7-Month Itch

Yes, I've written my last blog exactly seven whole months ago.

During these seven months, many many things have happened and/or taken place. Many a times, I've clicked on "Create Post" and after typing for a while, I found myself being distracted by other things and never got to complete them.

May be the 7-whatever-period-it-might-be itch is really true.

So here I am.

Quick summary of what has happened so far:

• my first maid decided to go home, cos I refused to let her buy a handphone
• got 2nd and present maid
• tried sending Mayenne to childcare; pulled her out from Modern Montessori after she came home with a flipped and bleeding fingernail (no one from the school even realised it)
• house-hunting ended with a high note
  
• manage to secure a class for Mayenne at GUG, and she loves it
• met a car accident in our own car (thank God Mayenne was not in it and for Chester's fast reaction, such that the only damage is to the car)
• did some soul searching for the greater good
  
• went for a wonderful holiday at HK/Macau
  
• aircon at our current place broke down; need to invest in a new set
  
• found the ID to do our new home
• Mayenne can narrate the whole alphabets, and most numbers between 1-100
• she can also handle a 40 piece jigsaw puzzle
• sing Burung Kakak Dua
  
• and cry when she saw Mickey shoo-ing Pluto away as he was disturbing little baby red bird (we guess Mayenne felt sorry for Pluto, cos after we told her that Mickey will go look for Pluto and apologise, she was smiling again)
  

Hopefully the next post will not be in July.

A Day in the East

It has been a while since Ches and I caught a movie. Ok ok, it hasn't been THAT long (may be a month back), but for a movie buff like me, watching dvds at home sometimes just doesn't cut it.

Ches mentioned he was booking the tickets online before we leave for his Gramma's place in Bishan for lunch. I told him any movie was fine, and the plan was to watch it at GV at J8 or Eng Wah at Jubilee AMK for convenience.

Being the designated weekend driver, I took the wheels and Chester, sitting next to me, then murmured, "I think we need to go Tampines for the movie."

"Wha........?"
"I think I've clicked on the wrong cinema button when booking. We are watching at GV @ Tampines Mall."

That was totally "un-Chester" as he is usually doubly careful when it comes buying things online. But I guess it was a blessing in disguise as I would then have the opportunity to check out the new Tampines 1 Mall and the new Uniqlo outlet there (can't remember the last time I was at Tam-pines for shopping).

Taken was a commendable movie (see Ches' review) but I soon got bored of the shopping. So we headed out to Ikea for our standard chicken-balls meal, ie chicken wings and meat balls.

While we were enjoying our food, another family settled at a table behind us, believed to be with extended family members ie grandma, their baby and 2 other adults. The baby was seemingly happy to be seated in the baby high chair. The Mum went to wash a bottle, and someone else went to get the food. The rest were seated at the table.

The food and drinks soon arrived and they placed it on the table. Next thing I heard was a loud wail and I spun my head around. To my horror, I saw the baby's hand in a cup of hot coffee which was carelessly placed right in front of her. And being so little (may be 6-7 months), she didn't know how to remove her hand despite the burning pain she felt.

The Dad saw and quickly removed her hand from the scalding coffee, but by which time, the baby's fingers and all the way to about a third of her palm were already sorely red. What really pissed me off was that the Dad actually said (in Mandarin), "Who asked you to put your hand into the coffee? Now you know what is the meaning of HOT", and simply took a tissue to wipe the coffee off the baby's hand.

Shouldn't he, at the least, seek first aid to have some burn/scald ointment to relieve the pain? The poor baby was crying but they didn't seemed to care and all of them dug into their food. The Mum came back and asked what happened, and then carried the baby to try to calm her down.

Chester may have the movie "Taken" live in his mind for a while, I am trying to forget this horrible scene I witnessed.

The "Death-Defying, Traffic Stopping" Stare

To fellow drivers out there, or even to those who sit at the front passenger seat: have you ever encountered people who cross the roads, where and when they are not suppose to (that's why I don't categorise them as "pedestrians"), midway on the road, they will turn to look straight at your car to give that "I-am-crossing-the-road-so-you-betta-slow-down" look?

I mean, Hello??!!! If I want to cross a road despite on coming traffic, I will try to cross it as quickly as I can and get out of the traffic's way.

But NOOOOOO..... these people still take their own sweet time to cross and continue their stare while they are strolling. And if you choose to horn them, they will make a lightning switch to a "Hit-me-if-you-dare" glare. AND you are lucky, you'll also get a nice wave in the form of a finger gesture.

Unbelievable.

Power Talk

Nope.... not promoting any telco mobile phone package.

I'm referring to the "5-minute Impression", which The Shichida Method advocates. They say that you just need to spend 5 minutes to talk to your kid, right after (yes after) they have fallen asleep.

The Shichida Method aims to develop a child's right brain via flashcards, imaging etc. Research has shown that in the first few minutes after a person drifts into dreamland, while the physical body is totally resting, the mind is still active. Just like how coma patients cry when they hear voices of their loved ones around them. And messages conveyed during this time are said to be the most well received as there are little disruption and the mind is 100% focused.

You can talk to your child about anything, but it is most effective if you encourage/praise them in words of the things they have done well and tell them to work towards achieving certain things that you would like them to do, eg if a kid refuses to give up his pacifier, tell him he is a big boy and will not need his pacifier anymore; or if the child is not feeling well, tell her that her body is fighting the viruses/germs and she will feel a whole lot better the next morning. While it is unlikely that we can see results immediately, but it is believed that there will be some improvements, even just after a few sessions. Allow me to tell you our personal experiences.

We use the "5-minute impression" with Mayenne and we were surprised with the success we had: we weaned Mayenne from her pacifier at 16/17 months without much trouble; she started to walk after we encouraged her (she was crawling and cruising for quite a few months) etc.

Due to work commitments, this exercise was kind of forgotten, until recently, Mayenne starting drinking a lot less milk (for no obvious reasons), and has been waking up in the middle of the night, wailing (sometimes sounded frightened, sometimes angry and frustrated). Chester then reminded me to revisit the "5-minute impression" again.

So one night, I told Mayenne how great a kid she is, and how Mummy and Papa is so proud of her. I added that (1) it is important for her to rest well, and as such, she will need to sleep through the night without waking up. (2) If she needs to wake up in the middle of the night because she's hungry, then all she needs to do is to drink more milk before she sleeps. (3) She will not fuss too much, trying too hard to fall asleep, but instead will doze off within 5 minutes after being tucked in bed.

The first night, she slept through and I had to wake her up for breakfast at 7.30am. The following night, she emptied her milk bottle. On the 3rd night, she tossed and turned a bit when I laid her down, but then a quick turn to her side, and she's zzzz, all within 5 minutes straight.

Coincidence? I don't think so. Some people may think this is all baloney, but I am a believer that it works and it is a powerful avenue for parents to connect with their children.

Why don't you give it a try? If it doesn't work, you don't lose anything, but if it works, it will do both your child and you good all round.

P.S. apparently this works for adults too, so ladies, after your hubbies hit the sack tonight, go up to his ear and whisper to him how great a hubby he is and tell him what you want for Christmas. May be, just may be, he will finally buy you a gift that you like.

Good luck.

The Day I Found Happiness

Tomorrow marks the 8th year I married my most wonderful hubby, Chester.

Can't really believe it has been 8 years (well, technically it's 7 cos we registered our marriage in 2000 but had our customary a year later). But like what they say, time flies when you are having fun!

Happy Anniversary Darling! xoxoxox

The Hole-iest Question

Why do guys like to wear their socks till there are holes in them, and continue to wear them until they are taken away by force (usually by someone who cannot stand it anymore)?

Some say they are comfortable. But are they really? It's quite hard to imagine sections that are thinned out from abrasion with the shoes being comfortable, and won't your toes stick out of those holes?

My dear hubby was guilty of it. I used to dump those socks which were comparable to swiss cheese (in terms of the number of holes, not the smell!!). But in some dark corner of the drawer, you can find a pair or two snuggly stashed away, hoping that I won't find them. But that was in the past. With my routine checks, I'll ensure that my man has new fresh socks to wear every time.

I found more conclusive evidence that men like to wear holey socks: in 2 separate client meetings I had, I was joined by 2 different male colleagues for each of the meetings. You know how some offices require you to remove your shoes before entering? Well, these 2 customers of mine happen to have this requirement.

Taxi fare to customer's place : S$12.60
Facility amount to be discussed : S$5m
The look on your colleague's face when he knows he needs to remove his shoes when he has holey socks : Priceless

Both of them kept on apologising profusely to me, saying if they knew, they would have worn "their good pair". At the end, one of them made me look the other way and removed his socks altogether; the other one was more creative: he tried to pinch the material surrounding the hole, and tried to hold the hole between his toes. I think he suffered toe cramps thereafter.

Enough said about this w-hole issue.

From CRT to LCD

I have visited a handful of housewarmings - and have also swooned over other people's plasmas and LCD TVs. Admittedly, I wanted one for myself, but for some reason (or reasons), I haven't got the chance to evaluate my options, given the hundreds of models and prices that come in thousands.

Actually, I love my current CRT TV. It has accompanied me on my loneliest nights, made me laughed so hard that I cried, made me cried so hard that I've ran out of tissues, taught me things that I never knew, and showed me the world that I could have never seen on my own.

We had it since we moved into our love nest 8 years ago, and it has never failed me. As it was a Sony TV, I thought the audio quality was pretty good too. However, for the sake of Mayenne, Chester has decided to buy an LCD TV, due to the low frequency at which the images are screened and the high frequency sound that a CRT emits, both which we concluded are not good for our kid.

After checking out some bargains, Chester bought a new LCD TV at Courts yesterday, and will be delivered tomorrow.

Come tomorrow evening, my Can Really Tong TV will finally make way for the new LCD TV. I feel a little sentimental but am also excited about the new addition!!

Hokkaido

When I was younger, I always dreamed of going to Hokkaido for a vacation. Everyone who has been there tells me it's such a beautiful place, with great fresh produce that will leave you yearning for more and you'll fall in love with the place given the unique romanticism that that place exudes.

Well, my dream came true last week.

Actually, it started out more like a nightmare: I was suffering from abdominal cramps so severe, that I broke into cold sweat and threw up on the 2nd day of the trip. My stomach was still convulsing from the puking that nite, into the 3rd and 4th day. Nonetheless, I told myself that I'm not gonna let anything spoil my long awaited Hokkaido vacation and thankfully, I also started to feel better as the trip progressed, which allowed me to enjoy the rest of the journey.

Rather than giving you a narration of the trip, you will have a pretty good idea by taking a look at the pictures Chester took with his SLR posted in his blog http://musicphotolife.blogspot.com/ and http://photosg.com/v/hokkaido/.

I must give kudos to Chester - he lugged a camera that weighed a few kgs (plus lens and all) everywhere we went. But because of his love for photography, he didn't mind it at all. And all thanks to him, we have such beautiful pictures that we can remind ourselves of the trip in the future.

Mummy-fied!

You know how sometimes when you get a bit bored, you will have a song in your head and you'll start humming or singing? The song can be a favourite tune, or some new catchy pop song.

Today, I was sitting in a cafe waiting for Chester to join me for dinner. While twiddling my thumbs and twirling my hair, the first song that hit me and came out of my mouth was .......

Little Peter Rabbit.

And I even have to consciously hold my hands down to prevent them from doing all the bunny actions!

That's it...... I've been thoroughly Mummy-fied!!!!!

Bikes and Skirts

We were on our way home on the CTE, when I noticed something flapping at the back of a motorcycle, about 10 metres in front of us.

I didn't think too much about it, until I saw the entire right leg of the pillion rider (cos our car was on the right side of the bike) ie from the hip to thigh and foot -- and then it struck me: the thing that was flapping wasn't some scarf or bandanna; it was the back portion of a skirt.

Problem was, I think they were in a hurry, and they picked up speed. The skirt just flapped harder and higher. Soon, they were way ahead and then our view was blocked by other vehicles in front. Sorry, couldn't get any pictures.

Couldn't also understand one thing -- won't the person feel the flapping? I mean, the skirt was going to as high as her head!!! And the flapping would form some resistance against the wind -- I'm sure you can feel some tugging at the back???!!!

So ladies, if you have to wear a skirt while riding a bike, please please please sweep your skirt below your butt and sit on it. If not, at least put on some nice underwear, not grannies.

Pine Gardens - I'll be back for more!

I was really happy with the positive comments and good feedback I've received on Mayenne's birthday cakes, both from Pine Gardens (AMK Ave 10).

So good, I've recommended my friends to order cakes from Pine Gardens for their own kids 1st birthdays and the results were the same.... all their guests enjoyed the cakes too. I will also be ordering a 3-tier wedding cake from them as a gift to a couple getting married soon.

So when my colleagues talked about Pine Gardens having the CMK durian cakes, I was really excited -- CMK stands for Cat Mountain King aka Mao Shan Wang, the creme de la creme of all types of durians (which I love), and Pine Gardens (I love their cakes too). The perfect combi.

I was assigned the task of ordering/buying the cake as the shop is near my place. The cake would also form part of the mini birthday celebrations for the birthday boy and girl in my work team born in September.

So after a long day of photoshoot with Chester last Sunday, we rushed back to pick up the cake before the shop closes. Next morning, I brought it to the office and stored it in the pantry's fridge. When the time came for the birthday celebration, we took the cake out, sang the birthday song and distributed the cake all round.

"Hmmm..???"
"The cake....."
"It's um...."
"SOUR!!!"

Yup, although the cake tastes fresh, the layers of durian flesh between the sponge cakes, were indeed sour.

How can this be? I've only collected it yesterday and stored it as recommended. Feeling disappointed, confused, angry, betrayed (cos I had so much faith in Pine's cakes), I called Pine Gardens up for an explanation (and hopefully, compensation).

The person at the end of the line was very polite and carefully asked about my storage conditions. Then she made a statement "... but we never had any complaints about our durian cakes before". I thought "that's it... she's gonna blame me on not storing properly and shrug away from all responsibilities". Then she offered to send someone to pick up the spoilt cake from my office and they will look into the matter and decide the next course of action.

The delivery guy came within 10mins (should be in the vicinity) and took the cake away. Then, about half an hour later, Pine Garden called. While holding my breath, they explained that they suspect it's the durian that has gone into the cake, was bad (ie durian supplier ought to be shot), and since it is rather unlikely for them to taste every single durian before making the cake, it was unfortunate that we got that bad one.

They promptly then offered to replace the durian cake and send it back to my office, and even asked if I needed the same wordings on the cake plus number of candles required. When I collected the package from the same delivery guy who came earlier, I saw 2 boxes in the plastic bag. Out of goodwill, Pine Gardens threw in 20 complimentary pieces of bite-sized brownies and cheesecakes. And the replacement durian cake was fantastic.

I applaud Pine Garden for their speed in handling the situation, their gesture to replace and send the cake back to me (usually they charge at least $15 for delivery), and giving some complimentary confectionery.

Perhaps they still do think that it's my (the customer's) fault in not storing the cake properly, but everything they have done has made me feel that they treasure their customers; and they have definitely retained this customer (me), and I will definitely continue to buy cakes from them.

Moral of the story? Never buy your own birthday cake. =P

What Time Is It?

I was walking towards the MRT station one evening, on my way to meet Chester in town.

While going down the escalator, I looked ahead and I saw a young girl, probably between 16-17 years old, holding some pieces of paper and talking to a bunch of people.

When I was about to walk past her to get to another escalator, she came towards me and asked, "Do you have the time? My watch has stopped."

Then I realised the bunch of people she was with has moved on and she was kinda sticking her watch in my face, trying to show that her watch was indeed not showing the right time (her watch was showing 1.25am/pm when it was close to 7pm then).

Being the kind soul I am, I volunteered to show her my watch and said, "It's almost 7pm now."

"WRONG!" she exclaimed, "IT'S TIME FOR CHARITY!!!"

Sigh. If she had asked nicely, I would have made my donation. I think the bunch of people ahead of me din appreciate her sense of humour too.

Life and How to Survive It

Attached below is Adrian Tan's speech at the NTU Convocation 2008. A friend sent it to me and I thought it is a rather interesting read. It's pretty long, but do take the time to read it - may inspire you to do things differently going forward.


Life and How to Survive It

I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. It's a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.

My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me.

On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable. Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.

And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when you've already won her heart, you don't need to win every argument. Marriage is considered one milestone of life. Some of you may already be married. Some of you may never be married. Some of you will be married. Some of you will enjoy the experience so much, you will be married many, many times. Good for you.

The next big milestone in your life is today: your graduation. The end of education. You're done learning.
You've probably been told the big lie that "Learning is a lifelong process" and that therefore you will continue studying and taking masters' degrees and doctorates and professorships and so on. You know the sort of people who tell you that? Teachers. Don't you think there is some measure of conflict of interest? They are in the business of learning,
after all. Where would they be without you? They need you to be repeat customers.

The good news is that they're wrong.

The bad news is that you don't need further education because your entire life is over. It is gone. That may come as a shock to some of you. You're in your teens or early twenties. People may tell you that you will live to be 70, 80, 90 years old. That is your life expectancy.

I love that term: life expectancy. We all understand the term to mean the average life span of a group of people. But I'm here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.

You may be very happy to know that Singapore is currently ranked as the country with the third highest life expectancy. We are behind Andorra and Japan, and tied with San Marino. It seems quite clear why people in
those countries, and ours, live so long. We share one thing in common: our football teams are all hopeless. There's very little danger of any of our citizens having their pulses raised by watching us play in the World Cup.
Spectators are more likely to be lulled into a gentle and restful nap.

Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 81.8 years. Singapore men live to an average of 79.21 years, while Singapore women live more than five years longer, probably to take into account the additional time they need to spend in the bathroom.

So here you are, in your twenties, thinking that you'll have another 40 years to go. Four decades in which to live long and prosper. Bad news. Read the papers. There are people dropping dead when they're 50, 40, 30 years old. Or quite possibly just after finishing their convocation. They would be very disappointed that they didn't meet their life expectancy.

I'm here to tell you this. Forget about your life expectancy. After all, it's calculated based on an average. And you never, ever want to expect being average.

Revisit those expectations. You might be looking forward to working, falling in love, marrying, raising a family . You are told that, as graduates, you should expect to find a job paying so much, where your hours are so much, where your responsibilities are so much. That is what is expected of you. And if you live up to it, it will be an awful waste.

If you expect that, you will be limiting yourself. You will be living your life according to boundaries set by average people. I have nothing against average people. But no one should aspire to be them. And you don't need years of education by the best minds in Singapore to prepare you to be average.

What you should prepare for is mess. Life's a mess. You are not entitled to expect anything from it. Life is not fair. Everything does not balance out in the end. Life happens, and you have no control over it. Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Your degree is a poor armour against fate.

Don't expect anything. Erase all life expectancies. Just live. Your life is over as of today. At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look. This is as good as it gets. It is all downhill from here. Or up. No one
knows.

What does this mean for you? It is good that your life is over.

Since your life is over, you are free. Let me tell you the many wonderful things that you can do when you are free.

The most important is this: do not work.

Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.

Work kills. The Japanese have a term "Karoshi", which means death from overwork. That's the most dramatic form of how work can kill. But it can also kill you in more subtle ways. If you work, then day by day, bit by bit, your soul is chipped away, disintegrating until there's nothing left. A rock has been ground into sand and dust.

There's a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are "making a living". No, they're not. They're dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.

People will tell you that work ennobles you, that work lends you a certain dignity. Work makes you free. The slogan "Arbeit macht frei" was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. Utter nonsense.

Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway. Resist the temptation to get a job. Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.

I like arguing, and I love language. So, I became a litigator. I enjoy it and I would do it for free. If I didn't do that, I would've been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction ? probably a sports journalist.

So what should you do? You will find your own niche. I don't imagine you will need to look very hard. By this time in your life, you will have a very good idea of what you will want to do. In fact, I'll go further and say the ideal situation would be that you will not be able to stop yourself pursuing your passions. By this time you should know what your obsessions are. If you enjoy showing off your knowledge and feeling superior, you might become a teacher.

Find that pursuit that will energise you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you don't, you are working.

Most of you will end up in activities which involve communication. To those of you I have a second message: be wary of the truth. I'm not asking you to speak it, or write it, for there are times when it is dangerous or impossible to do those things. The truth has a great capacity to offend and injure, and you will find that the closer you are to someone, the more care you must take to disguise or even conceal the truth. Often, there is great virtue in being evasive, or equivocating.

There is also great skill. Any child can blurt out the truth, without thought to the consequences. It takes great maturity to appreciate the value of silence. In order to be wary of the truth, you must first know it. That requires
great frankness to yourself. Never fool the person in the mirror.

I have told you that your life is over, that you should not work, and that you should avoid telling the truth. I now say this to you: be hated. It's not as easy as it sounds. Do you know anyone who hates you? Yet
every great figure who has contributed to the human race has been hated, not just by one person, but often by a great many. That hatred is so strong it has caused those great figures to be shunned, abused, murdered and in one famous instance, nailed to a cross.

One does not have to be evil to be hated. In fact, it's often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by one's own convictions. It is far too easy to be liked, one merely has to be accommodating and hold no strong convictions. Then one will gravitate towards the centre and settle into the average. That cannot be your role.
There are a great many bad people in the world, and if you are not offending them, you must be bad yourself. Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.

The other side of the coin is this: fall in love.

I didn't say "be loved". That requires too much compromise. If one changes one's looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone. Rather, I exhort you to love another human being. It may seem odd for me to tell you this. You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation. That is false. Modern society is anti-love. We've taken a
microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings. It far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance. It is hard work ? the only kind of work that I find palatable.

Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for the want of a better word, we call happiness. In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way. We learn the truth worthlessness of material things. We celebrate being human. Loving is good for the soul. Loving someone is therefore very important, and it is also important to choose the right person. Despite popular culture, love doesn't happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor. It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming. It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.

You will find, that when you have someone to love, that the face is less important than the brain, and the body is less important than the heart. You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated. You are not doing it to be loved back. Its value is to inspire you.

Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone. You either don't, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.

Don't work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.

You're going to have a busy life. Thank goodness there's no life expectancy.

Is Silence really Golden?

I sent some of my laundry to my mum's place for my maid to wash, and included in there was one of my favourite pair of grey pants, which has been with me for a while.

My mum told me a couple of days later that there was a run in the seam and she has sent it to the tailor to stitch it up. Initially I didn't think too much about it, until she mentioned that the seam was the one that runs down the middle of my butt, and my head went a-spinnin':

When did I last wore these pants?
Did I meet a client in them?
Was it that day that I took the MRT to meet Chester in town instead of him coming to pick me at my office (to save ERP and petrol)?

Quick... think.. THINK.....

Damn..... it must be that day when I thot people on the streets appear to be extra friendly, giving that nod or smile when there was eye contact.

Was it because they saw what they didn't expect to see and they feel sorry for me? Or are they laughing at me because they think I'm an exhibitionist?

If someone (guy or gal) have come up to me and tell me (preferably softly) that I'm showing more than I should, I would have been eternally grateful. Of course it is embarrassing for a stranger to tell you you have "ran light" (zhao geng), but this is nothing compared to having thousands of people starring down your butt as they stand/walk behind you as you strut down Raffles Place or Orchard Road.

Are Singaporeans too polite to approach someone under such circumstances? Or are they afraid that they will get a earful for being a busybody? Or worse, get questioned why you were looking at her butt in the first place?

I have previously helped (or at least I thought I did) a couple of ladies in less than desirable situations. I remember this time when I was at Marina Square, and there was this lady with a knee length skirt. Presumably after a trip to the restroom, and she didn't check if everything was ok -- a section of the hem of the skirt was caught in her undie, and she was walking in Marina Square with her skirt raised behind her. When I saw her I quickly walked behind her to shield her from any more embarrassment and told her the situation. She quickly adjusted her skirt and her face was all red, but she looked so grateful and managed to whisper "thank you" before scurrying off from the scene.

What I've described above can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere (guys - no skirts but there are zip flies). But you were to ever see me (God forbid) in such a situation, do come up to me and tell me to switch of my lights. Thank you, in advance.

Love Conquers All

I wrote down this as my favourite quote under my profile in Facebook, because I truly believe in it.

In this time of age, many things have come to challenge this - fame, power, wealth etc, for which some people are willing to sacrifice love, to achieve.

Love comes in so many types - parental love, love between family members, love between friends etc, but the greatest love of all - is unconditional, selfless love.

Yesterday, I got to know about a story of a friend's journey in becoming a Mummy and how it exemplifies true unconditional love.

I remember visiting my fren's YM's house for a gathering the year before, and I was expecting Mayenne then. YM was newly married then, and she told me that she would love to start a family soon, just like Chester and I. Shortly after Mayenne was born, we heard the great news from her that she was expecting!

Due to our own busy schedules and taking care of Lil' Princess Mayenne, I didn't really follow up (regretfully) with YM on her developments, and only found out that she has given birth in Mar08, after she posted some photos of her and her baby on the FB.

I wrote to her to congratulate on the new addition into the family. She replied and asked me to visit her blog for Little Baby Vera. It was then I found out that Baby Vera has Trisomy 18, a very serious, and usually fatal condition. Every blogpost I read, I cried. By the time I've finished reading her last post, my eyes were so swollen (they still are), that I couldn't really open them.

I don't want to take away what YM has written about her journey by trying to paraphrase it here, cos it's her personal story to tell. What truly stands out to me was how her strong love for Baby Vera, has conquered all her fears, uncertainties, tiredness, emotions, to allow her to focus on the most important thing - Baby Vera. It is undeniably tough, and YM is unlikely to be doing this, without the love and support of her husband and family too. Most importantly, Baby's Vera love for her parents and love for life, which makes her the fighter she is, is beating the odds and against the medical statistics.

Love..... really conquers all.

If anyone of you knows of any mummies in Singapore who has living babies/kids with Trisomy 18, do drop me a note, as YM is looking to reach out to these mummies.

Thank you.


YM, I will pray for Baby Vera and you. Stay strong, cos Baby Vera is a fighter!

Washing My Blues Away

My 7-year-old Whirlpool washing machine has finally conked. I was beginning to wonder when it will ever happen.

Actually, it still washes fine, and still does what it's suppose to do. The only thing is that water leaks from the bottom at the end of every cycle. Thinking that it lasted longer than I imagined, I thought I'd invest in a new washer.

I only had 1.5 hours to shop for a washing machine on a Saturday- the time being Mayenne having her Shichida class and Papa is accompanying her in the class instead of me. I popped into Courts at Toa Payoh, and headed straight to the washer/dryer department.

I was greeted by a saleman who seemed to know everything about washing machines. He then recommended Electrolux, for which he had a model which was only on sale for those 2 days ($300 off usual price). I remembered my MIL's washer was an Electrolux and she has been using it for the last 15 years (or so she claimed). Though they don't make things the way they used to be, but I believe there should be some consistency in terms of the quality of the hardware.

But what I liked about this model is that there is a pause function which allows you stop the machine to load additional clothings which you may have forgotten to include in the wash (the water will be stored in the drum below, and the same water will be "reloaded" once you start the machine again, hence saving water!). The detergent tray also looked a little different whereby the softener compartment actually holds the softener until it is ready to be used (for my old washer, I need to wait till the wash cycle reaches the final rinse and then I add the softener. If I were to add it at the same time as the detergent, it would have flowed down together with the detergent at the beginning of the wash).

What sold me the washer was that there is a quick wash function which finishes a good wash for slightly/normal soiled clothings in 45 mins (other washers usually takes 75mins to 90 mins). And this white equipment is not white at all - it looks all-so-futuristic in metallic silver.

The mean-looking piece of equipment was surprisingly quiet. Even at a high spin speed of 850 revolutions per minute. The only thing I don't like about is the loud clicking sound when the machine locks and releases the door when the cycle starts and ends.

Generally, I'm pleased with my investment and I am looking forward to a full laundry basket now!!

New Beginnings

Today marks my first day at my new work place. Didn't exactly sleep well last night as Mayenne was up a couple of times and I had to tug her back in bed in the wee hours in the morning.

Nonetheless, I woke up, feeling slightly nervous, but mostly excited. It's a familiar feeling, then I remembered this is how I felt when I report for school at the beginning of each new year, as I move to a higher level eg P4 to P5, Sec 2 to Sec 3.

I was supposed to report at the HR department, which is located in a different building from where my office is. We left home slightly earlier then usual, as Mayenne didn't poopoo this morning (which takes us a little longer to get ready) and traffic was smooth.

After an hour long "induction" briefing, I proceeded to report at my work place. At the lift lobby, I exchanged my ID for a visit pass as my staff pass was not ready yet. Anxious to meet my boss and colleagues, I actually went to the wrong building (there were 2 Towers), and I had to make my quick exit, hoping people will not see my face, red from embarrassment.

I finally made it to the correct office, and my boss introduced me to the rest of the team. I really like where our team is located as it is away from the rest of the other teams, hence less noisy. I was also very happy to see many familiar faces, all ex-colleagues from HSBC who are here now. I don't feel that alone and anxious anymore.

It has been a good start and I really look forward to even better days ahead!

Refreshing!

My first refresher course took place this morning at 8am. For those who avoided the AMK area thinking that I'd only be driving in AMK, boy were you wrong. I went as far as Sengkang and Punggol. And no.... whatever traffic jams you were caught in was not caused by me!!!

I was surprisingly calm and not nervous (at all!) about the refresher, which was so different from how I felt when I first tried driving in our own car a couple of months back (I was basically so freaked out that I dared not even step on the accelerator). Perhaps knowing that I'm driving someone else's car (bang also never mind) or the fact that someone with experience is sitting next to me makes all the difference.

This morning, my instructor Mr Tok picked me up in his gold Toyota Corolla at AMK MRT. When his car stopped, I hopped into the passenger seat, without even realising he was getting ready to get out of the car. Then he asked if I can take over the wheel. I thot to myself, "If I can, why did I sign up this course?"

Anyway, I politely mentioned that I've not driven for a long long time, so I would like to build up my confidence on the roads again. He then drove us to a less crowded road and stopped at the roadside for me to switch to the driver's seat.

I started slowly and stuck to the left-most lane. After 15 mins later, we went on to do changing of lanes, filtering, U-turning etc. Mr Tok was also very chatty and we talked about irresponsible driving and how we should learn from their mistakes.

We did more driving in Sengkang/Punggol, and before I know it, the 1.5 hours were almost up. I drove back to AMK MRT and confirmed with Mr Tok details for our next lesson.

I never expect myself to say this, but I am really looking forward to my next lesson next Tuesday!

Refresher Course

"Do you really need to take it? That bad ah?"
"Where will you be taking the course? I'll avoid that area for the time being..."
"I'll teach you!" (um.... this friend is currently based in Australia)

There you go.... some of the comments from my FRIENDS after they learn that I am keen to take up driving again. =P

Anyway, after getting no results from my appeal for private instructor from my FB contacts, I decided to take up the 4-lesson course from SSDC. Each lesson is abt SGD73 (for 120 mins off peak) + registration of $21. Their approach is pretty structured - including expressway driving, parking etc.

After lunch at my MIL's today, I asked Chester to drive me to SSDC. I enquired at the reception on the refresher course and was told that for a course in auto, the next available slot is in July. Gosh, and I thot I was the only one that was not confident enough to go on the roads. For learning in the manual mode, the wait is 2 weeks. By then, I would need to start work.

I previously found this IDrive, which I thot was rather expensive ($50 registration; $40/hr), and it would appear to be the next best alternative. I've completed their online enrolment form and I'll wait for them to arrange. Hopefully the instructor is not some psycho, hot-tempered ah chek.

Wish me luck.

The End to Ants

I have written about my ants woes in an earlier post. Between then and now, I'd probably swept away thousands of ants, some alive, mostly dead (from the ant poison baits we placed).

After I swept the dead ants out early this morning, I was disgusted to see many more on the kitchen floor an hour later. It's like "where the hell do they come out from and in such mysterious ways that leave no trail?

Just when I was reaching for the broom (again), I noticed some activity near the entrance to the sewage hole on the floor.... there are a handful of ants trying to make their way out to the kitchen floor. THAT'S IT! That should be the nest!

While I was excited that I've found the source of my problem, I wasn't sure what to do. Chester suggested spraying insecticide, so that the ants will not come out from the hole. I did that and the surrounding area, and what I saw next gave me goosebumps.

It looked like a scene from movies like Mummy and the now-showing Indiana Jones 4 - hundreds of ants start spewing between the gaps of my kitchen cabinet. Ok ok, I may have exaggerated, but ants were really coming out from one corner at the base of my kitchen cabinet. It appeared that the fumes were forcing them out, and they came dropping out onto the kitchen floor in masses - splat splat - creating a dead ant heap. Not sure when the massacre will end, I left it alone.

After 10 mins, I returned to clean up the mass/mess. Hopefully this is the last I'll see of them.