Juliane's Birthday Celebration in Pre-school

We celebrated Juliane's birthday one day earlier in her pre-school as her birthday happens to fall on Saturday this year. I collected her 1.5 kg fresh cream fruit cake from Sun Moulin, Isetan Scotts at 11:15 am and then walked over to her pre-school. When I arrived at the pre-school, Juliane's class was ready and waiting for me, lol. They greeted me most enthusiastically. The little children were so happy to see me with the cake but none happier than Juliane, the birthday girl, of course. Marieann was also at her sister's birthday celebration too.

Juliane was most thrilled when her friends started to sing Happy Birthday to her. She was beaming away. When her teacher asked Juliane to make a wish before she blows out the candles, she really squeezed her eyes shut tightly, clasped her hands together and murmured under her breathe as in praying. She was really adorable, lol. :) After blowing out the candles, she made the first cut in the cake. Her teacher took over the cake cutting and Juliane was given the first piece of cake. She really enjoyed eating her birthday cake. So did Marieann who had a second helping, lol. After the children had their cake, Juliane proceeded to hand out the goodie bags which she helped to pack last night. Marieann helped her as well to give out the goodie bags.

Before I left (back to work), all the children thanked me. Juliane was definitely very happy as she gave me a hug. And I could still hear her shouting out, "Bye bye Mummy" as I walked out of the pre-school, lol.

Eventful Day for the Girls

Today was an eventful day for the girls.

* Fieldtrip to Farmart Centre
The girls' pre-school organised a fieldtrip to Farmart Centre. As the girls are already in N2 and K2, I didn't have to accompany them on this fieldtrip. According to the girls, they had a talk about the life cycle of a hen/ quail (here the girls differed in their accounts, lol), about eggs and its nutrition. They had a guided tour round the farm and the girls got to feed goats. They saw hens, chicken, rabbits, fishes, tortoises, ... Both of them enjoyed the trip to the farm. They also brought home a dozen of quail's eggs which they both finished at dinner! :P

* Goodie Bags Preparation
Tomorrow, we are going to celebrate Juliane's birthday with her friends in pre-school . Her actual birthday is on 1 March but since it is a Saturday, we will celebrate it one day earlier in her pre-school. After dinner, the girls helped me to pack the goodie bags, 22 of them. I had to be real watchful, in case they might accidentally pop one of the lollies into their mouths instead of into the goodie bags, lol. With their help, we finished packing the goodie bags in no time. To thank them for their help, I allowed them to have one of the excess snacks. :)

Allergy II

I didn't go for my counselling today. I didn't want to aggravate my throat any more than I should as my throat would get extremely "ticklish" when I talk for prolonged period of time and I would start to cough. :(

It was nice that I could sleep in late, lol. :P After the second antihistamine tablet in the morning, the constriction in my throat has more or less disappeared. But I rested my throat as much as I could so I didn't talk much and I didn't even scold the girls which really delighted them alot, lol. As the day went by, my throat definitely felt better, my voice sounded like me again and I was almost like normal again. I think by tomorrow, I would be my usual talkative self again, haha. :)

Allergy

Late last night, my throat became really constricted and my voice was all changed. It was just like the times when I had allergic reactions to Aspirin and Panadol but not as bad as I could still talk. I had dinner like the rest of the family. So it was not the dinner. But I recalled eating a chocolate bar and some veggie crackers. I had the crackers before and had no problem. So it is the chocolate??

In the morning, I went to see the doctor again. He checked my throat and there was no redness or soreness but just swelling. He confirmed that I had an allergic reaction, what they called fixed food allergy. Darn! Now, not only am I allergic to certain medication, I am also allergic to food?! :( :( For the moment, I will have to stay off chocolates and nuts because the chocolate bar I had was a real nutty one until I can test what I am really allergic to via blood testing. SIGH. :(

Sandwich

Never knew Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich can reveal so much about a person, lol.

What Your Peanut Butter And Jelly Sandwich Means

Your eating style is reserved. You are a bit of a fussy eater, and you have very specific ways you like your food prepared. You have an average sweet tooth. While you enjoy desserts, they aren't exactly your downfall. Your taste in food tends to be pretty flexible. You may crave sushi one night, and your favorite childhood recipe the next. You are probably a fairly normal, upper middle class person. You don't rock the boat too often. You are a tough person who isn't afraid to live life fully. There isn't a lot that scares you. You are laid back and extremely easygoing. You never make a fuss, and you try to enjoy every moment.

What Does Your Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Say About You?

Japanese Dinner at Tetsu

Before my father flies off for Xiamen again on Tuesday, we decided to have dinner out tonight. We went to Tetsu, 3rd level of Tanglin Mall. It is a new Japanese restaurant. When we arrived around 7:30pm, all the window seats, which were the bigger tables, were taken. So as a special case, they gave us the VIP room which is only given to customers who would be spending $600 and over. So we were seated in a big room meant for 16 people, lol.

The girls shared a Tori Kara-Age ($9.50): fried chicken and a bowl of rice. My father ordered a Tempura Teishoku ($24): assorted tempura and rice set. My mother ordered a Salmon & Ikura Don Set ($35): salmon and salmon roe rice bowl set. Both the girls' father and I ordered the Rosu Katsu-Ni Set ($26.50): pork loin katsu in stock soup set.






All our set dinners came served with salad, pickles, rice, miso soup and dessert. The portions were just right. I can't say for the rest but my katsu was tender and juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside. It wasn't too dry because the katsu came in stock soup. I liked the dessert too because it wasn't too sweet for me. :)

After the dinner, the girls had their Mckkies ice cream cones, lol. They also bought their Croc shoes which they have been eyeing for days.

Reading

* Reading for Work
I stayed home today to do some readings about conceptual change for my work. I have done a couple of them last week. I just have a few more to go through. Hopefully by tomorrow, I can glanced through all that I have read to make some kind of connections between them. Wish me luck.

*Reading for Leisure
I started reading HP7 again a few days ago. As with the first time I read it, I cried at the same places again. I thought I was prepared for it but I guessed not, lol. The first shedding of tears was when HP was re-living Snape's memories where Snape showed Dumbledore his Patronus. The second time was the final duel between HP and Voldemort where HP spoke of Snape's love for his mother, Lily Evans. Sigh. Yes, I know I am such a romantic and sentimental fool.

Picnic in the Garden

My mother bought a picnic mat from China and the girls have been pestering my parents to bring them to the Botanic Garden for a picnic. So for the past week, my girls and their maternal grandparents have been picnicking at the Botanic Garden. My parents would bring them over to the garden around 4 pm and they would come back around 5 pm plus.

Before going over to the garden, my mother would cook something so that they have it as dinner at the picnic. So far, she has cooked different things everyday such as fried rice, fried noodles, fried rice cakes, etc. She also prepared a flask of tea for the picnic as the girls liked to drink tea. The girls would have their food first before running about in the garden. They really enjoyed the picnic sessions as they would tell me all about it each day when I come home. After the running around in the garden, both girls also knocked out faster than usual at bed time, lol.

Today, they went for a picnic again. But I didn't join them as I wasn't feeling too well the night before and I thought I shouldn't over exert myself. I had the chills and a slight fever last night but I was all better after taking a teaspoon of the girls' paracetemol, that was the only fever medicine I could take without getting an allergic reaction, lol. I went to see my doctor this morning. I have arrested the flu before it could develop further, lol. :P Now I feel all better already. :)

Breakfast

Sometimes, I take breakfast; sometimes, I don't. Sometimes, I have a heavy breakfast; sometimes, I have a light breakfast. It really all depends on the time and my mood. Now I am getting hungry, maybe tomorrow I will have a Big Breakfast from Mckkies or something close, lol.

Who would have thought that Blogthing has one about breakfast: what kind of breakfast you are?

You Are Toast

Old fashioned and a bit of a homebody, you totally go for comfort food. You're the type who loves to cook for friends, and they love you for it. You truly know what tastes good, and you can often pick out the best dish at a restaurant. You don't fall for food trends. You stick with what's been food for a long time!

What Kind of Breakfast Are You?

Ok, pretty true. I love to cook for friends. I used to do that alot in Australia but since coming back, I haven't done much cooking. I mean there are my parents who are fantastic cooks. Why should I cook? Hahaha. Oh yes, I know good food when I see it. Lol. True, I don't fall for food trends. Some of them can't even be called food! :P

Santana "Into The Night"

This song "Into The Night" with Santana featuring Chad Kroeger, is a darn catchy one. I think it is pretty good song to rock to, lol.

Why I Stay Up Late?

Sometimes, I get asked by my friends and cousins about why am I still up late at night, such as 1, 2 am in the morning? How did they know? Oh, through msn, lol.

Well, I find it easier to do work at night. I find that my thoughts are clearer at night. I like to read at night. I like the quietness of the night. I like to look at the stars in the night sky.

Anyway, here is another reason why I stay up late at night. I am a night person, lol.

You Are a Night Person

For you, there's nothing worse than having to get up and moving early. In fact, you probably don't hit your peak until well after the sun has set. So if your struggling to make it on a normal schedule, realize it's not your fault. You just weren't meant to do anything during the day!

Are You a Morning Person or Night Person?

Personality Disorder

Just out of fun, I tried these two blogthings. The result of the second blogthing coincidentally further "confirmed" the result of the first blogthing. Hmm, I better seek therapy. Am I joking? Maybe I am, maybe I am not. What do you think? Lol. :P

You May Be a Bit Borderline...

Your mood swings make a roller coaster look tame! When you're up, you're a little bit crazy... And when you're down, your whole world is crashing Scary thing is, these moods can change by the minute!

What Personality Disorder Are You?

You Are 49% Borderline

You have some symptoms of borderline personality disorder. If you feel like you're more than a little dramatic, you may want to investigate further.

Do You Have a Borderline Personality?

Bambini

* Go Juliane Bambino
Today is Juliane's N2 classmate, Kyle's 4th birthday. Kyle had his birthday celebration at Go-Go Bambini, Dempsey. Go-Go Bambini is an indoor children's entertainment centre. There is an enormous custom-designed interactive playscape that provides children (0 - 11 years) many opportunities for active play such as climbing, sliding, bouncing, balancing, crawling, etc. In two words, it is "Kids' Heaven"! Lol. There is a library and cafe where parents can wait and chill out. And there is free wireless too, you either use their computers or bring your own notebook or pda. Hmm, next time, I can come here with the girls and yet still get to do work, lol. Oh yes, there is a Nail Spa too, lol. :) Ok, digressing too much. :P

Kyle's birthday celebration started at 10:30am. The girls' father dropped Juliane and I off at Go-Go Bambini around 10:20am. Juliane was really shy at first. She refused to let go of my hand, so I had no choice but to stay with her at the party. (I brought my HP7, thinking to read it again at the cafe. No such luck, lol). Juliane had her name written on her right forearm and a heart drawn on her left arm. The children at Kyle's party wore green tags (for easier identification, I think). After all the children have arrived, the GGB party host brought the children into the playscape. By then, Juliane has already warmed up and has forgotten all about me, lol. It looked really, really FUN as judged by the laughter and screaming from the children. I felt like joining Juliane too (parents were allowed to enter), except I was wearing a short dress so not that suitable for climbing and sliding and... you get the picture, hahaha. :P While the children were playing, the parents were mingling and talking. I would be too anti-social if I read HP7. Yes, I was mingling and talking with the Juliane's Caucasian classmates' parents, lol.




After an hour of play, the children were brought back into the party room for lunch, cake cutting and a game of pinata! Juliane was the 4th child and the 1st girl to attempt hitting the pinata. Oh Goodness! All the parents were really surprised to see the vehemence of her attack on the pinata and they turned to look at me. Aiyo, so embarrassing, lol. Yes, Juliane was darn violent and gave it her all when hitting the pinata. She was the first child to make a dent in the pinata. I must remember not to put any kind of stick in her hands, hahaha. :P The party ended at 12:30pm with Juliane leaving with a goodie bag from Kyle and a bag of candies which she collected from the broken pinata. We were lucky there was an empty cab just as we left Go-Go Bambini. Otherwise, we would have to walk all the way out from Dempsey Road to Holland Road, lol.







* Johanna
Tonight, my cousins (paternal) and their respective spouses came over for dinner. It was also the first visit by my 10-month old niece, Johanna. She is really adorable! My girls were really taken with her. They carried her and were sayang-ing her, lol. I am glad that they don't mind playing with a younger child. :) No, don't even go there. I have already done my "NS"!

Annual SCGS CNY Gathering

Yes, it is our annual CNY gathering again for the 5 of us, old classmates and friends from SCGS. :) This year, we met again at Steph's place at 6pm and we had pot luck. Karen made her delicious mee siam (very spicy leh but really nice with lots of lime juice, lol), kueh pie ti and chicken wings. Hsiao made her yummy little fish cutlets which was much loved by the kids and me, lol. Chung bought Yu Sheng and everyone had fun "lao qi" and saying auspicious phrases. Steph and Peng Han made gyoza, mussels in garlic (really nice but garlic was darn spicy, lol), and provided the wine, crackers, cheese and pate. I wanted to make my cheesecake but was too lazy, lol. Instead, I bought a chocolate brownie cake from Chocolate Art. :P Next time, I will make something, lol.

There is nothing like a gathering with friends, especially old friends, lol. There is always so much to chat about and so much to laugh about. This year is no exception, just as much to talk about and to laugh about. I remembered laughing so much that my tummy ached, lol. We even talked about going away, just the 5 of us girls to, maybe Hawaii or Maldives or somewhere exotic... :P. The children would, of course, be left in the capable hands of the fathers, lol. I think the trip will be really fun! I will be looking forward to it! Better make it happen soon, haha. :)

All too soon, the gathering-cum-dinner came to an end, close to 9:30pm. No choice because it was already bed-time for most of the children. But I am sure we will have another gathering soon enough. :) What is a gathering without photos of the children (a bit blur cos darn hard to stop them from moving!) and of us (a bit small). Sorry, no photos of the fathers again. Haha. :P






Thanks for the gathering. I had lots of fun, laugher and good food. Let's meet up soon and talk more about that Girls' Only trip of ours. Lol. :)

Home Today

Today, I didn't go into work. I stayed home.

Last night, Juliane started having a running nose and her breathing was quite laboured in her sleep. In the morning, I brought her to the doctor's. She was pretty upset as she wanted to go to school, lol. The doctor diagnosed her as having a flu and there was slight wheezing in her lungs. Gosh, wheezing?! Good thing, I brought her in early, definitely don't want the wheezing to get worse. Since she was such a good girl at the doctor's, I allowed her to have Burger King breakfast as a treat, lol.

At noon today, the Total Defence Day horn/ siren went off. Juliane was really irritated by the noise, lol. I took it as a teaching opportunity and explained to her about Total Defence Day and why TDD is on 15 February. In the afternoon, I supervised Marieann while she worked on her Cultural Studies and Chinese homework. Throughout the day, I read articles about conceptual change in learners for my project.

On the whole, it has been a rather fulfilling day for me.

My Sweet Valentines

Today is just another day on the calendar.

Today, I had to go into work. While chatting with the girls before I left for work, I realised that both my girls were performing in their pre-school's mini Chinese New Year concert, 9:30 to 10:30am. I felt so bad that I couldn't go to watch their performances as I had a meeting to attend at 10am! I was really upset about it while waiting for the bus. Then I realised that my parents were free. Hmm, maybe they could go in my place and watch the girls. I called home and got my parents to go. :) It was a perfect arrangement: the grandparents would be delighted to watch the girls performing and the girls would be most surprised to see their grandparents at their performances!

Today, I met up with my classmate, Carolyn who did PGDE together with me and she was also my colleague as we both taught at SCGS Primary. It was really nice to see her again. She was on campus today for the book fair. We managed to catch up over lunch. It was really fun talking about our former teaching days and about our various work experiences since leaving the teaching service, lol. Despite having a flat tire, she gave me a lift home. :P That's was really nice of you, Carolyn. It was great meeting up with you. We should catch up again, one of these days, out of campus! Lol.

When I got home, my girls were really excited. I was wondering what had happened. Ahh, then I realised. My girls came forth to me, handed me the Valentine handicrafts that they have made for me and said, "Happy Valentine's Day, Mommy". That was so SWEET of them! Juliane made a Valentine's Day card for me (she had help from the teacher with the writing) while Marieann made roses for me.



Thank you, my darlings. You are both my sweet valentines! I love you dearly.

Gearing Up for Australia Trip

Yes, yes, I know it is still some time away but I am really getting excited about my Australia trip. I am someone who loves to travel because of the freedom it gives me. Every time before I travel, I would be doing my research months ahead, looking for accommodations, places to visit, the travel routes, etc.

For this trip it is no different, even though I am no stranger to Australia. I have been to Melbourne and Sydney no less than 10 times and 5 times respectively. I have been to most, if not all of the attractions in both places. But this wandering heart of mine refused to be still, lol. I have been looking up the various places I could visit again. Visiting them will bring back fond memories. But there is always new experiences even if you visit a place of old, isn't it? I will see them with new eyes. It will add new memories to these fond memories. :)

Here are some places that I would like to visit again in Melbourne and Sydney. But I guess I have to be selective as I don't have alot of time in both places. To go wandering around is only secondary to my primary purpose in Melbourne: attending Evelyn's wedding and my primary purpose in Sydney: visiting my best friend, Min of umpteen years.

Melbourne:
Grampians National Park
Great Ocean Road
Phillip Island
Blue Dandenong Ranges with Puffing Billy
Various city sights e.g. Queen Vic Market, The Shrine of Remembrance, St Paul's Cathedral, etc

Sydney:
Blue Mountains
Port Stephens
Various city sights e.g. Opera House, The Rocks, Queen Vic Building, Circular Quay, etc

Of course, there will be time for shopping! I will definitely make the time no matter what! LOL. :P

Wedding in Australia

I will be attending Evelyn's wedding in March. She is not just a close friend, she is also family. She is Marieann's Godmother. I know the wedding is still some time away, 38 days away actually, lol but I am getting really excited. :)

Her wedding will be held in Melbourne, Australia on 24 March. I must say the wedding venue looks lovely. I think it will be a perfect wedding. I can't wait to be there. Her wedding reception starts at 4pm, followed by dinner and then dancing till late at night. Yes! I can bring my dancing shoes! LOL. Only joking, I have two left feet. :P Dancing aside, I think this wedding is going to be really fun, with the guests coming from all over - Germany, Singapore (ME!), other states in Australia. :)

I especially love weddings in Australia. They are so much more fun than those of our Chinese weddings. So far, the three Australian weddings I have attended: once in Brisbane, once in Sydney, once in Melbourne, all had dancing! I had so much fun at those weddings. Hmm, if I remember correctly, I caught the wedding bouquet at two of the weddings lol. I was still single then, of course. Hmm, maybe I can try catching the bouquet again at this wedding?! HAHAHA. Kidding! :P

What Drug is My Personality Like?

I don't approve the use of drugs, unless it is legally obtained from the doctor. However, I was pretty darn curious about what drug my personality is akin to. What a shocker! Hahaha. Do take this result with a pinch of salt, lol.

Your Personality Is Like Heroin

You're capable of the highest highs and the lowest lows. Addicted to feeling good, you'll do almost anything to avoid pain. People seek you out, even though you can be quite moody. They're hooked on you! At your best: You are euphoric, stress free, and a little sleepy. What people like about being around you: They're not exactly sure, but they can't get enough about you. What people dislike about being around you: When you finally leave, they got some pretty serious withdrawal. How addicted people get to you: Very... you're quite dangerous.

What Drug Is Your Personality Like?

What Kind of Friend Am I?

You Are A Good Friend

You're always willing to listen Or lend a shoulder to cry on You're there through thick and thin Many people consider you their "best friend"!

What Kind of Friend Are You?

I answered as truthfully as I could. This is the result I received. The first three lines are true of me. As for the last line, many people would consider me their "best friend"...? Well, I guess this is a question only my friends can answer, lol.

Happy Chinese New Year: Day 3

Usually by Day 3 of CNY, it is back to work for most of us. However, this year, the 1st and 2nd days of CNY happened to fall on Thursday and Friday. Thus, we have a long weekend to enjoy. :) But I think most of us welcome the extra 2 days to rest after all the CNY activities (visiting, eating, drinking, etc) on the first 2 days, lol. Well,I certainly did. :)

In the morning, my parents took the girls to the Children's Garden, an extension of Botanic Gardens. I was too tired to follow them lol. Maybe another time. Besides, I needed to go to Qantas Holidays to get my air ticket for travel to Melbourne and Sydney in late March. I am a Frequent Flyer of Qantas so I always travel on Qantas. My experience with Qantas since 1990 has always been most pleasant. But a good friend of mine probably won't say the same, lol. I think my flight was only delayed once and I actually got to wait and rest in the Qantas Lounge at Sydney Airport where food and drinks were provided, lol. :P Sorry, I digressed. However, when I got to the ticket office, it was closed and would only open on Monday. Sigh. I have to wait till Monday then to get my ticket. I hope they will still have direct flights to Melbourne because I am flying on the eve of Good Friday.

The girls' father and I went to have lunch at The Marmalade Pantry, Palais Renaissance on the spur of the moment. We were lucky to get a table although we didn't make a reservation. :) Without the children, we had a quiet lunch. I literally mean quiet. We didn't talk much which was fine by me because I enjoyed just eating, tasting and appreciating every bit of my food!

We shared the Soup of the Day: Chicken and Corn Chowder ($8). Knowing that we were going to share, they split the soup into two bowls and also gave each of us a slice of the cheese bread. That is what I call good service! :) The soup was pretty ordinary though.
The girls' father had his usual: Scrambled eggs & sausages on toast with field mushrooms ($15). I had the Linguini with crabmeat tomato chilli & pinenuts, minus the chilli ($19). Although I had this dish a couple of times, I still love it. The fresh sourish tomato puree really complimented the crabmeat and the pinenuts completed the taste. :) Sorry, no pictures because I forgot to bring my camera. :( Of course, we didn't leave empty-handed. I had some cupcakes for take-away for the girls and for my friends.

After lunch, I went over to check on my friends' cat, BC. He is okay. Again, he was most happy to see me and showed me his appreciation. :) I really adore that cat! :)

Happy Chinese New Year: Day 2

It is the second day of Chinese New Year. It is the busiest time of CNY for us. We have family friends and family coming to visit us as well as coming to our place for our Hockchew Red Wine Chicken with Mee Sua lol.

My parents were up really early in the morning to prepare the Red Wine Chicken soup. My mother also prepared her Braised Pork Buns. The mee sua could only be prepared when the guests have arrived, bowl by bowl. By 10am+, our family and friends started arriving. They had to eat in three batches because our dining table could only seat 10 people at most, lol. :P

In the afternoon, I went to visit my former SCGS primary teacher, Miss Olive Tan. I would visit her every CNY with my girls. I also met my former SCGS secondary teacher, Miss Wee at Miss Tan's place. It was nice catching up with them about the old school days. Thank goodness, I was a quiet and kuai girl in school so no complaints about me from them, hahaha. :P

After dinner, I dropped over at my friends' place to keep their cat, BC company and to make sure he has enough food and water. It is the least I could do to help them during this difficult time. BC was glad to see me! That is nice. He was meowing away at me when he saw me and was brushing against my leg, lol. :) I was working on my notebook in the study and BC kept me company too by staying in the study for the two hours plus I was there. BC is such an adorable cat. I miss him a lot too. Wish I can take him home with me, lol.

Happy Chinese New Year: Day 1

Happy Chinese New Year. May All have a Healthy and Bountiful New Year. :)



Being the only family here in Singapore (cos both my parents aren't from Singapore), we didn't have many relatives to visit. (It used to be a sore point for my brother and I because we didn't get many Ang Baos, lol :P) Only one other family actually, an elder that is. The rest whom we visited were close family friends. Usually, we were able to complete our visits by the morning and we would be home by lunch time. :) In the afternoon, there would be other family friends who would come to visit my parents. It is the same thing year in year out, just like clock work! :P

It is no different this year. By now, even the girls were able to tell us whom we were going to visit next on the list, a very short list of 3 families! Hahaha. :P As with previous years, in the late afternoon, I called my best friend, Min's parents in Melbourne and my best friend, Min in Sydney. This year, Min and I are more excited than previous years because I would be visiting her SOON! In March!! :) There is so much to catch up on and so much to gossip about, girl! Hahaha. See you soon, Min! :)
In the evening, we visited a very old family friend whom my brother and I called Ah Ma. We are almost like family. All the gatherings (New Year, weddings, etc), we would be invited. :)

The only difference this year is that I visited my friends' father/ father-in-law's wake in the afternoon. As a friend, it is the least that I could do for them: to pay my respects and to keep my friends company for a while. Take care, my friends. Try to get some rest tonight. Do let me know if I can help in other ways.
I know some people are superstitious and say it is bad luck visiting a wake during CNY (the girls' father thought so) but I definitely don't think so. Your life should be dictated by yourself and not by luck which is a most transient thing. I am very glad that my parents didn't think it is bad luck too and that they are very open-minded to understand that friendship is more important than luck. Actually, I think I learnt it from them for they are people who are willing to go all out for their friends too.

Two Sides of a Coin

With everything, there is always two sides to a coin. Like there is Yin, there is Yang. There is darkness, there is light. There is happiness, there is sadness. There is Life, and there is Death.

Being the Eve of Chinese New Year, I was happy. I mean who wouldn't be. Chinese New Year is the one festival where most, if not all ethnic Chinese celebrate with joy in one way or another, traditionally (following traditions) or non-traditionally (going away to avoid certain traditions or relatives, lol).

However, tonight this happiness is also tinged with sadness. I received news that my good friends' father/ father-in-law passed away in the evening. Of course, there is never a good time to receive news of death, to accept the occurrence of death and especially so on the eve of a festival where reunion and gatherings of families take place. I feel for them, for their loss.

I am sorry for your loss, my friends. I know it is a difficult time now for you but please take it easy, ok? Do let me know how else I can help. No worries. That's what friends are for.

An aside:
Most people pale at the idea of attending a wake during CNY. They say it is bad luck. And what exactly is luck? It is an external unstable cause that you can never control, be it good or bad. If you are going to let luck control your life, sorry folks, you are going to miss out on a lot of things in life. As for me, I choose friendship over luck anytime.

Chinese New Year's Eve

Time really flies. Chinese New Year's Eve is already upon us!

Since my parents are back in town, I didn't have to do a thing this year. My parents prepared all the Chinese New Year stuff. So relaxing, compared to last year, hahaha!

We had our reunion steamboat dinner at home. We have always had steamboat as reunion dinner because of the ease of preparation. Of course, my mother would also prepare the cooked dishes that signify good luck such as chicken, fish, Fa cai (a kind of seaweed?), etc.



After dinner, the rest of the family watched tv while I was preparing the Ang Baos, lol. My mother had already packed hers way in advance. Smart lady, lol. :P I gave my parents and the girls their Ang Baos. The girls were beaming away and kept their Ang Baos under their pillow to sleep on. I also recieved Ang Baos from my parents and my mother-in-law. I am going to sleep with them under my pillow too, lol.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Mood Swings

Have you ever experience, at one time or another, where an incident can ruin your day?

It happened to me this morning. I was happy that I could work from home and I was off to an early start at 8:30am. But at 8:47am, disaster struck. A document which I tried to save became corrupted. I lost a huge chuck of data which became replaced by little tiny squares and funny characters. AHHHHH!!! I was most distraught! The thing is this document was new and I hadn't the time to do a back up. ARGH! I tried using data recovery software but to no avail. The document remained corrupted. SIGH. My bad luck! #$&*!! After that, I was in a very foul and agitated mood. I guess I was vexed with myself too. Sigh.

But as the day wore on, I became less upset. Because this is life. Little things like these would always happen, little hiccups, little obstacles, little inconveniences but life still goes on. No point getting so upset about it. I have better things to do than to remain in a foul mood the whole day about it. My mood changed for the better after I figured that out. Took me a while though, lol.

My mood got even better in the evening when I received an email from Evelyn who is Marieann's Godmother about the venue of her Easter wedding in Melbourne. I became most excited and happy and started searching for accommodation in Melbourne. I am no stranger to Melbourne, have been there many times during my uni days. I will be very glad to re-visit Melbourne again since my last visit was in 1998. :)

Oh yes, I guess there is something to be learnt from today's incident. Life is really too short to remain angry and upset! Lol.

Birth Order

You Are Likely a First Born

At your darkest moments, you feel guilty. At work and school, you do best when you're researching. When you love someone, you tend to agree with them often. In friendship, you are considerate and compromising. Your ideal careers are: business, research, counseling, promotion, and speaking. You will leave your mark on the world with discoveries, new information, and teaching people to dream.

The Birth Order Predictor

Wah, not bad. This blogthing can predict that I am likey a first born, lol. Well, I am the first born! But I tell you, I hate being the first born. I always remember my parents telling me that I have to be more responsible, have to be a role model to my brother, blah, blah, blah. There is all these expectations of me whether or not they were verbalised to me and I feel real guilty if I don't live up to them. I also tend to be cold and detached at times because to me, to show emotions (especially crying) would a sign of, a show of weakness. As a result, I tend to be a very serious (overly) and boring person than my brother is, that is, until my life-changing moment in June 2006. I guess I am still serious at times but definitely I am much more appreciative of what life has to offer me and I am not afraid to seize it. So for me, it is really tiring (emotionally and psychologically) being the first born. Hey, YM, you want to swop places? Lol. Ok, don't mind me, I am ranting, lol.

Well, at least I am in two of my ideal careers: counselling and researching, which are what I am doing now! That is accurate enough for me, haha.

Interview about My Blog (The Other One)

Today, I gave an interview to two NUS students about my blog. No, not this one. This is my personal blog, definitely not worth interviewing about, lol. It is my other blog, the official no-nonsense one. The students are working on their project about enbloc and what it is doing to people.

I met up with the students at the Serasi Food Court and Juliane came along with me to the interview (Marieann was having a nap). Juliane was most well-behaved. She was happy with her butter sugar toast and didn't disturb us at all for the whole one hour. She is such a good girl! Before the interview, I sent my responses to the interview questions to the students, hoping it would help them during the write-up. At the interview, they asked for clarification as well as other questions that they haven't asked. I tried my best to answer all their questions. I told them if they need further clarifications or have other questions, to feel free to contact me again. After the interview, I brought them over to my estate to take a few photos for their project. They also took a photo of Juliane and I, lol.

After the interview, I also casually asked if they managed to get the other blogs (administrators) for an interview. Unfortunately, I was the only one who responded to them and agreed to be interviewed. It is quite sad that people are too busy that they can't even afford to spare an hour of their time. Sigh.

I wish the students all the Best for their project.

Last Minute CNY Grocery Shopping

There were still some last minute things that needed to be bought for Chinese New Year. My parents decided to go to NTUC Finest at Bukit Timah Plaza. Juliane and I followed them. We were there around 10:30am and it was packed! I guess there were also others who had last minute CNY grocery shopping to do, lol.

My father went to park the car while my mother, Juliane and I went to NTUC first. We put Juliane into the trolley as there were too many shoppers around and we didn't want her to be knocked down by trolleys, lol. Never go shopping with a 3+ year old kid. Every row that we went passed, we had to check the trolley to make sure Juliane hadn't grab something off the shelf and put into the trolley. Of course, she did that a couple of times. Her reason was "I like it. I want". As her grandmother and her mother, we said in unison several times, "No!". Lol. But after a while, I realised she only wanted the fun of putting stuff into the trolley and not really because she liked the stuff she took. So everytime we picked something, we would hand it to her and she would put it into the trolley with her. That stopped all the unauthorised pulling of things off the shelves, lol.

After the grocery shopping, we wanted to have lunch at Bukit Timah Market and Hawker Centre across the street. But the car park was full and it started to rain. We decided to head home instead. We thought why not have lunch at Taman Serasi Food Court since it is so near to us, lol. My father dropped us off while he drove home to unload the grocery and would join us at the food court. But in the end, only my mother, Juliane and I had lunch at Taman Serasi Food Court. My father cooked his lunch at home because he was too lazy to walk over to the food court, lol.

Chocolate...

I love dark chocolate, the more bitter it is the better it is. If it comes with peppermint, even better, lol. And what do you know, I am Dark Chocolate according to Blogthings, lol.

You are Dark Chocolate

You live your life with intensity, always going full force. You push yourself (and others) to the limit... you want more than you can handle. An extreme person, you challenge and inspire the world!

What Kind of Chocolate Are You?

Yup, I do tend to go full force with my life, as far as I can. A friend once remarked that I was like living as if there is no tomorrow, always so reckless and impulsive, lol. :P Not all the time lah. Sometimes, I am lazy too, like with my dissertation, hahaha. Don't know if I do challenge and inspire the world. But hang on, I used to teach and now counsel... Hmm, I guess I have touched and still am touching some lives in some ways... at least I would have inspired them in some ways to make something of themselves.