CT's farewell dinner

Yesterday was CT's last day of work at Tate & Lyle. For those who knows Tate & Lyle, it is a company that produces "Splenda" sweetener suitable for diabetes. A product very popular in Japan, Australia, UK and USA with lots of products bearing the Splenda logo. Products like ice cream products, Coca Cola, Pepsi, Sprite, Yoghurt, Jelly Beans etc.. So it means that these products with the splenda logo could be consumed even by diabetics. I remember when I was in US and I only used Splenda for my cooking and enjoyed putting it in my unsweetened Lemon Tea.

Anyway, few months back, CT's ex-company approached him and asked him to go back. His ex-company is "Invista", whose name used to be "Dupont" but was bought over by Koch industries. "Invista" is one of the world’s largest integrated fibers and polymers businesses that manufactures stuff like lycra® and nylon.

It took CT a while to decide to go back to his ex-company. Initially, he joined Tate & Lyle for the experience in starting up a new plant in Jurong Island. So since that has been achieved, he felt it was time to move on. There are still many factors that draw him back to his ex-company and after much prayer, he accepted their offer despite still having a bond in Tate & Lyle by which Invista is willing to pay for.

Anyway, today, some of his colleagues in Tate & Lyle had a farewell dinner for him at plaza brasserie in parkroyal hotel along beach road. I went along because I am quite close to his colleagues as well since we spent almost a year together in the states having so much fun travelling, playing tennis during winter time in our apartment grounds, cooking together, having parties at my apartment, going for buffets together, supermarketing together etc. How I missed those times...

Food at plaza brasserie was great. There was a wide spread of food which I know regretly miss not taking some of it because I was just too full. There were different kinds of roti prata- sardine, chocolate, durian, banana, and the usual kosong and with egg. There was also tempura which was regularly fried and very fresh, prawn mee pork rib soup, sashimi where the chef will slice on the spot for you, sushi, leg of lamb, tempura soft shell crab, shark bone soup, chocolate fondue machine etc etc...Total cost was $40 per person which Anthony drew out his Tate & Lyle gold credit card to pay for. Haha. Anthony just became the operation area manager and he said he will answer for it by using the company's credit card.

Here are his colleagues who went for the dinner...

Clothes glorious clothes

First day of school commenced this week and though 3 days of school have passed, I felt as if it was many months of teaching already with no break. Going back to school was not too difficult despite my condition and I am just glad I could adjust pretty fast.

On the first day of school, my colleague Juliane passed me her 2 son's toddler's clothes and it came in one huge bag stuffed with clothes, booties, mittens, socks etc. It was really heavy as there were probably 30 plus sets of clothings- from pyjamas, to everyday wear, to going out wear. I am really thankful and looking at those clothes, my heart just melts and "aw..." cos the clothes are so small and I guess I am just not used to it yet.


Today, my form class, 3E1 also gave me my birthday present for baby Caleb. Well, no complains about them giving the present to my baby instead...no yet at least. Anyway, they were so thoughtful as they got for me more clothes...


Check it out!


First item they gave me is a set of 4...I love the small little tiny space for the baby's feet. So cute.

Second set the class gave me is a set of 3 tops... And lastly, this...
So for the record, I have lots of clothes for newborn - 9 months all thanks to Juliane for her son's hand-me-downs, my bro and Pam for their donations of bibs, my form class 3E1 for their Mothercare clothes, Marianne for a set of 3 body suits from Mothercare.

Home cooked dinner

I have been looking forward every day to see what Vicky, my helper has to offer on the dining table for meals and I kind of like the pleasant surprise I get each time when I see the food she can cook.

Usually, she would cook 2 dishes for lunch and as for dinner, it would be 2 dishes with soup. CT and I are not elaborate eaters. In fact, we enjoy simple home cooked meals. So, 2 dishes would really be fine.

Last night, she prepared a cabbage dish with slices of pork, dried mushrooms, carrots, vermicelli, and fish cake and as well as steam pomfret with dried mushrooms, tomato, ginger slices and salted vegetable. As for soup, she prepared a lotus root soup with black beans and pork bones. Was amazed once again at her good knowledge of Chinese cuisine.

Getting to know one another

Tonight after dinner, CT suggested getting the family together (me and vicky) for a time of bible study as well as a time to talk to one another since our week has been hectic, hardly have the time to talk.

Ct went through 2 passages in the bible and explained to us the meaning. So, Vicky and I listened and tried to understand more about the passage. During the week, all of us were memorising verses from bible so tonight, CT explained the context of what we memorised and the meaning so that what we have a better understanding of what we memorised.

Anyway, after all that bible study, we all shared. And Vicky said she wants to tell us something. So she started speaking and said that before she came to Singapore to work for us, she was stuck in Manila agency waiting for someone in singapore to employ her. She waited for 3 months but no results and she was very sad cos her allowance was going to run out and she had not much money left. She even thought of borrowing money from her other room-mates in the agency who were also waiting. She said she felt like crying. She said she took out her bible, started reading and praying. Then she switched agency and just only one week later, the news of her being accepted into Singapore came in and she was so thankful to God for answering her prayers. So during her sharing, she felt so happy and thankful to God.

She also said she was praying for a good Christian employer and her prayers came through when she came into our family. CT then also shared with her that many months back, we also prayed very hard for a good Christian helper who is very experienced. And out of the few applications that the agent passed to us, we chose her, or should I say, God chose her. So, we were all so encouraged by each other's sharing of how God is in the picture. He sure has His plans and ways of bringing people together.

We shared about our fears before we knew and met each other and indeed, we both have the same fears as we both understand it is a turning point in our lives where we have to try living with each other in the same house and the difficulties we might face. But God is good and being Christians, we know He has a plan for us and has chosen us to come together for a purpose and reason.

Then we also shared with one another about how we came to know Christ and accepted Him. So Vicky shared about how her best friends always tried to bring her to church but she didnt want to as she was a Roman Catholic from young and didnt feel the urge to convert. Then one night, she had a dream where she was alone in a white bright spacious room where someone called out to her and opened the bible in front of her. Anyway, the whole dream was very real and was touched by it that Vicky felt the urge to go with her friends to church and from then on, she accepted the Lord and was baptised.

When I hear stories of how others came to know the Lord, I am encouraged by the fact of how sometimes, it seems impossible but God makes it possible as He draws people to Him by some unexpected event or situation. At the end of these stories, the bottomline in all is that: God is in control and this has always been part of His big plan.

So, I am really encouraged by all the sharing that went on tonight and really appreciate CT for initiating this bible study. I guess we wanted to start this tonight as we wanted bible study, sharing and praying to be a culture in our family where God will always be in the center.

To God be the glory forever and ever. *Muack*

Happy Father's Day

This morning, brought Vicky along to church service. It is nice to see her participating and singing loudly as well as agreeing in prayer. After service, we went to AMK hub to the NTUC fairprice hypermart for grocery shopping. I told Vicky to get food for the whole week and she did.

After that, we dropped our stuff home and made our way to the airport for lunch with my family. We went to Crystal Jade which was fully packed because of Father's Day. The place was very noisy I must add.

As usual, my generous mum ordered lots of stuff that the food just kept coming in- continuous flow. I couldnt help but take pictures of my niece...

The occasional stares by my niece to CT as CT amuses her across the table.

My dad looks good as usual-having the joy of the Lord and probably enjoying the company of our family as he values family ties. That is definitely one thing which I have learnt from my parents and will implement it in my family.

Marina South Outing

Our new maid from Philippines has joined us yesterday (15 June 2007) and it marks the start of a huge change in our lives as CT and I never had a full time maid before and it is really a huge adjustment for us as we enjoy your privacy and just the night before she came, we were quite sad that we wont have our freedom anymore. Haha..we sounded really sad. I am one person who is against the idea of relying on someone as I much like to live with CT independently doing our own household chores, cooking,washing etc..However, we needed one to look after me after I give birth as well as to take care of baby Caleb when I go back to work. So, it came to a point where there isnt much of a choice.

My mother-in-law's legs are not very good and she has indicated that she is unable to take care of the baby while my mum has to take care of my dad. So anyway, for the past few weeks, CT and I have been really pouring out heart and soul to God about this maid issue as we hear too many maid horror stories about what they can do and how much problems they can bring. So, we prayed really hard every night for a reliable and good maid.

I have to say now that so far, she has been a really great help. She not only knows how to cook Chinese food- steam fish, fry kailan, cook soup, fried chicken etc..she is also one who takes initiative to do a lot of other things which I really appreciate. She has kept my house really clean and orderly which I appreciate as I,myself love to keep my things orderly and neat.

She is also always smiling. Her name is Vicky and she is 36 years old. She has worked in Singapore for 10 years already with a previous employer whom she served from the time the employer had 1 kid (1 month old) to now, 4 kids and the eldest is now secondary 3 already. So, she has lots of experiences taking care of newborns and children. So, she has been sharing with CT and I on what is to come and how we should prepare ourselves mentally.

She is also a Christian for 15 years and was brought to Christ in Philippines by her best friends. So, I am really thankful to God for bringing her into our lives and blessing us with her service and expertise.

Yesterday, brought her to mother-in-law's place for dinner and tonight, we went to Marina South to join our bible study group outing for bowling and steamboat BBQ. I brought her along to introduce her to another Filipino maid whom my friend brought and Vicky was so excited when she saw her and came to ask us permission if she could talk to her. So interesting...

After bowling session, the group stayed on to play one more game while CT,Vicky and I went to walk in the park. Think it is actually close but we ignored the sign and went into the park to see the whole bay area..quite serene..

Can see the "Singapore Flyer" Ferriswheel on the right hand side of the photo and the new location for our National Day Parade on the left hand side. The weather has been rather cloudy but nice cos it is quite cooling.

After the walk, we worked our appetites and had a great dinner-buffet steamboat and BBQ for only $12 per person. Very worth it I must say. However, 3 of use-CT, Vicky and I were the first 3 to surrender as the rest of the group kept eating..haha..Looks like our stomachs have became much smaller.

Whole day out

Today, CT was on leave. He went for full-body checkup in Ocean Towers for his new company as he would be leaving his existing one soon. Actually, his new company is his old company which he left previously to join this existing one to experience starting up a new plant in Jurong Island.Then few months back, his old company called him and told him that they hope to have him back to teach the younger engineers. So after much prayer, he decided to leave his existing one and go back to his old company.

So anyway,he went for checkup this morning and we met up for lunch at our friend's Ramen shop in Robinson Road. I parked my car at Kembangan MRT station and took a train down to Tanjong Pagar. And was surprised that at about 10 plus am, the train was full and as expected, no one stood up for me. Only finally after 10 mins, this guy stood up to get ready to leave, that I quickly went to the seat and sat down.

So we had lunch at our friend's shop who prepares fresh ingredient and their ramen noodles and soup broth is especially yummy. Its authentic ramen shop that only sells 4 kinds of ramen with no side dishes..no frills. They have quite a number of regular Japs who frequent their shop and at lunch time from 12 noon-1pm, their small little eatery is packed with many queuing outside requesting to take away.

Knowing the timing, we purposely went to this shop at 11am when it first opened so that we can have time to chat with my friend. I learnt a lot about all the intricate details to having your own shop and hiring workers. Now, I kind of respect these kind of people more..as it is def not easy setting up your own shop and managing it.

After lunch, we took a bus down to Suntec where we watched Fantastic Four. Today is actually the day where the movie opens. The theatre was quite empty and I enjoyed the space I had. The movie was a let down as you can see in my movie info on the right hand side column of my blog. Did not really enjoy it...but since we had credit card points, we could watch movies for free. I think I have not paid for a movie for a very long time already. Haha..

After walking around in Suntec window shopping, we walked to the MRT to take a train back to Kembangan station and sigh, the train was packed with people and no one stood up for me. All looked at me as if some kind of monster and they seemed to wait for someone to give up their seat for me. So in the end, I stood up the whole way in the train from City Hall to Kembangan as CT supported me on occasions when the train leaves the station or stops in a station where it is most jerky so that I do not lose my balance.

Along the way, there was someone who stood up to alight, but one middle-aged woman quickly went to grab that seat instead of giving it up to me. CT asked me how come I didnt rush to get it. I said, she was already bent on grabbing it already since it was quite immediate and I definitely would not be fast enough to walk there and sit before her. Sigh...Kudos to ugly Singaporeans once again!

Birthday celebrations

The day before my birthday on the 8th, my bible study group celebrated my birthday for me. They got for me a newborn baby gift set (now who's birthday is it- mine or baby caleb's? I wonder...) as well as a cake.

The cake was so yummy. It is from Prima Deli. So far, the cakes from Prima has not disappointed me at all.


The cake is topped with longan fruits and peaches...

Here is a picture of me - 33 weeks pregnant and CT.

After cell group which was about 10 plus pm, CT and I went to Upp Serangoon Rd for midnight curry rice as well dim sum across the road. Supper in Singapore seems more crowded than dinner time as the car park was almost full.

We also took away hokkien mee which was recommended by someone in the internet which was in the same coffeeshop we had our dim sum. The hokkien mee was meant for my breakfast the next morning, But of course, we couldnt resist, so ate a few mouths first before putting it in the fridge.We also bought Selegie bean curd for tomorrow's breakfast.

What an enjoyable pre-celebration.

Well, on my birthday, we didnt do much except to shop for baby stuff as well as to stay home watch movies and at night, watch my condor heroes show over pizza. Oh and I have to add, CT prepared breakfast for me in the morning but re-frying the hokkien mee and adding one more egg to it.

Recent PC show

Taking advantage of the recent PC show, CT went to upgrade his computer yet again. He loves computer hardware stuff and spends his time reading about the new hardware available and will update his programs in his computer as well. Actually, that was one thing that attracted me to him as I find it attractive for a guy to be good in computer. Hahha...nerd.

Anyway, though his computer system is still so good and fast, he still wants to upgrade it to a more powerful system. I guess this is just his little splurge as on the whole, he is very thrifty. So, he told me he would pass me his system while he upgrades his. So, I am now using his 2.8G Pentium 4 system with 1G RAM. What more can I ask? My previous computer had been serving me faithfully for at least 8 years. A Dell computer which I have been using since JC onwards. But has been rather slow in starting up and giving me a little bit of problems which I could still bear but CT couldnt take it. Ha. I told him that at least my computer teaches me to be more patient and wait for it to start up.

So, on the first day of the PC show, we went to Suntec and as expected, the carpark for Suntec, Marina Sq were all full. We ended up parking at Esplanade. We had lunch at Jack's place in Marina Sq and after lunch, I stayed in Marina Sq to look at baby's stuff while he went to Suntec for the PC Show. I didnt want to fight with the crowd.

He ended up not buying anything as the PC show was mainly for people who buys the whole computer set but CT prefers to get individual stuff and fix it up himself. So, it wasnt suitable for him. In the end, he bought a JVC Everio digi camcorder 20G with 32X Optical Zoom for only $700, for which I would claim $400 from MOE as MOE has a scheme now which I can buy anything that can help in my teaching and claim $400.

After buying, CT joined me back at Marina Sq and we made our way to Sim Lim where he can buy his stuff and not fight with the crowd in the PC Show. We parked our car at Tekka Mall which was per entry parking. Very cheap. He bought a new LCD monitor-same size as he previous one (21 inch). He wanted 22 inch at first but the price was not suitable. So he ended up a 21 inch LCD monitor, he got a gd graphic card and motherboard etc...

We spent altogether 3 hours in suntec area and another 3 hours in Sim Lim all for his computer upgrades. My legs were so sore...from all the walking and carrying. Spent a total of $2000 for the day including the digicamera. So, he only spent $1300 for his whole upgraded computer system. Def cheaper when you buy individual components.

After playing with our new computer systems for few weeks already, I am very pleased with it and one day, I saw a sight in my study room which I felt, I had to take a shot of my room...with my computers..

Can you count how many computers we have in our study room? What a sight I must say. CT was doing some upgrading in my old comp and laptop.

I also took a picture of my computer which was handed down from CT. The only thing new is the LCD monitor which CT bought in Sim Lim- Philips LCD 21 inch monitor. The keyboard, mouse and speakers are all my old ones which I can still use. As you can see, I am really making use of my fast system and big screen to play my computer games. Have been playing Command and Conquer 3 and Granado Espada recently with this computer. I will def not have the time to play once school starts.

Well, though I love to play computer games, I am not hooked onto it. I only play when I am free and do not have anything important to do. I can stop anytime I want and I will not feel anything at all, unlike my teenage days where I play for the whole day or whole night and feel myself immersing into the games...and always thinking about it when I am not playing.

Disappointed with man

Today after church, made my way to Punggol Plaza to have lunch and shop at NTUC, while CT wanted to tighten his new spectacles. Anyway, after lunch, I went to shop at NTUC and bought stuff for my dinner cooking tonight. I chanced upon an advertisement about a new fruit juice flavour from Fruit Tree- Pomegranate, Cranberry apple juice. So, I started looking high and low for it excitedly as I love cranberry and pomegranate juice. Finally, I saw it on the top shelf right at the last row with 2 packets left.

I was slightly disappointed because I did not want to tip toe and stretch as my tummy is getting rather huge. So, I humbly asked this lady who was standing around in her red uniform to help me reach for one packet of the juice. She was actually a fruit juice promoter for Marigold, not Fruit Tree. So her response was," Urm, I scared my boss see. Better not help you take. Why don't you try Marigold fruit juice?" I told her that I only cared about the flavour and Marigold does not have the same flavour I want. Then she continued on declining to help me.

So I went around to look for the NTUC people to help me get the juice. After a while, I went back and asked the same lady who was still standing around at the fruit juice section, not doing anything but standing. I went up and told her," Cant you just help me take? Is it so difficult? Of course, I put it across to her tactfully but with a little of sarcasm as I was already very disappointed. Then she continued rejecting and emphasized that she scared her boss will scold her.

Then, I walked around finding people to help and finally,with relief, saw this NTUC guy who was arranging the fish and after I saw him finish arranging, I asked if he could help me reach for the fruit juice. And did you know what he said? He said," Er..can you go ask someone else?"

Wha..that's it! I was very very and hugely disappointed. I am not asking him a lot of his time and effort. I just need him to help me grab a packet of fruit juice. To them, it would only require few seconds of their time. In my disappointment, I went back to the fruit juice section, and reached for it myself as the same lady who rejected me just stood by and watch a big stomach pregnant lady stretch for it.

When CT came after fixing his specs in the shop, I told him what happened. He said," Why you still buy?" Well, I am a stubborn girl and when I am fixed on something I want, I will want to get it. Moreover, such flavours are hard to get. He was trying to cheer me up after that as I was in tears. Sad because of humans. Disappointed at how selfish man can be...sigh.

Hog's breath cafe at Vivocity

Today was an exciting day for me as I was eagerly waiting to have dinner with my family at vivocity to celebrate my birthday in advance. I made my way to my mum's place at 330pm and we reached vivo early at about 5pm. Walked for 1 hour before we went to the restaurant where we reserved at 6pm.

During our shopping, I chose my birthday present which my mum paid for it. Got myself a crocs slippers which is yellow and black. I love it. I guess I am more a slippers kind of person and if I had a choice, I wish I can wear slippers my whole life, even at work. And when I mean slippers, I meant flip flops...beach wear type. It just makes me feel so comfortable and at ease with slippers.

Anyway, we walked around and even looked at steering wheel accessories for my PS2 and PC, which my bro is thinking of buying that for me for my birthday present. We just went to check out the price. Shortly later, CT joined us after his work as his company bus dropped him at harbourfront.

We made our way to Hog's Breath Cafe located 3rd level of Vivocity. I love places like these where it is like a cowboy country theme to it. Guess cos places like these usually have decent steak...and huge sized portions. It is a pub cum restaurant place. Very nice. Even overlooks the entrance to sentosa. Caught glimpses for the monorail from sentosa entering and exiting.

As usual, with my family around, we order lots and waste nothing! We each had mugs of soup- fish chowder and cream of mushroom. Initially, I thought fish chowder sounds like some kind of soup for the sick..but it tasted really good..and so does the cream of mushroom which is chopped up mushrooms in a brown based cream soup and not white based which tells a lot of how they blend the mushrooms into the soup. Then we also ordered 2 plates of platter- one seafood platter and one fried finger food platter consisting of mussels with cheese, hot buffalo wings, potato skins, fried calamari, fried fish potato cake, fried chicken nuggets, fried popcorn prawns etc)

Here is the close-up...

I enjoyed the potato skins best.

Do you know this cafe challenges customer to a 1kg portion of steak and if they can finish it within one hour, they can eat that for free. But if not, they have to pay $100 +++. It comes with sides too. My brother was so enthusiastic about it but because we needed to book 2 days in advance, we were rejected as they have to order the steak and pre cook it. How amazing. I trust my brother can do it. His largest portion of beef he has eated in one serving is 800g. We asked the waitress and she told us the steak is actually 50% fat and 50% meat. There were challengers who took it up and one thin-sized lady actually made it while a gentleman failed in his attempt. Haha..

When our mains came, I was slightly full already. I ordered a natural prime rib which is for the purist steak lovers to enjoy. Just consists of a steak with no fancy stuff on it, salad and fries. That's how I love it. And steak must be medium rare for it to be juicy...though pregnant not supposed to eat raw food, i thought, medium rare is fine....i think. :)

My mum ordered her lobster with prime rib as she loves lobsters/crabs.

My dad ordered a panfried dory fish with lemon butter sauce, while my brother and Pamela ordered baby back ribs.

CT got a tex-mex combo which is chunky Beef chimichanga (like spring roll) and a grilled sirloin steak on Cajun rice. Topped with cheese sauce and tomato salsa.

After wiping clean the plates, we ordered dessert. Only ordered one plate of apple crumble and one plate of mud pie. Yummmmm...I loved the apple crumble..warm and crumbly...with nice cold ice cream and whipped cream.

Now as I am writing this blog and putting up the pictures, I feel hungry just by looking at the desserts..

Here is a picture of my brother's family after our dinner!

After such a full dinner, we walked around to the pet safari to see puppies. Janine seemed to enjoy herself. She is really cute at this stage and a little playful too.

uninvited guest

Recently, I noticed that there was an uninvited guest in my house. I have never seen it in my life and so I quickly grabbed my trustee camera and started shooting it. It was on my bedroom window...

Initially, thought it was a grasshopper or a praying mantis...but on closer look, it doesnt. Take a look...anyone who knows what that is, pls let me know.

Weekend breakfast

Just last weekend, I decided to prepare breakfast instead of the usual trip to the market or coffeeshops for breakfast on weekends.

Prepared bacon and eggs with toast...Something which my mum used to prepare for me as a kid. Though I am sure it has lots of calories because of the bacon, but once in a long while won't do much harm, would it?

After preparing them item by item, I usually put all of them together in a sandwich style to eat...

Had a nice ice milo drink with this. Yummy...

New additions to blog

I have recently changed the template of my blog. I thought the blue and water is really soothing and calming, which speaks more of my mood every day as I reflect and think about my day. So quite appropriate to have this template.

The other new addition is the sudoku puzzle I have at the right-hand side column. I love to play Sudoku and so far, I am still in search of a competitive opponent, thus havent been playing for some time already.

My friend, Winnie and I used to play Sudoku together during school holidays as she is a teacher from TPJC. We would meet at my parent's place at Siglap and just sit down with our stationery-pencil, eraser, pen and start playing with puzzles. She used to be my shi fu (teacher) for a while teaching me the techniques but ever since she impartation of skills to me,I have won her consecutively countless times. So now, I am in search of the next shi fu....

My husband, CT does play with me after much persuasion from me but though he is a guy who has great logical and analytical deduction, I still beat him each time because it is more about speed too! Haha.. When he went to US 2006 alone sent by his company, he came back with a Sudoku boardgame which I was so excited about and played a few times. Sad to say, it has been chucked aside now as I havent found someone who has the time and mood to play with me.

So, if there are any competitors out there who wants to play, do let me know! :) I am game for any challenges.

Whatever and Anything ads

In reference to what I mentioned in my last blog, these are the adverts for the new canned drinks in Singapore...

By the way, these drinks when bought would not tell you what drink you got till you open it up and drink it since the consumer wants "Anything" or "Whatever".

I have recently gotten it in my supermarket down at my block and I tested it out today with CT and asked him after his exercise what he wanted to drink and he said, "Anything". So I brought him Anything drink! :) It turned out to be cola inside.

Check out the cool adverts!