3 little pigs.

Whilst reading to the boy last night....

Me: YY! What should you do if you someone gives you straw to build a house?
YY: Say Thank You?
Me: No...*he gives me the questioning look*... Say "NO THANK YOU!" ok? Because the house built of straw not strong! *big one bursts out laughing somewhere in the background*
YY: Orh.
Me: So, what should you do if someone offers you wood?
YY: Say NO THANK YOU?
Me: Clever! And what about bricks?
*he nods his head*
Me: Clever boy!..............And what should you do if you are the wolf?
YY: *eyebrows raise* What?
Me: Hiyah, eat the pigs up before they build the house lar! Then no need to huff and puff! *big one cracks up again.... small one laughs along*

Consume

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
con·sume
–verb (used with object)
1. to destroy or expend by use; use up.
2. to eat or drink up; devour.
3. to destroy, as by decomposition or burning: Fire consumed the forest.
4. to spend (money, time, etc.) wastefully.
5. to absorb; engross: consumed with curiosity. –verb (used without object)
6. to undergo destruction; waste away.
7. to use or use up consumer goods.


Isn't it interesting? That if you can be consumed by the very thing you consume?

110AZ

My son showed me this on the paper ...

110AZ

and it took a couple of seconds before I had it decoded.

I had asked him to write 1 to 10 and A to Z.

Am

Not

Looking

Forward

To

Meeting

His

Teachers

In

The

Future...

Power vs Freedom

Interesting article - click on the title to read it:

" ... gaining power, according to research by Pfeffer and others, is mostly a matter of building relationships with people you don’t necessarily like, i.e. taking on many, many obligations, social and otherwise. Generally, lunching with enemies and bigwigs is not considered the most fun to have in the afternoon, but according to the evidence it’s what it takes to claw one’s way to the top, and it’s non-optional. The truly ambitious are not free to choose a solo sandwich in the park. "

Conversations ......about school

Me: What did you do in school today?
Boy: I flush before I pee.
Me: That's good. What else?
Boy: I flush before I pee!!
Me: Oh!!!!!!!! You FLUSHED before you pee.... Why?
Boy: Because there was 'nrg nrg' inside!
Me: *laughing* Oh my!... so someone didn't flush?
Boy: Yes! Someone didn't flush. I saw him! But I'm not sure what is his name.
Me: Hahhaa... never mind. What else did you do in school today?
Boy: Nothing.

Right, I send my kid to school today to flush away somebody else's poo. Excellent!

Party!

Happy Birthday!

Waited till this morning before deciding on having a party for the boy. Called the usual suspects, went grocery shopping, and then slogged in the kitchen for the next 3 hours. But checked out those smiles!

Uma's Playground

Thank you for having us at your party!

(All photos in this post taken by Danesh Daryanani)

A compliment?

"You are intelligent but you got no common sense!"

???

I really don't get it. How does that work?

Human Rights

The Big One: What's the definition of Human Rights?
Me: Errr, the right to live?
The Big One: It's more than that.
Me: What?
The Big One: Most people don't know what is it themselves but pretend they do.
Me: So what is it?
The Big One: It's simply the right to co-exist!
Me: Whaaaaaaaa.... that's so beautiful!

I checked out wikipedia this morning. His definition beats them all 10-1.

Not knowing what you want ...

....will not get you what you want!

Case study:
A: Are you able to help me beautify this?
B: What do you mean by 'beautify'?
A: You know, make it nice?
B: Right, so how do you want me to make it nice?
A: Can you do it?
B: I might be able to, if I know exactly what you want.
A: So you are not the person I should speak to for these things?
B: I might be able to do it, but I need to know what you mean by 'making it nicer' before I can tell you whether I can do it or not.
A: So do we have a department in our office that can help us do this?
B: Do what?
A: Make this better.
B: Can you give me some examples on what you mean by making it better?
A: So you can't do it? How about the other department?
B: I don't know if I can do it unless I know exactly what you need and I don't know if the other department can do it either because I don't know what you need them to do!
A: Why don't you speak to them?
B: Speak to them?
A: Yes.
B: Why?
A: Ask them if they can do it!
B: Do what?
A: Make it nicer.
B: No!
A: Why not?

At this point, B, aka me, floats away....

Not Lying. Forwarding Truths

The violin teacher to the boy, " Are you still drinking from the milk bottle?"
The boy, "No."
The mother raised her eyebrows so fast, the other parents cracked up laughing.
Back home, the mother asked if the boy wanted milk. He replied, "Yes! From a cup, not a bottle ok?"
Right, you asked for it!

Lesson

Been quite lax so obviously the boy couldn't understand when I decided to be firm with him on Wednesday evening. He dilly-dallied, played badly, dallied some more and came up with a million excuses as only he can. And then, for some obtuse reasons, I decided he needed to be shouted at so I tried that, and even made sure I bullied him into tears, refusing to give him any water when he wanted some and hoping maybe after all this torture, he'd turn into a better student.

I AM A NINCOMPOOP!

Last night, we changed tack. I sat with him to plan out what we were going to practice and how we were going to achieve that. What an amazing change! The boy knew what was to be expected, knew he agreed to it prior, could see it on paper, was allowed to strike each item off when he completed it and knew that the practice will end only when he has finished everything on the list.

LET THE NINCOMPOOP NOT FORGET THIS LESSON!

Perception

So I was late for my session with the Swamiji. I went to the wrong place and had to call the Big One back at home. He checked it out, told me where I should be and exclaimed, "Whaaa $125! Quick, you better take the cab!"

Back home, I told him about how this is supposedly the closest you'd ever get to "God" and so he asked if I got a discount from "God" since I was obviously late . My response? "What makes you think God gives discounts?" He chuckled, but persisted... "How about SY? Did she give you a discount?" To which I responded, "SY is not a God so she can't give discounts either!".

We both laughed really hard then.

My Sunday with a Swami

So I was told, that meeting an enlightened one is the closest we'd ever get to meeting God. So I sat there, staring at 'God', watching him.

Here's a note I wrote on my little notebook "If you had been touched by God, will you know? (and even if you did know) Would you believe? (you were)"

Anyway, I guess if there's one conclusive note, it will be that I've had the most amazing experience. For a moment at least, I became me.

Bananas, Oreos and ....

If a BANANA is a Chinese who is "white" inside and an OREO is a Black who is "white" inside, then guess what an Indian who is "white" inside is? A COCONUT! Anyway, I was giving my colleague grief by accusing him of being a BANANA when the COCONUT pointed out that I'm a BANANA myself. And the only way we could explain it to the American was to bring up the OREO.

I wouldn't call this racism.

I will be proud if the boy grew up to become a BANANA OREO COCONUT mix. All of it, white, black, brown, yellow and all the other colors in between! If anything the world is lacking in now, it's colorful Global Citizens!

Inspired.

So I've been working 14 odd months in this company and my boss finally shows up for a week, all the way from Kentucky - I meant the state in the US of A. Apart from the many highlights, like taking the team for a spin on the Singapore Flyer and trying to pop popcorns with our mobile phones, i've been inspired.

Me thinks ... tough job, great boss, is way better than great job, tough boss.

His 2nd Violin Performance

Yesterday, the boy had his violin lessons and then his public violin performance later that same afternoon. Yes, it wasn't last week. I remembered wrong.

Anyway, so when his turn came, the teacher lined up the 4 of them to play their pieces. He then moved the microphone stand closer to the kids and was lowering the mike closer to one of them when suddenly, one woman from the audience gasped and exclaimed, "OH MY GOD!"

The teacher looked up, recognised the woman, laughed and then swiftly moved the microphone away to another position.

Meanwhile, another person had nudged the woman who made so much noise and rebuked, "Hey, you should have more confidence lar!"

The microphone had been lowered and placed just 6 inches from my little performer's violin.

Eventually, the boy performed brillantly! He did forget some bits but recovered well.

So yes, the woman, aka I, definitely should have had more confidence in him.

Spoke to the big one on the way to work this morning... apparently he made similar noises too.... something like, "LEOOOOOOOOOW!"... which means "FINISHED!" in Teochew.

Lunch @ $1.70

90 cents for the BeeHoon and 80 cents for coffee. This provided I remember to pack it before 11am. After 11am, the price of the BeeHoon shoots up to $4 a plate. I don't really care much for their lunch version, which has added 'leow' aka extra ingredients - a couple of shrimps, some strips of fishcake, maybe 3 or 4 slices of pork, shredded cabbage, not forgetting a mouthful or so of scrambled egg, and more oil.

The lady boss must have thought I wanted to save some money or something by always eating plain BeeHoon for lunch and so today, she asked me, "Don't want to add more ingredient arh?" (with a you are pitiful look) "Like that enough a not?" and piled more PLAIN BeeHoon into the styrofoam box.

I'm glad I can live simply... and hopefully life will be simple enough for me to do that and still be happy.

Excursion

Once again, the boy is off to another school excursion and once again, I grilled him on how to behave on the bus, what to do and what not to do......and once again, I forgot to tell him to enjoy himself. I'm hopeless!

ERP

Heard over the radio >>>Don't slow down when you see the camera, the ERP will go up!<<< Minutes later, the Big One burst into Hoots of Laughter. He's not slow. He'd glanced at his speedometer and was wondering >>> If someone gets caught speeding in the morning on a weekday, will they lower the ERP charges?

Food & Co.

Forest Walk

A really really enjoyable walk. Except that at one point, a sample of the male species decided to drop his shoe over the side of the bridge and his unfortunate relative (aka the mother) had to climb down the ridge to get it back for him, emitting an angry trail of black thought-bubbles along the way.

"I go by myself"

......and that's precisely what the boy did. Go by himself to school. Well, today we stopped about 12 metres away from the school's gate. Typically, I would accompany him all the way into the building and wait while he goes through the health checks. But today, he announced, "I GO BY MYSELF!". I'm thinking, why not? So I said, "Ok, you go! Bye Bye!".......and he DID!

By the time we drove past the school's gate, he was already well inside the building and out of sight.

He's not yet 4. How do they grow up so quickly?

Allegro & Perpetual Motion

The boy's performing these 2 pieces on his violin this Saturday at 3:30pm at XXXXXXX - it's a free performance so no need to buy tixs. ( not worth it anyways....hahhaha!!) sms me for the location if your are keen to go see.

All Smiles

Holiday??

Kinda thinking we need another one ... we (aka I and me) did plan to go to Hong Kong in December with a couple of my friends. The big idea was to dump the kids in disneyland with the fathers while the mothers go shopping........but that's 5 more long months away!

Primate

pri·mate
1. Ecclesiastical. an archbishop or bishop ranking first among the bishops of a province or country.
2. any of various omnivorous mammals of the order Primates, comprising the three suborders Anthropoidea (humans, great apes, gibbons, Old World monkeys, and New World monkeys), Prosimii (lemurs, loris, and their allies), and Tarsioidea (tarsiers), esp. distinguished by the use of hands, varied locomotion, and by complex flexible behavior involving a high level of social interaction and cultural adaptability.
3. Archaic. a chief or leader.

Definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)

Ee-yorh talks

Looking at the picture - you'd laugh right? Is it really funny to work a donkey like that? Do you laugh at a colleague who's overworked? Or rush over to help put some of his/her load on your own shoulders instead? I'm apt to do the latter - quite dense.

Anyway, I keep staring at this donkey. It doesn't seem distressed by the fact that it's been lifted off the ground so. In fact, the donkey seemed relieved!

If the donkey can talk, what will it say?

Working like this donkey...

(Information overload image by Bueny Pixs , CC 2.0)

"Boy ! You Can't DO THAT!!!!"

..............the boy was playing with the camera when he wandered into the bathroom and shot the Big One in his full glory. Hilarious!

Ortho

Saw the orthopedic specialist today. He showed me my bone x-rays, which has already been scanned and stored in his computer, and drew tangents on them to illustrate his point - that my bones aren't exactly aligned. There may be some past injury on the disk- leading to misalignment of the lumbar and hence causing stress on the 'connecting hook' which shows signs of arthritis. There is no cure for arthritis and also currently, there is no known 'spare parts' - Righto!

Genes

We both have a coordination problem! The teacher tried to teach me how to place my fingers on the violin to play G Major Arpeggio without moving too many fingers. I stared at my fingers, willing them to move accordingly to how I've been instructed to. But it was good as trying to make my hair stand voluntarily. Impossible! The synapse between my brain and those muscles on the fingers simply didn't connect. I think the signals fired to another location and I ended up sticking out my tongue instead!!!

Not!

"I'm NOT a baby anymore! Don't call me baby!"

Pau

How not to read the 700 emails in your inbox.

I sprained my back and was away from work for 3 days. Most colleagues came to offer me their sympathies, recommendations and generally good advice on what I should do, which acupuncturist I should visit, what kinds of "heaty" food I should avoid etc... but added to the mix was this one... "You should blog about it".

My instant response to that was sure! It will be HOW NOT TO READ THE 700 EMAILS IN YOUR INBOX!

But seriously, how do you separate mere traffic noise from the real siren? How can someone remain effective without being considered 'unreachable' by not reading an average of 200+ emails a day? Think about it! Reading 200+ emails at an average rate of 1 minute an email = 3-4 hours of work = half a day gone!

So I asked around, did some googling and came up with these 3 strategies:

(1) Filter: How to differentiate immediately if a mail was sent to you directly, or if you are just on the CC. list. For how to, Click HERE.

(2) Be Honest: I'm never ever going to catch up with all the mails that were sent. So instead of feeling guilty, I should just get over it and stop trying to be perfect. So there, all you unimportant mails, I'm going to sentence you to DELETE!

(3) Avoid Boomerangs: Yay! Now that I'm left with 80+ emails after filtering and being honest, I want to make sure that these emails I respond to don't boomerang back so I'm going to (a) communicate strictly to those who needs a response from me (i.e not "Reply to All") and (b) communicate so clearly, nobody will feel they have to send me a "Reply".

Cheers! Happy Weekend! Don't try breaking your back and a toast to a better 'Outlook'!!!

Telemarketeers

All telemarketeers are stupid but some are more stupid than others!!!

Yours sincerely,
GROUCHY

MC for 3 days

I only read like 5 mails, took 3 conference calls and attended 1 meeting. So I'm back to work and guess what? 723 mails are sitting in my inbox! *curse*

The truth

On normal days:

Me: Am I fat?
He: Either no response, or "You need to exercise!"
( which will lead to )
Me: So I'm fat?
He: Everyone needs to exercise to be healthier!

Yesterday, after having 2 men haul me into the car:

He: You are very heavy!
Me: When people lose consciousness, they become heavier!
He: The weight doesn't change!
Me: No, but if I can hold on to you, then I'd definitely be lighter!

The truth is difficult to swallow isn't it?

Faking Death

I always imagined dying to be a struggle. Maybe if you are strangled, that would be the case. But after yesterday's fainting episode, I'm wondering if it's more like fainting... the body shuts down without you realizing it and then you're gone!

OR even if you knew you were losing consciousness, like I did, you couldn't help but slip uncontrollably into the dark and you wouldn't know that you did lose consciousness until you've woken up from it.

When I did wake up, I was so refreshed by it, I thought I could start walking again. Wrong.

But guess what? I can now finally relate to the phrase "died peacefully". It's just a permanent form of lost consciousness isn't it?

A niece!

I have a new niece!

My bad.

I heard a shout, "Uncle! Ni ke yi bang wo mah?" ( can you help me?) and realised that I was not leaning beside the big one. I was half kneeling in front him and he was shouting for help. I had what the doctors in the hospital recorded as "LOC" - lost of consciousness.

What happened? I sneezed and popped my back. The pain was so intense, I fainted.

My back is a joke. The first time the same thing happen to me, I was flinging the comforter over the bed. Next thing I knew, I keeled over and slumped over side of the bed. The ambulance came to pick me up and I was hospitalized.

This time round, I just lay on the bed in the A&E ward while the morphine shot they gave me took effect.

6 hours later, I was sent back home in a "zen" state, with a few packets of really strong painkillers.

Lions in winter

Finished the previous book and will strongly recommend it for anyone who's every thought of officially retiring before the official retirement age.

Now reading:

"There, SEE?"

4 hour work week

Currently reading... This is the first "self-improvement" type book I've read that contains words like "p*n*s" and "m*st*rb*t**n" in them. I'm only about 1/4 through the book but am predicting that it's definitely a book I'd read to the end.

My attention span is pretty short nowadays and I don't really have time to waste on boring books. My intellect simply doesn't appreciate being challenged by complexity for the sake of it anymore. Simpler better!

Mysophobia - fear of dirt.

Jun 12 - A piglet in Northern England who developed a phobia of mud has overcome its fear with the aid of some Wellington boots.

Cinders, a young saddleback pig, appeared to have a condition called mysophobia - a fear of dirt - having refused to wallow in the mud with her siblings.

Her owners had the idea of fitting her with the bespoke miniature footwear to help conquer her fear.Debbie and Andrew Keeble run a sausage company in Thirsk, North Yorkshire.

However, they have said that Cinders will be spared the butcher's knife and instead act as a mascot to the Farm Crisis Network which supports struggling farmers.

~Reuters

Kai Hua - Open Flower

My comment to his teacher during his last lesson. The boy had "blossomed".

The little one had been very encouraged by the concert he took part in the previous week and over the last one week, learnt 2 new pieces. A feat. Considering it took 2 terms (half a year) before he could play "Twinkle".

Practice is becoming more regular now... and the aim for me is to encourage him to keep in beat and play music that can "sing and sigh".

Business opportunities

Received this note from a reader:

"According to this new survey, Singapore is the easiest place in the world to do business! What do you think makes it so easy? Many factors. The easy availability of public toilets. Lots of people selling tissue paper.... big business, small business, all can!"

Hot Job

(Part 1) Hot Job
Tissue peddlers! Don't you think there's a lot of them around nowadays? It used to be a partnership business and one of them had to be blind but not anymore my friends, they are everywhere now! I'm petty sure they'll invade bus-stops and mrt stations next!

(Part 2) Tissue Peddler
So this lady came to us and I bought some. Whilst eating, she came back again and my mother politely told her we've bought some from her already. 15 minutes later, she came back yet again and this time, my mother picked up the proof, showed it to her and said, a tat impatiently, Look! We bought from you already! The lady responded, "The other guy also sells this type of tissues" and walked away. I burst out laughing before my mother could give her retort.

(Part 3) Rejected Offer
Which reminds me of this Teochew man in the hawker centre last week. (I seemed to be spending way too much time in hawker centres) This man was probably in his forties and must have been undernourished as a child. His teeth was really bad. A couple had fallen off already and the ones he still had were yellow and pointy. He was sipping his soya bean drink when along came the elderly owner of the soya bean drink stall, a fellow Teochew man. The old man advised the 'young man' to do something with his time, like (what else?) sell tissues! The man prompty rejected, saying, "Look! The auntie who used to come round? she's not here anymore! She's been taken away by the authorities for selling tissues! Better not sell tissues, wait get taken away. I don't want to be taken away!"

(Part 4) Inconclusive
The majority of tissue sellers I'm sure didn't elect to sell tissues in order to make a living. But if you have been to other parts of Asia, you'd notice that there are a lot more 'career' opportunities for these people in those countries than it is here in Singapore. I'm not sure if it's due to people being 'hungrier' or the governments there being less 'sophisticated'.

(Part 5) Scene from the past
This image of an old lady I saw years ago, on the streets of Hanoi, with less than a kilo worth of strawberries (most likely home grown), squatting under a bulb that runs on electricity she's tapped (illegally) just struck me as ... entrepreneurial.

(Part 6) Limitations
The same opportunities doesn't exist here for people that falls off the sides. First, you dont' have any land on which to grow things on. Second, there's no free electricity to tap from and lastly, you need a license before you can hawk anything, anywhere.

(Part 7) End
What am I doing, writing all this s**t whilst sitting on a cushioned seat in an air-conditioned room? Why do I freaking care about tissue sellers?

7 and a half hours ...

spent in 2 hospitals today. The boy had an accident. He's fine now.

Random Rage in Tokyo.... 7 killed.

Excerpt taken from an article reporting the same on Reuters...

"Japan has entered a period of selfishness. People have the feeling that they can do anything," said Jinsuke Kageyama, a criminal psychologist at Tokyo Institute of Technology.

"But when these people fail to fulfill themselves in socially acceptable ways, they are treated as losers and their frustration builds up," he added. "A series of disappointments can lead them to try to regain their sense of self through crime."

Kageyama blamed Japan's obsession with exam grades for making many feel like failures, and said the decline of the extended family was one factor cutting support for troubled youngsters.

Tackling the root causes of such attacks would be a complex task, and harsher penalties would likely not be helpful, he said

This is a war waged by a single person upon the society he lives in. Think how more horrible it is to have societies wage war against each other. Yet, it is these single acts of selfish rage that shocks us more. Why? Is the agenda of one less permissible or more selfish than that of a group?

Do we despise losers? Do you? Do I? Why?

( Sidetrack: I was always happy to point out to my parents that so and so did worse than me. And when I did end up last in class, I didn't hesitate to point out that I wasn't last in the standard.)

Regaining self through crime? Come on, who really knows what self is? Looking back, my 20's was of hope. 30's now is simply one big struggle to become. I think maybe at 40, I'd finally know for sure.

Extended family support. Hmm.... who's really reponsible for the decline?

Hasher penalties not likely to be helpful. ( If you had a child, you'd agree) But what then?

I've been to Akihabara, the place where the stabbings took place, and had bought hair curlers there. Perhaps if I hadn't, I would have just read the headlines and note, 7 killed. No relevance to me whatsoever. Am I selfish? er.......Yes?

One thing for sure. I'm definitely scared of the possibility of me or anyone I know/love being killed one day simply by just being in the path of a more selfish person. Worse, whilst buying something stupid like hair curlers.

Bursting!

He did it! I am so proud of my baby! A week ago, you wouldn't have thought he could. The contrast between then and today was so great, it's like pairing nadir and zenith together. The Big One's take? "He came from such low base, everything else is a bonus!" That's how I felt. Like I got hit by an unexpected bonus and it made me swell with pride!

His inaugural violin stage performance.

Well done my boy!

Well done!

"When parents push their kids too hard..."

Salary Inflation

Doubleclick on the image to make it bigger... a colleague came to me and said, "We are in the wrong industry! This guy from Merrill Lynch earns $4.4 mil a year and he's only 10 years older than me!" Hmmm.... I did a scenario testing on excel. I started with a salary of S$1,650 after graduation. Assuming I had an increment of 10% a year ( ideal case sceanario)... and continue to have 10% adjustment a year, by the time I retire at age 62 ( if I hadn't kicked the bucket by then) I should be earning S$82,155 a month! Roughly S$1 mil a year??? But hey, if I worked till I'm 78 years old , in Year 2053, I can match what this guy does in Year 2008! Right... someone tell me, what'll be the price of loaf of bread in 2053?

Day 1 of Year 2

Yep. Today's Day 1 of Year 2.
Checked my bank account. Er, it's no different from the year prior....Hahahaa!!!

Restructuring

Finally pulled my socks up and submitted my 'new structure for the team' proposal after the resignation of one of my senior staff. All in 2 weeks! It could have been a no-brainer but I guess, given that the business needs are evolving, I can't give a no-brainer hire-a-replacement solution.

Hope it goes through...

I don't think I'm ambitious.........though 'saying' this suddenly reminds me of a strange dream I had last night. I was trying to get my old job back. The one that pays less but was way more fun?

Tomorrow equals 365 days at this job. The 2 things that made me take this job up still remains challenging. (1) People ; & (2) Business.

I was actually relieved to wake up to reality.

Overheard

While eating curry chicken noodles during lunch, I shared my table with some strangers and there was this middle-age guy, who was complaining to (i am assuming) his colleague that his daughter often only gets home past 1am in the morning. The dialogue went like this

Man (M) "My daughter doesn't come home till 1am! This is not good for a girl!"
Colleague (C): But she's an adult already right?
M: It's still no good for a girl to come home so late everyday.
C: How old is your daughter?
M: Well, everytime I threaten to lock her out, she comes home earlier but after a while, she goes back to coming home late
C: What does she do?
M: I don't know. All I know is she's at her computer all day and night.
C: BUT she's an adult right? How old is she?
M: She's 30 but it's really no good for a girl to come home so late.

.................???!????? I tried not to choke on the curry chicken bits in my mouth.

My my my, if your daughter is 30 and still coming home, it's not a good sign!

30.80

That's the amount I spent on cosmos at Harry's Bar before the movie, ticket, nachos & a bottle of green tea. Totally enjoyed the evening... and realized only after I got home that hey, I actually watched a movie on opening day! Not on the plane, not on DVD, but at the cinema!

Sex And The City - The Movie

Going to watch it later... Yeah! Yours truly the loser haven't been to the movies in a long long long time... last movie was ......"Curse of the Golden Flower" in 2006?

Company for 2

3 Asian Bears

The lights went out. The little one protested so I told him I can tell him the story of the 3 bears without the lights. Went something like this >>>

Once upon a time, there were 3 bears... and they were hungry one morning. Little bear wanted porridge. Not noodles, not bee hoon, not chwee kueh. He wanted porridge. Papa bear wanted Mee but Mummy bear said, no. Because Little bear wanted porridge so she'd cook porridge! (Hmmmm) Porridge was cooked but they all agreed it'd taste better with Bak-Hu ( Pork floss) so off they went to the market to get some.

Meanwhile, there came along a girl named Lock Li-Goy. She saw the porridge and decided she must eat them! She added some Soya Sauce into Papa's bear porridge but it was too SALTY! So, she added some sugar to Mummy's bear porridge, but it was too SWEET! Finally, she decided to add Vegemite to Little Bear's porridge. It was just right so she ate it all up!

Then I mumbled something about watching TV on the sofa, rocking chair and the IKEA stool ......which broke apart ( I fell asleep at some point, only to be poked in the eye and told unsympathetically to wake up !!!! )

Then something about a water bed, a rock bed and finally a mattress bed. And angry bears who threatened to eat Lock Li-Goy up with their Bak-Hu.

Finally, I said "THE END! GOOD NIGHT!" and slept.

Losing a staff today to motherhood.

Hi Everyone,

******** has decided not to return to work, in order to care for her child.

Her last day is 26th May. While I have no arguments against her decision, it is nevertheless with regret that we won't be able to continue to enjoy her company as a valued colleague in ******. I for one will miss her keen intellect, quick wit and hilarious Swiss-responses at work.

All mothers are working mothers and the multiplicity of being an all-in-one carer, function organiser, nurse, driver, handyman is extremely daunting (at least to me!). But if we know her well enough, we will certainly know that she will take those challenges by the horns and be very successful.

I wish her all the best.

Wii-olin

His Teacher solemnly asked that I bring him in for a REMEDIAL lesson "to catch up".

It's not as if I hadn't made an effort practicing the violin with him. But if I can describe the effort, it's like trying to squeeze coconut juice out of the whole coconut with bare hands. Nothing comes out!

But today, HEY! We went through 3 songs in a breeze... the Coconut has been inspired! The Big One told him he'd get to play Wii if he practiced well.

It's all about pulling the right strings huh?

.....>>???!?>>......................When is Wii Violin coming?

Breaking new grounds...

First Vietnam, then Cambodia and now Laos!!!???

Am reading up about Laos...and came upon this. Hmmm....??!??

HEY ME, Quit fantasizing!!! GET back to breaking new grounds! ONWARD MARCH!

Where's my weekend?

More

The small one is now into throwing his kisses away for me to pick up. This morning, I had to pick up 3 before coming to work.

Unbroken

The little one 'threw' a kiss out of the window. I feign horror and told him I'd pick it up downstairs. His response: "Mummy, it's not broken! You go downstairs and pick it up and bring it to the office OK?"

Fatigue II

Hey, maybe after the months of hibernation, the fats will melt away? Work: I've ran 40 miles, only to find that the end of it is the beginning of yet another. *sian*

Fatigue

I feel like I need to hibernate...find a cave somewhere, cosy yet well ventilated, and go to bed for a few months.

2-Wheeler

The Small One's getting it... thanks to the efforts of the Big One. It quite a brilliant idea to start teaching them on a grass patch first. Even if they fall, which is inevitable in the beginning, it's more or less 'cushioned'.

Flight BY101

Are you on top of it?

http://www.thegirlskaksh.com

Collected my new necklace from Audrey and we had a chat over several plates of sushi - my treat, since at some point in time, she harbored thoughts about killing me.

I honestly have little recollection about our first meeting (sorry! I shall blame it on my pregnancy then) but she was this newbie AE (Account Executive) the agency brought in to service our business and I must have ignored her during meetings ( because she told me today I hardly spoke to her!). But she did great as an AE and I certainly do remember her for that.

Fast forward a couple of years. She moved over the fence to the client side. We kept in touch. I moved on to a different company. We kept in touch. Wind the tape a bit more and we come to now, her as the Lady Boss of "The Girl's Kaksh" and me as her client. Yet again?

Audrey, I wish you every success possible. Good luck and I will look forward to you buying me lunch when you break even.

Torn

... I promised this will be the last of the 3-part style series. "Torn"...that's the description for the lining of my skirt! *Shhss*

Excellence or Innovation?

Attended a talk by Don Peppers, a leading authority on customer-focused relationship management strategies for business, yesterday.

He spoke about why being customer-focused requires the company to be both innovative and flawless operations and how being better at your current business often makes it harder to be innovative and went on to present a "mental model" for how a company can use technology to:

- Harness the diverse ideas of both employees and customers to generate faster and better innovation;
- Tap the power of customer word-of-mouth and online social networks to improve satisfaction, loyalty, trust and referrals;
- Execute better by engaging and enabling employees to become a "self-organizing" force for creating genuine economic value.

He also had a couple of slides about "Path-dependence" and demonstrated it effectively within the audience by asking everyone to clap rhythmically. Within a split-second, the entire auditorium was clapping in unison.

Anyway, the talk made me think - everything we need to know is already out there! But old ideas can are rehashed convincingly with the support of new examples, and that's exactly what he did.

The world spins another day!

Stretched

If Friday's style was "lumbering"...today's would be *drumroll* >>> STRETCHED!!! which is what I'm doing to my tailored shirt from Pinky!

Lumbering

That's my locomotive style today. Lumbering! A result of those pancakes, those lovely meals and olive-oil soaked bruschettas!!! Ate a kilo of fruit today for lunch. Nothing else... well, not exactly a kilo but it was a lot! Now wondering if anyone has tried eating a kilo of food and wieghing themselves right after to see if they're exactly a kilo heavier?

Complaining....

I bought something online... but they only accept payment via Paypal. Right, so I apply for Paypal and was charged $3 - which will be reversed once they receive the confirmation code that comes with the transaction. Statement came but the transaction wasn't captured. Couldn't wait for the next one... so tried to register for i-banking. Couldn't succeed via web. Called hotline. Voice tells me sure I can, but do I have a bank account with them? I say no... but I hold 3 cards from your bank!!! Voice at the end of the line told me I can't apply for i-banking unless I have a savings account! Right, so can they print out a statement for me? Voice said yes, they will reprint the statement. I said no, no, I don't need a reprint. I need the statement for transactions from between the last statement and now. Voice said sorry, I am only limited to 1 statement per month, which will be printed on the 20th of each month. Back to square 1. Now I remember why I stopped banking my money with this bank! Maybe i should stop using thier cards too! Hmph!

A dream pursued...

Audrey, way to go! All others, please check out. www.thegirlskaksh.com AND BUY SOMETHING!

New Book: Then we Came to the End by Joshua Ferris

EXCERPT: WE WERE FRACTIOUS AND overpaid. Our mornings lacked promise. At least those of us who smoked had something to look forward to at ten-fifteen. Most of us liked most everyone, a few of us hated specific individuals, one or two people loved everyone and everything. Those who loved everyone were unanimously reviled. We loved free bagels in the morning. They happened all too infrequently. Our benefits were astonishing in comprehensiveness and quality of care. Sometimes we questioned whether they were worth it. We thought moving to India might be better, or going back to nursing school. Doing something with the handicapped or working with our hands. No one ever acted on these impulses, despite their daily, sometimes hourly contractions. Instead we met in conference rooms to discuss the issues of the day. (Official Site)

Vacation Photos

|Farm|Pancakes|Winery|Herb Cafe|Chocolate|

Farethewell, we'd be back soon!

Vacation... YEAH!

New Sony HD Handycam - Kids

Abu Nabu Kabuni (2 times)

Ah Pongyoma Hey Bai Kondola
Lika Pay Puka Yoo Pow Mau

Abi Pocky Pocky Lau Wika Bubuha
Pika Pika Dika Day My Booni

Ah Pongyoma Hey Bai Kondola
Lika Pei Puka Yoo Pow Pow

Abi Pocky Pocky La Yika Buhuda
Pika Pika Dika Day My Booni

Sony Foam City

Love it!

Twinko

Dog and Pony show

We have somebody important visiting our office today. I'm marvelling at the spring cleaning and window dressing. URGh!!!!

Music

My dear boy,

You'd probably not remember this, or maybe you will.

During the last Satuday's violin lesson, your little friend's father blew up and threw her violin out of the school door. Not once but 3 times! (I'm not too sure but either the mother or the girl must have picked it up, only for it to be thrown out again)

You asked me, "Why? Why (XY)'s papa throw her violin away?" The only answer I had for you then was, "(XY)'s papa is very fierce. (XY) didn't play the violin properly so throw away lor!"

Later, I asked if you would want me to throw your violin away, you replied definitely, "No!".

Honestly, there are some days when I think of smashing it into bits and pieces. There's definitly more gratifaction from smashing it, and making sure the darn thing breaks badly, so bad there's no putting it back together so that I don't have to try so hard making you practice it properly.

But always (till now), I catch myself and go back to the core of why I put you in violin classes and then I breathe hard, relax and put your darn freaking violin back into it's case, for another battle tomorrow.

All things aside, all I wanted you to have is Music in your life.

Love you so much!

~XOXO~

http://drawn.ca

Stumbled upon this blog... it's fascinating!

Books

Currently reading 4 Blondes. Finished Damaged. Abandoned Life of Pi

(May2008: I abandoned 4 Blondes midways through reading about the 3rd Blonde)

The end of Excel

..... we were working on something, and found out the sheet was limited! There's actually an end to an excel sheet! There's no column beyond "IV" and no rows beyond "65536".

No Talent!

The parent has been taught the 5th piece during the last lesson... which also means half the class (there are now 4 students left) will be able to play it this saturday. I skipped teaching him piece #2, as suggested by the teacher so that he can 'catch up' and, playing along the same line, I have decided to skip piece #4.

Now, I've been trying to teach him to play the 1st phrase of piece #5 for the last 3 days. Sadly, he just doesn't get it!!! This boy has no sense of rhythm or tone and definitely does not commit scores to memory easily.

I should just relax... I think I still have another bottle of Hoegaarden in the fridge left, courtesy of YL. Right, I'm off to get it. Cheers!

15.04

Got my tax filed - when else but the very last possible day? And I noticed something on my Form IR8A - that 15th April was also the "Date of Cessation" of my employment with my previous company. IT'S BEEN A YEAR! Which also means that in another 6 weeks, it would be A FULL YEAR for me with this present company of mine. GOSH!

Had lunch today at Spizza with a colleague who had decided to leave the company. His last day is on Thursday. Friday, a plane will take him out of Singapore. He hasn't decided where this trip will take him yet. He might end up in Latin America, find employment in Europe or come back in Singapore if his money runs out.

In between savouring Isabella and licking Carmen, we discussed work, politics, marriage, life and one's ego (or rather just his!)

He asked me if I were to go back to when I was 26, would I choose again to get married then? I thought about it for a while... maybe 3 seconds and then told him I don't have any answers to that question.

I am really proud of myself, because with that 'answer', I realised I was at peace with being in the present.

I am now! I am here!

I am neither my Past nor my Future.

HIP HIP HURRAY!!!

Multiple

Don't you hate it when you send across something 'technical' to your colleagues, with full instructions how to work it and they come back to you and say, "I don't understand! Can you show me how?" Makes me cringe! I can screen capture everything, distill everything down into dumb-proof steps, put clear and sterile instructions but still.... "I don't understand, eh... can you show me how?" *Curse*

I am the non-techie in the family. I get sent to art classes while my brother gets to attend computer camps (enviously, with tubes of Mentos for sustenance). So everything that has to do with technology, I scream for him and bribe him with more Mentos to help me set up.

Anyway, the point being, if I can figure out how things work, then please, there is no reason for anyone not to TRY!

I just found out how to set up 'multiple display' this morning. So now, I have my 'outlook' on one screen and am blogging on another... isn't it FANTASTIC?

In case you want to know how...
(1) Right Click on desktop to select "Graphic Properties"
(2) Check the button for "Extended Desktop"
(3) Click "Apply"

Viola!!!

AND PLEASE DON'T TELL ME YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!

Growing Pains

...this is what woke us up last night... TWICE! Growing pains of a 3.625 year old. He cried murder in his left knee, and told me it was "SINKING INSIDE!"

Chopped, Kneaded & Pinched

...and now I feel better. Went for a quick 15 minute Tui-Na session during lunch time. It was soooooooooooooooooooooooo good!

He's growing up!

He tells his Papa, "I want to go to the beach! I don't have time to follow Mummy to the office first!"

I say "excuse me". He asks, "what is excuse me?" I mindlessly tell him "SIAM!" (Hokkien). He explains, "No! It means make way for people to walk!" .... ***Right! So why ask me then?!? Nudges him out of my way.

We opened a new carton of milk this morning, he recognizes the carton and exclaimes, "Dutch Lady Milk!"... We looked at the carton. He was correct.

We walk into some places and he goes, " We'd been here right?" He remembers.

I was looking at a magazine ad - for a yogurt, which went:

No Preservatives
No Herbicides
No Fungicides
No Taste-i-cides....

He went, "Mummy, why No No No No???" Arh! He reads! (Or at least he is starting to...)

Yellow Box

Yesterday
Me: Whey, you are in the yellow box!
Him: The yellow box shouldn't be here.
Me goes *Huh???****

Today
Me: B looks happier married to this guy.
Him: Yah, he's quite pleasant.
Me: Yah, He doesn't seem the type who will go around moving yellow boxes.

Sounds crazy?

The Big One
Me: Why you turn right? You should turn left!
Big: Why you never tell me earlier?
Me: How do I know you were turning right?
Big: How come you don't know?
Me: Was I suppose to know?
Big: But I signal for some time already!
Me: (Sitting in the back seat) ????!!!! How can I tell whether your signal is a 'left' signal or a 'right' signal ??? They sound the same!

The Small One
Me: Hello!
Small: Where are you?
Me: I'm in the office.
Small: Are you inside the phone?
Me: No, I'm not inside the phone. My voice is travelling from my office to inside the phone to you on the other side.
Small: Why you sound like that?
Me: Huh? Sound like what?
Small: Sound like that.
Me: ????

Sat's Dinner

Decided at 5pm we were going to cook dinner and invite a couple of friends over. The challenge? Make food that the kids will eat and all in 2 hours. Hamburgers and fries?

Burgers: Weightwatcher minced beef mixed with leeks, onions, garlic, pepper, wine, pinch of salt and fried in butter!

Salad: Tossed fresh baby spinach, rocket, cherry tomatoes, cranberries, figs and raisin.

Mussels: Boiled in a pot of water with a handful of garlic (Quite unplanned. They looked good so we bought them)

Friends: We didn't eat them but they were lovely company to the food!

Potatoes (Did not take a picture of the fries... it was not pretty but the kids loved it): Fried.

Bread: Off the shelf Muffins and Focaccia

Drinks: Champagne and Guava Juice

Dessert: Strawberries dipped in chocolate

Asthma / Mummy's BMI

The boy went for a review with the specialist yesterday - and it was all good news. He's also grown quite a bit and is now 101cm and 17kg.

On the other hand, since I realised that I did not know my own height and weight, I took the opportunity to step on the weighing scale and press myself against the wall for height measurement.

And this is not good news. I'm heavier than I thought I was and shorter than I thought I was. So there I sat, stunned by this new relevation. The big one came along and asked me what happened. I told him. He laughed. And then I told him, so all these years, my BMI calculation is wrong? He laughed harder. KNS.

Lunch

Lunch cost $11.50 for a chicken ceasar salad, tomato soup and iced-tea and all of it I bet was prepared about the same time I was savouring my nice breakfast this morning. Blah! Not going back. Ever.

But I had an interesting conversation with someone who said that she was never going to get married, is not the type to get married because she's already 30 this year and not sure if she wants kids. I'm like ??? On the last point, I told her that she shouldn't think whether she will want to have kids or not until it's time to think about it (possibly if she changes her mind about the fact that she is the 'don't want to get married' type). Why bother making this decision now?

"Ren Suan Bu Ru Tian Suan" (The calculations of man cannot beat the calculations of the heavens)

So why bother making all these calculations?

Then again, there's another saying that "If you are not prepared when opportunity strikes, you lose it?"

But hey, everyone's naturally (with the exception of some) equipped to make babies!

It's mid-week. I'm entitled to rant!

$2.40 & 1 page / Minute

That's what I paid for breakfast today. Rather pleased, to have found right beside my office building, a place which sold what is by far the best breakfast I had in CBD (at a price which was decent, by CBD standards of course) I had 2 soft boiled eggs, a plate of Bee-Hoon (rice vermicelli) and a cup of Kopi-C-Siu-Tai (coffee with evaporated milk, less sugar) By the way, the Bee-Hoon tasted like Sin-Chew-Mi-Fen(Singapore Bee-Hoon) Kosong (eh... like on the rocks?) and not the regular morning breakfast type of fried noodles you get - you know what I mean, which are way too oily and way too salty for anyone's good - so it was a very nice surprise and very lovely! Plus! I had a nice book to read with me! Oh - I now know that I read at a pace of 1 page / minute, not that anyone cares but it's interesting information for me, considering that I'm don't even know what's my weight and height! Honest!