Hair

Thinking of having a haircut and I see this new Blogthings quiz lol. The longest hair length I have ever had was past my shoulder blades. A bit like my hair length now but this is due to laziness in going to the hairdresser. Don't think super long hair will suit me well. :)

You Should Have Super Long Hair

You are free spirited and carefree. You are a total wild child, and no one is going to tame you! I don't think I ever got anywhere wild haha. But I do like being carefree. Who doesn't?! Your hair tells people that you're an individual who doesn't care what other people think. You and your hair break all the rules. Can you imagine me breaking rules? Lol. :P You are a mysterious type who has many secrets. You prefer to keep to yourself. Who doesn't have secrets? Lol. There's a lot hiding behind that hair. Very few people truly understand what you are all about. If I don't give up my secrets, it is hard to know me truly, right? Haha.

What Length Hair Should You Have?

Crisis Management

I have been managing one crisis after another since the morning until afternoon and right in the midst of handling them all, I had to go to school as well. I guess with great responsibilty, comes great stress hahaha. :P

PS. Actually it is quite challenging and fun - crisis management. Yes, I have been told I am strange. Lol.

Warm Weather

Of late, the weather is really warm and humid. It is so difficult to maintain coolness in the sweltering heat. :( Well, my hair which is quite long now, is not helping in this oppressive heat. Hmm, maybe it is time to get a haircut.

Under The Weather

I started feeling under the weather last night. I think it might have been lack of sleep. Well, I managed to rest for most of today. We only went out in the late afternoon to our neighbour's pie shop opening.

After almost a whole day of rest, I am feeling much better. Almost like my own self again. :)

Chaperon

I am the official chaperon for the girls when they attend their friends' birthday parties. Marieann had another birthday party today at 1pm, King Albert Park McDonald's. Juliane wanted to follow me. I offered to pay for Juliane's share at the party but the birthday girl's mother refused to hear of it. That was really nice of her. :)
While the girls were enjoying the party, I was working on my netbook. I was helping a good friend to edit his article. Once in a while, I took a break and snapped pictures of the girls enjoying the birthday party.




By the time the party ended, I was almost done with my editing too. :)

Sleep

I am in need of sleep, especially after yesternight's ordeal. :(

Catching up on it major time today. Sleep, sleep, SLEEP!

The Little "Merlion" II

I guess I didn't do a good enough job of keeping the girls separated when Marieann was down with her viral infection. Juliane has now caught it. :( She started throwing up in the late evening and became lethargic. She went to bed really early.

She threw up again when she was sleeping. Thank goodness, I was already on standby with a basin as I knew she won't be able to wake up in time and dash to the bathroom to throw up. Looks like it is going to be another long night for me.

Updated 25 September, 5am.

I am still keeping a vigil over Juliane. So far, she had thrown up twice and had diarrhea twice. Sigh. Thank goodness, it will be morning soon and she can see the doctor as soon as the clinic opens.

Exam Preparation

Today is the 2nd day of medical leave for Marieann. However, she couldn't afford to rest all day and do nothing. She is having her oral examinations on Thursday and Friday.

After I came home from counselling, I went through with her the tips for doing well in her oral exams. Somehow, Marieann didn't seem too worried or bothered about her oral exams even though this would be the first exam in her entire schooling life. I think I am A LOT more stressed about her exams than she is! Lol. :P

The Little "Merlion"

I was really beat after spending most of yesterday clearing up my room. I finished up the final touches to my room close to 2am. Just as I was nodding off at 3am, I heard Marieann getting up. Before I could ask her, "What's up?", she started doing a "Merlion" just a few steps away from the bathroom. Sigh. Thereafter, Marieann started to do a "Merlion" once or twice every hour till 8 in the morning. :( By 6am, I was so highly strung that I would "wake up" at the slightest movement and sound made by Marieann.

I didn't get any sleep at all with Marieann throwing up throughout the night. I couldn't ask for childcare leave as I needed to conduct a training with temp RAs in the morning and there was important data collection in 2 schools in the afternoon today. There is no one to cover my duties. Fortunately, the girls' father was on leave so he took Marieann to see the doctor. The doctor diagnosed Marieann with a viral infection and gave her 2 days of medical leave. With medication, she seemed a lot better now, at least she is no more The Little "Merlion". :)

Post-Writing Cleaning

Now that I have finished my first draft of my dissertation, I decided to do a little post-writing cleaning in my room. I have stacks of articles and books all over the place lol. Yes, it is kind of messy in my room. :P

I was clearing, packing and cleaning from late morning till night. It took quite a while to decide what articles to keep, what not to keep and how to categorise them. It will be a lot easier to retrieve my articles and books when I need to revise my dissertation. I managed to clear out two big bags of articles, and stuff. Now, my room looks so much neater. At least now, I can see my study table top. :P

DIfferent Times

Ranch Time
The girls and I went to The Ranch Home @ Dempsey Hill for lunch while waiting for 1pm so that Marieann could attend her friend's birthday party at Go-Go Bambini. Since we were there before 12pm, we could only order breakfast items. I ordered a BDBH ($16.80) which came with scrambled eggs, baked beans, potatoes, bratwurst pork sausage, bacon and toast to share with the girls. Once it was 12pm, we ordered a Creamy Turkey Ham Pasta ($16.80) to share. It was most delicious and we finished up everything, including the sauce. :)





Party Time
At 1pm, Marieann attended her classmate's birthday party at Go-Go Bambini. I paid for Juliane so that she could also play at the indoor playground. The highlights of the birthday party were the playtime at the playscape, the decoration of a cotton t-shirt with fabric dye pens for each child. Marieann certainly enjoyed herself at the birthday party. :)



Buffet Time
We had Japanese buffet dinner at Kuishin-Bo Dining. The spread was quite good. I particularly enjoyed the cheese mayo grilled lobster and the scallop ginseng porridge. Oh, and of course the desserts lol.

Rainy Day

It's just something about rainy days that makes one want to curl up in bed and read a good novel. :) I did just that today haha. It was raining and it made the day quite cold. I finished reading Rollins' The Doomsday Key and Fallon's Harshini. Both were really gripping novels. Time just past without me realising lol.

PS. I will review the books later. :)

North, South, East, West

Another quiz from Blogthings. Hmm, not quite sure of its analysis of me haha.

You Are North

Like a Viking, you are assertive, decisive, and dominant. You seek power and destroy those in your way. People admire that you are so confident and independent. You seem to have the world figured out. Sometimes you come across as pushy and aggressive... not that you mind! You like being seen as tough. You make a fairly good leader, especially in times that require grit and ruthlessness. You are a warrior.

Are You North, South, East, or West?

Work Plan Seminar

I attended the MOE Work Plan Seminar 2009 at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. I was interested to know what this year's strategic thrusts would be for the rest of the year and the following year to come.

There are two main thrusts: language instruction development and teacher professional development. Somehow I am not too surprised because there have been indications of things going this way. But I was a little disappointed too as I was expecting something more, something that would really make me sit upright and be inspired. I guess I can't have surprises every year.

Girl Power

I was home earlier today after my counselling. I was surprised to see my girls watching Xena The Warrior Princess on cable television lol. I would have thought they would prefer to watch something more feminine haha. Both Marieann and Juliane said they have been watching it every weekday afternoon at 4pm and they enjoy it. Oh goodness lol. Well, Xena was one of my favourite tv series too. :P

The girls went on to say that they want to be like Xena. Hahaha. Ok maybe I can send them for self-defence classes when they are a little older. :)

Growth and Learning

Today my colleagues and I were back in our schools doing fieldwork. The last time the children saw us were in early March. It was nice to see that the children remembered us. It was also nice to see that the children have grown, not just in terms of their height, but especially in terms of their learning, and their confidence. :)

Darkness Falls

No, I am not talking about the horror movie, Darkness Falls lol.

I thought I would have a nice relaxing evening before a busy day in schools tomorrow. I thought I would settle to read Fallon's Harshini after my shower. However I stepped out of the shower to hear that the electrical circuit breaker has tripped. The helper told me that every time she switched it back on, the circuit breaker tripped. I switched it back on. Although the circuit breaker did not trip this time, none of the appliances that needs electricity worked!!! It was almost 7pm, darkness falling fast. I had to light candles around the house. The only people who seemed to be enjoying themselves and having fun from the situation were the girls. :S

A good friend helped to locate a number for me to call an electrician to come over to look at the problem. The electrician arrived at 8pm and he finally diagnosed the problem. The circuit breaker was a goner. :( He went on to discover the reason for the circuit breaker going kaput, a faulty water heater (which was what had caused the trip) in the maid's bathroom. :( :( The electrician also found a faulty jacuzzi motor in my parents' bathroom. :( :( :( The electrician finally left close to 10pm. It was so nice to have electricity again. :) However, there was another problem. The girls' father came home close to 9pm and he discovered that the modem was damaged when the power came back on. Apparently the adaptor had blown. He was quite flustered and went out to get a replacement adaptor from a home-fix shop at 9:25pm. But he came home empty-handed. Everything else is working fine except there is no Internet.

It was quite a drama tonight lol. But I have to admit there was a certain kind of serenity just sitting there in the darkness by the candle light. :)

Brotzeit Revisited

We went to Brotzeit, Vivo City at Marieann's request.

The girls shared a Kartoffelsalat (German Potato Salad, $5.80) and a Hendlbrust (Mini chicken breast fillets, $10.50). (Pictures of dishes taken and published in previous posts aobut visits to Brotzeit.)
The girls' father had a Jagerschnitzel ($23): Grilled escalope of pork with chantarelle and cepes sauce with mashed Potato. The pork was too dry and tough but the sauce was creamy and delicious.


I had a Bauern Cordon ($23): Escalope of pork stuffed with bacon, onions, mushrooms, parsley and melted cheese which came with Roasted Potato. Heaven! :) The pork with its stuffings went very well together, and surprisingly it was neither too oily nor too rich.


After lunch, we went to Haagen Dazs for ice cream. :)

New Blu-Ray Disc Player

My friends were telling me my DVD player couldn't have chosen a better time to pass on lol. The Comex 2009 is now on at Suntec.

I have got my new blu-ray disc (BD) player!! :) :) It's a Philips BDP3000. However, I didn't get it at Comex 2009. Instead I got it at Best Denki , Plaza Singapura for $299 which is the exact same price which is offered at Comex and there are no freebies included with it at Comex either. So I am not losing out by getting it at Best Denki and I don't have to squeeze with the crowd at Comex 2009 lol. :)

After getting my BD player, Juliane and I were dropped off at Far East Plaza because Juliane wanted to have lunch at Nanbantei Japanese Restaurant. We were lucky to get a table for two as it was usually packed lol. Being in a good mood as I have gotten my BD player, we went to Food Republic, Wisma Atria for dessert. I had Soyabean Milk with Rice Dumpling and Juliane had Ice Jelly with Cocktail fruits.

When we got home after 3:30pm, I proceeded to set up my BD player. It was very easy. I am my father's daughter lol. I also tidied up all the wires and cables behind the TV console. :) Now I am watching Kungfu Panda with Juliane on my BD player. :)

Hmm, something is not quite right. Ah I know. I am missing blu-ray movies hahaha. Time to go get some. :)

Handy with Tools

Remember I said my Ponyo dvd was stuck in my dead dvd player? It is not anymore. :) I managed to get it out by dismantling the dvd player haha. Juliane was watching me with great interest when I was dismantling the player. She asked how come I know what to do. I told her that her maternal grandfather taught me how to be handy with tools. I am glad for the times my father has always included my brother and I whenever he repairs stuff around the house.

What happened to the dvd player? Don't worry, it is not in pieces. I reassembled it after retrieving my dvd lol. :)

Kaput

I was watching Ponyo on The Cliff with Juliane when suddenly a loud "bang" occurred. The TV screen immediately went dark and the lights on the DVD player went off as well. There was a slight plastic burning smell.

Oh XXXX! Did something just got blown up??!! Both Juliane and I looked at each other. I quickly switched off the power plugs, just in case. I checked the electrical appliances one by one. Ok, the LCD TV is still working, the cable box is still working,.. Oh the DVD player had gone kaput and my Ponyo DVD is stuck in there!! Argh.

Looks like my DVD player is gone. I guess it is time to get a new one... hmm maybe I should get a blu ray player lol. See how it goes.

Reading Day

It's the school holidays so I don't have counselling today. I spent the day just reading, actually re-reading my novels lol. I actually have a stack of novels on my bedside table, a stack of 8-10 novels by some of my favourite authors: Matthew O'Reilly, JK Rowling, Preston and Child, and Laurell Hamilton. Before I sleep, I would pick one of the novels and read, unless of course I happen to be reading a new novel. :)

I love reading. Especially novels that I have really enjoyed, I don't mind reading them again. I will never get bored of them.

The Demon Child Trilogy by Jennifer Fallon

I started reading The Demon Child Trilogy by Jennifer Fallon. Just done with the second book, Treason Keep. The first book is Medalon and now I am waiting for the last book, Harshini. The Demon Child storyline reminds me of David Eddings' The Elenium Trilogy and The Tamuli Trilogy which I totally enjoyed and I have not managed to find another fantasy series as good until now. :)

The Demon Child Trilogy has fantasy, action, adventure, magic, politics and somehow something about old-fashion battles fought with armour and swords has a certain charm for me lol. Think 300. Ok fine, they have no armour hahaha. :P The Demon Child Trilogy is definitely engaging and you won't want to put the books down until you have reach the last page. :)

On Medical Leave

I went to the doctor this morning because of my "merlion" act last night. The throwing up has ceased and the headache had subsided to a dull throbbing.

Well, it was food poisoning. :( I was given a day of medical leave. It has been a while since I was last on medical leave. It was actually kind of nice to laze around, read, sleep and do nothing but after I sent out a couple of work emails lol. Still can't really just forget about work lol. :P

The "Merlion"

An hour after dinner, I was doing the "Merlion". Somehow dinner didn't agree with me. :( From 8pm till 1am, I had thrown up no less than 6 times. I just couldn't keep food down and my oesophagus hurt so much from all the throwing up. Besides throwing up, I was also having a massive pounding headache. The headache got worse every time I threw up. :( I really thought I might burst a blood vessel or something. I hate being sick! :( :(

I will see the doctor first thing tomorrow morning. :(

Flat Warming cum SCGS Gathering

Karen invited us over to her new flat for a gathering. By request, she prepared her delicious mee siam and chicken wings. I think most of us look forward to the mee siam and chicken wings more than anything hahaha. :P Sorry, Karen.

I brought Marieann and Juliane with me and we arrived at 4pm. Hsiao arrived next without her kids and Chung arrived at 4pm+, a real surprise to us! Lol. Steph came with her kids after their swimming lessons at 5pm+. This time round, the husbands were absent from the gathering due to prior engagements. We chatted and before long, we were eating and chatting away over mee siam, chicken wings and my potato salad. After dinner, we had ice cream brought by Chung and Karen, and cake brought by Steph. We were all pretty stuffed by the end of the night. Oh Steph's husband and the girls' father joined us at 6pm+ since they were done with their previous appointments. The kids had lots of fun playing together. Just before we went home, the kids were playing "Simon Says". It was pretty fun watching them play haha. :)

1000th Post

I just realised that a few days ago, 8 days ago to be exact, I wrote my 1000th blog post! Hahaha. Never realised that I could write that much or I could maintain a blog for that long. I am amazed at myself lol. :P I shall do my best to write interesting posts for my blog if I can. :)

What's Next?

With my dissertation completed and awaiting comments from my supervisors, I suddenly find I have lots of time on my hand. I guess it is time to write those papers which I promised to do so with my former PI, maybe try my hand at writing a paper on my own, and there is a book chapter in the pipeline too. :)

Looks like I may not have all that much free time hahaha, not that I mind. :)

I've Done It!

I have done it! Finally!

I have finished my dissertation. I submitted my first draft of my entire PhD dissertation to my supervisors yesterday. Yup, on Teacher's Day, not exactly a very pleasant Teacher's Day present, 248 pages for them to read lol. :P

It is only my first draft so I know there will be revisions to be made. But it is a HUGE relief knowing that I have at least completed it. :)

Happy Teacher's Day

Happy Teacher's Day to all. :)

I met a former student of mine in the library today. We both turned back to look after we passed each other. It is kind of scary to have your former P4 student now at university. It shows how old I am! Lol. :P It was definitely heart-warming that she remembered me for the Children's Day gift I made for her class. For one Children's Day, I had painted little tiles for each and everyone of them in my form class as Children's Day gift. It is nice to be remembered. :)