CG loves JC

New Journey

2011-11-12T20:30:00.004+08:00

For the second time, I am sitting for exam during confinement. The old plan did not work out and hopefully with God's grace, this current plan will work out smoothly and successfully.

I am pretty contented with 3 kids though Hippo always wanted 4. Just like what Dr. Ang said during our last visit, "Let your husband convince you". But frankly speaking, I don't think I, or rather we, can manage 4 kids well. Raising a kid is not easy, let alone a well-nurtured one. That's another mission of mine during this 16 weeks maternity leave. Joanna is getting out of hand nowadays.

There is a saying in Chinese which says "set up the family first then career" (先成家, 后立业）and this is what I am going to do. We have got our own house, our car and our complete family and now it's time for me to focus on my career. For the first time, I am going to work for myself. A full time job just ties me down completely, leaving me with only a short few hours a day for my kids. It's simply not enough especially they are at a stage which need a lot of guidance and encouragement. I must admit that I have been neglecting Benedict lately all because I am physically tired after a day at work. "Sorry Ben, I know you love me so much that you won't never blame me but I promise, I will make an effort to spend quality time with you. Let us teach meimei how to play together so that 3 of you can play together in the future and be the best friends ever."

I am not sure how's the journey ahead will be and I don't know whether I will end up spending more time at work and achieve nothing, but I will put in my very best in this new journey, for myself, my family and a BREAKTHROUGH in life. If others can make it, I am sure I can as well. With this mindset, I am going to take a big step forward.

Father God, I thank you for your grace and mercy. Without you, we are nothing. I put my future into your hands and believe that you will take care and provide for everything. In Jesus' name, Amen!

Welcome, Judith!!

2011-11-03T10:04:00.004+08:00

It was a Monday, my birthday and I took leave to bring Baobei for check up. I was thinking that it must have been the second last visit before Judith is born (and I was right).

We waited for a long time as usual. When we entered the doctor's room, I asked Dr Ang if Judith would be born today and he said, "possible!"

"Whoa!! Really!! Then Judith will share the same birthday with me!" I was thinking. Dr Ang did ultra sound scan and declared that Judith was heading down and ready to come.

Dr Ang explained to use that he can do a induce labour and the risk is low. Some babies might have lung not fully developed and requires longer hospital stay before they can be discharged. "Hallelujah, my baby is so blessed and she will be ok!" again, I think.

We left the clinic nervous like the first pregnancy. Baobei was very nervous and keep on telling me that we are not ready as the furniture were not delivered, room was not cleaned and her backside pain...

So we decided to go IKEA and do the last round of shopping prior to a decision. we bought Baobei's shelf and working table, double decker bed and bookshelf for Ben and Joanna. Baobei changed her tone and kept asking me if I like the idea of sharing birthday with Judith. Of course I LOVE it! I kept on assure her and reassure her that this would be the best arrangement! Just think of the birthday cake we can save down to the years, it's going to cost us a fortune otherwise!

On the way back Baobei finally decided to go ahead with it. She insisted that I should call Dr Ang and check if everything is ok. I did while she was driving and Dr Ang asked us to go over to his clinic immediately. "Praise the Lord!" I cannot help.

We reached the clinic at 5pm and Dr Ang explain to us what is going to happen and ask us to admit to hospital tonight by 7pm. We went home and took shower and everybody was excited over the news.

Cut the long story short, Judith was born at 21:16 on 24 Oct 2011. Coincidently, both of us was born in a double digit year. She cried loud in the ward and Dr Ang declared that her lung is indeed very healthy!

This is like a miracle to me, on not, this IS. Thank you, Jesus for what you have done on the cross for us. I know You love us.

Please stand and welcome:

Teo Ming Hui Judith 张明惠

Rest In Peace, Tin Onn

2011-06-11T11:56:00.002+08:00

Tin Onn went to be with the Lord on 31st May 2011.

At the time of his departure, I was in the hotel in Sunway. I only carried the blue laptop bag Tin Onn bought for me from the States. I wanted a big one so that I can bring everything in it for short trip like this. This time I even managed to bring my sports attire with me to play badminton with my local colleagues.

I looked at the sms from Er Ge, my mind was blank. Shouldn't I be happy for him? He has a brand new body now, he's with Jesus and there will only be eternal joy ahead of him.

I got fever and turned out to be chicken pox 2 days after the funeral service. Fever, lose of appetite and muscle ache. I keep thinking of Onn and his suffering for the past six months. What I was experiencing was one tenth of his? I naively said to him that once, "I don't what you are suffering now, I know it's great pain, but you got to bear with it, for your sons..." He smiled and closed his eyes. He did not want to speak the word of weakness.

Farewell, Onn. We will see again in the heaven. Until then, you will tell us all the place of interest in heaven. Just like how it always has been.

2011

2011-02-16T21:33:00.002+08:00

Time flies and we are entering the 3rd month of 2011 in 2 weeks time. But somehow, I feel that my 2011 year has just started.

January was a busy month for me - work, family, CNY preparation. However, i managed to get myself an iphone 4 and i fall in love with it immediately. I was pretty worried that I may not be I-sawy enough to use the phone but it's pretty user friendly or "idiot-proof".

I flew back to Kuching for 11 days on the first day of CNY. It's a great holidays for all of us and I caught up with some of my friends who I haven't seen 1-2 years.

We came back on Sunday and Cg flew off to KL for 2 weeks on the same night. Not only I have backlog of work, Benedict too has some homework to catch up on. Hopefully we can catch up after this week.

Since Cg will be in KL this weekend, we are still considering if we want to visit him over the weekend.

Aim for 2011:
1. Taiwan trip with my mother
2. Phuket trip with Cg, Benedict and Joanna
3. have some savings in our account
4. hmmm.... let's keep it a secret for the moment

Happy 2011 Everybody!

蜘蛛女侠

2010-09-10T11:04:00.004+08:00

昨天放工回家，佣人的神情有些不对劲，还以为她是因为佳节思念家人，所以也没问她什么。

一会儿，佣人向我要一把小孩房间的锁匙，说两个小孩今天被反锁在房间里，不会开门。我马上问她那她是怎么样把门打开的，她的答案把我们给吓呆了。我的佣人竟然做蜘蛛女侠，从客厅的窗口爬进小孩房间的窗口。虽然我们家只在3楼，虽然距离只有3-4尺，但她脚下没有地方可以踏，要用双手抓着窗口上边多出来的一点点墙，还要一支手抓住墙，一支手开铁花的锁头，真不可思议。

我不了解为什么她会选择我认为最危险又最愚蠢的方法，但我特地叮咛老公别骂她。如果佣人有我们的智慧，那她们可能在自己家也可闯出一番成就，不需要一个人离开家，飘洋过海来当女佣了。对佣人来说，她可能认为她的方法是最快可以安全救出我两个孩子的唯一方法。既然事情已经过去了，再不赞同，我也不可以骂一个冒着生命危险一心只想救我孩子的人。

之后，我们告诉了佣人她的决定是多危险的。万一她跌下去，她不但救不了我的孩子，那她自己的危险呢？那她在印尼一直等待她回去的家人怎么办？我们也告诉她其他可以又快又安全救出我孩子的方法。她听懂了，也保证以后不再做危险的事了。

天父阿爸，我感谢你，一直在保护着我的家人，就连我们不知道的时候，你也一直都在。

Spending

2010-09-02T14:36:00.004+08:00

I have spent quite a lot this week.

1. about $80 for a top and a dress from BYSI.
2. $79.90 for 2 jeans from Levi's Signature
3. $10 for 3 pairs of earrings.
4. $10 for 3 necklaces.
5. $10 for shawl
6. $15 for a dress
7. $6 for a top

total $211 altogether and i am going to get 1/2 belt(s) and a black jacket.

my spoilt radio 2

2010-09-02T10:16:00.002+08:00

my spoilt radio is making a come back.

since the PM delivered his ND rally speech, there were a number of cooling measures against soaring HDB price. the spoilt radio was translating the measures into the impacts to the public and private property market, as well as changes in the transaction itself. the radio also talked about the group of victim who might be caught in this process.

most of the time you can change channel by pushing a button, not with this spoilt radio and it just went on and on. maybe i should serious consider a switch in career path and start my own property advisory firm.

will you patronise my new firm?

Changes to residential (HDB/private) wef 30 August 2010

2010-09-01T09:09:00.005+08:00

1. Households earning between $8,000 to $10,000 may buy new DBSS flats with a CPF Grant of $30,000. Similar to the purchase of Executive Condominiums, these buyers will not be able to obtain the HDB concessionary loan. This will only be applicable to DBSS projects launched for public sale after 30 August 2010.

2. The Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) for non-subsidised flats (i.e. resale flat bought without CPF housing grant) has been increased to 5 years. The buyers are not allowed to sell or subset the flat within this period.

3. Concurrent ownership of both HDB flat and a private residential property within the MOP is no longer allowed. Buyers of HDB flats are disallowed to own a private property within the 5 years. Private property owners who buy a non-subsidised HDB flat must now dispose of their private residential property within 6 months from the date of purchase. This is applicable to resale applications received by HDB from 30 August 2010 onwards.

4. Seller's Stamp Duty (SSD) is imposed on owners who sell their property within 3 years of purchase. Calculation of the SSD is the same as the one for Option to Purchase or Sale and Purchase Agreement. If the property is sold within the first year, the full SSD will be imposed; if sold within the second year, 2/3 of the stamp duty is payable; if sold within the third year, 1/3 of the is payable. There will be no SSD is the property is sold after 3 years.

5. Buyers with outstanding loan at the time of application will need make minimum cash payment of 10% of the valuation. Moreover, bank loans for second property will be capped at a maximum of 70% of the valuation.

Asset Rich

2010-08-25T15:22:00.002+08:00

A while ago I may not be thinking that I am actually asset rich. Today, my manager announced my resignation to the team and my teammates were gathering in my cubicle to examine and made reservation for lucrative assets under my care.

First it was my cubicle itself. The FengShui is simply great and the monitor is facing the opposite direction of the entrance. Then it was my monitor and the new PC with 6Gbps SAS HBA. Down here, the hundreds of Tera byte of storage devices are so worthless.

I am really glad that at least I am leaving behind many useful stuffs. Folks, take my brain child, it's more valuable than the monitor!!

My journey in law firm - Part I

2010-08-23T16:47:00.004+08:00

I joined this firm in March 2010. This is my third employment in Singapore.

I left the Registry because I want to do not just the registration part, but the whole conveyancing process. I joined this firm because of the quality work they produce despite the high volume and their systematic work process. I sent in my resume by email, went for the interview and accepted the offer.

I started my training at the Toa Payoh office. After a week, I was transferred to Suntec office to cover a girl who was due for delivery soon. On Friday, she started her 16 weeks maternity leave and I was left independant with the job I had been doing for the past 2 years, looking forward to the day which I can learn something new.

Now 16 weeks is over and I am assigned with the new tasks. Before I came back to Toa Payoh office, boss had spoken to me about her plan for me. She asked if I like the plan and I am delighted. That's exactly what I wanted to achieve and she is offering it to me now, when I least expected. All I can say is God is good all the time.

This is my sixth week and I really enjoy what I am doing now. I hope to learn the most within the shortest time possible. Am I greedy? No, I am not! I just have expectation for myself.

Cinderalla Man

2010-08-05T12:26:00.015+08:00

I am addicted to this Korean drama recently.

- Cinderella Man -

As usual, this drama is about 2 brothers fighting for the family business. The elder brother (A) is from the mother's previous marriage hence not related by blood to his family whereas the other (B), though related by blood, is a illegitimate child. The illegitimate boy actually has an identical twin (C) which nobody know about his existence until they both met.

Due to health condition, B asked C to impose him. Badly in need of money, C took up the offer and the whole funny part of this drama begins. The romance part of this story is very touching as well and I still dwell on it though I have finished watching the whole drama.

I think all the boys are very charming (Note: not because of look but the personality) and really wonder will ever story like this be true in real life?

English-thinking

2010-08-04T11:50:00.003+08:00

Do you think in English? Coming from Chinese speaking background, I must admit that my brain only works in Mandarin. For other language, my brain has to work double - to think and to translate.

This is affecting me recently as I have to do a lot of talking in my work. Sometimes when the clients ask question, I have to think of the answer and to translate in my brain before I tell them the answer.

I WANT TO IMPROVE on this! and how can this be done? through practice, which means my poor clients just got to bear with me for the time being and secondly, I seriously think I should start blogging so that I can practise thinking in English. Of course when we write in English, our brain function in English as well.

It's settled. Resolution for the second half of 2010 is to improve my English-thinking brain.

感动

2010-06-04T00:08:00.005+08:00

今天不知怎么了，竟然忘了带电话去做工。在现今科技发达的社会，没有电话就好比少了一只手那么不方便。

放工时，因为是新加坡大热卖时期，所以就逛了一下。女人嘛，说到逛街，一下是骗人的。只走了一间店，试了好多衣服，不知不觉已过了一小时。赶紧付了钱，要等德士，却看见那队好长。想想可能Convention Centre 那不会那么多人，就走了过去。人是比较少，可是却没德士。排了许久，看见有人在对面的马路旁接德士，我就走过去。

不久，德士来了，我上了车，本想和德士司机借电话打回家报平安，可是又不是很想让陌生人有家人的电话号码，看看交通还蛮顺畅的，就打消了这个念头。心理真还蛮担心家人会担心，因为毕竟离刚才打电话说要回家时已大约过了一小时半。

回到家时，老公竟然已在路旁等我。心想:惨了，这回一定挨骂。可是老公却没骂我, 只是问我为什么没跟人借电话打回家, 知道家人会担心吗? 听了, 好感动, 好内疚! 长大之后, 就好像没有人这么担心我了。

Dear, 对不起, 我以后不会让你这么担心了。我爱你!

Holidays

2010-05-31T14:54:00.002+08:00

It's last day of May and we are going for holidays in 20 days' time.

My mother is coming over to Singapore on 18 June and we are leaving Singapore on 20 June. Our itinerary is as follows: -

20 June - Singapore/Malacca
21 June - Malacca/Genting
22 - 24 June - Penang
24 - 27 June - KL

Kinda look forward this holidays as it's Joanna's first holidays outside Kuching. Look out for more blogs of our trip!

Bowling @ Leisure Park, Kallang

2010-05-31T13:19:00.004+08:00

Eliana: 75, Benedict: 58, Ah Ma: 71, Jessie: 91, Chengguan: 106.

We found a bowling place with bumper lanes in Leisure park Kallang. It is beginning of school holiday and we thought it might be good to bring the kids out for fun.

It was pretty late in the evening by the time Eliana and Benedict finished rollerblade lesson and kite flying. The kids got bumper lanes but Ah Ma was not given that. I asked if they can give it to Ah Ma but the staff refused. According to the house rule, only players below 10 can have bumper lanes.

Everything went well in the beginning except I "cleared the drains" pretty thoroughly. It was a tight battle between Eliana and Ah Ma. As for Benedict, he enjoyed the moments he rolled the bowling ball forward. Once the ball left his hand, he turned back immediately and start his victory dance!

The game took a drastic turn when Baobei missed her last game totally. It was 5 point difference and it was my last chance to catch up. I prayed and left go of the ball and it was a STRIKEEEEEEEEEE!!! Benedict was so excited that he ran to me and hug me. In my mind it was the ads from Mastercard, "3.5 years of parenting - 1 strike - a hug from my son - preiceless!"

It was a pretty good game and everybody had so much fun. Most importantly, nobody cried over mistakes! I guess this is a good beginning for greater sportsmanship of the kids. Thank you, Lord for such a good game :)

Breakfast

2010-04-19T17:43:00.002+08:00

On 17 April 2010, we brought Joanna out without Kakak for the second time. The first time was a total failure that we brought her back half way.

Knowing that Kakak was busy preparing lunch for a special guest, we brought Joanna out for breakfast with us. Though grandma and Kakak were totally against the idea, as a mother, I had the final say. I carried her and left with only a pacifier. We went to our usual breakfast place, a mamak shop at Bukit Timah.

Joanna kept pulling things on the way there. Benedict was so jeolous that he too wanted to sit on my lap. So i had my son on my left lap and my daughter on my right lap. Envious le?? When we reached there, we asked for a baby seat for Joanna. She was delighted and she is simply too attractive that almost all the staff will stop and play with her whenever they walk past. We tried to give her some food as we were having ours.

We decided to visit Benedict's new school when we were on the way back. We also dropped by Cold Storage. Joanna didn't make any noise at all.

When we reached home, Kakak was the one who had been worrying since we stepped out of the house. Kakak kept asking if Joanna did look for her and she kept asking and asking...

I really hope i can have more time with my families and my children are just so precious to me.

A Family Bully

2010-03-29T17:45:00.004+08:00

Dealing with a bully on the playground is tough enough, but what do you do when the bully is in your own family?

We all want our kids to grow up close to their aunts and uncles, but sometimes a kid's cousin can be his worst nightmare.

Just about every family has one child who seems to be the house bully, and their parents don't always pay attention to what's going on.

If you child complains of being bullied, watch from a distance as they play. When a problem arises, calmly say to the child's parent, "I think you need to talk to Tommy. He seems to be having trouble keeping his hands to himself."

Then explain what you saw. Information tends to carry more weight when it comes from an adult.

Above all, make sure your kids are safe - physically and emotionally.

Family or not, no kids has a right to bully.

2010

2010-01-04T10:27:00.003+08:00

Another year has passed again and i am moving into the 30th year of my life.

New year resolution for 2010: -

1. spend less and save more (shamefully, i say this every year but this year i am going to keep a record of my spending)
2. spend more time with family
3. bring my mother to either taiwan or HK & Macau and hoepfully can go Japan with Hippo
4. spend more time with God : read bible or at least daily devotional

I think that's about all. Life can be very simple, isn't it?

Happy New Year and i wish everyone good health. Amen!

Dark Chocolate

2009-12-17T13:50:00.005+08:00

Baobei went ION shopping last night and saw this. She bought this though is rather expensive ($15 for 20 pcs) for she knew that I love dark chocolate.

The chocolate is coated by cocoa powder and it's melting in our mouth. I think I am sold :) LoL

Spending on children... Saying NO!

2009-12-08T20:40:00.004+08:00

It's not easy saying "no" to our children in a society that seems to say "yes" to everything. Perhaps one of the most difficult problems for today's parents to face is learning not to give our children too much.

Toy companies spend millions on advertising to children, not their parents. They know the child is the very best customer. But by giving in to this pressure, parents may actually deprive their children of pleasure. You see, pleasure occurs when an intense need is met, A glass of water is worth more than gold to a man who is dying of thirst. It is worthless to the person who does not need it. The analogy should be obvious. If you never allow a child to want something, he never enjoys the pleasure of receiving it. If you give him a tricycle before he can walk, a bike before he can ride, a car before he can drive or a diamond ring before he knows the value of money, you may actually have deprived him of the satisfaction that possession might have given him in the later years.

How unfortunate it is for a child never to have the opportunity to long for something - to dream about the prize by day and plot for it by night. He might even get desperate enough to work for it. You see, saying "no" at times might be great character builder for your child.

Interview

2009-12-07T21:36:00.001+08:00

I am going to attend another interview tomorrow. Hopefully this will be the last one. Amen!

2009

2009-11-30T11:20:00.004+08:00

Just another 31 days, year 2009 will be history.

At the age of 29, I finally have a property under my name. We can now aim for more! Without a property of our own, though only a 5 rooms HDB flat, we dare not aim for more. To us, a home is the foundation, the base to achieve more.

We have a 3 years old boy and a 6 months old girl to form a complete family. Chengguan has a stable job and is working hard and praying hard for a manager position. As for me, I am looking at a position where i can put my legal training into practical use, a position where i can excel and move upwards the corporate ladder without the need to compromise on my family relationship. Children to me is much more important than career.

Father God, I will put my career into your Hands for you know the best for me, for my family. Amen!

We have achieved what we had wanted to achieve in year 2009 and we welcome 2010. We trust Lord that 2010 is a prosperous year, a year we can prosper in!

Benedict Took Joanna for a Spin

2009-11-09T16:54:00.004+08:00

Benedict is really taking good care of his sister, Joanna. He took Joanna for a spin last Saturday. As he was driving with one hand, Joanna was quite concern about her safety and probably did not enjoy too much...

Never too late

2009-10-04T00:47:00.003+08:00

Outlook was never important to me but i think i was wrong. Outlook is important to give a impressive and convincing first impression, especially to someone who doesn't know you. We first judge a person by his/her look.

I hardly care about my look, what is more important to me is comfort. But since my return to work force after my maternity, I do care about my attire and my face. I start cleansing face more regularly, having moisturizer on and putting make up to work, though i do away with them sometimes but i made an effort to take care of my face. Maybe age is catching up...

I have decided to learn more about skincare and make up so that i look presentable all the times. I dunno how long it will take me to pick up the skills but give me time and i will prove that i can and i will. Eye is my next challenge.

没有丑女人，只有懒女人！

Our first house

2009-09-13T16:33:00.005+08:00

~ main entrance ~

~ view from our balcony~

~ living room~

~master bedroom~

~our toilet~

~children's room~

~future study room cum guest room~

Another progress

2009-09-12T02:11:00.003+08:00

We went to IKEA tonight just to have a family outing.

When we were in the car, Benedict was telling us that he has grown up and he can go to the playhouse by himself whilst Kakak will wait for him outside. Though we do hope that he can enjoy the facility available, we didn't want to force him if he is not ready as he need to be in the playhouse by himself without our company. The last time we tried to let him go, he cried of fear to be alone though he really wanted to play.

We took the number and queued for our turn. Benedict looked scare but when the staff opened the door and gave him instruction to take out his shoes, he followed. He rushed to the playball station after cleaning his hands and we made sure he is fine before we have our personal time together.

Half way through the shopping, we took a peep at him and he was still enjoying himself there after half an hour. I think this is a big step towards independence for Benedict. Great job son! We are so proud of you.

Crying Baby

2009-09-01T17:04:00.003+08:00

Benedict cries a lot recently, I am not sure whether he just wants more attention from us or he is being unreasonable.

I must say that I am not as patient as Hippo in educating children. I will just raise my voice and demand him to follow my instructions, which obviously he will not since he is throwing his tantrum. I even try to beat him with my bare hands, which Hippo totally disapproves. He thinks that beating is not the way to educate children. Though I do agree that beating is not the solution but shamefully, I still resort to it most of the time simply because I am impatient.

I promised myself today that I will spend more time with Benedict and tell him nicely what can and cannot be done when he cries next time. We need to assure him of our love to him all the times.

I hope I can blog about how to educating children successfully in the time to come. Amen!

Start packing

2009-07-08T10:01:00.002+08:00

It's 8 July today and we will be shifting to our FIRST house in a month time.

I kept telling myself that i should start packing and take this opportunity to go through and clear some of my things. We simply have too many things around.

Somehow i just dunno where to start as the things seems to be everywhere and still in use, but i MUST start somewhere somehow. So i will start RIGHT NOW. give me strength man!

another $1,500

2009-07-04T17:32:00.004+08:00

We spent another $1180 on lightings and another $450 at Ikea today.

We bought 11 lamps, a ceiling fan and many accessories for the kitchen. We are happy and we are almost done with all the shopping.

Finally our first house is more or less complete. Cannot wait to live in the new house!

$8591

2009-07-04T09:58:00.002+08:00

We have spent $8591 for our first house thus far.

This is what we have gotten: -

1. 3+2 half leather sofa set
2. 6+1 marble top dining set
3. 7 feet TV console (sideboard)
4. 4 feet Coffee Table
5. 510 litres Samsung fridge
6. Daikin system-3 aircon
7. Queen size wooden storage bed

huh? only 7 items?! YES! only 7 items and they cost us $8591 and we have yet to buy the following: -

1. Shoes rack
2. TV console cum bookshelf for our room
3. kitchen accessories
4. drawers for baby clothes
5. another rack/shelf for kitchen

Father God, we rest in you and we trust you Lord. Amen!

Living & Dining

2009-07-02T17:46:00.003+08:00

Just came back from Malaysia.

Hippo is on leave today and we went to JB to look for sofa and dining set. We did shop around in Singapore but we didn't see any that we really like. Price is another concern of course.

We left at 9+ after sending Benedict to school. We had my favourite 'boiled fish' for brunch near Angsana before we started our shopping spree. We passed by Rustica (i simply like this brand though i haven't visited any of their showroom nor seen any of their furniture before) and i convinced Hippo to go in and have a look.

It's not open yet but from the glass panel, i saw a lady inside and i waved my hand asking her to come out. Actually i only want to check with her if they have another branch near Johor Jaya, but she was so nice that she let us go in. We looked around, though the sofa set look grand but the price is even 'more grand'. There is this dining set which can fit 12 people selling at RM30k.

Just ask i thought we had wasted our time, I saw this sofa set which is not bad and cheap. It's only $2480 and it's half leather. Then we saw a dining set, TV console and coffee table that we like. But somehow I just don't really like the sofa. Then we went down to the first floor again, i saw this sofa from their catalogue which is really grand and i asked for the price. it's RM1700 more expensive but both of us really like it. So we have more or less decided to have these four.

After some bargaining, we left the shop for we don't have so much cash with us and also we would like to look around more. But inside our heart, we know this is quite a good deal and we really like the 4 items that we have chosen. We headed to Johor Jaya nevertheless.

We saw Lorenzo and we went in to take a look since i love its product so much. But looking at the price, i came out after 5 minutes. We then saw this Rustica branch just right behind it and lady being lady, i told hippo just go in and take a look again. They may have different design here. He said ok and we went in.

We saw the sofa and dining set that we like. We asked for the price just to make sure the girl at the earlier branch didn't quote the higher price. Then Hippo saw this set of tv console which is 7 feet long but it's a display set. Though it's RM699 more expensive than the earlier one, we decided to take it nonetheness. I suppose it's human nature to be agree, once you see a bigger one, you simply don't like to have the smaller one.

At the end, we spent RM10199 for a 3+2 sofa set, a 6+1 dining set, a tv console and a coffee table.

Father God, we can do nothing of ourselves, we rest in you Lord and we trust you will provide us financially. Amen!

原来目标和成就是会变得

2009-07-01T16:08:00.010+08:00

人生的目标和成就原来是会变得！

从小以来，学业上的成绩就是我的目标，我的成就，也是我和家人的骄傲。但是，随着岁月慢慢成长，我的目标和成就也从学业转向家庭。现在，对我来说，家庭和孩子才是最重要的。

虽然我还在读书，但成绩已是其次，只要能毕业就好。对学业上的成绩，我已经不像以前那么执著了。孩子是否健康，是否快乐成了我的新目标，有没有把孩子教育的好成了我的新成就。人的一生也不过如此。只要在对的时候做对的事，人生一定没有遗憾。

事业，金钱并不是我的目标，我的成就；它们也只不过是我努力的推动力。

在过二十年，孩子是否成才就是我的成就了。

那你们呢？清楚自己的目标，认定你的成就了吗？

Storage Bed

2009-06-29T21:53:00.004+08:00

We just paid a deposit for our new bed - a wooden Queen size storage bed that costs $899 + 7% GST, free delivery and installation though.

Not sure if this is a good bargain but of all the storage beds that we have seen so far, this is rather unique I would say. Normally the storage beds are all wrapped with PVC material, be it ABC brand or King Koil. They look similar though the quality may be different. The price ranges from $800 to $1k plus. Hence when we saw wooden storage bed at $899, we think it's quite worth the money.

Without thinking much we paid a deposit to confirm the deal. The price is actually $999 but after bargaining, the salesman agreed to give us the price on offer yesterday which is $100 cheaper. But come to think of it now, do we really need to spend almost a thousand dollar just for a bed without mattress? Was it an impulse buy or we really like the bed?

I hope we have no regret getting this bed after using it.

Full month

2009-06-29T16:37:00.003+08:00

Kor Kor & Mei Mei taken on 25 June 2009

还要Goffy bu 高高

2009-06-29T10:44:00.003+08:00

Benedict has been watching a lot of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse series recently.

It's school holidays and I was serving my confinement. He spent a lot of time at home and of course most of the time, he was watching tv. As we have recorded all the series, he will always ask for a particular episode when we say it's Mickey Mouse time.

Goffy bu 高高 is one of his favourite where Goffy had gone to the Mars and the rest of his friends (Mickey Mouse, Minnie, Pluto, Donald Duck and Daisy) went to look for him later on. We took quite a long time to figure out which episode he refers to when he said 还要Goffy bu 高高.

It's just not enough to buy cartoon DVD for your children. In fact you have to sit and watch together with them so that you get what they mean when they say something. It's a good time for family bonding. Most of the times we thought physically company is enough but it's actually not. What they want is not only your company but your ATTENTION.

I just have to keep reminding myself to give him my full attention when i am with him. I should not just sit beside him and do something else (like reading newspaper, book or sleeping).

Dear parents or parents-to-be, time flies and before you realise your children may not want to bond with you anymore.

On private yacht!

2009-06-25T14:23:00.005+08:00

Group photo before we start our journey

Family photo

For once, Hippo get to feel how it is like to be the rich...

It's ALL over!

2009-06-25T13:43:00.003+08:00

It's finally over!

I am just relieved that my exam for Australian Constitutional Law is finally over. Frankly speaking, whether I pass or fail doesn't really matter to me now, what is more important is that I don't have to worry anymore (though the results is not out yet, but there is nothing i can do at this point of time to change my answer rite?) Father God, I know you will let me pass this brilliantly.

There are just so many things on my mind recently (whether i can produce sufficient milk for Joanna, whether i have neglected Ben and hippo, whether our new house is going to be nice, do we have enough money for our new house, where should we buy the furniture, what colours to choose for the house etc...) that make it hard for me to focus on my study. I have been struggling very hard to force myself to concentrate in the past few days just for this exam.

I didn't know how I manage to pass my law papers and CLP in the past but if you ask me to do it again, chances are I may fail poorly. I think I am the type of student who need to attend lectures and tutorials to pass as I am not self-disciplined. Last few days was the first time I studied the subject. Though I did try to study when the course started in Febuary, I stopped after the first topic. :pThen my focus was on the assignment and labour. Without realising, it's 25 June 2009 already.

Thanks hippo for showing all your support and bearing with me all this while. I know I have vented my tension on you and I appreciate your tolerance and endurance. Let's hope that I can pass the paper so that the $2000 spent is worthwhile.

Feeling Guilty

2009-06-08T20:59:00.004+08:00

I feel so ashamed about myself. Mei Mei Joanna is only 13 days old and yet I had only taken care of her for the first 7 days, Kakak has taken over since then.

I don't know why, somehow I just feel so tired this time... Maybe it's just difficult to take care of a toddler and a infant at the same time. At one hand, I myself need to get a good rest, one the other, I need to take care of mei mei and most importantly, I must make sure Kor Kor Benedict doesn't feel neglected with the arrival of his sister.

For the past one week, I was busy with my post natal massage which take up 2 hours or more of my time each day for 7 days continuously and also visitors. My family is in Singapore for holidays and hence I need to spare time for them. For this, I feel so guilty too as when my mother was here for the first few days, I didn't even have time to have a good chat with her.

Now that massage is over and I have more time during the day time, I need to study for my exam which is coming up on 25 June, do some survey for renovation as we are collecting the key to our FIRST house next monday, spare time for my family who will be going back Kuching on sunday, spend time with Benedict as it's his school holidays now and make sure I don't forget Joanna who is under the good care of Kakak Tri. And at the same time, I hope I can convince Hippo to exercise more. Now that our life is complete, we must make sure we are in good health all the times.

Father God, I thank you for giving me everything that I am having now. I believe by faith, You will give us more abundantly! Amen!

It's time to study again

2009-06-08T10:01:00.005+08:00

Ever since I submitted my research paper on 28 April, I have never touched my Australian Constitutional Law until today, nor did I log in to the university blackboard to read the messages or check emails.

It's only last week that I thought maybe the result of the research paper would be out soon that I logged in to the university website to find out more. I was a bit nervous when I saw the result of the research paper has been finalised. I couldn't find my student number at first but with the search engine, I found mine finally. I score 19 out of 25, totally out of my expectation.

I have been telling Hippo that I would not go for the exam if I fail the research paper which will contribute 25% of the final mark and by saying that, I actually thought that I did badly for the research paper. To make the matter worse, as I was reading the paper for the last time before I submit, the last paragraph seems to be contradicting with the earlier paragraphs. It's 7pm plus at that time (10pm Australia time) and I had no idea how to edit the paragraph again. I just submit nonetheless (with the attitude that I want to get it over and done with as soon as possible).

Believe it or not, I don't even dare to read my research paper after I have submitted. I just totally ignore it and without realising, it's been one and a half month now and it's time for exam again.

I only studied the first topic and there are 13 topics altogether, the exam is on 25 this month and I have to answer 3 out of 5 questions. I leave it to the God and believe that He will give me strength to study and wisdom to sit for the exam. Thanks Abba! Hallelujah!

明恩，欢迎来到我们的怀抱

2009-06-03T09:31:00.009+08:00

It's the first day of my long 112 days maternity leave. I was wondering if I had taken the leave too early since my expected due date is 8 June, which was like 2 weeks away. Anyway, I enjoyed being at home.

I have cleared 98% of my work in the office so it's a care-free holidays. I woke up slightly later than usual, sent Benedict to school and picked him up after class, and I managed to catch up with a few friends online while Benedict was in school. I even took a nap before we went to see Dr Ang in the afternoon.

It's 4+ in the afternoon and I was rather shocked to see Hippo at the door step. I was expecting a call from him then I would meet him at the car park. However, he said he had a upset tummy and need to visit the loo. We left after he was done, wanted to bring Benedict along but both Ah Ma and Kakak refused as he was sleeping.

The clinic was not as crowded when we reached there. I took my weight and the normal urine test. Everything was perfect and I sat down to wait for my turn patiently. Hippo was hoping that I would deliver after this visit so that we don't have to rush to the hospital when there is symptom of labour i.e. water bag burst, bleeding or contraction. As for myself, I was a bit worried that I may not realise when there is contraction until it's really unbearable painful and with my past experience, I delivered within an hour after the first contraction. So I was quite worried in fact, worried that we may not make it in time to reach the hospital (as people always say, second delivery will be faster than the first one) and also the excruciating labour pain.

We didn't wait for long for our turn. We went in and doctor did a check on me and said that I would deliver within 24 hours, just as last time. But this time round, he suggested that we should admit before 8pm. I worried even more, remembering the pain that I had beared when Benedict was born.

We went to NTUC to buy rice before we went home. But my left leg was so weak that I could not walk properly. By the time we reached home at 6pm, my lower abdomen was so tight that I needed a bed so badly. I called Dr Ang at 6.45pm, asked him whether tight tummy and weak leg are symptoms of labour or not. He replied that if the conditions persist until 7.15pm or 7.30pm, then I should just admit myself. Since it's office hour and Dr Ang has told us that I would deliver within 24 hours, I told Hippo why not we just go to the hospital and wait there. Hippo agreed and he quickly took his shower before we left for the hospital.

It's jam all the way from BKE to PIE, I asked Hippo to drive safely and my tummy was getting more and more uncomfortable. When we reached the hospital, we were asked to fill in a form for health screening before we were allowed to enter the hospital. I could not complete the form and only managed to sign my name and Hippo had to fill in the details for me. I took the wheelchair and the nurse gave Dr Ang a call to check where should I be sent to. Apparently, for Dr Ang's patients, they are either send to the ward or the labour ward. Fortunately or unfortunately, I was to be sent to the labour ward. PAIN is the only word in my mind at that moment!!!

I was sent to the observation room, asked to change and took urine test. This time round, I had more time to look and "kepo" around. I even eavesdropped what the other doctor told her patient. It's only 8.30pm at that time and this doctor told her patient something very scaring. She told her that she estimated that her cervix would be 10cm at only 6am. I could feel the pain for her. She has at least another 10 hours of pain to endure.

The nurse checked mine and said it's 4cm and I would deliver before midnight. I was then sent to the delivery room and was relieved to have Hippo by my side. I didn't check the time but I could feel the pain more and I asked for the mask. Dr Ang came at 9.30pm and he too, said I would deliver before midnight. I wanted to have a dumpling baby at first but there was another 2.5 hours to go to get a dumpling baby, so I left it to fate to decide. Nurses came in more often and kept reminding us to press the bell once I feel like passing motion. The pain too became more intense but it's not as bad as the last one. At least it's something bearable. I took the anaesthetic injection at 10pm and it's 10.10pm when I asked Hippo to press the bell. What happened after that, I don't really know...

For the next half an hour, I was like dreaming. I could hear people talking sometimes but I couldn't remember when did Dr Ang and the nurses came in. When I regained consciousness, I heard "Leong Choo, squeeze" and then I heard someone asking whether baby was crying or not. I knew she was born.

This delivery experience was totally different than the last one but I thank God for the smooth delivery and both healthy mother and baby. Hallelujah!

A Special Day

2009-05-25T14:21:00.004+08:00

25 May 2009 - a day that is so special for us.

We woke up as per normal this morning. Though it's Monday and we are not going to work. We are going to HDB to select our flat this morning, a house of our own that we wanted so badly. Finally after years, we are going to own a house!

God really loves us so much, there were 10053 applicants for the ballot exercise and there are only 438 flats available islandwide and our queue number is 74!!! to make you more envious, hippo had just gotten his Singapore citizenship 2 months ago and he has yet to get his RED identity card but we already gotten our house this morning.

We called the branch office in Choa Chu Kang to bring forward our viewing which would otherwise take about 2 weeks, giving reason that I am due anytime and the officer in charge is so friendly that he agreed to let us view the house today at 4.30pm!!! With that, we are going to call the HDB officer at the main office to ask them whether they can expediate our case so that we can have our key early. The normal process will take about 3-4 months and we shall see how early we can get our key and move in to OUR dream home!

Hallelujah! Thanks Father God, i know for sure, without you, all these are just impossible! Amen!

A Day @ Home

2009-05-17T21:14:00.005+08:00

It's Friday night and we have been following this Hk drama series from Channel 55 on the cable tv, "Catch Me Now".

It's a series about police and thieves, and a group of modern Robin Hood, who would rob the rich and help the poor. It's been a long while since I last watched a series that I like from tv, but I just got to admit that I pretty like this one. Each mission is just so well-planned that there is nothing the police can do to charge the Robin Hood.

It's only episode 9 and hippo and I just cannot wait for the next episode. Then I remember there is something called demand tv, which you can purchase the movie/episode you like and watch it immediately. I asked hippo and we were trying to figure out how to do the purchase. Being more technology savvy than me, of course this task is handed to hippo. He tried for a good 5 minutes but to no avail. I took over the remote and managed to do the purchase but something is wrong, the show just didn't start. I wasn't sure about hippo, but I was really disappointed. Just as I was going to give up to retire, I heard the familiar song of the series. I was so happy!!!

We watched until 3 am on Friday and hippo wanted to continue, giving reason that he couldn't sleep. But I managed to force him to bed. Hippo woke up earlier than me on Saturday to bring Benedict to the park so that I could continue with my sleep. I woke up at 9 plus and hippo said we would watch another episode before we go out. Though I was hungry, I sat down on the sofa, munching some biscuits. We came home at about 1pm and luckily Banedict fell asleep on the way home. We continued with the series until about 7 pm. Benedict was so co-operative that he slept until 4 pm on that day.

Though I don't really like the ending (sad ending of course) but as a whole, the series is a good one. Thanks dear, I think this is one of the drama both of us enjoy and followed through together (I had already watched most of the series that hippo was interested in, either when I was in KL, or when I was on long leave in year 2006).

Looking forward to the next good series!

Day One of Joy

2009-05-13T14:18:00.003+08:00

It has been something both Jessie and I were longing for, our own home. We are currently staying in a rented flat. Though the owner of the flat, my second sister, was gracious enough to rent us the place grossly under market rate, it has always been our biggest desire to be under the roof of our own.

Today, we got the ballot result of HDB bi-yearly sale and it was 74!! A total of 10053 applicant applied for 438 unit island wide. That is the miracle we need and we got it.

Jessie got her Rule 16 rejected last week and I had difficult time comforting her. I keep telling her to keep her faith as the rejection might not be the best resort to her career path in legal industry. I also told her that when the devil shut a door for her, our Lord will open a bigger and better door for us. By saying so, I must confess that I am really nervous and I can't help thinking of what kind of trouble will I land into if we were going to get a big number for our balloting, like 10052.

Speechless when I look at the number and I can only thank Jesus for everything He did for us. He is faithful! Hallelujah!!

Day 2 of Disappointment

2009-05-09T12:42:00.003+08:00

After a good night sleep, I am feeling much better now. Law is my passion but there are many ways that I can remain in the legal industry without being a lawyer. I can be an in-house counsel, a contract specialist (which is what I want to learn next and hopefully I find passion in it), a legal executive or even a foreign lawyer.

I am not sure what next step would I take at the moment, as my priority now is to be a happy mummy. I have just arranged for a massage lady to do my post natal massage for me, something I really look forward as I enjoy massage very much.

When I opened my eyes this morning and saw Benedict's right into mine, I think being a lawyer or not is not that important anymore. What is more important is that I have a happy family.

Happy Wesak Day for those who are celebrating!

Full of Disappointment

2009-05-08T19:39:00.003+08:00

I feel so disappointed today, either with myself (for choosing Singapore as a place to settle down) or with the government of Singapore, in particular the Ministry of Law (for not allowing me to practise as a lawyer in Singapore).

On 13 February 2009, the Minister of Law made an announcement to do away with some of the requirements for admission to Singapore Bar and at the same time, they also prepared a form for Rule 16 application (Rule 16 application is an appeal to the Minister of Law for exemption from being a qualified person for the admission to Singapore Bar). I was so happy as I thought this is the time they are opening up for those otherwise qualified person to be admitted but when I received the letter today, I realised it's not. Singapore government is still as rigid as ever.

Having lived in Singapore for more than 10 years, I would say it's quite impossible for CG to go back to Malaysia. Furthermore he has taken up Singapore citizenship recently. As for me, I am so comfortable with the life here that I don't even feel like emigrating to Australia anymore, which was our initial plan. Just that being a lawyer has been my dream since I was young.

I know this feeling of disappointment will be gone eventually, but it's just so hard to take it at this moment. Shall I just give up once and for all or still looking for alternative to achieve my childhood dream? Is being a lawyer really means so much to me? Or it's just the ego that I want, just the title that i am pursuing? I know monetary issue is not my main concern (of course my career will be more secured if I am a lawyer & I could contribute more financially to my family) but knowing me, $$$ is not at the top of my list. I am contended as long as I can provide for myself and my family. Anyway, life is not just about $$$.

Abba Father, I don't know why is this so but I choose to believe that You have better plan in mind for me. Hallelujah!

SketchUp

2009-05-07T14:53:00.004+08:00

I was pretty excited over the bi-yearly HDB sales after I lodged the application. The ballot result will only be available on next Wednesday and we thought we could not sit back and do nothing.

We started to take holy communion almost everyday. Benedict's daily prayer is, "Abba, baby 要 swimming pool 家家," which is a bit different from what we are planning now. Anyway, we will gladly let God take the precedence should He decided to give us what Benedict was praying.

Meanwhile, I thought I should start designing the interior first. I pick the unit we love most and downloaded the floor plan to start with. I printed the floor plan and found that it was not in proper scale. My colleague, Kian Beng, suggested that I could use Google's SketchUp for this purpose.

I spent few hours to go through the training video and I was amazed by the simple and powerful tool. The next day, I drew the 2-D layout according to the floor plan I downloaded. Then, I raised some surfaces and turn the layout into a 3-D artwork. I have never drafted anything like this yet the SketchUp was so easy to use and made this task possible.

I started to download models of Ikea furniture and imported them into my virtual house. I did not like oblong dining table so I got a round table from elsewhere. Besides, it was also hard to integrate those downloaded kitchen cabinet and I decided to draw my own. Now I think I know the joy of God, when He looked at the world on the 7th day, and said, "it was good!" (laugh out loud)

Rollie Fun

2009-05-07T14:17:00.002+08:00

It has been a long time we did not go to Carrefour since Benedict turned 2 and was transferred to Jubilee Kids at Suntec convention hall. One day, Jessie suggested to go there to look for some children song VCD. The first section I went was the bike corner. Benedict followed me and he saw a huge collection of Rollerblade!! Needless to say, he was fast to take one from the lowest row and asked me to put it on for him. I thought maybe this is a good sports and he is interested, we shall give it a try.

The promoter was a very nice Malay lady. She's not pushy at all and patient with Benedict who was so eager to stand up and blade straightaway. Finally, he was wearing full gear: helmet, elbow, wrist, knee protectors and a pair of Rollerblades!

I carefully held Benedict's hands and move backwards. Benedict was really excited and he fell several times. With full protection armour, he realized that it was not a problem to fall and he went ahead on his own with support on a bench next to him. After he played with it for a while, we asked him if he wanted to buy it. Surprisingly, he said no!!

It did not take too long for us to discover that he was eying on another toy car on the opposite shelf. It was an electric car. I guessed we just missed the purchase window and he would not bother to tell us if he really like the Rollerblade or otherwise. We did not want to buy him the electric car as it does not let him do enough exercise (nor we have enough space at home).

Now, I have to take my dust collecting Rollerblade out and do some marketing exercise. Hopefully by seeing me blading, Benedict will develop stronger interest in rollerblading.

CCK swimming pool

2009-04-23T22:37:00.012+08:00

We have not brought Benedict for swimming for quite some time, at least since i am pregnant. Recently, he has been saying "swimming pool, swimming pool" so we thought maybe we should bring him for swimming again after so long.

It's Saturday afternoon and the weather was sunny, everyone had a good afternoon nap and we were ready for our new exposure at the CCK swimming pool. CG told me about the wave pool over there so i was expecting something like Sunway Lagoon, but to my disappointment, it was much smaller. Nonetheless it was crowded.

Benedict in his expensive thermal swimming suit.

Benedict enjoyed himself as usual. He fell a few times and daddy was trying to let him stand up by his own so that he knows it's alright to fall. He must be terrified as he dreamt of swimming on that night itself (we know cos he sat up and did the swimming action with his eyes close) haaa... then when we asked him whether he wants to go swimming again, he said "NO".

I am trying to let him know that swimming is not fearful as long as he has the float with him. i do not want him to fear of water. Swimming is a survival skill anyway. If possible, we will bring him for more swimming sessions.

Daddy & Benedict having fun time together.

Factory Outlet

2009-04-23T13:43:00.003+08:00

my wife is a thrifty person. she doesn't fancy branded goods. she would not even consider if it's not for the high quality and low price. well, i must say that i am really much much more fortunate than 99% of other married men out there.

however, as the way women is designed and wired up, my wife is never able to resist the temptation to check out the factory outlets we came across. well, so far we got many many good deals and somehow i am also enjoying our shopping experience in direct factory sales. so far, we have gone for factor sales for sports attire, toys and baby products, dried goods and etc. to our pleasant surprise, we found a SASHIMI factory outlet!!!

it is located in woodlands terrace and the website is here: http://www.fassler.info/

we have yet to visit the place. unless something is going very very wrong, otherwise there shouldn't be anything to deter us from paying it a visit this saturday! just imagine that we are going to buy 1 kg of sashimi for under $50, i am sure that i don't want to eat anything else during the weekend. i am kind of sure that i will be so excited that i won't be able to fall asleep on friday night...

EQ, IQ - Do you have both?

2009-04-17T00:14:00.009+08:00

We had a tea session with our Deputy Director this afternoon and most of the issues discussed are concerned about the relationship amongst the department, especially between the managers.

EQ - emotional quotient, to me, plays a crucial role in our daily life. Whether you are happy or not, it does not depend on what is happening around you, but how you handle the situation that you are facing with. There are people who can handle a tough customer well without any grumbling, there are people who can take criticism lightly without being affected - i respect these people for their high EQ. It's not easy but i hope i can handle my emotion well one day.

Sad to say, most of the managers in my department have low EQ, my immediate boss is one of them. I always think that to be a manager, one does not only need to have the calibre but also the EQ in managing his/her subordinates and handle various situations which could come along the way. Of course it's not easy for one to have both IQ and EQ, anyway that what makes a leader stands out from others. Don't you agree?

Whenever my manager shouts at me, i will just keep telling and reminding myself not to be like her, whether to my colleagues, friends or families and especially to my subordinates next time. She sets a negative example for me. She can be a manager but she doesn't deserve the respect that a manager should have. I remember reading a saying somewhere, which i totally agree - you cannot get everyone to agree with you but you can gain the respect from everyone.

Parents, when you can nurturing your children, don't forget to include EQ in your teaching/education. It is important as they grow up. I think my mother has a pretty high EQ and that's why i am happy-go-lucky person today. Thanks Mum!

Plans in pipeline

2009-04-15T15:16:00.005+08:00

We have so many plans in mind and we believe that God will give us the right thing at the right time. Hallelujah! Amen!

Firstly, we would love to have a house of our own. Though we already have a cosy home but i think a self-owned house to make us feel more realistic, at least we do not have to spare part of our income for the rental every month. Having done some calculation, we do not need a expensive house, though the bigger the better, so we have to compromise on the location. We do not mind Bukit Panjang at all as we find the location is quite accessible with all the amenities we need. Anyway, we are so used to the neighbourhood here. HDB has just launched their half yearly sale on monday and we have applied for a unit out of the 438 units available but, as of now (9.28pm, 16/4/09, Thursday) 4 days after the launching, there are already 7119 applications received. We leave it to our Abba Father to give us what we need, within our ability.

Secondly, it'd be best if I can practise as a lawyer in Singapore. It will not only fulfill my childhood dream and ambition, but also contribute greatly to our family financially. Currently, the burden is on Chengguan to provide for the whole family but i really wish i could do something to lighten his burden. It is not easy to sustain a family, especially when you wish to provide the best you can for the family but we rest on Him and Him alone for He will not forsake us.

Finally, health and a good relationship with family are more important than anything else... Thanks Abba, you know what i need more than i do and i thank you for giving up your son for us. Amen!

明轩妹妹

2009-04-14T23:01:00.003+08:00

We have been cracking our heads for a name for mei mei ever since we were told by my gynae that i am expecting a girl, just what we have planned. Yes (to a certain extent), you can decide on the sex of your child!

i like the word 恩 but could not think of another word to match with it. what do you think of 恩熙 or 恩晞？恩 means gracious, 熙 means 明亮，晞 means 望高望远. or any suggestions anyone??? chengguan simply loves our children to share the middle name 明，so he is suggesting 明恩.

As for English name, we can quite particular about the meaning that come with it and that's why until now we still cannot decide on one. Both of us like the name Audrey but find it too common with no special meaning. We have come to a few selections, Bernice - bringer of victory, Abigail - rejoicing Father, Annabelle - gracious, Zoe - live, Joanna - the gift of Yahweh but they are either too common or one of us doesn't like it. sigh...

Benedict, which originated from Latin means blessed and we didn't have much problem to decide on his name.

Father God, i pray for wisdom in deciding on mei mei's name and we believe You will talk to us and give us direction. Amen!

Study

2009-02-22T22:55:00.003+08:00

It's been a while since I last blogged. Firstly, it's because my company has blocked the usage of blogspot and secondly, the load of my work is barely manageable.

It's going to be 23 Feb 2009 in an hour time and guess what, my class for Australian Constitutional Law is going to start tomorrow. I am rather excited and that's why I am still up at this hour to familiarise myself with the use of the University's website. I suppose i need to sacrifice more of my sleeping time in the future for my study.

Just found out about the blackboard learning system for the students which I think it's quite sufficient for external student. There are lectures audio, topic notes, powerpoint slides etc. I was very worry about how I am going to pass the exam without attending lectures and tutorials but I realised that the blackboard learning system actually have everything online, except that we do not get to see the lectures in person.

I am going to study consistently and make sure I will pass the paper in June. Time flies and by June, I would have fulfilled one of the requirements for admission to Australia Bar. Praise God and Hellelujah!

Uncertainties

2009-02-01T21:25:00.004+08:00

Life is full of uncertainties, especially so for me this year.

Just found out early this year that the University of New England in Sydney actually do offer distance learning programme for Australian Constitutional Law which i need to complete before i can proceed with my legal journey.

At the same time, the exemption which i have been granted is only valid until August 2009. Within such a short time, i need to complete and pass the Australian Constitutional Law and the Practical Legal Training. I am advised to request for extension which i will definitely try my best to.

sigh... It's still Chinese New Year season and yet i have so many worries on my mind. If everything goes well, i will be able to get admitted by the end of the year and Australia will definitely be a good place for us to settle down; if not, i will be stuck as the new requirement has added in an English component and we need to score 8.5 in IELTS writing component in order to get admitted in Australia.

Father God, i believe no matter what it is, you are always in our situation. Amen!

Year 2009

2009-01-03T07:30:00.005+08:00

Another year has passed just like that. I still vividly remember how my friends celebrated the millennium year and gave me a call at midnight while i was sleeping at home.

What did i do in 2008?

1. I sent Benedict to playgroup, some said i deprive him of his childhood but i think it's a good exposure for him to mix around and learn some basic discipline, at least he can eat by himself now and there is no problem of us bringing him to eat out.

2. We had a family getaway at HK and though the schedule was a bit tight, we enjoyed ourselves.

3. We have a new maid. Rasini has finished her 2 years contract and we got to get a new maid - She is much better than the previous one! Thanks God for giving us a good one.

4. As usual, we went back to Kuching twice in 2008 but both in first half of the year - lousy planning of course but with the budget airlines available from Singapore now, i believe it will not be a problem for us in the future.

5. I've changed my job!!! I have been wanted to learn conveyancing since pupillage days. Though i find it boring but at least it's less tedious and stressful compared to litigation. I like it so far and still learning... It may be a good option when i can practise.

6. Met up with my uncle and his family whom i have not seen for more than a decade. They motivate me to spend more time with Benedict and they show me the results of investing time in children. Sheng yi, Congrats on your graduation and i am so proud of you. Han Han, it's nice to be able to stay in touch with you again. Hope can see u guys in Australia soon but too bad, the PR application will take more than a year. WAIT FOR US!!! ;p

That's about all. If you notice, i did not mention anything about $$$ cos it's still intact. Sad but this is true!

Happy 2009 everybody! i believe it will be a better year for us, Amen!

Here Come the Rubbadubbers Splish, Splash, Splosh!!!

2008-12-09T23:02:00.004+08:00

Rubbadubber is a stop motion animation children's show on Jim Jam. ever since we subscribed to this channel, i have been watching Rubbadubber, Bob the Builder, Gazoon, "Bonny, Banana and Mo", and Barney and friends.

at first, i like Gazoon most as it is the cutest and has many animals. however, since i discovered that the Rubbadubber has this if-only routine, i found myself really catching every episode everyday. the Rubbadubber usually have an "if-only" wish when something didn't work out as he 'd like. then he will be transported to the dreamland instantly and enjoy everything according to his wish. before long he will discover the shortcoming of such wishes. the rubbadubber will then make another "if-only" wish and be transported back to the original world.

perhaps i am finally watching a show that is totally relaxing. perhaps i belong to the age group...

No warning signs

2008-12-09T09:47:00.005+08:00

It was just a long weekend and yet when I came in to office this morning, colleagues were talking about the sudden death of a fellow colleague from finance department.

"LIFE HAS NO WARNING SIGNS!" - I came across an insurance advertisement with the heading "Life has no warning signs" recently. I totally agree with the statement.

On the day of Tsai Nin's death, i actually thought of calling her, but i didn't because i thought since i would be seeing her in a few days time, we could catch up then and chit chat non stop. But just hours later, i received the news of her death. Sometimes i really wonder would it make a difference if i had called her then? Even if it would not, at least i would be able to hear her voice for the last time, IF ONLY life has warning signs.

There is no point to hold grudges as the person you are angry with may not be around tomorrow, stop worrying about the future as it may not be as bad as what you think, there is no need to worry about "money not enough" as you may have more money than time - Life is short and precious, happiness is a decision, decide for yourself how you would like to lead your life.

Paper Loss

2008-12-05T09:16:00.003+08:00

i was troubled by the fact that our car is only worth 33k in the second hand market. we still owe the bank 48k means we suffer paper loss of 15k should we decided to sell the car now. these numbers are disturbing as it is a big sum for us.

this morning i saw the daily devotional from pastor and it talks about how our needs are supplied according to His riches in glory by Jesus Christ! Hallelujah!!! i reckon that if our need is supplied according to our need, we will be living in really boring and joyless life. thank God that he supplied in accordance to His riches!!

the paper loss is still there, but my heart is well now. yeah, we will have it in due course and God always do it for us supernaturally. i love you, Daddy!

December 5

2008-12-05T08:41:00.004+08:00

It's been 7 years since Tsai Nin left us.

I vividly remember it's 6.30pm in the evening when I received a call from San Nah, a friend who was studying in Johor Bahru then. Though we were constantly in touch then, phone call was definitely not a common mode of our communication. We preferred the conventional way of distance communication - writing letter. The moment I saw her name appeared on my phone, I knew it must be something urgent. She started off the conversation by asking whether I would have to sit for any paper the next day as it's my mock exam period. I told her yes and I knew she was about to tell me something bad that had happened to one of our friends, but I didn't expect it to be a death, i thought it was just a broken hand or leg case as one which had happened to a close friend of ours.

She then went on to tell me to be prepared of what she was about to tell me, i was so eager that i told her "just tell me, just tell me" impatiently, worrying that she may not want to tell me since i was having my exam. "Tsai Nin has passed away in an accident" - she finally said it. I asked her for some details before we ended our conversation. Back to the lounge where we were having our usual drama series time, I told my hostelmates that Tsai Nin has passed away. I did not break down into tears because I couldn't accept what was told to me. I was wondering could it be a mistake since her brother had just passed away earlier that year and could San Nah remember wrongly. How come it was someone from Johor Bahru who informed me of the news instead of someone from Kuching? Wouldn't someone from Kuching would know better? I immediately called another friend of ours who was in Kuching, the moment she answered the call, I heard her crying - that's the confirmation I DID NOT want to receive!!!

"I must go back, I want to see her for the last time!" that were what on my mind at that time. Who cares it's mock exam, it's the last chance for me to see my best friend, I knew if I do not go back, I would regret for life. I can't remember the sequence of the events that happened after that, I called my mother, a few good friends of mine and Phay Jie and I decided to take the earliest flight available the next day to go back.

Thanks Guat Hong and Wen Huey for accompanying me past midnight though it was mock exam period.

Tsai Nin, you are here at a special place in my heart always. As promised, i will take good care of your families for you whenever they need. Rest in peace and you will always be missed!

Life

2008-12-03T16:17:00.004+08:00

I believe by now, 95% of Singaporeans must have known of the name of "Lo Hwei Yen" - the hostage of the recent Mumbai terrorist attack that was killed. She was shot in twice in the head and abdomen.

It's been almost almost a week and her wake is still going on until Thursday. I understand the grief that her families are going through now as i have lost my best friend 7 years ago. It's just so hard to accept and to believe that what is happening is true. You simply wish it's just a dream and you will wake up soon. But fact being fact, there is no way we can change it. My heartfelt condolences go out to her families, especially her husband. I pray to God to give them wisdom and strength to go through this dark and painful moment. Though i do not know them personally, i really cannot imagine how he is going to live his life after the funeral. At least for these few days, her funeral is keeping him occupied and there are so many things for him to attend to. Once the funeral is over, when everyone starts to forget about this incident, he got to face the empty house alone, a home that used to be full of love and laughter, and yet now, she is gone and he is all alone. Friends, if you do know them personally, you may want to visit her families more after the funeral. My best friend's families did not even dare to stay at home after her funeral. The families stayed in a hotel until they bought a new house.

For those of you who are reading this, treasure everyone and all that we have today, for we do not know what's coming our way tomorrow.

Shifting

2008-11-24T15:22:00.003+08:00

I believe no one enjoy shifting as it involves tremendous work.

Lucky or unlucky, we have just shifted office over the weekend. Today is my first work day at the new office, it is also my first visit to this new office. Pretty like the new place, the colour, the pantry, the chair and most importantly, my work station. My work station used to be very open, as it was located at the centre of a walkway, but now i am sitting along side a aisle. At least it's more surrounded.

I was actually thinking of a job change since I have learnt the foundamental of onveyancing but looking at the market and the fact that i am expecting, i will just stay put till the end of 2009, after the bonus. Year 2010 may be another new year for my career and i look forward to that. By then, our Benedict would be 3 years old.

The Pail Story

2008-11-17T09:56:00.006+08:00

The H family recently found that their clothes still stick even after washing. They were finding out the cause of it then they reckon it could be the sweaty shirt of H's brother after sports.

Mrs H said that brother H should soak the sweaty shirt separately or at least separate them in an empty pail. To her surprise, mother H responded aggressively to this remark, she even shouted that it should be the maid's duty to separate the clothes for brother H. Of course, Mrs H cannot say anything more other than keeping quiet though she totally disagrees with mother H. Just because of a simple duty of separating the sweaty clothes, Mr H had a big fight with mother H and yet brother H didn't do anything about this.

Brother H is not a kid who is still attending school. He is not a teenager, nor is he a young adult. He is turning 30 but yet he is so irresponsible, irrespectful and unfilial. He doesn't care about his family, he doesn't spend time with his family, he doesn't even talk to his family often, all he cares is his computer. He will lock himself in his room once he is back from work. He will only come out for food and he doesn't even talk much at the dining table, he will finish his food and lock himself in the room again. He likes to order mother H around and mother H got to call him umpteen times when food is ready. When mother H knocks at his door, he will not even answer. He will just keep silent and come out whenever he wants. Sometimes, it will take him hours to come out. To make all these worse, mother H didn't even say a word at all, let alone scolding him and in fact, none of them in the H family say anything about brother H's attitude towards his family. They either love him too much that they think there is nothing wrong with it or they have given up hope on him.

I don't know what do you think about this incident and brother H. I personally think that this is the obvious result of pampering your child. Of course, as mothers, we love our children and we would love to give them the best we can, but family education is still very important. Mother H can insist that it's the maid's duty to separate the sweaty clothes for brother H and in fact the maid can just do this task for him but who is going to suffer from this? It's going to be brother H because he doesn't even know how to take care of himself, how to take care of his personal hygiene, let alone accomodating others. How is he going to take care of his wife and children next time?

For the very first time, Mr and Mrs H wish to have a small house so that they do not have to stay with brother H. Although there is another possibility that brother H will move out, ie when he gets married but Mr and Mrs H think it's really hard for someone to fall in love with a person like this, let alone staying together. No one would be able to endure someone like that. Unless brother H changes his personal attitude and behaviour, he is shnning himself from others, he is preventing others from loving him.

Parents, if you do not want a child like brother H, start family education as early as possible. Believe me, kids know what is right and what is wrong if you tell them so. Pampering them is not a way to help him grow and learn. There are things that must be learnt the hard way. It's tempting to want to keep things happy for your child at all times. But it's also important for them to experience emotions like sadness, frustration, and anger without always being "rescued" by Mom or Dad, so they can learn to cope better with small setbacks.

Craving for Kuching food

2008-11-04T09:14:00.006+08:00

We have booked our ticket to Kuching for CNY 2 weeks ago and since then, I have been craving for Kuching food. Kueh chap, laksa, grilled fish, chicken porridge with my favourite drum stick, "zeng" - pig internal organs soup, tomato kueh tiew, kolo mee, "tian mian" - fried noodle with sweet taste, pisang goreng, "o-jian" - fried oyster, bilin with belacan, they are all my favourite and we cannot get it elsewhere except Kuching.

This time round, i am going to take photo of the food i take in Kuching so that we can all look at them when we have a craving for Kuching food next time.

Who is interested to join me for a feast between 21-29 Jan 2009?

reckless driving

2008-11-04T08:55:00.002+08:00

this morning i almost caused an accidence. i must admit that it was my recklessness that cause the crane (not a skinny birdie with long legs but a 28-wheeler built in heavy metal) behind us almost hit us. there is no way to apologize to the crane driver now and i just pray that he will be blessed. more importantly, i terrified my baobei also. i cannot reverse this incidence no matter how remorseful i am. the worst thing is that i cant even assure that this will not happen again (how many of us can?).

dear Lord, i know i cannot, You can! please change my driving habit, give me more patience. i know through You everything is possible, is easy, is great! through You i have calmness when i am behind the wheel. Father, thank you for saving us this morning and safe journey in future!! Hallelujah!

爱一人,但别让自己为一种伤害

2008-11-01T15:50:00.001+08:00

爱一人

如果你不爱一个人,
请放手.
好让别人有机会爱她.
如果你爱的人放弃了你,
请放开自己,
好让自己有机会爱别人.
有的东西你再喜欢也不会属于你的,
有的东西你再留恋也注定要放弃的.
人生中有许多种 .
但别让自己为一种伤害.
有些缘分是注定要失去的,
有些缘分是永远都不会有好结果的,
爱一个人不一定要拥有,
但拥有一个人就一定要好好的去爱她.
男人哭了是因为他真的爱了.
女人哭了是因为她真的放弃了.

如果真诚是一种伤害,
我选择谎言;
如果谎言一种伤害,
我选择沉默;
如果沉默是一种伤害,
我选择离开.

如果失去是苦，
你怕不怕付出 ,
如果迷乱是苦，
你会不会选择结束,
如果追求是苦，
你会不会选择执迷不悟 ,
如果分离是苦，

你要向谁倾诉,
好多事情都是后来才看清楚,
好多事情当时一点也不觉得苦!!!!

Wrong sleeping posture

2008-10-28T10:52:00.003+08:00

Pig is having a problem sleeping! It's hard to imagine that a person who fall asleep within 5 minutes from the moment her head touches the pillow is having a problem sleeping now.

I am having problem to have a good sleep nowadays and i thought it's due to the pregnancy at first as i was having the same problem last time. I found out recently that it's actually due to my sleeping posture. I always lie on my tummy instead of my back and i am not so used to sleeping side way and that's why i am having this problem during pregnancy. It's rather torturing and I would normally wake up in the middle of the night to adjust myself to a comfortable sleeping posture. I think i just got to change my sleeping posture as there is another 7 months to go at least. In fact, sleeping side way is the best sleeping posture for pregnant women and i think i will just have to make myself adapt to that. Other than this, i am coping quite well with pregnancy as i do not experience nausea at all.

There is another worry in my mind in fact, how am i going to make Benedict accept his sibling without any jeolousy? Can anyone help?

Bad Day

2008-10-20T17:11:00.017+08:00

It's only Monday but I have received a few bad news thus far.

Firstly, I realised that I have done a mistake with my work. Since it's not something substantial, we decided to keep quiet unless the law firm calls up. Say it I am kiasu or whatever you like, I just find it hard to accept my own mistake. But I suppose I should take mistake positively and learn from it as it's inevitable that there would be mistakes in the course of our life or work. What is more important is not the repeat the same mistake!

Secondly, the maid agent called up and told me that the new maid that we had chosen failed her medical check. OMG, this is going to give us a headache for sure. We were waiting for the arrival of the new maid this week but now, I am really shaken by the news. I cannot imagine the life without the assistance of a maid. What makes thing worse is the fact that they do not have any biodata in hand currently. The best resort now is that Rasini can extend for a month or two until the new maid is here. I think it's time for us to have a review of how we have treated her in the past 2 years.

Last but the least, my manager found another mistake with my work again. But it's more of her mistake rather than mine. She overlooked the application with a few errors. I have called the law firm to ask them to withdraw the application since there are a few requirements to complied with.

Let me do some explaination here, the paragraphs above was prepared on Monday. However, I didn't have the time to complete the blog until today. It's Thursday today and most of the problems have been solved. Praise God for his glory!

We have chosen a new maid and Rasini has agreed to help us until the new maid is here. At least, we still deserve some respect in her heart. Maid issue has been solved. The law firm has not called up and the other firm has agreed to withdraw their application. And we have booked our ticket back to Kuching for CNY. It's less than SGD600 for 3 of us and we are going home for reunion dinner!!!

Thanks dear for bearing with my stubborn and Father God, we pray for wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus! Amen!

the truth which two parallel lines revealed

2008-10-19T17:11:00.002+08:00

we are expecting a new member in the family!!! get ready your red packet and baby gift. :P

keeping secret

2008-10-08T09:51:00.002+08:00

it's tough to keep secret. at least it's true for my baobei and i. but for this good news we want to wait and spread it later. many people are going to be jealous of what we got. hey, you're drooling now~ hahaha...

Holidays

2008-10-07T16:50:00.002+08:00

It's always good to go on holidays.

Just came back from a 5D/4N Hong Kong trip with family and I wonder when are we having our holidays again.

US? Phuket? Kuching? wherever it is, I just cannot wait for our next holidays, the longer the better of course!

I have been to Australia, Japan, Barcelona, Paris, Italy, UK, Beijing, Taiwan and HK so far... more places to cover in time to come. would like to go Australia, Japan and Europe again soon!

Hippo Family's HK Trip

2008-09-30T14:19:00.004+08:00

it's yet another powerful testimony for our Father. although it's much expected that the weather in HK will be good during our visit, we were still very much overwhelmed by the good weather. the weather report is telling people of the world that the rain will continue till Monday to deter people from making disneyland too crowded for us.

baby and mummy hippo were very excited and they both traded most of sleeping time. baby hippo enjoy the fresh prawn dumpling noodle so much and he only consumed less than 1/2 of the milk powder we brought.

thanks to the good weather, we also went for our first family yachting trip from clear water bay and around kowloon peninsula. it was rather windy and journey was quite jerky. it was very different from what we had expected. baby hippo was very frighten and cuddled mummy hippo all the time (more like a baby koala). we felt so sorry for him as nobody expected the wind to be so strong that day. luckily he was quick to be distracted by the fish and sea.

it was also my first test drive for an x5. it was really really easy to drive. the car is big and we manage to squeeze 7 adults and 3 kids without much discomfort. i guess i have to pray harder for one as our family car when the hippo family grows.

this has to be the most magical holiday we had so far. you think this is an end? mummy hippo just got a call for 2 pairs of air tickets to phuket for free.....

Hong Kong, we are coming!!!

2008-09-18T11:34:00.003+08:00

Hong Kong, a place which only require less than 5 hours flight from Singapore/Malaysia and yet we, the Hippo family, have not been there before.

On 25 September 2008, the whole hippo family is going to HK for the first time. It is not only baby hippo first trip to HK, but also the father's and the mother's. The whole family is so excited about it and Father God, we pray for a safe and enjoyable trip during our HK trip from 25 Sept to 29 Sept 2008.

The weather in HK is terribly hot now and we believe that for Him, nothing is impossible for He is the creator.

There will be more blogs about our Hong Kong trip coming up after 25 September 2008!

a TOUGH decision

2008-09-02T13:29:00.007+08:00

Cannot remember when exactly did the idea come about, but everytime we discussed about it, we had no conclusion until recently.

The question which has been in our mind for more than 2 years is....... SHOULD ONE OF US TAKE UP SINGAPORE CITIZENSHIP?

Let's start with me first - being a Sarawakian, we enjoy much more privileges than West Malaysian, for this reason alone, i am hesitate to give up my Sarawakian status. The thought that I cannot go back Kuching for as long as I want (foreigners can only stay in Sarawak for up to a month) made me even more incline to give in.

As for Chengguan, the only concern we have in mind is - if he take up Singapore citizenship, our following children must be Singaporean as well simply because Malaysia do not allowed children to follow mother's citizenship. Don't ask me why, as i am as clueless as you. If the next one is a baby girl, then it would not be big a problem. But if it is a baby boy, he MUST serve 2 1/2 years of national service, which to us, it's too long. Comparatively, we only need 3 years to complete a degree.

But the property price is shooting like a rocket, and there is no way we can afford the cash portion now, unless we don't mind to wait for the property market to crash but no one knows when will that happen or worse still, we are not sure whether it will happen again as in 1995. With the Intergrated Resort going on, it's not surprise that the property price will remain high. Hence, our only resort would be to take up Singapore citizenship and apply from HDB directly. It would be so much economically compared to the resale market.

Actually there are more pros than cons to take up the citizenship but we just cannot make up our mind. I think it's more of psychological obstacles. It's not easy to overcome it but we have done it and Chengguan has submitted the application to ICA on 16 August 2008 finally.

Father God, we thank you for giving us the wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus! Amen!

Time to Blog again

2008-08-25T12:02:00.005+08:00

Have been reading San Nah's blog recently and i think it's time for me to blog again.

I enjoy reading blog as it's a good way to keep updated with friends. I simply have too many friends who are in a different country than i am and if we want to wait til meeting up to update each other, there are only two possibilities, we will never have enough time or we will run out of topic very soon. We got to admit that relationship need MAINTENANCE and one got to put in effort in maintaining a relationship.

By blogging, i hope i am back in your life again and please feel free to leave a comment.

Thanks and friends, more news from me soon!

May blessings be with you always!

half of the year 2008

2008-07-01T17:53:00.001+08:00

It’s the first day of July again. Half a year has passed in the blink of an eye.

Come to think of it, we have not achieved much for the passed 6 months of 2008. We still do not own a house and we are still here in Singapore. But we have gone back to Kuching twice, Benedict has started schooling and is adapting well in the new environment, and we adhere strictly to our savings target. (Abba Father, we shall leave the rest to You for You will make the impossible possible, Hallelujah!)

For the next half of 2008, we do have a few resolutions to achieve: -

§ To save more
§ Spend more time with family, especially our precious little one
§ To improve myself – English, public speaking, writing
§ To change our target from buying a house to saving more
§ To spend less
§ To have a getaway with my hippo alone

The second half of 2008, I AM COMING!!!

my second father's day

2008-06-16T12:53:00.003+08:00

yesterday was my second father's day. though the lady in church distributing father's day gift wasn't really convinced that i am already a 2 years old father :)

baobei took us to tampines round food court to have steamboat fish head again (BKE-PIE). a simple dish yet all of us loves it very much. after dinner we went to ikea and giant to shop (PIE-TPE-SLE-BKE). we literally did an island tour and it was quite tiring.

i am really thankful to God for giving me such a good wife. this is the lifestyle we both enjoy and only our mighty God could think of such a good combinations, effortlessly.

2008

2008-01-17T08:43:00.000+08:00

It's 2008 and our precious little one can walk by himself now.

He can say "mm.. mm..", call "papa" and point. He is getting more adorable everyday. Just cannot wait for him to call me "Mummy".

Chinese New Year is coming and as usual, we are going back Kuching. Yeah... I can be like a little princess again.

Cheers everyday and Happy 2008!

water baptism

2007-06-18T09:20:00.001+08:00

my baobei and i were born again on 17 june 2007. it was also on father's day and it was really special for us.

the briefing was somehow lengthy and i believe deacon was just too excited for us. sange and her family including her mother-in-law were there to witness it. sky was cloudy and the water was cold. deacon asked for my name when i entered the pool. he asked if i believe Jesus is my savoir and I said yes. then he pressed my head lightly and i was totally submerged into water. the new one is born again!!

today, i am a brand new chengguan and my wife is a brand new baobei. our warranty were renewed and all divine favor of God will fall upon us. Hallelujah!!

admitted for the second time

2007-05-29T13:11:00.001+08:00

our precious little one was admitted to NUH for the second time on 29 April 2007. he started with cough, flu and followed by high fever.

he was alright on saturday - 28 April and chengguan and i still went out for dinner with lian huey and her husband at clarke quay. we came back about 10+ and found that he had fever. we gave him paracetamol and hoping that he would be fine after that. but he could not sleep at all. he was making noise for the whole night that mummy was getting worried. thought of bringing him to hospital but daddy had a mug of beer tonight and he's dead beat. so mummy and kakak just tried their best to put me to sleep.

when daddy woke up at 3+, we decided to go hospital. doctor examined me and urine test was done to make sure i was not suffering from urinary tract infection. we went home at 7+ after doctors confirming with daddy and mummy that they are confident in taking care of me at home.

again, i was not comfortable. i started to have problem breathing. it's so heart aching for mummy to see me like this. daddy and mummy were considering to admit me if my condition did not get better. my fever was as high as 38 to 39 degree, it just refuse to subside. we tried everything we can, medicine, cool pack, flour with egg but nothing seems to work.

daddy and mummy left with no choice but to admit me after dinner. i was admitted but there was no single bedded room avaiable so for one night, i was put to 4 bedded cubicle. beside me was a 2 weeks baby suffering from high fever as well. and there was another jie jie in our cubicle that was suffering from liver or lung infection. doctor diagnosed that i was suffering CROUP, a virus that infect the voice box.

daddy and mummy accompanied me until i was discharged on 1 May - Labour day! i recovered miracally fast that those kids who were admitted earlier than me still cannot be discharged. their fever had not stabilised yet so they have to stay few more days for observations.

that's how my Heavenly Father loves me, unconditionally and abundantly. i recovered so fast that a minimum treatment was needed. i was put to oxygen mask for 15 minutes at A & E on sunday night, and 5 minutes everyday for twice a day until i was discharged on tuesday.

and i lost my baby bottle in the hospital. i think the nurse had wrongly left the bottle at the bed beside me when i was in the 4 bedded cubicle. it's too late when mummy realised this and since we were not sure whether the aunty had used that bottle for the baby, we decided not to take it back.

i am all alright now that daddy and mummy brought me to Melacca on 11 to 13 May - Mother's Day! mummy, i love you!

crawling forward

2007-04-25T10:56:00.001+08:00

after a week of crawling backwards, benedict is finally crawling forward. though a little bit unstable, he is crawling forward to grab anything and bite. i have to hide behind him so that he can concerntrate on crawling. otherwise, he might just make some noise and force me to carry him.

i suddenly realize that it is our very natural ability to call for fatherly help whenever we face obstacles. as when we are growing up we gradually loss it and depend too much on ourselves. turn to our Abba father! He who loves us more than we love our child would not leave us crying helplessly.

KOVAN MELODY...

2007-03-11T20:48:00.000+08:00

does this name sound familiar to those of you who are staying in Singapore? it's a new launched condo right beside the kovan MRT station.

we went to view the condo today and i like it so much from the first impression. to me, i think first impression is very important when u buy a house. if you dun have a good first impression about someone, there may still be opportunity for you to get to know him/her better, to see his good points and gradually change your impression about him. but for house, if you dun like it, u dun like it. there is simply no reason for that sometimes.

i like kovan melody mainly because the big space between the blocks. cannot remember how many blocks they have, but all the facilities are in the centre with the sun blocked by some of the blocks. it's very windy, i would say as there is no high rise building in that area. the swimming pool is as long as from one end to another. there are so many space for children to run about, of course, i am thinking for our precious Benedict. i am sure he will like it too. but the onli thing is it is far beyond affordable. the price for a 3 bedrooms start from 700k and above and yet our budget is something less than 500k.

let's put our house in God's hands and i am sure he has something better for us. Thanks Abba!

my first trip to Kuching

2007-02-26T20:01:00.003+08:00

it's Chinese New Year 2007 and daddy and mummy brought me back to Kuching.

it's my first time taking a plane and i was so obedient that i didn't make a lot of trouble for my parents. i slept all the way from Jb and Kuching and i slept for half the journey when we came back from Kuching to Jb today.

grandma took good care of me when i was in Kuching and Vincent kor kor even gave his place for me to sleep. though i didn't go many places, i enjoyed my Kuching trip and looking forward to visit Kuching again soon.

crisis? opportunity?

2007-02-09T11:58:00.001+08:00

all of us were waken by the phone in the middle of the night. To cut the long story short, papa call and said tat he had fever and the doctor told him that it could be caused by dengue. mum asked him to go for detailed check up in the hospital. he refused as he just orderred 6-7k worth of mandarin orange in stock.

as expected, mum was sad and confused and wasn't able to sleep. didi and i talked to her and tried to comfort her but she didn't get any better. and she just suggested maybe we shall all go to sleep first.

i thought of holy communion at that moment and i knew prayer is the solution. wan ping and i went to mum's room and ask her to pray together. we sat in the living room and i was holding both of their hands. i asked for God's wisdom to deal with the situation and we asked Jesus to handle the problem for us. i also asked for God's mercy to receive love from the family and Him.

few minutes ago, mum called and papa's report is out. there is no dengue and the fever is minor. one of the supplier agreed to take back the stock and the remainding was sold to razak.

i asked mum to invite papa to come for reunion dinner in singapore. but he was saying that he need to do the praying stuff.

i hope this is the turning point where papa will sense something special now. we are praying everyday that papa will receive Jesus soon. and we believe that this is the ONLY way he will change into a loving person and solve our family problem once and for all.

God is good and faithful. He is not going to leave our problem solved half way. we shall have good life and never have to worry about phone ringing in the middle of the night. Amen.

bladder infection and low platelet count

2007-02-02T10:00:00.001+08:00

xiao bao bei was admitted to NUH on the 1st of February. he was 11 weeks old and sufferred from bladder infection and low platelet count. there wasn't enough bed at the time of admission and he was put into ICU. thank Jesus, the care givers in ICU are very professional and nice.

At the point of admission, xiao bao bei's platelet count was 25 E+9/L. that is far lower than the normal 150 to 400 E+9/L normal range. it dropped further to 17 E+9/L during the blood test the next morning. Abba Father don't think this is good. hence, xiao bao bei's platelet count was increased to 58 E+9/L this morning. Hallelujah!!

you call me cold blooded or faithful to my Lord. i was not worried since xiao bao bei was admitted to hospital. of course, it was heart aching to see him sufferring. all i could do was to talk to him and pray for him.

my bao bei is strong this time. she wasn't sleeping the whole night and didn't eat much in the morning. but she told herself to eat n sleep well. otherwise, she won't be able to take care of our xiao bao bei.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platelet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urinary_tract_infection

SICK

2007-01-30T15:40:00.001+08:00

for the very first time, our little precious is sick.

he was left at his cousin's house last wednesday when the grandma got to go back to Kluang for the great grandma's first anniversary. the cousin. Eliana was sick at that time and i think that's how our precious was infected.

i went home on thursday and found that he had mild fever. the fever became worse during the night that our daddy got no choice but to take half day leave. daddy made his passport after he had sent mummy to work. daddy then went home and took xiao bao bei to the clinic. they then went to Causeway Point to grab Aussino bedsheets for the aunt and also a NEW bed that xiao bao bei is going to share with grandma.

xiao bao bei was perfectly alright when we got home from work on Friday and everything was normal until Sunday night when we found that he had fever again.

he was down with cough and flu on Monday morning and grandma got no choice but to walk him to the clinic with Kakak. when we got home from work, he was feeling really uncomfortable that he won't even smile as he normally does. the running nose made him cannot breathe properly. mummy feels so heart ache to see him uncomfortable and we started praying for him. deep inside our heart, we know God is there for him, to cure him, to protect him, and also to give him the best.

it's Tuesday today and he is much better when we left for work this morning. hopefully by the time we reach home today, he is perfectly healthy and smile as usual.

baby, we love you so much that we would like to give the best to you and most importantly, with God's love, you will be rich in health!!!

issuance of passport

2007-01-29T19:19:00.001+08:00

xiao bao bei just got his passport today! the passport number starts with a letter 'k'. yeah, my xiao bao bei is a sarawakian. now the father is the only one in the family who doesn't carry a sarawak passport!! i am a MINORITY now!!

with the passport, we can now go johore without having to leave our xiao bao bei at home. that means bao bei's shopping territory is suddenly expended many many folds (except isreal... well, at least, legally...)! nobody is sure what is going to happen on our family budget. Abba, do something about our family income! praise the Lord, Hallelujah!

A Day in Eliana's House

2007-01-25T10:06:00.001+08:00

yesterday, xiao bao bei's grandma went back to his great grandma's first anniversay in kluang. hence xiao bao bei was sent to his cousin, eliana's house for day care. bao bei was so anxious that she couldn't sleep well the night before and keep on calling me to check with eliana's grandma for xiao bao bei's status.

eliana was doing quite well with her little cousin. she told me about xiao bao bei crying before he fall asleep. she acted like a babysitter and told me about what xiao bao bei was doing. looks like she totally accepted him. :)

smiling baby

2007-01-22T10:02:00.001+08:00

xiao bao bei is definitely in extremely good mood and he is smiling at anybody who talk to him this morning. i was playing with him before i left home for work and all my sleepiness has gone with his smile.

didi was playing with him on the sofa and appearently he is okay with a huge object and had fun also. i guess maybe xiao bai bei was overjoyed for some good news to come. i believe the angels around him must have been telling him about these good news and i am ready to see more miracle to come. Thanks, Abba, for giving me him to me and showing your fatherly love showering on us all the time. Hallelujah.

my spoilt radio

2007-01-19T09:44:00.001+08:00

it has been a long time since i kicked the habit to listen to radio every morning commuting to work. recently, i found that it has come back to me and there is absolutely no way to turn it off. i tried turning all the nodes, push all the buttons and removed the a/c supply. appearently there is backup batteries and it just go on and on.

the spoilt radio is my bao bei... my lovely wife with endless topic to go on. i usually show her the number of times she repeated her stories by fingers. she would challenge if i can remember every vivid details of the incident. if i can't, then she would happily go on and make sure that my memory is properly programmed again.

i am hoping that her new job will help her to renew her topic every now and then. she is handling traffic cases now. i certainly don't wish there is more accidence on the road. maybe they can be more creative and make the case more complicated. like making claims againt the garment for non-standard tone of road marking, reckless ants crossing the road and etc.

i have to admit that she might be doing it for my benefit. just like her good friends, annie and clement, i maybe awarded a degree in legal studies by just tuning in for 3 years (maybe plus 1 more year of pupillage work).

age: 2 months

2007-01-17T16:37:00.001+08:00

xiao bao bei is already 2 months old!! well, it's still hard to believe that such adorable baby belongs to us everytime i stare at him. we did a rough estimation and found that we at least need to feed another 1000 more bottles of milk before he learns to speak. hmmm... it's not easy to be a baby... :)

nappy story

2006-12-22T15:10:00.001+08:00

it was raining heavily these days.284 mm of rain in a day. millions of dollar has gone down to the drain with the heavy rain. but really... i don't care! what i am more concern now is whether or not the nappy is going to dry or not!!

xiao bao bei wets a dozen of nappy daily. that means if the nappies do not get dry on the next day, we will run out of it. then we have no choice but to use diaper. it's making xiao bao bei very uncomfortable since it's not as airy as cloth nappy.

rain rain rain... can you come on alternate days?

Breastfeeding

2006-12-05T18:20:00.001+08:00

Breastfeeding is not an easy task altogether. I thought it's a mother nature but it's not at all. It needs a lot of determination to do so.

We did not do any survey for formula milk while I was expecting Benedict because we were so sure that we would be able to breastfeed for, at least, the recommended period of 6 months. I have not had the knowledge and confidence to breastfeed until we attended the childbirth education courses in Mt. Alvernia, which not only gave me a lot of information about breastfeeding, but most importantly, the confidence to breastfeed our newborn.

I did not breastfeed Benedict in the delivery room right after he was born, simply because I was too exhausted to do anything then. In fact, I did not feel anything at all after Benedict was born, it's just a relief that everything is over. When I say relief here, it doesn't mean the 40 weeks of pregnancy but it refers to the labour pain that was unendurable for me, at least or most of the women, I should say.

I started breastfeeding Benedict 4 hours after he was born. It's 5 in the morning, on 16 November 2006 and being a first time mother, I did not know how to breastfeed correctly. Although I have attended the classes, I still need some practical guidance and support. The nurse on duty was not very friendly and she just told me what to do, instead of showing it to me. So the first session was not really successful.

However, the morning shift nurses were much more helpful and friendly and from them, I have acquired the skill to breastfeed. So far, I only had sore nipple once, that was because I was impatient and always tried to stop Benedict from sucking too long. I actually enjoy breastfeeding now, the precious moment for Benedict and me exclusively, and of course our "daddy" if he is willing to accompany us during the session. But I had diarrhoea few days ago and that causes the lack of milk. We were forced to get ready formula milk just in case I have nothing for Benedict and we did provide him with formula milk when I did not get better.

I am recovering now and the milk flow is getting established. I hope I can continue breastfeeding Benedict for as long as possible as it's the best present a mother can give to her child and I would encourage all the mothers to breastfeed.

河马受 "yang" 日

2006-11-29T07:27:00.001+08:00

when the mummy's love distribution moves significantly towards xiao bao bei, either hippo or mummy will declare << 河马受 "yang" 日>>, hippo beloved day, so that a lot of attention will be paid to hippo. "yang" is short for "sayang" in malay language. there is no upper limit to number of << 河马受 "yang" 日>> to be declared in a year. During << 河马受 "yang" 日>>, hippo will enjoy a lot of attention and love from mummy mainly. xiao bao bei is encouraged to love hippo more on this occasion, too.

Welcome to the world, son!

2006-11-24T11:58:00.005+08:00

It's an ordinary Wednesday until I went to Dr. Ang's clinic for a follow-up in the evening. Benedict was predicted to be due on 20 November, but Dr. Ang predicted him to come one or two weeks earlier as it's normal for the first child. It's 15 November, less than a week than the expected earlier delivery, Benedict was still in my uterus instead of our love-filled family. Everything was normal until Dr. Ang suggested us to admit at 10.30pm on that same night just to wait for the arrival of our Benedict.

However, Dr. Ang didn't make decision for us until he called later at about 8.00pm to ask about my condition and required us to admit at 10.30pm. We had dinner, showered and I even managed to catch the final episode of my favourite Hong Kong drama before we looked for our way to Thomson Medical Centre.

I didn't feel anything unusual before I reached TMC, in fact I didn't feel anything at all until I was settled down in my ward - 522B at about 11.20pm. Contraction came then and it's 3 minutes apart. But from the courses that we had attended, it's said that contraction starts with about 40 minutes interval then reduce according. My hippo massaged my back to make me more comfortable and at about 11.30pm, the water bag burst. We called the nurse and she came in to double check for me. They quickly sent me to the observation room. I was asked to change, take urine sample and pass motion. The contraction was really bad once I was out of the toilet that I started screaming. I didn't have the extra energy to feel the embarassment at all. It's all about pain.

I was asked to go to the delivery suite soon after that. The nurse then called my hippo in. It's about 12.20am and the contraction was getting much more intense that I would do anything to get rid of the pain. I couldn't even hold the gas mask properly when the contractions came. I was asked whether I would like to have the anaethetic injection which would ease the pain by half, but after the nurse was done with the preparation, she told that she hadn't gaven me the injection because there is no point having the injection if I was going to deliver soon and Dr. Ang was coming in soon.

It's so painful that I didn't have the extra energy to talk or observe around the room, as what I would usually do whenever I go to a new place. The next thing that I know is I saw Dr. Ang walking in, wearing a white Levi's t-shirt and bermuda, unlike the usual shirt and tie in his clinic. He checked my cervix before he quickly got ready for the arrival of our new born. I didn't know when should I do the pushing so I just pushed when he sat down readily for our Benedict. Then he said, "Nevermind, we'll wait for the next contraction," so after a while, when I feel uncomfortable, this time round, the pain was not as strong, I just pushed. The nurse counted one to ten and just before I could have a good breathe, she started counting again. I tried to cooperate as much as I could and continue pushing again. "It's done," said Dr. Ang and I saw little Benedict on my tummy. It's 00.50 on 16 November 2006, our little Benedict is born!

I cannot remember much about what had happened in the delivery suite in fact except all the pain that I had endured. It's a scary and unforgettable experience I would say. Though we are encouraged to breastfeed the baby right after the delivery but I really didn't have the energy to do so. All I need was a good rest. We spent more than an hour in the delivery suite before we (Benedict and I) were sent to the normal ward.

I thought my hippo could stay with me for the night as it's about 3 am then but the nurses were so strict that they asked him to go back. I could not sleep at all, partly because of the pain, partly excitement, partly I was all alone in the hospital. We spent 3 nights 3 days in hospital before we welcome Benedict to our home on Saturday, 18 November 2006, at about 2pm.

That's roughly the process of the arrival of our new member in the family. A baby who is blessed, always filled with love and care. Welcome son and we promise we will always do our best for you!

benedict's arrival

2006-11-17T07:06:00.001+08:00

i think i have more faith now as it wasn't unexpectedly fast for benedict's arrival. with less than 5 pushes and he was out there crying. praise the Lord. Benedict was 49cm, 2.895kg at birth. at that point this photo was taken, the gynae was stitching baobei's cut. baobei was exhausted and wasn't able to smile properly. her hands and legs were cold and were shilvering. *big hug* i love my bao bei forever!

named

2006-11-08T10:31:00.001+08:00

after many months of struggle and the name is decided to be 张明轩, benedict. well, simply, i like the word 轩, meaning "little hut" in chinese, and 明 means bright. i just wish xiao bao bei may have very pleasant personality and always cheerful. surely, i can forsee that i will have headache again when xiao bao bei's sibling(s) is on his/her/their way... :)

lonely night

2006-08-29T22:41:00.001+08:00

2 nights without my bao bei on my bed. i have forgotten what is it like when i was single. the bed is so big and i just can't find a comfortable corner. how am i gonna endure another week without my bao bei at my side.

i am sure my bao bei is going thru the same thing now. how i wish i could be there and hug you and xiao bao bei to sleep. this is gonna be the longest week in our life. can you imagine that you were suggesting that you wanna work in kl for a year before we get married? nonsense! that is only possible if my love for you is so much less! no, no, i won't do that. (i'd do anything for love, but i won't do that...)

name

2006-08-29T22:24:00.001+08:00

it wasn't difficult to decide the christian name for our first baby, benedict, means blessed. that is all he needs from God. now, the more difficult task is to think of a chinese name for our child. shame on me for 12 years of chinese education and i am totally clueless. how can i make sure that my xiao bao bei is gonna like his chinese name? arrggg... tough... or should it be "zhang xiao bao bei"...?

blog creation

2006-08-28T20:50:00.001+08:00

this blog is finally up and running. it's gonna replace the numbered email we used to exchange.