Ning's Church Memory Verse Recital

Our church had a Christmas celebration every year. And for this year's celebration, Ning went up to stage to recite the bible verse for the theme before the sermon was delivered.

I took a video of her, though I find that her posture can be further improved. And somehow, she spoke rather softly over the mike that those seated at the back couldn't really hear her, so was this video. What she had recited was projected on the screen behind her, so you can read what she's actually saying.



Luke2:14.AVI

Indoor Stadium Bridge

This bridge is definitely one famous one. TCS likes to film their dramas here and so are the outdoor bridal photo shoots. We've met quite a lot of couple taking their bridal pictures here over the 1.5years stay.

And the 3rd most popular event would have to be this:


When someone bought a new car. These car owners will drive up the pavement and take pictures of their beloved new addition. No wonder some men call their cars their 'wife'.

Thankfully, WF is not so crazy enough to do such things...

Maid Woes

I mentioned in my previous entry that our maid is supposed to come on last Thursday. Well, unluckily, it didn't happened and I am currently managing the housework and the numerous parties/gatherings that we're hosting these two weekends.

We've always heard so much stories about having a maid at home and how some of them turn out to be more of a headache than a help. I definitely have my share of stories in this topic.

But have you heard of stories on hiring maids? We just encounter not one but three such incidents of hiring a helper.

Some of you may know, WF and I made an agreement to get a helper in December for various reasons. I had opted to do without a helper, but WF thought otherwise. So I gave him my word that we'll get one by year end to help us over the festive seasons as well as the moving next year.

So in end Nov, we went to the agency to get a helper. And eventually we selected our first one with rather good experience but currently in Indonesia (she went back after contract ends). She didn't make it to S'pore eventually. Because the work permit application was rejected by MOM. And my agent found out that she's blacklisted (and probably a police case) which she didn't declare to the agency at all.

Then we selected a second one. She was working in an Indian household and the ma'am was rather demanding and slapped her. She cried and called the agency and told them she don't want to work there anymore and to look for a new employer for her. So we thought she was a good fit, given her experience. We even called her previous two Chinese employers who gave her rather good references. Sigh... One day before she's supposed to come over, she changed her mind! She had a talk with her Indian employer and the ma'am promised to lower their demands etc. So she decided to stay. I almost flipped and had to re-sign all the documents because the work permit had already been issued!!

If you think twice is enough, then it happened to me the THIRD time. The third one was one real smart and smug lady. She was fluent in Mandarin as well as English. Extensive experience with Chinese family but she left them after 7years due to stagnant pay and nil off days. SIX hours she's supposed to come over, she changes her mind (too!). She told the agent she wants to go back to her previous employer and her employer is willing to pay her $450 with 1 off day. I flipped and counter proposed $450 with 2 off days. Two days later and this is what she told the agent, word for word," I go and work for my old employer, if I not happy, then I go and work for the new employer."

I must be a crazy idiot to employ her or even to wait for her...

Zhi in School

According to Zhi's teachers and principal, he's adapting really well in school. On the 2nd day, he only cried for awhile when I left him there and for the rest of the day, he's perfectly fine.

His principal sent me an MMS to show me that Zhi is ok. I believe so. He's been attending independent gym class for a year now and I don't see why he should be whimpy about school. Only issue is, he likes to blackmail me emotionally by crying really badly every time I dropped him off to gym or to school. But the moment I leave, he's jumping and laughing. Such a good actor, he should get an Oscar for this.

Here's the picture (a smiling one), taken by his principal:

Off to School for Zhi

It was Zhi's first day of school yesterday. And as we expected, he cried big time the moment we stepped into the new environment. We were both rather worried for him since he's not as independent and vocal like his sister.

Half way through, WF sms that he missed his son and really worries about him. So we went to pick him up early at 4pm. He was really ok and was participating in the activities. But of course, when he saw us, he cried really loudly which we thought was some kind of 'protesting cry'.

Amazingly, the principal told us that he cried only once in the morning and once before his nap. And even told her that he missed his mummy and sister. More surprisingly, he was able to feed himself through breakfast, lunch and tea. He always needed to be fed at home.

And when he was back home, he told me he wanted to 'pass urine' (though nothing came out)!!! After one day in school, he's so much aware of himself? And it took us like weeks of unsuccessful attempts in potty training him.

So I think school works for him. Cruel mummy...

He still cries when I dropped him off at the school this morning. And here's his grouchy morning look when I was trying to take a picture of him in his new school uniform:

I Should Get Started...

Yah, I know... I've been MIA for a really long time. Keep wanting to put up some posts, but something always cuts into the way like housework???!!

I "predict" I will have more time in the subsequent two weeks.

First, Zhi is off to full day pre-school today. Its his first day and he cried big time when I dropped him off this morning. Papa dearest have been most worried about him over the past few days since our last experience with us leaving him hadn't been comforting: He couldn't eat and cried in his sleep while we were away for a 2 week hols in Switzerland (cruel parents, you might say).

Our helper is coming on Thursdays, so that frees up my time from housework.

Third, its the poly term break this week and until 3rd Jan. So I SHOULD have time in between weddings and Christmas gatherings.

Will definitely want to share a lot of updates with you guys. And thanks for those who have been reading my posts regularly and emailed/sms to ask if I'm ok since this blog is empty for the past 1.5 months. I'm definitely alive.

Switzerland - Geneva Part I

This blog has been really 'dead' for quite some time. I have been wanting to update our Switzerland trip but currently I am tied up with work and housework. The former, school term had started and will only break two weeks before Christmas. The latter, since August, we've been doing without a maid. That saves me a lot of headache though I have to do all the cleaning now.

Ok, back to our trip. Our first stop was Geneva city, near the border of Switzerland and it also shares the same name as its canton (like a state in USA). The 2nd largest city in Switzerland and located between the Jura mountains and the Alps. It is also the place where many famous watchmakers started out their trade there. I'll probably share more on this in my next entry. And being near France, the people speaks french and WF felt that their architecture are pretty similar to those we saw in France as well.

Of course, the largest lake in Switzerland is also situated in the canton of Geneva. Called Lake Geneva or Lac Leman (in french), I find that it is a lake that is parked with many yachts. Its trademark is the 15m water fountain (Jet d'Eau or in English: Water Jet), situated in the city of Geneva of course.

Prices were exhorbitantly high in Geneva city. A typical meal (just a pizza and a drink) can easily cost you at least S$30. The Swiss will also tell you, Geneva costs of living are higher than in other parts of Switzerland. Nevertheless, being near France, it also boasts some pretty good restaurants that features a blend of french and swiss cooking.

Geneva is also a place where you will find most of the international organization's Europe's office. Like WTO, UN, WHO, UNICEF and Red Cross HQ. All in all, 250 international organizations are based there.

But our verdict of Geneva: Over-hyped, over-rated in guide books.
Not as beautiful as we have expected. Too crowded for our liking. Too french for our preferences. And in some part of the city, too touristy to have a true local taste of Swiss culture.

Switzerland - The flight & the Itinerary

15 years ago when I first visited Switzerland and till now, this country has always given me the impression of clockwork railway network, the land of time and milk powder.

Being situated right in Europe Alps with numerous lakes, this country made itself efficient by creating a vast network of railway lines. Frommers will tell you that the Swiss Railway System crosses so many mountains and valleys that the 'medieval pilgrims would have considered an act of God'. How on earth did they manage to dig a huge tunnel high up in the cold mountains 100 years ago?

So efficient is their rail that in the railway website, they'll even offer you the numerous scenic routes or excursion rails to take so you can enjoy their country as much and affordable as possible. It makes my planning so much easier (unlike Japan) and everything is flexible: Stay as long as you like in a city/town and then hop on to the next train when you like it.

Frankly, I like this country so much, I've visited some of the places more than once. But for WF, its his first. So I plotted the itinerary from the West (Geneva) to the East (Zurich) for the 13 days trip. And simply following the "GoldenPass Line": Geneva - Montreaux - Interlaken - Lucerne - Zurich. Where we will be able to cover watchmaking, finance, lakes, mountains and cheese & chocolate topics.

Some interesting facts about this country:
Land of Time: luxury watch brands hails from this country: Patek Philippe, Blanpain, Breguet, Rolex etc. But NOT cuckoo clocks (I'll share more in subsequent entries).

Milk powder: Henri Nestle, inventor of milk powder is a Swiss. That's why you see a lot of cows and wheat while travelling on the train.

Chocolate: Milk chocolate came from them as well (Note: Choc with milk. Not cocao beans or dark chocolate). And Lindt, a Swiss, invented the conching method (that's how we get smooth creamy chocolate).

And the surprising one for me, Maggi: Came from Julius Maggie who invented stock cubes and now has become a common household name for instant noodles, seasonings and of course, stock cubes!!

They have FOUR national language (and apparently the locals are very proud of it too): Because Switzerland shares the same border with Italy (south), Germany (North) and France (west), they have Italian, German and French as well as Romansh as their national languages. So if you travel to the west of Switzerland, people speaks French there but to the south, it'll be Italian. Thus, all their official documents are published in 4 languages. The children there usually learn THREE languages (we're already complaining when we learn only 2): German, French/Italian and English. No wonder this country churns out one of the highest GDP and is one of the top competitive country. They can speak to almost everybody except maybe the Chinese (Mandarin). And it makes perfect sense for UNESCO, UNICEF, UN, Red Cross, WTO to set up offices there. You get abundance of interpreters...

So much about facts. I should get started on the photos.

Beautiful clouds like cotton balls, seen from the aircraft window:

Of course, I went on a movie marathon (being so deprived of movies back home).

And the view of towns and lakes of Switzerland before we touch down:


Upon arrival at Zurich airport, we took a train to Geneva which is a three hours ride (east to west journey). And WF make full use of his time reading up the guide books on Geneva (subesquently he always do that when we're travelling to the next city/town). As with his carefree holiday style, he had no idea where we're going except to Switzerland. And on the day we left home, he only took his passport and cash. I don't think he knew what clothes I packed for him or whether did I pack anything for him:


And its all quiet on their trains... because:

My Birthday

My birthday this year happens to fall on a public holiday. So I get to celebrate with the Malays on Monday, though for different reasons.

Still suffering from jet lag (we came back on Friday), we decided to go easy and went to ION for my birhtday lunch, with the kids. Since we've never been there. Upon seeing a cantonese restaurant (Canton-i) on our way down from the carpark, we immediately went in. We've been rather deprived of good and authentic Chinese food after 2 weeks of Swiss food.

If you know WF's taste for food, then this is the restaurant to go for nice wanton noodles. His verdict for this signature dish: good and comparable to some wanton stalls in HKG. I must say, their noodles is really springy and wanton is crunchy. The decor of this restaurant is really nice too.

There are a few 'rare' this birthday:
Those of you who knows Uncle Lim aka WF, he's not a man of birthday cakes, presents and flowers (hey, how did I fall for him in the first place??).

For the many years we've been together, I believe this is the SECOND cake he bought for me. And weirdly, he bought me a PANDAN cake.

Now, who on earth will buy a pandan cake as birthday cake. And does he knows that other than Bengawan Solo, Parkway Parade also has Four Leaves, Breadtalk and Chocz which sells the real kind of birthday cake? Hmmm.... No wonder he's called UNCLE.

Then I get a birthday present. Or rather he bought it for me during our trip and said this will be my present: LV Alma, Epi leather.

Too bad, he sticks to his rationale: flowers are silly and they'll wither anyway.

Nevertheless, the biggest present still comes from Ning's card she drew and also the kids 'Happy Birthday' singing. Good thing, it was recorded.


From top right, anti-clockwise: Zhi (2YO), Ning (4YO), Mama (23YO, she wrote in reverse order), Papa (43YO) and Mickey Mouse.

Still in the midst of packing...

Yup... and still 5 more hours before we need to reach the airport. My mum just came to pick up Ning and later after dinner, we'll be sending Zhi to my in-laws place. One grandparent to take care of each kid.

But I wonder if we will be able to leave without the kids for holiday next year. Ning is showing a lot of signs of not wanting us to go. Lots of questioning, a lot of 'whys' and a lot of hugs and kisses before she left. She came back to hug me again after she left our place like 5 mins. And she told me she'll miss me most. Aiyo.....

I wonder what will be Zhi's reaction later. He usually wants only mummy to put him to sleep.

Crossing my fingers... and we'll be back on the 18th. First stop: Geneva, Switzerland.

Another Video of Ning

To continue from my previous post: In one of the months, the school's theme was 'People Around Us'. So naturally that includes family members, teachers and friends etc.

She came back with a chinese ryhme on 'Friends'. Here's the video of her reciting the rhyme:


Friends

What did Ning Learn in School?

On a regular basis, Ning will bring back her school work (in additional to all the monthly newsletter) and show us. Sometimes its artwork, sometimes Chinese poems etc.

So far, we're quite happy with the school's planning and activities. She gets to see a lot of children's play, went for numerous excursions and now she's learning the Tang poems and plants. Just last week, she asked me last what is CO2. And I told her its carbon dioxide. She told me her teachers are teaching her about how plants grow and make food. And we breathe out CO2. Wow... I thought I only learnt that in Primary 3 Science?

In the first half of the year, there was a monthly theme on occupation. And she got to learn about doctors, teachers, dentists etc. She got me to video this construction worker rhyme and I'm putting it up to share.



Construction Worker

There'll be some more videos coming up. She's been rather proud of her achievements and had always wanted us to video down. We gladly do that for her and for memory keepsake.

Treetop Walk - 2nd Attempt

In my previous entry, I talked about our "failed" attempt to make it to the HSBC Treetop walk because we parked at the wrong carpark.

Well, now that we found the nearer carpark to the walk, we made our 2nd attempt yesterday. If you're interested to go, the carpark is at Venus Drive.

The truth is, it was quite a mistake to be so ambitious. The distance from the carpark to the Treetop was more about 3.2km. And then the way back from the treetop to the Ranger's station was another 1km plus. So in total, we hiked, with the two kids for 4km.

Now, 80% of the time, we're carrying Zhi. And 30% of the time, Ning was being carried. It didn't helped when the tracks were pretty wet and muddy from the morning rain. We had thought since the weather was cooling, it'll be good to go hiking. But we forgot about the wetness of the ground.

To make this trip even memorable, right after our kids saw the huge lizard (see picture), Zhi got so scared that he refused to come down and walk anymore. So that explains part of the 80% carrying part. The other part that makes up the 80% came from the slippery ground and also he fell after running the first 50m of the hiking trail. Being a 'woman trapped in a man's body', Zhi complained of 'pain pain' and wanted us to carry him. The successful 20% came when I was so tired and angry at his refusal to walk, I literary pulled and scolded him to be brave and no lizards nor caterpillars are going to bite him.

As for Ning, the 30% of carrying happened right after she stepped on a huge caterpillar on the ground. And in the process, a 'cccrraaaccckkk' sound was heard. She was too traumatized and cried big time. That was when we had to carry her. Please do not mentioned 'caterpillars' to her for the time being. She'll start crying and felt horrid for killing the little worm.

The thing is, hiking can be fun. And being close to nature can be rather refreshing and enjoyable. Part of the hike reminded me very much of Kamikochi in Matsumoto, which we went to the Japan Alps two years ago. But it can be a pain if the kids are too young and had not much energy for a 4km walk.

On our way home, WF asked Ning if she had fun. Our little girl replied," Its not fun at all. We never play at all. We only walk and walk. I don't want to come here anymore." I think she summed it up pretty well.

Here are some photos we took:

We also made some discovery during this hike: That Zhi is afraid of heights!!! He was crying most of the time during our treetop walk. And kept mumbling 'scary... scary'... Sigh... I think our boy is more 'girlish' than our girl.

Anyway, the view is rather nice. It reminds us of the Capilano Suspension Bridge & Park in Vancouver (when we visited there in 2004).

Talking about the places we had went, we'll be leaving for Switzerland on Saturday and returning two weeks later. Between now and Saturday, I'll try to upload more entries and then when we come back on the 18th, I'll share more of our trip.

WF's Birthday - 21st August

Last Friday, we celebrated WF's birthday at home. I got him a strawberry shortcake which he likes and the kids sang him the birthday songs in bahasa Malay, English and Mandarin. Here's Ning's version of 'Happy Birthday' in Malay, though I am not sure if it was the correct version:


Happy Birthday in Malay

I must say, other than the sweentness we felt from the kids' singing and running around the house, the cake was also deliciously yummy. It was finished before I can have a second slice.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

We brought Ning for the performance on Saturday. I am sure most of us know the story. But for Ning, it is something new. I thought the songs and dances (especially the wolf character) was really catchy and funny. But probably the message in the play might be a bit too difficult for her to understand (like the concept of lying?).

Anyway, we walk away with the theme of the play: If you start lying, you'll soon be crying.

There were some participation from the audience too. The kids put on the sheep's headgear from the programme posters and pretended to be sheeps. I think Ning like the participation part best. And the stage was nicely done up as well.

Ning with the sheep's headgear.

UP & Other Theatre Performances

I call this month the "Performance" month. Last Saturday, we brought the kids to watch Boom Bah, a short production that focuses on music and instruments. Luckily, unlike the 'Tick Tack Tock' performance, Zhi was less restless and was sitting on the floor watching the characters playing the various music. Of course, Ning enjoyed herself without us worrying.

This Saturday, we'll be bringing Ning to watch 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf'.

And two weeks later, She'll be going for 'The Little Green Frog' play.

As if it wasn't enough, we brought her to watch the 3D version of UP, the movie last night. It was her first big screen outing. And we decided that UP will be a good movie since it had received such good reviews. Plus we had always been so impressed with Pixar's productions (The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Toy Story, just to quote a few). Also, my students strongly suggested that it'll be suitable for a family because of the "very family values" that this movie projects.

Bringing her favourite doggie along for the movies and dinner at White Dog Cafe

Because it was her first movie, we were worried that the audience in front of her might blocked her view, so we actually brought a car seat booster along. Thank goodness, we didn't have to use that. The GV Vivo theatre had very good spacing and slope such that her view wouldn't be blocked. Also, they provide booster seats for kids if you need. I am not sure about other GV outlets or Cathay's though.

Well, the movie was good, entertaining and touching to a certain extent. In fact, full of creativity and colourful visuals. But for Ning, it might be too overwhelming for her. She ended up feeling queasy after 30mins of staring at the big screen with a too-big-for-her-face 3D glasses. Well, so much for her first movie experience. We reminded ourselves that we will make sure we book the last row seats if she's going for movies again. That way, the distance from the screen to her would be at a more comfortable level.

Here's how she looked with the glasses:

MacRitchie Reservoir

We had initially wanted to bring the kids for the treetop walk at MacRitchie for one of our Saturday outings. But upon arrival, we found out that the tree top walk is 5.6km away from where we are!!!

Trying not to be too ambitious and expect the kids to trek that far, we just wandered around the place and watch the students kayaking.

We'll be going again. This time, we'll make sure we park at a place near the treetop walk.

Portrait of WF

We always take delight in Ning's artwork. And I must say, her drawing can be so simple yet full of her own imagination at times.

Recently, she had shown a lot of interest in drawing people around her. And here's a picture of WF:


Here's why she drew it like that and how she described:
- Papa has short and spiky hair.
- Papa wears a blue pair of spectacles.
- Papa is wearing a blue shirt now.
- Papa is very tall. So I must draw his legs long.
- Papa's arms has got very big muscles (from all the badminton training and weights) so I draw it square square.
- And Papa's name is PAPAPA. So I write on the paper.

We're so proud of her, now this picture is pasted on our bedroom wall.

Here's how the real Papa look and the young artist:

NUS Rag & Flag Day

It was the annual NUS Rag & Flag day yesterday (080809). We happened to drive along AYE and saw the big floats at the sports field. That prompted us to drive in, with the kids, and watch the Rag's parade.

What a coincidence, we met up with a few NUS Bizaders the previous night (fri) and we were reminiscencing the old times. The next day, we managed to catch some action from the Rag & Flag event.

Luckily I had my camera in my bag and I started taking some pictures. We actually went into the students crowd and tried to catch a glimpse of the performances. I must say, the quality of the floats were definitely much much much better than our time. And they had such elaborate costumes, music, dance movements and even female dancers flying up in the air like those cheerleading performances.

Its a nice feeling to see such things again... and we were telling the kids that Papa and Mama used to do that in school too. Haha...

Here are the pictures I took. Not really clear because of the crowd, I took only the distance shots.

Changes Ahead

This week marks the start of WF's 3-weeks break from work. He had just resigned and will be joining a new fund in end August. Though I am not quite sure if his new job will be as flexi and autonomous as his previous, I can see he is quite excited even though the nature of his work is going to be the same.

In the next 12months, there'll be changes ahead. Like Zhi going to full day and us moving to a new place. Hopefully, it'll work out better for everyone of us.

The National Anthem

I mentioned in my previous post that I will put up the video of Ning singing the National Anthem.

Here it is:


National Anthem


2 more days to Singapore's 44th birthday!

NDP Preview '09

Last Saturday we went to watch the NDP preview at the floating platform in Marina Bay. A few of my students were volunteering in the NDP and I managed to get the tickets from them.


















Never in our lives had we been so nationalistic to dressed in our national colours as a family. I can't say the kids really know what is going on, but they definitely enjoyed watching the fireworks and eating the goodies in the funpacks.

Ning surprised us by singing the national anthem when it was played. She can really sing the entire song which we never knew she was able to. I'll put up the video in subsequent post.



And out of the blue, when the commander for the parade shouted all the commands to the various uniform groups, Zhi suddenly got onto his seat and stood up straight with his hands behind his back. It was quite a funny sight and even the audience seated behind him was laughing. I wonder where did he learn that from. Or was it in the males' genes?

Thank goodness it didn't rain and by the time we reached home (considering we stay so near Marina Square), it was already past 9pm and the kids knocked out instantly.

Sing! Dollar

I had always enjoyed Selena Tan's productions and Hossan Leong's acting, thus Sing! Dollar naturally attracted me. We went to watch this muscial last night and we quite enjoyed the show.

The casts were made up of familiar faces like Hossan, Sebastian Tan (Broadway Beng), Dim Sum Dollies (Selena, Emma Yong & Pam Oei), Kumar, Najib Ali and Lim Kay Siu.

The plot is typical but I find the songs and the portraying of each character very well done. Especially Kumar who acted the part on the Blangadeshi worker, it was so real and funny. The tunes in those nsongs they sang also reflects the cultural part of each ethnic group but in a very comical way. We had fun laughing most of the time.

Of course, this being a local production, we can't run away from the ubiquitous 'lors' & 'lahs' plus poking fun at the 'gar-men'. But the production also reflects the recent demise of Michael Jackson (ala Hossan Leong's dancing) and the ongoing court case of Venerable Ming Yi (plus T.T. Durai, Priest Joachim Kang etc). Which we thought was pretty creative.

Do go in early, because the opening segment that features the 4 currencies was very original and WF liked this scene best. If you had no choice but to be late, then beware, for Kumar will tease you in the 2nd scene while you wiggle your way to your seat. He did that to three groups of people last night and we had such a good laugh.

If you haven't bought the tickets and comtemplating if you want to watch, well, for entertainment value, this is a fun and jovial musical to watch. It is a typical Singapore production but I strongly feel that the cast are a really talented lot. They can sing, dance, act and even the lyrics were written by themselves.

I know the critics in ST gave a very negative review. But I supposed, critics being critics, their job is to be critical and they usually have high expectations for everything.

So...support local production lah!

RVHS Gathering

WF wanted me to put this up for the benefit of his school mates (River Valley High School) who couldn't make it for this gathering on the 5th July.

Here are some photos we took:

There were a lot of catching up during that afternoon. And like he commented, everybody had changed so much (in terms of outlook) since he last saw them in the RV uniform.

Hopefully, there'll be more turnout the next time round.

Ning's New Keyboard

Ning had upgraded and progress to Yamaha Junior Music Course which involves playing on the keyboard and recognizing the notes. Because there are practices involved, we needed to get a keyboard for her.

After asking her teacher and some of our friends/colleagues, we went to Carrefour and got a Casio. It seemed like this is the place to get a value-for-money keyboard.

Everyone including Zhi and WF were all excited about this new "toy" at home. And the three of them had been "practising" diligently for the past few days.

Here's a clip:


Keyboard Playing