9 July

If my late father is still around, he should be celebrating his 67th birthday today.

I remembered his last birthday 4 years ago. It was a very emotional & unforgettable day. He was in so much pain that I thought he was to die on his birthday. But he lived for another 3 months. We all knew it was his last birthday celebration - all his siblings, children, grandchildren, favourite niece & 2 friends were there. We all managed to make it to a restuarant @ Kitchener Rd.

Thought It has been 4 years, I still missed him.

What an honour !

I know of this elderly man, R from my work contact.



He will be 80 years-old next month. Over the years, he had shared with me his life story. From which I saw the determination, strenght & resilence of human being.



R used to a top executive from a pharmaceutical company. He retired with a shop @ Alphefi and a private house. But all his money & properties were swindled by his own daughter some 20 years ago. He has 8 children, 4 are not in contact with him due to strained relationship. He now lives with 4 others who are all on psychiatric follow-up. They seems to inherit the poor genes from R's wife.



Now the 4 children (all in their 40's & 50's) & the elderly couple are living in a flat with huge mortgage loan. They are living on the limited allowance from the government.



Three days ago R saw me, he talked about his worry - what will happen to his wife & 2 children when he is unable to look fater them. Presently the man is seeing to all the aspects of the other 5 members - from cooking, washing to accompanying them for their various medical appointments.



He told me that he had left words with his family to come to me in the event he passed on because he is very sure that I would know what to do & would definitely help his family. R has trusted me a great deal, I was very touched & honestly a little overwhelmed by it. He has known the other people who are in the helping profession , who would be willing to help him to sort out the care arrangment of his loved ones when he is not around. Yet he placed his total trust on me - someone whom he sees 3-4 time per years over the past 9 years.



I tried to assured R I would do my best if he would to tell me what kind of care arrangement he wish for his wife & children. He went on to express his gratitude by wanting to repay me in his next life (if there is any) but I stopped him to say anymore of his gratitude. I noted tears in his eyes. I was on the verge of tearing too - overwhelmed by R's trust.

Upon reflection, I think I was fearful of not being able to meet up with R's trust. In the event of R's demise, he has his wife & other 4 children (who are supposedly to be mentally ok) to make decisions. I'm not blood relation, how much power do I have??

At the end of the day, I decided to get R to write down his thoughts & what he has in mind as care arrnagment for his wife & 4 children. Whether I am able to really execute his last wish, I don't know. But what I decided to do is to try. The end result may not be what R or I originally discussed, at least I will try. At least I won't not have any regrets and the elderly man can have peace of mind in his last remaining days in his otherwise 'tough' life.

What more can be done?

I recieved a SMS' Sorry i fail Chinese' from Bryan on 18/5/09 during luch time.



Chineses has not been the strong subject of Bryan. I noted that he does not put in enough effort in this subject too. He used to get 70+/- marks. His Chinese marks started to decline this year when he is P5.



I was very upset but controlled myself in not reprimanding the boy first without seeing the paper. I wanted to know which area is he weak in . Is the paper generally chanlleging or he is just simply careless.



My husband had agreed to do a 'post-mortem' when he get back all the papers.



I'm at my wits end in trying to help my child with a subject that I used to scored A1 in all my pre-university years.

Apparently I'm not doing enough to help my child in getting interested in Chinese. Telling that he is a Chineses, therefore must learn to be proud of his mother tongue is simply not working. We had tried to read Chinese books & prose daily before bed. We watch programmes on Channle 8 more than Channel 5, but Bryan's interest in Chinese is still minimum.

We went to Shanghai last year, he was impressed by this cosmopolitan city. He saw & heard a few non-Chineses spoke Mandarin. I think this is insufficent, more must be done? The one4 million dollar question is - what more can be done?

Mother's Day

Last night, Bryan told me he is giving me a book of Mother's Day coupons, which has validity date of 12 months (till next Mother's Day). I could use the 10 coupons & get him to do things of mywish. It's like a cheque book when I write down my request eg. Bryan is to wash dishes for 5 Sundays, he would aceed to my request.

Great ideal. I 'm very excited in receiving my Mother's Day coupons this weekend.

Swine Flu/ Inflenza A

Swine flu is causing alot of panic round the world, including this little red dot.



At my workplace, we started to have daily temperature monitoring & every staff has to don on mask. I was offered surgical mask, but asked for N95 instead. http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/04/28/f-flumasks.html Although most of my other colleagues are quite happy to wear a surgical mask. I don't feel safe after my last experience during the SARS in 2003. A colleague actually allowed a fever patient to round the clinic to look for me. Whereas according to SOP, patient with fever is supposed to be restricted to certain part of the clinic. My boss at that time was very furious & felt that our well-being is compromised. I was upset too coz I was into my third trimester with Bernice.




Yesterday I took time to practise the 7-step hand washing with my children.The following link has very clear instructions. http://www.ttsh.com.sg/cleansafeinfectionfree/index2.html.

I maybe kiasu, but feel better that way. Our 2 cleaners (who are quite senior) refused to don on mask. One grambled that old person already short of breath, wearing a mask makes it even more difficult to breath.

I hope this swine flu will quickly pass & we won't need to go through the similar experience of SARS (coincidentally was during the April/May 2003)

Gotcha! kids 2

Last night, Bernice and her friends were being featured in the program for perhaps 1-2 minutes.

We are all very excited & all thought that she did well - calm & composed in front of the camera. She had spoken to his uncle the night before, asking him to record the program. Part of the conversation being

Uncle : Why you are invited to the TV show?

Bernice: My teacher thinks that I'm very good, so she recommends me to film 2 times.

Bernice surely knows how to use the right word to impress their uncle. Her father & me were equally impressed by her use of 'recommend' afterall she is just a 5-years-old. Today, children are better exposed in all areas & definitely clever. I'm very sure I did not know what is 'recommend' till secondary school.

When the host interviewed why she would share her sweets/ marshmallows with him, Bernice reasoned that 'I am a very kind girl, so I can share'

So much so being on the program, Bernice is shy when people ask her about her appearance on the show.

The Big FOUR

15 April 09

Just crossed over to the big 4, few days ago.

Children & Ooi were into endless teasing of me being an 'oldies'. Remembered when I was 11, I blurted out ' so old' when I got to know that my form teacher was 28 years-old then. Good grief, now I'm older than my teacher then.

I don't have the habit of celebrating my b'day. Somehow this big FOUR O make me take stock of my life for those past years.

I hope I'm wiser now and more calm. I'm a typical Aries, often act on impluse. This got me into some trouble, stepped on numerous toes & regretted in some of the things I 've done & said . I hope I'm more humble & be appreciative of what I've. Seen enough of how people fell from grace - from riches to rags, from healthy to sickness.

I'm a better person compare to one decade ago, & hope to continue to be better in the next decade.

Gotcha, Kids! 娃娃看世界

This picture was taken last CNY with friends in a school performance.


Bernice was invited to film in this MediaCorp production 'Gotcha, Kids!' 娃娃看世界 last Saturday. She had the first filming with some of her classmates in the school.





The show is to catch the candid respones of young children in various situations. Althought it is nothing new, but the responses of the children are genuine & can be funny. It gives the adults a glipmse into the kids' world. We watched the first episode before giving our consents for Bernice to be filmed, did not want to risk her being in a show that is distasteful.


The second filming was to give the child individual screening time - doing solo for about 10- 15 minutes, before editing. There were about 6 kids from her school & 6 others from other schools. The school teacher & supervisor of the centre are quite proud that the kids perform well during the first filming. We waited from 9.30 to nearly 12noon before it was her turn. Bernice was very composed and natural. Being a 'kiasu' mum, I had repeatedly remind her not to be fearful & be herself. She went off wth the production crew, without me, to the filming venue. She knew I was waiting for her round the corner.


I'm proud to say that Bernice proved herself to be a confidence & helpful girl, as she is taught. She actually helped the cleaner aunty to clear the mess on the table in a hawker centre & mopped the floor. She later complained that the mop was too heavy for her, but persisted since the aunty had asked her to help.


Filming is definitely not as easy as we thought. One needs to be prepared to wait and wait and wait. When we arrivd at the meeting place, the show hosts - Quan Yifeng & Pornsak were all ready - resting in the MediaCorp bus. I think they may have report to work around 7 or 8 am for wardrobe & make-up. The actual filming starts only around 10 am. The last girl (Bernice's friend) finished around 4 pm.

Parents are quite keen to get their children on the national TV, although there is no monetary incentive. I supposed all we want is the experience & excitement to be seen on national TV. Bernice helped to put my feet firmly on ground by saying " Mummy, they have to cut away the part that the children don't do well. Maybe I won't be on TV or only for a short while" She remembered what her teacher told the class & not be overly disppointed if they 're not featured on the program. Impressive. Thanks to the school teacher for being practical & helpful to prepare these 5-6 years-old to be realistic.

Was told by an excited grandma(Bernice's classmate) that the show is scheduled to telecast on 23/4/09 & 30/4/09

Nostalgia

Found my childhood photos under a drawer last night. They were given to me by a aunt who did spring cleaning & wanted to cleared off these 'unwanted stuff'.


When I was young, my late father often took my siblings & me for outing on Sunday. I don't quite remember those outing but do remember my father drove a lorry (with a cab that was so huge) This is me @ Katong beach - a favourite hangout.








This is my first photo taken by a 'professional photograher'. I remembered a man came knocking on our door, asking whether we were interested in getting our pictures taken. He was a door-to-door photographer. I was in my favourite dress - pink & purple pokker dots with a lovely purplish slash. My childhood friend Ai Ling had a similiar dress but in pink & red dots.

According to my father's writing (@ the back of this photo) this picture was taken just 2 days before I turned 5. It was a long long time ago.





We stayed in a 1-roonm rental flat @ Kim Keat Avenue. Still remember the address Blk 197 Kim Keat Ave 222-L. Many years ago HDB flat were given alphabets indicating the level. But as we build more flats highter than 26 floors, it has to be changed to numerial with a # in front. The 3 blocks of rental flats had long been demolished. The vegetable farms, which were just across a canal, replaced by the CTE & Potong Pasir housing estate.

It has been a long long time ago.

Attractions in Melaka

Eye on Malaysia- Melaka

Quite a new attraction. A standard ticket costs RM20, for Malaysian adult it is RM10 (need to show Mykad) & child fare is RM5. We had 5 turns during a weekday morning. One full turn is about 2 minutes (Yes, we used a stopwatch to time it) This gondola (as it is indicated in the ticket) can sit up to 6 persons. Rather small internally. Quite like this ride, compared to the Menara Taming Sari (the revolving "Gyro Tower' that brings one up to 80 metres for the panorama view of Melaka city.

The Maritime Museum

Built in 1990 is the replica of a Portuguese galleon. You can't missed it when you walk along the river. Limited collection of exhibits. But one can't expect much afterall the entrance fee is only RM3 (adult) & RM1 (child). It is a cheap way to cool down since the place is air-conditioned in a hot, hot, hot Melaka. We have to take off our footwares when getting into the museum, but good thing is that plastic bags are given should you decide that leaving footwares on the shelves is not an option.

The 'road' map of our Melaka River Cruise

The smile on our faces after we got our life jackets

Melaka River Cruise

Melaka was inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage on 8th. July 2008.
We went for the cruise in the morning. It is a 45 minutes cruise, giving us opportunity to view this old city. The adult ticket is RM10 & RM5 for child. We are the last family on board & have to insist of having life jackets(which were taken up by the other tourists). Saw lots of construction & improvement work along the river - mainly to improve on the looks & make walking possible. The cruise is neither informative nor interesting. But it does give a quick glimpse into Melaka history along the river.

We are not avid shoppers, but we do love to visit local supermarkets when we travel. We went to 3 supermarkets - Giant, Carrefour & Jusco during our trip. Nothing fantastic. Brought MILO & lots of tibits. (Mamee which is their local product)

Self drive to Melaka

Drove up Melaka & stayed for 3D2N.

We started off from home @ 7.30am. Cleared the immigration by 9.00 am @ Tuas. Slight congestion, but tolerable journey. Both husband & I were a little anxious as it is our first self drive all the way to Melaka. But with the help of the research done via internet, we managed.

The journey was smooth, we only had one stop (somewhere after Yong Peng) for snack & toilet break. The children slept through half of the journey. This helps to make the journey pleasant - at least I need not 'entertain' them much.

We were lucky to be able to check -in Holiday Inn Melaka @ 12 noon as the 2 deluxe rooms I booked via their website are avaialable. We got 2 super-single beds in both rooms with city view. If I want a king bed, which are all straits facing, I need to pay more (RM $50 excluding govt tax).

We have 1 room with bathtub & the other with standing shower only. Both rooms are spacious. In fact I had only 1 room that accommodate all the 4 of us on the second night. The package comes with free breakfast & free internet access. Read somewhere in the net that the breakfast is not great. I find it ok. We ae spolit with choices - a spread of local food, bread & cheese (at least 6 varities), cereals (4 types), fresh & soya milk, and 3 diiferent type of juices. My favourite is the pink guava. The resturant is generous with their tea & coffee serving in a big mug, not those cup & saucer .

The spacious room, our HQ in Melaka

Went to Jonker street after check-in. Headed to Chung Hwa, a coffeeshop that specialised in the famous chicken rice ball. But there was a Q - about 10+ persons waiting for their turn to try out the rice ball under the sorching sun. We went to Famosa Chicken rice ball resturant @ Jonker Street instead. They have several branches in Melaka & alittle touristy too.

Famosa pricey compared to Chung Hwa (which i tried 2 years ago). But we are all famished, paying RM 39 (for half a chicken,small plate of roasted pork, fishball soup, 20 riceballs & drinks) is worthwhile. The resturant thought not air-con but is cooling. We did some exploration of the place which is 2 storey with the type structure of the Straits Chines house.

We are in a strange world

Read this article on Asiaone http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20090205-119759.html

The husband ignored wife's plead for help when she met a pervert, he even refused to appeared in court as witness.

The husband may be pre-occupied and operates in a zombie mode when the incident happened, thus unable to respond appropriately - rescuing wife from the pervert. But how does one explains his refusal to appear in court as a witness? Very strange.

Lunar New Year again

Besides the bad the 'bad' luck I wrote about, this Ox year is special because the 001 family had a rare reunion in Singapore. My mother-in-law (MIL) and brother-in-law (BIL)came down to Singapore with his family on the first day of Ox year.

The last time I saw them was about 2 years ago. Although my husband went back to Penang yearly (once to twice annually) children and me are 'rare guests' to his hometown. There are several contributing factors to our infrequent visits. Bryan has motion sickness, it is difficult for him to endure the 8-hours long journey by coach. Taking a plane, can easily cost us about $400 per person. Somehow having to spend that amount for an hour flight is too expensive, adding lesser than $100 I can fly to Bankok or Hong Kong. The budget airline does not quite in bringing the cost down as SIN to Penang route is still exclusively for MAS & SIA. Bringing the whole family to Senai & fly with Air Asia to Penang is far too troublesome.

We had Indian curry fishhead in Little India on the first night. Let the children tried out the 'Paper Dosa'. We saw how the various type of Dosa were made throught the glass panel that oversees the kitchen.

On the third night we went for 'lor hei' & seafood @ Palm Beach Resturant. Foods are yummy - especially the crabs. We ordered 2 different type - one is their signature dish chillies crab & the other is the crab fried with salted eggs. My personal favourite is the special Lunar New Year Fried Rice. It is like what the Cantonese 'luck mei fun'. It tastes like the famous claypot rice without the chicken chunks.

Lunar New Year

The Ox year has so far proven to be bad for the family.



Husband has been unwell since the sixth day of the Ox year.

Daughter is disgnosed with acute bronchiatisis on the fourth day after more 6 hours of wait with her ususal GP & KKH A&E. She is prescribed with 5-days steroids.

Dental Emergency

While I was enjoying my lunch yesterday, my molar chipped off, off came my filling too. For a moment I was stunned, not knowing what to do. Then I went through a frantic search of dentist who is available (my usual dentist can only gives Thur afternoon as the earliest appt). I managed to get one after 1 hour search via phone.




My lucky star must be shinning on that day. The dentist assessed my tooth & told me that the tooth was beyond savage - the decay is deep to its root. Not quite a tough decision - extraction is the only way to go. But what's next after extraction?



Option 1 Conventional denture to replace the missing tooth.



Option 2 Bridging



Option 3 Leave it alone.





I was given 4-6 weeks to ponder on the 3 options- allowing the gum to heal from the trauma of extraction. That molar broke into 4 parts before it is completely removed. I was praying very hard while I sat on the dentist chair for the ordeal to be over asap. One consolation is that the dentist is very reassuring, that kinda make me less nervous.



This dental emergency is actually my fault. My tooth had given me signals one year ago, but I buried my head under the ground, refusing to acknowledge the problem. IF ONLY I had act earlier, perhaps I would be able to save my tooth.



Price I paid for this lesson: $125 on this treatment + $12 on taxi + loss of one tooth + $2000 on dental bridge.



So lesson learnt : Procrastination is a NO NO when it comes to dental problem.

Struggle of a parent

Bryan has been managing his school work with minimum help from parents for the past 4 years.

Until last year, he did fairly well. Last year he showed signs of having difficulty to cope with his work alone. Husband & me tried to coach him whenever we can. I am able to coach him on languages, whereas husband is able to guide him on Maths & Science. Do we really need a private tutor?? But like all other working parents , we are often too tired and too impatient.



In addition he is already very busy coping with school homework, badminton pratices (he is in school team) & dealing with his prefect's duties (helping discipline master to uphold law & oreder; involving in school newsletters publication) Alot of time, I can't help but feel bad in having to push him further in his academic study.



Afetr much internal struggle & counless discussion, we decided to give private tuition a try. I was all preapared for a full blown heated argument from Bryan, who is ever ready to speak his mind on issues he feels strongly. Surprisingly he did not argue against the idea. He just said 'OK lor." He is getting his first private tuition after Lunar New year.

Husband and me agreed to give private tuition a try till June, then we would review on its effectiveness. To think that he is only P5, I'm so stressed over his study, wonder how much can I endure as he goes further. Also there is Bernice to worry about when she enters P1 in 2010.

Lizard commited suicide ?

I was half asleep when I reached my workplace - one of the many 'offices' I've.

A lizard with its tail separated from its body landed on the phone. My. my. I instantly 'woke up'

Luckily the creature did not land on any part of my body, otherwise I would have taken urgent to go home to bathe. Supected that the lizard dropped out from the air-con unit.



Just about a month ago, I killed a huge cockroach in the same room. And spotted another one the following week, did not manage to kill it as it ran to the next room. Informed the administrator to send in the pest control team. Imagine this is a healthcare setting. What would the public/ patient react if these pests made their appearance during their presence??

New kid on the blog

This is my first try in blogging. Had read some interesting blogs since end of 2007. Often envy bloggers who are willing and able to share their view and experience so easily. So I made a new year year resoluation this year - to try blogging. Here I am.