Done with assignments and housework

I must say that this one week break was very fruitful as I managed to complete all the assignments that are due when we head back to school tomorrow. In fact I managed to complete them ahead of schedule. I also managed to clear the pile of laundry and ironing as well. If only there could be more of such breaks.....dream on.......

Countdown to Sg F1 starts.....Sept 28th 2008!

The countdown to the inaugural Sinagpore F1 GP starts. The authorities have approved the street circuit that runs in the heart of Singapore's Central Business District and through landmark areas such as the Suntec City, Marina Floating Platform, Padang, The Fullerton...etc. Check out more details from this website: http://www.singaporegp.sg/

It will be the third circuit that runs counter-clockwise other than the Turkish and Brazilian GPs. Still in the process will be if Singapore can host the first night race ever in the history of F1. I really hope that goes through as this will really put Singapore on the world map as we are already very prominent in terms of education, tourism and commerce.

Children's Day

I think all primary schools and below(talking about level) celebrated Children's Day today. I went back to LPS to visit some of my former students and blessed them with a CD containing photos taken on my last day with them and at the Marina Floating Stadium when I accompanied them to the NE show. They were thrilled and as usual, some of them as usual were their comical self. Also caught up with couple of ex-colleagues while I was there. One of them, Lawrence was quite keen to join the Stanchart Sg Marathon 10km. Encouraged him to sign up early but I am not sure if there are any more spaces left.

This weekend will be spent mostly bonding with Esther plus doing some ironing. I still have my DSM and DCM to do but the main assignments were both the DED and DLK which I have completed. However, I still have no idea how to go about doing the DSE project map thing. Any ideas anyone?

Cool and wet day

The sun must have been on leave today while the rain clouds were working overtime. Throughout the day it was raining and drizzling. Thankfully when we went to pick Esther it did not pour at all. However, the wet weather did cause some problems on the roads. This morning there was an accident along West Coast Rd involving a trailer which skidded. Earlier when we were on our way home, there was another heavy vehicle that skidded along the SLE and I think it involved another car as well.

Basically, road safety is everyone's responsibility. Even though you may have the absolute right of way but the onus is still on all road users to prevent mishaps. Slow down a little, increase the braking distance and be extra cautious on rainy days.

Fruitful day

Feeling so happy and satistfied with myself as I managed to achieve quite a fair bit today. Nothing beats being able to sit in front of my computer posting with Class 95 playing in the background knowing that at least I have more or less completed both my DED assignments. Just left to insert the references and to do a little bit of editing before I begin on the DLK one. Did my mid-week laundry for both our clothes and Esther's clothes. I am so thankful that there is something called a washing machine. Imagine the good old days when washing board and pails were the only tools available. However, I find that front loading machines is not as good as top loading ones. The main reason is that you realise that there is still another piece or two clothings lying around and you have already started the wash cycle. For top loading ones, you can just pop open the lid and dump it in but not for front loading models.

Sent the blackaltis for 30k servicing this morning after dropping Angela off at school. Came back and did my assignment till I got the sms telling me my car is ready for collection. The damage was $174. Still cheaper than when I sent my previous car to some other authorised distributor across the road from Borneo Motors. Shall not mention the name as that particular agent charges exhorbant prices with crappy service attitude.

I may run to school tomorrow which means I must at least finish my DLK midway so that I have time to settle other assignments which include......ok I shall not stress myself further.

Surround sound

I replaced the old battries in 2 old transistor radios and decided to have a little surround sound in my study. So I put one in front of me and the other on the shelf behind. Even though it pales in comparison with those sound systems, hey, better than nothing right? But the catch is that one of the sets has a hopping frequency which means that it does not remain at only one particular station but it changes station incessantly. So after a while I have to keep pressing the serach button in order to get back my favourite station which I have grown up with for years. Class 95.

Another video clip

This is another video of Esther trying to sit up which she succeeds. Enjoy it.

Esther just started eating cereal

Esther began her first cereal meal this week and she seems to really enjoy it. As recommended, she began consuming 1 tablespoon of rice cereal mixed with milk. I have a couple of photos of her enjoy her food so lookout for the next post or so. She simply enjoys it and when we try to wipe her mouth since it does get a little messy, she gets grumpy because it is kind of like an indication that she is about to finish it all. The next step will be porridge and then onto fruits and vegetables. Angela and I forsee that this girl will be like us when it comes to food i.e: we will eat whatever that is given.

So much stuff to do, so little time

The 1 week break is here. However, I have tons to things to do. Major assignments (i stress assignmentS), house work ( the floor badly needs vaccuming and mopping, the washed clothes need ironing), other errands to run, resuming my running, wash the car......BUT BUT, there's only 24hrs in a day. This is a fixed constant whilst the stuff to be done is the moving variable. Sometimes, I wish I could spend that money getting those part-time cleaners that come in weekly to clean the house and do the laundry and ironing. However, that will mean having to incur extra costs. Anyone out there wishes to help with just the housework for free? LOL, I got to be dreaming.

Excellent job pple...

To my wonderful group mates in DSE 200 namely, Aaron, Jonathon, Joanne, Rafizah and Dora: Today's cube presentation was fantastic. The chemistry among the 6 of us is simply brilliant. I am glad that we all managed to come out with the necessary materials and put it all together within a short span of time. Here's to working together in DCE 202. Have an enriching non-teaching break.

Cube presentation tomorrow

Our group of 6 of us will showcase our cube tomorrow. Simple it seems but I seriously question if such methods are really practical. I find that most of the time, the many things which we have to learn in our schooling life which includes up to tertiary and post-graduate level are simply theory. In the real world, majority of such knowledge gained is hardly used. What that is important is that of our survival, PR, EQ and other skills which will be vital. However, for the sake of passing the exams, such seemingly unnecessary things have to be done, like it or not.

I shld start running again....

Been quite slack as far as my running in concerned. I actually gave the Terry Fox Run a miss last sunday as the weather was unfavourable. Even though the rain stopped when they flagged off the run, I opted to give it a pass which was a good move. Just as it was about to be over, it started drizzling again. However, I was already at Harbour Front McD having breakfast with my other running friends. So now the next event will be the New Balance Real Run which is in about a month's time. That will be an interesting route as there will be the sand, trail and runway segment. Better start running this friday.

1 week break ahead

After the e-learning week, we have our non-teaching break coming up. As usual, there are tons of things to be done during that week. However, it gives me some time to also settle some of my own things and also resume my training for the last two events coming up. Was talking to a friend who works at Adidas and he recommended me to try out their running shoes as they are really suited to many differnet styles. He mentioned that there is this running treadmill which can detect the kind of runner I am and recommend the suitable type of shoes. Since he is also a staff member, the discount factor is available as well. Perhaps I should be looking at purchasing my next set of shoes soon?

Esther turns 6mths today

"Hi, I am 6mths old already!"

Hello everybody, it has been 6 months since I came into this world. Dad & Mum went through, are still going through and will go through a lot to bring me up. The road ahead for them is not easy. They have to put up with my tantrums, waking up at night (occasionally but quite rare nowadays) to pat me to sleep, clean my soiled diapers and having to put up with my constant movements of flipping onto my tummy with my bottom still exposed! Dad & Mum do not hesitate to smack my butt if I am disobedient. Thankfully it is a light tap but I can sense where they are coming from. Everyday, I can feel that when they come and pick me from infant day care after a long day's work, the joy on their faces is so wonderful. Needless to say, I will greet them with my biggest smile.

Dad loves to tickle me and carry me high while mum enjoys letting me crawl and flip all over the mattress. I feel to secure in their arms especially when they tuck me to bed at night. Everyone loves to carry me especially when we are in chuch on sundays. Of late, when I started to get more and more active, dad and mum are having a huge task of having to barricade me up with bolsters and pillows so that I will not wander out of the boundaries. Just over the weekend, we attended dad's cousin's wedding and I got to see many of my cousins as well. Guess what? 2 other cousins share the same chinese name as me, including the same chinese characters. I may be the youngest now but come next month, I have another 2 cousins arriving. Wheeee....that means I have more cousins to play with. Can't wait for that day to arrive.....

Oops, I better leave it here. Lookout for more on my dad's blog.

A picture and short video clip

"What an interesting show!"

The picture on top was taken when Esther when looking at the TV set. She seems very engrossed. The above video clip was flimed on sat 15th Sept. See how active she is and this explains why we use our legs and pillows to ensure she is kept within the 'enclosure'. Enjoy it.

Cousin's wedding

Bridal car: BMW 523i ( a true driver's car)

Was helping out at my cousin's wedding today. Fortunately, they only had the usual activities and church ceremony while the banquet will be held on Tuesday evening. I had the honour of driving the bridal car and that's the one you see above. For obvious reasons, it is not very wise to speed as the deco might come off. Not that the bridal salon people did a lousy job but wind resistance can be quite high when travelling at high speed. Moreover, that car cost more than 3 times of mine and I certainly cannot afford to have any mistakes!

Busy day

It was a busy day of driving and travelling. After sending Esther & Angela to infant care and kindergarten respectively, I took a bus down town after parking my car back home. I must confess that taking public transport was fun as it brought me back to the good old days of squeezing with the rush hour crowd and having to stand almost 90% of the journey.

Dropped by my uncle's office to pick up his car to have it sent for polishing and grooming. As my cousin is getting married tomorrow, I had to bring it to have it decorated later in the evening. It's a Bimmer 523 and no offence to Merc owners, the blue-&-white propeller beats the 3-pointed star hands down. No wonder BM pride themselves as the ultimate driver's car. The overall feel of it is that you get the power delivery when needed whilst getting the feedback when cornering.

My coursemate Charlene picked me from the polish center and we had breakfast. Talked about our TA experience and what our plans were after passing out next year. We also had light moments 'gossiping' about our DSM class. Took the opportunity after that to have my car's wheel alignment and balancing done.

Had DSE in the afternoon and the presentation went pretty well except that we could have chosen a more suitable text. Nonetheless, it was a very enriching session. Came home and went to pick Esther before rushing to pick up the BM to have it sent for decoration.

Typical friday evening traffic made the journey so unpleasant. However, that meant I could enjoy a longer drive in the car and trying out the steering controls and the manual shift when the opportunity arose. Finally got home just before 9 and had our late dinner.

Handphone charger adaptor

I badly need to purchase the charger adaptor for my handphone. Since this is the newer generation Nokia phone, the charging port is slightly smaller than the older ones. I know that there is such an adaptor in the market and its significance was only felt when my phone battery went dead and I was in the midst of an important phone call.

I was on the phone with my cousin whose big day is in two days time. We were discussing some errands that he needed me to run tomorrow. Picking up the bridal car to have it sent for polishing and grooming, collecting it and then driving it to the bridal salon for decoration. I also need to collect the hand bouquet plus some other stuff and drive the car back to his place after deco.

My phone had two bars left this morning and I figured it could last till I got home. Well, the usual 4 of us decided to come to my place after lunch while waiting out for the 3 hrs before DSM. We managed to do quite a bit whilst charging my phone. Imagine the number of messages I had. Does anyone know where can I purhcase the adaptor? Perhaps I should have the adaptor with me always so that I can charge the phone whenever the need arises.

Mid-week

Had a super short DLK lesson today as it was a one-on-one group with our tutor where we got back our first assignment. Did quite well and we are pretty satisfied although we were quite near to an A. That's ok.

DCE was so draggy but fun nonetheless. We had to write a non-fictional text and what better topic to write than my own autobiography. It sure was great as I recalled my own life from young. There were highs and lows. However, when I wrote on the part of my growing up years from childhood till this date, there were unfortunately a lot more not-so-good moments. I guess my circumstances which I went through made me tougher in more ways than one. It is my desire that Esther will be able to have a wonderful and enjoyable childhood whilst not being spoilt.

Maths test

Overall, maths test today was mangable. It was a fair paper. The only issue is that I forgot one of the questions thus I could only do it half way. The other question was the last one when I was careless. Anyway, the advantage of this module is that the tests are topical so therefore I need not focus on the first 2 topics. Moreover, there will be no final exam for this module. If only the previous 2 maths modules were like that.

Half the semester has passed. I feel that this semester is the most hectic so far. But I think the next semester before I head out to school for my practical attachment is merely 6 weeks but that might mean finishing it faster. Anyway, I will just take it in my stride and take it one at a time.

Damaged window tint

My front left window tint was peeling off when I wound down the window this afternoon. Since the weather was quite cooling, I decided to drive without the aircon as pertol prices have headed north. It was when I wound down the window that I heard the sound of the flim peeling. Since it is under warranty, they replaced the flim for free. Incidentally, there is a car grooming shop a couple of doors away from where I had my flim done and that is where my cousin's wedding car is going to be sent for polishing this friday. Well, yours truly was asked by him to send it in and pick it up for him and drive it on sat as well. Pressure! Better drive it with extra care as it is a Bimmer 5.

Short gathering with ex-Uni & church friends

It was yesterday afternoon that Rebekah called me to ask which service will we attend. The reason was that Joseph and Jocelyn were in town for a week or so. Since we usually attend the first service, we made an exception today. Esther was awake so they had a go at carrying her. Although it was only a short lunch together, it was nonetheless a great time as we caught up with what we were doing at various stages. It is heartening to know that some of our other friends back in FGA Perth are doing great in their own way. This is the season where all of us are either settling down, starting or have already started a family. Dorina is next in line to get married next month and both Joseph and Jocelyn will tie the knot next year. Since it is during our school term, we are not able to attend their wedding in Perth but our well wishes will certainly be with them.

Back to sch next wk

It has been a hectic but nonetheless fruitful e-learning week. Like I mentioned before, I rather not have this e-learning week as there is much more work to be done. However, I am thankful that I could get some other things done as there was no need for me to be on campus. I reckon that the non-teaching break that will be coming up in about 3 weeks might be the same. It is always after the break that many things will be due. However, one big difference in this semester compared to previous one are that I do not have final exams. But that means there are major projects and assignments.

2 major assignments completed

I decided to submit both DCE and DSE assignments online early this morning. It was about 1am when I clicked the submit button and I was quite a number of hours ahead of schedule. As I was intending to focus on both DSM and DCM which I had not touched at all, I even submitted the hard copy of my DCE to my tutor's mailbox after lunch. As such, we had lunch on campus. It was Angela's first time on campus and so I recommended her to try the western food stall. I have the weekend to read through my DCM and DSM materials so that come week 6, I will not be so 'lost'.

Gp meeting at Adam Rd FC

Met up with the rest of the group members at Bookabara at Forum this morning. We searched for materials for our presentation next week and I must say that the books there are quite costly. Great variety though. It was then when our stomachs started growling so we adjourned to Adam Rd FC for lunch as they sold halal food. I recommended Fizah to try that famous nasi lemak stall which was partonised by the Sultan of Brunei. Needless to say she was not disappointed. Judging from the queue, it is pretty obvious that their quality is superb. In my opinion, it was far better than the one located somewhere on the extreme eastern part of the island. So we talked about our group project over lunch which was very beneficial. Perhaps we should have more of such meetings at these places since we can be more productive when there is food around!

Got a new set of 'shoes' for the blackaltis

That's me at the end point of the SBR 10 days ago.

A church friend of mine just booked a new car and he asked me if I wanted to take over his current car's set of 16" inch rims and tyres. He told me I could swap it with my current set (original factory fitted) at no charge. Since my current set has already clocked almost 30,000km, why not?

The difference between an OEM Bridgestone 14" and a Michelin 16" is great. Not only is the handling both wet and dry which improves, the stability also takes a higher notch. However, some ride comfort is sacrificed which in my opinion is acceptable. This current set of Michelins are slightly quieter than my old Civic's Bridgestone GIIIs but until I have tested the Michelins in the wet, I cannot comment on that for the time being. So now the blackaltis looks really cool with the new set of rims.

Podcast assignment

I completed my podcast component of the DCE assignment last night and decided to upload it. Although it is only due at 1700hrs tomorrow, I decided that it would be better to upload it earlier just in case of a possible congestion nearing the due time. What's next is that of the peer evaluation plus self reflection which is to be handed up on Friday. DSE is also due on friday as well. What a horrible e-learning week. I just find that this e-learning week is hectic. I rather not have it.

The only advantage is that it is the 1 week holidays and Angela's too. But each have our own things to get done so we still send Esther to her day care while we go about with our own stuff. Moreover, the fees have been paid so we might as well make full use of it. So for the year end holidays, we might do the same thing.

Bad timing

We brought Esther to have her hair trimmed. Since birth, we have done nothing as far as trimming is concerned. Our usual hairdresser was so happy to see her and Esther, being her usual self, displayed her cute smile. However, as my hair was being trimmed, Angela told me that Esther might have just done her business. And she did. Quite a big one. Now came the crucial point. Since we brought her straight from school, we thought she might just hold up till we got home. We then decided to bring her home first to have her cleaned up before heading back to the hairdresser's. Good gracious! The whole car stunk with her output. What's worse was that the diaper was not put properly so some of those unmentionables seeped out onto her clothing. Oh well, that is common for infants.

Brought her home and cleaned her up. Headed back for our haircut and then it was her feeding time. One thing about Esther is that when she is hungry, don't and I say again, don't even think of trying to stall for time. Her tsunami warning cry will greet you. So now she is in bed already and we are having our dinner.

And one last thing. The car does not smell anymore because we drove back without the aircon and with the windows wound down.

Busy week ahead despite it being the e-learning wk

Whoever said that e-learning week is a time to relax and to play is simply cheating themselves. The amount of work that has to be done coupled with assignments that have to be submitted just substantiates the first statement. For both the english modules, something has to be done and submitted online. The background work that goes into it is quite massive especially for DCE. As for DSE, fortunately our group of 6 managed to read it and now it is to write a 300 word reflection based on the lecture topics covered so far.

Fortunately for maths, both modules do not have anything that is due for submission but the material that is provided will be tested. They were kind enough to let us self-study and then we can email our tutors should we have any queries.

On a lighter note, I can resume my running this week after a week of complete rest. I cannot wait to hit the roads once again! The next event is coming up in a fortnight and it will be held at Sentosa. This is the Terry Fox Run for Hope which is a charity run. Anyone out there wants to run for a good cause?

Of injection and milk powder

Last night, we tried to mix the stage 2 of Esther's milk powder to the current stage 1 which she is taking. As she will be 6 mths old in just about a fortnight, we were recommended to do a gradual mix of the new powder with the old one so that the change is not so drastic. I mixed 1 scoop of stage 2 with 2 scoops of stage 1 and she drank it all. Well she was half asleep anyway when I fed her! However, she kept getting up a few times during the night after that. I hope that had nothing to do with the milk powder. Nonetheless, she still went back to sleep after a few pats.

She had her scheduled injection this morning at the polyclinic. This the 3rd and last dosage of the 6-in-1. As usual, her high threshold of pain was proven when she just cried a little when she was pricked. The next 12-24 hrs are crucial in that should she have a temperature, we got to administer some paracetomol. But her previous jabs were all fever-free so prayerfully it will continue to be the same.