Love is in the Air...

Time flies...

Ayako flew to NZ last night.

Valentine's Day is 2 days away...

Finally, the time has come to reveal this secret love blog to Dar-Dar! Will be sending an email to him to wish him Happy Valentine's Day & get him to click on the link where he'll get his "e-card", which is this blog lo. How else right? I know it's boring... but this blog IS the SURPRISE by itself mah! :P

Been very busy with the City Carnival at SMU. Very disappointing experience. Luckily was there with friends & cousin, at least it's a good get together. So really can't finish knitiing the shirt for Dar wor :( only completed 75%, haven't done the collar & sleeves... iyo, all the knitting & crochet I've been doing for Knotty Bicsie is equivalent to many shirts liao, yet can't finish a shirt for Dar-Dar for 8months! Sorry, Dar! It was meant to be your birthday present last yr, but couldn't finish, busy in Dec as well, so X'mas also not in time... Now this year also been quite busy, so... sorry! But will surely finish your shirt by this year. I promise! :)


Ian learnt knitting from me last Sat. He's a fast learner! Let him do a small project - hp pouch. he started around 10+ in the morning & was knittng & knitting the whole time... & by 4/5pm, e's completed the pouch! Found out this pouch was for Cindy! O... it's so sweet of him! Look at the power of LOVE! :D Well done, Ian! We are proud of you!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO...

Mom & Dad,

Jiahui & Pearlin,

Adrian & Micheal,

Mr & Mrs Fan,

Mr & Mrs Mok,

Amit & Yuying,

Lazius & Huiyang,

Howard & Siew Huey,

Tom & Ayako,

Ian & Cindy,

Mr & Mrs Byun,

Gorazd & Moja,

Sufen, Yanlin, Elaine, Chenyee, & all lovable people out there!

Of course, Happy Vantine's Day to Dar-Dar & me too!!! :)

Almost a Blunder!

Just a quickie...

Phew! That was so close! I actually asked Ayako to go read my blog where I've copied one of Tom's funny SMSes in front of Edward! But I really wonder why his reaction was so mild...??? Was he too tired to register that? Or did he already find out about this blog?!?! (I've been using his laptop actually :P) Iyo, I sure hope it's the former!

Just finished packing for SMU. Oh man! It's already 3.35am! & I need to wake up in 3hrs' time! Tmr surely panda liao... @.@

*YAWN*

Heart Attack on Ayako's Birthday!!!

Woken up by Tom's SMS telling us that Ayako insisted on have Korean food & nothing else for her birthday. So informed the rest while Tom finds out the restaurant name & address. Tried asking Tom to make sure that she doesn't decide to go shopping in orchard 1st & end up waiting at the restaurant earlier than us. Well, we all know this is almost IMPOSSIBLE! True enough, after everything's been arranged, Tom gave me another heart attack with this SMS: "Oi...that woman...she having lunch at e Korean place...now she says we can go to Buckaroo...u can strangle her later. Guess back 2 original plan..." WABIANG!!! I really felt like doing just that at that moment! Had to text the rest again, change meeting place & timing again, call up the Korean restaurant to cancel our reservation... Iyo! Planning a surprise has never been so tough! Hehe... LOVE the way Tom refers to Ayako as "that woman"... it's SOOO... hilarious! hahaha... :D

I remember the 1st BIG surprise I've ever planned was for my sis's 21st birthday. Being her blur self, it wasn't that tough actually :P I've wrapped up 21 presents & placed them all around our house, at places where she "frequent". I planted them all around over a period of 2 weeks before her birthday, without her even noticing! & yes, they are all wrapped up nicely in fancy wrapping paper! On the actual day, she had a fun time treasure hunting & of course, unwrapping all 21 presents! Some are actually "nonsense" like cotton buds, sanitary pad, cotton wool, tissue packs... heehee...

I did something similar for Edward's 28th Birthday (his 1st birthday we celebrated together). It was on the eve of our departure to Chiangmai together. Can see that he was having lotsa fun. He was amazed by how oblivious he was to the things in his room! Yes, I managed to blend in 27 presents in his room without him noticing! the 28th was given to him on the actual day when we were in Chiangmai. I know he's touched. He told me he's never recieved so many presents before, & everything he always wanted. Remember the last time I mention I've been helping Dar add on to his toy collection? Yup, bought him lotsa toys, plus some other useful stuff like clothes, tie, watch, camera... la.

I've always like surprises. I mean, who doesn't? It's quite hard to imagine why anyone would dislike surprises. Surprises add colours, smiles, laughters, joy, love... & many wonderful things to our lives. As we plan the surprise, we do it with love for the receiver & when we receive it, I'm sure we feel very loved. Then when it's the BIG "SURPRISE!!!", everyone laugh... sometimes there might even be tears of joy... & the best of all, when we all look back many years later, flipping through our photo albums, we remmeber how much we love each other, how much we mean to each other...

Back to Ayako's birthday.... the worst was yet to come... just when I was all changed & getting ready to leave the house, I suddenly remembered my keys were in Edward's car!!! So I'm locked in!!! What a NIGHTMARE!!!! I called Ed, Cindy & Elaine... I could really feel my heart sank... It felt like I've given up liao... haven't felt like this for a long long time... told them to go ahead as planned without me... Suddenly, I remembered we must've kept an extra set of spare keys in the kitchen drawer like my mum always does. Went to dig into the drawers & TA DA!! There it was, a set of spare keys!!!! So hurried out to our meeting place.

Cindy, Ian & Elaine were late... made me even more "gan jiong", especially when Tom SMS me that he's already picked up Ayako from Orchard! When we finally got there, we were, or at least I was, so "gan jiong" that I think the boss of Buckaroo also felt the tension! hehe... when everything's set, we went to our hiding place & wait... & wait... & wait... actually we were having fun waiting la. Elaine even went to the road to take photo of the place! Ian laughed at her,\saying it would be so embarrassing if their taxi were to arrive then & Ayako actually saw her taking photo on the road! haha.... by the way, Elaine was our BIG trump card if everything else failed, since she was supposed to be at the hospital mah! hehe.... am sure she'll get some nagging from her mom when she gets home since she was discharged only in the afternoon & there she was with us, fooling around at Buckaroo!!! hahaha..... :D

I hope Ayako likes the surprise. She looks very happy. I'm very happy too. Elaine was exceptionally happy since she kept saying, "the mashed potato is very nice.... the chicken is very nice... x3, x4, ...." hahaha.... the food must've felt like from heaven after suffering a week plus of hospital food! Dar & I had to sit far apart coz he join us later & I was sitting all the way inside the far end... :(

I also remember the BIG surprise party Dar oganized for my last year. He woke up much earlier than me to wash the toilet, mop the floor & made me mee suar. Puzzled about his cleaning of the house, but thought he was just killing time while waiting for mw to wake up (he usually watch TV to wait for me). He brought me out for movie & afternoon tea. Everything was quiet & peaceful, just the way I usually like to spend time with him. But towards the late afternoon, I noticed he had lotsa SMS & he was reluctant to leave the Botanic Garden tea place... hmm... something's fishy, but I wasn't suspecting anything. Then finally we decided to go home. When I opened the door! I was surprised to see my house decorated with confetti & balloons & a banner saying "Happy Birthday"! Then my parents & sis appeared with a cake, singing happy birthday, then all other friends appeared from their hiding spots to sing me birthday song! It was really very sweet & heart-warming. I feel so loved! Even thinking back now puts a smile on my face... :D Thank you, Dar!

Counting down to Valentine's Day liao... Still haven't thought of how to "present" this blog to Dar??? He's working on V Day, this Sunday will be at SMU the whole day... how??? hmm... still cracking my brain.... Worst of all, the shirt I've been knitting for Dar (suppose to be for his bday last Dec, then postpone to X'mas, then now V Day) is not done yet... iyo... maybe gotta wait till next bday ar??? o dear... :P

Wa, almost 1pm already?!?! Better go get ready.... Meeting Ayako, Elaine & Cindy to have our aura photos taken. Will bring Cindy to golden dragon to shop for her yarn later. She's planning to knit a scarf for a childhood friend studying in Melborne. So sweet...

A Shocking News on Monday

A huge wall mural my students painted last year was very brainlessly painted over without even consulting the other Art Teacher in school! It disgusts me how these HIGHLY PAID SENIOR OFFICERS of MOE display their stupidity, vanity, selfishness so publicly by such insensitive, inappropriate foolish act!

The mural was gone over the weekend, leaving everyone in school feeling sad, angry, puzzled, pissed on Monday. The Art Teacher tried finding out what & how it happened, none of the decision-maker even bothered to explain themselves! There were cursing & swearing, crying, condolocence...

I was so pissed, I wrote the following email to the whole school last night. But till now, nothing from them still... I'm really angry with them! When did schools become a nest for such BIG FAT HYPOCRITS?!?!


Email to School...
====================================================================
Dear All,

Hope this email finds everyone well...

This afternoon I received a shocking SMS from a student. I am very disturbed by what I learnt from the student & hence hope to find out from the school what exactly happened.

I understand that the school is going through R&R in preparation for the official opening. However, to just paint over a barely 6-month old mural seems rather irrationale & inconsiderate towards our students' feelings, isn't it? When I asked how they feel, their response is "now see the wall sians lo... spend so much time put in so much effort for wat?..."

I still recall how many of the Art Council members were initially reluctant to pay extra $12 for the workshop, some even feel that since they can't bring home their work, the school should pay as the mural is part of the school anyway. Joey & I had to convince them by saying that we are part of the school & the beauty of it all is that when they are in Sec 3/4, they can proudly show their junior that the mural was their GIFT FOR THE SCHOOL. Many were then motivated. In fact, they even came back extra Saturdays to complete the mural. When it's all done, they feel so proud that they even wanted PHAC's CCA booth to be in front of the mural at all functions & not forgetting the assembly program they did to announce their achievement to the school!

I am shocked not by the school's action in painting over the wall; I'm shocked by the school's sudden decision to do so, seemingly without even any consideration for the students' feelings! I was invited by an ex-student to view her exhibition at Serangoon JC. The school compound is full of colourful wall murals, all painted by students without any teacher nor service vendor's help. Some look really bad in fact. I even teased my student that some of her friends' work are quite embarrassing, but her response (& her friends' too) was, "But it's OUR work! This is OUR school what. & our Principal is very proud of us! Our Principal rocks!" I'm currently conducting an enrichment workshop in Northbrooks Secondary. 1st impression when one steps into the schoolis that it is a very vibrant school with display of students' work everywhere. When you take a closer look, these 'N' Level work is not even so-call "good". They are very average, but definitely students' effort. Think about the message the school is sending out to the kids. Now think about a mother who keeps all her kid's drawings & cards, no matter how ugly they may be. This is Mum's way of telling her kids how she'll always be proud of her kid as long as her kid tries & puts in effort.

Showcasing of students' work is our way of recognizing students' effort & also to boost their self-esteem (especially in neighbourhood schools) becasue it's our way of saying, "We are proud of you!", isn't it? Even if they are so-call "not up to standard", may I ask, not up to whose standard? If even a JC can accept student's mediocre work splashing on huge wall all over the school, who are we, with only Sec 1/2 (last year) kids, with no special Art training, to dismiss our kids' effort just like this? The point here is that the kids have put in A LOT OF EFFORT & they TOOK PRIDE IN WHAT THEY ARE DOING!!! Who are we to say that they do not deserve to be there becasue it's "not up to standard"?!?!

The rationale of displaying students' work have been totally mutated. Many schools are now employing professionals to so-call conduct workshops for students, but ended up getting their professional artists to finish up the work. Do you think these very beautiful end products mean anything to the kids, except the acceptance that they are not good afterall? It disgusts me that schools are using so-call "students' work" to show off, seem like all for vanity & materialism.

In a nutshell, I think this sense of PRIDE & belonging for anything/anywhere is like a chicken & egg issue. I mean, are we proud to be part of Pei Hwa family because Pei Hwa is good; or are we gonna make Pei Hwa good because we are proud to be part of Pei Hwa family?

Just my really sincere & truthful opinion

===========================================================================
Just as expected, there's no respond from the school to my email. In fact, nobody in school even dare comment & respond to it! Of course the management is not worried at all. Like Dar said, who am I??? Only a tiny little ex-school-teacher what! I knew this would be the result - NOTHING. But still, I need to voice this out for my kids. They have to know that people CARE, I care & we care! I know that are furious too. Think they gonna write in to the school as a group to ask why the school did what they did. I hope they go through proper channel & force the school to respond the right way...

Ba Guah

Yay...! Dar told me he got me Ba Guah from Mei Zhen Xiang liao! Thank you Dar-Dar! :D

A Tiring & Rather Disappointing Weekend

MAAD started last weekend. It's been so long since our last MAAD, so think we lost our stamina a little. Suppose to end at 8pm, but for both days, Ayako, Cindy & I packed by 6.30pm :P Shannon complained on Sat, but later never say anything on Sun. Well, actually there's no point staying till 8pm, since the crowd dies off by dinner time, especially on Sun.

Saturday. VERY BAD biz.... so disappointing.... planned to go Chinatown for dinner, but the traffic was so horrible! Jam & no parking :( Suddenly, Ian complained about being car sick & he really looks pale! Must be his lack of sleep the night before, pls oily food at MAAD, PLUS Edward's jerky driving at jams! iyo... poor Ian. So Ian & Cindy got off our car & walk... So romantic... hehe... :P

Ended up changing location. Met at Central, where Ian & Cindy almost got lost. When they finally found us, Ayako got a cramp attack so cannot join us for dinner in the end! So Ian, Cindy, Ed & I just walked into the 1st restaurant we came across (Manhattan Fish...) to settle our dinner. Saturday seemed bnot our day at all! Everythung went wrong!

Sunday. Lotsa Korean tourists in the morning. They are VERY fascinated by my products, took many pictures... Ran into Karen, Sec3/4 classmate. Had a nice chat, she bought a pair of booties from me. Biz also bad... Total sales for the 2 days only around S$100... this is the worst ever for Knotty Bicsie... So sad... :(

Got Ayako a hand-made teddy for V Day & Bon Voyage.

Went to Maxwell Hawker Centre to have Tom's favourite chicken rice. Dar's appetitie was sooo GOOD! He had Char Quay Teow after his chicken rice! He seems a little different after having his Intuitive Drawing with Ayako. I hope this is a good thing. I hope it's not him trying too hard now & his cheerfulness won't last for too long, as usual... :(

Dar, even though I NEED you to be happy in order to be truely happy myself, I do not wish that you pretend to be happy so that I won't be worried about you. You know you can't hide your feelings from me, so I will sense it. I just need you to for once be selfish & think about what you really want/need to make you happy again. There's still lotsa frustration & dissatisfaction within you. You really need to sit down quietly & ask yourself deeply. I miss EDWARD. Pls come back soon...

Everyone Must Take Good Care of Ourselves

Life is so unpredictable. Elaine, someone always so cheerful, sporty & healthy, yet fall so sick suddenly. Everyone's shocked. Everyone's worried. Really hope everything will be fine & we can see more beautiful Saltplay creations at MAAD soon...

Wednesday. As usual, a long day. Went to have lesson with the Taiwanese couple, ended up telling them about Singapore Education System, explaining PSLE & the process of choosing a secondary school for their daugther. Felt very bad so told them it should not be considered a lesson, but they are so very nice, as usual, & said that they would also like to learn more about Singapore from me, hence we were having a lesson too. How understanding & sweet. :)

Went to visit Elaine. She was sleeping when I arrived. Thought will just leave her a note & not wake her, but she woke up while I was digging into my bag for paper :P She looked better, but she complains of being VERY tired all the time. She's been sleeping a lot, & still very bloated & no appetite. At least she's joking a little, that's a good sign...

Walked over to Ikea after that, had lunch, bought "materials" for some gifts, redeemed an Eng Wah movie ticket with my points. Then went for my Art class at Kovan. Grace & Xinyi bought 2 pairs of booties from me to put their hp. Finally changed our payment mode to once every 4 lessons. Anyway, most of them back-pay me liao, so managed to collect some $$$.

Met up with Elaine, Tin Lin & Chay Lee for dinner at Heartland Mall, Sakae Sushi. Really glad to me able to meet up with old colleagues who has become friends along the way. They are all very supportive & still buy lotsa stuff from Knotty Bicsie. Thank you, ladies! :D If only Joey could join us. Joey, you must take good care of yourself wor. You've been falling sick quite often since last year. Take care!

Our conversation somehow still revolves around school. Mixed feelings. Kinda miss those times I have with the students, yet feel relief that I do not have ot handle all these anymore, also felt a little sorry for them (my colleagues)... I tried a few time to "change the topic" by introducing new topics, but somehow, after a few exchanges, they "automatically" revert back to school... & I know, if I were still with MOE, our conversation would have been 100% abt school, & worse still, I might not even be there with them for I would've been so tired by that time of the day & should be at home, stoning, by then!

Dar picked me up after tuition. He hasn't had dinner! Seems like it's happening again. He looked tired & disturbed. I know it's tough on him, but it's also very frustrating & draining to go in circles like this. Always seem to see some improvement, only to realize that we were in denial & we are back to square 1 again. What should we do???

Thursday. Rushing to complete a pair of shoes so that I can send in to uncle today for him to complete by tmr, so I can have at least 3 pairs of shoes on sale at MAAD. So a LITTLE stressed & frustrated (actually I think it's PMS). Then Mum is always trying to be helpful, yet VERY DEPENDENT. Hence, very often end up giving me more work, adding to my burden...

I know I shouldn't be feeling this way, but I can't help it when I sometimes end up having to run a few more errands! I mean, she wants to help me, I KNOW. However, why is it that she doesn't realize that by expecting me to pick her up from her place ALL THE TIME is NOT helping me at all?! I don't drive & we don't stay near each other, & I got other jobs besides Knotty Bicsie! She say's she's got housework to do so she's not doing this full-time really, but I got housework too! I just don't understand why Mum's seems so pampered nowadays. I mean I'm truly grateful to help & really, Knotty Bicsie could not have been possible without her, but I just need her to learn to be a little more independent sometimes.

Frankly, having to juggle with Mum & Dar's expectations/dependence can be very stressful. Mum always create tension verbally (unknowingly); Dar always give me emotional blackmail (unknowingly as well)... Why can't they try to see that I'm trying too? *sigh* Why is it that we always people around us for granted?