My RAs took me out to lunch to celebrate me getting my PhD. :) They have always been very supportive and encouraging when I was working on my PhD. We went to our all-time favourite haunt, Swensen's! Haha. We tried to control ourselves this time by NOT ordering sides which came free with our mains. However, we couldn't resist ordering the free drinks and of all things, we ordered malted milk shake!! We were so full by the time we were done with our mains. During lunch, we caught up with what's happening with each other and there were lots of laughter. The highlight of lunch was the Earthquake ice cream (8 scoops of ice cream). :P No matter how full we were, we had to have the Earthquake lol. :P
After lunch, I was presented with a certificate. It is really funny. See the photo. :)
My girls are currently crazy over this song, One Thing by One Direction.
One Thing (uploaded by OneDirectionVEVO)
They have listened to it so often that its chorus "So get out, get out, get out of my head" is stuck in my head. Now I need the song to get out of my head! :P
We were at 313 Somerset for some dessert after our movie on Saturday. We happened to see Harris Planerds having a sale - 2 items get 20% off, 3 items get 30% off, ..., 6 items and more 60% off. That can be quite a substantial saving, especially when graphic novels and comics are not cheap. The girls and I went into the store to have a browse. I happened to see Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 and Angel Season 6 comics. Pretty thrilled to see the continuation of both series in comics after the end of their tv run. :) Oh, Jess Whedon was involved in the writing of both Buffy and Angel comics too. :) I bought the collected editions volumes 1-3, 5-7 of Buffy Season 8 and collected editions volumes 1-4 of Angel Season 6. It was a huge saving! Lol. However, I am still missing Buffy Season 8 volume 4 and 8 as well as Angel Season 6 volume 5. Hopefully Planerds will restock the missing volumes. :)
Here is Happy Mother's Day 2012 to all mothers! :)
I called my mother in Xiamen. The girls and I wished her Happy Mother's Day. The girls got their grandmother a present which they will give to her when she returns to Singapore at the end of May. I received a hand-made card from Marieann and a drawing from Juliane. Thank you, Girls. :) What made my day too was when I overheard them telling each other, "It is Mother's Day, cannot make Mama angry today". :) But it would be even better if they can think that way every day! Lol.
WARNING: Contains spoilers for The Avengers. DO NOT READ if you haven't watched The Avengers and intend to do so.
As promised, I brought my girls to watch The Avengers after Marieann's exams. It was a reward for the hard work put in by Marieann for her exams. We had an early lunch at 11am before watching the 11:50am show at Lido. We decided to just go for the digital version rather than the 3D version. Armed with sweet popcorn and a drink, we watched a wonderfully exciting 143 minutes of The Avengers! Jess Whedon is a genius! I have always loved the shows that he directed such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003), Angel (1999-2004), and Serenity (2005). Jess Whedon's brand of humour is definitely evident throughout the movie! :)
We absolutely loved The Avengers! After the movie, the girls and I talked about the various scenes that we loved or found funny. There were plenty! The scene where Black Widow had a phone call while being "interrogated" by Russian general, the scene where Thor unwittingly gave Ironman 400% of energy, the scene where Thor defended his brother, Loki and then changed his mind to say Loki was adopted, the scene where the Black Widow got information out of Loki without him realising, the scene where Loki pointed his spear(?) against Tony Stark's chest and nothing happened, the scene where the police questioned Capt America's authority to give orders, the scene where the Hulk threw Loki around like a ragdoll, the scene where Capt America told the Hulk to smash, the scene where the Hulk roared and woke Ironman up, just to name a few lol. :P
We managed to see the first post credit scene where the villain, Thanos for The Avengers 2 was revealed. Unfortunately I did not see the 2nd post credit scene even though I stayed till the end of the movie. Apparently, that scene is hilarious. The digital version doesn't have the 2nd post credit scene. Wonder if the 2D and the 3D versions have it. Maybe I should watch The Avengers again in 2D and 3D! I really don't mind haha. :P
The Avengers is a great movie, full of action and adventure as well as humour. It doesn't matter if you are not a Marvel comic fan. The Avengers is entertainment for everyone.
Marvel's The Avengers Trailer (uploaded by MARVEL)
Marvel's The Avengers Trailer 2 (uploaded by MARVEL)
"Hi mama WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO REPLY YOU SAID THAT YOU ARE GOING TO REPLY IN APRIL !!!!!!!!!OMG"
Oops! It was from Juliane lol. And it was her second message to me. I have yet to add her and Marieann to my list of friends in Facebook because I have yet to sort out my friends into appropriate groups, e.g. students, schoolmates, colleagues, etc. Soon, soon, Girls, I promise. :)
I saw this clip on Youtube and couldn't stop laughing. The clip is made by Mike Sui, an American who is currently in China. He tried to emulate 12 different nationalities/ characters speaking Mandarin - China Chinese, White American, African American, New Yorker, African, Russian, French, Japanese, Hong Kong Chinese, Taiwanese, a gay, and a 12th person who is from National Security.
OMG. Mike Sui is really GOOD! The accents of the different nationalities/ characters were spot-on!! If you could understand Mandarin/ Chinese, it would be even funnier. :D
Discotheques, nightclubs, "The Hustle", Studio 54, ... what an era lol.
Disco Inferno (uploaded by GleeOnFox)
You Should be Dancing (uploaded by GleeOnFox)
If I Can't Have You (uploaded by GleeFullPerformances)
How Deep is Your Love (uploaded by GleeFullPerformances)
Boogie Shoes (uploaded by GleeFullPerformances)
Alex is really good! He can sing like a girl and can pass as a girl too. I thought he was Mercedes at first until I saw Mercedes standing by the side of the stage!
This evening, Juliane wanted to have fried egg with her rice. This is what she said when she cracked open the egg, "I have twins!". Huh?! When I took a look, it was an egg with double yolks! Lol.
Nay, it is only a soft toy, not a real dog lol. Juliane attended her friend's birthday party at Build-A-Bear. She chose to build a chihuahua instead of a teddy bear. She named it Snowy and even got it a leash so that she could "walk" it. Well, Juliane, I hope Snowy can substitute as a real pet. :P
As this year's Vesak Day (a public holiday) falls on a Saturday, the following Monday will be an off in-lieu holiday for most people. The girls will have no school on Monday too. Extra day for Marieann to do her revision! :P
An episode featuring Blaine and his big brother, Cooper. :) Love the song "Somebody that I Used to Know" sang by the brothers. My girls' favourite too lol.
Hungry Like a Wolf/ Rio (uploaded by GleeOnFox)
Fighter (uploaded by GleeFullPerformances)
Up Up Up (uploaded by GleeFullPerformances)
I'm Still Standing (uploaded by GleeFullPerformances)
Somebody that I Used to Know (uploaded by GleeOnFox)
I handed in 3 copies of my hardbound thesis to the Graduate Studies office today, one day ahead of the deadline. I feel so relieved that it is finally done lol. :) Now I only have to wait for information of my graduation ceremony in late July/ early August 2012. :) PS. I am tickled to see my thesis in hardcover. :) My girls commented that I wrote a book lol. I guess it is essentially that. :P
A Finnish professor, whom I first met in 2009 at the conference our research centre organised, is back in Singapore for 2 days for a symposium. We had met up once more in 2010. I am really happy that Prof Niemi contacted me and asked to meet up. Being a full professor and an expert in her field, I am really honoured that she wants to meet up with me, a junior academic. I must have made a good impression on her lol. :P
I brought her to Food For Thought, Botanic Gardens for afternoon tea and chit-chat. She is really happy for me that I passed my Phd defense and even got me a congratulatory gift, an adorable Moomin cup! We had a lovely time chatting about my Phd, my work, my future plans and her work in Finland. An hour past really quickly. I sent her back to her accommodation at 5pm as she has to attend a dinner at 6pm organised by the director of NIE. We will definitely be keeping in touch! :)
It is 1 May, Labour Day. A day of rest for everyone, except for students preparing for their exams. Both Marieann and I were glad for the extra day to prepare for her exams. She has Math exam on Thursday 3 May and Science exam on Friday 4 May.
Today is my father's birthday. He called from Xiamen (where he and my mother are now having their break now) to chitchat with the granddaughters in the afternoon. The girls wished him "Happy Birthday". When I came home from work, the girls told me about their grandfather's birthday. Yikes, I forgot about it. I quickly called my father. Phew. Thank goodness, the girls reminded me. If not, I would probably get a scolding from my mother for forgetting. :P
Realised that the photo "My Girls and I" on my blog was really outdated. It was of the girls when they were much younger, when they were in kindergarten. I also realised that I have not been taking a lot of photos with the girls in the last year or so lol. I have now updated the photo of us. It was taken on my birthday last year - we are older definitely and hopefully, wiser lol. :P
We had dinner at Ma Maison, Marina Bay with its English Cottage decor. It is Japanese-Western fusion cuisine. Half the family had Japanese food - Juliane the Tonkatsu set and their father the Curry Katsu. The other half had the Western food - Marieann the Spaghetti with Seafood in Cream Sauce and I the Salmon Steak. The dishes weren't too bad but I thought the Tonkatsu was a little on the tough side. What excited the girls and I the most was the dessert - red bean with mochi and ice cream, which came in a bowl made of ice. :)
It has been a while since I have been able to rest so well and undisturbed. The last time I was ill, I had a throat infection just 3 days before my oral defense. I definitely couldn't rest then. This time round, I could rest all I want. After two days of rest, I am feeling a lot better, both physically and mentally. :)
I went to see the doctor in the morning and was diagnosed as having acute gastroenteritis. :S Remember Monday I was already feeling queasy in the stomach? Throughout Tuesday, while at work, I continued to feel uncomfortable and had stomach cramps. In the night, I had very bad diarrhoea. I was visiting the toilet non-stop from10pm+ until 3am+. I was so exhausted and weak from all the going in and out of the toilet that I wanted to just camp out in the toilet to save me from moving. :(
The doctor gave me 2 days of sick leave. I definitely need the rest, especially after last night.
One of the projects that I am involved in had a retreat out of campus at the Bukit Batok Civil Service Club. It was a good change of environment for everyone to have discussions about the plans for the project. :) Buffet breakfast and lunch were provided. As I had my breakfast, I only took the lunch.
After the lunch, it was optional recreational activities, either bowling or spa treatment at the club. As my toe was still recovering, I decided to skip the recreational activities and headed home. I took a lift from a colleague home. On the way back, I complained about my stomach feeling queasy. Maybe I overdid the rice and potato. I have been on a low carb diet for quite some time now, thus, the discomfort perhaps. Hope it settles soon.
We went to Xi Men Ding at Vivocity for dinner. I guess we must be missing my mom's cooking lol. Xi Men Ding serves Taiwanese cuisine. I was pretty excited to see some classic Taiwanese dishes on its menu. We ordered Baby Clams in Light Sauce, Grilled Fish Roe, Deep Fried Fish in Sweet & Sour Sauce, Pan-Fried Pork Liver, Wok-Fried Tofu with Meat Sauce, Radish Fried Rice, Oyster with Tofu Soup and Herbal Pork Rib Soup. For dessert, we had Egg Pudding and Almond Tofu.
The food was pretty good but I am quite sure my mother would probably disapprove of us eating at Xi Men Ding because she could cook most of the dishes we had! :P
The exams are here again, the mid-year exams. Marieann had her oral exams today. I pick her up from school at 4.30pm and asked her how her orals went. To which, she replied, "Easy".
Hmm, should I be worried? From experience, easy may not exactly be easy...
I had an accident today, just before I left for work. In my hurry to leave, I accidentally stubbed my right foot on my room door which left the door rattling away. My middle toe went numb and I quickly rubbed it without looking at my foot. As I was walking to the living room where I left my computer bag, I spied with the corner of my eye a trail of red on the floor. Why is there a bloody trail?! When I looked down at my right foot, I saw my middle toe totally covered in blood! At that point of time, I felt PAIN!! I quickly went into the bathroom to clean up. The skin covering my toe was nearly tore off and flapping around. I did something which I shouldn't have -- I tore the skin off! OUCH!! It was pain upon pain. :( I bandaged it as best as I could. Unfortunately, I didn't own any peep-toe shoes/ sandals and had to wear the most comfortable covered shoes I had - my Crocs. It was hurting like hell with every step I took. When I arrived at work, my bandage was soaked through with blood and I had to change it with the supplies from the First Aid box. During lunch, my good friend drove me out to the nearest shopping mall so that I could just buy a pair of sandals to wear and to buy first aid supplies. Thanks much, DK, I really appreciated your help.
My toe was throbbing away in pain the entire day. I had to change the bandage twice more during the day as the wound was still bleeding away. Being pre-diabetic, I think it didn't help. :( When I arrived home in the evening, I called for the family doctor as it happened that Juliane wasn't feeling well. He took a look at my toe too and scolded me for tearing the skin off my toe. :( He said that my toe nail has actually been dislodged from the bed and has moved from its original position. But he advised me NOT to touch/ remove the nail and let it heal on its own. The main worry is infection so I had to keep applying antiseptic cream on my toe and to keep it clean and dry.
I hope my toe will heal soon! I can't stand the pain. I swear the pain is worse than labour pain! I swear I will be more careful in the future.
The girls had a day of rest today because SCGS decided to reward the staff and the students for the good 'O' level results obtained for 2011 and declared today a school holiday. It was timely after the school carnival as the entire school was involved and working their hearts out on Saturday 14 April and all could do with a rest day to recoup from Saturday.
Initially the girls wanted to follow me to office again. However, as Marieann has Chinese tuition on Monday afternoons, they had to abort their plan lol. They promised that they will follow me to office during the June holidays. We will see, Girls. :)
As the girls were at the carnival yesterday, it was catching up time with their homework today. It was also catching up time for me with my work and my sleep lol. I am still recovering from yesterday's carnival lol. Too lazy to go out, we ordered pizza for lunch lol. It has been a long since we last had pizza! It was really delicious haha.
SCGS had their carnival today. The official opening was at 10am but most of the stalls started as early as 8.30am. Marieann, Juliane and I arrived around 9.45am because Marieann was on duty at her class's game stall from 10am-11am. While Marieann was on duty, Juliane and I went round to look at the other stalls. We returned just before 11am to Marieann's class stall. Juliane supported her sister's class by playing at their game stall. After her duty, Marieann decided to join her friends. Juliane and I went on our own again. We bought cakes, and jellies to bring home. I also bought a handmade purse, a SCGS mug and a SCGS souvenir. :) Marieann joined us around 1pm and we had some food and drinks. We also tried our hand at scrap booking which was really fun and therapeutic lol. :) Not to mention, we got a bit of leg rest too after being on our feet for more than three hours lol. :P There were more food stalls at this carnival as compared to the last one which I thought was a really good idea. I managed to catch up with a couple of my SCGS ex-colleagues as well as a few of my classmates. :) We finally left for home just after 3pm. We were really exhausted but we enjoyed ourselves too.
It is that time of the year again that most working adults dread... Filing of income tax. :( But I must admit, the procedures and the forms have been simplified over the years. It is much easier to file tax now compared to when I first started filing in the late 90s. :P
Out of the six counsellees I saw today, three of them are sick or recovering from throat infection. I was most wary lol. After all, I have just recovered from a throat infection less than a week ago. In case you are thinking that I might have spread my virus to them, I didn't see this group of counsellees for three weeks! So it couldn't have been me lol. :P
I felt the tremors of the earthquake(s) in Aceh, Indonesia. I was at home in the early afternoon after my counselling. I was seated on my bed and playing my iPad when I felt this shaking and felt dizzy too. At first, I thought I was experiencing vertigo! Then I noticed my blinds were rattling slightly. It lasted for a minute or so. I realised I must have felt the tremors of an earthquake. True enough, the earthquake in Aceh, Indonesia was reported in the 6.30pm news. I hope there is not much damage and casualties...
I had my work appraisal first thing in the morning at 9am today. It went really well. :) I am really lucky that I have been able to work with one good PI after another.
I just heard that my oral exam report is out since last week. However as the person-in-charge is on leave (5-9 April), I would only get it tomorrow. For an office that deals with tight timelines, there really should be an officer to cover duties. Quite inefficient. Sigh.
My youngest nephew in UK, Yeun Zhen is able to address me! Never mind if it is "Gu Mama" instead of "Gu Ma" lol. We were communicating via Skype when my brother asked his son to address us. He was able to say "Ah Ma" (Grandmother). Unfortunately, my mother is now in Taiwan. If not, she would be overjoyed to hear it. Yeun Zhen had a bit more problem trying to say "Ah Gong" (Grandfather), he made it as far as "Ah" and gave up on "Gong" lol. :P He was able to piece "Gu Mama" together with some teaching lol. At least, it is better than "Mu Ma" (wooden horse) which my other two nephews called me when they were that young lol. :D
Juliane had a birthday party at Kallang Leisure Park, 10-12pm. After sending Juliane to the venue, Marieann and I went to Coffee Bean to do our work. It was a good place to work. But after a while, it became crowded with people doing their work/ studying lol. Rather than driving to somewhere else, we decided to have lunch at Pasta Mania, Kallang Leisure Park. There are quite a few eateries - Japanese, Thai, Chinese, and a food court. There are a couple of shops and Cold Storage too. Not a bad place. However, it is rather far from where we stay. Not sure if we will come back here again, just for food or shopping.
Had a good break on Good Friday. 1. Lazed around in the day. 2. Went out in the late afternoon to get a gift and had dinner with family. 3. Met a friend later for dinner again lol.
I only just realised that tomorrow is Good Friday! What a short week lol. Looking forward to the long weekend. :) My girls happily announced to me that since they have no school tomorrow, they want to follow me to office tomorrow lol. Sorry, Girls, I am not going to office on a public holiday!
Yet another colleague is leaving us, another statistics expert, Teck Kiang. :( We had a farewell lunch for TK at the Chinese restaurant at NTU. It was a nice and cosy lunch. Although we have been in the same work place for a long time, I haven't had the chance to work with TK nor had I the chance to know him well. I only got to know him better in the last two years as I had to seek his statistics help for my work. I wished I had known him better earlier lol. I don't know why but my impression of him was that since he is an expert in statistics, he probably won't want much to do with a statistics idiot like me. But when I approached him for help, he was really nice and helpful. He even went beyond and gave me quick tutorials of why we should or should not use certain methods. He was totally not what I expected! Never judge a book by its cover. :P Thank you for your help, Teck Kiang. Good luck at your new workplace. :) Keep in touch.
You are quite modern, but you're not obsessed with being an early adopter. You adopt anything new once it gains mass appeal. You like to let other people get the kinks out. Very true! I didn't rush to get the iPad when it was first launched. Rather, I waited two weeks before I ordered it. Same with my Lumia 800, I waited until now to get it. :P
You are future oriented, but you probably at least have some taste for retro or vintage objects. If something is a classic, you'll stick with it. But if something better comes along, you'll definitely upgrade.
Just after midnight, I decided to check my work email as I hadn't had the chance to do so on Saturday. However, I had problem logging in. An error message kept appearing, saying that my user id or password is incorrect and to try again. As it was late, I thought it might be a system's error and decided to try again in the daytime. However, throughout the day, the same error message kept appearing. Then it occurred to me that the same thing happened to me once before... the last time I had my contract extended/ renewed and there was some miscommunication between the IT department and HR department. Oh no. Don't tell me it is the same problem again. :( My old contract expired on 31 March with the new one kicking in on 1 April... What a way to start my new contract with a "April Fools' joke" courtesy of the IT department. :( :(
We were not able to celebrate Earth Hour at home this year. Juliane had a birthday party at Amazonia, Great World City, 7-9pm. We decided to have dinner at Kuishin-bo at 6pm before sending Juliane to her classmate's party at 7pm. While waiting to pick Juliane at 9pm, Marieann and her father went browsing around as I headed towards Coffee Bean to do editing on some book reviews . I chose to work at Coffee Bean because the cafe would be celebrating Earth Hour by dimming its lights. Since I can't celebrate it at home, I might as well do it at a place that is celebrating Earth Hour. :)
It is still pretty surreal that I have finally achieved what I set out to do - get my PhD. Although the PhD is in my name, I could not have completed it without the contributions, support and encouragement of many people. I really have to thank the following people for my achievement. THANK YOU to: Dr Koh and Prof Paris, for their guidance. Dennis, for always pushing me to think more critically and outside of my "tai-tai" box lol. Yee Zher, for coaching me in statistics, my kryptonite lol. Dr Chew, Dr Wong, Dr Foong, for their encouragement. Aik Ling, Sharm, Azlina, Filzah, Han Jing, many other friends and colleagues, my former students, for their moral support and encouragement. My parents, for putting up with all the stacks of books and articles I left all over the place and for putting up with my moods when I am stressed about my PhD. My daughters, for putting up with the part-time mother I have been to you and for cheering on me when I was writing my extra thick "homework" of 300 pages.
Thank you to all for your support and encouragement. :)
A day after I passed my oral defense, I bought myself a new phone as a reward for myself! :) I have been eyeing a Windows phone because I just prefer a Windows phone haha. :P A Windows phone suits me well because I am not tech savvy. If I were to use, say an Android phone, I would need to be tech savvy enough to customise the user interface and every aspect of operation of the phone. I am more than happy with the user interface and every aspect of operation on the Windows phone. I did a bit of research and so far, Nokia Lumia 800 has very good reviews and there are hardly any problems reported. :) Originally, Lumia 800 comes in black, cyan and pink. Now, there is white too. :) I have absolutely no complaints with my white Nokia Lumia 800! The build of the phone is very nice and easy to hold. The screen resolution is excellent, and the touch screen and sensitivity is great. The features are user-friendly and the camera's fantastic. I love my white Lumia 800 in its lime green casing lol. :) PS. I updated my particulars, no longer 'Ms' haha. :P
A good friend and colleague, Yee Zher is leaving. Actually he has already left and he is starting work today at another research centre. Yee Zher was one of the first few researchers who worked at our research centre when it started in 2003. Just recently, a couple of us who joined a few months later after him and still at the research centre, joked that we would get the 10-year long service award together lol. Now, we have one person less for the award. :( Yee Zher is a good friend and colleague to many of us. He is always generous with his time and expertise whenever one of us needs help with statistics. He is my teacher when it comes to statistics. He taught me the statistics that I needed for my work as well as for my PhD. :) Thank you, Yee Zher for your statistics coaching, for your friendship, and for everything. All the best at your new workplace! :) Keep in touch! :)
At 11.20am, I am officially Dr. Wong Hwei Ming! :) My oral defense started at 9.40am. There were four people in the panel, not including my supervisor who was present to give her support. However, the examiner is now in Hong Kong so we had to link via Skype. It was kind of unusual for me, presenting to four people and a computer lol. There was a small audience too, made up mainly of my friends and supporters and my PI! Haha. I was pretty nervous when I started but the panel was really nice and put me at ease. It helped too that I could always look to the audience to see my good friends smiling at me and giving me the thumbs up. :) Thanks, Guys! Your presence really meant a lot to me. :) Actually, the presentation was still not too bad lol. The most scary part was the Q & A. I thought I won't be able to get through it. But again, the panel was most encouraging. I got the better of my nerves and became more confident as I answered each question. Before I know it, it was the end. The audience and I were invited out so that the panel could discuss the outcome of my oral defense. My friends were really nice and waited with me even though they didn't have to. 10 minutes later, I was called back into the meeting room. The examiner was really cute and called me Dr Wong even before the Head of the panel could announce the results to me lol. :P After the panel left, my friends came back into the room to congratulate me. It suddenly became overwhelming for me and I burst into tears. :P It's tears of happiness, tears of relief, tears of disbelief. After seven years, I have finally gotten my PhD. Thank you to everyone who has given me advice, support and encouragement over the years when I was on my Phd journey. It feels GOOD to have finally arrived. It feels GOOD to be called Dr Wong hahaha. :P
Besides taking western medicine, I have been drinking Chinese herbal medicine too. When my father knew that I had a throat infection, he was most worried about my oral defense on Monday. He actually started brewing some herbal medicine last night, and left the brewed medicine on the table at 1am for me to take. He is so sweet. :) Unfortunately, I was asleep by then and didn't know about it. :( I will continue to take the brewed Chinese medicine (even though it tasted awful), and gargle with medicated mouthwash. I willCONTROL myself and NOT scream at the kids when they are misbehaving over the weekend! A good friend actually suggested that I should check into a hotel and stay until Monday lol. I really, really hope, by Monday, I can at least recover by 90%!
This is the worst thing to happen now when my oral defense is just three days away! My throat was feeling sore in the morning and I thought it could be the allergic reaction to the MSG in the chips I had last night. But by mid afternoon, it seemed to be getting more painful. I got permission to leave earlier and went straight to see my family doctor. I made it to the clinic just 10 minutes before it closes at 5pm. I had a throat infection with mild fever. :( I asked my family doctor to hit me with the strongest medicine he has got as I really need my voice back for Monday. He did, short of giving me medicine that could cause me allergic reactions. I can only hope and pray that I get well by Monday. Finger and toes crossed!
Feeling kinda tired rushing from one job to another job. After counselling, I rushed back to my research centre for a meeting because the overseas consultant is here this week. I had to switch mindsets because the nature of the two jobs are completely different.
My former PI (Principal Investigator) is back in Singapore! He is here as a consultant for my project. The purpose of his visit is to examine the data and see how it could be analysed further. Even though that means I will be very busy this week with data analysis, I am really happy to see him again! :) :) Oh he is my co-supervisor too. It is really good to see him just before my oral defense, gives me a boost of confidence. :)
We spoke to my nephews via Skype much earlier than usual today. Reason being my brother is taking them to the movies. They are going to watch "John Carter". Hey, that is one movie I am interested in watching. Boys, remember to tell 姑妈 if "John Carter" is good, ok? Maybe I will bring your cousins to watch it too. :)
The girls are getting ready for Term 2. By end of today, they have completed all their school holiday homework and have kept them in their homework files. They have also tidied up the ring binders for their various subjects (and I have signed all the worksheets and checklists that needed my signature). They have also checked and completed any online homework that they had to do. Tomorrow, we will check one last time and the girls will be ready for the new school term, starting on 19 March 2012.
There are a couple of movies that seem interesting - Act of Valor, John Carter, The Woman in Black. But where do I find the time to watch them?? Every day, after work, I have to supervise and monitor the girls' homework. The weekends too are usually burnt with the supervision of school and tuition homework. Maybe one of these days I should take one day leave and just watch movies and eat popcorn for the whole day. (I have done that before, a record of 3 movies in a day lol).
I brought the girls back to my office again. They brought their work to do and they have been warned that I would not have time to look after them as it is my official working day on Thursdays. They did their work quietly, quickly and without mistakes! I was surprised lol. Later they told me that the lack of distractions in the office (i.e. no tv, no computer, no iPad, no bed) allowed them to focus on their work better. Hmm, I may seriously consider bringing them to work during their next holiday. After work, as a reward for them, I brought them to Raffles Marina. It is located at the Western Tip of Singapore, adjacent to the Second Link Bridge connecting Singapore and Malaysia. The girls were excited to see the yachts and boats at the marina. It is also the first time they ever saw a lighthouse. We sat down near the lighthouse to watch the sun setting. It was beautiful. :)
The girls really enjoyed themselves. They said that they want to come to my office again during the next holiday. :)
"Unless someone like you...cares a whole awful lot...nothing is going to get better...It's not."
Dr Seuss
As promised, I brought Marieann and Juliane to watch The Lorax. It is a really good (and entertaining) movie with something to take away at the end of it for both children and adults - if we do not pay attention to what we are doing to our earth/ environment, it will come back to haunt us with dire consequences.
(uploaded by trailers)
After the movie, I brought the girls to my office. The last time they were here, my office was in a different building. They have not seen the current place since my office moved here a few years ago. Some of my colleagues couldn't believe that I have kids! Haha. Some couldn't believe that my girls are so big and they thought we three look like sisters haha. :P Thanks.
My girls enjoyed going to my office and they have asked if they could go again tomorrow. I am really surprised lol. Thought they would rather stay home with the tv, iPad, computer and bed lol.
It is one year since the earthquake and tsunami happened in Japan on 11 March 2011. It was the day we were supposed to leave for Tokyo for our family trip. We were lucky. The Japanese are in the midst of rebuilding their lives after the disaster. I wish them courage and hope.
My mother took Juliane and Marieann for a hair trim. In two weeks' time, Juliane is going to be the flower girl at my godsister's wedding so she has to look neat. Since I went along and was at the hairdresser's, I might as well have a trim too. My oral defense is in 2 weeks' time too. I should look tidy for my big event as well lol.
I had my first dry run today for my oral defense. My sup said it was good - the number of slides were appropriate and the pacing was just right. I just need to add in a few lines to one of my existing slides. Phew. I thought it would be a mess. Now I just need to do another dry run or two with my friends to familiarise myself with the pacing and my notes. :)
Apple has revealed its latest iPad. No, it is not iPad 3. It is simply known as the new iPad. Hmm... not sure what to think of its name... kind of an anti-climax...
Made further revision to my slides for my PhD oral defense. It is now version 7. :P Gearing up now for my dry run with my supervisor this coming Friday.
Well, it looks like it will just be my mother, my girls and I going on the Bali trip 2012. The girls' father refused to go, citing that Bali is boring. *Roll eyes*. Oh well, it will be an all girls' trip again, like my Bali 2011 trip but this time, it is three generation of grandmother, mother and granddaughters. Maybe it is better this way as we can really go shopping to our hearts' content haha. :)
Almost every weekend, my girls saw their cousins, my brother's boys. My parents as well. No, my brother and his family are not back in Singapore. They are still in England! The girls would see their cousins over Skype lol. Well it is the only way for the cousins to get to see each other until either the girls go over to England for a visit or my brother and his family comes back to Singapore for a visit.
Juliane invited her 3 classmates, Miranda, Stacey and Shanyce from SCGS and her classmate, Catherine from MMI to her birthday gathering which was a soap-making workshop at Soap Ministry. The workshop started a little late, around 3.15pm. It was supposedly an hour workshop. However as the girls were so excited about making their own soap that they took quite a while to choose their soap molds and their soap scent. The shop owners/ instructors, Peggy and Elaine were really nice and didn't mind that our workshop went over time to almost 2 hours, ending around 5.15pm. Really grateful that they made the girls' day, especially for Juliane. :) The girls enjoyed the soap making process very much. While waiting for their soaps to harden, they had cupcakes. The girls were really pleased with their hand-made soaps.
The girls with their maternal grandparents before leaving for the workshop
Juliane and her friends and Marieann before the workshop started
The girls with their hand-made soaps at the end of the workshop
It was close to 6pm when we got home. We had a simple birthday dinner at home for Juliane. We also invited Catherine for dinner. Juliane and Catherine played for a while before dinner. After dinner, we had the birthday cake.
Juliane had a really great time with her friends and family. Oh today is her Chinese birthday so technically it is not really Juliane's post birthday celebration lol.
I attended a parent workshop on P3 & P4 Math and Science. The girls' father wasn't interested so I had to go. My former colleagues at SCGS were surprised to see me attending the workshop lol. Reason being - I have taught Math and Science before and little has changed since then in terms of the teaching approaches. But it was good as a refresher for me as well as it being a reunion time for me with my former colleagues. :)
As it is a school day, we couldn't do too much in terms of celebration for Juliane, except with a birthday cake and a birthday song with her family at night.
a mother, a wife, a friend, a student, a blogger, a Facebooker, a wanderer (at heart), a researcher, a counsellor, a psychologist, a scorpioa Life Path 1
