黄脸婆or superwoman?

Check this out! iphone's interface on my HTC! Is that cool or is that cool?!

Soup Soba for lunch.
Ingredients:

• Soup base cooked with yellow beans & prawn heads for that extra sweet taste


• prawns (deshelled)


• meatballs (self made)


• squid (cut in rings)


• fish sauce (just a little for taste)


• Soba of course!
  

Dinner last night. Cabonarra Linguini with seaweed chicken. YUM!

Today's lunch: Green Choy Sum (it's only 75 cents for two packets!); Hongkong style steamed pork ribs; and my favourite belachan Sotong. ALwyas so heartwarming to be able to eat with your love one.

Winter Melon Soup

Ingredients:

• 3/4 of a winter melon (it's really huge!)


• dried abalone (one slice and pre-soaked for 20mins to soften)


• Dried oysters (5 pcs)


• 1200ml of water


• Wolfberries


• red dates (3)


• dried scallops (5)


• fish sauce


• chicken stock
  
  White fungus for my Cheng Tng. MISTAKE! Don't soak so much, it's gonan expand tremendously! dont know what to do with the balance now.
  虾酱鸡 Prawn paste chicken
  

Ingredients:

• chicken wings (wings and drum separated for easy frying)


• Loads of oil for deepfrying


• Marinate with oyster sauce, belachan powder, shrimp paste (Singlong brand). Leave it overnight.


• Dip into egg white and dab on pre-seasoned flour (which include cornflour, blackpepper, belachan powder)
  

Brinjal & minced meat 鱼香茄子

Ingredients:

• Brinjal (deep fry it for like 5 mins)


• minced meat fried to perfection. Add sauce (pre packed)


• Fish sauce for taste


• Some chilli if u like it hot
  

Special request: Salted egg yolk prawns

Didn't turn out that well. Mashed the salted yolks and coated the prawns with it and fried. Added normal egg yolk for extra colour.

Steam Golden Snapper. YUM! dont' forget to add those salted sour plums and salted vege. But note to blanch them before hand, else it'd be too salty
WHat a longg brinjal!

For the last few days since Sunday, I've been doing quite a bit of cooking. It's rather therapuetic especially if one is cooking for her love ones. N it's especially satisfying when I get the thumbs up from friends. The dessert wasn't that big of a success. Think i added too much red dates to the Cheng Tng. But I've finally figured out how to make nice Prawn Paste Chicken (虾酱鸡)! It's 80% to perfection. Only problem was i couldn't get the flour to stick on whilst deep frying. Some parts apparently not well fried. Think my oil wasn't enough.

It's daddy's bday yesterday. Felt a little guilty that I didn't celebrate with him. Just met him over the wkend though at cousin's wedding. Furthermore we work till so late so how to celebrate right? But i did call him to wish him happy birthday. duno issit coz he miss me too much, he thought I called him on Sunday and called me back on Monday and kept asking if i called. Poor daddy, must be missing mi lots since I've moved out.

All the cooking is making me think if i'm turning into some 黄脸婆. I refuse to let that happen. M keeping my hair neat n tidy and ensuring that I take good care of my looks. Unfortunately, I m putting on quite a bit of weight!!! HELP!! so many clothes have become tight fit! very upsetting. However, I only ramble and take no action! Wish there's some pill out there which can just suck the fats out (with no side effects that is). It's actually quite tiring to be a superwoman. To take care of the family and to go to work. I seriously wish I can take the backseat for work and perhaps do something that's more in line with passion. THere's so much out there to discover, but I just dont have the time. :-(

Well, back to work again...no more cooking for the rest of the wk. FIL had expressed his wishes for us to go home and have dinner on Sunday. (sigh...i can't explore my culinary skills....the son goes home everyday to eat liao ma...can't I just have him on Sundays? )

So lame!

As I was cruising along the traffic infested roads of Singapore this evening, I heard something over the radio which is damn LAME! two DJs on FM91.3 who call themselves THE MARRIED MEN, were having a friendly "competition". It went like this: each were to call a unknown person and they are only allowed to say 2 words. HELLO & Hello! yes. can only say "hello" twice. The aim of the lame game was to see who was able to sustain the call longer. DJ Andre managed to sustain for 21sec before the person on the other line got fed up and hung up. Talk about patience! Gosh! Singapore DJs got nothing better to do these days issit?

Tony Leong & Carina Lau's Wedding

Heart in the sky! National day parade rehearsal as seen from my house

While waiting in the car, at the entrance. There was a snakelike queue coz the Valet parking guys were understaff.
Me, looking all pretty with my fake eyelashes and smoky eyes. I think i did a good first time job! What I wore. Shit! Putting on hell lot of weight!
Door gift ie. a glass coaster (useless if u ask me)
Forcing my sweetie to take a pic with me
Why am I best buy and he is person of the year? UNfair!


This is where the fairy tale begins
Blocked by the many pillars! grrrr

Somehow this didn't come up the way i wanted it to. But try to enjoy the melodious voice (albeit the wrong orientation and noise)
n nope, this isn't the couple who got married!haha

Finally they are married! How can a couple ever go through such a long courtship?..N I thought my hubby and I went thru it long -- 9 yrs! This golden couple have dated for 20 yrs! So happy they finally tied the knot in a grand way at a resort in the Himalayan nation Bhutan (i didn't even know such a place exist until today!) Did you know that Carina's makeup was done by Singaporean makeup artist Zing? WOW! Makes me proud to be a Singaporean man! That guru apparently left Singapore for HongKong and is a big hit with celebrities there. He did make up for Faye Wong and Carina and Fann Wong just to name a few. The dewy look on Carina's wedding day was absolutely princessy. Can't tell she's already in her 40s! The wonders of makeup. I recall having my makeup done on my wedding by Liren. It was great too..she had magic fingers too..just tat I saw more magic on others than on me.

On the topic of wedding, wow it's been almost 2 yrs since i've ROMed! Last nite, I attended my cousin's wedding at CHIJMEs. The place was nice, but it had loads of pillars. Half the time i could not see the couple on stage. Service was also poor. Asked for red wine twice before the waiter finally admitted that they had not enuff glasses and were in the midst of washing!!! It's not like we had 100 tables. there's only perhaps 30 tables! The food was YUCKS too! Cold. I think it's coz they do not have an in-house kitchen. I wanted to leave halfway but thought i should stay for the dessert -- YAM. It's one my fav but it was soooo disappointing! it was very lumpy n extremely sweet. Overall, i think apart from location, the place deserves a 3/10!

But, i must say the entertainment was great. There was live singing by a couple. I think cousin engaged them. The ger was fabulous! Hit the keys wonderfully!

Anyway, here's a little something on practices for those who are gonna get married:

1. Guo da li or betrothal

When: One or two wks b4 the wedding
What: gifts and cash delivered to the bride's home by the groom's family. The bride's family
will take some of the items and return the rest to avoid the impression that they are selling
their daughter.
Why: It shows the groom's financial dependability and assures the bride's family that she
will be well taken care of after marriae
Must haves: Pin jin (money in red packets), jewellery for Teochews (si dian jin), dried
seafood for Cantonese, pig trotters for Hokkiens, oranes, liuor and dragan and
phoenix candles. Symbolism: Pin jin is given to the bride's family for taking care
of her. Accepting the dragon candles signifies that her family accepts him as a
son-in-law. Offering the phoenix candles to the groom's family symbolies the
giving of their daughter's hand.

2. Dowry

When: On the same day after offering the guo da li

What: Gifts are presented from the bride's parents to their daugther and future son-in- law.
Why: The gifts are to bless the couple and to show that hte bride is ready to take the new roles of wife and mum.
Must-haves: Baby bathtub, basin and potty are to encourage the couple to have children.The sewing kit signifies a capable wife, the wedding lamps a brigt future and the bowls abundant food

3. An chuang

When: 8.30pm on the eve of the wedding (or any other auspicious day la)
What: Items are placed on the marriage bed and the couple is not allowed to enter the room till wedding ceremony is over
Why: Symbolises gd health, abundance of fortune and offspring for the couple.

Must-haves: Eight types of auspicious seeds and grains, oranges, red packets, metallic discs (da yuan and xiaoyuan) My mil used red packets. She placed them on each corner of the bed. Some will even get little children to jump on the bed

Symolism: The discs signify a blissful marriage while the foodstuff is to bless the couple with children early. The whole process is usually done by a woman with good fortune ie, have loads of children, parents still alive etc

4. Hair combing (I DIDN"T HAVE THIS!)

When: After 11pm on the eve of the wedding. In the Chinese calendar, any time after 11pm denotes the next day.

What: The bride and groom's hair are combed by their parents. Te father recites the blessing while the mother combs the hair three times.

Why: Each stroke holds and auspicious meanin for the various stages of life after marriage.

Must-Haves: Coms, sewing kit, mirrors, red string and ruler.

Symolism: The red string, which signifies a blessing, is used to tie the bride's hair. the ruler is to remind the couple to cherish the relationship and take care of the family.

Love's Tombstone?

After days of inspiration from appledaily.com, I've finally decided on my menu for this Sunday's cookout. yes, I'm rattling like some housewife again. Actually, it's a real joy to cook for people you love (not to mention a joy to eat!) but, u sometimes really wonder if the person really appreciates. I recall, during the good old days of courtship (or pak tor-ing), we used to accompany his mother (my MIL) to the supermarket and do grocery shopping. Though we didn't have a place of our own then, we've always enjoyed the process and in my mind i was thinking "boy, this man is THE man! we can cook together, and shop for grocery together". As time goes by, it seems to be different. Ask him sunday morning get up early go buy food, he grumbles. Not coz he can't get up, but rather, he doesn't like the crowd. He says he likes his wife to just buy without asking n cook without asking. Soooo MCP, wants food laid on the table when he comes back. WEll too bad, I'm always working till 10pm!

Anyhow, i went grocery shopping today alone. Had to cancel one lesson coz I was running late. I swear it wasn't coz i was tooo engrossed (okok, i was a little ...happy?), but there were just so many things to carry n there's one little me. my arms almost broke. there are still things (dried ones of coz) in my car!! by 12noon i was done shopping and by 1pm i was done packing and washing the stuff up. Talk about efficiency! then I had a quick lunch, prep for lessons and zipped off at 2pm! SUPER productive.

The day would have ended perfectly, if HE didn't break his promise. Promised to go have yonghe soya bean tonite after class, but obviously he has forgotten and have gone for beer with friends, thus I'm sitting here, blogging, and wondering at times am I just doing too much? Are all men like that? Almost snapped with him (well i did snap a little) coz it had been a tiring day with kids who just dont want to focus! perhaps that's why my tolerance level is dwindling. sigh. Get a life la! Sheez.

Marriage -- Love's Tombstone?

Inspired

The morning began with an inspiring thought. FOOD!
As suggested by student's mom, I visited www.appledaily.com. N boy was I in for a treat! There are so many dishes to learn from. Best of all, it's all streamed movies. Only problem, it's in cantonese. Being a cantonese, I'm pretty ashamed. I can speak basic canto and my listening skills are pretty good. Only problem are the words! I dont bloody know what ingredients they are using at times. See la, teacher always ask us to study hard, now regret liao lor. Dont know how to read those cheam cheam chinese words! Well dont blame me, blame it on the system. They taught us the simplified Chinese and not the traditional ones.

Anyway, I'm gonna figure out some recipes and try it out this wkend! Will post some pictures then!

Does such a man exist?

Alfred (Handsome!!) （acted by 林峰 who apparently is a singer!) and 常在心

AIyo..this is another favourite (the guy of coz!) for those who dont know, this is 《溏心风暴》黄宗泽＋杨怡. They make quite a handsome couple in the show.

7月21日。雨。

唐心风暴 is reaching its climax! Alfred, who has been trying to be Chang Zaixin's guardian angel, has finally met with an accident. His silver BMW did a triple flip after hitting a cab and instead of getting out of the car and wait for the ambulance, he tried to reach out for the shell he had picked earlier during a dive. He meant to carve the words "常在我心" and give it to Zaixin who by now has forgiven him. Unfortunately, he can't find it in the debris and staggered to the nearest telephone booth to call Zaixin up. the call was to tell her about a point he has concurred which would help her win her upcoming case! MY GOD LA! want to die liao still go tell her such things! Tell her I love u la! pls forgive me la!!! n guess what? the episode has to end with him hanging up the phone (after saying he will call her after he reaches home) and sitting by the booth, looking dead. Most prob he'll die in the next episode. I DUN WANT HIM TO DIE LA!!! I so totally cried whilst hugging my dearest (thinking that he is alfred, only alive) during this episode la! dont know how i'd react tomorrow man!

My gosh, it totally made me wonder if there's such a great guy on earth. Ok, to be fair, he wasn't a greeat guy..coz he got together with Zaixin's gf. But the stuff he did were sooo romantic. Wish there were more romance than hurt in my life. Romance always comes with hurt. I guess that's why i'm blissful now...coz there's not much romance!hahahaha. Once you are comfortable with a guy, the stuff u do tend to be really routine. Everyday it's waking up, doing work, eating lunch and see u at night in bed. there's simply no excitement. We must do something to spark things up. unfortunately, with the hectic schedule one has, it makes me wonder who has the energy to be like Alfred, go diving and get a silly shell to give to his ex. geez.

Is there really such unconditional love out there?

On the battlefield

7 月17日。雨。(inspired by 常在心in 唐心风暴...she's so into writing digital diaries)

It's midwk and I'm feeling burnout. Been doing stupid things since the start of the wk. First whilst making 爱心toast for my dearest, I placed the bread (with wrapper) on top of the toaster and guess what? it melted. Why am I not surprised! To think I teach Science! This is so embarrassing! Perhaps my brains weren't working or I was too excited to catch 唐心风暴。Felt really guilty. Baby took a scraper (not the wisest tool) to try scrap the residue away, but it's still stuck. now, there's an ugly mark.

Next stupid thing. I was downloading Adobe Illustrator trial version after being mersmirized by its prowess over the wkend. Been searching high and low for the installer from friends, but to no avail. thus, thinking I'm soooo smart, I decided to search for a crack key. Search I did, but i ended up having loads of trojans, adwares, spywares etc etc. I dont even know what the hell they were! They just started popping up! it was as if i was fighting a war! when my baby finally came home, i shouted for help! He was pissed. I could tell, but he was really nice n tried to be patient. Perhaps coz I gave him that pathetic look. However, he had to spend the whole night (well till 2am at least) killing viruses and trying to set things straight. things dont seem good though when i woke up this morning. The spybot detected more trojans. i think it's time to reformat. So I've spent the whole morning trying to do a backup. It's been months since I've done that, u can imagine how much shit i have. I'm still backup-ing my desktop as I type (separately on a laptop that is).

The first half of the day left me really out of breath. Preparing for lessons, clearing out all my creative writing books so that I can do up my teaching materials this wkend (hopefully). Now, sitting in my dining room, sipping a cup of my favourite Sobe Soya Bean (less sugar), I can hear the birds chirping and the rain pelting. I finally feel a little peaceful. (YA RITE! The day just started lor! who am I to deceive? I'm just sitting down, stoning, waiting for the battle to begin once again)

The pen is mightier than the sword!

Good has finally triumphed over evil! After about a wk of wait, Comfort finally replied to my email. (apart from the auto-reply that they have given me). This is what they wrote:

"I refer to your complaint lodged on 04 July 2008 regarding your unpleasant encounter with the driver of the above-mentioned taxi. First of all, I would like to convey my sincerest apologies for the frustration and anxiety which you were put through in this incident. We have conducted an investigation on the matter. The driver should not have driven and behaved in the manner as alleged. For his poor road behaviour and attitude, we would like to inform you that the service of the errant driver has been terminated. Once again, we hope you can accept our humble apologies for the inconvenienced caused. We appreciate your valuable feedback. We will continue to reinforce communication and training efforts to educate all our drivers on the importance of road safety. "

Moral of the story: DON'T MESS WITH ME! Justice has been done. I rest my case.

PS: A tinge of guilt is surging through my spine..but hmm for all u know, they've terminated him coz he did not repent? So not my fault la huh...afterall, i did state in my letter of complain that the intent was just to inform. All it took was a good letter. so anyone wants me to write, please email me. I can do it for a small fee! haha

Beautiful Sunday

Dish 1: Princess Scallop with seasonal greens
Dish 2: Garlic Mayo Golden Cod

Dish 3: Not so sober prawns in imperial herbal broth

Dish 4: Black-pepper crab by Chef Jiakang

Dish 5: Little Neck clams in white wine sauce

Dish 6 (Behind): Double-boiled (not really la..but boil very long ok!) White Carrot soup

Dish 7: Steamy Pork Rib...According to my patrons, they were yummy!

So easy to cook la!

It's been a good wkend. A productive Saturday followed by an entertaining Sunday. Literally.

Had a cookout again, this time with a greater spread for 6 pax (with cousin-in-laws). It was amazing that we managed to finish all the dishes! Apart from those featured above, there was also beef fillet and bobochacha (which was not sweet enuff though).

Slept till almost 11am and went to NTUC with my baby at noon to grab some groceries. Took me the whole afternoon to prepare and i was shuttling between the kitchen and my TV. How I wish everyday could be a Sunday!

PS: As you can tell, the picture quality is soooo much better. (compare the previous drunken prawn pic which looked as if it's curry prawns). This is coz I was using my T9! ohhh How can I live without it!

Little Miss Happy

I'm very proud of myself today. Did hell lot of stuff. Woke up at 8am and got ready for work. Earned the greens till 1+pm. Got home and folded a mt Everest of clothes (been piling up la) n followed by ironing of some clothes (realised i've been re-wearing loads of stuff which didn't require ironing). That took a while and then by 3+pm i started reading the papers.....read till almost 5+....the eyelids became heavy and went for a nap which led me till 7pm!!! Woke up n started marking n i must say, i marked quite a fair bit today. Then dinner. After which, I researched on what to cook tmw whilst watching a silly show "WAR INC" before going out for Rocher Soya Bean at Geylang.

Sad that wokkingmum will be taking a break from blogging. can't wait for her new recipes. But meanwhile, guess wat? I've found a new site with really great recipes : http://biteonit.com/

Can't wait for tmw's cookout!!

PS: A little sad today that friends commented that i'm putting on weight. esp on the arms. well actually i'm aware la, just tat i'm super lazy to exercise and am a terrible procastinator when it comes to losing weight! Must be baby's fault la! keep jio-ing me for supper! grrr..but nevermind, as someone said...the onli consolation is I'm married!Hahah but then again, it's no excuse to be fat ok! i must be a modern wife!

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

hmm..I have not read the book Men are from mars, women are from venus but I think there must be some relevance else the author would not use it as a basis of comparison. Perhaps Mars is more filled with Carbon dioxide and nearer to the sun, thus gets more heated up thus the connection with Men? or perhaps women are colder and more aloof, or perhaps like the Greek God Venus, thus the link. Whatever it is, there is definitely a difference between the two gender.

The day began as any ordinary day, but the night ended with me thinking about what HE has done for me lately. I dont mean what chores he has done or what bills he has paid. I truly appreciate these that he has done. But rather, i began to wonder, what sweet nothings he had said to me lately and what little gestures he has shown to say "i love u". the result -- Nil? (ok, there was one last Saturday when he finally woke up after I have already worked for several hours, and he smsed me that he missed me ) Other than that, i seriously can't recall anything that was done to touch me. in fact, the number of things that has been done to touch me can be counted using my ten little fingers. I'm serious! I think men are just insensitive. or issit just HIm? after watching a drama serial, 唐心风暴 one of the characters, Alfred, really hit me as a great bf. with such a petty gf, he is still so ever so loving and tolerant. Doing the most romantic things like learning to dive for her coz she loves to dive. come to think of it, what has he learnt for me? hmmm.....I learnt to blade...okok, i blade like a duck n it was only for that moment to impress him n touch him on his bday..but hey! i tried, i failed n I managed to say "i love u and happy bday " in a special way. I'm a sucker for love stories and I really wish something like this would happen to me. Perhaps a bouquet of flowers will just appear by my doorstep..or perhaps a candle light dinner prepared by my love one. Or just a simple note pasted on my screen to say how much i mean to him. AIYOooooooooooooo am i reading too much romance novels or such things dont exist? Maybe not in my life. Tough luck. I can only continue to dwell in my fairytale and live in the delusion that I have a very sensitive and romantic other half. (yaya..receiving a bouquet of flowers only after 6 yrs of courtship and on our wedding day......soooooooooo lomantic hor?)

They always say we should not complain and compare. well, i'm really tryin hard to do so, but we are only humans.

Walk down memory lane

That cash register must be older than me!
These pictures were taken with my HTC Touch by the way. A far cry from what I took at home with the food! no more yello lights!
What an interesting looking lamp!
See a familiar looking clock. I remember seeing it somewhere, but just can't recall. But that steamer nxt to it was something I thought was a spaceship! Mom used to have it on her head and i thought it would turn her into an alien!


Went to watch The Incredible Hulk (not bad by the way..can watch on a monday night...cheaper!haha) on Monday night at Leisure Park Kallang with my sweetie. It's a cinema where u need not book your tix! coz hardly anyone goes there. In fact, i did not even know it wasn't under GV, Eng Wah or Cathay. Yup! Had to google for it and found it at http://www.filmgarde.com.sg/!



Anyway, cut long story short, found this lovely place on the highest floor (next to the cinema). It features loads of vintage stuff. A real cool trip down memory lane!

My lover is back!!!

Having fun with my baby (ok the lighting wasn't very good, but i was in a hurry!)


Say Cheese!

Finally had the time to do some french manicure. unfortunately the crystals dropped off after a day! DAmn!


Finally! After days and wks of waiting, my lover aka SONY T-9 Camera is back!!! NO more yellowish pictures from my HTC mobile phone anymore! (well, technically it's not due to the phone, it's the lighting at home)

However, i had a hard time uploading the pictures. stupid computer keeps disconnecting each time i'm doing my uploads! Dont like my pictures issit?! grrrr

Cookout, Nails, fakies and more.

Cheezy Pork Cutlet (Had a bloody hard time pounding it with the back of the knife to tenderize it!)..but not bad tasting la..just that presentation not very nice
Glutinous Stuffed Squid. YUM! nice! but i think could be better if I had used a pressure cooker as recommended. Coz the taste did not really infuse into the squid
This must had been the dish of the night! HERBAL IMPERIAL EMPEROR CHICKEN! Cooked with love for 3.5hours! With additional ingredients to make it extra tasty!
Delicious right? Of course la! It's one of my favourite too! White Wine Clam! YUMMY

It was a tiring cookout yesterday. Somehow my stamina failed me. I tried whipping up a variety of dishes from an array of culture (namely jap and chinese only la). The glutinous stuff squid proved to be a challenged coz the recipe was a little unclear (either that or I'm plain dense). Secondly, i didnt have a pressure cooker, thus had to rely on simmering. Butttttttt, my emperor Herbal chicken turned out really well. Everyone loved it! I added extra ingredients to make it extra herbal-lish. Dont ask me what they are. All I know is there's red dates, wolfberries, dang gui, n some other stuff which I have no idea what it's called in English. But hey, no sweat, just go to any shop selling such dry herbs and u'll find a conveniently packed packet on the shelf! Just stuff it into the chicken and steam the babe for approximately 2.5 to 3hours.

After all that cooking, my eyes for some strange reason ached. Perhaps i stood too long hammering and trying to tenderise the pork cutlet. Well, tender it was indeed, so were my two thunder thighs! But well, at least the 6 patrons (hubby included) enjoyed the meal.

As i'm feeling a little stone (perhpas coz I woke up at 7+am to teach this morning! Though it's suppose to be Youth day!), I decided to give myself a break and began to wonder when was the last time i painted my nails! It's a little too late to be doing them but it's really inspiring to see all those clips on youtube. oh oh guess what? I bought my first fakies! no i'm not gonna fake it tonite!hahaha, it's my first fake eyelashes! cousin's getting married end of this month, I mustn't lose to the bride!

ok, I'm gonna carry on reading some bo liao blogs. Leaving you the below link on a rather interesting way to perk up your nails. =)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NM5eCIOayOM

Power Complain! Eat Shit!

I have finally sent out my powerful complain letter to COMFORT DELGRO. hope they take some action! It's my words agst that idiotic taxi driver. but nevertheless, i think the issue should be highlighted! Think I good to bully issit?! Check the below out. I found it under their website:

DON'T
Smoke in taxi.
Start an argument with a difficult passenger (They should include other drivers as well!). If need be, seek help from the Customer Service Centre or Customer Contact Centre.
Challenge passengers to complain against you.
Be racist or sexist in your remarks when in conversation with passengers.
Engage in topics related to politics. (How often do u hear the cab drivers complain about the singapore government?haha so ironic!)
Cancel a booking job without a valid reason if you are confirmed one.
Miss your booking.
Pick up the wrong passenger for booking jobs.
Pick and choose. (why do u think they are always "On Call")
Tout and overcharge.
Talk on mobile phone without using a hands-free set or engage in long conversation while driving.

Ups and downs of life

After the Martin road saga, the day progressed lethargically. Finally when action came, it wasn't exactly what i've envisioned. XX's mother told me that she felt that XX and YY's results are stagnant/ dropping. Naturally since they are swamped with so much hw and half the time they duno what they are doing. Half the time after explaining, I also duno if they got 100% of it. It's no fault of theirs. Takes two hands to clap n we seriously lack time to go thru old stuff. You know kids, it's always important to have the responsibility to go thru stuff which your teachers teach u. Unfortunately, XX's mother told me that the daddy was pissed as the children's results aren't improving. I had been teaching them for 3 yrs now and initially it was still fine. I guess now they are getting a little lazier and not doing hw thus not keeping their momentum. Furthermore, they r sent to famous tuition centres which swamp them with worksheets beyond their level. I was directed by the parent to go thru wherever possible with them. so that I'm doing. unfortunately, time doesn't permit me to help them with all the questions. After they try (they take an awfully long time), I would not have enough time to think of the answer. And now, XX is "accused" of being too reliant on me for answers. BUT HEY, am i suppose to leave him at lurch with his hw? i thought the instruction to me was to help him with his other tuition hw. which i'm doing n in the process, i do try to get him to try b4 helping. but perhpas it's true, children do get reliant. As such, the dad proposed to stop tuition. the mom told me n i was dumbfounded. however she said that the kid requested for tuition thus she didn't call me re the matter.

Firstly, it makes mi feel incompetent. Is it coz of me that they aren't improving. U see, it's easy to see significant improvement if the kid isn't doing well to begin with. N with good attitude n motivation, i can guarantee u will see results. however, if u are already in the top of the class, how to improve? get 100/100 for all subjects? human nature -- we are never satisfied. but seriously this really made me feel like a deflated balloon. when kids get gd results, no praises come. But when they drop a few positions down, all fingers will be pointing at u. is that fair? n the thing that pisses me off is that i seem to be losing out to some big shot branded tuition centre again! Perhaps it's coz students are swamped with too much work. and the stuff given by these centres perhaps are not within the standard. they may b good, but they are not customised. So why not quit from such centres? why put me at back seat?

This made me all moody when i came home. Din even feel like talking to my baby (who was busy gaming) Coz not only i began to have doubts with my capability, i worry about the $$. I have to reanalyze the situation. R these people are worth my effort. Seriously, if the parents dont communicate and help out, at the end of the day, the students suffer.

Sue them!! Complain queen strikes!

I swear I'm gonna kick up a big fuss re the accident yesterday. No apologies nevermind, rude hand gestures also nevermind, threat and harrassment also nevermind. BUT the trouble i had to go through to report the matter really got me fuming! I had to go to 22 Martin road b4 4pm today to report the matter coz according to the new law passed by the government, any accident, big or small, has to be reported. Thus, fearing the worst, i became the law-abiding citizen which i had been trained since young. upon reaching and waiting for like 10mins, the lady said i was at the wrong place! DAMN IT. was directed to Toyota Lengkee road instead. It's apparently the reporting centre. saw Toyota and went in. Saw insurance department and went in, only to be directed to yet another vicinity --24 Leng Kee Road! Kaoz. amidst the heat, Baby and I braved the sweltering weather and walked from 33 to 24 lengkee. Finally, i could make my report. next time people, please remember to take down all details from the other driver. name, ic num, contact number etc. I only had his car plate number which i secretly took down for fear he might hit me. Now i have to go through the ordeal of searching which company is he under. not gonna be a tough case to crack since there's just a few companies with merc cabs. =)

Realli appreciate the fact that baby accompanied me to go through all these trouble. Really dont know how i survive without him! THANK U DEAR!