A Promise I Made to Myself

Clement had to perform a 12 hour standby duty on Sunday. Hence i took the opportunity to leave Jae with my mom and spent the entire day clearing my marking. Before I went to pick Jae up in the evening, I went to MOS burger to have my dinner and there I witnessed a "Grade F Parenting".

The family of 4 were waiting for their food to be served and the little brother somehow got into a little fight with his elder sister over a folded aeroplane. I didn't see which of the 2 children was in the wrong but the parents' reaction to the little fight was definitely wrong, in my eyes.

The father, who was sitting opposite the boy, bent over the table and pointed his index finger at his son's nose and shouted at him for shouting at his sister. The mother was sitting beside the boy and she used her index finger to jab at the boy's head serveral times and further reprimanded him. And then she crushed the 2 paper aeroplanes her children were playing and threw them on the table angrily. When the food was served, she angrily asked her son which burger he wanted and while muttering some scoldings under her breath. I could not hear what the boy answered but it invited MORE scoldings from his fuming mother. The woman brutally tore open the wrapper and shoved the burger into the boy's hands. I realised the boy was already in tears. And throughout my meal in MOS burger, I could constantly hear the parents scolding the poor boy. The boy noticed that I was looking at them and he looked embarassed. I tried to look away but I could not help but to look at them again when I heard somemore angry voices.

I promised myself that I will never, never raise my voice at Jaimie during these times of the day: (1) morning when she just woke up (2) during a meal time (3) when putting her to bed. Personally I feel that these are the 3 most important time of the day. I dont want her to feel lousy when she woke up, I dont want her to eat her food in tears and I do not want Jaimie to go to bed with unhappiness. And these 3 time slots will be the time I will use to "patch up" with her if I had disciplined her earlier. Mealtimes and bedtimes are supposed to be happy time. I just dont want to ruin it nor ruin it further. And I am sure there are other ways to discipline a child besides raising voices and other physical punishment during these times.

Jaimie hasn't reached the stage whereby she may drive me up the wall at times. But nonetheless, I will try my very very best to keep to this promise I made to myself.

Tag: Fantastic F4ur

Angie: ok，我的“功课”做完了。
Clement: 什么功课？
Angie: 那个 Four 的 Tag lor.
Clement: 哦。谁 Tag 你的？
Angie: Joyce.
Clement: 哎呀...哪我写完了还可以 Tag 谁？
Angie: 谁叫你这么慢？快点去写啦!这个 Tag 很容易的。

That was last night. So now here I am. When better to do an "easy" tag than during an uneventful (Not that I am complaining or ungrateful....In my line of work, uneventful is ALWAYS better than eventful) duty shift on Sunday?

Alright. Tag rules...This tag came to me from mommystardust. I'm supposed to give quadruple answers a series of stipulated questions. Here goes...

Four jobs I have had in my life

1. Tuition teacher (extra pocket $$ while schooling)
2. Testing laboratory engineering assistant (half year industrial attachment, uni 3rd year)
3. Science laboratory assistant (can't rem when I did this part time thingie...must be during some term hols)
4. Min Home Affairs Officer (present job, since graduation from uni)

Four places I have lived

1. Dover Cresent, Singapore (70s to 80s)
2. Bukit Timah, Singapore (80s to 90s)
3. Bukit Panjang, Singapore (2000 onwards)
4. Swindon, Wiltshire, UK (Jul 2002 to Aug 2003)

Four countries I have been to on vacation

1. Japan (There's Disneyland!)
2. USA (There's Disneyland!)
3. Paris (There's Disneyland!)
4. Hong Kong (There's Disneyland! - though I have yet to visit this one.)

Four of my favourite foods

1. Tiong Bahru Market's lor mee
2. Popeyes fried chicken
3. Mother's instant noodles with minced pork, scrambled eggs and luncheon meat
4. Wife's fried rice with baked chicken wings

Four places I would rather be right now
(Got to restrain myself from laughing out loud at this one. I mean, which place WOULDN'T I rather be right now?? Apart from my boss's office, that is.)

1. Home with my two girls
2. Karaoke/drinking with Ah Seng, Bernard and Raymond etc.
3. Kinigu! with Cedric and gang
4. Meeting Morpheus in The Dreaming

Four persons I am going to tag now
(At the tail-end of this tag lah...啵郎料...So I'd just shoot this to...)

1. Reed Richards aka Mr Fantastic
2. Susan Storm aka Invisible Girl
3. Johnny Storm aka Human Torch
4. Benjamin Grimm aka The Thing

NDP Preview @ Marina Bay

Was at the NDP Preview @ Marina Bay performing some work-related duties earlier this afternoon. When my chores were completed, I thought: no sense wasting my trip there, so I proceeded to collect the NDP Fun Pack (many goodies inside!) and also took a look around the spectator stand/ floating platform areas, while I wait for the girls to join me from home.

I was there up to the point when Daniel Ong and Belinda Lee and the other hosts appeared on stage shouting "Hellllooooo Singapore!!!" when I received Angie's sms indicating that she was on her way over via bus. I dilly-dallied a little bit and then left the parade zone. One on-duty SAF beng-kia reminded me that "once you leave here, you wouldn't be able to come back in, you know?". Yes, I know. No choice lah...only one ticket...

Married up with the girls at City Hall, after which we proceeded for dinner at Kenny Rogers @ Suntec City. Jaimie especially enjoyed the cheesy pasta side! Post dinner, we made our way to Marina Square terrace area to view the parade finale fireworks. This was Jaimie's first encounter with pyrotechnics and after some initial discomfort over the lights and sounds, I must say she took them in well and ended up having quite a good time.

When Majula Singapura was playing over at the floating platform, the three of us quickly hopped back onto our car and left the place, before the exodus began.

Jaimie's Alphabet Adventure

Oh boy, this is amazing and oh so fun!!!

Ray, thanks for the link, bro!

Hey you mommies & daddies out there, go get one done for your DD/DS now!



Link for full-sized video here.

Mayday JUMP! CD+DVD

Yeah!

Angie collected the 《五月天 JUMP! 离开地球表面》 极限大碟 from Sembawang Music Centre on my behalf today. I pre-ordered this CD+DVD set on 24 Jun 07, and after a month's wait, it is finally here.

Even though I didn't win the lucky draw's grand prize of a fully-sponsored trip to to attend Mayday's concert at 台北小巨蛋, I'm still very happy getting my hands on this boxset. Mayday's new song with 陈绮贞， titled 《私奔到月球》 has been airing over the radio stations since last week. It's a solid track, this one... nice catchy tune, wonderful lyrics, great performances by the 5 boys + 1 girl...Yup, it's another fabulous composition by the talented 阿信。

Oh, I have yet to check out the giant poster that came with the pre-order of the "deluxe" boxset (the "regular" set comprise only the CD). Idy told me that it's "not very nice" so I didn't get quite excited about this. Anyway, no more panel space in my office to pin up another Mayday poster liow, not to mention that this is a giant-sized one.

Ok, time to pop in my CD to enjoy!~



私奔到月球

詞：阿信 曲：阿信 演唱：五月天+陈绮贞

其实你 是个心狠又手辣 的小偷
我的心 我的呼吸和名字 都偷走
你才是 绑架我的凶手 机车後座的我 吹著风 逃离了平庸

这星球 天天有五十亿人 在错过
多幸运 有你一起看星星 在争宠
这一刻 不再问为什麼 不再去猜测人和人 心和心 有什麼不同

一二三 牵著手 四五六 抬起头
七八九 我们私奔到月球
让双脚 去腾空 让我们 去感受
那无忧的真空 那月色纯真的感动

当你说 太聪明往往还是 会寂寞
我笑著 倾听孤单终结後 的寂寞
看月亮 像夜空的瞳孔 静静凝视你我 和我们閙嚷的星球

靠近你 怎麼突然两个人 都词穷
让心跳 像是野火燎原般 的汹涌
这一刻 让命运也沉默 让脚尖划过天和天 地和地 缘分的宇宙

Auntie会打你的

昨天带媛媛去参加Baby Jumper Gym的试用班。原本以为那是一个体操班，原来是多元化的教学。有快速读卡、唱歌、表演动作、读故事、体操课、等等。一个小时的课，相当充实。媛媛也玩得非常愉快，所以呢，我们原本说好“不要报名”，但是老公显然动摇了，他问我“怎么样？”，我这个没有定力的女人也随风摇摆，说：“好。”＊摇头叹气＊

在班里有4个小娃娃。小娃娃们性格各异。如果要给每个孩子的性格比喻一下，媛媛是流氓（蹲在地上大喊大叫，叫爸爸把玩具拿给她！＊三条黑线＊）、和媛媛一样光头的TingTing是好奇的侦探（她老是去挖别人的包包）、Gerald是性格派的（老师把速读卡摆在他面前让他速读，他都充耳不闻）还有Ace是小王子。

小王子的父母是开放派的。王子站到老师的面前去，挡住其他小孩的视线，他们也无所谓。整堂课，老师不晓得说了几次“Ace，go back to your daddy and mommy and sit down, ok?”。小王子无心上课，在课室里走来走去，他的父母也没关系，也不好言相劝。小王子擅自去翻老师盒子里的速读卡，弄乱了里面的卡片，他的父母也没有去阻止。老师发现自己的东西被小王子弄乱了，就请国王与王后把他们的小王子抱开。国王与王后立刻说：“不要玩，Auntie会打你的。”

我非常非常不认同这样的教育方式！

首先，做父母的没有教导自己的孩子应该遵守的一些规则，放纵他随心所欲，对我来说已经是非常不对了。

第二，他们不愿意自己当训育者，而把训育者的角色完全推给一些不相干的人。“看，不是爸爸妈妈不让你玩，而是那个坏坏的阿姨和叔叔要骂你、打你！不关我们的事哦！是他们哦！”这样的处理方式，会给孩子带来什么影响？孩子不愿意承担自己的过错，孩子不愿意面对自己的过错，孩子对别人充满敌意，孩子会以小人之心度君子之腹，孩子会觉得自己的父母根本管束不了自己，孩子会变得更加自我为中心，孩子在面对群众时会缺乏信心。这些，都是从一句“Auntie会打你的”发展出来。这些为人父母者，肯定没有想到这一句话对自己的宝贝带来的杀伤力。

也许孩子到了某一个年龄，需要在父母的训育底下再加这样的一句话来让他们了解外界对他们的看法。我只是说，也许。我不知道。但是，面对一个稚龄的孩童，我觉得父母应该为在孩子面前树立一定的威严，教导孩子要为自己的过错负责任，还有教孩子在群体生活中应有的举止和态度。

Three

Couldn't resist it. Just had to put this up here, in response to the previous post.

Oh, btw, this wonderful Sesame Street piece featuring Elmo Herry Monster and Prariie Dawn is one of the songs collected in the "Best of Elmo" video that I got for Jaimie a few days ago. Great stuff! Enjoy!

就一家三口吧！

我和舒珩这半年来都在讨论：要不要第二个孩子？

本来已经决定好了：要！

我们连手续都开始着手进行了。

但是，我们内心深处其实都在挣扎着：到底要不要第二个孩子？让孩子有个伴好，还是我们全心全意爱媛媛就好？只有一个孩子当然对我们来说比较轻松。在精神、体力、经济上都比较舒服。但是，媛媛会寂寞吗？媛媛会在长大之后觉得只有一个人为父母负责会负担很重吗？有一个姐妹，对媛媛来说似乎比较好吧！

但是，你看，我们要第二个孩子的原因都是因为媛媛。这样对老二公平吗？我们要媛媛的时候是真心真意要一个孩子。现在，确实为了老大要老二，尽管我们俩的确很喜欢孩子。可是，我们已经觉得很对不起老二了。

然而，我们还是着手进行手续。在进行的过程中，总觉得不是非常顺利。我经历过不少事情，发现如果是冥冥中注定的，事情总是水到渠成的感觉，好象有人帮你开路似的。象舒珩被提名拿奖学金到英国去读硕士（面试时迟到，对方几乎要离开了，舒珩最后一分钟赶到，最后还过关了！）、象我念硕士（最后一分钟提交申请书，匆匆忙忙找有关的人签名，他们似乎都在办公室等着我去找他们签名似的。平时要找他们都很难！）、象我们买公寓（有人看第一间示范单位就下定金的吗？听到的人都说我们疯了，但是你看，现在房地产在冒泡沫，我们买的时机对啦！）象我们要领养媛媛（贵人多得不得了！时间都配合得恰恰好！）。

但是，这次的事情没有顺利的感觉。就有如我每次的怀孕，都没有顺利的感觉；就有如一些不该强求的事，强求之后都没有好结果。

我已经很相信很相信这种“顺利”与“不顺”的感觉了。

今天，我们到四马路去了一趟，求了签。姑且不要下定论说我们是否是太迷信了，但是我们看了签之后，就盟起了打退堂鼓的念头。我们认认真真地考虑了之后，觉得还是全心全意地爱媛媛、好好地把她抚养长大、好好地教育她吧！儿孙自有儿孙福。到底有一个妹妹对媛媛来说是不是真的比较好，我们也不知道。所以，我们就保持现状吧！

决定了之后，我和舒珩心里踏实了很多。

就我们一家三口快乐地在一起吧！

我的宝贝

I heard this song over the radio while driving home from work yesterday, and I told myself I've just got to do up a montage of Jae's photos with this as the background music! Really love this song!

So, here it is....Jae's first ever photo montage.


宝贝

作词：张悬 作曲：张悬 编曲：张悬

我的宝贝 宝贝
给你一点甜甜
让你今夜都好眠
我的小鬼 小鬼
逗逗你的眉眼
让你喜欢这世界

哇啦啦啦啦啦我的宝贝
倦的时候有个人陪
哎呀呀呀呀呀我的宝贝
要你知道你最美

我的宝贝 宝贝
给你一点甜甜
让你今夜很好眠
我的小鬼 小鬼
捏捏你的小脸
让你喜欢整个明天

哇啦啦啦啦啦我的宝贝
孤单时有人把你想念
哎呀呀呀呀呀我的宝贝
要你知道你最美

哇啦啦啦啦啦啦耶～
耶耶耶耶喔喔
哇啦啦啦啦啦我的宝贝
倦的时候有个人陪

哎呀呀呀呀呀我的宝贝
要你知道你最美
要你知道你最美

There are several versions of this apparently very popular song. Below is the MV for the most commonly played one.

美丽的误会

这张海报贴在我的房间很多年了。那是我心爱的海报。因为我超爱这套剧情非常不合理但是你就是看得很过瘾的韩剧。我把海报贴在我的衣橱旁边，而衣橱就贴着我的床。有时晚上睡觉之前，我还看着海报会幻想自己是郑有珍。

刚才媛媛在床上玩，我躺在床上休息。媛媛突然爬到床贴着衣橱的那个角落，然后站了起来，指着裴勇俊说：“爸爸！”，然后指着崔智友说：“妈妈！”

我从床上弹了起来，又立刻摔倒在床上狂笑不止。裴勇俊？我老公哪里象裴勇俊了，拜托！连背影都不象！妈妈？崔智友？哇哈哈哈哈哈哈…女儿啊，我该怎么说你呢？

后来我仔细研究了一下，是的，媛媛的爸爸的确有一点很象裴勇俊，使到我们的女儿会产生这么美丽的误会。你们仔细看看，海报中的裴勇俊穿上冬装，有点胖胖的哦？我的老公不需要穿冬装就大概是这个size了。加上蒙胧的镜头、侧面的拍摄，你真的很难怪我的女儿会以为她爸爸是裴勇俊，或裴勇俊是她爸爸。太好笑了啦！

这真是一个美丽、美丽的误会。

强力胶阿Jae

前一阵子媛媛爱爸爸，最近呢，却是像强力胶一样的贴着妈妈。我有80％觉得很开心，20％觉得很苦恼。开心的原因就不需要多加阐述，苦恼的原因，是她贴得我贴得太厉害时，我根本没有办法吃一顿晚餐。

就拿昨天来说吧。舒珩的堂弟亦辉从澳洲回来度假，于是便约了两家人一起吃晚餐聚一聚。亦辉在澳洲读大学，昨天见到他，哇！帅了至少3倍！堂妹亦晴更加艳丽四射。相比之下，我这个老auntie已经是人老珠黄，昨日黄花了。唉…

　　　　　　　　　　　　　左上：妯娌忆萍、舒瀚、舒珩　　左下：男主角亦辉、亦晴
　　　　　　　老娘一手抱着媛媛，一手操作相机。所以没有在镜头里。故这张照片题为《美中不足》。哈！

我们到了茗香园去吃福建菜。媛媛起先还很合作，见到那么多人时并没有哭闹，只是有点不自在。我喂她吃晚餐时，她还没事。堂叔叔买了一只Tweety Bird的娃娃给她，她还很高兴地抱着小翠鸟玩。她吃饱了之后，原本以为随便都会有人陪她玩，饥肠辘辘的老娘终于可以吃晚餐了。谁知道，她就是不肯。奶奶抱，哭。爷爷抱，哭。爸爸抱，哭。叔叔抱，哭。堂叔叔抱，哭。而且不是小哭，是极其悲惨，眼泪大滴大滴地滑下红扑扑的脸颊，哭得连气都喘了。什么山珍海味我都尝不出味道。因为我基本上是囫囵吞枣。把鱼翅整碗倒进嘴巴，把整粒热乎乎的虾枣塞进嘴巴，把面条扒进嘴巴……我大概只记得这些菜肴，因为食不知味，所以对吃下什么食物没有太多的印象。哦，是的，还有烧鸡。因为等到我逮到机会坐下来吃的时候，那只鸡已经快完蛋了。我顾不得什么形象，伸手就把迫不及待地剩余的一两片虾饼先抢过来。虾饼好吃吗？对不起，我真的也没有什么印象！

我就在媛媛的哭闹、带她去外面透气、赶快坐下扒两口食物这样的次序把一顿晚餐解决掉。吃完了之后，觉得胃涨涨的，怪不舒服。我知道这是因为没有好好咀嚼食物的结果。我的胃在抗议它得加班啦！

今天是我一周工作最忙的一天、课时最多的一天。加上我有点着凉，早上我已经打了一天的喷嚏、流了一地的鼻涕，原本想让舒珩陪孩子睡觉，让老娘可以休息一下，来个久违的美容觉。谁知道，我在和媛媛讲述我的安排时，她好象听得懂，拼命抗议。一提到“爸爸陪你gao-gao jee”，媛媛就发出表示她不愉快的声音。一提到“你要妈妈陪你gao-gao jee吗？”她就很不通气地说：“呀！”可恶的媛媛，连爸爸碰她的奶瓶她也生气地把爸爸的手拍掉。更不用说让爸爸陪她睡，让妈妈走出房间半步了。

就这样，我被这个强力胶贴住了。还好她今天还挺合作的，没有花太多时间就睡着。有时候，我唱歌唱到嘴巴都歪了，她还不肯入眠。

孩子黏住自己当然觉得很开心、很温馨。但是这样的贴法，有时真的喘不过气。

总的来讲，我还是享受和孩子溺在一起的时光。因为我知道，这样的时光不常在。有一天孩子长大了，真的，我可能只能够望着她的背影，回忆她小时候的婴儿香，还有她窝在我怀里的温暖。

Bollywood Baby

Warning!

This video contains footage of an object with high rate of revolutions, and may cause giddiness and/or nausea to people who are...well, prone to giddiness and/or nausea from viewing videos containing footages of objects with high rate of revolutions.

The video also contains footage of object performing repetitive cycles for a protracted period, and may cause symptoms such as yawning in milder subjects, cursing and thrashing the PC/laptop for more aggressive ones.

View at your own risk. The author of this blog shall not be held responsible for any cause of giddiness, nausea, yawning, cursing or thrashing of any equipment arising from the viewing of said video.

偷得浮生半日闲

星期五晚餐时间，一般是我和老公的二人世界。但是因为其实我们俩都赶着想快点见到女儿，所以时常都是随便在咖啡店或小馆子草草用餐，谈不上什么浪漫宁静的二人世界。

昨天晚上，因为老公和好友们约了晚上要去喝酒谈天，而我经过了两个星期的口试之后也很累了，想好好休息一个晚上，于是我们便把媛媛留在我妈妈家过夜。这样一来，我们就有时间好好地吃一顿属于我们两人的晚餐了。

老公驱车到三巴旺公园去。那里是意想不到的宁静。有沙滩，有海浪，有公园，还有一间小餐馆叫Beaulieu House Restaurant 。老公说要带我去Beaulieu House Restaurant 时，我就想，这么法国式的名字，地方一定很浪漫吧？果然，餐厅是由一间殖民地时期留下的英式房子改装的，房子前的小院子是客人用餐的地方，一眼望下去，就是海滩。每张桌子上点了油灯，我一看，就非常喜欢这个地方了。

　　　　　　　　殖民地时期漂亮的小洋房改装而成的餐馆

　　　　　　　　　　　　从用餐地点看下去的景色

但是我一看仔细，整个地方是完全充满冲突的一个的地方啊！首先，那么优美的法国名字餐馆，有卖中餐、西餐、泰餐和火锅。好奇怪哦。第二，菜单是完全没有格调的那种。你到咖啡店的煮炒摊去，他们的菜单可能还要精美一些。但是菜单上的价钱却是高档餐厅的价格！第三，每张桌子点了浪漫的油灯，但是周围却点了熊熊的火炬。这些火炬，完全让我想到实况比赛Survivor的参赛者的火炬。还有，很奇怪的是，他们把刀叉筷子辣椒冷水箱等，统统摆在一个柜子上，而这个柜子就在用餐地点的外围。我家楼下咖啡店的煮炒摊就是这么摆的。

看到这么多的冲突，我心里对这家馆子的食物水平起了高度的怀疑。我考虑了一阵子之后，觉得这样的氛围基本上还是用刀叉吃西餐比较合适吧，于是就点了蘑菇汤（$7一客哦！）还有炸鱼。老公点了鸡肉。

蘑菇汤上来之后，我感到非常惊喜，因为是那种货真价实的蘑菇汤，不是Campbell soup的蘑菇汤！但是，当侍应生把胡椒罐和盐罐拿来之后，我又觉得一阵好笑。因为，那个胡椒罐和盐罐，根本就是廉价的塑料罐！跟我们到亚坤吃半生属蛋的那种半透明塑料胡椒罐是一样的啊！

　　　　　　　　　　　　　 美味的蘑菇汤

但是，那个蘑菇汤太好喝啦！我很快就忘记了胡椒罐与盛蘑菇汤的盘子不协调的事。后来，我们点的食物来了。我们一吃，就爱上了。因为，真的可以吃出厨师的用心。它的味道与我们一般到连锁店的馆子吃的非常不同。不能说是惊为天人，但是可以吃到诚意。很玄哦？诚意可以吃得到的吗？是的。我第一次在餐馆吃到有诚意的食物！

　　　这是我点的breaded dory fish.因为太好吃了，我吃了一半才记得要拍照！

我和老公边吃边聊天，感觉着海风吹到我们脸上，观赏着落日与晚霞。感觉非常宁静、非常悠闲，好象回到了我们还在谈恋爱的时候。如果不是整个装潢与格调充满了各种各样的冲突，那会是一个完美的约会地点。

好喜欢那里偷得浮生半日闲的感觉。还有那里极有诚意的食物。如果你想找个地方好好地与你的伴侣喝杯茶聊个天，或者什么话也不需要说，就是享受着彼此的存在，不妨考虑这个小馆子吧！

Contentment

Had quite a tiring day at work yesterday.

My eyes were half-closed when Angie was giving Jaimie her 9.30pm feed, while changing her in preparation for bedtime. When Angie asked me “你可以吗？”, in relation to my earlier promise to take on the task of putting the little one to bed, I said yes. Took my best efforts to open my eyes during that instant, so that my affirmative reply would look and sound a bit more convincing, both to her as well as to myself.

The biggest challenge about patting babies to sleep is this - Thou shalt not succumb to the sleepy bug thyself, before thou's subject does. Else, it would be Game Over. Next better player, please.

Wah, going to be a REALLY tough one, I thought, considering the state I was in at that moment.

The instant Angie turned off the lights and left the room, I plonked onto the bed, lying next to Jaimie. Yah...Jae got to sleep on our bed last night cos she wet her mattress while mommy was changing her diapers. As I commenced my lullaby crooning, which sounded more like monotonous chanting, I couldn't help but wonder if I'd be the one responding to the hum-drums, instead of Jae. There was a real danger of that happening. After all, with all her tossings and turnings and sitting up and lying back down, she was demonstrating at least 10 times higher energy level than her very much subdued, quasi-static Papa. Can't allow that to happen, I told myself, cos Jae might roll herself over the make-shift pillow barricades and off the bed. Oh, no.

It wasn't until about 10 minutes later that I managed to put together sufficient cognitive resources to realise that the reason why Jae was tossing so much might be because she was feeling warm. Aiyo. I got up and grabbed a fan (those hand-held rattan type ones, recently purchased at Tiong Bahru Market), and started fanning. Jae's little botak head has always been the 'heat sink', where it gets warmest. So that was where I directed my mechanically induced convection. It worked. Her movements subsided and eventually she quietened down to her steady state, rhythmic bedtime breathing.

I'm not sure if it was the elation over mission accomplished, or that the time I spend patting Jae to sleep actually allowed me to be rested. When I put down the fan in my hands and picked up my glasses, I actually felt quite good...like, re-energised. I went over to the study where Angie was in, and quickly found out that the Singnet broadband connection was down. Tried resetting the system which didn't do any good. I ended up watching "The Last King of Scotland" DVD, till 0045hrs.

When I went back to the bedroom, I found mother and daughter both sound asleep. It did not take long at all for me to join them in slumberland. I remembered the last thought that strayed into my mind just before I left the conscious realm - that everything I'd ever need in this world, I now have with me, right on this very bed. And then I fell into blissful asleep.

好老公，好老婆

对不起，我并不是在谈自己，而是刚才经过厨房里的冰箱，留意到了去年在台北买的纪念品 - 两对 fridge magnets。假如真能办得到磁铁上所列下的所有条件，我想就因该能夫妻百年好合，家和万事兴了吧...

Yoga and Me

At about 6 years ago, when my best friend Happypig told me that she took up yoga lessons, I remembered myself pointing at her nose and laughing so hard. "why bother to learn how to put your leg around your neck??" i asked her.

Now, i am a big fan of yoga.

In 2002, my buddy Ah Leng asked me if i would be interested to join her for a yoga beginner course in Chua Chu Kang CC. Oh well, since i had nothing else better to do, i might as well learn how to put my leg around my neck. During the 8 week course, we learnt some theories and some really basic poses.

I did more yoga when i was in UK. I was so bored of jogging and following the VCDs to some aerobics everyday. I asked Clement to go online to get me a yoga DVD so that i can DIY at home. Clement, as usual, did his thorough research and found this yoga DVD by Geri, the ex spice girl who claimed to lose so much weight by doing yoga. Anything that claims to lose weight is of interest to me. I did yoga regularly. i felt my flexibility improved but no lost in weight. I think that's because we BBQ almost every weekend during summer in UK!

I stopped yoga for a while after i came back from UK. then Happypig and i had some free time in school and we decided to do some yoga on our own. I really enjoyed stretching my body and challenging myself to do the poses.

When i saw the advertisment in the underground pass in scots road about the 2nd mega yoga studio opening in Takashimaya soon, i didnt take long to make my way there to find out more. I signed a 1 year contract with them after talking to the consultant, Damien. and i made Clement sign up too so that we can do yoga together.

It's really different doing yoga at home and in the studio. When I do yoga in a class, i real very motivated and happy. Plus there is an instructor to correct us and guide us. It makes a lot of difference. I didnt kn i was doing all the wrong things until i attended the classes in Pure Yoga. I began to read up more on yoga and its philosophy, and i am so fanisinated by this ancient art. I didnt know what is "lightness" and "happiness" people talked about when they spoke of yoga. but i experienced it myself!! it's so amazing! I upgraded my plan to a 2 year contract, knowing that yoga is something i would love to do always. By the way, till now, i am still unable to wrap my leg around my neck.

The instructors in Pure Yoga are simply GREAT. there are only "good" and "better" ones. I hv never walked out of a class feeling angry with any instructor. My all time favourite yoga teacher is Shyam but he left Pure Yoga last October. And there is Ross, who is a very, very good teacher. He is also my favourite teacher. And Hanoi, the most handsome instructor in Pure Yoga is leaving Singapore to teach yoga in Bangkok soon. So sad.

With Jaimie now and with my demanding work schedule, i have less time for yoga now. I will continue to do yoga even if i am just doing it once a fortnight. And I am waiting for jaimie to grow up so that i can bring her to do kids yoga! ooo... to think that jaimie can i doing yoga together already makes me so happy!

(My buddy Ah Leng, Hanoi and me posing after a yoga class)

(One of my favourite Yoga Teacher, Ross)

我的手表

我不想说“我的收藏”，因为收藏的意思是好好的珍藏着，爱惜着。我之所以有那么多手表，不是因为我要收藏。我根本就是爱美罢了。

我的第一只帅奇手表，是我在大学的时候买的。那时我在Lower Delta Road的 Canon公司打假期工，帮一个小部门主任做助理。这个上司的名字我还记得，她叫Gillian.我这个从乡下来的大学生当然是她炫耀的对象。有一天，她在午餐之后兴致勃勃地提了一个袋子回来，从几个帅奇手表中挑了一个递给我，说：“小妹！这只表很配你的衣服！来，借你戴到下班！”

我这头山龟第一次看到帅奇手表，立刻惊为天人，莫名其妙就爱上了它！我是个穷学生，每个月的生活费都是我自己教补习赚来的，根本没有可能有多余的钱买手表。于是，在周末去逛街的时候，我总是在钟表店看手表，计划等我工作之后，我要先买哪一只，然后还要买这只、这只、这只、这只、还有这只这只这只。

果然，当我还在念教育学院领到第一笔相等于薪金的津贴时，我就马上冲到钟表店去买下我心仪已久的手表。那种感觉，就好象是有情人终成眷属。从此以后的好一段时间，我一个月大约是买4到6只手表，直到我当时的男朋友，也就是我现在的老公下命令说不能再这么买下去了。我就收敛一点，每一季挑几个喜欢的买。没有那么疯狂了。这股“疯”潮维持了大概4－5年左右，我所买的手表之多，连我自己开抽屉都会吓一跳。

我的表大部分都停电了，换电池也换不了那么多。而且我觉得自己是后宫“手表”三千只，这些“佳丽”要好久好久才可以被我“宠幸”一次，真的很“可怜”。那么美丽的手表，却被我收在深宫之中不见天日。真的很不象话。于是，有一段日子我很少再添购手表。把一些旧的扔了，也把一些手表送给表弟表妹们。

照片中的手表，是我所购买的数目的一小部分。这篇文章，将是它们的挽文；这张照片，将是它们的遗照。把它们拍个照留个永恒的纪念，也该让它们入土为安了。

现在，我的品味“提升”了。我不买塑胶手表了。我现在比较喜欢端庄一点的手表。但是在“端庄”的当中，我又喜欢豪迈。所以我的手表一般上表面都蛮大的。现在买东西其实也没有象以前那么痛快了。以前只要“一见钟情”就把它戴回家。现在“一见钟情”之后还要“经历时间的考验”。下次看到它时还有来电的感觉，我才买。这些是我现在日常戴的手表。不会很多啦，hor?

Tagged! Yours Truly, Factually

Although this is my second Tag, it is officially the first one that I am responding to personally. The earlier one I kinda outsourced to Angie.

This tag is directed from MamaTang, over at TangSanctuary, whose blog is one that always makes me wonder "what nice makan would be featured this time?" whenever I drop by. :-)

This tag requires the tagged one to list 8 random facts about himself. First, the rules:

*start copying*

• I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.


• Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.


• People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.


• At the end of your blog, you need to choose people to get tagged and list their names.


• Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

*end copying*

Trivia #1: I was asthmatic during childhood. The attacks were usually triggered by contact with animal (e.g. cat) fur, or consuming cold stuff. Thankfully I outgrew the condition when I reached teenhood. I ceremoniously ate my first bowl of ice-kachang (at Zion Road hawker centre) when I was in Sec One.

Trivia #2: I am a fan of comics. All sorts of comics from those superhero types (e.g. X-men) to the "for mature readers" graphic novels (e.g. Sandman) to Hong Kong kungfu titles (e.g. 风云) to Jap anime comics (e.g. Slam Dunk aka 灌篮高手).

Trivia #3: As a kid I used to be extremely mild-mannered. That changed rather drastically after I entered the working world/ gotten married (I don't know which of this should I attribute blame to). My fuse got quite short and I'd quite often jump at opportunities to enter into arguments. Some of these incidents turned pretty ugly. Erm...not pretty. Ugly. I'm like Bruce Banner, with the Hulk caged inside of me, awaiting the next catalyst that'd trigger the transformation. I think I've gotten less edgy with the arrival of Jaimie.

Trivia #4: I am blessed (or cursed, depending on how you look at such things) in that I've never had to endure a romantic breakup (aka 失恋). I married my first girlfriend (my uni-days sweetheart) after 5 years of courtship.

Trivia #5: Because dx/dt = 0 and dy/dt > 0 (where x = diameter of wedding band; y = diameter of ring finger; t = time), my ring finger has recently outgrown its companion for the past 9 years. It wouldn't remain ringless for long though. We'd be getting our new set of 10th Anniversary wedding bands next year.

Trivia #6: I have to say that the most memorable year of my life thus far would have to be Aug 2002- Jul 2003, when I pursued my Masters Degree at Cranfield University, UK. Angie was there to accompany me for 6 months. We had really fantastic time experiencing the seasons. We made such great friends during that time. And we played Kinigu! (and I puked my guts out)

Trivia #7: I got hooked on Mayday (五月天) when they taught the world what it means to be «温柔». The section headings of this blog are all named after Mayday's songs.

Trivia #8: For my entire life I have been surrounded by "those who can". Both my parents are retired teachers. My late grandparents (maternal) have been teachers in their times. My 阿姨 and 姨丈 are still teaching. As an undergrad in the university, I fell in love. When we talked about our aspirations, she told me she wanted to teach. I knew then that this was the girl I was going to marry.

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Ok, now this is the first time I'm gonna tag others. And you're IT!

• Happypig & Angelcow @ Obasan & Ajuma
• stardust @ Our Baby Vincent
• chinmama @ Our Little Miracle
• Ernest @ the TOILETBOWL

给媛媛的一封短信

亲爱的宝贝：

妈妈爱看书，所以也希望你能在书本的海洋中找到乐趣、在书本的天空中自由翱翔、在知识的草原自由驰骋。

但是，宝贝，你误会了妈妈的意思了。妈妈说的句子都是比喻句，不是真的叫你在图书馆里面“自由”地奔跑，不是真的叫你在图书馆里把箱子里和架子上的书拿出来然后丢在地上寻找“乐趣”，不是叫你像一匹野马一样冲到别的小孩面前大喊大叫。

你明白了吗？我们要文明一点哦！