Friday, May 08, 2009
Wed 22 Apr
We were going to have a long day today, so we made a long way trip down to Beach Rd for lunch. Finally, I had the delicious char kway teow that I've been wanting to eat for quite a while, and I topped it off with Ah Balling glutinous rice balls for dessert.
The reason why it was a long day was that there was Parent-Tutor Dialogue, and apparently, out of all the teachers I know, I had the most bookings. I was slated to meet 11 students' parents! In actual fact, I entertained 13 students' parents, and I think that was a personal record. Probably I had the most among the staff, and if not, definitely among the most. The parents I talked to were all nice people who were just worried for their kids, and I guess now that I'm a father myself, I can empathize a little bit better regarding their anxiety.
Thu 23 Apr
After a long day in school for both my wife and myself, we decided to destress a bit, and went shopping. We headed down to Tampines, and bought stuff for baby from Mothercare in Tampines Mall, and bought pet food and a vacuum cleaner for the car from Tampines One. I still don't like going to Tampines, but I have to grudgingly admit that between the three shopping malls, most of the shops that we usually would go to are covered.
Fri 24 Apr
I wasted money today. In the morning, I had this acute pain on the right side of the abdomen. I scoured the internet for symptoms of appendicitis and I was so certain of it, having never felt a pain like this even when I suffered from food poisoning, that I cancelled my remedial and headed down to Changi General Hospital's A & E.
The eventual diagnosis though was that it wasn't appendicitis, and in fact, the doctor couldn't even tell me what the problem was, and he scheduled me to see a specialist regarding the possibility of gall stones just in case. Hmm, come to think of it, I'd rather waste the 70+ bucks on A & E than to receive bad news.
Sat 25 Apr
This time round in order to have better arrangements of taking care of Jadon, I opted to go for the afternoon flight of the Magic the Gathering prerelease tournament for Alara Reborn. This time round, everyone fitted into one snug room at Suntec City. I didn't get a spectacular deck, and today I was unfortunate to lose to 3 out of 4 opponents. Or rather, the 3 were very fortunate to consistently draw the one or two cards in their decks that could win the game. Sigh. Bad day, but it was still a fun set to play.
Sun 26 Apr
I went to service as usual, and today's combined cell was held at Burger King. Now that the Eastpoint BK had renovated, there is one snug little corner that nicely fitted the whole cell group. The only problem was that the air-conditioning was weak there. But there was good amount of privacy to do cell group there. So far so good in terms of getting along for the two cells...I'm quite relieved.
Mon 27 Apr
Today was a simple, nondescript day. I went with a colleague to Bedok Interchange for lunch, since the other places we usually frequent are typically closed on Mon (no meat). After school, I headed down to Eunos to meet my instructor for my third lesson so far. Still a matter of driving around, but he sprang a surprise on me and asked me to make a U-turn amidst heavy traffic. Well, at least he didn't doze off on me today.
Tue 28 Apr
After a packed morning, I went off to lunch at 216 market. I decided to eat nasi lemak today while my colleagues tried nasi bryani from one stall supposedly famous. The bryani rice was superb, but the curry was lacklustre.
In the evening, my wife and I went to attend Ps Khong's 1728 and leaders' meeting. He taught about the cell group again, and I think it must be close to a decade since I heard the content. It was refreshing to hear it again though, especially in the light of the G12 vision.
Wed 29 Apr
After completing a whole lot of work, I went out with my colleagues to Blk 216 market at Bedok for lunch. Because my wife wanted the nasi lemak from Hon Ni Kitchen, and I didn't feel like queueing to get something else for myself, I ate it again. Once I cleared my work for the day, I caught a cab down to Kaki Bukit driving centre to take my advanced theory. I had been so busy that I only could start studying yesterday, but I deliberately spent time doing the 'ten-year series' that my driving instructor passed to me. Well, maybe it worked, but anyway, I passed my advanced theory test. One step closer to driving my car!
Thu 30 Apr
I was assigned to go on course today with another colleague to Kampong Ampat. The training was at the main office of our vendor for this new Learning Management System we recently got, and when we got there, we were shocked. The entrance to the office had this wooden path with water features on each side, and the whole place reeked of style but opulence.
The training had with it some hidden agenda, and it turned out that the colleague with me and I were both tasked to be administrators, which meant a lot more work. The training itself was useful, but the trainer was this friendly and chatty Indian man. At the end of the morning session, we ended digressing, and my colleague and I were recommending him ways to set up a home theate or entertainment area, and we talked a lot about TVs. In the afternoon, I guess he returned the favour when he recommended us a few freeware which were free but of high standard.
After the course was over, I hailed a cab and headed to the Singapore Flyer's Seafood Paradise. The college had some visitors from Tianjin, and these delegates were here mainly to check the environment for their students, especially those who came here to study. Anyway, the dinner was filling. Extremely filling. We had some cold plate thing, a unique fishcake, sharks' fin soup (I think, or was it fish maw?), scallops with vegetables, drinken prawns, crispy chicken dish, one full steamed fish. Along the way, I ate double portions because I didn't want to waste the food and nobody was eating after a short while. So I was totally stuffed by the time the above-mentioned dishes were settled, and then...the two big crabs came. This was the best dish, yet I had no appetite for it. In addition, there was also fried rice and fried mee sua. I ate as much as my stomach could accomodate without bursting, and after the dinner was over, we all went on the Singapore Flyer. I have to admit that the view up there is quite spectacular, but beyond that, I guess it should still work better for the tourists than for locals. The Tianjin delegates seemed to enjoy themselves, so I suppose it does function as a tourist attraction.
Fri 1 May
It was Labour Day, and I ended up labouring in chores for a short while. We spent the greater part of the day at my in-laws' place with Jadon, and subsequently, we went down to Kaki Bukit hawker centre for dinner. We each had this excellent mee sua with pig innards from Seng Kee (although somewhat oily), and I think it was worth the 15 minutes wait. On top of this, I bought a bowl of bak chor mee from a supposedly famous stall, but I think it doesn't match up to the standards of Blk 85. There is one shop there that sells muffins, egg tarts and the like, and the egg tarts were superb! The crust was thin, and the egg taste was good too. Definitely worth buying more.
Sat 2 May
We decided to bring Jadon out with us and we went to Tampines. I have always said that I'd avoid Tampines like a plague, especially on weekends, but I think Tampines One still have room for exploration, so we gave it a try. Of course, later on it got disgustingly crowded, which reinforced my prior sentiment.
For lunch, we gave Manpuku a try. This is a Japanese restaurant, which is styled like the now-defunct Marche, that always had long queues outside. We went early deliberately to avoid the crowd. I tried their signature ramen, and my wife had the udon, and I was grossly disappointed. Not only was the portion pathetic (I think one packet of instant noodles pack more mass than this), but the taste was just plain average. I also ordered an unagi toji (I think that's the word...), but it was just decent. Certainly the food here tastes significantly better than Shokudo, but I guess if I really wanted Japanese food, I would stick to the Bugis' Ministry of Food.
After an unsatisfying meal, we went shopping around. I won some $5-off Recoil vouchers in an earlier promotion, so I visited the shop. Eventually I ended up buying a short-sleeved shirt only. The big purchase of the day was at Yummi House honey, where I decided to invest in something for health, especially for my wife who had been falling sick fairly frequent. I ended up buying 5 jars (1 came free, together with membership) of two different kinds of honey. For a teacher, honey should be the best health food around.
Sun 3 May
I went to service as usual, only that my wife and I ended up early. Lately, we had not been punctual, usually for reasons related to Jadon. Last Sunday was the fault of the shuttle buses though, but I was finally there before service started. I was glad to be in time to join in the praise songs; usually it would be the worship part by the time I got into the Max Pavilion.
My wife and I brought our cells to the Japanese place at Eastpoint for lunch. I think my udon was decent, so that was a bonus, because I was expecting the food to be terrible. Anyway, the combined cell attempt had been working out thus far.
After cell, we headed to my in-laws' place, and I managed to have a short rest before the whole family headed out to Hong Kong Street Restaurant for an early Mothers' Day dinner with my wife's grandmother and the whole extended family. The food today was not as fantastic as I hoped it would be, but at least the price was comfortable.
Mon 4 May
I woke up around 5 am just so that I could get to the college by 6 am, since there was supposed to be a briefing regarding the Influenza A H1N1 situation. I was too early, in fact, and had to wait a while before the main gate was opened. Anyway, I was stationed at the back gate, so I essentially stood there for an hour, asking students who came through whether they had travelled overseas and whether they were unwell.
It was exhausting to do something like this so early in the morning.
My wife and I went home slightly earlier after visiting Jadon, and we ended up taking a stroll to White Sands at night to have supper. I think even after getting a car, we wouldn't want to go through the effort of driving far away for supper.
Tue 5 MayAfter an early morning doing visual screening at the back gate, and packed with lessons, I went out to have lunch with a colleague at Bedok Interchange. I ate a bowl of Teo's Noodle, and topped it off with a bowl of curry noodles. Yep, I'm definitely overeating these days. I hung around to do some work while waiting for my wife to finish her lessons, and then we went down to see Jadon. My mother-in-law was bringing him out to NTUC Fairprice for a walk due to the heat when we bumped into them, so we went along. After we were done shopping for groceries, my wife and I headed off to Tampines.
We decided to have that $6.90 set meal from Pizza Hut. The soup had plenty of chicken meat, but the pizza seemed to have too little ingredients. I was quite disappointed with the personal pan. I think if I do eat at Pizza Hut again, I'll top up $1 and get a Hawaiian classic. After the meal, we went over to Tampines One to do a bit of shopping. Our actual objective was to buy new hamster cages. Not that the current one could not be used anymore, but the cages are very time-consuming to clean properly, so we decided to downsize our hamsters from living in a bungalow to a one-room flat. We stopped by some shops to shop, and I bought a couple tee from Punk Star, and a shirt from Elements. We dropped by Tea Dot to have a drink each (I won a $10 voucher in an earlier Tampines One promotion), before we went to get the cages. Eventually, my wife wanted two pink cages, which I was fine with, even though both our hamsters are male. Heh. I guess pink fitted our living room colour better, hence my support for the choice.
Wed 6 May
I was rostered for the 7.25 am shift, so finally I got to wake up at my usual timing. I was looking forward to getting food from the hawker centre opposite for breakfast instead of having bread, but it poured! In the end, I bought dou hua from the school canteen. Not satisfied with the food, I went out to eat breakfast with some colleagues later on, and had a bowl of pork rib noodles, which had delicious ribs and tender cartilage! After breakfast, I went on to settle some administrative tasks, and some of us then headed out to eat roast pork at our favourite stall at the coffee shop off Lucky Heights (Blk 69 I think).
After lunch, mass civics and a long staff conference (we had our cluster superintendent drop in and had a chat with us), I cleared some work before heading down to Bugis to meet Collin, and get a ride from him to Bukit Merah. Today we were having a meeting with our pastor, who has rallied all the youth leaders (i.e. cell leaders who have cell groups of youths) together for discipleship. So now our pastor has become our direct cell leader...something like that. It was quite an interesting session, being part of a new and big group suddenly. I guess it will take a little of getting used to.
Thu 7 May
I went to school early again, and this time it was because I exchanged duties with a colleague since I would be on course next week. I think I was too responsible to think so far in advance, because it just became yellow alert yesterday! As of tomorrow, the visual screening is off. So essentially I ended up doing one extra morning of duty. Ah well.
I was doing plenty of marking today till my neck ached. During lunchtime, I went out with a colleague to Blk 216 market to have nasi lemak from Hon Ni Kitchen, and to pack one for my wife. We then went to Munchy Donuts and the shop near it to buy a box of donuts( on another colleague's behalf) and nasi bryani respectively for five colleagues who 'placed order' with us. Anyway, my colleagues didn't find the bryani that fantastic, so I guess I wouldn't go and try it either.
My wife and I left school very late today, clearing a ton of work. We stayed a while at my in-laws' place to play with Jadon. He was really cheerful today, squealing away half the time. He's trying to clap when we say 'clap' now! But his coordination still needs improvement as he keeps hitting his wrist instead of his hand.
I decided not to nap to catch up on lost sleep, but watch 20th Century Boys, a DVD I bought some time ago but hadn't watched it yet. It was simply brilliant. I had read the entire manga and loved it (I think I blogged about it before...), and this movie did the manga justice by following the storyline very tightly. The only editing was done to cut out some bits rather than modifying the plot. Although that does affect the understanding of this convoluted story somewhat, as many of the details are extremely subtle, and have significance later in the manga. Great stuff there. Please go watch the movie or read the manga. You won't regret it.
Fri 8 May
Some of my graduated students came back to visit, so I had a chat with them in the morning. A couple of colleagues, who are currently NIE trainees, treated some of us to a MacDonald's breakfast as way of thanks, but because I was going for lessons soon after the food arrived, I had to devour the sausage mcmuffin with egg at top speed.
Although I had many things that I urgently need to settle since I would be on course the whole of next week, the day became strangely packed. I had to meet one student for consultation, which was followed by a remedial. After that, I had to attend the College Day rehearsal, which I was not originally slated for. I didn't mind because my wife also had duties for College Day and she had to be at the rehearsal, so it was only an issue of which venue I wanted to be at when I waited for her. I brought my marking to the control room to multi-task, and managed to clear it before the rehearsal ended. So now, other than the slides for College Day, I have no other things needing my attention and I can disappear from school next week in peace.
I just noticed something odd today. I think Bedok may be the first place to have something new for traffic rules! At the traffic junction outside Bedok library, the pedestrian line markings are dotted lines when all along, the lines have been solid ones. I wonder if this was changed so that a new edition of Basic Theory (of Driving) can be released. Hmm.