Singapore Flyer...mishap

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/ap/20081224/tap-as-singapore-wheel-1st-ld-writethru-832f4ab.html

My fear factor heightens. Pun intended.

Chow Time with :B

:B is back from Japan again. As my annual leave is limited, this time I did not apply half-day to watch with her some hopefully-warped foreign film at Cathay Cineleisure.

Our catching-up was done over dinner of local food at Chomp Chomp and dessert at ICE.

Teachers

My apprehension builds up everyday as the school holiday approaches the end - my little girl is going to embark on a huge phase of her life - Primary One!

She is attending a "Mind Bender" class I signed up for her at the Community Club today. She has been showing signs of reluctance but last night, she finally voiced out her main concern - I hope the teacher is not too strict.

And then I realised...this is all there is, isn't it? One can't choose one's own teachers. We aim to enrol our kids in a reputable school but nobody can guarantee all the teachers it has are inspirational, motivating, naturally adoring children, etc etc. They can either make or break the child!

I'm so crossing my fingers!

Argh!

What do you do when one of your staff hangs a perpetually black face, directing at you?

Debut Read

Becks' 1st book by Enid Blyton. :)

PS: She managed to find the 'Seven O'Clock Tales' too.
So there leaves 'Six O'Clock', 'Eight O'Clock'...anymore?

Rainbow

I went to IKEA Tampines recently and went into a sneezing fit and suffered watery eyes. 2 years ago, it was the same at Science Centre. My greatest infallible enemy - dust mites. Call it my curse or plain hyper-sensitivity.

The demonstration convinced me to plonk S$3,300 on the cleaning system - Rainbow. Even RJ, my dear friend who gave the referral and who had bought one set herself sent me this text: "Welcome to the Sucker's Club".

Sucker? Maybe...but I'm merely looking for a solution to better the quality of my life, just like everyone else.

Going Down Under

Finally my folks took their (enviable) 'annual break'; they departed this morning for Sydney to visit sis. :)

Inflation

The epitome of inflation...One goreng pisang at Maxwell Market Food Market costs S$1.20!!!

Year-end Concert

365 days...do they fly by so fast?!

This year's concert brought about a gush of emotions. 1stly Travis was participating (my l'le boy has grown up so much and expressing him well!) and 2ndly it's Becks' last year (after 3 full years there) and one in which she was given the lead role in her class' musical play. She was a natural on stage!

Blindness

Thanks to WL for inviting me to the special screening on Tuesday, I got to watch a movie which turned out unexpectantly nice - Blindness. I should have given more credit to the director, knowing he's shot other highly-acclaimed movies, that it wasn't going to turn out a typical virus show. His analysis on the human behaviour was remarkable, as was his ironical ending. I wonder how one can visualise something so vivid when one does not have.

Enough of my attempt to be profound here. I was just glad for the freebie, the company and the fulfilment of my craving in Long John Silver's.

Pap Smear

It's a necessary evil which I really dislike. EEeeeEeeks!

If all goes well, at least it'll be done just once every 3 years.

Quote of the Day

Miffy: Do you love Mummy?
Becks: Yes...
M: Now? At 6 years old?
Becks: Yes.
M: At 16, 26, 36,....? (trying to act cute and smart alecky at the same time with the introduction of arithmetic progression)
Becks: I don't know!
M *feign shock and sadness*: Why not?!
Becks: I'm not 16 yet. How would I know? I'll let you know when I'm 16."

And this is when I realised - again - that my little girl is growing up fast...and outsmarting me.

From the lazy/uninspired

The blog is getting barren....................................................

For Next Milestone

It was surreal, again stepping into an old-designed primary school premise.

M and I took leave to make necessary arrangement for Becks' Primary 1 next year, buying books, school bag, uniforms, etc. We had to sit at an old table and chair in a classroom, shading those circles which you see only in MCQ exam sheets to provide personal particulars *gosh, when was the last time for me?!?*

Another Change?

I'm not sure if I'm ready to embrace this one yet but I realise it doesn't hurt to be open-minded. People may think I'm being psycho-ed but if the change leads to a possibility of freedom (from the regular 9-5 jobs and working under stinkin uninspired bosses who care only about their own pay package and ego), then WHAT is there to lose?

Being the risk-averse person I am, I will take baby steps. Baby but steps (towards a change)nonetheless.

Change

Even if they are lying....!!! My colleagues have passed nice comments about my hairstyle and I'm happy.

Yes, after 18 years, I made a change. I cut my hair above my shoulders. It's finally short! And strange that I feel so liberated.

Our Faceless Enemy

With the recall of more milk-based products made in China, it's certainly taught me one thing - to be more vigilant in reading labels.

While I was ordering my favourite beverage (Chinese teh-c), I couldn't resist asking 'uncle' (seller) outrightly which brand of evaporated and condensed milk he was using to prepare. Laugh if you must but he assured me it came from Thailand, showing me the can as evidence.

The world is made chaotic by mainly greed and ego. We find ourselves at 'war' with the faceless enemy, don't we? We can never win.

2008

In Chinese culture, '8' is regarded as auspicious. Really meh? This year alone, the world has been assaulted with one crisis after another - China milk crisis, huge financial crisis in US...affecting worldwide, political turmoil in Thailand, Malaysia, etc.

So what's the big deal?
But the Chinese won't change their minds, huh?

Sick

Deeno puked and poo-ed badly...until he bled. Is it time already? :(

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

I just returned from a short, packed business trip in Phnom Penh. I fell asleep while a nice hospitable staff there brought us on an introductory ride along Mekong River. Afterall, it was a business trip where every ounce of my energy was spent preparing presentation materials, presenting them, watching AXN, MTV and HBO till late nights and then fighting the fear of sleeping alone in the hotel room.

It's interesting that people can't get the pronunciation of this otherwise-believed-to-be-a-beautiful-capital-city right: "P-nom Pen", "Pom Pen", "F-nom Pen".