Ping & Sab with a pinch of salt.

We wanted to go for a hike, but due to our "consecutive" illnesses, we have to postpone it! Nevertheless, we met up for lunch/dinner at Katong still. I'm glad I insisted on going to the cafe we planned to go... I don't want to go all the way to the East to eat at A*er-hem*.

Escargots! Sab wanted to eat up the salt crystals!!! O.O

Sab kept taking photos...

My chicken drumstick! Craved for a drumstick the night before. :p

Us by the window.

It's quite a cosy place.

And I like the Christmas tree!

NOW! Vote for your favourite stick-out-her-tongue girl!

Here's contestant #1!

Contestant #2!

Contestant #3!

Which girl do you like the most?

Happy with love.

Guess what's the focus of this photo (below).

With a pinch of salt.

We went to Sab's church's pasar malam.

And won Ping her Strawberry Shortcake doll! She looked so happy can.

Thereafter, I had a walk-about with Sab.

Chanced upon a very unique lane...

Very Christmasy! :)

My favourite shot of the day.

The Christmas tree- too yellowish for my liking.

Sab did a little shopping while I tagged along.

When are we going for our hike??? :p

The long-awaited Strawberry Shortcake ;)

6 December 2009, Sunday - Jingyan's Birthday Celebration

I met up with Eliz first to collect the cake for JY... and we spent almost 30 minutes trying to locate the cake shop, my gosh... -_- Finally located it after the help of a very friendly salesperson at a certain jewellery shop! Here it is! Our dearest Rive Gauche.

Then we spent some time trying to locate the restaurant too, hahaha, but it's definitely worth it.

Gaia restaurant, located at Suntec. Food is not bad, service is good! :)

Eliz writing in the card.

The wall.

Very nice barley tea.

I LOVE the kimchi!!!

Korean pancake, kimchi hotpot (I love the tung hoon), and toufu beanpaste soup. Slurps. (WC, if you're reading this, you should try Korean food some day lah, it's really yummy!)

The birthday girl with her long-awaited Strawberry Shortcake.

(Thanks to Eliz for the super funny tagline, hahaha!)

And FINALLY, the cake that we've all been waiting for since August... We didn't buy the cake then (LX's birthday) because someone said Strawberry Shortcake is too girly for a guy, LOL.) It's funny how we always choose to order this brand of cake for birthday celebrations because we want to taste all the cakes!!! :P

Pretty Christmas decorations!

I insisted on taking a group photo (after LX left hurriedly for his next date).

Another Christmas tree! Eliz and me. I'm looking forward to our Brekkie Date!

Good food, good company, good time spent! :)

Bread and butter #319 (Half-heartedness shall not be forgiven!)

Sometimes, I get so overwhelmed with the limitations such that I lose heart on the little little things that I could have done which could have made a difference.

Today, I got caught (and caught myself too) for my half-heartedness and felt rather guilty. How can I be so nua and let off the little little things which might mean something ultimately? And this, even after I received that piece of bad news? =(

I must buck up and not let the half-heartedness eat me up! Roar!

Food poisoning.

I kenna my first-ever food poisoning... and damn, it was horrifying.

I was contemplating to go back to office to clear my work, but I was feeling so queasy that I decided to make full use of my MC, rest comfortably at home, play Facebook games and sleep as and when I want.

This year, my health really seems to be going downhill. Flu... injuries... and now food poisoning.

What's next. @.@

Food that tasted like heaven when my appetite was totally gone...

Update on 17 December: Thank God, I'm slightly better now. I'm suspecting the char siew baos I ate on Monday morning. Stupid char siew baos! =(

Dinner with Shany & Sharon.

We had an awful Japanese dinner... but good drinks. :)

I just had a haircut. My hair stylist is damn cool lah. The curls on my hair lasted for at least a few days! I'm so looking forward to my next visit to the hair salon 6 months later! :p

Shany is jealous of my fire-extinguisher hairband, wahaha.

Everything In Its Time - Corrinne May

Sometimes I wonder what lies ahead
How long till my hunger is fed
They say it's hard to make it in this part of town
So many people on this merry-go-round

Some folks try astrology
Some turn to crystal balls
To find an answer, To get through it all
I just fall on my knees and I try to pray
In the silence I can hear Him say

The river runs and the river hides
Out to the ocean and under the sky
I promise you, the answer will come
Hold on to patience and watch for the sign
Everything in its time

I often feel like I'm two steps behind
Somebody must have moved that finish line
There are a thousand reasons
Why I should give up
But I'm stubborn in the things I believe

The river runs and the river hides
Out to the ocean and under the sky
I promise you, the answer will come
Hold on to patience and watch for the sign

'cause maybe there's another plan
One I still can't see
A little surprise, like your love in my life
Funny how time changes how we see

The river runs and the river hides
Out to the ocean and under the sky
I promise you, the answer will come
Hold on to patience and watch for the sign
Everything in its time
Everything in its time

=)

Perhaps.

Came more than a few times... the heartwarming moments... good and bad...

Ding-donged throughout the whole day and throughout my long jog.

I've not found my answer yet.

I thought to myself- maybe I shouldn't go on any leave, so that I wouldn't have any free time for too much thinking.

But perhaps, these thought processes are necessary... for more strength and courage to face tomorrow.

Perhaps.

Bread and butter #318 (What matters most- You.)

Have not been resting well for the past few days. So when a group of helpers wanted debrief, I made it super short... well, partly also because I noticed that some of them were falling asleep. Debrief should be something meaningful, not something that makes people drowsy, so I decided to let it go.

The next day, the helpers seemed more energetic (probably because they had less physical activities that day) at the end of the day, and I saw the need to conduct a meaningful closure debrief for them... I didn't prepare for it- I just went in to ask, "So how was it for everyone?" Random remarks then came from the more vocal lot.

When I feel that everyone has had their piece, I asked a question that I learned from Working with Youths- the Start, Stop, Continue question. That was quite a useful question as it got all of them thinking and most of them responding. (I super love the things that I've learned from that course!)

Some people commented that it's more challenging to engage older children and youths using simple (our kids would probably term it as "lame") strategies. I would beg to differ. "A simple activity can very well engage the older kids. It depends on how you bring it across to them. It's not easy but it's possible. My senior is a very good example. He can make a simple Bingo game seem so fun, to the extent of engaging a whole class... it could be the tone of voice, it could be the energy level, it could be any other reason. So the strategy/activity doesn't matter, it's the process created by you that's going to matter the most."

I read from somewhere, that if what you're doing doesn't seem to be working, you should really re-look at WHAT you're doing.

I'm sorry I did not provide more advice or solutions because I am still learning the ropes myself. Believe that the self can bring about positive influence! If there's a will, there's a way. The answer is You. =)

Bread and butter #317 (LEAVE!)

All of a sudden, I'm looking forward to my leave days even though I'm not going overseas. Sounds pretty boring, but I will try to make it less boring, and perhaps more exciting for myself.

I have a rather long to-do list... good food to try, movies to watch, grooming and shopping to be done, as well as memories to be shelved... I have already bought myself a A4 size black book and a colourful pocket file! And I will be attempting to send a Christmas card all the way back to Muenster for Herr und Frau Sagemann. I hope they wouldn't mind my broken German.

The fabulous outing we had on our free Sunday (2005).

I was the one who came up with this pose. LOL. :P

This is how horrible technology was a few years back.

We visited a Grundschule, i.e. a primary school. I remember when the teacher asked whether we want to visit a primary school or a secondary school, I hesitated for quite a while... if I were to be given a chance again, I would visit the secondary school! (But that doesn't mean that I did not enjoy my trip to the Grundschule!)

Ending this blog post with a super familiar poster (for the German-learners). We did a voice recording about advertisements in Germany while studying German 5. Very memorable. :) I must go back there again... hopefully within the next few years.

As you can see, leave days are days for me to reminisce too.

Woohoo, I'm gonna have a good week!

May this be the last time...

Met an Indian uncle outside office corridor. I was jumping away from a cockroach and he mirrored me. You have no idea how tickled I was. This is how simple happy things should be.

Bread and butter #316 (Facebook Invite.)

I received a Facebook invite from my student for the group,

"I like him/her, but he/she doesn't notice T^T".

LOL.

Bread and butter #315 (Year-end moments @ 329.)

2 December 2009- Julie's Birthday Celebration. Guess whose eyes. LOL.

And then came the jokes about whose eyes are the sexiest, whose eyebrows need trimming, who has swollen eyes, who has yi li yi li around his/her eyes. HAHAHAHA.

I realise I haven't been sending out my one-year-later letters... Woops. So I sent out four at one go a few days ago. I'm praying for them every single day...

Muffins-decorating at a super familiar place... my junior college. The bookshop uncle and aunty recognised me! It has been 5 years since I graduated, and they looked older too... Time flies... but the memories remained unchanged.

Closure. It was an impromptu kind of idea... but I'm glad I thought of it. It was nice and sweet. =)

On a different note, I received a piece of bad news last week. The undying question came back to me again... Will my lovable boy grow up to be a fine young man? =(

Bread and butter #315 (The GREAT Olympic Race!)

Everything went well, apart from the mini hiccups here and there which were solved by us from time to time. All thanks to the GOR committee members, the facilitators and station masters, as well as the enthusiastic participants.

Frustration, irritation, anxiousness... now, I'm relieved and glad that everything is over. Yeah!

I think the onions and chillies to some extent helped us leh, hahaha.

Our Wet Weather Plan- Soon Tien's idea. =)

The mess that I tolerated with for at least two weeks?

P/S: I went to buy new first-aid supplies for our office. So proud of myself. =D

The Power Girls: Ping Ding, Kehui, Huijing, Kaiting, Xinyan and Wanqi, with milk from Soon Tien's Surprise Pack for us.

On Friday evening, eve of race day, we did some final packing and recce at Kallang... and then headed back to office for more final packing...

Here's Xinyan Zhuang Ke Lian.

Surprise Pack from ST.

Message from him...

Post-GOR dinner last night. We had good food and good laughs... and of course, good desserts. Thanks for the yummy treat, ST!

Thank you so much, fellow GOR committee members... =)