Bird-Brain Lots ...

{One of the many, from Grand Master F}

Along the jetty I saw ... flock of feathers in the air they soar ...

The free bird leaps on the back of the wind & floats downstream, till the current ends & dips his wings … in the orange sun rays & dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks down her narrow cage can seldom see through her bars of rage, her wings are clipped & her feet are tied … so she opens her throat to sing & sigh.

The caged bird sings with fearful trill of the things unknown but longed for still & her tune is heard … on the distant hill for the caged bird, sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze & the trade winds soft through the sighing trees, & the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn & he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams, her shadow shouts on a nightmare scream. Her wings are clipped & her feet are tied so she opens her throat to sing & sigh.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and her tune is heard, on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom, her freedom that never will.

{This is the greatest humiliation, ever ... and shall etched in one's heart, in decades to come ... 23 May ~ 14 Sept 2009}

Belated Mother's Day Card

Don't complain ... I can hear u ...

R2 must have read my previous blog post on Mother's Day Gift for this year & discovered his mummy has lodged a complaint that she didn't receive anything from him ... LOL (just joking, he's too young for it).

Last Friday evening, the moment I stepped into the house ... I saw R2 sitting at the dining table doodling "something", quietly & patiently. I didn't probe into what was it, as it's usual to see him "creating" art pieces, every now & then.

Minutes later, R2 presented this hand-drawn card to me ... although it's belated but I'm alright with it & I love it !! ... Thank you, my boy !!

He even pointed out to me that his design concept was ... each flower petal of the same colour, will come with an opposite pattern. This kid really has an eye for details.

P.S. I always encourage my kids to date their work, so that I can incorporate them into my scrapbook pages; in time to come.

A Shutterbug-To-Be

It's yet another "free & easy" workday in the office ... I've been surfing the net as usual, like nobody's business since this morning.

Happened to chance upon the People's Association website & found something interesting ** Whoohoo !! **

Without much delay, I've signed up for a D'Artist Photography Class at Nanyang Community Centre, commencing on 23 May 2009. It'll be a short 8-session course, comprising of 2 field trips for outdoor shooting (day & night). Sounds exciting, huh ???

I've been wanting to attend such photography-related courses for the past 1.5 years. But majority of them were held either at the eastern or northern part of our island. And I really hate the thought of travelling so far & alone ... well, you can classify me under a commonly used term - LAZY ... ha ha ha

After firming up my foundation, I'd very much love to move on to their intermediate & advanced levels, as well as joining overseas photography trips organized by those professionals. Let's hope everything goes on well & I'll be able to fully-utilize my "WHITE ELEPHANT", purchased back in Year 2007.

Oh yes, before I end this post today ...

HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY to SANDWICH ARTIST !!
May all your wishes come true real SOON !!

{ As promised, here's a chocolate cake, JUST FOR YOU ... LOL }

Happy Mother's Day 2009

Happy Mother's Day to my mum, mother-in-law (in HK) & myself too ... though I'm still feeling down & moody, due to a couple of personal reasons ** sigh **

For documentation purpose, I've decided to do a simple post on what I've received from R1 this year. It's a handmade fabric carnation, which she bought from her school's bookshop. As usual, she got 1 stalk for me & 1 stalk for granny ... THANK YOU, Kei Kei !!

As for R2, NOTHING from him this year. I wondered how come his kindergarten teacher didn't plan for little surprises for the mummies this year ??

Anyway, I'm blessed with a pair of healthy kids ... what more can a mother ask for ??

Handling Anger & Disappointment

I must admit that I'm always facing difficulty in dealing with my anger, constructively & effectively ... especially towards my kids. There was another outburst of my anger earlier & both kids got whipped.

Reason :
R1's Chinese examination is scheduled on next Wednesday. BUT, instead of making use of this long weekend (Vesak Day PH) to do more revision exercises & school homework. Both kids have been monkeying around the house for more than half a day!! They were watching cartoons, playing board game, "catching" session from room-to-room, PSP gaming, doodling & such.

This afternoon, I did explain to them (patiently) that all the above-mentioned activities can be done after R1's examinations & throughout the whole June holiday. The priority now, is to get prepared for the upcoming Chinese papers.

However, R1 turned a deaf ear to all my advices & backtalked "What's the point of getting good results?!" ... I'm upset, really disappointed with her statement. I've been spending majority of my monthly paycheck on them for private tuition at home, several enrichment classes, health supplements, quality milk, magazine subscriptions & surprise gifts & toys (every now & then). But what do I get in return ??? ** sigh **

I just did some googling earlier & found some Tips for Handling Anger & will try to adopt some suggestions from these articles. Hoping that things will turn around real soon ... ...

P.S. My siblings had planned for a simple Mother's Day celebration at home this evening, but I wasn't in the mood to enjoy it at all.

Mugging Away ...

School examinations are here again, most mummies will get stressed up during this period of time ... & I'm definitely one of them !!

To make matter worst, some flu bugs caught up with R1 since Labour Day. She was down with high fever & flu for almost 3 days. However, this diligent little girl of mine, still insisted to attend her writing class, tuition sessions & piano class over the past weekend.

So, in between naps ... she was mugging away, trying to finish up as many test revision papers from school as well as revision exercises from her tutor.

{ Cheeky R2 was checking on his sister's progress ... ha ha ha }

Look !! A loose milk tooth, right in front ... & just only 3 days before R1's oral examinations. What a good timing !! ** faint **

My only concern was ... Will it affect her pronunciation of " S " & " F " during her upcoming oral examinations ?? ... ha ha ha

Anyway, R1 didn't experience much pain as that tooth was already very loose. It came out easily, with a little tug from me.

P.S. The Tooth Fairy has visited R1 that night & took away her baby tooth ... to SCRAPBOOK (in the near future).

In this pocket you will find a teensy, tiny tooth of mine.
So while I sleep where dreams are made,
Let's see if you can make a trade.

In this pocket I will lay, the little tooth I lost today.
Please, dear fairy, tonight as I sleep, leave me a coin.
My tooth you can keep.

Picturesque Guilin {桂林}

As promised, I'm back with an outdated & lengthy post of our trip to Guilin, China (28 ~ 31 Jan 2009) ... well ... "a late post is rather than none". ** wink **

There's an old & well-known saying ... 桂林山水甲天下, which means the beauty of the landscape & scenery in Guilin tops the world. For this reason, a group of 12 headed on a 12-hour road trip from Zhongshan to Guangxi province. None of us have been to Guilin before BUT we managed to find our way, food & lodging with the aid of today's advanced technology -- GPS navigation !!

The group embarked on our journey after a nice lunch on 28 Jan (3rd day of Lunar New Year). R2 didn't seem to have much patience during our road trip there & kept bugging me ... "Are we there yet?" ... and napping off intermittently. Finally, reaching our destination slightly past midnight, with stopovers for "reliefs" & dinner. We checked into a clean & reasonably-priced hotel & had a BBQ supper right next to it.

The next day, our expedition began after "brunch" ... we relied heavily on our GPS for directions to the major attractions like:

Seven Star Park (七星公园) - covering an area of around 40 hectares, is the largest comprehensive park with mass scenery in Guilin City, and we spent almost half a day in the park. (Click here for the official site)

{ Here's a pic of the group at the entrance of Seven Star Park ... yes, there's only 11 headcounts ... plus ME, holding onto the camera ... Say CHEESE !! }

{ This is one of the 10 Scenes of Guilin -- a pic of Camel Hill, like a gigantic camel in a squating position, isn't it??

The camel looks so real that you might think that it's an artificial hill. No, it's entirely a natural formation!! Around the hill are bonsai gardens, a zoo with pandas and teahouses }

{Daddy NC suggested the kids to get onto a "hairy" camel, right at the foot of Camel Hill }

{ The park is so huge! After about 2 hours on our feet, the group has decided to hire a cart to send us to the rest of the key attractions within the park ... phew ... }

{ A pic of QiXia Temple (栖霞寺), did u notice another hill at the backdrop that resemble a chinese gold ingot ?? }

{ Pics taken at the Seven Star Cave (七星岩). About a million years ago, it was an underground river channel. With movement of the earth's crust, it rose above the surface to become a cavern.

A concrete & stone tour path of approximately 1 km runs through the cave; between its entrance & exit points. It penetrates several main peaks of Putuo Hill.

Artificial lightings for walkways & displays are staged throughout the long tunnel of the cave. It's an underground gallery of stalactites & stalagmites in the most spectacular shapes & forms ... definitely an enchanting experience for us! }

Majority of our group members wanted to leave the park, after completing about 80% of it. And we drove on to another "must see" attraction ... Elephant Trunk Hill (象鼻山).

{ The group was being splitted up into 2 bamboo rafts on Li River (漓江), to take us to the Elephant Trunk Hill (象鼻山).

Located at the conjunction of Li River & Peach Blossom River, the hill looks like a huge elephant drinking river water with a long trunk, it's the symbol of Guilin City.

The kids were excited about the river ride & chose to sit at the front row, not knowing that they might get wet should there be any strong currents. Guess what?? My kids were perfectly dry after the entire ride. BUT my shoes & socks were all soaked up, as I was too engrossed in taking pictures, and got caught up with a sudden gush of water onto our raft }

After dinner, someone suggested ... FIREWORKS !! Since it was still the Lunar New Year period, fire crackers of all shapes & sizes were readily available. We bought a huge variety of them & spent around RMB4.5k (after bargaining for 10 mins).

It was our (ie. R1, R2 & I) 3rd round of such "bright, colourful yet ear-deafening" session, throughout this 12-day China trip. By now, my kids already got the hang of it, thus, required minimum supervision & enjoyed themselves to the fullest.

{ Pics of a fun "fire crackers/fireworks" session, along the famous Li River }

The group has decided to extend another night of stay in Guilin, as we only managed to go 2 places of interest during the 1st day. So, early the next morning, we continued on a 4-hr Li River (漓江) cruise.

{ A river cruise down the peaceful Li River (漓江) is the absolute high-point of any visit to Guilin.

On both sides of Li River are wonderfully-shaped hills, mist-covered mountains, peaceful green fields, farms & villages with water buffalos & cows wondering around. Those mysterious mountains are karst limestone formations evolved 200 million years ago, when that area was under the sea }

{ A feeling of peace and serenity ... it is no surprise this part of China is the subject of countless paintings and postcards!! }

{ A pic of cormorants sitting on bamboo sticks, fishing for their owners. Those birds' necks were tightened up by strings, so that they will not swallow the fish that they catch }

Our next stop at Crown Cave (冠岩), a giant subterranean river cavern by the Li River. Taking the shape of an gold crown of ancient emperor, the cave is 12 km long & consists of 3 parts. (Click here for the official site)

The views inside were fantastic !! Stalactites & stalagmites in all strange shapes, illuminated by lights ... glittering a golden glow. There's an underground stream which passes through the cave & joins the Li River.

Personally, I'd prefer the Crown Cave than the Seven Star Cave, as it's equipped with modern sightseeing facilities such as an elevator, small trains, yachts & sightseeing roller-coasters. We've tried every mode of transport within the cave ... and the kids simply loved it!

Again, our group only managed to cover around 70% of the cave exploration & chose to exit it by taking a sight-seeing roller-coaster ride (to save us some "legwork"). By the time we got out, it was almost dark & we had to head back home.

On our way back, R2 didn't bother to bug me anymore as he was too tired after 2 full days of fun. The kids slept throughout the whole road trip & we reached home safely around 6am the next day.

My thoughts :
Guilin is renowned for its karst peaks that rise up throughout the city like skyscrapers will do in any other cities. The picturesque landscape was just what I needed as a break from my life in the city.

Missing In Action ...

Hi hi, I'm back in action !!

I've not been blogging for the past 11 months or so ... and this period of time has been pretty crazy & hectic for me.

There's pretty much changes &/or happenings around me ... so, here's a summary to fill the gap ...


(1) 20 Feb 2009
Happy 60th Birthday, Mummy!

** 祝您福如東海，壽比南山 **

We had a simple buffet party at home, coz my dad strongly disagreed with my idea of throwing a small banquet at a vegetarian restaurant in town. ** sigh **


(2) 22 Jan ~ 2 Feb 2009
My kiddoes & I went on a 12-day trip to HK & China, making full use of the Lunar New Year break (hmm ... will post some pics in my next post, on our trip to Guilin).

Both kids have missed 6 days' of school, and R1 ended up with loads of homework to catch up during the following week. And my poor girl gotta stayed up late till 12am for 2 consecutive days, trying to finish as much homework as possible.

{ These kids hardly get to play together, as we'll normally fly to HK once a year. }

(3) 30 Jan 2009 (the 5th day of Lunar New Year)
Bro *A* & his girlfriend met with a traffic accident that night, while on their way home. He's suffering from a collar bone fracture and abrasions all over his body. The most serious one was at his knee cap area which needed some stitching, followed by one on his palm. There's some pics of his wounds taken, for insurance claim purposes, but will be too gross to include here.

He was discharged from the hospital on 2 Feb 2009, and recuperated at home (under my mum's tenderly care).

Anyway, he's alright now & back to work.


(4) 25 Dec 2008
R1 got transferred into a better school this year. Guess what? I've received this piece of good news on Christmas Day @ 8.45pm, while I'm on my way to a X'mas red wine session. It's the best Christmas gift that I've ever received, THANK YOU !!

On another note, I've to spent double the amount of money on books & uniforms purchases for R1 this year. BUT to me, it's worth it!

{ Granny, R2 & I popped by the new school during her recess break, to make sure that she's alright in a totally new environment. }


(5) 6 Dec 2008
My office has been relocated to Tuas South w.e.f. 6 Dec 2008 ... resulting in lesser beauty-sleep time; as I need to leave the house 45 mins earlier than usual everyday ** sigh, sigh, sigh **

(6) 14 Nov 2008
Yeah!! It was R1's Prize Presentation Day in school and it's meant to reward pupils who did well during the year-end examinations. I'm glad that R1's results have improved, although she still ranked #2 in class.

Needless to say, I took leave from work & be her personal photographer for the day ... ha ha ha.

(7) 7 Nov 2008
I've co-organised my company's annual SUSS Micro-Tec's seminar. It was a full day event at the Suntec Convention Centre.

Being the 2nd key person-in-charge for said event, has provided me much exposure & opportunities to pick up new skills.

Thank God, there's not much hiccups during the event, except for us being 10 mins late for the morning registration ... LOL. Hence, it's still considered to be a SUCCESS!!

(8) 21 Oct 2008
Goodbye ... 105 ...

My family has finally shifted out (officially) of our 22-year-old flat ... no doubt, it houses loads of beautiful memories for the family.

I remembered very clearly that we moved in when I was still in P4 (mid year). My bro & I only came back during the weekends, as we were still studying at Temasek Primary during the last half of that year. It was an one-end to another bus trip, on every friday afternoon & sunday night ... but we've enjoyed it!

Okay, that should be all for now ... and I'll try to update this little cyberspace of mine more often ... I PROMISE !! ... ha ha ha

By R2 ...

It's the 1st week of school holidays here, and my kiddoes have nothing better to do at home ...

So, this is done by R2 & he insisted that I MUST blog it ... no choice, gotta grant this little wish of his. Any comments? ... LOL

NO Internet Connection @ Home

Sorry friends, I don't mean to "wash our dirty laundry" openly here ... but I really need some outlet to voice out my discontentment. Hence, please bear with me ...

*A* & I are having a cold war since 17 Mar 2008, due to some housing/room-sharing issues. But this has worsened over these 2 months ... and evolved into a "yours & mine" attitude lately.

As he's paying for the monthly Starhub Broadband at home ... it's being locked against any authorised usage (only he can enjoy it, sharks!).

So, 2 pathetic souls (ha ha ha ... namely, Sis *J* & myself) are sitting at the nearby National Library right now ... surfing net & blogging, while R1 is reading as many story books as she can.

Luckily, I still have access to the internet to surf/blog/MSN during normal office hours :) However, this affects my Sis *J* the most as she can't do her school project at home :(

Hard Work is the Yeast that Raises the Dough

R1 & my hard work really pay off ... from drawing up a study timetable, loads of revision exercises, tuition, 1-to-1 coaching & the "reward" system ... really help to produce good results.

Since my last trip back from China in March, I've decided to put in more effort in R1's school work so as to prepare her for the mid-year examinations. I've been trying my best to tame my temper & give R1 a little more patience ... and I've "sacrificed" my personal time to sit beside her while she's doing her homework &/or revision exercises on a daily basis.

Today, R1 came home with her Report Book, with quite pleasing results (#2 out of a class of 29, #32 out of all 346 P1 students) ... ** smiling from ear to ear ** ... BUT, we still need to strive for better ranking among her peers after the June holidays.

Rachel, well done! Keep it up!

A Day At The Beach

A day at the beach ... overlooking the sea,
contemplating the waves as they kiss the shores ever so gently.

Bro *A* & my mum brought both kiddoes to East Coast Park this afternoon, despite the 33°C hot weather lately.

** Phew! Luckily I chose to stay at home ... coz R1 & R2 came home looking very tan. ** However, from the "evidence" below, both of them have enjoyed themselves to the fullest !!

I've made a little request for my mum to take some pics of them ... so here you go ... these going out specially to Daddy *NC*.