Little Anecdotes Of My Life

2011-01-30T22:29:00.000+08:00

This evening, my brother brought us to Serangoon to have fish head steamboat. When my mother kept asking him where we were going, he didn’t reply and just told her to follow him.

This fish head steamboat is one of the stalls in the coffee-shop. My brother queued while my mother and I sat down to wait.

He ordered:

Fish Head Steamboat
DIY style. You queue for it and carry it back to your seat. You bring the pot to the stall if you want more soup.

Sea Cucumber and Leek
We only had this other dish. The sea cucumber was very soft and very jelly-like.

We each had a bowl of rice.

Just a simple and nice dinner.

As my mother didn’t want to walk to the opposite side of the road, we took a bus to Toa Payoh Interchange and from there, we took the same bus service home. Hahaha... Oh, when we were on the bus to Toa Payoh, my brother's friend rang him to tell him that they were going to have fish head steamboat. My mother said his friend should have called earlier so we could reserve the table for them. My brother said that friend of his is a regular customer. When he goes there, he will tell the boss his order.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

2011-01-23T22:15:00.001+08:00

A week ago, my group leader, L, informed me about the Lunar New Year celebration organized by RSPVH. He said that I could bring my family along. When I asked my mother if she was interested, she immediately said “No”. She said she already went last year and did not do anything and felt that she wanted to do her spring cleaning.

On our way to Toa Payoh Park, we passed by Ang Mo Kio. A said he saw JK. I jokingly said that we should stop the bus and go pick him. Obviously, it was not a very good idea because we didn’t want the people in the West side bus worrying.

Aren’t we supposed to be dressed in red? Apparently, quite a few seniors wore red while the others wore black? You aren’t really supposed to wear black on Lunar New Year though. XX said that since I was wearing red, I should follow him while the rest followed A. Naughty XX took my hand to hit XQ because he wasn’t told that the colour to wear had changed to black. Poor XQ. Haha… I was told that my group was “Gong Gong” and I was brought there. YY said he was going to take charge of younger children this time round. I told him to have fun.

Besides “Gong Gong”, there were “Xi Xi”, “Fa Fa” and “Cai Cai”. 2 of the groups went off to play games while “Gong Gong” and another group stayed behind.

Q & A

We were given a list of questions related to Lunar New Year. Some were True/False sort, some were open-ended. Some of the questions included “Red packet money has to be even” or “Which day during the 15-day period can you not go visiting?” The questions were all so easy and I could answer all of them. I didn’t want to spoil the fun so I didn’t shout the answers but my answers were heard by the person asking the questions.

We were given a choice of 3 types of balls, from as small as a ping-pong to as big as a basketball. For the 2 balls I chose, I got the smallest ones which would give my group more points. We were supposed to choose 2 numbers. Behind each number was an action we were supposed to do with the ball.
I was supposed to balance one of the balls between my lower wrists and another to be placed between my elbow and hip. The first action reminded me of Ryu from Street Fighter. A asked me to pose while XX took a photo of me. “Hadouken”. With the balls balanced, we had to walk a distance forward.

Locate The Sound

We were blindfolded. Someone held a speaker which was playing some popular Lunar New Year songs. We were supposed to walk towards the source of the sound. Whoever finds it, that will be the next person to hold the speakers.

Hot/Cold

We were supposed to find someone. If we walked too far away from the target, the volunteer will say “Cold” and if we were getting closer to him/her, “Hot”.

The Taste Test

We had lots of fun during this game. My group had a few little boys. When the volunteers asked them to taste something and made the rest guess, I don’t know if we should laugh or cry. Ask GS if the thing he ate was sweet, he would say “Yes”, if it’s salty, he would say “Yes”, sour, “Yes”, crispy, “Yes” Twisties, “Yes” even though it was not. Same thing happened when R, S and T had their turns. I managed to guess that LY tried a love letter. When it was my turn, I sampled strawberry juice. I played HangMan with the kids and they guessed correctly.

Getting A Pair

A box was being passed round. You were supposed to take an item each time. At the end of each go, look around to see if another person has the same item as you. If not, pick out the same item from the box the next time you get a box. When I got the wand used by Harry Potter, I said straws when I was asked if I knew what I was holding. The items in the box contained apples, oranges, spectacle box, some empty tube of cream, paper balls of different sizes. The item that did not have another of its kind is the ice pack.

Surprise Or Forfeit

This is played using the “Passing The Parcel” format. You pass a parcel around. When the music stopped, you tear a piece of paper off the parcel. On the piece of paper, either “Surprise” or “Forfeit” will be written. "Old MacDonald Had A Farm" was the music we used as we passed the parcel round. Some “Surprises” included

- Would you like a branded bag or a plain bag?

XX kept saying branded. I said that if branded was chosen, you would get a bag with NTUC printed on it and for plain, it would be a normal one. True enough, MX chose branded and she got a NTUC shopping bag. See, I told you so.

- Do you want to share this present with the rest or not?

If you chose to share, you will get a packet of sweets and a sweet otherwise

- Would you like air-conditioned or not

You either get a paper fan or a cold packet of drink.

As for “Forfeit”

LY drew a heart and wrote the letters S and M on ZK’s face
R and GS had to sing a song
SS had to dance with his volunteers

FOOD!

We mixed in the ingredients for our salad to “Lao”. As we tossed, we said a lot of blessing.
Besides salad, we had pizzas from Pizza Hut.

Do you know the volume of a pizza with radius “z” and a thickness of “a” spells pi*z*z*a! Beat that!

The younger boys love to play with the loud-hailer. They kept pressing the button which would make it play music. They also like to yell into loud-hailer. Everyone else at the park stared at them. Haha...

Prizes were given, photos were taken and we all went home. J walked me to the interchange where she helped me onto bus service 26.

Wishing everyone a prosperous Year of the Rabbit.

2011-01-21T16:47:00.000+08:00

This year, those born in the Year of the Rat and Rabbit "Fan Tai Sui". My mother and I went to Jiu Cai Bao Cheng Huang Miao this afternoon. We bought the joss sticks and incense papers to pray Tai Sui Ye. When I was kneeling in front of the deity, my mother held the incense papers to “clean” my body and said some sentences in Hokkien. I asked her to teach me so I could help her when it was her turn. We did the same to my brother's clothes too since he was at work and couldn't come.

Even though Cheng Huang Miao is near our home, we took a bus down to Bugis. From Bugis, we took a bus back.

I boarded a bus which was driven by a bus captain who recognized me. He told the lady passenger who was sitting at my “usual” seat to give up that seat. She said, “She blind meh?” Hello, I am holding a white cane. Can you tell that I am blind? Maybe you need me to accidentally hit you with that cane? Haha…
Sometimes I wish that I could drive or something. Then I won’t need to talk to chefs, people who try to give me some home recipe of dishes which they feel can help me see or some pastors who feel like praying for me on the bus. Haha… Or… Maybe I need to learn to be a “real” blind person then people will stop doubting me?

2011-01-20T15:43:00.001+08:00

Uncle F said when a person acquires a disability, it’s like a one-way ticket, no turning back.

This morning, I spent 2 hours talking to Ms C and Ms J who sat there patiently listening to every word I said. Shared with them on how I view my disability, where I feel that I’m out of place—In the sighted world and in my blindness world. They talked through things with me so I now know what I want.

It’s always good to have people willing to hear you out. Thank you for your precious time, Ms C and Ms J

2010-12-28T16:11:00.003+08:00

Early December, SP went to Sri Lanka for a week. When she came back, she asked me for a favour.

One of the days when she was there, she passed by a blind school. She told the tour guide to stop so she could take photographs. The tour guide found it interesting.
After he heard that SP worked for a blindness association here, he told her that he knew a principal of another blind school. He told SP that his nephew was blind too. The next day, he brought his nephew to see her. That's how this blind student and SP's path crossed. How do I come into the picture?

SP wanted to help this boy. She asked if I could send my old materials about English to him to help with his studies. This boy would be taking 'O' levels in 2012. He doesn't own a brailler and used Slate and Stylus for home. Braillers were provided in school and during examinations. When she came back to Singapore, she wrote to the federation there to ask if there was any funding of any sort. There are no funding and that a brailler was pretty expensive. Can you believe that it cost nearly as much as Singapore?

I told SP that I didn't have materials in Braille. I have them in the audio format. I said, "Books I provide, CD you burn". Not only do we need a lot of CD's, SP doesn't know how to go about burning into CD's. I suggested her to get a Netbook. I told her I could help install programs useful to him. Netbooks cost lesser than laptops and is definitely more helpful to him.

My project in early 2011 is to get this student a Netbook, help to label some of the keys, install useful programs and braille out simple instructions to the programs inside his Netbook.

I really hope our act of kindness might be able to help this student. Right now, I feel so good about it! =D

A Christmas Affair with Sesame Street

2010-12-27T18:06:00.002+08:00

Yesterday was Boxing Day. I went to Snow City with my RSPVH friends. The first time I went to Snow City was when I was 13. I was one of the top 5 students for my Science examinations in every class to have that opportunity.

We were divided into 4 groups, namely Elmo, Big Bird, Bert and Cookie Monster (my group). I spoke to JK who told me that he had lots of Mathematics holiday homework to do when I asked him how he spent his holidays. Poor boy. Before we went to Snow City, we would have 3 games.

Game 1: Building a Tower

Each group was given newspapers, masking tape and a pair of scissors. We were supposed to build the tallest tower with whatever we had. J suggested that we made SW a tower. We started wrapping him with newspapers. He also wrapped my white cane with newspapers which would be used as his weapon. Our group got the tallest tower (1.79 m +46-inch white cane)!

Game 2: Telematch

Round 1:

There were 3 cups of water arranged in a line. There was a ping-pong ball in the first cup. We were supposed to blow the ball into the second cup, then into the third cup.

Round 2:

We kicked a ball into a box some distance away.

Round 3:

We were supposed to turn 5 rounds with an umbrella. After that, we had to throw balls (with bells inside) into a box which E kept shaking to let us know where the box was located. Within 20 seconds, we had to throw as many balls in as possible.

Game 3:

We were supposed to eat some weird food. Within 5 minutes, the group which ate the most won. A volunteer fed the VH. It smelled and tasted horrible. Haha...

Lastly, we had to pass a piece of bread from one end of the line to the other end with our cheeks.

After all that, it was time to make our way to Snow City.

As it was a Sunday, the place was very crowded. Everything there was chaotic. All gloves were soaking wet. I believe the staff went to warm up the gloves as the pair I was given felt warm. Each of us wore a thick jacket. As N, A and I were wearing covered shoes, the 3 of us could go in.

After a decade, Snow City hasn't changed. Instead of the sand in playground, the ground was covered with snow. We had to climb up and down many steps to go up to the slide. Each of us took a float and we all stood in queue for our turns down the slide. J and E were in front of us. They wanted to see if there would be smoke when they spoke. J said he was smoking. Haha... I asked if his nose had smoke too.

Next, it was our turn. A, N and I interlocked arms as we went down. A was very frightened but we said as long we interlocked our arms, we would be fine. Halfway along the way, we slided down backwards and all of us screamed our heads off. The 3 of us went outside to "thaw". J asked if we wanted to go in again and the 5 of us walked inside. This time, it took a shorter time as many already had their turn. For both times, we were given a "pushing" hand as we went down but the second time was so much more fun as we were pushed down on the ice and we moved down very fast! G kept throwing snow at A. Poor girl!

We had McDonald's for dinner. We had a burger, a packet of fries and a can of Coca-Cola. I told A that it's like déjà vu. We were at the Science Centre in March. CP dressed up as Santa Claus and gave us presents. A strange Santa Claus who is a bit thinner and said "Ha Ha Ha" instead of "Ho Ho Ho"! They celebrated the birthdays for those born in December. I had a slice of strawberry cake. No one ate the slices of turkey I think. I tried those before and really hated it. =P

The Cookie Monster group got a prize. I got a cup with Eeyore printed on it. My brother asked why they didn't give me Winnie instead? I told him that a donkey plays a very important role in Christmas. My mother also heard of the story "The Small One" when she was in school before.

When Cookie Monster group was taking a group photo, I told them to show the letter "c" instead of the usual "v". We couldn't decide which way to show that letter. Suddenly, we heard the person taking the photograph say "OK". I bet that photograph would turn out funny. J gave me a box of sweets. Thank you very much.

At Sengkang MRT, A brought E and HS to the toilet while the rest of us waited. After half an hour, they finally came back. A, LY, A, HS and C alighted at Bedok MRT. When C heard that I could only get off at the next bus-stop, C offered to alight there too. Uncle P told her to get off at Bedok too and that he would drive me home. How nice!!

This is what Z just told me over Windows Live Messenger:

There is an igloo inside Snow City. How cool. I missed it twice now! He told me the snow felt like ice shavings. There was a snowman, a bench and a skimobile. You had to crawl under the door, a tunnel then the main chamber which you could only sit. Z, his girlfriend, A, J and WB could sit inside, pretty spacious.

We said we might want to go there another time when it wasn't that crowded. =)

2010-12-25T20:55:00.002+08:00

This article is from
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-can-some-blind-people-process

Why Can Some Blind People Process Speech Far Faster Than Sighted Persons?

Functional brain imaging has revealed that some blind people's brains rewire themselves, giving them extraordinary auditory comprehension

SAN DIEGO—Books fly from the shelf as Superman fans the pages in a blur devouring the information at blinding speed. Superhuman mental powers, including his extraordinary sense of hearing and blazing speed-reading, are as vital to Superman as his bullet-beating velocity and steel-bending strength. But it seems Superman isn't the only being with the gift of quickness. Neuroscientists reported in November at the Society for Neuroscience's annual meeting in San Diego that they have found an interesting group of real individuals with such superhuman mental abilities—blind people. Moreover, functional brain imaging now reveals how they achieve their extraordinary cerebral feats.

A popular notion is that blind people sharpen their remaining senses to compensate for lost vision. Blind musicians, such as Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles, may excel in music because of their highly developed sense of hearing. Researchers from the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research at the University of Tübingen in Germany have found scientific support for this belief. Blind people can easily comprehend speech that is sped up far beyond the maximum rate that sighted people can understand. When we speak rapidly we are verbalizing at about six syllables per second. That hyperactive radio announcer spewing fine print at the end of a commercial jabbers at 10 syllables per second, the absolute limit of comprehension for sighted people. Blind people, however, can comprehend speech sped up to 25 syllables per second. Human beings cannot talk this fast. The scientists had to use a computerized synthesizer to generate speech at this speed. "It sounds like noise," Ingo Hertrich, one of the scientists involved in the research told me. "I can't understand anything…maybe it sounds like some strange foreign language spoken very rapidly." (To hear what speech at 16 syllables per second sounds like, listen to a sample recording the scientists used in their experiments.)

Hertrich and his colleagues Hermann Ackermann and Susanne Dietrich wanted to find out what was going on inside the brains of blind people that gives them this "superpower" to understand speech at ultrafast rates. Examining brain regions activated by blind and sighted people while they listened to ultrafast speech and laid inside a (functional magnetic imaging, or MRI) brain scanner revealed that in blind people the part of the cerebral cortex that normally responds to vision was responding to speech.

No wonder blind people seem to have superhuman powers of high-speed listening comprehension. Normally, this brain region, situated at the back of the skull and called V1, only responds to light. Vision is such an important sense for humans that a huge portion of the brain is devoted to visual processing—far more gray matter than is dedicated to any other sense. In blind people all this brain power would go to waste, but somehow an unsighted person's brain rewires itself to connect auditory regions of the brain to the visual cortex.

Ackermann explained that the age at which a person loses sight is likely to be critical in rewiring brain regions controlling hearing to the region that normally processes vision. In people who are born blind the visual cortex is completely unresponsive to any auditory or visual stimulation. This region of the brain becomes functionally disconnected because visual input is necessary early in life to wire up visual brain circuitry properly. Younger people who lose sight after these connections formed, however, are able to reroute them to process auditory information after becoming blind. On the other hand, people who lose sight late in life are also less able to rewire their brains, because the critical period during which visual experience can influence this process is limited to earlier years in life. (All the subjects in this study had lost their sight between two and 15 years of age.)

But how do brain regions connected to the ears get rewired to brain regions that are normally connected to the eyes? The fact is that most of our senses have some interacting circuitry between them, which is called cross modality. There are some connections between the brain's auditory and visual regions, because the two senses must work together. Seeing a person's lips move helps comprehension of speech. We also need to orient our visual and auditory attention to the same events and to the same place in space, so there is an exchange of information between the auditory and visual cortices. Nerves from muscles that control our eye movements, for example, connect to the brain's hearing centers as well. These connections between visual and auditory regions of the brain become strengthened after losing sight. Also, some regions of cerebral cortex that border visual and auditory cortices—the left fusiform gyrus, for example—expand territory in blind people to make use of the idle circuitry in visual cortex.

Interestingly, the researchers found that blind people only use the right visual cortex for understanding ultrafast speech. Ackermann suspects that this may be because the right brain is specialized for processing low-frequency information, which is typical of speech, but this theory is still unproved. What blind people might use the left visual cortex for is something the group is investigating and hopes to report at next year's meeting.

The main interest of the researchers is in brain stroke. By investigating how the blind brain rewires itself to compensate for lost function, the researchers hope to discover new information that can be helpful to patients recovering from stroke. But Ackermann also stresses that an important outcome of this research is the help it can provide the blind. Whereas it is always better to be sighted than not, people who have lost vision do have certain extraordinary abilities that can give them advantages over sighted people. He finds that blind people are able to turn up the rate of text-to-speech converting computer programs to read three books in the time it would take a sighted person to read one. This extraordinary ability will benefit blind people in processing large amounts of written information in textbooks for study at school, and perhaps open new job opportunities to exploit their high-speed reading skills for translation or other auditory comprehension at blazing speeds that to Lois Lane and the rest of us mere mortals sounds like babble.

2010-12-24T20:19:00.002+08:00

http://www.businesswriting.com/tests/commonmisspelled.html

Your quiz results
Your score is: 23 points out of a possible 27
That is 85 % -- Very Good!

I did this test. British English puts “e” while American English usually drop them for some words.

You can have a try too.

Reflections

2010-12-23T16:02:00.003+08:00

Yesterday, I spoke to someone on the phone. What she said really made me reflect. I think I have no life offline. Look at my interest--AT, IT. So what if I know so much about these. So what if I can surf the net/use the computer so efficiently? So what if I offer my help to my online community? No one really knows who I really am.

Another of my interests-Reading. Hah! I do that on my computer too!

I'm such a pathetic person.

Off to read my book.

Microsoft (Day 2)

2010-12-21T11:54:00.002+08:00

This entry is for Accelerating Asia Pacific Day 2.

I took the bus with G, the media guy. We didn’t need the Visitor sticker. G and another person couldn’t press the right floor. We stopped a floor, asked someone how to get to the 21st. We went into the lift again and this time, 21 could be pressed. How odd!

My laptop for that day was fitted with the JAWS dongle which I meant I wasn’t limited to the VR Soft application. I thought of going to Facebook. However, something made me not to log in. DW and R said there was a 25-inch screen right in front of me and if I logged in, the whole world could see it. Lucky for me!!

I*, R and I came to the conclusion that we needed 2 DAISY programs to read DAISY books. How dumb!

For the whole morning, R* was being interviewed. Oh, how quiet was the place. Haha...

Knowing where we were, I used the terms "ahum" and "ahem" to call R*'s "tech toys". R called them the unmentionables. Mine sound more dodgy. You know that "fruit"? If you don't, too bad. =P

Based on the experience of the previous day, DW, R and I went for an early lunch. DW, the gentleman as he always is, took food for both ladies.
R* and G joined afterwards.

In the afternoon, Ms C introduced me to 2 employees from VA. We exchanged contacts. Ms C and I*’s cards were not in Braille. I told them I could correct that easily. I* brought me back, I took my Slate and Stylus and started “poking” their cards. As what I* said, Braille on the fly.

Then, it was time to pack. I* said it was dangerous for me to walk around as everyone was running round the place so I sat there to wait. He said that he needed to get a traffic light so when it turned red, I could walk across the room. Ms C joked that she just came back from travels and another lady said her luggage got bigger as a result.

I had lots of fun on both days! Ms C, I cannot thank you enough. What an experience!

Helping Out At Microsoft (Day 1)

2010-12-20T15:06:00.002+08:00

On 14 December and 15 December, I helped out at Accelerating Asia Pacific at Microsoft. To prevent myself from giving updates that may run into volumes of book, I will try to summarise what I did on both days and funny incidents which happened. =D

The night before

I got a chat message on Facebook from Ms C. She told me they won't be using AMIS to read the DAISY book. Instead, they would be using WR Soft. After she said goo night to me, I went to the net to look for a manual of some sort. After finding it, I skimmed through it.

Before the transport came

I chatted with G. He told me he was going to show people how he uses magnification aid. He was going to give a short speech too.

On the bus

I updated J on how I was for the past few months.

The group reached. Each of us got a Visitor sticker and we took the lift up to the 21st floor.

At the booth

R briefed me on what to expect, how I should respond when being asked (The stuff which Ms C told me over email)

I was introduced to R*, my “next-door neighbour” for the 2 days.
We learnt how to navigate a DAISY with VR Soft. He taught me some, I taught him some. It’s surprising I can actually remembered what I read before I slept. =)
R* outdone the manual by figuring out how to bring the fast forwarding speed back to normal! Amazing!
R* did most of the talking while I did the navigation.
A Thai lady from Microsoft asked me to show her I use VR Soft
Basically, throughout the day, I just sat there and chatted with R*. He is very knowledgeable! I learnt a lot from him.

Exploring the place

K brought G, J, (her students) and I to take a look at the other stations.
G tried to play a fast tune on the touchscreen keyboard. There was so much lag that the tune sounded distorted. K asked me to play for fun too. Somehow I only played the black keys. Haha…
The 4 of us played a bowling game on the Kinect! For my very first round, I got a “STRIKE”. For the next 9 rounds, I did horribly because my arm went to an angle, causing the ball to veer off. Both G and K got “TURKEY” G even got the same score of 184 as the previous winner (American)! Excellent!

Ms C also tried some dancing game on the Kinect. R* also had a round on the racing game too!

Lunch

Someone will ring the bell to signal the end of breaks.
The response for this event was too overwhelming that by the time we went for lunch, there weren’t much selection. I had fried rice, vegetables and egg.
I told them if I didn’t sleep before 12 midnight, I will turn into a pumpkin. I* wanted to know how I know I was turned into a pumpkin. I joked that because when I wake up, I still keep the shape of one.

We took plenty of weird photographs. We were supposed to look either to the left or right, then point our index finger. For what? I don’t know. I just followed what I was told. Haha…

Ms C, G, R* and the rest attended a presentation, except I*, C and I stayed to look after the booth. I* said that not everyone would be going for the dinner. I can go home at 6 pm then! However, the presentation went way off time so we couldn’t sneak home. I started wishing Ms C knows telepathy.
C said he needed to go home before 6 pm or he will turn into a pumpkin. (Doesn’t that sound familiar)
As for I*, he said that I needed to go home because my eyes are getting tired and blurry. (Ya, some sort of reason)

Ms C came back to the booth and said that everyone had to go for the dinner. Ok, her words are final.
She introduced me to Professor W from China. I was chided for not knowing Professor W’s mother who is an author.

Kinki Restaurant

The place was so crowded and noisy. What a din! Haha… Dinner was buffet style so K helped me take some rice, vegetables and prawn.
K asked me if I wanted to try the mochi and she brought me to get them. On the way back to our table, a gentleman who is very engrossed in his conversation, he gestured a lot and his elbow hit my eye. K said I should have carried my white cane at all times. True enough, the next time I walked around, the path in front seemed to be very wide. I could swing my cane a further distance without hitting anyone. Haha…
Ms C told a few delegates from Sri Lanka in her most sincere manner about Orchard Road. She told them since it’s the festive season so the shopping malls would stay open late in the night. She suggested that they should visit Orchard Road and that it’s very easy to go there from here. Upon hearing this, the ladies left the table and we got the whole table for ourselves!
A delegate from Sri Lanka whose someone (I don’t remember) is from the Sunday Observer said goodbye to me.

At the rooftop

A few of us went to the rooftop. C made me hold the sides of the parapet. He said, “You jump, I jump. You don’t jump, I push you down”

We took many photographs there. Initially, the photographs were taken by own people. Then, the professional one offered to help us take.

Going home

C told me he helped out at ZoukOut 2010. He shared with me interesting stories and weird people he met.

Thank you Ms C for the opportunity to be able to meet so many people from different countries like China, Thailand, Malaysia and even America!

I shall do Day 2 another time.

2010-12-18T16:30:00.002+08:00

Since November, I have been going down to SAVH every Saturday mornings for the "IT Task Force". Well, to put it simply, the "Computer Club" which a group of us help to resurrect. The VH there all are Window Eyes users. S and J are sighted and they stick around to help us read things off the screen. Every week, they will share with the group some computer questions they might have encountered during the week. The rest of us will give solutions. Besides that, there will be mini lessons like how to create a Gmail account, how to use Facebook or Skype where KB will type out notes on the various keystrokes to accomplish certain tasks. These weekly meetings is a further proof that my passion lies in teaching. I love it when someone follows my instructions and is able to get what he wants. I won't mind waking up at 7 am on a Saturday! I always try to be funny by occasionally throwing in some JAWS keystrokes to see if Window Eyes will have any response. Hahaha...

Today is the last meeting for 2010. For the past few meetings, M, a lady from New Zealand, hasn't been able to join us. Yay! She used to be a JAWS teacher back in New Zealand. She also agreed that using Window Eyes to surf the net is time-consuming! Window Eyes users either press the down arrow or TAB until I got tired. =P

Before we left, S gave each of us a box of chocolates for Christmas.

Happy Christmas to my members in the Computer Club! Have a wonderful 2011! See you in 2011! Aren't we so glad to see such progress!!

2010-12-09T14:43:00.001+08:00

Yesterday, my brother finally caved in and bought himself an iPhone. On Tuesday, when I heard about it, I got curious and wanted to know what time he was going to meet his friends at Plaza Singapura. He told me that the shop will open at 10.30 so they were going to meet at 10 am. I remembered P telling me that her mother's friend asked her maid to queue as early as 6.30 am for the iPhone. I told him that 10 am was a bit too late. He said that it wasn't the initial launch and that there wasn't a need to queue that early. Well, he listened to me and changed the time to 9.30 am. Hahaha... When we went down at 1 pm to meet him, can you believe that he was only just going to pay? Better believe what I tell you the next time. =P

My mother stopped outside Manhatten Fish Market to look at the photographs of the dishes. We decided on Christmas Alaska King Crab Promo. This was my first time trying Manhatten Fish Market.

The set consisted of:

- 2 bowls of Crab Soup as starter
Plenty of crab meat and pieces of bread chunks
4 pieces of crab croquette
Stuff with lots of meat
- King Crab Legs
- Fragrant Garlic Rice
- Plenty of fries
- Fried Squid (Calamari)
- Thin slices of ham which felt like spaghetti
- raw vegetable salad
- 2 Huge glasses of Sprite
Really huge!!
- 2 cups of ice-cream (either chocolate or vanilla)

This set cost $55.90 which does not include the extra charges yet.

We went to Daiso where my mother bought a few cans of drinks and jellies. At Mark & Spencer, my mother bought chocolates, chips and sweets while my brother bought a Christmas pudding. We wanted to sample the hand cream but the bottles were all empty. Lastly, we went to Carrefour to shop around but ended up buying nothing.

As for dinner, since we were at Plaza Singapura, both my brother and I would definitely eat Ayam Panggang! The one I had on 8 October was Ayam Penyet. My mother really ordered from a wrong stall that day. After my brother showed her the right stall, I believe she can get the order the right the next time! =D

When we went home, my brother turned VoiceOver on his iPhone and let me play with it. I'm so impressed with Apple. They are willing to take accessibility into consideration though the blindness community doesn't really take up a huge portion. The Zoom feature and VoiceOver are really useful and quite intuitive to operate. Double thumbs up!

International Volunteer Day

2010-12-05T17:34:00.001+08:00

Today is International Volunteer Day. To all my friends, this is the day to honour each and every one of you for your efforts. I would like to take the opportunity to thank you for helping me in one way or another!

Fish Head Steamboat

2010-12-04T21:29:00.001+08:00

For dinner this evening, my brother brought us to have Fish Head Steamboat. He told us it's from a very famous stall. Our intention was to fetch my mother but we weren't able to get a cab. My brother told her we would wait for her at the coffee-shop instead.

As we reached there earlier than her, my brother brought me inside Tai Sing where he looked at the toys on display. There were cars of varying sizes, from as small as those found inside our display cupboard to as those large enough for a child to ride in it. Besides cars, there were trains, buses, motorcycles, boats, aeroplanes, tankers etc... Basically, mode of transportation.

We ordered Angelfish Head Steamboat and a plate of You Yu Kangkong. They cooked the soup with lots of Bian Yu and yam chunks. They didn't chop the kangkong into shorter lengths. They were very generous with their cuttlefish though. This stall is managed by the wife. The husband's one is nearby but much more quieter.

I love to eat fish because I like licking the bones. =D

Christmas Lunch With TouchArt Class

2010-11-29T17:09:00.001+08:00

Even though my mother is no longer volunteering at the TouchArt Class at SAVH, Auntie K and the rest of the aunties still invited both of us to the yearly Christmas buffet. When everyone saw her, they all commented that my mother look healthier than she used to. She also managed to gain some weight. Auntie V and Auntie L took their grandsons along too.

Auntie K bought roast beef and ham. The restaurant served salad, curry, fried pork slices, vegetables, mushroom soup and noodles. I think the restaurant accidentally dropped a whole packet of salt and milk into the soup. Oops! Besides food, the group sang many popular Christmas songs. I don't celebrate Christmas so cannot tell you the titles. Both Auntie K and Auntie J gave the group boxes of chocolates.

The group returned to SAVH while my mother and I walked to Bugis. We went into KFC and my mother and I shared a box of cheese fries. She also bought my favourite Portuguese egg tarts. I'm never tired of them!

It's so nice of the aunties there to be so concerned of my mother's health. Thank you very much! We really appreciate it! Happy Christmas to everyone there!

2010-11-11T20:48:00.001+08:00

I have known this person for my entire life. This person is my "umbrella", sheltering me rain or shine. Even though he always nag at me, I know he wants me to learn and to improve.

This person is none other than my brother. Korkor, Happy Birthday! Thank you for everything you have done for me! I hope that all your wishes will come true! Stay happy always!

2010-11-10T19:10:00.001+08:00

This afternoon, Dr W brought a group of students from Lighthouse School to take a look at some of the Assistive Technology which might be useful for their studies in the future. Before the event started, I helped Ms C test if the PacMate Omnis and BrailleNote mPowers were in working order. The machines were placed on adjacent tables. When I'm done checking a few of them, I will move to the next table C said I was playing "Musical Chairs". I found the machines to be sticky so I took out packets of alcohol wipes to clean Ms C saw what I was doing and asked where I got those. I told her I bring these wipes everywhere I go in case I needed to wipe my PacMate or my Netbook. I like my "tech toys" to be clean at all times. =D

When the students arrived, they started playing with the mPowers. No one really knew how to use the PacMate unit. mPowers are more intuitive than the PacMate units. I owned a PacMate for about 6 years and I really like it. PacMate Omni is compatible with JAWS as both products are produced by the same company. Half of the group followed Ms C to the next room where she showed them SARA. I showed the other half the PacMate then the mPowers. After describing the programs in the units, the students got a chance to play with the units. Whenever they have any questions, I will be there to help.

After the event, I went home. Young children are so cute. They like to ask a lot of questions. They are also quite willing to learn. One thing they need to learn though is not to be that restless. =D

2010-11-09T22:53:00.003+08:00

A few weeks back, LH said she wanted to try Fried Carrot Cake at Toa Payoh Lorong 1. She also wanted to take the Circle Line. Therefore, she organised this little excursion this afternoon. I rang ZG to ask him if he wanted to join us. He agreed to.

Early in the morning, he came over to my place to transfer files which he owed me forever. He came early because he owed me quite a number and the transfer would take a long time. As we waited, we had snacks and chatted. As always, he was drawn to my "laundry basket" where snacks are stored at home.

We took the Circle Line, then MRT followed by bus to Toa Payoh. On the Circle Line, ZG made me memorise all the names of the stations. He made me do the same for all MRT stations in Singapore too! As we spent too much time playing with my Netbook at home, both of us were late. We were not the last. That honour goes to KB instead! Haha.. =P At the bus-stop, LH, P, WX and YR were already there.

The stall helper at the Fried Carrot Cake stall and the helper at the drinks stall were very helpful. The uncle took orders for drinks and the auntie brought us our plates of Fried Carrot Cake. The auntie walked from our table to the stall many times. Apparently, she only carried 1 plate each time. Her memory isn't that good because she forgot about my order the first time. When I told her I didn't know how to use fork and if I could have a pair of chopsticks instead, she said "Huh!" then walked off to get what I wanted. I suck at fork. Not only did it shocked the auntie, all my VH friends found it hard to believe it too. Haha...

After lunch, LH, P and I started our little excursion of taking the Circle Line. We took the MRT up to Bishan. A lady saw that we were pretty lost and wanted to offer us help. LH said it's ok and the lady walked off. We took the Circle Line and alighted at Paya Lebar where we went home.

This is my first time taking the Circle Line since its official launch in April. I still feel that taking bus is still simpler. =D

Board Games Day

2010-11-06T22:03:00.001+08:00

For the past month, I have been going down to the regular RSPVH tuition sessions to help my NTU friends make the commercial card/board games accessible to the blind. I had to bring down my own brailler as I don't want to ask those school going students to lend me theirs. I brailled "Old Maid", "Happy Families" and the title deeds for "Monopoly". Oh, not to forget the BINGO papers I did this afternoon. Sometimes, I will braille things with a much lighter one--my Slate and Stylus. I used my Slate and Stylus to braille every single piece of Monopoly currency! That was really tiring!! As I have 2 of those and I know J can read braille, I asked him to help to "poke". During one of the weeks, we were supposed to braille the "UNO" cards and poker cards. When we were done with the poker cards, we spent the remaining time playing "Big 2". However, during the next session, J said she also wanted those "UNO" cards brailled too. As there are a total of 108 cards, J, my disciple, found himself another disciple, MS. J taught MS to braille a portion of the cards. As for "Monopoly", I told the girls to use strings to surroune the grids. I also used DYMO tapes to label the different grids. J said he wanted to make his own board game called "Bak Chor Mee", similar to "Snakes and Ladders. The different lengths of noodles would be the "snake", chopsticks "ladders", mushrooms, bowls would be counters. J, as I always say, if you dare to bring it, I dare to do it. =P

Today is the day where all our efforts paid off. It's Board Games Day in place of the regular weekly tuition session. Besides the games I mentioned, we played "Scrabble", the set which I donated back to SAVH and "Othello" which I brought from home.

I played Scrabble with a few volunteers and students. We didn't bother about the points at all. XX told us to play until we cannot form any word with our tiles. At the end of the game, I was left with the "Q" tile. YY is so funny. He asked one of the students if he was willing to exchange some tiles. XX was there preventing the exchange from taking place. XX objected to words like "jerry" and "ref". Hahaha... We were each given a doughnut, a packet of MaMee Monster and raisins. YY, A and I started reminiscing about the past. These games and snacks reminded us of our childhood. Can you believe that it is YY's first time playing Scrabble??

At around 3 pm, we stopped whatever we were doing and played "BINGO". H explained the rules of the game to benefit those who don't know how to play. As I brailled the "BINGO" cards, whenever H said a number which I didn't braille on those cards, I will say that only the volunteers' cards will have that number. YY asked me if I remembered the sets of numbers. I told him that I can remember bits and pieces. Haha... The winners are 2 volunteers and they got Famous Amos cookies as prizes. Some of the volunteers performed a very romantic song, "Can't Help Falling In Love".

We sang birthday songs to those born in November. After the cake was cut and distributed, it was time to pack up and go home. I'm looking forward to the event at Snow City in December.

To all my friends, good luck for exams!

2010-11-05T20:18:00.001+08:00

Happy Deepavali to all my Indian friends. Today is a public holiday. Going out with my brother and mother means eating lots of food.

For breakfast, we went to Ya Hua to have Bak Kut Teh. The following will be the dishes being ordered:

- Zhu Shou
- Zhu Wei
The tails were in a bowl of soup. There were a lot of pieces.
- Zhu Gan
The livers were sliced very finely. They cooked this dish in a bowl of soup too.
- Bak Kut Teh
This soup is not as peppery as that we had at Rangoon. The waiter also kept refilling our soup bowl.
- You Tiao
- Xian Cai
- 3 little bowls of rice

Unlike the Bak Kut Teh we had at Rangoon, we had 3 bowls of soup instead of 1. The dishes were cooked in soup. The price was pretty reasonable. This place is definitely more accessible than Rangoon.

Next stop... Suntec. My brother told us that there was a Food Fair being held.
We walked around the exhibition hall and both my brother and mother started passing me any food samples they see. I was being fed 6 different types of cheese of various sizes. What I can say is that it felt weird having different types of cheese mixed together. Haha... I tried a small cup of prawn noodles soup, some chips, some biscuits, meatloaf from the Philippines, some pieces of seaweed.
At the stall which was promoting food from the Philippines, my mother bought a few sticks of meat which are pretty similar to satays here. She asked the lady if they sold roast pig. The lady said maybe in the afternoon. Then, she asked another lady the same question, not knowing that both are from the same stall. So funny. You cannot keep harassing people you know. The sticks of "satays" had lots of meat. The seasoning is sweet and a bit sour. Hmm... Sugar and vinegar perhaps. My mother also bought a box of "abacus".

My mother didn't like sitting on the floor so we went inside again. This time, my brother went to buy drinks. He bought a cup of Chendol. What an interesting way of eating Chendol. With a straw! Sadly, the mango ice he bought is not the kind I had from Taiwanese stalls at past food fairs.

Before we left, we passed by a stall promoting Spanish stuff. My brother bought a cup of red wine. At that stall, my mother bought a piece of roast meat. I tried a sip of my brother's red wine. I don't know what to make of it. My brother also bought for me a few packets of seaweed from a stall selling Thai stuff.

Next, we went to Toast Box where my mother bought Laksa. As I don't really eat spicy food, I only ate the prawns as none of them liked them. It was my very first time trying Teh Tarik. It's pretty amazing how much foam you can get by "pulling" the tea. My brother described the place to me. The wallpaper has pictures of bookshelves with books on them. Having toast at a "library" kind of concept? Oh ya, the reason why we had Teh Tarik was because we wanted my brother to stay awake after consuming that amount of red wine.

On our way to the bus-stop, my brother took me to touch an iPad. Sadly, the battery of one on display had died and I couldn't try VoiceOver.

After all that I ate throughout the day, my dinner was a piece of 9-Layer Nonya Kueh. What I like about it is that I like to tear it layer by layer. Childish, I know. =P

2010-11-04T20:36:00.002+08:00

On Tuesday morning, DW rang me to tell me that Ms C was looking for me and I was to call her when I'm free. He started asking me questions on using JAWS with Facebook. JAWS 8 did not work with Internet Explorer 8 so I suggested him to use Mozilla instead. He installed Safari and asked me if JAWS could work with it. I said I didn't know so he tried Mozilla. He updated the one inside the lab and it no longer worked with JAWS 8! I asked him to look for older releases. In the afternoon, he rang me to tell me that he got everything sorted and invited me to attend some Social Media workshop on Thursday. Ms C was looking for me about that workshop and another event which she needed my help.

That was Tuesday. Now about today.

First, I went up to level 3 but was told that Ms C was at the lab in level 2. S was going down too so I went down there with her. Ms C was busily preparing for the event in the afternoon. I showed them how I surf Facebook with JAWS 11. I also showed how I used the "Chat" feature on Facebook. We spent the next 10 minutes chatting on Facebook even though we were a few tables away. Hahaha... Later, DW joined us because he wanted to try if Facebook could allow more than 2 people to chat together. Facebook can't but Windows Live Messenger could but Ms C didn't explore that option. After that, they went off to do some other stuff so I stayed there to surf the net and the usual.

During lunch, F brought me exploring the building. She took me to level 5 and I walked around the area where soccer practices were held during the weekends. The place has changed so much since the last time I was there to recieve my bursary years and years ago.

After lunch, Ms C brought me to the conference room where the workshop was going to be held. Participants started to fill the room.

R told those present that we would be learning about Skype, Windows Live, Facebook and Twitter and at the end of the workshop, we will know terms like "tweet", "post" and "poke".

The first presenter was a lady from Australia. She is from the ACE which provides Relay services for the hearing impaired. As she addressed the crowd over Skype, R changed the slides projected on the screen. One of the latest service ACE provides Relay services using Skype. A very informative presentation. There was a short Q&A where R would ask Z questions which participants ask.

Next up was a presentation on the new Windows Live. The presenter showed the interesting features inside Hotmail like making a movie with only a few clicks, how to edit a photo, how to arrange your photo gallery. He also showed us the Social Media filter inside Hotmail. Awesome stuff.

Before the last presenter talked to us about Facebook and Twitter, we went outside for some light refreshment. J helped me take some Dim Sum and a drink. I refused when someone wanted to take a photo of me enjoying my food. Haha..

The last presentation was probably the one which I'm so familiar with. He talked about Facebook and Twitter. For Facebook, he mentioned about the status updates, tagging a person in a photo. How Facebook is so useful in helping finding lost friends. How you know Mr Green, Mr Green knowing Mr Blue and Mr Grey and you are able to friend Mr Blue and Mr Grey. He also recounted a story where his classmate uploaded a sitting arrangement from many years ago. His classmate started tagging names and how he was able to friend his old classmates as a result. As for Twitter, he mentioned about the Tweets. He said these Tweets were the fastest way of learning what was going around. Tweets about news were even faster than newspapers.

After the workshop, it was time for me to show the guests how a blind person, with the help of Assistive Technology, is able to serve Facebook. When the guests heard that I was not listening to JAWS at my usual rate, they asked me to show them. I did it and they asked me what JAWS just said. Excuse me, for your benefit, I made JAWS slow. You asked me to speed it up and you asked me what it said. Isn't that funny. After posting an update, I didn't know what else to do so I decided to find someone to chat with. I found DW and asked him to fill up the screen with random things. He started talking about the weather, predicting rain for certain parts of the lab! He advised the people to carry an umbrella with pink polka dots. For himself, he would be wearing some daisy flower-printed raincoat. How ridiculous! Ms C asked me what time was the transport coming. I asked her if there would be any transport for me in the first place. The next thing I know, she came rushing out from somewhere in the lab and told me to pack up as the transport was about to leave.

I learnt so much today, some I already know, some are pretty new. =D

I Have The Best Mom In The World!

2010-10-31T15:21:00.001+08:00

At age 4, we think: Mom knows everything!
At 8: Mom knows alot!
At 12: Mom doesn't really know everything.
At 14: Mom doesn't know anything....
At 16: Mom doesn't exist....
At 18: She's old fashioned.
At 25: Maybe mom does know about this!
At 35: Before we decide let's ask mom.
At 45: I wonder what mom thinks about this?
At 75: I wish i could ask mom about this.
Post this if you have the best mom in the world. I do!?

I found the following on many of my friends' status updates so decided to post here!

Dinner At Ajisen Ramen

2010-10-31T15:19:00.001+08:00

Last evening, I went to Ajisen Ramen with a group of senior RSPVH friends. Since it was a Saturday which meant that I went down to SAVH for the weekly tuition by RSPVH, my travel arrangements have to be changed. Earlier in the week, I asked LH if I could meet her at Pasir Ris. From there, we could make our way to Tampines. On my way home, I asked the East side bus driver if he could stop me at Pasir Ris instead of Chai Chee. He kindly obliged. Thank you, Uncle P!

Let me do a headcount. GK, his fiancée, T, WQ, C, LH, SZ, her husband, S, their son J and me. Sadly, E and her husband couldn't join us. Thus, we told the waitress to give us a table for 8 adults and 1 kid instead.

When we were all seated, LH rang E to ask for C's number. She said, "C confirm can find us in the restaurant because Siew Ling's voice so loud!" GK rang WQ to ask where he was and why he wasn't there yet. WQ told him that he was on his way. We joked that since WQ was going to be late, he would be footing the bill. We waited for everyone to arrive before we placed our orders. In the meantime, we drank green tea. At long last, WQ came and everyone wanted to know if he swam across Sengkang River to reach Tampines.

S read aloud the menu to me and I decided on Seafood Ramen without any side dish. Everyone else had a main dish together with a side order.

Almost everyone present had an iPhone. They showed me a pretty dumb application, "Talking Carl". SZ's iPhone had "Talking Carl" so she lent me hers to play. However, J, wasn't very happy about it. When you poke "Carl", he will say, "Owww". When you tickle him, he will giggle. When you say something to him, he will repeat everything you said in a funny manner.

After dinner, the whole group went to Coffee Club over at Tampines 1 to chat some more! Hahaha... The others had some drinks and mud pies but I had none as I'm not into sweet stuff. They started talking about GK and T's wedding in 2011. WQ suggested that T's "sisters" on the wedding day should make GK eat Kway Chup. GK said that that dish was disgusting and that he would give it to T's potted plants instead.

SZ and her family left first as J was still young and need to go to bed early. LH was telling the group that she wanted to watch a ghost movie in 3D and was hoping someone would watch it with her. C said she was afraid of such shows. She said that for most parts of the movie, she would be watching it between her fingers as her hands would be covering her eyes. She also said that she would watch it without her fingers when the scenes are showing the day. GK told LH that when she was watching such movies, she could smell the burning of the incense papers. She could also feel the tickling of the spiders as they moved. We asked GK if he thought 3D was like 5D. Hahaha...

I took the MRT back to Bedok with C while the rest went different ways. On the journey back, C told me that she was attending night classes on Accountancy. 1 module lasted half a year and there were 14 in total. C, Jia You!! You will do great!

At Bedok Interchange, C brought me to Bus Service 7, a direct bus which would bring me home. I love meeting up with friends I haven't contacted for eons!

2010-10-08T20:49:00.002+08:00

In the morning, my mother and I went to the market. Today is the first day of the Lunar month. Many of the stalls are not opened. After we had our usual fishball noodles and done with marketing, we went home.
When I'm done hanging the laundry, we went out again.

First, we went to Chinatown. We shared a bowl of porridge and a plate of raw fish salad at the coffee-shop. My mother said maybe this is a Hainanese style porridge. We went to the nearby medical hall to buy bird's nest for my mother. Before we left the shop, my mother bought me a bottle of chrysanthemum drink.

Next, we went to Plaza Singapura. We went there to get a replacement for my four-year-old TV remote control. As Carrefour was just beside, we went there to see if there was anything worth buying.

For dinner, we went up to the Food Court upstairs. The first time I was at Plaza Singapura, my brother introduced me to this dish called Ayam Panggang. From then on, whenever we are there, both my brother and I will have it. Today, however, my brother isn't there. My mother had difficulty ordering this dish for me. She called up my brother and he taught my mother what to order over the phone. Hahaha... Did the stall change its owner? When I described to my brother what I ate, he kept saying that it was different somehow. As for my mother, she had a bowl of fish soup.

My mother bought Chendol. for dessert. The last time she was at Plaza Singapura, my brother bought this Chendol for her. This time, the both of us shared it. The Chendol is served in a tall cup. It tastes very sweet. There were many types of beans besides red beans. There was a thick straw where you can suck up the jelly inside the cup.

Lastly, we went to Daiso. Daiso has shifted, is it? We searched every floor and finally saw it. According to a lady who was standing behind us on the escalator, Daiso has indeed shifted. Well, we didn't know it as we haven't been there for ages.

We finally went home after spending the whole day outside.

Bak Kut Teh At Rangoon

2010-10-03T16:40:00.001+08:00

This morning, my brother brought my mother and me to Rangoon Road to have Bak Kut Teh. The place is not very accessible. We had to take a cab there.

Huang Yaxi is a very famous coffee-shop which sells Bak Kut Teh. We had to stand outside to wait for the waitress to assign us a table. When we were seated, my brother told me the walls were full of photographs of famous celebrities who have been to this place. Many of the customers present are tourists.

The following is what my brother ordered:

- Zhu Shou
- Zhu Wei
We really liked the tails. The only time I ate tails is when some prawn noodles stalls add tails inside the noodles.
- Zhu Gan
The livers were sliced very finely.
- Bak Kut Teh
The soup was very peppery. There were 3 pieces of ribs too. The waiter kept refilling our soup bowl.
- You Tiao
The pieces of fried dough soaked up the soup. When you put the fried dough in your mouth, your mouth will be filled with the soup.
- Xian Cai
Very oily.
- 3 little bowls of rice

There was a small dish of dark sauce. I told my brother that with the dark sauce, Zhu Wei and the rice, I will be very contented. The price is pretty reasonable too.

We took a bus to Cambridge Hawker Centre. I had a glass of grass jelly drink which only cost $0.50. You can never get a drink so cheap around nowadays. My mother ordered a bowl of Laksa. It tasted more like curry, not nice.

Near Bugis, we passed by a shop selling Taiwanese bubble tea. What's so special about the bubble tea is that they add Yakult inside. My brother bought a cup of green tea with Yakult (Original flavour). Well, this combination tasted strange.

My mother bought dried shrimps and ikan bilis before we left for home.

2010-10-01T22:56:00.002+08:00

Yesterday, my brother told my mother he wasn't coming home for dinner. This means my mother and I can take our own sweet time when outside and don't need to rush home to cook.

I woke up pretty early this morning. I want to get all the haundry done before going out.

For breakfast, we went to Chinatown Complex to have porridge and raw fish salad. We then went to the basement where my mother bought some vegetables. The next stop was to SGH where my mother bought her medicine.

We went to Toa Payoh where my mother did some errands at the bank. She asked me where I wanted to go next. I suggested Bedok Interchange.

From Toa Payoh Interchange, we took a bus to Bedok Interchange.

For our late lunch/early dinner, we each had 5 sticks of satays, mine chicken and hers pork. She also bought one ketupat.

Next, she bought a bowl of fruit cocktail. There were peach fruit, pears, mango, sea coconut, just to name a few inside. Brain freeze!!

We then walked to another side of the hawker centre. We shared a packet of Chwee Kway. She bought a box of Sun Kway, Shao Mai and Nuo Mi Ji.

We walked to the area where the Muslim stalls are situated. I wanted Mee Soto but my mother bought me Soto Ayam. Oh no! Some more ketupats. I'm sorry but I don't like ketupat so I only ate the bean sprouts and chicken meat.

What did my mother have? Well, she bought a packet of chicken rice and made me share it with her when we got home.

My poor stomach! My mother made me eat so much!

My Personality Analysis

2010-09-25T16:23:00.001+08:00

During the weekends, SL Jiejie gave me a few links to try the personality tests there. I will post my results here.

ENFP
(Am I so rare?)

Like the other Idealists, Champions are rather rare, say two or three percent of the population, but even more than the others they consider intense emotional
experiences as being vital to a full life. Champions have a wide range and variety of emotions, and a great passion for novelty. They see life as an exciting
drama, pregnant with possibilities for both good and evil, and they want to experience all the meaningful events and fascinating people in the world. The
most outgoing of the Idealists, Champions often can't wait to tell others of their extraordinary experiences. Champions can be tireless in talking with
others, like fountains that bubble and splash, spilling over their own words to get it all out. And usually this is not simple storytelling; Champions
often speak (or write) in the hope of revealing some truth about human experience, or of motivating others with their powerful convictions. Their strong
drive to speak out on issues and events, along with their boundless enthusiasm and natural talent with language, makes them the most vivacious and inspiring
of all the types.

Fiercely individualistic, Champions strive toward a kind of personal authenticity, and this intention always to be themselves is usually quite attractive
to others. At the same time, Champions have outstanding intuitive powers and can tell what is going on inside of others, reading hidden emotions and giving
special significance to words or actions. In fact, Champions are constantly scanning the social environment, and no intriguing character or silent motive
is likely to escape their attention. Far more than the other Idealists, Champions are keen and probing observers of the people around them, and are capable
of intense concentration on another individual. Their attention is rarely passive or casual. On the contrary, Champions tend to be extra sensitive and
alert, always ready for emergencies, always on the lookout for what's possible.

Champions are good with people and usually have a wide range of personal relationships. They are warm and full of energy with their friends. They are likable
and at ease with colleagues, and handle their employees or students with great skill. They are good in public and on the telephone, and are so spontaneous
and dramatic that others love to be in their company. Champions are positive, exuberant people, and often their confidence in the goodness of life and
of human nature makes good things happen.

Joan Baez, Phil Donahue, Paul Robeson, Bill Moyer, Elizibeth Cady Stanton, Joeseph Campbell, Edith Wharton, Sargent Shriver, Charles Dickens, and Upton
Sinclair are examples of Idealist Champions.
(I only know Charles Dickens)

MORE ABOUT ENFP (From another website)

The Inspirer

As an ENFP, your primary mode of living is focused externally, where you take things in primarily via your intuition. Your secondary mode is internal, where
you deal with things according to how you feel about them, or how they fit in with your personal value system.

ENFPs are warm, enthusiastic people, typically very bright and full of potential. They live in the world of possibilities, and can become very passionate
and excited about things. Their enthusiasm lends them the ability to inspire and motivate others, more so than we see in other types. They can talk their
way in or out of anything. They love life, seeing it as a special gift, and strive to make the most out of it.

ENFPs have an unusually broad range of skills and talents. They are good at most things which interest them. Project-oriented, they may go through several
different careers during their lifetime. To onlookers, the ENFP may seem directionless and without purpose, but ENFPs are actually quite consistent, in
that they have a strong sense of values which they live with throughout their lives. Everything that they do must be in line with their values. An ENFP
needs to feel that they are living their lives as their true Self, walking in step with what they believe is right. They see meaning in everything, and
are on a continuous quest to adapt their lives and values to achieve inner peace. They're constantly aware and somewhat fearful of losing touch with themselves.
Since emotional excitement is usually an important part of the ENFP's life, and because they are focused on keeping "centered", the ENFP is usually an
intense individual, with highly evolved values.

An ENFP needs to focus on following through with their projects. This can be a problem area for some of these individuals. Unlike other Extraverted types,
ENFPs need time alone to center themselves, and make sure they are moving in a direction which is in sync with their values. ENFPs who remain centered
will usually be quite successful at their endeavors. Others may fall into the habit of dropping a project when they become excited about a new possibility,
and thus they never achieve the great accomplishments which they are capable of achieving.

Most ENFPs have great people skills. They are genuinely warm and interested in people, and place great importance on their inter-personal relationships.
ENFPs almost always have a strong need to be liked. Sometimes, especially at a younger age, an ENFP will tend to be "gushy" and insincere, and generally
"overdo" in an effort to win acceptance. However, once an ENFP has learned to balance their need to be true to themselves with their need for acceptance,
they excel at bringing out the best in others, and are typically well-liked. They have an exceptional ability to intuitively understand a person after
a very short period of time, and use their intuition and flexibility to relate to others on their own level.

Because ENFPs live in the world of exciting possibilities, the details of everyday life are seen as trivial drudgery. They place no importance on detailed,
maintenance-type tasks, and will frequently remain oblivous to these types of concerns. When they do have to perform these tasks, they do not enjoy themselves.
This is a challenging area of life for most ENFPs, and can be frustrating for ENFP's family members.

An ENFP who has "gone wrong" may be quite manipulative - and very good it. The gift of gab which they are blessed with makes it naturally easy for them
to get what they want. Most ENFPs will not abuse their abilities, because that would not jive with their value systems.

ENFPs sometimes make serious errors in judgment. They have an amazing ability to intuitively perceive the truth about a person or situation, but when they
apply judgment to their perception, they may jump to the wrong conclusions.

ENFPs who have not learned to follow through may have a difficult time remaining happy in marital relationships. Always seeing the possibilities of what
could be, they may become bored with what actually is. The strong sense of values will keep many ENFPs dedicated to their relationships. However, ENFPs
like a little excitement in their lives, and are best matched with individuals who are comfortable with change and new experiences.

Having an ENFP parent can be a fun-filled experience, but may be stressful at times for children with strong Sensing or Judging tendancies. Such children
may see the ENFP parent as inconsistent and difficult to understand, as the children are pulled along in the whirlwind life of the ENFP. Sometimes the
ENFP will want to be their child's best friend, and at other times they will play the parental authoritarian. But ENFPs are always consistent in their
value systems, which they will impress on their children above all else, along with a basic joy of living.

ENFPs are basically happy people. They may become unhappy when they are confined to strict schedules or mundane tasks. Consequently, ENFPs work best in
situations where they have a lot of flexibility, and where they can work with people and ideas. Many go into business for themselves. They have the ability
to be quite productive with little supervision, as long as they are excited about what they're doing.

Because they are so alert and sensitive, constantly scanning their environments, ENFPs often suffer from muscle tension. They have a strong need to be independent,
and resist being controlled or labelled. They need to maintain control over themselves, but they do not believe in controlling others. Their dislike of
dependence and suppression extends to others as well as to themselves.

ENFPs are charming, ingenuous, risk-taking, sensitive, people-oriented individuals with capabilities ranging across a broad spectrum. They have many gifts
which they will use to fulfill themselves and those near them, if they are able to remain centered and master the ability of following through.

I enjoy company of "N" and "T" people. Exactly! SL Jiejie has both characteristics!! Whee!

When I told C I scored only moderately or slightly for the characteristics, he said I'm a very confused person. True. I don't know what I want myself. Hahaha...

Raffles Hotel's Champagne Truffle Snow-Skin Mooncake

2010-09-24T22:04:00.001+08:00

Every year, we will buy the traditional mooncakes. Our favourite is from Da Zhong Guo. This year, however, my brother told us that he would be ordering some special mooncakes.

First Impression

When you first bite the mooncake, you can taste the champagne inside the lotus paste. The core is a white chocolate ball.

Hmmm... I think buy once to try is good enough. =)

Dim Sum At Mouth Restaurant

2010-09-19T16:20:00.003+08:00

Many months back, SL Jiejie told me that, ZG, she and I should find a day to meet up. July went, then August and eventually, we reached September. We finally decided to meet today. Prior to that, SL Jiejie and I have corresponded over email messages and over MSN to decide the date, time and place to go to. She asked me if my mother had any suggestion. My mother told us of this restaurant called Mouth Restaurant. Since none of us have been there before, we agreed on this restaurant. SL Jiejie chose Dim Sum because she knows I'm a prawn lover!

ZG ah ZG, first you said you will meet us there, then, you came along with SL Jiejie in the cab. You overslept? What did you do last night?

Mouth Restaurant is situated in Chinatown Point. The waitresses there have excellent customer service. The waitress read out the menu to let us know what sort of Dim Sum the restaurant sell. As the waitress read, SL Jiejie will say this one she wants, that one she wants. Here are what we ate, in no particular order:

- Shao Mai
- Xia Jiao
- some spicy and sour dumplings
SL Jiejie doesn't eat spicy food, just like me. This is pretty spicy. I tried it but not her. =D
- Pi Dan Zhou
- Xiao Long Baos
- some banana fritters with prawns
- Fu Pi Juan
- Pai Gu
- Feng Zhua
That's my favourite. Too bad, SL Jiejie doesn't want to have some. I was crazy enough to show ZG the bones I piled inside the bowl.
- Liu Sa Bao
Interesting taste. They put salted egg inside.

- Seafood Crispy Noodles
- Chee Cheong Fun with prawns

The 4 of us had barley water. Poor SL Jiejie. ZG overturned SL Jiejie's and his drinks onto SL Jiejie. As it was a Sunday, the restaurant was packed, the waitress couldn't move us to another table. They were kind enough to give us new tablecloth.

I'm not sure if I have left out anything. I just know I ate and ate, talked and talked, ate and ate. Hahaha...

I recieved a belated birthday present from SL Jiejie. It is a braille watch. I think it's pretty fascinating.

SL Jiejie, thanks for the treat and the present. My mother really enjoyed herself and don't worry that she wasn't bored. She said she really enjoyed the conversations the 3 of us shared. Well, not that you will ever read my blog. Hahaha...

Mid-Autumn Festival 2010

2010-09-18T21:38:00.002+08:00

Last year, I participated in a Scrabble competition. This year, however, I'm not participating. I told SP I was going to donate my braille Scrabble set back to SAVH. While checking my Scrabble set, I found some NTUC vouchers which were going to expire on 19 September 2010. When I told L about it, she said I was very lucky that I still had a few days before the vouchers expired.

Therefore, I bought down my braille Scrabble this afternoon. I also collected my last 3 packets of braille paper from L. SP, thank you for helping me store these packets in your office this 2 years!

I heard from my friend that recently Lao Ge has started conducting some computer classes so I thought I pop by to see if I might be able to be of any help. Hahaha... I taught his students a few Window Eyes keystrokes to make their time on the web more enjoyable.

At around 3 pm, I went over to take part in the games organised by my RSPVH friends. The theme for today was all about childhood games.

Rubber Flipping

Do you know what "Country Rubber" is? These erasers have the flags of different countries printed on it. You are supposed to flip your eraser so that yours lie on top of your opponent's and that's how you win!

Chapteh

The modified "chapteh" is a plastic bag filled with air. You throw it upwards and try to get it to lie back on your palms.

Marbles

There are many marbles in the middle of a circle. You had to use your larger marble to hit these marbles, forcing as many of them to roll out of the circle as possible.

Five Stones

We skipped all the previous steps and only try the very last step. You put all five stones either on your palm or on the other side, throw them all and try to get all of them when you flip your palm.

Pick A Number

On the board, there are many numbered cards. Pick one, turn it over and see what present you managed to get.

At the end of everything, I recieved a card with my name and "Happy Mid-Autumn Festival" brailled on it. So sweet!

The very last thing we did today was to celebrate quite a number of people's birthdays! I hope everyone will have an enjoyable birthday!!

2010-09-17T22:17:00.001+08:00

As Mid-Autumn Festival was near the corner plus the fact that we recieved many mooncakes this year, my mother decided to shared some with her relatives.

Firstly, we went to 3rd Grandaunt's place. My 3rd Grandaunt's most favourite niece (My mother) cooked for her some Hokkien noodles. My mother, her aunt and cousin just sat there and chatted for around 3 hours? I seriously have no idea!

Before dropping by 3rd Aunt's place, I suggested to my mother to have Aston for dinner. As always, I had my favourite Hickory Dickory BBQ chicken chop, fries and potato salad. My mother had pork chop instead. When the waiter asked my mother what she wanted besides fries for her side dish, she replied pork chop! So cute! I had to explain to her that he was asking about the 2 side dishes that came with the main dish. She then chose coleslaw. It's so unfair! Why my mother gets 2 slices of pork chop while I only get 1 slice of chicken chop? My mother couldn't finish her pork chop so she wrapped the rest back.

We took bus service 33 from Bedok Interchange to go to 3rd Aunt's place. The entire journey took us close to one and a half hour!

We passed the box of mooncakes and the 2 bottles of bird's nest soup to 3rd Aunt then shortly after, we went home.

2010-09-15T21:54:00.001+08:00

For dinner this evening, we went to the coffee-shop opposite our house. We ordered a plate of Hor Fun, a bowl of Lu Zhu Jiao and black pepper crayfish.

The Hor Fun lacked the burnt taste you always get when eating. The serving was pretty large. The sauce for the Lu Zhu Jiao was very fragrant, will definitely be better if there was rice. The black pepper taste was very strong for the crayfish.

After that, my brother went to buy soya bean milk while my mother and I walked home.

Late Lunch At PastaMania

2010-09-14T22:07:00.001+08:00

In the morning, Y rang me up to complain that we haven't met up for ages. She asked if I would be free in the afternoon. I told her I had nothing on in the afternoon and so could go meet her. She said she will ask LH along too.

At around 4 pm, Y, LH and I met up at Bugis. We decided to have our late lunch at PastaMania. One of the waiters who saw that I was blind approached LH and told her to call him when we wanted to place our orders. What memories! The first time I tried PastaMania was here with Y!

Y, being a vegetarian, couldn't suggest to me what to try. She read to me the "Chef's Recommendation" which was "Chicken Ham Cheesy Crumble" and I told her I would be having that. I chose linguine. LH ordered Chicken Sausage, a spicy dish and I don't know what Y ordered.

When the waiter asked LH, "Pasta choice?", LH thought he asked, "Pasta sauce?" and she said, "Yes." Hahaha... We told her what the waiter said and so she wanted to know the various pasta choices. In the end, she still chose spaghetti. Hahaha... She also wanted a lychee mango drink or something but the waiter said she could only have lychee or mango but not both. And... She told him she wanted passion fruit!

Y wanted to take pictures with us. One of the waiters offered to help. After taking one photo, he will say, "This one cannot because got Lu Ren Jia." He helped us take a few in total.

Y gave both LH and me some snacks she bought while she was having her holidays in Hong Kong and from Malaysia.

Y accompanied me to wait for my bus. She took that bus too but got off a few stops after Bugis.

2010-09-11T14:48:00.002+08:00

My friend thought me an interesting way to remember the positioning of the alphabets on the keyboard! =D

Queen Wants Eat Real Tasty Yam Unless I Object Passionately

A Small Dog Found Good Home Just Keep La

Zavier Xavier Conquered Victory But Not Money

C, very cool! I bet only you can come out with a scheme like that! =P

2010-09-10T20:17:00.001+08:00

Today is Hari Raya, a public holiday. Here's wishing all my Muslim friends Selamat Hari Raya.

We went to Chinatown for breakfast. What did we have? Porridge, of course! Well, it's not the one we always have though. This time round, we went to a nearby coffee-shop. I had cuttlefish porridge, my brother had century egg porridge and my mother had mixed porridge. What must we have with porridge? Well well, how we can forget raw fish salad! My brother preferred the raw fish salad from this stall because they didn't add a lot of sesame oil.

After breakfast, my brother suggested that we go and visit 3rd Aunt and her family. On our way to the bus-stop, we stopped by a stall which sells roast duck and roast meat. My mother bought those for her sister. She tried phoning her sister but no one picked up the call. She said since it's a public holiday, they should be home so off we went to 3rd Aunt's place!

My mother asked both my brother and me to find out if they were home. We rang the doorbell a few times but no one was in. We went downstairs to find my mother but she was nowhere to be seen! About that time, we saw T coming home so we followed him upstairs. In the lift, SP Jiejie rang my brother to tell him that she was with our mother and they were already upstairs. Aren't we lucky? Haha...

A few hours later, 3rd Aunt came home and got a shock when she saw us! She just came back from doing her marketing at Chinatown. What a coincidence! She also bought a piece of roast meat!

She said that the roast duck is very big and asked us to stay and join her family for later lunch/early dinner. We left 3rd Aunt's place after that.

Freedom Scientific Presentation

2010-08-24T18:24:00.001+08:00

This afternoon, I attended a presentation by Mr J, an employee from Freedom Scientific. Earlier in the morning, I was very honoured to have met Dr W. I have heard so many things about him all these years but never had the chance to meet him in person. Today was really the first time I get to shake his hands and have a long chat with him!

For lunch, a group of us which included Mr J, Ms C, a few others, Dr W and I went to the nearby hawker centre. I bet Mr J found the place interesting, able to experience a bit of Singapore lifestyle. Dr W said there was a famous stall selling wonton noodles so he wanted to try it. Everyone decided to have the same so only one person needed to queue for the food. Besides wonton noodles, Dr W also wanted to try Chwee Kway, another famous dish in this hawker centre. Ms C went off to buy Chwee Kway for both Dr W and herself. I suggested to Mr J to try sugar cane drink so R helped him to get that.

After waiting patiently, C returned back with plates of wonton noodles. Mr J wanted to use chopsticks but he does not know how to hold one. He apologised for spoiling the image. What image is that, I wonder. Anyway, they exchanged his chopsticks for a fork, something which is more familiar to him! Ms C shared with me a piece of Chwee Kway.

In the afternoon, it was time for the presentation. He told the audience present the various products which his company carried. He also brought with him some of the smaller products to let us have a feel. He showed us a few magnifiers, the Focus 40 Blue braille display, the PEARL and a PacMate BX420.

At the end of the presentation, every participant recieved a pen with the words "Freedom Scientific" printed on it and a rubbery shark keychain.

Dr W was kind enough to give me a lift home. Thank you!

2010-08-21T21:14:00.001+08:00

How long do you think it will take for a person to walk to Parkway Parade from my place? The answer is 43 minutes! How do I know? Well, this afternoon, both my brother and I did just that.

According to my brother's description throughout the brisk walk, it seems like we were just walking straight. The tricky part is to cross road after road. When we were very near Parkway Parade, I asked my brother where we were, he refused to tell me. Then, my brother brought me to run inside this building. This building, ladies and gentlemen, is Parkway Parade!!

My brother bought me a cup of lychee ice-blended, made me sit at the playground while he went to the barber. Before he left, he said this to me, "MeiMei, don't anyhow follow strangers ah!"

We then sat at the nearby hawker centre to wait for our mother. Sob sob, the standards for my favourite Nasi Lemak stall has fallen! The fried bee hoon is so oily and salty. Did they add half a bottle of salt into it? The fried egg was dripping oil when I picked it up. Horrible! Another franchisee lesser! It's getting harder and harder to find nice ones now! I hope the one at Toa Payoh maintains its standards! Both my mother and brother shared a plate of Char Kway Teow. For theirs, it is still the same. Lucky!

My mother went to order some Dim Sum which included some Shao Mais, Chee Cheong Fun with prawn fillings and Feng Zhua (My absolute favourite!!)

Since this month is the Hungry Ghost Festival, we went to NTUC FINEST to buy things used for praying after dinner. My brother bought a packet of Cheetos as none of us have eaten that before. An observation: US packaging is so huge!! We also bought a box of Sara Lee Strawberry Cheesecake! Cheesecake, yummy!

We took a cab home after we were done with shopping!

Oh, as I'm blogging this, I'm trying Cheetos. Cheetos are curl-shaped cheese-flavoured corn chips. I still cannot decide if I like them or not.

Dinner At Xin Ma Again

2010-08-07T22:17:00.003+08:00

This afternoon, my brother asked me for suggestion to have dinner. The immediate one which came to mind was Xin Ma. Therefore, we went back to Xin Ma for dinner.

This time round, we ordered a few dishes more than the first time.

Instead of frog porridge, we only had the frogs. Buy 3, get 2. For the main dish, we ordered a plate of fried rice and a plate of Hor Fun. The very last dish was crab. Not to forget the glass of water chestnut I had.

Just like the first time at Xin Ma, the frog meat is very tender and the gravy is very fragrant. I must stress the fact that the frogs are really a must try!

They added slices of fish cake (I don't like them) into the Hor Fun. The helping was a lot even though we ordered the small portion. As for the fried rice, they added salted fish slices which made the rice taste a bit weird. We couldn't finish the rice and so had to packet the remainder home.

We ordered only one crab. The crab which they used to cook tis chilli crab was very huge! We also ordered some Man Tous to dip into the gravy.

When I was eating the frog meat, I commented that it was like never-endiing because the instant I finished with the frog meat on my plate, either my brother or mother will give me even more! I really ate my frogs to my heart's content!

I LOVE FROG MEAT!!

IGC 2010 At SAVH

2010-07-31T22:13:00.003+08:00

On Saturday, I participated in the Ignite Change 2010 held at SAVH. Two groups of NTU IGC campers dropped by to see the sort of voluntary services offered by my RSPVH friends. The event started at 10 am so by 8.30 am, the bus auntie came to fetch me.

Group 1: Casper

For the morning session, I was in the group called "Casper".

GAMES

Four, Three, Two, One

We first started with ice-breaker. This game is played to the rhythm of "Qing Ni Gen Wo Zhe Yang Zuo". You hit your thighs, clap your hands, then use your thumbs to point to each of your shoulders. When pointing at your shoulders, you need to say one of your group members' name followed by a number between 1 and 4. For instance, if someone said, "Jane4", Jane has to call her name as she performs the 4 actions of hitting her thighs, clapping her hands and using her thumbs to point to each of her shoulders. I'm really bad with my coordinations. Hahaha... We kept calling one of the boys' name CM a lot. I later heard from SH that CM is actually her previous boss's brother.

Time Bomb

Someone will think of a number, say 30. The person beside will have to decide to deduct the previous number by how many, the maximum being 3. The person whose number is 0 will be exploded.

Hum The Tune Of This Song

The above 2 were ice-breakers. One of the beneficiaries will listen to a song, hum out the tune for everyone to hear and then to give the title of the song. The ones I heard was "Guan Huai Fang Shi" (which I know) and "I Want It That Way" by the Back Street Boys (which I couldn't figure out and J was behind me telling me the answer). The songs we heard were very popular in my younger days but everyone knows how bad my knowledge about songs is. When I hear a song, sometimes I know the title, sometimes I only recognise the song when it is at the chorus.

Hey You, Don't Make My Ping-Pong Drop!

We were divided into two groups for this game. For my group, we were supposed to pass a ping-pong ball from one spoon to another. For the other group, they were supposed to try their best to make the ping-pong ball drop within a given period of time.

Kneading Plasticine

If anyone watches the Taiwanese variety show "Genius Go Go Go", there is a segment where the celebrities will knead a piece of plasticine and the last person has to guess what was being formed. I was given a piece of plasticine and was instructed by someone to form something to let the volunteers guess. Me and my big mouth! I have the tendency to repeat aloud whatever I was told to form. I was told to create a giraffe, a mobile phone, a MP3 player and a laptop (the one they said I could knead whatever I liked). The one which they had a hard time guessing was Batman. Many thought it was Jumbo! Do you still remember your childhood--Play-Doh!! Haha...

After that, it was time for lunch. It was also time for the campers for the morning session to leave. While we had lunch and waited for the second group of campers to reach, L and another VH entertained us by singing us a few songs. It always amazes me how these people can remember the lyrics and sing so well. Haha...

Group 2 Justice Bao

This group, in my opinion are more enthusiastic than the previous group. They even sang me the theme song to the drama "Justice Bao"!

GAMES

Four, Three, Two, One

Exactly the same as the one I played earlier. Further proof that this group is more enthusiastic. When someone called "Jane4", not only did Jane called her name, so did the rest of the group.

Three-Legged Race

One of my legs was tied to another's. At the same time, the both of us had to balance a ping-pong on a spoon. We were required to walk a path which was very messy, turning left then right a lot. The objective is to try to make us drop the ping-pong balls we were balancing.

Zero Degrees

First, we had to pick a card which will tell us what item to pick. Then, we had to put our hands into a box which was filled with ice water and find it. I'm very unlucky! I had to find "Sou". Can you believe that I could find "Fu", "Lu" and even "Cai Shen" but not "Sou". After putting my hands into the box so many times, at long last, I found it! By then, my fingers were numb!

After all the games were completed, this batch of campers also left. Regular tuition session resumed after that.

It was a blast from the past! I saw a boy who was from my JC and my classmate when I was in Primary 5! Isn't that amazing!

Yio Ji Mee Sua!

2010-07-30T19:41:00.002+08:00

Today is 19 of June in the lunar calendar. Not only is Goddess of Mercy's birthday, it's also my Lunar birthday. What do I usually do for my Lunar birthday? Well, my mother will cook Yio Ji Mee Sua, of course!

Call me old-fashioned or what. I don't usually eat birthday cakes on my birthdays. My mother will always try to cook Mee Sua for me.

The whole day, my mother was so secretive. In the morning, she went to the market alone. Then, she came home, rested a while and went out again, only returning home in the afternoon!

When she came home, she busied herself in the kitchen. I only knew what she was cooking when she scooped up the Mee Sua for me!

My mother added in an egg, gave me many slices of pig kidneys and a few pig livers. It always taste the same, really awesome!!

My Enjoyable 23rd Birthday

2010-07-16T11:57:00.002+08:00

14 July was my birthday. My brother was on medical leave so he could bring us out. We of course had lots of food on that day!

In the morning, we went to Chinatown Complex Food Centre for breakfast. As usual, we ordered our favourite porridge. Instead of the usual 2 bowls of porridge and 3 plates of raw fish salad, my brother ordered 3 bowls, one for each of us and 5! PLATES! of raw fish salad! The last time I went there with my mother, my mother bought me a dish of Cuttlefish Kangkong. Since we were here again, I asked my brother to help me buy this dish. Talking about the last time... The stall helper forgot to add in the sauce for me. In addition, she placed my order in a container instead of the plate and charged my mother an extra $0.20 (for that container!). My mother went back to the stall and complained. When the boss came over to see what was going on, the stall helper admitted that she didn't take the order properly. She hastily passed my mother a container of sauce and put the $0.20 into the plastic bag.

For a price of $1.80, I think it's relatively cheap, lots of cuttlefish, kangkong, a few slices of pineapple and thin slices of cucumber. The sauce is thick, a bit spicy with lots of peanuts. You can squeeze a lime to make it taste sour.

Next, we walked to the other side of the Food Centre. There, my brother and mother shared a plate of Char Kway Teow.

At OG, my brother bought both my mother and I a new pair of shoes. However, we did not manage to find anything suitable at Bugis. Well, my brother actually saw a pair of sports shoes he liked. He was supposed to buy shoes to wear to work so my mother refused to let him buy it. Oh!!

For dinner, we went to Imperial Treasure Nan Bei Restaurant at Tampines 1. My brother wanted to order the Crispy Roast Pork but the waitress told us that they didn't have pork that day. SAD! The restaurant is famous for that dish! Must go back there again! So, we ordered Peking Roast Duck! Another dish we ordered was Seafood Crispy Noodles.

The proper way to eat Peking Duck:

Pick up the piece of skin with the chopsticks,
Dip this into the sweet sauce,
Wrap this skin and some cucumbers inside the special pancake

The waitress asked what we wanted to do with the duck meat. We just asked them to chop up into smaller pieces. If we wanted it another way, we need to add an additional $10! Very expensive!
We couldn't finish the meat and we asked the waitress to packet the rest so we can bring home.

The crispy noodles was very delicious. The gravy which was added to the noodles was very fragrant. The seafood (prawns, fish and scallops) were very fresh! I feel that they should cut the vegetables into smaller pieces to make it easier to chew.

After paying the bill, my brother left for another appointment first. My mother and I went to the basement to look around for a bit before going home.

I'm so grateful for the family I have. Even though they always scold me, they are very supportive of me. They always try to treat me as normal so I'm not exempted from doing the household chores. As a result, I can complete any task easily.

I'm also very touched by many of my friends. They posted a lot of birthday wishes on my Facebook, rang me, tweeted me, MSN'ed me. I really appreciate the thoughts!

Thank you, everyone!

Canadian Pizza

2010-07-03T20:51:00.003+08:00

This evening, we ordered from Canadian Pizza for dinner. Ealier on, we have decided on Herb Sausage and Hawaiian. As usual, my brother asked me to call.

The call centre sounded pretty busy. I could hear the other operators taking orders. I was told that our order would arrive between 45 minutes to an hour.

My impression of the pizzas? Well, it tasted better than the one I had from Pizza Hut. Of the two, I preferred the Hawaiian one. I don't really like the Herb Sausage. The pizza had a strong smell of the herb. Perhaps I'm not used to that smell. In addition, we did not have to pay extra charge, just pay for the pizzas.

My brother said we might order from them again. Headache! We need to decide on the pizzas we intend to have. We don't take beef and as a result, we won't have much selections.

Well, if we ever order from them, I shall tell everyone what pizzas we had.

The pizzas aren't really that large and yet we have leftovers. Someone somehow will have it for lunch tomorrow.

Belated Birthday To My Blog!

2010-06-23T17:41:00.002+08:00

Happy belated birthday to my little corner in cyberspace!

2010-06-22T15:07:00.002+08:00

Every June, my RSPVH friends will book a chalet for 3D 2N. On the second day, they will organise activities for the beneficiaries.

This year, the theme was YOG. The YOG mascot Lyo has gone missing. The RSPVH coordinator has been approached by the YOG committee to ask her VH specialist teams to help find this mascot.
The teams were "James Bond" (Yay! My group), "Nancy Drew", "Sherlock Holmes" and "Scooby Doo".

Station 1: Bowling

We stood on the top of a slope. At the bottom, there were some pins. We were supposed to knock down the pins with a soccer ball. I only managed to knock down 7 of the 10 pins on both tries. Strike was just so near! The beneficiaries were supposed to score 50 points. After that, the volunteers were supposed to bowl backwards. XH got Strike on both tries! Amazing job! Like the beneficiaries, they also needed to score 50 points.

Station 2: Make Some Noise

We were going to hear 10 recordings. In each recording, we had to identify which instrument made that note and the correct sequence. There were 6 instruments, a triangle, a clarinet, a Mu Yu, bells, a tambourine (which I held) and another percussion instrument which I have no idea of its name. It felt like a drumstick. On the fatter end, there are like a few bracelet-like bands. To make a note, you turn the bands. It makes scraping sound. The recordings first started with 3 instruments then increased to 6.

Station 3:

Part 1: Stepping On "Carpets"

We had to walk from the starting point to the ending point. We had to step on newspapers at all time. We had a few pieces of newspapers. First, we step on the first one. We then had to move forward by stepping on the other piece in front of us. The first piece had to be picked up and placed in front of the second piece. The volunteers had to bend down, pick up the paper, bend again to place it in front of the one we were standing on. WL did not bend at all! She picked up the papers with her toes only! Very smart!

Part 2:

We held on a length of string. We had to put the pen attached to the string into a bottle. I'm not exactly sure what to do because I was the very last person in that line so don't know what the others in front were doing.

Station 4: Three-legged Race

The beneficiaries paired up with a volunteer. One of our legs was tied up to the other's leg. We had to walk a distance away to the next stop. To make it more challenging, we had to balance a ping pong on a spoon.
We walked to a table some distance away. We had to scoop up Mentos sweets that were covered in a bowl of flour. The volunteers had to put the spoon in their mouths and use the spoon to scoop the sweets. The station master kept telling QR, my partner, that she had scooped up too much flour, very demanding.
Lastly, we walked over to a box located a few metres away. The beneficiaries were supposed to pick out a pair of items from the box. I picked outa pair of Monopoly hotels.

Station 5: Floor Ball

We had to dribble a floor ball using the stick all the way till a point where the station master asked us to stop. From there, we were 1.5 m away from the goal. We were supposed to whack the ball towards the goal as if we were playing golf. I used the stick meant for left-handed. My floor ball kept moving away from the stick and I always need people to help re-position the ball.

When we all went back to the chalet for dinner, it started to rain heavily outside. After dinner, there was a little appreciation ceremony for the senior volunteers and prize-giving time. "James Bond" solved the puzzle correctly. Yay! I gave my share of the prize to another VH because I have no need for the stationery.
We celebrated the 8th birthday of RSPVH.

As it was still not yet time to go home, we went back into our respective group and played group game.

"James Bond" was divided into 2 groups, The VH vs the some of the volunteers. The volunteers were given a word. They were supposed to let us guess that word by describing it. There were some words which they cannot say. The category was all on sports. For the VH group, we were told a word and we were supposed to act it out for the other group to guess. It was real fun. I, being the crazy one, gave lots of weird answers that made everyone laugh. Bull-fighting? Bungee?

For the word "Sailing", no one could guess what XX was acting out. It made him real mad and he was down there grumbling. Hahaha...

For the word "Cricket", E said there are 2 types of living things, 1 animals and the other ---. Everyone was saying that sports was not a living thing and that the other category was human beings. I told E that the other category was insects and that the word was "Cricket".

And... "Snoring" has never been in the category of "SPORTS"!

At 7, the buses came and we went home.

2010-06-20T11:38:00.001+08:00

One of my favourite food is porridge. Once or twice a week, I will go to Chinatown Complex Food Centre just to eat porridge. I'm crazy I know. Besides selling porridge, this stall has another one beside it selling Wonton noodles. They only sell minced meat porridge, no other type. My mother and I like their raw fish salad. When she goes there alone, she orders 2 plates and when I'm with her, she orders 3! I think the stall helpers recognise us and we are regulars.

There is a market at the basement. Last Friday, when we were at a vegetable stall, I heard a lady buying $35 worth of vegetables. A packet of vegetables cost between $1-$2, so can you imagine how many packets of vegetables the lady bought? A reason why she bought so much was the owner kept "persuading" her to buy more. She kept asking if the lady has bought this or bought that. Vegetables cannot keep for a long time. Poor lady.

Dinner At Xin Ma

2010-06-13T17:22:00.004+08:00

Geylang is a "Food Heaven". Last night, we went to "Xin Ma" for dinner. Although the food is extremely delicious, they need to improve on their service! The last time I went to "Xin Ma" was a few years back. Ah L Korkor took his family, my mother and I there for dinner. We went there after we went to see my brother who was at Pulau Tekong.

The waitress told us to sit downstairs as the tables upstairs were all taken. My mother said that we always sit upstairs. The waitress thought we were regulars so allowed us to go upstairs. Their customers are all invisible? Do you all know how empty the place was? Haha...

My brother ordered frog porridge, Dong Po Rou and a medium-sized Hong Kong noodles. The pots of frogs is a "Must Have" when you go there! Buy 3, get 2, 5 in total! My favourite!! The porridge though plain tasted creamy. Add the gravy from the frogs will make it even better! The Dong Po Rou is similar to our "Kong Ba" but cooked differently. A medium-sized portion of noodles is for 6 people!! We couldn't finish the meat and noodles and had to packet them home.

I highly recommend this place to anyone who likes frogs!

After dinner, we walked to the nearby NTUC to buy some groceries.

Oh, not to forget, this week, Suntec is having a PC Show. My brother went there and bought me a 2.5 WD Passport with a storage capacity of 500 gb!! Now I can store plenty of files/folders and not worry I don't have enough space on my Netbook!

2010-05-30T16:10:00.003+08:00

Friday was Vesak Day, a public holiday. We decided to go to the Expo where the Food Fair was held. However, when our cab reached near Expo, the driver said he could not turn inside so we decided to go to Bedok instead. Waste money on taxi fare!

There is this Malay stall at Bedok Interchange that had been there for years but we have never tried it. I was told that the stall had a sticker or something indicating that it is a "Makan Legend". We shared Mee Rebus and Mee Soto. Mee Rebus is quite similar to our Chinese Lor Mee. The gravy is thick and sticky. The noodles they use are the yellow ones. Although I have tried Mee Rebus before, I really like the one sold at this stall. Well, it was my first time trying Mee Soto. The way they cook is quite similar to our Chinese fishball noodles. The soup tasted sweet and the meat very tender.

For our early dinner which we had 15 minutes after we finished the Mee Rebus and Mee Soto, we went to the coffee shop nearby. I had Aston, my usual Hickory Dickory BBQ chicken chop. My brother also ordered mashed potatoes and potato salad. The potato salad reminded me of the one I tried at Chinatown. There is a German guy selling sausages in one of the lanes. The sauce they poured on the potatoes is a bit sour. Sad! I still don't get to try the butter rice which my brother kept telling me how nice it is! My mother asked me if I wanted fries. Without waiting for me to decide, she hopped over to the stall and bought a packet of fries! The fries can compete with the ones sold at McDonald's! I ate the fries without the sauce because it tasted weird. My brother said maybe they added wine to the sauce. Potato overdose!

My mother had some Sarawakian Laksa. She doesn't like it because it's different from the usual taste. My brother had some herbal chicken soup. They brewed the soup for a very long time. The chicken is so soft and you can tear the meat off with just your fork.

Some people on the bus behave stupidly. There was this couple who were standing near the front of the bus. The man was hugging the woman so both weren't holding onto the bars. And what happened? The bus captain suddenly stepped on the brakes and both fell forward. Serve them right!

We reached home just in time for the evening news.

2010-05-15T20:31:00.002+08:00

Yesterday, we went to Serangoon Garden Food Centre (Chomp Chomp) for dinner. As it was a Friday, the whole place was very crowded. My brother said this place is famous for its barbecued seafood. There were many stalls selling barbecued seafood, satays and drinks.

We had sambal barbecued stingray. It was my first time trying stingray. The sambal sauce was so spicy. Now I know why Singaporeans are crazy over this dish. Another dish we ordered was barbecued sotong. The sotongs were not rubbery, very tender, really very delicious. We also shared a plate of chicken and pork satays. My brother bought a cup of sugar cane drink. The cup was so big! I thought I was holding a trophy! Hahaha...

The last dish we all had was a plate of barbecued chicken wings. Squeezing the lime on the wings made them really fabulous! "Finger lickin' good"!

For dinner just now, we had Pizza Hut. This was the first time we had food delivered to our home. I think it was my first time trying Pizza Hut even though my mother kep insisting that I had eaten Pizza Hut before. We had the Ocean Catch pizza with crunchy cheesy bite. From the name, you know that the ingredients are all seafood! Prawns, sotong, tuna in a sour sauce. The crust was the crunchy cheesy bite. I believe what made it crunchy was the cornflakes sprinkled on top. We could dip this cheesy bite in a container of cheese sauce. Well, I don't really like the pasta even when it was hot. The pasta was so dry. Wow, look at the amount of cheese we had for dinner!

See la, this 2 days eat so much!

Chilli Padi Nonya Again!

2010-04-30T17:28:00.002+08:00

Today is my mother's birthday. My brother suggested that we go to Chilli Padi Nonya for lunch buffet!

Somehow, I feel that the place isn't the same like the previous time. The place was not crowded this time round. Some of the dishes we had the last time weren't there. However, we still had a lot! We had rice, Asam pork, plenty of Achar, samosas and keropok. My brother tried the Mee Siam too.

My mother took some Nonya kuehs from the buffet table. Lastly, for dessert, I had hot Cheng Tng with many dried longans.

We went home after that, feeling very full.

2010-04-03T14:09:00.002+08:00

2nd April was Good Friday, a public holiday. We went to Tiong Bahru to have breakfast. There is this porridge stall in a coffee-shop which only sell for a few hours. By around 10, this stall is already closed for business. A few weeks before, my mother and I went there before 10 and were told that the porridge had already sold out. After hearing that we came from very far, the stall owner scooped whatever was left in the pot and sold it to us. It was plain porridge, without any ingredients. So, this time round, we reached the place much earlier. Haha.. You might want to ask, "What's so special?"

The stall owner if I'm not wrong is an ex-commando. He looks very fit for his age.

We had mixed porridge, pig's liver, pig's kidney and intestines. The porridge is very creamy. My mother said maybe they brewed the porridge with fish bones. In addition, an egg was added into the porridge. A few pieces of fried dough were added and they absorbed the taste. What's so different is that they add watercress, quite a big bunch.
What's a bowl of porridge without raw fish salad? The portion served was quite large. They did not mix the raw fish slices and the garnishes, good for those who are very picky.

While waiting for the food to be served which was quite a long time, my mother went opposite to buy some finger food. Little "Huat Kways" with red bean paste. Very expensive! $4 for 5 but very nice.

If you want to try this porridge, you should go there once in a long while because the price is pretty steep. If you have deep pockets, then go ahead. Haha...

Next, we walked over to Tiong Bahru market to have more food!! We shared a packet of vegetarian glutinous rice. Very cheap and very nice. My mother even bought another packet to bring home. We were going to Bright Hill to pay respect to my father so my brother bought a packet of vegetarian bee hoon.
Before we left the place, my brother queued up for our lunch--2 plates of wonton noodles. The queue was super long! Singaporeans' mentality: Long queue =Good food. Well, it's true at times.
The noodles was nice, the barbecued pork was pretty tender.

We went into a shop which sold paper offerings. They displayed the items like a "Buffet" style. You hold a tray and pick up what item you want--Clothes, assessories, shoes etc. My mother asked the shop owner if they sold the suitcase type and bought that instead.

We took a cab down to Bright Hill. The traffic was very heavy with traffic police directing vehicles in and out. The cab could not drive in so we walked the remaining way in. On our way home, my brother bought us some ice-cream from the van. Just what we need on a hot day!

We took a bus to Ang Mo Kio where my brother went off to meet some friends. My mother and I went to NTUC Xtra before going home.

Eureka At Science Centre

2010-03-17T14:35:00.003+08:00

On Sunday, I went to the Science Centre with my little VH friends and a group of RSPVH friends. Earlier in the morning, I accompanied my mother to the market. Whenever she goes out with me, I will carry the plastic bags which led the owner of a fruit stall at Chinatown to mistake me as the maid. Uncle, do I look like a maid? Why do you speak to my mother in Hokkien but Malay to me ah? After I reached home, I still had another half an hour to get ready. At 11, I left home. There is no bus on Sundays? After more than fifteen minutes, two buses finally stopped in front of me, the second one was the one I was waiting for.

On the ride up to Science Centre, SM gave each of us a piece of bread. I had one with mushroom, potato and cheese. I asked HS if he wanted to try my bread. He kept insisting that he did not want to eat my saliva. I said jokingly that according to some myth, if he ate my saliva, he would be very obedient and listen to me. Hahaha... To prove that he will not eat my saliva, I tore the other corner under the watchful eyes of SM.

At the Science Centre, we were all divided into four groups. Each group was named after a famous scientist, mine was Darwin. We were given the admission ticket and were told what we would be doing. After that, we all walked towards the entrance. About that time, it started to rain. My mother told me that the last time I visited the Science Centre, I was only 5. So long ago!! =P

When I went into the gate, the staff gave me a UV stamp slightly below my elbow.

Q: What exam paper do you sit for before the age of 13?
A: PSLE

Primary Science Learning Experience

We were supposed to join a few gears in such a way that when we move one of them, every gear will also move. Then, we were given 10-15 minutes to look at the exhibits. I tried some of the exhibits like the ones on magnetism and the heat energy.

Q: What travels at the speed of 340 m/s?
A: Sound

In this area, we get to learn more about sound. There were more exhibits for us to try. There was a "Singing Bowl", how sound waves travel, changes in pitch, musical notes and many more.

We went into a room to try how loud our voice can go to. Strangely, I thought I am such a loud person but I only got 130 while a few others got 156!

The Climate Change and Bacteria

Almost all of the exhibits are visual, nothing for me to try on. A few of us went to watch a show to learn more about our sick "Earth". The voice I heard talking according to the description of my volunteer was actually a sheep. He was telling the audience that we human beings are harming Earth by using electricity. Our actions led to severe storms, flooding, global warming. The show ended with the sheep alone on Earth. I don't know how but he fell from the sky screaming. Hahaha...

Q: What is Homosapien?
A: Human Being

When this question was asked, I just blurted out the answer. I think I need to control myself, try not to answer every question. LOL! Before we left, my volunteer and I went into a room to measure the amount of greenhouse gases we released. Not a lot so I don't really harm Earth. Haha...

There were displays of the parts of the human body. An eye, the tongue, the inner and outer ear.

We were required to turn a knob to reach the frequency of 2 kHz. Not easy! When I confirmed my answer, I only got 0.912 kHz. Hahaha... Many others had frequencies that were all higher than 2 kHz.

We were given some bones from a skeleton. We had to fit them back into the mould. I was given the skull, the upper arm and the thigh bone.

Q: What symbol is represented by the value of 3.141592?
A: pi

Yay, enough of Science, now for Maths! We were gathered in front of a map of Singapore. Singapore is divided into 5 parts--Central, Northern, Northeastern, Eastern, Western and water catchment area. We had to fit the pieces to form the map of Singapore. We had to give the name of a MRT station for the piece we had. I said there was no MRT station for the water catchment and A replied that if there is no MRT station, then say no MRT station lor! Hahaha... I was given the piece for the West and I said Boon Lay.

We then had to solve some Maths questions on fractions. After that, we were free to walk around as usual.

Many abascus were being displayed. I showed some of them how to use it. I was brought into a room that was slanted. Nothing to see inside though.

After that, everyone gathered outside Science Centre. For snacks, we had McChicken. Hahaha... I thought I would be given a piece of chicken. I didn't know McChicken is in fact a burger.

Fibonacci got first while the rest of us had consolation prizes. There were a lot of photo-taking. You guys really love to take pictures ah? Hahaha...

As I was one of the last to go home, the bus auntie offered to fetch P, HS and I right to our house. Thank you, auntie!!

Although it was a rainy day, we still enjoyed ourselves. Obvious! We were not outside! LOL!

Pre-CNY

2010-02-19T16:12:00.001+08:00

CLEANING

Since January, my mother has started to prepare for the coming Lunar New Year. She started cleaning the windows. I helped her to carry the ladder, fetch clean water, throwing away the soapy water. My mother is someone who likes to be very clean so she will make me change the water until she is satisfied that the windows are really clean.

A week before Lunar New Year, she started to clean our bedrooms. I helped her to wipe some picture frames hanging on the wall. Then, I wiped my brother's table legs. Some parts of the room, she didn't want to use the mop so I had to squat down and help her clean. For the first few rounds, I mopped the floor while she supervised. Later on, she would do the "QC" and cleaned those parts which she felt was not to her standards.

BUYING

Whenever she went to the market, she would buy plenty of vegetables, meat, seafood, ingredients necessary for her cooking. She also bought kways needed for praying. Our fridge was really packed. When she tried to take something out, most likely, other things inside might fall out too.

We also bought those CNY goodies and put them inside our storeroom. Chocolates, nuts, Love Letters, Hei Bi Hiam. We also bought Rou Gan but had to finish them before CNY as we already kept them too long.

Every year, my mother would buy new bedsheets for the three of us. This year, she also bought new curtains for all the rooms.

I would usually wear those clothes for CNY which I don't wear on normal days. As many of my clothes are too worn out, she took me shopping for new clothes. I bought a few T-shirts, a pair of jeans. She got some clothes for herself too.

DECORATING

This year, we threw away many furniture because my brother thought they took up too much space, making the place looked so cluttered. He shifted the position of some of the furniture and relatives thought those were new furniture. My brother and mother went looking for a new shoe rack and chairs for our dining table. They ended up buying a new dining set because the shop didn't sell chairs separately. My brother told me that our dining set ever appeared on one of Channel 8 dramas and the one used by the show San Cai Yi Tang had a similar design.

My mother saw a few of our neighbours decorating their front doors. So, she decided to decorate ours too. We went down to Chinatown a couple of times to get lanterns, some items with Chinese words printed on them, a plank of wood with birds and flowers carved on it. She also decorated the altar with little lanterns.

She went to our market and bought 2 potted plants. One of them is called "Gek" and the other is some sort of chilli plants grown in temperate countries. These round chillies cannot be eaten. The chilli plant has withered and we are now left with this "Gek" plant.

Not to forget, my mother's famous Ngoh Hiang. I helped to chop the garlic, onions, carrots into smaller pieces. Lucky for us, 2nd Aunt lent us her blender and we saved ourselves a lot of trouble. I unshelled the prawns then chopped them. My mother mixed the vegetables, minced meat, prawns, the Wu Xiang Fen then wrap everything inside the "Pi". She fried the rolls and stored them into the fridge for the coming Lunar New Year.

We did a lot of preparations just for this yearly event. Though it was tiring, it was definitely satisfying.

Steamboat On Nian San Shi

2010-02-19T15:22:00.003+08:00

Saturday, 13 February 2010
Cu Xi Ye (Eve of Lunar New Year)

Nian San Shi, the eve of Lunar New Year, the day where everyone will have their reunion dinner. Every year, my family would have steamboat. Weeks before, my mother would start buying the ingredients needed for steamboat. She will usually buy a lot and we would end up eating steamboat from Nian San Shi to Cu Er.

In the morning, my mother started to boil the spareribs and pig stomach soup slowly till it "Ru Wei".

We had a lot of food. Lots of prawns, pig liver, slices of pork, squid, cuttlefish, abalone, crabstick, pork balls, cheese cuttlefish balls, lots of vegetables, Jin Zhen Gu (A must for steamboat!), mushroom. And... The pig stomach!! A lot of work goes into cleaning the pig stomach. My mother already cleaned the pig stomach one month ago. No more slimy stuff inside it.

We also add in Bee Hoon into the steamboat. Whenever I eat reunion dinner, I have the habit of having soft drinks. Just like those olden days, CNY is the only time when children can drink soft drinks. Hee...

At 12 midnight, my brother helped my mother to "Jie Cai Shen". That also marked the start of a busy day ahead.

1st Day of the Year of the Tiger

2010-02-19T14:57:00.004+08:00

Sunday, 14 February 2010
Nian Cu Yi (1st Day of Lunar New Year)

Gong Xi Gong Xi! May the new year bring you good luck and health. It was also Valentine's Day so here's wishing everyone to find their Mr/Ms Right soon.

Even though I slept around 2.30 am the day before, I woke up around 7 am. To keep myself occupied, I watched TV which was showing some award ceremony. Around 9 am, my mother woke up. I took two Mandarin oranges and wished her good health for the coming year. She gave me my "Ya Sui Qian", my very first one every year. Before I had breakfast, I declared myself the first guest and started munching on the snacks. We had Kai Xin Guo, Hei Bi Hiam, Love Letters and something I called them Honeycombs. Too bad. The packet of Rou Gan was already finished days before Lunar New Year. My brother said they couldn't be kept for too long so we had to finish them.

My mother warmed up the rice cakes for me. Later I joined her at the dining table where my mother was putting ingredients into the steamboat to cook. 2nd Aunt called us to borrow some chairs as there were not enough for her guests. Two maids came and took all our stools.

An hour later, my cousin Ah L KorKor and his family came to visit. As usual, his three precious treasures dashed into my brother's room and started taking out all the cars to play. My brother showed them the "Duck Whistle" which he got from the Duck Tour in London. Big mistake!! The three kids took turns blowing the whistle. What a din! My brother was bullied by them! One of the twins, hit his stomach while another hit his backside. One of them also took away his spectacles. Later, the three of them sat on top of my brother. Poor Uncle Mickey!! Oh ya, one of them who wore his socks put his little feet on my brother's new bedsheets!!

Next, two of my other cousins came. I think the last time they came to my house was probably 10 years ago? Luckily, they only stayed a while because we don't really have much to chat about. After they left, my brother and I had to finish those untouched drinks because we did not have enough cups.

Then, Ah T KorKor, his wife and his mother came. He is Ah L's youngest brother. Ah L KorKor, his family, Ah T KorKor and family are the regular guests who will come and Bai Nian every year without fail.

Next, a really huge group came. 5th Uncle and his family, 3rd Aunt and her family came. A total of 8 of them. We apologised to them because we did not have enough chairs so they have to squeeze a bit.

We decided to all go to Ah Ma's house after that. My mother left with them while my brother and I cleared away the empty plates and cups. When we were about to go, my father's 3rd sister and her family came. I rang my 2nd Aunt to tell my mother to come home. Good thing they only sat for a while.

Ok, off to Ah Ma's house. This is the first time I went to Bai Nian in my home clothes. LOL! 3rd Uncle and his family were already there. It has been years since I managed to meet them because every year, when we go to Ah Ma's house, they have already gone home. Ah S KorKor and his wife were also there. Ah S KorKor is Ah L's younger brother. This three brothers always make it a point to see my mother once in a while. Hen You Xin <3

SP JieJie wore a blue Cheongsam. Her figure is just right for one, perfect, no need to alter at all. Really pretty. The younger generation sat in the living room while the adults all sat in the kitchen. The two boy cousins, T and KW looked alike. Everyone got them mixed up. Everyone joked that both of them looked like big brother while my brother (Who in fact is the oldest boy) looked like DiDi as he was smaller in size as compared to them. My mother asked if 3rd Uncle and his family wanted to come over to our place.

They were the last guests to my place. I was exhausted and went to bed at 9 pm. What a day!

Nian Cu Er (2nd Day of Lunar New Year)

2010-02-19T14:02:00.003+08:00

Monday, 15 February 2010
Nian Cu Er (2nd Day of Lunar New Year)

On the 1st day of Lunar New Year, my cousin told my mother that 4th Uncle cooked a lot of food. Since he was a bachelor, we decided to go to his house to help finish the food. On our way to his house, my mother called to make sure he was at home. He was very happy and wanted to cook more food. My mother kept telling him that we already had our lunch so he doesn't need to make himself busy.

Yay! The lift was ready so we don't need to take the stairs. His front door was slightly ajar and as usual, MeiMei was already there waiting for us. When 4th Uncle opened the gate, MeiMei ran around licking us. She was so cute. When you tapped your knee, she will put her two front paws on your knee, wanting you to carry her. However, she is now a bit shy. She kept hiding under the sofa. I had to lure her out by putting my palm near her to lick. I put my palm further and further away each time. In order to lick it, MeiMei has to come out from the sofa. When half of her body is out from under the sofa, I carried her and placed her on my knees.

4th Uncle's neighbour, a Malay family, bought some CNY snacks for him. How nice of them.

4th Uncle asked us to help ourselves with the dishes. As usual, there were prawns and Pig Stomach Soup. He kept insisting that we don't eat the prawns as they were not very good. What a waste! We helped him finish the prawns though because I cannot resist them. Hahaha... We were told to eat the abalone and pig stomach inside the soup. After that, I washed all the dirty dishes and we left his place.

Next, we went to my mother's 3rd Aunt's (My 3rd Grandaunt) place at Bedok. Another coincidence. She is also living in the same block as PP Jiejie!! Oh yeah! Her new lift is also ready to use.

Her son was home and opened the gate when he saw us walking to his front door. The three of them, my 3rd Grandaunt, her son and my mother started chatting away. My brother had problem interrupting them to inform them that he was going to another friend's home to Bai Nian. He left around 7 pm while both my mother and I stayed much longer. Grandaunt's son kept insisting that he wanted to buy dinner for us. He said jokingly that the coffeeshop was really so near that he could jump off the building to reach it. LOL...

Later, he brought us downstairs to help us hail a cab. Naughty Uncle! He paid for the cab fare. Before my mother could return him the money, he had already gone home.

We went home and ate the fried rice which my mother cooked in the afternoon.

"Lao Yu Sheng"

2010-02-19T13:30:00.005+08:00

Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Nian Cu Si (4th Day of Lunar New Year)

Tuesday, 16 February 2010,
Nian Cu San, according to many was a unlucky day to Bai Nian. Even the cab driver we saw the night before believed it. Therefore, there is nothing to write about. So, fast forward to the next day, 17 February 2010...

One of the highlights of CNY must definitely be "Lao Yu Sheng". We have been doing this for a few years, now, into our third year.

In the morning, I waited for everyone to get ready and the three of us went out. When the lift opened, Ah Ma and her maid was inside. My mother thought they were going to our house. No, the nurse told Ah Ma to go downstairs to take short walks as her stomach has "wind". We asked them if they wanted to go out with us but they didn't want to.

My brother went out to hail a cab while my mother and I sat at the void deck to wait. When it came, we said goodbye to Ah Ma and left.

At Chinatown Complex Food Centre, many stalls have not started their businesses, still enjoying CNY? Hahaha... My brother went to check if my favourite porridge stall was opened. He came back and told us that they were still preparing so was not yet open for business.

We then went to another stall which sold "Yu Sheng" during CNY. Last year, we also ate from this stall. The stall owner was one of the contestants for one of Channel 8's reality show, "Piao Liang Qiao Ma Ma"? (I don't really remember the title as I didn't watch that show). My mother ordered the $16 "Yu Sheng" and 3 bowls of porridge, one with cuttlefish, one with century egg and one with pork.

The plate which held the "Yu Sheng" was huge!! My brother squeezed lime and it was time to toss this salad. You are supposed to toss the salad real high. The higher you toss, the higher chance of you to fulfill your wishes for the coming year. While tossing, we said auspicious phrases like "Xue Ye Jin Bu", "Shen Ti Jian Kang" and any 4-word phrases you can think of.

"Yu Sheng" is raw fish salad. However, there were only a few slices of fish. There were lots of raddish, carrots, peanuts, crackers, jellyfish and many others which I have no idea what they were.

While we were enjoying our meal, my mother saw one of her students selling packets of tissue paper. She gave her a red packet and her student gave her the packets of tissue paper. What a small world.

When we were done with our food, we went to my favourite porridge stall again to see if the stall was ready for business. LOL!! The lady told my mother in Cantonese that they had already cleaned their stall, now closed for the day. Miscommunication!

After that, my brother asked us if we wanted to have dessert. He told us that there was a shop nearby which was very famous for its dessert. Hahaha... That shop was the same one my mother brought me to a few years back. I didn't like it because the serving was very small and very expensive. It was recommended by Huang BiRen many years ago. Oh well, since we were there, we each ordered a type. I had Mango Ice, my brother had Durian Ice and my mother had Sesame Soup. Still as disappointing as before. My brother said it was a waste of time and money and the standards were just average.

We took a bus down to Bugis. My brother wanted to buy some formal attire there. My mother and I waited for him outside Seiyu. After sitting there for a while, my mother brought me inside to take a look at the clothes. They were not really cheap and the designs were quite plain. Most importantly, they don't sell blue-coloured ones.

So, we went down to the basement to look around. So strange! What happened to the Delifrance beside the escalator? Moved to where? My mother wanted to buy the tarts which SL Jiejie bought for the picnic. We walked around Cold Storage a bit then headed upstairs to McDonald's to wait for my brother.

After that, we went to Albert Centre to grab something to eat. I wanted to try the Prawn Noodles but my brother said it was sold out so he only buy my mother's Laksa. He said since I couldn't have Prawn Noodles, he bought my favourite Satay Bee Hoon instead. Aren't we lucky!! Another five minutes too late, we will have no more Satay Bee Hoon!! He also bought us cups of Sugar Cane.

On our way to OG, we stopped by the Si Ma Lu Kuan Yin Miao to pray. There were many people despite being a weekday.

After all that eating and walking, we decided to go home. The amazing thing was we reached home around 4 pm which was not late considering the number of places we went to.

Dinner At Fatty Weng Restaurant

2010-02-04T18:50:00.005+08:00

Last evening, I went to Fatty Weng Restaurant which is situated very near my house for dinner. That was a place I have been going since a young age so I was literally brought up by their dishes. Hahaha... Many fond memories there! Of course, I went to the coffee shop not the actual restaurant. The coffee shop is now air-conditioned. The chairs they use are those from the restaurant (which closed down a few years ago). This is what my brother ordered:

Sweet & Sour Pork (Gu Lao Rou)

The pork still taste so delicious. It's now so hard to get nice ones, either there is too much flour or they are to soggy. This dish still taste the same after so many years. Great that they can still maintain the standards! The sauce is not too sweet, thick and goes real well with rice.

Spareribs (Pai Gu Wang)

This dish is also very tasty. Strangely, there is no "Gu", think the chef has already removed the bones.

Chilli Crab

We only ordered one crab. The crab was really large. We told them not to cook it too spicy and indeed it was just right.

Ginger and Spring Onion Frog (Jiang Chong Tian Ji)

This dish was pretty dry. I still like the sort where they cook the frog with dark sauce. The sauce will go well with the porridge. One of these days, I should go back to the place which my cousin brought my mother and I many years ago to eat the creamy porridge again.

Sambal Kangkong

The only vegetable dish. Not too spicy as well.

After that, we went to the nearby NTUC to buy a 10-kg bag of rice, a bottle of cooking oil, many bottles and cans of drinks all for the coming Lunar New Year. My mother says we are not done with the shopping and needed another trip there again.

Happy Family

2010-02-01T17:01:00.003+08:00

Yesterday, I went to the "Happy Family" event organised by my RSPVH friends. This time round, we could bring friends along. So, I took my mother along. While she waited for me to get ready, she fell asleep on the sofa. We left home at ten to 11. My mother saw bus service 70M and told me to board the bus. I told her that was not the right bus service so she apologised to the bus captain. A little while later, bus service 7 came which was the right bus.

At Paya Lebar, we waited for a few other people and the bus. The rest of the small group and the bus were late. My mother saw 2 bus service 7 when we were there. Oh, my friend P went to Lavender to pick my ex-Secondary School schoolmate, LY. P doesn't know how to go there and got lost so they were late. When the bus arrived, my mother was surprised. Instead of the smaller school bus that I usually take, it turned out to be a coach bus. P told her that there were many more people taking the bus.

On the long journey up to NTU, many of us were engaged in the activity we have been doing on the bus recently--Playing UNO!! Haha... E, HS, JK sat on the seats while L and I sat on the floor. I had to keep standing to let people walk to the back seats as I was sitting at the aisle. Playing the "Reverse" card is confusing as we had to remember who was supposed to go next. My mother said we were reaching so we packed up.

I thought we could bring friends along? My mother was the only Chinese parent and there were 2 more Malay ones. She kept saying that the other Chinese parents were probably busy preparing for the coming Lunar New Year. I told her if she were to stay at home, she couldn't do much because her "Maria" which is me, was in NTU that day. No one will be there to help her with the cleaning and carrying.

We were put into 4 groups--The Simpsons, The Addams Family, Teletubbies and The Flintstones. They are all my favourite childhood TV shows. I was in The Flintstones with HS and LY. Yabadabadoo!! We were each given a tag. The tags had different number of holes. Mine had 3 so I was supposed to tell someone 3 things about myself. YQ brought me around the room "Making New Friends". Apparently, everyone seems to know everyone so when the MC asked who had made 7 new friends, no one raised their hands.

We were gathered into our groups again. The MC announced the next segment--Music Performance. A group of volunteers and beneficiaries were on stage to perform 2 famous Lunar New Year songs--"Gong Xi Gong Xi" and "Da Di Hui Cun". Some volunteers were on the harmonica while others sang. 2 beneficiaries, R was on the pianica while Z on his guitar. When the 2 pieces were finished, the audience shouted "Encore". This time, brave J was on stage singing solo while the musicians played. "Gong Xi" has 3 verses but I think most of us will remember the first 2 verses very well but not the last. For "Da Di Hui Cun", I only know a few lines. Hahaha... =P

Ok, done with performance, now starts the fun. Each group was given a special BINGO card. It was drawn on vanguard sheet and the numbers were in Braille with red beans making the dots. We would be playing a few stations. Whichever team won that station, they could choose one of the 25 numbers. The aim was to form 2 straight lines, either horizontal, vertical or diagonal to BINGO.

Three-Legged Race

Each beneficiary was paired with their family member or a volunteer. Of course, I paired up with a volunteer because my mother just sit there and watch. Hahaha... One of our legs was tied to the other. In between us, we had to support a balloon and walk a destinated route and try our best not to let the balloon fall. I felt bad as I kept stepping on my friend's toes. When that was over, HS and I tried to burst the balloon. We stepped on it, crushed and stretched but no matter which method we tried, the balloon refused to burst. Finally, I just throw the balloon upwards and didn't bother where it landed.

Longest Chain

Each group needed to form a straight line with whatever they have other than hair or by lying on the floor. If we answered a question correctly, we have a string as bonus. We formed our line with my cane, a few belts, shoes, umbrellas and bags. A group formed their line with the help of E's UNO cards. That was really creative. Too bad, my bag was locked up in a room or else I could also use my pack of cards.

Don't Forget The Lyrics

How well do you remember the songs from the Disney movies like The Lion King, Beauty and The Beast, Mulan... A part of these songs would be played and you were supposed to sing the next line of it. The Simpsons were really good at this and they got almost all questions right. As for me, I just stood there and told my friend that I know the song is from which movie and even the singer for a few of them.

When I had my go so it was another person's turn, I asked HS if he has ever heard of the 4 TV series, the names of the groups. Generation gap--He has never heard of them. So, I told him more about these shows, who the interesting characters were, interesting scenes I remembered and sang a few theme songs for him. Maybe, I can suggest some DVD watching activity to let these younger children know more? Hahaha...

Passing The Message

Do you remember when you were much younger, you made "Cup Telephone"? For this round, a message would be passed from one cup, through a string to the other cup. For the message to travel clearly to the other side, the string has to be taut. The message was pretty long and along the line, the length of the message got shorter and shorter. Oops.

Protecting Your Precious Eggs!!

Each group was given 2 eggs, tapes, strings, newspapers, plastic. We were supposed to use all the materials available to protect these eggs. After the given time for each group to make "boxes" to protect these eggs, the eggs would be dropped from the second floor to a rectangular spot on the ground floor. The group with the most number of eggs not broken would be the winner. We were also judged based on our creativity. My group added balloons to act as parachutes for the eggs. When our masterpiece was dropped, only 1 of the 3 balloons burst and none of our eggs were broken. However, we were penalised for using balloons.

Lao "Yu Sheng"

The "Yu Sheng" was in fact a salad consisting of lettuce, crackers, raddish, carrots and crabstick. Everyone tossed the salad and at the same time, said many auspicious greetings and hopes for the coming year. Each of us had a plate of the salad. A few volunteers acted as facilitators, walking around the room with containers of snacks like peanut cookies, love-letters, gummies, slices of fruit, cups of pudding and jellies.

To end the event, we had a group photo-taking session which seemed never to end. You could always depend on technology to behave strangely at the most crucial time.

On our the ride home, the 5 of us played UNO. A funny incident happened. I passed 3 cards to HS. He unknowingly put them back into the box. When he felt inside the discarded pile, he asked me where the cards were. I told him I gave them to him but he said no. Uh-oh, I dropped them. E was really upset as the cards belonged to him. JR helped me check if the cards were on the floor. He said there was none. Finally, the matter was resolved when HS asked me to confirm the cards I discarded were the 3 inside the box.

The Hawker Centre at Haig Road was under rennovations so we went to the one near my house to buy dinner.

Here's wishing everyone a prosperous Lunar New Year!! Xin Nian Kuai Le, Wan Shi Ru Yi.

Picnic At East Coast Park

2010-01-01T17:13:00.006+08:00

First of all, here's wishing everyone a great 2010 ahead!!

This morning, I woke around 8 am. I accompanied my mother to the market for breakfast. After that, my mother went to the egg stall to buy eggs. She bought 30 eggs but the auntie told her to pay the wrong amount and she paid lesser than the amount I calculated. I told my mother to pay the remaining amount the next time we go to the market.

We went home when we were done with marketing. After storing the eggs in the fridge, I got changed and went downstairs to wait for the cab which will bring me to East Coast Park. Five minutes after I reached, the cab came. I still have to wait for my mother who went upstairs to give my 2nd Aunt a packet of fishballs for my little nephews and niece who would be coming over in the afternoon. There were already a small group of people in the cab--SL Jiejie, her younger sister, HH, CY and ZG.

We were the earliest to reach East Coast Park. We sat at McDonald's for a bit to wait for the rest of the party. When everyone arrived, we went to the place where we were going to have our picnic.

Mats were laid and we did self-introductions. Compared to the previous time, the group was much bigger. Those present were PP Jiejie, LW Jiejie, LH, XX Jiejie, her husband YZ Korkor, KY Jiejie, "Chairman" Korkor, his girlfriend, a few other Korkors and Jiejie I forgot their names and "Lao Ge". We had plenty of food, nuggets, potato wedges, Taiwanese sausages, cheesecake, chocolate cake which PP Jiejie baked, my mother's potato salad (the best in the universe) and a lot others.

After all those delicious food, it was time to rent bicycles to burn away all that calories. I rode tandem with YZ Korkor. I enjoyed the breeze as we cycled. When I returned, the Jiejies asked if I would like to try roller skates. This was my first time wearing these shoes. They helped me wear the shoes and the safety gear. Now, comes the difficult part--standing up. The Korkor and Jiejie had a hard time getting me on my feet. I think I felt like a huge sack to them. I had to gain my balance before I can try to roll forward. Skating on the grass I felt was easier. Many times I almost fell but thanks to the support of the Korkor and Jiejie both on my left and right, I was still upright. Aha! We reached the pavement. It felt so slippery and I was so fearful that I will really fall for sure. After that nerve-racking experience, I finally rolled my way back to the tent. Back at the tent, I played with LW Jiejie's iPhone. It's not easy to use a touch screen phone but after some time, you will get used to it. SL Jiejie asked us if we wanted to play with her playing cards which she brought. Many of us don't know how to play "Da Lao Er" so XX Jiejie taught us how to play. Well, it sounded quite complicated. The strangest of all, I played 2 rounds and was victorious for both rounds.

Close to 2 pm my mother's "battery became flat"--she felt tired so we made a move first. I told them my mother wanted to go home to sleep and ZG said that my mother was living in America, thus following that time zone. One of the Korkors rode tandem with her while YZ Korkor rode tandem with me, saving us the energy to walk that distance out. They dropped us at the McDonald's. Before we continued walking, she sat at the bench for a bit. Lucky for us, there was a group coming out of a cab so we took it and left for home.

My little nephews and niece were already at my house. They were happily playing with Uncle Mickey's toys. Mickey is my Korkor's nickname given by my cousins. He is born in the Year of Rat thus have this nickname for as long as I could remember.

The younger twins said they wanted to go upstairs to find their mother so 2nd Aunt and their oldest brother left.

Thank you SL Jiejie for the wonderful picnic. I had lots of good food and had lots of fun. Thank you also for the belated birthday present and for the Rubik's Cube.

Xpressivour At Toa Payoh Park

2009-12-21T17:23:00.004+08:00

Yesterday, I went to the Xpressivour event organised by the RSPVH friends at Toa Payoh Park. There was light drizzle throughout the event. The bus dropped us at Toa Payoh Interchange. From there, we needed to walk a far bit to the park itself.

Many people turned up for the event despite being a Sunday. Everyone like to say this to me, "Siew Ling, do you still remember me? I ever spoken to you." I am bad with names. Even if I remembered their voices, I forgot their names. Haha...

At the park, TL brought me to my group leader for the day--YT. Each of the beneficiaries was given a name tag. I recieved an early Christmas present from my ex-Secondary schoolmate. Thank you LY! Before the actual event started, we did some warming up, things like doing self-introductions to your group members and come up with a cheer. My group was called Music. Every group did their own cheer and it was time to kick start that day's activities.

Station 1: Mystery Box

This station made use of our sense of smell. We were supposed to identify the contents inside a cup. I'm hopeless at this. I think I kept smelling the smell of the cloth. Later on the bus, S agreed with me that the cloth itself also contained some flower scent. Well, lucky for us, we had a few wonderful group members and they correctly identified the smell, getting 7 out of the 8 right. Fantastic!!

Station 2: Dance

In this station, a volunteer was paired with a beneficiary. We had to learn some dance moves. We were supposed to dance in the rhythm of the music. Apparently, all our tempos were different, some slow, some fast. While practising the dance steps, A taught me some other dance moves to a Korean song and English song. A, you watch too much MTV. =P

Station 3: Balloon Sculpturing

The station master taught me to make a simple crown, a sword and a heart. I wore the crown and took the sword and told A I was going to "Knight Her". Haha... Later, I took the sword and drove it into the heart and I declared that I was dead. Crazy me! What nonsense!

Station 4: Let's Fold It

We were each given a square piece of paper. We were supposed to write down our New Year's Resolution for 2010. I told YT and A that I could write on the paper but won't be able to read what I have written. I also told them my handwriting would be very ugly. After I was done writing, YT said she could read everything I had written. Next, we were taught how to fold a fox origami. I decorated my fox by giving a sad smile. When we were done with our "masterpiece", we had to write our names behind it. I wrote it and drew a smiling face this time round. A said I was so contradicting. =P

Making Salad

Each group was given a few plastic bags containing ingredients for the salad like slices of orange, longan, raisins, corn, lettuce. The bags were emptied into a tray. While stirring the ingredients, I shouted many Chinese sayings meant for Lunar New Year during the "Lao Yu Sheng" on "Ren Ri"! Later, the contents were scooped into plastic cups. ZK said before we started eating it, we should do a "Yum Seng". He asked us to stand but I was too lazy and showed him that we could do it while sitting on the floor.

There are many December babies, 3 of them. A chocolate mint cake was bought for the birthday celebration. My group won the "Most Enthuiastic". With people like ZK in our group, we are sure to get that prize!!

After all that eating, we had a mass finale dance. Everyone danced to their own tempo.

The second last activity was gift exchanging. Because of that, A was called "Cute cute A" by C. Haha... YT gave me a box of corn chips and a card holder. To make this card holder a special one, she added the letters S and L to it.

To end the day's events, we had a group photo-taking session. S sat beside me. I hooked the string on my candy cane on his ear as if it was an ear ring. Well well! He put his own candy cane on the other ear. Sadly, he told he removed them when the photos were taken. Haha...

Finally, we made our way back to the place where the bus dropped us off earlier on in the afternoon.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my RSPVH friends. =D

2009-12-05T16:06:00.004+08:00

Yesterday, I had my O&M training. A few weeks back, I told my Case Officer that I wanted to learn my way around my neighbourhood so arrangements were made for the O&M instructor to give me a few lessons. My neighbourhood has so many pairs of traffic lights. My O&M instructor wrote down the numbers of the various pairs of traffic lights so she can request for the lights to have audio output and a longer timer.

Yesterday was not lesson proper. When we walked home, it started to rain heavily. The O&M instructor and my mother chatted until the rain stopped.

When she left, my mother and I went to have lunch at Upper Boon Keng Market & Food Centre. We had Fried Hokkien Mee and Fried Oyster. The oysters were huge but there were only a few. The Fried Sotong Mee was wet. I still think the Fried Hokkien Mee near my place is the BEST!! Before walking to the bus-stop, my mother stopped by a stall selling kways. While my mother was finding coins in her purse, the lady at the stall gave me a few pieces of kways, telling me that they were nice and I could have them, free of charge! Wah... Thank you!

We then took a bus down to Bedok Interchange. My mother went into a few shops selling shoes and bought herself new shoes. We went to NTUC to buy some groceries.

Since it was getting late, I told my mother to have dinner before going back. We went to the nearby coffee shop. I told her I wanted to have Kway Chap so she ordered a serving for two. I remembered that coffee shop. When I was in Secondary School, I will occasionally come here with SZ and LH for lunch. They will eat the curry rice while I had something else. I also remembered the numerous times we went to the nearby McDonald's for lunch too. Not to forget, I remembered TK ordering chili Mee Pok which I only ate a few spoons before I couldn't stand the chili!

And... SZ and LH's Kway Chaps will always be different from the type I know. I like the pig offal while both girls only eat Kway Chap with fishcake and hard-boiled egg. Nice Meh?

All in all, yesterday just felt like those old Secondary School days--Learning O&M, eating lunch with my seniors...

How so long ago...

Buffet Lunch At Singapore Chinese Swimming Club

2009-11-30T19:15:00.003+08:00

My mother has been a volunteer for the Touch Art programme at the association for about 8 years. The volunteers are all ladies. Many of them are friends who knew one another from church or ex-Secondary School classmates or neighbours. They usually have a mini Christmas celebration on the last session of this programme. Touch Art sessions would resume in January. This year, they went to Singapore Chinese Swimming Club where I went this afternoon.

They rented a room there and we had buffet. The usual dishes you can find at a buffet were there--Samosas, curry chicken, fish, pork. I ate Fried Rice as the Mee Siam was too spicy.

After lunch, they sang some Christmas carols and sang a birthday song for one of the aunties. Each of us took a bite from the birthday cake which had to be shared with 46 people!

After that, we all left. As that place was so near to my house so we did not board the bus. One of the aunties gave us a lift home!

Lunch At Maxwell Road

2009-11-28T15:57:00.006+08:00

On Tuesday evenings 8 pm, Channel U has a programme where celebrities go to different countries to find Singapore dishes. For the past two weeks, the dish is our famous Hainanese Chicken Rice. After watching that programme, my brother kept saying he wanted to eat chicken rice.

Yesterday was a public holiday. The night before, we have decided to go to Maxwell Road to have our meal.

SAD!! My favourite porridge stall had such a long queue so my mother and I decided to have the same as my brother--the very famous Hainanese Chicken Rice! That queue was much longer but the waiting time was greatly reduced. While waiting for the chicken rice, my mother bought a plate of white Carrot Cake and a plate of Char Kway Teow. The Carrot Cake was nice but not the Char Kway Teow.

Soon, my brother came back with plates of Chicken Rice. The meat was cold but soft and really tender. The rice was hot and fragrant. The cucumber was not bitter and the black sauce went well with both the rice and meat. My brother bought a big cup of Sugar Cane drink. He added lemon and plum too.

After lunch, my brother suggested that we went to 3rd Aunt's place. My mother wanted to buy a roast duck for 3rd Aunt. She was not satisfied with the ones she saw at Chinatown so we went to the market near her place.

What a coincidence!! We saw 3rd Aunt at the market so the 4 of us went back to her place.

While we were there, it started to rain heavily. We left after the rain had stopped.

Dim Sum Lunch At Red Star Restaurant

2009-11-21T16:27:00.003+08:00

Yesterday, my brother brought us to Red Star Restaurant for Dim Sum. This is one of the few where baskets of Dim Sum are placed on push carts.

If you are someone who likes prawns like me, you will really enjoy the variety of prawn-related dishes like Xia Jiao, Shao Mai etc. We also ordered a dish of chicken and another dish of roast duck. Not to forget--the bowl of creamy porridge. We also tried the Chee Cheong Fun stuffed with barbecued pork. Lastly, we had a basket of lotus leaf glutinous rice.

After we have finished with the various dishes, we ate dessert. There were only a few choices--Herbal Jelly, Sesame Soup or Mango Pudding. My brother chose Sesame Soup while I had Mango Pudding.

The pudding was very creamy and there was mild taste of almond. The Sesame Soup was thich, rich and very black.

We went home feeling very full after all that eating.

2009-11-17T23:10:00.004+08:00

I am not petty but I don't like to be people's after thought friends.

Great Company +Good Food =Excellent Saturday!

2009-10-31T21:17:00.002+08:00

I just came home after spending a great time catching up with 2 of my friends! Not to forget, indulging in yummy food. Great company, great food, what a way to spend a Saturday!!

At around 2.30, XH and XY came to my place to pick me. As what XH termed it, our "Food Hunt" starts!

Teadot at Iluma

We first went to Teadot, a tea cafe at Iluma, Bugis for our High Tea session. This was my first time at Iluma. The place was a cosy, playing soothing music at the background. Apparently a good place to study because we saw many students there revising for examinations. The seats were comfortable, allowing you to lean back while enjoying your food and drink.

As for the menu, there was none on the tables. Instead, it was pinned on a board. XH and XY had a really hard time reading the selections out to me.

Drinks

You could either have Hot or Cold beverage, coffee or tea. The drinks really had very fancy names like Violet Dream, Little Red Fuji... You could choose from a variety of tea choices--frappe, matcha, chai, low mountain ceylon, high mountain ceylon, Erl Grey... There were a few sizes to choose--small, medium or large.

I had a small glass of Cookie Monster's favourite something Iced Matcha tea. My tea had two layers, white and green. XH helped me to stir the drink. XY had something Galaxy something Ice Blended Matcha while XH had Apricot something Ice Blended. See what I meant? Too fanciful so virtually impossible to remember the names of the beverages! LOL!

Cakes

There were quite a few types of cakes to choose--mousse, cheesecake, tiramisu. I had NewYork Cheesecake while the two shared a piece of Chocolate Macadamia.

Unlike the Japanese Cheesecake, the NewYork Cheesecake was more creamy. Ooh, I simply love cheese!! We sat there for more than 2 hours, enjoying one another's company. XH saw someone dressed in black, wearing a pointed hat--a witch. We left the place when it started to drizzle.

We next went to Bugis Junction. I think I cannot plan for activities, even where we should go for dinner, I have difficulties deciding. Then... It started to pour! Leaving Bugis Junction was impossible as there were deep puddles everywhere. XH suggested that we find a place to sit and hopefully the rain would gradually lessen. We went to J.CO Donuts. Oh my! Why are the chairs for this sort of cafes so comfortable? When you sit on those chairs, you really don't feel like leaving. LOL... Thankfully, XY suggested a place for dinner.

MOS Burger

I haven't been to MOS Burger for more than a decade. Aiyo! XY asked me if I have ever tried rice burgers. I told her no so they brought me to MOS Burger to try. Like just now, XH recited the menu to me. I decided on Ebi Rice Burger, fries and grape soda. I felt so bad! Both girls didn't want dinner so they watched me enjoy my dinner.

I felt that if the rice burger had more sauce, it would taste nicer. The seaweed was sufficient as I could taste it. The fries were long and not salty as what my scratchy memory remembered.

When I had finished dinner, while we were walking to the bus-stop, XH told me that there were indeed people who dressed up for Halloween. She saw a guy who put on Dracula Fangs.

XH and XY, thank you for a wonderful Saturday. I had lots of fun catching up with you. Hope you didn't find it boring, my constant "Don't Know" and the lack of shopping of any sort. LOL. =P

The Procrastinator Does Not Procrastinate! =P

2009-10-29T14:12:00.003+08:00

I have finally dug out my .txt version of my Diary and posted them here according to the Labels I have.

Enjoy reading them. From Mid July to October. LOL!

Mid-Autumn Festival 2009

2009-10-03T21:35:00.003+08:00

Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival. After the regular tuition session, we had a mini Mid-Autumn celebration.

Story: Hou Yi wants The Elixir of Life so he can be with Chang Er. However, the queen who owns the pill has fainted due to dehydration.

Stage 1: Making Water Lanterns

Each of the beneficiaries were given a plastic cup with 2 punched holes near the top of the cup. We were supposed to thread a raffia string through the holes. After that, we were given a chopstick to carry our water lantern.

Story: The queen is in a cave. Before Hou Yi can reach the cave, he has to find his way through a series of maze. Only then will he be able to revive the queen.

Stage 2: Transferring water from a pail to a bottle

Before we could proceed on to the designated route, we had to solve this puzzle.

Puzzle: There are 2 adults, 2 children and a boat. At any one time, two children or one adult can take the boat to reach the other end. How can this be done?

My group leader, Mr JR helped us by giving us the gist of the solution. I described to the station in-charge in more details. He said I was right and we could continue.

There was a pail in front of us. We were supposed to dip our water lanterns into the pail, filling the cup. We then had to follow a specific route formed by plenty of scotch tape on the floor. At the end of the maze, we had to transfer the water collected in the cup to an empty bottle.

After all that walking, it was time to enjoy those delicious mooncakes. Then, it was time to go home.

2009-10-03T12:25:00.002+08:00

I have just finished my interview for my bursary application. There were two men in the room, one of them blind. We had a slight disagreement between his screen-reading software--Window Eyes and mine--JAWS. Now, I am just sitting here, waiting for my friend to bring me my packet lunch.

I was really late for the interview. From the moment I stepped out of my house till I reached there, it rained and rained. I had to inform the staff that I would be late. He said he would see what time I would reach then adjusted the time for my interview. Well, I was not the only person who came late though.

Bleh!! There's no wireless connection here!! I think I'm going to read a book to kill time. Let me first save this .txt file. Hahaha...

My First Scrabble Tournament 2009

2009-09-19T21:24:00.001+08:00

Many weeks back, my WO asked me if I would be interested to take part in an annual Scrabble Tournament. At first, I refused. Then, one and a half week after the supposedly deadline, she rang me up and asked me again. She told me that the organiser required 2 student participants this year. As she could not find anyone, she had to ask me. Finally, I agreed to join.

On Wednesday, the van driver from the association brought me my first ever braille Scrabble set. He knocked on my door and said, "Pizza delivery"! LOL!!

For the next few days, I trained for the upcoming Scrabble Tournament. I listened to the audio manual, the braille manual and I even tried to get tips from the net.

And... Today is the actual day!! I woke up, freshen up, packed my Scrabble set and off I go!

On my way up to the association, it started to rain very heavily. I carried my cane, umbrella and hugged the cardboard box which housed my Scrabble set. Luckily for me, a taxi stopped and offered me a ride.

Due to the rain, the place was deserted. Just when I thought that no one would be coming, I heard the opening of a van door outside. I stepped outside and asked where the van was going. It was the free transport that would drive participants to the tournament venue! I hopped onto it and off we go!

Before the tournament, we got a briefing from the host. After some light refreshment, it was Tournament proper!! Oh no!! My opponent was last year's champion, a 15-year-old boy!! He was real good and he flattened me. After that round, I played with my friend, another student participant. He was not really good with reading Braille so the pace was really slow.

The tournament ended! This year, the blind defeated the sighted and we managed to snatch the trophy back. Whee!! Uncle TG got the 1st prize. He got a plaque. He told me that he wanted me as his disciple. He was willing to train me to play well in Scrabble. Time for me to arrange regular Scrabble sessions with him.

I did not follow the transport back to the association because it takes me only 15 minutes to reach home from the venue. My friend, his girlfriend and his younger brother brought me to the bus-stop which had the bus service that goes to my house.

I think I will be taking part in the Scrabble Tournament next year too.

Whee!! My New "Toy"!

2009-09-13T23:08:00.001+08:00

I just came back from my dinner at Good Chance with Ah Ma, 2nd Aunt, my another cousin, mother and brother. This place is famous for its popiahs. The boss was one of the teachers for the Channel 8 show--Qiang Tan II. My brother described the place to me. The walls were covered with photographs of many local Chinese celebrities.

We were supposed to wrap our own popiahs with vegetables, peanuts and sauce. The fillings for the popiahs were a bit cold and the popiah skin was a bit too soft. We also had Hei Zhou and Taiwanese OO Ah Mee Sua. My brother said it tasted differently from the ones he had in Taiwan. The prawn paste chicken wings tasted like those my mother bought from NTUC. Hahaha...

I think the food is really not that nice as claimed by many though.

*Calms down*

My brother bought me a Netbook from COMEX 2009 this afternoon!! Being the last day, he got a really good deal for it. It is Asus Eee PC 1005HA, 10.1 inches and the battery can last for 10.5 hours!! Most importantly, it is really light! Korkor, thank you!!

I called my IT whiz friend and told him about my new "toy". He said he would drop by sometime next week to help me install some additional programs, the ones I am always using.

Yay!! I am a very happy person now!!

My Laptop Is Finally Home!

2009-08-25T16:20:00.001+08:00

This morning, my laptop arrived home, totally clean as if like a new one. My IT whiz friend also gave me a few DVDs for the show "Mind Your Language". We watched one of the episodes and it was really hilarious. I should make a point to watch them some day soon.

My mother prepared lunch for us before she went out. My IT whiz friend insisted on helping me with washing the dishes. I feel so bad about it!

After lunch, I took him, erm, he took me exploring my neighbourhood. Hahaha... We went to the nearby Hawker Centre and those shops under the HDB blocks. We had fun getting lost and trying to trace back our steps.

Ok, time to transfer my stuff from the external Hard Drive back to my laptop.

Happy 4th Birthday, XX and YY!

2009-08-23T14:42:00.002+08:00

Yesterday, I woke up quite early in the morning. Why? My mother wanted to buy fishballs for her nephew, grand niece and grand nephews. In the evening, we would be going to my cousin's house for steamboat.

Around 7, we left for his place. When we reached, my cousin's house was already filled with guests--his mother-in-law, his sister-in-law, her husband and his brother-in-law.

The steamboat also had a grill attached to it so we could also barbecue the ingredients. My cousin's sister-in-law also made some jellies.

Finally, it's the highlight of the evening! We were going to celebrate the twins' 4th birthday. The cake had a design of a blue train. The cream stained the tongue. The children had lots of fun sticking out their tongues, frightening one another!

After everyone had a share of the cake, it was time for the stars--XX and YY to unwrap their presents. Oh my! How adults nowadays go to great lengths to please children. The presents were mostly educational purpose--stationery, a PDA for children to learn the ABC's and a laptop for each of the twins. XX's laptop was really pretty. It was pink. The mouse, cover and screen was all about Barbie doll. YY's one was green. My mother let me feel the laptop when the birthday stars went to have their showers.

It was time to go home. Usually, my cousin would drive us back. However, for a change, this time, my cousin asked my brother to drive instead. His driving was pretty good and we arrived home safe and sound.

My Laptop Is Away From Home

2009-08-21T22:15:00.001+08:00

For a few months now, there was no Microsoft Office installed on my laptop. At long last, my IT whiz friend would be going to help me install Microsoft Office. Right now, I am using my PacMate OMNI twrite this post. Why? My IT whiz friend has lugged my heavy laptop home to help me do a clean install of programs. Poor chap! My laptop weighs close to 2 kg!

Earlier on, my IT whiz friend came over to my place. He bought 2 boxes of doughnuts! That was something he promised umpteen months ago and he finally bought some for me to try! Well, not some. It's like one of each kind. The double chocolate one is really yummy! Apparently, he only attended half of the lecture, skipping the rest. No wonder he reached my place earlier than what he told me. LOL. We had to take a cab home from our shopping because of that! I knew he was coming so my mother bought a few cans of Hello Panda biscuits. I was the person who got him addicted to these cute little bears (Remember your Lunar New Year's gift from me?)! LOL!

For this few days, I would be using my PacMate OMNI to check my mails, surf the net etc... I hope to get it back soon.

Anyway, thank you for your help and the doughnuts!

2009-08-10T22:21:00.003+08:00

Yesterday was National Day so today is a public holiday. About lunch time, my 2nd Aunt rang us up, telling us that my cousin and his family were coming over and asked us to join them for lunch.

My cousin bought roast duck and roast chicken. Ah Ma complained that the meat was too tough and she was unable to chew the meat. So my cousin picked the softer meat for her. Throughout the meal, my cousin's precious were having fun among themselves. When the situation got out of hand, my cousin would stop eating and made sure that his three children were behaving themselves again.

After finishing lunch and sitting around for a few hours, my cousin, his family and my mother and I went home. 2nd Aunt asked my mother to bring home the leftovers.

In the evening, my brother returned home from Washington. Before he went to US, he transited at London. He went on the Duck Ride or something and he let me feel the duck whistle he got from that ride. He also bought a box of biscuits. The box was in the shape of the London Bus. Very expensive though (Priced in Pounds!). Hahaha... He also bought a packet of gummy which I bet will be opened by me real soon!

That's about it for now.

Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince At VivoCity

2009-07-19T13:07:00.004+08:00

A few weeks back, my friend called me up to tell me that he had some movie tickets to the screening of Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince. He asked me if I would be interested. I could ask another person along too!! Being a crazy Harry Potter fan, I told him that I would like to have the pair of movie tickets. I asked my mother if she would like to watch the movie with me but the timing didn't fit her schedule. Too bad. So, I called my BaoBei. She agreed and we arranged the meeting time.

16 July was the day where Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince started screening. 2 days later which was yesterday was the day where we watched the movie. When I was about to reach VivoCity, Uncle B called me to ask when I would be reaching. I told him soon and I asked him how I was going to identify him among the crowd. He told me he was wearing a T-shirt. When I asked him what colour, he said he didn't know and said that he could be easily seen when I reached the cinema. BaoBei was able to find him among the crowd.

The director added more scenes than what was in the book and yet did not really affect the flow of the show. I am waiting for the DV one real soon.

After the show, BaoBei and I went to Kim Gary to have our dinner. Same as the first time, I had the chicken cheese baked rice, the borsch soup and longan drink. BaoBei had Iced Milo. As it was a Saturday, the place was crowded so we had to wait for a while before we were given a table.

I love reading books, reading the Harry Potter series and most importantly, I love my BaoBei!!

Thank you for your treat yesterday! I still don't understand why I cannot treat you! My birthday treat la!!!

Chilli Padi Nonya

2009-07-10T16:22:00.005+08:00

Last Friday, my brother brought us out for lunch as he was on leave. We went to Chilli Padi Nonya for buffet. This place was recommended by the Channel 8 programme, "Yong Yuan Chi Bu Fei".

As we reached there before 11 am, we needed to wait until the place opened for business. We were the first few there.

After we were seated, both my mother and brother went to the buffet table to take the food. We had chicken, Asam fish, slices of very tender pork and lots of Achar!! We also had samosas. As I don't really eat spicy food, my mother and brother tried the lontong and laksa respectively.

Next, my mother returned with a plate of nine layered colourful kueh. I also tried the chwee kueh. They were a bit oily, with lots of preserved radish. In addition, the kueh were stuffed with dried shrimps and slices of mushroom. The patrons there could make their own Rojak and so my mother also made her own version. Very different from the usual Rojak I eat, no fried dough which I like.

For dessert, I had hot Cheng Tng with lots of dried longan. This dessert was really sweet!! I also tried Ice Jelly where the jelly was quite different from the usual type I eat at dessert stalls.

Then, we walked to Bugis. My mother bought us mochi wrapped ice-cream. Mine was mango while my brother's was Japanese red beans. A small round one for $2!! A bit to expensive but nice!!

We went to the temporary market at Bugis where my brother bought peanuts. After that, my mother and I sat at the Hawker Centre to wait for my brother while my brother went off to Sim Lim to buy his things.

Finally, we went home.

RSPVH 7th Anniversary

2009-07-01T11:37:00.002+08:00

Last Saturday, I went to a chalet at Aloha Changi to celebrate RSPVH's 7th Anniversary. On the way there, my friend told me that some of the beneficiaries were not coming as their parents were worried of their health.

As usual, before starting with the activities, we were divided into groups. This time, they used the characters from Teletubbies as the various group names. Hahaha.. My group was Po. Po's opponent throughout was Laa-Laa.

Station 1: Pinky and the Brain
There were 3 sections to this station.

Taste and Smell

We were each given a small cup of some fluid to taste. Once you know what is that, you have to clap 11 times then shout your group name to answer. We tasted watermelon, lime and Kickapoo. When I tasted the watermelon juice, the taste was so familiar but I just couldn't identify. One of my group members was impressive!! The instant he tasted it, he told us what it was. Laa-Laa thought the lime drink was lemon and so they were wrong. I answered that it was lime and my friend and I started analysing the difference between both lime and lemon. The Kickapoo drink none of us got it right. Some said it was grape, I thought it was Zapple. Hahaha..

We were given a few spices to smell. There were curry, cinnamon, ginger and garlic.

What Produced That Sound?

We listened to a series of sound and had to guess what produced those sound. Very difficult. Luckily, we had options. We heard the sound made by a drill, a fan.

Q & A

We were asked a few General Knowledge questions. Some were quite tricky, some were quite obvious.

Station 2: My Happy Endings

We listened to 3 fairy tales that were distorted. At the end of each story, we were asked a few questions based on what we just heard. Rapunzel locked up on the top cabin of a Ferris wheel? The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig? President's New Clothes? The people who prepared this station are very creative!!

Station 3: Meh Meh Voo

Beneficiaries and volunteers sit in a row. Each beneficiary holds a lollipop while each volunteer has slices of cucumber. 2 messages were passed down the row from each end. Everyone has to pass the message they heard from the person sitting next to them. With a lollipop or slices of cucumber in your mouth, it is impossible to really hear the messages properly. There were sentences like "I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish", "A noisy noise annoys an oyster", "A sailor went to sea to see but what he could see was just a sea" and the one which I liked the most "I thought a thought but the thought I thought was not the thought I thought I thought".

Group Dance

We were taught some actions to go with the songs we learnt to sing. There was one where we sat cross-legged on the floor and we clapped our hands. Another was a Folk Dance. At the end of the Folk Dance, we were all perspiring. After all the "exercise", it's time for dinner!!

We had fried rice, chicken, duck, vegetables and prawn. For dessert, we had Éclair. To quench our thirst, we had fruit punch.

After dinner, we watched a video made by the volunteers. The people in the video said lots of touching words to previous committee. Then, the incoming committee gave the previous committee members each a token.

We sang a birthday song to RSPVH. The marble cake was cut and each of us had a share.

At long last, it was time to announce the winning team. Apparently, each and every group was a winner. Each of us recieved a huge pack of snacks before going home.

2009-06-19T18:39:00.003+08:00

This morning, I went to Maxwell market to have porridge with my mother. The uncle used to sell $3 Frog Porridge with about 8-10 pieces of frog legs. About 5 years ago, he stopped selling them, telling my mother that the frogs cost a lot. From then on, I haven't patronised his stall. As my mother likes his fish porridge, I thus suggested that we went there today. Knowing that many elderly people like to eat this fish porridge, we went there about 10 am. The fish slices have lots of bones and those elderly people just love to suck the meat off them. With an affordable price, you get lots of "Yu Sheng", fish meat for my mother's porridge and shredded chicken meat for mine. My mother went to another stall to buy fried dough to go with the porridge. I cannot believe that 1 stall sells their fried dough for $0.80 each while another sells theirs for $0.40 each!! Of course my mother bought the $0.40 ones.

After that, we took a bus down to Bukit Merah where my mother wanted to change bus service which was heading to Orchard. Hahaha.. My mother boarded the bus which was going the wrong direction and we landed at Clementi interchange instead. We ended up taking service 7 to Orchard. Bus service 7 stopped at Plaza Singapura, our destination.

We went to Daiso. My mother bought a few pairs of socks, a few canned food and 2 cans of honeymelon gasy drinks. Luckily it was not very gasy because my mother told me to shake the can before I opened it. Next, we went to Carrefour. It was an eventful one as my mother finally found a flat pan which she liked.

While walking around at the basement, my mother bought a box of takopachi balls. Oh my!!! A box of cheese fries from KFC cost $3.95!! That's so expensive. We sat in KFC and ate the takopachi balls, fries and drank the watermelon gasy drink before we went home.

After I finished mopping the living room floor, I stole a few pieces of sushi we bought from Carrefour from the kitchen table. And after that?? I came here to blog!!! Hahaha.. =P
Then, I am going off to help my mother prepare for dinner!! Bye!!

2009-06-14T18:50:00.002+08:00

This morning, I went to Bedok to eat prawn noodles again. Haha.. My mother said cannot every week go because she is already a bit fed-up with prawn noodles. The business today for the elderly man was very good. He closed his stall at 10.45 am. When we were there, as usual, there was no more bee hoon. In addition, soup noodles were sold out and there were no more crispy fried pork. The elderly man was busy chatting with other people and he mixed up both our orders. I had chilli noodles while my mother had noodles in tomato sauce. Aiyo.

After that, we took a bus to Ah Ma's house. Both my 2nd Aunt and Ah Ma weren't home but 4th Uncle was in so he let us in. Not again! The instant the gate was opened, Meimei planted herself right in front of us. 4th Uncle had to yell at her to get in. Too bad. 4th Uncle applied medication on her body to kill the fleas on her so I couldn't carry her. She likes following us around the house, licking our feet as we walked. Whenever my mother leave her seat, I will sing, "I will follow you, follow you wherever you may choose to go." Having Meimei following you as you walk is very difficult. You must be real careful not to step on her as you take a step forward. When I was sitting on the sofa, I heard Meimei snore. I asked her is it she fart, she looked at me and shook her head. Who asks your snores sounds like farting noise??

After a little while, both 2nd Aunt and Ah Ma returned home. 2nd Aunt and Ah Ma busied themselves preparing lunch while chatting with my mother. When lunch was ready, both of us joined them. After lunch, we went inside Ah Ma's room. Meimei thinks she is very small or maybe she thinks she is a rug. She sat right in the doorway. I had to use my foot to half push, half drag her out of the way. Whenever Meimei tries to come right into the room, 2nd Aunt will spray air freshener near her direction and Meimei will run out again.

After sitting in Ah Ma's room for many hours, 2nd Aunt asked us if we wanted to go over to my cousin's house. She phoned and was told that my cousin went to the PC Show and that his children and wife were going to his sister-in-law's house. Another time lor, never mind. Haha.. We went home after that phone call.

My theory on whether it will rain or not will depend on if my mother brought her umbrella out on that day. Today she did not bring it and it rained. On Friday, it did not rain and she indeed had her umbrella. Hahaha..

Crayfish Hor Fun

2009-06-12T19:03:00.003+08:00

Early this morning, I went to the market near ICA Building to have breakfast before my mother went for her doctor's appointment. Both of us had Lor Mee. For a bowl worth $2, you get 2 fried wantans, some fish and meat slices. On our way to the bus-stop, who did we see? The uncle who was selling durians at the market near my place on Wednesday! What a shame. If we weren't going to the hospital, we would definitely buy them.

After her appointment, we went to run some errands near Hong Lim food centre. Every time we are there, we will always eat the crayfish Hor Fun even though it's really expensive. The cheapest is $5 and you get lots of prawns, a few pieces of leafy vegetables and 2 halves of a crayfish. Today, I had 2 full crayfish as my mother gave me both her halves. The crayfish is a relative of the lobster family. At first, my mother bought a cup of grass jelly drink. However, it could not quench our thirst so she bought a huge cup of sugar cane drink. Before we left, my mother bought 4 chicken and potato Kali Poks. Aiya, the sardine ones which my brother likes have already sold out.

After that, we went to the temporary market at Bugis. The stalls there sell their goods according to weight. There are many identical stalls, selling raisins, all sort of nuts, sweets, dried shrimps and other dried stuff. My mother bought a bag of dried shrimps, weighing 400g.

Then, we stopped at Kallang MRT station. We went to the nearby NTUC as my mother was interested to get the flat pan which was selling at $9.90 instead of $19.90. One of the ladies told my mother that she will need to spend $25 on a single receipt which entitles her 1 bonus point. To get the pan, she needed 20 bonus points. I told my mother that she needed to spend $500 before she could get that pan for $9.90, meaning that pan will cost her $509.90. Obviously, it wasn't worth it so we went home.

2009-06-10T13:41:00.001+08:00

This morning, on our way to the food stall in the market, my mother saw someone selling durians on a tricycle. Selling things off a bicycle or a tricycle without a proper stall is what we call "Zao Teck Gu" in Hokkien. You won't see it very often though. He told his customers that he got durians only last night so his durians were very fresh. As he was selling the smaller ones for $2 each while the larger ones for $5, my mother bought 2 small ones. Apparently, many people seize the opportunity to buy from such hawkers and a small crowd gathered around his tricycle.

After we have finished with our breakfast, my mother told me to take out the durians from the plastic bag. No matter how hard I tried to open the durian shells, I just couldn't get the durian opened. Again, my mother kept laughing at me, commenting that I was so fat yet have no strength. A lady who serves coffee, seeing me in distress, offered to help me with the durians. Without much difficulties, she opened both durians. We transferred the durians into a plastic bag and so I don't need to carry the thorny durian shells with me. The flesh is very soft and creamy, unlike those you buy from outside NTUC. After tasting the durian, my mother suggested that we buy the $5 one for my Ah Ma. However, the tricycle was no longer parked there.

Our last stop was to the mini NTUC. Why mini? This NTUC only sells basic necessities, the things when you wanted to prepare a meal and you were short of something and you could just rush down to buy them. The NTUC is so cramped, the racks are so close that a trolley cannot be used. We bought a few canned food and a 5-kg packet of rice.

2009-06-10T13:03:00.003+08:00

On Monday, I accompanied my mother for her doctor's appointment. It was scheduled for 11.45 am. When we reached, the doctor was not there. The number outside his room stated 10:29. Slowly, very slowly, the number started changing. In the process of waiting for the doctor, many patients left as they could not stay to wait for their names to be called. They kept flashing the 10.34 queue number but the patient has already left. The patient also turned off his mobile phone so the nurse couldn't reach him.

To cope with the numerous patients waiting outside, the nurse rang up another 2 doctors with their nurses to help. There was this Ang Moh elderly man who kept grumbling to the nurse why it wasn't his turn. After that man grumbled to that nurse too many times, the nurse simply stayed inside the room, refusing to come out. The next time, the door to the room opened, the man just walked inside even it was obviously not his turn.

At long last, at 3 pm, it was my mother's turn. When she came out, we went to the welfare office, arranging for an appointment to see the welfare officer. The world is so so small! I saw my neighbour who was also my Secondary schoolmate. I was glad to hear that she was working as a nurse there. While walking to the queue to the shuttle bus, I told my mother if my friend will get tired of this place because she still came back to her workplace on her off-day. Haha..

The shuttle bus came and we boarded it. Suddenly, the bus driver went missing!! I guessed he must have gone to the toilet. Hahaha.. Driving the shuttle bus must be a tiring job. It goes round and round, no chance for the drivers to take any break in between. Afterwards, he returned.

We went to the top floor of OG to shop. We bought 2 cans of Hello Panda strawberry-flavoured biscuits, a packet of mango sweets and 2 packets of Japanese biscuits. I finally got to eat my lunch at 5 pm. A plate of chewy wantan noodles for $2.50.

I think that making patients wait for more than 3 hours for their turns is a bit unreasonable. What if the patients have another appointment? I know that some departments over there will impose a fine if the patients fail to come on time. The timing also coincided with lunch. What if the patients went for lunch and they missed their turns? I feel that this situation could be better handled.

GSS At Z T P Ginseng Birdnest Pte Ltd

2009-06-09T12:55:00.001+08:00

Last Sunday morning, I went to Bedok with my mother. We wanted to eat my favourite prawn noodles which I haven't eaten since 2 years back when the market was closed for rennovations. After hearing from my mother's 3rd Aunt that the market was already ready, I told my mother I wanted to go on that Sunday. At half-past eight, we reached the bus-stop. Right in front of us was bus service 197. My mother did not want to take it as it took a longer route, passing Marine Parade before reaching Bedok. We waited and waited. Finally bus service 7 came. However, that bus zoomed passed us too quickly for my mother to flag it. After sitting at the bus-stop for nearly 45 minutes, we ended up taking bus service 197, the 3rd one which stopped at the bus-stop. Hahaha.. If we had known, we should have taken the very first 197.

When we reached Bedok bus interchange, my mother suggested we take a bus to the market. We hopped on the wrong bus which brought us away from Bedok. Realising our mistake, we alighted, scolding the bus driver who told us confidently that his bus passes Bedok library under our breath. Looking around, we realised that we were in Chai Chee. My mother decided to take a cab to the market instead.

We got into a cab and within minutes, we reached the market. My mother brought me to a table and she joined the long queue. I have been eating prawn noodles from this stall since Secondary 3. For a price of $3, I get lots of prawns, bean sprout, crispy fried pork slices and a bowl of delicious concentrated soup. If you want soup noodles instead, you get pork ribs instead of the crispy pork slices. As you know, I don't really drink soup, everything I eat is dried "Gan". However, this is one of the few occasions where I will finish every drop of soup! You can tell that the soup is really very yummy!! I have no idea which days the stall is closed. The elderly man will open his stall when he feels like it, opening for 4 days a week. Sometimes, his stall is not opened on Thursdays, sometimes not on Fridays. Other times, his stall will opened on Thursdays and Fridays. Your best bet is to come on Sundays. That day, we reached nearly 10 am. My mother could not have bee hoon and noodles as he has sold out the bee hoon. If you come too late, you might end up with just prawns and noodles.

After our breakfast, we went to NTUC. It was very crowded. I heard lots of announcements over the PA system, telling the parents of the lost kids to come to the office to collect their children. Everyone was pushing trolley stacked full of groceries, about one month's worth of groceries!

After that, we went to Z T P where my mother bought her Dong Cong Cao, Pao Sheng and birdnest. As my mother has the VIP card to the shop and probably it was the GSS time, we recieved 20-25% discount off our purchases. At first, my mother only wanted to buy half a dozen of birdnest but the greedy me who wants to seize the discount told my mother to buy a dozen. Oh my!! The bag weighed a ton and my mother kept teasing me, saying I was so fat but yet no strength at all. Grrrr.. I felt so Pai Sey in the shop. One of the ladies gave me another bag where I put my NTUC bags into it. Instead of 3 NTUC bags, I was left with 1 huge bag of the groceries. So, when we left the shop, I was only carrying 2 bags.

When we reached the bus-stop, a walking distance from my house, it was raining. My mother rang up my brother, telling him to bring umbrellas to the bus-stop.

In the evening, I opened up my pack of Twisties and started to snack on them. Yummy! I think I shall buy more some other time. =)

2009-06-05T15:10:00.002+08:00

This morning, as usual, I accompanied my mother to the nearby market. Accompanying my mother to the market has become a routine, thrice a week.

First, we would go to the food stalls to have breakfast. We always eat fishball noodles. A bowl costing $2, with 2 fishballs, lots of fishcake, bean sprout, minced meat and sliced meat. At the end of it, we will order a cup of Teh-C. After filling up my stomach, it's time to be my mother's "Maria".

Today, we went to buy a bottle of "Bai Bai" oil. Next, we went to the vegetables stall. My mother bought a bunch of potato leaves. This was the second time in my 22 years of living that I have ever felt and tasted this vegetable. The first time we bought this vegetable, my brother said they looked ugly. They told me that this vegetable was also called "Qiong Ren Cai". The only way to cook this vegetable was to fry them with Hei Bi Hiam. We stopped by a stall and my mother bought Aza. This is the best I have ever eaten. Lots of cucumbers, carrots and pineapples!

After that, we went to the fishmonger. This uncle likes to Sa Jiao at my mother, pleading her to help him buy his fish or seafood. Then, we went to the chicken stall. This uncle is really strange. He likes to serve one customer first, completing about 50% of the job then go and serve another customer. My mother thinks he is superstitious, fearing that if he finishes with one customer, he will have no more customer. By not completing his job at one go, he can have more customers. Hahaha.. Then, my mother went to buy some pork.

Finally, we passed by this fruit stall. The uncle recommended my mother to buy half a yellow-coloured watermelon. The uncle is very naggy!! Everytime he sees me, he likes to comment on the way I carry the plastic bags. He said I will injure my veins in the near future. Aiyoyo.. Uncle, you told me off like 3 times already leh!! Tired ma?? He sold really nice-looking mangoes like the ones we bought on Wednesday. I haven't finished them so my mother didn't buy them.

After that, "Maria" and her mother returned home. When I reached home, I helped my mother pluck the leaves and stems into smaller pieces.

Time for shower! Cold water, here I come!! Hahaha..

Otaku/Nerd/Zhai Nan

2009-06-05T14:19:00.004+08:00

Last Thursday, I was watching a programme on Channel 8. They brought up this topic of "Zhai Nan". "Zhai Nan" was featured as boys who spend their waking hours using the computer, not socialising with anyone else.

I got curious and wanted to know more about "Zhai Nan". I found the following on the internet:

*Start pasted text*

The term, Zhai Nan, is spread from Japan. The Japanese call Zhai Nan as Otaku. Otaku is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga, and video games.

The term is a loanword from the Japanese language. In English, it is usually used to refer to an obsessive fan of anime/manga and/or Japanese culture generally, and to a lesser extent Japanese video games.

The term serves as a label similar to Trekkie or fanboy/fangirl. However, use of the label can be a source of contention among some anime fans, particularly those who are aware of the negative connotations the term has in Japan. Unpleasant stereotypes about otaku prevail in worldwide fan communities, and some anime fans express concern about the effect these more extreme fans can have on the reputation of their hobby (not unlike sentiments in the comic book and science fiction fandoms).

It should be noted that the English term geek is not a precise translation of the Japanese otaku. In the original Japanese usage otaku has a significantly more negative connotation than geek does in the West, especially as the term geek has become more neutral and less derogatory in usage. The term otaku in Japanese usage generally suggests a creepy, obsessive loner who rarely leaves the house.

Whilst in English geek can suggest a person who may be socially awkward but who is also intelligent and may be fairly "normal" aside from their interest in certain typically 'geekish' pursuits (video games, comic books, computers, etc.), otaku is closer in connotation to the English nerd, but the closest English-language analogue to otaku is probably the British English term anorak. Both of these English-language terms have more emphatically negative connotations of poor social skills and obsessive interest in a topic that seems strange, niche or boring to others.

Afterwards, when the term, Otaku, spreads to Taiwan, it is translated into Yu Zhai Zu. However, one of the words, Zhai, means “house” in Chinese. Therefore, those boys, who always stay at home and spend lots of time in playing the online game or watching animations, will be called Zhai Nan.

*End pasted text*

Come on, give these boys a break!! Don't treat them as freaks la!!

Am I Creative/Imaginative??

2009-06-04T13:11:00.003+08:00

That day, I was speaking to my WO over the phone. We were wondering what help do blind individuals need. For the other disabilities, they can have therapy sessions to improve their speech and motor skills.

I came up with this "IDEAL TUITION CENTRE" concept.

This tuition centre must be equipped with everything a blind person needs. These include Perkins typewriter, a computer with both magnification and screen-talking softwares installed, special scanners, CCTV and bright lightings. Any assessment books need to be in the braille form and enlarged. The tutors need to have either A-levels certificate, diploma or higher. The most important criteria is that they must know how to read braille. I pointed out this criteria because I told my WO that some blind students may have difficulties reading enlarged print and their school teachers advise them to switch to braille. They thus not only have to cope with their studies, they also need to grasp the use of braille. With these tutors who can read braille, they can coach this group of students better. These students may fall behind their peers not because they don't understand their work, it could be because they are in the process of switching from print to braille. I went through this process and I have to admit it is not an easy one. You have to overcome your feelings. Can you believe that for the past 10, 11 years, you can see the print and write out your answers. When you have to use braille now, how will you feel? Shock, sadness and very demoralised. By having the tutors to guide you in braille, you will get familiarised with braille and it will no longer be foreign to you.

My tuition centre will create employment. I need tutors, people to do the transcription work, need people to make writing lines dark, texts to be enlarged, IT technicians for the maintenance of the equipment.

My WO said this concept was excellent and she told me to write out a proposal. She said she could use this proposal to ask for capital to start this tuition centre. I told her this is just my crap thoughts and I don't think it will ever materialise. Hahaha.. She also said I have lots of creativity and imagination. Heeheeh..

To My Blog

2009-06-01T12:04:00.002+08:00

Happy Birthday to you, my little corner on cyberspace!!

Mother's Day 2009

2009-05-29T12:03:00.001+08:00

May 10 was Mother's Day. My brother and I bought half a chicken and 2 bowls of desserts to visit my mother. Hospitals are not taking any chance at the influenza A (H1N1) flu virus. Our temperature were checked, we had to fill up a form, stating who we were visiting and no one else, we had to wear the N95 face masks. 2 visitors were allowed to visit a patient at any one time. The waiting queue was pretty long. There were only 2 staff at the booth and everyone got frustrated waiting for their turns.

When we walked into the room, she was so surprised to see us. She told us that earlier on, she tried calling home but no one picked up the phone. She was just about to call one of our mobile phones when she looked up and saw us walking towards her bed. The nurses commented that we were holding a party there and that the chicken smelled delicious. Of course the chicken smelled delicious compared to the food served there la!!

After having our dinner, it was time for us to go home.

Happy Mother's Day!! I love you!!

2009-05-05T22:26:00.004+08:00

Over the weekends, I went over to my 3rd Aunt's place to stay for a few days as no one was home to take care of my meals. When I was in lower Primary, I used to go over to her place with my brother to stay during the holidays. Looking back, it has been over 10 years since the last time I went there to stay.

When I reached there, 3rd Aunt asked me if I still remembered how her house looked like. The previous times, I could still see. Even though I can no longer see, of course I remembered. I had fond memories of the fun and laughter I had with my 2 cousins, how my brother and I had to swallow some vitamin pills after meals and how my brother and Jiejie had a "Eating Chilli" competition. 3rd Aunt took me to Jiejie's bedroom after explaining to me the things I felt around her house. My younger cousin was home but soon went out as he was meeting some friends for dinner.

For the subsequent days, this is what happens. Every morning, 3rd Aunt's husband will buy back lunch for his son and me before going off to work. During dinnertime, Jiejie will cook. I had my favourite long beans for one of the days!

On Sunday, I came home as Ah Ma and 2nd Aunt were coming over to see how I was doing. Both Aunts suggested that Ah Ma stayed with me for the next few days then I do not need to carry the EXTREMELY HEAVY laptop back and forth her place!

When you have a blind person who speaks minimal Hokkien plus a 80 plus years old woman, it will spell lots of trouble, joke and "huhs".

My Hokkien is probably "Kindergarten level" while Ah Ma's probably "Secondary School level". That sounds bad. When I want to tell Ah Ma something, I need to make sure she understands what I want to do or say. Ah Ma only understands a bit of Mandarin so sometimes I mix a bit of Mandarin with my horrible Hokkien.

Yesterday, for lunch, Ah Ma cooked "Ah Ma Mee". I told her I got the feeling that today was Nian Cu Yi as she always cooked this style of noodles on that day. I taught Ah Ma how to operate the remote control of the television. Then, in the afternoon, while I was in my room, I found it strange that the TV was playing music instead of people talking. I came out and Ah Ma told me that she did not know what button she pressed on the control and asked me if I knew how to turn the correct channel. Oh no!! I rang my brother up in Paris, France (Telephone bills confirm explode!) and he suggested I ring up my cousin to help me see what happened. So, I called my cousin and explained to him what happened. I told him that he could come down any time as it was not urgent. Half an hour later, he came over. He teased Ah Ma, saying that she spoilt Siew Ling's TV ah. He took less than 5 seconds to solve it. He only needed to press something on the control and everything returned to normal. After that, he left. Ah Ma wanted to keep him longer but he said he was working and had no time to chat. Thank you, Korkor!! Sorry to trouble you!! Ah Ha, Ah Ma, better don't anyhow press the control, want to watch what, call Siew Ling ah.

I know that Ah Ma liked to watch the 7 pm Korean drama on Channel U as she kept telling me that she usually watched that show so I asked her to cook dinner after watching it.

Today, she cooked Zao Mi porridge for lunch and dinner. She cooked a plate of vegetables which I have never seen in my 22 years of life. They called the vegetable "Ka Pei Shun" in Hokkien. The vegetable looked like some sort of shoot.

For this 2 days, Ah Ma told me a lot of "History" about herself and my relatives. Too many in fact. Many times, I have to ask her to pause because I needed to watch TV or needed to go toilet or do my own stuff. Ah Ma is quite a lucky woman as she has lots of "Lucky Stars" around her. Ah Ma calls the "NTUC" near my place "Shopping Centre". As Ah Ma has shifted house many times, she often mixes up the previous addresses. Sometimes, she says Tiong Bahru instead of Tampines or Tanjong Pagar, where she has ever lived for a few years.

A few months down the road, Ah Ma is going to be my neighbour as 2nd Aunt bought a unit on the upper floor of this flat. They would be signing the papers on Thursday.

On a side note, the last episode of D.I.E is a bit ..... like that. Hahaha..

The Furry Fellow In Ah Ma's House

2009-04-24T09:05:00.006+08:00

Two weeks ago, 12th April, Easter Sunday, my family went to pray my father at Bright Hill. We went there around 3 pm so it was not that crowded. After that, we decided to go to Ah Ma's house to sit sit talk talk.

When we reached Ah Ma's house, we thought no one was in because all the doors and windows were closed. While waiting for someone to answer the door, my mother saw a little furry fellow peeking her head from behind the door. Next, we saw 4th Uncle coming to the door. The instant 4th Uncle opened the door, that furry fellow planted herself at the entrance. My brother kept telling me that that was not a rug and 4th Uncle had a hard time coaxingher back into the house. Finally, she went inside and the three of us could come in. Both 4th Uncle and Ah Ma were at home.

Who is this furry fellow?? She is MeiMei (Mandarin for pretty), a 4-month-old Shih Tzu.

My eldest cousin bought this puppy for 4th Uncle to accompany him. Well, I believe that he actually bought this puppy so that his 3 precious treasures could play with her when his family walk to Ah Ma's house. Talking about his 3 precious treasures, when 4th Uncle pretended that someone was knocking the door and he said one of the precious treasures' names, MeiMei got really frightened and wanted to hide. 4th Uncle told us that the 3 precious treasures like to bully her by pulling her tail. Poor puppy. Haha.. 4th Uncle also bullies her! 4th Uncle thinks she is a ball and throws her like a ball from his left hand to his right hand. When she comes closer, he pushes her away. 4th Uncle commented that she could mop the floor.

When I got the chance to carry her, she was very sly. First, she would lick your hand eagerly. Then, she starts biting you. They said her teeth were itchy so she bites us. Strangely, she does not like to bite the toy 4th Uncle bought for her. Her bites are not painful, but her teeth are quite sharp so you get the feeling that you are pricked.

This is what I found out about Shih Tzu from the net:
*Start pasted text*

Shih Tzu is a breed of small companion dog of very ancient type, with long silky fur. The breed originated in China, possibly by way of Tibet.

A small dog with a short muzzle and large eyes, with a long, double coat, the Shih Tzu stands no more than 26.7 cm and with an ideal weight of 4.5 to 7.3 kg. Drop ears are covered with long fur, and the heavily furred tail is carried curled over the back. The coat may be of any colour, although a blaze of white on the forehead and tail-tip is frequently seen. The Shih Tzu is slightly longer than tall, and dogs ideally should carry themselves "with distinctly arrogant carriage".

The Shih Tzu is a friendly lap dog that at one time bred to be a companion dog for Chinese royalty. Some say living in the imperial palace gave the Shih Tzu an arrogant quality, although they also display qualities of devotion and adaptability. They are not afraid to stand up for themselves. They tend to be sweet, playful, and trusting as well. It ranks 70th in Stanley Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs considered one of the lowest degree of working/obedience intelligence (trainability).

*End pasted text*

After that, my brother brought my mother and I for dinner as he was flying off to Mumbai the following day and wanted to give us a nice treat. We went to Nomin at Coven (Opposite Upper Serangoon Road). The economy is really bad!! When we went there at dinner time, the place was not crowded at all, more like deserted. We ordered:

- 3 Baby Coconuts
As my mother was craving for coconut, my brother ordered 3 baby coconuts for the 3 of us. The flesh was so tough and it was really tiring trying to scrape out the flesh.
- Crab Beehoon
The soup was very nice before we added XO to it! The beehoon was free flow. There was a lot of vegetables and Zhu You Za inside the beehoon. The claypot was put on top of a small stove so the soup was kept boiling throughout the meal.
- Jiang Cong Tian Ji
My favourite frogs!! However, disappointing!! The sauce was sticky and the frog's legs looked like they went to the slimming centre recently (so skinny!!!). The meat was overcooked too as it tasted tough.
- Butter Prawns
Another of my favourite seafood--prawns. Disappointing too!! The butter taste was not there

Although the dishes we ordered were not to our standards, I think the service was great. The lady gave my brother a good price for the 2 crabs. She also taught my brother the right way to eat the beehoon. At around 9 pm, we were probably the only customers left!! I thought maybe they were going to close for the day but my brother said they would be closed at around 10 or 11 pm like that. After that, we went home.

On a side note, my brother would be flying off to Paris this coming Tuesday!! He got himself a good job which allows him to fly to countries like India, Indonesia, Philippines and now France. Wonder where he will be going next?? =)

When Will "WE" Be Like "THEM"?

2009-04-16T18:52:00.005+08:00

Last evening, I was watching cable. It was some news programme from another country. The news was about close to 20 blind students could not get their textbooks on time and the students might not be able to prepare well for the coming examinations. What impressed me was that the education ministry was aware and looking into this matter. National TV?? Blind students' voices could be heard!! That's awesome!! It will be great if we blind individuals' voices could be heard over NATIONAL TV!! We have a long way to go though.

When I was studying in Secondary School, for Secondary One, as I was a transfer student, I was not given the updated version of my Mathematics textbooks. My copy was at least 2 editions outdated. Well, I could not complain as I was the only blind Secondary One student. At the end of Secondary Two, I got into the class which offered Additional Mathematics. The textbook was then sent for brailling. However, I only got the complete set in the middle of Secondary Four. I have nothing to say. When I was in Junior College, I only recieved my notes after I have already sat for the test which comprised of concepts in that set of notes.

The body in charge of brailling materials for us blind students are really not that productive.

I Feel So USELESS!!

2009-04-07T10:47:00.004+08:00

This morning, they called me telling me she can go home already. They asked me who was bringing her home. My reply was that she could come home alone. Why can't I say I would be coming down and ask what time and the other details? Why why why! I cannot see is definitely not an excuse. Now, it is raining heavily. She would then have to carry the umbrella. She is so light that a strong wind might just blow her. If I was there, she would hold on to me for support since I am so fat. But...

Siew Ling, wake up la!!!

Pony Riding

2009-02-23T11:07:00.002+08:00

On Sunday, I went to Pasir Ris with my little VH friends.

Before starting the day's activities, we were divided into a few groups. We were then given some information about ponies. Ponies and horses are two different types of animals. Ponies are used as transport, for sports and for entertainment. We were then asked questions based on the information we were told. For each correct answer, you get a packet of biscuits. One of the little boy, GZ, kept calling the person who asked the questions "Uncle". Hahahaha... After some coaxing, we managed to make the little boy call the person "Korkor" instead. Soon, it started to rain heavily. The volunteers sheltered the beneficiaries with umbrella and we ran to the nearest shelter.

As that was not the intended shelter, we went up the bus in batches and were brought to the designated shelter some distance away.

We first had an ice-breaking session. Each person was supposed to tell the group members their names, followed by an adjective starting with the same letter as their name. Each person has to give 3 facts, 1 of which is not true. I was "Super Loud Siew Ling". Hahaha..

For refreshment, we had a choice between egg and sardine sandwiches which were made by some of the female volunteers. Each of us also had a cup of Ribena. One of the beneficiary's mother made some jellies and that was also shared around. Oh, not to forget, we were also offered a banana fruit.

After that light meal, we were taught how to make a paper aeroplane with the coloured paper we were given. Finally, it stopped raining and we could go for the pony ride.

To reach the pony, we needed to climb 3 high steps which were placed beside the pony. At the top step, a staff will help the rider wear a safety helmet. Trying to get on the pony was not an easy job. We had to swing our leg over the pony. Before the pony can move, the staff needed to make sure that the rider's feet are safely secured. Off we go!!

The first time I rode on a pony, I was in Primary 5. This time round, I got the feeling that the pony moved faster than what I remembered. C accompanied me, walking beside the pony I was on. She told me of her horse riding experience in Yunnan. Apparently, everyone there used galloping horses as their means of transport. She told me that at the end of the ride, her backside was aching. The younger ones who already had their turn on the ponies went over to the stables to pat and feed the ponies.

The last activity of that day was another round of origami making. We learnt how to fold a hat. I also managed to learn how to make a boat from the hat, all thanks to one of them who taught me some extra tricks. =)

On the journey back, the younger ones were exhausted and many fell asleep. Therefore, the usual chatterings were missing.

The Most Important Person In My Life!

2009-02-14T17:38:00.006+08:00

Watch this. Most importantly, listen to it. Very impressive!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESe-AysF9mw
Mu Qin Zhen Wei Da!!

There's a saying, "Yang Er Yi Bai Sui, Chang You Jiu Shi Jiu", meaning bringing up a child to the age of 100, at least of 99 years of the child's life, you would be worrying.

She is the person who carried me in her womb for 9 months. She is the person who changed me, fed me, played with me. She is the person who taught me the right and wrong in life.

When I lost my sight, she is the person who accompanied me to learn Braille. She is the person who taught me to travel confidently (even better than my instructor).

She works 24/7, no salary, no off-days, no MC. She looks after her family, making sure everything run in tip top precision.

She is the best cook. When I fall, she is my support. When I cry, she lends me her shoulders. She is there quietly witnessing her children's success.

She is my best friend, my best gossip buddy, my best breakfast/lunch/dinner buddy. She is my best travelling companion.

Even though she scolds me very often, I know it's because she cares for me.

To my XMM, I know I won't have the courage to say this in front of you but I really LOVE you!

Ya, what a day to post this! Who says I must declare love to my boyfriend or girlfriend on Valentine's Day?

Nian Cu Yi (First Day Of Lunar New Year)

2009-01-27T18:24:00.004+08:00

Moo.Moo... Happy Niu Year to everyone! Gong Xi Fa Cai, Wan Shi Ru Yi, Xue Ye Jin Bu!

When I woke up, I freshened up. I then gave my mother 2 Mandarin oranges, wishing her good health for the coming year. She then gave me my "Ya Sui Qian".

My mother warmed up the rice cakes for my breakfast. She also switched on the steamboat and so I joined her and ate the ingredients in the "boat" too.

In the afternoon, my brother woke up. He told us that our cousin SMSed him, asking him if we would be going down to Ah Ma's house. My mother said see how first. Later, my cousin said he would be dropping by our place at around 3 pm. So, everyone took turns to shower.

At 3 pm, my cousin, his wife and their 3 precious treasures (1 boy and a pair of twins--boy and girl) reached. Haha.. The eldest boy and his sister immediately ran into my brother's room and started making themselves at home and played with the toys. They are quite familiar with my place so they knew where everything was. Their youngest brother, stayed with their parents. Oh my!! That little fellow liked eating chocolates and drinking Coca Cola. Their mother said that he has drank too much (there was a black line around his lips). My cousin told my mother that during CNY, he like "Pao Ge Tai", first going to Ah Ma's house, followed by his aunts' house and the last stop would be his in-law's house. After some time, my cousin instructed his children to put the toys back in their original place as it was time to go to another relative's place. Each of my nephews and niece gave me a hug, saying, "Byebye Auntie Siew Ling." Awww. So cute!

Shortly after they left, his youngest brother and his wife arrived. He asked us if we wanted to go to Ah Ma's house as they has recently shifted to Tampines. No more at Tanjong Pagar. What a pity!! Their old place at Tanjong Pagar is just 5 minutes' walk to Tanjong Pagar MRT station, the heart of CBD. We told him we won't mind going to Ah Ma's house. My brother said our 3rd Aunt and their family would be coming down around evening so we said maybe another day. My cousin told our 3rd Aunt that when they were about to reach, give him a call and he would go pick them up. My 3rd Aunt, her daughter and son came.

At around 5 pm, my father's 3rd sister and their family came and so my cousin, his wife, my 3rd Aunt and her family left.

I shall reserve comments regarding my father's relatives. They stayed for quite some time. After that, they left.

My mother finally decided to go to Ah Ma's house. We got ready and left for their place. We were lost! We went down the wrong flight of stairs and couldn't find the unit number. We then climbed back up and tried the other way. Finally, we found the place! My 4th Uncle was having dinner when we arrived. He opened the door and we entered. I then took out 2 Mandarin oranges and wished my Ah Ma, 2nd Aunt and 4th Uncle good health and luck for the coming year.

My 4th Uncle went to prepare dinner for us. My 4th Uncle loves to buy this special type of prawns. It's like the size of a doughnut. It weighs around 200g and when he cut the prawns into smaller pieces, you have the feeling that you are eating a drumstick. It tastes like crab meat though. My brother said they were genetically modified prawns. After dinner, my brother and mother went into the bedroom to chat with my Ah Ma and 2nd Aunt. Their house has cable!!! TV's all mine!! I stayed in the living room and watched TV. While watching, I tried the snacks on the table.

We finally left their place close to 11 pm. I did not leave their place empty-handed. 2nd Aunt gave me some of the snacks as she said no one would be coming so I could have them. I brought back the cornflakes snack which my cousin's wife made. She told us that she learnt to make that snack from a Malay neighbour. It's very very nice!!

Eve Of Lunar New Year

2009-01-27T13:48:00.004+08:00

On Sunday, the eve of Lunar New Year, I woke up at around 9 to help my mother get ready the things needed for praying. The night before, I washed all the dishes and then put them back into the drawers to make room for the things the following morning. First, I washed the small tea cups. Then, I brought out the big bowls, the chopsticks, spoons and rice bowls. I then brought out the praying table and arrange the chairs around it.

Next, I washed the wok and the pots. After all the washing, I helped my mother cut the carrots, mushroom and capsicum into smaller pieces. My mother did the cooking. She then dished out the food and I helped to lay the table. She cooked a pot of abalone and spareribs soup, a dish of rabbit fish, a whole steam chicken and a dish of mixed vegetables (cauliflower, pork slices, prawns, carrots, capsicum, mushroom). My mother also prayed a plate of Bem Kueh (rice cake) and a box of pandan cake.

When everything is laid out, I offered my respects to my ancestors.

At around 1 pm, my ancestors showed us the "Go Ahead" sign (tossing of 2 coins and then reading the faces on the coins) and we cleared away the dishes.

My brother helped to chop the chicken and abalone into smaller pieces and we had lunch.

After lunch, my mother did her last round of cleaning and washed the living room. I helped by carrying the full buckets of water from the bathroom to and fro the living room. She rested for a while. After resting, she went to prepare the ingredients for dinner--steamboat. My brother also helped by cutting the ingredients into smaller pieces.

These are what we put into our "boat": prawns, sotong, abalone, pork balls, sotong balls, lettuces, bean sprout mushroom (Jin Zhen Gu), pork slices, fake prawns (vegetarian meat with orange colouring), button mushroom and some bitter vegetables.

After dinner, we watched television.

At 12 am, my brother helped my mother with the praying.

Every year, I will sleep after the countdown show finishes. This year however, I "Shou Sui" and stayed up until 4.30 am.

I woke up on the first day of Lunar New Year at around 9 am. I shall continue in my next post. =)

My Busy Weekend (Sunday)

2009-01-22T20:15:00.004+08:00

In my previous post, I said I left Ben & Jerrys at nearly 11.45 pm. By the time TK drove me home, it was 12 midnight. When I reached home, I was exhausted. I went to bed as I had to get ready before 10 am that morning. Haha.. Strangely, I woke up at 7 am.

At 10.30 am, the East side bus auntie called me, telling me that the bus was here and so I went downstairs. My journey to NTU began! It was a very long ride up to NTU and we finally reached after 1 pm.

Let's MOOve It!

That's the name of the event I was participating in. That line was a song title in the movie "Madagascar". Thus, the names of our groups are the names of the animals. My group was Marty the Zebra (later changed to Merty as Marty sounded like die in Malay), Alex the Lion, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippopotamus. We were given a briefing by the organiser before proceeding with the various game stations.

Station 1: Flying Cannons

In this station, each group will have a capital of $10 used for the bidding system. 1 VH will feel the type of "cannon" in the box. He will then decide if that "cannon" can be used to throw into the box held by the volunteer at the other side. If he thinks that "cannon" is worth investing in, the group can then bid up the current price so that the other opponent group gives up on the chance to have that "cannon". The first "cannon" was a tennis ball and my group bought it with $3. I was able to throw the ball which my volunteer caught it in his box so I scored 1 point for Merty. Unfortunately, the other VH could not score so it was 1 point to Merty. The next "cannon" was a water bomb. Unfortunately, our group lost the bid and the opponent group, Melman won. Melman got many more "cannons" into their box so they were the overall winner for that station.

Station 2: Balancing items on a pair of long chopsticks

In this station, 1 pair of VH and volunteer had to balance a few items on top of the pair of chopsticks. Initially, we started off with a tennis ball. We then walked around cones where we would pick additional items like a bean bag and an orange. After balancing all 3 items, we had to walk back the way we came, placing the items back. Haha.. Merty lost again.

Station 3: 1 +1 =3

This station was actually a three-legged race. One of our legs will be tied with another person's leg. The VH would have to balance a tennis ball on a paper roll while the volunteer would have to balance a ball with a spoon. We had to pass some obstacles and our items cannot drop. My volunteer and me took very big steps and we completed this station in lightning speed. Hahaha..

Station 4: Guess, Guess, Guess

There were 3 parts to this station.

Part 1:

A volunteer would try to describe a word on the card. However, he cannot say any word that is inside the brackets. There were 2 categories, a total of 20 words. The first category was all on Lunar New Year. The game master told one of them that she could not make any sound effect. My immediate reply was "Firecrackers" and I was right. The next category was all on sports. The person describing badminton said that the ball had feather. Again, I guessed it correctly. He could not say shuttlecock.

Part 2: The Price Is Right

We were told a list of items and had to guess the combined price. How on earth do I know how much does a Sundae or a Slurpy or a packet of Twisties or a duplicated key or a Long John Silver meal cost? Our estimates were pretty far from the actual price.

Part 3:

Each VH was given a box containing an item. We had to describe to the group members what the item was. The first item in the box was a photo album. The second item was a packet of chilli sauce. When I described it, my volunteer said chilli sauce. XX said how come it could not be tomato sauce? The third item was a tube of toothpaste. One of them said Colgate. XX then said why it couldn't it be Darlie? . The last item was a calculator. The description was, "Something rectangular with many buttons." Everyone associated the buttons with those on a shirt. I said, "What? Calculator?" I was asking a question and not the answer but I got it right. Haha.. =)

Finale: Let's All Reunite

In this final game, our group leader would be blindfolded. She had to find all her other group members who are scattered everywhere. In order to better help her find us, the group members would have to produce the sound of the animal. As other groups could also confuse us by producing the same sound, our strategy was to ask the person making the sound this, "What do ducks eat?" If the person said orange, meaning that person was from our group. We chose the sound of a duck.

After gathering all the group members, she had to collect red packets of the same design from the chairs. We had to use the red packets to form the letters C, N and Y. After that, we had to shout, "Happy CNY by so and so" where so and so is the name of that group which completed first. Merty completed the station the fastest!

Time to announce the winner. Merty the Zebra got 4th and the winning group was Alex the Lion. The prize was unhealthy chocolates, sweets and potato chips.

Enough of games. Time to have dinner. We had nasi lemak for dinner. C who has just came back from Beijing bought me a small clip and a postcard. Thank you.

After dinner, we had 2 additional games all related to CNY.

Game 1: Q & A

The game master read us a list of things which we can or cannot do during CNY. After that, we could raise our hands and say any thing that we should or should do on CNY. For every question, I raised HS's hand. Apparently, each VH had a chance to answer the question so when HS had his turn, raising his hand for the other questions will not be entertained. Finally for the last question, I raised HS's hand but the question was directed to me. The game master said that I just raised hands for the fun of it. XX said that how could I forget what was being said for the past half hour. Of course, I remembered and answered it correctly.

Game 2: Going CNY Shopping

There were 3 items on the table for us to pick and put into our plastic bags. We had to grab 18 sweets, 18 peanuts and 28 sunflower seeds. We could bring the plastic bag home after that game.

Before leaving, each of us recieved a bag containing 2 oranges.

What a tiring day!!

My Busy Weekend (Saturday)

2009-01-22T18:48:00.004+08:00

Last Saturday, I met up with a group of senior RSPVH friends. I have already known this group of friends for more than 7 years. One of them have even gotten married!! They suggested to meet at Aston's located at Cathay. As I was going down to SAVH for the regular tuition session, I arranged with LH to meet me at White Sands as she was living in Pasir Ris. I also asked the East side bus uncle if he would be kind enough to drop me off at White Sands and he agreed.

When I reached White Sands, 2 other friends, E, TK, and her were waiting for me. TK has a car and so he drove all of us to Cathay. He said that we should thank his girlfriend for the ride. If his girlfriend was free that day, he won't be able to join us for dinner and no free car ride. Another friend, WQ, has already reached Aston's and was waiting for a free table. Poor guy! He stood outside Aston's for nearly 50 minutes!

Finally, after being stuck in a jam, we reached Aston's. We were then given 2 separate tables, each for 4. However, 1 of them said the arrangement was quite weird and hence she requested the waiter to get us a table for 8. Wow, the service is quite bad. The waiter didn't help us get a table. Thus, 2 of the guys decided to "steal" an extra table and joined all 3 tables together. LH called the guys "Table thieves".

Yay! All settled so it's time for us to order food while waiting for P and her husband to come.

Aston's is famous for affordable steaks but I didn't order it. I ordered Hickory BBQ Sauce Chicken and for my 2 side dishes, I had onion rings and coleslaw. The others ordered steaks. The cheapest drink was water, costing $0.30. I also ordered a cup of grape soda.

When my chicken chop was served, E helped me slice them into smaller pieces. While we were eating, P and her husband arrived. I wonder what type of steak TK ordered! When they brought the orders for P and her husband, TK's order haven't arrived. I told my friends maybe they are now slaughtering the cow. Hahaha.. I learnt it from my cousin. That was what he told my mother the other round while we were waiting for our crab dish. He said, "Big Aunt, they are now catching the crabs from the sea."

After dinner, they sat there and chatted for a long long while. When one of them asked where to go next, no one had any idea. She told one of the guys to think of another place or else they will just sit there, not going anywhere, including the washroom. He thus suggested Ben & Jerrys at the ground floor.

At Ben & Jerrys, the guys start "playing Lego", joining the row of tables together. As I was having a bad cold, I didn't order any ice-cream. They sat there and chatted until nearly 11.45 pm. *Yawn)

At long last, it's really time for us to go home. TK drove me back.

I totally enjoyed myself minus the fact that one of them bombarded me with chim algebra.

You Yi Wan Sui!!