On purpose!" to which my boy confirmed, "Yes, on purpose!"
... it would also be true again.
All statements are true and real. But what is the truth?
What if we put this on a time frame, and started on a chronological order, then the story should begin like this: My boy thew his shoe at the other boy's head. In revenge, the boy kicked him in the butt a couple of times.... but it would be technically not be true, because the story only begun when I noticed he was being kicked.
And so we dice up time to find the truth?
But what is the truth we are looking for? The motivation for the action? Which one? The butt-kicker or the shoe-thrower?
Later, I asked the boy, "So why did you throw you shoe at the other boy?". His response was, "I don't know.. I just open my hands and let the shoe drop on his head."
A simple truth.
If I wrote: The boy played at the playground with 3 boys, all of whom was older than him and got kicked in the butt a couple of times by one of them.
... and ended there, it would be true. That really happened.
If I continued: And when he got kicked the 3rd time, I intervened, shouting at the boy, "Why did you kick him? Can you stop?"
... and ended there, it would be true too.
And then: The other boy replied, " He threw his shoe on my head! On purpose!" to which my boy confirmed, "Yes, on purpose!"
... it would also be true again.
All statements are true and real. But what is the truth?
What if we put this on a time frame, and started on a chronological order, then the story should begin like this: My boy thew his shoe at the other boy's head. In revenge, the boy kicked him in the butt a couple of times.... but it would be technically not be true, because the story only begun when I noticed he was being kicked.
And so we dice up time to find the truth?
But what is the truth we are looking for? The motivation for the action? Which one? The butt-kicker or the shoe-thrower?
Later, I asked the boy, "So why did you throw you shoe at the other boy?". His response was, "I don't know.. I just open my hands and let the shoe drop on his head."
A simple truth.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Cookies
Attempted to make corn flakes cookies on Sunday. Ended up making... (i) almonds with orange peel cookies, (ii) almond chocolate chocolate chip cookies and (iii) honey star almond cookies.
(i) nice but could do with less almonds and more orange peels
(ii) burnt.
(iii) left it in the oven to cool down and it became too dry.
Didn't realize making cookies are so fun and deliciously simple.
Now let's see... what other flavours can I make using whatever's in my fridge?
- Chili & cheese cookies
- Kimchi cookies ( using leftover flavouring packs from our Korean instant noodles?? )
- Umeshu plums cookies
- Miso & seaweed cookies
- Pepper & sesame cookies
...........whaaaaaa so Exciting!!!
(i) nice but could do with less almonds and more orange peels
(ii) burnt.
(iii) left it in the oven to cool down and it became too dry.
Didn't realize making cookies are so fun and deliciously simple.
Now let's see... what other flavours can I make using whatever's in my fridge?
- Chili & cheese cookies
- Kimchi cookies ( using leftover flavouring packs from our Korean instant noodles?? )
- Umeshu plums cookies
- Miso & seaweed cookies
- Pepper & sesame cookies
...........whaaaaaa so Exciting!!!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Shooting star
The boy was up bright and cheery again.. at 1am. I decided to accompany him for a bit - at his favourite sleeping spot - which is a darn dangerous spot to be - but he has been sleeping there since forever. He sleeps on the window ledge / bay window in our room. It's about 7X2 ft or thereabouts. Definitely smaller than a single bed and no, it's not padded with anything soft but he likes to sleep there of all places. When his Ah Gong found out where he had been sleeping every night, he freaked out and added some bars to narrow the gaps in the window grills. Anyway, I squeezed myself into his little spot and we talked for a bit.
It's quite an amazing space to be sleeping in I must say. You get the breeze plus the view is nice. And on this particularly cloudless night, there were so many starts to see! So I was telling him how people used to find their way home in the night by following the stars... and then I saw it, for the very first time in my life! A shooting star!!! A celestial firework !!! This singular streak of bright light in the dark put me in so much awe... it was so simple, yet so amazing to witness.
So thank you for waking me up at 1am and for sharing your little space under the sky with me. I made a little wish for you. They say wishes made on shooting stars always will come true. So just remember, it's been recorded.
It's quite an amazing space to be sleeping in I must say. You get the breeze plus the view is nice. And on this particularly cloudless night, there were so many starts to see! So I was telling him how people used to find their way home in the night by following the stars... and then I saw it, for the very first time in my life! A shooting star!!! A celestial firework !!! This singular streak of bright light in the dark put me in so much awe... it was so simple, yet so amazing to witness.
So thank you for waking me up at 1am and for sharing your little space under the sky with me. I made a little wish for you. They say wishes made on shooting stars always will come true. So just remember, it's been recorded.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Bringing the bread home.
The boy was up bright and cheery this morning.
(There's nothing for breakfast!)
I asked if he could buy a loaf of bread from the vending machine downstairs.
"By myself?"
"Yes."
" OK!"
I gave three coins totalling $2.50. The boy dashed out of the house. By himself.
I watched him from our windows. Saw him run all the way to the machine, stay there 3 seconds, and run back! Without any bread! The security guard followed.
>>> Oh no! What did he do? Why is the security guard following him? Oh no! Is he a pedophile?!!?! Decided to go rescue my boy!
The lift was on the way up. I waited. Door opens and out spills the boy! He sees me, explains, " I NEED ONE TEN CENTS .... "
Couldn't understand his excitement. Told him the machine will give him the right change and he doesn't have to put in the exact amount. He nods and rushes into the lift again. I followed.... ( just in case). Boy runs for the machine again. By the time I got there, he was frowning. "CANNOT!" He says.
Arh... That loaf costs $3. You only have $2.50.
Eventually we settled for a $2.30 loaf of bread.
Later, he ate the stawberry danish bread I bought from the deli @ Pan Pacific Hotel last night.
Had totally forgotten we do have something for breakfast!
Good morning!
(There's nothing for breakfast!)
I asked if he could buy a loaf of bread from the vending machine downstairs.
"By myself?"
"Yes."
" OK!"
I gave three coins totalling $2.50. The boy dashed out of the house. By himself.
I watched him from our windows. Saw him run all the way to the machine, stay there 3 seconds, and run back! Without any bread! The security guard followed.
>>> Oh no! What did he do? Why is the security guard following him? Oh no! Is he a pedophile?!!?! Decided to go rescue my boy!
The lift was on the way up. I waited. Door opens and out spills the boy! He sees me, explains, " I NEED ONE TEN CENTS .... "
Couldn't understand his excitement. Told him the machine will give him the right change and he doesn't have to put in the exact amount. He nods and rushes into the lift again. I followed.... ( just in case). Boy runs for the machine again. By the time I got there, he was frowning. "CANNOT!" He says.
Arh... That loaf costs $3. You only have $2.50.
Eventually we settled for a $2.30 loaf of bread.
Later, he ate the stawberry danish bread I bought from the deli @ Pan Pacific Hotel last night.
Had totally forgotten we do have something for breakfast!
Good morning!
Monday, November 23, 2009
No choice?
The boy didn't want to go to school this morning...
> Ok. Let's go for breakfast. Then I'd bring you back home.
Boy: What about you?
> I'd go to work.
Boy: Me?
> You stay at home. Do nothing.
Boy: Myself?
> Yes.
Boy: Ok, I go to school.
*phew*
> Ok. Let's go for breakfast. Then I'd bring you back home.
Boy: What about you?
> I'd go to work.
Boy: Me?
> You stay at home. Do nothing.
Boy: Myself?
> Yes.
Boy: Ok, I go to school.
*phew*
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Clarks Sale
Accompanied the big one and the little one to the Clarks shoe sale at Safra Tampines earlier... http://sg.shoppingnsales.com/2009/11/21-22-november-2009-clarks-warehouse-sale/
they both got a pair each. Nothing for the mama. Go early, else the queue gets so ridiculously long, it'd take you 2 hours just to get into the mayhem.
they both got a pair each. Nothing for the mama. Go early, else the queue gets so ridiculously long, it'd take you 2 hours just to get into the mayhem.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Crazy boy
... latest online gaming craze : http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/games/ben10/battleready/index.html
Thursday, November 19, 2009
A song from Pocahontas...
The earth is cold, the fields are bare
The branches fold against the wind that's everywhere
The birds move on so they survive
When snow so deep the bears all sleep to keep themselves alive
They do what they must for now and trust in their plan
If I trust in mine somehow I might find who I am
But where do I go from here
So many voices ringing in my ears
Which is the voice that I was meant to hear
How will I know
Where do I go... from here?
My world has changed and so have I
I've learnt to choose and even learn to say goodbye
The path ahead so hard to see
It winds and bends but where it ends depends on only me
In my heart I don't feel part of so much I''ve know
Now it seems it's time to start a new life on my own
But where do I go from here?
So many voices ringing in my ear
Which is the voice that I was meant to hear
How will I know
Where do I go... from here?
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Cafe Oliv @ 220 East Coast Road
Not too expensive place. Set lunch (salmon linguini) starts at $10.90 - comes with soup & drink. Generous portions too! Out of the kitchen came a really yummy bowl of mushroom soup with 2 pieces of toast, a big plate of pasta with a decent portion of fish & freshly brewed coffee. The 'Executive set lunch' (pork ribs) was pricer but come with an extra course - dessert! No GST!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Werner's Oven
Popped over there for dinner today, with the boy. Haven't been here in ages... think the last time was when the boy was still feeding on ... me ?!! (".)
Digress... bumped into another mom who didn't have to go to work today and we had a morning cuppa together. Gossiping mostly about the school. Same dilemma we had. Our kids were HAPPY in that school, but they don't seem to be learning very much there. i.e still cannot read, still cannot spell. That said, neither of us had sent our kids to any extra "I can read" lessons. I kept thinking now's not the time to worry about it, till another mom showed me a Primary 1 Maths question > Tom has six sweets and shares them equally with his two friends. How many sweets does each of them get? > I would have failed this by the way, thinking the answer was 3? No. 2. Because it was "shared equally".. and so I shared this 'problem' with the mom and she was happily telling me how to arrive at the answer till I exclaimed, "BUT THEY HAVE TO KNOW HOW TO READ FIRST!!!!"
Anyway, back to Werner's Oven. Boy was given a Kid's Menu (Kinderkarte). He made me go through the list with him... then decided what he wanted. Surprise surprise!!!... when the waiter came, the boy pointed to item number 3, underlined the words with his fingers and read slowly, "PORK SAUSAGE SERVED WITH ....*pause* (waiter waited.......) FRIES!" . Drink? MILK and Ice-cream flavour? CHOCOLATE.
Ok... so now I realized he can read some. Plus, he wanted to share "HALF" my buttered roll. Right... some mathematical concept there? Except really, I didn't have the heart to point out that the "HALF" he took was the BIGGER 'half' ?
He ate well and when he was done, he requested for the ice-cream. Since he had been so brave and fantastic throughout dinner, I told him so and asked him to request for an extra spoon, for me to share his ice-cream with.
He shook his head.
And then I thought, what reading? what writing? He'd be fine!
Digress... bumped into another mom who didn't have to go to work today and we had a morning cuppa together. Gossiping mostly about the school. Same dilemma we had. Our kids were HAPPY in that school, but they don't seem to be learning very much there. i.e still cannot read, still cannot spell. That said, neither of us had sent our kids to any extra "I can read" lessons. I kept thinking now's not the time to worry about it, till another mom showed me a Primary 1 Maths question > Tom has six sweets and shares them equally with his two friends. How many sweets does each of them get? > I would have failed this by the way, thinking the answer was 3? No. 2. Because it was "shared equally".. and so I shared this 'problem' with the mom and she was happily telling me how to arrive at the answer till I exclaimed, "BUT THEY HAVE TO KNOW HOW TO READ FIRST!!!!"
Anyway, back to Werner's Oven. Boy was given a Kid's Menu (Kinderkarte). He made me go through the list with him... then decided what he wanted. Surprise surprise!!!... when the waiter came, the boy pointed to item number 3, underlined the words with his fingers and read slowly, "PORK SAUSAGE SERVED WITH ....*pause* (waiter waited.......) FRIES!" . Drink? MILK and Ice-cream flavour? CHOCOLATE.
Ok... so now I realized he can read some. Plus, he wanted to share "HALF" my buttered roll. Right... some mathematical concept there? Except really, I didn't have the heart to point out that the "HALF" he took was the BIGGER 'half' ?
He ate well and when he was done, he requested for the ice-cream. Since he had been so brave and fantastic throughout dinner, I told him so and asked him to request for an extra spoon, for me to share his ice-cream with.
He shook his head.
And then I thought, what reading? what writing? He'd be fine!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Blessed
Somehow got embroiled in one of the things I hate most - EVENTS! It starts on Monday. But I'm feeling very blessed. 9 out of the 10 presentations have arrived in my inbox. The entertainment company managed to reach me - something which dropped off my long list of things to do and so we have that now. Phew! Am also working with an extremely reliable PLUS flexible events company for audio-visual support - used to work with the lady I am liasing with now, back when we were both in the ad agency ( the one that provided us with a 3ft desk space!). She knows my "kwan" and I know hers...so all's good. And then everything that pops up, somehow gets resolved... Speaker wants live voting? Got! Exactly enough sets for the number of delegates we have. Phew! Hit by a stomach bug and had to stay home for 2 days this week? There were people I could 'remote control' from home. Thank God for them! No door gift? Oh - somebody had extra company branded leather passport holders...and enough for me to help myself to! Blessed.
There's still many days and many things can still go wrong but come what may, I should still be thankful for whatever that has been showered on me.
It's been a difficult few weeks. Had to let go of two people in my team in Australia. Not something ever good to do but they made it easy for me. Bless them.
I bought a bottle of mineral water + a Snapple ( Mango Madness flavour) for myself this morning and remember feeling so blessed I can afford those things without even thinking.
Maybe this is the aftermath of not feeling so alive the past few days.
I'm all good now.
Thank you!
There's still many days and many things can still go wrong but come what may, I should still be thankful for whatever that has been showered on me.
It's been a difficult few weeks. Had to let go of two people in my team in Australia. Not something ever good to do but they made it easy for me. Bless them.
I bought a bottle of mineral water + a Snapple ( Mango Madness flavour) for myself this morning and remember feeling so blessed I can afford those things without even thinking.
Maybe this is the aftermath of not feeling so alive the past few days.
I'm all good now.
Thank you!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Yesterday's Today. Page 28
"Focus on the family by Dr. James Dobson - Compensating for handicaps - In their now classic study called 'Cradles of eminence", Victor and Mildred Goertzel investigated the home backgrounds of 400 highly successful people... to identify the early experiences that may have contributed to greatness... subjects are well known .. Einstein, Freud, Winston Churchill.... three-fourths of them came from troubled childhoods; enduring poverty, broken homes, or parental abuse. One-fourth had physical handicaps and most of the writers and playwrights had watched their parents get embroiled in psychological dramas....concluded that the need to compensate for disadvantages was a major factor in the struggle for personal achievement...."
Losing weight challenge
A stomach bug hit both me and the boy.
> So I'm 2kg lighter thanks to it.
What a way to kickstart a weight loss!
> So I'm 2kg lighter thanks to it.
What a way to kickstart a weight loss!
Uniform...
The boy was 'automatically confirmed' a place next year as a piece of good news #1 in a note he carried home from school last week. I sent them a note today, saying we will be withdrawing him from the school at the end of the year.
Received a long sms from the school director's wife / co-owner / administrator / teacher "Hello Carrie! Got your letter. Aiyo really withdraw because of uniform ah? K2 oredi don't let this affect his sch preparation lah..Actually all gd schs hve uniform right..Other than not implementing the uniform, anything else we do to help as far as the uniform is concerned? We'll do our best to ensure his devt n education nds are not compromised. Afterall, hve know (the big one) since way bck. Let us know how we can help. Tks!"
Actually, we have been toying with the idea for a while to move him to another school for next year. While it's a great place for younger kids, informal, the teachers are nice and it's housed in a semi-detached bungalow with an open play ground in the front, sand pit shaded by a huge mango tree at the side and a water play area in the backyard, we found out that many times this year, they had combined K1 & K2 classes together. Maybe it happens everywhere when teachers for those classes call in sick? Another thing, the layout for the K2 class - it doesn't have it's own room, just a partitioned section in the 'living room' located right after the main entrance. I know the boy will be interested in everything else that is going on rather than what is going on - not really conducive for learning me thinks. Friendly as she is, the school director's wife / co-owner / administrator / teacher is also their K2 English teacher. Her sms scares me even though I know she meant it to be informal.
Sent her an sms back "Hi there, thanks for the note. Appreciate your concern. The uniform is not even an issue. Really. It's just that logistically, we need to move him near my parent's place which is within walking distance. Easier for the folks looking after 3 small kids with different collection times. Hope you understand. Br, Carrie"
Received a long sms from the school director's wife / co-owner / administrator / teacher "Hello Carrie! Got your letter. Aiyo really withdraw because of uniform ah? K2 oredi don't let this affect his sch preparation lah..Actually all gd schs hve uniform right..Other than not implementing the uniform, anything else we do to help as far as the uniform is concerned? We'll do our best to ensure his devt n education nds are not compromised. Afterall, hve know (the big one) since way bck. Let us know how we can help. Tks!"
Actually, we have been toying with the idea for a while to move him to another school for next year. While it's a great place for younger kids, informal, the teachers are nice and it's housed in a semi-detached bungalow with an open play ground in the front, sand pit shaded by a huge mango tree at the side and a water play area in the backyard, we found out that many times this year, they had combined K1 & K2 classes together. Maybe it happens everywhere when teachers for those classes call in sick? Another thing, the layout for the K2 class - it doesn't have it's own room, just a partitioned section in the 'living room' located right after the main entrance. I know the boy will be interested in everything else that is going on rather than what is going on - not really conducive for learning me thinks. Friendly as she is, the school director's wife / co-owner / administrator / teacher is also their K2 English teacher. Her sms scares me even though I know she meant it to be informal.
Sent her an sms back "Hi there, thanks for the note. Appreciate your concern. The uniform is not even an issue. Really. It's just that logistically, we need to move him near my parent's place which is within walking distance. Easier for the folks looking after 3 small kids with different collection times. Hope you understand. Br, Carrie"
Friday, October 23, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Losing weight challenge
4 of the 6 contestants had a chance to do a weigh in yesterday on the same official scales. The one who had been starved by her husband ( because as he said, it was his money, since she's not working and therefore has a stake on it) lost 3kg.
The second person lost 0.5kg... apparently second person had lost 1.5kg but 'accidentally' ate 5 meals the day before, negating 1 kilo in loss.
The third lost 2kg - but that's only less than 0.02% of the third person's original body weight. Not really a threat me thinks.
Then came me... the scale hovered at a 0.5kg change momentarily and then thankfully settled on a zero change. I didn't lose any weight but thankful because it could have been +0.5kg.
The -3KG, declared once again that anyone who gained weight during this challenge will have to be fined!
I looked her up and down and then asked, "You lost 3kg... from where?"
*Sigh*
The second person lost 0.5kg... apparently second person had lost 1.5kg but 'accidentally' ate 5 meals the day before, negating 1 kilo in loss.
The third lost 2kg - but that's only less than 0.02% of the third person's original body weight. Not really a threat me thinks.
Then came me... the scale hovered at a 0.5kg change momentarily and then thankfully settled on a zero change. I didn't lose any weight but thankful because it could have been +0.5kg.
The -3KG, declared once again that anyone who gained weight during this challenge will have to be fined!
I looked her up and down and then asked, "You lost 3kg... from where?"
*Sigh*
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Headline news!
Wah.... the theft below made headline news in The New Paper today! Page 1-3.
>>> Barista's name is ROMEO!!!
>>> and oh, if you see some cowardly bystanders in the backgroud, blured images of people sitting on the chairs outside Spinelli? One of them is me.
>>> Barista's name is ROMEO!!!
>>> and oh, if you see some cowardly bystanders in the backgroud, blured images of people sitting on the chairs outside Spinelli? One of them is me.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Response time
Was having a coffee with my boss when all of a sudden, we hear the glass door behind us SLAM open. Man ran out, followed by the barista, followed by the lady from the pushcart stall. She was screaming "THIEF! CATCH THE THIEF!". Man was cornered by the barista and desperate, threw the loot at him and made a dash for it. Barista caught the man and in the struggle, I saw the man dig something out of his pocket. I went, "Oh Shit!" and the man started making stabs at the barista with that something from his pocket. I went, "Oh Shit! He's stabbing him with a knife!" The world's bravest barista continue to struggle with the man and managed press him down onto the floor. Some bystanders help with holding him down. It was drizzling. A couple of building security guards came by long minutes later and started radio-ing for the police. They examine the man on barrista and the man on the ground. Soon, more building security guards came by, and one, I assume was the 'supervisor', sauntered towards the scene and even made sure he walked under the walkway to avoid the by now heavier drizzle. Man was still struggling some. The barista at one point screamed into his ear, "LIE DOWN! LIE DOWN NOW!!!!!!!!" A photographer started snapping pictures. She took photos from all angles... More minutes passed. She finally had all the photos she needed - and asked for an umbrella for the barista. Barista's colleague came out with the brolly and some cable ties. The barista tried to get it onto the man's hands...he struggled, more groans and screaming and then I saw the photographer asking the barista's colleague to move aside so that she can take more pictures!?! 3 dozen people are now watching. Waiting, for the police to arrive. Where are they? Wow. We continue watching, my boss and I. He muttered, "Fucking useless police!". I had to agree. This is waayyy too long a reasonable response time. More security personnel arrived and even more people gathered to watch. Eventually, some many more long minutes later, the police arrived. One skinny policeman. He handcuffed the guy and then waited some more for backup. Barrista still helping to press down the man. Another skinny policeman came and they led him away. Our brave and very drenched barista quietly went back to his work. People started leaving. The loot, together with the man's glasses and the weapon lay lying on the floor. I asked the barrista what the guy had and whether he was hurt. There were some scratches on his neck. He said, "Screwdriver". *I shuddered*. My boss and I, we left. On the way through the building, we saw paramedics with a stretcher arriving. My boss and I, we looked at each other and started laughing.
I've always imagine myself living in a very safe city and should any one need to call the police, that they would arrive within 3 minutes flat...or 5 minutes at the very most.
That imagination of mine has been totally shattered.
Safety net? Removed.
Thank god for the brave citizens who walk amongst us. They are few and far between and I hope that we are blessed enough to meet these godsent souls at our moment of need.
Other notes:
I have been tested on a few occasions - and it's aways turns up " bystander-positive". My DNA leans towards flight rather than fight. The Big One is more of a fight rather than flight composite. Therefore, whenever we 'quarrel', I tend to leave the scene, leaving him alone to fight with nobody. Frustrating for him I suppose.
I've always imagine myself living in a very safe city and should any one need to call the police, that they would arrive within 3 minutes flat...or 5 minutes at the very most.
That imagination of mine has been totally shattered.
Safety net? Removed.
Thank god for the brave citizens who walk amongst us. They are few and far between and I hope that we are blessed enough to meet these godsent souls at our moment of need.
Other notes:
I have been tested on a few occasions - and it's aways turns up " bystander-positive". My DNA leans towards flight rather than fight. The Big One is more of a fight rather than flight composite. Therefore, whenever we 'quarrel', I tend to leave the scene, leaving him alone to fight with nobody. Frustrating for him I suppose.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Uniform
Definition of UNIFORM
taken from http://www.dictionary.com/
–adjective
1. identical or consistent, as from example to example, place to place, or moment to moment: uniform spelling; a uniform building code.
2. without variations in detail: uniform output; a uniform surface.
3. constant; unvarying; undeviating: uniform kindness; uniform velocity.
4. constituting part of a uniform: to be issued uniform shoes.
5. Mathematics. occurring in a manner independent of some variable, parameter, function, etc.: a uniform bound.
–noun
6. an identifying outfit or style of dress worn by the members of a given profession, organization, or rank.
7. a word used in communications to represent the letter U.
–verb (used with object)
8. to make uniform or standard.
9. to clothe in or furnish with a uniform.
++++++++++++++++++++++
Received a letter from the boy's school, informing us that they were pleased to announce their much anticipated school uniform that from 2010, all kids will be required to wear the uniform to school and that it can be purchased for $25/set and that parents should order by 12th October.
That was yesterday. The teacher called, asking me the status of my order.
I told her I wasn't going to order any. My reasons:
- One of the reasons why I choose this school was because they didn't dress their kids up in uniform.
- That I don't agree that this is training for Primary 1 because nobody needs to learn how to wear uniforms. ( apparently this reason was given to my father)
- That it doesn't help the kid learn better or worse - there is no benefit from being in uniform.
- He has only 1 more year to go. It is a waste for us to get enough sets of uniform just so it can be used for 1 year.
I suggested:
(a) I will get 1 set if it's for the purpose of better identifying the kids when they go out for excursions.
(b) That they consider phasing in this exercise.
The principal/owner called me today, saying that she has received my feedback. She said that there was no benefit to them embarking on this exercise to dress kids up in their school uniform and that it was on requests of parents.
- I told her I have never requested for it, was never ever informed about these requests by other parents, nor ever surveyed about it. Finally, that I do not agree to it, repeated my reasons. ( see above)
She said it was not possible to phase it. They cannot do that and ask that I purchase 1 or 2 sets of uniform.
- I told her I don't do laundry every day, nor every other day.
She said to get 4 sets then.
- Again I told her I do not see a good reason for having uniforms in the first place, that I have been supportive of their initiatives all along over these past years and finally, that she should consider the phasing-in suggestion.
She said it was not possible.
- I told her I see her point and hope she sees mine and then ended the conversation politely.
taken from http://www.dictionary.com/
–adjective
1. identical or consistent, as from example to example, place to place, or moment to moment: uniform spelling; a uniform building code.
2. without variations in detail: uniform output; a uniform surface.
3. constant; unvarying; undeviating: uniform kindness; uniform velocity.
4. constituting part of a uniform: to be issued uniform shoes.
5. Mathematics. occurring in a manner independent of some variable, parameter, function, etc.: a uniform bound.
–noun
6. an identifying outfit or style of dress worn by the members of a given profession, organization, or rank.
7. a word used in communications to represent the letter U.
–verb (used with object)
8. to make uniform or standard.
9. to clothe in or furnish with a uniform.
++++++++++++++++++++++
Received a letter from the boy's school, informing us that they were pleased to announce their much anticipated school uniform that from 2010, all kids will be required to wear the uniform to school and that it can be purchased for $25/set and that parents should order by 12th October.
That was yesterday. The teacher called, asking me the status of my order.
I told her I wasn't going to order any. My reasons:
- One of the reasons why I choose this school was because they didn't dress their kids up in uniform.
- That I don't agree that this is training for Primary 1 because nobody needs to learn how to wear uniforms. ( apparently this reason was given to my father)
- That it doesn't help the kid learn better or worse - there is no benefit from being in uniform.
- He has only 1 more year to go. It is a waste for us to get enough sets of uniform just so it can be used for 1 year.
I suggested:
(a) I will get 1 set if it's for the purpose of better identifying the kids when they go out for excursions.
(b) That they consider phasing in this exercise.
The principal/owner called me today, saying that she has received my feedback. She said that there was no benefit to them embarking on this exercise to dress kids up in their school uniform and that it was on requests of parents.
- I told her I have never requested for it, was never ever informed about these requests by other parents, nor ever surveyed about it. Finally, that I do not agree to it, repeated my reasons. ( see above)
She said it was not possible to phase it. They cannot do that and ask that I purchase 1 or 2 sets of uniform.
- I told her I don't do laundry every day, nor every other day.
She said to get 4 sets then.
- Again I told her I do not see a good reason for having uniforms in the first place, that I have been supportive of their initiatives all along over these past years and finally, that she should consider the phasing-in suggestion.
She said it was not possible.
- I told her I see her point and hope she sees mine and then ended the conversation politely.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Vicious
It's getting vicious...
We were all happily eating and pigging out. Till somebody spotted an old photo and commented on how slim they were before. Big ass me was like, "Wait till you see mine!"
As it ended, 6 of us decided to put our weight behind a wager. The prize? $1,500 for whoever loses the most weight by X'mas day.
M the housewife has decided to spit taunts on us daily with announcements like 'I've swam 100 laps in my pool' ( and no, it's not a bath tub) or 'I've just jogged 5.5km while you gals slog at work"
I announced she's the rabbit and I'm the tortoise in this race. So I will win eventually.
Also tried to counter her spits with some guerrilla tactics, announcing, "I've eaten chips and Norwegian chocolates!" or "The bubble green tea I'm having is delicious!" ( actually they are all true! )
She wouldn't bite. Even suggest that there should be double penalty for NO weight loss.
I had to clamp that!
Sent her an sms "and what? Double your annual salary?"
Her response? "Eat my dust, tortoise!"
Ooooooooo!
We were all happily eating and pigging out. Till somebody spotted an old photo and commented on how slim they were before. Big ass me was like, "Wait till you see mine!"
As it ended, 6 of us decided to put our weight behind a wager. The prize? $1,500 for whoever loses the most weight by X'mas day.
M the housewife has decided to spit taunts on us daily with announcements like 'I've swam 100 laps in my pool' ( and no, it's not a bath tub) or 'I've just jogged 5.5km while you gals slog at work"
I announced she's the rabbit and I'm the tortoise in this race. So I will win eventually.
Also tried to counter her spits with some guerrilla tactics, announcing, "I've eaten chips and Norwegian chocolates!" or "The bubble green tea I'm having is delicious!" ( actually they are all true! )
She wouldn't bite. Even suggest that there should be double penalty for NO weight loss.
I had to clamp that!
Sent her an sms "and what? Double your annual salary?"
Her response? "Eat my dust, tortoise!"
Ooooooooo!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Overheard...
A colleague lambasting another:
Why ? Why you have to wear your sunglasses like that? Is your future so bright? Shall I dim it for you?
... Classic!
Why ? Why you have to wear your sunglasses like that? Is your future so bright? Shall I dim it for you?
... Classic!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Your son
My mother: " Your son said HE GOT LOST?"
Er... yes.... Er... How did you know?
He told me!
How come?
I asked him whether he got lost and he told me he did... and that he cried.
Yep, he did cry. And apparently he cried as loud as you can possibly imagine it. (So the father, who found him 40 metres away and sobbing in the arms of a Disneysea guide, tells me)
Er... yes.... Er... How did you know?
He told me!
How come?
I asked him whether he got lost and he told me he did... and that he cried.
Yep, he did cry. And apparently he cried as loud as you can possibly imagine it. (So the father, who found him 40 metres away and sobbing in the arms of a Disneysea guide, tells me)
And we are back...
...from Tokyo, from Disneyland, from Disneysea, from clean toilets and most importantly, from exorbitant prices.
Some notes:
- Go only if you are at least 102cm tall ... otherwise you won't meet the minimum height requirement for most rides. The shows at Disneysea are all very good! I enjoyed them all. Some 3 or 4 rides had a minimum 117cm height requirement.
- Collect as many fastpass as you can - I think the limit is 1 fastpass issued per 2 hour block but it's worth the walk. Otherwise, the wait per ride easily goes past 100 mins each - quite horrible when a 5 year old relentlessly entertains himself during those long waits by doing all sorts of crazy stuns on the railings.
- Water fountains aplenty.. thanks goodness for that but be prepared to spend around $10-18/head/meal and by meal, it's just some quick bites from the food kiosks i.e a burger and 1 standard drink.
- Impossible to do it all in a single day so don't make yourself miserable when you fail to do so.
Some notes:
- Go only if you are at least 102cm tall ... otherwise you won't meet the minimum height requirement for most rides. The shows at Disneysea are all very good! I enjoyed them all. Some 3 or 4 rides had a minimum 117cm height requirement.
- Collect as many fastpass as you can - I think the limit is 1 fastpass issued per 2 hour block but it's worth the walk. Otherwise, the wait per ride easily goes past 100 mins each - quite horrible when a 5 year old relentlessly entertains himself during those long waits by doing all sorts of crazy stuns on the railings.
- Water fountains aplenty.. thanks goodness for that but be prepared to spend around $10-18/head/meal and by meal, it's just some quick bites from the food kiosks i.e a burger and 1 standard drink.
- Impossible to do it all in a single day so don't make yourself miserable when you fail to do so.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Virtual
Virtual meetings...
VIRTUAL:
definitions from www.dictionary.com
1. Existing or resulting in essence or effect though not in actual fact, form, or name: the virtual extinction of the buffalo.
2. Existing in the mind, especially as a product of the imagination. Used in literary criticism of a text.
3. Computer Science Created, simulated, or carried on by means of a computer or computer network: virtual conversations in a chatroom
So a virtual meeting is not real although in essence it exists and it might also only just be a figment of our imagination.
Hilarious!
VIRTUAL:
definitions from www.dictionary.com
1. Existing or resulting in essence or effect though not in actual fact, form, or name: the virtual extinction of the buffalo.
2. Existing in the mind, especially as a product of the imagination. Used in literary criticism of a text.
3. Computer Science Created, simulated, or carried on by means of a computer or computer network: virtual conversations in a chatroom
So a virtual meeting is not real although in essence it exists and it might also only just be a figment of our imagination.
Hilarious!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Long weekend - Changi Boardwalk
Long weekend. I don't know what we did, except we spent an awful lot of time going out for meals. Most interesting was our quest for Saturday's dinner.We left the house at around 4pm. Not exactly sure where we'd go, we ended up driving to Changi and stumbled upon the coastal walk. We started from Changi point (P18 on the map), walked all the way to Changi village for dinner and then back again. I think it's about 1.5-2km each way. Spent some time along the beach. It was low tide and we found quite a few hermit crabs, some baby crabs and a sea snail without much effort. Other creatures we spotted - a pair of 'common kingfishers' , one macaque and lots and lots of bats! Arh red ants too - and yep, the boy got bitten yet again. He was running his hands along the fencing ropes and one of them got on to him and bit him. Very few homo sapiens though. We think they must have all migrated to neighbouring lands for the long weekend.
Interested? Download the URA guide here.
Monday, September 21, 2009
He passed!!!
SMSout: Hi teacher xyz, for weeks, I told him he can't go for the holiday if he doesn't pass the piece today so he's been practicing. Although it can be better please help me by passing the piece at the end of the lesson. Otherwise, I really have to mean what I say and not bring him for the holiday. Thanks!
SMSin: Haha! "Parkat" with the teacher. Don't worry. He's quite a good boy.
SMSout: Thanks. See you in a couple of minutes.
... and so we 'finished' Book 1.
...and unofficially too, I scored the Rolex and now have to tune myself for a Franck Muller movement.
SMSin: Haha! "Parkat" with the teacher. Don't worry. He's quite a good boy.
SMSout: Thanks. See you in a couple of minutes.
... and so we 'finished' Book 1.
...and unofficially too, I scored the Rolex and now have to tune myself for a Franck Muller movement.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
The personal experience of Tina Su
Here is a personal report by Tina Su , a professional writer, on her recent trip to the Ashram in India.
http://thinksimplenow.com/clarity/living-enlightenment-report
(The author is based in the US, has her own website with over 15,000 readers and has been featured in many US magazines)
Read the bit about the no-poop zone beneath the mystical Banyan tree. I am very intrigued by that, more so when I learn that it's a huge tree with many birds and animals living on it, including a family of monkeys!
http://thinksimplenow.com/clarity/living-enlightenment-report
(The author is based in the US, has her own website with over 15,000 readers and has been featured in many US magazines)
Read the bit about the no-poop zone beneath the mystical Banyan tree. I am very intrigued by that, more so when I learn that it's a huge tree with many birds and animals living on it, including a family of monkeys!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
I had never seen him run so fast in his life!
We were at the park - the boy was barefoot and had to pee. The nearest toilet is some 300 metres away and so he took a leak near a tall palm tree. Later, he told me that he had aimed at the army of red ants. Anyway, one of them took revenge by biting him just below his left knee and when he realized that he had been bitten, he bolted!
I heard him scream, "HELP!" as he turned away from the tree and ran towards us. We were some 40 metres away from him. I can still see it in my head - his running gait was so amazingly graceful as he flew down the slope in supersonic speed and his focus on us was so intense, nothing in his path could have stopped him from reaching us.
Btw, we couldn't find the ant. He ran so darn fast, the ant sure had trouble hanging on.
I couldn't help but tell him he has to remember this - so that in future, when he has track & field, he can use this memory to help him win the race.
Hilarious!
I heard him scream, "HELP!" as he turned away from the tree and ran towards us. We were some 40 metres away from him. I can still see it in my head - his running gait was so amazingly graceful as he flew down the slope in supersonic speed and his focus on us was so intense, nothing in his path could have stopped him from reaching us.
Btw, we couldn't find the ant. He ran so darn fast, the ant sure had trouble hanging on.
I couldn't help but tell him he has to remember this - so that in future, when he has track & field, he can use this memory to help him win the race.
Hilarious!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
What is it?
I've been thinking. What is it about work that keeps billions of people around the world busy and worried each day? Better still, what keeps these billions of people around the world going back to work every Monday morning?
Monday, September 07, 2009
24-herb tea
I have on my desk, a bottle of "Tea of twenty-four herbs". Walked past a Chinese medical hall earlier and decided to buy some 'cooling' tea to douse away the headache I have. The nice lady told me, this is the best! Turns out the best is the most bitter tasting tea I've ever had in my life!
Apparently, it's the mother of all bitter teas and is "the ideal tea to drink during the flu season, enrich vital energy, clean away internal heat, eliminate dampness and heat, strengthen the body and improves general resistance".
Also "soothes cold and cough, fever, headache ( yay!), eruptive diseases ( what could these be? chicken pox?) tiredness, infantile summer fever ( infant or infantile?), pathogenic dryness and heat in combination, and constipation, promote the production of body fluid to quench thirst ( hahhahaha!) , halitosis ( found out this means bad breath) , anorexia, abdominal dissension, fidget ( another big laugh!), lack of physical strength, dizziness, pimples & acne. "
Well, if you are wondering about the efficacy, I've finished half the bottle and the headache seems to have subsided.
Apparently, it's the mother of all bitter teas and is "the ideal tea to drink during the flu season, enrich vital energy, clean away internal heat, eliminate dampness and heat, strengthen the body and improves general resistance".
Also "soothes cold and cough, fever, headache ( yay!), eruptive diseases ( what could these be? chicken pox?) tiredness, infantile summer fever ( infant or infantile?), pathogenic dryness and heat in combination, and constipation, promote the production of body fluid to quench thirst ( hahhahaha!) , halitosis ( found out this means bad breath) , anorexia, abdominal dissension, fidget ( another big laugh!), lack of physical strength, dizziness, pimples & acne. "
Well, if you are wondering about the efficacy, I've finished half the bottle and the headache seems to have subsided.
Friday, September 04, 2009
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Riddles taught by Ah Gong
They boy asks:
What did the wall say to the floor?
How do you jump into the pool and not get your hair wet?
Which part of the leopard has the most spots?
( answers in the next post)
What did the wall say to the floor?
How do you jump into the pool and not get your hair wet?
Which part of the leopard has the most spots?
( answers in the next post)
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
There's a reason why I came to work today.
A Singaporean London based colleague brought these Italian chocolates to the office:
'Fine dark chocolate ptralines with whole cherry and liquer'
They are soooooooo yummyliciously good!!!!! Anyone visiting Italy? Please bring back two dozen cartons of these for me. Tks!
'Fine dark chocolate ptralines with whole cherry and liquer'They are soooooooo yummyliciously good!!!!! Anyone visiting Italy? Please bring back two dozen cartons of these for me. Tks!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
A year away.
Chanced upon THIS while trawling for videos to inspire our boy. I'd come back to that later.
One of the videos in my net was the girl from his first violin class. She was playing a piece from Suzuki Book 4! Our dear boy, if you've read my previous posts, is still struggling with pieces from Book 1! Got very emotional after that... is it me? Have I planted my laisser-faire attitude towards learning seed in him? Is my non-existent expectation the reason for him not being able to sprout and grow as well as that other kid? Was it fear? Was I frightened that if I push him too hard he might HATE me for it? While I fought those demons within me last night during our daily practice together, he surprised me by playing the entire piece of "The Happy Farmer by Robert Schumann" which sounds like this - the second last piece of music in Book 1 - the piece which he only started learning last Tuesday. Life's a marvel isn't it? It teases you so perfectly, you don't even know that it's just a game.
Back from the digression... from that video, I went on to THIS site about a family's "epic odyssey: open-ended, years long slow trip around the world as a family adventure, unschool, spiritual journey and lifestyle". It's darn inspiring. The Big One and I have talked about taking a year off to travel around the world. This family's already taking it... and they are doing it on 25 thousand dollars a year. Assuming that that's in USD, we are talking SGD37.5k/year. Haven't exactly looked at our finances but we should have enough CPF between us to pay the housing loan installment for the next couple of years...and if we can rent out the apartment for $3K/month ($36K/year) while we are out travelling the world, we can literally afford to scoot off and see the world starting right now!
How exciting!
All these, just from trying to inspire a child with a video.
One of the videos in my net was the girl from his first violin class. She was playing a piece from Suzuki Book 4! Our dear boy, if you've read my previous posts, is still struggling with pieces from Book 1! Got very emotional after that... is it me? Have I planted my laisser-faire attitude towards learning seed in him? Is my non-existent expectation the reason for him not being able to sprout and grow as well as that other kid? Was it fear? Was I frightened that if I push him too hard he might HATE me for it? While I fought those demons within me last night during our daily practice together, he surprised me by playing the entire piece of "The Happy Farmer by Robert Schumann" which sounds like this - the second last piece of music in Book 1 - the piece which he only started learning last Tuesday. Life's a marvel isn't it? It teases you so perfectly, you don't even know that it's just a game.
Back from the digression... from that video, I went on to THIS site about a family's "epic odyssey: open-ended, years long slow trip around the world as a family adventure, unschool, spiritual journey and lifestyle". It's darn inspiring. The Big One and I have talked about taking a year off to travel around the world. This family's already taking it... and they are doing it on 25 thousand dollars a year. Assuming that that's in USD, we are talking SGD37.5k/year. Haven't exactly looked at our finances but we should have enough CPF between us to pay the housing loan installment for the next couple of years...and if we can rent out the apartment for $3K/month ($36K/year) while we are out travelling the world, we can literally afford to scoot off and see the world starting right now!
How exciting!
All these, just from trying to inspire a child with a video.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
The little bean turned five today.
...and on this same day, the school planned an excursion for them. This time, they all went to the Art Museum.
What did you see at the Art Museum.
>*smiles* I saw girls without clothes! Naked!
Hahahhahaa!! Oh dear...did you laugh at them?
> No. Don't want to be rude.
How old is he again?
*sigh*
What did you see at the Art Museum.
>*smiles* I saw girls without clothes! Naked!
Hahahhahaa!! Oh dear...did you laugh at them?
> No. Don't want to be rude.
How old is he again?
*sigh*
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Reality
Me: I need to exercise more.
Big One: Why? Your clothes can't fit arh?
Me: No lar... my clothes always fit.
Big One: *pause* Orh.. you always buy new one hor?
Me: Hahhaa... yep. So they always fit! Don't you know all my old clothes already given away?
Big One: Aiyoh... what happened to my girlfriend?
Me: No more already you don't know meh? You married her!
>>>End of conversation.
Big One: Why? Your clothes can't fit arh?
Me: No lar... my clothes always fit.
Big One: *pause* Orh.. you always buy new one hor?
Me: Hahhaa... yep. So they always fit! Don't you know all my old clothes already given away?
Big One: Aiyoh... what happened to my girlfriend?
Me: No more already you don't know meh? You married her!
>>>End of conversation.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
2.5 pieces
He (and me) is 2.5 pieces away from finishing his Book 1. Told him that if he doesn't practice his violin properly and pass all the pieces in Book 1 by the end of September, I was going to leave him behind at home with his grandparents while his father and I take off to Disneyland without him.
The flights and hotel has all been booked... and only 4 more lessons to go!
I'm panicking (not him)!
Oh dear oh dear oh dear!!!!
The flights and hotel has all been booked... and only 4 more lessons to go!
I'm panicking (not him)!
Oh dear oh dear oh dear!!!!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Party Plagiarisation
Stealing some of my friend's notes:
" ... BY's 5th Birthday party at Toa Payoh Safra Indoor Gym. Party was relatively relaxed as adults weren't allowed in the Indoor maze... BY's mum conducted a game contest in the party room and it went very well. The kids were given some stuff to 'build the tallest structure', with broad hints that the structure need not be on the floor to be the tallest. Teams went at it, with the birthday boy on the mike hollering instructions...the birthday boy's really hilarious!..."
Real easy party. No frills. 20 kids were invited, 14 showed up, 2 called in sick and 4 more kinda didn't respond at all... which didn't matter. I wanted as little fuss as possible so didn't bother chasing for RSVPs. The boy helped packed the goodie bags, I cooked some vegetarian food and we bought the cake enroute to the venue.
Venue is great. Lots of space and not as crowded as Downtown East or Go-go Bambini. Room came with deco and enough chairs and tables for everyone. Catered food though was very disappointing. No outside food allowed, so the caterer had a monopoly business which they merrily exploited.
Anyway.
The boy was hilarious!!!
Happy birthday funny boy!
" ... BY's 5th Birthday party at Toa Payoh Safra Indoor Gym. Party was relatively relaxed as adults weren't allowed in the Indoor maze... BY's mum conducted a game contest in the party room and it went very well. The kids were given some stuff to 'build the tallest structure', with broad hints that the structure need not be on the floor to be the tallest. Teams went at it, with the birthday boy on the mike hollering instructions...the birthday boy's really hilarious!..."
Real easy party. No frills. 20 kids were invited, 14 showed up, 2 called in sick and 4 more kinda didn't respond at all... which didn't matter. I wanted as little fuss as possible so didn't bother chasing for RSVPs. The boy helped packed the goodie bags, I cooked some vegetarian food and we bought the cake enroute to the venue.
Venue is great. Lots of space and not as crowded as Downtown East or Go-go Bambini. Room came with deco and enough chairs and tables for everyone. Catered food though was very disappointing. No outside food allowed, so the caterer had a monopoly business which they merrily exploited.
Anyway.
The boy was hilarious!!!
Happy birthday funny boy!
Monday, August 10, 2009
National Day 2009
Stayed 2 nights at the St. Regis Hotel
Invited a couple of friend over... at one point, we had 4 fully dressed kids sitting in the 'boat' (on the right) watching TV (in the toilet) and then much later, after their swim, the same 4 kids jumped into their 'boat' again for a rub-a-dub-dub, bailing enough water out of it to drown the rest of us living outside.
Watching the parade
(click on the picture to expand)
Family was invited to a parade viewing party at The Sail @ Marina. Really cool to watch the planes and helicopters fly past ... below!
Top left: boy looking out Top right: one of the nicer shots
Bottom left: heart shape fireworks Bottom right: me sitting down quietly.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Happenings...
Saturday: Stumbled upon a new prawn fishing place.
It's located at Pasir Ris Farmway 1 ( turn in from the intersection of Rasir Ris Drive 12 & Rasir Ris Drive 3 ). They had BBQ pits located right next to the pond and people were throwing live prawns onto the grills. The cruelty is mesmerising to watch. Maybe ripping off their heads first would be the compassionate thing to do? Anyway... they have a fish spa pond there too. Great for the callous!
Sunday: Visited the Marina Barrage.
Boy was bumping me around playfully. I stupidly decided to trick him by moving aside at the last moment. It sent him crashing onto the floor. Result: a 3cm long cut on his elbow. It bleed and he was inconsolable for a long time. Fast forward 2 hours later, at home, I shone a light onto the cut, noticed something strange... and decided to SQUEEZE his cut suddenly. Poor boy started screaming again. But hey, I squeezed the grain of sand - which we all had not noticed and was not washed out with water and which had been embedded in the cut - OUT! Ouch ouch... but he's all good now.
Monday: Save the world!
Mummy, we need to save the world.
> We need to save the world? Why? ( and why do I have to be involved in his big schemes?)
*shows me the armed-with-machine-guns posture*
> Oh, so you need to stop people from fighting?
Yes. We need to save the world and stop people from *shows me the posture*
> Ok. So how to we do that?
Take away their guns! *shows me the posture again*
> Ok, so how will you take away their guns?
*thinking* I know! We fight them so we can take away their guns.
?????!??? That's not a very good plan my dear friend!
It's located at Pasir Ris Farmway 1 ( turn in from the intersection of Rasir Ris Drive 12 & Rasir Ris Drive 3 ). They had BBQ pits located right next to the pond and people were throwing live prawns onto the grills. The cruelty is mesmerising to watch. Maybe ripping off their heads first would be the compassionate thing to do? Anyway... they have a fish spa pond there too. Great for the callous!
Sunday: Visited the Marina Barrage.
Boy was bumping me around playfully. I stupidly decided to trick him by moving aside at the last moment. It sent him crashing onto the floor. Result: a 3cm long cut on his elbow. It bleed and he was inconsolable for a long time. Fast forward 2 hours later, at home, I shone a light onto the cut, noticed something strange... and decided to SQUEEZE his cut suddenly. Poor boy started screaming again. But hey, I squeezed the grain of sand - which we all had not noticed and was not washed out with water and which had been embedded in the cut - OUT! Ouch ouch... but he's all good now.
Monday: Save the world!
Mummy, we need to save the world.
> We need to save the world? Why? ( and why do I have to be involved in his big schemes?)
*shows me the armed-with-machine-guns posture*
> Oh, so you need to stop people from fighting?
Yes. We need to save the world and stop people from *shows me the posture*
> Ok. So how to we do that?
Take away their guns! *shows me the posture again*
> Ok, so how will you take away their guns?
*thinking* I know! We fight them so we can take away their guns.
?????!??? That's not a very good plan my dear friend!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Birthday party
The small one's birthday is coming up... and he made 2 requests:
1. The location for his party
2. A microphone ... a real one! (???!??)
Anyway, since he's on this mode of making decisions for himself, I made him list out the friends he wanted to invite, by himself, with minimal interference from me.
I'm done with booking #1 which was easy... but have no idea where I can get #2 - yet.
Just yesterday, I finished creating the e-invite card and told him about it... to which he said, in an I-Know-Better voice "How can I send it to my friends if it's inside your laptop? Can you get it out of your laptop? Or else I have to carry your laptop to school to show them!"
Right! Mr Bossy, Next year, you can make your own list PLUS your own invitation cards!
1. The location for his party
2. A microphone ... a real one! (???!??)
Anyway, since he's on this mode of making decisions for himself, I made him list out the friends he wanted to invite, by himself, with minimal interference from me.
I'm done with booking #1 which was easy... but have no idea where I can get #2 - yet.
Just yesterday, I finished creating the e-invite card and told him about it... to which he said, in an I-Know-Better voice "How can I send it to my friends if it's inside your laptop? Can you get it out of your laptop? Or else I have to carry your laptop to school to show them!"
Right! Mr Bossy, Next year, you can make your own list PLUS your own invitation cards!
Monday, July 27, 2009
What is NOT meditation
From HERE
(1) Meditation is NOT Concentration
A big MISCONCEPTION : Meditation is just one form of concentration.
When you concentrate, you constantly project your attention towards a particular task or activity whereas in Meditation you do not project your attention towards a particular task or activities. You just remain aware of the moment without choosing anything to concentrate upon. Concentration is important for learning meditation. It will greatly help you (particularly in the initial phase) in learning mediation. However, it is not Meditation
(2) Meditation is NOT Relaxation.
What does relaxation do ?
It relaxes you, makes you calm, gives a sense of serenity and rejuvenates you.
Meditation also makes you relaxed. But Meditation is not Relaxation When you meditate....... its natural outcome is relaxation.
(3) Meditation is NOT a serious religious practice
Meditation is not a specific ritual demanding sitting in a particular posture, chanting some specific Mantras (powerful words having phonetic significance) or burning incense. Neither it means doing a particular exercise in a particular pose. Meditation is a quality of our existence. When you are aware of your true 'self' and perform anything (yes I mean anything ) with awareness, it becomes meditation
It is true that it takes some time to learn Meditation and it requires some genuine effort on the part of seeker to learn meditation, but it does not mean that Meditation is connected with any specific religion or ritual. Anybody, irrespective of his background, religion, caste, creed or nationality can do it. Meditation is not even a serious thing. One you understand it, it will be a pure fun to meditate.
(4) Meditation is NOT a state of mind.
Rather - It is a state of no mind.
Many gadgets are available in the market that promise to take us into a meditative state (often known as the alpha state of mind). Scientists have observed that there are basically 4 states of mind depending upon the frequency of mind waves. These states are alpha, beta, gamma and theta. Beta is the state in which we live and perform all our day-to-day activities. Alpha is the state just below Beta. This (alpha) state is often known as the state of Meditation. Gamma and Theta are the other states of mind in further depth.
Now what all these scientific Gadgets can do is to take us into the state of alpha. In the alpha state one become still, tranquil and calm. There is no tension, no stress. Your whole inner being becomes peaceful.
But please note that alpha state itself is not meditation. Alpha is the state of mind in meditation. Meditation is the awareness of our true self in alpha. You will be in meditation if you remain awaken and aware of the present moment in the alpha state of mind i.e. in the state of absolute calm. No Gadget or mechanical device can create 'awareness'. They can only create right condition for us to realize what is 'true awareness'.
(5) Meditation is NOT self-hypnosis
In both Self-hypnosis and (in many techniques of ) meditation at least an initial period of concentration on an object is required. However in meditation, the meditator maintains an awareness of here-and-now and stay conscious of the meditative process which is not exactly the case in hypnosis. In hypnosis the person enters into a state of semi-conscious trance and become unaware of the moment which is not the case in meditation.
(6) Meditation is NOT thinking
Rather it is the process of transcending the thought process. Our mind is a non-stop chatterbox that continues to create all sorts of good/ bad, relevant /irrelevant thoughts incessantly. In meditation we realize that we are not just our body and mind. There exists in us an awareness independent of all kinds of thoughts. Knowing this awareness is what meditation is all about.
From a meditator's point of view the saying of Descartes - "I think, therefore I am" is not true. A meditator will say - " I am, therefore I think"
(1) Meditation is NOT Concentration
A big MISCONCEPTION : Meditation is just one form of concentration.
When you concentrate, you constantly project your attention towards a particular task or activity whereas in Meditation you do not project your attention towards a particular task or activities. You just remain aware of the moment without choosing anything to concentrate upon. Concentration is important for learning meditation. It will greatly help you (particularly in the initial phase) in learning mediation. However, it is not Meditation
(2) Meditation is NOT Relaxation.
What does relaxation do ?
It relaxes you, makes you calm, gives a sense of serenity and rejuvenates you.
Meditation also makes you relaxed. But Meditation is not Relaxation When you meditate....... its natural outcome is relaxation.
(3) Meditation is NOT a serious religious practice
Meditation is not a specific ritual demanding sitting in a particular posture, chanting some specific Mantras (powerful words having phonetic significance) or burning incense. Neither it means doing a particular exercise in a particular pose. Meditation is a quality of our existence. When you are aware of your true 'self' and perform anything (yes I mean anything ) with awareness, it becomes meditation
It is true that it takes some time to learn Meditation and it requires some genuine effort on the part of seeker to learn meditation, but it does not mean that Meditation is connected with any specific religion or ritual. Anybody, irrespective of his background, religion, caste, creed or nationality can do it. Meditation is not even a serious thing. One you understand it, it will be a pure fun to meditate.
(4) Meditation is NOT a state of mind.
Rather - It is a state of no mind.
Many gadgets are available in the market that promise to take us into a meditative state (often known as the alpha state of mind). Scientists have observed that there are basically 4 states of mind depending upon the frequency of mind waves. These states are alpha, beta, gamma and theta. Beta is the state in which we live and perform all our day-to-day activities. Alpha is the state just below Beta. This (alpha) state is often known as the state of Meditation. Gamma and Theta are the other states of mind in further depth.
Now what all these scientific Gadgets can do is to take us into the state of alpha. In the alpha state one become still, tranquil and calm. There is no tension, no stress. Your whole inner being becomes peaceful.
But please note that alpha state itself is not meditation. Alpha is the state of mind in meditation. Meditation is the awareness of our true self in alpha. You will be in meditation if you remain awaken and aware of the present moment in the alpha state of mind i.e. in the state of absolute calm. No Gadget or mechanical device can create 'awareness'. They can only create right condition for us to realize what is 'true awareness'.
(5) Meditation is NOT self-hypnosis
In both Self-hypnosis and (in many techniques of ) meditation at least an initial period of concentration on an object is required. However in meditation, the meditator maintains an awareness of here-and-now and stay conscious of the meditative process which is not exactly the case in hypnosis. In hypnosis the person enters into a state of semi-conscious trance and become unaware of the moment which is not the case in meditation.
(6) Meditation is NOT thinking
Rather it is the process of transcending the thought process. Our mind is a non-stop chatterbox that continues to create all sorts of good/ bad, relevant /irrelevant thoughts incessantly. In meditation we realize that we are not just our body and mind. There exists in us an awareness independent of all kinds of thoughts. Knowing this awareness is what meditation is all about.
From a meditator's point of view the saying of Descartes - "I think, therefore I am" is not true. A meditator will say - " I am, therefore I think"
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
"...500 kilometres away from Bangalore"
So I've committed myself to attending one of my Indian colleague's Indian wedding in India. Only I had no idea his home was 500 kilometres away from the nearest international airport! Right... anyone's been to Maravanthe in Karnataka?
Monday, July 20, 2009
Death and 5-year olds Part 2
The old man told the small one that he was going to die soon.
The small one replied, "I know. "
Death is not much a mystery to a five year olds
It's simply a matter of fact
It's simply a matter of fact
Let us not forget
It's that simple
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Work for food.
".... later ants will come."
The small one: I know. The ants help clean up the house! They come and eat up the food on the floor.
???!???!?!
The small one: I know. The ants help clean up the house! They come and eat up the food on the floor.
???!???!?!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Cafe run by robots
I didn't know that this salad place I go to - quite frequently now that I'm a grass-eater - had a staff who is actually a robot! This robot looked so human-like! So advanced was this robot that it could interact with customers exactly like a human being! It can take your order, give you the correct change and even deliver food to your table through its face-recognition software. When you are done, it'd say, "Thank you!", flash a nice smile and clear away your tray. It was so flawlessly human and unique, I could have never guessed it's true nature if it wasn't for what occurred today.My colleague choked on his food. Face turn red. I rush to get a glass of water for him....
Me: Can I have a glass of water please?
Robot: No. We don't serve water here.
Me: How about just half a glass?
Robot: No. We don't serve water here.
Me: Someone's choking. Can I have a glass of water?
Robot: No. We don't serve water here.
Me: *incredulous by now* Can't I just have some water? Tap water?
Robot: No. We don't serve water here.
Me: *quite loudly now* LOOK! Someone's choking! CAN I HAVE SOME WATER!!!!???!!!!"
Thank God the human owner, possibly alerted to the short circuit signal, came by and gave me a glass of water.
Will I eat there again?
>>> Not when I know that that darn robot would watch me choke to death!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
My Rolex
The boy has been 'learning' how to play the violin for almost 2 years now. He's still working on his Suzuki Violin Book Number One. At $140/mth for fees + books + instrument & accessories, this works out to S$2,000 / year. By the time he's done with his Book 1, it would have cost me "My Rolex".
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Gentle heart.
2 days ago... I received a call from his teacher.... who wanted to report an incident that happened in school. The little one and his classmate had an 'argument' , quarrelled and the classmate scratched the little one. There was some scratches and some blood on his face. I think my response was , "Oh, it's ok. Did he fight back?" The teacher said no.
Quite disappointed.
This boy of ours just doesn't know how to protect himself, much less fight back. I have never seen him return a push or a shove!
Not that I want him to hurt somebody else but at least, hey, avoid being scratched with some defensive moves or something.
Yesterday, I asked the boy if they were friends again. He said yes and that he told her a joke and made her laugh.
I'm like? Huh? (****Thinking silently... This monster girl disfigured your face and you told her a joke??? And made her laugh????!??!??)
His gentle heart makes me wonder ...
...who's supposed to teach who?
Quite disappointed.
This boy of ours just doesn't know how to protect himself, much less fight back. I have never seen him return a push or a shove!
Not that I want him to hurt somebody else but at least, hey, avoid being scratched with some defensive moves or something.
Yesterday, I asked the boy if they were friends again. He said yes and that he told her a joke and made her laugh.
I'm like? Huh? (****Thinking silently... This monster girl disfigured your face and you told her a joke??? And made her laugh????!??!??)
His gentle heart makes me wonder ...
...who's supposed to teach who?
Monday, June 29, 2009
What is it?
Lately, I've been thinking about this "LOC / Lost of consciousness" episode.
Over the last couple of weeks, I've been meditating on (almost) a daily basis. The thing is, I'm suppose to lose my body and mind, watch my thoughts and hopefully in the process, get acquainted with 'the watcher'.
Now, if I want to use that fainting episode as a benchmark, then I need to be clear what happened. >>>
While I had no control over the shut down, I remember that in between the point when I realized I was propped up and not standing with my own legs till the time I was hauled to the car, I was actually conscious of what was happening. But at the same time, this consciousness was not accompanied by the body, nor was it accompanied by a thinking head.
I was just aware of what was happening. I had no control over the body, which I don't seem to know I had, nor was I wondering (with the mind) why I was being hauled by 2 people.
If my mind was working, it would have gone, "Oh shit! Not again!" But it wasn't... and so I didn't relate or make sense of what was happening.
If the body was mine, then the excruciating pain in my back should have been felt, but neither body nor pain was available to me then.
After a while, things did come back to me and the mind was the first to arrive. (Maybe that's tougher one to rid of?) But, I remember I felt like my brain had been washed and polished - the kind of feeling you get once in a blue moon when you wake up from your sleep with exactly the amount of rest that you needed... not one bit more or less, but exactly enough so that you feel extremely refreshed and alert.
Next was the body and similarly, it felt very rested and very new - good enough for the mind to be cheated into thinking that all's well.
Followed shortly, by the wretched nerves which came back to light me with their pain again.
So there, that was what happened and plausibly the only time I was conscious without body or mind...
... and if only I can achieve that state again during my meditation....
Someone hit my head!!!
Over the last couple of weeks, I've been meditating on (almost) a daily basis. The thing is, I'm suppose to lose my body and mind, watch my thoughts and hopefully in the process, get acquainted with 'the watcher'.
Now, if I want to use that fainting episode as a benchmark, then I need to be clear what happened. >>>
While I had no control over the shut down, I remember that in between the point when I realized I was propped up and not standing with my own legs till the time I was hauled to the car, I was actually conscious of what was happening. But at the same time, this consciousness was not accompanied by the body, nor was it accompanied by a thinking head.
I was just aware of what was happening. I had no control over the body, which I don't seem to know I had, nor was I wondering (with the mind) why I was being hauled by 2 people.
If my mind was working, it would have gone, "Oh shit! Not again!" But it wasn't... and so I didn't relate or make sense of what was happening.
If the body was mine, then the excruciating pain in my back should have been felt, but neither body nor pain was available to me then.
After a while, things did come back to me and the mind was the first to arrive. (Maybe that's tougher one to rid of?) But, I remember I felt like my brain had been washed and polished - the kind of feeling you get once in a blue moon when you wake up from your sleep with exactly the amount of rest that you needed... not one bit more or less, but exactly enough so that you feel extremely refreshed and alert.
Next was the body and similarly, it felt very rested and very new - good enough for the mind to be cheated into thinking that all's well.
Followed shortly, by the wretched nerves which came back to light me with their pain again.
So there, that was what happened and plausibly the only time I was conscious without body or mind...
... and if only I can achieve that state again during my meditation....
Someone hit my head!!!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
TV
The big one banned the small one from watching TV for a week on Sunday. The ban was communicated to the village. On Monday, we returned to see him watching TV in the village. The village head explained that the small one had petitioned on the logic that 'the ban was no TV, not no videos'. Not impressed, the big one handed down a tougher sentence, "No TV for 2 weeks! No Video and No Wii too!"
We watched Transformers together yesterday.
Movies on big screens ok it seems.
We watched Transformers together yesterday.
Movies on big screens ok it seems.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
GNC Women's Ultra Mega Dietary Supplement....
... "High potency vitamin and mineral formula designed for a woman's nutritional needs."
Hahahha!!! Plus it's vegetarian! Hair for sure won't drop due to malnutrition now. Yay!!!
Hahahha!!! Plus it's vegetarian! Hair for sure won't drop due to malnutrition now. Yay!!!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Abandoned.
I've not eaten any meat since the 29th of May. Even my mother has noticed it and ominously warned that my hair will start dropping off in clumps if I don't take any meat. Anyway, it's been a couple of weeks and enough time for lunch companions to notice too.
I was questioned why...
"Is it for health?"
"Is it for religion?"
... and I don't really have an answer for it.
I've flirted with it for ages, having not ate pork for years until the pregnancy cravings reversed that. Having nothing but Yong Tau Fu ( the ones that had very little meat in them ) or claypot vege for months while in uni and so forth. But somehow, I'd end up eating some meat, some of the time. The totality of not eating any meat at all was never there.
At least not until now.
It's been 2 odd weeks. I don't know if this thing will be permanent. But this time round, it's feels different. It feels like I'm not running away from meat... but that meat abandoned me.
I thought it might be difficult to avoid it... but it's actually been quite easy. Because when meat abandons you, even staring at it doesn't stir up any emotions. There's neither disgust nor cravings. You look at it and see other people eat it and it's left as that.
Soya bean milk anyone?
I was questioned why...
"Is it for health?"
"Is it for religion?"
... and I don't really have an answer for it.
I've flirted with it for ages, having not ate pork for years until the pregnancy cravings reversed that. Having nothing but Yong Tau Fu ( the ones that had very little meat in them ) or claypot vege for months while in uni and so forth. But somehow, I'd end up eating some meat, some of the time. The totality of not eating any meat at all was never there.
At least not until now.
It's been 2 odd weeks. I don't know if this thing will be permanent. But this time round, it's feels different. It feels like I'm not running away from meat... but that meat abandoned me.
I thought it might be difficult to avoid it... but it's actually been quite easy. Because when meat abandons you, even staring at it doesn't stir up any emotions. There's neither disgust nor cravings. You look at it and see other people eat it and it's left as that.
Soya bean milk anyone?
Friday, June 12, 2009
Learn to fail
I think this is something very important and not taught enough in Singapore. Which is - How to fail!
No one is allowed to fail in our society! We are taught from a young age that if you fail in your studies, you will be a failure for the rest of your life! That you will never get good jobs, nice salaries... and ultimately, never enjoy a 'good life' - whatever that means.
Even the education system is such that you will be streamed away from failing. So for example, if you are no good with a particular science subject, never mind if you were good at a different science subject, most likely you'd be streamed into a class which offers you neither! There, no chance for failing!
And so, you learn not to take any chances, so long as there is a possibility that you might fail.
I did a very silly thing yesterday. Basically, what I did was to sent an invite to the whole entire population of staff based in Singapore - about 350 people and asked them to attend a presentation rehearsal. My Boss basically said, "F**K! THAT'S STUPID!!!"
Well well well... what do you do?
A. Call the Boss STUPID back
B. Cry
C. Admit that you have been STUPID
D. Argue
E. Quit
I chose C.
Anyway, I was thinking then how good it is to be able to crash down onto earth every once in a while. More importantly, how good it is to be able to walk away from the crash and just move on.
I'm not saying I'm a better failure here or being AH-Q about this but in these times, there are bound to be events that happen beyond your control, like losing your job.
And when you do lose a job - please don't hang around the crash site. Please pick yourself up and move on. Same with relationships, same with school, same with every aspect of life. Pick yourself up. Move on.
It's ok to FAIL!
Just remember never to define yourself by it.
No one is allowed to fail in our society! We are taught from a young age that if you fail in your studies, you will be a failure for the rest of your life! That you will never get good jobs, nice salaries... and ultimately, never enjoy a 'good life' - whatever that means.
Even the education system is such that you will be streamed away from failing. So for example, if you are no good with a particular science subject, never mind if you were good at a different science subject, most likely you'd be streamed into a class which offers you neither! There, no chance for failing!
And so, you learn not to take any chances, so long as there is a possibility that you might fail.
I did a very silly thing yesterday. Basically, what I did was to sent an invite to the whole entire population of staff based in Singapore - about 350 people and asked them to attend a presentation rehearsal. My Boss basically said, "F**K! THAT'S STUPID!!!"
Well well well... what do you do?
A. Call the Boss STUPID back
B. Cry
C. Admit that you have been STUPID
D. Argue
E. Quit
I chose C.
Anyway, I was thinking then how good it is to be able to crash down onto earth every once in a while. More importantly, how good it is to be able to walk away from the crash and just move on.
I'm not saying I'm a better failure here or being AH-Q about this but in these times, there are bound to be events that happen beyond your control, like losing your job.
And when you do lose a job - please don't hang around the crash site. Please pick yourself up and move on. Same with relationships, same with school, same with every aspect of life. Pick yourself up. Move on.
It's ok to FAIL!
Just remember never to define yourself by it.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Too Much Time
While I'm on a roll here, I'd thought I'd write about having "too much time" as well.
Again, this is a perception isn't it? There can never be a thing as "too much time" because Time in itself is not a matter. If something is not of matter, then it cannot exist in a quantifiable manner and therefore, cannot be expressed as such.
So why do people feel or think that they have too little time or too much time? Or worse, think that other people have too much time?
I think the keys to that are the words "feeling" and "thinking". It's just a perception.
Then how does one calculate Time if it is not quantifiable? Actually I don't know the answer to that question before I typed it out. But now that I've typed it and looked at it, I suddenly got the answer.
Time is just a human invention!
Look at the animals and nature, they don't need time to tell them when to see the doctor, when to pick up their children from school, when to flower, when to eat, when to die, when to snow, they just do their thing!
How lovely!
So there, if anyone tells you that you have 'too much time', tell them off! Ask them to calculate exactly how much is too much and then tell them your friend said that it cannot be quantified in the first place!
Hahahhahhahaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!
Again, this is a perception isn't it? There can never be a thing as "too much time" because Time in itself is not a matter. If something is not of matter, then it cannot exist in a quantifiable manner and therefore, cannot be expressed as such.
So why do people feel or think that they have too little time or too much time? Or worse, think that other people have too much time?
I think the keys to that are the words "feeling" and "thinking". It's just a perception.
Then how does one calculate Time if it is not quantifiable? Actually I don't know the answer to that question before I typed it out. But now that I've typed it and looked at it, I suddenly got the answer.
Time is just a human invention!
Look at the animals and nature, they don't need time to tell them when to see the doctor, when to pick up their children from school, when to flower, when to eat, when to die, when to snow, they just do their thing!
How lovely!
So there, if anyone tells you that you have 'too much time', tell them off! Ask them to calculate exactly how much is too much and then tell them your friend said that it cannot be quantified in the first place!
Hahahhahhahaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!
Free Time
If Time does not equal money, then what does Free Time mean?
Interestingly, Free Time or Leisure, has been defined by a psychology professor John Neulinger in the early 1970s. He defined it using three criteria:
The experience is a state of mind.
It must be entered into voluntarily.
It must be intrinsically motivating of its own merit.
Let's see… to make anything a leisure, we have to just decide ( state of mind) to engage willingly ( voluntarily) and enjoy the activity itself ( by it's own merit), without bothering about the results. i.e study without worrying about the grades.
So, then...
right...
what does this mean???
Anything can become LEISURE...??!?!
IS IT?
Interestingly, Free Time or Leisure, has been defined by a psychology professor John Neulinger in the early 1970s. He defined it using three criteria:
The experience is a state of mind.
It must be entered into voluntarily.
It must be intrinsically motivating of its own merit.
Let's see… to make anything a leisure, we have to just decide ( state of mind) to engage willingly ( voluntarily) and enjoy the activity itself ( by it's own merit), without bothering about the results. i.e study without worrying about the grades.
So, then...
right...
what does this mean???
Anything can become LEISURE...??!?!
IS IT?
Monday, June 08, 2009
Time = Money
On my way to work, I thought this was the most stupid thing. How could Time equal Money? For something A to be equal to something B , then that something B must also be equal to the something A. So, put it this way, if you exchanged 24 hours of your life for a million dollars, can you exchange a million dollars back for 24 hours of your life?
No.
So, Time does not equal to Money. And Money does not equal to Time.
End of story.
But wait! I Googled Time = Money and this hilarious "Knowledge, Power, Time, Work and Money Equations" popped up here. Enjoy!
Knowledge is Power
Time is Money
and as every engineer knows, Power is Work over Time.
So, substituting algebraic equations for these time worn bits of wisdom, we get:
K = P (1)
T = M (2)
P = W/T (3)
Now, do a few simple substitutions:
Put W/T in for P in equation (1), which yields:
K = W/T (4)
Put M in for T into equation (4), which yields:
K = W/M (5)
Now we've got something. Expanding back into English, we get:
Knowledge equals Work over Money.
What this MEANS is that:
The More You Know, the More Work You Do, and
The More You Know, the Less Money You Make.
Solving for Money, we get:
M = W/K (6)
Money equals Work Over Knowledge.
From equation (6) we see that Money approaches infinity as Knowledge approaches 0, regardless of the Work done.
What THIS MEANS is:
The More you Make, the Less you Know.
Solving for Work, we get
W = M K (7)
Work equals Money times Knowledge
From equation (7) we see that Work approaches 0 as Knowledge approaches 0.
What THIS MEANS is:
The stupid rich do little or no work.
Working out the socioeconomic implications of this breakthrough is left as an exercise for the reader.
No.
So, Time does not equal to Money. And Money does not equal to Time.
End of story.
But wait! I Googled Time = Money and this hilarious "Knowledge, Power, Time, Work and Money Equations" popped up here. Enjoy!
Knowledge is Power
Time is Money
and as every engineer knows, Power is Work over Time.
So, substituting algebraic equations for these time worn bits of wisdom, we get:
K = P (1)
T = M (2)
P = W/T (3)
Now, do a few simple substitutions:
Put W/T in for P in equation (1), which yields:
K = W/T (4)
Put M in for T into equation (4), which yields:
K = W/M (5)
Now we've got something. Expanding back into English, we get:
Knowledge equals Work over Money.
What this MEANS is that:
The More You Know, the More Work You Do, and
The More You Know, the Less Money You Make.
Solving for Money, we get:
M = W/K (6)
Money equals Work Over Knowledge.
From equation (6) we see that Money approaches infinity as Knowledge approaches 0, regardless of the Work done.
What THIS MEANS is:
The More you Make, the Less you Know.
Solving for Work, we get
W = M K (7)
Work equals Money times Knowledge
From equation (7) we see that Work approaches 0 as Knowledge approaches 0.
What THIS MEANS is:
The stupid rich do little or no work.
Working out the socioeconomic implications of this breakthrough is left as an exercise for the reader.
Friday, June 05, 2009
Interesting answer....
What is enlightenment?
'Kant answers the question quite succinctly in the first sentence of the essay: “Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity.” ..... He continues that the immaturity is self-inflicted not from a lack of understanding, but from the lack of courage to use one’s reason, intellect, and wisdom without the guidance of another. Our fear of thinking for ourselves. He exclaims that the motto of enlightenment is “Sapere aude”! – Dare to be wise!"
Check out article here.
'Kant answers the question quite succinctly in the first sentence of the essay: “Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity.” ..... He continues that the immaturity is self-inflicted not from a lack of understanding, but from the lack of courage to use one’s reason, intellect, and wisdom without the guidance of another. Our fear of thinking for ourselves. He exclaims that the motto of enlightenment is “Sapere aude”! – Dare to be wise!"
Check out article here.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
A secret ...
Before the age of maybe 14 or 15, I could do something which, in my friends' and their mother's eyes, was simply illogical.
This is what I could do - I could predict what scores they had before the results landed on their desks. So for example, I would say, "X, you scored 82 in your maths test and I scored 80."
I vividly remember that I had to collect my PSLE results a week later because my family was on holiday in New Zealand during the time the results were released. On the morning of the day the results were released, without seeing or hearing from anyone about how I did, I told my mother what I got.
Another incident. In my music school, I announced to the administrator what I got before walking in to the Principal's office to collect the results. "I passed! I got 117 and didn't get merit!", I remember saying. And similarly, I announced to the Principal when I met him, "I got 117. Right?". He was amused but I could tell he thought it purely a coincidence. Since it was confidential stuff, the administrator didn't know if I was right or wrong and so, I remember showing her the result slip before I left, saying to her, "See? I told you!"
One time, classmate of mine told her mother about it - and was asked to tell me that if ever should have this inspiration about 4D, that I should let her know immediately - you can guess now that I never did.
In each and every of those instances I made those 'predictions', I had no doubt that I would be right. I believed it totally. So to me, it wasn't really a prediction. It was just a fact.
Anyway, these numbers would come to me. I never had to think about it. Even if I did and thought about it, it would not appear. So for example, I couldn't tell myself to know what is my score for this test... it didn't work that way. It had to come to me and I just have to catch it.
It's only now that I finally understood clearly how this thing that I could do works. For it to become real, I had to have no doubt - and this is the reason why I lost it around the age of 15 or 16... I tried to make it happen (it didn't work this way as I've explained), and when it didn't, I started having doubts and when I started having doubts, I simply lost it.
When I say no doubt... it means that nothing in me - nothing in my entire being believed for even a moment that I would be wrong about it.
A personal mystery solved!
You can call me crazy now.
It's no longer a secret.
This is what I could do - I could predict what scores they had before the results landed on their desks. So for example, I would say, "X, you scored 82 in your maths test and I scored 80."
I vividly remember that I had to collect my PSLE results a week later because my family was on holiday in New Zealand during the time the results were released. On the morning of the day the results were released, without seeing or hearing from anyone about how I did, I told my mother what I got.
Another incident. In my music school, I announced to the administrator what I got before walking in to the Principal's office to collect the results. "I passed! I got 117 and didn't get merit!", I remember saying. And similarly, I announced to the Principal when I met him, "I got 117. Right?". He was amused but I could tell he thought it purely a coincidence. Since it was confidential stuff, the administrator didn't know if I was right or wrong and so, I remember showing her the result slip before I left, saying to her, "See? I told you!"
One time, classmate of mine told her mother about it - and was asked to tell me that if ever should have this inspiration about 4D, that I should let her know immediately - you can guess now that I never did.
In each and every of those instances I made those 'predictions', I had no doubt that I would be right. I believed it totally. So to me, it wasn't really a prediction. It was just a fact.
Anyway, these numbers would come to me. I never had to think about it. Even if I did and thought about it, it would not appear. So for example, I couldn't tell myself to know what is my score for this test... it didn't work that way. It had to come to me and I just have to catch it.
It's only now that I finally understood clearly how this thing that I could do works. For it to become real, I had to have no doubt - and this is the reason why I lost it around the age of 15 or 16... I tried to make it happen (it didn't work this way as I've explained), and when it didn't, I started having doubts and when I started having doubts, I simply lost it.
When I say no doubt... it means that nothing in me - nothing in my entire being believed for even a moment that I would be wrong about it.
A personal mystery solved!
You can call me crazy now.
It's no longer a secret.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Some pictures from the trip
Kintamani Volcano Lake Batur 
Waterfall near Ubud
Food
Uluwatu - the cliffs are spectacular! 
Visiting DL at his home in Bali
What did it not want to see?
Sea turtle 
Sea turtle 
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Going away...
...going going, going AWAY!!! ... for a few days.
All 3
2.5 hours by air.
1050 miles southeast of Singapore
6 days
5 nights
All 3
2.5 hours by air.
1050 miles southeast of Singapore
6 days
5 nights
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Translations
We brought back a Chicken Pie last night and told him what it was...
and he went, "Chicken Pie? YEAH! JI-PAI!!!"
***OMG!***
We blame it on the textbook that his school had given him, titled "Ping-Guo-Pai" (Apple Pie).
and he went, "Chicken Pie? YEAH! JI-PAI!!!"
***OMG!***
We blame it on the textbook that his school had given him, titled "Ping-Guo-Pai" (Apple Pie).
Monday, May 11, 2009
Death and 5-year olds
So my paternal grandmother passed away when I was five. The funeral was so much fun! No school, lots of visitors, cousins to play & camp overnight with, plus an endless supply of cold drinks and food. It was so much fun, I wished the only other grandparent I had could die soon so that we could have another 'celebration'! When she did die, I was already in my late twenties and by then, funerals had taken on a different meaning and colour altogether.
Fast forward to yesterday. We brought the small one to his Great-granduncle's wake...
Your Ye-Ye's Gu-Gu died. We are going to his funeral. He's body is lying in the coffin.
>>> Is he going to be a star?
Yes.
>>> Can he open his eyes?
No.
>>> So how is he going to get out?
...he's already a star now. Everyone has a soul and the soul leaves the body to become a star.
>>> *Pointing to his feet* HERE???
No lar! This SOUL is different from the one on your feet.
>>> Where's my soul?
... Close your eyes!
*he closes his eyes*
...THERE!!!
*he opens his eyes in wonder*
>>>So how does the soul get out? Where's the hole?
Do you perspire?
>>> Orh!!! Through the tiny tiny holes in our skin arh?
YEP!
Later, at the wake...the big one lifted the boy up to have a look. I was looking at them both. The big one, by his expression, was worried that the small one would be frightened to see a person in the 'box'. The small one however, was not one bit scared. He saw what we told him he would see - a body in the 'box' and nothing more.
In fact, he wanted to look very closely, and from all sides! He even noted that there was a pair of spectacles in the old man's pocket! And made us lift him for another 2 times to see.
It was an amazing experience for me to watch them both.
Through the eyes and minds of five-year-olds, death is simple, purely an incident of nature and unadulterated by any irrational fear.
Fast forward to yesterday. We brought the small one to his Great-granduncle's wake...
Your Ye-Ye's Gu-Gu died. We are going to his funeral. He's body is lying in the coffin.
>>> Is he going to be a star?
Yes.
>>> Can he open his eyes?
No.
>>> So how is he going to get out?
...he's already a star now. Everyone has a soul and the soul leaves the body to become a star.
>>> *Pointing to his feet* HERE???
No lar! This SOUL is different from the one on your feet.
>>> Where's my soul?
... Close your eyes!
*he closes his eyes*
...THERE!!!
*he opens his eyes in wonder*
>>>So how does the soul get out? Where's the hole?
Do you perspire?
>>> Orh!!! Through the tiny tiny holes in our skin arh?
YEP!
Later, at the wake...the big one lifted the boy up to have a look. I was looking at them both. The big one, by his expression, was worried that the small one would be frightened to see a person in the 'box'. The small one however, was not one bit scared. He saw what we told him he would see - a body in the 'box' and nothing more.
In fact, he wanted to look very closely, and from all sides! He even noted that there was a pair of spectacles in the old man's pocket! And made us lift him for another 2 times to see.
It was an amazing experience for me to watch them both.
Through the eyes and minds of five-year-olds, death is simple, purely an incident of nature and unadulterated by any irrational fear.
Friday, May 08, 2009
Factual morning
So I told him I was going to make him bacon & eggs for breakfast. 15 minutes later, I back to the bedroom and told him it's bacon & cheese instead because I can't find the eggs and that I think the chickens flew in through our windows in the the middle of the night and collected their eggs.
The almost 5 year old said, "No. The eggs finished already lar!" "Chickens live in cages, the hole in the cage too small. They cannot come out. Only the eggs can come out into the packaging."
*sigh*... all grown up. No fun anymore!
The almost 5 year old said, "No. The eggs finished already lar!" "Chickens live in cages, the hole in the cage too small. They cannot come out. Only the eggs can come out into the packaging."
*sigh*... all grown up. No fun anymore!
Thursday, May 07, 2009
A phone call and a conversation
So he's been calling me on my phone regularly:
"Mummy, where are you?"
"Mummy, are you coming back to get me?"
"How many minutes??"
This afternoon, he called and we talked:
How was school today?
Great! It was GREAT! They call me something in school today. I can't remember the word and I called them back the same.
Who called you what?
*S* said I was RUDE and I said she was RUDE back and then she said I was RUDE and then I say she was RUDE and we QUARRELLED. Then *V* took the eraser and didn't want to give it to me but I found one on the other table. We have two separate tables in our class. I showed the eraser to *D* and *D* told *V* and then they were surprised but I tell *D* it's a secret. .........
Hmm... that is his definition of a "GREAT day at school" ?!? Most other days, he tells me school today is "GOOD".
"Mummy, where are you?"
"Mummy, are you coming back to get me?"
"How many minutes??"
This afternoon, he called and we talked:
How was school today?
Great! It was GREAT! They call me something in school today. I can't remember the word and I called them back the same.
Who called you what?
*S* said I was RUDE and I said she was RUDE back and then she said I was RUDE and then I say she was RUDE and we QUARRELLED. Then *V* took the eraser and didn't want to give it to me but I found one on the other table. We have two separate tables in our class. I showed the eraser to *D* and *D* told *V* and then they were surprised but I tell *D* it's a secret. .........
Hmm... that is his definition of a "GREAT day at school" ?!? Most other days, he tells me school today is "GOOD".
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
B-WARE
How would you teach your sons or daughters about sex? Would you handle this responsibility yourself or would you leave it to their teachers, schools or the society in general to tell them what is NORMAL, ABNORMAL, RIGHT or WRONG? Please leave a comment.
Monday, May 04, 2009
x to the power of zero = 1
X^0 = 1
Why??
Finally found out why:
X^1 = X
X^2 = X*X = X^(1+1)
X^1/X^1= X^(1-1) = X^0 = 1
Got it?
Why??
Finally found out why:
X^1 = X
X^2 = X*X = X^(1+1)
X^1/X^1= X^(1-1) = X^0 = 1
Got it?
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Todays I had fun
Breakfast at Mum's
Some lovely taro porridge
12 laps swam & lunch at the club
Home cooked dinner (with Vegemite)
I really like Vegemite.
Peeled grapes (here's how)
for the boy...and some for me
Yesterday was fun too...!
Beached out a bit in the sun
then cooled down @ Harry's Bar (Dempsey) late at night
sneaked out for a bit while the boy slept
Read The White Tiger in between.
And the day before yesterday?
Saw the 'Queen' at the Supper Club
after eating a topsy turvy cake of course
Amazing todays isn't it?
Some lovely taro porridge
12 laps swam & lunch at the club
Home cooked dinner (with Vegemite)
I really like Vegemite.
Peeled grapes (here's how)
for the boy...and some for me
Yesterday was fun too...!
Beached out a bit in the sun
then cooled down @ Harry's Bar (Dempsey) late at night
sneaked out for a bit while the boy slept
Read The White Tiger in between.
And the day before yesterday?
Saw the 'Queen' at the Supper Club
after eating a topsy turvy cake of course
Amazing todays isn't it?
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Cannot Work at Work
Facebook, Twitter, Flickr...and even YouTube.
All these sites cannot work at work.
"Access denied"
For a while now.
And everytime I think about it,
I get upset.
All these sites cannot work at work.
"Access denied"
For a while now.
And everytime I think about it,
I get upset.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Work
To finish what I need to finish, I need 3 of me. Which is NOT POSSIBLE. But given this economy, is it better to have unfinishable work than no work at all? Despite the load, my top of mind today is not really about work but rather, the SWINE FLU outbreak! First I heard it was 40 deaths on Saturday, then 60 on Sunday morning, 80 by yesteryday evening and now 103!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
CIMB-SSO Botanic Gardens Music Festival: Celebrating SSO’s 30th anniversary
After the rain and a 3-hour nap, the boy's temperature was back to normal and so, we decided to catch the SSO at the Botanic Gardens. So glad we went. We all had a really good time.
Today's Programme:
J STRAUSS - Voices of Spring
BERLIOZ - Dance of the Sylphs, Rákóczy March and Will-o-the Wispsfrom La damnation de Faust, Op. 24
ARTURO MÁRQUEZ - Danzón No. 2
HAYDN - Finale: Vivace from Symphony No. 82 in C major ‘The Bear’
MENDELSSOHN - Wedding March from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 61
RAVEL - Bolero
Today's Programme:
J STRAUSS - Voices of Spring
BERLIOZ - Dance of the Sylphs, Rákóczy March and Will-o-the Wispsfrom La damnation de Faust, Op. 24
ARTURO MÁRQUEZ - Danzón No. 2
HAYDN - Finale: Vivace from Symphony No. 82 in C major ‘The Bear’
MENDELSSOHN - Wedding March from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 61
RAVEL - Bolero
Don't Miss This!
"On May 17 ( Starts 4:45pm), the SSO will be joined by the Philharmonic Youth Winds conducted by Adrian Chiang. The award-winning ensemble, which took the Gold Medal at the inaugural 2008 Singapore International Band Festival, will perform well-loved melodies such as Imagine by John Lennon, Do Re Mi by Richard Rodgers as well as a portrait of the music of Andrew Lloyd Weber."
Living without TV
The switch's not working... so we can't switch our TV on and because the small one ran a 39+ fever the whole of yesterday & last night, we can't really entertain ourselves by going out either.
So I taught the hot kid on the block how to play 'hot cross buns' on the piano, do a dozen pages of work on his activity book and then left him to entertain himself with MindJolt games on facebook.
Err... nice.
But what's Hitachi's number?
So I taught the hot kid on the block how to play 'hot cross buns' on the piano, do a dozen pages of work on his activity book and then left him to entertain himself with MindJolt games on facebook.
Err... nice.
But what's Hitachi's number?
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Premium brewed coffee
I'm a sucker for ads...and so I bought and am drinking a famous fast food restaurant's 'new' coffee. I can't tell the difference. It tastes just like their 'old' coffee and worse, tastes just like the coffee that spews from the coffee machine in my office!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Manila
Last night.
We sat down to have dinner... and the lady who cleared our table walked away with a limp. I must have seen her because it occured to me that she is not old enough to be limping that way. Her legs were bowled and her hips jutted out in an awkard manner - for not a very heavy looking body, she seemed to be bearing an incredible amount of invisible weight. Curious why, I looked at her face again and saw what I missed earlier. That her smooth wrinkle-less skin which extends from her forehead, across her entire face and down to her arms were actually 'scars'. Burn scars!
An old man joined us at our table later... he was carrying one of those ubiquitous pink plastic bags - except that he had fashioned it into a shoulder bag. The plastic bag was fastened to a canvas shoulder strap by a couple of safety pins. He had with him, a plate of fried noodles. Fried plain noodles. While in my impression he smelt strange, his hair and nails were clean. I looked at the big one, the big one looked at me and we continue eating our sticks of satay with gravy, mutton soup with rice and sweet corn dessert without saying anything.
After our meal, we got up to walk for a bit. The small one had wandered off towards the back of the building thinking that we were going back to get the car. We followed him, and found, resting in a dark corner... somebody, with half a bag of aluminium drink cans sitting beside him/her.
Too much for one night.
I blurted out to the big one, " DO YOU KNOW WE ARE DAMM FORTUNATE?"
We didn't set out to see poverty and you could argue it was not proverty we saw. That we simply saw a previously injured person who has a job cleaning tables, a person who is having a simple meal and a person who is trying to make some extra money collecting cans. Regardless, I felt like how I felt travelling in Manila and seeing people make their homes on the street, under the roofs of flyovers and sleeping with the cars and traffic making their way past their heads, just only barely.
Except that I was not in Manilla last night.
I was in Singapore.
We sat down to have dinner... and the lady who cleared our table walked away with a limp. I must have seen her because it occured to me that she is not old enough to be limping that way. Her legs were bowled and her hips jutted out in an awkard manner - for not a very heavy looking body, she seemed to be bearing an incredible amount of invisible weight. Curious why, I looked at her face again and saw what I missed earlier. That her smooth wrinkle-less skin which extends from her forehead, across her entire face and down to her arms were actually 'scars'. Burn scars!
An old man joined us at our table later... he was carrying one of those ubiquitous pink plastic bags - except that he had fashioned it into a shoulder bag. The plastic bag was fastened to a canvas shoulder strap by a couple of safety pins. He had with him, a plate of fried noodles. Fried plain noodles. While in my impression he smelt strange, his hair and nails were clean. I looked at the big one, the big one looked at me and we continue eating our sticks of satay with gravy, mutton soup with rice and sweet corn dessert without saying anything.
After our meal, we got up to walk for a bit. The small one had wandered off towards the back of the building thinking that we were going back to get the car. We followed him, and found, resting in a dark corner... somebody, with half a bag of aluminium drink cans sitting beside him/her.
Too much for one night.
I blurted out to the big one, " DO YOU KNOW WE ARE DAMM FORTUNATE?"
We didn't set out to see poverty and you could argue it was not proverty we saw. That we simply saw a previously injured person who has a job cleaning tables, a person who is having a simple meal and a person who is trying to make some extra money collecting cans. Regardless, I felt like how I felt travelling in Manila and seeing people make their homes on the street, under the roofs of flyovers and sleeping with the cars and traffic making their way past their heads, just only barely.
Except that I was not in Manilla last night.
I was in Singapore.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Property Porn
Visited 5 showrooms on Sunday ...
The Arte @ Thomson
Lincoln Residences
Whitley Villas
Ventura Heights @ Astrid Hill
D'Chateau @ Shelford
I call it property porn... see see only.
The Arte @ Thomson
Lincoln Residences
Whitley Villas
Ventura Heights @ Astrid Hill
D'Chateau @ Shelford
I call it property porn... see see only.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Another truth..
... I'm allergic to our wedding ring. Really. Haven't worn it for a while. Was asked recently by a colleague, male, 45, Irish, why if I was married, I wasn't wearing one. So alright, I started wearing it again...and it was ok for a week...but SH*T! The rashes are back on my ring finger! Forget it! I'm happily married. Be gone with the darn ring! No need to prove anything with any bondage to a piece of lousy stupid metal.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
This is true.
So I'm married to the guy for almost 8 years and.....*sigh* I still can't pronounce his name! Called his friend up earlier to check out something.
me: Hey hi, I'm XX...
his friend: Who?
me: I'm XX, XY's wife!
his friend: Whose wife?
me: X...Y...'S WIFE!
his friend: Huh?? OH!! XY's wife arh!!! What did you say? XH?
me: aiyah, don't ask me again lar, I can't pronounce his name!!! NOT even after all these years!!!!
***his friend couldn't stop laughing!!!***
I think it's quite funny too. (",)
me: Hey hi, I'm XX...
his friend: Who?
me: I'm XX, XY's wife!
his friend: Whose wife?
me: X...Y...'S WIFE!
his friend: Huh?? OH!! XY's wife arh!!! What did you say? XH?
me: aiyah, don't ask me again lar, I can't pronounce his name!!! NOT even after all these years!!!!
***his friend couldn't stop laughing!!!***
I think it's quite funny too. (",)
Monday, April 13, 2009
A short film ... "Chicken-a-la-Carte"
Click here.
One of the things we taught BY from very young, was not to waste food, starting with his milk. Same with now. He makes a 'wrong' order for his meal, i.e asks for rice and finds later that our noodles taste nicer, he'd still have to eat his rice up first. We have low tolerance for choosiness or greediness and least of all, wastfulness. So he's learning, to take only what he can finish and finish what he has taken.
One of the things we taught BY from very young, was not to waste food, starting with his milk. Same with now. He makes a 'wrong' order for his meal, i.e asks for rice and finds later that our noodles taste nicer, he'd still have to eat his rice up first. We have low tolerance for choosiness or greediness and least of all, wastfulness. So he's learning, to take only what he can finish and finish what he has taken.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Egg Hunt Exclaimers & Disclaimers...
Disclaimer #1. I did not make those eggs seen in my previous post. We found them at the market on Good Friday and we bought them. Not much talent required. (",)Exclaimer #1. Despite the rain, it seemed to me like all the kids had a blast!
Disclaimer #2. I had help from my nephew. Without him, we couldn't have made the egg hunt run so smoothly. He was drenched by the rain, paid with nothing and had to work so hard to hide something like 5 dozen eggs around our estate - twice!!
Exclaimer #2. I saw really well behaved children today. All of them! They listened to our instructions, played fairly and didn't scream, shove or steal.
So thank you our dear friends and family, and your children...for making today such a memorable day for our family. We hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Living & non-living things
So the boy had a worksheet with these instructions:
Circle living things in blue
Circle non-living things in orange
He looked at the picture of the boy... circled it orange.
Me: Hey, the boy is a living thing! It can move!
He moved on to the picture of a plant in a pot... circled it organge.
Me: Whey, the plant is a living thing, it cannot move but it can grow!
He looks at the car, looks at me, looks at the car, circled it blue.
***I smack my own head***
He explained... "Mummy, the car can move!!!"
Circle living things in blue
Circle non-living things in orange
He looked at the picture of the boy... circled it orange.
Me: Hey, the boy is a living thing! It can move!
He moved on to the picture of a plant in a pot... circled it organge.
Me: Whey, the plant is a living thing, it cannot move but it can grow!
He looks at the car, looks at me, looks at the car, circled it blue.
***I smack my own head***
He explained... "Mummy, the car can move!!!"
A simple solution
me on the phone to the small one: Whey! there are ants in the car!
innocent: Why are there ants in the car?
me: Because you drop food in the car so they decided to eat them!
guilty: orh.
me: So how? how are we going to get home with ants in the car to bite us when I pick you up?
activating his brains: Let me think!
me: Okay
*pause*
( me thinks... don't eat in the car , don't drop food in the car, kill the ants? ... )
the boy: I know! *SHOUTING* AH GONG!!! YOU NEED TO SEND ME AND MUMMY BACK HOME LATER! WE GOT ANTS IN OUR CAR!!!!!
innocent: Why are there ants in the car?
me: Because you drop food in the car so they decided to eat them!
guilty: orh.
me: So how? how are we going to get home with ants in the car to bite us when I pick you up?
activating his brains: Let me think!
me: Okay
*pause*
( me thinks... don't eat in the car , don't drop food in the car, kill the ants? ... )
the boy: I know! *SHOUTING* AH GONG!!! YOU NEED TO SEND ME AND MUMMY BACK HOME LATER! WE GOT ANTS IN OUR CAR!!!!!
Monday, April 06, 2009
Life's full stop
Treasure every minute,
live every moment.
Love fiercely,
but tenderly.
No human is ever perfect,
nor ever yours to keep.
It's too late to wish for more,
when the lights go out.
We lost someone tonight.
Cancer.
A wonderful wonderful person.
Gone.
Rest in peace.
live every moment.
Love fiercely,
but tenderly.
No human is ever perfect,
nor ever yours to keep.
It's too late to wish for more,
when the lights go out.
We lost someone tonight.
Cancer.
A wonderful wonderful person.
Gone.
Rest in peace.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Insecurity
I'm sticking to my part-time helper but pray very hard that she doesn't make any more stupid oversights - like not locking one of our window grills properly. She locked it, but obviously didn't check if the hook was secure in the catch. Will be hiding those keys from her henceforth.
Friday, April 03, 2009
Green expectations
Lunch hour purchase:
- a packet of north apricot kernels (nan xing)
- a packet of south apricor kernels (bei xing)
- an oz. of zhen zhu chuang bei
~> These are for the small one's weekly pear soup concoction
- a packet of dill seeds
- a packet of eggplant seeds
- a packet of long beans seeds
- a packet of organic soil
~> these are for the big one - who's likes planting things that I cannot eat.
- a packet of north apricot kernels (nan xing)
- a packet of south apricor kernels (bei xing)
- an oz. of zhen zhu chuang bei
~> These are for the small one's weekly pear soup concoction
- a packet of dill seeds
- a packet of eggplant seeds
- a packet of long beans seeds
- a packet of organic soil
~> these are for the big one - who's likes planting things that I cannot eat.
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Some travelling?
Planning:
April Maldives
August/September Europe
October India
December Cruise and/or Hong Kong
Want to go someday:
L.America
Russia ( actually the boy because on the world map, it's the BIGGEST country)
Africa
Year 2014:
FUll YEAR OF TRAVELLING AROUND THE WORLD ... any sponsors?
April Maldives
August/September Europe
October India
December Cruise and/or Hong Kong
Want to go someday:
L.America
Russia ( actually the boy because on the world map, it's the BIGGEST country)
Africa
Year 2014:
FUll YEAR OF TRAVELLING AROUND THE WORLD ... any sponsors?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
