{ Coffee & Beans }

缘尽缘散

2009-10-04T02:13:00.006+08:00

Specially to all my friends out there ...

Thank you for coming by this little cyberspace, over the last 3 years, for some random updates/rambling of mine. It has been great having you here to share some of my life experiences & thoughts, despite only with the use of simple "Singlish" & not bombastic words of expression.

I've decided to close off this blog, with effect from 3 Oct 2009, as this little outlet of mine has been seen as part of an evil plot, between some loud, scheming, evil & ill-mannered enigmas. However, if one's conscience is clear, there's no fear. I strongly believed that TIME WILL TELL & hoping for TIME TO HEAL.

Worry not, friends! I'll continue to live my life to the fullest & fulfill my role & responsibilities on earth. After going through this shitty mess, hopefully, I'd pick up the courage to create another "space of mine" in the near future.

Till we get connected again, TAKE CARE & SAYONARA !!

Cheers!
Jane

Pain vs Gain ...

2009-10-02T17:30:00.006+08:00

When one door of happiness closes, another opens.

However, we looked so long at the closed door ... that we do not see the one which has been opened for us ...

Even though you may want to move forward in your life, you may have one foot on the brakes.
In order to be freed, we must learn how to let go.
Release the hurt.
Release the fear.
Refuse to entertain your old pain.
The energy it takes to hang onto the past is holding you back from a new life.
What is it that you would let go of ???

Bird-Brain Lots ...

2009-09-15T09:41:00.005+08:00

{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

2009-05-18T09:09:00.010+08:00

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

2009-05-15T14:26:00.017+08:00

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

2009-05-10T14:40:00.011+08:00

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

2009-05-09T23:43:00.005+08:00

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 ...

2009-05-07T16:08:00.025+08:00

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}

2009-04-29T14:38:00.042+08:00

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 ...

2009-04-15T14:18:00.035+08:00

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 ...

2008-05-30T17:02:00.006+08:00

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

2008-05-25T16:00:00.004+08:00

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

2008-05-21T21:33:00.010+08:00

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

2008-05-19T22:33:00.025+08:00

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*.

Where's My Adhesives ???

2008-05-17T23:14:00.009+08:00

It's a long weekend here in Singapore ... as next Monday is a gazetted public holiday (i.e. Vesak Day) = NO WORK !! .... Yippppeeeee !!

Having 3 full days of free time on hand, plus a rather "stay-at-home" mood but I've got nothing much that I'd love to do ... what a waste !!

So, as usual, I hopped around those scrapbooking blogs for the whole afternoon & I'm inspired to start scrapping all over again (after an extremely long break).

For a quick start, I think this Pencil Lines site will be able to help me to get the ball rolling ... but hold on, where's my acid-free adhesives ?!?! and where's my 12 x 12 trimmer ?!?! ** alamak !! **

Here I go again, giving myself silly & lame excuse of ... "It'll be much easier to start with; after I do some scrapbooking shopping to get my hands on some "latest & greatest" products." ... ha ha ha

Happy Mother's Day 2008

2008-05-11T01:37:00.010+08:00

Wishing all wonderful mummies out there, and especially to my dearest mum & mother-in-law (back in Hong Kong) ... HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY !!!

By large, mothers and housewives are the only workers

who do not have regular time off.

They are the great vacation-less class.

~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh

As for myself, I've received these inexpensive yet heartwarming pressies from my kiddoes. These really melted my heart ... thank you very much !

From HER,

R1 spent almost 70% of last Friday's school allowance to get 2 of these handmade flowers from the bookshop ... one for me & one for granny (how thoughtful of her).

From HIM,

Last Friday, R2 brought back 1 handmade card, 1 stalk of carnation & 2 cookies from school ... but he couldn't resist the temptation & ate 1 cookie before I reached home from work (ha ha ha ... ).

4th Day of Work

2008-05-02T22:37:00.005+08:00

Work saves us from three great evils:

Boredom, Vice & Need.

~ Voltaire

Today, is my 4th day of work ... on the other hand, it's also *Jennifer's* last day of work with the organization.

I've been trying very hard to "master" her duties & responsibilities within such a short time-frame. And I just hope that I can perform just as good as her (cos it's human nature to make comparisons). ** aiyoh ... it's making me so stressed up **

However, I just wanna wish *Jennifer* all the best in her future endeavour and thank her for everything !!

{ This will definitely liven up my work space }

S-P-L-U-R-G-E

2008-04-25T23:58:00.007+08:00

One more LV for me please ...

This Louis Vuitton handbag has been on my Wish List since it's first launch last year.

Look, I've finally got my hands on it today !!! ... Yipppeeeeee ...

This afternoon, I managed to convince myself to splurge on it ... as I needed a new bag for my new job, which is commencing on 28 Apr 2008. Oh no, I think it's a pretty lame excuse to use ... isn't it ??? But whatever it is, I don't care ... as it really feels good to spoil myself once in awhile. ** wink **

Anyway, who says WE (i.e. women) need any reasons/excuses to go shopping & indulge ourselves with little gifts to make ourselves happier ??? ... LOL

What Am I Waiting For ???

2008-04-23T23:59:00.006+08:00

I've mentioned in my previous post that I've an opportunity knocking on my door lately ... yeah, I've decided to seize it !!!

Well, actually it's a job opportunity offered by my ex-company (which I worked for merely a month). As I got along quite well with those colleagues there, so right now, they are offering me a post which is totally different from what I used to do as a HR personnel ... a CEO's SECRETARY.

I've no formal secretarial experience, but I'm pretty surprised that my boss-to-be is willing to train me up & fill the gap. So, my friends were asking me : "Then what are you waiting for ??"

Hence, needless to say, I'm going for it !!! ... & hopefully everything will go well for me this time. ** keeping my fingers crossed **

On the other hand, I'll have to forgo my upcoming fully-sponsored trip to Beijing in May 2008. ** weep, weep, weep **

Philosophy of Life

2008-04-21T13:06:00.004+08:00

"人生路漫漫 , 山水有相逢" ... ... NC will always remind me of this statement when it comes to handling people & relationships.

In fact, he's indirectly telling me to give some leeway to others now, as there may be a time when their help will come in handy in the future.

This is just his "2 cents", but true enough, it works !!! ... An opportunity is now knocking on my door !!!

R1's 1st Pair of Spectacles

2008-04-15T20:49:00.017+08:00

眼镜, 眼镜找朋友 ... this is R1's 1st pair of spectacles (i.e. her new acquaintance) & she seems pretty happy to get to know this new friend ... ** Arghhh !! **

Anyway, I'll update this space soon on her new look ... hee hee

R1's school will be conducting a Semestral Assessment 1 "Show & Tell" Presentation for all P1 pupils next week. During said presentation, every pupil will be given 3 to 5 minutes to talk about "My Favourite Toy", and this will form one of the components in their Mother Tongue language examination. ** super stressed out **

While helping R1 with the above preparation, then I realised that her favourite toy is Barbie Doll ... hey, I used to play with that too ... hmmm ... around 20 over years back !!

However, I've bought this sweet-looking, little Japanese dolly - Mell Chan for R1 today. My intention is to motivate her to work harder for the upcoming SA1 exams in early May.

On the other hand, I'm wondering does this trick work ??? So, let's wait & see ... ** keeping my fingers crossed **

Managing Time

2008-04-13T10:01:00.010+08:00

It has been 2 weeks since R1 started her own { Study Timetable } at home ... but of coz, it was being drawn up by her mummy ... ME !! ... hee hee.

After I've created the below, I did MSN it to NC for his info., but his first reaction &/or comment towards it was ... "All work & no play, R1 will be going crazy soon !!!" ... LOL

For the past 3 months, she always seemed to have loads of homework to be done BUT not enough time for them. Hence, I thought this method might help R1 to manage her time more effectively.

Surprisingly, this little kiddo has been much excited about it and did try her best to follow as close as possible. (I just hope that this excitement doesn't go away just too soon.) So, I must think of some rewards to keep her going ... hmmm.

眼镜, 眼镜找朋友 ...

2008-04-11T21:56:00.008+08:00

R1 & I went to Jurong Medical Centre - Eye Clinic @ 8.30am today for her eye-check appointment.

She was given a day of Medical Leave from school, as she received a dilated eye examination in order to prevent "accommodation".

Our natural lens is able to accommodate or adjust the eye’s focus until about the age of 40. Children are especially good at this, and their ability to accommodate sometimes prevents the doctor from getting an accurate refraction for glasses. That’s why young eyes are often dilated for a “wet” refraction so the doctor can get a true picture of what the child’s prescription really is.

After 3 hours spent over at the clinic, the OUTCOME = R1 is diagnosed with rather high myopia (considering her age at 6) ... Oh gosh !!!

Anyway, there's no point crying over spilled milk. But rather, I've got to accept the fact & start working on all suggested eye-care measures to help R1 to delay the progression as she grows ...

Myopia ... R1 is at Risk

2008-04-06T23:59:00.009+08:00

Our family members have discovered that R1 tends to squirt her eyes while watching TV at home. According to her class teacher (about a week ago), she also does that in school (while reading Big Books with her class or when looking at words on the board). Hence, she suggested me to bring R1 to prescribe a pair of glasses for short-sightedness. ** worried **

Btw, I remembered she went for a thorough eye-check with R2 on 25 July 2007 and was being advised that her eyesight was satisfactory (although not perfect). So, little did I expect the progression of Myopia to be so fast !!!

{ Pics taken on 25 July 2007 @ Jurong Medical Centre }

Today, I brought her to an optometrist but due to her young age, I'm being told to bring her to an Eye Specialist Clinic to get her eyes examined. However, an initial test done today confirmed that she's suffering from Myopia. ** sigh, sigh, sigh **

For now, I'm very upset & guilty for not putting enough effort in taking good care of her well-being ... and also wondering was "it" partly inherited (in the genes) from me? ** sigh, sigh, sigh **

Mood Faces

2008-04-05T00:53:00.010+08:00

Just wanna share ...

While I'm playing around with my camera earlier, this cheeky little one kept bugging me to take pics of his own version of mood faces ... any comments ??? ... LOL

*** 喜怒哀乐 ***

A Surprise Gift

2008-04-04T20:33:00.014+08:00

R1 was pleasantly surprised when she came back from school this evening ... hee hee.

I've bought a Portable Keyboard Yamaha Portatone PSR-E313 for her today !!

After sitting-in one of her piano lessons last Sunday, I discovered that her current hand-me-down Casio Keyboard is slightly out-of-tune/faulty when she practiced at home.

On top of that, I thought it might further motivate her to practice more regularly when she has a Keyboard to call her own ... do you agree with me ??

However, I shall monitor her learning progress &/or interest (for 1 year) before making another investment of purchasing a Yamaha Upright Piano which will easily cost between a range of S$4K ~ S$8K. **faint**

{ R1 is happily opening & trying out her
"present" while eating a lollipop. }

R1's First Loose Tooth

2008-04-01T20:00:00.006+08:00

When R1 reached home from school today, she came straight to me and smiled and IT WAS GONE -- the wriggly tooth she had for merely a week ! ... and this is not supposed to be an April Fool's joke ... ha ha ha.

This brave little girl of mine, went to her school's dentist (on her own) during recess time to get it extracted ... Whoo Hoo !

R1 is well aware that losing baby teeth is a part and parcel of one's life - a milestone in her growing up years ... and she is so proud of herself !!!

Wanna take a look at her new smile ???

Other than a dimple in a cute little chin,
What's more adorable than a toothless grin?

~Azu "Betty" Espezia

The Perfect Recipe

2008-03-31T15:55:00.012+08:00

I chanced upon this short & sweet message today & thought of sharing ...

The Perfect Recipe

Ingredients:
(1) Find time to spend with your family
(2) Learn to love one another
(3) Compliment rather than complain

Baking Instructions:
Step 1 :
Add (1) into your daily schedule.

Step 2 :
Stir (2) and (3) together.

Step 3 :
Icing the cake with hugs & kisses is highly recommended.

Step 4 :
Serve to your whole family !

Goodbye ... (once again)

2008-03-30T05:04:00.011+08:00

{ I'm blogging at the break of dawn ... while waiting for NC to call me from Singapore Changi Airport. }

Just came back from supper with NC & *JS*, can't get to sleep as I'm waiting for him to call me before he board the plane back to China ... Yes! he's going back there AGAIN for work.

Guess what ???

While NC is packing his luggage earlier, he walked over (out of nowhere), stood in front of me, held my hands & said "I can't bear to leave you." .... Ohhh ... I'm on cloud nine !!! Really didn't expect him to say this to me.

We've spent a total of 56 days together (from 4 Feb 08 till today; including 29 Feb - Leap Year) ... ha ha ha ... it's the longest period of time ever since Year 2003 !!! ... I'm starting to miss him too, but I'll be flying over to China in a couple of weeks' time ... till then, take care NC !!!

Some shots taken earlier with the kids before their bedtime ...
can you tell that they were tired & grouchy ??

On Sleep Mode

2008-03-18T14:44:00.003+08:00

My dad came to the airport to pick us up @ 12.30am & we reached home around 1am this morning.

R2 didn't go to school today, where both of us slept through most of the day. I simply don't feel like doing anything at all, with no appetite too ... just wanna laze around the house.

But look at our messy luggages *faint*, I just wish for "someone" who can help to sort them out for me !

Going Home

2008-03-17T16:37:00.009+08:00

It's time to go home !!

It's time for R2 to go back to school (Term II) !!

After 2 weeks of much KLKK-ing, shopping, eating, drinking with NC's friends ... I'm totally burnt out ... however, it was fun !!

Yesterday, we rushed like crazy to get all errands done before heading back to Singapore. We were at Guangzhou till 2pm, caught a train & reached Shenzhen around 4.30pm, then lugged our "barangs" back to HK around 11pm ... reached PIL's place & concussed till this morning.

Guess what? R2 woke up this morning & told me that he wishes to stay in HK & not coming back to Singapore ... hmmm ... that's strange & I wondered what happened to him ... ha ha ha.

Lastly, sincere thanks to Father & Mother for taking great care of R2 during the past 2 weeks. I'm sure he enjoyed his stay very much; which makes him don't feel like coming back to Singapore with us.

Also, a great thank you to *Uncle Jeffrey* for taking your time to send us to the airport.

KLKK-ing ... @ Nan Hai

2008-03-16T01:36:00.009+08:00

For the past few days, NC visited several factories and I tagged along. But while he's having discussions with the suppliers, I went around snapping pictures ... simply just for fun as well as to share with my blog readers ... Cheers !!!

KLKK-ing ... @ GZ

2008-03-11T01:09:00.009+08:00

Lately, the exchange rate is around S$1 = RMB5.10, so everything seems cheaper than usual ... hence, good buy & MUST BUY ... ha ha ha ...

NC brought me to Beijing Road for shopping as it's known to be "Guangzhou's Orchard Road". And indeed, it was very crowded even on weekdays !!

** Sorry, these pictures look blurry coz the sky was always hazy - wondering was it due to pollution or cool weather ??

Jellied Legs

2008-03-09T10:14:00.010+08:00

It has been a week since I'm here in China ... and I can't access this blog of mine for most of the time ... arrrgghhh !!!

For a quick update, we left R2 under my PIL's care in HK & came over immediately on 4 Mar 2008 to attend a few exhibitions in Guangzhou. I've to walk for at least 5 hours daily with NC, plus 3 hours of personal shopping time. Can you imagine how tired am I at the end of each day ???

Here, some snapshots taken during the LED Show, and of coz ... it's me being the photographer !!!

We're Off to HK

2008-03-03T17:41:00.009+08:00

Hi hi, I'm blogging from Singapore Changi Airport T1, while waiting to board the plane to Hong Kong ... hee hee ... shhhhh ... this shall be my 1st time to blog from here.

NC & I have decided to bring R2 along with us; although there're still a few more days to go before his March School Holidays start. By such arrangement, my mum can "take a break" for the next 2 weeks.

Anyway, look at my little boy ... he's so excited to go over to HK again. In fact, my parents-in-law are not aware that we'll be bringing him there & this is meant to be a surprise for them. (It has been slightly more than a year since they last saw R2.)

I'll try to update my blog whenever I can access it, as I understand from NC that it's impossible to access Blogger from China ... OH NO !!!

I Surrendered

2008-02-27T20:34:00.004+08:00

I'm feeling relieved today, as it's my last day with Altus Group ... hmmmm ... well, I've decided to stop trying and surrender.

In fact, I've made this decision on 14 Feb 2008 and my superior even asked me why am I giving him such a big Valentine's Day present (ie. my resignation letter) ... ha ha ha

However, I'll definitely miss those fun-loving & helpful colleagues of mine.

Happy Birthday To Mum & Apple

2008-02-20T23:16:00.009+08:00

TODAY = my dearest mum as well as my best friend's birthday ... and I remembered saying these every year ...

"Happy Birthday To Both,

Happy Birthday To Both of U !!!"

Anyway, my Bro *A* has taken the initiative to book a table @ Tung Lok Restaurant - The Arena Country Club this evening, for a family dinner to celebrate my mum's 59th birthday.

In fact, we used to arrange for such dinner on everyone's birthday in the past. But ever since NC is travelling more & more over the years, this little family tradition of ours has been tentatively discontinued ...

However, I managed to snap some shots during our dinner ... so as to prove how happy my mum was earlier :D

4th Day of New Year

2008-02-10T10:46:00.011+08:00

Time flies, flies, flies ... today is already the 4th day into the Lunar Year of Rat.

For the past 3 days, we've been busy going around visiting relatives & friends, giving out & receiving "Ang Baos" and of coz, loads of catching up {as we hardly meetup these old friends since NC is not in town for most of the time}.

I only managed to snap a few pics, here & there ... coz I find it a hassle to lug my camera along *LOL*

Here you go, something to share ... ...

"Gong Xi Fa Cai ! ... Hong Bao Na Lai !"

Mass "Lo Hei" - meaning "tossing up good fortune".

"Wanna have some ??"

*Sigh*, *sigh*, *sigh* ... after having a great time this CNY holiday ... I gotta go back to work tomorrow & there's more work, work & work waiting for me.

On top of that, NC will be going back to China for business again ... and I wonder when is he coming back home again ??? :(

::: Gong Xi Fa Cai :::

2008-02-07T13:52:00.000+08:00

Wishing all my dearest friends out there,

新年快樂 ,

身体健康 ,

万事如意 !

Energizer Bunny ... Keep Going !!!

2008-02-03T22:00:00.001+08:00

A sincere thanks to my dear friends ... *Apple*, *FS* & *Ed* for all your kind words & encouragement today.

Don't worry, I shall adopt the Energizer Bunny's "Keep Going & Never Say Die spirit" ... ha ha ha.

1st Day of Work

2008-02-02T13:03:00.001+08:00

Yesterday was my 1st day of work ... hmmmm ... I really don't know how to express my mixed feelings in words right now.

In summary, there isn't any HR personnel/dept in this organization for the past 18 yrs of their business. Therefore, needless to say, there's no proper documentation, filing, payroll system at all.

On top of that, this organization is expanding (by way of merger &/or acquisition). As such, there are a number of smaller subsidiaries (both locally & overseas) with their own Compensation & Benefits packages, their own set of working guidelines, etc ... it seems very "messy" & out of control to me. As a parent company's HR personnel, all these will become part of my job & responsibilities ... sigh, sigh, sigh ...

After a short meeting with the organization's CEO yesterday, I kept pondering over issues like, Can I manage this post (after 7 yrs of gap)? Can I perform up to the CEO's expectations? Am I doubting my own abilities? Did I make a wrong choice? (should have opted for the one "up on the mountain"?) ... ...

Apart from that, I missed my kids right after lunchtime ... and I quickly made a call back home to chat with my little R2 for awhile. The next moment, I started to countdown till 5.30pm ;)

I'm in a dilemma right now ... should I take on this challenge or should I just get a stress-free part-time job to pass time (as I've plans to venture into another business real soon) ???

My Dream Room

2008-01-29T13:02:00.000+08:00

What a gorgeous room !!!

I happened to chance upon this post from {Benita} at Two Peas earlier & I'm overwhelmed with the amount of scrapbooking goodies that she owns. Besides that, she's really good at organizing her space, and look at how creative she is by using curtain rods to display her layouts.

It's a SCRAPBOOK HEAVEN and I'm luvin' it !!!

A personal note to NC :
Can I have something like this in our new apartment ... PLEASE ?? ... hee hee

Back to Work

2008-01-25T16:28:00.001+08:00

Whoo-hoo !!! ... After 7 years of running my own &/or hubby's businesses, I thought I could never be a "9 to 5 OL" again.

However, I managed to get 3 job offers this week after struggling thru' a total of 4 interviews altogether ... Lady Luck is watching over me these days, thanks !!

To be honest, I hate going for interviews as most HR Managers will "bombard" us with all sort of questions. On top of that, as a job seeker, you will have to sell/promote yourself to the hiring manager ... it's a sickening task which I hate most!

Nevertheless, I've accepted a job offer which expects me to commerce work on 1 Feb 2008.

I took up said offer after much consideration on issues like travelling time, working hours, overtime requirements, learning opportunities, etc. Coz my main focus will still have to be on my 2 kids, and I don't want said job to take up too much of my time.

I just hope that everything will goes well for me ...

Missing In Action ...

2008-01-22T10:12:00.000+08:00

A quick glance at this blog of mine, made me realised that I've not been updating it for almost 2.5 weeks ... hmmmm .... some of you might be wondering why am I missing in action again ??? (ha ha ha)

Time really flies, and here's a summary of what I've been busy with for the past half a month ...

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

12 Jan 2008 : Jazzscraps was here in Singapore with her hubby for a short scrapbooking-shopping trip ... ohhhhh ... I'm green with envy :)

Despite her super tight itinerary, Detha and I managed to meet up with her over dinner at Tambuah Mas Indonesian Restaurant. Our talking point for the whole dinner session was none other than SCRAPBOOKING !!! Simply fun !!!

Jazzscraps and I didn't see each other since her previous trip to Singapore in Year 2006, however, we still update each other thru' our blogs as well as Google Chat.

Anyway, see YOU again in June !!!

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

16 Jan 2008 : Received a SMS for another dinner get-together session with a group of ex-colleagues (back in Year 1999). It was an evening full of eating & non-stop talking although there were only 4 of us ... indulging in reminiscence of the great old times working together.

Not forgetting to thank BH for her dinner treat at Swensen's :p

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Besides that, I've been running around sending/fetching R1 & R2 to tuition & enrichment classes ... 6 days in a week.

I'm also trying my very best to coach R1 in her schoolwork on a daily basis, without me throwing my temper at her (this is the reason why I'd rather engage a tuition teacher for her).

Other than my kids, I'm also in the midst of hunting for a full-time job. With CNY just around the corner, there's also loads of spring-cleaning & shopping to do ... busy, busy, busy, busy ... is the only word that I can think of now.

1st "Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So" Lesson

2008-01-06T21:18:00.000+08:00

Whoo-hoo !!! R1's long-awaited piano class has commenced this afternoon ... she was enthusiastic about her 1st lesson since last night *wink*

Another great news is ... my Sis *J* has agreed to accompany R1 for lessons on my behalf ... ha ha ha ... (I've heard from her teacher that it's best to attend lessons with the child throughout the 1st year of said program ... oh no ... it's a one-year committment.)

As the music school is right next to the library, I've decided to spend our time there while waiting for R1.

Look, R2 had totally immersed himself into a few piles of story books ...

Money Doesn't Grow On Trees

2008-01-04T15:36:00.000+08:00

Since R1 will be given pocket money on a daily basis, I thought it's an ideal time to begin teaching her about the value of money & the importance of regular savings.

Otherwise, in a child's world, money comes from Mummy and Daddy's pockets. And when we are tapped, a machine magically spouts dollars after merely pushing a few buttons. It might be natural for them to assume that money is readily available whenever it's needed.

So, on the very 1st day of school ... I took out one of her birthday presents from her ex-classmate - a Chip 'n Dale coin bank - and encouraged her to put all her balance pocket money into it. After which, I shall bring her to deposit her savings into her bank account when it's full ... (sounds good, huh? ... hee hee)

Hopefully, this will help R1 to develop a strong saving habit & to learn how to make smart purchases.

Perhaps even learn why they can't immediately get everything they want - as adults often save their money for items they want to buy - and definitely not "I want ... Buy me this ... !".

Hello, I'm Tigger

2008-01-03T09:58:00.001+08:00

We bought this Tigger costume from Hong Kong for R2 way back in Year 2005 ... that's why, it looked a little small on him now. In fact, we chucked it into his wardrobe and totally forgotten about it ... ha ha ha

This little brat found it yesterday and eagerly asked Granny to put it on for him. Therefore, I quickly snapped some pics while he can still fit into it ... and he's simply too cute !!!

R2: "Mummy, can you help me to take a picture of my tail?? ...
Coz I can't see it from here."

R1's First Day of School

2008-01-02T13:08:00.001+08:00

For the last few weeks, R1 has been counting down the days until her "big day" - today - her 1st day of Primary 1!

I remembered when she was still a baby, I've been thinking how nice it would be when she starts school where we can get a break during the day ... and the day we envisioned is here ... it's just happening way too fast!

I must admit that this morning was filled with mixed emotions. I'm worried that R1 couldn't take care of herself in school, couldn't cope with her school work or will she get bullied by her classmates, and such. However, I must have faith in her that she can make it.

On the contrary, R1 was excited over many new things like taking a school bus, new uniforms, new books, new school, new friends, and so on ...

{ Daddy NC just called to say ... "I love you, Rachel" }

"Your school bus is here, Rachel ... off you go!"

After school was out - Granny, R2 & myself (the family photographer) went down to wait for R1's school bus to send her back. When we got home, R1 couldn't help but to talk most of the evening about everything she did in school.

Thankfully the day has come and gone, filled with memorable moments - knowing that many more memorable moments are to follow !!

Getting Ready for the "Big Day"

2008-01-01T23:51:00.000+08:00

- Today's To Do List -

1. To complete R2's holiday craftwork assignments

2. To complete R2's K1 Scrapbook

3. To double-check R2's holiday homework

4. To iron-on R1's nametags onto her uniforms

5. To iron both kids' school uniforms

6. To get ready R1's stationeries for school

7. To pack R1's school bag for tomorrow

Being a "Mrs Last-Minute" resulted to a whole list of tasks to be done by today ... *faint*.

Happy New Year !!!

2008-01-01T00:00:00.000+08:00

*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*

Wishing all my friends & families

a very Blessed & Joyous 2008 filled with

Lots of Love, Warmth, Happiness & Cheers!

*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*

Let the Fingers Do the Walking

2007-12-30T16:42:00.000+08:00

Most shopping malls were flooded with happy shoppers lately, irregardless of weekdays or weekends. I presumed that most of them must have received their year-end bonus and doing their festive shopping ... hee hee

Guess what? I've been "shopping" for the past 2 weeks too, but it's from the comfort of my home ... Yeah! I meant online shopping ... let the fingers do the walking!

In fact, it's partially because I'm trying to avoid the shopping crowd in town as well as I'm too lazy to walk around ... ha ha ha

I've been sitting in front of my lappy daily for long hours, just to shop for clothes and scrapbooking supplies from both local and overseas e-stores (of coz, from P2P too, as they had a Christmas Sale with huge discounts).

So for now, I just have to wait for Mr Postman to deliver my orders right to my doorstep ... am I getting lazier or am I simply enjoying the convenience of online ordering ??

"Popiah Party"

2007-12-27T18:46:00.000+08:00

Yummy, yummy ... we had a mini "Popiah Party" at home today (for no particular reasons ... simply just for fun), where the ingredients are being laid out and we make popiahs with proportions of ingredients to our personal preference.

Popiah (simplified Chinese: 薄饼) is a Hokkien-style fresh spring roll common in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan.

A popiah "skin" is a thin pancake made from wheat flour which is covered with a sweet sauce, and hot chilli sauce, before it is filled. The filling is mainly finely grated "bangkuang", which has been cooked with a combination of other ingredients such as bean sprouts, french beans, lettuce leaves, grated carrots, slices of Chinese sausage, crushed peanuts, shredded omelette, shredded meat, bean curd, prawns, etc.

Having such a party isn't an easy task at all ... my mum has spent her whole morning preparing the above-mentioned ingredients; as most of them need to be finely grated/shredded ... it's alot of work indeed.

Look at my kiddoes! ... They're enjoying their finger lickin' good - DIY popiahs ...

Silent Night ... Lonely Night

2007-12-24T21:11:00.000+08:00

It's Christmas Eve today !!

My "party kakis" will be going down to Dragonfly later, and I doubt I'll be joining them this year ... coz that place will definitely be packed like sardines, with not much room to move around - let alone dancing.

So, it's gonna be a quiet night with my 2 lovely kids at home ...

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE OUT THERE !!!

My Christmas Wish List

2007-12-16T10:44:00.000+08:00

Oh! You better watch out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why:
Santa Claus is coming to town!

He's making a list,

He's checking it twice,

He's gonna find out who's naughty or nice.
Santa Claus is coming to town!

Ho Ho Ho ... I've got my Christmas wish list ready ... I want a ... LG Viewty KU990 phone

Who says a mobilephone cannot be a high-end camera? This Viewty comes with professional lens certified by Schneider-Kreuznach to capture precious moments in breathtaking colour and resolution.

It features a 5.0MP camera, one-touch capability, image views on a cool 3" touchscreen, comes with image stabiliser, ISO800, manual & auto focus, Xenon light for shot in low light and many other functions - will take perfect pics everytime, just like a pro!

or ... this dazzling diamond pendent from Lee Hwa Jewellery (diamonds are known to be women's best friend and it applies to me as well).

Hello NC ?? Are you listening ?? Anybody there ...

Owl Madness Continues ...

2007-12-12T10:10:00.000+08:00

By now, many scrapbooking friends of mine must have owned quite a number of owl-themed clear stamps, patterned papers, rubons and such.

However, look at what I've found yesterday at Daiso (again) ... a cute little ceramic owl (lucky charm) and a matching Japanese hand towel.

After reading the product translation at the back of the packaging, I've decided to get them for NC ... hee hee. Although it might look slightly childish on his working desk ** wink **

Do you know why "Fukuro" (ie. owl) is regarded as a good luck charm ??

"Fukuro" has the same pronunciation as "fukurou" (ie. avoidance of trouble) in Japanese. Thus, it is believed to bring good fortune in life.
Owls also represent "furou" (ie. perpetual youth & longevity) and fountain of wisdom.
Improvement in academic ability. As owls live at night, it is believed to bring good luck to students when studying during the late hours of the night.
Prosperity in business as the flexibility in an owl's neck represents all-round visibility.

Well, isn't the Japanese culture interesting?

Life is like a Piano

2007-12-06T20:15:00.000+08:00

I've finally decided to sign R1 up for Piano School For Childr en at a nearby Yamaha Music School. In fact, my R1 has been wanting to learn to play piano since she's only 4.5 years old.

Anyway, her class will be commencing in early January next year and for goodness sake ... mummies will be required to accompany their kids for classes during the first 3 months of the program ** faint **.

I just wanna scream out loud ... "So many tasks yet so little time !!" ... I really hope that I can manage well with my work, business, kids and family next year.

"Life is like a piano.

What you get out of it depends on how you play it."
~ Tom Lehrer

Homemade with Love

2007-12-05T23:08:00.000+08:00

I found these yesterday at Daiso, and thought my R1 will love to bring mummy's homemade lunch boxes to school next year.

{ These moulds are for Onigiri - balls of cooked rice }

"Any good ideas on what to bring to school for lunch?" ... hmmm ... how about a cute Bento Box ??

In fact, making pretty boxed lunches is such an essential skill in Japan where it is hard to find any Japanese woman that has not mastered it!

One plus point about bento boxes is that "the eyes also eat" - meaning that apart from nourishing, the food should also be attractive on a visual basis. Those mothers will pack their children's bento boxes while trying to think of how to make the little ones smile when they open the box.

It helps children to get more interested in what they're eating. I guess most of them will love compartmentalizing their healthy foods in a Bento box!

The art of Bento can make having a meal fun and healthy, as well as another creative outlet for mummies (just like scrapbooking), isn't it?

That's all for now, I shall continue my search around the net for more Bento recipes and will definitely showcase my creations in time to come ... cheers!

Ready, Get SITEX, Go !!!

2007-12-03T10:39:00.000+08:00

Sitex 2007 was from 29 Nov ~ 2 Dec 2007 @ Singapore Expo.

However, my bro *A* & I only went there yesterday evening to check out any good deals on lappies - especially on the very last day of said event.

After combing through the entire exhibition hall for 2 hours; doing much price comparisons and bargaining for their best possible prices.

I finally settled with a Toshiba Portege M600 in Pearl White.

Coz at a modest tag of S$1,899, it's only weighing 1.89kg and comes powerpacked with features like Bluetooth, Built-in webcam, Fingerprint Security Suite, DVD SuperMulti Double Layer Burner Drive, 120GB (with shock absorbers), 3 yrs International Warranty and freebies like MS OFFICE 07, 2 pcs of 2GB Thumbdrive, upgraded to 3GB RAM, a optical mouse, and lucky draw chances on winning a Subaru Impreza car (keeping my fingers-crossed .. hee hee).

** On a personal note, thank you dear ... for keeping your promise to get me a new lappy once your MT project is completed. **

Reading is Fun

2007-11-29T20:50:00.000+08:00

School has been out for more than a week, and both kiddoes seem to be glued onto either our TV set or their Gameboy whenever they were at home. This is really worrying me ...

Hence, I've decided to include a "Visit to the Library" into our weekly schedule from today onwards.

By making regular trips to the library tells children that reading is important and fun - it should worth the effort and time set aside for these visits ... so let's give it a try !!!

"If you read a lot of books, you are considered well read.

But if you watch a lot of TV, you're not considered well viewed.”
~ Lily Tomlin

Drama Series Marathon

2007-11-27T04:40:00.000+08:00

Oops, it's 4:40am now ... all obstacles cleared ... nope, should say - 24 episodes of Why Why Love completed within a 29.5 hours marathon **wink**

NC will definitely think that I'm out of my mind should he reads this post ... ha ha ha

Anyway, if you like Taiwanese heartthrob Mike Ho or sweetie pie Rainie Yang, do try watching it by online streaming here ... ENJOY !!!

Ok, it's time for me to zzzzz, followed by a refreshing eye mask and get back to "work" !!!

Sleepy Panda-Eyed

2007-11-26T14:23:00.000+08:00

I hurried down to the nearest TS shop last night; to get my hands on a set of Why Why Love DVDs (the reunite of the cast from {Devil Beside You}).

Coz, I simply fell in love with this Taiwanese drama series after catching an episode (by chance) over at Cable TV last evening.

Guess what ?? I watched 12 Episodes in a row ... from 11pm last night till 9.30am this morning ... totally tired out yet too interesting to stop ... ha ha ha

And at this rate, I believed that I'll be able to finish it (24 episodes in total) by tonight ... Yeah!! ... Do I sound a little crazy to you? ... no choice, I'm a "kan cheong spider" ... LOL

Oh yes, and not forgetting to do a relaxing eye mask later for my pair of "panda eyes" ** faint **

Daddy is Away Again

2007-11-24T15:42:00.000+08:00

Now you see him ... now you don't ...

At this very moment that I'm blogging this post, Daddy NC should be boarding a flight back to Hong Kong.

He was back on 14 Nov and now he's gone again ... and will only be coming back in Feb next year for Chinese New Year. **sob**

I can see that our kids have really enjoyed their daddy's company during the past few days ... and will be missing him ...

{ Cranky R2 - not willing to pose for the camera }

Lastly, thanks to Uncle *J* for sending Daddy NC to the airport earlier. **grin**

Happy Birthday to Daddy NC & R1 ...

2007-11-19T12:36:00.000+08:00

Happy Birthday to another 2 darlings of mine ... Daddy NC & Sweetie R1 !!

We didn't manage to arrange for our usual get-together birthday dinner with my family this year; as Daddy NC had a few business appointments today. However, he's gonna make it up to R1 somehow within the next few days ... so let's wait & see.

******************

Besides that, we went to R1's new school for her Primary 1 Orientation this morning @ 9am.

During said orientation, her principal gave an hour long of briefing ... it was boring yet informative. Followed by filling up a couple of consent forms. We didn't make any purchase of books and uniforms today, as the queues were extremely long (typical Singaporean style ... ha ha ha).

The school also engaged Acropolis English Centre to conduct a Reading Test on all new P1 pupils, without any prior notice.

Luckily, R1 fared pretty okay in this assessment ... phew ... but (to me) she still need to work harder when the school term starts next year. Am I stressing her out ?? ... no choice, I'm a "Kiasu Singaporean" too ... LOL.

Once again, some snapshots for today ...

In the Making of "Little Mermaid"

2007-11-18T16:01:00.001+08:00

I struggled to get out of my bed early in the morning yesterday, just to capture some shots of my kids having their swimming lesson (as promised in my earlier post).

Know what? R2 "chickened out" this week, although it was supposed to be their 2nd lesson only.

R2 refused to get out of bed despite much persuading from Granny & myself. He expressed his fear to blow bubbles in the water ... so I guessed he's too young to pick up swimming now. Let's wait till he is more ready for it then ...

On the other hand, R1 seemed to be much more eager to learn from Uncle *A* and here's some snapshots of them ...

R2's 4th Birthday

2007-11-17T21:33:00.000+08:00

It's my little darling - R2's birthday today ...

NC & I went to a nearby mall to get a Doraemon birthday cake and his favourite McDonald's Happy Meal for him.

Oh yes, not forgetting some pics ... as "a good snapshot stops a moment from running away." (Although both kids were rather grouchy towards the end of said mini celebration)

P2P X'mas Special !!

2007-11-16T13:21:00.000+08:00

An update of P2P latest Christmas Sale cum Open House ...

17 & 18 Nov 2007 (Sat & Sun)

{ Anytime from 11am onwards }

15% off an order of $50 & above*
20% off an order of $100 & above*
30% off an order of $150 & above*

Plus attractive free gifts to be given ...
- An unique music box (worth $15.90) with any purchase of $150
- An imported Rusty Pickle T-Shirt (worth $30) with any purchase of $200

* Storewide discount, including New Arrivals
* This promotion is from 17 - 24 Nov 2007
* Valid for online orders too

For enquires, please feel free to email detha@pictures2pages.com.

Happy shopping & scrapping !!

BE ORIGINAL, please ...

2007-11-15T13:30:00.000+08:00

In the world of scrapbooking, it is completely okay to scraplift (i.e. use other people's ideas of layouts).

In most instances, we will usually have the basic courtesy to give proper credits to those original "creators" should we scraplift in whole/part of their layout ideas/designs ... this is so-called "Scraplifting Etiquette". Many a times, the original artist will be thrilled that you decided to use her ideas.

On the contrary, how would one feel if his/her original business ideas have been copied (again & again) under broad daylight ?? Do we regard such acts as competition? or plainly just lack of originality? or copycats?

Don't be a blueprint.
Be an original.

~ Roy Acuff

Daddy is Back !!

2007-11-14T20:44:00.000+08:00

It has been slightly more than 3 months, since Daddy NC left for his usual business trip to China (from 6 Aug 07 ... hmmm ... if I don't remember wrongly).

Since the kids are free (school holiday starts today), I've decided to give NC a little sweet SURPRISE ... we went to the airport this afternoon to welcome him back (without any prior notice at all) !!!

Following that, we had R1's favourite food - Sushi for lunch and a McDonald's ice-cream each as dessert ... hee hee

As usual, some snapshots again ...

{ R1 & R2 simply love to tease each other }

Let's PARTY !!!

2007-11-12T14:23:00.000+08:00

I need not do much detailed elaboration of R1's 6th Birthday Party in School today; coz "a picture will tell a thousand words" so I'll let these photos do all the 'talking' instead.

P.S. Mummy actually snapped 221 shots in total this morning !!!

Enjoy ...

UNDO The Past, Anyone?

2007-11-11T23:28:00.000+08:00

Just another random thought of mine tonight ...

At many a times, there were situations that I simply wished that I've the ability to "undo" them. Although, many decisions/choices have been made after much brainwork, yet there were numerous cases of "if only I know ..."

Why can't life be menu-driven or at least have an 'undo' feature?

*************

Nevertheless, here's some "hot" snapshots of R2 (just taken this evening) that surely can help to cheer mummy up ... his smile is simply contagious, isn't it ??

H2O Fun

2007-11-10T14:07:00.000+08:00

Seventy-five percent of our planet is water - can you swim ??

R1 and R2 went for their 1st Swimming Lesson by their private instructor this morning at 9am. Fyi, they've been real excited over this since last week.

According to their private instructor - Uncle *A* (i.e. my brother ... hee hee) who used to coach @ Torpedo Swim Team. R1 was doing pretty alright whereas R2 was not very co-operative. Uncle *A* has anticipated this way beforehand that he'll face some difficulties in coaching this stubborn little boy of mine.

Oops, sorry ... no snapshots for this post today ... coz their "Scrapper Mummy" couldn't get out of bed on time this morning ... LOL ... (Perhaps will do it during their next lesson, I promise)

"You're Invited"

2007-11-07T16:44:00.000+08:00

*Yawning*, *Yawning* and *Yawning* ....

Being a mummy is really taxing. It's a 24-hr round-the-clock job and we can't simply just quit by giving 1 - 3 months' written notice ... ha ha ha

Anyway, I've made a trip down to Bukit Batok McDonald's late last night; to pay for our party deposit and it's CONFIRMED !!!

After all the hassle of calling around, it's time to prepare R1's party invitation cards for her 33 guests next week.

I've managed to get them done by 6am this morning, so that R1 can pass these cards to her little classmates today in school.

She's getting more and more excited over her 1st Birthday Party in School by now.

Today, It's MY Day ...

2007-11-06T20:36:00.001+08:00

{ Warning : This is a Long Post }

Things seemed to be getting "on the right track" by itself today ... Yippee !!!

#1
Yesterday (and out of nowhere), I started to ponder on whether should I look for a full-time job after Chinese New Year 2008; in order to keep myself fully-occupied. But I've yet to discuss this sudden idea of mine with NC.

My reason for staying back here is hoping to coach R1 and hopefully she can achieve academically especially in Pri. 1. As I supposed this will be the minimum criteria to meet; in order to request for a transfer of school in the following year.

Guess what?? I received a SMS early this morning around 8am from a so-called "long time no see/hear" ex-colleague *L*. She offered me a contractual HR job in her company, whereby I can start work anytime next week ... was it telepathy?

Anyway, I didn't take up her offer immediately as I ought to discuss it further with NC when he's back next week.

#2
After months of sourcing around, I finally managed to find a reliable, responsible and reasonably-priced web designer for my upcoming e-store project. Thanks to Bunka, as I've got to know him last month while helping at the school.

We had several prior discussions on my new online store concept, and I've finally gave my "green light" to go ahead with the site development today.

Whoo hoo !!! ... and if nothing goes wrong (keeping my fingers crossed), it should be completed by end-Dec 2007.

#3
R1 wanted a birthday party in school this year ... and I've decided (just last night) to make her wish come true.

Granny has suggested on a McDonald's Outdoor Birthday Party for her next Monday - 12 Nov 2007.

This is going to be an "advance" celebration of her 6th birthday; as 13 Nov 2007 will be the last day of the school term.

With not much time left for preparation, such party can really take the load off our minds as their party professionals will take care of the planning, decor, food and games for us ... how nice !

BUT ... I started to panic after many calls to the nearby outlets last night. Many of them in the west area don't organise such parties except for their Bukit Batok Central outlet.

Without much delay, I called the outlet manager but was being told that my requested timing @ 9.30am is too early for them ...

Oh no !! What to do ?? Should I discard the whole idea totally ?? Will R1 be disappointed ?? *stressed*

However, this evening, a kind soul from McDonald's Bukit Batok called to follow-up my booking. I brought up to her my problem on their timing restrictions, and she actually agreed to help to take on my booking.

On top of that, she'll be our Party Hostess to run the show !! ... (Looking forward to meeting her next week to thank her personally)

Isn't this a great day for me? :D

"Meet-the-Parents" Session for R1

2007-11-05T12:54:00.000+08:00

Today is R1's 3rd and the very last "Year-End Meet-the-Parents" session at JCK.

As usual, her teachers discussed with me her work that she did in school and her so-called test papers.

To my greatest relief, they told me that R1 has shown a very big improvement this year (as compared to the past 2 years) ...

"Kei Kei, keep it up and mummy believes that you can do it!"

"Everyone is proud of what you’ve done,

You’ve learned a lot and had some fun.

Now there's more school up ahead,

Just make your work seem like play instead.

And if you play the game that way,

How far you’ll go, no one can say."
~ Karl Fuchs

Once again, my most sincere thanks to Mrs Tan, Mrs Yan and everyone else in school who has helped R1 along.

Time To Put On My "Thinking Cap" (Again)

2007-11-04T15:09:00.000+08:00

Through these years, I've been setting my own yearly New Year's Resolutions (and kept them in a "secret place").

Although at most times, many past resolutions of mine remain unaccomplished but somehow or rather it proved to be useful.

They served as a commitment that I've to make to a certain project and will more or less keep me "focused".

I did a Google search earlier and found these ...

Tips for New Year Resolution

Review your last year's resolution

Have you succeeded, if not, why did you fail. Examine it and if necessary keep the same resolution this year too.

Set Your Goals

Maintain a core focus. Be clear if you really want the change. Don't flow along with the trend.

Don't let the cup spill over

Do not create too many resolutions at a time. They may distract you. Go with one at a time.

Let it be for a year not a day

New year is the time to plan for the entire year. Let the resolution not be something for which you need just couple of days.

Acknowledge the price, and decide to pay it

Any worthwhile human achievement requires sacrifice, risk, effort and perseverance. Of course it does! This is how life works! And, you must pay the full price in advance! Be accountable to some one in case you don't follow your resolution seriously.

Reminders

Sometimes its easy to forget the resolution after the New Year euphoria passes away, and one is tempted to postpone the resolution to the next year. Plan to remind yourself of it throughout the year. Make a mention of it in the diary, online reminders or if required inform people close to you about your resolution.

Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities & Threats

Enhance your strengths, act against your weakness, see what and how you can utilize the opportunities for the year and see if you have to prepare yourself against any threats.

Pamper Yourself

Keep a gift for yourself wrapped beautifully and gift it to yourself if you accomplish your resolution at the end of the year.

So, friends ... start thinking about yours soon :)

Gosh, It's November Already !!!

2007-11-02T11:52:00.000+08:00

Here comes the 2nd last month of Year 2007 ... NOVEMBER !!!

This month of every year has always been the busiest and merriest of all ... as there's 3 birthdays (in a row) within the family. Although, I've yet to buy their birthday presents, let alone their birthday celebration plans.

As usual, there will be 2 upcoming "Meet-the-Parents" sessions in school for R1 & R2; to review their past performance.

But there's something new this year - R1's Primary 1 Orientation during mid-Nov. Actually, I'm not too sure what is it all about but I guess it's a "tour" around the school to let the kids familiarize with the new environment, buying of books and uniforms, etc.

Nevertheless, the great thing is ... NC will be back to celebrate their birthdays together! He'll always make it a point to come back (be it a long or short trip back home).

For more updates of the above events, stay tuned !!! ... ha ha ha

Canon EOS Experience, Anyone?

2007-10-31T22:30:00.000+08:00

I've just received an email from Canon on their upcoming roadshow.

Canon EOS Experience

5 great reasons to experience the Canon EOS System

Date : 2 ~ 4 Nov 2007

Venue : Suntec Convention Centre Hall 601

Time : 10 am - 6 pm

Free Admission

According to their mailer, the event will be stuffed full with photo activities and eye-candy to inspire our passion for photography. And witness the official unveiling of the much-awaited flagship EOS 1Ds Mk III Digital SLR as well as opportunities to try out their range of lenses and printers.

In fact, I'm pretty keen to go for it as there'll be quite a number of free workshops and seminars by professional photographers. And hopefully, I can pick up some useful tips from there.

Any "kakis" keen or free to go with me this weekend? ... as I think it'll be a little "sian" to go alone leh *wink*

Workshop at the Museum

2007-10-30T00:17:00.000+08:00

It was yet another educational experience trip organized by JCK for their K2 pupils.

Samsui Women : Laying The Bricks Workshop at National Museum of Singapore on 29 Oct 2007.

Samsui women - refers to Cantonese and Hakka immigrants from China. Adorned with their trademark feature - red "hat", they performed menial jobs in the early construction industry.

The red headgear was a square piece of blood-red cloth folded in a way that it sat like a fairly large rectangular roof on their heads. These women believed that red can ward off bad luck and it also acted as a protective gear from the sun's harmful rays.

Look! R1 brought back a look-alike headgear made of paper and I quickly grabbed this chance to brush up my photography skills ... hee hee.

The Graciousness of Sharing

2007-10-29T01:16:00.000+08:00

My kids' school has been supporting a Christian Kindergarten in Vietnam for the last 2 years, where pupils are requested to play a part in helping them build up a children's library in the Pre-school over there.

According to their school, each pupil can help by donating a NEW story book each - suitable for children aged between 4 ~ 6 years old.

By giving, we can inculcate in our kids the graciousness of sharing with the less privileged. On top of that, these story books will definitely go a long way to help the children over in Vietnam learn English language and to encourage them to develop a love for reading.

Should any of you who are also keen to play your part, do feel free to contact Jurong Calvary.

Cheers!

I'm Being Tagged !!!

2007-10-28T16:49:00.000+08:00

Oops ... I've been tagged by Edleen and Anne-Marie ... thanks, ladies !!

1. Link to the person {or in my case person(s)} that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself (on your blog, we all want to know them).
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So here you go ... 7 random facts about myself :-

(i) I dislike bananas BUT I love Goreng Pisang (deep fried bananas in batter) !!

(ii) I used to collect perfume miniatures before I'm hooked onto scrapbooking ... not much money left for anything else since then ... ha ha ha

(iii) I'm a great Hello Kitty fan since young ... and always dreaming of owning a 100% Hello Kitties-filled home.

(iv) Sun-tanning and swimming are definitely a NO, NO, for me! Yet I've such a tan complexion all these years ... *sigh*

(v) I enjoy thrill rides such as Space Shot, Vikings, Roller Coasters and such ... and find Ferris Wheel a little boring.

(vi) I tend to speed when I'm in a lousy mood ... tried slightly more than 160km/hr while on the way back from KL.

(vii) I dare not sleep alone in any hotel rooms (after some strange encounters at South Africa in Year 2003).

Ok, I'm done !

But I'm gonna "break the rules" a little as most of my blog friends have already been tagged ... so, I'm not tagging anyone for now.

Thanks for reading, and I hope that you'll know me a little bit more by now. *wink*

K2 Graduation Ceremony cum Christmas Musical Drama 2007

2007-10-26T22:22:00.000+08:00

Time really flies ... with a blink of my eyes ... my R1 is now ready to move on to another new challenge in her life.

Till now, I still can remember very clearly that innocent, lost and helpless look of hers during her 1st day of school (5 Jan 2005) in Nursery at JCK.

With weeks of combine choir practices and dress rehearsal, these young kids really put up a fantastic and eye-opening Christmas Musical Drama - Hark, the Herald Angel this evening.

The kids sang at least 12 songs this evening and R1's favourite songs are ... Talking To The Son, I Want To Be, When God Becomes A Baby and How Amazing! How Confusing!

P.S. 1 of the guidelines from the school is to REFRAIN from taking photos during their performance. But many parents were snapping away like nobody's business ... so I joined in *wink*

It was indeed a pleasant and memorable evening for all proud parents (like me). Although, it was a pity that NC couldn't make it in time to come back for this. Nevertheless, I've placed an order for a DVD on the actual recording of this whole Graduation Ceremony.

Lastly, a great thank you to all wonderful teachers for their labour of love, and not forgetting Mrs Patricia Lin - the Principal of JCK !!

SShhhh ... I'm already anticipating my R2's Graduation Ceremony in Year 2009 ... ha ha ha

The Measurement of LOVE ?

2007-10-22T19:15:00.000+08:00

Just a random thought ...

Units of measurement are now generally defined on a scientific basis, and are established by international treaties.

Also, there are lots of instruments designed and calibrated for different measuring purposes such as a thermometer, speedometer, weighing scale, voltmeter, chronometer, a simple ruler or even a milk bottle for feeding babies, etc.

But how can we measure how much are we being LOVED?

Do we simply measure it by using the following 2 factors ...

(I) The amount of TIME that the other party is willing to spend with us?

(II) The amount of LUXURY GOODS or QUALITY LIFESTYLE that the other party can afford/provide us?

Well, I've yet to figure this out ... what about you? ;)

Heidi Swapp in Beijing ?!?!

2007-10-14T00:16:00.000+08:00

It was a Public Holiday as well as a Saturday night, but I felt a little lonely & bored at home tonight.

I've tried calling NC in China earlier, as I kinda miss him ... but he was still out running errands, so our IDD teleconversation was short & sweet of merely 10 mins :(

With nothing better to do tonight ... I surfed the net !!!

I chanced upon Heidi Swapp's blog and got shocked !! Guess what? Her whole family of 7 has moved to Beijing, China on 24 Sept 2007.

Heidi Swapp:
"I have made mention of his business dealings and product development here and there … and he and his partner have built a factory in China to produce the garage doors they have developed. (very exciting) … early on, it became clear (and we have both known that it would be necessary) he needed to physically be there. the long trips overseas have been so hard for me, and harder now w/ #5. SO, after MUCH deliberation ... we have settled into enthusiastic acceptance of our family adventure!"

I really can't believe it ... Heidi actually did what I've been thinking of doing (for years), but have yet to do it.

She simply dragged her 5 little kids across the planet to another place with a huge communication barrier on top of the cultural difference. But yet, she thinks that it will be an amazing, unforgettable, life-altering, growth experience for herself & her family.

The idea of relocating the whole family to a foreign country involves much considerations like housing, schooling, work, safety issues, medical issues, etc etc. Hence, I've been trying to put off this entire idea again & again, while waiting for "miracles to happen".

After reading Heidi's blog, I guess it's high-time for me & NC to really sit down, discuss & plan what will be the best for our family.

Families are the compass that guide us.
They are the inspiration to reach great heights,
and our comfort when we occasionally falter.
~ Brad Henry

Passion for Pictures

2007-10-13T12:44:00.000+08:00

After a long wait of slightly more than a month, Detha and I finally went for our free Canon EOS DSLR Training @ Canon Digital Lab yesterday.

It was a 3-hr theory-based session, I've been trying hard to figure out what have been taught such as exposure compensation, aperture, shutter speeds, ISO ratings, depth-of-field, metering, focal length, etc etc ... and I ended up with a headache towards the end of it (I'm serious, no joke).

In summary, this training has provided me (i.e. a basically point-and-shoot person) a better understanding of what photography is all about and I'm really amazed at what my newly-acquired camera can deliver.

Our young and good-looking trainer, Mr Jino Lee, has shown us plenty of sample photos taken using various lenses as well as techniques. Those pics really WOW me !!! ... I've linked his site to this post, do check it out (especially those pics under his Travel category) ... they really make me yearn for a relaxing break at any beach resort now ... ha ha ha.

A Fun-filled Afternoon with {CREATE} at P2P

2007-10-07T11:42:00.000+08:00

~ Born to Crop ! Not to Mop ! ~

The CropMeet yesterday was a SUCCESS !

(Although it was a little "warm" at the beginning, but we managed to "cool" everyone down shortly ... those who were there will know what I'm referring to ... ha ha ha)

On behalf of P2P, I'd like to thank everyone for making it a fun-filled afternoon with us.

Firstly, a round of applauds to the organizers from {CREATE} for their great effort & time in planning those fun games & challenges. And secondly, sincere thanks to all the participants for their time to come all the way to P2P's new location at the East.

{ These ladies were busy cutting, rearranging, pasting and
discussing on their team's layout for a challenge }

{ Everyone was listening attentively to Aida's great tips on scrapbooking }
{ It's Lucky Draw Time ... and the winner was Ms Sooki !! }
{ A group photo shot with their creatively-designed coasters }
{ Ms Detha was being asked to choose the winner
for this coaster challenge ... a tough decision indeed! }
{ Snack time! And these ladies were so busy chatting with each other }
{ Thanks Aida & Jenn for these lovely handmade gifts for me }

I hope that everyone has enjoyed this CropMeet as much as I do ... and I'm definitely looking forward to the next one real soon.

Cheers!

No More Empty Promises

2007-10-03T20:41:00.000+08:00

Promise
~ Noun

1. a verbal commitment by one person to another agreeing to do (or not to do) something in the future.

2. grounds for feeling hopeful about the future.

Parents are sometimes a bit of a disappointment to their children. They don't always fulfill promises that they made to their little ones ... and (sadly to say) I'm one of them.

At times, I'll simply promise (without any considerations) whatever requests from my kids, in exchange for more peaceful & quiet time so as to carry on with my own work (p.s. I've been working from home since Year 2004). That's why, there's a high tendency of me on not delivering all my promises to them.

In fact, I've been feeling very guilty about it ... and told myself to stop doing it as this might set a bad example for my growing kids.

So, for now, I'm in the midst of fulfilling my past promises to them (despite my recent tight schedule) ... where #1 is to bring them for kaiten-zushi which means "rotating sushi" in Japanese, but is more popularly translated as "conveyor belt sushi".

Yippee! We went Sakae Sushi @ Bugis Junction on 2 Oct for dinner. The kids were delighted and had fun choosing their own food from the conveyor belt.

But I really wonder does red colour appeal most to little children? ... As R2 kept choosing those in red-coloured plates which cost S$6.50++ each ... can anyone help to explain this ??? ... LOL

As usual, here's some snapshots ...
(blurry ones, I mean ... as I forgot to bring a camera and used my PDA to shoot ... argh)

{ Eeny, meeny, miny, moe ... what shall I eat? }

Let's Crop With Us

2007-10-02T00:16:00.001+08:00

How often do I scrapbook?

"Not even a layout for the past 1.5 years! Oh gosh, I better churn out something when I go for this coming Saturday's CropMeet. It's always the getting started part that is difficult ... and I'm hoping a crop session with this group will do just the trick!"

Crop with {Create} & Pictures 2 Pages are co-organizing this event on Saturday, 6 October 2007 from 2pm ~ 5pm.

According to both organizers, there'll be crop session, fun games, door gifts, lucky draw, RAK prizes, delicious snacks to be served and discounts for offline shopping !!

What's more? P2P will also be having it's 1st Open House on that same day from 11am ~ 2pm at their new location.

So, calling all Singapore scrapbooking addicts ... do free yourself up on 6 Oct 2007 and join in for a day of fun with friends with the same passion!

Happy Children's Day 2007

2007-10-01T21:43:00.001+08:00

Happy Children's Day to all little ones out there, and especially to my R1 & R2 !!

Last Saturday, R1 popped me a question out of nowhere ...

R1: "Mummy, why didn't you buy Children's Day presents for us? I've received 2 so far ... 1 from my teachers in school and the other from Awana Club."

Me: "No money leh ..." (jokingly)

R1: "Mummy, nevermind. Why don't you draw me a card instead?"

Me: ???????

Isn't it very sweet of her? I'm really surprised that my little 5-yr old girl is so much sensible than expected ... and of coz, I'm touched by her words.

So today, I rushed back home straight after work as I planned to bring them to a nearby shopping mall to have Sushi for dinner. But we've to call off said plan when Granny expressed that she doesn't like Japanese food ...

Nevertheless, Uncle *A* suggested to order Pizza Hut home delivery for tonight. On top of that, he even brought R1 & R2 to Sobasei Japanese Restaurant at Fairway Club to get some Sushi take-aways (as R1 looked disappointed earlier).

Look! Both of them fared sumptuously, although it's just a very simple "Children's Day Celebration" at home ...

NC, please don't forget their presents (as promised) when you're back home.

Busy Like A Bee ...

2007-09-30T12:50:00.000+08:00

Konichiwa zenbo tomotachi.
Ogenki desu ka ?

I've been "MIA" for quite awhile; as I'm either too tired or can't find time to update this blog of mine for the past 2 weeks.

Are you wondering where have I been? What am I doing? ... oh well, I'm back to work at Bunka Language School from 17 Sep ~ 26 Oct 2007, before my upcoming trip to China for an exhibition.

*Jac* has approached me several times around early Sept, telling me that they're really short-handed as one of their full-time staff just left and the next staff can only join them at the end of October. Henceforth, I'm pretty much of help during this transition period ... ha ha ha.

That's why, I'm busy like a bee these days ... with much time spent on travelling to & fro Jurong - Orchard - Jurong, 6 ~ 8 hours of part-time job a day, 3 shipments in a row at P2P for the month of Sept 07 and my kids' schoolwork, etc.

Basically, I'm left with no time for myself apart from my beauty sleeptime everyday. Anyone good at Mathematics? ... Please teach me how to multiply my time ... ha ha ha ... just kidding.

Wanna take a peek at my "temporary workplace" ? ...

{ Our Bunka babes - *Jac* & *Jess* are promoting the school's upcoming cultural event.
That Sushi-Making poster was handmade by Gima-sensei using toilet rolls ... he's very creative indeed! }

Ja ne, kyo tsu ke te !

Work is either fun or drudgery.
It depends on your attitude.
I like fun
~ Colleen C. Barrett

Imagination Project, Inc.

2007-09-15T00:14:00.000+08:00

Just thought of sharing ...

I've just received an email dated 13 Sept 2007, from Janice Jezek of Imagination Project, Inc.

In her email, Janice mentioned that they've made the decision of NOT to CONTINUE in the scrapbooking industry. This is after 4 years of exhausting yet exhilarating cycle of coming up with new and better designs every few months.

So ladies, if you like any of their product lines, namely Gin-X, Chloe's Closet, Project Essentials, Center City, Chartreuse Dream, and Blue Cardigan, do grab hold of them while you can !!!

P.S. : If I don't remember wrongly, P2P still has some limited quantities of their past collections of patterned papers, do check it out!

Remembering Times at P2P

2007-09-14T13:31:00.000+08:00

{ Warning : This is a Long Post }

Pictures ‘2’ Pages was my 1st business that’s solely operated online. It’s a very different experience from my past business venture on mobilephone wholesaling & retailing; and especially challenging for a “not-so” IT savvy person like me.

Through the process, I did pick up some extra knowledge like HTML coding, photoshop, managing data-based shopping cart, building HTML newsletters, etc etc.

In fact, this E-store of mine is a 100% DIY site, with no professional help at all. It was being built with my brother’s great help.

Thinking back (in Year 2004), I didn’t opt to spend a few thousands bucks on professional web-designing services coz I’m afraid that I might give it up after a short while … but who knows, P2P is coming 3 this year!

It all started with me who believes that dreams do come true. Of coz, I’m well-aware that our dreams don’t just fall into our laps – sweat free – but instead, I believe that we have to have faith in our dreams, work for them and have patience when they sometimes take longer to materialize than we would like them to.

The cool thing is, when everything is said and done – and the dream that was once just a picture in my mind – is actually facing me head on … no doubt it has ALWAYS been worth the price I had to pay for.

Hmmm … you must be wondering what price am I talking about … here’s some examples of what I used to “pay”:-

Self-discipline (loads & loads of it) – as working from home, as well as there’s no accountability to anyone … tend to make a person slack and to work at his own pace.

Running an “One Man Show” business was really good at giving me lots of stress as I could NEVER leave the business out of my mind … thinking, talking & planning business constantly. There are so many strings attached to owning a business … that most people don’t fully understand, until they actually experience it!

Irregular working hours – as I tend to accommodate with offline customers' preferred shopping hours, this would meant working at nights (after regular office hours), weekends and especially public holidays. On top of that, I had to stay up till late nights to place orders & communicate with those US manufacturers (it's all due to our geographical differences).

Unwanted gossiping & negative remarks from competitors … well, I shall not do any finger-pointing right here as they’d definitely know who they are.
On this aspect, I’d normally fall back onto my DH for his moral support & comfort, where he’ll always remind me to “Mind Your Own Business”.
Shopping with a business in mind – I’m being reminded by a great friend of mine *A* to get in product lines that my customers would want instead of what I want. Obviously, this deprived my enjoyment of personal scrap-shopping.

To catch up with the grueling-yet-exhilarating cycle of new product launches from hundreds of manufacturers in every few months.

Nevertheless, I’ve never regretted on following those urges to do something different, to listen to my heart and accomplished my dream of having a scrapbook haven right at my own home – Life is too short NOT to chase after your dreams.

Oh yes, I ought to give it a mention … I’m also very grateful and would like to thank my family for their past support, kind understanding and assistance rendered.

My Mum - who helped me with stocktaking & pricing whenever my shipments came in, and also most importantly, took great care of my kids when I’m totally engrossed in work.

Bro *A* - who helped me with my site development as well as making deliveries during my absence.

Sis *J* - who helped me with the processing & mailing of orders as well as meeting up “self-collection” customers during my absence.

NC - for his moral support and great understanding (can you imagine … I’ve messed up our whole house in order to free up more storage & display space ... and without any complaints from him at all?).

R1 & R2 - for not meddling with my stock whenever they came back home. Occasionally, they even helped me with the pricing & displaying of products … but due to their height, my products being displayed on the racks were normally below eye-level … LOL).

And not forgetting my Dad, who is not really involved in my business operation. But rather, he did show his concern (quite regularly) by popping questions like : "Why are you always sitting in front of your PC; at the very moment when you opened your eyes and till late nights?" or "Why can't you do it tomorrow since work is never-ending?", etc etc.
Guess what's my typical reply? ... "No choice, if I'm not doing it, who is gonna do it for me ??"

Oh, I’m so blessed !!

Lastly, a big heartfelt thanks to those valued customers-turned-friends (both locally & overseas) who have been supporting P2P, for cheering us on, and for those sweet & encouraging emails/SMSes received.

** Please do continue to support P2P as I strongly believe that Ms Detha will bring it to a much greater height in the near future. **

Before I end this post, I’d like to invite you to take a peek at what was it like behind the scenes at P2P and to reminisce with me the times of shopping with us.

Cheers!

Best Blog Friend Tag

2007-09-13T21:23:00.000+08:00

I had a lovely surprise from Jazzscraps this morning ... I've been tagged for the very 1st time (I'm a 1-month old blog-newbie ... hee hee) and it's great FUN !!!

*** A very big "TEN-Q" to Jasmin !!! ***

So, with this cute bunny tag, I'm supposed to choose 2 of my best blogging buds and tag them with it and then they will go on to tag 2 of their friends, etc etc.

Here you go ...
Audrey { from UK }
- She's a very talented scrapper who's always there for me whenever I need help (thank you, pal).

Edleen { from CREATE - Singapore }
- She's inspiring me ... she can scrap, blog, organize crop sessions, host scrap challenges and owns a scrapbooking forum ... despite her super busy schedule as a mother of 4. It's amazing, isn't it?

Lastly, to all my other blogging friends, this also goes out to you too.

BIG, WONDERFUL and HAPPY News!

2007-09-10T17:04:00.000+08:00

I’m very excited and thrilled to announce some BIG, BIG news about P2P!

My online store - Pictures2Pages.com, has been acquired by a wonderful friend of mine, Ms Bernadetha, w.e.f. 25 July 2007.

She has been scrapping since Year 1999 (with limited choice of supplies to play with back then – mainly stickers). She’s also customizing scrapbooks for others as well as selling supplies at numerous craft fairs.

It’s not surprising that you might have even met her way before this; at LSS or crop sessions as she’s very addicted to scrapbooking and “scrap-shopping” (like you & me).

One of the reasons I’m excited for Ms Detha, is that after scrapping for 8 years, she’s now realizing something she has dreamt of doing - and that is, having her own scrapbooking business, making it grow and thrive and be something she can call her very own.

I’m sure this news may come as a surprise to many of you, as I didn’t say much about this transition until now. It was because there were a few issues that needed to be finalize before making an official announcement regarding it.

Nevertheless, the experiences I had over these 3 years have been truly amazing. I’ve been so blessed to become friends and acquaintances with so many creative people (both locally and overseas); having the same goal like mine -- to preserve our memories and create lasting legacies for generations to come.

My DH needs assistance from someone that he can trust … therefore, our choice is obvious and I’ve to come to this conclusion. In fact, he has been asking for my help since the beginning of Year 2006 and I’ve been putting it off for more than a year.

I’m especially looking forward to this new change as there’ll definitely be improvements, new ideas, different product ranges and a whole new shopping experience at P2P !!!

And so, with mixed emotions, much excitement and gratefulness for many things, I’m looking forward to the future of Pictures 2 Pages. Lastly, I really value the friendships I’ve formed over these years and love the people I’ve been so fortunate to work with … A Zillion of Thanks !!!

Jane Chai
… and for the last time to include this title in my signature line,
Owner, Pictures 2 Pages

Back To School

2007-09-10T01:54:00.000+08:00

This September school holiday has come to an end ... the kids will be going back to school later (well, I'm writing this post @ 2.30am where the kids will be up around 7.30am to prepare for school).

Looking back, it was a rather "stay-at-home" break for them. Although R1 did go for an overnight camp in school early last week. I didn't really plan anything for them as I was tied up with a new shipment for P2P, NC's blog updates as well as some web-designing thingy ... Oops ... I'm feeling guilty right now, "I'm sorry kids" :(

Anyway, I did spend my whole Sunday with them at home ... trying to get all their holiday assignments done (if you know me well enough, I'm Mrs "Last-Minute" ... LOL).

The kids had a (messy) painting session on their own while I struggled with their craft assignments ... I nearly blow my lungs out while doing that watercolour flower for R1 ... ha ha ha ... I remembered doing such craftwork during my school days (donkey years back).

Wanna take a peek at our "homework" - with instructions/requirements given by their teachers ???

{ A paper plate face puppet & a "mirror" using aluminium foil, popsicle stick & round plastic cover - for R2 }

{ A watercolour "blown" flower - for R1 }

Great Photography Tips ...

2007-09-09T02:12:00.000+08:00

Initially, I planned to enrol for a 10-session Foundation Photography Course at one of our local Community Centres, commercing on 7 Sept 2007.

However, due to insufficient participants, this class has been pushed back till early-Oct.

Since I'll be travelling to China for an exhibition next month ... guess gotta give it a miss ... *sigh*

On the other hand, thank you Aida, for sharing this great site on Photography Tips by KAREN RUSSEL with me ... do check it out !!!

Cheers!

Snapping, Snapping & Snapping Away ...

2007-09-04T00:46:00.000+08:00

It was a quiet Monday afternoon where R1 went for her K2 Overnight Camp @ JCK (3 - 4 Sept 2007). What a peaceful afternoon with only 1 kid at home ... playing with his Gameboy all by himself !

So eagerly, I picked up my new toy and snapped from top to bottom, left to right ... and of coz, R2 was my model for the day!!

In fact, I'm quite clueless about my Canon EOS 40D (with much more buttons & features than my Sony T3) as I'm a 1st-time DSLR user. But I still managed to capture some "moments" of my little one playing attentively.

{ R2 : "Mummy, are you done ?" }

P.S. Those scrapping bugs are biting my hands almost everyday, I WANT TO SCRAP !!! But all my scrapbooking barang-barangs are being stored away for the time being ... so how??

My New Toy

2007-09-01T22:46:00.000+08:00

Yippee-ya-ya !!! I've got myself a Canon EOS 40D - Kit II (with EF-S 17-85 IS USM) today !!!

Well, I've finally decided to go for it after 2 days of pondering, pondering & pondering ... hahaha.

However the thought of better-quality photos for my 2 little darlings, will definitely make this investment worthwhile.

I'd be registering for Canon's free training soon and hope to pick up a few photography tips from there ... and start snapping away like a Pro (hopefully).

To EOS or Not ???

2007-08-31T01:04:00.000+08:00

COMEX 2007 is here !! ... and found this !!

Yes !! I'm contemplating whether should I get a DSLR as I'm rather pissed off with my current Sony T3.

On top of that, I'm also checking out on any great deals for lappies as I intend to upgrade my current Fujitsu LifeBook.

Oh no ... these will DEFINITELY burn a big hole in my purse.

Look What’s Sprouting Up !

2007-08-28T14:59:00.000+08:00

JCK has organized a visit to the Aero-Green Vegetable Farm on 23 Aug 2007 (Thur) for all their Nursery pupils.

I'm really impressed by JCK's teaching method - they will make an effort to organise short excursion trips for their pupils at all levels; in accordance to their teaching syllabus throughout the whole year.

R2 is being taught on "Plants" this school term and he brought back his little school project on the very next day from his farm trip.

These bean sprouts are growing very well under R2's attentive care ... ha ha ha. He'll water them several times a day, where R1 & I had to drain off the excessive water - just in case "his bean sprouts got drown".

That silly little boy of mine even took a stool to sit in front of his bean sprouts and stare at them. When asked ... he told me that he's watching them grow !!

“You can learn many things from children.
How much patience you have, for instance.”
~ Franklin P. Jones

Curiosity, Adventures and Discoveries

2007-08-27T23:47:00.000+08:00

"Children are our role models.

They embrace discovery and wonder.

They are natural learners.

These are precious qualities that should be

nurtured and stimulated throughout our lives."

~ Ole Kirk Christiansen

My 1st trip to Singapore Discovery Centre with R1 & R2 on 26 Aug 2007 (Sun).

It's rather tiring but rewarding ... watching the kids exploring around with great curiosity, loads of questionings, laughter and fun ... made me realised that I've not spent enough quality time with them for the past 3 yrs.

Hence, I guess it's high time for me to "shuffle" my priorities in life as we only live once - To make the fullest of it and without any regrets!

Here's some snapshots of our trip ...

{ Watching a 3D animation @ iWerks Theatre }

{ Talking to Little George - SDC one-of-a-kind interactive mascot }

{ @ So Singapore Toons! 2007 Cartoon Exhibition }

{ Little pilots undergoing training ... hee hee }

{ Coffee & Beans }

缘尽缘散

Pain vs Gain ...

Bird-Brain Lots ...

Belated Mother's Day Card

A Shutterbug-To-Be

Happy Mother's Day 2009

Handling Anger & Disappointment

Mugging Away ...

Picturesque Guilin {桂林}

Missing In Action ...

By R2 ...

NO Internet Connection @ Home

Hard Work is the Yeast that Raises the Dough

A Day At The Beach

Where's My Adhesives ???

Happy Mother's Day 2008

4th Day of Work

S-P-L-U-R-G-E

What Am I Waiting For ???

Philosophy of Life

R1's 1st Pair of Spectacles

Managing Time

眼镜, 眼镜找朋友 ...

Myopia ... R1 is at Risk

Mood Faces

A Surprise Gift

R1's First Loose Tooth

The Perfect Recipe

Goodbye ... (once again)

On Sleep Mode

Going Home

KLKK-ing ... @ Nan Hai

KLKK-ing ... @ GZ

Jellied Legs

We're Off to HK

I Surrendered

Happy Birthday To Mum & *Apple*

4th Day of New Year

::: Gong Xi Fa Cai :::

Energizer Bunny ... Keep Going !!!

1st Day of Work

My Dream Room

Back to Work

Missing In Action ...

1st "Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So" Lesson

Money Doesn't Grow On Trees

Hello, I'm Tigger

R1's First Day of School

Getting Ready for the "Big Day"

Happy New Year !!!

Let the Fingers Do the Walking

"Popiah Party"

Silent Night ... Lonely Night

My Christmas Wish List

Owl Madness Continues ...

Life is like a Piano

Homemade with Love

Ready, Get SITEX, Go !!!

Reading is Fun

Drama Series Marathon

Sleepy Panda-Eyed

Daddy is Away Again

Happy Birthday to Daddy NC & R1 ...

In the Making of "Little Mermaid"

R2's 4th Birthday

P2P X'mas Special !!

BE ORIGINAL, please ...

Daddy is Back !!

Let's PARTY !!!

UNDO The Past, Anyone?

H2O Fun

"You're Invited"

Today, It's MY Day ...

"Meet-the-Parents" Session for R1

Time To Put On My "Thinking Cap" (Again)

Gosh, It's November Already !!!

Canon EOS Experience, Anyone?

Workshop at the Museum

The Graciousness of Sharing

Happy Birthday To Mum & Apple