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!

more food glorious food...

Today is a Saturday and I would usually cook dinner on Sats as CT and I would stay home to catch the "Return of the Condor Heroes" in Channel U. We are big fans of sword fighting...

Anyway, this was what I cooked for dinner tonight. Made a simple salad with thousand island, garlic mashed potatoes with black pepper as well as pan fried dory with herbs. Usually I cook what I like to eat because CT seldom tells me what he wants to eat even though I ask him as he is much an "anything" guy.

Talking about "anything"..did you know Singapore came up with a can drink called, "Anything" and "Whatever"? Ct think that it is rather lame but I think otherwise. Given the indecisive nature of men, the names were quite appropriate. I remember very vividly when I used to gather with my church friends to decide where to eat and we would always respond with the all too familiar word, "Anything". So, we jokingly thought that next time when we open a restaurant, we would name it "Anything Cafe" or "Anything Restaurant" so that people would think of us each time they respond with the word, "Anything".

When the ads for these drinks first came up, it did create a lot of question marks in people's minds. They were wondering if this was for real. I know I had the same reaction.

Most would see this as simply a marketing packaging, or perhaps even a passing fad that would not stand the test of market and time. That is too early to say - but as characteristics of such a gimmicky approach to beverage marketing, a hyped-up launch campaign is definitely crucial.
They took out some ads, some of which verging on the risque, e.g. the picture of a sexy woman accompanied by the line “I’m easy. I’ll take Whatever you give me”. There was a mild reaction (controversy?) to the campaign - some people think they are demeaning (which I’m fairly certain is the intention: you’d need all the publicity you can get, controversial or not - debates and letters to the newspaper forums would certainly fuel the curiosity and hype).

What they perhaps did not anticipate was a response of another kind to their ads. You see, they have lined cans around their posters (empty sealed cans). These cans were quickly vandalized - whether it be the bored teenager fiddling with it and opening the tabs, or from poor old women removing the aluminum cans for money. As a result, there were again concerns over the opened cans being a breeding ground for dengue mosquitoes - eventually the company pulled the ads down prematurely.

For those wondering what these two canned drinks serve. Well, the "Anything" drink serves anything. Haha..They serve any fizzy drinks from cola, cola with lemon, root beer, etc while the "Whatever" canned drink serves non-carbonated drinks- e.g. ice lemon tea, chrysanthemum tea, apple tea etc. Interesting right?


It seems that sales for these canned drinks have been so popular that most are sold out even before I can get my hands on them. How long will this craze last, I wonder...?

Caleb's 2nd gift...

Baby Caleb has gotten his 2nd gift so far. This time round, is from Aunty Esther who will be leaving to America for good in June. Sobsob. She gave him the whole series of "Baby Einstein" and a ornament that can be hung on the wall...


I am sure baby Caleb will love it.

Thanks Aunty Esther!

Spiderman 3

Today, after church service, CT brought me to Vivocity Gold Class to watch Spiderman 3. I am a lover of super heroes and this year is like a super hero show with movies like Spiderman 3, Fantastic 4, Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, etc. Next year will be showing Incredible Hulk. Hope it will be better than the first one, which I totally didnt enjoy.

Anyway, let's come back to Spiderman 3. The ticket costs $30 each person but of course, for friends or family members who know me and CT well, we wouldnt spend that kind of money for this kind of purpose. Totally ridiculous. It was free for us as we won the lucky draw during CT's company's dinner and dance event. And it was the last prize of the lucky draw which was still good. We won 2 gold class tickets. SO, decided to use it for this show since we both like Spiderman.

We were very surprised that there were a number of kids in the gold class theatre. And when I say kids, they are like between 5 years old to 12 years old. Very surprised at how their parents would spend such money and spoil their kids.

Gold class is basically a small private theatre with about 30 seats which come in pairs and can recline or lift up your legs. Very comfortable. There is also a table in between where we can order food-real food that fills you. For e.g set menus-burgers, sandwiches, etc..including snacks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. One set menu costs about $25 on top of the $30 bucks that you pay.

It is basically like sitting in first class of an aeroplane where the staff would serve you and provide for you a blanket.

I must say, it was an eye-opening experience which we will never go there unless...we win more gold class tickets free of charge.

I would rather spend my money on a good piece of steak.. :)

Flu Bug

There seems to be a flu bug going around as my colleagues take mc and come back with a "sexy" voice that doesnt seem to go away for days. Thank God my immunity was strong enough and was protected from having the bug.


However, CT was not spared and he finally took mc after not taking one for the whole year. He was down with sore throat, cough, runny nose. After a day or two, his sore throat disappeared but along came with phlegm and cough.

Because of this, I decided to cook for him a soup that is good for lungs and cough.


I added a lot of stuff to make the soup really taste and naturally sweet.





This is what it looks like when I boil the soup under high heat. There's chinese dried vegetables, gei zi (wolfberries-which is good to add in soups. Has great antioxidant properties and good for eyes too), chinese almond seeds(the northern and southern ones which differ in taste), pork ribs, red dates, dried fig etc.

I put in over a big fire for about 1 hour plus. It was quite dry towards the end, so I added water which was ended up still sweet and tasty.

Final product being served......

This is the ingredients which I put. One bag full of stuff...

Hmm..just for the two of us to drink. Is it worth it?

Well, I think it is...anything for my husband... :)

Celebrating Kor's birthday

My brother's birthday is exactly one week after Pam's birthday. So, it was another celebration again. Lots of celebrations happening this May...

We also celebrated Mother's Day at the same time since it was just one day apart. Went to Zuko, a French/Italian/Fusion restaurant just outside my parent's place along Upper East Coast Road. Been there twice and boy, it was so much nicer this time round as we ordered lots of stuff and shared. Pam's parents came along too since we were celebrating Mother's Day.There were a total 9 of us,including our helper.


We first ordered two plates of tomato bruschetta,which is a grilled bread rubbed with garlic and topped with extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.Very tasty and yummy. Then we each ordered soup-french onion soup and wild mushroom soup.After the soup, we also had escargot. It is one of my favourite dish since young but didnt eat it this time because of my pregnancy. One of those foods that I do not know I can eat or ot during pregnancy.

Then, our mains came. We actually ordered to share with one another. We had 2 plates of squid ink pasta (linguine), 2 plates of grilled chicken with veggies, 3 plates of grilled hokubee ribeye and lastly my bro's birthday cake.

Our favourite dish was the grilled hokubee ribeye which is actually a Japanese cow that is reared in Australia. So, it is really tender, juicy and fatty! Melts in the mouth.Very nice. It came with mashed potatoes at the bottom and sauteed veggies.

More food pictures..

The squid ink pasta dish has been the dish that we always order as it was unique and fun...Well, at least CT and Janine had fun with the ink...(or rather we had fun laughing at Janine at her expense..)


Another part during dinner where we laugh at her is when we made her eat a slice of lemon to see her reaction. Cheap thrill...

How fun..

And finally, this is a picture of the cake I bought for my brother..it was a choc truffle cake.

I always leave such dinners with the feeling as if I was going to be in labour soon..so so so full.

Colleagues gathering

This is now the exam period and we get to go home officially at 12:30pm. I would usually make use of such opportunity to go home earlier and mark my papers.

Today, met up with my colleagues and ex-colleagues for dinner at Katong Village, Waraku Japanese Restaurant. It is a decent restaurant with lots of varieties which took us a long time to decide what to eat. Finally, I ate a set meal which consists of a bowl of rice, a bowl of noodles, pork cutlet and jap salad. Very filling as the noodles and rice was quite big portion.

2 among the group, are my ex-colleagues who are not teaching anymore. One of them, Cindy works in NPCC CCA branch now while the other is just taking a break.

The one sitting beside me is Annabella, also known as Anna. I knew her from my JC days when she joined the swim team. After that, we swam together in NUS as Eusoff hall roped me in to swim for them and Anna happens to be from Eusoff hall. Those were the fun days.

Anyway, back to the dinner..

Some of my friends ordered steamboat style with rice-one was the usaul steamboat pot, while the other is the paper-style steamboat where the soup and dishes are contained within this special paper.

We ordered side dishes as well- potato cabbage pan fried flour with mayonaise which tasted really nice. It actually reminds me of takoyaki. The other side we ordered was the usual japanese fried tofu (agedashi tofu).

Above is a picture of what I ordered. By the way, the camera did not capture all that I ate...

As usual, the whole night of our conversation was about students and our school. Hmm..what else could it be when teachers gather together..

We also celebrated Irene's and Kelvin's birthday. Kelvin is the one who recently left our school to take a break. We got them a simple mango cake. We were stuffing the cake into our mouths as we were all so full already.

Caleb's first new baby clothes

Just recently, my best friend, Marianne gave a set of infant's clothes to baby Caleb. I was pleasantly surprised and moreover, it was really cute. I definitely cant wait to buy stuff for Caleb but I know I have to really hold back as people would pass down some old stuff to me and friends/relatives would buy stuff for Caleb as well.




And I also do not want to spend too much on baby's stuff which he would outgrow very fast...

So anyone with baby's stuff which you will not use and would like to donate to baby Caleb, do let me know or pass them to me soon! Thanks! :)

Celebrate Pam's birthday

Today, went to Changi Airport to celebrate Pamela's(my sis-in-law) birthday. We went to "Soup Restaurant" and had lots of food. We ate beggar's pork rib, samsui ginger chicken with lettuce, sweet potato leaves with sambal, lotus root soup, bean curd, noodles. It was very yummy.



Last but not least, we had ice cream cake from gelare which mum bought.

Janine cant help but stare hard at the delicious looking ice cream chocolate cake.

CT and I had to rush lunch as we had to go down to hospital for our antenatal classes. We were about 5 mins late and the class started already and immediately, the instructor made us to exercises which she taught us last week. I was telling CT that I might just puke from the filling lunch.Haha...

It was fun attending classes at the hospital to prepare me for the birth of baby Caleb. I had learnt a lot about my body and to prepare me mentally. During today's class, we recap on the exercises taught-abdominable exercises, pelvic thrusts, pelvic floor muscles exercises, breathing exercises etc. Today, we learnt about preparations for the different stages of labor-what to expect and what to do.

The instructor also taught the husbands how to massage the wives while going through the stages and how they can help. So, it was fun having CT massage my back and doing the breathing exercises with me.

After class, I went to my mum's house to rest and bathe. Then we went out for early Mother's Day dinner which my church organised. It was the Mandarin Ministry that organised it. So, CT and I invited my parents and my mum-in-law. We all went in my mum's van.

Dinner was at Qian Xi Lou at Civil Service Club which I have been there almost every year since I joined teaching as they hold the public service swimming meet there. So, quite familiar with the place. Too bad I cannot compete this year because of my pregnancy.

Oh...forgot to mention that Janine came along as my bro and Pam went out to watch "Spiderman 3". So, I was given the task to babysit her. It was tough keeping her occupied and amusing her during the journey as she was so active and I was so inactive.,,because of my weight and tummy.

Glad my mum helped a lot throughout the dinner.

The dinner was filled with performances and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. There were a group of ex-convicts who were drug addicts that came up on stage to sing a couple of songs. Very touching. One of them even shared his story about how he started taking drugs and joining a secret society when he was 13 yrs old...and how his mum kept worrying about him.

He kept going in and out of prison many times and to many different prisons. But his mum never failed to visit him though she was very disappointed. Each time he got out of jail, he wanted to start afresh but he would always go back to his old ways. He then talked about how he met a guy whom introduced him to go church and from then on, he changed for the better.

After his mum saw his tremendous change, she also accepted Christ. His mum was there at the dinner and she too gave her testimony about how she went to temples to pray for her children as all 3 of them were drug addicts. She even paid a lot to the monks there as they told her about different solutions like burning incense paper and drink it etc..She was desperate. Even when the son accepted Christ, she told him that he will surely not last and will go back to his old ways. But, it was indeed a miracle that he didnt go back to his old ways, but instead went around giving his testimonies to people about his miraculous change in him after so many years and how God has been really good, working in his lives.

His dad during the tough times even had a mistress and when the mother gave her testimony, she shared that after accepting Christ, she learnt to forgive him and even invited him and the mistress to church. Such peace!

It just brings to my mind about a verse from the bible," I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

There are just so many testimonies going around about God's goodness and even I, myself have lots of stories to tell about what God has done in my life and will do in future. I just cant wait to spend my entire life with Him and please Him.

Reality fanatic

For the past months or so, I have been catching my favourite 2 reality shows- American Idol and All-Stars Amazing Race. Both of which will be ending soon. Sobsob.

I like reality shows because it tells me what people are like but of course, I take it with a pinch of salt since reality shows like these are 'staged' in some sense. I have a love for learning about human psychology and why people behave/act the way they do. If I ever had a chance, I wish I can study psychology...and going into the minds of people.

I guess, this love helps me in my teaching as I totally understand what most students think and so, I tune my lessons according to what they like and yet, still helping them to learn. Guess that is why most students appreciate me better even the normal technical students.

This coming week will be the finale of the Amazing Race and I am pretty excited who will win. I like that show for its challenges and the places they visit. I am also a person who strongly believes in the wonders of travelling...and how it opens your eyes to many things and thus, increasing my knowledge and wisdom.

2 days ago, American Idols sang songs of Bon Jovi and boy, I loved it as I have always listened to Bon Jovi since I was a teenager and I totally 'dug' their performance when they sang it. I absolutely loved Blake's performance that night...as it was the most entertaining and most original style of a Bon Jovi song.Do check it out! (if you know Bon Jovi's songs)

Another cook out

Usually during the weekdays, CT and I would have home cooked chinese meal which consists of 3 dishes, soup and rice. So, when it comes to weekends, I tend to eat Western or other cuisines that is not Chinese. Anything ranging from Thai food, Jap food to even Turkish food.

So this weekend, I decided to cook Coney dogs, since I had sausages in my fridge. Yep, it was another filling night where I just cant move after eating. Haha..We both had 2 coney dogs each and the pork bratwurst sausages were thick and fat.

You think it is not much...well, that was the same respond CT had when I told him we would be eating coney dogs for dinner and he replied," Only? Enough or not?" But who knows, that came with lots of other stuff too...

I made a light olive oil garden salad with lemon juice, cream of chicken mushroom soup and a light fluffy pastry to go with the soup (roti prata).

So, we ended up stuffed!

Cant imagine those hot dog eating competitions where the person eats 40-50 of them. Amazing.

Happenings in my life

Well, nothing much has been really exciting in my life except more kicks from baby Caleb throughout the day as well as going to East Shore Hospital weekly on Saturdays to attend antenatal classes with CT.

I chose East Shore Hospital because it is reasonably priced as well as it is not so crowded. The other reason is that it is located in the East which makes travelling down easier to go for classes or doing visits.

I have really learnt a lot from the class about how and why the body is changing. The nurse will first talk about nutrition, then breastfeeding, signs of labour, bathing the baby etc. Next few weeks will be teaching me how to exercise and breathe properly to ease the delivery of baby. How interesting I must say.

Currently at the moment. CT and I have decided to employ a helper a month before I deliver the baby to take care of me. I have never wanted to relied on one but it seems I do not have much a choice since CT prefers to stay in our own house and both our mums are not free to take care of baby.

I do not wish to employ one because it seems inconvenient to have someone new coming into our family and stay with us. And also, I do hope that aside from all the maid stories that I have heard, I can still trust them.

I do pray I will get one who is honest, pleasant, takes initiative, hardworking and has the ability to take care of baby Caleb, cook and clean the house.

Cooking

Last Sunday, I felt like eating burgers. So, I decided to make my own mushroom swiss burger.

Bought ground beef and seasoned it with salt, black pepper, worcestershire sauce and tomato ketchup. Usually, I would add beer as it would taste nicer but I guess I didnt want it to be so fanciful. So, I kept my seasoning simple.

So I first sauteed the white button mushrooms with onions. Then I made my beef patties and grilled it. Then add the cooked mushrooms on top, and lastly, top it off with cheese on top before putting on my already grilled bread with melted butter.

It was delicious and filling as we both took 2 burgers each. Had baked beans, salad, and chicken vegetable soup for sides. Actually, I had mashed potatoes too but decided not to cook them after I saw that there was so much food.

It is really simple to make. If you do not eat beef, you can always replace it will grill chicken breast or grilled dory fish. It will also taste good.

Give it a try!

new additions to blog

Just to let y'all know that I have added on movie recommendations in my blog. The reason in doing so is because CT and I love watching movies and thus, I felt it might be useful for those who like to catch a movie but do not know what is good out there. Pre-warning: The movies that I recommend is purely my own personal recommendations and thoughts written about it.

The other thing I added is a website link(on the right side column) to the forum which I live in-The Punggol Forum. My neighbourhood has their own forum and lots of useful titles for you to read up if you like to-e.g for food lovers-gd places to eat or recipes, for pregnant mothers & mothers, lots more.... as well as a wide collection of photographs to Punggol.

Do check it out when you are free!

Good Friday

Today is Good Friday and my church has a service in Expo for all Presbyterians in Singapore- a combined service. CT and I gave it a miss because I didnt want to be in crowds. Instead, CT suggested bringing me to the Pasir Ris Park to catch the sunrise.

Truthfully, I would much rather catch up on my sleep as I have been lacking from the days of waking up early in the morning for work. But since CT initiated (which he seldom does), I wanted to support him by agreeing to it and wake up at the usual time during working days-which is 6am. CT suggested as he knew I would like watching, which I do..

So, today at 6am, woke up as usual and took the same usual route as I would have gone to school as my school is near the Pasir Ris Park. I really felt as if I was going to work. We managed to catch the sunrise though it was not very strong and contrasting in colour. It was still pleasant to catch the breeze and see the pastel colours in the sky.

There were an elderly couple there already doing their morning exercise.

At times, we could catch the commercial airlines flying in the sky as it is near the airport..

We also caught sight for an egret looking kind of bird along the shores..

After that refreshing time in the morning, we went for breakfast at Pasir Ris Market area.

Every time I catch the sunrise/sunset/beautiful flowers, I always thank God for his creation. Indeed there is a God who created all these and He is the same one who claims: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

May this Good Friday weekend be a good time for you to reflect upon the meaning of Good Friday and Easter Sunday to think about His love, think about His goodness..

22 weeks old

Baby is now about 22 weeks in my womb and boy, it has been kicking. No complains as I love to feel it kicking. Its mostly awake at night after dinner time but recently, baby Caleb has been kicking in the day time when I am in school too. Hope he is learning Mathematics as I teach my students! hehe





Here is a picture of him. He is now too big to take a full picture of him.

When CT saw this, he said, "wha..caleb so handsome.."

Hmm..go figure..