Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Sat 25 Oct
I had my handphone close to me when I went to sleep last night, all the while hoping and praying that I wouldn't see any sms from Junhui.
It came anyway.
At 2 am I woke up to help feed the baby, and the sms came in, and announced what I thought might happen soon. My spiritual son's mother had passed away at about 1 am in the morning. Of course, from a faith perspective, that would be a good thing, since she would be with the Lord, freed from her earthly suffering, and indeed, she suffered plenty. The most powerful testimony of a faithful cancer-stricken person I have seen thus far would be her. She was filled with joy each time we visited her. Even at the point of greatest pain when a new drug she volunteered to trial turned awry and caused almost all her skin to blister and rupture, she still never complained and thanked the Lord for being with her and extending her lifespan. The doctors said she wouldn't live beyond 6 months from the second relapse, and she went ahead to live on for almost 2 years. If that is not faith, I don't know what is. To love the Lord despite such agony, that is the most powerful witnessing.
In the evening, my cell leader drove me down to the wake. There were many people gathered, and during the memorial service, everyone commemorated these mighty attributes of hers. My spiritual son's grandma served with Break Thru ministry, which catered to rehabilitating drug addicts, so one whole group came down to lead worship, and one shared his powerful testimony of receiving Christ and having his whole life changed from darkness. I look at these people, and I can't help but agree with Senior Pastor that many of us are educated beyond our intelligence. We pride ourselves too much on our intellect, logic, and educational merits, but I think a simple person can love God perhaps more easily and freely. And the testimonies of such powerfully transformed lives can hardly be surpassed, and I feel dwarfed with my humble little conversion.
Sun 26 Oct
It was a heavy day in church today. We had to break the news to some cell members who did not know of the two deaths. I am grateful to those friends who came by to console me or to ask me how I was doing. Anyway, cell group was totally freestyle, and I just wanted to share my heart with my boys, and also discuss certain doubts that arose during this time.
All of a sudden in this week, every life around me felt way more important.
Mon 27 Oct
It was yet another grim day. I didn't expect I would visit Mandai Crematorium twice in the short span of four days. My cell leader gave me a ride over to the wake site where a brief funeral service was held before we headed down to the crematorium for the actual service. My cell leader hadn't had lunch, so he wanted to detour to get KFC from the zoo, and went into the carpark temporarily. We saw that the queue was too long, so he left the carpark almost immediately, and his cashcard had a whopping $3.90 deducted! So he got no food, wasted petrol on the detour, and had to pay extra on top of it all.
I wept a bit during the funeral service, but purely out of empathy and sympathy for my spiritual son, and his grandma who cried the most bitterly even though she was a strong woman of faith. I think when an older person sends off a younger person in a funeral, that is unbelievable agony.
Tue 28 Oct
This marked the last of my super long weekend since last Friday. Jadon kept both my wife and I busy the whole morning. In fact, today he gave me the longest diaper changing session. Skip the rest of this paragraph if you have a weak heart for grotesque honesty. I was removing his diaper and cleaning his little butt when I notice this column of poop coming out. So I covered the diaper back and waited a while. I opened it again, and saw that nothing had changed. So I had to use a tissue to pluck out that fairly hard piece of faeces. When I got ready to clean his butt again, this little column of poop continued. I guess the rest got stuck behind what I removed, so I covered his diaper again. I waited a while more and resumed, and this time, he peed, and the urine went all over the changing mat and hit the bottom of his shirt. Great. Just as I cleaned his thigh, the poop thing happened again. I went through the same motions (no pun intended) once more, and since the used tissue piled up in that previous stinking diaper, I cleared it and my wife put some tissue below him. Incidentally, all these times my wife mistakenly thought Jadon was done pooping. I should have trusted my instincts instead. Now this time he pooped, and it was a viscous fluid instead. Which really, really stank. So now we cleaned him methodically, as well as the changing mat, changed his clothes and mittens, and ended the whole process after close to an hour.
Ah the fun of parenting.
By this time, it was already late. My wife and I headed off to Tampines to do some shopping, and ate a late lunch at 2 pm at Din Tai Fung. I think I overate, because I was very full by dinner time, and there was a year-end staff dinner today. We bought the stuff we wanted, and headed back in time for me to play a bit of Wii, before we took a cab down to Fairy Point Chalet 7, this huge sprawling bungalow by the beach, to have our al fresco dining with decent catered food, overlooking the sea. The view was nice, and the food was decent. But the mosquitoes had a buffet on me and some others, and the smoke (from torches that look like they were taken straight out of Survivor) and ashes flew everywhere. The highlight of the night was of course the lucky draw, but this year I got nothing once again. My wife got a $10 Borders voucher which covered the $10 cab fare exactly. The conclusion was that whoever cleaned Jadon's shit were not lucky. This conclusion arose from the fact that after Jadon was born, every of my wife's aunts and uncle who visited him won some prize in 4D, small or otherwise, and my own mum too, but my mother-in-law hadn't won a thing (and she took charge of the cleaning most of the day time). I got implicated today, so that's why I didn't win anything in the lucky draw. Heh.
Wed 29 Oct
Today was a madhouse. I think largely due to the fact that I took leave on last Fri and yesterday, so essentially I was rushing three days of work in a day, not counting two consultations that took more than three hours. Having said that though, I think the consultations were the most meaningful work done the whole day. Anyway, there were also two consecutive meetings, and right after that, I rushed to complete some last minute changes to the slides I mentioned last week, and only had my lunch at almost 2 pm. I know it may not sound late to many, but I only had a wife's biscuit (lao puo bing) at 7 am in the morning, and my stomach is, well, usually a bottomless pit. Fortunately a colleague bought back chicken rice for me, with extra rice, drumstick and roast pork, plus a box of achar with some new mock abalone thing that the stall was experimenting with. The day was so long and the work had piled so high that I had to bring work home to do, and the worst thing was, I brought back a wrong pile, so I could only clear half of what I intended.
Which was probably why I could now blog. Sigh.
I had my handphone close to me when I went to sleep last night, all the while hoping and praying that I wouldn't see any sms from Junhui.
It came anyway.
At 2 am I woke up to help feed the baby, and the sms came in, and announced what I thought might happen soon. My spiritual son's mother had passed away at about 1 am in the morning. Of course, from a faith perspective, that would be a good thing, since she would be with the Lord, freed from her earthly suffering, and indeed, she suffered plenty. The most powerful testimony of a faithful cancer-stricken person I have seen thus far would be her. She was filled with joy each time we visited her. Even at the point of greatest pain when a new drug she volunteered to trial turned awry and caused almost all her skin to blister and rupture, she still never complained and thanked the Lord for being with her and extending her lifespan. The doctors said she wouldn't live beyond 6 months from the second relapse, and she went ahead to live on for almost 2 years. If that is not faith, I don't know what is. To love the Lord despite such agony, that is the most powerful witnessing.
In the evening, my cell leader drove me down to the wake. There were many people gathered, and during the memorial service, everyone commemorated these mighty attributes of hers. My spiritual son's grandma served with Break Thru ministry, which catered to rehabilitating drug addicts, so one whole group came down to lead worship, and one shared his powerful testimony of receiving Christ and having his whole life changed from darkness. I look at these people, and I can't help but agree with Senior Pastor that many of us are educated beyond our intelligence. We pride ourselves too much on our intellect, logic, and educational merits, but I think a simple person can love God perhaps more easily and freely. And the testimonies of such powerfully transformed lives can hardly be surpassed, and I feel dwarfed with my humble little conversion.
Sun 26 Oct
It was a heavy day in church today. We had to break the news to some cell members who did not know of the two deaths. I am grateful to those friends who came by to console me or to ask me how I was doing. Anyway, cell group was totally freestyle, and I just wanted to share my heart with my boys, and also discuss certain doubts that arose during this time.
All of a sudden in this week, every life around me felt way more important.
Mon 27 Oct
It was yet another grim day. I didn't expect I would visit Mandai Crematorium twice in the short span of four days. My cell leader gave me a ride over to the wake site where a brief funeral service was held before we headed down to the crematorium for the actual service. My cell leader hadn't had lunch, so he wanted to detour to get KFC from the zoo, and went into the carpark temporarily. We saw that the queue was too long, so he left the carpark almost immediately, and his cashcard had a whopping $3.90 deducted! So he got no food, wasted petrol on the detour, and had to pay extra on top of it all.
I wept a bit during the funeral service, but purely out of empathy and sympathy for my spiritual son, and his grandma who cried the most bitterly even though she was a strong woman of faith. I think when an older person sends off a younger person in a funeral, that is unbelievable agony.
Tue 28 Oct
This marked the last of my super long weekend since last Friday. Jadon kept both my wife and I busy the whole morning. In fact, today he gave me the longest diaper changing session. Skip the rest of this paragraph if you have a weak heart for grotesque honesty. I was removing his diaper and cleaning his little butt when I notice this column of poop coming out. So I covered the diaper back and waited a while. I opened it again, and saw that nothing had changed. So I had to use a tissue to pluck out that fairly hard piece of faeces. When I got ready to clean his butt again, this little column of poop continued. I guess the rest got stuck behind what I removed, so I covered his diaper again. I waited a while more and resumed, and this time, he peed, and the urine went all over the changing mat and hit the bottom of his shirt. Great. Just as I cleaned his thigh, the poop thing happened again. I went through the same motions (no pun intended) once more, and since the used tissue piled up in that previous stinking diaper, I cleared it and my wife put some tissue below him. Incidentally, all these times my wife mistakenly thought Jadon was done pooping. I should have trusted my instincts instead. Now this time he pooped, and it was a viscous fluid instead. Which really, really stank. So now we cleaned him methodically, as well as the changing mat, changed his clothes and mittens, and ended the whole process after close to an hour.
Ah the fun of parenting.
By this time, it was already late. My wife and I headed off to Tampines to do some shopping, and ate a late lunch at 2 pm at Din Tai Fung. I think I overate, because I was very full by dinner time, and there was a year-end staff dinner today. We bought the stuff we wanted, and headed back in time for me to play a bit of Wii, before we took a cab down to Fairy Point Chalet 7, this huge sprawling bungalow by the beach, to have our al fresco dining with decent catered food, overlooking the sea. The view was nice, and the food was decent. But the mosquitoes had a buffet on me and some others, and the smoke (from torches that look like they were taken straight out of Survivor) and ashes flew everywhere. The highlight of the night was of course the lucky draw, but this year I got nothing once again. My wife got a $10 Borders voucher which covered the $10 cab fare exactly. The conclusion was that whoever cleaned Jadon's shit were not lucky. This conclusion arose from the fact that after Jadon was born, every of my wife's aunts and uncle who visited him won some prize in 4D, small or otherwise, and my own mum too, but my mother-in-law hadn't won a thing (and she took charge of the cleaning most of the day time). I got implicated today, so that's why I didn't win anything in the lucky draw. Heh.
Wed 29 Oct
Today was a madhouse. I think largely due to the fact that I took leave on last Fri and yesterday, so essentially I was rushing three days of work in a day, not counting two consultations that took more than three hours. Having said that though, I think the consultations were the most meaningful work done the whole day. Anyway, there were also two consecutive meetings, and right after that, I rushed to complete some last minute changes to the slides I mentioned last week, and only had my lunch at almost 2 pm. I know it may not sound late to many, but I only had a wife's biscuit (lao puo bing) at 7 am in the morning, and my stomach is, well, usually a bottomless pit. Fortunately a colleague bought back chicken rice for me, with extra rice, drumstick and roast pork, plus a box of achar with some new mock abalone thing that the stall was experimenting with. The day was so long and the work had piled so high that I had to bring work home to do, and the worst thing was, I brought back a wrong pile, so I could only clear half of what I intended.
Which was probably why I could now blog. Sigh.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Tue 21 Oct
I was waiting for the content from my vice-principal so as to finish the final touchup on the slides he needed, but he had to delay it till the afternoon. As a result, I found myself momentarily free in the morning. That didn't last long however, and I went to help my colleague move into positions and set up the new computers at one IT lab. So I was a coolie with my colleague for about an hour before we got everything set up and programs installed. After that, we decided to treat ourselves to a good lunch, so we drove off, on my recommendation, to the Hong Kong Street Restaurant opposite Bedok Camp.
We ordered crab meat and fish maw soup, Japanese style pork ribs, prawn paste chicken wings, and oyster kai lan. If you think that is too much for two persons, you are quite right. But we finished everything nonetheless. To be fair, the portions were big. The soup came in a big claypot, and had enough to deliver 6 servings of the small bowls used in restaurants. There were eight or nine pieces of fairly big chunks of pork ribs, and there were eight chicken wings (the middle section only). The food was splendid. Last time I was here, I tried the fried rice, and my colleagues the noodles and such. This time round, I got to try the dishes, and all proved excellent. We then dropped by Ice Cream Gallery to get a couple of scoops of ice cream before returning back to college.
Once I was back, I headed out to Katong with another colleague. There is a Magic the Gathering shop there that we played at in the last prerelease opened by a card trader. I opened a foil rare card that was worth $60, along with some other foils (my colleague also had some foils with him), so we went there to essentially sell these off, and buy some cards that we actually need. We went back to college quickly, and I thought I could receive the work I was waiting for, but my VP could pass me the information only tomorrow.
I realized that at this point, sorrow hadn't hit me. I basically went through the day fully functional, but with a heavy heart. At night, my cell leader and pastor came over to my house to discuss things. They had gone down to see the bereaved family, so they came by to give me an update, and we discussed the logistics of what we were going to do for the memorial service at the wake.
Wed 22 Oct
I attended a couple of meetings, and had consultations with a few students, and I didn't step into the staff room at all since the day started till noon time. I grabbed a fifteen minute lunch, and continued my consultation sessions till mid afternoon before I headed home. Although I got the necessary materials in the late morning, I couldn't start work on the presentation until I was home, and worked I did all the way till midnight before I got the whole thing done up professionally. Yesterday I functioned as the TA (technical assistant), today I was a graphic designer.
Thu 23 Oct
I finished touching up the last couple of slides after I got to school, and delivered my work. I met with my project team to discuss some important things concerning a project for next year, and attended a meeting with a vendor to iron out some future plans before I went on my (probably last) pilgrimage to Old Airport Road. Today I felt gluttonous, so I had fried hokkien mee and a bowl of porridge for lunch.
Once I was back in school, I met another vendor to officially start work on the project for next year, and we spent some time ironing out finer details. Only then I was free to meet a student for consultation which took close to 2 hours. By then, I lazed around a short while and chatted with some colleagues before I headed down to Bugis to meet Collin for dinner.
We went to Coral Village restaurant along Beach Road for dinner. I had eaten there before when I was still staying at Beach Road, and I know that the food was quite good. What I didn't know was that they had renovated the place, so now it looked really cosy and higher-class. I had fried udon, which tasted pretty good despite my lack of appetite (due to the heavy lunch), and so I managed to finish the whole plate. Collin then drove me down to the wake.
We originally couldn't find the entrance to St. Joseph Church, and was lost for a while, but we got there eventually. I spent some time talking to the parents of Adrian, my spiritual son who passed away. By today, the parents had found strength in the Lord, and were sufficiently composed to talk. The mother was telling me about how Adrian told her many good things about me, and how he had kept all the things that I gave to him, which really touched my heart and released me. I had always been strict with him before, so I never really knew what he thought of me. To hear this from his mum was a comfort nonetheless. My heart broke when I passed the coffin and saw his face, and was unable to look on. I shared a testimony about this dear spiritual son during the memorial service, and I think I sounded terrible, because I was holding back waves of emotions and couldn't think or speak properly. Monday I felt shock, the past two days I felt mildly depressed, and only now the full intensity of the grief had hit. It was one thing to be at a funeral of someone old or diseased when you were already mentally prepared for death, it was altogether another to witness the sudden passing of someone young, and more so, someone close to my heart.
To make things worse, the mother of another one of my boys, Junhui, who was fighting cancer for a long time and was now at a hospice, had her condition worsened, which was why he didn't come for the wake.
Fri 24 Oct
It was fortunate that I had originally applied leave for today, because now I could attend the funeral service and the cremation. I made my long way from Pasir Ris to Bukit Batok, and then hopped on a cab to St Joseph Church. There was a brief service by the pastor, and when they moved the coffin into the van, I was fighting back tears. Although in our hearts we know he is in a better place, still it is only human to grieve and mourn the loss. We made our way down to the Mandai Crematorium for the funeral service. When it was time for the cremation, and we went to the coffin to lay flowers, I cried hard. My cell leader was with me, and he was equally stricken with sorrow. Even till now, the grief had been tinted with disbelief, and it was really hard to come to terms with the fact that we will not see him again. Especially since I was waiting for him to return to cell group after his study break for the 'O's. It was another bout of tears at the viewing hall when we see the coffin being sent to the furnace, and heartwrenching to hear the parents shout their final farewells.
It didn't help that these two days had gloomy weather. I went down with my cell leader to Thomson and had lunch at Kampung Chicken. The chicken rice was quite good, but not cheap. In any case, I still prefer Mr Chicken Rice at the E!Hub. After that, we went down to Dover Park Hospice to visit Junhui's mum, who seemed to be in critical condition.
We arrived there to find the cell group of Junhui's mum and grandma there, singing hokkien and cantonese Christian songs in worship intercession. I hugged my spiritual son, and he cried on my shoulders for very, very long. There was nothing much we could do except to pray, sing and intercede.
This is too much grief to bear in a single day. It has been the longest day in the longest while.
I was waiting for the content from my vice-principal so as to finish the final touchup on the slides he needed, but he had to delay it till the afternoon. As a result, I found myself momentarily free in the morning. That didn't last long however, and I went to help my colleague move into positions and set up the new computers at one IT lab. So I was a coolie with my colleague for about an hour before we got everything set up and programs installed. After that, we decided to treat ourselves to a good lunch, so we drove off, on my recommendation, to the Hong Kong Street Restaurant opposite Bedok Camp.
We ordered crab meat and fish maw soup, Japanese style pork ribs, prawn paste chicken wings, and oyster kai lan. If you think that is too much for two persons, you are quite right. But we finished everything nonetheless. To be fair, the portions were big. The soup came in a big claypot, and had enough to deliver 6 servings of the small bowls used in restaurants. There were eight or nine pieces of fairly big chunks of pork ribs, and there were eight chicken wings (the middle section only). The food was splendid. Last time I was here, I tried the fried rice, and my colleagues the noodles and such. This time round, I got to try the dishes, and all proved excellent. We then dropped by Ice Cream Gallery to get a couple of scoops of ice cream before returning back to college.
Once I was back, I headed out to Katong with another colleague. There is a Magic the Gathering shop there that we played at in the last prerelease opened by a card trader. I opened a foil rare card that was worth $60, along with some other foils (my colleague also had some foils with him), so we went there to essentially sell these off, and buy some cards that we actually need. We went back to college quickly, and I thought I could receive the work I was waiting for, but my VP could pass me the information only tomorrow.
I realized that at this point, sorrow hadn't hit me. I basically went through the day fully functional, but with a heavy heart. At night, my cell leader and pastor came over to my house to discuss things. They had gone down to see the bereaved family, so they came by to give me an update, and we discussed the logistics of what we were going to do for the memorial service at the wake.
Wed 22 Oct
I attended a couple of meetings, and had consultations with a few students, and I didn't step into the staff room at all since the day started till noon time. I grabbed a fifteen minute lunch, and continued my consultation sessions till mid afternoon before I headed home. Although I got the necessary materials in the late morning, I couldn't start work on the presentation until I was home, and worked I did all the way till midnight before I got the whole thing done up professionally. Yesterday I functioned as the TA (technical assistant), today I was a graphic designer.
Thu 23 Oct
I finished touching up the last couple of slides after I got to school, and delivered my work. I met with my project team to discuss some important things concerning a project for next year, and attended a meeting with a vendor to iron out some future plans before I went on my (probably last) pilgrimage to Old Airport Road. Today I felt gluttonous, so I had fried hokkien mee and a bowl of porridge for lunch.
Once I was back in school, I met another vendor to officially start work on the project for next year, and we spent some time ironing out finer details. Only then I was free to meet a student for consultation which took close to 2 hours. By then, I lazed around a short while and chatted with some colleagues before I headed down to Bugis to meet Collin for dinner.
We went to Coral Village restaurant along Beach Road for dinner. I had eaten there before when I was still staying at Beach Road, and I know that the food was quite good. What I didn't know was that they had renovated the place, so now it looked really cosy and higher-class. I had fried udon, which tasted pretty good despite my lack of appetite (due to the heavy lunch), and so I managed to finish the whole plate. Collin then drove me down to the wake.
We originally couldn't find the entrance to St. Joseph Church, and was lost for a while, but we got there eventually. I spent some time talking to the parents of Adrian, my spiritual son who passed away. By today, the parents had found strength in the Lord, and were sufficiently composed to talk. The mother was telling me about how Adrian told her many good things about me, and how he had kept all the things that I gave to him, which really touched my heart and released me. I had always been strict with him before, so I never really knew what he thought of me. To hear this from his mum was a comfort nonetheless. My heart broke when I passed the coffin and saw his face, and was unable to look on. I shared a testimony about this dear spiritual son during the memorial service, and I think I sounded terrible, because I was holding back waves of emotions and couldn't think or speak properly. Monday I felt shock, the past two days I felt mildly depressed, and only now the full intensity of the grief had hit. It was one thing to be at a funeral of someone old or diseased when you were already mentally prepared for death, it was altogether another to witness the sudden passing of someone young, and more so, someone close to my heart.
To make things worse, the mother of another one of my boys, Junhui, who was fighting cancer for a long time and was now at a hospice, had her condition worsened, which was why he didn't come for the wake.
Fri 24 Oct
It was fortunate that I had originally applied leave for today, because now I could attend the funeral service and the cremation. I made my long way from Pasir Ris to Bukit Batok, and then hopped on a cab to St Joseph Church. There was a brief service by the pastor, and when they moved the coffin into the van, I was fighting back tears. Although in our hearts we know he is in a better place, still it is only human to grieve and mourn the loss. We made our way down to the Mandai Crematorium for the funeral service. When it was time for the cremation, and we went to the coffin to lay flowers, I cried hard. My cell leader was with me, and he was equally stricken with sorrow. Even till now, the grief had been tinted with disbelief, and it was really hard to come to terms with the fact that we will not see him again. Especially since I was waiting for him to return to cell group after his study break for the 'O's. It was another bout of tears at the viewing hall when we see the coffin being sent to the furnace, and heartwrenching to hear the parents shout their final farewells.
It didn't help that these two days had gloomy weather. I went down with my cell leader to Thomson and had lunch at Kampung Chicken. The chicken rice was quite good, but not cheap. In any case, I still prefer Mr Chicken Rice at the E!Hub. After that, we went down to Dover Park Hospice to visit Junhui's mum, who seemed to be in critical condition.
We arrived there to find the cell group of Junhui's mum and grandma there, singing hokkien and cantonese Christian songs in worship intercession. I hugged my spiritual son, and he cried on my shoulders for very, very long. There was nothing much we could do except to pray, sing and intercede.
This is too much grief to bear in a single day. It has been the longest day in the longest while.
Monday, October 20, 2008
I have written two poems so far in my life for two persons dear to me who had passed away. One was for my father, and the other was for my paternal grandfather. I didn't expect to be writing another one today, and more so, for someone so young. The news brought shock for a good few hours first before the sorrow kicked in, and then reflection. I think now that I have become a father, the pain of this loss felt amplified. Not only due to the relationship, but now I think I empathize with the parents' loss deeply. I can only pray that the loss does not make their faith in God waver.
For my dear spiritual son, who passed away this morning, here is my eulogy for you.
EULOGY FOR ADRIAN
You always had possessed a rebellious streak
And an affinity for being wild,
But deep inside I knew you as a child
Who only wanted to prove you were not weak.
I knew your character and your heart,
The depths of your beliefs and what you stand for
If only I had time to understand more
What moved you, pushed you, drove you from the start.
You plainly were too young to pass away –
The world was yours to reach out and obtain;
Bright memories of you shall always stay
With us in certainty, and what remains
Is the assurance we will be, some day,
In heaven reunited once again.
For my dear spiritual son, who passed away this morning, here is my eulogy for you.
EULOGY FOR ADRIAN
You always had possessed a rebellious streak
And an affinity for being wild,
But deep inside I knew you as a child
Who only wanted to prove you were not weak.
I knew your character and your heart,
The depths of your beliefs and what you stand for
If only I had time to understand more
What moved you, pushed you, drove you from the start.
You plainly were too young to pass away –
The world was yours to reach out and obtain;
Bright memories of you shall always stay
With us in certainty, and what remains
Is the assurance we will be, some day,
In heaven reunited once again.
Sat 18 Oct
Today was spent entirely at home, helping to look after Jadon, and stealing forty winks whenever I could. I never realized how exhausted I was till I hit the bed and took several short naps spread throughout the day.
Sun 19 Oct
I went for first service by myself in the morning. I needed to be home early so that my mother-in-law can go to celebrate her mother's birthday. Today's preacher was Ps Patrick, and although I don't remember much of his preaching in the past, his sermon today was simple and deeply personal, and a basic retelling of some events in his life that I felt was moving and touching.
Mon 20 Oct
It was quite a short day in school. I had some consultation sessions, and tidied up some loose ends. For lunch, my colleagues wanted to go to Parkway Parade to eat at Fish & Co, because there was a one-for-one fish and chips promotion for Citibank card holders. The fish was huge today, and very well-fried. But it felt sinfully oily at the same time. In any case, I had seafood chowder, which the guy said was running out. We went only at 11 plus, so I guessed I may be having leftover soup from yesterday. But no matter, because it was full of stuff, and every mouthful had a big serving of seafood (this actually reinforces the thought that it was left over from last night...the chunky stuff gets left on the bottom), and it was very tasty.
After lunch, I made my way back home to help look after Jadon. I also managed to finish the second album of baby pictures. Now the webpage has numbering on the top that you can click to select different compilations. You can check it out here. Do give some time for the thumbnails to load.
Today was spent entirely at home, helping to look after Jadon, and stealing forty winks whenever I could. I never realized how exhausted I was till I hit the bed and took several short naps spread throughout the day.
Sun 19 Oct
I went for first service by myself in the morning. I needed to be home early so that my mother-in-law can go to celebrate her mother's birthday. Today's preacher was Ps Patrick, and although I don't remember much of his preaching in the past, his sermon today was simple and deeply personal, and a basic retelling of some events in his life that I felt was moving and touching.
Mon 20 Oct
It was quite a short day in school. I had some consultation sessions, and tidied up some loose ends. For lunch, my colleagues wanted to go to Parkway Parade to eat at Fish & Co, because there was a one-for-one fish and chips promotion for Citibank card holders. The fish was huge today, and very well-fried. But it felt sinfully oily at the same time. In any case, I had seafood chowder, which the guy said was running out. We went only at 11 plus, so I guessed I may be having leftover soup from yesterday. But no matter, because it was full of stuff, and every mouthful had a big serving of seafood (this actually reinforces the thought that it was left over from last night...the chunky stuff gets left on the bottom), and it was very tasty.
After lunch, I made my way back home to help look after Jadon. I also managed to finish the second album of baby pictures. Now the webpage has numbering on the top that you can click to select different compilations. You can check it out here. Do give some time for the thumbnails to load.
Friday, October 17, 2008
I haven't been blogging not because of Jadon sapping up time, but because I had been working on a powerpoint presentation for my college leaders. Since it was meant for an audience comprising HODs and beyond, I spent quite a lot of time souping it up to look highly professional. That took up several evenings and nights in a row. I am the powerpoint man!
Mon 13 Oct
It was the farewell concert today. After all the practice, we finally went on stage. I showed up with the chemistry department to sing "If we hold on together" first, and the powerpoint with the lyrics also showed class photos and some humorous 'chemistry' stuff. Half of those lame jokes were my contributions actually.
After a while of rest, I went up again with a few colleagues to sing a couple of spoof songs. Police's "Every breath you take" became "Every test you take", whose lyrics I changed a while back, and I changed Jay Chou's 牛仔很忙 to 教师很忙 together with my colleague ZH. Despite a few technical glitches, I think the songs achieved their humour effect. Incidentally, some students actually filmed down the farewell concert items on their handphones and uploaded them to Youtube. After that, we invited other teachers to join us on stage to sing "Red river valley" which we tweaked a little bit, and finally the usual "Auld lang syne". Oddly enough though, I thought the students were more on a high than feeling sadness.
Anyway, now that the concert was over, I could post the sonnet I wrote for my TA4 classes here.
YOUR FINEST HOUR
The years past had been but a journey fleeting
And where you stand is not a destination
But a milestone – let your motivation
Stem from anticipation of completing
This season of your life, and press ahead
With determined assiduity;
Let promises of opportunity
In the future pave the way you tread.
Set not your sight on failures from before,
Nor fix your eyes on circumstances dour
But focus on the hopes and dreams you bore.
Let my belief and trust in you empower
And confidence inspire you to soar
To prove your mettle in your finest hour.
Tue 14 Oct
I rushed work in the day time, but called it a day early at 12 plus. Three colleagues were coming over to visit to see the baby, and they wanted to come by (and leave) as early as possible. We detoured to opposite Bedok Camp for lunch at this Hong Kong Street Restaurant (not affliated with Hong Kong Street Cafe), which served basically zi char food. The food was excellent! My salted fish fried rice had a small chunk of salted fish with every mouthful, and the fried rice was done to a spectacular fragrance. One colleague's ee mee was also tasty, which I personally find hard to accomplish because the noodles itself has a unique taste. My other colleagues' san lao hor fun was superb as well. The hor fun itself was salty enough, and had a nice taste as the gravy was delicious. My only complaint was that the fish wasn't as fresh as it could be. After that, I popped over to the Ice Cream Gallery for a scoop of rum and raisin ice cream. Fwah, the taste of rum was strongly perceptible, which made the ice cream deeply satisfying.
My colleagues came by and stayed for about an hour before going off. Jadon failed to awaken the maternal instincts of the two married-without-kids ladies though. Heh.
Wed 15 Oct
I had a meeting in the morning, a consultation after that, and I was buried in doing a powerpoint presentation for my college leaders. I think that really had become my permanent portfolio. I wonder when there will be another teacher coming in who have technical and graphics background to be my successor. I had a consultation again at 11, which stretched till 1 pm, and I thought I was the only poor soul who hadn't eaten lunch, but I found a fellow sufferer and we went to eat lunch at the canteen, which thankfully still had food left. After that, it was back to work, and the usual staff conference, before I made my way home to see my baby.
Thu 16 Oct
Today was a long and productive day. Because I was going to cell group in the evening, I decided that it was quite a hassle to go home first, so I stayed in school till 5 plus, and completed almost all the work at hand. I met a vendor in the morning, had a couple of meetings, before I headed off to Old Airport Road with the usual pilgrims, and I had two bowls of noodles, one minced fish, and the other, fishball. After heading back, I went on to have consultations with a couple of students, had another meeting, completed a few administrative tasks before setting off for Bugis Junction to meet my G12 brother Collin for dinner.
We went to MOF (Ministry of Food) for dinner, and the food was still excellent. I had the sukiyaki set, and the beef was of high quality. The hot stone rice was still as good as I remembered it to be, and the dessert was still sinfully sweetly delicious. We ate at such a slow pace that we were late for cell. Of course, that was partly compounded by the fact that Collin parked quite far away, and the roads were jammed.
Today I had a free ride half the way to Bukit Merah by Collin, and a free ride back home because the girls' side was having cell at my place, and my cell leader had to go over to pick up his wife. Otherwise, I would probably take an additional 30 to 45 minutes getting home.
Fri 17 Oct
I paid $65 for a day off today. No, it wasn't bribery. Yesternight, Jadon started running a fever, and he was crying incessantly almost the whole night, so I decided to take childcare leave today, since I still had a few days of that available. The cab fare to and fro Eastshore Hospital was exactly $30 in total, and the consultation costed $35.
I think Jadon just wanted to go out and have some fresh air. Or maybe pay his Godfather (my mother-in-law refers to the pediatrician as that) a visit. He was making so much noise all the way till the morning, but once we brought him out of the house, he started behaving himself and was quiet. Even at the clinic. In the end, we paid $35 to find out that he was perfectly fine, and the noises were normal behaviour.
Looking at the bright side, at least I got a day of rest. Heh.
It started pouring after we got home, so we waited till the rain was lighter before my wife and I left the baby to my mother-in-law and we headed for Bugis Junction. My wife found this website that sold maternity wear online, but had a shop space at Bugis, so she wanted to go and try their nursing range before deciding to buy. On the way to find the shop, I bought some new clothes as well. I think my shopping instincts had been repressed for a while after the baby was born. Originally we couldn't find the shop Mothers en Vogue, until it occured to my wife that it might be within BHG itself, and it really was. They had quite a nice range of nursing wear, and we bought quite a lot of stuff. Anyway this was in a way necessary expenditure, because it was quite hard to find comfortable and convenient nursing tops.
As an aside, in the basement we passed by this chocolatier shop which I vaguely remember the name to be Lucent (but I didn't take a good look, so I could be wrong) and we bought the bargain deals which was three packs of two chocolates per pack for $5. Otherwise, it would be $14.90 for about eight pieces. Anyway, the chocolates were really, really good. Smooth and rich in taste, and they had some fanciful flavours like honey lime (which tasted like Wall's Solero ice cream) white chocolate, and green tea.
For dinner, we went to MOF. Haha, it was my second day in a row, but the food was good enough for me not to mind. My wife had the ramen, which had superbly thick soup base. I had tried the udon before, which was decidedly good as well. Frankly, I have a few friends who swear by Waraku, but no matter which angle I look at it (ramen, udon, set meals, sashimi, desserts), MOF ranked supreme to me. Currently, I rate it as the best Japanese restaurant I have tried thus far, in terms of both service and food, and especially since they proudly claim that they don't use preservatives and MSG. My wife agrees with this assessment as well. Anyway, the main thing was that they also have a teatime promotion! For students and members, there is a 30% off anything on the menu (except for ramen, udon and bento) from 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm. Between the two of us, we had a seafood toji and tempura set, pork ramen, mango and salmon sushi, swordfish sashimi, and two desserts, and it came up to $56 only.
Mon 13 Oct
It was the farewell concert today. After all the practice, we finally went on stage. I showed up with the chemistry department to sing "If we hold on together" first, and the powerpoint with the lyrics also showed class photos and some humorous 'chemistry' stuff. Half of those lame jokes were my contributions actually.
After a while of rest, I went up again with a few colleagues to sing a couple of spoof songs. Police's "Every breath you take" became "Every test you take", whose lyrics I changed a while back, and I changed Jay Chou's 牛仔很忙 to 教师很忙 together with my colleague ZH. Despite a few technical glitches, I think the songs achieved their humour effect. Incidentally, some students actually filmed down the farewell concert items on their handphones and uploaded them to Youtube. After that, we invited other teachers to join us on stage to sing "Red river valley" which we tweaked a little bit, and finally the usual "Auld lang syne". Oddly enough though, I thought the students were more on a high than feeling sadness.
Anyway, now that the concert was over, I could post the sonnet I wrote for my TA4 classes here.
YOUR FINEST HOUR
The years past had been but a journey fleeting
And where you stand is not a destination
But a milestone – let your motivation
Stem from anticipation of completing
This season of your life, and press ahead
With determined assiduity;
Let promises of opportunity
In the future pave the way you tread.
Set not your sight on failures from before,
Nor fix your eyes on circumstances dour
But focus on the hopes and dreams you bore.
Let my belief and trust in you empower
And confidence inspire you to soar
To prove your mettle in your finest hour.
Tue 14 Oct
I rushed work in the day time, but called it a day early at 12 plus. Three colleagues were coming over to visit to see the baby, and they wanted to come by (and leave) as early as possible. We detoured to opposite Bedok Camp for lunch at this Hong Kong Street Restaurant (not affliated with Hong Kong Street Cafe), which served basically zi char food. The food was excellent! My salted fish fried rice had a small chunk of salted fish with every mouthful, and the fried rice was done to a spectacular fragrance. One colleague's ee mee was also tasty, which I personally find hard to accomplish because the noodles itself has a unique taste. My other colleagues' san lao hor fun was superb as well. The hor fun itself was salty enough, and had a nice taste as the gravy was delicious. My only complaint was that the fish wasn't as fresh as it could be. After that, I popped over to the Ice Cream Gallery for a scoop of rum and raisin ice cream. Fwah, the taste of rum was strongly perceptible, which made the ice cream deeply satisfying.
My colleagues came by and stayed for about an hour before going off. Jadon failed to awaken the maternal instincts of the two married-without-kids ladies though. Heh.
Wed 15 Oct
I had a meeting in the morning, a consultation after that, and I was buried in doing a powerpoint presentation for my college leaders. I think that really had become my permanent portfolio. I wonder when there will be another teacher coming in who have technical and graphics background to be my successor. I had a consultation again at 11, which stretched till 1 pm, and I thought I was the only poor soul who hadn't eaten lunch, but I found a fellow sufferer and we went to eat lunch at the canteen, which thankfully still had food left. After that, it was back to work, and the usual staff conference, before I made my way home to see my baby.
Thu 16 Oct
Today was a long and productive day. Because I was going to cell group in the evening, I decided that it was quite a hassle to go home first, so I stayed in school till 5 plus, and completed almost all the work at hand. I met a vendor in the morning, had a couple of meetings, before I headed off to Old Airport Road with the usual pilgrims, and I had two bowls of noodles, one minced fish, and the other, fishball. After heading back, I went on to have consultations with a couple of students, had another meeting, completed a few administrative tasks before setting off for Bugis Junction to meet my G12 brother Collin for dinner.
We went to MOF (Ministry of Food) for dinner, and the food was still excellent. I had the sukiyaki set, and the beef was of high quality. The hot stone rice was still as good as I remembered it to be, and the dessert was still sinfully sweetly delicious. We ate at such a slow pace that we were late for cell. Of course, that was partly compounded by the fact that Collin parked quite far away, and the roads were jammed.
Today I had a free ride half the way to Bukit Merah by Collin, and a free ride back home because the girls' side was having cell at my place, and my cell leader had to go over to pick up his wife. Otherwise, I would probably take an additional 30 to 45 minutes getting home.
Fri 17 Oct
I paid $65 for a day off today. No, it wasn't bribery. Yesternight, Jadon started running a fever, and he was crying incessantly almost the whole night, so I decided to take childcare leave today, since I still had a few days of that available. The cab fare to and fro Eastshore Hospital was exactly $30 in total, and the consultation costed $35.
I think Jadon just wanted to go out and have some fresh air. Or maybe pay his Godfather (my mother-in-law refers to the pediatrician as that) a visit. He was making so much noise all the way till the morning, but once we brought him out of the house, he started behaving himself and was quiet. Even at the clinic. In the end, we paid $35 to find out that he was perfectly fine, and the noises were normal behaviour.
Looking at the bright side, at least I got a day of rest. Heh.
It started pouring after we got home, so we waited till the rain was lighter before my wife and I left the baby to my mother-in-law and we headed for Bugis Junction. My wife found this website that sold maternity wear online, but had a shop space at Bugis, so she wanted to go and try their nursing range before deciding to buy. On the way to find the shop, I bought some new clothes as well. I think my shopping instincts had been repressed for a while after the baby was born. Originally we couldn't find the shop Mothers en Vogue, until it occured to my wife that it might be within BHG itself, and it really was. They had quite a nice range of nursing wear, and we bought quite a lot of stuff. Anyway this was in a way necessary expenditure, because it was quite hard to find comfortable and convenient nursing tops.
As an aside, in the basement we passed by this chocolatier shop which I vaguely remember the name to be Lucent (but I didn't take a good look, so I could be wrong) and we bought the bargain deals which was three packs of two chocolates per pack for $5. Otherwise, it would be $14.90 for about eight pieces. Anyway, the chocolates were really, really good. Smooth and rich in taste, and they had some fanciful flavours like honey lime (which tasted like Wall's Solero ice cream) white chocolate, and green tea.
For dinner, we went to MOF. Haha, it was my second day in a row, but the food was good enough for me not to mind. My wife had the ramen, which had superbly thick soup base. I had tried the udon before, which was decidedly good as well. Frankly, I have a few friends who swear by Waraku, but no matter which angle I look at it (ramen, udon, set meals, sashimi, desserts), MOF ranked supreme to me. Currently, I rate it as the best Japanese restaurant I have tried thus far, in terms of both service and food, and especially since they proudly claim that they don't use preservatives and MSG. My wife agrees with this assessment as well. Anyway, the main thing was that they also have a teatime promotion! For students and members, there is a 30% off anything on the menu (except for ramen, udon and bento) from 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm. Between the two of us, we had a seafood toji and tempura set, pork ramen, mango and salmon sushi, swordfish sashimi, and two desserts, and it came up to $56 only.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
I woke up early today because Jadon was acting up a bit. I took the time before lunch to complete a webpage to display Jadon's pictures, and it is now ready. Click here to check it out. I will expand the album once I have more photographs. So now the main website has a little baby on the couch in the Living Room.
Today was a quiet day in church because only one of my boys was with me. After service, we went to Eastpoint to have Ice Kimo at Daily Fresh with Collin and his boys before I headed home. The weather was so darn hot today that my wife and I mistakenly thought Jadon had a fever or something. Thank God he was fine, just cranky.
Today was a quiet day in church because only one of my boys was with me. After service, we went to Eastpoint to have Ice Kimo at Daily Fresh with Collin and his boys before I headed home. The weather was so darn hot today that my wife and I mistakenly thought Jadon had a fever or something. Thank God he was fine, just cranky.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
It's picture time! This is the series which my wife captured on her handphone (so the resolution isn't too good), but captured different expressions of baby. Let's start with my favourite which I shall title, "Whoa!" because that looked like what he was saying, with a cheeky look and one raised eyebrow.
The next one should be titled "Attitude". He got this zhuai gangsta look, with a sideward tilted mouth and looking askance.
The next one is titled "Irritated". He got this baby-pissed-off-and-frowning look.
This probably should be titled "Curious". He was checking out something on the side when my wife was taking this shot. Maybe he was looking at me!
The last one for today should be titled "Contented", because that was what he looked like. Complete with milk lingering at the edge of the lips.
The next one should be titled "Attitude". He got this zhuai gangsta look, with a sideward tilted mouth and looking askance.
The next one is titled "Irritated". He got this baby-pissed-off-and-frowning look.
This probably should be titled "Curious". He was checking out something on the side when my wife was taking this shot. Maybe he was looking at me!
The last one for today should be titled "Contented", because that was what he looked like. Complete with milk lingering at the edge of the lips.
I woke up relatively early today to bring Jadon to his pediatrician visit. Today was supposed to be the first Hepatitis B jab. I booked a taxi because we were running late and made our way down to Eastshore Hospital. Fortunately, he got hungry before we left the house, so we did not need to go through the hassle of making formula milk outside for him, or my wife to breastfeed him. Baby is now 3.8 kg! Still below average relatively, but the doctor said the weight gain was healthy since he was born pretty small. He has grown 4 cm in length as well. He was quite a brave little boy. The doctor did the injection quickly, and he just made one loud cry and ended there. I think the most important skill of a pediatrician must be to administer injections super fast.
Yesternight he sapped up a long time from our sleep. At 3 plus, my wife woke up to feed him, and at 4 am, she tried to change his diapers for him by herself without waking me up, but his shit was so much that it covered his entire groin area and stank disgustingly, so my wife had to summon me to help get a basin to wash his bottom. Just when we cleaned him up properly, he peed all over, and wetted part of his shirt. So we changed his clothes, and then he regurgitated milk onto the new set of clothes. So we changed his clothes again. The to-wash pile suddenly more-than-doubled instantly. It was almost five by the time the little ordeal was over, and he happily went back to sleep. Good thing he chose to do this when I wasn't working the next day!
Yesternight he sapped up a long time from our sleep. At 3 plus, my wife woke up to feed him, and at 4 am, she tried to change his diapers for him by herself without waking me up, but his shit was so much that it covered his entire groin area and stank disgustingly, so my wife had to summon me to help get a basin to wash his bottom. Just when we cleaned him up properly, he peed all over, and wetted part of his shirt. So we changed his clothes, and then he regurgitated milk onto the new set of clothes. So we changed his clothes again. The to-wash pile suddenly more-than-doubled instantly. It was almost five by the time the little ordeal was over, and he happily went back to sleep. Good thing he chose to do this when I wasn't working the next day!
Friday, October 10, 2008
I thought I could be blogging as frequently as I used to long ago, looking at the past month. I doubt that could be maintained. I realized why I could manage to do so lately, and that was primarily because my mother-in-law stayed in with us during confinement month to help out, so I actually had some time. Now that Jadon is one month old, she only helps out till evening, so when I am home, I will help out with taking care of the baby, so that saps up the remaining time.
Tue 8 Oct
I spent the whole day rushing some work, marking, and administrative tasks. Essentially, I have to finish everything I need to do in school, because I can hardly do any work at home; taking care of the baby is a full-time job! Additionally, I try to leave school and reach home earlier to be around to provide support, so that leaves me with the task of doing the same amount of work in much less time, working on less sleep.
Everyone says it will be better after a few months. I shall wait and see.
Wed 9 Oct
Hmm. Nothing much to say about today except that it was pretty much like yesterday. The only difference was that a bunch of colleagues suddenly wanted to go down to Old Airport Road to eat. So I went for the sliced fish bee hoon that I had wanted to eat but found the stall closed on the last two occasions. That was complemented by a red ruby dessert from my favourite Blanco Court dessert stall. I think eating at Old Airport Road never fails to cheer me up.
Except maybe when all the stalls that I wanted to eat at were closed.
Thu 9 Oct
Today turned out to be a long day because there was a rehearsal for the farewell concert for the year 2s to be held next Mon. In a strange turn of events, I would end up going on stage twice to perform, once with the chemistry department, and another time to join some other colleagues to do the finale. Anyway, I think it'll be fun. I went out on my usual pilgrimage to Old Airport Road and had my staple Whitley Road Prawn Noodles, and a superb curry puff.
I rushed back in time to help out a bit at home. There was no cell group today, but Collin came by to settle some insurance matters. My wife and I then rushed down to NTUC before it closed to buy some essential items, e.g. milk powder.
Fri 10 Oct
It was another busy and packed day in school. I was running around doing some coordination and SEM (School Excellence Model) interviews, and met a vendor, and that took me to 11 am already. I went out to lunch with my colleague to a coffee shop a few bus stops away, but he accidentally locked his keys inside his van. So I had to catch a bus back to college to be in time for my lessons.
Today was the last official lesson I had with each of my TA4 classes. I thought there wasn't much point to tell them some teacher rhetoric to encourage them because they should have heard of most of that secular wisdom. So I decided to pray over both classes a blessing for their exams. From a spiritual perspective, that was the best thing I could give to them. In order to be religion-sensitive, I told the class that if anyone was uncomfortable with me praying over them, he or she could leave the room first, but they all stayed. I guess I did feel somewhat emotional; after all, I had taught some of the students for three years, which was longer than any typical JC batch, hence the greater attachment. Two of the girls actually cried when I said, "For the last time, class, stand."
I wonder if the farewell concert on Mon will be more tear-jerking.
Tue 8 Oct
I spent the whole day rushing some work, marking, and administrative tasks. Essentially, I have to finish everything I need to do in school, because I can hardly do any work at home; taking care of the baby is a full-time job! Additionally, I try to leave school and reach home earlier to be around to provide support, so that leaves me with the task of doing the same amount of work in much less time, working on less sleep.
Everyone says it will be better after a few months. I shall wait and see.
Wed 9 Oct
Hmm. Nothing much to say about today except that it was pretty much like yesterday. The only difference was that a bunch of colleagues suddenly wanted to go down to Old Airport Road to eat. So I went for the sliced fish bee hoon that I had wanted to eat but found the stall closed on the last two occasions. That was complemented by a red ruby dessert from my favourite Blanco Court dessert stall. I think eating at Old Airport Road never fails to cheer me up.
Except maybe when all the stalls that I wanted to eat at were closed.
Thu 9 Oct
Today turned out to be a long day because there was a rehearsal for the farewell concert for the year 2s to be held next Mon. In a strange turn of events, I would end up going on stage twice to perform, once with the chemistry department, and another time to join some other colleagues to do the finale. Anyway, I think it'll be fun. I went out on my usual pilgrimage to Old Airport Road and had my staple Whitley Road Prawn Noodles, and a superb curry puff.
I rushed back in time to help out a bit at home. There was no cell group today, but Collin came by to settle some insurance matters. My wife and I then rushed down to NTUC before it closed to buy some essential items, e.g. milk powder.
Fri 10 Oct
It was another busy and packed day in school. I was running around doing some coordination and SEM (School Excellence Model) interviews, and met a vendor, and that took me to 11 am already. I went out to lunch with my colleague to a coffee shop a few bus stops away, but he accidentally locked his keys inside his van. So I had to catch a bus back to college to be in time for my lessons.
Today was the last official lesson I had with each of my TA4 classes. I thought there wasn't much point to tell them some teacher rhetoric to encourage them because they should have heard of most of that secular wisdom. So I decided to pray over both classes a blessing for their exams. From a spiritual perspective, that was the best thing I could give to them. In order to be religion-sensitive, I told the class that if anyone was uncomfortable with me praying over them, he or she could leave the room first, but they all stayed. I guess I did feel somewhat emotional; after all, I had taught some of the students for three years, which was longer than any typical JC batch, hence the greater attachment. Two of the girls actually cried when I said, "For the last time, class, stand."
I wonder if the farewell concert on Mon will be more tear-jerking.
Monday, October 06, 2008
Sun 5 Oct
It was a hectic day. Today was Jadon's full month celebration! I'll upload pictures another time though; I had no time to properly filter through them.
I was woken up early by the caterer, who came to set up the tables first. We hired Neo Garden, and the food proved to be quite good, especially the curry chicken. A whole stream of guests arrived from 10.30 am all the way till about 3 pm. I think I climbed about twenty storeys today, at least. I was frequently climbing the stairs to my flat on the second floor from the pavilion downstairs, and going back up to the second floor of my apartment (i.e. third floor of the block) to get things or bring people up to see the baby, and etc.
A big thanks to everyone who took time to come visit! I had a good time chatting and catching up with some relatives and friends, and it was just a lively time throughout. Later in the afternoon when most of the guests had left, only some of my wife's aunts and cousins were still lingering around, and I inducted them to the Wii set, and I managed to take a quick break of some Ghost Squad shootouts.
Jadon was odd today. He was the star of the event, but he was pretty much sedated the whole morning, awakening only to drink milk on a couple of occasions. In the evening when everyone was gone, he went cranky and became impossible to placate for some reason. My wife and I reckoned that he was having too much 'wind' in his stomach and was uncomfortable throughout, so he was puking milk every now and then. I can see the strain on my wife, even with the help of my mother-in-law, so I wonder why in the world paternity leave is only three days. The first few months are particularly difficult and taxing, especially for first-time parents.
Mon 6 Oct
I think I would cross the road differently from now on. In the last two months, I have witnessed two incidents where a car just went past the red light when pedestrians were crossing. And it wasn't even a course of charging an amber light; the light was red for vehicular traffic for at least ten seconds, and other cars were already stationary. The first incident happened a month ago at the traffic light outside of my school. On that occasion, I was at the traffic light, but decided not to cross, seeing that the green man was counting down and was at about 12 seconds. Two female students (from my college) decided to run across (and they still had every right to), and this cyan car just sped through, and very narrowly missed the girl in front. If she had run faster by just 1 second, she would have been hit, and the car was moving at normal road speeds, so that might even have been fatal. That happened very shortly before Jadon was born, so I recall thinking then that I had better be very, very safe to avoid any mishaps.
This afternoon, I was opposite school with two colleagues having coffee to recharge, and on crossing the road back to school, and it was once again the same junction, this red car with licence plate SFJ 4555 P (the image of the car had been etched into my memory) just zipped past. I was side by side with one colleague, and the car just went by past us. It was again a narrow miss of about 1 second. Now it feels more dangerous crossing at a green light than jaywalking, ironically. I guess when a person jaywalks, because he is violating traffic norms, he would surely look out for oncoming traffic (although I have seen cases of people playing PSP or SMSing and nearly got hit while jaywalking). But when a person is crossing when the light is green, I doubt many would actually look out for all cars to stop before stepping out.
Two times in two months at the same traffic crossing. Not a good sign.
After a busy, busy day in school, I rushed down to Tampines Mall to the Mothercare there to buy a baby chair - the kind with a slight incline, and a strap to secure the baby. So far after feeding Jadon, because he had regurgitated milk on a few occasions, we would carry him at 45 degrees (roughly) and not let him lie flat so that it helps the milk flow down to his stomach. But this was extremely tiring. 7 feeds a day each requiring half an hour of this is devastatingly time-consuming and exhausting. Hence the chair. I received vouchers from the college and friends, so I thought I would put it to good use and buy a good quality seat for him. It sure didn't come cheap, but it appears to be of better construction than the other ones I see around, so I guess it is worth investing on.
G12 brother Collin came by to pass me a baby shower gift, and to continue discussing my finances. We had a long and good chat about many other things as well. I think my current band of (G12) brothers is a lot more close-knit than the cell groups of the past, and I am very thankful for that.
Jadon was cranky today, and he was practically hungry every two hours instead of the usual three. Essentially we spent most of the time just feeding him, and the remaining time burping and carrying him or changing his diapers. There was no rest, particularly for my wife. It is little wonder why most children are closer to their mothers; the women do the absolute most usually.
It was a hectic day. Today was Jadon's full month celebration! I'll upload pictures another time though; I had no time to properly filter through them.
I was woken up early by the caterer, who came to set up the tables first. We hired Neo Garden, and the food proved to be quite good, especially the curry chicken. A whole stream of guests arrived from 10.30 am all the way till about 3 pm. I think I climbed about twenty storeys today, at least. I was frequently climbing the stairs to my flat on the second floor from the pavilion downstairs, and going back up to the second floor of my apartment (i.e. third floor of the block) to get things or bring people up to see the baby, and etc.
A big thanks to everyone who took time to come visit! I had a good time chatting and catching up with some relatives and friends, and it was just a lively time throughout. Later in the afternoon when most of the guests had left, only some of my wife's aunts and cousins were still lingering around, and I inducted them to the Wii set, and I managed to take a quick break of some Ghost Squad shootouts.
Jadon was odd today. He was the star of the event, but he was pretty much sedated the whole morning, awakening only to drink milk on a couple of occasions. In the evening when everyone was gone, he went cranky and became impossible to placate for some reason. My wife and I reckoned that he was having too much 'wind' in his stomach and was uncomfortable throughout, so he was puking milk every now and then. I can see the strain on my wife, even with the help of my mother-in-law, so I wonder why in the world paternity leave is only three days. The first few months are particularly difficult and taxing, especially for first-time parents.
Mon 6 Oct
I think I would cross the road differently from now on. In the last two months, I have witnessed two incidents where a car just went past the red light when pedestrians were crossing. And it wasn't even a course of charging an amber light; the light was red for vehicular traffic for at least ten seconds, and other cars were already stationary. The first incident happened a month ago at the traffic light outside of my school. On that occasion, I was at the traffic light, but decided not to cross, seeing that the green man was counting down and was at about 12 seconds. Two female students (from my college) decided to run across (and they still had every right to), and this cyan car just sped through, and very narrowly missed the girl in front. If she had run faster by just 1 second, she would have been hit, and the car was moving at normal road speeds, so that might even have been fatal. That happened very shortly before Jadon was born, so I recall thinking then that I had better be very, very safe to avoid any mishaps.
This afternoon, I was opposite school with two colleagues having coffee to recharge, and on crossing the road back to school, and it was once again the same junction, this red car with licence plate SFJ 4555 P (the image of the car had been etched into my memory) just zipped past. I was side by side with one colleague, and the car just went by past us. It was again a narrow miss of about 1 second. Now it feels more dangerous crossing at a green light than jaywalking, ironically. I guess when a person jaywalks, because he is violating traffic norms, he would surely look out for oncoming traffic (although I have seen cases of people playing PSP or SMSing and nearly got hit while jaywalking). But when a person is crossing when the light is green, I doubt many would actually look out for all cars to stop before stepping out.
Two times in two months at the same traffic crossing. Not a good sign.
After a busy, busy day in school, I rushed down to Tampines Mall to the Mothercare there to buy a baby chair - the kind with a slight incline, and a strap to secure the baby. So far after feeding Jadon, because he had regurgitated milk on a few occasions, we would carry him at 45 degrees (roughly) and not let him lie flat so that it helps the milk flow down to his stomach. But this was extremely tiring. 7 feeds a day each requiring half an hour of this is devastatingly time-consuming and exhausting. Hence the chair. I received vouchers from the college and friends, so I thought I would put it to good use and buy a good quality seat for him. It sure didn't come cheap, but it appears to be of better construction than the other ones I see around, so I guess it is worth investing on.
G12 brother Collin came by to pass me a baby shower gift, and to continue discussing my finances. We had a long and good chat about many other things as well. I think my current band of (G12) brothers is a lot more close-knit than the cell groups of the past, and I am very thankful for that.
Jadon was cranky today, and he was practically hungry every two hours instead of the usual three. Essentially we spent most of the time just feeding him, and the remaining time burping and carrying him or changing his diapers. There was no rest, particularly for my wife. It is little wonder why most children are closer to their mothers; the women do the absolute most usually.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Thu 2 Oct
Today was an eventful day. It began with a SPA (school-based practical assessment) course in the morning at Teachers' Network, which was to preempt us for next year's SPA changes. The changes appear to be a two-edged sword; I can see the benefits of the changes, but also some working issues that would surely arise. Anyway, change is inevitable, so no point moping about it. The highlight of the day was lunch, and I went with my colleagues to The Ship at Shaw Centre. I think I'd only been there once quite a while back, but the place looked identical with its dim interiors and dark-coloured decor. The food was as good as I remembered it though, and I had a delicious sirloin steak in mushroom sauce. The soup was rich and creamy, and the dessert that came with the set lunch was one superb cream puff.
Unfortunately, we were summoned back to college for a staff meeting when usually courses such as this meant that the rest of the day would be freedom. When that was over, I hung around to complete some administrative tasks, and went back to Pasir Ris to run some errands and purchase some household stuff before heading home to look at my baby. Cell group was supposed to be at my place today, and Collin came by earlier to give me a financial review (my G12 brother's my financial advisor) before we headed off for a quick dinner at White Sands.
Interestingly enough, one of today's cell group session's topics was about unresolved conflicts, grudges, unforgiveness, and issues along that line. I could only think of one former colleague who was dead cold to me (but to be fair, to quite a few others as well), and till now I still don't know what I could have done to cause the abrupt reaction, and an old friend I fell out with, but I didn't have time to share that with the cell because time was short. The amazing thing was that that same old friend who I fell out with years ago actually messaged me on MSN a couple of hours later! I think God works in amusing ways. She was originally asking my advice on this strange church that a guy approached her to introduce called World Missions Church of God. The last times I heard of people being approached at MRT stations were by Mormons or Central Christian Church, which were cultic. I went to check up on this new one, and it turned out to be likewise. Maybe worse, in fact. They claim that the only way to salvation is by observing the passover, but it is quite clear that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Aside from this, there were still many glaring doctrinal problems.
Anyway, we started talking, and although we hadn't revisited the past to actually resolve our conflict years ago, it was a huge leap forward to be on talking terms again. Previously I had tried to reconcile, but I guess she was not ready then. I didn't expect her to take this many years to finally want to talk about it again, but in any case, I am extremely glad. Although I had gotten over the incident, it was always there, nagging weakly at the back of my mind; it bugged me to no end to have actually fallen out with someone with no proper closure or resolution.
Fri 3 Oct
I went back to school and suddenly work cropped up and sapped my entire morning. I had a quick lunch with a student who wanted to talk, and had lessons as usual. I hung around in school to clear some marking quickly, in case I do not have time next week. A pleasant surprise was that an ex-student came back to visit me. The notable thing was that I only taught him for a year, but I remember sitting down to talk to him seriously because he was a bright kid, but played too much for his own good. I saw myself in him, and took it upon myself to warn him not to go down the same way. Not that I ever did badly, but there is still a huge load of regret when you know you could have accomplished much more if you had been serious about it. So I guess I did make some impact at some point that he would return to catch up with me. It is times like this, informal as the setting may be, that I knew I had done what a teacher was truly called to do.
After that, I headed home to do my fatherly duties and help out in the house.
Sat 4 Oct
It was a whole day at home today, doing chores such as changing the hamster cages. I managed to play a bit of Wii, and finally completed House of the Dead 3. I think having a baby is bad for the wrist from all the carrying, because my arm was dead tired halfway through the game!
I just completed the anime series Code Geass R2, the second and concluding season to Code Geass. It was spectacular! It had intelligent plot and strategizing, and a deep-running sibling love that drove the protagonist to become 'evil' and take on the hatred of the world, becoming the worst dictator so that when he sacrificed himself, the world may follow the lead of the 'hero' who slayed him into peace. Brilliant art, story, plot twists, strategizing of the characters, war and military tactics, spectacular mecha, love and hate, and friendship. This has got to be one of the best of the anti-hero genre since Death Note.
Today was an eventful day. It began with a SPA (school-based practical assessment) course in the morning at Teachers' Network, which was to preempt us for next year's SPA changes. The changes appear to be a two-edged sword; I can see the benefits of the changes, but also some working issues that would surely arise. Anyway, change is inevitable, so no point moping about it. The highlight of the day was lunch, and I went with my colleagues to The Ship at Shaw Centre. I think I'd only been there once quite a while back, but the place looked identical with its dim interiors and dark-coloured decor. The food was as good as I remembered it though, and I had a delicious sirloin steak in mushroom sauce. The soup was rich and creamy, and the dessert that came with the set lunch was one superb cream puff.
Unfortunately, we were summoned back to college for a staff meeting when usually courses such as this meant that the rest of the day would be freedom. When that was over, I hung around to complete some administrative tasks, and went back to Pasir Ris to run some errands and purchase some household stuff before heading home to look at my baby. Cell group was supposed to be at my place today, and Collin came by earlier to give me a financial review (my G12 brother's my financial advisor) before we headed off for a quick dinner at White Sands.
Interestingly enough, one of today's cell group session's topics was about unresolved conflicts, grudges, unforgiveness, and issues along that line. I could only think of one former colleague who was dead cold to me (but to be fair, to quite a few others as well), and till now I still don't know what I could have done to cause the abrupt reaction, and an old friend I fell out with, but I didn't have time to share that with the cell because time was short. The amazing thing was that that same old friend who I fell out with years ago actually messaged me on MSN a couple of hours later! I think God works in amusing ways. She was originally asking my advice on this strange church that a guy approached her to introduce called World Missions Church of God. The last times I heard of people being approached at MRT stations were by Mormons or Central Christian Church, which were cultic. I went to check up on this new one, and it turned out to be likewise. Maybe worse, in fact. They claim that the only way to salvation is by observing the passover, but it is quite clear that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Aside from this, there were still many glaring doctrinal problems.
Anyway, we started talking, and although we hadn't revisited the past to actually resolve our conflict years ago, it was a huge leap forward to be on talking terms again. Previously I had tried to reconcile, but I guess she was not ready then. I didn't expect her to take this many years to finally want to talk about it again, but in any case, I am extremely glad. Although I had gotten over the incident, it was always there, nagging weakly at the back of my mind; it bugged me to no end to have actually fallen out with someone with no proper closure or resolution.
Fri 3 Oct
I went back to school and suddenly work cropped up and sapped my entire morning. I had a quick lunch with a student who wanted to talk, and had lessons as usual. I hung around in school to clear some marking quickly, in case I do not have time next week. A pleasant surprise was that an ex-student came back to visit me. The notable thing was that I only taught him for a year, but I remember sitting down to talk to him seriously because he was a bright kid, but played too much for his own good. I saw myself in him, and took it upon myself to warn him not to go down the same way. Not that I ever did badly, but there is still a huge load of regret when you know you could have accomplished much more if you had been serious about it. So I guess I did make some impact at some point that he would return to catch up with me. It is times like this, informal as the setting may be, that I knew I had done what a teacher was truly called to do.
After that, I headed home to do my fatherly duties and help out in the house.
Sat 4 Oct
It was a whole day at home today, doing chores such as changing the hamster cages. I managed to play a bit of Wii, and finally completed House of the Dead 3. I think having a baby is bad for the wrist from all the carrying, because my arm was dead tired halfway through the game!
I just completed the anime series Code Geass R2, the second and concluding season to Code Geass. It was spectacular! It had intelligent plot and strategizing, and a deep-running sibling love that drove the protagonist to become 'evil' and take on the hatred of the world, becoming the worst dictator so that when he sacrificed himself, the world may follow the lead of the 'hero' who slayed him into peace. Brilliant art, story, plot twists, strategizing of the characters, war and military tactics, spectacular mecha, love and hate, and friendship. This has got to be one of the best of the anti-hero genre since Death Note.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Time for some pictures again!
First, a heartfelt thanks to some friends who sent Jadon presents by delivery when they won't be able to attend his full month. First nicely wrapped present comes from Elaine, my wife's good friend's cousin, who actually took the trouble to come down to our place from the far west by cab to teach my wife and colleague about breastfeeding, and still sent us a little hamper. I think that is the epitome of being nice. She got us a customized hamper gift from cake-a-gift, which is a little home setup where you send your request and budget by email, and this lady customizes a hamper for you, in the shape of a cake. Here's a shot of what our gift looks like.
The next nicely wrapped present came from Alvin and Steph, which came complete with nice ribbons and a bouquet of flowers, done by Noel. The gift inside will have to sit in my guest room for many months before my baby can use it though, but it will come in very handy then.
Here's a shot of Jadon dreaming of flying. We realized that he can move his arms around a lot even while sound asleep.
The last shot was inspired mischief on my part. Witness Jadon, the little elf! The two protrusions are my thumb and middle finger, not photoshopped effects.
First, a heartfelt thanks to some friends who sent Jadon presents by delivery when they won't be able to attend his full month. First nicely wrapped present comes from Elaine, my wife's good friend's cousin, who actually took the trouble to come down to our place from the far west by cab to teach my wife and colleague about breastfeeding, and still sent us a little hamper. I think that is the epitome of being nice. She got us a customized hamper gift from cake-a-gift, which is a little home setup where you send your request and budget by email, and this lady customizes a hamper for you, in the shape of a cake. Here's a shot of what our gift looks like.
The next nicely wrapped present came from Alvin and Steph, which came complete with nice ribbons and a bouquet of flowers, done by Noel. The gift inside will have to sit in my guest room for many months before my baby can use it though, but it will come in very handy then.
Here's a shot of Jadon dreaming of flying. We realized that he can move his arms around a lot even while sound asleep.
The last shot was inspired mischief on my part. Witness Jadon, the little elf! The two protrusions are my thumb and middle finger, not photoshopped effects.
Mon 29 Sep
Today turned out to be a long and tiring day. I started the day before assembly with invigilation of the TA1 maths paper, which took up to 10 am, and that went straight into a lecture, during which I was going through the part of the Prelims question that I marked. After that, my fellow Old Airport Road pilgrim wanted to go eat something nicer (but not at Old Airport Road), so I suggested Golden Mile Hawker Centre. I think I miss the food there.
When we reached the Rochor Road exit, it was jammed. The slow traffic stretched all the way till the turning at Beach Road, probably due to road closure from the F1 racing. That was the first bad sign. When we got to the hawker centre, it was closed! There was this red and white tape around it, making it look like some big crime scene, so our plans were totally thwarted. Fortunately, I remembered that there was still good food around, so I directed them to the coffee shop off Crawford Lane. We went for the bak chor mee that used to be at the old Marina Square food loft, and joined the tremendously long queue (even at 11.30 am!) and I ordered some breaded mushrooms from the equally popular Happy Chef western food. In the end, we did have a satisfying lunch.
We rushed back by 12.30 pm, and I went straight to find my fellow TA1 chemistry tutor to mark the Promos scripts. I managed to finish the marking relatively quickly (considering I was marking lengthy descriptive answers for atomic structure and chemical bonding topics) by about 2 pm, and headed over to the auditorium where there was a opening address for today's Annual Action Research Symposium hosted by the college, since we have the Centre of Excellence for research over in our school. It was one long opening address, and the keynote speaker must have a powerful diaphragm, because he was holding the mike practically at his stomach, and we could still hear him talk. I don't know why there are so many speakers so far who do not hold the microphones remotely near their mouths. As a AVC teacher, it is always frustrating to see that.
After that we had to join the breakout sessions, so we went to support our own colleagues who were presenting. The whole thing only ended by 5.30 pm, so I was home quite late. Today Jadon was quite energetic, and he didn't sleep till 1 am, and woke up at 3 plus demanding to be fed. Nowadays I don't sleep at night; I take two naps till the morning.
Tue 30 Sep
I thought I would have some free time today to settle some tasks, but a contingency came up and I had to filter through the other JCs' Prelim papers and form a revision worksheet, and print it with my level head. The printing and stapling alone stole one hour of our time, and I didn't manage to finish in time to have lunch before my lesson, so I only went for lunch much later, and it rained.
I managed to get home in the mid-afternoon though, after settling some administrative tasks, and went out to Tampines with my wife to buy some other baby stuff before heading back for dinner. Jadon was quite active today, and went back to his hungry-every-three-hours schedule, all through the night. Since tomorrow will be a public holiday, I helped out with the feeding.
Wed 1 Oct
Jadon was wide awake since 11 am in the morning to about 4 pm. I spent those five hours feeding him twice, changing his diapers thrice (which had plenty of poop), and carrying him at intermittent intervals for about an hour. I didn't even had the luxury of finishing my lunch. He finally fell asleep after that, and my wife and I managed to catch forty winks till 7 pm. I don't know which is comparatively more tiring: teaching in school or taking care of a newborn.
Today turned out to be a long and tiring day. I started the day before assembly with invigilation of the TA1 maths paper, which took up to 10 am, and that went straight into a lecture, during which I was going through the part of the Prelims question that I marked. After that, my fellow Old Airport Road pilgrim wanted to go eat something nicer (but not at Old Airport Road), so I suggested Golden Mile Hawker Centre. I think I miss the food there.
When we reached the Rochor Road exit, it was jammed. The slow traffic stretched all the way till the turning at Beach Road, probably due to road closure from the F1 racing. That was the first bad sign. When we got to the hawker centre, it was closed! There was this red and white tape around it, making it look like some big crime scene, so our plans were totally thwarted. Fortunately, I remembered that there was still good food around, so I directed them to the coffee shop off Crawford Lane. We went for the bak chor mee that used to be at the old Marina Square food loft, and joined the tremendously long queue (even at 11.30 am!) and I ordered some breaded mushrooms from the equally popular Happy Chef western food. In the end, we did have a satisfying lunch.
We rushed back by 12.30 pm, and I went straight to find my fellow TA1 chemistry tutor to mark the Promos scripts. I managed to finish the marking relatively quickly (considering I was marking lengthy descriptive answers for atomic structure and chemical bonding topics) by about 2 pm, and headed over to the auditorium where there was a opening address for today's Annual Action Research Symposium hosted by the college, since we have the Centre of Excellence for research over in our school. It was one long opening address, and the keynote speaker must have a powerful diaphragm, because he was holding the mike practically at his stomach, and we could still hear him talk. I don't know why there are so many speakers so far who do not hold the microphones remotely near their mouths. As a AVC teacher, it is always frustrating to see that.
After that we had to join the breakout sessions, so we went to support our own colleagues who were presenting. The whole thing only ended by 5.30 pm, so I was home quite late. Today Jadon was quite energetic, and he didn't sleep till 1 am, and woke up at 3 plus demanding to be fed. Nowadays I don't sleep at night; I take two naps till the morning.
Tue 30 Sep
I thought I would have some free time today to settle some tasks, but a contingency came up and I had to filter through the other JCs' Prelim papers and form a revision worksheet, and print it with my level head. The printing and stapling alone stole one hour of our time, and I didn't manage to finish in time to have lunch before my lesson, so I only went for lunch much later, and it rained.
I managed to get home in the mid-afternoon though, after settling some administrative tasks, and went out to Tampines with my wife to buy some other baby stuff before heading back for dinner. Jadon was quite active today, and went back to his hungry-every-three-hours schedule, all through the night. Since tomorrow will be a public holiday, I helped out with the feeding.
Wed 1 Oct
Jadon was wide awake since 11 am in the morning to about 4 pm. I spent those five hours feeding him twice, changing his diapers thrice (which had plenty of poop), and carrying him at intermittent intervals for about an hour. I didn't even had the luxury of finishing my lunch. He finally fell asleep after that, and my wife and I managed to catch forty winks till 7 pm. I don't know which is comparatively more tiring: teaching in school or taking care of a newborn.