Hi all,
The time now is 8.30pm on the 24th of December. Charlene and I have reached New York safely a few hours back. We've reunited with Cynthia, Jase and Charmaine, went for a Chinese Christmas eve dinner and did some grocery shopping just now.
The kids have grown. Their cheeks are so red and chubby and they look really adorable in their winter wear.
I'm embarrassed to say that I've forgotten to bring my camera cable as I was too used to using the card reader directly on my lappie. So as for now, there are no photos. We'll take note to use Cynthia's camera from now on.
Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and have a fun time unwrapping your presents!
Love,
Jolene
NYC
Friday, December 25, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Off to the big apple in about 7hours time
I would be away from 24th Dec 2009 till 9th Jan 2010.
I thought I could finish blogging all of the year's events in Singapore before I leave but I was too ambitious.
Here are some photos of what happened in November and December. I will update with more photos and words when I'm back in sg next year.
Lazy Sunday with shan
Tiff's birthday dinner/ xmas light ups
The twins' birthday
Dinner with dear cuz-in-law
Dinner with the babes
Oopsy... The sun is setting. I've gotta settle all the last minute stuff now. My luggage is not completely packed yet.
Wishing all a MERRY MERRY Christmas!
xoxo,
Jo
I thought I could finish blogging all of the year's events in Singapore before I leave but I was too ambitious.
Here are some photos of what happened in November and December. I will update with more photos and words when I'm back in sg next year.
Lazy Sunday with shan
Tiff's birthday dinner/ xmas light ups
The twins' birthday
Dinner with dear cuz-in-law
Dinner with the babes
Oopsy... The sun is setting. I've gotta settle all the last minute stuff now. My luggage is not completely packed yet.
Wishing all a MERRY MERRY Christmas!
xoxo,
Jo
Inspirations for fashionable winter wear
Japanese magazines always provide inspirations for quirky yet fashionable dressing.
I was flipping through my Japanese magazine one night and wondering if I would be the only idiot who is thinking of dressing in shorts, skirts and leggings when it's freezing in New York. And then the phone call from Cynthia came and I told her about what I was thinking and she rattled on excitedly about how she was looking for such pictures on the net for inspiration.
So dear cyn, this post is for you!
One reason why the clothes look so good is coz the models are already so HOT.
They can even get away with leopard preens and zipbra preens just coz they're chio.
[Photos can be clicked to enlarge]
I was flipping through my Japanese magazine one night and wondering if I would be the only idiot who is thinking of dressing in shorts, skirts and leggings when it's freezing in New York. And then the phone call from Cynthia came and I told her about what I was thinking and she rattled on excitedly about how she was looking for such pictures on the net for inspiration.
So dear cyn, this post is for you!
One reason why the clothes look so good is coz the models are already so HOT.
They can even get away with leopard preens and zipbra preens just coz they're chio.
[Photos can be clicked to enlarge]
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Counting down to New York!
It was 2.39am. My mobile phone sang its funky jazzy tune. It could only be one person -- Cynthia.
It has just started snowing in the big apple.
Cynthia was practically screaming, "IT'S SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
From what I heard, New York is not known to snow during winter with the exception of last year.
I'm as thrilled as cyn and the kids as I've never seen snow before. It would be a white Christmas afterall!
After that, we got so excited discussing about the places that we would be going.
"The kids want to bring you guys to the Statue of Liberty."
Haha... They would be our little tour guides.
~~~
I just realised that never once have I mentioned here on my blog that I would be taking a long break from work to spend about 2 weeks in New York.
It's time for a well-deserved break. The last time I went "overseas" was to Genting! That's eons ago.
Most of the people around me who know keep having the impression that I'm going on a honeymoon with kh. I'm not going with kh as he has fyp to be done. So it'll just be Charlene and I flying over.
Feisty Team reunited!
~~~
Over at work, I was constantly distracted by the amount of errands to be run prior to the trip.
When I was not at work, I was constantly worrying about how I would be able to get all work done before flying off.
I'm wishing for santa to put TIME into my stocking this year.
~~~
This song by Jay Z and Alicia Keys makes me excited about my impending trip.
Jay-Z ft Alicia Keys – Empire State of Mind Lyrics
Yeah,
Yeah, Imma up at Brooklyn,
now Im down in Tribeca,
right next to DeNiro,
But i’ll be hood forever,
I’m the new Sinatra,
and since i made it here,
i can make it anywhere,
yeah they love me everywhere,
i used to cop in Harlem,
all of my dominicanos
right there up on broadway,
brought me back to that McDonalds,
took it to my stash spot,
5-60 State street,
catch me in the kitchen like a Simmons whipping Pastry,
cruising down 8th street,
off white lexus,
driving so slow but BK is from Texas,
me I’m up at Bed Stuy,
home of that boy Biggie,
now i live on billboard,
and i brought my boys with me,
say wat up to Ty Ty, still sipping Mai-tai
sitting courtside Knicks and Nets give me high fives,
N-gga i be Spiked out, i can trip a referee,
tell by my attitude that I most definitely from…
In New York,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
Theres nothing you can’t do,
Now you’re in New York,
these streets will make you feel brand new,
Big lights will inspire you,
lets hear it for New York, New York, New York
I made you hot n-gga,
Catch me at the X with OG at a Yankee game,
sh-t i made the yankee hat more famous than a yankee can,
you should know I bleed Blue, but I aint a crip tho,
but i got a gang of n-ggas walking with my clique though,
welcome to the melting pot,
corners where we selling rocks,
afrika bambaataa sh-t,
home of the hip hop,
yellow cab, gypsy cab, dollar cab, holla back,
for foreigners it aint fitted they forgot how to act,
8 million stories out there and their naked,
cities is a pity half of y’all won’t make it,
me i gotta plug Special Ed and i got it made,
If Jeezy’s payin LeBron, I’m paying Dwayne Wade,
3 dice cee-lo
3 card Monte,
labor day parade, rest in peace Bob Marley,
Statue of Liberty, long live the World trade,
long live the king yo,
I’m from the empire state thats…
Welcome to the bright light..
Lights is blinding,
girls need blinders
so they can step out of bounds quick,
the side lines is blind with casualties,
who sipping life casually, then gradually become worse,
don’t bite the apple Eve,
caught up in the in crowd,
now your in-style,
and in the winter gets cold en vogue with your skin out,
the city of sin is a pity on a whim,
good girls gone bad, the cities filled with them,
Mami took a bus trip and now she got her bust out,
everybody ride her, just like a bus route,
Hail Mary to the city your a Virgin,
and Jesus can’t save you life starts when the church ends,
came here for school, graduated to the high life,
ball players, rap stars, addicted to the limelight,
MDMA got you feeling like a champion,
the city never sleeps better slip you a Ambien
One hand in the air for the big city,
Street lights, big dreams all looking pretty,
no place in the World that can compare,
Put your lighters in the air, everybody say yeaaahh
come on, come,
yeah
It has just started snowing in the big apple.
Cynthia was practically screaming, "IT'S SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
From what I heard, New York is not known to snow during winter with the exception of last year.
I'm as thrilled as cyn and the kids as I've never seen snow before. It would be a white Christmas afterall!
After that, we got so excited discussing about the places that we would be going.
"The kids want to bring you guys to the Statue of Liberty."
Haha... They would be our little tour guides.
~~~
I just realised that never once have I mentioned here on my blog that I would be taking a long break from work to spend about 2 weeks in New York.
It's time for a well-deserved break. The last time I went "overseas" was to Genting! That's eons ago.
Most of the people around me who know keep having the impression that I'm going on a honeymoon with kh. I'm not going with kh as he has fyp to be done. So it'll just be Charlene and I flying over.
Feisty Team reunited!
~~~
Over at work, I was constantly distracted by the amount of errands to be run prior to the trip.
When I was not at work, I was constantly worrying about how I would be able to get all work done before flying off.
I'm wishing for santa to put TIME into my stocking this year.
~~~
This song by Jay Z and Alicia Keys makes me excited about my impending trip.
Jay-Z ft Alicia Keys – Empire State of Mind Lyrics
Yeah,
Yeah, Imma up at Brooklyn,
now Im down in Tribeca,
right next to DeNiro,
But i’ll be hood forever,
I’m the new Sinatra,
and since i made it here,
i can make it anywhere,
yeah they love me everywhere,
i used to cop in Harlem,
all of my dominicanos
right there up on broadway,
brought me back to that McDonalds,
took it to my stash spot,
5-60 State street,
catch me in the kitchen like a Simmons whipping Pastry,
cruising down 8th street,
off white lexus,
driving so slow but BK is from Texas,
me I’m up at Bed Stuy,
home of that boy Biggie,
now i live on billboard,
and i brought my boys with me,
say wat up to Ty Ty, still sipping Mai-tai
sitting courtside Knicks and Nets give me high fives,
N-gga i be Spiked out, i can trip a referee,
tell by my attitude that I most definitely from…
In New York,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
Theres nothing you can’t do,
Now you’re in New York,
these streets will make you feel brand new,
Big lights will inspire you,
lets hear it for New York, New York, New York
I made you hot n-gga,
Catch me at the X with OG at a Yankee game,
sh-t i made the yankee hat more famous than a yankee can,
you should know I bleed Blue, but I aint a crip tho,
but i got a gang of n-ggas walking with my clique though,
welcome to the melting pot,
corners where we selling rocks,
afrika bambaataa sh-t,
home of the hip hop,
yellow cab, gypsy cab, dollar cab, holla back,
for foreigners it aint fitted they forgot how to act,
8 million stories out there and their naked,
cities is a pity half of y’all won’t make it,
me i gotta plug Special Ed and i got it made,
If Jeezy’s payin LeBron, I’m paying Dwayne Wade,
3 dice cee-lo
3 card Monte,
labor day parade, rest in peace Bob Marley,
Statue of Liberty, long live the World trade,
long live the king yo,
I’m from the empire state thats…
Welcome to the bright light..
Lights is blinding,
girls need blinders
so they can step out of bounds quick,
the side lines is blind with casualties,
who sipping life casually, then gradually become worse,
don’t bite the apple Eve,
caught up in the in crowd,
now your in-style,
and in the winter gets cold en vogue with your skin out,
the city of sin is a pity on a whim,
good girls gone bad, the cities filled with them,
Mami took a bus trip and now she got her bust out,
everybody ride her, just like a bus route,
Hail Mary to the city your a Virgin,
and Jesus can’t save you life starts when the church ends,
came here for school, graduated to the high life,
ball players, rap stars, addicted to the limelight,
MDMA got you feeling like a champion,
the city never sleeps better slip you a Ambien
One hand in the air for the big city,
Street lights, big dreams all looking pretty,
no place in the World that can compare,
Put your lighters in the air, everybody say yeaaahh
come on, come,
yeah
Friday, December 11, 2009
when the toilet bowl became my new best friend
For the past nights and mornings, I lay draped over the toilet bowl puking continuously.
I could even differentiate and classfy the range of vomit based on sight and smell.
The first time was lunch, the second one was still lunch, the third one was from dinner, fourth from dinner as well. The next few ones ranges from water to sourish gastric juices and after more spasms with nothing left to puke, I found myself expelling bitter gall.
That was the worst feeling of all. The taste really sux and even though it was all empty inside, the muscle spasm continued and made me expel nothing but more gall. My shoulder and stomach muscle ached such that all I could do was to remain in that wretched position for a few minutes.
Sensing that I would continue puking no matter whether there was anything inside, I asked kh to make me a cup of Milo.
An hour later, I morphed into a Merlion spewing sweet Milo out from my mouth.
It's no fun making friends with the toilet bowl like that.
~~~
Then in the morning, the excruciating pain in my tummy began. It was so painful that I could not even squirm or curl myself into a ball. I lay on the bed and cried like a baby.
Kh was at a loss of what to do. He immediately called my doctor to make an appointment. I was in so much pain that tears continued streaming down my cheeks, wetting the pillow and sheets as I asked for an ambulance to take me away.
The ambulance didn't come of course; nobody called for it. I slowly drifted to sleep.
~~~
When I was well enough to walk, we made our way to the doctor. I got a jab since oral medication was useless at that time as I would only be expelling everything out.
My left arm has been hurting till today.
I swear I was the dirtiest and smelliest person on earth before my shower just now.
I look at my smelly bed now and have this urge to change the sheets but I'm so weak and lethargic that I could only sit and slump on chairs and sofas.
~~~
I could even differentiate and classfy the range of vomit based on sight and smell.
The first time was lunch, the second one was still lunch, the third one was from dinner, fourth from dinner as well. The next few ones ranges from water to sourish gastric juices and after more spasms with nothing left to puke, I found myself expelling bitter gall.
That was the worst feeling of all. The taste really sux and even though it was all empty inside, the muscle spasm continued and made me expel nothing but more gall. My shoulder and stomach muscle ached such that all I could do was to remain in that wretched position for a few minutes.
Sensing that I would continue puking no matter whether there was anything inside, I asked kh to make me a cup of Milo.
An hour later, I morphed into a Merlion spewing sweet Milo out from my mouth.
It's no fun making friends with the toilet bowl like that.
~~~
Then in the morning, the excruciating pain in my tummy began. It was so painful that I could not even squirm or curl myself into a ball. I lay on the bed and cried like a baby.
Kh was at a loss of what to do. He immediately called my doctor to make an appointment. I was in so much pain that tears continued streaming down my cheeks, wetting the pillow and sheets as I asked for an ambulance to take me away.
The ambulance didn't come of course; nobody called for it. I slowly drifted to sleep.
~~~
When I was well enough to walk, we made our way to the doctor. I got a jab since oral medication was useless at that time as I would only be expelling everything out.
My left arm has been hurting till today.
I swear I was the dirtiest and smelliest person on earth before my shower just now.
I look at my smelly bed now and have this urge to change the sheets but I'm so weak and lethargic that I could only sit and slump on chairs and sofas.
~~~
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Outstanding October
"Outstanding" as in "owed" not "excellent".
It's December and here I am doing backdated posts again.
Looking at my October folder, there had been hellos and goodbyes; birthdays and weddings; meet ups and chill outs.
First up was a goodbye for a colleague in my dept. She's really nice and cute so we're all sad to see her go.
Farewell gift
~
Next, came my maternal grandma's 80th Birthday. She must have been the most fortunate mother, grandma and great grandma that evening.
Got the photos as edited by my super efficient cousin so I'll leave them as such.
Grandma, the star that evening
3rd & 4th Generation
Ok I'm completely blocked by my cuz in purple but it's ok coz some of my relatives say we look alike.
My nephew looks just like his dad.
cuz's caption for these: "The newly weds"
Random shots
paparazzi shot?
~
One joyous occasion after another. After the birthday, came a wedding...
~
October spells the end for the kids'exams and so we had a fun and relaxing "sports" day organised by my group.
We went prawning.
Q: Why is prawning considered a a sport?
A: Prawning exercises patience. Since exercise is involved, it is a sport.
=D
The moving bait
Beginner's luck
Everyone got lucky
Prawning is really quite addictive.
The fate of our 40 prawns... together with delicious satay and bbq wings
~
Cozy session at wy's place.
Pardon me if there seemed to be repeated shots.
I took some time doing the collages coz it's really interesting to see the different perspectives from 4 photographers and the various angles and candid moments captured from 3 cameras and a handphone.
How difficult is it to cut a pie?
Ooh... it requires either great skills or sharp knife to cut through flaky pastry without flaking it.
Me taking over coz I wanted to make myself useful.
I do know that opening a bottle of wine is either difficult or hilarious, depending on whether one is in front of the camera or behind.
Ready to tuck in
Mixing the raspberries in the mango smoothie ice cream
em & wy makes it look delicious
hs & jo's face ain't showing pleasure
Overdue birthday presents for hs & wy
We all enjoyed ourselves tremendously and I vote we should do this more often.
Pweety please, wy?
~
I love October for its last day -- Halloween.
I finally got some photos from eug's camera.
For the rest of the Halloween post, click here.
It's December and here I am doing backdated posts again.
Looking at my October folder, there had been hellos and goodbyes; birthdays and weddings; meet ups and chill outs.
First up was a goodbye for a colleague in my dept. She's really nice and cute so we're all sad to see her go.
Farewell gift
~
Next, came my maternal grandma's 80th Birthday. She must have been the most fortunate mother, grandma and great grandma that evening.
Got the photos as edited by my super efficient cousin so I'll leave them as such.
Grandma, the star that evening
3rd & 4th Generation
Ok I'm completely blocked by my cuz in purple but it's ok coz some of my relatives say we look alike.
My nephew looks just like his dad.
cuz's caption for these: "The newly weds"
Random shots
paparazzi shot?
~
One joyous occasion after another. After the birthday, came a wedding...
~
October spells the end for the kids'exams and so we had a fun and relaxing "sports" day organised by my group.
We went prawning.
Q: Why is prawning considered a a sport?
A: Prawning exercises patience. Since exercise is involved, it is a sport.
=D
The moving bait
Beginner's luck
Everyone got lucky
Prawning is really quite addictive.
The fate of our 40 prawns... together with delicious satay and bbq wings
~
Cozy session at wy's place.
Pardon me if there seemed to be repeated shots.
I took some time doing the collages coz it's really interesting to see the different perspectives from 4 photographers and the various angles and candid moments captured from 3 cameras and a handphone.
How difficult is it to cut a pie?
Ooh... it requires either great skills or sharp knife to cut through flaky pastry without flaking it.
Me taking over coz I wanted to make myself useful.
I do know that opening a bottle of wine is either difficult or hilarious, depending on whether one is in front of the camera or behind.
Ready to tuck in
Mixing the raspberries in the mango smoothie ice cream
em & wy makes it look delicious
hs & jo's face ain't showing pleasure
Overdue birthday presents for hs & wy
We all enjoyed ourselves tremendously and I vote we should do this more often.
Pweety please, wy?
~
I love October for its last day -- Halloween.
I finally got some photos from eug's camera.
For the rest of the Halloween post, click here.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Thirty days hath September
~*September is a month filled with birthdays*~
Baby Cheyenne's birthday
Let's start with the the tiniest September baby -- Baby Cheyenne.
The celebration was held at L'entrepot Bistrot. That was my 1st ever high class one mth old celebration. Usually one mth old celebrations are held at home with buffet food. Since J jie jie is a hot mummy, naturally birthday celebrations for her kids are hip.
There was another first time for me, that is to have carried a baby of that age. Before that, I only dared to carry toddlers coz babies of that age would squirm uncomfortably in my arms.
I merely carried bb Cheyenne to take a picture and my mum happily asked kh to stand with me. After a shot, she barged in and the next minute, my whole family tropped in as urged by my mum. LoLz... machiam my baby!
The food was good! I'm getting hungry all over again looking at the photos.
How could I resist snapping pictures of cheeky Dylan with his notti boy hairstyle?
~*~*~*~*~
Viv's birthday
We had a surprise birthday celebration which wasn't exactly a surprise for viv.
We got her everything that she likes. Strawberry [cheesecake], Precious Moments snow globe, hand-made card. Oh how I wished I were in her shoes.
Over the weekend, we met up with apr who still owes me lotsa delicious food pics.
~*~*~*~*~
Dad & da jie's birthday
After's mummy's hearty birthday buffet, daddy requested for a simple ze char dinner coz he wanna (in his words) "faster eat and faster go home watch F1".
We went to 1036 Eating House to have a crab feast.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~*D & D 2009, The Salon @ National Museum*~
I'm a museum buff and hence was quite enthusiastic about our D & D being held at the museum. The last time I set foot in the National museum was definitely more than a decade ago. Sad to say, the museum tour was quite rushed and I could not immerse myself in the tour.
The dinner was fine. I love the laksa. Everything else was pretty normal.
I had fun during the competition coz I was only "participating" as an audience facing no stress at all.
I did not win any prize during the lucky draw segment. I had been lucky the 1st 2 years. The previous year, I only went home with the door gift. This year, my luck picked up a little. I won a small ang pow for the "Don't Forget the Lyrics" and also an edu award and gift vouchers, together with another colleague of mine.
Let the photos do the talking now, shall we?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~*Touched by angels*~
Do you believe in angels?
I do.
There are many occasions when we see glimpses of God's work right here on earth.
I believe that God sends angels on earth in human guise and places certain people in our paths to give us love and hope when we need it the most.
In times when you feel that hope is gone, God would send someone to make everything better.
At times, people may not realise that the little acts they do can touch others; be it something as simple as offering little words of encouragement or going all out to help others in need.
You know how I always say God has given up on me coz I don't go to church and only look for Him when I'm in trouble? Well, Charmaine's plight has certainly changed me a fair bit. I've witnessed the acts of and even rubbed shoulders with so many angels on earth.
I met up with 2 organisations which lent a hand in raising funds for Charmaine's treatment. Funds aside, their kind words and thoughts are things that money can't buy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~*New Japanese Haunt*~
For authentic Japanese food, Tamako does it the best.
Being in Tamako makes me feel as if I was transported to an old little eatery in Japan.
The food is so good that nowadays whenever I crave for Jap food, I would have Tamako in mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~*The best gift you can give a teacher is your effort & if possible, your results*~
That was what I said to all my students just a week before Teacher's Day. I also reminded them to save their money and not to buy me any gifts.
My students are obviously a stubborn lot.
For every kid that came up to me to hand me the gift, I chided them for not listening and they would just go "hee hee hee" in a sheepish manner. The most unique reply so far was:
"I told my mother already but she don't [sic] want to listen."
=D
I was quite touched by 2 boys. One is a tall and big-sized P6 boy who looks like he belongs in a Sec 4 class and the other is also a big sized P3 boy in a P4 class.
Pardon me if I sound rude by emphasising their size. It's just that I thought it was rather sweet of the former to make an angel handphone charm for me in an origami box and the latter for making a miniature shop made of cardboard. Accuse me of generalising but I simply can't imagine big boys engaging in such crafts.
Imagine this stocky P6 boy holding up a hand-made box which looked so tiny in comparision to his huge hand.
"I thought I said not to buy me anything?"
"I didn't buy it. I made it."
When I opened the box and saw the angel handphone charm amidst the bubble protective sheet, I asked him how he made it.
"I learnt it from my friend. This is my learning piece."
As for the P3 boy who is in my P4 class, he's the chubby bookish sort, rather intelligent. I didn't expect him to be able to make such an exquisite little shop.
When I stepped into the class of one of my cute and funny P6 class, a gal announced,
"See Ms Loh, we listen to you. We really didn't get you anything."
-_-|||
And yes, they really didn't get anything, except for a girl who gave me a card. I thought I might receive more cards since that would be the last year I would be seeing them and also since they're such a fun bunch.
Cards for my graduating P6 classes
I wonder how they did for their PSLE.
Baby Cheyenne's birthday
Let's start with the the tiniest September baby -- Baby Cheyenne.
The celebration was held at L'entrepot Bistrot. That was my 1st ever high class one mth old celebration. Usually one mth old celebrations are held at home with buffet food. Since J jie jie is a hot mummy, naturally birthday celebrations for her kids are hip.
There was another first time for me, that is to have carried a baby of that age. Before that, I only dared to carry toddlers coz babies of that age would squirm uncomfortably in my arms.
I merely carried bb Cheyenne to take a picture and my mum happily asked kh to stand with me. After a shot, she barged in and the next minute, my whole family tropped in as urged by my mum. LoLz... machiam my baby!
The food was good! I'm getting hungry all over again looking at the photos.
How could I resist snapping pictures of cheeky Dylan with his notti boy hairstyle?
~*~*~*~*~
Viv's birthday
We had a surprise birthday celebration which wasn't exactly a surprise for viv.
We got her everything that she likes. Strawberry [cheesecake], Precious Moments snow globe, hand-made card. Oh how I wished I were in her shoes.
Over the weekend, we met up with apr who still owes me lotsa delicious food pics.
~*~*~*~*~
Dad & da jie's birthday
After's mummy's hearty birthday buffet, daddy requested for a simple ze char dinner coz he wanna (in his words) "faster eat and faster go home watch F1".
We went to 1036 Eating House to have a crab feast.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~*D & D 2009, The Salon @ National Museum*~
I'm a museum buff and hence was quite enthusiastic about our D & D being held at the museum. The last time I set foot in the National museum was definitely more than a decade ago. Sad to say, the museum tour was quite rushed and I could not immerse myself in the tour.
The dinner was fine. I love the laksa. Everything else was pretty normal.
I had fun during the competition coz I was only "participating" as an audience facing no stress at all.
I did not win any prize during the lucky draw segment. I had been lucky the 1st 2 years. The previous year, I only went home with the door gift. This year, my luck picked up a little. I won a small ang pow for the "Don't Forget the Lyrics" and also an edu award and gift vouchers, together with another colleague of mine.
Let the photos do the talking now, shall we?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~*Touched by angels*~
Do you believe in angels?
I do.
There are many occasions when we see glimpses of God's work right here on earth.
I believe that God sends angels on earth in human guise and places certain people in our paths to give us love and hope when we need it the most.
In times when you feel that hope is gone, God would send someone to make everything better.
At times, people may not realise that the little acts they do can touch others; be it something as simple as offering little words of encouragement or going all out to help others in need.
You know how I always say God has given up on me coz I don't go to church and only look for Him when I'm in trouble? Well, Charmaine's plight has certainly changed me a fair bit. I've witnessed the acts of and even rubbed shoulders with so many angels on earth.
I met up with 2 organisations which lent a hand in raising funds for Charmaine's treatment. Funds aside, their kind words and thoughts are things that money can't buy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~*New Japanese Haunt*~
For authentic Japanese food, Tamako does it the best.
Being in Tamako makes me feel as if I was transported to an old little eatery in Japan.
The food is so good that nowadays whenever I crave for Jap food, I would have Tamako in mind.
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~*The best gift you can give a teacher is your effort & if possible, your results*~
That was what I said to all my students just a week before Teacher's Day. I also reminded them to save their money and not to buy me any gifts.
My students are obviously a stubborn lot.
For every kid that came up to me to hand me the gift, I chided them for not listening and they would just go "hee hee hee" in a sheepish manner. The most unique reply so far was:
"I told my mother already but she don't [sic] want to listen."
=D
I was quite touched by 2 boys. One is a tall and big-sized P6 boy who looks like he belongs in a Sec 4 class and the other is also a big sized P3 boy in a P4 class.
Pardon me if I sound rude by emphasising their size. It's just that I thought it was rather sweet of the former to make an angel handphone charm for me in an origami box and the latter for making a miniature shop made of cardboard. Accuse me of generalising but I simply can't imagine big boys engaging in such crafts.
Imagine this stocky P6 boy holding up a hand-made box which looked so tiny in comparision to his huge hand.
"I thought I said not to buy me anything?"
"I didn't buy it. I made it."
When I opened the box and saw the angel handphone charm amidst the bubble protective sheet, I asked him how he made it.
"I learnt it from my friend. This is my learning piece."
As for the P3 boy who is in my P4 class, he's the chubby bookish sort, rather intelligent. I didn't expect him to be able to make such an exquisite little shop.
When I stepped into the class of one of my cute and funny P6 class, a gal announced,
"See Ms Loh, we listen to you. We really didn't get you anything."
-_-|||
And yes, they really didn't get anything, except for a girl who gave me a card. I thought I might receive more cards since that would be the last year I would be seeing them and also since they're such a fun bunch.
Cards for my graduating P6 classes
I wonder how they did for their PSLE.
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