As a working parent, we dun have much time to cook for dinner most of the time. It can also be very tiring to prepare, cook and wash after working for 8 or 9 hours. Nevertheless, we will still try to have 1 to 2 meals at home weekly by preparing simple and yet a decent meal on our own. The main motivation will come from the fact that we want our daughter to have more home cook food.
A simple and decent meal will usually mean a nice soup + a vegetable. No salt added, no frying stuff and none spicy. We will steam or boil the dishes. At times, we will buy and prepare some as another possible option. The rest of the days, we will eat out if not visiting in-law or my Aunty's place for a meal.
When I eat out and having a Chinese food, I hate to be served with rice that is not warm. Though the dishes are warm, having to chew and swallow cold rice is not an enjoyable experience. I feel that the stall is not very sincere in doing business and not serving it right. How can the stall serve something that is not warm to its customers ?
Luckily, there are still stalls that do serve warm rice. Maybe I am just happen to be served with one but I do appreciate it a lot. Though it is just a bowl of plain rice, it does say a lot about the stall and the way the owner values its customers. They do bother to realize that serving a bowl of warm rice melt one's heart, especially after a long day at work and eating together as a family.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Having fun in enrichment programmes
Managed to sign up three enrichment programmes for my daughter.
As a parent, we explore and plan out the possible options. As a good friend, we share and discuss it with our daughter so that she understands what the programme is about. To help her understanding it better, we bring her to observe the actual programme, teacher or trainer in-action and the learning environment. We only sign her up when she loves to join in.
In the coming months, she will be attending ballet dancing for pre-schooler in one of the Community Centres and drawing class in one of the private learning centres. Presently, she is attending a Chinese speech and drama class with a clan association.
Expectation ? Nothing much or specific from us. Just want her to have fun and enjoy the activities with friends from all walks of life. That's why we sign her up for the different programmes in a different settings. If she does not like it, we will not continue with it after the end of the programme and we will move on to other new areas for her.
Really no expectation of her ? Emm ...., well...., yes. To appreciate that learning is a fun and enriching journey. Ha ...ha ...ha ...
As a parent, we explore and plan out the possible options. As a good friend, we share and discuss it with our daughter so that she understands what the programme is about. To help her understanding it better, we bring her to observe the actual programme, teacher or trainer in-action and the learning environment. We only sign her up when she loves to join in.
In the coming months, she will be attending ballet dancing for pre-schooler in one of the Community Centres and drawing class in one of the private learning centres. Presently, she is attending a Chinese speech and drama class with a clan association.
Expectation ? Nothing much or specific from us. Just want her to have fun and enjoy the activities with friends from all walks of life. That's why we sign her up for the different programmes in a different settings. If she does not like it, we will not continue with it after the end of the programme and we will move on to other new areas for her.
Really no expectation of her ? Emm ...., well...., yes. To appreciate that learning is a fun and enriching journey. Ha ...ha ...ha ...
Friday, March 19, 2010
Good Sleep
I slept at 8pm+ last night. Quite an achievement :-)
I din intend to sleep so early and was doing my usual readings while my daughter was nearby watching her Disney Playhouse Channel and playing with her toys at the same time. I think I felt pretty relax while I was reading and I just lean back falling asleep naturally.
I enjoy the way it was as I have, indeed, a real good rest, feeling afresh in the morning. However, it does not happen all the times though I read almost every night before going to bed. Instead of expecting it to happen, it is much better to let the nature to take its own course.
Setting an expectation could be double edges sword, it may motivate a person but it can also create much unhappiness at the same time. Learning to embrace every single step as it unfolds could bring much peacefulness and enlightenment to one's self.
Of course, we accept the good stuff with a open heart but avoiding and hating if it is otherwise. That's also a normal human reaction. Good or not so good, life is about moving on, a journey. No points asking why, why, why and thinking of what if so, so, so.
There would only be one sunrise and one sunset a day. Why only one ? What if we have two sunrises and three sunsets a day ?
既来之，则安之。
Ha...ha...ha...
I din intend to sleep so early and was doing my usual readings while my daughter was nearby watching her Disney Playhouse Channel and playing with her toys at the same time. I think I felt pretty relax while I was reading and I just lean back falling asleep naturally.
I enjoy the way it was as I have, indeed, a real good rest, feeling afresh in the morning. However, it does not happen all the times though I read almost every night before going to bed. Instead of expecting it to happen, it is much better to let the nature to take its own course.
Setting an expectation could be double edges sword, it may motivate a person but it can also create much unhappiness at the same time. Learning to embrace every single step as it unfolds could bring much peacefulness and enlightenment to one's self.
Of course, we accept the good stuff with a open heart but avoiding and hating if it is otherwise. That's also a normal human reaction. Good or not so good, life is about moving on, a journey. No points asking why, why, why and thinking of what if so, so, so.
There would only be one sunrise and one sunset a day. Why only one ? What if we have two sunrises and three sunsets a day ?
既来之，则安之。
Ha...ha...ha...
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Why i am a vegetarian twice a month
Every 1st and 15th day of each lunar month, I will go for vegetarian food for a full whole day. I am not a religious person. In fact, I started practicing so about 5 years ago. To be more precise, a few months before my daughter was born.
FP had a miscarriage before a successful pregnancy. From a medical point of view, having a miscarriage seems to be common but it is not an easy fact for a commoner to accept it. Hence, we were very careful during the pregnancy period. In addition, doctor would also arranged a few tests along the way to help making sure the baby is developing healthily. One of the important tests was to check if the baby has a down syndrome. We had to wait for 2 to 3 weeks to know the outcome and if the test result was not positive, the hospital would call us asap for an appointment. that few weeks seemed years for us. Every telephone ring would worry us.
Well, the test turn out to be fine :-) But it gave arise to an unexpected issue. The test outcome suggested that there would be an addition chromosome in one of the 23 pairs ie having a mosaic trisomy. It also turned out that it was a rare disorder as there are only less than 10 recorded cases globally.
We could go for a more detailed test to confirm it but the risk of affecting the baby was very high. The device would be drawing some blood directly from the baby. Else, we could only know about the degree of the disorder when the baby is born. Of course, the possibility of a false alarm still existed. The baby then was about 4 months old. We have to decide if we wanted to continue with the pregnancy.
We were in a very difficult situation. We din bear to say bye bye to the baby. We also faced with the possibility of bringing the baby to the world with a wrong beginning and to suffer. We had lunch at home after the appointment. It was really overwhelming to know about it and may have to make such a decision for your own child.
We were silent, we broken down and we cried.
I was angry. Angry about why someone up there seemed to enjoy playing plank with us. We were totally at lost. We decided to continue with the pregnancy. We had no enough information to derive the baby off to see the world and to joining us. I also made a commitment to 观音娘娘 (Guan Yin God) that I would eat vegetarian food on the 1st and 15th of each lunar month. I hope and pray that 观音娘娘 would help to protect the baby safe and healthy.
Our worry of the disorder was cleared finally when my daughter turned 1 year old. The doctor shared that she is growing well :-) The test result then was, indeed, a false alarm.
Though I had already fulfilled my commitment to 观音娘娘 and felt grateful to have her blessing, I have made another commitment. I will continue to be a vegetarian twice a month for the rest of my life. I hope and I am sure 观音娘娘 will continue her blessing.
FP had a miscarriage before a successful pregnancy. From a medical point of view, having a miscarriage seems to be common but it is not an easy fact for a commoner to accept it. Hence, we were very careful during the pregnancy period. In addition, doctor would also arranged a few tests along the way to help making sure the baby is developing healthily. One of the important tests was to check if the baby has a down syndrome. We had to wait for 2 to 3 weeks to know the outcome and if the test result was not positive, the hospital would call us asap for an appointment. that few weeks seemed years for us. Every telephone ring would worry us.
Well, the test turn out to be fine :-) But it gave arise to an unexpected issue. The test outcome suggested that there would be an addition chromosome in one of the 23 pairs ie having a mosaic trisomy. It also turned out that it was a rare disorder as there are only less than 10 recorded cases globally.
We could go for a more detailed test to confirm it but the risk of affecting the baby was very high. The device would be drawing some blood directly from the baby. Else, we could only know about the degree of the disorder when the baby is born. Of course, the possibility of a false alarm still existed. The baby then was about 4 months old. We have to decide if we wanted to continue with the pregnancy.
We were in a very difficult situation. We din bear to say bye bye to the baby. We also faced with the possibility of bringing the baby to the world with a wrong beginning and to suffer. We had lunch at home after the appointment. It was really overwhelming to know about it and may have to make such a decision for your own child.
We were silent, we broken down and we cried.
I was angry. Angry about why someone up there seemed to enjoy playing plank with us. We were totally at lost. We decided to continue with the pregnancy. We had no enough information to derive the baby off to see the world and to joining us. I also made a commitment to 观音娘娘 (Guan Yin God) that I would eat vegetarian food on the 1st and 15th of each lunar month. I hope and pray that 观音娘娘 would help to protect the baby safe and healthy.
Our worry of the disorder was cleared finally when my daughter turned 1 year old. The doctor shared that she is growing well :-) The test result then was, indeed, a false alarm.
Though I had already fulfilled my commitment to 观音娘娘 and felt grateful to have her blessing, I have made another commitment. I will continue to be a vegetarian twice a month for the rest of my life. I hope and I am sure 观音娘娘 will continue her blessing.
Monday, March 15, 2010
North East Run 2010
Finally, the event was over, at least for 2010.
I would like to share two things about the Run.
First, it is one of the most eventful projects the moment we started to work on the details.
We quickly realized that we have to give the Run a new name instead of using the name that was organized in 2009. We did not have much ready information from the initial Run done to give us a better understanding of the running business. Basically, starting pretty afresh. Learning to craft a detailed yet a different tender specifications for it. Designing a different relationship with the service providers. The need to plan a running route that would cut across three estates from Pasir Ris, Tampines and Aljunied areas. Mature estates give much challenges to the road closure. Deciding on the categories and the registration fees for each and the discounts to give for participants.
One of the greatest challenges was the available budget for the event. At one point, we were actually talking about canceling the whole project. It was, indeed, a quick fix to relief ourselves then. Funny requests from various sources along the way. Slow registration rate in the first 1.5 months. It started to rain a few days before the actual run when we had a few weeks of hot weather prior to it. And many others ......
Some of these challenges are operational in nature and could be deal with easily but some are not. It is the later that the team has to carry on with it and managing the variables until its full implementation.
Secondly and finally, it is properly the only project that we charge participants and at the same time, able to convince over 5,000 individuals to register for it. We must be proud of it as the number did not come easily. All runners, thank you for your support :-)
Though we are not a profit making organization, I feel that we should try to work on the principle of breaking even in organizing an event whenever possible. Having a price will help us to appreciate what works, the type of activities the community would prefer and how much the community is willing to pay for it. It is a good and simple guiding indicator to supply what is demanded at the right time, right place and right price. Else, we maybe talking about having wastage. The Run demonstrated that we could design an event and possibly charging it to offset part of the organizing cost.
You may think that we have a sizable team working on it. The main and original organizing team has only two persons though supported by a couple more nearer to the actual day of the event. It is not easy but the team made it happen at the Pasir Ris Park on 14 March 2010 and witnessing the 16km category to flag off at 6.45am.
Zhen Yi and Pi Kuang,
Thanks for all the effort :-)
Also appreciated the support from the rest and being part of the team, contributing to the North East Run 2010 :-)
Friday, March 12, 2010
My daughter's drawing
Another creative drawing by my daughter :-)
Trying to build her drawings into an online collection so that we can access it anytime, anywhere from now till forever. Ha...ha...ha... Need to check with her the story of this drawing. Too much for me to decipher her work at the moment.
Trying to build her drawings into an online collection so that we can access it anytime, anywhere from now till forever. Ha...ha...ha... Need to check with her the story of this drawing. Too much for me to decipher her work at the moment.
Nice Food in HK
Wang Cafe, Toastbox, Ya Kun ....
I am sure u are familiar with these names. They provide coffee/tea and kaya toast daily in shopping areas island-wide. Not to forget the soft-boiled eggs :-) These are pretty traditional and local food. Of course, some of the names have ventured out to regional area such as Hong Kong, Tokyo etc.
I visited a very local food stall in Hong Kong recently that provides similar type of food but with a different twist to it. The stall name is Lan Fong Yuan (兰芳园) located in Hong Kong Island itself. This is properly the best place that provides smooth and fragrant HK milk tea. Most importantly, it is reasonably priced.
How to access the place ? Take MTR to the Central station and take a short walk along the Queen's Road Central until u reached a junction with a staircase leading u to a escalator. This is the longest outdoor escalator built to facilitate users to "climb" up and cutting across a few streets. The area here is pretty steep and the escalator is definitely a very useful and practical help. There are a few connectors along the escalator and u will see Lan Fong Yuan signage on one of these connectors. U should reach the place within 25 minutes after getting out of the MTR station.
The stall sits along a normal wet market street. U will see stalls selling pork, vegetables, fish and seafood etc. Luckily not smelly at all. Lan Fong Yuan is a very small outlet with not many seats. Customer service is acceptable. Not very noisy. I am sure it could be a long wait during peak hours.
We ordered the smooth HK milk tea, toasted bread coated with condensed milk / butter and pork chop bun. The food is well done and presentable. Of course, all tasted nice especially the toasted bread - fresh and crispy. My suggestion is to visit the stall for breakfast or as one of a resting point for a tea break. We just happen to order these three items. There are many other items on the menu.
How do i know about the place ? I happen to read about it when I was reading an article in Zaobao. Google for more information and decided to give it a try. Well, it was a great attempt :-) Will go back again when i visit HK next.
Btw, Cailan recommended it too. U will also see photos showing HK celebrities visiting the stall as well as food review by various magazines.
I am sure u are familiar with these names. They provide coffee/tea and kaya toast daily in shopping areas island-wide. Not to forget the soft-boiled eggs :-) These are pretty traditional and local food. Of course, some of the names have ventured out to regional area such as Hong Kong, Tokyo etc.
I visited a very local food stall in Hong Kong recently that provides similar type of food but with a different twist to it. The stall name is Lan Fong Yuan (兰芳园) located in Hong Kong Island itself. This is properly the best place that provides smooth and fragrant HK milk tea. Most importantly, it is reasonably priced.
How to access the place ? Take MTR to the Central station and take a short walk along the Queen's Road Central until u reached a junction with a staircase leading u to a escalator. This is the longest outdoor escalator built to facilitate users to "climb" up and cutting across a few streets. The area here is pretty steep and the escalator is definitely a very useful and practical help. There are a few connectors along the escalator and u will see Lan Fong Yuan signage on one of these connectors. U should reach the place within 25 minutes after getting out of the MTR station.
The stall sits along a normal wet market street. U will see stalls selling pork, vegetables, fish and seafood etc. Luckily not smelly at all. Lan Fong Yuan is a very small outlet with not many seats. Customer service is acceptable. Not very noisy. I am sure it could be a long wait during peak hours.
We ordered the smooth HK milk tea, toasted bread coated with condensed milk / butter and pork chop bun. The food is well done and presentable. Of course, all tasted nice especially the toasted bread - fresh and crispy. My suggestion is to visit the stall for breakfast or as one of a resting point for a tea break. We just happen to order these three items. There are many other items on the menu.
How do i know about the place ? I happen to read about it when I was reading an article in Zaobao. Google for more information and decided to give it a try. Well, it was a great attempt :-) Will go back again when i visit HK next.
Btw, Cailan recommended it too. U will also see photos showing HK celebrities visiting the stall as well as food review by various magazines.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Drawing and Picnic
I realize that all kids seem to enjoy drawing and to colour the drawing. Why ? Maybe it is a very easy way for them to express themselves.
My daughter is of no exception. She enjoys watching tv programme that has music, story telling and with live drawing of the happening of the story. I am sure she is learning how characters and objectives could be drawn from circles, squares, lines, finger prints etc and connecting these up into something nice and appealing. Of course, she will also learn to narrate her story as she draws. Most importantly, she likes to share it with me and her mum ;-)
She drew the following last night and the story was:
The little girl on the left is my daughter. She is having a picnic with a tent and ground sheet. Fire is setup near the tent for cooking. She has a great time and went home after the picnic.
My daughter has been requesting to go picnic and we have agreed to organize one soon. She is definitely looking forward to the picnic much :-)
Ha...ha...ha...
My daughter is of no exception. She enjoys watching tv programme that has music, story telling and with live drawing of the happening of the story. I am sure she is learning how characters and objectives could be drawn from circles, squares, lines, finger prints etc and connecting these up into something nice and appealing. Of course, she will also learn to narrate her story as she draws. Most importantly, she likes to share it with me and her mum ;-)
She drew the following last night and the story was:
The little girl on the left is my daughter. She is having a picnic with a tent and ground sheet. Fire is setup near the tent for cooking. She has a great time and went home after the picnic.
My daughter has been requesting to go picnic and we have agreed to organize one soon. She is definitely looking forward to the picnic much :-)
Ha...ha...ha...
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
iPhone (3)
Wow, it has been more than a month since i last made an entry.
Time flies very fast when u are lazy :-)
Definitely there are a lot more to blog about. Prefer to update myiphone experience first since i use it everyday and I am still amazed by its capabilities. A few more applications were added to my iphone . One of the applications is chinese ebook.
I have been reading books written by Cailan (蔡澜) and from one of his columns 2 to 3 months back in Zaobao, he shared that a technology publisher had approached him to consider offering his works oniphone . Earlier March 2010, I google to discover that some of his works were available in iphone. Pricing wise, US$2.99 or about S$4.50 per title. Much cheaper than a physical book but slightly expensive than those applications available in iStore.
I bought 3 titles and found it pretty convenient to access and to read off from iphone. User can configure the word sizes and background colour. Simple but cool. For more information, you can visit his new website.
I have also made very good use of the hungrygowhere application to bookmark interesting places to eat. My bookmark includes those that I have visited and will very likely to go again as well as new one to explore. Besides bookmarking, I can find the location using the map service and to call them directly through the application. I enjoy using the nearby function to check what are the popular eating places near to where I am at the moment. If time permits, I will drop by to look see or even try it out. Very user friendly. :-) Of course, it is important to have access to users' reviews and to learn what to order and what not to order.
Actually, i have installed it for quite awhile but din really use it until recently when I was in a briefing session. Currently, I have 47 entries in the bookmark ie to visit each entry about once every 2 months. I am sure the list will continue to expand .... ha...ha...ha...
My next move is buy an add-on to expand the battery's life of the iphone. Unfortunately, I cannot increase its memory space at all as I am left with less than 1 GB most of the time now. :-(
Time flies very fast when u are lazy :-)
Definitely there are a lot more to blog about. Prefer to update my
I have been reading books written by Cailan (蔡澜) and from one of his columns 2 to 3 months back in Zaobao, he shared that a technology publisher had approached him to consider offering his works on
I bought 3 titles and found it pretty convenient to access and to read off from iphone. User can configure the word sizes and background colour. Simple but cool. For more information, you can visit his new website.
I have also made very good use of the hungrygowhere application to bookmark interesting places to eat. My bookmark includes those that I have visited and will very likely to go again as well as new one to explore. Besides bookmarking, I can find the location using the map service and to call them directly through the application. I enjoy using the nearby function to check what are the popular eating places near to where I am at the moment. If time permits, I will drop by to look see or even try it out. Very user friendly. :-) Of course, it is important to have access to users' reviews and to learn what to order and what not to order.
Actually, i have installed it for quite awhile but din really use it until recently when I was in a briefing session. Currently, I have 47 entries in the bookmark ie to visit each entry about once every 2 months. I am sure the list will continue to expand .... ha...ha...ha...
My next move is buy an add-on to expand the battery's life of the iphone. Unfortunately, I cannot increase its memory space at all as I am left with less than 1 GB most of the time now. :-(
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