Sunday, October 25, 2009
The second installment of the 4-month back-lock.
Sun 4 Oct
I went to service and had cell group at Niwa Sushi. I've been buying salmon belly sashimi every time I'm at Niwa, but I think the only major dissatisfaction I have with the place is that the fridge is not cold enough. I think sashimi should be kept colder. Anyway, in the evening, I went down to Kaki Bukit to practise at the circuit. Strangely enough, I felt more apprehensive about the circuit than about driving on the road. Weirder than that, in the circuit I had more problems with normal parking than parallel parking! I think my instructor over-trained me on parallel.
Mon 5 Oct
I went to Rid's with my colleague to buy and sell some Magic the Gathering cards, and afterwards, my colleague kindly gave me a ride down to Eunos MRT station where I met my instructor for lessons. Tomorrow would be the driving test! However, he could not secure a circuit booking, so I drove around on the road. He made me practise filtering across 4 lanes near Eunos MRT station repeatedly, because I told him that stretch of road was what I was least confident of.
Tue 6 Oct
The highlight of the busy day was lunch at Old Airport Road. I didn't want to overeat, in case my stomach gave me problems during the driving test, so I had just a bowl of prawn noodles, although I did add extra noodles. The person apparently forgot, and when I queried, the cook immediately took out a bowl, cooked a new full bowl of noodles, and added soup. So I ended up with the equivalent of two bowls of noodles (but one order worth of prawns, of course).
After school ended, I rushed down to Eunos where my instructor had booked one more circuit session for me to practise. The strange thing was that I kept forgetting to stop at the stop lines. My instructor kept assuring me that I was fine, and just needed to stop being nervous. I think this had got to be the test I had least confidence of passing. Additionally, since my wife was not going to be able to drive soon because of her pregnant belly, I had the pressure of needing to pass. Now.
I was paired with a stern-faced stocky tester. He didn't say much, but just gave me instructions on what to do next. He commented that I was too far right when I parked (the normal one, not the parallel one), and he kept harping on it over and over. I thought I was a goner, but then he asked me to drive out, so I knew I had a chance. After I drove out, he directed me to the route that he was testing me with, and I was to make a left turn. There was one stupid car that stopped with hazard lights on right smack before that junction. I hesitated for a while, and my tester started berating me, and criticizing my indecision and judgment. He kept on belittling me all the way, and I just nodded and apologized away. By the time I was turning back to the driving centre, I was dead sure I failed. He motioned me to follow him to the debrief place, and then he criticized me once more.
Then he said, "Be more decisive when you are on the road" and passed me the report. And it said "passed"! I couldn't quite believe it, so thank God for that! I went to return the car to my instructor, and when I told him my result, he told me that I had nothing to worry about, although, he added, that tester I had was one of the strictest in the centre. Whew. I had not felt as much relief in clearing a test since probably the 'A' levels.
Wed 7 Oct
I managed to squeeze out enough time to go to 216 market to eat ban mian for lunch. I had to push off my colleagues' request that I drive out, and I told them that even if they dared to sit in my car, I didn't trust myself. Driving to school from home was still alright, because I was familiar with the route, and had my wife as navigator, though she behaved as a driving instructor more often than not. Haha.
Thu 8 Oct
I bought breakfast from Seng Ban Choon today, and only because sexy uncle wasn't there today. In the midst of the long day at school, my colleagues and I took a break and headed down to Old Airport Road for lunch again. In the evening, my wife and I went to White Sands for dinner. I bought some movie DVDs, and then we ate at Coffee Club, trying out their new pitas items on the special menu.
Fri 9 Oct
After a packed morning till noon, I went out with my colleague to a far away coffee shop, and ate at eBlackboard. The carbonara was still superb, and I had a full stomach before I went to pick up my wife to go to the gynae. This was the stage of pregnancy where there was no more ultrasound scan pictures to keep because baby was too big to fit the scan, so you would just see this big round patch of white that's the head and nothing else, so all the gynae did was to let you listen to the heartbeat of the baby.
Sat 10 Oct
This was a really long day. I started the day with my wife having a Superdog breakfast, which was good as usual. For lunch, I went out to Elias Mall to buy zi char back, and right after that, I laboured and cleared the storeroom, because the junk was just piling up. We needed to urgently reorganize so that when the maid comes, she could help us maintain. In the evening, I headed down to Marine Parade where we were going to have a tribe meeting, and our cell members went as well.
All of a sudden, Collin suggested mahjong, and that got Shups and Alvin interested. Collin needed to send one of his boys back, so he told us to wait for him. Alvin needed to settle some things as well, so Shups and I joined our pastor for a drink at a nearby coffeeshop. My wife drove back home first to rest, since I wasn't done yet. When Collin was on his merry way back to pick Shups and me up (all the way back from Sunset Way!) , Alvin informed us that he couldn't join us. I convinced Shups that since Collin was halfway across the country, we should still try to play, so we ended up playing 3-man mahjong at my house. Shups later regretted that decision because she lost quite a bit of money to Collin and I, with Collin being the big winner of the day. Guess the money covered his petrol costs of going from east to west, west to east, and after mahjong, east to west once more.
Sun 11 Oct
A typical Sunday. An interesting thing was the sour plum lime juice drink from the NTUC food court at Simei, which was really good. After cell group, I spent the rest of the day with Jadon at my in-laws' place.
Mon 12 Oct
It was the usual day at school, and I was at 216 market with my colleagues for lunch when I received a phone call from my mum. I thought it must be something trivial, but it was actually to inform me that my second aunt had passed away. Out of all my aunts, I was closest to her because she lived near my old place, and we went there occasionally, and there was a time when my mum was unwell and I stayed with her for a couple of months. I was quite shocked, because I didn't hear anything wrong with her except for the typical cataract and joint pains.
I drove my mum to the wake, and spent some time there. I was sad but could only shed a tear. Apparently, my cousins were prepared for it, and only later did I find out that my aunt was down with cancer, but nobody spoke of it before. I was wondering why I couldn't cry, and the only sign of my mourning was a perpetual feeling of gloom.
Tue 13 Oct
There was a short day today, and my head of science seized the chance to have a lunch treat for all of the science department, using up the remainder of some recreation funds (or something like that) reserved for such functions. We went to Tampines SAFRA to eat at Sakura restaurant. I whacked many plates of sashimi as usual, and today's Kobe beef (yeah, right) steak was done quite well that I had a couple of rounds.
I went with my mum to the wake again, knowing that I couldn't go for the cremation since it was in the morning during school time. My mum was suppressing her emotions in front of me, but at the wake, she let it loose. Who wouldn't? That's more than six decades of sisterhood.
Wed 14 Oct
It was raining, so when my colleagues were thinking of a place for lunch, I suggested somewhere nearby with sheltered parking, and we ended up at Hong Kong Street Family Restaurant. The food was still good, and it was served fast as it was still early. In the afternoon, we managed to pull off a quick game of mahjong at ZH's place, and I lost a bit there. When I play with those colleagues, I am always prepared to lose money, because I recognize that they are better players than me, with a lot more experience, especially since they always play with grossly higher stakes and need to be more strategic and careful.
Thu 15 Oct
I made several arrangements thinking that my IPT (IPPT Preparatory Training...I think only in Singapore will you find an abbreviation containing another abbreviation) was beginning today. In the end, I made a mistake, so I happily spent the rest of the evening doing grocery shopping and spending time with Jadon. He had been starting to walk, so it was tiring and fun to watch him now.
Fri 16 Oct
The highlight of the day was the grilled fish fillet at Blue Lagoon in 216 market. Superb stuff. Enough to lift my spirits as I went for consultations with my year 2 students. I think the fortunate thing for me owning a car is the fact that my workplace isn't that far from home, and my in-laws' place is near my workplace.
Sat 17 Oct
It was my mini (monthly) anniversary with my wife again. Generally we try to spend time together alone where possible on each 17th, and today was no exception. We had a simple Subway lunch, and did some shopping around. The late afternoon and evening was spent with Jadon, of course, but at night, my wife suddenly complained of hunger, and we went down to Hi Sshou at Elias Mall to have supper. Fortunately, they decided to entertain us even though the kitchen was officially closed, and we managed to have the piping hot food we wanted. The ramen was still excellent, and I had a very filling and therefore unhealthy supper.
Sun 18 Oct
I had service and cell group as usual, and subsequently I picked my mother-in-law and Jadon up and we went to visit my wife's grandma, and spent the rest of the day there. It is always a lively gathering there because on the weekends, the other aunts would pop by as well, and sometimes the cousins too.
Mon 19 Oct
Between the hours of work, my colleagues and I went out to 216 market to eat lunch. I had kway chap at Chris Kway Chap stall, and it was superb. I think this one beats the one at Old Airport Road any day, with or without the ridiculously long queue.
Tue 20 Oct
Today was a surprisingly unhealthy day, even though I was having IPT, which meant sufficient exercise by right. I had pork rib noodles for breakfast, and the yong tau fu opposite school for lunch because I was too full. Before I went for my IPT, I decided to have an early dinner at Wan Chai in White Sands, but I only shared fried rice with my wife because I didn't want to have too heavy a meal before the run. The first session was an IPPT test in order to measure the areas of weakness. I managed to clear all the static stations, but failed the running. The bad thing about the timing was that I needed to eat something light before the session to keep myself going, but if it was something light, I would be dead hungry by the time it ended and needed supper. I suspect that whatever weight I lost I probably gained in the meal after. Sigh. I went to Superdog with my wife for supper because she was feeling kind of hungry too, probably because of the pregnancy.
Wed 21 Oct
It was a long day at school. My colleagues and I made our pilgrimage to Old Airport Road, and I had the Whitley Road Prawn Mee again, to my tremendous satisfaction before returning to school and back to the work. In the evening, my wife and I headed over to Ikea Tampines to shop for some loose ends and furniture to hopefully organize some other parts of the house. We also popped by Giant to buy some groceries, and I bought a boxful of sashimi. The peculiar thing was the sashimi chef recognized me! And gave me a discount! The last time I came by to buy sashimi was at least a year ago. I thought he was just bluffing, but he could tell me that I only came twice (which was correct), and the last time I dropped by was last year. He said that he could remember most of his customers. Cool chap.
Thu 22 Oct
This was an odd day. Originally, I had meant to end the day early, and settle some personal matters together with my wife. However, at around ten, my student's mum called me. Now, I had previously helped her apply for a visa here, but there were several documents, and I agreed with her that it was certainly confusing. The visa application said that her stay here was granted, and the duration was about two months. However, the stamp on the passport implied that she could be here only for 30 days. Essentially, because she needed to extend her stay, she called ICA and only then found out that she had overstayed! This could turn out to be a major issue, so I drove her down to ICA right away, and got a queue number there, and waited for very, very long. While waiting, I made my way to Golden Mile Hawker Centre to eat my favourite char kway teow (the one with the ikan bilis), and when I returned to the ICA, it was our turn. We spent a long time talking to the grouchy guy at the counter who sounded like he was trying to shoo us away and refusing to extend the stay of my student's mum. After I talked to him nicely and politely (even though I was getting somewhat pissed off), he eventually relented, and gave her the extension that she needed. My student's mum was profusely thankful, and very embarrassed for giving me trouble, but I kept assuring her that it wasn't much trouble. It was, however, very time consuming. Haha, but hey, if I didn't help her out, she would be...an illegal immigrant??
Fri 23 Oct
I took childcare leave today to spend time with Jadon, and to settle many, many things, including buying baby's stuff, and going to Elias Mall to settle the maid letter. In any case, I had to delay our picking up of the maid even though she had reached because we hadn't cleaned up and reorganized the stuff in the spare room. Ironically, although if we did pick up the maid, she could help us clean up, the issue was that we didn't even know where to move some of the things to begin with. Anyway, the maid agency was nice enough and assured us that in the meantime, they would just send the maid to the training centre.
Sat 24 Oct
My wife and I ate at Subway for lunch, and went over to my in-laws' place thereafter. I decided to make a new pair of spectacles because the old one was quite scratched, and sometimes at night, I couldn't see too clearly if opposite headlights shone at me. Since it was crucial as I was now the official chauffeur, I blew a healthy $300 to get a new pair. It is always this beastly expensive because of my astigmatism, and the lenses alone cost me more than half the total cost.
Sun 25 Oct
My wife and I went to the full month celebration of my colleague's daughter, and we spent the early afternoon there. I think Jadon is relatively petite, because almost every newborn I have seen lately is much chubbier than he is. After that, we went to Parkway Parade for dinner at Koo Kee in the basement, and the food was still superb. We did some shopping at Mothercare, and bought many, many items for Jadon and the second one, whom we did not have a name for yet. We wanted a good name from the bible, and with God's confirmation, but there was none at the moment.
Sun 4 Oct
I went to service and had cell group at Niwa Sushi. I've been buying salmon belly sashimi every time I'm at Niwa, but I think the only major dissatisfaction I have with the place is that the fridge is not cold enough. I think sashimi should be kept colder. Anyway, in the evening, I went down to Kaki Bukit to practise at the circuit. Strangely enough, I felt more apprehensive about the circuit than about driving on the road. Weirder than that, in the circuit I had more problems with normal parking than parallel parking! I think my instructor over-trained me on parallel.
Mon 5 Oct
I went to Rid's with my colleague to buy and sell some Magic the Gathering cards, and afterwards, my colleague kindly gave me a ride down to Eunos MRT station where I met my instructor for lessons. Tomorrow would be the driving test! However, he could not secure a circuit booking, so I drove around on the road. He made me practise filtering across 4 lanes near Eunos MRT station repeatedly, because I told him that stretch of road was what I was least confident of.
Tue 6 Oct
The highlight of the busy day was lunch at Old Airport Road. I didn't want to overeat, in case my stomach gave me problems during the driving test, so I had just a bowl of prawn noodles, although I did add extra noodles. The person apparently forgot, and when I queried, the cook immediately took out a bowl, cooked a new full bowl of noodles, and added soup. So I ended up with the equivalent of two bowls of noodles (but one order worth of prawns, of course).
After school ended, I rushed down to Eunos where my instructor had booked one more circuit session for me to practise. The strange thing was that I kept forgetting to stop at the stop lines. My instructor kept assuring me that I was fine, and just needed to stop being nervous. I think this had got to be the test I had least confidence of passing. Additionally, since my wife was not going to be able to drive soon because of her pregnant belly, I had the pressure of needing to pass. Now.
I was paired with a stern-faced stocky tester. He didn't say much, but just gave me instructions on what to do next. He commented that I was too far right when I parked (the normal one, not the parallel one), and he kept harping on it over and over. I thought I was a goner, but then he asked me to drive out, so I knew I had a chance. After I drove out, he directed me to the route that he was testing me with, and I was to make a left turn. There was one stupid car that stopped with hazard lights on right smack before that junction. I hesitated for a while, and my tester started berating me, and criticizing my indecision and judgment. He kept on belittling me all the way, and I just nodded and apologized away. By the time I was turning back to the driving centre, I was dead sure I failed. He motioned me to follow him to the debrief place, and then he criticized me once more.
Then he said, "Be more decisive when you are on the road" and passed me the report. And it said "passed"! I couldn't quite believe it, so thank God for that! I went to return the car to my instructor, and when I told him my result, he told me that I had nothing to worry about, although, he added, that tester I had was one of the strictest in the centre. Whew. I had not felt as much relief in clearing a test since probably the 'A' levels.
Wed 7 Oct
I managed to squeeze out enough time to go to 216 market to eat ban mian for lunch. I had to push off my colleagues' request that I drive out, and I told them that even if they dared to sit in my car, I didn't trust myself. Driving to school from home was still alright, because I was familiar with the route, and had my wife as navigator, though she behaved as a driving instructor more often than not. Haha.
Thu 8 Oct
I bought breakfast from Seng Ban Choon today, and only because sexy uncle wasn't there today. In the midst of the long day at school, my colleagues and I took a break and headed down to Old Airport Road for lunch again. In the evening, my wife and I went to White Sands for dinner. I bought some movie DVDs, and then we ate at Coffee Club, trying out their new pitas items on the special menu.
Fri 9 Oct
After a packed morning till noon, I went out with my colleague to a far away coffee shop, and ate at eBlackboard. The carbonara was still superb, and I had a full stomach before I went to pick up my wife to go to the gynae. This was the stage of pregnancy where there was no more ultrasound scan pictures to keep because baby was too big to fit the scan, so you would just see this big round patch of white that's the head and nothing else, so all the gynae did was to let you listen to the heartbeat of the baby.
Sat 10 Oct
This was a really long day. I started the day with my wife having a Superdog breakfast, which was good as usual. For lunch, I went out to Elias Mall to buy zi char back, and right after that, I laboured and cleared the storeroom, because the junk was just piling up. We needed to urgently reorganize so that when the maid comes, she could help us maintain. In the evening, I headed down to Marine Parade where we were going to have a tribe meeting, and our cell members went as well.
All of a sudden, Collin suggested mahjong, and that got Shups and Alvin interested. Collin needed to send one of his boys back, so he told us to wait for him. Alvin needed to settle some things as well, so Shups and I joined our pastor for a drink at a nearby coffeeshop. My wife drove back home first to rest, since I wasn't done yet. When Collin was on his merry way back to pick Shups and me up (all the way back from Sunset Way!) , Alvin informed us that he couldn't join us. I convinced Shups that since Collin was halfway across the country, we should still try to play, so we ended up playing 3-man mahjong at my house. Shups later regretted that decision because she lost quite a bit of money to Collin and I, with Collin being the big winner of the day. Guess the money covered his petrol costs of going from east to west, west to east, and after mahjong, east to west once more.
Sun 11 Oct
A typical Sunday. An interesting thing was the sour plum lime juice drink from the NTUC food court at Simei, which was really good. After cell group, I spent the rest of the day with Jadon at my in-laws' place.
Mon 12 Oct
It was the usual day at school, and I was at 216 market with my colleagues for lunch when I received a phone call from my mum. I thought it must be something trivial, but it was actually to inform me that my second aunt had passed away. Out of all my aunts, I was closest to her because she lived near my old place, and we went there occasionally, and there was a time when my mum was unwell and I stayed with her for a couple of months. I was quite shocked, because I didn't hear anything wrong with her except for the typical cataract and joint pains.
I drove my mum to the wake, and spent some time there. I was sad but could only shed a tear. Apparently, my cousins were prepared for it, and only later did I find out that my aunt was down with cancer, but nobody spoke of it before. I was wondering why I couldn't cry, and the only sign of my mourning was a perpetual feeling of gloom.
Tue 13 Oct
There was a short day today, and my head of science seized the chance to have a lunch treat for all of the science department, using up the remainder of some recreation funds (or something like that) reserved for such functions. We went to Tampines SAFRA to eat at Sakura restaurant. I whacked many plates of sashimi as usual, and today's Kobe beef (yeah, right) steak was done quite well that I had a couple of rounds.
I went with my mum to the wake again, knowing that I couldn't go for the cremation since it was in the morning during school time. My mum was suppressing her emotions in front of me, but at the wake, she let it loose. Who wouldn't? That's more than six decades of sisterhood.
Wed 14 Oct
It was raining, so when my colleagues were thinking of a place for lunch, I suggested somewhere nearby with sheltered parking, and we ended up at Hong Kong Street Family Restaurant. The food was still good, and it was served fast as it was still early. In the afternoon, we managed to pull off a quick game of mahjong at ZH's place, and I lost a bit there. When I play with those colleagues, I am always prepared to lose money, because I recognize that they are better players than me, with a lot more experience, especially since they always play with grossly higher stakes and need to be more strategic and careful.
Thu 15 Oct
I made several arrangements thinking that my IPT (IPPT Preparatory Training...I think only in Singapore will you find an abbreviation containing another abbreviation) was beginning today. In the end, I made a mistake, so I happily spent the rest of the evening doing grocery shopping and spending time with Jadon. He had been starting to walk, so it was tiring and fun to watch him now.
Fri 16 Oct
The highlight of the day was the grilled fish fillet at Blue Lagoon in 216 market. Superb stuff. Enough to lift my spirits as I went for consultations with my year 2 students. I think the fortunate thing for me owning a car is the fact that my workplace isn't that far from home, and my in-laws' place is near my workplace.
Sat 17 Oct
It was my mini (monthly) anniversary with my wife again. Generally we try to spend time together alone where possible on each 17th, and today was no exception. We had a simple Subway lunch, and did some shopping around. The late afternoon and evening was spent with Jadon, of course, but at night, my wife suddenly complained of hunger, and we went down to Hi Sshou at Elias Mall to have supper. Fortunately, they decided to entertain us even though the kitchen was officially closed, and we managed to have the piping hot food we wanted. The ramen was still excellent, and I had a very filling and therefore unhealthy supper.
Sun 18 Oct
I had service and cell group as usual, and subsequently I picked my mother-in-law and Jadon up and we went to visit my wife's grandma, and spent the rest of the day there. It is always a lively gathering there because on the weekends, the other aunts would pop by as well, and sometimes the cousins too.
Mon 19 Oct
Between the hours of work, my colleagues and I went out to 216 market to eat lunch. I had kway chap at Chris Kway Chap stall, and it was superb. I think this one beats the one at Old Airport Road any day, with or without the ridiculously long queue.
Tue 20 Oct
Today was a surprisingly unhealthy day, even though I was having IPT, which meant sufficient exercise by right. I had pork rib noodles for breakfast, and the yong tau fu opposite school for lunch because I was too full. Before I went for my IPT, I decided to have an early dinner at Wan Chai in White Sands, but I only shared fried rice with my wife because I didn't want to have too heavy a meal before the run. The first session was an IPPT test in order to measure the areas of weakness. I managed to clear all the static stations, but failed the running. The bad thing about the timing was that I needed to eat something light before the session to keep myself going, but if it was something light, I would be dead hungry by the time it ended and needed supper. I suspect that whatever weight I lost I probably gained in the meal after. Sigh. I went to Superdog with my wife for supper because she was feeling kind of hungry too, probably because of the pregnancy.
Wed 21 Oct
It was a long day at school. My colleagues and I made our pilgrimage to Old Airport Road, and I had the Whitley Road Prawn Mee again, to my tremendous satisfaction before returning to school and back to the work. In the evening, my wife and I headed over to Ikea Tampines to shop for some loose ends and furniture to hopefully organize some other parts of the house. We also popped by Giant to buy some groceries, and I bought a boxful of sashimi. The peculiar thing was the sashimi chef recognized me! And gave me a discount! The last time I came by to buy sashimi was at least a year ago. I thought he was just bluffing, but he could tell me that I only came twice (which was correct), and the last time I dropped by was last year. He said that he could remember most of his customers. Cool chap.
Thu 22 Oct
This was an odd day. Originally, I had meant to end the day early, and settle some personal matters together with my wife. However, at around ten, my student's mum called me. Now, I had previously helped her apply for a visa here, but there were several documents, and I agreed with her that it was certainly confusing. The visa application said that her stay here was granted, and the duration was about two months. However, the stamp on the passport implied that she could be here only for 30 days. Essentially, because she needed to extend her stay, she called ICA and only then found out that she had overstayed! This could turn out to be a major issue, so I drove her down to ICA right away, and got a queue number there, and waited for very, very long. While waiting, I made my way to Golden Mile Hawker Centre to eat my favourite char kway teow (the one with the ikan bilis), and when I returned to the ICA, it was our turn. We spent a long time talking to the grouchy guy at the counter who sounded like he was trying to shoo us away and refusing to extend the stay of my student's mum. After I talked to him nicely and politely (even though I was getting somewhat pissed off), he eventually relented, and gave her the extension that she needed. My student's mum was profusely thankful, and very embarrassed for giving me trouble, but I kept assuring her that it wasn't much trouble. It was, however, very time consuming. Haha, but hey, if I didn't help her out, she would be...an illegal immigrant??
Fri 23 Oct
I took childcare leave today to spend time with Jadon, and to settle many, many things, including buying baby's stuff, and going to Elias Mall to settle the maid letter. In any case, I had to delay our picking up of the maid even though she had reached because we hadn't cleaned up and reorganized the stuff in the spare room. Ironically, although if we did pick up the maid, she could help us clean up, the issue was that we didn't even know where to move some of the things to begin with. Anyway, the maid agency was nice enough and assured us that in the meantime, they would just send the maid to the training centre.
Sat 24 Oct
My wife and I ate at Subway for lunch, and went over to my in-laws' place thereafter. I decided to make a new pair of spectacles because the old one was quite scratched, and sometimes at night, I couldn't see too clearly if opposite headlights shone at me. Since it was crucial as I was now the official chauffeur, I blew a healthy $300 to get a new pair. It is always this beastly expensive because of my astigmatism, and the lenses alone cost me more than half the total cost.
Sun 25 Oct
My wife and I went to the full month celebration of my colleague's daughter, and we spent the early afternoon there. I think Jadon is relatively petite, because almost every newborn I have seen lately is much chubbier than he is. After that, we went to Parkway Parade for dinner at Koo Kee in the basement, and the food was still superb. We did some shopping at Mothercare, and bought many, many items for Jadon and the second one, whom we did not have a name for yet. We wanted a good name from the bible, and with God's confirmation, but there was none at the moment.
Saturday, October 03, 2009
I was tempted to make this the longest post ever with 4 months' worth, but I decided not to, because every time I save as draft, the next time I log in, each line spacing doubles, and I have to waste time deleting. So I guess I'd pay off in monthly installments.
Fri 4 Sep
I was so overwhelmed with work that I could only eat within the school, and today's chicken rice sucked totally. The rice was hard and undercooked, and the meat was tasteless. Fortunately, the dinner compensated for it. My wife and I ate at Seafood Hut, which is in the food court area at Elias Mall. The zi char there was excellent, and we enjoyed the food. It wasn't the best I had eaten, but for the low price and accessibility, it was definitely much better than the stall in the coffee shop in front that some friends recommended.
Sat 5 Sep
Tomorrow will be Jadon's one year old birthday. We were going to have a little party, so we went grocery shopping to buy the necessary utensils, ingredients, decorations and other loose ends. We spent the afternoon blowing balloons and decorating the house in anticipation of the big milestone of the first birthday. Heh.
Sun 6 Sep
It's Jadon's one year old birthday today! We decided to make it a small family affair, and we had it at my in-laws' place. Some relatives came, and we had a good celebration for Jadon. Unfortunately, he was having some rashes due to the weather and the new clothes we bought for him so he was in a slightly foul mood. We ordered in a big smiley cake from Angie the Choice, and the cheeky face looked just like his. Haha. He was either overwhelmed by the attention, or just plain tired, but he dozed off in the afternoon in the midst of the festivities.
Mon 7 Sep
In the morning, my wife and I picked up my mother-in-law and Jadon, and made our way to Eastshore Hospital to get Jadon his injection at one year old. Jadon was brave and didn't cry; actually, the pediatrician managed to distract him with a musical toy and was done with the injection before Jadon even realized the needle went in.
After dropping Jadon off at my in-laws' place, we had lunch at Botak Jones before heading home to receive the air-con guys, who were coming to service my air-con units. When that was over and done with, we went over to White Sands to open a baby account for Jadon before dinner at Wan Chai to start saving up money for him. As it is now, I think he has more money saved up than my wife.
Tue 8 Sep
My wife and I met a friend, Alaric, at City Hall to shop at G2000. Apparently, he had a 50% off discount card, and since he didn't have that many items to purchase, he brought me along and help make use of it. In the end, I bought a shirt and two pairs of pants. We dropped by Marks and Spencer, and I spotted my favourite Cherry Liquor Chocolates. Needless to say, I bought one without hesitation. We eventually ended up at Marina Square, and we gave Alaric a treat at Ministry of Food.
Wed 9 Sep
I went for driving lessons in the morning, and on the way back decided to buy a couple of movie DVDs, namely 20th Century Boys II (which I had been waiting for, since I didn't catch it in the cinema) and Wolverine. Once home, I spent the afternoon slogging like mad cleaning the toilets. What a way to spend the holidays.
Thu 10 Sep
After careful consideration, my wife and I decided to get a maid. Primarily the maid is to relieve my mother-in-law of some chores as she takes care of Jadon, but also, we needed to be prepared for the next baby too. We figured that if we get a maid, my mother-in-law could take care of the confinement part, and the maid can help out. We went online to do our research, and after checking a bucketload of reviews online, Homekeepers at Elias Mall seemed fairly reputable and trustworthy enough. The lady who entertained us was knowledgeable, polite and didn't push for a deal there and then, which is something that both my wife and I value in customer service, so we left with some biodata forms and a good impression of the place.
Fri 11 Sep
It was the ending part of the one-week break regretfully. I had a simple lunch at the Ananas Cafe at the MRT station, and I was saving my appetite for the dinner. Today we were celebrating my mother-in-law's birthday, and we brought her to Chin Lee Restaurant, which is diagonally opposite Block 85 market. We had heard about the food from various friends, and after checking it out on the internet, we found the reviews good enough to give it a shot. We ordered coffee ribs, the fish maw soup, and some other dishes, and all turned out excellent. We were particularly impressed with the desserts, and I especially loved the pumpkin and yam paste, and the black glutinous rice with ice cream.
Sat 12 Sep
My wife was due for a detailed ultrasound scan, so upon our gynae's recommendation, we went to this x-ray centre off Aljunied MRT station. Originally, we thought we found the wrong place, because the centre looked terribly rundown. Firstly, when we walked in, the place looked so dilapidated that it looked like some underground clinic that you may see in some Hong Kong drama/movie or Japanese anime. Secondly, the place was swarmed with foreign workers. While we waited for my wife's turn at the ultrasound, I saw many Indians and PRC workers coming in to do a health checkup, eye and blood test, and injection. I think this place primarily earned from these folks. To be fair, the ultrasound facility was good, and the lady in charge was professional. But one would imagine that such high-tech facilities could be housed in better environments. Anyway, it was enough of a turn-off for my wife that we decided that if we ever had a third child, we'd just go to Thomson Medial Centre and pay more.
Sun 13 Sep
My wife and I went to service as usual, and we had cell group at Eighteen Chefs. After buying a couple of big bags of diapers, we headed down to Elias Mall to Homekeepers. There was a big discount for a maid package, and it was due today, so we went over to pay a deposit first. We like the service enough, and I guess we were fine with getting a maid from this company.
Mon 14 Sep
It was a terribly long day in school today. This was the Fish Files season, which was an inter-disciplinary project between chemistry and biology. My class was due to present today, so I had to be there during the biology periods as well for the presentation. Between the presentations and in the afternoon, I had a few consultation sessions lined up with my Year 2 students, and only managed a pathetic lunch in school for about 15 minutes. Talk about packed to the brim.
Tue 15 Sep
It was an usual day in school, and after school was over, my wife and I went over to my in-laws' place to spend time with Jadon. After dinner, we went over to the MacDonald's at Bedok Central to meet Collin to discuss some policy matters, and we took up some additional medical coverage with him.
Wed 16 Sep
It was a long day in school. I met a vendor to settle some Learning Management System setup, and it took up a few hours in a row. There was cell group today, but I had an extremely long meeting in the afternoon regarding Corporate Communications. The thing that made it feel all the more longer was that half of it wasn't even relevant to me. Anyway, I planned to meet Collin for pool but I kept postponing the time because the meeting never seemed to end. Finally, it started pouring, and I asked Collin if he could give me a ride to Marine Parade for cell group. My kind brother-in-Christ agreed and came down to pick me up.
When I went to the gate, he wasn't there. In the end, I called him and realized that he had mistakenly keyed in Tampines JC instead of Temasek, and totally relied on his GPS system, forgetting that I mentioned to him to turn right when he approached Bedok interchange. He was waiting for me outside TPJC! He took some extra time to head down to my school to pick me up, and by then, we lost all opportunity to play pool, so we settled for a quick dinner instead. Not quite the way I was expecting the day to be.
Thu 17 Sep
The highlight of the day was lunch, and my colleague drove a couple of us down to Old Town White Coffee at East Coast. Some other colleagues had gone there recently and raved about the food, so we decided to drop by and check it out ourselves. My colleague ordered some noodle thing, and I tried the nasi lemak. It was somewhat pricey, but the quality was there. I didn't quite like the chicken wing because it was the kind with batter; I like the kind fried directly without batter. Otherwise, it was quite good. The coffee was rich and fragrant, and way more superior to the coffee shop kind, of course.
Fri 18 Sep
It was an usual day in school, and I spent the rest of the day at my in-laws' place. My wife lately had a craving (of sorts) for fast food, so we had been eating at MacDonald's every now and then. Today was one such occasion. I spotted some Jap instant noodles on discount at the nearby Jap store, so I bought a udon and a ramen one to try some other time.
Sat 19 Sep
My wife and I slept in late slightly, and went to Coffee Club for lunch. There was a new menu, and I tried the Captain Crunch pasta, and my wife tried the Wild West. Both were fabulous! The Captain Crunch pasta was basically pasta with deep fried soft shell crab, and it was unbelievably good. I think for such cuisine, Coffee Club ranks extremely high for me.
In the late afternoon, we went over to my in-laws' place, and after spending some time with Jadon there, we brought him home for the weekend. He is so cute!
Sun 20 Sep
We decided to bring Jadon to church with us today. Sure, by now he was manageable, but still, he required that much attention from us that neither my wife nor I could barely absorb the sermon. I did, however, remember enough to do processing with my cell group at KFC after the service.
After cell was done, I popped by IP Zone and spotted these two nice Doraemon tees! Once I verified that I could fit, I bought them, perhaps for nostalgia's sake. Then we brought Jadon back with us to my mother-in-law's place.
Mon 21 Sep
School ended early for me today, but I merely seized that freed up time to go settle administrative matters regarding my coming maid. I went down to Elias Mall to sign the necessary documents, and there were countless forms to sign - so many that it looked scary. The last time I signed so many pieces of paper was when I was taking up some insurance thing.
Tue 22 Sep
A typical day in school, but the highlight of the day was lunch at 216 market. I had the grilled fish fillet, changing the chips to tomato-based spaghetti, and it was awesome! The fish was perfectly-grilled, with crispy edges but tender and succulent meat inside. The mushroom sauce was superb as well, and I think this has got to be one of the best fish served at a Western food stall. The day ended with an unhealthy supper at MacDonald's, complete with ice cream.
Wed 23 Sep
Today was a busy day for some of us. The Research Centre for East Zone is based in our school, and today there was a learning symposium organized. I had already helped design a powerpoint template for the keynote speaker's use, but beyond that, my task was also to present on an action research project we did this year. There was actually food catered, but my colleague, a senior teacher involved in the organizing, was so unimpressed she got us to packet something for her from 216 market.
I think our presentation was unpopular because it was in a fifth floor classroom, but in any case, we presented, and during the Q & A, I sidetracked to talk about doing action research itself, rather than our projects, because I sensed that this was the reason why the teachers signed up, and my intuition was accurate. No point sharing something irrelevant to the audience's needs, I believe.
Thu 24 Sep
It had finally begun for us. I don't know why chemistry was rostered to start so late for Prelims, but the essay paper, which was the first paper for chemistry, started today, a week after Prelims had begun. When the paper came in, no one wanted to mark seriously yet, and the whole team headed off to Changi Airport for lunch at Dian Xiao Er. Our level head's birthday fell on today, and he would be leaving for greener pastures soon, so we took the chance to give him a treat. We splurged on an eight-course lunch, with sharks' fin and all. The notable dish was the crocodile meat, which was done superbly, and the fish dish, which had a special gravy that was absolutely delicious. The meal was extremely satisfying for the taste buds, but not for my bottomless pit of a stomach that was still hungry after extra rice. In any case, it wasn't cheap. Even if we didn't factor in treating my level head, it was still about $31 per person.
Still, with good food in the belly, we could now focus on marking. As usual, I cleared about two-thirds of the classes in one sitting by evening time, refusing to bring any work home. For dinner, my wife and I went to 216 market to eat the claypot rice due to a severe lack of choice. I had been telling people that this claypot rice stall is not a claypot rice stall. It merely serves stuff in a claypot, because it tasted like something was cooked elsewhere, but placed in a claypot before serving. However, today's saving grace was the salted duck soup, also in a claypot, but it tasted excellent, except maybe a little too salty. On account of the soup, I would like to give this stall a second chance.
Fri 25 Sep
I managed to clear my essay marking by 10 am, so I had free time to clear some other adminstrative work. For lunch, my colleagues and I went to 216 market. Apparently, they had taken a liking to Blue Lagoon, which I had recommended to them. One colleague told me that the fish and chips was excellent, so I ordered one, but changed the fries and salad to spaghetti. I also chatted with the guy, and asked him if he came from a hotel or restaurant and he said neither. I told him that I found it hard to imagine that he was just a normal hawker, because he was able to prepare my medium-rare sirloin steak with precision. He finally admitted that he was a former chef on board Star Cruise. I knew it! I had not met any western food hawker that actually asked how you would want your steak done.
Anyway, when the fish came, it was a huge piece. I took a bite and I was amazed. The fish was very well-breaded, and it was deliciously crispy on the outside, and yet the flesh inside was succulent and did not crumble on cutting. It was big on portion as well, and suddenly I realized that I wouldn't want to pay $7 for Botak Jones fish and chips when this is available for just $4.50. I'm not sure if it was because I chatted with him, but he seemed to have given me a huge serving of spaghetti, which was tasty on its own as well.
After my wife was done with her lessons, we headed over to my in-laws' place. My mother-in-law didn't cook dinner today, so we were left to our own devices. We didn't feel like eating the mediocre claypot rice at 216 market, nor did we want western styled food, and we ended up eating Qiu Lian Ban Mian at the coffee shop. After getting used to the quality of the ban mian at 216 market, this meal tasted terrible. The soup was bland. The ikan bilis was not crispy. The portion of noodles was big, but the noodles also didn't taste as good. Sigh.
Sat 26 Sep
Jadon didn't sleep well last night, so neither did we. We woke up earlier than him and went to prepare stuff so that we could bring him back to my in-laws' place and I could go for my driving lesson. I had remembered the timing wrongly, so we were running late. Worse still, my instructor called to ask why I wasn't there. He said he had told me to meet him half an hour earlier than the circuit timing, but I don't remember it. Anyway, I went there and we entered the circuit a bit late, but this time it was a better experience than the previous time.
I wanted to go to the Zendikar prerelease tournament originally, but when I went to my in-laws' place, I found that there was a big quarrel between my father-in-law and the family, so I didn't feel peace of mind to leave them in turmoil. After things settled down a bit and my father-in-law had gone out, I went to have lunch with my wife at 216 market. Everything else I wanted to eat was closed, so I had an upsized bowl of laksa, which was delicious but hot enough to make me sweat a lot.
Sun 27 Sep
We went to service as usual, but we were a little late, so we bought curry puffs from Old Chang Kee and pancake with soya bean from Mr Bean. I didn't want to eat too heavy a breakfast, so I didn't buy any pancake for myself, but to my surprise, there was a Starhub promotion which gave out a free soya bean drink and a red bean pancake if the customer is a Starhub subscriber. After the brilliant sermon, we went off to Niwa Sushi for lunch. I had a bowl of udon with some sashimi, but I think the Niwa Sushi at Eunos MRT Station seemed to serve better food. I went off to get a small cake for my newest addition to the cell, Ying Jie, whose birthday falls on Children's Day.
After cell group, we headed over to my wife's grandma's place where my mother-in-law had brought Jadon to. We spent the afternoon there, and some of the aunts came by for a gathering as well. We left after having a light dinner there, but both my wife and I were hungry a short while after. We decided to go to Pizza Hut for dinner. My colleagues had raved about the pasta, and I was curious to the level of improvement. I ordered this porcini mushroom pasta, which was decent, and of course, a vast improvement over the previous menu, but I still found that it was far from fantastic, and I couldn't believe that it was as spectacular as what the commercial advertised it to be. I'll give it another chance on another occasion, and try a different pasta.
Mon 28 Sep
I had lessons with my TA 1 class, so I wasn't around to invigilate the chemistry Structured paper. When I returned from my lessons, the papers came in, so I started marking the first class, and took a break halfway to have lunch. We went to 216 market to eat, and I went for the ban mian that I failed to eat the other day. After a nice meal, I headed back to school to slog my marking, and cleared about three-quarter of my marking by 6 pm. Yeah~
Tue 29 Sep
I managed to clear my structured paper marking early in the morning once my colleagues passed me the scripts they brought home. I love being able to mark fast - it frees up so much time to do all the many other things that I have to do. For lunch, a few colleagues and I headed off to Bedok Interchange. I had my super-upsized bowl of noodles from Teo's Noodles, because the weather was so ridiculously hot that I didn't feel like going for curry noodles.
After my wife ended her lessons, we went over to Bedok central to do some grocery-shopping and spent the rest of the day with Jadon.
Wed 30 Sep
I spent the morning settling overdue administrative tasks, and for lunch, a whole bunch of us went out to Old Airport Road. I felt like having Hokkien Mee, so I went to buy. Unfortunately, they just started preparing a new batch, so I waited there for at least ten minutes, but of course, it was good enough to be worth the wait. I didn't think the noodles was enough, so I had a bowl of fish soup on top of it.
I hung around in school to finish up my work, and in the evening, I headed down to Marine Parade. I was having cell group there at night, but I met Collin earlier at about 5.30 pm to play pool. It was really nostalgic, as the last time I played pool should be a couple of years ago. I was happy to note that there wasn't as much deterioration as I thought, but of course, was still somewhat rusty. The odd thing was that the tremors hit the Parkway Builders Centre during one game, and the whole building felt like it was swaying, since we were at the tenth floor. At first, we still didn't realize there was a tremor, and Collin took very long to aim before he stood up and asked me if the floor was shaking. By then, the lights above the pool table was swinging, and even the pool balls were rocking left and right. We were hesitant as to whether to evacuate (the building was pretty old, after all), but I thought it unsafe to run off without grabbing my identity card, and irresponsible to not pay up before leaving. In any case, the tremors lasted only about 3 minutes. We decided to play on, but another wave hit us, but lasted mere moments. What a memorable pool game that was. Shups came to join us a while after, and we played a while more before grabbing dinner and going for cell group. It is interesting that after all the massive church youth network reshuffling, all my mahjong kakis from three different networks somehow ended up in the same network! Hahaha. Mahjong for cell bonding!
Thu 1 Oct
I took childcare leave today, but primarily (again) to settle household chores. I cleared whatever chores I could despite not feeling in the pink of health, and went to renew my PDL at SingPost. After that, I thought since I had time, I might as well head down to Tampines to pick up my altered pants from G2000, which was about a week overdue from the date they were supposed to call me to collect. In any case, the pants were ready, but upon seeing the latest promotion, which was to spend $150 and get a prestige membership (15% off usual, 50% off during birthday, and other special promotions), I thought, "why not?" and shopped around. I did find some nice shirts, so I easily chalked up enough for the membership.
After I was done with clothes buying, I went to Tampines Mall to check out the mooncake fair. We had no time to come down, but every year we would buy this snowskin assortment from Fairmont Swissotel Sze Chuan Court Restaurant. When I went there, the assortment one was sold out! They only had individual flavours left. The guy there was nice enough to offer me a mix of two flavours after hearing my vocalized disappointment, so I got the rum and raisins one and the baileys one. Their snowskin mooncake has really good snowskin, lotus paste, and instead of the usual egg yolk, there's a ball of chocolate with liquor in it. My wife loves it, but unfortunately, she had been pregnant both recent years and had to abstain from the alcohol heart of it. I went home to dump the purchases, and then went to spend the rest of the day with Jadon.
Fri 2 Oct
It was a fruitful morning, spent on marking and clearing administrative work. For lunch, my colleague wanted to eat at eBlackboard, which I knew had moved from the coffee shop near the school, but I wasn't sure where it had moved to. It turned out that the stall moved to a remote coffee shop almost reaching the MRT tracks. Anyway, I ordered spaghetti carbonara, which was my colleague's little daughter's favourite, and it was fabulous! I like carbonara to be served with the egg yolk sitting nicely on top, waiting for you to burst it and let it flow into the pasta sauce. The pasta sauce was thick, creamy and fragrant, and I enjoyed the meal totally. My colleague ordered pig innards soup, which looked pretty good, so if I go again, I will make sure I check that out.
In the afternoon, I helped to invigilate the biology paper, and right after I was done, I rushed off to meet my driving instructor who came down to school to pick me up, so I drove from school down to Kaki Bukit area. I think I am really falling sick, and I was struggling to keep awake from the kind of lethargy that kicks in with illness. Fortunately, it wasn't so bad to affect my driving, but I made sure I rubbed my eyes wide open at every red light before moving off.
Sat 3 Oct
After Jadon kept us waking up several times at night, he gave us a morning call at 7+ am. We got him changed, fed and ready to go, and headed down to my in-laws' place. My wife and I took turns to eat the wan ton noodles behind the carpark we usually park at, which serves excellent noodles by the way, with well-roasted char siew, crispy chunks of lard, and delicious black sauce (not the ketchup kind). No one was at home actually, so we settled Jadon down, got him to play and drink milk before the three of us all went for a nap.
My stomach was still acting weird, and I had diarrhoea several times today. I hope it really wasn't a bout of gastric flu, or even if it was, I hope I recover from it as soon as possible. My driving test is coming up, and I want to be in tip-top condition. For lunch, we visited Blue Lagoon at 216 market once more. My wife was dissatisfied with the fish I tookaway for her, so she wanted to eat it dine-in, and it turned out much better than the last. I tried the grilled fish, and it was wonderful. Succulent and yet crispy edged on the outside. It had a nice milky-buttery taste to it, so I wasn't sure what was used as marinate, but it was delicious. For dessert, we had chendol, and it was quite good too.
I spent most of the day resting as my stomach was acting up. The only good thing was that it had not shrunk my usual appetite.