making it easier to keep in touch with family and friends

Wednesday 31 March 2010

142 Days To...

PSLE. That's what my P6 counsellees told me when I had counselling with them today. Their teachers have started the countdown to PSLE with them. Some counsellees are beginning to feel the pressure while some are still indifferent citing that it is still some time away. I encouraged them to start revision as soon as they can as time does creep up on us without warning.

Tuesday 30 March 2010

Drama

Today is one of the most dramatic day I have ever been through. I had a meeting this morning to discuss a life-altering decision for me. The meeting was most frustrating. I refused to be bullied into submission. I stood up for what I believed and argued for my case most strongly but apparently to no avail. I left the meeting feeling frustrated and upset.

Two hours later, the person I met with in the morning apparently had a change of heart. Things seem to be looking up but I still can't breathe easy until next Tuesday when the person would let me know the final decision. The person in question is known to be fickle-minded and a backstabber. :(

Monday 29 March 2010

HFMD

There are 3 cases of HFMD (Hand, foot and mouth disease) in Juliane's preschool. The preschool is on high alert, taking all possible precautions to prevent the spread of HFMD. Apparently, there is a new strain of HFMD where red spots might not appear on the children's hands & feet and there is a ulcer in the throat similar to having a sore throat.
For those with young children, keep a lookout for HFMD.

Sunday 28 March 2010

Not 100%

I haven't been feeling my 100%. A headache has been with me for the whole day. It is the nagging sort of dull pain. :( I am not unwell enough to spend my time in bed and I am not well enough to run around. :( I am hoping it will go away tomorrow.

Saturday 27 March 2010

Earth Hour 2010

This is my 3rd year and the girls' 2nd year that we are taking part in Earth Hour. This year, my parents joined us for the 1st time as they are in Singapore.


The girls were really excited and enthusiastic about Earth Hour. They helped to place the candles around the apartment such as in the living room, dining room, kitchen, and toilet. It didn't feel warm without the fan as it was quite breezy. The candles kept getting blown out by the breeze lol. Time also seemed to pass more slowly without the tv and computer. But we didn't mind as we all seemed more relaxed and were having fun. The girls and I star-grazed, talked and told ghost stories under the candle light. :) All too soon, we could use electricity again. The girls were already in bed before the Earth Hour ended. :) They are looking forward to Earth Hour 2011.


The only person who avoided Earth Hour was the girls' father. He took a long drive around for close to 1.5 hours. Sigh. What a bad role model for the girls. But thank goodness, the girls are not like him and are more than willing to do their part for Earth, even if it is only an hour. I will try to educate them to save more energy and to do more for Earth, or Gaia.

Friday 26 March 2010

TV Series Updated

Way back in 2007, I wrote about my favourite tv series. Since then, there are a few more additions to my list. :)

Action/ Fantasy:
Legend of The Seeker - adventure and magic in medieval times.
Merlin - adventures of young Merlin and Prince Arthur, and of course, magic too.

Action/ Supernatural:
Sanctuary - an organisation seeks out, helps and protects non-human creatures while containing the more dangerous ones.
True Blood - vampires and humans living together.

Crime/ Drama:
Bones - like CSI, forensic science focusing on FBI cases.

Sci-fi:
Fringe - I think this is the closest series ever to being hailed as the next "The X-files". :)
Stargate: Atlantis - similar to Stargate SG-1 but the Earth team is stationed at city of Atlantis on the planet, Lantea.

Thursday 25 March 2010

Handy Woman

When Marieann was packing her school bag before she went to bed, she somehow managed to pull out the slider (the device that moves up and down the chain to open or close the zipper) after zipping up her bag. :( Her father's immediate reaction was "Buy a new bag". Sigh. Marieann was quite upset and was trying frantically to fix her bag.

I told her to go to bed and took over trying to fix the zipper. After 15 minutes and with the help of a screwdriver, I managed to force the slider back onto the chain (the continuous piece that is formed when both halves of a zipper are meshed together). The zipper is back in business! :)

I told Marieann not to zip up her bag all the way to the end but to leave a gap so that the same problem doesn't occur. Marieann was delighted and impressed that I repaired her bag and wanted to know how I did it. I took it as an opportunity for teaching. I told her her grandfather taught me to be handy with tools and she should learn to be the same. :)

Wednesday 24 March 2010

Diabetes Complications

My father was back at SGH for his appointment with an eye specialist. He had a detailed eye check for retinopathy.

One of the complications arising from diabetes is retinopathy. When there is prolonged high blood glucose, the blood vessels of the retina are damaged by becoming enlarged or clogged. The blood vessels can become weak and rupture and the retina can become detached from the back of the eye. A person may notice strange blotches, blurriness, or dark spots in their vision. If this happens, it is important to visit the eye specialist because if left untreated, retinopathy can lead to blindness. Therefore, it's important to keep blood glucose levels as near to normal as possible to prevent retina damage.

The diagnosis: my father's diabetes is causing some minor problems for his eyesight but not untreatable. Phew. My father can still salvage the situation but he has to keep his blood glucose level DOWN! Sigh. Going to be hard work. :( There was the usual queueing and waiting at SGH but at least today's visit in total took about 2.5 hours. It's considered very fast lol.

The next SGH visit for my father is to see the heart specialist.

Tuesday 23 March 2010

Life-altering Outcome

I had a meeting today whereby the outcome would affect my life in a significant way. I am pleased with the outcome. :) But there is another hurdle to cross before I can finally heave a sigh of relief.

Monday 22 March 2010

The Red Queen

Saw on Blogthings, a "What Alice in Wonderland character are you?" quiz and thought it would be interesting to try out since I just saw "Alice in Wonderland". What do you know? I am the Red Queen! Haha. Well, the result didn't surprise me. :P

You Are the Queen of Hearts



To call you passionate would be a total understatement. You have quite a temper. You put fear into the hearts of everyone you know.
You are easy to make angry, and once you're angry, you may do or say anything. You love vengeance.
Yes, I do have quite a temper and yes, when I am angry, it's hard to control what I say or do because I would immediately react without thinking. But it's not vengeance, more like letting off steam lol.

You don't like to be crossed. And while you can't say "Off with their heads!" when people make you mad, you wish you could!
Hahaha. :P
There are a couple hobbies you're passionate about (perhaps croquet?), but even those can be sullied by the stupidity of others.


Sunday 21 March 2010

Cosy Housewarming

My dentist friend, Hoon recently moved into her new condo unit at Botannia. She invited my parents and us over for a little gathering cum dinner.

We love the large windows in her unit which allows for natural light and ventilation. As the blocks aren't close by to each other, it is also very breezy. The girls were eyeing the children's pool whereas I was eyeing the row of 3 jacuzzis next to the lap pool lol. Unfortunately it was raining so none of us could go for a swim/ use the jacuzzi. Next time lol. The landscaped terrain surrounding the condo is one with the nature and very zen-like. Hoon's unit is facing the lap pool, the koi pool and this beautiful tree. Makes one feel very relaxed and peaceful. No wonder, Hoon bought her unit. :)




For dinner, we had my mother's chicken rice with mango and salad and Hoon's fish curry and grilled chicken wings. It was a simple but delicious dinner. We chit-chatted and laughed over dinner.


It was a very cosy gathering. I can guarantee we will be back soon enough lol. Hoon, you better watch out. The girls won't give up until they have a go in the children's pool haha. :P

Saturday 20 March 2010

Alice in Wonderland

The girls have been bugging me since the start of the March break to bring them to see "Alice in Wonderland". I finally brought them to see the movie this evening at Lido cinema.

We went for the 7pm show in 3D. The girls were thrilled as they had to put on the glasses to enjoy the 3D effect and also because I finally relented and bought them sweet popcorn. The girls were really good and sat through the 110 minutes movie. :) I think the 3D effects, the stunning visuals and the vivid colours all helped to capture their attention lol.

"Alice in Wonderland" gives a childhood story we are all familiar with, an imaginative and enchanting twist. It is set 13 years after Alice first fell into the rabbit hole. After Alice fell into the rabbit hole again, she met up with her friends - White Rabbit, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Dormouse, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, and of course, the Mad Hatter. Her magical adventure begins as Alice finds a way to end the Red Queen's reign of terror along with finding her true destiny.

"Alice in Wonderland" is a delightful adventure, fantasy movie that is for everyone. We left the cinema with big smiles on our faces.

Here's the trailer for "Alice in Wonderland".



The girls like the song "Alice" by Avril Lavigne while I like the song "The Technicolour Phase" by Owl City from the movie.


Friday 19 March 2010

Wet Weather

After an extremely hot and dry February, there is now some respite with the afternoon showers over the past few days. The temperature is now cooler, thank goodness. :) According to NEA, an increase in showers towards late March is expected as we approach the Inter-monsoon season. I guess in the following weeks to come, carrying an umbrella on our persons is now in order.

Thursday 18 March 2010

Online Homework II

Marieann has managed to finish all 26 of her online homework. Told her she has to finish the remaining online homework today because there would be upgrading on LEAD portal on 19 March. Although the services resume after 20 March, I would rather she finish everything before 19 March than to rush through on 21 March.

There also seems to be a glitch with one of the assignments. The response rate and the mark remained as "0" despite having attempted all the questions in the assignment and despite getting the answers correct. :( Hopefully the upgrading will resolve that glitch. I guess this is one of the perils of using ICT.

Wednesday 17 March 2010

Animal Crossing: Wild World

To relieve stress, I have recently taken to playing Animal Crossing on my NDS, other than Bejeweled Twist and Puzzle League. Animal Crossing is unlike Bejeweled Twist and Puzzle League. I live a virtual life in a village (which I can name) populated with anthropomorphic animals. The game is quite interactive as I can socialize with the other town residents and perform various activities such as fishing, bug catching, planting, collecting items and working to pay back my house loan, expand it, and furnish or decorate it, etc. The game also takes place in real time, reflecting the current time of day and season. :)

Animal Crossing is a great stress reliever, really fun and also highly addictive lol. So beware haha. :P

Tuesday 16 March 2010

Online Homework

I received an sms from Marieann's classmate's mother about their online homework. Their teacher has uploaded 26 English and Math homework onto the LEAD portal today. Thanks, Sharon for informing me. Appreciated it. :)

When I checked yesterday, there were only 2 Chinese online homework. Marieann has already finished doing them yesterday. I was still thinking to myself that Marieann is really having it easy this March holiday, not much homework. Haha. :P If not for Sharon, I would not have checked the LEAD portal again this week! Phew. Otherwise, Marieann would then miss submitting her online homework on time. :P

Schools are really into using ICT for teaching and learning. No wonder children now-a-days are so comfortable with IT and are really IT-savvy.

Monday 15 March 2010

SGH Experience

I accompanied my father to Singapore General Hospital (SGH) to see the diabetes consultant as well as to get some tests done with regards to his diabetes such as blood test, ECG test, retina check and foot check.

SGH is a big place and at times, very confusing. The signs are quite small and unclear. Without the nurse to direct us where to go, we would surely get lost! We had to run to different places to get the different tests done. At each place, there was queueing and waiting.

It was a very tiring experience for me even though I am not the one undergoing the tests and checks. It must have been worse for my father. :( We will have to go back to SGH at least thrice to see the heart consultant, the eye consultant, and finally the diabetes consultant again for follow up. Sigh. Not looking forward to the queueing and waiting... :(

PS. Seeing what my father has gone through, it serves as a reminder for me to watch my sugar intake. I am so going to make sure I stay pre-diabetic for as long as I can. Friends, do tell me off if you see me eating sweet stuff. Thanks in advance. :)

Sunday 14 March 2010

Delightful Tomorrow - Domani Cafe

I just can't resist rich creamy food. When I saw the food photos at Domani Cafe, Ngee Ann City, I knew I had to try it one of these days. Today we did, we went to Domani for lunch.

Juliane had a Carbonara ($14.50): spaghetti with honey baked ham and bacon in cream sauce finished with egg yolk and parmigiano. Real comfort food! :) Simple ingredients but rich in taste. Marieann ordered a Pescatore ($18:50): spaghetti with sauteed seafood in tomato sauce. Tangy tomato never fails to whet the appetite. :) I wanted something healthy so I had the Grilled Norwegian Salmon ($16): served with couscous, mixed green and mustard cream sauce. The salmon was grilled to perfection with its skin crispy and its meat moist and the mustard cream sauce complimented the salmon very well. :) The girls' father ordered from the Brunch Special, a Croque Monsieur ($14): a ham and cheese grilled sandwich. For dessert, we girls shared a Strawberry Sundae ($7.50). Anything sweet is good lol. :)









After lunch, the girls followed their father while I browsed around, mainly at the bookstore, Kinokuniya lol.

Saturday 13 March 2010

Tooth's Out

In the morning when I was reading the papers, Juliane asked me to look at something in her mouth.

Juliane: There's something hard hard inside my mouth.
Me: Is it? I have a look. Ahhh, your new tooth is out! Why didn't you say anything?
Juliane: Oh, I thought it was skin.
Me: ... ...

Juliane's lower right front milk tooth started becoming loose about 3 weeks ago. I thought it would drop off on its own as it did with Marieann's milk teeth so I didn't bother too much with it until today. I was so surprised to see Juliane's new permanent tooth growing out from behind her milk tooth. Oh no, I hope her new tooth won't be crooked! I quickly called my friend, Hoon who is a dentist. She managed to squeeze Juliane in for an appointment today. Juliane was really brave! She sat really still for the jab whereas I paled at the sight of the needle. :S Within 15 minutes, Juliane had her milk tooth extracted. :) Hoon said it is still too early to say if her tooth would be crooked. Hopefully her tongue movement would help to push out the tooth to its correct position.

To reward Juliane for her bravery, the "tooth fairy" (aka me) will be paying her a visit tonight lol. :P

Friday 12 March 2010

School's Out

Most, if not all students in Singapore, at least those in mainstream schools, are most happy with the passing of today. Today is the last day of school. End of Term 1! Marieann was most happy about having a one week break from school. She has even asked if she can be excused from attending tuition during the one week break, citing it is her holiday and she should be having a holiday from tuition too. Sorry, no can do. Maybe during the one month break in June... I may consider lol.

The only person who is upset about the one week break is Juliane. She is in preschool and her preschool does not follow the mainstream school holiday calendar. She was mumbling, "Not fair. Not fair. Not fair." the entire time since she knew about her sister's one week holiday. Don't worry, Juliane, when you are in P1 next year, you will have your one week holiday too, along with the homework, tests, and exams! Haha. :P

Thursday 11 March 2010

My 40" LCD TV

I collected my lucky draw prize, a Sony 40" LCD TV with the help of my colleague and a trolley! Lol. My jaws dropped when I saw how huge the 40" TV is. We wheeled the TV (most carefully! lol) back to our office first because my colleagues had wanted to see it. :) Everyone was thrilled and happy to see the TV. I loved my Boss's reaction, "Holy Smoke"! Hahaha. Believe it or not, we took photos together with my TV haha. :P

Many thanks to my colleague who gave me and my new TV a ride home. :) Once home, I started setting up the TV haha. My family was sitting around and watching me as if I was the entertainment. By 7pm, we were watching Transformers blue-ray disc on my new 40" LCD TV. What a difference it makes watching on a big screen!

Size really matters! Lol. :P

Wednesday 10 March 2010

Wong Clan Genealogy

Recently, my cousin came to visit us and bringing with him a huge red hard cover book measuring 4 inches in thickness. It is our Wong Clan genealogical record, also known as the Jia Pu, Zu Pu or Zhong Pu. The Zu Pu is a record of a clan's history and lineage. It documents the origins of the surname, the migration patterns of the clan, the family lineage, the ancestral biography, the ancestral locality, birth and marriage records, honours and achievements, etc.

Flipping through the Zu Pu makes me in awe of my Wong Clan ancestry. I am the 34th generation of the Wong clan. The 1st generation started in 854 A.D.! That's a total of 1156 years in between! Mind you, we are only the descendants from a particular branch of the Wong clan. There will be other branches of the Wong clan that dates back even further.

I am really proud to be a Wong. Once a Wong, always a Wong. :)

Tuesday 9 March 2010

Prize Collection

More questions today from my colleagues and friends about my lucky draw prize:
"Have you collected your TV?"
"How's your new 40" TV?"
"Sony, must be good hor"

When they knew I have yet to collect it:
"How come you still don't want to collect your prize? A 40" tv leh!"
"You don't want it, is it? Then give to the office lah."
"If you don't want it, you want to sell to me?"

Haha. My dear friends and colleagues, I must thank all of you for your excitement about my prize. :) Just to let all of you know, I will be collecting my prize on Thursday lol. If you want, you can come over to my workstation to take a look at it, ok? Hahaha. :)

Monday 8 March 2010

Lucky Draw Winner

Remember the 3rd prize that I won at the lucky draw held during my organisation's staff lunch? It's a Sony 40" LCD TV. How is it, you asked? Well, I don't know. The fact is I have not collected my prize yet! Hahaha. :P Ever since I won it on 27 February 2010, I have been asked by my colleagues almost on a daily basis if I have collected my TV and/ or how's my 40" TV lol. My colleagues are much more excited about my win than I am lol. I have also been told that no one from our department has ever won the top 5 prizes and I am really lucky lol. :P

Today, I received an email from the staff lunch organising committee asking me to collect my prize from their office by 12 March and to bring a trolley when collecting the TV as it is bulky! I guess my delay in collecting my prize stems from two reasons: 1) that the TV is bulky and I will need private transport to bring it home and 2) I have no idea where to put the TV at home. No matter where the TV ends up - in the living room, in my parents' room or in my room(! :P), we may have to rearrange some furniture. More work haha. We'll see. :)

Sunday 7 March 2010

Family Gathering

My uncle and auntie (who arrived in Singapore today from Malaysia), my cousins and cousin-in-laws came over for dinner at my place. The girls were thrilled to see their cousin, Johanna again. Thankfully, my girls click well with most of the children who come over to my place. My girls also like to look after them like the big sisters they are.

Saturday 6 March 2010

SCGS Gathering & Birthday Celebrations

It is our annual CNY gathering with my SC friends. Ok, this year is a little bit later due to unforeseen circumstances but we managed to meet up a week after CNY lol. For food, we had the usual potluck. We have the yummy mee siam and kueh pie tee cooked by Karen, Chung made the chicken wings this year (following Karen's recipe) which tasted great, Hsiao prepared lamb chops, Steph fried prawn-meat ngoh hiang balls, and I made my fruity potato salad. There were also green salad and pork ribs.

During lunch, it was the usual catching up for the adults while the kids played with one another. We also talked about our coming all-girls trip in 2011, either to Perth or some place where it is easy to do self-driving. :) Since I am the only one who don't drive and feeling bad, I offered to get my driving licence before then. My friends were silent for a while before unanimously saying that they would probably let me drive only if they are absolutely drunk! Otherwise, there's not a chance they will allow me to drive when they are sober. Hmm, they must have seen my coordination when I play driving games. I CRASH cars!! Hahaha. :D

For dessert and tea/coffee, we adjourned to the 3rd level of Hsiao's house which is Mediterranean themed. There was a surprise for Karen and Chung. Steph bought an ice cream cake to celebrate both their birthdays. The children were really intrigued with the cake which was colourfully decorated with jelly beans. :)



A candid photo of the birthday girls with the children :)


We parted ways close to 4:30pm with promises to meet up for lunch again but without the children and husbands around haha. :)

PS. I brought the girls "swimming" in the morning. I did try to teach them how to float but I failed miserably. :( Looks like they need professional help.

Friday 5 March 2010

Advice

Being a counsellor and psychologist, I have been asked, at times, for advice about children who are having problems. Sometimes it is my friends who asked for advice and sometimes it is friends of my friends who asked for advice. It is encouraging to know that my friends have faith in me to refer their friends to me for advice. :)
I do try my best to help. :)

Thursday 4 March 2010

Denver, Here I Come

Updated 6 March 01:01am
You have got to be kidding me! I was flipping through the channels on cable when I saw this movie titled "Things to do in Denver When You're Dead"! Ok now I know someone or something is telling me something.

Actually not yet, I still have another 1 and a half months to go. :) But things happening around me are reminding me of my coming trip to Denver. First, the 2009/2010 Official Visitors Guide to Denver & Colorado came in the mail. I had requested for a copy back in January 2010 and I have totally forgotten about it until now. Second, while monitoring Juliane with her homework whereby she has to capitalise names of people, places and things, one of the sentences was "We went to Denver for a ball game." Haha. Third, while I was just browsing through a food blog and what caught my eyes at the bottom of the web page were the Denver adverts lol.

Maybe it's just coincidences that I keep seeing Denver or maybe it's some cosmic law at work here reminding me to start planning for my Denver trip (so many places to visit, so many places to shop, so many places to have food! :P) lol.

Wednesday 3 March 2010

Leaving the Fold

Another one of us is leaving the fold. :( After a number of years of working together, we are like family. Yar, she even calls me Auntie! Lol. No, that's not because I am old but it is a term of err... respect, affection?! Hahaha.

Swee Lin is leaving the fold. Sob sob :( Remember how often I crash my notebooks?! Swee Lin has been great, always willing to lend a hand to this "Auntie" whenever I called for help. She (as well as the other guys in IT department) has been most helpful to me and most patient with me, a total IT idiot. :P

Thanks Swee Lin for all the times that you have bailed me out of my IT problems. I really appreciate it. I am going to miss seeing you are around (you are so tall! lol) as well as miss your "Hello, Auntie!" greetings. Lol. :) You take care and I wish you all the best in your new job. :) Keep in touch, ok?

Tuesday 2 March 2010

Wanted: A Loving Home for a Veggie-loving Dog

My dear friends and blog readers, there is a dog in urgent need of a loving home. Please forward this post to dog lovers whom you think may be able to provide a good and loving home to this dog. Thanks much in advance.

"My wife's family has a 9 yr old mixed breed (ie mongrel) dog that they adopted when young (was a stray). They have had to move from a house with garden to a much smaller apartment which will not allow for a large dog. As a result they have decided to call the SPCA which as you know, will put him down.

This dog was involved in a road accident when he was a puppy - silly boy ran across a crowded road and got hit by a car which promptly ran off. The family nursed him back to health, and aside from a slightly-loopy ear, he's now as contented as a slightly-loopy-eared-dog can be.

He can be quite timid, but is a gentle dog. He doesn't bite and he is generally sociable (except for vets, which he can spot a mile away). Because of his age, he's not as active as before, although he's still quite a well, heavy-set, dog. He's a vegetarian too

If there are any dog lovers who are sympathetic towards an elderly dog, has a garden for him to bask in the occassional sun, and enjoy his golden years, please contact me at [vizardholland at gmail dot com]
"


[Original post: http://www.asdsingapore.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=111&func=view&id=3954&catid=6]

Monday 1 March 2010

Happy 6th Birthday, Juliane!

Happy 6th Birthday, Juliane.
May you always be surrounded with love, friends and fun! :)


Today is Juliane's birthday. I worked from home today so that I could bring her birthday cake and goodies bags to her pre-school at 11:45am. Juliane and her classmates were really excited to see me when I arrived at 11:40am lol. The children sang "Happy Birthday" to Juliane. After having their cake, Juliane gave out the goodies bags to her classmates and all of them gave her a hug when they took the bag. It's so sweet. :) I wanted to bring Juliane home but she wanted to take the bus home so that she could spend more time with her friends. So sad, don't want Mommy anymore, being with friends is more important lol. :P








In the evening, we celebrated Juliane's birthday again with another cake and birthday song. She made a wish before blowing out the candles. Silly girl, she actually said her wish aloud hahaha. :)