Baking

Since I have more time now, I've renewed my interest in one of my favourite past-time - baking. Actually my interest in baking started when i was in the States. My host dad likes to cook and they have everything needed to cook or bake, from baking dishes, casserole pan, pots, pans, measuring cups, etc. Most important of all, they have two, TWO big ovens in the kitchen, which is like a baker's heaven! So, I started experimenting with recipes that are shown on boxes and cans and progress slowly to the secret recipes of my host parents'. When I came back home, I realise that I only have a small oven at home. There's no measuring spoons, measuring cups or baking things. I had to slowly buy them and accumulate them as I make different things. My family and friends have been my guinea pigs whenever I bake anything. So far, other than my mum who doesn't like things too sweet, the feedback has been very positive! Hehe! Here are some of my experiments:

Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Very yummy but I guess presentation needs working on. The shredding of the carrot takes a lot of work too!

I made this for JP's birthday as I didn't know what to buy as present for her. I initially test made another big chocolate cake for her but it was a really fudgy cake that melts when being out on the outside for too long, so I thought of this one which is easier to make and easy to bring out too.

I made this just the day before. A friend of mine loves cheesecake and I bought the crust very long ago that I decided to use it. I found a really simple to make recipe and it turned out very good! But it's sort of too plain. I would want to try other variations of cheesecake next time, like blueberry, oreo or chocolate.

Fellowship @ Macritchie Reservoir

It has been a long time since we had a fellowship outing. I was absent from both church and fellowship activities for the past two months or so because of work. So, I'm happy to be back to attend some of the programs of the fellowship. I think I speak for all when I say that it was an enjoyable program. The weather was nice and since it's in the evening, no scorching sun shining down on us. There's supposed to be a photography contest but I realised that my lousy camera didn't take any great pictures. I had fun just taking pictures for keepsakes though. So, just sharing.

XQ and her youngest, Nathan, who just woke from a nap, hence the grumpy face.

The beginning of the board walk we're going to do.

View of the reservoir from the board walk.

I'm still trying to digest this quote.

With Pastor Ho's daughter, Deborah. She looks like she's getting away from me!

Sunset

My life

Words are an expression of my feelings...

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Nerves and excitment

It's another two days before I get on the flight to London. I don't know why, but this past week I had been in such excitement and was very nervous. Even when I sleep, I was also thinking about what would happen when I meet my host family in London, when I see A in Germany and when I meet V in Switzerland. People would think that I've never travelled or never been to London. I guess the reason is because this is the first time I travelled to meet friends. In the past, it has always been travelling just to travel, for enjoyment, for leisure. Now, I'm going to meet friends in each of the countries that I'm going to. This is especially true for meeting my host family.

As I've said before, I want to see my host family again but at the same time, I fear seeing them. I want to see them because I miss them so much, especially K and B. Also, I've not met the new addition to the family, C, so I want to meet him and shower my affections on him just as I did to K and B. However, it has been a few years since I left the family and I fear that the girls would not be as affectionate and close to me as before. Of course, I did prepare myself and tell myself not to expect too much. There's bound to be changes and differences and it's something that's inevitable, so I have to accept it. My memories has always been at the stage of when I was with the family in USA. The girls, being so young, forget easily, so they would not remember much about the times with me, so I really can't expect them to be as close to me as before. My host parents are also so cool people that I think that while they're hospitable and happy to see me, I'm still an outsider and can never be treated the same as with their family members. Well, I expect that I'll be very emotional to meet them at the airport but they'll be very cool about it, so in the end, I will also pretend to be cool about the whole thing too. You know, I've not been so excited about meeting people ever in my life. Not even when, five years ago, I decided to go to the USA to be an au pair all alone. I wasn't scared or nervous then. I guess that's because I went with an open mind, not ecpecting anything. When there's no expectations, there's no disappointment. Now, I already know the family and I know what I could have, so there's expectations, so I fear the disappointment of what would not be.

This is also the first time that I'm planning a whole two weeks' of vacation all by myself. WJ has not been too much help as she's easy-going and she's not been to Europe at all before. Anywhere I go or bring her, she's fine with it. But Europe is such a big place and everywhere is nice to go, so I have some trouble planning for it. The last time I went backpacking in Europe, I was riding on the coat-tails of R and Y, who planned everything; where to stay, where to eat, where to go. This time, I'm entrusted with this task and my fear is that WJ may not like what I like. I only hope that she'll enjoy herself.

Well the time to board the plane is near (Sunday!) and I hope this trip will be fun and uneventful, that everything will go well. The other day, I was thinking that I'm so full of anticipation for this trip, when I come back from the trip, I'll be in depression as I'll have nothing to look forward to. The expenses for this trip is also staggering and much more than what I planned for at first so I have to think of ways to earn it back. My stand to pursue my ideals may be a losing cause and I've been toying with the idea of giving up and just go look for a job, a boring office job, all for the sake of money. I gave up all these before as I don't see the satisfaction of working for others, at a job that only makes the rich, richer while I slog so much just for that monthly pay. But reality is closing in and the financial situation may be something that forces me to give up all these ideals and join the rat race. When I start doing that, people would stop looking at me as a loser and I would probably be able to walk with my heads up again.

Post birthday celebrations and thoughts

I wanted to blog about the happenings these few days because I'll be flying to London next Sunday (yay!) and I'm not sure I would find another time to blog till I come back from the trip.

So, I celebrated my birthday on Wed with the girls. WM couldn't make it as she was busy with work. Sometimes I feel that she's so absorbed in earning money and relationships that she takes us friends for granted. Many a times, when we did meet up, it's always to accommodate her timings and schedules. For goodness sakes, she can't even remember when my exact birthday was! So much for being friends for 17 years. Was kinda disappointed that she didn't turn up but what to do. Anyway, I decided to have dinner at Chomp-chomp. Had been a long time since I ate there and I miss eating all these hawker fares. Also, I need to save up for the Europe trip, so I choose not to eat at restaurants. It was a quick dinner affair. YJ was rushing to go home to finish up some work too. WJ and I walked and waited around Serangoon Gardens, in hope that WM would be able to meet up for a bit after she finished with her client but alas, she still couldn't make it.

On Friday, I met up with K. She's a senior from my JC days. I can't say that we're very close but we do try to meet up once or twice every year for both our birthdays. Actually, we played a trick during our JC days on those friends who knew us. We pretended to be sisters. Even those friends of hers who knew her were taken in by us. So, till now we sort of maintained a relationship of 'sisters'. Well, I was the one who thought of her as an older sister. I wasn't sure if she still wanted me as a younger sister. So on Friday, while we were having dinner, she told her friend on the phone that she was having dinner with her god-sister, I was very happy. In fact, I was so happy by this comment that I kept replaying in the whole night. It really nice to maintain a long friendship and it's not easy to maintain a friendship with someone like me as I tend to be on the quiet side. However, I think Friday's dinner went well as we managed to update each other on the happenings of the past year and also a little on relationships. This friendship/sister-ship is something that I treasure very, very much and I'm so glad that K also is willing to maintain this relationship.

Next, comes to today, Sunday. I was very busy. After worship, there's a tuition ministry meeting. It also happens to be the farewell luncheon for our conductor. He has been posted to work at another church and so will end the one-year internship with our choir. Me, being the choir chairman, definitely has to be present at such an occasion, although I would like very much to have lunch with my fellowship members. Hence, I took off halfway after the tuition meeting and went for the farewell party. It happens that the cafe we went to was overwhelmed by our presence and took a long time to get ready the lunch orders. Since I'm the youngest member in the choir, I was feeling a little bored and left out. So, when J smsed me to ask me for lunch, I immediately agreed. So, I had to leave the choir's farewell party, amidst a chorus of nagging and teasing. But was I so glad to be with people whom I feel very comfortable with and happy. My fellowship's people are those that I can talk with and because they have children and babies, I feel very happy to be with them too.

One of the brothers, a father of two, kept asking me how I learned to carry babies and whether I learned it before. They even teased that I must had given birth to a child before to be so good with babies/children. I'm also not sure why I'm so good with babies. I guess it's because I really like them. Since young, I've always liked babies. When I see babies, I would look at them with longing and would play with them. I always asked my parents to give birth to a younger sibling so I can 'play' with him/her but well, my parents decided to stop at three. When I was ten, my aunties started forming their own families and I had younger cousins to 'play' with. I guess all my babysitting skills came from there. I was observant and learned a lot from just watching. Believe it or not, prior to going to USA, I've never had a real chance to change diapers. I only had seen it countless of times and know the theory of it. But when it came to the first time to change diapers for Brigid in USA, I had no problem as I went through the same motions lots of times in my head. That's how I work. I go through things in my head and try to improve it and see what's feasible or not. As to carrying babies, I guess it's just like driving. I face it heads-on. I know that I like carrying babies and in order to get the chance to carry them, I have to be good at it, so as to gain the trust of the parents. If I'm bad at it, I would not get a second chance, so I have to make sure that I am good. Hence, it all comes down to confidence. But don't get fooled by me. Sometimes I do get panicky and don't know what to do in my heart but I don't show it on my face. It's the same when I'm driving. I do get scared by some situations but I appear calm and nonchalant on the surface, so many thinks that I'm very confident and skilled in driving.

Well, it's quite a long post. I have another birthday dinner tomorrow night but it may not be something to blog about. We'll see. If not, the next post would be on my Europe trip. Stay tuned!

The big three-O club

I'm officially into my 30s! Actually I did nothing special on my birthday today but just wanted to blog it down for memory's sake. I was very happy to receive all the sms wishes. After so many years, I sort of know who are the ones who's going to wish me who will not remember at all. I'm especially happy to receive the sms wishes of those friends whom I've known for a long time (more than ten years). To be able to keep in touch with them for such a long time is something I treasure and the friendship is even more important than my birthday.

I had wanted to wake up early today and go out to do things or eat things that I enjoy as a treat to myself. But I played MH on Facebook till 5am the night before and thus wasn't able to wake up till 2pm. I decided to just go AMK hub and watch a movie by myself to celebrate. I also had to take passport photo of myself so I can renew my IC. This IC thing is causing me so much trouble. I had only these two weeks to get it done and collect it before I leave for my two weeks of Europe trip but they only gave us a month's notice. So many things to get done before my trip, so everything was rushed.

Anyway, I watched 'Angels and Demons' by Tom Hanks, based on the book by Dan Brown. I've read both the Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons while in USA as my host dad had the books. I thoroughly enjoyed both books. However, I was very disappointed by the movie version of 'The Da Vinci Code' as I feel that it doesn't show the thinking process and details that are felt from the book. This time, the movie version of 'Angels and Demons' did not fail me. It was very good! As I read the book a few years ago, the story was a little vague to me but as I watched the movie, the story came back to me and I know what's going to happen next and who the bad guy is. Despite that, I was practically sitting on the edge of my seat throughout the whole movie as it really was very exciting. The director was able to convey the suspense well this time. Also, as I myself have been to Rome and the Vatican City, where the book/movie was set, it was nice to see all the places that I've been to. The places are so familiar and it's always fun to know what the whole movie was about. But I really wonder whether the scenes of the Vatican City are real or a movie set. Should be a set lah, can't be the Pope allows Hollywood to shoot movies at Vatican City, right?

Ok, that's how I spent my thirtieth birthday all by myself. Looking forward to London in one and a half weeks' time. I already miss my host family very, very much and really can't wait! Woohoo!

Updates, happenings

Has been a long time since I blogged. I've been so addicted to playing with Mousehunt on Facebook that I don't really want to do anything else. There's so many games on fb, actually that I can't stop. Blogging needs time. I need time to think and plan what I want to write, so the fifteen minutes in between sounding the horn in MH is not enough for me to think, so I just stopped blogging.

Anyway, I want to blog about my past happenings and thoughts. Not much, actually, given my current boring status. Last Tuesday had dinner with S and R and WJ. It had been a long time since we last met up and I did it individually with each of them, never together, so this gathering is much treasured. S and R are even crazy enough to blog about the dinner immediately after they got home that same night. Hats off to them! Well, it was a great time spent with old friends. One, it got me out of my house and force me to go out. Being a private tutor, I'm either at home or at students' homes. I seldom go out, so to go out sometimes means a lot to me. Two, it got all of us together to catch up. This is actually the first time that I organise a dinner with this group of friends that went smoothly, i.e, everyone are free on the same day, same time. Reason for organising this dinner? No reason. Just one day, I was tutoring my student and there's this strong urge to ask R out for a meal. Then while smsing, I thought we could also ask S out, so the dinner is on! It happened that the day that we're having the dinner, WJ asked me if I want to watch a movie and I told her I'm meeting S and R and asked her along.

The four of us had been friends for more than half of our lives. We were in the same class for all four years in secondary school and happened to like each other enough to keep in contact. We moved on to different paths in life after graduation and are at different jobs and different stages in our lives now but somehow, there's no awkwardness when we meet up. Conversations flow freely, smiles given readily and even hugs are aplenty. This is what I call real friendship.

Looking at the picture reminds me of how much I miss being with friends and just talking. I had just a session like that yesterday when we had fellowship program at EW and XL's house. It was a pretty informal potluck session, with everyone contributing a little food here and there. I like the part where we stayed back just to talk. It is strange that even though most of the conversations revolved around family, children, children's schooling, etc, I was not bored and was even able to contribute. The icing on the cake was being entertained by 3 months old MX. She's very cute and nice to hold. I like children. Young children. The younger they are, the more I like them. Hee...

On another note altogether, I'm preparing to go on the Europe trip at the end of the month. I've still not told my mum about it yet. I dread the outbreak it will bring. She seems to think that for every cent that I made, I should give it to her, instead of spending it on holidays, clothes, etc. It's not enough that I just give her a little allowance every month. Her thinking is, if I have enough to travel, why not give her more? I just think that I work, I made, I spend. Simple as that.

Anyway, my host mum emailed me yesterday that she will be making a stop in Singapore for her work next week. She said she will try to meet me if she has a free up in her work schedule as there's a lot of meetings and business meals to attend. I was quite excited on that. However, we're not too hung up on whether she can meet me or not, since I'll see her in London in a few weeks' time. I'm also not sure how to behave with her since I've not had dinner with just my host mum and me. We've always had the children as the buffer. I'm just hoping that maybe next time, the whole family can come to Singapore and I can introduce to the girls this place that I call home. They'll be really amused that people will and can speak Mandarin to them.

I know this is a very random post. But they're some thoughts that I want to note down for future reference! Till next time...

Hermit or loner?

Couple of weeks ago, I had dinner with a group of ex-colleagues. This was in honour of one of the colleague who's quitting the company and leaving Singapore to go back to her home country. It was a big gathering of eight. Not bad, considering half of us in the group had left that company.

Throughout the dinner, conservations swilled around the inevitable talking of the said company and the bosses (boss and boss's wife). What to do? The only thing common to all of us is because we all work or worked at the company at some point. This means that there are some still at the company and it being a small company, many things are known to the workers (meaning us).

Other than my character being quiet and shy sometimes, the reason why I was quiet during the dinner was that I really dislike gossiping or talking about others behind others' back. I do want to get updated on the happenings in the company ever since I left but at the same time, I do not really want to know why or when the boss and his wife quarrels. It's not because I dislike listening to a good gossip. I just dislike doing it with non-Christians. With non-Christians, comments can become malicious or misunderstood very easily. Some more, me being me, I sometimes talk without thinking (but no ill intents) and in the process people get the wrong ideas about me. So, most of the time I just listen without taking part in the conversations.

After that dinner, on the way home, I was thinking on how nice it was to be able to have colleagues who had become friends to go out and sit down for dinner with (gossiping aside). However, at the same time, the time spent during dinner, I can feel myself putting on the 'social' face and behaviour. I think why I like my job as a tutor now is because I like to work alone. Even when I did work in an office, I always appreciated the times when I was left alone to do things my own way. Yes, I did need guidance and I wanted people telling me what to do but after that, leave me alone to do it and I will do it at my own pace. I guess my character is such that I really like my 'me' time. I don't like to socialise much and I feel it a chore to always put on a false smile and pretend to be interested in what others are talking about in their lives. Maybe it's because I value my private life and seldom talk about myself, so listening to others exhort about theirs is such a tiring process.

I don't know. Am I unsociable or a recluse? Maybe that's why I'm still single. I always lose to those who knows how to 'sell' themselves while I leave it to 'whatever will happens, will happens'.

Carrot cake

I finally tried out the recipe for baking the carrot cake. The result is not bad at all. Probably that the frosting is too sweet for everyone's tastes but then I think that should be how cakes taste like. Anyway, other then posting up pictures of how the cake turns out, I want to blog about my baking process. It was an eventful day, even though it's my day of rest (don't even have to go choir tonight!) at home.

Well, since it's Friday, I woke up in time to watch 'Survivor', direct off satellite on tv. I had planned to bake the carrot cake today, so I got ready all the things that I need to use and wash them so they would be dry when I need to use them. Nearing the end of 'Survivor', a person from NEA came to check on the house for Aedes mosquitoes. Good thing nothing found or we would have been summoned. After the man left, I was hesitating whether to bake or not. The weather is so super hot that I have no mood to do anything. Just want to sit in front of the computer and do nothing. In the end, I thought since I got the things ready, I might as well do it, if not, I may not have time to do it and I really want to try out this recipe.

So, I have some ingredients that I need to buy from the shop, so I changed to go downstairs. he moment I reached the first level, and stepped out of the lift, it started to rain. I was going to risk it by running across to the next block (where the shop is) but found the rain to be a little heavy, so I decided to go back home to get an umbrella. I also remembered that I had clothes that I need to bring in from the rain! So, I went up again, brought in the clothes, brought along a bag to put my groceries (so can save the environment by not using plastic bags), took an umbrella and prepared to go down a second time. While waiting for the lift, I noticed that it's not raining anymore!!?? It's a passing shower. I left my umbrella by the door and went to get my things. I managed to get all the things I need except cream cheese. So, I had to walk two blocks to another shop to try my luck and I was very happy that I found it!

By the time I got home, I was pretty sweaty and tired, but getting the things made me all excited and I proceeded with my baking. All went well. I'm glad to report that it turned out exactly as I wanted. Ok, enough with all these talks. Pictures for you!

This was taken when the cake was fresh out of the oven. Looks very good! I didn't over bake it, surprisingly as I tend to do that, holding the view that, 'Overdone is better than underdone'. Ha!

The cake after it has cooled and I put frosting on. I was in a hurry to eat and see how it tastes like, so I cut it very quickly before remembering about taking pictures.

Close up of the inside of the cake. I also added walnuts into it as I've also liked the feeling of having things to bite when eating.

Comments from my family are that the frosting is a tad too sweet but the walnuts give the cake a nice flavour. I don't know why, but my mum says she can taste almonds! I didn't even put almond essence! Well, anyway, this project goes well! But it's so troublesome to make it. I'd rather stick to my Blueberry Crumble. Next time, I'll try cheesecake.

Battle with ants

I've always been a cleanliness freak. I like things to be clean, especially in my room. My home, being an old apartment, has the inevitable endless stream of ants, lizards and cockroaches roaming. I don't mind the lizards that much except they sometimes scare me by zipping by too fast. The cockroaches are the ones that get to me as they're extremely disgusting, dirty and plain annoying. In order to solve the cockroach problem, I've resorted to buying those traps they sell in supermarkets. However, this works only to an extent. I'm so glad that I have very brave brothers and father. They always will catch the cockroaches for me no matter how late the night is or when as they know my fear of them.

Next up are the ants. For fear of ants, I do not ever eat or drink in my room. Recently, however, I found that my toiletries cupboard has ants visiting. This puzzles me to no end as there's only toiletries in there. I mean, how sweet or delicious can toiletries be? At first I thought that they maybe fooled by the nice smell of shampoo I kept in there, or even by the fragrance emitted by the pads. But I found out that they are attracted to the razor/shaver I kept there. Again, why they're attracted to the shaver, I'm not sure. I've always believed that to get rid of ants, you have to find out the source that attracted them. By getting rid of the source, you don't have to kill them, they will just disappear by themselves. So, to prevent the ants from coming, I decided to keep my shaver in the cupboard, soaked in a glass of water. I thought that this would be the solution that ends the ants' visit. You can imagine my dismay in discovering that they're still there. Now they can't get to the shaver but it seems that the water that the shaver is kept in is sweet. They ended up staying by the water's edge and kept coming back. Though I don't understand what it is that makes the shaver sweet, I was very annoyed by the ants. I had to clean the shaver and the change the water in the cup daily.

One day, as I was cleaning the cup and changing the water, I decided to use dish washing detergent to try to get rid of the 'sweet' stuff (normally I just change water and rinse the cup without detergent). Then it hit me that maybe I can put a little detergent into the cup and fill it with water, thus making the water I soak the shaver in, to be soapy water. And voila! No more ants! I guess the smell of the detergent is not sweet for the ants and also they're not so stupid as to kill themselves by drinking soapy water. Haha!

I'm still patting myself on the back for winning this battle with the ants. I just feel so smart for thinking of such a solution! Hee....oh happy days....

My weekend

Ok, I know that it's already the middle of the week and a bit late to blog about the weekend just past. I have been quite busy with work since the school holidays are over and I need to catch up on my sleep.

Anyway, last Saturday, it happened that my tuition for the early afternoon was cancelled. I was pondering over how to make it for tuition and go to church in time for the combined fellowships team building. I think God presented the answer for me. Well, it was great fun! The games that the Bethel fellowship came up with allowed for lots of brains to be used (which I like) and for the various fellowship members to bond. Most important of all, it was very fun! There were five games in all. We had to go to different stations and complete the tasks within 30 minutes.

The first station was where we were asked to taste six different liquids and guess what they are. I may seem simple at first but some of the beverages had similar tastes that made for hard guessing. The next station was where we had to rack our brains to think of solutions using strings to pour a bucket of balls into another bucket in the middle of the 'sea'. We managed to do this in record time. I don't know if it's because the people in my group are very smart or we happened to get it right by trial and error. Even if it's trial and error, we got the right formula on the first trial! Haha! We took only 8 mins for the first try and 5 mins for the second time.

The third game was to look at photos of certain places in church and go to that place and collect chinese characters to form a bible verse. The photos are taken in such a way that you need to think a little and to guess where the places are. Some of the places are that normally you wouldn't pass by or to take note of the small details. But we got in first for this category! Yay!

The fourth game was a memory game. We had to watch some commercials or pictures and memorise the details. This was pretty straight forward and easy as each group had 7-8 members in it. Each of us just had to take note of certain things and we got almost all the questions correct.

The last game was for all groups to come together and play. The organisers actually wanted to make it in such a way that we would compete against each other but we caught on to the strategy and worked together to finish the task. Overall, the purpose was to remind all that we're brothers and sisters in Christ and we should work together in doing God's works, even in the face of competition.

After the games, there was a BBQ session. It was also a time for fellowship. Most of the members in our fellowship did not attend this team building but I was able to talk to the younger fellowship.

On Sunday, it was worship as usual in the morning. After worship, there was tuition ministry meeting and after, choir practise for Easter. The songs we had to sing are quite hard and with so many to learn, this extra session was necessary.

When I got home, I had to get my laptop and go to the library with WJ to plan for our Europe trip. I can finally say that other than packing my bags, all plans are in place for the Europe trip! We booked our flights within Europe and accommodation in Switzerland. With all these logistics, almost $2k is gone! Although it's major damage to the bank account, I'm really looking forward to this trip. It's almost 3 years since I've seen the host family and I get to see Frankfurt and Switzerland. I'm glad that other than London, I get to go other places that I've not been to before. I dislike going to the same places twice actually. The world is too big and Europe is too expensive to revisit the same places so many times. In fact, if not for my host family, I wouldn't go London again. Not unless it's free! Haha!

Now, I'm at a dilemma. I wish for May to come soon, so I can go for this trip. But at the same time, May will be my birthday and it will be the big three-O! Oh no! Getting old! I don't even want to think about it. Let me pretend for another two months.

Photo blog

Another round of blog with photos, since I have nothing to blog about in my life. This time I decided to put up photos of famous monuments or places that I've been to. Hehe. Must show off a bit. All photos put up are taken by me! I didn't cut and paste from other places. Just to make it clear.

This is Brooklyn Bridge in New York. It connects Manhattan with Brooklyn. This was taken while on a cruise around Manhattan. In the summer, it's supposed to be very popular for walking on the bridge but I've not had the chance to do that. This is Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California. This is where the annual Academy (Oscars) Awards is held. We can't go inside the theatre itself, so lots of photo taking outside. On the pillars along the lobby are movies names that had won Best Picture over the many years. When the awards is held, they usually close off the roads in front and leading to this theatre.

This is Central Park in Manhattan, New York City. This is the view in summer time, when everyone would take the chance to picnic in the park. Because there's no beach within the city, people would also wear their beach wear (bikinis, etc) and sun-bathe at the park. It's very funny to see that because it just looks so silly that they're in swim wear but there's no water for them to swim in.

This is the famous Rockefeller Christmas tree. They put this up every Christmas until after the new year. You can see the tree in many movies if the setting in around Christmas, eg, Home Alone 2, etc. The people at the bottom of the tree should also let you know roughly how big the tree is. There's always a lot of people at Rockefeller Center around this period, from tourists and locals who are doing their Christmas shopping.

This is Capitol Building in Washington, DC. It's very majestic looking and anyone who gets to DC will think that this is the White House but it's actually not. The White House is actually a very normal looking building. The Capitol is where they have all those senate meetings, etc. When the Presidents take their oath of office, it was in front of this Capitol Building too.

This is the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, California. It was a bad day when I went, with fog covering the top part of the bridge. On a good day, one should be able to see the whole bridge. Although it was supposed to be summer, you can see that it's actually quite cold. That's San Francisco for you! Also, the Golden Gate bridge is not gold, it's red!

The very famous Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island, New York. Actually, from New York City itself, you can't see Miss Liberty very clearly. She is like a dot in the distance because the island is some distance away from the city. If you go to Liberty Island, you can't take very good picture also because she is too big. The trick is to take the whole statue when you passed by her on the ship to the island. I've seen her on twice when I went on cruises and only got on the island once to see Miss Liberty.

Busy but fulfilling day

Today I had appointments from noon all the way till night. I was quite tired because I stay up every night to play Mousehunt on Facebook. I say it's fulfilling because at least I'm doing productive things and I always feel happy whenever I do things that I like and it makes me busy, or at least look busy.

During noon, I went to CZ's place for her son's one-year old birthday party. CZ was my senior in Secondary school prefects and girl guides. After she graduated, we have not met up at all, but I send her birthday cards or wishes every year on her birthday. Thus, she always feels very touched by me. We actually lost touch some time back but she found me on Friendster while I was in USA. We have always promised to meet up when I came back to Singapore but never found the time to do so. Last year, when she gave birth, she invited me to her son's full month party but it happened to fall during the week that I was away in Japan. So this time, when she invited me again for the birthday, I had to go. Much as I love children, I have to say that my main purpose in going was to meet up with CZ, rather than to celebrate her son's birthday. Being single and unattached, there's always this situation that I have to attend some social functions alone. Take this time for example. I have not seen CZ for so long. We are bound to have some sort of distance. CZ tried her best to entertain me but she has other guests to attend to too. Also, the more she tried to make me feel at home, the more I feel bad. I did not feel very awkward, since I was there for a little more than an hour only. I just felt that if I'm to remain single, this would happen for the rest of my life. I have to get used to it, I guess

After the party, I left for my tuition. It was a back-to-back tuition session lasting three hours since I'm tutoring a pair of brothers of different levels. That was quite fine actually since I've decided not to flare up at the slightest mistakes. I've learnt to let it go and see them as children who needs my guidance. Instead of raising my voice at them and making them frightened, I should try to be gentle and help them remember their mistakes.

Then, I had to attend a meeting with the Character Building members to prepare for our next semester's programmes. Since I had an hour to spare between tuition and the meeting, I went to the library to look up information for Switzerland. Yishun had a new library and their travel guides are so much more extensive than the AMK branch. I've actually found quite a few books and intend to photocopy them just like what I did at AMK. However, I found that this Yishun branch does not have any photocopying machines! I was quite miffed by it. Left with no choice, I had to choose two books out of my many choices and borrow them home. It was so heavy to carry them home!

Anyway, the character building programme was easy to plan for, with MT's help. MT asked me today how old I am. She is quite new to church and was just beginning to know us. I just said I'm very old, much older than her (she's 17, btw). Well, she said I do not look like I'm old. She said I look more like her and her friends' age. Haha! This means that I look like a teenager. Actually, I'm not sure if MT said this out of compliments or out of insult, because I've realised that she is mature for her age. If she thinks that I do not behave like my age, does she think that I'm childish or immature? Hmm....maybe I shouldn't read too much into it. When someone says something nice, accept it graciously. Ha!

Wish I can use my brain

I know I have not been writing much. I hate this. Actually I go online almost everyday and everytime I wish to blog. The only problem is I don't have anything to blog about. Usually if I don't have interesting events happening in my life to blog about, I will have some thoughts to share. My lack of topics to blog about means that I've not been thinking or using my brain! *gasps* I have been so addicted to facebook recently that the only thing I wanted to go online is to go Mousehunt and catch mice. Of course, since I've already booked tickets for London, I've been doing a little of research online too. Looking for places to stay and go in Switzerland. Now that I realised that Switzerland is quite an expensive place. It didn't go with the rest of Europe in converting to Euro and while it's currency rate is not sky high, it's standard of living is still high enough for me. I've been trying to look for cheap or affordable hostel online but I guess those really cheap ones do not have websites. Maybe I should look harder.

Ok, I'm rambling now. I hate that I do not have a fixed blogging pattern. When I read others' blogs, they are able to present their thoughts into such nice and interesting reads. I wish I can do that too, but when I start blogging, I just sort of write whatever comes to mind without any pattern. This makes it very confusing to read and seems that my blog has no point to it. I hope I can blog more. Should use my brain more often.

Vacation planning!

The recent economy downturn has made air tickets more affordable. I have been saving up and wanting to visit my host family in London and finally I'm going! Yes! I'm so happy! There's a promotion going on with SIA and the tickets are really quite reduced from the original prices. However, the stipulation is that it's a two-to-go offer, so I had to ask around to get someone to go with me. Actually, I didn't have that much difficulty looking for someone. The other day, the best friends and I met up for a meal and I just sort of asked WJ casually if she wants to go. I was surprised that she gave a positive reply to me immediately. So, when I got back, I went into serious thinking and planning and find that I should really go!

This is a good time to go not only because of the low cost of air tickets, but also my host family maybe moving back to the States. If they go back, flying to USA would be more expensive than flying to Europe. Also, I have friends in other parts of Europe and this trip to London would be also to meet my friends. So, if my host family move back to USA, it would be a long time before I go to Europe again.

So, today WJ and I made some initial plans and we're confirmed going. We're going to be there for two weeks as WJ says it makes sense to stay longer since we've already flown all the way there. Other than visiting my host family in London, we're going to Germany so I can visit a friend of mine who's German. We were au pairs together in USA and our children used to have playdates together. I really miss her and it's great that we get to catch up in her hometown. After Germany, we're going to go to Switzerland. I have a friend there too, although it's not confirmed that we're meeting up. I met this friend while on tour to Scotland. She's a very sweet girl, very young but mature. We've been keeping in touch. I'm not really that close to this friend but I'm hoping that we can meet up.

Well, there's a bad side to taking this Europe trip. I have to give up going to church camp. It's not really a matter of clash of timings and affordability. Most of the fellowship people are going and I really hate to miss all these memories with them. All the children there for me to play with! But again, I'm giving them up for my little girls, K and B. Although I can afford to go, I don't want to spend all my money and end up being left with nothing for a rainy day. Sigh...you can't always have the best of both worlds.

Pictures to share

I'm going to share some pictures that I have accumulated in the recent 5-6 years. I really love those that I took in USA, especially all and any of those with Kara and Brigid, but I'm going to limit those pictures as I want to respect my host parents. Maybe they do not want the girls' pictures to be floating around. It's going to be very random pictures but I'll try to explain them as I go along.

This is a sunset that I saw in Scotland. It's the same sunset that I posted at the top of this blog. All of us in the tour group were busy snapping shots of this. Having grown up in a city all my life, this is something very awesome and even till now, I still remember the whole sunset process. We waited till it dark before going off.

This is taken in Alaska. I love how the cloud seems like it's on level with me. The mountain in comparison seems to be much shorter. The view of Alaska is indeed nice but it's not all cold and snowy all year round. I went in the summer and this is how it looks like.

This is a real shot that I took while on a trip in California. Looks like a postcard, right? Actually I was sleeping for most of the time when on the road. I very rarely took pictures or even admire the views. This is a common view of the deserts along expressways when going from one city to another in California.

Yes, I took this picture too! The colour combination is fantastic! This is taken on a tour of 1000 Islands, Ontario, Canada. This is one of the island. Imagine, you can buy one of these island and tell people you own and island! In winter, the people use snow mobiles to get oout of the island to the main land or from island to island.

A picture of me with Kara and Brigid and the snowman we made beside the house in USA. This is not the first snowman I made, so I looked very well. I still miss snow and winter, especially when I'm baking walking on Singapore's streets!

Red Cliff 2, Look for a Star

Few weeks ago I went to watch Red Cliff 2. Had been wanting to watch it as I watched the first part last year. I like the show very much not only for the actors, but also for the message behind the show. The sceneries in the show are also very enchanting. I have to admit that I'm not one who knows my Chinese history well. I always turn to my oldest brother who has read or knows everything about Chinese history. Although I have not much knowledge or interest in studying Chinese history, I do like to read books or watch shows that show them. Actually, not only Chinese history. When I was younger, my father brought back a book about war fighting. There's a lot of scenarios in the book depicting the strategies to use when fighting a war, the feelings of the author and people around. Same as when I was watching Red Cliff, the thought I had throughout the show was very clear - in a war, no matter whether you lose or win in the end, it's always a lose-lose situation. There is never a win-win situation for anyone when in a war. Much to my surprise and approval, the last words spoken by Tony Leung at the end of the fighting also says pretty much the same thing, 'There's no winner here'. Whenever I watch such shows, I always want to cry. Cry for the poor soldiers who die for the ambitions of whoever they serve. So painful to die by having a sword go through your body or your neck. Bullets are better, I think.

I went to watch 'Look for a Star' yesterday. Of course, it's a must watch because it starred Andy Lau. I'm a hopeless romantic and watching this show, again makes me dream. During the show, I have this revelation that probably because of my thirst for romance, when I can't find it in real life, I can't be satisfied. That is why I'm still single now. I have this sort of idealistic and romantic idea of how a relationship should be like and when I don't find in in real life, I get disappointed and hence, all the guys I'm with are not 'The One'.

I want someone who looks at me and only sees me. I want someone who holds me dearly in their hands. I want someone who loves me second only to God. (Yes, even parents are not excuses. That's the true meaning of two becomes one.) I want someone who is willing to give up everything just for me. (Don't have to really give up, just be WILLING to give up. The key word is willing to and meaning it.) Guess I read too many romance novels. Keep dreaming...

Sick!

This past whole week I was doing Chinese Language relief teaching at CSS. Due to poor quality of sleep on Sunday night, I was subsequently very tired on Monday and Tuesday itself. On Wednesday, I woke up in the morning not feeling at all well. I know I have a sore throat as my throat was very painful even with swallowing my saliva. So, I went through the motions of getting ready to go to school but I felt not good at all. Having a hunch that I may have a fever, I took my temperature. Sure enough, 37.7 degrees C. But since I'm doing relief, I don't feel good to call the school and ask them to find someone on so short notice to relief the relief teacher. So, I stuck it out and went to school.

The whole day, I was like very tired and not feeling good at all. I didn't eat anything although I was very hungry. My through hurts so much that I didn't think I can swallow anything. During classes, I was mostly moving slowly and sitting down most of the time. Good thing I was doing relief for secondary school and don't have to do any teaching and not much discipline to do.

Anyway, after school ended, I had to rush for tuition with my student. I was extremely tired at this point but this session of tuition is when I'll collect my fees. I hate to wait for another week. I was debating whether I should cancel or not. Then, I was also thinking whether I should go see the doctor. If I want to see the doctor, I have to go before my tuition because by the time tuition finish, the clinic would be closed and I have to wait till night. However, as it is, I'm already late for my tuition. But I made the decision to go see the doctor before tuition. My main motive is to get the medicine. I thought that my fever has already subsided when I went to see the doctor. However, when the doctor took my temperature, it has gone up to 38.4 degrees C!

To cut long story short, I went for tuition after seeing the doctor. Good thing, she only needs me to teach her spelling. Which means I can sit there and just test her. After tuition, I went home, had a shower, took my medicine, and went straight to bed at 6pm. I was again debating whether to call in sick at the school the next day as the doctor gave me two days MC. But, my sense of responsibility won again. I slept from 6pm to 6am the next day, where I got up feeling better and went for teaching again. Of course, I didn't sleep for the full 12 hours. Was waking up on the off when my family members came home. What was most amazing about my sickness was that nobody, and I mean NO ONE knows that I was sick. No one in school noticed, I didn't inform my family members because I don't see them. Sigh, such a sad thing right?

Today is Valentine's day. For the sixth year, I celebrate it with....no one. Yap, has been single for the past six years. I hope God take pity on me and show me someone whom I spend the rest of my life with soon.

Helpless

Today I did something that I feel guilty about. Well, not that guilty but then I feel bad. I made my tuition student cry. She comes from a broken family. Her parents do not live with her and she's brought up by her maternal grandparents. That's also the reason why she is so weak in her studies. She can't even spell simple words like 'grandmother', 'around' or 'agree'. She's in Primary Four already!

Well, the reason she cried was because I was quite strict with her and she can't take it. I threaten to not teach her anymore and for her to find another teacher. She's afraid her grandmother would scold her, so she has to accede to my demands. You know, I always can't stand students who are too slow to get what I'm saying. However, I always remind myself that if they're clever or smart, they wouldn't need me to tutor them. So, I realise that I don't mind that you're slow. What I can't stand is that the student doesn't put in effort or not willing to learn. That puts me off so much and makes me very angry. I may seem as patient and kind and loving to children, but actually when it comes to areas of disciplining, teaching and learning, I'm very strict and demanding. I can be very crazy when playing, sometimes to the point of not caring so much about safety, but when it comes to studies, I would always apply my own standards to the children I teach. I wouldn't say that I'm very clever, but I like to think that I'm smart. A lot of times, I can't get things or concepts very fast and I used to demand this of my students. I then realise that not everyone is able to grapse things as fast.

Anyway, I can't stand my student because now that she is used to me, she starts to talk back. She also is very, very stubborn, wanting to do things her way. The thing is, she is very good in wasting time and I always feel that time is wasted in her doing things her own way. When I tried to tell her nicely, she refuses to listen. You know, the main purpose I'm hired is to help her study for her spelling, both English and Chinese! She can study that on her own! I want to help her with Maths concepts, English grammar and vocabulary but she doesn't want. She even wants me to just sit there and watch or help her with Art and Craft! I just feel that it's such a waste of time and money for her.

Ok, I should stop ranting. Kids nowadays are no longer the obedient sort like when I was a kid. I was always afraid of my teachers. When I was in primary school, I was so afraid of my teachers that I do not even dare to ask for permission to go toilet. I would always try to hold my bladder till a suitable time to go. Sigh...times are changing.

New beginnings...

This is my first post on the new blog site. Finally have some time to blog. Have been wanting to blog about a lot of things. Initially was because Friendster blog makes me so frustrated. Now it's because I have no time to blog.

Why did I say new beginnings? Well, Chinese New Year is over and I think for me a new year will start only now. Actually had a nanny job that was more or less confirmed to start in March. However, in the midst of letting go of current tuition assignments and relief teaching, I got more and more offers. This made me rethink my decision of accepting the nanny job. The hours are too long and though it offers fixed pay, the pay is not that fantastic, though I maybe doing what I like. But I think if I keep doing what I'm doing now, I can still make a decent living and still have my freedom. I like the fact that I have the flexibility to decide my working hours. If I need more money, I just have to get more tuition students.

Anyway, I'm on a quest recently. On a quest to find the ideal vacation location. This year marks the year that me and my best friends of over 15 years turns into the big Three O. Instead of giving each other presents as what we've been doing for all these years, I suggested that we save up the money on buying presents and all 4 of us go on a vacation together, since we have not done that at all. Yes, we've known each other for so long but have not gone on a holiday together. We have gone in twos, in threes, but never all four of us. We all have different work schedules and vacation time and different budgets, so it's kinda tricky. I'm assigned to search out the different locations an options. since I have a budget and I want to make sure that I get my money worth on what I'm paying for.

Well, we can't go too far as the taking of leave for the other would be too tricky. I'm leaning towards Bali, but they have suggested Redang in Malaysia too. Have been trying to find some deals online and Redang is just too troublesome to get to. My searches have been heavily on Bali. Haha. We still have not decided on when to go. That's another of the problem. I really hope to find some good deals. Every year I wanted to go to London to see the Lynches but every year just can't bear to spend such a big chunk of my money. Just the flight alone makes me feel as if I'm having a heart attack.

Will see bah. Maybe I should really take on more tuition assignments.