CNY-SCGS Gathering

We have our annual CNY-SCGS gathering but at Hsiao's place this year. Hsiao's new place is absolutely gorgeous. Sorry, I can't post photos of her place because I haven't asked for permission. :P

We arrived at Hsiao's place just before 5pm. It was the usual potluck. Hsiao prepared canapes topped with pork and cheese, I made potato apple salad, Chung brought yu sheng and Steph, ice cream. Karen brought her mee siam, kueh pie ti and chicken wings. Absolutely delicious!! And this time, Karen prepared everything herself!! Way to go, Karen. :) The adults were eating and chatting away while the children were having dinner at their own kiddie table. But I think they were more interested in playing than having dinner proper as they were soon running around the place and playing together lol. :P







After dinner, the adults adjourned to the 3rd level Moroccan themed lounge area to have drinks, dessert and more chit-chat. The children were still running up and down the place playing lol.

It was a wonderful evening well-spent with good friends and there were plenty of good food and drinks and laughter to go round. :) Once again, Happy Chinese New Year to everyone. Until next year for our big gathering. :)

Almost There

I am finally done with updating the literature and revising my Chapter 2. I think by far this is the most tedious chapter in my dissertation. I started first with revising my Chapters 1, 3 and 4 before trying to work on Chapters 2 and 5.

Now that I am done with Chapter 2 (Literature Review), I can proceed to revising and updating my final Chapter 5. Especially when my memory is still fresh with my literature review lol. Give me a few more days and I will be most happy.

I am almost there. :)

Time After Time

Haha, at least I am familiar with this song by Cyndi Lauper lol. My responses in green.

You Are "Time After Time"

If you were transported back to the 80s, your life would be all about reflecting. Yup I was always thinking then lol. You're a serious, earnest person - and you couldn't help but think a lot about how things were back then. You'd spend a lot of your time writing, researching, and learning. I am already doing so much of these right now, hahaha. :P You would either become a social anthropologist - or a crazy guru with a knack for predicting the future. Predict the future? Well I ain't too bad with my tarot cards lol.

What's Your 80s Karaoke Song?

Favourite CNY Decor

My favourite CNY decor is not at any of the shopping malls (not that I have visited that many malls haha) but the one at Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre, Tanglin Gate.

I am pretty sure there is an official name for it by BG but I personally like to call it, The Tree of Hope. It is a tree with paper cranes of red and yellow hanging down from the branches. I think there should be a 1000 paper cranes hanging from the tree. It is a simple idea but very unique and symbolises the new hope and wish for the Chinese New Year just as well as the usual Chinese Zodiac sign of the year, which is the Ox for 2009.



I guess this CNY decor is special to me because I once folded a 1000 paper cranes (using 5cm by 5cm size paper) by myself. For someone who is impatient, I am still suprised that I had the patience and determination to fold 1000 small paper cranes. The cranes are still somewhere in Australia lol. It was a very special memory and moment for me. :)

On the 2nd Day of CNY

We prepared our traditional Red Wine Chicken Mee Suan for our visitors who came visiting. It's our tradition and our family and friends would come to our place for it. Even when it is not CNY, they would come for the mee suan lol. :) It was not as tiring this year because our visitors came in two batches, one batch came for lunch and the other batch for dinner, at least we could rest in between, lol. :)

In a way, I am glad that we are going back to work tomorrow. Chinese New Year is no break for us, in fact it is much more tiring than working haha. :P

Happy Chinese New Year! :)

Happy Chinese New Year 2009! :)

By 8am, we were out of our place and on to our first place of visit for the New Year. :) By 12 noon, we were on our way to the fourth and final place of visit for the day. We visited my grandaunt, a close family friend, the girls' great grandmother and my primary school teacher.
In the afternoon, our family friends came visiting. I was glad that I managed to catch a few winks in between friends coming to visit as I slept very late the previous night lol.
After dinner, we went to visit a close family friend whom I called Ah Ma. I grew up with the Ah Ma's grandchildren so it was just like a big family gathering for us. The girls had fun playing with the grandchildren's children.





After everyone has gone to bed, I started work on my dissertation again, lol. :)

Chinese New Year's Eve 2009

It is the eve of Chinese New Year. We stayed home most of the day.

In the late morning, we paid respect to my ancestors. After that, I started working on revising my dissertation. That took up most of my time. In the late afternoon, we went out for a while to get drinks for our reunion dinner. Just before dinner started, we spoke to my brother and his family. The girls had fun seeing and talking with their cousins via the webcam. Our reunion dinner is the usual steamboat. Now that Marieann is older, she could get to boil her own food in the steamboat which she found was a thrill. :)

After dinner, I packed the red packets. Before everyone went to bed, I gave my parents and my girls their red packets. The girls were really happy to get their first red packets, not just from me, but from their grandparents too.

I stayed up late into the night, way past midnight, for two reasons: one, to pray for good health for my parents and two, to continue working on my dissertation. Killing two birds with one stone. :)

Last Weekend before CNY

This morning, it was going to Bengawan Solo to get cakes and giving them as CNY goodies to my grandaunt, a close family friend and my primary school teacher. After that, Juliane and I were dropped off at Suntec City mall. The main purpose for going there was to collect the studio photo that I took during my staff lunch last Saturday.

Before we went to collect my photo, we had lunch at Shillawon Korean restaurant, Sky Terrace. We were both missing Korean food lol. :P We shared a Dweji Boolgogi Set ($11++): marinated grilled pork which came with 3 side dishes, rice, seafood soup and fresh fruits. We both love the grilled pork which was sweet to the taste. Most delicious. :)



After lunch, we stopped at Toys 'R' Us for Juliane's "turn-turn" before going to the photo studio. However, on the way to the studio, I got side-tracked. We ended up browsing at boutiques on the 3rd level and I bought 3 dresses from one boutique. Well, they were on promotion, a real bargain, haha. :P Ok, no more shopping for the next few months, lol.

Wow, all 6 photos of me looked great! :) We are given a free 3R photo because of the staff lunch. In the end, I bought another 4R photo for $12 and both photos received digital touch-up and lamination. The staff at the studio was very nice. Instead of asking me to go back in a week's time to collect, he asked me to collect the photos in an hour's time. :) Meanwhile, Juliane and I went to Atrium to have fun decorating cookies with icing. With my purchases, we were entitled to 3 cookies for decorating.


After collecting the photos, we went home tired but happy.

In the night, we spoke to my brother and his younger son via Internet. It is the first time the girls saw their younger cousin and they were thrilled. I hope they will have the opportunity to go to UK in the near future to meet their cousins in person.

Alternative Remedy for

Acne? :P Once in a LONG while (thank goodness!! :P), I would get an acne.

I have alternative remedies for acne which are quite effective e.g.
- after washing the face, rinse the spot with herb infusions: peppermint (antiseptic property), chamomile (purifying property), lavender (antiseptic property);
- dab on the spot with 100% pure Lavender oil or tea tree oil (both have antiseptic properties);
- put on the spot fresh aloe vera (cooling property);
- dab egg white on the spot and leave for about 20 minutes or overnight (if you want)

I don't mind knowing of more alternative remedies for acne. If you know of any that is effective, do tell. :)

Part-timing

I am having fun part-timing. I like having the variety in my work. :)

I am helping a school with counselling. Besides the actual project that I am officially working on, I am also helping another professor (thanks to my PI who very graciously gave me permission to help :) ). Now it looks like I may be taking on another part-time work for yet another academic. Hahahaha. Maybe I should be "Part-time Queen" lolol. :P

I think I am having too much fun part-timing. :P

LOST

After missing a few episodes in Season 2, I got lost watching LOST. So I stopped watching it altogether. However, that doesn't mean I can't try this quiz lol.

You Are Sun

You have a past history of being secretive and deceptive. You're the type of person who will protect yourself at all costs. While you can be crafty when you need to, you are usually giving, friendly, and likable. You truly care for other people, and you are very sensitive. People tend to underestimate you. You seem like a fragile flower, but you're not. You are gutsy and clever. You have a way of getting what you want without anyone noticing.

Who Are You on LOST?

Hmm, what can I say... amazing analysis lol. :)

Nature or Nurture?

A colleague was singing praises of my girl, Juliane whom she met at the staff lunch. She couldn't forget how diplomatic she is for a child so young.

Between the two sisters, Juliane is the more diplomatic one. She is also the more daring and a risk-taker. Marieann is more shy, cautious, and follows the book. Sometimes, I marvel at how different the sisters are from each other, even though they grow up in the same household. Guess it must be nature over nurture lol. Or it could also be nurture as I started working part-time when Juliane came along whereas with Marieann, I was working full-time. Haha.

Keyboard Key Personality

Wah, even keyboard keys can be used to tell one's personality?! I am impressed lol.

You Are "tab"

Some people might try to say that you're always spaced out. You do tend to be a dreamer, but you're also a great multitasker. You work quickly and efficiently. So it's no problem if you goof off a little while you're working. And if people want to think you're flakey, that's fine. You're getting more done than they are.

What Keyboard Key Are You?

Spaced out huh? It's the sugar haha. :P
Guess I am multitasking pretty ok, being a researcher, a student and a mother lol.

New Pub in Town

We were at Vivocity because I promised Marieann that she would get her silhouette cutting as well since both Juliane and I had it done while at my staff lunch. Currently, authentic Chinese artifacts and crafts booths are set up at the Central Court, Vivocity. The girls were excited to see the different kinds of Chinese crafts.

While walking around, we chanced upon a new eating place, The Queen & Mangosteen, gourmet British pub. The menu looks pretty interesting so we gave it a try. The girls shared a Fish & Chips ($12). The girls really enjoyed the bucket of chips. :) I had a Grilled Chicken Leg marinated with Asian Pesto, with baby potatoes and grilled vegetables ($20). I think my dish was the best. The chicken was really well-marinated and tasty. It went very well with the mango salsa. The girls' father had Crayfish cooked in Beer, with boiled potatoes ($20). Although the crayfish dish looked really impressive when it arrived at the table, it wasn't filling at all, not much flesh in those little crayfish and not much in terms of taste too. It was a little disappointing.





However, I won't discount the pub yet. Currently, it only has a pre-launch menu and the full menu will be out in February. I can't wait to see what its full menu will be like. :)

"East Meets West" Staff Lunch 2009

Today, our institute held its staff lunch at Grand Copthone Habourfront Hotel.

I brought Juliane along because someone on my table couldn't make it. Why waste the space, right? Lol. Anyway, I thought it would be fun for her to see what my staff lunch is like. (I didn't bring Marieann because her father was already taking her out.) The theme for this year is East meets West. Both of us were dressed in cheongsum. I am so glad that I could still fit nicely into my wedding cheongsum haha. :P

We arrived there just before 11am. I got the early bird gift! Lol. I could choose either a Akira iron or a Akira jug kettle. I chose the jug kettle as I thought it would be more useful. :) From 11 am to 12 noon, there were 5 pre-event activities (1) Fortune Telling (2) Silhouette Cutting (3) Tikam Tikam (4) Chinese Fan Calligraphy (5) Picture-Me (Make-over Studio) and of course photographing with the props. Juliane and I did the silhouette cutting and took photos with the props - a rickshaw and a salon entrance. I had studio shots while Juliane tried her hand at tikam tikam and got a soft toy. Juliane drew quite a fair amount of attention from my colleagues and friends, and some important persons too, like the former director, current director and some AG heads haha. They thought Juliane really looks like me, a mini me (haha) and that she is really adorable and cute. Well, look whose daughter she is? Like mother, like daughter. LOL. Joking, joking. :P

There was a game to liven up the atmosphere, followed by a speech from our director, award presentation and buffet lunch. The spread was quite good but I didn't have time to get any photos as we descended on the food like a plague of locusts lol. All very hungry lah haha. Amidst the eating, there were more games and activities. We also snapped more photos among friends and colleagues lol. There were a lot of chatting and laughing. It is one day where we could all let our hair down, relax and really enjoy ourselves. :)













The lunch ended at 3:30pm. We all enjoyed ourselves very much. I am really proud of Juliane that she was friendly and sociable when around my friends and colleagues. I think she handled herself very well and I think she really enjoyed being the centre of attention too at my staff lunch lol. Some of my friends also enjoyed having her around and have already requested that I bring her to our staff lunch again next year haha. Wah, she now has appointment fixed for next year. :P

Appreciation and Farewell(?)

Today is the Appreciation Lunch for our research centre's IT staff, Redzuan, Swee Lin and Terrence. They will be leaving our centre and re-assigned to the institute's IT department.

The show started at 11:30am. One of our PMs, Pauline recited limericks which she composed about each of our IT staff. We had a slide show of the journey of our IT department since it started in 2003 to the present. Then we had our own "Loanshark Beng" who was hilarious when commenting on the words we had written for our IT staff. Never knew being Beng can be so funny. :P Finally we have our dear IT staff, Redzuan, Swee Lin and Terrence say a few words each, followed by lunch. :)



Well, Redzuan, Swee Lin and Terrence, thank you for all the help you have given me over the years with regards to IT. All of you can now have peace of mind knowing from 1 Feb 2009 onwards, that when the phone rings, it won't be me. Haha. :P You see, I have a very high tendency rate of having IT problems! :P I will never forget the 5-second pause which always followed my "This is Hwei Ming" announcement on the phone before their reaction of "Auntie, what you want?". Hahaha. Hmm, how come you all react in the same way?! LOL. :)

I wish Redzuan and Swee Lin all the best in your next work assignment and all the best to Terrence for your coming exams. :) We will miss you very much. I know I will, being the IT-idiot I am, hahaha!! Do come back and visit us when you can. :) Take care.

Pain :(

I dislike pain. :(

Developed gastric pain on my way home. My bad. I had lunch too late at 3pm. I was waiting for the crowd to clear from the canteen and then I got too engrossed trying to organise all my paperwork. Must be the spring-clean bug affecting me lol. :P Now my work space looks so tidy and clutter less. :)

When I reached home, I took a glass of milk and that helped me with the pain. After the pain had subsided somewhat, I had some dinner but not too much for fear of bringing back pain.

I hate pain. :(

Back to Counselling

Today is the start of my counselling in my school.
It was nice to see the counsellees again after the long December break. They were happy to see me too for they were very excited to tell me about their holidays and their new class in 2009. :)

However, at the start of every new school year, I would always think about the counsellees who have gone on to secondary school. Today, I thought about them. I hope they are doing well in their new school.

Getting Busier

With the start of the new year, it is slowly getting busier...

On my plate -
I have to finish the last of my dissertation chapters (January)
I have to co-write at least 2 papers with my boss (February)

I have to start preparing for new projects (February)

I have to start preparing for my USA conference (March)
...

Expecting more to come...

Daily Homework

It's been a week since Marieann started P1. I am glad that she has no problem being in school, no anxiety attack, nothing. :) Must be like me, gung-ho haha. :P

My daily homework, after work, is to check if Marieann has any homework. So far, she always said she finished her work in school. Hmm, ok, maybe it is just the beginning of school so no homework yet. (I can't use my previous teaching experience because I only taught upper primary.) The second part of my daily homework is going through the time-table and packing the school bag with Marieann. She would read out the time-table, get the books and I will help her put them into the bag. I will probably do this for the month of January and after that, she will be on her own. :)

Getting Ready for CNY

Today, my mother, Juliane and I went to do some CNY shopping at Takashimaya. We needed to buy some CNY goodies for the home and I needed to get some goodies for my friends. After we bought our CNY goodies, we had lunch at Ajisen Ramen.

We went for a hair cut after lunch. Juliane was most well-behaved while waiting for us. Although the salon was quite packed, we only took 2 hours for both of us to have our hair cut. We managed to get home by 4pm.

Tonight, I will have to start on my work again since I haven't done anything over this weekend. :(

Ponyo, BBQ and CNY Shopping

The girls and I went to watch Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea at Golden Village Vivocity, 12 :3opm. As I had an appointment in the morning, we could only leave for Vivocity around 11am. By the time we collected the tickets, we only had 40 minutes for lunch. It was a very hurried affair at Fig & Olive. The kids had Chicken Spaghetti ($8.90) which came with orange juice and a scoop of ice cream. I had the Creme Chicken Mushroom pasta ($10.50) but without the chicken lol. The sauce was really creamy and rich. The girls' father had the Egg Sandwich ($6.30).





We got into the cinema at 12:35pm. Thank goodness, the movie only started at 12:40pm. We totally enjoyed Ponyo. It was a pure delight to watch Ponyo. I love the simplicity of Ponyo, its hand drawn animation after the influx of Pixar kind of animation. It also brought me back to my childhood days where I watched a lot of these sort of Japanese animation. :) I also managed to remember some Japanese which I learnt during my uni days. :) What surprised me most when Juliane turned to me and said she also know Japanese and said, "Baka". Hahaha. Oops, I mean! :P Apparently she learnt it from her Japanese classmate in pre-school. I told her not to say that because it is an insult.



We bought some donuts to bring over to Juliane's godparents' place around 4pm because they invited us and some friends for BBQ at their place. It has been a long time since I have had BBQ lol. The girls had a good time playing with the dog and Wii.





We left their place about 7pm and decided to go get the girls' CNY clothes at Isetan Scotts. We managed to buy their CNY dresses under 30 minutes lol.

It was a very packed and tiring day for us but we definitely enjoyed ourselves very much. :)

Ben 10 & Ben 10: Alien Force

I have been watching Ben 10 with the girls on weekdays on Cartoon Network at 7pm till 7:50pm. It is quite a nice American animated tv series. I do enjoy watching it lol. :)

The series is about a boy, Ben Tennyson, his cousin Gwen and their grandfather Max. One day, Ben found a mysterious, watch-like device, called the Omnitrix. The Omnitrix is attached permanently to his wrist and gives Ben the ability to transform into a variety of alien lifeforms, each with their own unique powers. Along with Gwen and Max, Ben uses his new found abilities to fight evil, both extraterrestrial and criminal. I love the different aliens that he transforms into, and with Ben's sense of humour, the series is quite funny.

Ben 10: Alien Force, the sequel to Ben 10 is shown on Fridays. It has Ben, now older with his cousin, Gwen and his former rival Kevin working together to fight both new and old enemies. Ben also has a new set of alien heroes at his disposal.

It is really relaxing to watch cartoon after a long day's work. Haha. :)

I see a Bright Light!

After being in the darkness for so long, the light at the end of the tunnel seems so bright! And it is beckoning me towards it. :) No, I am not having a near-death experience here lol. Hmmm, but I can't say it hasn't almost been the death of me, this Phd of mine haha.

At least now I know I am close to the end. I must press on. :)

Fearless is My Word

That is what the Blogthing quiz says about me lol. I guess it is kinda true, reflecting back on some events that have occurred in the past. :P

Your Word is "Fearless"

You see life as your one chance to experience everything, and you just go for it! You believe the biggest risk is being afraid and missing out on something amazing. Sometimes your fearlessness means you're daring. You enjoy risky activities. And sometimes your fearlessness means you're courageous. You're brave enough to do the right thing, even when it's scary.

What's Your Word?

Movie to Watch

The girls have been singing this song that they heard on the tv recently.

"Ponyo Ponyo Ponyo sakana no ko,
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ,
Ponyo Ponyo Ponyo fukurannda"

Yes, they have been singing the chorus bit of the theme song for "Ponyo On The Cliff". They are totally tickled by the fact there is a goldfish Princess and thought that Ponyo cartoon is very cute. Of course, Ponyo is by Hayao Miyazaki! He is famous for his animated films which I have seen a couple like Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away.



Not sure if their singing of the Ponyo song is a ploy to get me to bring them to see it. But I guess I will bring them lol. I am tickled by the song too and I like the artwork done for this film. :)

帶我走 by Rainie Yang

The Taiwanese idol drama, Campus Shrewd (不良笑花) just ended its run tonight. The girls enjoyed watching it because of Xiao Hao (played by Rainie Yang). They totally loved and laughed at Xiao Hua's outrageous sense of fashion. As for me, I couldn't stand her funny Taiwanese accent at first but it slowly grew on me lol. :P It also reminded me that I haven't been back to Taiwan for a long time.

Anyway, here's the song by Rainie Yang that appeared at the end of the show. Juliane totally loves singing it. She actually could get the chorus part of the song right, lol. :)

Volunteer Work

Due to unexpected circumstances, early in the morning like 7am, I was woken up to go in place of my father to be a volunteer.

My mother's temple was giving lunch to people with cerebral paralysis (both adults and children). Her temple would invite different groups of people with special needs 4 to 6 times a year and treat them to lunch as well as give each of them a goodies bag and an ang bao.

We helped out with preparing the food early in the morning. When the people started arriving around 11am, we helped to settle them down at the tables as some of them were in wheelchairs. There were about 19 tables of 10 persons each table. Around 12 noon, we started to serve lunch. Lunch ended around 1:30pm but we had to clear up the place. We only got home close to 2:30pm.

It was really tiring as we were on our feet most of the time since 7am+ until 2pm. Although very tiring physically, I felt very good emotionally. I looked upon it as my way of repaying society. The experience also made me very appreciative and thankful for what I have -good health and healthy children.

Slow Day

It has been a really slow day but I managed to finish reading my articles and I guess I could start making revision to my dissertation. Now comes the hard part, remembering which article goes where and which parts I want to quote since I have about 30 articles lol. :P Wish me luck.

We didn't go out today as I wanted to finish my reading. But we watched The Mummy 3 DVD lol.

First Day of School and Happy 7th Birthday, Marieann

Happy 7th Birthday, Marieann! Hope you have a wonderful day.

Today is the first day of school, primary school for Marieann. She was really excited. I woke her up at 6am to have breakfast and to get ready for school. Goodness, she looks like a true blue SCGS girl in her blue uniform lol. :P Her school bus came at 6:45am. We thought she should be independent and take the school bus to school. Just before the bus left, the driver asked why I am not going to the school. I thought that was an odd question to ask. I told him I was going during recess time (9:40 - 10:10am).

Around 7:45am, I received a sms from the mother of Marieann's pre-school classmate who is in the same class as Marieann. She told me that Marieann looked really happy and calm in the class and the two girls are seated together. I was wondering how come the mother knew that Marieann was happy and calm. Is there something that I am missing?! Hmm...

By 9:20am, I was in SCGS. Goodness, there were so many parents haha. I met my former SCGS colleague whose daughter is in the same class as Marieann. I also met my friend, Steph and her husband. It was only then I realised that parents were allowed to send their daughters to school for today and could stay or linger around the classroom until 8am. Hahaha, so that's what I missed. Oh well, there wasn't a need to do that with Marieann. I think she is pretty independent like me when I was her age and I trust her to be able to go to school on her own. :) Friend's husband said I was an enlightened parent to trust Marieann with responsibility so young lol. At least, I was there to see Marieann at recess time. Unfortunately, there were just too many parents standing in front of me (the canteen was cordoned off to the parents)and I couldn't see Marieann at all when her class was at the canteen. At last, I saw her and I waved at her. I wasn't sure if she saw me as I was blocked by parents in front of me lol. I managed to speak to her form teacher briefly and she informed me that Marieann is very well-behaved and enjoying herself. On that note, I left at 10am as there was no point for me to stay on.

Marieann came home via school bus around 1:30pm. I asked her how was her first day of school. Marieann told me that she really likes going to Primary 1. She told me that she saw me waving at her and she waved back lol. Ok, good, so she did see me. :) She told me that she bought food by herself.

I am really proud of Marieann. Marieann, you have really grown up. She is a lot more independent than I realised. She is my daughter after all. :) I am really glad that Marieann enjoyed her first day of school and that it was a great experience for her and on her birthday too.

Happy 2009, Happy Birthday Marieann (in advance)

Happy New Year to all! May 2009 be bright and cheerful for everyone. :)

We celebrated Marieann's 7th birthday today (one day in advance) because tomorrow, her birthday, is also the first day of school on her birthday. We invited my cousins, a close family friend aunty, my good friend Hoon and her parents and the in-laws for Marieann's birthday lunch. My mother prepared and cooked Marieann's favourite food - Mango Chicken Rice, Fried Wanton, Braised Pork Bun, and Braised Eggs. In addition, she also prepared Fruit Salad, her new dish, Crispy Roast Pork, Vegetable Wrap and Chinese Yam with Pork Ribs Soup. Everyone enjoyed the birthday lunch. After lunch, we brought out the birthday cake. Coincidentally, it was also my friend, Hoon's Chinese birthday. So Marieann and Hoon celebrated their birthdays together. :)






Marieann was really happy and greatly enjoyed her birthday party , even though it was celebrated one day earlier.