DENGUE x 2

Both my in laws are hospitalised because they have dengue fever.

My father in law was down with high fever on Sat. He thought it was a viral fever and so did the family doctor. He seems to be recovering after taking the medicine. On Monday, my mother in law was also down with high fever. She thought my FIL passed the bug to her. It was until Wednesday evening that she felt terribly unwell then she went to the A&E at NUH to see a doctor. And she was diagnosed with dengue.

2 days after she was admitted, my still-not-feeling-very-well FIL had rashes on his body. He went to the A&E and he too was diagnosed with dengue.

2 victims in the same family!!!

FIL's condition seems to be more stable than my MIL's. His platelets count was 40 today and his fever subsided. My MIL's platelets dropped from 80+ to 28 today and her temperature came back. However, the doctor thinks there is still no need for platelets transfusion yet. Normally platelets transfusion takes place if the platelets count dropped to 20.

It is really worrying to see my in laws lying on the hospital bed. They haven't had their usual cheerful smiles on their faces. It was replaced by frowns of discomfort and sighs of anxiety. They only smiled when they saw Jaimie visiting them in the hospital and the cheeky grand daughter of theirs sang and danced.

I hope my in laws will recover real soon...

滚！

我不是在讲水煮开了，也不是叫你滚蛋。我是说，我的后脑勺长了一个疮，叫作Boil.

好几天前 ，那块头皮已经在发痒。我不以为意。后来，头皮上长了一粒东西。我以为是暗疮，仍然不去管它。但是，那粒“暗疮”越来越大，也越来越痛。我不去碰它都会痛，晚上睡觉根本不能仰睡，因为它连碰到枕头都痛！昨天开始痛到“暗疮”的周围也痛。涂什么药都没有效。

今天，我“痛定思痛”，跑去看家庭医生。因为我妈妈要出门拿她去旅行的票，所以我得带着媛媛一起出门。尽管我之前就一直告诉媛媛是妈妈要看医生，不是她，她一进到医生的房间，就开始不安地闹了起来，拼命叫我“回家”。医生一拨开我的头发，就说:"it's a boil."开了抗生素给我，还有一条药膏，就了事了。这个过程少过1分钟，我还了30元。

匆忙间，我多问了一句：“需要多久才会好？”医生说，吃完抗生素吧，大约5天。

天啊，我还得忍受5天的“头痛”！滚啊滚！你快滚！

Letters from Grandma and Grandpa

This Sunday morning, Jae didn't attend her usual BJG lessons in the morning. Instead, she joined 爷爷 and 奶奶 at the Asians Civilisation Museum and Empress Place, for the launching of the book "Letters from Grandma and Grandpa", which is a compilation of, well, letters from grandmas and grandpas for their grandchildren, a project spearheaded by the NLB. 奶奶's submission was among the contributions selected, so the family got an invitation to attend the launching event, which was to coincide with the Grandparents' Day Gentle Walk event.

Even though we deliberately set off earlier, parking (the 5 of us car-pooled - 爷爷 drove) proved to be difficult. All the road-side carpark lots along Old Parliament Lane, which were nearest to the event venue, were unavailable. While 爷爷 drove off to locate alternative parking spaces (eventually found them at the Parliament House public carpark), the rest of us alighted to take for some photo opportunity along the Singapore River.

The book launching event started at around 9:15am, when the GOH Minister Lim Boon Heng showed up. There was the usual routine of opening address, ribbon cutting, photo-taking, presentation of tokens of appreciation, more photo-taking, before the GOH and his entourage was ushered to tour the Asian Civilisation Museum, which incidentally was having an open house today - free admission for all members of the public.

It was only after the GOH entourage had left for the museum tour, at around 10am, that they started distributing the complimentary books (and goodie bags) to the contributors and invited guests. The counter set up at the basement of the museum was really packed with people, some of them old folks (the grandmas and grandpas) and their family members (such as myself) who went ahead to collect the stuff on behalf. After a bit of shoving and getting shoved at, I managed to pick up the complimentary package, which included two deluxe edition copies of the book (one in English and the other Chinese, handsomely gift-wrapped) as well as other cha-pa-lung items from the Gentle Walk event (floormat - which would come in handy at the next BayB gathering, bottle of New Water, disposable poncho, post-its, assorted discount vouchers, advertisement brochures etc.).

奶奶 also went ahead to the sales counter to purchase 2 extra copies of the regular-print, chinese edition "给孙儿的信", of which a copy was given to us.

It is indeed endearing to read the article that 奶奶 wrote to her dear granddaughter 媛媛 featured in a publication. This book certainly will be a treasured addition to the Time Capsule that we have prepared for Jae. Oh, the accompanying photograph is courtesy of yours truly (claim a bit of credit here :P).



Added on 12 Dec 07

吉屋出售

搞了一个多星期，（终于）把屋子卖出去了！yooo hooo~~~

从打电话给朋友介绍的房地产经纪到成交，大概是一个半星期左右。但是，对我来说，这两个星期是漫长和疲惫的。

首先，我要整理房子，才能够让买主前来参观，还有估价师来估价。整理房子对我来说，是一个浩大的工程！因为我是那种“懒到出汁”的人，从我从来没有整理床铺可见一斑。家里的杂物已经是多到可以用铲泥机来清理，我还是可以泰然自若；一个星期没有扫地我也可以“眼不见为净”。所以，要我整理房子，是一难。要我在这段日子维持家里的整齐和卫生，是二难！

经过本人以“铁棒磨成针”的毅力和决心，在老公一点点的协助下，我终于完成了任务一号。任务二号简直是考验我的极限！我战战兢兢，连用完了水杯都把它端正放好，以期盼给那些买主和估价师最好的印象！其实，我们两公婆真的应该要培养整齐的好习惯。不然，我们的新居将会和旧居一样乱还不要紧。问题是，我们有什么资格教孩子“整齐”这个观念？

人来人往的，来参观我们的屋子。终于有人出价了！然后谈拢了。开心啊，开心！嘻嘻！因为我又 可以“乱”了！

吉屋售出去了。很期待拿到新居的钥匙，赶快弄好之后搬家，重新培养自己整齐的好习惯！

灵与欲

时尚杂志已经将我的脑洗得干干净净。女人这一辈子，一定要有一个让她拿在手上的时候，觉得天特别蓝，风特别凉，云特别白，人特别美，心情特别爽，走路都有风的包包。

这点小小的虚荣心，我已经浅浅地尝到。两年前，老公送了一个LV的钱包和钥匙包给我。从那开始，每一次掏钱包出来，都觉得爽到要死。把易通卡放进钥匙包里，每次上下车，都觉得好过瘾，恨不得能多搭几次巴士或地铁。然后，老公又“再接再厉”，买一个粉红色的限量Burberry手提袋给我。从此，我天天期待上班。提在手上，觉得自己的品味立刻提高了。

超爱这个包包。是一见钟情的那种爱。一直到现在，我还是非常喜欢它。喜欢到觉得可以让它跟随我到天长地久。

但是，自满自足是阻碍人类前进的绊脚石。好友阿狼最近发狠买了一个LV包，马上刺激到我的虚荣穴，让我心痒难熬，辗转难眠。于是马上上网，查看新到的LV包。看中的那个，要新币近两千元！以LV的价格来说，两千块钱是“英的代誌”。但是，同样的包包，如果在英国买，只需要四分之三的价钱！就算我的数学再烂，用手指也算得出来在新加坡买和在英国买，相差500新元！500咧！再加一点就可以多买一个很好的钱包或一个名牌的手提袋！

于是，我的理智和情感不断地在交战。你们根本不能想那种交战的程度，简直是惊天地泣鬼神。想到用血用汗赚回来的钞票就这样多送给商家500元，就觉得不可原谅；想到明年一开学就可以虚荣到要死地期盼周末不要来，就觉得超值得；想到2012年会到英国和法国去故地重游和探访法国佬Cedric，就觉得把钱存起来那时才狂买比较理智；想到明年才2008，我就觉得备受煎熬。。。

有这么困难吗？！？！？！？！？！

。。。 。。。

这次，理智战胜了情感。我决定了。在没有找到让我比现在提的包包更惊艳包包之前，我就安分守己，静候2012年的到来！对于这个决定，我简直对自己敬佩得要命！我的灵魂竟然战胜了我的欲望！你看到我头上的光环吗？你难道不觉得应该为我这样的理智立一个贞节牌坊吗？

2012年！你快点给我到来！（不然让我中toto也可以）

My Jae @ My Gym

Mommy had arranged to meet up with some forum mommies who are teachers too at Great World City. I heard that she's bringing me to this exciting place called "My Gym". I woke up at 8am. Since this was going to be an exciting day for me, I decided to pooh pooh, take a long shower, brush my teeth thoroughly, have a full breakfast before I leave the house. Mommy said it cost $19 but it is unlimited playtime. So we needed to be early to maximise the time spent! However, the birds were chirping at me, the butterflies were dancing around me. It was only courteous to stop and say "Hello" to all of them, isn't it?
Huh? Mom, you didn't tell me the bus ride on 970 from Bt Panjang to Great World City was about an hour long! We are running late?!

When we reached there, I was already very tired after the long journey. I need time to warm up!

Hey, I was having so much fun!! There were so many activities for me to try out. I particularly liked to walk on the beam, and and ride on my best friend, Mr Doggie.

Aunty Vivian, Aunty Doris and Aunty Laura were chatting happily while Aunty Joyce, Aunty Jocelyn and mommy had to chase behind us around the gym. I kept hearing them asking when could they be like the other aunties who could sit down and let the children explore the place themselves. Any time, mom!

After an hour's play, the mommies who chased behind us were exhausted. I wonder why because I was still feeling very energetic! Mommy had to drag me out of the gym although I protested that I wanted to stay longer. Hmmp! The mommies proceeded to Kenny Rogers for lunch.
"Mommy, can you order rice and cheese pasta for me, pleeeeezzeeeee?"

That's me and my mom.

That's aunty Vivian and Aldrick gor-gor, who mistook me as "Jaimie di-di". Well, it's ok. I am used to it...

That's Aunty Joyce and Cherrlyn mei-mei. Thanks Aunty Joyce, for the Xmas present! Sorry mommy didnt take very nice pics of Cherrlyn mei-mei in the gym, so she's not going to post it up here.

That's Aunty Jocelyn and Darryl gor-gor. Mommy's not-very-intelligent camera decided to focus on the water bottle. Grrrr....

That's Aunty Laura and i-didnt-get-his-name gor gor. Too many boys, too little time~~

Last but not least, that's Aunty Doris with Nathanael gor gor. Aunty Doris is such a funny person. Oh! And she is teaching in the same school as mommy's sec sch/ JC/ uni friend, Aunty Geok Cheng!

I had so much fun today. Thanks aunties, for meeting up with mommy. I heard that the next gathering will be in the outdoor playground in IMM. I am so looking forward to it, CAN!

The Cha-Pa-Lung Post

It was while contemplating where to bring Jae out to, during my 2-day leave that I read about little Cherrlyn's recent trip to Demsey Hill. So yes, that was where we went this morning. The Go-Go Bambini children playground there wasn't too different from O'Kidspot at Orchid Country Club, which we also visited a couple of weeks ago, though I kinda like this one better - felt that the kid-maze has a more 'open' structure more suited for the younger toddlers under 3. Jae could enjoy this one more than she could at the O'Kidspot one. Also, the entry here was for unlimited play (for kids below 2 years), and parents enter for free (O'Kidspot only allows for free entry of single parent).

The ball-pit was so much more accessible than the one at O'Kidspot, and Jae managed to get up to the 2nd-level of the kids-maze structure. When we suggested the even higher levels, she declared (quite fiercely) that she was "怕怕". Oh well...we shall see if she could progress higher in future visits.

After about an hour's play, we went over next door (the restaurant that sells Ben & Jerry's icecream) to have lunch. Fed Jae a bit of the 'Meat and Mushroom Spaghetti' and the little girl ended up like this... 肮脏猫~

Jae didn't have any naps in the morning, so during the journey back home from Demsey Hill, she promptly fell asleep in the car. Continued to sleep for quite a bit more when we reached home.

......................................................................................................................................
There're just so many children videos out there, so the rule that I've applied when picking up new titles is this:

When in doubt, go for the best!

How to know which are the best? Simple. Get those that spot the words 'Best of..." in their titles, lah! These are currently among Jaimie's fav videos (of course, she still loves her 'Baby Genius Mozard DVD).

......................................................................................................................................
Recently Jaimie has been getting more and more talkative. Well, she doesn't really talk in the sense of speaking coherent sentences. Most of the time, she'd just be babbling in Jaemish. On top of that Jae's desire to perform also seems to be growing stronger. Thankfully she isn't picky when selecting her audiences when she needs an outlet for her 表演欲.

Here's Jae performing to her ever-loyal fan, Teddie. In case you're wondering, this is what she thinks she's saying:

排排坐
吃果果
你一个
我一个
妹妹睡觉留一个



When Teddie isn't available, for example during a car journey, poor little froggie gets victimised...

明天会更好

我发现自己一直把一根萝卜绑在自己的眼前。

媛媛还不会坐的时候，我就说，等媛媛会坐的时候就简单多了。媛媛会坐了，我发现并不是太简单。于是我说，等媛媛会走的时候就简单多了。媛媛会走了，我发现了照顾她并不会更简单一些。于是我说，等媛媛会表达自己的时候就简单多了。媛媛会说话了，我却发现不是这么一回事。我一直在和一个小孩讨价还价和吵架。于是我现在在想，等媛媛3-4岁的时候就简单多了...

请不要告诉我3-4岁的时候根本不简单，ok？因为我需要这样相信着。我需要相信明天会更简单。

看孩子是非常愉快但是也是非常耗精神体力的。特别是孩子闹别扭的时候，就是上天在磨练（不是训练，是磨练！）你的耐心的时候。

很期待孩子快点长大，同时又舍不得她太快长大。所以，尽管我一直需要期盼“明天会更好”，我更要好好珍惜现在的每一刻。

African Alphabet Song -- Kermit

Amazing
Beautiful
Creatures
Dancing
Excites the
Forest
Glade, In my
Heart how
I do
Jump like the
Kudo
Listening to the
Music, so
Nice the
Organ
Plays,
Quietly
Rests the
Sleepy
Tiger
Under the
Vine tree at the
Water's side, and
X marks the place 'neith the
Yellow moon where the
Zulu chief and I did hide.


We simply love this song by Kermit the Frog!!

新官，尚未上任

之前校方就问我有没有兴趣站出来“服务大众”，当中层管理。我因为要读硕士班，之后又有家庭计划，因此推辞了两次。

今年，很多事情都稳定下来了，媛媛也比较大了。我觉得时机成熟了。我有时间有精力在事业上进入另外一个阶段。于是，毛遂自荐地向校方表示我的意愿。出乎意料，我很快就得到回音。明年，我将扮演新的角色，迎接新的挑战。在同一个位子坐了那么久，也真的需要一些改变来注入新的干劲。

今天，第一次参加学校中层管理的staff retreat。第一次以新的角度看事情。第一次发现以前觉得“无聊”的种种计划，背后的意义在哪里。感觉非常兴奋，同时也为自己的视野开阔了而有满足感。

在最底层做久了，会累积蛮多的负面情绪。能够跳出来，在很多方面来说都是好事。

觉得要学习的地方很多。对于新的挑战，我很期待！

穷开心

Note to myself:

When feeling blue, press PLAY.

Note to Jae-Jae:

Thank you for all the joy, happiness, smiles and laughter you bring into our lives~!



Note to blog readers:

Should you be keen on viewing the MV of this interesting piece by 花儿乐队, or that you simply couldn't make out what the heck they are babbling about without the help of lyrics (like me), click here.

一颗受伤的心

媛媛在Baby Jumper Gym上课的小同学中，有一个名叫“快乐” 的小女孩。可是，我看到的她却一点也不快乐。

小孩子天生就是喜欢跑动，喜欢和其他小朋友玩。所以当老师在和个别小朋友进行一对一的活动时，其他的小朋友都会自由活动一下，在课室里跑来跑去。只要不太过分，老师和家长都觉得没什么。但是，但“快乐”蠢蠢欲动，想和其他小同学一起跑的时候，他的爸爸就喝止她。如果“快乐”还是想跑开爸爸的怀抱，她的爸爸就会故意把她推开，然后说：“你走！你走！”或者“好，你去！爸爸走了！”吓得“快乐”每次都泪汪汪地跑回爸爸的身边，搂住爸爸的脖子不放。“快乐”听话了。爸爸，真的赢了吗？

老师也发现“快乐”比其他的小孩不快乐。她于是向爸爸询问一下。原来，“快乐”每天到托儿所去，都免不了要大哭一顿。老师继续问，孩子大哭，你们怎么办？那里的老师做了什么？爸爸的回答是：“我们转身就走，不管她。那里的老师也让她继续在那里哭。”老师惊讶地问：“托儿所的老师没做什么安抚她吗？她这个样子，你们非得把她放在托儿所吗？”爸爸说：“是的。”

我在一旁听到，心都痛了。这个孩子的心，根本就是受伤了啊！父母老是用“遗弃”的方法来控制她的行为，到了托儿所，她当然觉得自己是被爸爸妈妈遗弃在那里了！为什么要用“遗弃”的方法来教育孩子呢？你可能可以暂时让孩子听话，但孩子内心的不安与受伤，可能是永久性的破坏啊！

我觉得除了物质享受，好的教育等等，我们做父母的，还可以给孩子一个健全又健康的心理。因此，我相当注重孩子心理的建设，让她在遇到挫折，遇到挑战的时候，如何正面地处理和面对，并把它化为对自己有利的力量。我不希望自己的孩子在遇到不如意的事的时候怨天尤人，或者消极面对，或者以暴制暴。很多时候，只要换一个角度想，就不需要钻进牛角尖。要去控制别人或者外在的环境根本是不可能。但是，我们可以控制自己的想法和行为。若一个杯子有半杯水，我希望孩子可以为自己有那半杯水而快乐地感恩。世界的原理，就是有光必有影，有明必有暗。所以，我希望孩子可以把目光锁在光的那一部份，让内心充满开朗，自信与祥和。我自己曾经度过生命的低谷，所以我明白很多事真的要看开，内心要保持祥和，心里要有一个坚固的盾，才能等待雨过天晴的那天到来。

因此，我不原意孩子的心灵受到扭曲。一颗受伤的心，是我无论如何也不愿意给她的。

相敬如宾

昨天与同事C和L在开工之前到麦当劳吃早餐时，谈到了婚姻这个课题。

C仍待字闺中，她说她觉得自己将是一个不合格的妻子，因为她不会做菜，不会做家务。我马上纠正她说，做菜，做家务在维系婚姻生活上都是最不重要的。最重要的，其实是两个人在平时的相处时，如何不要在小事上发怒。我的这个论点，立刻得到L的举双手赞同。

朋友之间的相处，很容易可以大事化小。但是在夫妻的相处，因为对对方有要求，所以很容易小事化大。

这个周末，我和老公的耐心都得到了很大的考验。

我这一周每天去评改卷子，评改卷子需要的是集中力和判断力。下班之后已经是累得要垮了。到了晚上，我还要起来伺候小公主。我在靠毅力在支撑着自己。脾气，是处于紧绷的状态。老公不幸的又在周末的时候病倒了。我一个人要在身心俱累得情况下照顾一老一小，还要处理所有的家务，出言不逊的情况就发生了。对方一句也许无心话，听在耳里也变得十分刺耳。于是，彼此的耐心受到了一次又一次的考验。

我对于为什么夫妻之间要“相敬如宾”觉得纳闷了很久。夫妻不是最亲近的人吗？为什么要对待客人一样的对待最亲近的人呢？其实啊，古人的话充满了智慧。我们对越亲近的人越觉得一切是理所当然，对越亲近的人越容易对对方发脾气。在非常时期，只有在退一步把对方当成是客人一样的时候，两个人的关系才可以得到润滑。

The Return of the SMOTE

Since Friday night when my fever sprung up, I have been feeling very much weakened, lethargic and had to struggle with shortage of breath with the tiniest of exertions. What's really getting at me is the gross untimeliness of this whole thing. I mean, I was all energetic and productive for the entirety from Mon to Fri, and when my well-deserved weekend had arrived, I got to spend it with temperatures in excess of 38 degrees C?! Come on!

Anyways, while I've gotten past the stage where I would be shiverish even wearing two sets of t-shirts and cuddled under a thick blanket (that was Saturday), I took my temp this morning and realised that I was still a little warm at 37.8 degrees. I made up my mind then to 'bring some fairness' to this turn of events - I mean, where would the JUSTICE be if I am to allow this fever that had already deprived me of my precious weekend to hang around while I continue to drag my aching body to work, right? An MC is the least I'd scrape off this whole sh*thole affair. Of course, the 'politically correct' way of putting across such things is that the sick one has be responsible and sensible enough to excuse him/herself from work so as not to spread the contagious disease to other co-workers.

And so I went to HTA, settled some administrative arrangements with my colleagues (I still need to ensure that things run smoothly without hiccups while I was away, mah), and then headed to the nearby medical centre at CDA. Which was when I found out that the medical centre is now no longer at CDA. It was pouring cats and dogs when I asked a Provost Guard (who was falling asleep at his very obscurely located guard post) where the centre has been relocated to. He told me BRTC. Right. Just next door, literally. I hopped back onto my car and only on the second round the compound found the new slip-road that now joined the CDA to the newly opened BRTC.

The sparkling new (and huge, too) medical centre at the BRTC was the first thing that greeted me when I crossed over from CDA to the BRTC. Wow. Very posh and modern looking, it also boasted multiple consultation rooms, a triage room (where patients are pre-screened before they are sent to the Medical Officer) and numbered queuing system with display panels above the doors to each of the consultation rooms, the dispensary and the triage room. There was a large notice posted prominently at the spot where I pressed the queue number dispenser for my queue ticket (#26) that announces that patients would not be seen according to the order of the queue number. I knew that to be good (to me, at least), cos being of senior ranks have got its priviledges in some circumstances (such as this one here).

As expected, I got called into the triage room and then very shortly afterwards, into one of the 2 consultation rooms that were operating this morning. The MO was a young man just past his middle twenties. He asked how he could help me, and I told him. I also informed him that for the past 3 days, I have been popping Paracetamol tablets religiously, but that didn't do much in killing the fever, which he at this stage told me it is very likely to be a viral fever. I added that since this morning, I have developed a little bit of a cough, and with the cough I've noticed some yellowish phlegm as well. He duly noted my ailments, scribbled onto my medical docket (which only today I realised I have got two - one at HQ and my original 11-year-old one right here with the new BRTC Med Ctr!), and proceeded to inform me that he'd give me a day of MC, a cough mixture and something for the fever ("Stop eating your Panadols. Eat mine. It contains Panadol, plus something else").

Well, that's that. I'm now home resting, having taken the first dosage of my prescriptions for the day. I now wait for the effects of the medicine to set in before I hit the decks (I was informed that both the prescribed meds would cause drowsiness).

Sick Man Of The East, signing off...

爸爸 抱抱

Went to bed last night feeling groggy and lethargic. Woke up this morning with a fever of 38.8 degrees.

“爸爸，起来~”

It was Jaimie's call that woke me up. A quick glance revealed that Angie was still asleep. I got out of bed and joined the little one on her mattress.

“爸爸，抱抱~”

With me seated on the mattress and her standing on it, we were almost at eye-level to each other. She was staring at me, wide-eyed. In her hands she held her little pink bolster.

“你要爸爸抱抱枕，还是抱媛媛？”, I asked her.

“抱枕。”she attempted. It sounded a lot like "报纸", though. With her reply, she thrusted the bolster towards my face.

I accepted her offer. After giving the stuffed piece an obligatory squeeze, I ventured, “爸爸要抱抱媛媛，可以吗？”

“可以。”

Tiny steps were taken in my direction, with little out-stretched arms. I couldn't resist but give her a momentory hug.

I feel better already.

Botak Jae

Besides the gender question, another question i am quite sick of answering is: "Why dont you let your daughter keep her hair?"

Why huh?

Because her hair wont grow lor! =_=

How Old Is He?

When Jaimie got up from her afternoon nap (she slept from 1.30pm till 3.15pm) today, I decided to bring her out for a stroll around the neighbourhood. Mommy said that was a great idea, 'cos she would then be able to get her housework done without the little one running around the house.

Pushing Jae on her pink tricycle, we ventured to a playground that wasn't too far away from our place (just one street away, actually), but where ah-girl has never been to. [Note: We'd very recently decided to 'boycott' the playground at Bt Panjang Plaza, after we noticed no less than 4 nasty looking insect bites on the poor girl's arms and legs immediately after a session at that location.]

As Jae was having fun at the slides, a mother who was with her about-a-year-old-son, asked me:

"How old is he?"

Previously, I'd have offered to correct the gender mistake in such questions, but I guess I've had enough of the same meek apologetic response, so I merely smiled and replied:

"18-months."

"Oh. One-and-a-half-years-old...", she demonstrated her mathematical prowess and went back to playing with her son.

I certainly do not hold the least bit against the lady, nor with anyone else who had popped the very same question in the past (the previous one was the balloon-sculpting clown at Sentosa who made Jae a nice balloon doggie yesterday). Watching Jae in blue t-shirt and shorts outfit, deftly navigating the playground structure and dashing around on the synthetic play area, even I feel like calling out "Ah Boy ah..."

金多虾

金多虾金多虾
多谢你这多年来
一直陪伴我唱歌

Thanks for your support, your company, your suggestions, your comments and your friendship~!

ども　ありがと！

Jaemy Plotter and the Orb of the Phoenix

Once upon a time, there was a Princess who inherited a piece of heirloom that was....priceless. It was the Orb of the Phoenix, and it was the target behind schemes and conspiracies of many, who covetted the unique piece of artifact.

"I'd set up a ploy of seduction. My beauty is unsurpassed", Cherr quipped. "You silly little girl.", said her mother. "美人计 wouldn't work on the Princess, my dear. She's a girl!"

"In that case, perhaps my charms might have a chance....", mused Ezz. "If even that should fail, I still have my Big Red Bag of tricks to fall back on. Mwahahaha~!"

But it was Jaemy Plotter who had the best...well, plot. "Little Plotter," the elder Plotter to the junior one. "Listen up. There are many who seek the Orb. But it is you, and you alone, who shall be the one to relieve the Princess of it!", he continued. "I've taught you all I know about the art of disguise. Yes...You look exactly like the Princess. Your skills are now complete. There is nothing more that I can teach you, my young Padawan. Now go get the Orb!"

"Father, I DID IT!!! I've got the Orb! I AM the Master of Disguise! HAHAHAHAA!"

"Wow that was a great piece of stealth work, Plotter! Better than Ethan Hunt in M:I:3! Bravo!"

"You might have fooled everyone else, but you CANNOT fool me!", exclaimed Id, elder brother of the Princess, who was blessed with not only the vocals of Mayday, but also the gift of True Vision. He made a vow to track down the elusive Plotter and retrieve the family heirloom.

"Oh-oh. I smell trouble...", chirped Jaemy. "...though no trouble too big for me - Jaemy Plotter, the Master of Disguise! See how easily it is for me to slip into another appearance, another persona. Completely seemless. Absolutely flawless! Catch me if you can, Prince Id!"

"Sigh....", sighed Zara the Wise. "All the greed of the world converging on a single sphere. And for what? When I declared the Orb of Phoenix to be 'priceless' a long long time ago, I had meant it literally - that it was a freebie I received in a goodie bag from some family day I attended eons ago. No need to pay any price one lah! That Orb is worth no more than these little ones I now play with at the Singapore Botanic Gardens with my friends. Them fools. Woohoo!"

.......................EPILOGUE.......................

Present day. "Lelong. Lelong...Cheap sale ah! Multipurpose orb that can be used as decorative piece and soccer ball, selling at below cost ah! 老板不在，乱乱卖! 来啊! 走过不要错过啊!", shouted Vinny to disinterested passerbys, all of whom oblivious to the colorful history of this ancient orb, and of the wonderous tales of adventures of countless heroes and heroines in a time long forgotten...

~ THE END ~

[Note: Epilogue added on 4 Nov 07. Photo of Vincent by stardust]

Yes, It's Sentosa. Again.

No more scientific theories.

No more words (other than these ones). Just pictures.

图多话少，不受干扰。

黄金右手

今天早上，我们到圣淘沙去玩。

玩了一个早上，晒到头顶可以煎蛋后，两个疲惫不堪的老auntie和老uncle，拖着一个在闹情绪的baby走去厕所换衣服。

我们在残障人士用的厕所里用湿毛巾帮媛媛抹身体。她一直在哭哭闹闹，吵着要睡觉。快手快脚帮她抹一遍身子后，拆开她的纸尿片一看，哎哟！竟然有一粒玻璃弹珠般大的大便，还有一粒卡在她的屁屁。当然得帮她清理了。在她挣扎，大哭，发脾气的时候，我满头大汗地帮她擦屁股，然后要换上纸尿裤。

就在那关键性的时刻，有一条深褐色，条状的，由多个小粒集合而成的米田共从我女儿的屁股溜出来！我来不及多加思考，立刻用我的右手去盛。那条米田共，有我的整个手掌那么长。温温的。臭臭的。

我。捉。到。大。便。了。

也就是所谓的"hoop diok sai"。literally。

我的手，变成了黄金右手。

谁要跟我握个手吗？It's a golden handshake.

约定。梦想

看完了这个简报，心里是满满的感动。于是和老公约定，有生之年一定要一起到这个世界的脊椎走一趟。


如果可以的话，我想我们自己背包旅行，或者最少是半背包旅行。老公可以在他想拍照的地方多留一会儿，我可以在我有写作灵感的地方多感受一下那天，那地，那云，那草原，那水，那山，那古老的布达拉宫。

这是我们的梦想，也是我们的约定。我不想说“希望”能实现。我们一定要实践我们的梦想和约定。