Happy Teachers' Day!!! :D

It's not actually 1st Sept yet, but we celebrated Teachers' Day in school today. This is the one day of the school year that I'm made to feel like a diva/ great celebrity instead of Mother Hen always clucking away (yeah, I can be quite naggy at times, especially to impish teens :p).

This day always leaves me feeling great about myself, cos I'll be left with lots of heartwarming gifts and, more importantly, beautiful memories. This year, especially, I ended up shedding tears of joy after being touched by the wonderful deeds my kids were involved in to make this day so special to me. *Happy sigh*

FROM MY CURRENT FORM CLASS...

My Sec 3 form class surprised me with a thick, creamy coffee cake, topped with my trademark smiley face (cos I always put smiley faces on their assignments if they did well... haha). Sigh, this is such a wonderful class of students, never requiring me to overly nag at them or worry about them. So touched that I just made an impromptu speech telling them about the times they've made me proud of them and thanking them for the cake (after which they started getting cheeky and began toying with the idea of getting me splattered with cake... luckily I could still assert my authority in time! :p)

Heh, this one's a T-shirt from the whole class, adorned with their colourful signatures! Heh, they ordered me to put it on immediately over my own top and parade it around school as I moved about... sure entertained quite a number of people who met me as I went about! :P

FROM MY PREVIOUS FORM CLASS...

One of the things that made me feel so warm inside was that my previous form class of two years had never forgotten me and still got together to write me their well wishes on this vanguard sheet with my pics and theirs pasted all over the second page. Pinned it up at my work cubicle next to the bear they bought me last year from build-a-bear workshop. There were words of how they missed and loved me, and also how they wanted me to always remember the fond memories we shared as a class when they were in lower sec... Aww...

FROM ALL OVER...

And above are all the rest of the sweet sweet gifts I got from individual students from all over -- form class, previous class, current subject classes, band... Just couldn't help taking a video this time for my remembrance before I pack everything. :)

SPECIAL MENTION...

Now this was one precious gift that deserves special mention. Among the giant mug of paper roses/ notes that I received from this bunch of boys from my former form class was this precious note that was written by one boy from Thailand whom I've always liked and believed to be good, but who had gotten himself into trouble before with other teachers. Reading this note unlocked a stream of tears cos it was simply too touching for words. It reminded me of what I've always wished to be able to do as a teacher -- to touch lives and make a difference. Not only is his note a reassurance to me that he's still really the good boy I've always thought him to be, but also a confirmation of how I've managed to touch his life. Oh no... wanna cry again.. CMI...

Also had the opportunity to speak with some ex-students to came back to visit us today. All in all, it was a really fulfilling day for me. :) HAPPY TEACHERS' DAY TO ALL THE TEACHERS OUT THERE! (including Hubby -- I've always thought him as a wonderful teacher, teaching his students not just school work, but also valuable lessons in life. ^_^)

Congrats to Beebee! ^_^

Yaay! Beebee has officially graduated with a degree! Heee... so proud of her. Went down to SIM after work yesterday to attend her graduation reception -- only had 2 tickets so Papa and Mummy went to watch her go on stage while I met them after that and stayed for reception (though most of the time I ended up being Beebee's personal assistant, carrying her bag and taking photographs for her and her friends :p).

Sigh, really very happy for Beebee. I think she's come a long way. She's a classic example of how a Normal Acad student managed to strive hard and do well enough to move on to poly and finally university. And while taking her part time degree, she was working at an established company too. Not easy to juggle both studies and work, but she managed to do all that, despite being the younger child in the family and having been kinda 'pampered', especially by yours truly. Heh. And she also found a full time job that she's satisfied with and that pays well after some job interviews. My baby sister has really grown up and done everyone proud! :) ... er, although she still looks like a 12-year-old to me. :p

After all the photo taking and stuff, Mummy suggested heading to Beauty World hawker centre to have some yummy handmade dim sum cos we didn't manage to eat much at the reception. It was, to me, a simple and enjoyable evening with family. :)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

PS. Missed having Hubby around though -- he had to go home after teaching as he wasn't feeling too well. Had gone to see the doc earlier yesterday. Get well soon, Hubby. :)

Latest additions to watchbox!

Heh, been looking less at luxury watches these days and searching for more affordable but great-looking ones... all cos of Hubby's new watches, specially purchased online to add to his collection. It all appeared so simple to me to have watches delivered straight to our doorstep and having Hubby put his skills to use by adjusting the watches and making them fit for personal wear. Sigh, but it's a bit hard for me to find something satisfying to buy online. I'm a tactile girl -- need to be able to touch and feel and try on something before deciding whether to get it or not. But still had a rather enjoyable time just looking at lots and lots of pics of watches online recently. :)

Anyway, enough talk. Now introducing the latest 2 members of Hubby's watch family! *Drum roll*

This one's from Dolce & Gabbana -- the screen resembling the old type of TV screen you'd see when there's no programme to watch on a certain channel attracted Hubby's attention and appealed to him. It's kinda funky and, like what Hubby says, requires a certain amount of attention paid to how one would dress when wearing this watch. This is one of the rare times when I personally do not quite like a watch that Hubby picked out. To me, it's too 'complex' looking, and too colourful. But I do like how the screen (within the circle) lights up when a button is pressed. Oh well, as long as Hubby likes it cos he's the wearer anyway. :)

Ahh... this one... this one I like. Love the clean cut design of a dartboard, and especially the second hand in the image of a dart. Looks exquisite to me. This watch is of a brand called 'J-springs', with the 'J' standing for 'Japan'. Apparently this brand is a subsidiary of Seiko. Likes how Hubby wears it too... think he can carry it off quite well. :)

Encouraged...

In my line of work, as with many other types of work, there are both ups and downs... and at times, the downs seem to far outweigh the ups.

Today was a different matter. Though tired from a whole day's work and having to stay at the office till the evening, I left feeling encouraged and rather positive about myself. Charine approached me just as I was leaving and wanted to speak with me regarding the Subject Head/ Pupil Welfare position. As HOD of that department, she planned to just have a warm-up talk with me about my possible increased job scope and was all smiles as she came up to me.

But when I broke the news of me declining that position to her, she was stunned and greatly disappointed. Nevertheless, she understood my stand and was willing to support me in my decision, though she repeatedly told me to please let her know should I ever change my mind and decide to take it up. She also told me what I had never known before this -- that she had actually had me in mind for that position for a very long time, and felt that I was just perfect for the job. (Sophia says maybe she sees me as nurturing/ caring?) She had previously already mentioned my name to the Principal, but the latter was reluctant to let Charine take me cos she had planned for me to be one of the leaders of the EL department. It was only recently that she finally agreed to let Charine take me. I thanked her for telling me that, and honestly told her that it came as a huge encouragement to me before I left.

I also learnt from Sophia on our way back that I was one of the three nominees for one of the Teachers' Day staff dinner awards after a poll from the whole staff-- the most inspiring colleague award. Wow. Last year I won the most sporting colleague award; didn't expect this one this year, especially when the other 2 nominees for the same award are very experienced and senior teachers.

With all these news, it's definitely one of the ups that I'm going through today. I'm just happy and encouraged to know that both superiors and fellow colleagues think well of me, and that I have managed to make a positive impact and difference in the lives of others. :)

PS. Hope this nice end to the workday today will help me get a better night's sleep later. Haven't been getting good rest the past few nights. :p

New priorities in life...

That's it. I did it today. Officially declined a position in the school management committee as Subject Head.

When I was offered the position last week, I was quite keen to take it up. However, after further consideration and discussion with Hubby, I decided to let it go. Although it was hard to let go of such an opportunity (had to wrestle within myself), especially since it's in an area that I am pretty interested in, after weighing all the pros and cons, I think above all, family and sufficient work-life balance is still more important to me. At this stage, both Hubby and I have been talking about baby plans etc, and I don't think I want any added pressure from work interfering with this. Now, just wanna focus on being healthier and our baby plans. :)

Manjit was actually supportive when I told her about it today. She was the one who nominated me first but she says that opportunities will come again for me, and was happy for me, knowing the reason behind the decision. I remember that some time ago, I was actually considering taking up a new job due to some work-related issues, but now, think will try my best to cope for as long as I can. I just need to learn how to be more stress-free and manage my emotions better, I guess. Will try and see how it goes.

*cross fingers and hope for the best*

Cars attack!

Hubby had a problem over the weekend -- "Where to put??? Where to put??? WHERE TO PUUUUT???"

Sigh, that's cos he got 4 more double sets of cars from the Pixar film 'CARS' to add to his collection last weekend. With these sets, there's absolutely no more space in his CARS display column to fit them! And that's also why he was walking around repeating the same three words "where to put???", as he always does whenever he buys new stuff and ends up having to rethink the positions of whatever is already stationed around our home.

And yesterday.... the solution dawned on us. Our TV lounge. Near the ceiling. See...

So now, our TV lounge is surrounded by these cars in single packs, and what's left in the display column are the remaining ones, mostly bigger sets. It's amazing how this whole collection all began with this:

So adorable hor... the little piggy car above's what Hubby bought me in the beginning, then on another occasion, we saw this:

I dunno why, just really liked this chopper so much that we just bought it -- it's even got Mater hiding in it and popping out screaming something when you press a button. You can also get the propellers to move with sounds.

Yep, and that's basically the start of the CARS collection story. From then onwards, there's no stopping Hubby (even though I was sort of the direct cause... :p).

Out on a rainy Saturday...

Heh, while many probably stayed indoors cos of the all-day rain last Saturday, Hubby and I spent most of the day out.

Met up with Beebee and Qingli for a game of badminton again, but this time, we booked 2 courts, so played singles. Not bad, thoroughly enjoyed the game, especially when there was a long rally between Hubby and me. Haha. All of us had a nice breakfast chat at Mac, then Hubby and I headed home to play table tennis. Hoho, it's the Olympics that got us so inspired to play game after game. Hee.

Hubby and I spent the rest of the day from afternoon onwards shopping in town with Beebee. We each got some nice stuff for ourselves. *beam* I managed to find a few tops I liked at Robinsons (20% discount storewide!!!), and another casual tee at Tommy Hilfiger. Well, didn't exactly intend to buy anything there at first, but Beebee found the nice bangle-cum-chain watch she had been looking for so she decided to buy it on the spot. If total purchases amounted to $200 and beyond for VIPs, a free denim TH bag will be given (not for sale one wor!). At first thought could resist that, but after seeing the bag, I decided to just get the tee that I quite liked too to hit the $200. Haha. That denim bag will now officially be our new shopping bag cos it's so spacious and comfortable to carry about, plus can just roll it up and carry it out with us, using it only when needed. I like the prints on the front. ^_^

The three of us also had a good dinner at Streets cafe at Raffles City. It's the Hong Kong style cafe that I visited with Beebee about half a year ago. Pretty cool. Now they have this new thing about giving a free drink to customers whose birthday month coincides with the month during which they visit the place. At first thought it's just some normal drink, but turned out it's a really refreshing light lime tea soda or something like that. Both Hubby and I loved it and kept taking sips from Beebee's drink, cos it was her birthday month and she got that free drink mah. Haha, cheapos, the two of us.

Hubby's main course: XO seafood noodles; Beebee's main course: Shanghai fried noodles; Mine: Macau fried rice with chicken chop

The side dishes we shared: Century egg with ginger and sesame oil; Fried beancurd skin with shrimp filling; oh and the delicious free drink (for one, but happily consumed by all three of us, though I must say Beebee didn't look all too eager to have us eyeing her drink at times :p)

Heh, on our way to take the train home at Somerset, Hubby and I popped by the 7-Eleven store and found mini treasures... 8 sets of mini canned/ bottled drinks and convenience food, with fridge and shelf sold separately, all by Coca Cola. Haha, of course, they looked too cute to resist for mua, the mini food collector, especially with the fridge that looked so real. The outcome? They're all sitting snugly on top of our microwave oven now. :P

Both Hubby and I love the fridge with all the drinks the most. Looks so real right? Haha...

Ping pong gal champions

Caught the finals (women's) for table tennis @ Beijing Olympics 2008 last Friday evening. Had my eyes glued to the screen as I watched the women battle it out at the table. Breathtaking, the way they played! First watched Li Jiawei fight with Guo Yue for the bronze medal, which she lost (but I still admire her for her aggressiveness), then Wang Nan vs. world no. 1 Zhang Yining (the cool cool girl who reminds me of Ah nu during our secondary school days cos they both so tomboyish and she had short hair then :p).

Ain't as good as the commentators at the games so will just shut up and let the short videos speak for themselves (but maybe with a little bit of comments on my part too). :p

Here's Li Jiawei vs. Guo Yue. Cool huh, the way they played. Was rooting for Li but already anticipated Guo's win. She's world no. 3, a rank higher than Li anyway, plus she's really quick and fierce, and knows how to strategise well.

Now, here's world no. 1 Zhang Yining against world no. 3 Wang Nan. Love the way the latter smiled brightly at the spectators rooting for her even though she was defeated in certain rounds. Too bad it's her final go at the Olympics, so won't be able to see such an affable yet strong player in the games in future. Oh well, at least there's still Zhang to look at in future.

My New Idols!

Meet: Sayaka Hirano (top) and Ai Fukuhara.

Who they? Nee's new idols, discovered after she watched the Japan Vs. Korea table tennis match (women) at Beijing Olympics last Sunday on TV

Why them? The former always displays an intense glare at her opponent(s), and is such an oh-so-cool girl, but she's nice and actually smiles quite a bit to her fellow team mates, often giving them nods of encouragement during a game. The latter's bubbly and really pretty with her large eyes and chubby face, but boy oh boy, can she play a vicious and fast game indeed!

What else? Though they lost third place to Korea, they put up a really great fight and impressed everyone with their fighting spirit. Love 'em!

PS. Also caught the badminton finals (men) between China's Lin Dan and Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei. Cool! That Lin Dan seems to really be able to cover all grounds on the court and beat LCW totally. But still gotta admire LCW's speed and agility on the court, and how he put up a great struggle. EXCITING!!!

'Asian Discoveries @ OG'!

Haha, last Saturday, Hubby and I discovered a new place selling lots of cool snacks and stuff from Japan and Korea. We usually don't pop by that place but happened to be in the area, and I needed to purchase new shoes, so just popped in, and this was what we ended up going home with:

Heh, Hubby and I aren't exactly junkies, so we hardly buy snacks. But when we stopped by OG @ Albert Street near Bugis, we just couldn't resist the snacks department they had. It was such a large and comfortable shopping centre, so we had a great time going through the goodies they had and picking what we wanted (yeah yeah, I'm not supposed to eat too much of those... but what the heck, just looking at them already made me happy :p)...we ended up spending about $40 just on those titbits!

Btw, we also discovered this cosy restaurant called "Granny's Secret", which had apparently been in the news for their famous popiahs and other traditional desserts, kueh kueh etc. This place's tucked in a corner of one of the levels at OG, and we stopped to have a late dinner there after all the shopping around. Didn't have a chance to try their famous popiah, but we did taste their glutinous rice (they even have organic one) and steamed yam/pumpkin/carrot cake, kueh pai tee etc. It went really well with a warm pot of Chinese tea.

We've never had such a meal together before, so it was quite pleasant. Plus the place is nice and quiet, and the service is really warm. Quite like it. :) The meal, including the pot of tea, cost us both only slightly more than $20, so still quite reasonable. But some of better dishes could be more expensive cos more exquisite also.

Happy Birthday, Beebee (and Singapore)!

Beebee celebrated her 23rd birthday on National Day... hee. On the eve of her birthday, we went out to town and I gave her food treats... also bought her a slice of blackforest cake of her choice from a bakery at Taka's food basement. Looked so yummy and tasted good too. :) The next day, Hubby and I went back to Bukit Timah for dinner and to also be with Beebee on her actual birthday. Hehe, of course, that lucky girl also received a HUGE (literally) gift from us -- her first long-awaited Kate Spade bag. :)

Hubby and I bought this Kate Spade bag on the same day I got my latest Tommy Hilfiger bag and Hubby his orange Wilson bag, so it was really an all-bags day for us! Beebee hadn't noticed this bag before cos she was more like eyeing the casual, more colourful weekend bags. But we thought since she just got a permanent job offer (congrats, Beebee!), it'd be great for her to use at work. It's a solid brown professional-looking document bag, and I really mean solid, cos it's so tough and strong. Beebee also says can use to whack bad people. Haha. (Btw, Hubby and I tricked Beebee into believing the bag's almost three times what it was originally retailing at. Luckily she didn't whack us with the bag after she found out that she kena tricked again like her last birthday! :P) The inside's green with polka dots, so it's not totally dead serious kinda bag and it fits Beebee's bubbly personality. I love the way the bag's box-wrapped. In future, if I were to buy branded items like this, I'd ask for it to be gift-wrapped too so I can get the beautiful box as well! Haha.

PS. Looking forward to another big day of Beebee's later this month... her graduation day! Hohoho... :D

Hubby, thy name is Watchmaker...

Official announcement: Hubby has a new hobby -- watchmaking! Well, not exactly watchmaking, since he doesn't construct watches from scratch, but he's still quite the watchmaker at home. What he does is to deal with watches that are already there -- doing repair work, modification, whatever stuff he can on the watches he gets his hands on-- and turn them into 'new', usable ones.

Hubby has always been fascinated with watches, and he appreciates the mechanism and art behind them. Recently, with his new obsession especially with G-shocks, his fascination turned even more serious. He even went all the way to Rochor Centre to hunt for a full set of watchmaker's tools just to get him going even further.

Actually, I'm quite proud of Hubby. After getting the tools, he eagerly came back to experiment on some watches and did lots of things by himself. Sometimes I'm really impressed by how he can figure out things without any assistance. Though he says it's no big deal, I still admire (and envy) him for that ability... cos my brain's no good for such things... sigh.

After dealing with batteries from some old watches of ours, he went on to do something quite romantic for me the following day... haha. Check this out:

Heh, that's a watch with HIS face all specially modified for me! Wahaha... imagine my surprise when he presented this to me. Didn't know what to make of it cos was wondering how he did it and all but was touched by his gesture. Hee. Hubby actually made use of this free watch that we got quite some time back but that we had never worn before to do this. He removed the casing and time needles to insert his own photograph before fixing everything back. Then the next day, he took me to Citychain to choose a new leather belt to replace the original plain one... and VOILA! A brand new customised watch! Ehehe. Think it's a great watch to wear whenever I'm away from Hubby for some time eg. camps, trips etc. Will wear it out this weekend for fun too! ;P

The New Adventure of Bedtime Carebear (*Carebear Shine!*)

Once upon a time, there was a special blue bear, named Bedtime Bear. He belonged to the species called 'Carebears', a group of bears with different characteristics, depending on what was printed on their round belly. (Or is it the other way round?!) Anyway, this good ol' bear was found one day sitting with a sleepy look (what else?), with dust and a couple of tiny mild stains on his body.

Two anonymous good Samaritans saw him looking so forlorn with his body so dusty, and decided to help him become clean once again. They carried him to a large white machine that could spin anything with dirt and make it nice and clean. At that time, Bedtime Bear didn't know what was going to happen to him, and he didn't protest at all cos he was too...er... sleepy, of course.

"In you go! This is for your own good!"

That's what one of the good Samaritans yelled when he thought Bedtime Bear was starting to protest (that's cos he didn't exactly go into the machine very easily). In fact, that good Samaritan used his own foot to push the bear in. He knew that the bear desperately needed help, even if the latter didn't know it then.

Bedtime Bear wasn't really protesting, of course. In fact, he was seen just sitting contentedly (er... though a bit of discomfort was experienced still) in that white machine that was so unfamiliar to him. Hmm... in fact, if you notice, that sweet smile never once left his face!

A few minutes later, Bedtime Bear smelt-- and felt!-- fragrant soap all around him. Then a great gush of water came raining on him. He suddenly felt wide awake. What on earth was going to happen to him?! Then, suddenly, the water stopped and the machine started making funny sounds. And... he felt himself moving!

"Aaah!!! Somebody pleeeese help meeeee!!!"

The poor bear started screaming. Or at least, he tried his best to. But no one could hear him, and he stopped screaming cos he didn't want to end up swallowing the soap, fragrant as it is. So Bedtime Bear just let the machine continue churning him over and over again... hmmm... in the end, he relaxed as it felt kinda comfortable, as if he was being massaged. So he lay back and started smiling again, after which he... fell asleep.

When the machine finally stopped (after a whole hour!), Bedtime Bear awoke once more. He rubbed his eyes and looked around in a daze as he was lifted out from that machine and taken to another spot. No more churning, thank goodness! He was damp all over, so he was introduced to a bright sunny spot where he could dry himself, oh and maybe just get a sun-tan instead. There were times when he thought his white belly could use a bit of natural brown!

"Aahh.... This is the life, man!"

Erm, till today, Bedtime Bear is still living the high life, sun-tanning himself whenever he wishes. In fact, he was caught earlier lying on a soft comfy bed, with his butt in the air, facing the window. Oh no... NOW he's trying to sun-tan his blue BUTT!

~THE END~

Bags! Bags!

Oh no... I caved in yet again to one of my greatest weaknesses... my bag fetish. -_-!!


Just couldn't help purchasing this lovely Tommy Hilfiger bag last Saturday when Hubby and I were out shopping. Saw it first at the outlet at Taka then went down to Raffles City store to get it later on cos Hubby can use his VIP card there for discount. ^_^ It's not too expensive (their bags are always quite affordable, not like those really branded luxury items) and the design's really appealing to me. Love the material most of all-- it's like soft handwoven rattan-like material. Comes in 2 colours, black and brown. Chose the brown one cos it's a shade of brown that I don't really have. Heehee.

Btw, I wasn't the only one who got a new bag hor... Hubby also chose a huge orange tennis bag for himself. Haha.. he just liked the idea of carrying a giant bag around to dump things in, especially if we go out shopping. He even joked that we can throw many mandarin oranges into this latest arrival from Wilson when we go out to visit temples with Mummy, Papa and Beebee in future-- not scared anymore! Haha.

After the full operation...

After performing the initial operation on Mr. G.S. by himself, Hubby arranged for the second half of the operation to be completed by another professional. The following show Mr. G.S. looking all good and new after his full operation! :)