The Send Off

The girls took leave of absence from school today to attend their great-grandmother's funeral. We went to the wake at 8am because the body would be leaving for Mandai Crematorium at 9am. There was a short service before the funeral hearse left for Mandai Crematorium. As the funeral hearse was leaving for Mandai Crematorium, we walked behind it for a short distance.
We arrived at Mandai Crematorium just after 9am. There was another service and the air-con in the hall was extremely COLD! The girls cuddled up close against me for warmth. We soon moved to the Viewing Hall to send off the the girls' great-grandmother for cremation. There was refreshment after the final send off. The girls and I reached home close to 11am.
At 3.30pm, we had an Ashes-at-Sea ceremony (the girls stayed home). A boat was rented to take 12 of us out to sea to scatter the ashes. The sea was pretty choppy and the boat had to stop in order to perform the ceremony but it went off without a hitch.
Good-bye.

Wake

The girls and I were at their great-grandmother's wake at Mount Vernon. It was an experience for the girls because it is their first wake, and their first Christian wake. We left the wake before the service because the girls still have school tomorrow and Marieann still has homework to complete.
At the wake, the girls, especially Marieann, were initially curious and wanted to have a look at their late great-grandmother. But Juliane chickened out and closed her eyes when she got near the coffin. Marieann was uneasy after the first look. But sil made her look again before we left the wake. I was annoyed with that. It is their first encounter with death and their first close up view of the dead. It is totally understandable if they are uneasy and it doesn't matter if the deceased is family. I know of adults who are phobic of attending wake/ funerals because they are totally uncomfortable with/ about death/ the dead, let alone children. Some people believe in exposing someone repeatedly to something he/she fears and he/she will be cured of that fear. Unfortunately I don't believe that. If anything, it might make things worse, psychologically. Sigh. I didn't want the girls to be traumatised. I conducted psychological debriefing with the girls after we came home.

Operation Success

My father had the cataract removed from his left eye at a 7.30am operation this morning. It was a success. He was able to return home around 11am. He has since been resting and sleeping. The girls thought he looked funny with the plastic eye patch over his left eye. "Ah Gong looks like a pirate, so funny", they said. My father will go back for his post-op check-up tomorrow.

"Compassionate" Leave

At my workplace, compassionate leave is applicable only for immediate family: parents, siblings, spouse, and grandparents. Parents-in-law are still considered as immediate family but others are not. Others mean siblings-in-law and grandparents-in-law. Sigh. I will use my annual leave as compassionate leave then for the grandmother-in-law's wake and funeral.

Inevitable

Inevitable I
My father went to see the eye doctor at SGH. It is inevitable that he needed the cataract operation as soon as possible for he has delayed it for far too long. He will be going in for operation tomorrow morning!

Inevitable II
My grandmother-in-law slipped into a coma after being admitted into hospital yesterday. Today, she passed away in the late morning.

Unforeseen

The girls' father, his mother and his sister were supposed to be off to Hong Kong for their annual family overseas trip. However, a phone call at 2am+ threw their plans into awry. The girls' great grandmother, who is now at a nursing home, took a turn for the worse and was sent to NUH.
Things are not looking good. She is not responding to any medication...

Wedding Lunch

The girls went with their maternal grandparents to a family friend's son's wedding lunch. Only family and close friends were invited. I stayed at home because I needed to work on my writing. According to the girls, it was a nice, cosy wedding lunch held at one of the rented chalets. According to the girls, they ate a lot! :P

Pocket Frogs

I have resisted the Pocket Frogs app for as long as I could. I have heard from friends about how fun it is and from my own girls who played it on their father's iPad. I finally downloaded the app two months back. As I slowly discovered the fun of it, I got more and more addicted to it. I am at level 6 now whereas my girls are still at level 3! Hahaha. :P

Airplane Seat Quiz

This is very interesting results from Blogthing quiz! Especially with regards to what happened recently, and today... :P

You Are an Aisle Seat

You are an assertive and energetic person. You know what you want, and you're very decisive. A colleague and friend said I am an Indian Chief. You are willing to speak out, and you're definitely not shy. If you want the aisle seat, you'll ask for it. My colleagues and friends will agree with this totally, especially with what happened today lol. :P You like to stay busy, and it's hard for you to stay still. You definitely need to "move about the cabin." Again to my colleagues and friends, it is very hard for me to remain ZEN and not do anything!! Haha. :P You don't believe in obstacles... you overcome them. You are a natural problem solver. Maybe it is the Indian Chief in me, need to have control, need to solve... lol.

What Airplane Seat Are You?

It is quite interesting how I used to love sitting at the window seat when I was younger. However, I started preferring the aisle seat in the last 10 years or so. :)

My Father's Eyesight

My father's eyesight is failing him fast. He has cataract. He was advised to have the cataract removed a year or two ago but he kept putting it off. He was worried about losing his "freedom". He is a restless person, he loves going out, shopping especially and he loves to cook. But if he has the cataract surgery, he will have to rest for two/ three weeks, depending on his rate of recovery. I don't think he will be able to do that. But he will have no choice. His driving has become erratic since his return from UK because of his cataract. For his safety and for the safety of others, he desperately needs that cataract operation!
This coming Monday, I will accompany him to see the eye specialist and hopefully a cataract operation can be scheduled for him soon!

Fat Genes

Juliane tried to perform a magic trick with my ring. She ended up with the ring stuck on her finger. I was shocked at how chubby her fingers are!! After a little struggle and pain, I got the ring off her middle finger. I showed her how easily the ring slipped on and off my ring finger! Sigh.
I am afraid Juliane may have her father's fat genes, Marieann too. :( :( (Their father's family is on the heavier side and strangely, exercise hasn't really helped with losing weight, not for their father.) And coupled with the mother-in-law being the girls' "drug" supplier of all things sweet and junk, it won't be easy for the girls to keep the weight off. I hope it is just baby fat for now...

"Will I Die?"

That's what Juliane asked me when she accidentally swallowed her chewing gum.
It happened when it was almost her bedtime but she was still chewing gum. So I hurried her to brush her teeth.

Me: Get rid of your sweet and go brush your teeth.
Juliane: Ok Mama it is gone.
Me: Wait a minute, where did you spit it?
Juliane: I swallowed it.
Me: That's chewing gum!
Juliane: Ahhh I forgot! Why didn't you tell me?!
Me: (started laughing) (reason why later)
Juliane: Will I die?!
Me: Not sure but let me know if you do, ok? Haha.

I laughed when Juliane swallowed her chewing gum because she reminded me of me! I did the same thing when I was young. I too forgot that I was chewing gum and swallowed it. Lol. :P

Mini Spring Clearing/Cleaning

We did a mini spring clearing/ cleaning today. Expected it to take only 2 hours top, it stretched to 5 hours. We, meaning my girls and I, cleared out piles of their stuff (books, toys, junk) in the living room, dining room area and in their grandparents' bedroom.
Now the place looks really neat and clutter-free! :) Just in time, the girls' grandparents (my parents) are coming back from UK tomorrow. Hahaha. Yes, that's our motivation for doing the spring cleaning because we didn't want to get a scolding from my parents for creating a mess in the apartment. :P Yes, even at my age, I dread getting a scolding from my parents lol.

Homework Day

Saturday is homework day for Marieann. She spent most of the day completing her school homework and her tuition homework. She also started to learn some of the words for her English spelling and practised writing the characters for her Chinese spelling. I am glad that she is off to a good start. :)

Submerged! II

The phone call I dreaded finally came. My mother called up and asked about the Brisbane apartment. :( For years, my father has been trying to get me to sell the apartment. But out of sentimental reasons and romantic wishful thinking - forever hopeful that I will one day return to stay in Brisbane, I have held onto the apartment. I told my mother to expect the worst. To my surprise, my mother was zen about it but I could hear my father in the background asking quesitons lol.
I guess she is right. There is no point being upset because it is a natural disaster. It is beyond our control. We can only be strong and move on.

Submerged!

Looking through the Brisbane Times online website, my worst fear has come true. One of the worst hit areas by the flood in Brisbane is St Lucia! :( My apartment at St Lucia, Queensland is definitely hit by the flood. :( I saw a photo of the shops that are on the parallel street to Macquarie Street where my apartment is and they are almost 4/5 submerged by the flood waters. :(
My garage on the street level is completely submerged. My apartment, which is on the first level - I don't have high hopes of it staying dry. I have asked friends in Brisbane to pop over for a look once the flood has subsided and is safe to do so. I may have to make a trip back to Brisbane in the near future.

Back to Counselling

It's nice to see my counsellees again after the December holidays. Quite a few told me that they missed talking to me. That's really nice to know/ hear. :)
I am glad to be back doing my counselling work.

My iPad crashed! II

A kind soul left a comment on my earlier blog post My iPad crashed! providing a possible cause on why my iPad crashed and a solution on how to isolate the cause, usually an erroneous app. Thanks much! The comment is really helpful and I really appreciated it. :) To help others who might have experienced the same situation, I have reproduced ipadupadweallpad's comment. :)

ipadupadweallpad said...
it's possible the crash was caused by one of your MANY apps lol.. sometimes when 'clearing' the apps, it requires that the OS makes a call to the app to close itself, and the app misbehaves and does something illegal (bad programming) such as addressing some wrong memory address, causing the ipad to crash. The ipad in general quite hard to crash and it's usually becos of an erroneous app...

See if you can locate the crash log': C:\users\AppData\roaming\apple computer\logs\crashreporter\mobiledevie\. TO do this you need to sync your ipad to itunes first, which will copy the crash log into your computer. The log name starts with the application name and have an extension 'crash'.

you can read about this here:
http://forum.rf.com/rf-ipad-iphone-ipod-touch/541-how-submit-crash-log-ipad-iphone-ipod-touch-app.html

11 January 2011 22:28

"We do floods now"

It is a truly terrifying sight watching (on the news) the deadly flash flood that swept through Toowomba, Queensland. Cars were tossed around and carried down the streets by the flood waters as if they were weightless! Several lives have been lost and many more missing. :( Hope the missing will be found alive...



It is an inside joke that only residents of Toowomba understood. "We are on a bloody mountain. We don't do floods. Puddles, occasionally." But now Toowomba does floods.
The flood water is now on its way towards Brisbane... the residents in Brisbane have been told to evacuate... I have an apartment in St Lucia, just by the river... Crossing my fingers...

Talented!

The girls found this while looking for the song 'Dynamite'. They showed it to me and I am blown away by this young man's talent. This young man did a cover of 'Dynamite' A Cappella using just his voice and mouth and it is brilliant!
Here's presenting Mike Tompkins and his cover of 'Dynamite' (posted by pbpproductions)

My iPad crashed!

Just before we went out for dinner, I was clearing the different apps on my iPad. As I was multi-tasking - clearing the apps and talking to my girls, I couldn't remember if my finger had hit the power button to switch it off. But I noticed the screen went blank really fast.

While waiting for our food at MeatWorks, I took out my iPad to play and I realised I couldn't switch it on at all!!! :( The girls' father suggested I bring it to the Apple shop to exchange for a new iPad. That will be the last resort. I searched the Internet for incidents of iPad crashing on my HTC but it was slow going. Getting really upset, I finally texted a good friend who has an iPad too. Bless him! He texted back telling me to try holding down the power button and home button together for about 10 seconds and it should start up again. Otherwise it would have to be hard reset via iTunes, etc. That was the longest 10 seconds in my life while waiting for my iPad to revive. And it did! PHEW!! For a while, I thought my jinx on electronic gadgets is back. :S Touchwood!

I am praying hard my iPad will never crash again.

First Illness of 2011

First, it was the girls' father who was down with cold on 1st January 2011. Now it is the girls' turn. Both of them are now down with cold (must have gotten it from their father). :(
Going to make sure the girls drink plenty of water, rest and keep away from me lol. :P

Ghost in the Fan

The girls and I were watching television in the living room after dinner. The fan, which was switched on, was behind us. Suddenly, the fan went "beep, beep, beep, beep, beep". The three of us turned behind to look at the fan when the "beeping" was still going on. Marieann whispered, "There's a ghost in the fan". Collectively, we shuddered and then we turned back to watching the tv with the fan still turning.

There are buttons on our fan that beep when they are pressed. Lately, our fan has been acting strangely. It "beeps" (switches) on and off on its own. Whenever that happens, I would check the timer on the fan but it is not activated at all! Ok with the single "beep" on and off, maybe I can still explain it as the "on/off" button being faulty. But with the continuous "beep, beep, beep, ..." it is like someone or something is pressing on the button continuously. I really have no explanation how that could happen, except...

Come to think of it, it is a wonder the three of us didn't just run off in terror when the "beep, beep, beep, beep, beep" started lol.

Good Start(s)

It's the second day of school. Things are going well. Juliane likes her teachers and her classmates. Marieann is doing her homework without having me telling her to. :) Both girls are off to a good start.

Not long after I have tucked the girls into bed, both of them came rushing out excitedly. Juliane was holding something in her hand and she had a bloody mouth. Oh goodness, Juliane had accidentally pulled out her milk tooth that was loose. After rinsing her mouth, she went back to bed. For Juliane, that's a good start, not afraid of blood lol.

First Day of School

It's the first day of school. To my surprise, everyone woke up on time at 6am! :) Actually both Juliane and I woke up a few times prior to 6am. I guess we were both nervous?! Haha. I made french toast for Marieann as she thought I make the best french toast. :P At 6.35am, I waited with the girls at the lobby for their school bus. It arrived promptly at 6.40am.Although P1 girls could go to school later at 8am, I decided to let Juliane take the school bus to school, together with Marieann. If Marieann went to school on her own when she was in P1, Juliane could do the same! My girls are independent, like me! :)

The sisters waiting for the school bus

I went to SCGS just before 9.30am to see Juliane at recess time. She was definitely happy. I saw her interacting with her classmates. Halfway through recess, I saw Juliane looked for Marieann who was seated at the P3 tables. I am proud of Juliane for taking things in her stride. :)

Thinking about what to eat lol

"Mama", she found me amidst the crowd of parents

Waiting to return to class

I am also very proud of Marieann. She looked for Juliane at recess time and made sure Juliane was doing ok before she went back to her P3 designated tables for recess. That's looking out for her sister. Marieann has grown up. :)

Marieann grinning sheepishly because I caught her with a jelly drink

Eve of New School Year

There are a few restless people tonight in my household. Juliane, Marieann and I. When I walked past their room a couple of minutes ago, I could still hear the girls whispering to each other.
Juliane is definitely restless because she will be in Primary 1 tomorrow! It is going to be a whole different ball game as compared to kindergarten. She doesn't think so but I know she will cope well in Primary 1.
Marieann is restless because she doesn't know which Primary 3 class she will be in and how many of her friends will be in the same class. And she now has the added responsibility of looking out for her sister in school, at least during recess time and after school.
I am restless because Juliane is going to be in Primary 1 and I hope she will have a pleasant 'first day of school' experience. But now I am worried because I am not sure if both girls can get up on time tomorrow! I better have a few alarm clocks on stand-by haha. :P

Happy 9th Birthday, Marieann

For the second year running, Marieann is able to celebrate her birthday in peace lol. :) Usually, 2nd January would be a school day, the first day of school to be precise. As I was busy working on my dissertation, I didn't have the time to arrange a birthday outing for her and her friends. Instead, we settled for a quiet dinner at the restaurant of her choice.
We went to Carousel. We invited Juliane's friend, Catherine too as the two girls are good friends and Juliane has been going over to Catherine's place to play for a number of weekends. It's buffet and I was surprised that the girls could eat haha. :P
There was a surprise for Marieann at the end of the meal. The staff at Carousel brought her a chocolate birthday cake and sang "Happy Birthday". Marieann was speechless and was quite shy about it lol.






Before we went to dinner, the girls were on Skype with their grandparents who are currently in UK. The girls' grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins sang "Happy Birthday" to Marieann via Skype. Marieann was really happy about it.

Happy Birthday, Marieann! Wishing you lots of love and happiness.

Happy 2011!

Happy New Year!
May everyone enjoy good health in the new year.
May everyone enjoy good fortune in the new year.
May everyone have a wonderful and happy 2011!!

Last Day of 2010

It is the last day of 2010. We decided very late to eat out for dinner. We made reservation at Blue Potato, Merchant Court Hotel. The girls were happy to eat out. :)


After dinner, we went home to watch the Countdown to 2011 on tv. We could hear the fireworks, "boom, boom, boom" but our apartment was facing the wrong side so couldn't see the fireworks live. At least we had surround sound for the fireworks lol. :P

Eve of New Year's Eve

It is already the eve of New Year's Eve.
In another 24 hours and 31 minutes, it will be 2011.
Time for remembrance. Time for reflection.

Sherlock

I watched all 3 90-minutes episodes of BBC's Sherlock on bluray in one go. It is absolutely BRILLIANT!
Sherlock is a modern update of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes detective stories. The characters are the same, their personalities are the same, the only differences are modern times and modern technology and tools. I love how Sherlock blends into modern day effortlessly and seamlessly. Sherlock now uses texting, internet and GPS in his crime-solving activities and he has a blog, The Science of Deduction! I also love how Watson uses his blog to keep track of Sherlock's detective work. :)
If you love reading Sherlock Holmes, this Sherlock is worth watching if it ever comes to our shores. I can't wait to watch Sherlock series 2!

Here's the trailer for Sherlock (posted by JoeZy27)


Here's the theme song for Sherlock (posted by AledWyn91)


Clips from Sherlock accompanied by Katy Perry's Hot n Cold (posted by chavivi86) :)

Neighbour of Another Kind

I am working from home today since it is the girls' last week of holiday before they start school next week.
In the afternoon, the girls called out to me excitedly from the dining room window. I rushed over and saw our "neighbour" perched on the air-con unit. No, don't panic. Our "neighbour" is not of the human kind but of a feathered kind. The hornbill is back! :)



The hornbill staring right into my camera

For a number of years, a hornbill would fly to a particular 9th floor flat in the next block of flats in our estate and rest there for an hour. But two or three years ago, it disappeared. Now it is back. Okay, it might not be the same hornbill but we are all thrilled to see a hornbill back.

Extra Holiday

Due to Christmas falling on a Saturday, my workplace has declared today as holiday in-lieu.
I have an extra day of holiday! :)

Boxing Day

A Sunday.
A rainy day.
A perfect day.
For staying in, watching tv and sleeping. :)

Christmas Day

Merry Christmas!

We decided to try something different for Christmas dinner. We went to Imperial Treasure Steamboat Restaurant, TripleOne Somerset. The girls were excited about having steamboat. What I really like was the different soups that one could choose to cook the food in. We went for the traditional pork bone soup and healthy chicken soup. Overall, it was a very healthy dinner. :)

The different kinds of condiment we could choose to dip our food in

Christmas Lights

After dinner, we took the girls and our domestic helper for a joyride down Orchard Road to see the Christmas lights. We left around 7.30pm and the traffic was still pretty smooth but I bet it would be badly jammed later in the night after most people are finished with their dinner.

Firework by Katy Perry

The girls are currently into songs by Katy Perry. I have to admit her songs are catchy. No wonder the girls like listening to her. Here is their favourite at the moment: Firework by Katy Perry posted by KatyPerryVevo.

Prep for School

In one and a half week's time, the new school year commences. Marieann needed to get new uniforms and I needed to collect the car decals for 2011 and not wanting to leave Juliane at home, I brought both girls to SCGS with me.

After SCGS, we went to Tanglin Mall for lunch. Initially I wanted to take the girls to Nando's (which I love eating when I was in Australia) but they wanted Japanese. Sigh. Maybe try Nando's another time.

Tron: Legacy

Goodness, another trip down memory lane lol. Tron!!

The original Tron (1982) was, at least for me, considered darn radical, high-tech and futuristic. :P The new Tron: Legacy is still just as radical, high-tech and futuristic!! :) Lol. It didn't just bring back some of the original cast like Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner, I was really tickled to see the movie also incorporated things from the first movie! :) Never mind if there are loopholes in the storyline, the special effects, sound effects and music score are absolutely awesome and brilliant. Tron: Legacy definitely provides a perfect escape from our world. :)

Tron (1982) posted by FrankSchenk6


Tron: Legacy official trailer #2 posted by DisneyMovieTrailers.


Tron: Legacy official trailer #3 posted by DisneyMovieTrailers.

Hawaii Five-O

I finally caught the new Hawaii Five-O (2010) on tv. Oh gosh, it sure brings back childhood memories, especially the catchy theme song!! :) However the opening credit/theme song for the new Hawaii Five-O seemed very short as compared to the original one.

I managed to find this opener of H5-O posted by DS9Sisko who blended scenes from the original opening credits with the current one. Fantastic job! This is more like it, can enjoy the theme song a bit longer lol. :)



For those who want more of a good thing, here is the full version of H5-O's theme song posted by sunfilling. Enjoy! :)

Family Ties

Today is my parents' 40th wedding anniversary.

Happy Anniversary! :)

In the evening, the girls spoke to their grandparents via Skype and also to their cousins, Yeun Song and Yeun Zhen. It is really cold now in London, snowing heavily. The girls lamented that they wanted to see snow. Don't worry, I will ask your Uncle YM to take some photos of the snow and send over lol. :P

Earlier in the day, I visited my grandmother-in-law at the ICU ward at TTSH. She looked really frail. I hope she gets well soon.

Coming to Terms

I am now slowly coming to terms with my grandmother's death. It was the hardest on the day of her funeral. But I am really glad that I have really nice colleagues and friends and it has certainly helped being in their company. Thanks a lot. I really appreciated it.

Now it is time to get on with life.

ICU

The girls' father's grandmother is admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital this afternoon.
I was told not to visit her yet as her condition was unstable and the hospital was going to change her ward. She was initially in the normal ward and was then changed to the high dependency ward and now, she is in the Medical Intensive Care Unit. I hope she will be alright soon. I should be able to visit her over the weekend.

That Time of Year by Sick Puppies

Another Year
Has Come and Gone again
Look around
And think where have you been
Trace the Lines
On your face tonight
And don't forget
That this will pass in time

It's cold out this morning
You should be getting into bed
Can't believe its that time
Of year again

Curled up tight
A darker shade of white
Thinking Back could be here for a while

Its cold out this morning
And it's getting harder to pretend
Can't believe it's that time of year again

Can you believe the life you led?
Did you achieve the goals you set?
Did you lose your mind?
Well and then

Is there a reason you own them
It is a season that won't end
Can't believe it That time of year again

Another year
Has come and gone again
Look around
and wonder what happened

It's cold out this morning
You should be getting into bed
Can't believe it's that time
Of year again

You're fresh out of warnings
Maybe it's time you called a friend
Forget that it's that time of year again
Forget that it's that time of year again

My Grandmother's Last Journey

Today, my grandmother is setting off for her last journey and I couldn't be there to send her off. It will always be a deep regret for me. Even though I have tried my hardest to get a flight back, even though my Taiwanese relatives have said it was ok, even though my grandmother would understand, I still feel very upset.

Some have said at least I managed to see my grandmother in June and that was better than not at all. But I promised her that I would be back to see her again. Not being able to send my grandmother off, I have broken that promise. There would be no closure for me...


Ah Ma, rest in peace.

love,
your granddaughter in Singapore

End of the Journey?

I met with my supervisors today. They feel I need to do a bit more polishing and my dissertation will be ready for examination. They have set me the date for early January 2011.

I can't believe it. After working on my dissertation for so long, it feels really strange that my PhD journey is coming to an end soon. I actually feel a bit lost...

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

I promised the girls that I would take them to the movies during the school holidays. There are a number of options but we finally settled on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

The girls enjoyed the movie very much. Juliane thought it was scary at certain parts, especially the green mist scenes. I did enjoy the movie too but I would have enjoyed it even more if there was a big epic battle scene lol. :P

Here's the international trailer for the movie.


Here's two versions of the theme song "There's A Place for Us". :) This one is by Joe McElderry.


This version is by Carrie Underwood. I think I prefer her version. :)

Happy Birthday, YM

Hey YM/ Uncle YM,

Happy Birthday!

love,
Your sis, HM
Your nieces, Marieann and Juliane

PS We called UK to wish you a Happy Birthday but you were all out.

Disappointment

I can't send my grandmother off on her final journey on 14 December Tuesday.
I have tried to book a return flight to Taipei, departing on 13 December Monday and returning on 15 December Wednesday. However, as it is the holiday period and festive season, all flights and all classes are fully booked. For some airlines, the wait list are closed too. I managed to be placed on the wait list for SIA but the agent forewarned me that it is extremely unlikely that I would be able to get my flights confirmed.
After 24 hours of waiting and monitoring, it is confirmed that I won't be able to attend my grandmother's funeral in Taipei. :(

Touched

I am really touched by my colleagues' and friends' concerns and gestures towards me over my grandmother's passing.

Thank you, everyone. I am really appreciative of your concerns and gestures. Don't worry about me, I will be fine.

In Mourning

I received news from Taiwan that my maternal grandmother has passed on this morning. My grandmother's funeral is set for next Tuesday, 14 December at her hometown, Shen Ao. I had to relay the sad news to my mother who is currently in UK. Although I am not extremely close to my grandmother, I am still affected by her passing. I can't imagine the grief my mother is going through right now. I may fly back to Taiwan to attend my grandmother's funeral...

May my grandmother rest in peace.

Home

I am home. :) Tired but I am home. I will try to backtrack and update my blog accordingly. Thank you for bearing with me.

TRUE HOLIDAY!

My best friend, Min and her family were fantastic. They went about their usual Saturday activities while letting me sleep in! I only woke up at 12noon!! This is what a TRUE HOLIDAY should be haha. :P Sleep in and do nothing!
Well, I did wake up briefly at 7.30am. Once a mother, always a mother. You will know when there is a child in the room. Josh came to my room in the morning, trying to get dressed as Min had left with Ben for his sports activities. Without many words between us, I helped him out. He left the room and I went right back to sleep. It was only later in the day that Min and Graham found out I had helped Josh. Oops sorry. It was faster to help him than to have him take his time in dressing lol. :P

Min came home with Josh after his swimming and she made us smoked salmon with avocado sandwiches for lunch. It was so darn delicious!! I should make them when I return to Singapore. :P We also had more time to chit-chat about our lives while deciding what to do on Sunday.

Dinner was the highlight of the day!! Min bought my favourite meat - kangaroo meat and Graham barbecued them. There was marinated roo meat, roo fillet, roo bangas and there was enough roo meat for 3 persons and it was all for me, me ME!! :) I was so happy eating roo meat and was really stuffing myself FULL. :) Have to since I can't get roo meat in Singapore. Graham remarked he has never seen a small person eat so much before hahaha. :P

The uncooked roo meat!

The barbecued roo, beef and lamb together with pasta salad. Yummy home cooked food!

My Best Friend

I think everyone should have a best friend. I am very lucky I have a best friend and I get to travel too in order to see her. :) See, my best friend, Min lives in Sydney, Australia with her wonderful husband, Graham and two awesome boys, Ben and Josh. :)

I really needed a break and my best friend so I flew to Sydney today. :) Min picked me up from the airport before picking Josh up from school. While Min was whipping up dinner for us, Ben came home. Soon after, Min left for her office Xmas dinner and it was just the boys and I. I had a really relaxing first night in Sydney, just lazed around and did nothing haha. :)

It is really fantastic to see Min and her family again. It was March 2008 when I last saw everyone. I am really glad that the boys still remember me. :)

Presentation

I was a nervous wreck on this day of my presentation. I wished I have had more practice. :(
I was the first presenter. Due to my cold, my voice was really nasal and husky and it didn't sound like me at all!! :( I finished my presentation on time and there were a few questions. Thank goodness, I was able to answer the questions. After the session, one of the audience who asked me a question actually told me it was a study well done. I was really happy to receive such encouragement. :)

Meeting Up

I was really happy to meet up with David and his wife, Ursula. I met them earlier in May at the AERA, Denver too. :) It was really nice to catch up with them again. In a way, I feel they are like grandparents to me. After the conference ended for the day, David and Ursula took me to dinner at an Italian restaurant, not far from the conference venue.

We had a delicious dinner (I had the most fantastic duck and mushroom risotto!!) and a wonderful chat about work, dissertation, and educational issues in USA and Singapore. After dinner, they even walked me back to my accommodation, citing that they needed to walk off the heavy dinner. David and Ursula are really nice people, very grandparent-ly to me that is. :P I hope they will come by Singapore again so that I can bring them around.


When I returned to my apartment around 9pm, it was time to work as my presentation is on tomorrow morning. I haven't had the chance to practise my presentation yet. :(

Unfocused!

I have to make a mental note to myself: NEVER fall ill before going away! I was really unfocused at the conference and most of the time, I found myself wishing I was back at my apartment sleeping. :( I was suffering from my cold and jet lag. A double whammy. :(

Arrived

Cold and miserable in a foreign country. It was only a low 18C and I was still trying to recover from my cold. :( I managed to do an early check-in into my studio apartment accommodation. And the next thing I did was SLEEP!

My studio apartment from the door


The living and the dining areas

The dining area, the kitchen and the bedroom


View from the bed towards the living and dining areas


I woke in mid afternoon, still feeling tired. :( But hunger won and I needed to get food. I walked to the city centre which was about 10 minutes away, had lunch (at Subway! haha :P) and bought groceries from the supermarket. After depositing the groceries at the apartment, I went to the conference to register and collect the conference materials. While walking back to the apartment, I saw an Asian supermarket! :) I went straight in and bought instant cup noodles!! Haha :P That was to be my dinner as I was still too tired and sick to venture out later in the cold for dinner.

I was nodding off at 9pm while watching tv. The overnight flight has taken its toll on me, and I think being unwell added to the toll as well. I decided to have an early night so that I can be ready for the first day of conference tomorrow.

Away

I will be away for a conference and a short break after the conference. There is no Internet connection where I am staying. I will try to update my blog during my break in Sydney. If not, I will definitely update it when I return to Singapore after 7th December.
Thanks for bearing with me.

Juliane's Graduation Ceremony

Today is Juliane's graduation ceremony. She will be in Primary 1 next year.

We arrived at NTUC Auditorium, Marina Boulevard at 11am because K2 graduates have to arrive earlier to dress up in their graduation gowns and hats. The MMI concert started at 12.10pm with a welcome speech and followed by the presentation of certificates to the K2 graduates. I am so proud to see Juliane in her graduation gown lol. :P

Juliane was also the emcee for their K2 dance item as well as being in the dance. She showed a lot of confidence speaking in public which is good. :)


The concert ended at 2pm and Juliane took some photos with her K2 classmates as after next week (last week of school for K2), they will be going their separate ways.

Happy Birthday, Dinh

It is my sister-in-law's (who is in UK) birthday today.

Happy Birthday, Dinh. Hope you get lots of love and LOVE. :)

Lots of love from your family in Singapore

Farewell, Shirley

Today we had a farewell lunch for our colleague and friend, Shirley. We went to Pastamania, Tuas as it would be less crowded than our usual eating place. :)

We talked and laughed in between eating our pasta. All too soon, the good time ended and we have to go back to the office. Before we left, we presented Shirley with her farewell gift. We hope she will remember us always whenever she sees the gift. I think it would be hard for her to forget us haha. :P

See, with a gift like that, how to forget us?! Haha :P


It is sad to see Shirley go but at the same time, I am happy for her as it will be a new journey in life for her. I wish you all the best, Shirley. Keep in touch, ok?

Trip Prep

I will be going off on Saturday night. I have yet to finish packing my luggage. :( I initially thought I could bring my summer clothes but it seems the weather is going to be cold, max around 22-24C while min can be as low as 11C. :( I have to pack my winter wear instead. Sigh. That is going to add weight to and take up space in my luggage which means I can't shop as much as I want lol. :P
Can't shop as much aside, I think I am more worried about my health. As I am still recovering from my cold, I will certainly dread catching another chill there. Touchwood!

Down and Out

I thought I might be able to sleep off whatever I was suffering from yesterday but it didn't work. I dragged myself to see the doctor this morning and I was given a bunch of medication. Yup, I am down and out. My only concern is that I might not recover in time for my trip where the weather is currently erratic, one week hot and another week cold. :(
Meanwhile, I sure try to rest as much as I can, drink plenty of water and (yes, my family doctor said this to me) DON'T talk so much! I talk so much meh?! :(

Down

While at work, I didn't feel too well. My throat was really sore and my shoulders and back ached. :( I hope I am not coming down with something...

Conference Prep

I am still in the midst of finalising my slides. :( I had initially hoped that I would have finished by now. Maybe another day or two.
After the slides, I have to start thinking about writing and submitting an abstract for another conference next May. The due date for the submission of abstract is on 1 December. Not many days left... :(

Hi Cute Baby

For the very first time, the girls met their latest cousin, Yeun Zhen via Skype. They were really thrilled. Juliane kept saying that Yeun Zhen is so cute. :)

They also spoke to their maternal grandparents and their other cousins, Yeun Yi (Abel) and Yeun Song (Matthew). It has been a while since the cousins last saw each other via Skype. They haven't met each other in person yet. They should do that in the near future, in a year or two. The girls mentioned that they wanted to talk to their grandparents and cousins more often via Skype. I agreed. Maybe next weekend before I leave for my conference.

P1 Orientation 2010

It is Juliane's P1 Orientation today at SCGS. We arrived in school by 8am and proceeded to her allocated class, 1 Grace. In the classroom, I met my former SCGS colleague who was on duty and also a close family friend and a former classmate whose daughters are allocated to the same class. :)

We left Juliane in the classroom and proceeded to the auditorium for a parents' briefing which started at 9am and lasted for an hour. The new P1 students, after being orientated around the school, joined the parents in the auditorium during the second hour for a concert. After watching the concert, Juliane now wants to join gymnastics and dance. Oh goodness.

Juliane seems set to be in P1 in 2011. She is already talking about meeting her new friends next year. However, she has also asked about exams, if they are going to be difficult and if she is going to do well in them. It is not a good sign that she is overly worried about exams now! I have to do something to allay her fears.

What are Kids listening to Nowadays?! II

I don't believe this. I have been asked to look up "Annoying Orange" videos on Youtube by my girls. I did and I am truly amazed by what the kids are listening to nowadays. I am even more amazed that some Annoying Orange videos have as many as over 5 million views!!!
BUT I have to admit some of the Annoying Orange videos are funny lol. :P However, I doubt my girls actually understood the jokes or spoofs. And oh, the endings can be horrific as there is always character 'death'. :( So it might not be a good idea to let young children watch them.

Here's my favourite Annoying Orange video - Lady Pasta. Please take it with a pinch of salt. Oops, no pun intended haha. :P

What are Kids listening to Nowadays?!

Just the other day, my girls told me to go to Youtube and listen to Gummibär, "The Gummy Bear Song". I did and I think I am mentally scarred for life. :( The lyrics alone is fine and quite catchy but the animation, it was... disturbing... a gummy bear showing off his butt crack and shaking his butt... OH MY GOODNESS!

Here is a clean (still) version of "The Gummy Bear Song"


WARNING: Should you decide to look up the original "The Gummy Bear Song" video, I cannot accept responsibility for any mental breakdown or disturbance arising from watching it.

All Things Katsu

It's a public holiday today, Hari Raya Haji.

We went out for a late lunch as I was working on my slides. We went to Vivocity first and the car park was full. Next we drove to Paragon and again, the car park was full. We finally went to Ngee Ann City. By then, it was close to 3pm and we were famished! :(

We went straight into the first restaurant we saw, Tonkichi. Thank goodness, the food came really fast. :) Juliane had the Kid's Plate ($8.90): rice balls, deep fried prawn and chicken and edamame. Marieann had the Chicken Katsu Don ($22.90) which came with miso soup, salad, appetiser and fruits. The girls' father had Hire Katsu Toji ($25.90): deep fried pork fillet simmered in egg and special soy sauce in hot clay pot, served with rice, miso soup, salad and fruits. I decided to go for the promo, Hokkaido Katsu Gozen ($32.90)(photo below): scallop katsu, konbu katsu (seaweed and asparagus rolled with sliced pork loin), prawn katsu, hire katsu (pork fillet), appetiser, chawanmushi, kinoko mushroom tonjiru (miso soup with pork slices, root-vegetables and mushroom). The katsu items were tender, moist and most delicious. :) The soup was yummy too. :)

On My Plate

After my dissertation, I will be working hard on my conference slides. I realised I only have two weeks left before I leave for the conference! However, since I have been revising my dissertation, it makes it easier for me to work on the slides as I have a fairly good idea of what I want to go into the slides. :)

Handed In!

I feel happy and relieved when I handed in the latest version of my dissertation to both my supervisors this morning. Both are happy to see me finished with it. Hopefully, they are happy with this version and I can proceed to the next stage: send my dissertation for external examination!

Applebee's Singapore

With Juliane having dinner at her friend, Catherine's place, we decided to go somewhere nearby to have dinner before picking Juliane up from her friend's at 7.30pm.

We decided to try out Applebee's, TripleOne Somerset (the former PUB Building). Marieann had, from the Kid's Menu, Pasta in Marinara sauce ($9.90), the girls' father had Double-Glazed Baby Back Ribs with Honey BBQ sauce (half rack: $21.80) and I had a Parmesan Chicken with pasta in cream sauce ($15). The girls' father thought his pork ribs were only average. My chicken was really tender and moist and the Parmesan was just the right touch, without being cloyingly rich. :) Be warn, the portion is fairly large too. I had to doggy-bag my pasta lol.

Birthday Parties

In the early afternoon, I brought Juliane to my colleague/ friend's son's 1st birthday party at Club ITE, Dover. Marieann didn't go because she didn't finish her homework.

We arrived around 12.30pm and soon met my two other colleagues/ friends there. There were a lot of toddlers at the party lol. When Juliane saw the birthday boy, Luke, she had these words, "He's so young?!" haha. She had thought Luke was around her age. :P I was tasked to be camera person for the cake cutting. I am glad to be able to use my skills learnt at work outside of work context lol. :)




In the late afternoon, the girls' father brought Marieann and Juliane to Marieann's classmate's birthday party. I was still recovering from the earlier birthday party so their father had no choice but to bring them and chaperon them at the party. Hopefully he would now know how tiring it is, chaperoning the girls at birthday parties.

All Done!

I have finally finished with my dissertation revision. I have added another section in my Introduction chapter, added in another chapter as well as revamped my final chapter. I printed out three copies of my dissertation and ring-bound them. Two copies will be on my supervisors' table come Monday. Wish me luck, LOTS OF LUCK. Lol. :)

Big Bruise

I had an accident last night. I fell and landed on the raised door ledge. This morning, I woke up to see a huge bruise on my left calf. :( HUGE bruise, the size of my palm. :( :( It is so darn ugly! Although I know it will take a few days to heal, I hope the bruise will go away sooner.

Since becoming pre-diabetic, I found myself bruising very easily and my wounds and cuts also heal a lot more slowly. :(

Last Session

Today's the last session of counselling for the year 2010.

As it is the close of the year, the students were also busying preparing and rehearsing for the school's 55th anniversary and Graduation Day. As such, I was running around, up and down the school trying to find my counsellees because they were all over the school practising or rehearsing. It was a workout that would last me for the next 2 weeks. :P

Have a good holiday, everyone. See you in 2011.

Celebration

As mentioned, my colleagues/ friends celebrated today after last night's hard work and this morning's hectic testing. In between the morning testing and afternoon observation, we had a window for lunch out of school.

We went to Northpoint, the nearest shopping centre to the school and we had lunch at Swensen's. We had baked rice and pasta for mains and ordered two sides to share. The finale was The EARTHQUAKE haha. Delicious!! What a sugar rush after that haha. :) We had a really good time, eating, chatting and laughing away. Oh yes, and playing on my iPad too. Lol. It was my pleasure to give the girls a treat for their hard work. :)



Ladies, it has been a great pleasure and fun working with you! Let's hope we can have another lunch or dinner gathering like this again. :)

Working Late

We are going into school for a reading test tomorrow morning. But we still have a few things to prepare before our school visit.

My colleagues/ friends and I stayed back late in the office to prepare the passages. It was tiring but I think we had fun while working. Jokes were cracked around the table while working hard to sort out the different combinations of passages. With many pairs of hands, we finally got the job done at 8.30pm. :)

Great teamwork, Ladies. We will celebrate tomorrow! :)

What Side of the Brain Are You?

Interesting and fairly reliable results lol.

You Are the Right Side of the Brain

You are a naturally creative and imaginative person. You have the mind of an artist. You are inspired by the whole world around you, and you never hesitate to act on your inspirations. You are very spontaneous. I can be too spontaneous at times lol. :P You are a true multitakser. You are always scanning and processing the world around you while you get other things done. So excuse me if I sometimes don't seem to be focusing on you. I am and on other things as well. :) You see the big picture like no one else. You have spot on intuition and a good memory. Spot on intuition, yes. Good memory, hmm not sure haha.

What Side of the Brain Are You?

Discovery Visit to RWS

The girls' father had his company's D&D, 6.30pm at RWS Convention Centre. Since he was going to drive there, we hitched a ride. :)

As I had earlier been to RWS once (exploring too :P), I was able to lead the girls from Hard Rock Hotel to the Universal Studio and Candylicious where we took some photos.


My photo from an earlier visit to RWS


My photo from an earlier visit to RWS

We went to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. The girls had the kiddy meals ($10 each): Mac & Cheese and Hot Dog. I had the Rock Chop (pork chop, $26). Unfortunately, it tasted like a rock too, really tough and dry. :(

After dinner, it was pouring most heavily which stopped us from exploring further around the area. :( We went back to Hard Rock Hotel to wait for the girls' father to finish his D&D. We waited for close to an hour before he was done with his D&D. Thank goodness for my iPad, otherwise we would be bored stiff haha. :P

Zombie Day

It was zombies and more zombies for me today lol. Oh, by the way,

HAPPY DEEPAVALI. :)

Back to zombies lol. While I worked on my revision, I watched Zombieland which was really funny. Juliane was watching it along with me and she commented, "Not nice, not scary". Haha. We have a horror movie buff in the making here haha.
Later in the night, I watched "The Walking Dead". I have been reading the graphic novel for The Walking Dead and it is very good, a real gripping storyline. :)

Zonked Out

Updated 5 November 2010, 1:15am
I only just woke up! I was that exhausted. :(

I am totally zonked out today. As I was waiting for my bus home, I totally spaced out and missed it! In the end, I had to wait an extra 20 minutes for the next bus. :( All that waiting made me even more zonked out. I got home close to 7.30pm and I am going to sleep now. zzzzZZZZZZZ

Wrapping Up

I am starting to wrap up some of my cases, especially the P6s. I hope I don't see them again. No, don't get me wrong. I meant that in the nicest possible way. If I see them again next year, that would mean they didn't do well for their PSLE and had to stay back in primary school. So to all my P6 counsellees, I said to them, "All the best, keep in touch but I don't want to see you again next year!" Lol.

November Checklist

Ok I better make a checklist for myself so that I will be on task. (I hope!)

Draft revision
Prepare slides
Prepare abstract
Prepare for trip

November Plans

It is already November. Times really flies. I am behind in my MAIN To Do task. :( I will finish my writing by end of this week. I HAVE TO as I am already two weeks behind schedule. There is no more time left... :(