Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Thu 22 Jan
Thursday is apparently still my longest day, just like last year. Ok, maybe a slight improvement over last year. I finally met my TA1 class today, and they seem like they will be a fun bunch to teach. More importantly, I hope they are a teachable lot.
After school, I headed over to my mother-in-law's place to meet my wife. Before that, I detoured to Hair de Vogue to get a haircut for Lunar New Year, and that took quite a long wait in itself. Jadon was already left at my mother-in-law's place for a day, and we were trying to get him accustomed to the new environment. But we really missed him, especially his laughter.
Fri 23 Jan
Today was actually Chinese New Year celebrations in school, but considering that Jadon was still recovering from flu, and I can't really find a good day to clear my paternity leave (since I had lessons every day), I decided to take it today, even though it was only a half day. I took the chance to sleep in late somewhat, and in the afternoon, my wife and I went shopping at White Sands. I bought a polo t-shirt and two t-shirts at bargain prices, and my wife bought her own share of new clothes.
In the evening, I headed out to Bugis while my wife went back to her old place to check on Jadon. I was meeting my cell group there for dinner. We ate at the Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant (I think that was the name). I was there once before, and found the food so-so, but apparently things seemed to have changed. Firstly, the decor was different, and the place seemed renovated, but that was a small thing. I had the fried rice, which was tasty (and really similar to Din Tai Fung's fried rice) and fragrant. I ordered a shredded egg and scallop soup, which was addictively fantastic, and I would surely order this again if I came another time. My cell leader had this crab-something-soup in a bun thing, which was rather interesting. The soup is contained within a bun, which is placed in a bamboo container. There is also a straw provided for you to pierce through the skin of the bun and suck in the soup. I tried a mouthful, and the soup was thick with flavour. We also had the usual xiao long bao, but I think I still prefer Din Tai Fung's version thus far. The one here had too thick a bun skin for my taste.
After dinner, we wandered over to Hip Diner for a drink. Apparently, until the end of the month, there is a recession-buster promotion that offers drinks 1-for-1, except milk shakes (including beer!). The four of us ordered raspberry freeze, iced earl grey tea, lemonade float and coke float. Including GST and service charge, the total bill was a delightful $10.65! Good deal, if you are after a place to chill, talk and drink.
Sat 24 Jan
It was supposed to be big cleanup day for Lunar New Year. Unfortunately, my wife and I were both feeling sick, possibly spread from Jadon, or from the same person who infected Jadon with the flu. Anyway, in short, we barely did a pathetic amount of cleaning, and slept in a large part of the time. When dinner time came, we made our way over to my in-laws' place to have a reunion dinner with the family. Two of my wife's aunts also came by, and brought a whole stack of ang pow packets to give away or exchange to get variety.
Sun 25 Jan
It was somewhat less crowded at service today, possibly because it was Lunar New Year Eve. My wife and I didn't have cell group today, because we had to rush down to my in-laws' place to pick up Jadon so that they could go elsewhere. We stopped by the newly-reopened block 216 market for lunch, and ate our favourite handmade noodles. So Jadon came back with us today to stay for a while for the Lunar New Year, and we had a reunion dinner at home with my mum in the evening.
I was actually gunning for a mahjong session tonight, but somehow my kakis were all unavailable! My hands are itching to play, particularly because it is Lunar New Year.
Mon 26 Jan
First day of Lunar New Year! Woohoo! After painfully packing ang pows last night (what a sizable expenditure...), today was time to give them out. My wife, mum, myself and Jadon went on our merry way via cab to my second aunt's place. The cab driver, I suspect, might have been someone who was inexperienced but wanted to earn a quick buck on a public holiday, because he didn't seem sure of the location, and asked me where to exit from the expressway, and worse still, he was braking intermittently all over the place, and the whole ride was so jerky my wife lost all appetite for lunch. Anyway, fortunately, I remembered the way there vaguely, so we got to where we wanted to go without getting lost. We detoured to my eldest uncle's place first (same block anyway) before going to my second aunt's place one floor down. We had lunch there, and hung around a while to meet many other relatives who came by as well.
After that, my youngest uncle gave my wife, myself and Jadon a ride to a nearby MRT station, and we went over to my wife's grandma's place where all my wife's relatives would gather. Her cousins were playing blackjack so I joined in the New Year fun. In the end, just before I left, my winnings suddenly dipped continuously and I was two bucks poorer.
Tue 27 Jan
My wife and I, plus Jadon, headed over to my wife's grandma's place again. It was their family's tradition to have a big lo hei, and it was especially attractive because one cousin is a sashimi chef. This time round, he bought 1+ kg of swordfish from a supplier he knows, and the supplier actually gave him almost one whole salmon free-of-charge! We had one round of sashimi rejects (the cousin was so professional that the pieces that weren't cut well enough were thrown out...and eaten up by us!) before the yu sheng was out, with a very generous serving of salmon sashimi on top. But it didn't end there. After the lo hei was when one huge platter of sashimi was served, and we were looking at somewhere in the range of forty slices of salmon and thirty slices of swordfish. But that wasn't all! He topped up another full platter of similar portions, except that they came from the belly, and then brought out one plate of salmon belly cubes, before ending it with a small plate of really-thinly-cut-but-full-of-fat salmon belly slices. The fat was more in proportion than the orange meat. These salmon belly slices almost melt in the mouth and fill it with a rich and sinful fragrance. I think after this, I will find less satisfaction in ordinary salmon sashimi.
Wed 28 Jan
It was back to school again. Somehow after a long weekend like this, there was a moment of disorientation and reluctance. A couple of ex-colleagues came by to visit, and we had a good, long chat. The chemistry department had a lunch gathering with Nasi Lemak from the famous stall in Changi Village, and did a small-scale lo hei.
I had my first civics lesson with the class I took over from my wife. I thought since I didn't know them well enough yet, I would share with them more things about my life as anecdotes. Hopefully that would bridge the gap faster. After school, I got a ride from my colleague and headed down to meet my supervisor to discuss the next step for my dissertation data collection. He seemed to have high standards and expectations, and wanted me to collect one more round of data. Although I am thrilled at the potential prospect of publishing a paper based on my research in a journal, I do think that this dissertation thing is demanding a lot of time off me. Sigh.
Incidentally, I think Mediacorp is really breaking the records for the rape/attempted rape scenes. I thought the Little Nonya held the record with two rapes plus one drugged rape. Now the 7 pm show (Love Blossoms, I think) is putting up a good fight with three attempted rapes (foiled) plus one drugged rape. Does this increasing trend hint that the next series will have five? Are there better plot mechanisms than this...?
Thursday is apparently still my longest day, just like last year. Ok, maybe a slight improvement over last year. I finally met my TA1 class today, and they seem like they will be a fun bunch to teach. More importantly, I hope they are a teachable lot.
After school, I headed over to my mother-in-law's place to meet my wife. Before that, I detoured to Hair de Vogue to get a haircut for Lunar New Year, and that took quite a long wait in itself. Jadon was already left at my mother-in-law's place for a day, and we were trying to get him accustomed to the new environment. But we really missed him, especially his laughter.
Fri 23 Jan
Today was actually Chinese New Year celebrations in school, but considering that Jadon was still recovering from flu, and I can't really find a good day to clear my paternity leave (since I had lessons every day), I decided to take it today, even though it was only a half day. I took the chance to sleep in late somewhat, and in the afternoon, my wife and I went shopping at White Sands. I bought a polo t-shirt and two t-shirts at bargain prices, and my wife bought her own share of new clothes.
In the evening, I headed out to Bugis while my wife went back to her old place to check on Jadon. I was meeting my cell group there for dinner. We ate at the Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant (I think that was the name). I was there once before, and found the food so-so, but apparently things seemed to have changed. Firstly, the decor was different, and the place seemed renovated, but that was a small thing. I had the fried rice, which was tasty (and really similar to Din Tai Fung's fried rice) and fragrant. I ordered a shredded egg and scallop soup, which was addictively fantastic, and I would surely order this again if I came another time. My cell leader had this crab-something-soup in a bun thing, which was rather interesting. The soup is contained within a bun, which is placed in a bamboo container. There is also a straw provided for you to pierce through the skin of the bun and suck in the soup. I tried a mouthful, and the soup was thick with flavour. We also had the usual xiao long bao, but I think I still prefer Din Tai Fung's version thus far. The one here had too thick a bun skin for my taste.
After dinner, we wandered over to Hip Diner for a drink. Apparently, until the end of the month, there is a recession-buster promotion that offers drinks 1-for-1, except milk shakes (including beer!). The four of us ordered raspberry freeze, iced earl grey tea, lemonade float and coke float. Including GST and service charge, the total bill was a delightful $10.65! Good deal, if you are after a place to chill, talk and drink.
Sat 24 Jan
It was supposed to be big cleanup day for Lunar New Year. Unfortunately, my wife and I were both feeling sick, possibly spread from Jadon, or from the same person who infected Jadon with the flu. Anyway, in short, we barely did a pathetic amount of cleaning, and slept in a large part of the time. When dinner time came, we made our way over to my in-laws' place to have a reunion dinner with the family. Two of my wife's aunts also came by, and brought a whole stack of ang pow packets to give away or exchange to get variety.
Sun 25 Jan
It was somewhat less crowded at service today, possibly because it was Lunar New Year Eve. My wife and I didn't have cell group today, because we had to rush down to my in-laws' place to pick up Jadon so that they could go elsewhere. We stopped by the newly-reopened block 216 market for lunch, and ate our favourite handmade noodles. So Jadon came back with us today to stay for a while for the Lunar New Year, and we had a reunion dinner at home with my mum in the evening.
I was actually gunning for a mahjong session tonight, but somehow my kakis were all unavailable! My hands are itching to play, particularly because it is Lunar New Year.
Mon 26 Jan
First day of Lunar New Year! Woohoo! After painfully packing ang pows last night (what a sizable expenditure...), today was time to give them out. My wife, mum, myself and Jadon went on our merry way via cab to my second aunt's place. The cab driver, I suspect, might have been someone who was inexperienced but wanted to earn a quick buck on a public holiday, because he didn't seem sure of the location, and asked me where to exit from the expressway, and worse still, he was braking intermittently all over the place, and the whole ride was so jerky my wife lost all appetite for lunch. Anyway, fortunately, I remembered the way there vaguely, so we got to where we wanted to go without getting lost. We detoured to my eldest uncle's place first (same block anyway) before going to my second aunt's place one floor down. We had lunch there, and hung around a while to meet many other relatives who came by as well.
After that, my youngest uncle gave my wife, myself and Jadon a ride to a nearby MRT station, and we went over to my wife's grandma's place where all my wife's relatives would gather. Her cousins were playing blackjack so I joined in the New Year fun. In the end, just before I left, my winnings suddenly dipped continuously and I was two bucks poorer.
Tue 27 Jan
My wife and I, plus Jadon, headed over to my wife's grandma's place again. It was their family's tradition to have a big lo hei, and it was especially attractive because one cousin is a sashimi chef. This time round, he bought 1+ kg of swordfish from a supplier he knows, and the supplier actually gave him almost one whole salmon free-of-charge! We had one round of sashimi rejects (the cousin was so professional that the pieces that weren't cut well enough were thrown out...and eaten up by us!) before the yu sheng was out, with a very generous serving of salmon sashimi on top. But it didn't end there. After the lo hei was when one huge platter of sashimi was served, and we were looking at somewhere in the range of forty slices of salmon and thirty slices of swordfish. But that wasn't all! He topped up another full platter of similar portions, except that they came from the belly, and then brought out one plate of salmon belly cubes, before ending it with a small plate of really-thinly-cut-but-full-of-fat salmon belly slices. The fat was more in proportion than the orange meat. These salmon belly slices almost melt in the mouth and fill it with a rich and sinful fragrance. I think after this, I will find less satisfaction in ordinary salmon sashimi.
Wed 28 Jan
It was back to school again. Somehow after a long weekend like this, there was a moment of disorientation and reluctance. A couple of ex-colleagues came by to visit, and we had a good, long chat. The chemistry department had a lunch gathering with Nasi Lemak from the famous stall in Changi Village, and did a small-scale lo hei.
I had my first civics lesson with the class I took over from my wife. I thought since I didn't know them well enough yet, I would share with them more things about my life as anecdotes. Hopefully that would bridge the gap faster. After school, I got a ride from my colleague and headed down to meet my supervisor to discuss the next step for my dissertation data collection. He seemed to have high standards and expectations, and wanted me to collect one more round of data. Although I am thrilled at the potential prospect of publishing a paper based on my research in a journal, I do think that this dissertation thing is demanding a lot of time off me. Sigh.
Incidentally, I think Mediacorp is really breaking the records for the rape/attempted rape scenes. I thought the Little Nonya held the record with two rapes plus one drugged rape. Now the 7 pm show (Love Blossoms, I think) is putting up a good fight with three attempted rapes (foiled) plus one drugged rape. Does this increasing trend hint that the next series will have five? Are there better plot mechanisms than this...?
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Tue 20 Jan
I had a relatively short day today after settling my lessons. Originally I wanted to rush home to see Jadon, but I needed to prepare something for tomorrow, and I knew that it would be quite unlikely to do it at home. Even when Jadon isn't sick, he is generally wide awake from evening to night, and we usually play with him. Now that he is sick, he requires even more attention.
Anyway, I rushed out some slides for tomorrow's IPSG conference (I can't remember what it stands for...something something support group) at Raffles Junior College, and hastily made my way back. Jadon seemed to be recovering well after a consultation with another doctor. Originally we brought him to the pediatrician, but the medicine seemed ineffective, so we brought him to see my wife's gynae, who also sees many children, especially of the women he delivered for. I usually see plenty of kids at his clinic.
Wed 21 Jan
I started the day in school with a staff conference, and the timing for it probably got shifted because the chemistry and physics people were mostly going for the IPSG. There were three concurrent sessions, and the one I was presenting my card game was the third one, so I went to crash the earlier two.
The first session was by this teacher who was discussing about Higher Order Thinking (HOT) assessment in Cambridge and the internal examinations of junior colleges. The guy worked at the ministry's exam branch before, so he had plenty of history and data to tell us how the 'A' levels had evolved along the way, and he proved his point by showing how it had gotten harder in 2007 and subsequently in 2008. He then was talking about how schools should aim to set HOT questions to test students, and he began showing prelim questions from various JCs to criticize, which I thought was a politically insensitive thing to do. He was criticizing on difficulty level, disproportionate marks for the toughness, tediousness rather than HOT, and etc. Then he came to TJC and flashed the question I set last year for the prelims. I thought to myself that it's going to be embarrassing, since I had about eight colleagues with me, some of whom knew that I was the setter. To my surprise, he praised my question! He only suggested removing one part which he thought wasn't necessary, but otherwise said that the question was well set as a higher order thinking question. Now, I enjoy setting questions out of my head instead of referring to past year papers, so this was a high accolade. That more or less made my day.
The second session was by another junior college which was using games in teaching as well, although the games seemed a chemistry rehash of existing games like heart attack as well as snakes and ladders. It was good to know that I wasn't the only teacher trying to make my students learn through fun. The presenter was really, really amusing, which was a good thing when we were all dead tired after a long day.
My own session went rather well. I was swamped with questions about the game, the research, whether other schools can buy the sets yet. In fact, one teacher from YJC mentioned to me that he had seen his students play the game in his college, and when he asked them, they said that they borrowed the game from their friends in Temasek to practise. I was so heartened to know that the game reached that far, and was interesting enough that students wanted to borrow to try. I think there really is a market for such educational games. The participants were really trying and playing, and seemed to be having fun as well. I should have prepared a survey for them to get data from the perspectives of other college's teachers. Wasted.
I had a relatively short day today after settling my lessons. Originally I wanted to rush home to see Jadon, but I needed to prepare something for tomorrow, and I knew that it would be quite unlikely to do it at home. Even when Jadon isn't sick, he is generally wide awake from evening to night, and we usually play with him. Now that he is sick, he requires even more attention.
Anyway, I rushed out some slides for tomorrow's IPSG conference (I can't remember what it stands for...something something support group) at Raffles Junior College, and hastily made my way back. Jadon seemed to be recovering well after a consultation with another doctor. Originally we brought him to the pediatrician, but the medicine seemed ineffective, so we brought him to see my wife's gynae, who also sees many children, especially of the women he delivered for. I usually see plenty of kids at his clinic.
Wed 21 Jan
I started the day in school with a staff conference, and the timing for it probably got shifted because the chemistry and physics people were mostly going for the IPSG. There were three concurrent sessions, and the one I was presenting my card game was the third one, so I went to crash the earlier two.
The first session was by this teacher who was discussing about Higher Order Thinking (HOT) assessment in Cambridge and the internal examinations of junior colleges. The guy worked at the ministry's exam branch before, so he had plenty of history and data to tell us how the 'A' levels had evolved along the way, and he proved his point by showing how it had gotten harder in 2007 and subsequently in 2008. He then was talking about how schools should aim to set HOT questions to test students, and he began showing prelim questions from various JCs to criticize, which I thought was a politically insensitive thing to do. He was criticizing on difficulty level, disproportionate marks for the toughness, tediousness rather than HOT, and etc. Then he came to TJC and flashed the question I set last year for the prelims. I thought to myself that it's going to be embarrassing, since I had about eight colleagues with me, some of whom knew that I was the setter. To my surprise, he praised my question! He only suggested removing one part which he thought wasn't necessary, but otherwise said that the question was well set as a higher order thinking question. Now, I enjoy setting questions out of my head instead of referring to past year papers, so this was a high accolade. That more or less made my day.
The second session was by another junior college which was using games in teaching as well, although the games seemed a chemistry rehash of existing games like heart attack as well as snakes and ladders. It was good to know that I wasn't the only teacher trying to make my students learn through fun. The presenter was really, really amusing, which was a good thing when we were all dead tired after a long day.
My own session went rather well. I was swamped with questions about the game, the research, whether other schools can buy the sets yet. In fact, one teacher from YJC mentioned to me that he had seen his students play the game in his college, and when he asked them, they said that they borrowed the game from their friends in Temasek to practise. I was so heartened to know that the game reached that far, and was interesting enough that students wanted to borrow to try. I think there really is a market for such educational games. The participants were really trying and playing, and seemed to be having fun as well. I should have prepared a survey for them to get data from the perspectives of other college's teachers. Wasted.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Wed 14 Jan
Today was a bad, bad day. During lunch I went over with my colleagues to the coffee shop with the Big D's. A guy approached me and asked me if I wanted to eat zi char, and listed down some dishes that the stall has, so my colleague and I ordered mui fan, and it turned out to be vegetarian zi char! The guy did not mention at all, so I felt swindled. Deciding to make the lunch a bit better, I went to 7 Eleven to buy a Magnum ice cream with my fellow swindled colleague. I pulled the Magnum out of the wrapper and...the stick came out by itself. Apparently the vanilla ice cream inside had melted. I think the freezer where the ice cream was kept wasn't cold enough. So I ate the Magnum like a sandwich. In the afternoon, some colleagues were going down to Parkway Parade. I decided to hitch a ride there to check out the shop to find my special watch. The shop was closed for renovations until 13th, so today was 14th, and I figured it should be safe.
The shop was still closed! The sign outside the shop said the renovation works was extended one more day. Argh! Another wasted trip. I should have gone Tampines straightaway to meet my wife. Now I have to take a long way there. The final straw came when I boarded the bus. The aircon was spoilt, and the bus was hot and stuffy.
The day sucked.
I went to Starhub shop to renew my mobile plan and get a new Samsung F480 as a gift to my wife. Too bad the pink one was out of stock.
Thu 15 Jan
Inbetween settling some work stuff, one colleague asked me to join him for lunch. He wanted to go Parkway Parade to eat something nicer. Seizing the chance, I went along, and checked out the shop. The renovation was indeed complete. But the shop was still closed! There was absolutely nothing on the shelves yet! I'll wait one week before returning. Grrrrr. My wife had a good laugh about it, and insisted that I have no 'fate' with the watch.
We went to eat set lunches at Jack's Place, and I think the quality of food had certainly improved. I always had a poor impression of the food ever since I ate there a couple of times long ago.
Fri 16 Jan
Today turned out to be a disgustingly long day. Other than the normal lessons, I had a SEL (Social Emotional Learning) course from 2 to 5.30 pm, which was immediately followed by a meet-the-parents session with the parents of the new batch of integrated programme students. Most of us were only there to show our faces and wave our hands when our names were mentioned in the introduction, and had otherwise no further purpose. The whole event overran by half an hour, and fortunately a colleague gave me a ride to Tampines and shortened my journey back. I went to Coffee Club to have dinner with my wife, and at least the food was good enough to alleviate the fatigue of the day.
Sat 17 Jan
It was Go Green Day in the morning, which is the annual old clothes (and newspaper) collection the college does. I went along with my new civics class, and I think they must be very experienced, having done it for four years running. The whole thing was over and done with rather early, but the bottleneck was at the last block, waiting for the lorry to come and load the collected stuff. While we were waiting, the kids were entertaining themselves with games, so I taught them one. I guess I would admit that the time was at least good for some class bonding. I like the class. They are a warm, friendly and fun bunch.
After that was over and done with, I went to meet my wife at Bedok for lunch, and we went shopping for a whole lot of stuff for the house and baby. Things are so much cheaper there. I couldn't resist the temptation and bought three packets of pre-packed mao sheng wang durian, and they were fantastic! I think I ate enough to give me a sore throat. Haha.
Sun 18 Jan
I went to service in the morning with my wife, and after service, we headed down to Eastpoint to have lunch at Eighteen Chefs with our boys and girls. We went to buy a whole lot of stuff to equip my in-laws place to take care of Jadon when my wife resumes work.
Mon 19 Jan
Jadon fell sick. I was already in school when my wife called me to say that baby was coughing badly. I took time off and rushed back, changed, and brought Jadon to the doctor with my wife. After we returned home and Jadon settled into sleep, I headed back for school, grabbed lunch, and was in time for my lessons. I came back home as quickly as I could to help look after him.
My colleague dropped by in the evening to pass me some stuff he helped me buy. One whole group of my colleagues headed down to this warehouse place in Woodlands (I think), which sells a lot of food stuff at very low prices. I bought 500 g of salmon sashimi for $16, one 400 g slab of swordfish belly for $16 as well, and a pack of frozen crab meat at $7.50 for 500 g. I think it's about half or slightly less than half of the price at supermarkets and all. And the sashimi was good! My wife and I had that for dinner, adding on some stuff I bought from Sakae Sushi.
Today was a bad, bad day. During lunch I went over with my colleagues to the coffee shop with the Big D's. A guy approached me and asked me if I wanted to eat zi char, and listed down some dishes that the stall has, so my colleague and I ordered mui fan, and it turned out to be vegetarian zi char! The guy did not mention at all, so I felt swindled. Deciding to make the lunch a bit better, I went to 7 Eleven to buy a Magnum ice cream with my fellow swindled colleague. I pulled the Magnum out of the wrapper and...the stick came out by itself. Apparently the vanilla ice cream inside had melted. I think the freezer where the ice cream was kept wasn't cold enough. So I ate the Magnum like a sandwich. In the afternoon, some colleagues were going down to Parkway Parade. I decided to hitch a ride there to check out the shop to find my special watch. The shop was closed for renovations until 13th, so today was 14th, and I figured it should be safe.
The shop was still closed! The sign outside the shop said the renovation works was extended one more day. Argh! Another wasted trip. I should have gone Tampines straightaway to meet my wife. Now I have to take a long way there. The final straw came when I boarded the bus. The aircon was spoilt, and the bus was hot and stuffy.
The day sucked.
I went to Starhub shop to renew my mobile plan and get a new Samsung F480 as a gift to my wife. Too bad the pink one was out of stock.
Thu 15 Jan
Inbetween settling some work stuff, one colleague asked me to join him for lunch. He wanted to go Parkway Parade to eat something nicer. Seizing the chance, I went along, and checked out the shop. The renovation was indeed complete. But the shop was still closed! There was absolutely nothing on the shelves yet! I'll wait one week before returning. Grrrrr. My wife had a good laugh about it, and insisted that I have no 'fate' with the watch.
We went to eat set lunches at Jack's Place, and I think the quality of food had certainly improved. I always had a poor impression of the food ever since I ate there a couple of times long ago.
Fri 16 Jan
Today turned out to be a disgustingly long day. Other than the normal lessons, I had a SEL (Social Emotional Learning) course from 2 to 5.30 pm, which was immediately followed by a meet-the-parents session with the parents of the new batch of integrated programme students. Most of us were only there to show our faces and wave our hands when our names were mentioned in the introduction, and had otherwise no further purpose. The whole event overran by half an hour, and fortunately a colleague gave me a ride to Tampines and shortened my journey back. I went to Coffee Club to have dinner with my wife, and at least the food was good enough to alleviate the fatigue of the day.
Sat 17 Jan
It was Go Green Day in the morning, which is the annual old clothes (and newspaper) collection the college does. I went along with my new civics class, and I think they must be very experienced, having done it for four years running. The whole thing was over and done with rather early, but the bottleneck was at the last block, waiting for the lorry to come and load the collected stuff. While we were waiting, the kids were entertaining themselves with games, so I taught them one. I guess I would admit that the time was at least good for some class bonding. I like the class. They are a warm, friendly and fun bunch.
After that was over and done with, I went to meet my wife at Bedok for lunch, and we went shopping for a whole lot of stuff for the house and baby. Things are so much cheaper there. I couldn't resist the temptation and bought three packets of pre-packed mao sheng wang durian, and they were fantastic! I think I ate enough to give me a sore throat. Haha.
Sun 18 Jan
I went to service in the morning with my wife, and after service, we headed down to Eastpoint to have lunch at Eighteen Chefs with our boys and girls. We went to buy a whole lot of stuff to equip my in-laws place to take care of Jadon when my wife resumes work.
Mon 19 Jan
Jadon fell sick. I was already in school when my wife called me to say that baby was coughing badly. I took time off and rushed back, changed, and brought Jadon to the doctor with my wife. After we returned home and Jadon settled into sleep, I headed back for school, grabbed lunch, and was in time for my lessons. I came back home as quickly as I could to help look after him.
My colleague dropped by in the evening to pass me some stuff he helped me buy. One whole group of my colleagues headed down to this warehouse place in Woodlands (I think), which sells a lot of food stuff at very low prices. I bought 500 g of salmon sashimi for $16, one 400 g slab of swordfish belly for $16 as well, and a pack of frozen crab meat at $7.50 for 500 g. I think it's about half or slightly less than half of the price at supermarkets and all. And the sashimi was good! My wife and I had that for dinner, adding on some stuff I bought from Sakae Sushi.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Mon 12 Jan
It was the first day of school today. There was only one scheduled lesson, and it was civics with my new class. I inherited the form class from my wife, along with her chemistry classes. The only thing I didn't like about this arrangement is that I only get a year to spend with them since they are year 2 already.
My Old Airport Road gang realized that we no longer have a common long lunch break on any day, so I think the pilgrimage is indefinitely postponed. Hence, we decided to go down today instead. Unfortunately, Monday is a really bad choice, because most stalls are closed. The excellent lor mee was open though, and I ordered a $4 bowl, which was significantly more substantial in terms of noodles and ingredients than the $3 one.
After lunch, I headed down to Kaki Bukit to find Baby's Kingdom to order another cot. It seems like it would be quite hard to continue to get my mother-in-law to come to my place to take care of Jadon once my wife returns to work, because she would have to reach at 6+. The most logical arrangement would be to leave Jadon at my in-laws' place, hence the second cot. Sigh.
Tue 13 Jan
It was Open House today in college! After setting up for my card game's booth in the morning, my colleagues and I were there from 10 am to 4 pm. We had students, interns and ex-students playing with us for the bulk of the day. What I found most heartening was that quite a big number of the graduated integrated programme students came back to support the event and visit their teachers. The most interesting thing of the day was this Sec 4 student who came over and joined us for a game of SynTactic. We expected that we needed to handhold her through, but she actually knew some of the reactions! She basically held her ground against the year 2 students, with some guidance. Apparently, she reads beyond the 'O' Level syllabus out of interest. I sure hope this girl comes to TJC. Maybe my card game is a pull factor. Hehe.
I just finished adding one more set of photos to Jadon's album. Yeah, I know it's overdue, but my productivity in doing anything now is less than half when Jadon's awake and doesn't want to sleep. I haven't gone to finish the last part of Fable II, nor watch my anime for many days. Sigh.
It was the first day of school today. There was only one scheduled lesson, and it was civics with my new class. I inherited the form class from my wife, along with her chemistry classes. The only thing I didn't like about this arrangement is that I only get a year to spend with them since they are year 2 already.
My Old Airport Road gang realized that we no longer have a common long lunch break on any day, so I think the pilgrimage is indefinitely postponed. Hence, we decided to go down today instead. Unfortunately, Monday is a really bad choice, because most stalls are closed. The excellent lor mee was open though, and I ordered a $4 bowl, which was significantly more substantial in terms of noodles and ingredients than the $3 one.
After lunch, I headed down to Kaki Bukit to find Baby's Kingdom to order another cot. It seems like it would be quite hard to continue to get my mother-in-law to come to my place to take care of Jadon once my wife returns to work, because she would have to reach at 6+. The most logical arrangement would be to leave Jadon at my in-laws' place, hence the second cot. Sigh.
Tue 13 Jan
It was Open House today in college! After setting up for my card game's booth in the morning, my colleagues and I were there from 10 am to 4 pm. We had students, interns and ex-students playing with us for the bulk of the day. What I found most heartening was that quite a big number of the graduated integrated programme students came back to support the event and visit their teachers. The most interesting thing of the day was this Sec 4 student who came over and joined us for a game of SynTactic. We expected that we needed to handhold her through, but she actually knew some of the reactions! She basically held her ground against the year 2 students, with some guidance. Apparently, she reads beyond the 'O' Level syllabus out of interest. I sure hope this girl comes to TJC. Maybe my card game is a pull factor. Hehe.
I just finished adding one more set of photos to Jadon's album. Yeah, I know it's overdue, but my productivity in doing anything now is less than half when Jadon's awake and doesn't want to sleep. I haven't gone to finish the last part of Fable II, nor watch my anime for many days. Sigh.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Mon 5 Jan
Fearing that my old computer may be dying a slow (motherboard) death due to the malfunction of the PCI slot, I decided to go assemble a new media PC to link up to the new 40-inch LCD in my bedroom to play movies and other media, especially anime from my other computer streamed over the wireless network. I messaged ZH to ask him if he was game, and sure enough, he would always not mind going down to Sim Lim. I think he perpetually has things to buy from there.
Before I could make that pilgrimage, I went with my wife and Jadon down to Eastshore Hospital to get the next round of injections done (at four months). That short 10-min visit costed a whopping $300+. After lunch, ZH came to pick me up and we went around Sim Lim scouring for small CPU units. That was my primary criterion, since it had to sit on my Ikea chest of drawers, and Ikea furniture is really not known for supporting weight. I considered assembling a CPU from scratch, but after going around, I settled on Acer Inspire, which had everything I need, and had a built-in wireless and comes with Vista. I added 2 Gb more ram to it, and the CPU (with a free wireless mouse and keyboard) came up to $812. Yay! Subtracting the $400 annual LDS grant for teachers, the machine was within affordable budget. I went to get a thumbdrive and USB fan for my wife, and bought some cables for setting up the media PC, and went back happily to set it up.
It ran perfectly via the HDMI cable. Bwahaha! The only issue now is actually having the time to enjoy it properly.
Tue 6 Jan
I went back to school for a meeting in the morning, and had breakfast with ZH. We managed to iron out the nitty-gritty details, and we will launch the Infocomm Club in our school this year. Nope, this is not the secretive big project that I was working on. Imagine that something with such extensive logistical planning, and tying up with IDA, is not considered a big project by me; now you can see how darn hard I was working over the holidays. For lunch, I went with a couple of colleagues to Parkway Parade, and ended up eating at Fish n Co. I actually wanted to look for some baby stuff there, but I mistakenly assumed (and forgotten the actual layout) that there is a Robinsons there along with the Marks and Spencer. The other reason I wanted to be there was to visit the shop Stege, because it happened to carry a certain watch that I saw online and fell in love with.
But the shop was undergoing renovation! Bleah.
My wife was at the dentist at City Hall, so I decided to go join her and check out the Robinsons there to buy a rubber baby seat for Jadon, amongst other items. It was a fruitful trip, and we managed to use up the vouchers we had (courtesy of the 40-inch LCD from Best Denki) on relevant stuff, and along the way, I managed to pick up a nice pair of shoes from Aldo. In fact, it looks inconspicuously casual, so I think I may try wearing them on normal working days. Hehe.
Wed 7 Jan
It was a quiet day at home, settling issues from the big project mainly. I went to White Sands with my wife to buy some essentials and baby stuff, and I detoured to Challenger to buy the Xbox 360 game The Last Remnant, which was on sale. I got a free t-shirt, which amazingly roughly fits despite it being free-size. I decided to buy it (even though I'm not sure if I have the time to play it) because I am finishing Fable II, which was a miracle in itself.
Thu 8 Jan
Today was spent purely on doing work. I'm sadly overworked. Relatively. I hope this is not a sign of future holidays to come.
Fri 9 Jan
There was the first staff meeting of the year in school. My father-in-law dropped my mother-in-law off at our place early in the morning and gave us a ride to school. My wife and I had breakfast and were early. Surprisingly, the staff meeting ended before noon. Originally some colleagues suggested going to Nihon Mura, but I think they were too hungry to wait till 2.30 pm for the buffet to start, so they went off to Aston's. My wife headed home first, and I remained in school to settle some stuff before leaving.
On my way out of the school, I saw some graduated students who returned. I knew they were from Photography Club, and I heard from my colleague that some of them had reservations regarding the new Infocomm Club, which will take Photography Club, Audio-Visual Club, and IT Club under its wing. I sat down with them to talk with them regarding the whole setup, and after an hour thereabouts, I managed to convince them of the merits and necessity of the change.
In the evening, my wife and I headed off to Bukit Merah for a meeting with our pastors. We detoured to Citilink to buy a book about baby puree recipes from MPH. Anyway the meeting was kind of a gigantic cell group of sorts. Thankfully, my wife's cell sister's boyfriend was sending her home to Pasir Ris, so we got a free ride back. That warranted deep gratitude, because Bukit Merah always feel extremely far away on the way home because the MRT station is at least a ten minute walk away.
Sat 10 Jan
I spent the day doing work, as usual, and only went off to White Sands for lunch with my wife at Sakae Sushi. We brought Jadon out with us, but he started getting cranky at some point. I discovered how powerful my sleep-inducing effect on him was when I stood beside him and stroked him to sleep. Usually I need to carry him for some time before that happens. He must really find me boring. Hahaha.
My wife tried the katsu curry don, and it was surprisingly good. The curry was thick and flavourful, and the katsu was well-fried. Or maybe I have low expectations of Sakae Sushi by now. Hmm.
Originally, I thought of going out for dinner with the family, but I was so tired, and still stuck with my dissertation that I scrapped the idea and just went to Elias Mall to buy zi char back.
Sun 11 Jan
Service was again jam-packed. One good thing about the size of the crowd though was that the shuttle service that leaves Simei for Max Pavilion now operates till a later time, and we managed to catch the bus even though we were quite late. Traffic there though was congested, and I guess that is something that won't be changing for quite a while.
After service, I headed down with my boys to Eastpoint Mall for lunch. Now that church service ends at noon, we were all dead hungry. We went to Melleo's, which replaced the previous Sakura Restaurant. The food seemed to be identical though, except a bit worse. Especially the red ruby dessert that we ordered. It sucked. Big time.
When we were done, my wife's cell member, sister, and one of my boys came over to our place to hang out and chit-chat. So I spent the afternoon entertaining guests, and only just completed one small checkpoint of my dissertation to send to my supervisor for a check. Sigh.
Fearing that my old computer may be dying a slow (motherboard) death due to the malfunction of the PCI slot, I decided to go assemble a new media PC to link up to the new 40-inch LCD in my bedroom to play movies and other media, especially anime from my other computer streamed over the wireless network. I messaged ZH to ask him if he was game, and sure enough, he would always not mind going down to Sim Lim. I think he perpetually has things to buy from there.
Before I could make that pilgrimage, I went with my wife and Jadon down to Eastshore Hospital to get the next round of injections done (at four months). That short 10-min visit costed a whopping $300+. After lunch, ZH came to pick me up and we went around Sim Lim scouring for small CPU units. That was my primary criterion, since it had to sit on my Ikea chest of drawers, and Ikea furniture is really not known for supporting weight. I considered assembling a CPU from scratch, but after going around, I settled on Acer Inspire, which had everything I need, and had a built-in wireless and comes with Vista. I added 2 Gb more ram to it, and the CPU (with a free wireless mouse and keyboard) came up to $812. Yay! Subtracting the $400 annual LDS grant for teachers, the machine was within affordable budget. I went to get a thumbdrive and USB fan for my wife, and bought some cables for setting up the media PC, and went back happily to set it up.
It ran perfectly via the HDMI cable. Bwahaha! The only issue now is actually having the time to enjoy it properly.
Tue 6 Jan
I went back to school for a meeting in the morning, and had breakfast with ZH. We managed to iron out the nitty-gritty details, and we will launch the Infocomm Club in our school this year. Nope, this is not the secretive big project that I was working on. Imagine that something with such extensive logistical planning, and tying up with IDA, is not considered a big project by me; now you can see how darn hard I was working over the holidays. For lunch, I went with a couple of colleagues to Parkway Parade, and ended up eating at Fish n Co. I actually wanted to look for some baby stuff there, but I mistakenly assumed (and forgotten the actual layout) that there is a Robinsons there along with the Marks and Spencer. The other reason I wanted to be there was to visit the shop Stege, because it happened to carry a certain watch that I saw online and fell in love with.
But the shop was undergoing renovation! Bleah.
My wife was at the dentist at City Hall, so I decided to go join her and check out the Robinsons there to buy a rubber baby seat for Jadon, amongst other items. It was a fruitful trip, and we managed to use up the vouchers we had (courtesy of the 40-inch LCD from Best Denki) on relevant stuff, and along the way, I managed to pick up a nice pair of shoes from Aldo. In fact, it looks inconspicuously casual, so I think I may try wearing them on normal working days. Hehe.
Wed 7 Jan
It was a quiet day at home, settling issues from the big project mainly. I went to White Sands with my wife to buy some essentials and baby stuff, and I detoured to Challenger to buy the Xbox 360 game The Last Remnant, which was on sale. I got a free t-shirt, which amazingly roughly fits despite it being free-size. I decided to buy it (even though I'm not sure if I have the time to play it) because I am finishing Fable II, which was a miracle in itself.
Thu 8 Jan
Today was spent purely on doing work. I'm sadly overworked. Relatively. I hope this is not a sign of future holidays to come.
Fri 9 Jan
There was the first staff meeting of the year in school. My father-in-law dropped my mother-in-law off at our place early in the morning and gave us a ride to school. My wife and I had breakfast and were early. Surprisingly, the staff meeting ended before noon. Originally some colleagues suggested going to Nihon Mura, but I think they were too hungry to wait till 2.30 pm for the buffet to start, so they went off to Aston's. My wife headed home first, and I remained in school to settle some stuff before leaving.
On my way out of the school, I saw some graduated students who returned. I knew they were from Photography Club, and I heard from my colleague that some of them had reservations regarding the new Infocomm Club, which will take Photography Club, Audio-Visual Club, and IT Club under its wing. I sat down with them to talk with them regarding the whole setup, and after an hour thereabouts, I managed to convince them of the merits and necessity of the change.
In the evening, my wife and I headed off to Bukit Merah for a meeting with our pastors. We detoured to Citilink to buy a book about baby puree recipes from MPH. Anyway the meeting was kind of a gigantic cell group of sorts. Thankfully, my wife's cell sister's boyfriend was sending her home to Pasir Ris, so we got a free ride back. That warranted deep gratitude, because Bukit Merah always feel extremely far away on the way home because the MRT station is at least a ten minute walk away.
Sat 10 Jan
I spent the day doing work, as usual, and only went off to White Sands for lunch with my wife at Sakae Sushi. We brought Jadon out with us, but he started getting cranky at some point. I discovered how powerful my sleep-inducing effect on him was when I stood beside him and stroked him to sleep. Usually I need to carry him for some time before that happens. He must really find me boring. Hahaha.
My wife tried the katsu curry don, and it was surprisingly good. The curry was thick and flavourful, and the katsu was well-fried. Or maybe I have low expectations of Sakae Sushi by now. Hmm.
Originally, I thought of going out for dinner with the family, but I was so tired, and still stuck with my dissertation that I scrapped the idea and just went to Elias Mall to buy zi char back.
Sun 11 Jan
Service was again jam-packed. One good thing about the size of the crowd though was that the shuttle service that leaves Simei for Max Pavilion now operates till a later time, and we managed to catch the bus even though we were quite late. Traffic there though was congested, and I guess that is something that won't be changing for quite a while.
After service, I headed down with my boys to Eastpoint Mall for lunch. Now that church service ends at noon, we were all dead hungry. We went to Melleo's, which replaced the previous Sakura Restaurant. The food seemed to be identical though, except a bit worse. Especially the red ruby dessert that we ordered. It sucked. Big time.
When we were done, my wife's cell member, sister, and one of my boys came over to our place to hang out and chit-chat. So I spent the afternoon entertaining guests, and only just completed one small checkpoint of my dissertation to send to my supervisor for a check. Sigh.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Wed 31 Dec
It's the end of 2008, and another year has gone by. In all seriousness, I no longer see the thrills in countdowns. Maybe I'm starting to feel old, but at the moment the year changes, I guess I just want to be with my loved ones, and most probably not squeezed to death in some crowded place filled with the stench of sweat. Anyway, I suspect most people at the countdowns must be youths who have yet to leave school, else with such a horrible economic climate, I wonder how many would be in the mood to welcome 2009.
Oddly enough, no mahjong plans materialized, and I spent a quiet night at home, not even watching the countdown programme. 2009 to me will be an exciting year because by natural progression, Jadon should be able to sit up, crawl, walk, and likely talk this year, which are major developmental milestones. Maybe it's time to invest in a good videocamera. Hmm.
Thu 1 Jan
There was yet another journey to the west today. I made a trip with my wife and my mum to Jurong East, where my cousin was having a little gathering for the full month celebration of his second daughter. His wife had opened a franchise branch of My Little Neuro Tree, so they were having the celebration there. It was quite a spacious place, and I found it intriguing that they teach the kids who enrol there English, Chinese and Japanese together. I don't know how long I'll be able to stick to this, but I really hope to be a parent who lets my kid enjoy his childhood, and will teach him stuff myself. I think the pre-school education system here in Singapore has gone nuts. Seriously. To be competitive and let the children who enrol be competitive, I think all the educational stuff had been moving to cover earlier and earlier ages. It will only perpetuate since we are all in a competitive meritocratic society trying to get ahead of others. I shudder to imagine that if I send my kid to a pre-whatever institution, I'm only unintentionally training him to become kiasu and kiasi. I think back on my childhood and only remember toys, games and fun, specifically Lego when I was in Primary School, and Magic the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons during Secondary School Days. No tuition, no enrichment, no extra lessons. I think I turned out alright. I think I have learnt more things by myself than people who had gone for courses and such. Of course, there's still the nagging thought of "If I had gone for all those extra enrichment stuff, maybe I would have become some world-renowned genius or something", but since I'll never know, and I guess not everyone is born and meant to be that exceptional, I'm grateful that I spent the growing-up part having fun.
Anyway, after the full-month lunch and some chit-chatting with relatives (and my mum happily showing off her grandson's cute photos on my Pixon), my wife and I left to visit Jurong Point, since we will be rarely in that far west. The other day I was here, I didn't really have enough time to shop, and only made mental notes of the layout of the mall. Today, we went seriously shopping and looking for stuff, but the huge crowd was a turn-off. I think it feels as bad as Tampines, only that the mall is huge enough not to have people spilling off the sides or something. We managed to buy a set of red rompers for Jadon, although we are not sure if he will grow enough to fit it by Lunar New Year. I bought a red t-shirt from this small shop in The Marketplace area, which hosts some interesting shops and brands that are not found elsewhere. It is quite expensive though at $35.90, and I very seldom pay that kind of money for a t-shirt. Hmm, that sounded inprecise. To be more accurate, I usually don't bother looking at t-shirts that expensive.
Fri 2 Jan
Again, I was expecting a potential mahjong session, but it fell through. It turned out fine, because I was spending a lot of time settling my school project stuff with the vendors, especially since my whole team of colleagues seemed to be lost overseas or something. I didn't even have enough time to do my dissertation, but managed to send out at least the introduction chapter to my professor (but don't underestimate the introduction chapter, because that alone is 3000 words).
Sat 3 Jan
Jadon managed to totally flip over by himself and spread both arms out like Spiderman or something! It happened at midnight, and I just happened to walk over to the cot and saw him move his arm out from under his body at long last. Woohoo! Now he gets so 'arrogant' that he flips over to sleep on his belly every single time. Nowadays he is very, very fun to play with. At certain times of the day when he is wide awake, he laughs out loud when you play with him. In fact, most of the time we just laugh, and he laughs along with us. It's one of those 'awwwww' moments. And for some reason, when I hold him in my arms and rock him gently, it always manages to make him fall asleep. Maybe I'm too boring. Haha.
Sun 4 Jan
It's the first service of the year, and it was a madhouse. Now our youth and English services are combined, and the whole hall was packed to the brim. I don't mind sitting at the far back, but my concern is that there doesn't seem to be enough space for parents with prams. I went to scout around the back, but it was packed. So far, my wife and I had decided not to bring him to church yet to avoid the cold and the noise (our worship music can be quite a blast...literally), but now with that many people, it looked nigh impossible. What was more scary was the queue for the shuttle bus out of Expo after service, and it stretched from hall 9 (almost hall 8 actually) beyond Max Pavilion onto the tar road behind. I doubt it would be much better to try to board the train at Expo MRT either.
My wife and I met two friends for lunch at Manhattan Fish Market. The service had improved much since the first visit, and the food quality had been good thus far. It's now one of the better restaurants at White Sands, I believe. I guess what would be perfect would be the collapse of Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe (I don't know about other outlets, but the one at White Sands was so bad that I would rather starve than spend that much money on sucky fare), and the opening of maybe Ministry of Food. Hehe.
It's the end of 2008, and another year has gone by. In all seriousness, I no longer see the thrills in countdowns. Maybe I'm starting to feel old, but at the moment the year changes, I guess I just want to be with my loved ones, and most probably not squeezed to death in some crowded place filled with the stench of sweat. Anyway, I suspect most people at the countdowns must be youths who have yet to leave school, else with such a horrible economic climate, I wonder how many would be in the mood to welcome 2009.
Oddly enough, no mahjong plans materialized, and I spent a quiet night at home, not even watching the countdown programme. 2009 to me will be an exciting year because by natural progression, Jadon should be able to sit up, crawl, walk, and likely talk this year, which are major developmental milestones. Maybe it's time to invest in a good videocamera. Hmm.
Thu 1 Jan
There was yet another journey to the west today. I made a trip with my wife and my mum to Jurong East, where my cousin was having a little gathering for the full month celebration of his second daughter. His wife had opened a franchise branch of My Little Neuro Tree, so they were having the celebration there. It was quite a spacious place, and I found it intriguing that they teach the kids who enrol there English, Chinese and Japanese together. I don't know how long I'll be able to stick to this, but I really hope to be a parent who lets my kid enjoy his childhood, and will teach him stuff myself. I think the pre-school education system here in Singapore has gone nuts. Seriously. To be competitive and let the children who enrol be competitive, I think all the educational stuff had been moving to cover earlier and earlier ages. It will only perpetuate since we are all in a competitive meritocratic society trying to get ahead of others. I shudder to imagine that if I send my kid to a pre-whatever institution, I'm only unintentionally training him to become kiasu and kiasi. I think back on my childhood and only remember toys, games and fun, specifically Lego when I was in Primary School, and Magic the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons during Secondary School Days. No tuition, no enrichment, no extra lessons. I think I turned out alright. I think I have learnt more things by myself than people who had gone for courses and such. Of course, there's still the nagging thought of "If I had gone for all those extra enrichment stuff, maybe I would have become some world-renowned genius or something", but since I'll never know, and I guess not everyone is born and meant to be that exceptional, I'm grateful that I spent the growing-up part having fun.
Anyway, after the full-month lunch and some chit-chatting with relatives (and my mum happily showing off her grandson's cute photos on my Pixon), my wife and I left to visit Jurong Point, since we will be rarely in that far west. The other day I was here, I didn't really have enough time to shop, and only made mental notes of the layout of the mall. Today, we went seriously shopping and looking for stuff, but the huge crowd was a turn-off. I think it feels as bad as Tampines, only that the mall is huge enough not to have people spilling off the sides or something. We managed to buy a set of red rompers for Jadon, although we are not sure if he will grow enough to fit it by Lunar New Year. I bought a red t-shirt from this small shop in The Marketplace area, which hosts some interesting shops and brands that are not found elsewhere. It is quite expensive though at $35.90, and I very seldom pay that kind of money for a t-shirt. Hmm, that sounded inprecise. To be more accurate, I usually don't bother looking at t-shirts that expensive.
Fri 2 Jan
Again, I was expecting a potential mahjong session, but it fell through. It turned out fine, because I was spending a lot of time settling my school project stuff with the vendors, especially since my whole team of colleagues seemed to be lost overseas or something. I didn't even have enough time to do my dissertation, but managed to send out at least the introduction chapter to my professor (but don't underestimate the introduction chapter, because that alone is 3000 words).
Sat 3 Jan
Jadon managed to totally flip over by himself and spread both arms out like Spiderman or something! It happened at midnight, and I just happened to walk over to the cot and saw him move his arm out from under his body at long last. Woohoo! Now he gets so 'arrogant' that he flips over to sleep on his belly every single time. Nowadays he is very, very fun to play with. At certain times of the day when he is wide awake, he laughs out loud when you play with him. In fact, most of the time we just laugh, and he laughs along with us. It's one of those 'awwwww' moments. And for some reason, when I hold him in my arms and rock him gently, it always manages to make him fall asleep. Maybe I'm too boring. Haha.
Sun 4 Jan
It's the first service of the year, and it was a madhouse. Now our youth and English services are combined, and the whole hall was packed to the brim. I don't mind sitting at the far back, but my concern is that there doesn't seem to be enough space for parents with prams. I went to scout around the back, but it was packed. So far, my wife and I had decided not to bring him to church yet to avoid the cold and the noise (our worship music can be quite a blast...literally), but now with that many people, it looked nigh impossible. What was more scary was the queue for the shuttle bus out of Expo after service, and it stretched from hall 9 (almost hall 8 actually) beyond Max Pavilion onto the tar road behind. I doubt it would be much better to try to board the train at Expo MRT either.
My wife and I met two friends for lunch at Manhattan Fish Market. The service had improved much since the first visit, and the food quality had been good thus far. It's now one of the better restaurants at White Sands, I believe. I guess what would be perfect would be the collapse of Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe (I don't know about other outlets, but the one at White Sands was so bad that I would rather starve than spend that much money on sucky fare), and the opening of maybe Ministry of Food. Hehe.