Back from Penang!

Hihi! Came back almost a week from Penang...
The journey there was very long - 10 hours on a coach.


This is the Ice Kachang, Penang-style.
It has lots of "stuffs" beneath the ice and a scoop of ice cream on top.


This is known as the Coconut Shake.
It contains real coconut juice and flesh, but the "milk" taste is stronger than the "coconut". It also has a scoop of ice cream in it. It tastes great and I actually gulped down two glasses of it. Yummy!

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This is Yu Hong at the Dim Sum restaurant along one of the small lanes in Georgetown.
He was sleeping when we reached there. When he woke up, he did not want to eat. Haiz...

Notice to ALL

The KiNG would like to inform that he will be away to Penang from 11 November to 14 November, both dates inclusive.

Movie : Sing to the Dawn

Yesterday, I went to Vivo City with my boy to watch "Sing to the Dawn". Don't know why he was so fascinated by the story. We even bought the graphic novel of the story last week at a bookshop. I have not read the story before, but I find the story very interesting.

This story was actually a literature text many years ago. It was even tested in the 'O' Level Literature examination. Mine was 'Or Else, the Lightning God' by Catherine Lim. I like her book very much. I still remember some of her stories in the book. There are a number of stories in that storybook. It was tested during the 'O' Level examination.

Anyway, you may want to visit this website for more information on that story.

http://www.singtothedawn.com/

A Visit to the Dentist

Yesterday morning, after taking my son to his nursery class, I went to make an appointment with the dentist. There were not many people in the clinic at that time, so I decided to have my appointment on that day. The wait was not too long as there were two dentists in that clinic. Apparently, the clinic was opened by a family of dentists.

I had not been to the clinic for ages. It was my first time visiting that clinic. The dentist was very professional as she explained every step she made and the condition of my teeth. She also told me the latest dental trend of filling up the cavities. Instead of drilling a big "hole" at the tooth, only the "damaged" part is drilled and filled. She found a tiny crack line on one of my wisdom teeth. I had scaling and two fillings done. That cost me $151! $55 for the scaling and $48 for each filling. She advised me to visit the dentist every 6 months to make sure the teeth and gum are in the tip-top condition. She said my teeth were in good condition.

She took about 45 minutes in all. :)

Clock has STOPPED!

This morning, at around 12.15, the new clock, which my sister-in-law has bought, stopped moving. How would I know the time? Let you guess. Anyway, she just bought it three days ago. It wasn't one of those made-in-China stuffs (no bias against it). Anyway, it was made in Japan and cost about 14 times more than the one I bought ($1.90).

Forgot to mention about the fault with the clock. It wasn't the faulty mechanism, but it was the ants! The ants went into the clock mechanism and jammed the gears of the clock. That caused the clock to stop. The shop lady was kind enough to remove the ants from the clock free-of-charge. I just got back the clock.

The lady advised me to spray some insecticide before hanging up the clock. That will prevent the ants from getting into the clock.

I'm PINK again!

I think I have recovered from that awful stomach flu. Why does stomach have flu? Weird! I think I still have to abstain from tea and coffee for a while. I have avoided oily food as much as I can. So far, there is no necessity to take that "vomit" medicine the doctor prescribed.

Thanks for those people who have sent me their regards.

I have fallen ill!

Yesterday morning, I was still feeling well and eating well. I even braved through one heavy downpour. I wonder if that was the cause of my illness. I started to feel weak after my tuition session with a boy. He was still recovering from his illness. He had fever the week before and was still having flu. I felt so weak and could hardly move my body. I felt so cold. That was when I realised that I had fallen sick.

I slept early last night. Could not eat much as my stomach was bloated even before eating. This morning, I went to see a doctor after taking my son to his nursery class. The doctor told me that I had stomach flu! Oh my, that is one of the worst illnesses. I have to abstain from oily food, coffee and tea. This illness will usually get worse before you will get better. Now, I don't feel like doing anything at all.

I better rest. Signing off.

End of ICT

Finally, today is the last day of my ICT.
Took my IPPT this morning.
I think I got a Silver this time. :D

5th Day of ICT

Today is my fifth day of ICT. Something unpleasant happened today. I shall not mention it. Anyway, I managed to complete my first round of my study for my professional knowledge examination. I need to answer over a hundred questions in that examination. I drank coffee to keep myself awake while fighting the Z-monster(if you know what it is). I lost a few battles though. :P

Yesterday, I got back my result for my blood test. I am a little high in cholesterol and in the bad cholesterol. There are basically two types of cholesterol - one good and the other bad. The doctor advised me to cut down on my consumption of fried and oily food. Also, I would need to exercise regularly.

Second Day of ICT

Today is my second day of my ICT (In-Camp-Training).

Yesterday, I was at the cookhouse having my lunch when my junior waved at me. She literally waved her hand in front of me! I was surprised to see her looking so much different from the last time I met her. Someone told me that it was because she had given birth to two kids.

Today, I only studied a bit for my Professional Knowledge Examination. Luckily, they put the exam date on next Thursday. I still have some time to study. My IPPT (Individual Physical Proficiency Test) date is next Friday. I have not been running although I have always walked up the stairs to my tuition centre. I hope that helps. :D

There was a blood donation drive in my camp today but I did not go for it. I was still having my phobia since the last needle went through my skin! Tomorrow, I will be reporting to another camp in Lim Chu Kang.

An Adventure to the Medical Centre!

I wanted to blog about my "adventure" to medical centre yesterday, but I was too busy to do it. Let me show you two pictures of my poor arms with plasters. I have not taken any pictures after taking off the plasters. Maybe next time when I blog.

Yesterday morning, I went down to my army camp for my medical appointment. It was my FFI for IPPT. I cannot remember what 'FFI' stands for, but I do remember 'IPPT' stands for Individual Physical Proficiency Test, similar to NAPFA test in schools.

My appointment was supposed to be 8am but I did tell the sergeant who booked the appointment on my behalf that I could only reach there around 9am. He said it was alright. Anyway, I reached the guard room slightly after 8.30am. I exchanged my identity card for a security pass to enter the camp. Also, I requested for a locker to keep my mobile phone which had a camera function. Camera phones are not allowed into all army camps and installations. I got the lucky 13 locker. The locker number was '13'. So lucky! I remembered my security pass number was 260.

So much for the numbers. I drove into the camp and parked near the medical centre. I entered the centre and registered myself at the registration counter. The place was smelt of a scent which you could find in any hospital.

Anyway, after I registered my name with the counter, I was told to wait at the waiting area outside the treatment room and the consultation room. I was given the registration form, but I realised there was no queue number written on it. There was no one else there, so I expected to have my turn very soon. A minute later, a high-ranking officer (LTC) came and sat at the waiting area too. He was quickly shown into the treatment room. Very efficient of them. After he left, I was still waiting for my turn and watching the news on the television. Then, I saw a number flashing outside the treatment room. The number was '505'. It looked so familiar. I looked around me. There was no one around except me. I was wondering if the number was for me. The same number flashed. Was it for me? Just as I was still wondering, a medic in uniform walked towards me and asked for my name. It was my turn! I was told that the last three digits of identity card number would be flashed as the queue number.

After I entered the treatment room, I sat down and the medic proceeded to draw blood from my right master arm. He followed some procedure to locate the blood veins in my right arm. Finally, he got ready the syringe, which was quite big, to draw blood. I was a little scared of the needle as it was quite long. He poked the needle through my arm and tried to draw the blood, but no blood went into the syringe. He tried to move the needle around (Mind you, the needle was still under the skin of my arm). After a few attempts of trying to "poke" the vein, he gave up and a medic sergeant took over from him. He tried, with no avail, on my left arm and later my right arm to draw the blood. The medic sergeant asked me whether I was afraid of needles. I was thinking who weren't be afraid after three needles went through the skin! I put up a brave front and replied that I was a little 'scared'. After that last attempt, my two arms were already punctured with three 'holes'. Blood was oozing from the 'wounds' on my arms. The two medics then decided to call the doctor for assistance. The doctor was attending to a patient in the consultation room next door. We waited for about ten minutes before the doctor came.

Dr Chia, I remembered, was 'more professional', obviously. Initially, the medic wanted to use 'vacutainer' to draw the blood. The 'vacutainer' seemed to be a better and sure way of drawing blood. It makes use of 'vacuum' in the container to draw the blood. The doctor chose the syringe instead. He was quick to find the blood veins and drew the required amount of blood in no time.

Foreign Workers

Yesterday, I had three new "students" from Myanmar and Indian. Actually, the two Myanmar students I had came last week. I understood from them that they actually paid their agent(who brought them to Singapore) a sum of $4000. I think that includes their air tickets to Singapore. The other Indian man, in his twenties, came only two days ago.I found out from him that he paid $6500 to his agent for the trip to Singapore. That was a lot more than that of Myanmar's. Two years ago, another Indian man said he paid $4000 to his agent for the trip to Singapore. I guess the price has gone up.

Through the conversations, I learned more about them and their countries. Anyway, Kyaw Moe and Aung, who were from Myanmar, were working as shoemaker and dentist respectively. Kyaw Moe was 33 year-old while Aung was only 24 year-old. Kyaw Moe had just married for only 4 days before he left his country for Singapore. Aung, on the other hand, was married with a year-old daughter. They were not earning much in their country. Aung was previously working as a dentist in a government hospital and earning about S$100 a month. Leaving their country and families, they came to seek better job with better pay. I heard from them that they will get about $34 a day if they work for at least 4 hours in a day. If not, they will be paid $4 an hour. They will not be paid if they do not work.

The new Indian man, Rajeshkannan, intended to work for two years before going back to his country to get married. Two others, Bala and Muthu, who has worked between 2 to 7 years, are getting married next year. Bala and another Indian worker, Raja, have just gotten their Permanent Resident(PR) status. That means they do not need to apply for work permit to work in Singapore.

I guess life in Singapore is not as easy as they think. Though they are earning more money than what they would get in their own countries, they are 'separated' from their families and children. Some are seeking a better place to settle down after they get their PR. I understand from them that one has to work for at least 2 years to apply.

Tuition

It's the third week giving tuition to some foreign workers. Some from India while the rest are from Malaysia. The youngest was 23 years old. (I remember). The oldest was more than fifty years old. He didn't tell me his exact age. I have never expected to have a student as old as fifty-plus.

It was a different kind of experience teaching adults. They were definitely different from the kids I taught. Different from Secondary students too! At first, it was only a class of five students. I was the oldest then. In the second week, more students came in to join the class. The class was very quiet. They didn't talk much. The Indians were better at the English Language as they had learnt it when they were in India. They were pretty 'well-educated' as most studied up to university level. They were all from Southern India and came to Singapore to work as Aircon Servicemen. Sometimes, they had to do other odd jobs like cleaning and other labour work.

Happy National Day!

Hihi! I went to watch the fireworks and aerial display near the Marina Bay during the NDP Preview the week before. The aerial display was taken in a carpark in Shaw Tower. I didn't know that you could see the display so well at the top storey of the carpark. But I don't think you could see the fireworks as there are other buildings blocking the view.

National Parade 2008 Preview

Hello everyone...!

These photographs are for Don, The Spammer! He is one of the pupils I taught in a school that is so HIPS lor. Maybe you would guess which school he is from.

Anyway, he didn't believe that I was invited to the Istana. So, I have to take pictures of the invitation card and the uniform that I wore that day. I was a little busy, so I only waited till today to post it on my blog.

Presidential Garden Reception

The visit to the Istana yesterday was quite an eye-opening. My reporting station was at the Environment Building along Scotts Road and I was to report there between 4pm and 5pm. I reached the place at around 4.40pm.

Once I reached there, I had to queue up at the registration counter to verify my identification and obtain a security pass to enter the Istana. After I got my pass, I needed to join another queue for the security check. We were like entering the airport security checkpoint as we needed to declare all metal objects and any form of liquid that we carried. That was quite a long queue but the police officers were quite efficient and I was cleared within fifteen minutes. I then boarded a mini-bus and I was on my way to the Istana. The journey was pretty smooth and short. I entered the Istana through another gate - not the one I expected. I thought I would enter the Istana through the main gate next to Plaza Singapura. That's along Orchard Road if you do not know.

There was a number of trees in the Istana compound. There was also a good view of the city skyscrapers within the compound. It was unfortunate that no photography was allowed in the Istana, so I did not manage to take any picture. The Garden in the Istana was round in shape and was quite big. There were a few huge tents set up within the Garden to house the buffet tables. There was a big spread of buffet in the tents and some high tables around the Garden. Most of the guests at the Garden were grouped according to their respective forces. I was surprised to meet one of my old classmates from my primary and secondary schools. He was Martin, an officer in the Navy before he left the service. We had a good chat and ate good food at the Garden Reception.

The President arrived shortly after the arrival of a few ministers and senior officers. The minister who came to our tent first was Mr Ng Eng Hen, Minister of Education. He was friendly and he mingled with the guests at the tent. He shook hands and chatted with them. A few minutes later, he was ushered to the other tents by his accompanying officers. Another minister then came to the tent. The last person to come was the President himself. When he arrived, many guests swarmed towards him to shake hands with him. I was holding on to my BIG plate of food so I did not manage to shake hands with him. The plate was really heavy as it was made of porcelain. The food was definitely wonderful and I ate to my fill.

About an hour later, it was time for the President to take his leave. The National Anthem was played before he left. Shortly after he left, it was our turn to leave the Istana. An announcement was made for the guests to board the bus at the drop-off points. This time, we took the large buses from SBS and SMRT. The bus I took left the Istana through the main gate along Orchard Road. We were dropped off at the bus-stop opposite Newton MRT Station, which was near the Environment Building.

Presidential Garden Reception 2008

Hi, remember I told you that I was invited to the Presidential Garden Reception 2008? Well, there is actually a website dedicated for that occasion. You can go to the website at this address : http://www.mindef.gov.sg/pgr

I have not blogged for a long time. Same excuse - busy and lazy. :P

Busy HolidaY.

Sorry, I couldn't find time to blog. Honestly, I was made to blog now by a BEE! It's a Honey Bee which goes around buzzing people to blog. I am one of the victims! I always thought the job of the Honey Bee was to go to flowers to flowers to collect nectar to make honey.

Anyway, I was as busy as a bee, going to schools in the morning and tuition in the afternoon till evening. During the last four days, I conducted enrichment classes in the tuition centre I am working in. Finally, I have one morning "free" to blog and do other stuffs. Next week, I will be back to school again for the whole week! Guess I will another busy week ahead.


You can see all the children lining up for Mrs Teh's delicious spaghetti.

It was the last day of the enrichment programme yesterday. Mrs Teh, another teacher in the centre, cooked some nice food,like spaghetti and pasta, for the kids. She is such a wonderful teacher and fabulous chef. I enjoy her very interesting life stories when we chats during our free time. :D

By Keith Lin

BECOME an engineer in the manufacturing sector and you can expect, on average, a starting pay of $4,000 a month.

While a less princely sum may await you if you are less qualified, the sweet news is you can pick and choose from a long list of vacancies in a wide variety of jobs, according to a new online career guide.

Produced by the Government, it has been praised by headhunters like Ms Annie Yap as a one-of-a-kind comprehensive guide.

The 35-page guide, called Labour Market Highlights, identifies specific jobs and how much they pay, as well as the specific skills or qualifications that each requires.

Targeted at adult job-seekers, the guide also uses colour codes to indicate the chances of getting hired for a particular job.

It is updated whenever new information is available from surveys like the annual wage survey that is conducted by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

Job-seekers would not be the only group that will find it useful, said Ms Yap, chief executive officer of human resources consultancy GMP.

'Employers, too, can also refer to it when deciding how much to pay their staff to retain them,'' she added.

The guide, available at www.mom.gov.sg, is produced by MOM and the Workforce Development Agency as part of the Government's effort to ease the labour crunch by opening the eyes of job-seekers to a wider range of job opportunities.

It was launched by Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong yesterday, and is one of two guides the Government has produced this year to help job-seekers chart their careers.

The other, introduced in February, is Career Compass for students. Also available online, it is to help them better understand the job market so that they can pursue the appropriate courses.

The latest publication lists more than 120 executive and rank-and-file jobs in 11 sectors such as construction, retail and logistics.

Each job shows the number of vacancies, with colour codes depicting the extent of the demand.

For instance, hot jobs, like technicians in the construction industry, have a blazing-red circle next to it.

Next in line are jobs in high demand, shown with a yellow sign, and those in average demand, in green.

The guide also gives a broad overview for each sector, describing the industry outlook and estimated number of jobs it will create in the years ahead.

The making of Mother's Day Card

I am invited to the Istana!

I received great news today! I was invited to the Istana for a reception by the President himself. Wow! Isn't that great? It's my first time going to the Istana. I hope it was not a prank call by somebody. He told me that he would send me the invitation. I think I needed to fill up some forms before I could go. Well, it's for security purpose. Not everyone can go to Istana, you know. :P

HFMD

Thursday, 17th April

I took my son to his nursery at the usual time. We met the grandmother of one of his classmates on our way. We thought we were very late that morning, but the grandmother said that she came back because the mother was there with her grand-daughter. As we approached the centre, we met another grandmother who told us that there were only four kids present in the class. When we reached the centre, the teacher, Miss Joanne, told me that my son was the third pupil who came. I was surprised. She told me that the centre had a few cases of pupils getting Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease, so the centre was very particular with the health condition of the pupils. She checked my son and found a tiny ulcer in his mouth. I couldn't be sure whether he had bit himself, so she told me to take him to see a doctor.

The queue at the clinic was pretty long that day. We waited for almost half an hour or so. The doctor said it was unlikely to be HFMD, but he advised that he should stay home. It seemed that the disease has no definite symptoms. By the time the symptoms appear, the patient would have become the "carrier" of the dreadful disease which has no cure at the moment.

Friday, 18th April

Woke up in the morning. First thing, to check my son for any ulcers. Well, the ulcer in his mouth seemed to have disappeared. Since he could not go to school, so we took him to the MacDonald's in West Coast. He enjoys going there as the MacDonald's is big and there are many playgrounds in the park. He wanted to cycle there, but I could not stay long as I needed to work in the afternoon. My wife didn't need to go to work that day, so we went there as a family.

Saturday, 19th April

Things to do -> need to take my boy for a review at the clinic. The centre requires us to have a memo from the doctor to certify him as "fit to go back to school". I cannot take him there as I have to work in the morning. So I asked my wife to do it. I think he should be able to return to school on Monday. :)

Wish me a Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to me!

Thanks for all your greetings; my ex-pupils, ex-colleagues, "daughters", friends and family!

Today, I am supposed to "take the day off" since it was my birthday. But I have a commitment to teach in a secondary school and it was the last session today too. I did not manage to complete the whole booklet of activities due to the time constraint. It was a 2-hour session, but a lot of explanation took up quite a bit of time. I had to make sure they were clear about the tasks and the problems presented to them. I was happy that they were very cooperative even though I sensed that they were tired and brain-drained after a few tasks. Then, I gave them some sweets and asked them if they knew why I gave them. They replied they were behaving well. That's true. I told them it was my birthday and some of them did not seem to believe it. Anyway, I did not bother about it. They were very nice and wished me a happy birthday!

Long time no blog!

Well, it has been a long time since I last blog. I was busy OBVIOUSLY! Haha! Anyway, I went to a secondary school in the North-Eastern part of Singapore to conduct a programme. I was happy when I saw the class list as I saw a few of the familiar names in it. There was a change in the class list just before the day, but I still got to see a few of them. Some of them were in the other classes which I did not teach.

I was so glad that one of the boys actually came by my class to greet me. He was Bing Ren. I taught him when he was in P2. He was one of the fastest runners that I knew that time. He was also one "loud speaker". I had Wei Qin and Felicia in my class. Wei Qin was one of my best pupils at that time. It was a pleasure teaching her as she did her work and corrections diligently. There wasn't even a need to ask her to do corrections as she would do it AUTOMATICALLY. Her handwriting was and is still very neat and tidy! Felicia was my CCA member. She was responsible and would follow instructions diligently, even though she might "grumble" occasionally. :D

Another great ex-pupil is Yan Yi who always remembers my birthday. She would always send her greetings on special occasions throughout the year. She still hand-makes birthday and greeting cards every year. I remember I only told her (and my class) when she was P3 that I like things that are hand-made from pupils. The main idea was to discourage pupils from spending money buying "gifts" that I had to keep in the storeroom! The hand-made gifts, no matter how "small", show the efforts and sincerity. I remember one of my pupils, Little Lok, who passed me a Teacher's Day card and told me it was his mum who asked him to give me!!! Thanks, Little Lok. I will not tell anyone your full name to protect you. Haha! But I know my sister, Ms Ng, will know who I am talking about!

I hope she will have a smooth "sailing" year this year.

I killed one last night!

This is a picture of the American cockroach which was killed by me last night. It was spotted at the "border" between the living room and the kitchen. Instantly, I was tasked to terminate its life. I grabbed some old newspaper, rolled it into a "stick", approached the poor little soul and hit it straight on its head! I gave it a second hit just in case. Death was instant. There was no struggle.

Bombs from Above!

This morning, something caught my eyes while walking towards the carpark. Look at the state of the packet drink. The impact from falling from don't-know-what height had ruptured the packaging. Also, take note of how the remaining drink in the packet had spread across the ground. Interestingly, the packet remained upright after falling down. I wonder which floor the packet has fallen from.

Story of Pigeon

Well, Pigeon has left. Actually, it was yesterday afternoon. He managed to get out of the pail which he was put into. Then I saw him walking into the room I was in. I quickly shooed him out of the room as I was afraid he might leave something unpleasant in the room. He scampered out of the room and into the kitchen where my mum-in-law was. After that, he walked out of the flat and down the stairs. He was not seen again. My mother-in-law said he was saying farewell to all of us before leaving.

Farewell, Pigeon!

Chingay Parade 2008 @ Padang

The first Chingay Parade started in 1973. It was initially meant to replace the Chinese New Year firecrackers which was banned in 1972. Now, the parade has evolved and become an internationally acclaimed multi-cultural festive event for all of us in Singapore. It includes performers from other Asian countries as well.

If you are keen to see the Parade, you can watch them on this Saturday, 23 February, at Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.

Check out the details here: http://www.btptc.org.sg/chingay/chingay-main.htm

A Special Visitor

This morning, we had a special visitor which popped into our apartment. His name was Pigeon. Pigeon walked all over the flat as we followed him. He even went to the toilet but he "poo-ed" at the ledge just outside the toilet. I guess he was not toilet-trained yet. He looked as hungry and tired, so my mum-in-law placed him in a pail and fed him water and bread. He didn't seem to like bread though, unlike other pigeons. Strangely, he enjoyed the "foot" spa as he dipped his little feet into the water, which was meant for him to drink. I wonder if he would drink it later... :P

This is Pigeon, posing for this picture.

I think Pigeon was hurt as he could not fly high. Last night, I met him at the lift lobby. He was chased by a few kids. The kids were running after him till they reached the end of the corridor. I did not know what happened after that.

Teacher's Workshop

Hihi! Long time "no blog". Sometimes, I am a little lazy to blog. I would think of what I wanted to say in the blog while I was driving. Usually, I have more "thoughts" when I am driving than other times. I guess there isn't anything to do when I drive, so my mind will start to "process" other things in my head.

11 February

I went to Marsiling Primary School to attend a teacher's workshop on the first day of school after the lunar new year. It has been quite some time since I last attended any teacher's workshop. Anyway, the workshop lecturer was my former lecturer cum tutor, Dr Yeap. I still enjoyed his lesson very much. It was not my first time attending his workshop though. Every time I attend his workshop, I will bring back something - something that I learned. He will always give something new to me in every workshop.

He showed us a new perspective of looking at the way questions were phrased in the textbook and the workbook. He also told us some of the limited information given in the teacher's guide, which most teachers diligently follow. That day's focus was on Thinking Skills. I think the textbook publishers should include more explanation on the thinking skills part, so that teachers can further extend the concepts.

I think I will be attend more of his workshops this year! :)

Happy Lunar New Year!

Hello, long time no blog! Busy and have no time to do it. Anyway, 6th February is my son's birthday. He loves strawberry, so we bought him 2 strawberry short cakes from Four Leaves. He likes its strawberry short cake as it has strawberries on the cake and in the cake! Well, one of the cakes was bought by his eldest aunt. The other one was ordered by me. We had one at my mum-in-law's place while we ate the other one at my mum's place. He was very happy that day.

We went down to Chinatown after the reunion dinner at my mum's place. We went back to our place first as our stomachs were not feeling well that evening. I guess it could be something that we ate in the afternoon. Anyway, Chinatown was crowded as usual. We stood opposite Yue Hwa building just across the road from Chinatown Point. We had a hard time finding a parking lot, so in the end, we ended up in Chinatown Point. Yu Hong was still sleeping when we reached Chinatown. He was very tired that evening so he slept in the car. Luckily, he woke up minutes before 12 midnight. It is a yearly event to go down to Chinatown to watch the fire crackers and fireworks. Yu Hong was very afraid of the loud "cracking" sound from the fire crackers. He covered his ears throughout the whole event. It was very very loud and deafening. This year, Yu Hong commented that there was no lion dance. He remembered the lion dance performance last year.

After the fire crackers and fireworks, we went into the small lanes to "shop". There were many stalls selling all sorts of food, drinks and new year stuffs. They were all slashing prices after midnight as they wanted to "get rid" of their stuffs as soon as possible before the people left. There was this teenager who kept saying "Oh my god!" while pushing through the crowd. It was still very crowded when we left Chinatown at around 1.30am. It was tiring, sweaty and fun.

On our way to the carpark, I noticed a family of four, an old grandmother, a man, a woman and a little girl, rummaging through the dustbins along the road, picking up empty drink cans. Further down the road, after an Indian temple, was two other women rummaging for the same thing. Life must be very hard for them. It reminds me that we should be contented with what we have and be prepared for the "rainy" days... Somehow, the two women we met seemed to be from China. They did not look like the locals. Hmmm...

Promotion!

Good news! I have just received a letter from my Unit in RSAF informing me that I have been promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant with effect from 1st January 2008. The bad news is I have to BUY my new rank insignias and PAY some aunty to sew them on my uniforms! I remember I did all that about three to four years ago! The rank insignias are still VERY new!

Well, I have no choice. It's an order. In Army, there's no "BUT", just DO IT! :D

Some of the Taiwan Tour Pictures - Dec 2007

Hong Kong Tour December 2006

X'mas Photos

New Year Countdown in Sydney!

This video clip was sent to me by my friend, Alison, in Sydney.
I think this was taken at the Sydney Harbour during the recent new year countdown. The fireworks there lasted 20 minutes while ours was about 8 minutes.

Orientation Day

Yesterday was my son's first day in school. I have the privilege to take him to school on his first day. Well, it was his orientation day. His form teacher is Mrs Wong. It was a short orientation of less than an hour. The teacher briefed us, the parents, on the day-to-day activities the children will have on a normal day and the most important rules and regulations. The children will enter the centre through the front door, but they will go back home through the side door. So parents will have to pick their children from the side door.

Happy New Year to ALL!

What a new year! A holiday day for me to pack the room. So many stuffs in here! I have this problem of junking up all the things which I could not decide whether to throw or not. Just like my office cubicle last time. I had so many things that I had to chunk them under my table!!! I had to "create" more space to store them over the years. Can you imagine how many items I had to move when I had to leave the school?

I find that everytime I have to pack the room or place, I will only reorganize them. Most of the items are still here, but at different places. There are so many things which I have "collected" over time. They have become my collector's items. Should I throw or should I keep? That's a BIG question mark for me! :D