yang hong was so kind to agree to host the gathering occasion for a big bunch of sec sch friends.
a newly reconstructed landed property with 11 rooms, what a luxury for those who live in smaller residential units.
the catered food was yummy, esp the fried hokkien noodles.
after so many yrs, we finally gathered again. the familiarity of the youthful feeling, the closeness of the past days etc....made us feel great and important.
many faces were recognisable, esp zaidah who hasnt aged a bit. noor hashikin is still as cute and chubby as before. both are now teachers.
olive still looks the same. she was touched when i told her that my best memory of her was as a story-teller representative on stage....siew mui looked the youngest among all, no change in shape and size.
hok ling's son, victor carries a sizeable body and i think he knocked down the x'mas tree. what a sight!
the gathering coincided with yang hong's bdae and hok ling ordered a cake for her. the doting hubby even sang love songs for her, with lyrics 'if there's a next life, i will still choose u..' how romantic. we were touched. i mean, lame besty and me.
joy and claire enjoyed much with serene's 2 kids, ting and ling too! every one commented that ling resembled serene's sch days, but seriously i think, ling is prettier compared to the bespectacled serene then! but, it's her blur look that i was charmed with then....decent, unthreatening, sincere and funny!
on reminscence, my friendship with serene dated back to 13 yrs old....and we hv had many fun innocent days of togetherness. whenever she aggravated me, i would ignore her and then, she would call me 'small gas'...i guess, back then, our command of english was really limited, so broken english was the fun part of our sch days.
we were the last 2 families to leave. the 4 kids were having a whale of a time at the playground beside the house. with shoes removed and running around like a monkey, it was such a bliss to have their friendship established since babyhood!
it's many thks to sylvia and hok ling who made this gathering possible. their safekeeping of updated contact details and effort to coordinate is very much appreciated.
Monday, December 5, 2011
bad behaviour
i was involved in a chinese camp with claire and a group of kids, led by few chinese teachers.
a boy in lower primary behaved so badly that it shocked me out of my life. truly, i hv not seen someone who's so ill in emotional control, such that he could slap another girl's face, in the process of a bickering session, or push a younger boy coz' he needed the space to watch a show.
worse still, he started shouting at me, commanding,"why do u give the answer to the other pple? u r in my group, u knw?"
also, he uttered,"just give me all the answers and we will win..."
he simply didn't knw his limitations in chinese language....giving him an answer with a slightly longer sentence, he began to fumble and stammer, and started shouting like a lunatic.
all that i could say is, a boy with extreme competitive and kiasu behaviour really goes out of control easily. because of his eagerness to win, he loses sight of what team spirit is all about. he starts being disrepectful to teachers as well....i pity the mother who has to handle a kid with violence inclination, and his sibling who gets beaten up by him, out of no good reason.
aye, is it fair to say that a child's behaviour reflects the parents' style of parenting? maybe not. but it does tell that the parents hv lost control over the kids' action!
a boy in lower primary behaved so badly that it shocked me out of my life. truly, i hv not seen someone who's so ill in emotional control, such that he could slap another girl's face, in the process of a bickering session, or push a younger boy coz' he needed the space to watch a show.
worse still, he started shouting at me, commanding,"why do u give the answer to the other pple? u r in my group, u knw?"
also, he uttered,"just give me all the answers and we will win..."
he simply didn't knw his limitations in chinese language....giving him an answer with a slightly longer sentence, he began to fumble and stammer, and started shouting like a lunatic.
all that i could say is, a boy with extreme competitive and kiasu behaviour really goes out of control easily. because of his eagerness to win, he loses sight of what team spirit is all about. he starts being disrepectful to teachers as well....i pity the mother who has to handle a kid with violence inclination, and his sibling who gets beaten up by him, out of no good reason.
aye, is it fair to say that a child's behaviour reflects the parents' style of parenting? maybe not. but it does tell that the parents hv lost control over the kids' action!
car dent repair
well, i'm happy that my dent on the left side of the car is finally repaired. reasonable cost of less than sgd200.
a dent that i wouldn't like to talk much about....an accident of someone knocking onto my car while dashing across the road with a mobile in hand.
5 over mths, i bore with the unsightly dent....having no time to send it to the car workshop.
when sth gets done, it's like a great mission accomplished!
over this dent, hubby commented the other day,"my reputation is tarnished becoz of ur accidents!" a hurtful comment but i chose to stay mum. he's not totally wrong, just that the manner that it was being uttered didn't sound too kind (at least, to me!)
afterall, the impact is on his insurance ncb...of coz he feels the pinch!
to me, so long as no one gets into critical injury, it's 破财消灾啦！小事，别跟他人计较，生活也比较爽快吧！
when i get back next wk, time to send the car for svcg too!
a dent that i wouldn't like to talk much about....an accident of someone knocking onto my car while dashing across the road with a mobile in hand.
5 over mths, i bore with the unsightly dent....having no time to send it to the car workshop.
when sth gets done, it's like a great mission accomplished!
over this dent, hubby commented the other day,"my reputation is tarnished becoz of ur accidents!" a hurtful comment but i chose to stay mum. he's not totally wrong, just that the manner that it was being uttered didn't sound too kind (at least, to me!)
afterall, the impact is on his insurance ncb...of coz he feels the pinch!
to me, so long as no one gets into critical injury, it's 破财消灾啦！小事，别跟他人计较，生活也比较爽快吧！
when i get back next wk, time to send the car for svcg too!
we are flying off...
we are flying off tnte to twn.
no fixed agenda, no booking of 1st nite accomodation...it's a high-risk holiday. let's pray that we will not end up with any nites of non-lodging, haha.
taipei is rainy season...looks like the whole of this week will be wet in most parts of taiwan.
wulai...we come. shifen, it's my dream to go there to release the sky lanterns. yilan, the onion pancakes i continue to salivate at the thot of it....many many things we hope to accomplish.
but, we shall rough it out, if need be. coz' the breadwinner prefers to hv no fixed agenda, so as to provide greater flexibility for the family.
praying for safety and a good adventure. surely, it will be!
no fixed agenda, no booking of 1st nite accomodation...it's a high-risk holiday. let's pray that we will not end up with any nites of non-lodging, haha.
taipei is rainy season...looks like the whole of this week will be wet in most parts of taiwan.
wulai...we come. shifen, it's my dream to go there to release the sky lanterns. yilan, the onion pancakes i continue to salivate at the thot of it....many many things we hope to accomplish.
but, we shall rough it out, if need be. coz' the breadwinner prefers to hv no fixed agenda, so as to provide greater flexibility for the family.
praying for safety and a good adventure. surely, it will be!
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
year-end cleaning
i'm at a loss of how to start unpacking the unwanted old stuff to make way for new storage space.
my place has been short of storage all these years. it's my wish to have hidden storage shelves and cabinets to keep the bulky items away from sight.
i've been telling claire,"u need to give away more clothes, books and toys to make the place look neat!" she's agreeable. afterall, she's looking fwd to go on a purchase spree in taiwan come dec.
i need to call in a contractor to do sth....including the spoilt parquet flooring and wall furnishing. it will be a lot to handle....i can already imagine the dust in the air causing my organs to itch.....
ah sue was at my place last sat and commented that my dressing table is over-loaded with things. u see, the problem is, when one gets used to certain things, it actually becomes acceptable.
aye, if only we have lived like a minimalist, our place would be less cluttered. is that the right word to use?
my place has been short of storage all these years. it's my wish to have hidden storage shelves and cabinets to keep the bulky items away from sight.
i've been telling claire,"u need to give away more clothes, books and toys to make the place look neat!" she's agreeable. afterall, she's looking fwd to go on a purchase spree in taiwan come dec.
i need to call in a contractor to do sth....including the spoilt parquet flooring and wall furnishing. it will be a lot to handle....i can already imagine the dust in the air causing my organs to itch.....
ah sue was at my place last sat and commented that my dressing table is over-loaded with things. u see, the problem is, when one gets used to certain things, it actually becomes acceptable.
aye, if only we have lived like a minimalist, our place would be less cluttered. is that the right word to use?
joy is busking today!
as part of her sch cca, joy and few other friends would be busking at tampines this afternoon! isn't it cool?
she has been practising really hard in school these few weeks. her basic techniques have really improved. well, hard work does pay off.
i was just remarking to joy last night,"within these 3 yrs, u have made a drastic change. from a raw shy self, u now enjoy public performance so much and is constantly upgrading yourself in dance techniques and moves!"
claire added,"ya lor, joy, only 1095 days!"
haha, did her comment add any value to mine? well, that's claire in her detached self.
i'm not sure if i will be able to drop by the east mall to watch her today. timing seems to clash with sending claire off to school for her cca chinese dance! being a mom to 2 girls is really no easy feat, sometimes u dunno how to split your time between the 2.
on the whole, however, claire got more of my time in terms of togetherness while joy got more of my spiritual support, haha. how's that?
this sat, joy will hv another public performance. she and another dance friend had taken the trouble to buy and lug 3 chairs each from ikea last wkend, only to call for a cab to get home after that. these 6 chairs are for their perfce this sat. she's all bz this week....and it's the last week of school!
she has been practising really hard in school these few weeks. her basic techniques have really improved. well, hard work does pay off.
i was just remarking to joy last night,"within these 3 yrs, u have made a drastic change. from a raw shy self, u now enjoy public performance so much and is constantly upgrading yourself in dance techniques and moves!"
claire added,"ya lor, joy, only 1095 days!"
haha, did her comment add any value to mine? well, that's claire in her detached self.
i'm not sure if i will be able to drop by the east mall to watch her today. timing seems to clash with sending claire off to school for her cca chinese dance! being a mom to 2 girls is really no easy feat, sometimes u dunno how to split your time between the 2.
on the whole, however, claire got more of my time in terms of togetherness while joy got more of my spiritual support, haha. how's that?
this sat, joy will hv another public performance. she and another dance friend had taken the trouble to buy and lug 3 chairs each from ikea last wkend, only to call for a cab to get home after that. these 6 chairs are for their perfce this sat. she's all bz this week....and it's the last week of school!
journal saga
claire had a sleepover with 2 frds at my place on 18th nov, the last day of sch.
i requested that she writes a journal about her sleepover experience, to store as everlasting memory.
her first piece was delivered last nite. i rejected it. reason being, it was totally disorganised and was mainly written in conversation style, which i found it redundant.
today, i requested for her 2nd submission. she started off fine but again, reverted to her old style of using unnecessary conversations.
with my headache, i was really losing my patience. my voice a lil raised when i told her the right thing to do, tantamount to telling her that she should re-do the piece again.
'devastated', she broke down and cried, unable to face with my rejection of her work. i lost my cool and started hitting her back with a small pillow. i hate it whenever the kids use crying as the weapon.
my anger came from her not paying attention to what i had said and consequently, repeating same mistakes. her frustration stemmed from not understanding what had gone wrong with her journal writing.
so, it was no communication between us for half and hour. when the heat simmered, she spoke,"i hv no idea how u want me to write it!"
anyway, i told her to sit beside me and bit by bit, we recounted the events, with special emphasis on doing away with redundancies of sentences and conversation speeches.
twds the end, she thanked me for taking the time to do it with her. i responded,"claire, i won't mind we sit through stuff like that coz u can better understand the expectation of a good journal! what i was angry about was your inattentive attitude when pple give u advice on the writing...."
seriously, no one is born a good writer. but, i told her that it's impt to develop her own writing style. shunning writing is definitely not the way to do it. submitting a piece of disorganised work only reflects her inattentive attitude.
hopefully, she will understand my intention and take writing more seriously.
i requested that she writes a journal about her sleepover experience, to store as everlasting memory.
her first piece was delivered last nite. i rejected it. reason being, it was totally disorganised and was mainly written in conversation style, which i found it redundant.
today, i requested for her 2nd submission. she started off fine but again, reverted to her old style of using unnecessary conversations.
with my headache, i was really losing my patience. my voice a lil raised when i told her the right thing to do, tantamount to telling her that she should re-do the piece again.
'devastated', she broke down and cried, unable to face with my rejection of her work. i lost my cool and started hitting her back with a small pillow. i hate it whenever the kids use crying as the weapon.
my anger came from her not paying attention to what i had said and consequently, repeating same mistakes. her frustration stemmed from not understanding what had gone wrong with her journal writing.
so, it was no communication between us for half and hour. when the heat simmered, she spoke,"i hv no idea how u want me to write it!"
anyway, i told her to sit beside me and bit by bit, we recounted the events, with special emphasis on doing away with redundancies of sentences and conversation speeches.
twds the end, she thanked me for taking the time to do it with her. i responded,"claire, i won't mind we sit through stuff like that coz u can better understand the expectation of a good journal! what i was angry about was your inattentive attitude when pple give u advice on the writing...."
seriously, no one is born a good writer. but, i told her that it's impt to develop her own writing style. shunning writing is definitely not the way to do it. submitting a piece of disorganised work only reflects her inattentive attitude.
hopefully, she will understand my intention and take writing more seriously.
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