Chinese

Been catching Chinese variety shows on and off over the last few years and more in the past year or so. Wonder if it improved my spoken Mandarin or not...hmm. 

It's a lovely language.
Don't know how to describe it. How different words can be combined together to provide a certain feel. 

===========================

Anyway, N's been "invited" to attend Chinese curriculum support. It's only week 3 of the new school term. In the teacher's words "It's to encourage the child to improve". In most kids' mind, it means "I'm not good enough in this subject and that's why I need curriculum support." 

K spoke to the teacher and came away not feeling too happy about things. She couldn't fully articulate why N was shortlisted and whether N's standard was really that lacking. Felt very arbitrary to us. We are perplexed. The teacher mentioned her score for the year-end exams last year. She scored 81 leh?! Above 80 & still selected for curriculum support? 

We don't get it. 6 in her class have to attend these curriculum support lessons for Chinese. Means what? only these 6 scored below a certain mark? Means what? 80% of her class scored 85 or 90 & above meh? 

The teacher also told K "If you think she has many other committments and cannot attend the support lessons, it's also ok. She can skip." Err....then why have the support lessons in the first place? Messaging seems disjointed. 

Anyway, water under the bridge also. Don't think it's something we can opt out of. She'll just have to bite the bullet and go through with it. Luckily the lessons seem to average out only once a month and it's just for 45mins. (Which begs the question.....once a month at 45mins each lesson....enough to provide additional support to a child?)

病了

Felt off on Tuesday night while sleeping...nose stuck, woke twice, once feeling cold and once feeling warm. 

Was ok when I woke. Went to office. 

Got home in the late afternoon and felt feverish. 

By dinner time I was 38C and achey. 

The show must go on...things still need to be settled....system go-live date is something we cannot change

Laoniang 累了

Sibei Zuay Ming Gia Zoh.....

I can only suck it up and try to keep moving forward. 

My team is down by 2 pax and we're dealing with 2 folks from other teams who are draining our patience and energy. 

Ganbatte to Val & I...!!!

Piangzz

is when

you only realise at the end of the day when you get home from work....

that in the morning, you forgot to

blend in that blob of concealer you slapped on a zit on your forehead

and you threw powder foundation over it...

which made it cake up a little.

and so you were walking around the entire day with that small cakey patch on your forehead

maybe no one noticed

I hope no one noticed haha

But the girls did

When I got home and sat down at the dining table with them...

That was the first thing they pointed out to me. 

note to self: be more awake in the morning

Reminder to Self

Growth Mindset

Growth Mindset

Growth Mindset

View challenges as opportunities and learning experiences

I can't do it...yet. But I will learn how to and eventually I will be able to.

Keep going. 

大姨妈

Confirm Big Auntie coming. Just don't know when. 

Bloating, soreness, tummy ache and....I'm tearing while sitting at my office desk. Emo like shit lol. 

18 Jan

We had a video call with her as usual around 7plus SG time (10-plus Sydney time). She was abit more emotional compared to past evenings and seemed a little down. I guess tiredness and homesickness were kicking in. 

She teared up abit in the midst of our call but perked up slightly when we distracted her with questions about her day, what street food she had when they went exploring a "night market" area, etc.

I guess the excitement in the first couple of days was wearing off already lol. 

Firsts

13 Jan night. K, Peanut & I were at the airport at night to send Nadya off on her dance training trip. It's her first trip abroad without us. I was excited but also apprehensive/worried.

I only found out at the airport that there were only 6 girls going and all were her peers i.e. all of them are in P5 this year. 

Sunday was a day of excitement and nerves as all parents waited for updates from the girls. We were all in a group chat and updates started trickling in in the late morning. That they arrived safe & sound, that they were on the way to the serviced apartment, that they were going to head out for a meal and to the supermarket, etc.

We didn't hear a peep from N though lol. I was a little disappointed and thought she forgot to update us. Lo & behold at 5pm SG time, 8pm Sydney time (i.e. 7 hours after they arrived), a whole bunch of texts  and photos suddenly flooded our family WA chat group. Things like "Landed!" and "On the way to apartment!" came in...so she did update us! Just that the texts were somehow delayed for a loooong time. 

We've managed to have video calls with her each night so far. Said she was homesick yesterday morning and felt like crying. Hugsss little girl...you can do it!!

Spent close to an hour last evening on a video call with her. Her luggage's built-in combination lock couldn't be opened. It was somehow jammed up. K guided her teacher to no avail. Finally, the both of them decided to cut through the lock. He gave tips & pointers virtually, and the teacher used her Swiss Army knife to cut through some of the lock's mechanism. Kudos to her for managing to do so!! Really thankful.

It was an old old luggage but one that K treasured. No choice....

So now she's got no luggage to bring back. The teacher will try to get a duffel bag for her with a manual padlock. We'll see how it goes. 

Peanut

The peanut is sick. Fever and she vomited on 2 occasions yesterday. 

She's sad that she couldn't go to school today. Apparently their Science teacher was going to bring them to the Science laboratory today and she really wanted to see how the lab looks like. 

Told her last night that she'll have many other opportunities to go to the lab in the future, and not to FOMO about it too much haha. 

Nadya had fever on Monday last week and had some nausea. K had fever earlier this week. I hope I'll be ok. Tummy's not doing too good these few days too...but laoniang will hang on!!!

Hwaiting Lim family!!

Update

Just heard from Parwin that she had a recent fall. Her knees are in bad shape partly due to old injuries and the recent fall. We were supposed to catch up for a 2nd round on the 26th cos our previous meet-up in December ended up being slightly rushed. 

The 26th has been shelved, and might be for awhile since she's slated to go for surgeries on both knees, likely one after another with a few months gap in between. Wishing her all the best...

A little depressing to keep hearing of not-so-good health-related news from friends & family. The Rabbit year seems a little less kind to various folks. I hope for a better Dragon year ahead. 

Dai-lou

Just found out that Ryan's going for a triple-bypass tomorrow. Glad I reached out to him today to check on him and he informed me about it. 

A triple-bypass is darn major and I sincerely pray that it'll be a smooth and successful operation for him. May his recovery be smooth and fast too. 

He's 49 and seems quite young to me to be undergoing such a major heart procedure. 

Take care Ah-Tan! You'll always be the dai-lou we can rely on for rubbish jokes and sound business/technical processes. 

Nadya & many firsts

Nadya’s going on a trip to Sydney this coming Sunday with her ballet friends and some teachers from their ballet school. It’ll be an intensive 5-day training at The McDonald College. 

I was hesitant to let her go but we decided to go ahead anyway. It’ll be her first time taking the plane without us, and her first time taking care of herself for a whole week (and overseas somemore!).

I pray for a safe, smooth and fruitful week for her.

I hope I didn’t nag too much or remind too much and I hope she remembers what we’ve told her so far:

• Stay with the group, don’t wander off on your own.
• Drink water regularly.
• Keep warm. Cover up well at night in the aircon room.
• Handle your belongings well and don’t lose things. 
• Sleep on the flight there! (2am red-eye flight.)
• Make sure you get enough rest!

We just gave her a phone on Sunday evening and K gave her a crash course on how to use Whatsapp, how to connect to WIFI, how to check her email, how to call using various methods, etc. 

I know this is an invaluable experience for her and I am excited for her….

At the same time, I am also worried and apprehensive.

I hope she doesn’t have to catch up too much on homework and studies when she gets back from Sydney after a whole week there.

Fingers crossed.

Laundry & ironing will probably be madness too when she gets back (including having to handwash 3 sets of ballet leotards & tights) lol…

Xmas Day Brekkie

Alyssa was the mastermind and planned things several weeks in advance. It was initially supposed to be a secret but she also openly declared that she and Nadya would make breakfast for Mama & Dada on Xmas morning. Lol…

She asked us to buy eggs and sausages, and when D-Day came, K helped both of them out in the kitchen. Sunny-side ups for everyone and sausages too. 😊

Sweetest Xmas Day breakfast ever! 

Glad Alyssa is taking an interest in gardening and cooking, and has no qualms helping around in the house doing chores. She was game about cleaning the toilet bowl too and has helped K out on several occasions. 

Sigh

These comments are starting again.... 

You need to eat more. You’re too thin!
Kenapa gitu kurus?
你是不是又瘦了？为什么啊？你看你的手！I don’t think it’s a good thing you know. You need to eat more.

Sigh. Yes, these comments do get to me. 

I do eat. I eat till I am full. When I am bloated, I can’t eat as much but I still eat. On days my stomach feels better, I eat more. In fact, I eat till I surprise myself.

There is no bloody way I am on a diet. And yes, for the umpteenth time, I am eating, I really am. I take all my meals. I am not skipping anything. Nor am I purposely eating less.

Legoland

We went to Legoland in mid-December. It was a 3D2N trip together with the in-laws.

We hired a 6 seater for the journey to & fro and I think it was a good decision to do so. The rides were comfortable and we could buy groceries & load up the back of the car. And we were picked up & driven back right up to our doorstep. 

It wasn’t a fancy or luxurious trip but it was still a nice time spent with family. I’m glad the girls had fun. I felt a little bad for my MIL though. We stayed at a service apartment opposite the theme park itself and had to walk maybe 600-700 metres over to the theme park. If it were a straight road, I think she’d be ok. There were stairs and escalators that didn’t work though. She had to traverse these on several occasions and I felt bad for her. :(

We took Grab to 2 malls on different occasions and I was amazed (really amazed) at the low cost of Grab rides in JB. A 6-seater during peak period around dinner time cost us around RM$20-22 for a 10/12-min ride. That averages out to be SGD$1 or so per pax only. In SG, that 10-min ride during peak period would cost at least $20-25 for a 4-seater.

MIL went mad at the 2 big grocery stores we went to hahaha. She loaded up on chocs, snacks, CNY cookies, and…more snacks. FIL grabbed his oats and 2-in-1 coffee sachets. K & I found Chips Ahoy there and were overjoyed. We grabbed 3 packs and finished them within 2 weeks after returning back to SG lol.

The girls as usual enjoyed the TV in the room we stayed in, enjoyed the aircon, and enjoyed just being away from home for awhile. They took various rollercoaster rides with K & FIL and were still excitedly talking about the rides the few weeks after we got back home. It was a waste though, it rained heavily on the 2^nd half of the day that we were at the theme park itself. Most rides were closed when it started raining heavily. WE had to seek refuge at a restaurant and stayed there for almost 3hours before we donned ponchos & headed out abit. Shoes & socks were all wet after we “sloshed” around for an hour or so and gave up lol.

Simple and nice trip. Thankful. :)

TY

And so TY has tendered.

Mixed feelings. 

Sad - cos he's not transferring out or anything but quitting & leaving the organisation. After 25 years there. And he's the only 大哥 I have in this organisation. 

Apprehensive - cos we have no idea yet who is taking over him. Whoever it is, we still need to brief him/her again, and understand his/her working style, etc. All over again. This will be the 3rd time in 4 years.....

Slightly happy - cos there's no one to stress us out too much. And some things he told us to do or review...I think we can shelve those items now. ;p

Panicky - cos the major project I am handling with him (where he is the main lead & I am just the pen-holder) is still underway and I have not much idea how to move things forward. Though things have already been set in motion, the administrative tasks ahead are...mind-boggling to say the least. 

Anyway, I wish him all the best...and may he beat the cancer and have it stay beaten. 

Oaty time

In a bid to get more fibre into my system....I've reached out to something I don't usually take nor like.....oats. Haha. 

Tried my hand at making granola yesterday afternoon. And I’d like to think it was a minor success!

The girls loved it! Alyssa requested it for her school snack break and Nadya requested that I pack some for her breakfast this morning. :) Yay, small wins, this mummy feels a little less inadequate now haha.

So the granola tastes pretty nice and has a nice fragrance to it but I guess I don’t quite like the texture of the baked oats. Mostly hard. Though K mentioned this IS how granola is.

I’ll tweak the recipe abit next round. See if I can add some water to the honey/maple syrup/oil mix, let it sit for awhile for the oats to get wet and soften up first, and then bake the whole thing. Saw a recipe online that said this was a way to soften the granola more.

Till the next trial!

Will try to make some simple oat porridge as well. Both savoury & sweet to see which brings more joy to my Aunty tastebuds....:D

My plants

The potting soil & peat moss were delivered yesterday, together with some prosperplast white pots.

Venus Flytrap
So I decided to repot the Venus flytrap. In the original pot, some of the leaves and traps were resting on the damp sphagnum moss and caused them to start rotting. At least I think that’s what I think happened. Decided to repot and place the new medium a little lower so that the leaves & traps are not resting on anything damp. Used a peat moss + perlite mix. Roughly 50-50.

I hope the Venus flytrap survives. I accidentally set off 3 traps though I’m not sure how or why also cos I ensured I didn’t activate any of the nodules/sensors within traps. Read online that I may have stimulated the traps by rubbing their exteriors. Will take note next time. I hope setting off these traps didn’t cause the plant to expend too much of its energy.

Indian Borage
Took the opportunity & time in the balcony to trim down one pit of Indian Borage. I usually trim off the tip and then replant them. One pot down…..3 more to go lol. Need to do them soon cos most of the pots are overgrown or scraggly.

Murraya (Orange Jasmine)
The tiny murraya I got in Dec seems to be doing ok. The clay pot it came in is really small though and I am not sure if I need to report it anytime soon. The plant doesn't seem stable enough yet. I think I may have to wire it down to the pot soon, especially given the recent drafts and big winds...Need to read up how to do so for this small specimen though. It's only 10-12cm tall and the pot's only around 9x4cm maybe (or smaller).

Aloes
The aloes are doing great...I see many babies as well...and babies of babies too. I'm not quite sure what to do with all of them...I've given away many aloe babies. Ex-helper also brought some back to the Philippines few years back. 

Bryophyllum
Enough said lol...I have no idea what t do with all the babies...I keep throwing them away or throwing them onto random grass patches at  my carpark or outside the development. Gave away to friends as well...I seem to have 3 types of ever-growing and ever-multiplying plants haha. 

Water Jasmine Bonsai
It's long overdue....I think I need to repot it but I don't dare to upset anything...I'm afraid too that I'd kill the plant if I repotted it. I don't really have any nice suitable bonsai pot too...That said, it's just there, stable and a little botak, would love it if I could encourage more leaf growth though...

......

The festive & holiday season left me quite exhausted.
Getting presents ready + Getting food ready + late nights + social anxiety +work matters….

It’s the start of the year but I’m feeling tired.

One can only trudge on and keep going.

A thought popped up in my mind the other day…that maybe the theme for 2024 could be “Invest in yourself”. It can be taken in many ways – mentally, physically, emotionally, financially…

Food for thought…