Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Recent

Marriage
Who do you want to marry when you grow up?
> I don't know.
Auntie M asked A and A said she wants to marry you.
> OK OK!!! *nodding vigorously* I marry her!
*Hahhahaa*
Why not QQ?
> Too many.
What do you mean by "too many?"
> She has twins already!!!

Exhausted
Do you want to drink Milo?
> No.
What do you want to drink?
> Milo.
*I raise my eyebrows... the Big one started wheezing from trying to contain his explosive laughter.... the exhausted boy slowly realized what happened.... and laughed tears.

Entertainment
On the road, he plays the games we downloaded on the iPhone, Uno, blackjack and 4 different types of hand games.

Hand Game 1: Players stick out 1 finger on each hand. You start swiping your opponents fingers. 1st one to add up to 10 wins. Player with 2 on one hand and 8 on another can placed the 8 (shaped like a gun) on the 2 (shaped like a V and looks like a stand) to shoot your opponent down.

Hand Game 2: (2 players) Scissors paper stone - winner gets to swipe a finger on the loser's head... loser makes a guess which finger was used. If loser guessed right on the 1st try, loser gets to pull the other party's ear. If the guess is wrong, the other party gets to pull. ( 3 players)... Determine who is the loser by playing "black or white"... Odd one out is the loser. Remaining 2 player plays scissors paper stone... winner gets to play with the loser.

Hand Game 3: "Chee-koo-pak" (variation of scissors paper stone). Players show their chosen scissors, paper or stone sign(s) on both hands. On the players call, he/she gets to shout out the sign(s). The idea is to switch your signs such that it is not the one(s) being called out. Otherwise, the hand 'dies'.

Hand Game 4: Clapping sequence... determine and agree on a pattern  from the start. Start from 1 and increase the cycle to 2, 3, 4X etc. For example, if the pattern is
Clap both hands, clap right hands, clap front & back.
Then 2X will be clap both hands twice, clap right hands twice,  clap front & back twice... and so forth.

We were on a train for 18 hours at a stretch on one leg of our recent trip...these games, especially the hand games, helped us passed time joyfully.

Laundry
Been doing laundry non stop for 2 days now. We wore every single piece of clothing we brought along plus more that we bought along the way during out recent trip and wore them all for 5 days straight. The boy's record was wearing 8 layers on top, 5 pairs of pants, 3 pairs of socks, heat pads, hat under his multiple hoods, mask, scarf, 2 pairs of gloves and woolly boots.

Trip
We travelled from Shanghai - Harbin - 长白山(ChangBai  Mountain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baekdu_Mountain) - Shenyang  - and back to Shanghai.

Wouldn't recommend anyone make this crazy trip. It was sooo cold! The temperature at the mountain peak was minus 40 degrees Celsius...and the winds was so strong, I felt like I was being lifted every time I took one feet off the ground. The cold was so bad, my head hurt madly from skull-freeze. I think the boy could easily have been blown away had he not thankfully refused to wake up - he stayed in the car while we attempted to make the short climb to the lookout - to see the caldera. I didn't make it... Hah!

Unesco
The old imperial palace in Shenyang http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukden_Palace is the 4th Unesco World Heritage Site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_List the boy has visited - after Halong Bay (Vietnam), Angkor (Cambodia) & Kakadu National Park (Australia).

Bad
Too bad we were only given an hour at the site before being rushed to shop ( guide gets 5% commission - a very maddening culture!)

Good
The meal specification on the tour is 8 dishes and 1 soup- a great way to learn how to dish up a 9-course Chinese meal!

Finally
2010 is coming to an end. It's been quite a journey!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

今天下雪了!

He wasn't too keen on leaving his pre-school in August to come here to Shanghai with me. He wanted to stay in Singapore till December.

I told him that there is Autumn, and Winter, and 4 seasons here in Shanghai. He wanted to know if it'd snow in Shanghai. I said, "Yes." ( I didn't think then that it would not) So he said, 'Ok. I want to eat snow."

Found out after we got here that snow rarely makes its appearance in Shanghai. *Oh s**t!*

And so, you can imagine how happy and thrilled I was when I found out this morning on the news that it was going to snow... and it did! I shot this photo at 3pm:


Spoke to the boy on the phone.... the first thing he said was, "今天下雪了 ". I asked him if he'd tasted it... and he said, almost shyly, "Yes, it's very nice."

I am grateful.
I managed not to lie.
Thank you.

Monday, December 13, 2010

He did.

They had an Arts competition in school. He could submit a drawing or play the piano... or any other instrument. His drawings are .... nicely terrible. He just started learning the piano and have not yet progressed beyond playing the C-major scale. So, I suggested he play a piece on his violin. He wanted to play '童话' and I was fine with whatever he prefers.

But his violin teacher wasn't and wanted him to play "春天来了" & "茉莉花" instead. I thought the competition proper was to happen later this month so we all thought there would be plenty of time for him to prep. But no. I received a notification on a Monday that he is to bring his violin to school that Wednesday for the competition.

Right, out the window went the 2 pieces he was to prepare. He practiced his '童话' about 20X that Tuesday evening and went to school with his violin the next day. I took some time off to go to his school to play the piano part. 

While we were rehearsing, a teacher walked in... I did not know he was going to be the judge. So I was unprepared when he closed the door and said, "Let's start!".

Was quite disheartened. Since the Judge had already heard most of it. The whole thing was not quite what I had pictured in my mind.

The boy played his piece (again). But this time, the kids who were shut out of the room started jumping up and down outside, trying their darnest to peep in through the window...and he was very distracted by them, giggling at one point while playing his violin and eventually forgetting which line he was on midway through... Horrors!!! I continued the accompaniment solo while urging him to come back in at the next section. ... he gave up and put his violin down... the Judge encouraged him to continue. He did eventually.

This was not my idea of a reasonable/ fair/ ok performance and so I didn't think more of it.

Until this morning, when I was notified to send his teacher a photo of him because he had won a prize in the competition.

He won what?!?

阿姨一号

I think I should write about 阿姨No.1
Day 1 She's not someone who has to work and told me so.
Day 2 She didn't want to work past 6:30pm ( which would be a big rush for me) - fine.
Day 3 She didn't know how to use the vacumn machine - taught her.
Day 4 She didn't know how to iron - wanted to teach her but she said she sends her own clothes to the laundry to be pressed.
No Day 5.

阿姨三号?

阿姨二号第一句话是,"恐怕要给你失望了!"
> I'm afraid you will be disappointed.
She took an hour to get to our place... so she (rightly) decided that this job will not be viable.

*sigh*

Friday, December 10, 2010

啊姨

Everytime I have a new helper... my heart skips a beat. 阿姨二号 (Helper No.2) will come by tomorrow.

Not playing fair.

He hates to lose ... and tries to switch his cards recklessly - whether or not I'm looking - and thinks the only way to win is to snitch an arsenal of Draw 4's and +2's. I still win. Frustrated, he ropes in his friend, his Tigger so that 'they' can exchange cards. He plays both his and Tigger's sets of cards against me but won't let Tigger win. Even when Tigger is down to 2 cards, he gets Tigger to not say "Uno" so that he can catch him and give him a 2-card penalty. Hilarious!

Monday, December 06, 2010

UNO

The boy received a set of Thomas "Station Celebration!" game deck for his birthday this year. We only recently got around to playing it. Pretty fun the first 30 times or so but like all good things forced in abundance, I had to find me something else to deal with... so I bought us a deck of UNO. We started playing that last night. By the time we are back for Chinese New Year, he'd be able to earn a seat at the Blackjack table.

Friday, December 03, 2010

Growing wings again...

17-21 December - Macau, China
23-26 December - Harbin, China
24-28 January - Louisville, USA
29 - 13 February - Singapore!!!

就近 Education

Recently occured to me to ask: "Is there a Primary School Leaving Examination in China?"

"No."

Ok, then which secondary schools do the kids go to?

 "就近"  ... which means the school near where you stay.

Everybody has 9 years of compulsory education. And then they have the first major exams, after which they go on to high school (50%) and then take the university entrance exams. The other 50% go on to technical institutions, polytechnics or join the labour market.

Hmm... so there's really no pressure until the kid turns 15.

I'm on 3 year contract... why am I asking these questions?

Friday, November 26, 2010

Committed

Thank you for your interest in sponsoring a Shanghai Sunrise student! As you may have read from our website (www.shanghaisunrise.com), Shanghai Sunrise was started in 1995 to help remove families from the poverty cycle through educational sponsorships. We believe that it is every student's right to have an education, because it is education that will enable these students to create opportunities for themselves and become contributing members to society. Since its inception, Shanghai Sunrise has sponsored over 1600 students and currently supports over 500 students. All students are sponsored on a one-to-one basis and all sponsorship monies donated are used for education purposes.

You have indicated in your application form that you are interested in sponsoring a student. The sponsorship is RMB 3000 per student per year but as we are in the middle of the School Year, we will be collecting RMB 4500 to cover for the student's 2nd semester fee for School Year 10-11 and for the full School Year of 11-12. Once donation is received (please see attached for the donation instructions), we will assign a student to you and provide you with the student information within two weeks.

We have a twice a year pairing ceremony for new sponsors where you will get a chance to meet your student and the next one is set for February this year at the Hilton Hotel. We will inform you of the specifics when the date has been set. It is quite an experience to meet the student that you are sponsoring. Of course, if you would like to meet your student any other time, we can also arrange for that.

Finally, Shanghai Sunrise is a 100% volunteer-run expat operation so if you are interested in volunteering 8 or more hours a week, do let us know!

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Beggarship

Over here, there is 1 at every corner.

Just where I stay, there is
- this old man with a plaster on his temple.
- this young lady with a baby girl who is never awake
- this old lady with a 4-5 year old girl with dirty hands and feet
- this man who sits on a floor with a 2-3 year old girl playing nearby

And along the way to work, there is
- this very lost looking man who tries to give me the newspapers he has recycled from the bins, in exchange for a coin..

In the area where the boy has his violin lessons,
- there is this skin and bones girl who crawls on the floor
- a boy without arms

And there's always old ladies who sell jasmine flowers that they've carefully strung ... actually they aren't really beggars ...

Occasionally, you'd see
- lady with a note placed on the floor seeking for money to pay for bus fare / meal
- blind man playing the flute with old lady leading the way
- 3 young people in a group, kneeling with heads bowed, with a bowl in front of them.

The worst or most determined beggar I've ever seen - is a man, covered with 'self-inflicted' wounds that are oozing blood, half-naked on an overhead bridge, ... and there was blood on his shorts, the steps, the floor, everywhere...

My mother gave some money to a man without a limb. 5 others approached her in quick succession.

I wanted to buy a piece of melon from a peddler on the road, an old lady approached me with outstretched hands and I ended up putting the money in her palm.

A colleague gave RMB100 to an old man in a wheelchair who had an old lady beside him - thinking they were a couple and ended up being chased 2 blocks by the lady who demanded to be given as much.

Everyday, amidst the bright lights of a modern day city, the hardship of living pulses along with it. Faceless people in my face, telling me how fortunate I am.

Every year, at this time, we choose a charity to support. Last year, it was NKF. This year, the Big One suggested Community Chest.

But I'm thinking maybe if I can pluck 1 kid off the street and put him/her in school and be committed to doing that for at least 10 years. How will the picture change for the world?

Nothing.

But the world will open up for this 1 kid.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Homework monster

That's me.. the homework monster.

He's getting homework everyday now. Usually 2 pages of maths, 1 page of chinese writing, English worksheets ( about 2-3 times a week)... and ALL the work that he should have but had not finished in school. It takes him more than 2 hours each day to complete them. And in between, I try not to SCREAM at him to pay attention, sit properly, lift his chin off the table, put his left hand on the table..... sit properly, pay attention, focus, check...think, sit properly, don't look around, stop dreaming...... stop playing with his pencil, sit properly... I try not to PINCH him.... sit properly!!... I try not ot SLAM the table top... STOP WASTING TIME!!!

He has NO time to do anything else... Really!
I have NO time to do anything else.. Really!

He's tired.
I'm tired.

We need to work this out...

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Bronze!

Smoke gets in (your) eyes.....

Wide-eyed was all excited yesterday. They had a fire drill and he told me cans (of coal or charcoal - not quite sure which) were planted outside their classroom and then were set alight, generating a lot of smoke. He had to cover his mouth with a piece of cloth (this was provided) and run out to the field. He said some of the smoke got into his eyes and then when they were in the field, the building really looked like it was on fire - "A lot a lot a lot of smoke!"

... I'm so jealous! His fire drill is like a civil defence exercise! So fun!!

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Frontcrawl

I was asked how is the boy's swimming.
He's been going for lessons every Sunday now for the last 5 weeks and has begun to learn the front crawl. He's quite alright now with the kicking and the pulling so during the last lesson, the coach taught him 换气/ the breathing technique. He looked hilariously cute during his practice. Visualize a little boy fish going belly up each time he comes up for a breath and you'd be not far away from the truth.

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Boots

I shipped 2 pairs of boots here...13-year old Bally, adopted from Germany and 4-year old Ecco, rescued off a discounted rack in Finland. How these two survived that many years, I don't know. Anyway, the young one fared very badly. When I flexed her sole, it broke into many pieces. The older one was more pliant, but still suffered fractures. I told the Big One that my boots have fallen apart . I was looking for some sympathy, and consolation in the form of "go buy yourself new ones...." but his response was unexpected at the point it was delivered. "Go and have it repaired", he said. ***TWANG***

Sulkily, I did...and was surprised that the cobbler did a darn good job! So good, I have no excuse not to wear them a couple more years. Someday, I should be able to put them up on eBay and it'll go something like this:

For sale: "VINTAGE BALLY BOOTS - with Hujian-branded sole!"

(".)

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

I WON!!!

Monday, October 25, 2010

2 months later...

It's 2 months today we moved to Shanghai and I think we've made very good progress. Everyone is sleeping better and more soundly in the new place - and we are eating more meals at home.

Eating at home. It's a simple thing but to do but to get to this point, it means, having the water filter installed and the output tested for potability, having pots and pans to cook with, having simple things like oil, soya sauce and salt, crockery to serve your food in, utensils to eat with and a place to sit and gather around for the meal.

So yes. 2 months later, we are finally eating at home.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Changes

Things are quickly settling down ...but still, we have to deal with human craziness:

When crossing the road, even if it's a one-way street for cars, remember to look left and right and left... bikes are allowed to travel the other way.

Even if there are pedestrian markings, you wait until it is relatively clear of vehicals. There is really no point pitting flesh against 20-ton buses and they know!!!

If the road is very wide, i.e 8 lanes, remember to look for signals in the middle of the road! The green man at the other end of the road is meant for pedestrians starting from the middle!

Don't wait until the lights turns red to run... RUN before it happens. Once the lights are not in your favor, and if you are still on the road, say prayers immediately.

When taking the train during peak hours, it is possible to be so packed that there is no room to spread your feet wider than your shoulders and no way to reach any handrails / bars etc. Surprisingly, because it is so packed, there is no room to fall. So you just sway with the crowd and lean on each other for support. It's like packing your luggage - the more you pack in, the less likely the stuff inside will move around. Unlikely the carriage will burst open so relax and enjoy the ride!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

LOA - Leave of absense

We applied for the small one's leave of absence from the school he has not yet stepped into today. What this means is that upon our return, he can be readmitted to the school directly. What this also means is that the school will send us their major examinations and test papers and keep us informed of the developments in the school and the local education scene.

Surprise surprise!!!

He big one dropped his phone - pouch and all.
2 hours later, we got it back.
It all happens in China.

Saturday, October 09, 2010

Shipment

Our shipment arrived today. I still don't understand how so few things can be packed into 81 boxes but that's not quite the point. What's more significant is that the arrival of our stuff from Singapore has made this move official.

A colleague who had just completed a 5 year assignment in Shanghai, left us with her favourite mantra - a famous quote from the philosopher Henry David Thoreau - "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, live the life you imagine."

I've made many attempts to move out of Singapore... but chickened out on quite a few attempts.
- decided not to pursue my degree overseas.
- even though I was jobless, did not move to the Philippines with the Big One ( then boyfriend)
- did not move to Thailand with the Big One ( whom I had married by then)
- rejected a 2-year assignment to London 3 years ago and then quit that company instead.

This move to Shanghai will not have happened if I had not dreamed it some in the first place. So yes, I do want this and couldn't have done it without the clear support from the people around me. 

I am very lucky.

Friday, October 08, 2010

THE BIGGEST UGLIEST BRUISE EVER!!!!

""...WHAT HAPPENED???!? .....HOW DID YOU GET THAT???!!?? TELL ME!! ""

He explains... and I saw this in my head:

Home

These are the reasons I'm really liking my new home:
The boy gets picked up by his school bus half an hour later than where we stayed previously.
My workplace is only 4 train stops away and the entire journey takes 20 minutes door-to-door.
There's a supermarket just 100 steps away that sells just about everything you see at Jasons. (was thinking Cold Storage but this beats that with their wide selection of cheese and cold cuts)
There's a huge park with a pond that has fishes and a couple of black swans swimming in it about 10-15 minutes away by foot.
....and hundreds of small eateries and big restaurants around to choose from within a 10 minute radius.

And oh, some other points to make:

I've seen more seats on the trains being given up for the eldery, pregnant and young than I've ever seen in Singapore.

Have you seen automatic/self-service/ token-less lockers before? You punch a button and the door to an empty locker swings open. You put your stuff in, retrieve a docket and close the door. When you go back, you put the docket against the infrared scanner and ta-dah! The correct door pops open automatically and you get back your stuff. Oohhh.. the 'villager' from Singapore couldn't resist punching the button for a second go at this marvellous machine. the small 'villager' wanted to try it AGAIN too but we were attracting too much unwanted attention. NEXT TIME OK?

Walkie Talkies carried by train workers here have COLORED LED displays!

Other than these discoveries

These 2 months have gone by very quickly. I've been busy enough to fly into Shanghai 4 times in these 2 months. If not for the long China National Day holidays which meant I didn't have to work all the time (still had to take some calls, meet a couple of deadlines, hold an event), wake up before 7am to wake the boy up, or rush to work or back from work, I would have simply collasped from exhaustion.

There's still a lot going on at work and this is usually the peak season for me. Am looking forward to the year-end, maybe a short break in between Christmas and New Year and then a much longer one over the Chinese New Year period - we've already booked our tickets back to Singapore! YAY!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Marker

The boy found 2 markers in his pencil case and showed them to me. I told him he must have taken somebody else's marker. He denied taking anyone's marker.

Me: How many markers do you have?
Him: One
Me: So you must have taken somebody's marker!
Him: NO! I didn't take anyone's marker! I didn't go to anyone's place to take their marker!
Me: Ok ok... There are now two markers in your pencil case. One of it is not yours right?
Him: *Nod*
Me: Can you find out who is missing a marker and give it back?
Him: Ok.

..... The boy's in a stationery circus!!!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Eraser & Ruler & Scratches

2 days ago (Sunday was official work/school day here in China) the boy told us that one of his classmate threw his eraser away. Right! In one breath, I told him I'd buy him a replacement, that I won't buy him one, that he should get his classmate to buy him one since his classmate was the one who threw away his eraser and therefore the culprit should be the one responsible for his loss, not me.

Yesterday, he told me his ruler disappeared from his desk. I asked if he knew who took it? He didn't. Thieves! Right ok... these kids are babies in Primary school. Fine! Told him that if he borrowed something and didn't return, that that would be labelled as 'stealing'. He nodded. Told him that if he saw his ruler, that he shouldn't assume that his classmate had stolen it. That it was not uncommon for people to own similar stuff... and that he should label his things henceforth with his name so that there's no two ways about it.

And a couple of minutes ago, his form teacher called... there has been a scuffle between him and another classmate. My boy is coming home with 2 scratches on his face. She had investigated the incident and found my son to be not at fault.

I wonder what I'd say later....***calm down***

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Saving time...

Got inspired about maximising travel time (by Mel) - and asked the boy if he wanted to go for piano classes after his violin lesson. Mistake. Shouldn't have asked. The boy held up two hands to the side, turned his head the other way, grimaced, and waved "NO NO NO!!!"

Told Grandma the story and she suggested that I extend the boy's violin lesson by 15 minutes and have him go for an hour instead of 45 minutes. 

***Hehheheh!!!*** Such evil ladies we are!!

家张会 - Parent Teacher Meeting

Was in the school for 2 hours for a parent-teacher meeting last Friday. Was a really good session. At least now I understand which text are for which lessons and what he needs to have in his pencil case. He was missing a ruler, a pencil sharperner, a 勾线笔 (which I later found out meant art markers) and a 'plate' that can be placed below the sheet he is writing on. They also helped me download an application in my laptop - the app is part of their 'method' to help the kid recognise 1,500 Chinese characters in 10 weeks. Kid learns 30 characters in school each day and is tested by having them type the 拼音 for these characters. Other than that, the meeting was pretty much a one-way street. Teacher speaks, Parent (me) listens.

On one occasion, I turned to the Mother sitting behind me and asked, "她讲什么?" (What did she say?) She responded ,“我不知道!”( I don't know!) in equal amounts of exasperation. Hahhaa!!! We became friends immediately. She's from Malaysia.

Right. Current diversity count is 2 Singaporeans ( including the boy), 1 Malaysian and 1 Taiwanese.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Haining Tidal Wave

Next stop..... :

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Class "H"

He came back with a note for me. Apparently he's been put through an English aural test in school and placed in Class "H"  - where he will join other students in a "challenging environment" where he would be taught English at First Language standards.

Took me a couple of seconds to realize that I had assumed that English would be taught at a "First Language" standard in his school.

Surprise surprise!!!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

朱家角 Zhujiajiao

It takes only a little over an hour to get to Zhu Jia Jiao by coach from Shanghai.
Day trip costs CNY85 (S$17) and includes 2-way coach fare, and admission to 8 attractions. Tickets are available from the 'travel hub' located at the Shanghai Stadium (上海体育场).
Pity the rain but having a bowl of handmade glutinous rice dumplings (汤圆) in this kind of weather doubled the enjoyment.

A view of one of the many stone bridges in this water town.
Weather!
Lots to see, eat and buy!
Taken from the back yard of the Tang Dynasty Post Office building

Glutinous Rice Balls with Red Bean
Apples - We enjoyed this art exhibit. There were at least 200 watercolor paintings in this gallery.
This was declared 'most fun!'

Monday, September 13, 2010

Violin remake II.1

Another 45 minutes spent 'correcting' his posture and positioning of fingers on the violin and bow. An exasperating 45 minutes... before the boy exclaimed, "我不懂!我不懂你在 说什么!" We both realized we overestimated his ability to understand. She was speaking too fast for him.

I'm frustrated! Each time the boy changes his teacher, he has to lay his fingers on the board a different way. The thing is, he never got it right the first time and so we keep having to go back to undo the habit. The expectation from this teacher is that he holds it precisely the way she tells him to.

Back to the drawing board.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Learning then and now...

I leafed through the boy's books yesterday....

wished I had his books! He has a 美术 (art) book that is just so amazing to look at. It's has different themes in each chapter. One chapter examines how to use dots to compose pictures, giving various examples like 'a pot of flowering plants' and 'tadpoles looking for their mother' . Another uses different mediums to create 'rain'. Yet another 'fireworks', or some chapters teaches the use of collage & paper cutting to create different effects.

His math books looks interesting too! For example, the concept of more or less is tested by asking the child  to identify which length of rope is longer or shorter, giving them a visual of a rope with similar number of coils around poles of different thickness.

His English books are not too far behind. It's a series of 6 books. I noticed some of the popular children stories are incorporated into the lessons as well, like the "Little Red Hen". Each chapter has a list of new words and questions to think about and activities to complete.

I shan't comment on his Chinese text books... can't read them!!!

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Hours

He gets picked up at 7am from our doorstep.
School starts 8am
Ends 3pm.
His after-school activities are from 3:30-4:30pm
He falls asleep during on the way home yesterday, slept through dinner ( tried 3 times to get him to wake up) and continues sleeping till 6am this morning.

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Extracurricular Activities

Monday: Lego (1260)
Tuesday: Swimming (550)
Thursday: Weiqi  (450)
Friday: Piano (800)

Total cost of his optional after school extracurricular activities for the whole semester (half year) comes up a little over SG$600. I think piano lessons alone, if we were in Singapore, would have cost more than that.

The school also does 2 periods of extracurricular activities during school hours each week and there were loads to choose from - like ping pong, soccer, painting, erhu, guzheng, chinese flute, drama, choir, environmental science etc. The nutcase picked erhu! Tried to dissuade him but it didn't work.

Monday, September 06, 2010

Violin remake II

Found him a teacher in GuBei area. There was fellow Singaporean Mother who had accompanied her child to school during the orientation. They've been here in Shanghai about 3 years and had moved from Beijing. I casually asked if her daughter was taking up music lessons and she told me about how happy she was with her daughter's current violin teacher. *Click*

During the 'trial' session (paid trial) the boy played "Kemp's Jig" and the teacher took over ... and I was horrified!  She went on vibrato maximus on every note and it sounded more like "Kemp's funeral". Oh God!

She was saved by her next student, who was asked to perform a couple of the pieces that she was currently working on for us. Then I thought, ok, if this girl can read those notes and play that range on her instrument, then maybe it's time to get the boy aquainted with solfege and for us to give this teacher a go.

I had read in the forums that it is virtually impossible to find a Suzuki music teacher here in Shanghai. While they can teach what is in the books ( the pieces), the methodology they used is not Suzuki's. Pretty evident that this teacher is not going to write finger numberings on his scores!

His first lesson proper was about translating notes into solfege equivalents.... E to Mi, A to La, D to Re and G to Soh.... and some basic music terms into Chinese as well.

It's be at least a month a backtracking before we see any progression from where he left off. One consolation is that his fees here (SG$18/lesson) are a third of what it used to be in SG.

>>>I'm having evil thoughts of making him go for lessons twice weekly!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

We've landed in Shanghai

Arrive last evening to Shanghai.

The boy was in school this morning for an 'orientation camp'. Asked him later on, "Do you understand what is being said? 80%?" He replied, "No. Less than 50%." And for someone who only understands less than 50% of what is being said, he looks way too happy!

Am in office less than 3 hours... and have a room, a laptop and some stationery. Check this out... 我可以用中文打字!

Physically, I'm exhausted. Can't wait for the weekend to chill out some.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Shanghai

Food

A little sick of the food already... all laden with MSG and OIL. Favourites so far are actually this Korean BBQ restaurant call 'Pankoo', the Taiwanese 'Din Tai Feng' and BreadTalk. Alright... spit at me for being a prig!

Weather

Weather has been terrible the last 2-3 days, hovering at 39 - 41 degree celsius. The boy absolutely melted into a monster at these temperatures. He stayed with the driver and refused to get out of the car.

School

We aimed to visit 5, got to 4 and decided to go for a local 'public' international school. It was the first school we visited and while the facilities are circa 1960's in Singapore, the English syllables / textbooks used are on par with what I've seen in Singapore. The Chinese syllables? Well... both the Big One and I exchanged looks that could be interpreted as "Good Luck Little One!"

The local private international art school was in the city - facilities there were more 'advanced' but we couldn't imagine a 1,000 kids being housed in that compound. Also, the students had to choose a specialization in either music ( 1 instrument) or art (not both) from year 1. Robotics classes are only offered from year 3 onwards and for hand-picked students.

As for Yew Chung International School, the place was like a walled garden. Very beautiful, with modern playgrounds ( i.e what you see in our HDB housing estates) , track and ball courts. They have a teaching philosophy which will be good for some kids, not others. I think our boy fell in the 'not others' group.

And then the Singapore Shanghai International School... is like in some godforsaken place. It's privately run and while they are using the Singapore school syllables, they are not actually affliated to MOE. The distance killed this option.

Housing

We visited 12 apartments in 11 different developments. Some were just horrid. Even 8 year old developments felt like they were 15-20 years old to me. I don't like dark corridors and don't want to walk through any to get to my front door. The most memorable unit was one facing an empty plot of land ( construction can start anytime) and the lady owner introduced every piece of furnishing in her house as "very good one" and hinted many times that she only wants tenants who can take care of her apartment... I couldn't resist and ended up showing her the bottom of my right foot which was all black and said, "I wouldn't consider this apartment being taken care of in the first place if this is what is already happening to my feet!" She wanted 13,000rmb/month for her very good one.

As for facilities, these developments outsource the management of the 'club' facilities to third parties and you have to buy their membership in order to use the facilities. The biggest pool we see are 25 X 13 metre pools. Fees cost something like 10,000rmb/year for 2 adults and 1 kid.

City for kids?

We visited the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium, it's like 5 times bigger than our Underwater World. Some interesting exhibits like the Wawa Yu - a humongous tadpole-like amphibian and great for kids... otherwise, it was like a giant tank of edible fishes to me. Well, they had all kinds of groupers, eels & sardines.

Most parents ask their kids to "jin gen ze" ( trail closely). Read in the Shanghai Daily today that 2,000 kidnapped children were resuced in a nationwide campaign against child trafficking last year.The article was about a 13 year old boy who had been reunited with his family. He was tricked into joining the circus at 9 years old after the organizers said he could learn kung fu with them. The boy ended up having only 1 meal a day and frequent beatings whenever he was unwilling to perform. Shared the article with the boy.

Movies are in Chinese and costs 45rmb/seat.

Haven't explored parks, museums and theatres and yet to find music schools & sports groups. These are to-do's when we get back again.

Groceries & daily necessities

Took a walk around Watsons. Prices for Made in China household brands are ok. Even 10%-15% lower but once you start looking at imported products, prices jump 20-40% higher. Chocolates are very expensive here. | Bring chocolates if you come visit me!|

Groceries again are very expensive if you are looking at imported products... but there are 'wet' markets where fresh vegetables and meats can be purchased. I haven't ventured into one... but these are where the locals go and should be way more affordable.

Language

Gosh! I have a lot to learn!  Like how to say air-con, club, account, passport, ... in Chinese.

The kid is hilarious! On day 2, he asks, "Se mo si Newborn?" What is this? Only 2 days in Shanghai and he's asking me the meaning of English words in Chinese?

Saturday, August 07, 2010

5

Ok.. 5 more working days left... and a few more hours before we fly off to HUNT... for housing and school.

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Not much time left...

Yep.. 6 more working days... and about 9 days in Singapore left.

It's like wrapping up a big part of your life and they way you have been living... which reminds me of this recent dream.

I've always thought it is impossible to die in a dream. The ego is too strong to kill itself, even in a dream. But I dreamt I died... well very close to it. Everything was turning dreamily white...and I knew that was it! In fact, as morbid as it soundsI didn't even tried resisting dying... and was maybe a split moment away from it when I said, "Wait! My son! He's too young!"

and then I return to earth.

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Count down...

I have, minus today, 7 more working days left in Singapore. At this point, my gravity centre is in the middle kingdom and that is sucking me towards it, whether I like it or not.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

iThinkday

Have shortlisted 5 schools... 3 of them international schools.. 2 of them local schools with international streams.

Found this description of one of the schools on wiki: "...when they graduate at fifteen or sixteen, these students are excellent in that they are well developed in mindless working skills and the ability to obey their superiors without questions. They are ready to go to the army where they are sure to further exercise their obedience..."

It was probably edited by someone who has a grudge against the school. But it does hit the nail on the spot. This is exactly what you don't want school to do to your child - turn him into a mindless and unquestioning being.

Sheeze... why is it so difficult to make a decision on what kind of education you want your child to have? Everyone is telling me that I'd regret it if I don't put him in the Singapore International School... that he won't fit in when he comes back.

Ok, so we mould him into a nice piece of jigsaw? Train him to succeed THE Singapore way? I commented before. This is the easy choice. Because it's also THE mindless one.

iFooday

Breakfast: 1 roll popiah, 1 cup milk tea
Lunch: Laska, 1 glass of ice coffee, 1 medium cup of yogurt from Redmango
Tea: Lo mai kai, 1 cup barley
Dinner: 6" Chicken & bacon sub
Drink: 1 lychee martini

>>> Is this normal?

Monday, July 26, 2010

A good specimen I am.

Went to SGH for a health screening so that I can get the work permit. What did they do? They collected pee, drew blood, measured, weighed, tested the eyes for both vision and color blindness, poked the belly, tapped the knee, tickled the feet, x-rayed the lungs and did an electrocardiogram (ECG). Felt very brave today so looked while they put in the needle. Saw the nurse take a tube, then 2...and then the 3rd and then I had to burt out...  "How many do you need?" She said, "4"... I asked, "Why?!?" and she said... "Yah, in SGH is like this. Everybody do their own thing. So each lab can only test for 1 thing."

*faint*

I think we call this "working in silos"

Friday, July 16, 2010

Fast & Furious...

When things happen, they usually happen all at once! Very strange phenomenon isn't it?

Things are happening at work... and constantly shifting, even more so exacerbated by me leaving for Shanghai and in the not too distant future too.

My boy is as he is, even with the knowledge that he is going to leave Singapore for Shanghai. The move is inconsequential to him.

For me, I worry if we'd get him into the 'right' school in Shanghai... meaning one that best prepares him for the future. I've also been told that there are NO properly qualified and experienced suzuki violin music teachers in Shanghai and they don't subscribe to the ABRSM standard. He's great with swimming, loves his blading lessons and those are areas I've not even looked into.

And then there are all these other personal challenges lining up to welcome me when I get there....

All these are as exciting as they are frightening but I'm starting to really see that change is really the only constant in this world and so I'm determined to 'participate in life' and weather through them all the best I can.

Monday, July 12, 2010

We are moving to Shanghai....

Yes... we are.

Q&A:
For how long? 3 years
Are you selling you house? No.
Are you renting it out? Most probably.
Is he going to an International School? We haven't really decided yet. It would be easy peasy lemon squeezy to put him in 'Shanghai Singapore International Scool' but there are also other interesting options.
Can we visit you? Of course! We love visitors.
Why? Why not?
When do you leave? Before September.

Easy....

I say, "Easy."
He says, "Don't just say 'Easy'. Say Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!"

Monday, July 05, 2010

To JB and back on a Sunday

Took a train from Tanjong Pagar to Johore Bahru and back on Sunday.
KTM train schedule: http://www.ktmb.com.my/
Left Tanjong Pagar on the 1:30 train (sgd5) and back from JB on the 7:27 train. (myr3)
Shopped at City Square: http://www.city-square.com/
Was the first train ride for the boy and his Ah Gong too!

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Making Roti Prata

The big one was all excited today - btw, he's the dough boy who has made fresh noodles, pizza ( the dough), dumplings (the skin), bao/bun ...and yes, even not-quite-right roti prata before! He finally learnt how to make prata from a very successful Singaporean blogger http://www.ieatishootipost.sg/

All smiles and flippin happy!

.... he's probably going to try making a whole lot soon...
...but I don't know who's going to cook the curry!

Monday, June 28, 2010

Sprains

He woke up with a limp this morning ... sprained his foot yesterday at "Peek-a-boo"!!

Swimming away

Went for his last swim class on Saturday. The big one is taking over, although I'm more keen for his first ever swimming coach / a friend of ours / ex-water polo player / Uncle J / to coach him instead. Uncle J got him swimming in less than 6 sessions and they seem to like each other. Lessons stopped because Uncle J had other commitments. Anyway, we then tried hooking him up with Uncle G... but that turned out to be as hilarious as it was disasterous. In a 3-month period, they only managed to meet each other twice in the water. And if you're going to learn how to swim.... you kinda need to be in the water together. We were convinced that their 八字/ 8-characters was simply put,  not compatible.

The big one decided quite a while back that he was going to stop the small one's lessons with this coach after his swim test. The coach is great for getting the students up to speed with the test requirements but not really attentive with their swimming technique which, to us, is really more important than passing tests. That said, he did get all his students to pass. Quite a feat I must say.

Anyway, until we find him a new coach, or Uncle J - hopefully?, he's going to be swimming with his father.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Swimming

The small one is taking his swimming test today and right about now. The big one is with him and they will lunch together after. Nice!

[news update]
> How is it going?
< We r eating hor fun lunch now. His request.
> K. He passed?
< No one fail one lah, just how fast they can finish.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Violin #4

Bought Violin #4  - 1/4 size - for double the price of the previous, which was double the price of the #2 and double the price of the #1. If this trend continues, his full size violin will cost $4-5k.

Anyway, less than a week with the new violin, he dropped it and the fingerboard came off! His teacher spent 15mins of the half an hour lesson ( which costs $35 / lesson) lecturing him on how to handle the violin properly. Reminded me of ...(http://eggsnchicks.blogspot.com/2007/09/lesson-1-break-it.html)

On progress, the teacher said he's ready to prepare for the ABRSM Grade 2 exam next Feb/March.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Dreamy days

This morning, I felt like I swam with the car through the rain. Could hardly make out the silhouette of the Singapore Flyer from the Benjamin Sheares bridge. But I like rainy days. Because the world looks dreamier... softer... and definitely much more pleasant. To me at least.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

The Karate Kid 2010

We are not really a movie family... maybe 2-3 movies year. But count this as the movie to watch with the family if you only go to the theatre twice a year. It's totally unregrettable. http://www.karatekid-themovie.com/ We enjoyed it.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Give me back!

"Give me back!", he said.

I started ranting, "How to give you back? Give you back? Give you back to who? Give you back to the rubbish bin?"

*pause*

"How about back to your stomach?"

"What? Sorry, no space... can only fit a 3kg baby and it takes 9 months to grow that big"

"Please? Then I can go back up there for a while and then come back again".

( go back? )

"Go back up there? Where? Where did you come from?"

... and then I couldn't stop laughing...

Monday, June 07, 2010

Monday, May 31, 2010

Swim like no tomorrow

We signed the boy up for a swimming event last Sunday - the 50 metres breast stroke for boys 5 years old but found out he had been placed in the same event for girls instead. So we made it known to the officials and were persuaded to either put him in the 50m kickboard event or the 50m breast stroke for boy 6 years old... and no, we can't sign him up for both events because the 'rules' specifies that they can participate in multiple events only if it is within the same "age group" (defined by age at time of competition). And no, there is no competition if he participates in his event alone. We knew he have a very good chance of getting a medal if he joined the kickboard event but that would have been 'no kick'.... (says the father).

He swam like no tomorrow and clocked 1:26.73 for the 50m breast stroke event.
We are so very proud of him!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Darwin Dreaming

Our trip to Darwin. We just decided approximately how we were going to move around and then went. Reminds me of Dory's song in Nemo... "Just keep (swimming), just keep (swimming), just keep (swimming, swimming, swimming), what do we do? we (swim,swim,swim)...."

Day 1



Collect Caravan | Load up on 5 days of food supplies from Woolworths at Coolalinga along Stuart highway | Paused along the way at 'Window on the Wetlands Visitor Centre' | Hopped onto an hour long "Jumping Crocodile Cruise" | Overnight at "Mary River Park"| Steak sandwiches with salad for dinner
- A frog leaped onto my towel!

Day 2


Refulled at Jabiru | Bowali Visitor Centre - Great place to collect information on Kakadu National Park | Nourlangie Rock Art 1.5km Walk - a 1.5km circular walk that takes you past an ancient Aboriginal shelter and several art sites. A moderately steep cliemb to Gun-warddewardde lookout to view Kakadu's escarpment and Nourlangie | Nawurlandja Lookout - exhausting 800m steep climb!| Overnight at the "Gagudju Lodge Cooinda"| Lamb Chops, grilled mushrooms, leek soup & boiled potatoes for Dinner

Day 3


2 hour Yellow Water cruise at Dawn | Bukbukluk 400m Walk | Yumikmik Walks - Boulder Creek Walk 2km return to the waterfall | Overnight at Mt Bundy Station | Sausage carbonara fettucini & Baked portabello mushrooms

Day 4



- Boy removed our roadkill, a brown bird stuck in the fenders, with his hands.
Litchfield National Park Florence Falls - 2 hour swim & took the longer 1km walk back to the parking lot | Wangi Falls (closed)| Lake Bennett resort (closed to caravans? darn!) | Overnight at Berry Springs Lake Resort | Chicken rotini pasta with bacon & Chicken Soup.

Day 5
Canoe around the lake resort | Berry Springs (closed)| Casaurina Shopping Centre in Darwin
-----Bye Bye Darwin----

Friday, April 23, 2010

New BB

'Killed' the old one and they replaced it with a Blackberry Bold 9700. I didn't really kill it. Apparently Singtel deactivated my data line. Anyway, I got a new BB. For 2 days, when the old thing went dead on me, I felt severely handicapped! I didn't know what emails had been sent to me before I got to work in the mornings! I didn't know what emails had been sent to me after I left the office! AND I HATED NOT KNOWING!!!! What's happened? Don't I like surprises anymore?

As to what company I'm in, we all wowed over it being lighter, smaller and brighter... everyone wanted to hold and pinch the new baby ... and went back to their desks plotting to kill their old bb.

All sick.

Yours truly, BB addict.

Monday, April 19, 2010

A competition!

Me: Do you want to join the swimming competition?
YY: No.
Me: Why not? Just swim 1 lap. No?
YY: Ok lar.

30th May. 50m Breastroke for 5 and under.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Aimless contemplation....

The first time I decide to swim after work ( because I couldn't button my blouse this morning), the sky cracks open and thunders with hysteria, sinking my plan.

And then because I'm trapped in the office, I thought about my career. What career?

I never thought I'd be making a living in marketing, writing campaigns, organizing materials, selling them and dealing with all kinds of people - including having people reporting to me from 4 different locations around the world.

All I wanted as a kid was to earn a lot of money. I didn't know what I wanted to do. Some kids do. They want to be Doctors, Firemen, Teachers. I did know what I didn't want to be though - I didn't want to be a Doctor.

I never thought I'd fly around the world to make TV commercials, have people older than me report through to me, talk about color separations, saddle stiches and hanging mobiles, put together b2b email marketing campaigns, edit white papers and teach marketing strategies to a roomful of consultants.

Along the way, I just decided what I liked to do and found jobs that allowed me to do what I liked to do and got paid.

I wonder if knowing what I wanted to do would have made going to school for me more inspiring?

DREAM !!!


Booked the caravan for our Darwin trip!!! It's got a shower, toilet, gas stove, fridge, microwave, hot & cold pressurised water, kitchen kit, 2 double beds & 1 single bed, air-conditioning, radio & CD player, TV and DVD player, and awning!

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Developmental Milestone

Received a call yesterday on my mobile. A little girl was on the line.
> Hello?
Me: Hello.
> Hello?
Me: Hello.. Yes?
> Do you know BY?
Me: *laughing*... Yes, I know BY. I'm his mother.
> I'm S, I'm BY's classmate.
Me: Hi S. Are you looking for BY?
> Yes. Can I speak to him?
Me: He is not with me now. Can I ask him to call you later, S ?
> Yes, ok.
Me: Ok. Bye bye!
> Bye Bye!

Couldn't stop laughing after that.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Chinese reports in English

... been editing a ton of these recently. It's entertaining...

"stayed robust up"... ???! How do you stayed robust up? Some men claim they do.... *wink* but you can't really stay robust and be up right? DELETE and replaced it with "remained healthy" *wink*

"newly increased"...DELETE...  changed it to "created"

"relevant responsible person of XX organisation " ... *hilarious* DELETE ... change to "spokesperson"

Ok.. now now.. wait till they read my English to Chinese translations. If "jump into Yellow River also wash not clean" is funny to me, then I wonder what'll they do when they see my "牛跳过了月亮" version.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Egg Hunt 2010

If you've been, it's the same place! No sure? SMS. See ya!

Monday, March 15, 2010

3 Aquariums

The iPhone.
Since I got it, it no longer just mine.
Over the weekend, they small one and the big one started a fishy business in my device.
Leaving me tanked with 3 aquariums, all fully stocked with fishes that have to be fed, cleaned and made happy.

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Jaded by children's programs???

We tried putting the boy in a drama class when he was a toddler. Didn't work out too well. He refused to be obedient...didn't want to give up his mat nor "trip-trap" over it like a billy goat gruff nor listen (in a manner that signals he is being attentive) to the story being told. The behavior persisted for the rest of the term. So we stopped our money-losing 'subscription'.

And then there were other programs.... that didn't work out very well. Like him standing at the doorway of the wushu class and refusing to go in, insisting on throwing the ball over and over and over again long after that specific activity has been ceased in his gym class, screaming murder at the sight of  his swimming school's driveway, pointing his finger towards the door during a playgroup trial when he was just a baby, or crawling himself out of a story telling session at the library.

Surprising, we survived one year of group violin lessons, got him swimming with another coach and happily blading with a group of midget warriors on wheels.

I suffer from not knowing if our efforts in putting him in different programs are enriching his life or taking away his childhood (whatever that means) and from trying to decide if the 'tough' approach is better for the kid who knows no better or that the kid does know better since we adults are prejudiced and jaded by our own 'education' which really, did nothing to prepare us for our world did it?

While I see him as a very creative individual with a good heart, his teachers tell me that he is not doing well (academically) in school. That his handwriting is untidy and that he is very slow. All true as well.

And so what do we do? How do we balance parental expectations and societal expectations on the shoulders of a five-year old without breaking the spirit that they each carry into this world?

I don't have the answers, I can only continue to do my best and hope that the best turns out right ( whatever that means again).

Hahahhhahahah!!

And now, I go on a commercial break to promote this programme:


I've met Gerry and know that she will respect those little people she works with. She's coming from the angle of giving each kid the space to unveil the talents she believes they already have - rather than teaching / showing them how to do it.

Hope to see you there with your kids!

Monday, February 22, 2010

What does your boy do?

Er... he swims, roller blades, bikes unaided and fiddles his violin some. But he does what other five year olds do - watch playhouse disney on cable TV every chance he gets, makes crazy choices like helping himself to his appetiser, mains and dessert at the chocolate fountain, juicing food in his mouth, pretending not to hear anything unfavourable and whinging at anything that requires some effort. There... my boy does ALL that.

Cleaned out...

As a retribution for wanting to chew on them, my intestines went on riot and spat their guts out... so that between Thursday evening and Sunday, I managed to lose 3kg.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

The creature bites itself.

If I could take out my intestines to bite them, I would. Something is not very right... patience in the form of waiting for the boy to get changed in the morning, to wear his sandals, get into the car, wear his seat beat, undo his seat belt, get out of the car, get into the lift, get out of the lift, through the school gates, put his shoe in the cubby hole, sit down for health check, sanitize his hand, carry his own bag into the class, has been worn down so thin, it's not only showing what the creature within looks like, it's revealing bits of it - sometimes the snapping fangs that spews out unimaginable threats, sometimes the quick pincers that latches itself to flesh and bone and sometimes like today, its maddness and desire to eat itself.

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Cambodia - Day 4 PM & Day 5 (Last Day)

Day 4 pm: Had lunch at a shop near the old market. Think we spent like US$8.50 on vegetarian rice rolls, duck noodles and stir-fried pork with basil leaves and then we went out again with our tuk-tuk and guide to visit the angkor temples - this time taking the bigger circuit route. Visiting Preah KahnNeah Pean, Ta Som and Pre Rup before rushing back to see Ankor Wat in the sunset. Dinner at some buffet BBQ / steamboat place that served roasted pig for US$6.50 adult US$3.50 child. I liked their banana flower salad. Very yummy.


Day 5: Breakfast, followed by a US$1 ride to Artisans d' Angkor where you can see craftsman at work in stone sculpturing, lacquering, wood carving and silk painting. From there, we took advantage of their free transport service and made a trip to their silk farm. Somehow, we took a wrong turn, entered from the point of exit and ended up viewing whole silk making process from end to beginning, rather than the other way round. (Very educational but it's hard not to wonder... 1 life for every 400m of silk fiber... how many for a silk scarf? ). We went back to the hotel.The big one packed. The small one fiddled with my iphone... I slept. We went out again for lunch near the old market US$10 on more vegetarian rice rolls, fried eggplant with minced pork, banana flower salad, french fries. Flight was smooth and the little one slept all the way, not even knowing that we had a 45 min layover at Phnom Penh.



Some useful contacts:
Really liked our Tuk-Tuk driver. His contact: Phan Sam Oun +855 9294 5331.
Central Boutique Angkor Hotel. Tripadvisor reviews for this hotel.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Cambodia - Day 4 AM

There are only 3 terminals at the lobby... on my left, the little one is playing games from www.thomasandfriends.com. On my right, the big one is reading news from CNBC, an article with the headline "China suspends military exchange with US". The little one has a glass of milk sitting on the computer top... the big one has a cup of coffee sitting on the computer top. Both has somewhat the same expression of concentration.

And so this is Cambodia - Day 4... we've just had the same good breakfast - the little one ate his croissant, stuffed with mangoes, ham, noodles, egg and butter while the big one has some of everything off the buffet table and fried yellow noodles with pork - and we don't have anything to do until noon.

Day 1: Landed around 10am. Checked in, walked to the old market area for lunch and walked back. It was really hot and we all got sunburned. Took a nap, swam and went out again to the old market area for dinner, visited the Angkor night market - all selling silk scarves, trinkets, bed/table runners, US$2 T-shirts and Dr.Fish massages - and arrived home in a tuk-tuk.

Day 2: Left the hotel at 5am to catch sunrise over Angkor Wat. Moving in the dark, I nearly fell off one of the terraces. Thank goodness I didn't else I would have broken some bones for sure from that height.  The rest of the day, we moved through Angkor Thom - the capital city of the Khmer empire, visiting temples such as the Bayon, Baphuon and Phimenanakas (we gave up climbing this one because the little one was melting with exhaustion by then). Somehow, we made it through the Terrace of the Elephants with the boy still using his own two little legs. But the boy soon had a meltdown and refused to walk any further. Our tuk-tuk came to the rescue. Lunch at a touristy place... the boy slept for almost 2 hours and then we went on to Ta Phrom, followed by an elephant ride up Phnom Bakheng to watch sunset over Siem Reap. Dinner at the hotel.






Day 3: Breakfast followed by a tuk-tuk ride to Chong Khnease, where we got, for US$40, a boat to take us out to see the floating village along the edge of the Tonle Sap Lake. This lake is the largest freshwater lake in Asia. It's so expansive it looks like an ocean. The guide tells us it will take 5hr by speedboat to get to the other side of the lake. Stopped by the Old Market to buy pack some lunch. Rest of the day spent nuah in the hotel, sleeping and swimming. Had a buffet dinner + cultural dance show at Angkor Mondial restaurant. Boy fell asleep watching the Apsara dance and we lugged him back on a tuk-tuk.


Saturday, January 30, 2010

Cambodia - Siem Reap

 
Fending and feeding some mosquitoes while blogging at the same time from the lobby of the place where we are staying. Even borrowed the photo you see here - someone left it on the computer desktop. So far so good. The boutique hotel at US$40 a night is basic but clean and comfy. It's kind of a studio corner terrace brick house with a little porch and a small planter ( 2 banana trees, one that still holds a huge bunch of green bananas, some birds of paradise and one really nice plant - I don't know what it's called but it is in full bloom with some really tiny but fragrant white flowers) and the swimming pool is just less than 20 steps away from our door.....am fighting a losing battle with the mosquitoes. Going to run back to the safe haven of the room.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Last but not least

... told the boy this year will be the last year we are having an egghunt party. He went, " Why?". We said, "You are growing up. Next year you will be in Primary 1. Egghunts are for little kids.

He said, "But I like egghunts. Last but not least, this is the second last egghunt ok?

Conversation got diverted to how to use the phrase "last but not least" correctly.

So last but not least, there will be an egghunt this year.

Monday, January 25, 2010

How much do you earn?

Everytime I ask a colleague about his/her salary, I get a I-can't-believe-you-are-asking-me-this-question look. Ok then, I'd say, "If you tell me yours, I'd tell you mine....?" and then get an even more incredulous are-you-mad? look.

Is it really illegal to discuss about salaries in your workplace?

And so at best, we gossip about who's getting what... and assume those with higher grades, bigger cars, nicer apartments or more pompous sounding job titles get more. Always, when people tell me so and so earn 'a lot', I can't resist the invitation to ask, "What is a lot?" and then get the are-you-serious-you-don't-you-know-what-is-a-lot? look.

I seriously don't. I mean, unless you do, you are simply just guessing right?

And so when people ( if they are mad like me) ask me how much I earn? I have only 1 pre-requisite - you tell me yours and I'd tell you mine.

How do you then decide whether what you are paid is fair? If it isn't, how then do you make sure you get adjusted?

... Fortunately, or unfortunately, I got to learn a bit more about how this works as a manager:

> do you give more to the employee who grumbles about being paid 'less' that he/she should?
> do you give more to the employee who is underpaid for his/her level but does not know about it?
> do you give more to the employee who threatens to leave if his/her pay is not adjusted?
> do you give more to the employee who is being promoted?
> do you give more to the employee who's personal circumstances has changed?

...and finally when you finish balancing your sums and your conscience, you'd find that it's all a stupid game, because the rules somehow changes and someone with a bigger hand swoops down to undress your bishop and knights in what they call a top-down approach.