Dong Dong Dong Qiang

And just like that...CNY Days 1 & 2 are over. 

Angpows distributed, angpows collected. Nails painted and now smudged and chipping. Most hee-hee-ha-has are done and some forced smiles and conversations are over. 

Had my fair share of lapis (not enough!) and bak kwa (not enough!) haha...

Had enough of love letters and packet drinks already though...too much sugar in the system liao lol...

Just pining for some quiet time in my corner. 

Too much socialising drains me. Though I am glad I caught up with some relatives...like my not-so-little cuzzie. 

Happy to see that the girls are a little bit more aware of who's who this year. N is doing ok on this aspect and has a clearer picture of the family tree, including extended family and non-blood relatives. A is still struggling a little on this lol. She'll get there slowly over the next few years haha. 

Fighting!!!!!!!!!!!

继续走 

我不愿意被绊倒 

Recent weeks have been challenging. Due to some self-entitled folks. There've been complaints, at least one case a week for the last 4 weeks. 

Today's case brought alot of stress. Really alot of stress cos my stomach was just scrunched up the whole day. The guy complained to the Ministry, to the PS. And now alot of senior management of both ministry and agency are in the loop. Sigh.

I cried twice today. 

Pek chek. 

But.........

继续走 继续走

我不愿意被绊倒 

Feb 2026

And...we're into Feb already. 

2 more weeks to CNY.

CCA starts for Nadya.

And then it'll be sibei hot weather. 

2 camps in March for Alyssa. 

And then....time will probably just fly by again............

Buah Keluak Day

1 Feb was buah keluak day...

The annual family affair since...I don't know when lol. Decades ago...

This year's eventual haul was pretty good I think. 

Parents bought 107 nuts in total. We threw away 22 due to them smelling very rancid or just plain odd. And there were those which had mould in them as well. We managed to get the flesh of 85 nuts, mixed it with fish paste and then managed to fill up 83 nut-shells. 

It was a good result compared to some years (like 2025) where we started out with 100 and only ended up with 70+ filled nuts. 

The guys would typically be the ones to break the nuts. Dad's getting old and can't do it for a long duration. He's get cramped up sitting on the floor and graduated to using a short stool in recent years and now that's a challenge for him too. He only did it for an hour yesterday and then gave up. 

Glad that the next generation is being roped in as well. Cos Marc has now been roped in to break open the nuts. Dad withdrew early from the production line yesterday and Marc continued with it with Adrian. :) 

Of Relatives

And so now....there are a total of 4 aunts who are hospitalised at SGH, in different blocks & wards. 2 closer aunts and 1 distant aunt and 1 family friend whose been around long enough to be considered an aunt of sorts. 

Sigh. It's been a strange few weeks. 

Latest one to be hospitalised is Aunt Teresa. She'd been poorly since after CNY2025 when she suffered from a series of minor strokes. Couple of days ago she had a stroke again and got warded. 

I can't make it to visit them these few days...will probably need to swing by on Saturday or Monday. 

This is.....unprecedented. 

Other aunts & relatives....and my mum...are tiring themselves out trying to show up for these warded folks & running around here & there. 

May all of them get better soon.

Eggs

The other day. I ordered my usual Wok Hey fried rice and added an egg to be stir-fried in. That makes it 3 eggs for that meal. 

When I got home, I realised K had gotten the helper to prepare sunny side-ups to supplement the dinner menu as there wasn't enough dishes. I had 2 eggs.....

Then I realised ALAMAK....I had 5 eggs in all for that day alone....lol. 

Super love eggs! 

Dislike. And bias.

Finding it hard to shake off bias. In the workplace.  

Me, being biased against someone else. And disliking that person to the point that.....I don't want to be at the same lunch table as far as possible...and I try to interact with the person as little as possible. 

The voice alone makes bring irritation to my nerves. 

Not good though. I need to find a way to calm myself down abit. 

Hmm. 

Uncle Robert

Teared a little on the bus this morning. 

Cos Dad told me Uncle Robert passed away yesterday morning on 26 Jan 2026. 

Though it's been more than several years since I last saw him (maybe slightly more than a decade?), I still remember his twinkling eyes, huge guffaws and big grins that reached his eyes. He was never without his moustache and we all thought he looked like an ex-Malaysian minister called Badawi. He also had head of thick fully white hair. Stubborn but loyal. Pretty jovial too. 

He was one of Dad & Mum & my Auntie Molly's old friend from decades ago. They used to hang out quite often till they got too old to do so too frequently. In fact, this bunch of their friends "watched" me grow up. I used to hang out with them once in awhile at Aranda Country Club 30+ years ago when I was a young teenager and when they used to all gather there to dance and listen to the live band there. They would have been in their 40s and 50s (or some in their 60s) and I'd have been 13, 14, 15 yrs old. 

Uncle Robert was 92yrs old. His wife Auntie Mimi was Mum's close friend till they drifted apart a little as she could not meet my mum anymore due to her bad knees and not so good health. She visited me in hospital when I had Nadya...

I hope Auntie Mimi is doing ok....

Rest in peace Uncle Robert. 

It's that season already when you hear of hospital wards, wakes & funerals more than weddings, birthday parties and manyues....

Of poetry and homework

One part of N's English homework today involved a creative assignment. I liked the assignment. So fun!

But it was pek chek trying to guide the teen. All I got was "I dunno! I dunno! Ugh! I dunno!" zzzzz....

She had to write a poem of at least 5 lines, with the first line being a line of lyrics from a song. The other subsequent lines had to be original lines formed by herself. 

Anyway, after much guidance, suggestions, advice from K & I.....

1st line coming from her fav pop song currently "My Happy Ending" by Avril Lavigne....

And voila........an emo, slightly angsty piece!

Don’t leave me hanging

Tangled in my dreams

After all that I’ve done for you

What have you left me

Nothing

But rivers of tears

Work is madness

It's been a hectic 2 days. It will be a hectic week ahead as well I think.

Back to back meetings & discussions for these 2 days. Leaving me with not much time during the day to settle my own work. 

Last minute high-level meeting this afternoon between an international organisation and parent agency's DCE = mad scramble on Mon afternoon preparing talking points, booking meeting room, ordering beverages, handling visitor registration, updating relevant bosses. Thankful Val was around to handle the admin & logistics while I focused on the updates to bosses and drafting up talking points. 

Many bits & pieces of things to settle. Some requiring more thinking, some which were thrown to our team and which I am (very) reluctantly handling. 

Nvm...breathe. 

Just do.........

...............

Mao Bu Yi

Lyrics from "如果有一天我变得很有钱" by 毛不易

如果有一天我变得很有钱
我会买下所有男的一见的笑脸
让所有可怜的孩子不在胆怯
所有邪恶的人不在掌握话语权

Should go read up on his lyrics more if I get the chance. He hangs out with Li Xueqin who is smart & intelligent and quite the intellectual. If they're good friends, I'd assume his mind is pretty great too. 

讲真的

Part of lyrics from 讲真的 by 刘宇宁

讲真的 想得不可得 是最难割舍的

A fact of life but so nicely said...even poetic...when expressed in Chinese words.

Meaningful....

钱

So far we've arranged 4 business trips for our big boss over the course of the last 1-1.5years. 

Each time, he requests to upgrade his flight to business class. Paying for the upgrade out of his own pocket of course. Even a short flight to Hong Kong was on business class. 3.5hrs cannot sit in economy? Hmm...

We calculated. He's spent around $30K over these 4 trips just to upgrade to business class. 

如果他嫌钱多可以捐给我的.......

Jiayou Lady!

New year, new schedules. 

This year, my entire 1st half of the day will be spent at Parkway Parade till 1pm. Alyssa's Math at845am, then groceries, then park myself at foodcourt to wait for her after her class ends, then lunch, then her Science class till this class ends at 1pm. 

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

Was at the foodcourt as usual yesterday morning. Sat at a table next a a Mum, her 8 or 9-yr old daughter, and their helper. 

The mum was oscillating between "frenzied & losing patience"...and "trying to be nice & gentle"...

Could tell from the tone of her voice. I didn't even have to look at her. 

"Can you stop it??!!"

"After this you drink your water ok...." 

"How many times have I told you already?????!!!!!! NO MEANS NO!!!"

"Is the food alright? Not too hot right? If it's hot then you blow ok, I can blow for you too..."

....I feel you lady...Jiayou...! 你可以的！

We're mums, we're all parents, and....we're all schizos too...LOL

Nursing Homes

Been doing nursing home research on & off over the past week. 

Task assigned by mum, for Eema's long-term care plan. 

Small effort on my part. The heavy lifting likely will be undertaken by my Mum....to manage the siblings, relationships, the intricacies of who pays the nursing home fees, scheduling visits in the future, etc.

And she'd probably have to handle the other headache too...how to handle Eema's sworn sister who is having dementia, is very frail, and is very very attached to Eema... 

Jiayou

It's only Tuesday. I feel like a week has gone by already. 

1 staff down. hospitalised, then discharged with 1 week HL. Now her kid is hospitalised too and told me she can't be online anytime soon. 

Both schools still spamming us with things to do to get the kids ready for the rest of the school year. MIMS account set up, SLS stuff, CCA stuff, each subject teacher has their own preferences for certain things to be done and they communicate to parents in different styles as well...

Both girls wanting that special talk time before bed...not openly asking but you can sort of tell they enjoy or appreciate it...

Various texts from parent class/school groups...

Various texts from friends and/or colleagues...

Various texts from family...

Boss on AL and need to cover...staff on HL and need to cover...

One more staff seems to be sick but trying to hang on. Another staff on AL in London. 

Aunt hospitalised. Mum giving updates. I try to be there in a supportive role and call my mum with the intention of having quick updates only to get inundated with long stories. I try to cut her story-telling and guide her with short, sharp to the point questions and it helps a little. Else the 30-mins conversation I had tonight would have been 1hr. 

Need to research on nursing homes now and pass my mum some info. 

Lower back is better today but ached slightly on the bus when I had to shift position a little. Still doing my physio every day since 7 Jan. 

BREATHE....

BREATHE......

BREATHE.......

Eema's hospitalisation

This whole episode of Eema being hospitalised has various dramatic moments....

Including things like relatives losing patience with each other...

And an Aunt throwing away Eema's torn blouse, not knowing that her gold chain was in the blouse pocket...then having to dig through trash to retrieve said blouse and finally managing to find the gold chain )thankfully). 

And....the plot thickens.......

Aunt Violet, Eema's sworn sister, stays with her and is very reliant on Eema. Violet has dementia, is only  fully lucid at certain times and has very weak legs...She went missing from her house this morning...Relatives suspect she left home to find Eema....

Been 2hours with no news...Hope she is found soon. 

Ramblings

And just like this, a week has gone by in 2026. 

It was a flurry of work, checking various texts & notifications from both parent chat groups and school announcements for both kids, and checking various texts and updates from staff. 

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

I did well during the Paris-London trip and did not take any Omeprazole. 

I think I had to take it several during this week already. The moment I started work. 

Pray tell......am I stressed out by work? Lol...

 

Eema

8 Jan - Aunt Eema had apparently fallen twice in her home on this night but refused to be taken to the hospital despite her housemates' advice. 

9 Jan - She felt unwell. The story is unclear to me but my mum is not in Singapore and she is usually the first person Eema calls. Somehow my older uncle knew about her situation and called my brother up. He arranged for an ambulance and she was sent to the hospital. 

Visited her on Saturday. She was in a neck brace and said her legs hurt. She was tubed up and dosed with antibiotics because she apparently had lung infection and pneumonia and was running a fever when she was sent in. More MRI and tests are to follow on Monday again. 

Glad that at least she is in hospital where professionals are around to keep an eye on her. Glad too that her mind is lucid, and she could even tease me about me having white hair despite me being "young". 

I hope she gets well soon and there is nothing else that shows up after all her test results come in. 

She's led a hardworking life and has always been quiet but strong and resilient. She cares about all her nieces and nephews and used to pray for all of us and get 平安福 amulets for us each year till a few years back. 

88 years old. May she stay strong and have many more years to come. 

2025 was another year of ups & downs

Work

• There were some high intense periods like GE, higher profile cases involving establishments and folks that I cannot name here, meetups/issues with international organisations, end-user complaints)
• There were frustrating issues from self-entitled customers to incompetent colleagues and staff who test your patience ever so often
• Still, very thankful for a bunch of other colleagues & teammates who are competent, kind & very helpful, smart and work well with me
• Also thankful for a patient boss

Family

• N's PSLE took centrestage, while her P6 was less intense than her P5, the revisions & enrichment lessons were still challenging enough. K put in alot of effort to coach her. N got Star Pupil in her last term in class! What a nice way to end her primary school journey!
• A's growth in her P4 journey was wonderful, with her getting recognised by her teachers & getting an Inspiring Leader award at the end of the year. I hope she continues to shine in her studies as well as her prefect & Brownies pursuits.
• Time was spent in the initial months adjusting to life in a new environment. Groceries and meal planning again became priority items each week. Disputes here & there, discomfort here & there. Some stress for me here & there. But I guess nothing too major to bring me down.
• Kept up with the weekly Saturday dinners at Sandy Palm. 
• Relationships with the girls are evolving, especially with the older one. Frosty at times, warm as toast at other times...I need to figure it out how to get along with the tween/teen better...
• Thankful still for family. I know they have my back. 

Friendships

• Thankful for friendships at work who have made things more bearable and manageable. Lunch chats bordering on the boliao and ridiculous sometimes crack us up so badly we tear up and get odd looks from other teams at the pantry cos we make too much noise lol.
• Evolving friendships...kept up with some...thankful for those still around. Learning to let go a little of others who may not be around for whatever reasons there may be.

Self

• Not walking or exercising enough for sure, need to up this...
• Food intake & diet has probably improved and I put on some weight as well. Stomach still has its up & down periods but at least I don't lose much weight the moment I hit a down period. Probiotics, Gaviscon and Omeprazol are still in the picture from time to time to help me manage if needed.
• Major challenge & major breakthrough this year. Conquered the long flight to Paris. Felt uneasy with the narrower & more claustrophobic trains in Paris and London but survived them nonetheless. I feel more confident taking the trains in SG now and have done some longer journeys on the train on my own since we got back from overseas. Next thing to try will be taking the train during peak hour. 
• There's increasing tiredness and to a certain extent...apathy. Usually at work, at times on the personal front. Not sure why....