Fruits are good for you!Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
You and I - Dedicated to my Dear Husband
This is for you dar.
You are my inspiration, the love of my life and pillar of strength. I cannot do without you and I cannot say "I love you" enough. Your selflessness in supporting me and in all that I do gives me courage to stretch, grow and take risks. I know you will always be there to catch me if I fall.
Your gift to me will tide me through everything that I will have to go through - good or bad.
I love you.
=============================================
"You And I"
Here we are
On earth together
It's you and I
God has made us fall in love
It's true
I've really found
Someone like you
Will it stay
The love you feel for me
Will you say
That you will be by my side
To see me through
Until my life is through
Well in my mind
We can conquer the world
In love you and I
You and I, you and I...
I'm glad
At least in my life
I've found someone
That may not be here forever
To see me through
But I found strength in you
Cause in my mind
You will stay here always
In love you and I
You and I, you and I
You and I, you and I
You and I
In my mind
We can conquer the world
In love you and I
You and I, you and I
You and I...
You are my inspiration, the love of my life and pillar of strength. I cannot do without you and I cannot say "I love you" enough. Your selflessness in supporting me and in all that I do gives me courage to stretch, grow and take risks. I know you will always be there to catch me if I fall.
Your gift to me will tide me through everything that I will have to go through - good or bad.
I love you.
=============================================
"You And I"
Here we are
On earth together
It's you and I
God has made us fall in love
It's true
I've really found
Someone like you
Will it stay
The love you feel for me
Will you say
That you will be by my side
To see me through
Until my life is through
Well in my mind
We can conquer the world
In love you and I
You and I, you and I...
I'm glad
At least in my life
I've found someone
That may not be here forever
To see me through
But I found strength in you
Cause in my mind
You will stay here always
In love you and I
You and I, you and I
You and I, you and I
You and I
In my mind
We can conquer the world
In love you and I
You and I, you and I
You and I...
Evaluation of my Life
The title of this post suggest that I might be very old, have lots of life experiences or just plain comtemplative today.
I am 36, so hopefully not that old, yes do have some life experiences and definitely very comtemplative today. I am on leave from work today and this is something I am not accustomed to. You will realise as you read this post that I do not take leave for no reason at all, in case I need them in emergencies. So why have I broken my own rule?
I have a full time job, a large family with 4 kids and multiple family members to manage. I am the wife, mother, business manager, financial officer, doctor, nurse, chef, teacher, disciplinarian, cleaner and whatever people need or want me to be.
I took leave today because I have quite a few days to clear. Simple reason. As I sit here in my home office, I remember the advice I got on how to spend this day.
"Just do nothing, put up your feet and relax and be yourself."
"Go have a massage or just think about your life and what you achieve so far, what you want to achieve going forward."
I pondered over this for a week. This is the day and I still don't have a plan.
I had a bad night with my youngest son and woke up feeling really tired. After sending the kids out the door to the child care centre, I had a quick breakfast with DH. He had to get to work early to day and thus could not have our usual more leisurely breakfast.
I started off switching on my laptop. I even set up a few work conference calls for clients and answered a few emails. Then Facebook. I must make sure I log in so that I get my free ingredients for my game, Restaurant City. Then I proceed to harvest some corn and potatoes in Happy Farm. I read some of the feed and then login to clear my personal mail. 9.30am and still no plan.
It was then that I realise, I don't need a plan. Just do what I want and what I like or what just comes. The point is to take it easy. I don't need to have the usual to-do list that I will check off as the day goes. The point is to rest and not think too much. This crazy world certainly did not help with the increasing pace everyday and the need to achieve and squeeze as much work as possible into the day.
Here am I typing this blog and enjoying myself. Putting in writing one day of my life. Hopefully when I read this in the future, I will be able to gain something about myself and my life. Perhaps even put things into perspective.
Which is the whole point of today right? Okay need to get that nature walk in before lunch so that I can go for a relaxing manicure.
Or not.
I am 36, so hopefully not that old, yes do have some life experiences and definitely very comtemplative today. I am on leave from work today and this is something I am not accustomed to. You will realise as you read this post that I do not take leave for no reason at all, in case I need them in emergencies. So why have I broken my own rule?
I have a full time job, a large family with 4 kids and multiple family members to manage. I am the wife, mother, business manager, financial officer, doctor, nurse, chef, teacher, disciplinarian, cleaner and whatever people need or want me to be.
I took leave today because I have quite a few days to clear. Simple reason. As I sit here in my home office, I remember the advice I got on how to spend this day.
"Just do nothing, put up your feet and relax and be yourself."
"Go have a massage or just think about your life and what you achieve so far, what you want to achieve going forward."
I pondered over this for a week. This is the day and I still don't have a plan.
I had a bad night with my youngest son and woke up feeling really tired. After sending the kids out the door to the child care centre, I had a quick breakfast with DH. He had to get to work early to day and thus could not have our usual more leisurely breakfast.
I started off switching on my laptop. I even set up a few work conference calls for clients and answered a few emails. Then Facebook. I must make sure I log in so that I get my free ingredients for my game, Restaurant City. Then I proceed to harvest some corn and potatoes in Happy Farm. I read some of the feed and then login to clear my personal mail. 9.30am and still no plan.
It was then that I realise, I don't need a plan. Just do what I want and what I like or what just comes. The point is to take it easy. I don't need to have the usual to-do list that I will check off as the day goes. The point is to rest and not think too much. This crazy world certainly did not help with the increasing pace everyday and the need to achieve and squeeze as much work as possible into the day.
Here am I typing this blog and enjoying myself. Putting in writing one day of my life. Hopefully when I read this in the future, I will be able to gain something about myself and my life. Perhaps even put things into perspective.
Which is the whole point of today right? Okay need to get that nature walk in before lunch so that I can go for a relaxing manicure.
Or not.
Friday, June 12, 2009
The Gift
It is a gift to be parents.
I am grateful for having this gift bestowed upon me 4 times. 4 lovely babies, 4 times the joy.
I sometimes forget how blessed I am and how great God is. When I am dragged down by life or by work, I forget that I have 4 concrete proof that really, nothing else is important. When I turn inward with selfishness, with self-pity, I could not see the loving eyes, the hugs and kisses, the simple need to be around their mother. I lock them out.
I squander this gift when I do that. I disconnect from my children. The inability to respond sometimes have me guilt ridden for days on end. My children never give up. They keep trying to connect, sometimes turned away by me, but they always come back.
If I am not careful, one day, they will get tired and they will turn away from me, from God.
I admire my DH. He turns off the stresses and pain of daily life off as soon as he enters our home. He plays with the children despite having the worst work day of the week, despite knowing that he probably have to work late into the night, and despite his physical tiredness. He is my role model and I try to emulate him. I succeed sometimes and I fall others.
Please God, help me to see beyond myself, my ego, to receive the love and blessings You so generously shower upon me. Let me never give up and let my children never turn away from me and from You.
Amen.
I am grateful for having this gift bestowed upon me 4 times. 4 lovely babies, 4 times the joy.
I sometimes forget how blessed I am and how great God is. When I am dragged down by life or by work, I forget that I have 4 concrete proof that really, nothing else is important. When I turn inward with selfishness, with self-pity, I could not see the loving eyes, the hugs and kisses, the simple need to be around their mother. I lock them out.
I squander this gift when I do that. I disconnect from my children. The inability to respond sometimes have me guilt ridden for days on end. My children never give up. They keep trying to connect, sometimes turned away by me, but they always come back.
If I am not careful, one day, they will get tired and they will turn away from me, from God.
I admire my DH. He turns off the stresses and pain of daily life off as soon as he enters our home. He plays with the children despite having the worst work day of the week, despite knowing that he probably have to work late into the night, and despite his physical tiredness. He is my role model and I try to emulate him. I succeed sometimes and I fall others.
Please God, help me to see beyond myself, my ego, to receive the love and blessings You so generously shower upon me. Let me never give up and let my children never turn away from me and from You.
Amen.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Life
I am 36 and have since lost 3 friends to life for 3 different reasons.
J was my secondary school classmate. I remember him to be one of the top performers in class. Me...I was mediocre and when the O levels draw near, he offered to help a group of us. He was quiet and silent in his ways. He came from a poor family and do not have a home phone which was very rare 20 years ago.
We parted ways and did not really kept in touch when we enter university. I heard he got a scholarship and went to Cambridge. I attended a class gathering during that time, and he was there. He was even more unusual then. He also told me he found God but I could tell he was not happy.
Years later, I heard he checked himself into Woodbridge to cope with his depression. I heard he did not do well in Cambridge and could not cope with the failure. He did some jobs but was not able to cope with life in general.
One morning on my way to breakfast with my mum, we saw my family electrician walking towards us. He did not seem to see us and was holding something in his hands. My mum then called him and he pulled out a photo of J and said that J was his elder son. J had jumped off a building not far from where we were staying. I was shocked to find our the relationship and also very much affected seeing J's photo and finding out this way. It was Valentine's day and I had the ugly job of informing all my friends. Some of us went to the funeral but I did not.
S was my senior in the course that I was taking. He always had his Ray Bans with him and never did what he was told. He was the ultimate cool bean in class and all the girls swoon over him, despite his average looks.
He was smart and never really had to study too hard to do well. He was active in a student organisation that I was also a part of. He was crazy about Calvin and Hobbes and had the rest of us crazy about it as well. He was a very close friend and he helped me through the difficult times during my uni days. He also took me to the Science prom and remembered he bought me a single rose. I never had romantic notions about S but he certainly was the big brother I never had.
I loved him so when that phone call came to tell me that he was killed in an accident years after we graduated, the sadness and regrets all came crashing down. We kept in touch now and then but we stopped being in each other's life. He was trying to navigate a bend in the rain when he crashed onto a tree. He was instantly killed.
Looking down at S's lifeless body in the coffin, with the handiwork of the embalmer who had the job of making an accident victim look "repaired", tears rolled down my face.
I knew C the longest, since we were 13. We were never close individually but as a team with the other members of our class, we were tight. Even as we grew up into our adult skins, we never really lost touch as once in a while someone will organise a reunion.
C was great at basketball despite his size and very fast on the court. He was the eldest in class and so we called him "Lao Da" for the "eldest one". He was quiet and did well enough to enter the polytechnic of his choice. What I did not know that when he was doing his National Service, he was diagnosed with diabetes.
The last time I met and talk to him which was during a wedding of a classmate, D, in the same class, he admitted that he was young and stupid and did not really care to take care of his condition. He ate as he liked and did not take medications. Subsequently, he lost one of his leg, knee downwards, to gangrene. He was wearing a prosthetic while tell us this story at the wedding. While I was shocked to find out, I encouraged him and even told him we need to meet again for a gathering.
I accidently found out about his death from D's facebook. I was very angry and resentful of D for not telling us. Apparently, later on D admitted that he too found out from another friend, who also found out by accident. He did not even think to inform us. Again, I delivered the bad news to the group. One of our other friends who knew C's parents visited them. It was more than a month after by then. C was not feeling well and was sick in bed when he started to feel breathless. He was sent to the hospital and the doctor said that although his heart is weak, he was stablised. He died that night of complications with his family around him.
It was hard coping with the loss as DH was on a business trip when I found out. I still have not visited the columbarium to see him. I am not sure I can stand seeing his picture and not him.
If I have learnt anything from my 3 friends, I learnt that life is unpredictable and things can all change in an instant. I now kiss my DH and kids goodbye and always make an effort to patch things up before we part. I do not know if I will be seeing them tonight and I want to make sure we part on a good note, with no regrets.
J was my secondary school classmate. I remember him to be one of the top performers in class. Me...I was mediocre and when the O levels draw near, he offered to help a group of us. He was quiet and silent in his ways. He came from a poor family and do not have a home phone which was very rare 20 years ago.
We parted ways and did not really kept in touch when we enter university. I heard he got a scholarship and went to Cambridge. I attended a class gathering during that time, and he was there. He was even more unusual then. He also told me he found God but I could tell he was not happy.
Years later, I heard he checked himself into Woodbridge to cope with his depression. I heard he did not do well in Cambridge and could not cope with the failure. He did some jobs but was not able to cope with life in general.
One morning on my way to breakfast with my mum, we saw my family electrician walking towards us. He did not seem to see us and was holding something in his hands. My mum then called him and he pulled out a photo of J and said that J was his elder son. J had jumped off a building not far from where we were staying. I was shocked to find our the relationship and also very much affected seeing J's photo and finding out this way. It was Valentine's day and I had the ugly job of informing all my friends. Some of us went to the funeral but I did not.
S was my senior in the course that I was taking. He always had his Ray Bans with him and never did what he was told. He was the ultimate cool bean in class and all the girls swoon over him, despite his average looks.
He was smart and never really had to study too hard to do well. He was active in a student organisation that I was also a part of. He was crazy about Calvin and Hobbes and had the rest of us crazy about it as well. He was a very close friend and he helped me through the difficult times during my uni days. He also took me to the Science prom and remembered he bought me a single rose. I never had romantic notions about S but he certainly was the big brother I never had.
I loved him so when that phone call came to tell me that he was killed in an accident years after we graduated, the sadness and regrets all came crashing down. We kept in touch now and then but we stopped being in each other's life. He was trying to navigate a bend in the rain when he crashed onto a tree. He was instantly killed.
Looking down at S's lifeless body in the coffin, with the handiwork of the embalmer who had the job of making an accident victim look "repaired", tears rolled down my face.
I knew C the longest, since we were 13. We were never close individually but as a team with the other members of our class, we were tight. Even as we grew up into our adult skins, we never really lost touch as once in a while someone will organise a reunion.
C was great at basketball despite his size and very fast on the court. He was the eldest in class and so we called him "Lao Da" for the "eldest one". He was quiet and did well enough to enter the polytechnic of his choice. What I did not know that when he was doing his National Service, he was diagnosed with diabetes.
The last time I met and talk to him which was during a wedding of a classmate, D, in the same class, he admitted that he was young and stupid and did not really care to take care of his condition. He ate as he liked and did not take medications. Subsequently, he lost one of his leg, knee downwards, to gangrene. He was wearing a prosthetic while tell us this story at the wedding. While I was shocked to find out, I encouraged him and even told him we need to meet again for a gathering.
I accidently found out about his death from D's facebook. I was very angry and resentful of D for not telling us. Apparently, later on D admitted that he too found out from another friend, who also found out by accident. He did not even think to inform us. Again, I delivered the bad news to the group. One of our other friends who knew C's parents visited them. It was more than a month after by then. C was not feeling well and was sick in bed when he started to feel breathless. He was sent to the hospital and the doctor said that although his heart is weak, he was stablised. He died that night of complications with his family around him.
It was hard coping with the loss as DH was on a business trip when I found out. I still have not visited the columbarium to see him. I am not sure I can stand seeing his picture and not him.
If I have learnt anything from my 3 friends, I learnt that life is unpredictable and things can all change in an instant. I now kiss my DH and kids goodbye and always make an effort to patch things up before we part. I do not know if I will be seeing them tonight and I want to make sure we part on a good note, with no regrets.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Girls' Night Out
Last Friday, I went out with my close girlfriends for a Girls' Night Out.
We stayed at a nice Japanese restaurant for the whole night - copious amounts of delicious Japanese food, green tea and sake reigned the night. We were the loudest table that night and had probably the longest bill to boot.
There they were, 3 of my oldest and dearest friends -
I know G since we were 13 and in the same secondary 1 class. Her mum and my dad both worked for the same government body. I would have known her for 23 years (oops! you know my age now!). She is a teacher and now a mother to 2 lovely boys.
P, I have known since we were 14 so she is a close second to G for 22 years. She is now happily married and doing very well in her career. She is still in the same hairstyle as the first time I laid eyes on her.
S is by far probably the one who made life choices most similar to mine. How we come to know each other would need another blog for another day but we have known each other now for 21 years. She is running operations for her company and is set to be the next COO for her company.
I love them all and would love to spend more time together. Different schedules and goals in life push us in different directions. With much effort we finally could spend some quality time together, just us.
It feels great to be around friends who love, accept and support us no matter what life throws at us. P mentioned a few times that night that she felt comfortable and relaxed. She can be herself and there is nothing to hide - we know who each others' crushes, ex's and embarrassing moments during our awkward teenage years.
I remind myself to treasure them as I grow older. Not many people in our lives know how we were like 20 years ago, what we went through in life...and the way we looked in scary big glasses or badly fitted clothes. They know the mistakes we made and the boyfriends we dumped!
I am very blessed to have friends like them in my life. This night out served to show us how important we are to each other. So cheers ladies, to many more such night outs!
We stayed at a nice Japanese restaurant for the whole night - copious amounts of delicious Japanese food, green tea and sake reigned the night. We were the loudest table that night and had probably the longest bill to boot.
There they were, 3 of my oldest and dearest friends -
I know G since we were 13 and in the same secondary 1 class. Her mum and my dad both worked for the same government body. I would have known her for 23 years (oops! you know my age now!). She is a teacher and now a mother to 2 lovely boys.
P, I have known since we were 14 so she is a close second to G for 22 years. She is now happily married and doing very well in her career. She is still in the same hairstyle as the first time I laid eyes on her.
S is by far probably the one who made life choices most similar to mine. How we come to know each other would need another blog for another day but we have known each other now for 21 years. She is running operations for her company and is set to be the next COO for her company.
I love them all and would love to spend more time together. Different schedules and goals in life push us in different directions. With much effort we finally could spend some quality time together, just us.
It feels great to be around friends who love, accept and support us no matter what life throws at us. P mentioned a few times that night that she felt comfortable and relaxed. She can be herself and there is nothing to hide - we know who each others' crushes, ex's and embarrassing moments during our awkward teenage years.
I remind myself to treasure them as I grow older. Not many people in our lives know how we were like 20 years ago, what we went through in life...and the way we looked in scary big glasses or badly fitted clothes. They know the mistakes we made and the boyfriends we dumped!
I am very blessed to have friends like them in my life. This night out served to show us how important we are to each other. So cheers ladies, to many more such night outs!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Expense Management
DH has a theory. A pasar malam theory...that when the economy is not doing well, the pasar malams grow in numbers.
He is right. In a span of 1 week, there were 2 different pasar malams in Tampines Central within 400 metres of each other. Each mustering their all to attract patrons - from Ramli burgers to delicious deep fried vadei to kiddy rides and carnival games.
Things sold there are cheaper than in the shops. There is also a lot more variety of goods. Quality may be waning a bit as I found out the hard way when my eldest's $10 Ben 10 school bag last all of 1 month.
With that in mind and being hit by daily reports of how bad the economy is doing (yes I get it already!), I have started a crusade to cut dicretionary spending at home.
1 Eat breakfast at home
2 Pack lunch to work
3 Practice delayed gratification more by actually (gasp!) saving for what I want
4 Go grocery shopping only once a week (steady...deep breath...in...out)
5 Saying "NO!" loudly and with gusto before hearing what it is that my kids want
6 Discretely pocketing the leftover chili packets and serviettes if I eat out
7 Take the MRT and avoid the taxi
8 Avoid window shopping like the plague
9 Walk instead of taking the car
10 Sell stuff on ebay
I have to say, these are not difficult to do or implement. Just needs a bit of good old discipline and self restraint (which I must say, stops at good food). You will be surprise how little you REALLY need.
I did not stop there...educating our next generation is important so all the shouting of the "NO!" has left an impression on my kids. They are now asking how much everything costs, comparing prices before making decisions and saving. I am proud that in times of difficulty, they are able to understand and help.
Now with all the belt tightening, I should give myself a reward...deep fried vadei here I come!
He is right. In a span of 1 week, there were 2 different pasar malams in Tampines Central within 400 metres of each other. Each mustering their all to attract patrons - from Ramli burgers to delicious deep fried vadei to kiddy rides and carnival games.
Things sold there are cheaper than in the shops. There is also a lot more variety of goods. Quality may be waning a bit as I found out the hard way when my eldest's $10 Ben 10 school bag last all of 1 month.
With that in mind and being hit by daily reports of how bad the economy is doing (yes I get it already!), I have started a crusade to cut dicretionary spending at home.
1 Eat breakfast at home
2 Pack lunch to work
3 Practice delayed gratification more by actually (gasp!) saving for what I want
4 Go grocery shopping only once a week (steady...deep breath...in...out)
5 Saying "NO!" loudly and with gusto before hearing what it is that my kids want
6 Discretely pocketing the leftover chili packets and serviettes if I eat out
7 Take the MRT and avoid the taxi
8 Avoid window shopping like the plague
9 Walk instead of taking the car
10 Sell stuff on ebay
I have to say, these are not difficult to do or implement. Just needs a bit of good old discipline and self restraint (which I must say, stops at good food). You will be surprise how little you REALLY need.
I did not stop there...educating our next generation is important so all the shouting of the "NO!" has left an impression on my kids. They are now asking how much everything costs, comparing prices before making decisions and saving. I am proud that in times of difficulty, they are able to understand and help.
Now with all the belt tightening, I should give myself a reward...deep fried vadei here I come!
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