Monday, December 31, 2007

爸爸妈妈,谢谢

昨天教儿子“弟子规”的老师好用心啊。她要把一张光碟送给小朋友们, 每一位小朋友都能够得到一张。唯一的要求就是要小朋友在领光碟前,对着大家说声感谢父母的话。

我觉得出发点是很好的。老师常常对他们说要对父母敬孝,但从未从小朋友口中说出来。

原本是让小朋友们自愿上前的, 但是有对兄妹要先走。所以,老师让他们先说。岂料,兄妹俩站在那里老半天,都还没说出感激的话。是他们不会表达吗?不见得吧。他们看起来都上小学了吧。是他们太害羞了吗?那位哥哥平时上课总不合作,义工阿姨们常费心的教他,他都不会不好意思。怎会害羞呢。老师又是鼓励,又是给 leading questions 。许久,才说了声谢谢。

老师后来说了一句话, 我觉得非常有道理。她说“对父母说感谢的话没什么不好意思的。反而是件好事。我们天天长大,父母天天老了。有一天,父母走了,我们会哭的。我们落的泪要是感激的泪而不要是后悔的泪。现在父母还在,要赶快对他们说谢谢。”

后来,老师又叫了一些有兄弟姐妹在的同学一同出来说。我想是要他们壮壮胆吧。可惜,还是你推我,我推你的。不然就是在那儿笑,不愿意说。老师只好 lower her standards, 让他们走到父母前对父母说。幸好,有一位孩子很勇敢地在大家面前说他有多么谢谢他的父母亲。谢谢他们幸苦的把他养大。听了,好感动。总算有人能好好的谢谢他的父母。

我一面看着前面一些孩子还是不
怎愿意好好的向他们的父母道谢, 一面不由自主的想到自己的儿子。儿子还未被叫上去。如果被叫到了,会不会像其大多数的孩子般扭捏?

差不多有一半的孩子都被叫到时,我看见家亨的手举了起来。但是,老师没看到, 叫了另外一位同学出去。这位同学回去了,家亨的手又举了。老师又是没留意到。第三次,家亨不等了,干脆自己走去前面。

当我看见儿子站在大家面前,有一股冲动想立刻站起来好让儿子能看到自己。还好,家亨已经看到了我。家亨说 “谢谢爸爸妈妈。我要孝顺你们。” 可想而知,那时的我有多感动。加上,坐我旁边的一位妈妈说 “你儿子啊?哇 steady man” 这份感动还多加了一丝自豪。

只可惜 Kai Hock人在 KL ,不然我想他一定会以我们的儿子为豪的。不是吗,老公?

借用老师的一句话 “敬孝要逞早”,你也对自己的父母说声谢谢了吗?我说了。

-------------posted by Mommy

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

AfterMath of the Bad Fall

I wrote about the bad fall Jiaheng had more than a month ago. Till this date, we are still fixing the impact that the fall had on him. :(

About one week after that fall, which left a big bump on the back of his head, Jiaheng started a real bad cough. He was coughing every minute. At the same time, he was having watery eyes and the running nose. He looked real pathetic.

Kai Hock and I were debating if we should bring him to a western doc, who can give him immediate relief at the expense of drugs... a chinese physician, who uses herbs but takes a longer time to see results... or a natural therapist, who uses only herbs and supplementation but could see faster results than the chinese physician. Eventually, we decided on the natural therapist. Thinking back, we were really happy we made the right move.

We didn't know it was so serious! We just described the symptoms Jiaheng had the previous day and the natural therapist asked if he had a fall recently. He then felt the back of his neck and told us that the fall had cause his structure to shift. The shift had caused some blockage and thus he is having such bad cough, watery eyes and running nose.

Frankly speaking, I was quite amazed by the therapist. He could actually came up with such a diagnosis by just looking at Jiaheng's symptoms which looked so much like flu. Jiaheng had a cranial adjustment and the next day, he was like 90% recovered. :)

However, we still need to go back a few times to make sure the structure does not shift.

It is such great responsibility as parents. Guess this responsibility will only increase as our children grow older.

-------- posted by Mommy

Sunday, December 23, 2007

戏剧,情牵25年

昨天,看了新传媒制作的“戏剧,情牵25年”。真的带回了好多美好的回忆。

那一幅幅戏里的画面。。。一首首动人的片曲。。。一张张熟悉的脸孔。这一切的一切仿佛带着我回到年少的时候。

“红头巾”,“牛车水人家”, “边缘少年” - 这些是中学时候与同学们的热门话题。我们更喜欢剧中的歌曲。喜欢听,喜欢唱,还喜欢它们的歌词。事隔那么多年,我竟然还记得“红头巾”的歌词!可想而知, 那年少的印象有多深。

还记得中学时,是新遥的高峰期。回想起和几位好友一同参加了一次歌唱比赛。那时,我们的音乐老师,Mrs Teo 还帮我们编曲,练习,还真谢谢她。虽然我们落败了,但那次的经验让我们的校园生涯增添了不少色彩。

想知道我们的参赛歌曲是哪一首吗?是“我的倒影”!如果你也是新遥迷, 你一定有印象吧。好想知道那时参赛的几位好久不见的朋友现在过的好吗?戏剧真能情牵。。。

------- posted by Mommy

Interesting lesson on parenting for me

Jiaheng and I went to 弟子规 today. Just my boy and me. Cos Yixuan is down with false measles and Mommy is staying home with her.

Just as we arrived at Fortune Center, Jiaheng asked if he could take over the long umbrella that I was holding. I replied, "You can have the umbrella if you can handle it properly". Jiaheng promptly and readily said "OK!"

Hearing Jiaheng agreeing so readily, I was about to hand it to him. Then, I recalled a strategy mentioned in a parenting book. And so I added, "If you cannot handle the umbrella properly, I will have to take it back".

When Jiaheng heard that his privilege will be taken away if the umbrella was mishandled. He quickly asked "Pa what is handle properly?" Hmmm.. so he does not understand what I meant by handling the umbrella properly afterall.

Thinking deeper, he is just a 4-year old who is so ready to agree to what you say just so he can get the umbrella. Then hearing that there is a condition tagged to keeping the umbrella with him, he quickly asked "What is handle properly???"

I then told him that it means not to drag the umbrella along while walking, not to poke the umbrella into the ground like a walking stick, just to hold it properly so that it will not be a hazard to the people around him.

Orh... he said. Guess what he did? Jiaheng decided to just hold the long umbrella vertically up in the air. He looked so cute! A short while later, he said "Pa, my arms are very tired." Ha ha ha. Really 啼笑皆非 man!

Once home, I shared this incident with Mommy and we had a good laugh over it. I learnt something from this incident... i.e. never assume the child understands everything just because he says "OK" to your request. And always make an effort to explain words that you suspect may be out of the child's vocab.

I always tell Tse Wern that learning how to be a good parent is even more challenging than doing my Masters Degree. We are learning everyday.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

My mailbox can produce money besides bills

Every time my wife opens the mailbox to collect our mails, she likes to briefly go through the stack to scan for important mails before bringing them home.

I remember my wife commenting "credit card bills, utilities bills, phone bills, why only bills har?"

Now, it is a different story. Our mailbox can also produce money. We receive our weekly earning statements from our home-based business in our mailbox too. :) So no more "why only bills har?" *wink wink*

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Recounts of our Macau Trip

I was very concerned about how our princess will take to the air flight.

Many people have been giving us kind advices on how to help Yixuan relieve the pressure of the plane taking off and landing. But all these advices are getting into me making me worried. How will Yixuan take to the flight? Will she cry? Will she feel discomfort?

So once the plane started to taxi on the runway, I immediately pushed Yixuan to suckle. But that was the last thing on her mind then. All she wanted to do was to look out of the window to see the other planes that are parked at the airport. She retaliated and pushed away, I insisted and pushed her to suckle... repeatedly saying "Come on Yixuan, suckle, suckle ok?"

Then Kai Hock came to her rescue asking me to calm down and relax. She will be fine. :) Only then did I stop insisting and let her enjoy the take off. Hey, actually it is much easier than I expected. Once the plane took off and the novelty has worn off, Yixuan said "Nan nan" (meaning milk). :)

The weather at Macau is fine. Back in Singapore, it had been raining continuously for the past few days. We seem to be walking around under air-con condition everywhere we go. How nice.

After all the research and planning (with help from Jiaheng), we are raring to go. There are so many places to cover...

I especially like the historical sites at St. Paul's Ruins, the food streets along San Ma Lou, the cable car ride to the Guila Lighthouse and the black sand at Hac Sa Beach. Seeing Jiaheng, I think he enjoyed everything there. He was always running ahead of us, checking things out, then running back to hurry us to catch up on him.

One advantage of travelling free and easy was that we just took our time to explore. We could take short breaks every now and then so that parents are not too tired from all the walking. We could change the itinerary as the situation demands.

There were a couple of silly incidents that happened... the icing on the cake. Perfect! ;> One night, we planned to go to a Portuguese restaurant at the Military Club. The building is a classic and the restaurant turns out to be quite a posh one. When we look at the menu, the siren went off, cos they are in Portuguese and English and we do not know what to order.

Recalling what I saw from the internet forum, they mentioned about the set dinner so I "cleverly" suggested that we take 4 sets. Kai Hock did suggest trying a variety but I was so confident that I said "No need, let's go for 4 set dinners."

The appetisers was supposed to be clams. Sad to say, it was too fishy for our taste. When the main course was presented, we saw a fat, long string of dark-coloured lump on the plate. No one said anything until we were half-way through the meal when my dad could not hold on anymore and said it looked like S*IT and my mum burst out laughing. Frankly speaking, it does have an uncanny resemblance. (pardon me). Luckily the dessert saved the day.

There are still some good dishes in the trip, like the roasted pigeon (suppose to be a 100 years old recipe), the stew beef (at Hac Sa Beach), the legendary roasted goose (those that are mentioned in the Hong Kong drama series).

All in all, this is a good trip and we are happy to be back home too. HOME SWEET HOME.

P.S. I still have lots of clothes waiting to be washed and dried. Oh oh... rain rain go away, come again another day... please!

---------- posted by Mommy

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Lunch with My Father

I come from a family of 4 siblings. I have 3 elder sisters and I am the youngest. My father was the sole breadwinner of the family when we were young. My mum is a traditional woman who works hard looking after us.

Since young, I seldom have much recollection about my father as we rarely spend time together. He was often working long hours as times were hard raising 4 young children. One of the most vivid thing I remember about my childhood was that my father will buy back supper and he will wake us up to eat.

Sad to say, I do not have much knowledge about my father. I do not know much about his childhood or about his growing-up years. We hardly have a chance to talk about all these things as survival and bringing home the bread was more important.

Recently I have an idea. Why not have a lunch date with my father? Just the two of us. And he can tell me more about his past so that I can get to know the man who took pains to bring me up.

So it's set. It is arranged that we go for my father's favourite beef kway teow at Geylang Lor 9.

My father is not the chatty type who opens easily to people. Although we did not talk alot, I still managed to gather a fair bit of information about him and his past.

I tell myself.... we must have more of such dates in future. I definitely do not wish to leave in regret that I do not get to know my father better when I have the chance.

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Domestic Scientist

My ex-colleague just gave birth to a baby girl and invited Kai Hock, Jiaheng, Yixuan and me to the first-month celebration.

I was happy to meet up with a few ex-colleagues. I was hoping to see more but unfortunately, quite a few could not turn up. Nevertheless, I had a wonderful time chatting with the few who were present.

Then Ms Chew mentioned about another gathering that I missed. Jeffrey asked what was I doing? I was expecting the answer to be either a home-maker or Stay At Home Mum. But Ms Chew said that they replied I was a Domestic Scientist. Hey! so innovative.

So what do I experiment on? My kids??!!?? Ha ha

Domestic Scientist... cool! I like it. :)


---------- posted by Mommy

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Our Macau Trip

A few days ago, one of my friends text chat me and asked why Kai Hock and I have not been updating our blog these few weeks.

Then I realised that it has been really quite some time since we wrote in our blog. And the "force" behind that? None other than our dear Jiaheng and our upcoming Macau trip.

You see... Jiaheng is now on school holidays. So, I have to find all sorts of things to entertain him and he can't do without Mommy when he is practicing his abacus. The whole day is just dedicated to the 2 kids. By the time, they are asleep, I got to quickly catch up with some work. And then, it's time for bed.

These few days, I have been burning some midnight oil to plan for our upcoming trip to Macau. We will be there for 5 days n 4 nights. Really look forward to our Macau trip with my parents, Kai Hock, Jiaheng and Yixuan.

Kai Hock made an interesting comment... He said, "Some people actually spent more time planning for an overseas trip than planning for their life!"

Sad to say, that is kindof true... When you ask someone what his dream is and what is his plan to achieve it? Perhaps, not everyone can give you a clear answer.

I am glad we know what we want in life and we are working together to achieve that goal. ;)

-------- posted by Mommy

Monday, November 19, 2007

I really regretted my procrastination

We knew the choice of floor tiles in the toilet was a bad one when Kai Hock first slipped in it. Then I had a "go" at it once too.

So we bought this bottle of liquid that is supposed to make the tiles anti-skid. I tried it in our master bedroom toilet and it worked beautifully. But it came with a lot of hard work cos you need to continuously scrub the tiles for 3 minutes to create that anti-skid effect. You may say only 3 minutes what... yar... one tile is 3 minutes... multiply that with the number of tiles needed to fill the toilet. That is the total time that you need to scrub!

It took me much endurance to complete the anti-skid process in the master bedroom. Boy, am I proud every time I step into the toilet. :) But after that long-drawn process, I kept delaying the anti-skid process in the kitchen toilet.

And today, I really regretted my procrastination.

I was washing at the kitchen sink, when I heard a loud thump! My motherly instinct told me that something was wrong. I turned back and saw Jiaheng lying on the toilet floor. His back of the head is exactly on the metal tracks where the door slides open and close! I froze for a moment before I knew how to react.

Jiaheng has always been a very strong boy and can really endure pain. Most of the time when he fell down, he will just get up and the next moment he is fine. I remembered the worst accident was when he clamped his finger on the sliding door at my mom's house. You can imagine how painful it is but he didn't cry. He just used his hand to press the injured finger very hard and clamp it between his leg and said OUCH, OUCH! Luckily, I was not there to witness it and my mom only told me a few days later else my heart will bleed again.

This time round, Jiaheng really cried. The tears just streamed down his cheeks and he just cried and cried and cried. I really don't know what to do... All I could do was to put my palm at the back of his head and comfort him. All I could feel was pain in my heart.

I was so scared when I felt some liquid on my palm. Guess I watched too many drama series, I kept imagining that it is blood on my palm. Can you imagine how relieved I was when I realised it was only sweat from Jiaheng's head and my palm?

Even now as I type away, my emotions are still stirring. The images of Jiaheng crying and the red lines on the bump (as a result of the metal tracks) just make the pain in my heart worsen.

I am so angry with myself for allowing this to happen. Bad mommy. :(

I am so sorry Jiaheng. It is mommy's fault for not fixing the tiles earlier. Mommy just finished the anti-skid in the toilet... this will not happen again. Sorry...

--------------- posted by Mommy

Friday, November 16, 2007

R.I.P

It's one bad news after another.

Just not too long ago, I received news from one of my friends that her uncle just passed away. And today, we received news that Kai Hock's only uncle also left us. :( He is only 48 years old. Shouldn't it be the prime years?

Frankly speaking, I am personally not close to uncle. I only met him at most 3 or 4 times since Kai Hock and I got married. There was some misunderstanding in the family several years back and we have not met him since. But what I DO know is he left behind 3 children, his youngest child is only 16 years old. What I DO know is that 3 children just lost their dad. What I DO know is that he has yet to enjoy life after working so hard for so many years raising his children. What I DO know is a wife just lost her husband. Sigh...

Uncle passed away because of cancer. CANCER... a word so familiar (cos it's so prevalent) and yet so scary.

Why should anyone pass away because of cancer? It never existed say 50 years ago... then why is it that you hear of it taking away loved ones almost everywhere you go?

My mom-in-law is quite affected by uncle's departure. After all, this is the only brother that she has and he was brought up by her. More than once, she recounted to me how she took care of uncle since young.

My mom-in-law wanted to be there at wake to help out throughout the 5 days. We are worried about her own health and kept reminding her to take her supplements. We often put so much stress on our body and mind without giving our body the ammunition to fight damage. We do it ever to often without even realising it.

One year, we are still fine. What about ten years from now? Worse still twenty years from now? That is where it all started. That is where we give the chance for our healthy cells to be destroyed and cancer cells to multiply.

Recently, I watched a documentary by BBC on the Truth about Vitamins. It really gave me more confidence to continue my family's lifestyle of taking our supplements daily. Cos I really don't want to see diseases take away anymore of my loved ones and friends.

It is also my wish that we can help more people. Do go and watch this documentary by clicking here.

Uncle, rest in peace.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Happy

I signed up for an insurance policy with AIA many years ago. One good thing about this policy is that it allows me to go for a complimentary body check-up once every 2 years. Besides eating well and taking our supplements daily, we also feel that a check-up is important to monitor the status of our health.

As there was fasting involved, I booked my appointment early in the morning. There is no need for me to travel so early in the morning now, so I was quite overwhelmed by the huge crowd of people on the bus as well as the MRT. Most of them seemed to be in a hurry. So I got to "siam" here and "siam" there so as not to "kanna" knock by people.

The clinic is situated in International Plaza, right smack in the CBD. It is on the 36th floor. It was a beautiful morning, I was feeling refreshed. Unfortunately, the staff are not as cheerful. The lady who was doing the initial test for me was somewhat grumpy.

The lady doctor who was supposed to attend to me rushed into the room. There were already 3 patient files slotted in the small window next to the room door. Since I was the 3rd patient, I saw how the doctor opened the door, called for a name, a patient went in with a straight face and then came out with a straight face. Then time to call for the next patient.

Why like that? No warmth one ah? So I decided to try out an experiment. When it was my turn. I went in, smiled and greeted the doctor "Good morning Doctor". She replied good morning without even looking at me. Then I went on "How are you today?" with a more upbeat tone.

I think she was caught off-guard with my greeting but instantly, I could sense a change in her attitude. She looked at me and smiled.

After that smile, the whole check-up progressed very amiably. We chatted and found that she has 3 children and the youngest one is only 6 months old. We talked about our breastfeeding experience. She even gave me some advice on children vaccination.

Before, I left the room. The doctor commented that homemaker mothers are happier. We both laughed. Are we? Perhaps. :)

Before I left the clinic, I said "Goodbye" and added "Have a nice day" to the reception lady. She smiled and returned the greeting.

A little gesture, a smile, a genuine greeting can really work wonder. It brightens up other people's day as well as mine. The feeling is good. I am happy I did that experiment.

Monday, November 05, 2007

Seeing Good Progress

One of the phrases in 弟子规 states
“或饮食 或坐走 长者先 幼者后”

It translates to whether you are drinking, eating, walking or sitting, let the elders go first; younger ones should follow.

It is a way to show respect to your elders by giving them priority.

Well, Jiaheng seems to have internalised this quite well. Let me give an example...
Example : (At the breakfast table this morning)
========
Kai Hock prepared a slice of bread for Jiaheng, then one of me. While Kai Hock was spreading the jam on his own bread, I started to eat. A quarter of the bread was already in my mouth, and just before my teeth sank into the bread, Jiaheng said "Wait! Mommy wait!"

My first reaction was to pull the bread out of my mouth. Jiaheng followed "Mommy, Papa is older so he has to eat first. " Oh ok... since we were the ones who taught him 弟子规, then we should abide right? So I "obediently" waited for Kai Hock to finish spreading his bread.

Then Jiaheng made an interesting comment. "Next time, we have to wait for Ah gong to eat, then Ah Ma to eat, then Gong Gong to eat, then Popo to eat, then Papa to eat, then Mommy to eat, then Auntie Joanne to eat, then Jiu Jiu to eat, then I eat, then Yixuan can eat."

Ha ha ha... poor Yixuan... how long must she wait before she can eat if we are to follow what Jiaheng described?

----------- posted by Mommy

Friday, November 02, 2007

Abstract Art

Our boy has been attending art class at the Asian Civilisation Museum for a few months now. When my wife told me about the art class, I was keen to give it a go.

Both my wife and I are more of the analytical and mathematical type, we can hardly express ourselves well by drawing. I really envy those people who can just draw off their impressions... I can never do that.

So when we were invited by the organiser to the art exhibition at the museum, I really don't know what to expect.

We were extremely pleased with what we saw.










Although I must admit that we don't really know what his art piece is supposed to portray. :P So we just say it is a nice piece of art... Abstract Art... hehehe

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Birthday Lunch

It has been 2 weeks since my birthday lunch with Kai Hock. But I am still savoring that relaxing mood and time we spent.

Kai Hock suggested going to the "Sizzling Rock" restaurant at Boat Quay for my birthday lunch. (Why lunch and not dinner? Well our gal is so so so attached to Mommy at night that I cannot be out of her sight when she awakens... can't blame her too cos I hardly go anywhere without her)

It was a rather unique Al Fresco dining experience at the edge of the Singapore River. Despite being outdoors right smack at noon time, it was still breezy and cool... As we arrived just before the lunch time crowd sets in, we had the choice of table. We chose the table nearest the waterfront, overseeing the Asian Civilisation Museum building just across the river... away from the heat and sweat on the pavement.


From where we were seated, we could see the lunch time crowd streaming out from the offices nearby. Everyone seems to be in a hurry, the exact contrast to our relaxed mood. ..悠哉闲哉。

The concept at "Sizzling Rock" is interesting cos our food is served raw. We get to cook the food in front of our eyes on the volcanic piece of rock super-heated in a special oven to over 450 ° Celsius... All our senses were stimulated... we got to smell the aroma from the meat cooking, we got to hear the sizzling of the food, we got to see the steak cooked to the right degree, we got to feel the heat from the rock...Best of all! We got to taste the food straight off the rock.

After the meal, we sat around a while more. The feeling is good to be able to just sit around unlike others who were rushing back to work. That is definitely one big plus point to own a business. It gives us the flexibility of time. We choose when to "work".

Then, I felt like drinking some traditional kopi (not those Starbucks type but KopiTiam type). We strolled to the "Coffee & Toast" at Raffles Link. Oh oh... there was still a queue. Never mind, we decided to go for ice-cream and went back later when the crowd was gone.

I had such a good experience that I brought my mum back for lunch a week later. (when Jiaheng was at school... and Kai Hock was at home looking after Yixuan.. thanks 老公)
----------- posted by Mommy

电梯

挨了两年的电梯翻新终于完成了。别了吵杂声, 也别了满地尘埃的地板。真好!一出电梯就到达家门口。

那天我第一次乘搭新的电梯。 脑海里突然想起四年多前抱着大儿子从医院回家的情景。。。

我是破腹生产的, 生产后的第三天便出院了。那时候,电梯只停留在一楼,五楼,八楼 和十一楼。我们住在四楼。所以要在五楼出电梯,再走一段路,再下一层楼,才能到达家门。出院那天,这段路,说长不长,说短不短,还真难走。

刚动完手术不旧,所以伤口还很痛。下那段梯级是最难过的。老公那时候因还在 SARS quarantine 也不在我身边。没法了。只能够咬紧牙关走下楼。。。 Ouch!

想到这里,还真有些心有余悸。那段日子真不好过。公公,婆婆都在医院。三位姑姑也不知所措。只有老公在那撑着。

还记得老公有多想目睹儿子出世。还说要亲自剪脐带。:)出院当天,爸爸载着儿子和我到我娘家让老公隔着车窗看看孩子一眼。

很庆幸的,儿子出世后,公公和婆婆相继出院。经过那段日子,我们更能体会到亲情的重要。也更珍惜和家人在一起的时候。
--------- posted by Mommy

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Already walking

It has been a month and a half since Yixuan's First Steps. Now at 11 and a half months old, she is already a steady walker. In fact, she can move in REVERSE gear, FIRST gear or SECOND gear. Once, she even went up to THIRD gear... and gave everyone a big scare.... cos she is like a reckless driver zooming in and out of lanes!

See her in action...

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

弟子规

弟子规,圣人训
首孝悌,次谨信
泛爱众,而亲仁
有余力,则学文


The "Standards for Being a Good Student and Child" was taught by Chinese saints and sages of the ancient past.

First, it teaches you how to be dutiful to your parents, and how to be respectful and loving to your siblings.

Then, it teaches you how to be cautious with all people, matters, and things in your daily life, and how to be a trustworthy person.

Furthermore, it teaches you to love all equally, and to be close to and learn from people of virtue and compassion.

When you have accomplished all the above duties, you can further study and learn literature and art to improve the quality of your cultural and spiritual life.

The above is the outline of 弟子规.

I really find the teaching very useful and will use it as a guiding principle for teaching Jiaheng and Yixuan. The recommended standards for students may seem stringent by today's standards. However, it is apparent that the people of that time felt it was important that the child should be well disciplined and taught moral principles and virtues when still young. They felt that without strict discipline and moral standards, a child would amount to nothing.

It is worrying for me when I see many parents nowadays listening to their child instead of the other way round. Parents do not act like parents. Children do not act like children.

We definitely do not wish that to happen to our children. One main motivation for my wife to stay home is to give our children more attention while they are still young and in the molding age.

I won't say for sure that they will be excellent people when they grow up but we must do whatever we can to provide the path for our children.

Don't you think so?

Sunday, October 21, 2007

* Go Go Go! Ale Ale Ale *

Today is a fruitful day. My father-in-law wanted to buy a new dining table and we decided to visit the IKEA mega-store that recently opened.

Everything went smoothly and we managed to get one that everyone likes. After that, my bro-in-law brought us to a cafe at East Coast Park for dinner. While everyone was settling down at the table we just got, my mum-in-law said "Look at Yixuan".

Seven pairs of eyes fell on the little girl who is already seated in the high chair. She looked immobilized... you know like those people in those Kong Fu show when their acupuncture points are blocked? Yes... she just looked like that.

We followed her gaze and it landed on the plasma TV in the restaurant. It is a soccer live telecast. Woah! We have a young young soccer fan at the table ... to add to the elder soccer fan (my bro-in-law) and an even elder fan (my father-in-law).

* Do you really want it? Yeah! *
* Do you really want it? Yeah! *
* Do you really want it? Yeah! *

* Here we go! Ale Ale Ale *
* Go Go Go! Ale Ale Ale *

Maybe if Jiaheng shakes his bum bum like Ricky Martin next to Yixuan at that moment.... it will complete the PERFECT picture. :P

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

A Healthier Child

Jiaheng has been on USANIMALS, a children's multi-vitamins since he was 15 months old. I still remember he put up both his thumbs when he first tasted USANIMALS. *Yummy*

USANIMALS has a berry taste, so slightly sour. Unlike the other multi-vitamins I have seen with artificial sweeteners, USANIMALS is only flavoured with natural fruits.

So far, Mommy and I are happy with what USANIMALS has done for our boy. We have seen quite a few benefits of putting Jiaheng on USANIMALS so far.

We find that Jiaheng's immune system is better with the multi-vitamins. I won't say that he doesn't fall sick * which child doesn't fall sick leh? * but what we noticed is that he recovers faster even when he is sick.

Also, something very important for Mommy... Jiaheng's height! Both Mommy and I are of average height. I am 1.7 m and Mommy is 1.55 m * but of course, she will say she's ard 1.59m * But very often, we hear people comment that Jiaheng is very tall for his age. He is past 1.1 m at 4 years old.

By chance, one of Jiaheng's classmate started taking USANIMALS after hearing my mum say that Jiaheng takes it. 2 weeks later, the classmate's mum told me that her son's eczema has greatly improved. The boy has not complained of itch for a week now. Boy! how happy we were to help someone else in their health.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

10-10-10-70

Jiaheng brought home an envelope today and there is a picture of a girl on it. It is a Children's Day appeal for charity to the community chest for the less fortunate.

I asked Jiaheng "How much do you want to donate to help the little girl?" Jiaheng excitedly brought out the container that has the label "Charity" on it... poured out all the coins... counted them... and declared that he will like to donate $2.00. Hmmm.... that will be 20 days worth of savings for Jiaheng.

We started a savings program for Jiaheng earlier on. Every day, Jiaheng will ask us for his $1 allowance. Earlier we prepared 4 containers for him. One labeled "Charity", one labeled "Investment", one labeled "Delayed Gratification", one labeled "Spendings". For the "Charity", "Investment" and "Delayed Gratification" container, Jiaheng will deposit $0.10 into each of them. $0.70 will go into the "Spendings" container.

We taught him how to use the money he saved. For the "Charity" savings, he can find an organisation he likes and donate the money monthly.

For the "Investment" savings, we told him that he is not to touch it. He can put it in a bank and can use the money when he is old enough to handle his money wisely.

For the "Delayed Gratification" savings, we will decide on an event and aim to save up for it. We all decided that we want to save for the Macau-Hong Kong trip end of the year. So Jiaheng will also have his money to spend when we go for the trip. :)

For the "Spendings" savings, he gets to withdraw it every Sunday and spend it on his breakfast with grandparents.

We find that with the 10-10-10-70 savings program, he is more conscious of the value of money. We will only give him the allowance when he asked us for it. If he forgot, which happens quite often... not forgetting that he is only 4 years old... he will have less to spend on Sunday.

It is quite amusing to see him count his "Spendings" savings on Sunday. If there is more money in the container, he will suggest going to a foodcourt to eat. If there is less, he will say "We can only go to a Kopi tiam" Not bad leh... he knows the pricing varies for foodcourt and Kopi tiam. Haha.

When shopping for food, he will shop around for something within his budget. There was once when he chose to only eat toast for breakfast ... cos not enough money saved for the week. And he will be more than happy when he has saved enough for his favourite Japanese food. I enjoy seeing him shop for his food... seeing the little fellow looking at the food signboards and comparing the prices. So cute. :P

While a 4 year old boy is trying his best to learn how to spend his money prudently, there are some adults running into debts and have difficulties managing their money. What an irony! It is definitely important to be mindful of finance in the pursuit of freedom.

I learnt how to do it from an online movie. You can view it at
www.simplyworkathome.org/wealthy (the password is 2476724). Share with me if you learn something useful from the movie too. Cheers!

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

A Happy Children's Day

It is Children's Day today. Children's Day has always been a special day for me.

When I was young, we always get to bring home some Children's Day souvenirs from school. Be it a mug, a file or a pencil, I will look forward to it. Not forgetting the sweets we got from our teachers... and it is a school holiday on Children's Day.

I also want Children's Day to be special for my children. I decided to give all my time to them today. No work, no training, no phone calls.

We went to Science Center. There is a Super Science Show specially for the young audience today. It was entertaining. The 2 performers were enjoying themselves and indulged themselves in a talkshow. The young audiences also felt the energy and warmed up too.

But the best part was when they passed 4 gigantic balloons around. Once the giant balloons were released, the whole auditorium became quite chaotic. Some children left their seats and scrambled around to get their hands on the irresistible balloons. Wherever, the balloons went, you can see a crowd standing and stretching their arms up.

The balloons were pushed from the front to the back and from left to the right. Somehow, it just did not come over to our side of the auditorium. I can see from Jiaheng's eyes that he really wished to have a go at the balloons too.

Finally, the balloons were pushed to our side. I stood up and lightly pushed the balloon to Jiaheng. He quickly stretched his little hands up as much as he can... YES... he managed to touch it. In that instant, his eyes lit up and broke into a wide smile. Then he looked at me and said "THANK YOU Papa." It felt really good.

The space exhibits were very interesting too. Can't imagine living in such a futuristic world. Hmm... Papa & Mommy will be in our sixties then and the children in their thirties. How will life be then? Will Jiaheng be like me, bringing his child to Science Center to celebrate Children's Day? ? ? Just a thought... :)

On our way home that night, Jiaheng told me that he had a very enjoyable and happy day. Same here son. Papa also had a Happy Children's day... because of you and Yixuan.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Shake my hand

It really makes me wonder what is going on in a child's mind at times. They can think of the funniest things.

Today while I was lying next to Jiaheng in bed, he asked me to shake his hand. "Mommy, can you shake my hand?" I reached out my hand to him and he took it.

"Mommy, I pass my power back to you ok?" "Jiaheng, what power?" I asked. "Mommy, you gave me the power to read, now I want to give it back to you, so that you can pass it to Yixuan and then to the 3rd baby, the 4th and the 5th."

I am tickled by what he said and at the same time feel happy at his generosity. Woah! 3rd baby, 4th and even the 5th! Thanks but no thanks my boy. I am very happy and contented with my 1st and 2nd baby... and not to mention the biggest baby of you all... your Papa of course! Haha

Guess I will just stick to that... at least for the next few years. Mommy wants to reserve my time to grow up with the 2 of you.

Up till now, Mommy has not regretted giving up my job to stay home with you and Yixuan. To some, they may view it as a sacrifice. To me, I view it as a blessing and a gift to be able to do so. Nothing beats the bond we created.

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posted by Mommy

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

First Steps

Yixuan Yixuan, come, come to mommy ... and then *plod plod plod* and she landed in my arms. ;)

I moved back a little, opened up my arms and then called out again. *plod plod plod* Hey, the little girl made 3 quick steps before losing her balance and landed in my arms again. Mommy was all smiles, so was the girl.

Yeh! It's our dear Princess first steps.

I first saw her rehearsing her moves. She held my hand and then squat down, stand up, squat down and then stand up. She seems to like what she was doing and kept rehearsing those moves. My mum told me that once the little one starts to do the squatting and standing, she is ready to take the first steps.

So, I decided to give it a go. I sat in front of her. First I helped her stabalise herself before I let go and called out to her to come to me. Initially, I was not sure what she will do... will she 'run' to me? just *plomp* sit down again? carry on standing and waiting for me to take actions? ??? But when she made those first steps, I was so proud of her. And more important, she was so proud of herself.

Hug Hug baby Yixuan.

It is really amazing how fast babies learn in those first few initial months. Yixuan just turned 10 months a few days ago and it seems just not too long ago when I first held her in my arms. She was so helpless then and now she has taken her first steps.

I am so glad that I can be home to take care of her while I worked.

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posted by Mommy

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Clap clap clap

Have you seen those comedy when the comedian tries to clap but can't coordinate well and ended up missing the clap?

Yep! I just witnessed it today. So funny.

Yixuan just picked up the clapping skill and really enjoys doing it. She will keep on clapping if she has audiences. (aka mommy, Jiaheng gege, Popo) She will also clap when Mommy sings the "If you are happy and you know it" song. She will clap with you when you actually wanted to clap and signal her to come to you. Ha ha.

*Clap clap clap* well done my girl.

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Jiaheng wants to talk to God

"Mommy, I want to talk to God." Jiaheng told me at bedtime tonight. He said, "Mommy, do this." and as he spoke, he clasped his fingers and asked me to follow suit.

"Dear God" Jiaheng started. "Please make Quek Kay Hng well, and Quek Yi Xuan well and Wang Tse Wern well." "God, Quek Yi Xuan is sleeping next to Wang Tse Wern. And Quek Kay Hng is talking to you now." (as if he is trying hard to describe us so that God can pinpoint us)

"God, please make all the sick people well." (ah... so sweet...) Then he turned to me and asked, "Mommy, any more people sick?" I said "What about your Popo?" Jiaheng quickly continued his prayer "God, please make my Popo well too, she is staying in Blk 158, Toa Payoh, Lor 1."

I nearly could not control my laughter... yes Jiaheng, God will not miss out your grandma. (when you went to the details of giving God her address)

It all started when Jiaheng started school at a Christian kindergarten this June. They do prayers before school starts and during snack time. So Jiaheng started his conversation with God too. We do not really have a religion and we are open to what he is doing. We believe in giving him a choice.

Life is all about making choices, isn't it?

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posted by Mommy

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Goal Setting Works... results are in

Hey! We are proud to announce that Jiaheng has finished reading 100 books today. And he proudly read the statement printed on the reward chart that says "Yeh! I have finished reading 100 books."

And for his reward, we gave him a watch. The previous watch was left in his pocket and ended up in the washing machine. :P From his look, we can see he likes his watch.

Jiaheng requested for another goal, i.e. to print another reward chart with another 100 empty boxes so that he can finish reading 200 books. Goal setting really works for him and has pushed him to greater heights. We are very happy with the results.

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Brother-Sister Love

Jiaheng was not very cooperative today. He kept saying "No" to things I proposed or requested him to do.

I was hoping to quickly bath him and then put Yixuan to bed so that my mum can go home earlier today to rest. Throughout the 5 minutes bathing process, Jiaheng already said quite a few "No"s. Hmmm... one of those days.

When I asked him to come over to the bed so that I could dress him, he did so so so slowly. I could not contain my anger and I flared up at him. Yixuan was with my mum in the living room. According to the witness (my mum), Yixuan was very upset and teared when she heard me scolding Jiaheng.

When Jiaheng started crying in the room, Yixuan also burst into tears in the living room. I carried her over and brought her to the room while I continued to discipline Jiaheng. So can you imagine, the stereo symphony of cries and wails surrounding me?

Normally, when Yixuan fell down or was cranky, she will calm down when I nurse her. But at this moment, even that fails. She only stopped when Jiaheng stopped crying.

I guess she really love her brother very much. We all agreed after witnessing what happened today.

We hope that they will continue loving, looking after and depending on each other as they grow.
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Posted by Mommy

Monday, August 06, 2007

Goal Setting Works...

Successful people always say that we have to set goals and work towards it. It is proven to work through a lesson my son taught me.

Jiaheng is a fairly good reader for someone his age. He can pull out almost any of the pre-schooler books and read. Guess, he figured the words either through memory or through the use of phonics. Or perhaps, the cards flashing that Mommy did for him in his early days helped.

However, we felt that his reading is too ad-hoc. We decided to give him a goal to achieve. That is to achieve reading 100 books (since Jiaheng likes big numbers, so we decided to give him a big goal).

We prepared two boxes for him. One says "I am going to read these books", the other says "I have finished reading these books". Then we have a reading chart with 100 boxes pasted on the wall. Everytime he finished a book from one box and put it into the other box, he can paste a sticker in the reading chart. By the time, all boxes on the chart are filled, Jiaheng will have finished reading 100 books!

With this goal in mind, it really motivates Jiaheng to read more consistently. He already completed coming to 60 books in a mere two weeks time.

Yes! Goal setting works. Have you set your goal today?

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Midnight Peek-a-boo

My son and daughter sleep in the same room as us. My son will sleep on the mattress next to our bed, nearer to Mommy side. Our daughter will sleep between us on the big bed.

I climbed into bed quietly next to my princess yesterday night. I looked at the clock, it's already past twelve o'clock. As usual, I placed the small pillow over my eyes to induce sleep.

While I was just about to doze off, I felt my pillow being pulled away from my face. Very instinctively, I opened my eyes quickly. And there, greeting me was my dear princess, sitting next to me with her usual charming toothless grin. :)

Oh... hello there. I was a little surprised and caught off-guard to see her. But as I was about to fall asleep, I was really very tired. So I said to her, "Good night, Yixuan... Papa is sleeping already... you sleep too ok?". And needless to say, the answer will be "not ok"... cos the pillow was pulled off the moment I replaced it.

Oh I get it... she was playing Peek-a-boo with Papa.... in the middle of the night! She was so excited to see me place the pillow on my face that she pulled it off the moment I put in there. Once, twice, thrice... and I never fail to see that happy face every time the pillow was pulled away.

How can I be upset when I see her cute face? So what is the next best thing to do? Of course, to wake Mommy up to "share" in the fun lah!

Thursday, July 26, 2007

90 ml in 24 hours

Our dear princess refused to drink! This is really upsetting for Mommy and Grandma.

Even when Mommy tries to squeeze in a bottle teat into her mouth when she has fallen asleep, she will still raise her hand and brush the bottle aside. When princess is awake, it is just impossible to get the bottle near her. She is indeed good at "tai chi" and quickly "tai chi" the bottle away.

She only wants to nurse on Mommy to get some fluid in. But Mommy wants to "see" the quantity that goes into her princess. So, Mommy resorts to syringing the milk in... pouring the milk in... letting princess drink direct from the cup. Finally managed 90 ml in 24 hours.

Then Grandma said, let's give her some porridge tomorrow. Mommy says "Yes".

It was one mouthful after another mouthful. Princess is simply gumming her food in (still no teeth lah). Mommy is simply delightful and more importantly relieved. After that one day of porridge, her thirst of milk came back. In fact, she wants MORE milk. She also wants to drink plain water (or "plane" water in Jiaheng's words)

So our gal is starting to make her stand known. She is learning to assert herself. She wants to tell us that she wants more than just milk. And the "hunger strike" got what she wants!

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Boys' Night In

Jiaheng likes the idea of having "The Boys Team" and "The Girls Team".

Grandpa, Papa and Jiaheng form "The Boys Team".
Grandma, Mommy and Yixuan form "The Girls Team".

Tonight, Mommy says that she is going for an all girls night out with her good friends. So she asked Jiaheng to spend a night with Papa. After much reassurance that Mommy and Yixuan will come back before his bedtime at 10 pm, Jiaheng reluctantly agreed.

I brought Jiaheng to the central to shop around. Then let him play at the playground. He enjoyed himself tremendously. Running, climbing, sliding and most importantly smiling. :)

Then we had a meal at a cafe that just opened not long ago. It was the first time that we patronised the shop. Jiaheng ordered his favourite Spaghetti and I took a chicken chop. Each of us had an orange juice. It was a simple meal but a good one.

Next up, Papa planned the movie, "Surf Up". Everything is going on well until 10 minutes before the movie is finished. Jiaheng asked me the dreaded question "Is Mommy coming home already?" Oopps! Quick, quick sms Mommy.... *reaching in 5 mins* came the reply. Phew!

Yes, our dear boy still can't do without his Mommy. But Papa and Jiaheng had a great time these few hours... for our "Boys' Night In".

Papa, I Miss You

Tomorrow morning, I am taking the morning coach to KL.

Tonight, before Jiaheng went to sleep he remembered that I will be going to KL tomorrow. He asked me "Papa, I miss you. Do you miss me?"

I looked at him and said "The moment Papa step out of the house, I will start to miss you." And Jiaheng replied "Papa I miss you too".

We played and talked a little while more and then Jiaheng started his Good Night Chant.

Here is how the chant goes...

Goodnight Papa, Goodnight Mommy, Goodnight Yixuan, Goodnight Everybody.
I love Papa, I love Mommy, I love Yixuan, I love Myself, I love Everybody.

*yawn* *yawn* .... drifted off to dream land...

Sleep well Jiaheng. Papa will miss you, Yixuan and mommy.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

All Down!

First it was my girl, next was my son, then it spread to my mother-in-law and then my wife got it too. Everyone was down...

The cough and running nose virus is all around. And the bug got my family members too. I actually planned to go to Malaysia for the business on Wednesday morning. But I changed my mind and decided to stay back to look after them. Because they are the reason why I am building this business... of course, I will choose to stay by them at this moment. Moreover, there is no boss around to demand my attendance in the office and no limit to the leave I can take now.

Woah.... I know that it is never easy being a full-time mom looking after two kids but I didn't know it could be this tiring. One minute my girl wants to pull herself to stand, the next minute, she wants to grab the TV remote control on the table. While I was busy catching up on my girl, my boy zooming around the house on the scooter bike. By the end of the first day, I was exhausted. Still it feels good being able to spend time with my two active kids and let my wife rest.

Despite the fact that I didn't do much for the business these 4 days, my business is still growing. That is the beauty of this business. I am really thankful for this.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Jiaheng went to school ... alone

Today is Jiaheng's 3rd day in his new school.

Jiaheng transferred to his new school, Zion Kindergarten, this term. He was supposed to go only next year but we decided to bring it forward to this term.

Earlier, the principal offered to let me sit in his class for the first 3 days. I declined. Think I expect too much from him. Maybe because he did not cry or throw tantrums when we sent him to his first school, I decided to let him go to the new school alone.

We were waiting at the void deck for the school bus to come pick him up. I gave him a tight hug. I am thankful for that hug cos I think that charged his battery up all the way to last him till end of school. When the bus turned into our carpark, I held his hand and brought him to the bus. He was smiling.

He sat in the seat obediently and the bus auntie helped to buckle him in.... then I saw his face... his smile was gone... he seemed to want me to follow. It was at that very moment that I totally regretted my decision to let him go alone.

As I took the lift home, I was already feeling anxious. It's his first time on a school bus, it's his first day in a new school, it's his first day meeting new classmates.... how could I let him go alone? Bad mommy... bad mommy... I thought. :{

I resisted the temptation to go to school to spy him... but deep inside, I know that I will "fly" to school should I receive a phone call from school. I waited and waited... it's 2 pm! I made a call to school. How relieved and proud I was when the teacher told me that my boy is very independent. That he was able to interact with his classmates and enjoying himself in school. And that there is no need for me to accompany him to school the next day.

Jiaheng really did live up to my expectation and in fact far exceeded it. He is really brave. It's mommy who is lousy. *blush*

----------------------------------------------

Today is the 3rd day, I sent him to school as we went out before that. He did not take the school bus today.

I really felt that Jiaheng is very brave and strong when I saw the scene at school.

When the school bus arrived in school. The children alighted and stood waiting for the bus auntie to pass them their belongings. The children from the morning session was also there waiting to board the bus. And then, there were the parents hovering over their children (cos it's still within the first 3 days of school and some parents were there).

For a while, there was some commotion as there are so many groups of people standing around. Frankly speaking, even an adult may not know what to do, where to go, how to respond in that situation... not to mention a 4-year old. I really feel that my boy is very brave to have gone through his first day without his mommy.

I am very proud of you, Jiaheng.

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Posted by Mommy

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Passport Photos

*Flash* Oppss... Head slanted
*Flash* Hmmm... Eyes not looking at the lens
*Flash* *Flash* Eyes closed!

At this rate, I really wonder when can we get the passports done for our 2 precious ones?

Jiaheng asked me when can he go take the aeroplane? Everytime I go to Malaysia, ( and I always travel on coach) Jiaheng will say that he will go to the airport to fetch me. Guess, he is really looking forward to taking a plane.

We finally decided to go for a trip to Macau-Hong Kong this coming December. Boy! was he thrilled. He will tell his baby sister to sleep and dream about going to Macau. Look who's talking, and who's dreaming?

Well this is the first overseas family trip for us and definitely many more will come. Ultimately, my dream is to bring Jiaheng and Yixuan to Disneyland in USA for one whole month. Over there, they can shake hands with all the characters. :)

P.S. By the time, I finished this post, only Yixuan's photo is ready.

Friday, June 15, 2007

The Crawling Track

Our princess has a crawling track that is designed so that it makes an excellent flooring for her to crawl on it. It boosts of the most suited material and design to enhance her crawling experience. (Excuse me... do I sound like I am doing some advertisement? Anyway, the crawling track is supposed to help her learn crawling.)

Crawling is excellent right-left brain exercise for a young baby. The faster the baby can crawl, the better the brain can develop.

Despite the goodness of crawling, our princess will whine and cry out for help after inching on it for a short while. I figured out it must be the posture of her crawl. She was pushing herself forward on her tummy. Perhaps, there was too much friction. Or perhaps, she just want mommy to comfort her. (Just like us adults, looking for an easy way out)

Mommy and Papa are persistent. We put our princess on the crawling track whenever we can. And today, our princess did not make a single objection and crawled the full length of the crawling track. Guess why? Because, she has progressed to crawling on her knees instead of dragging herself on her tummy. That is the result of many trial and error and improvements.

And one thing is obvious... it's that joyous and proud look on her when she lunged forward to grab the toy we put in front of her.

Somehow, I just link all these I observed back to the business. When I first started the business, it was slow and often there is the urge to "cry out" to stop. Then after much persistance and learning, I just got better and better. So much so, that I am proud of myself for being a better person in personal development and in business building....

Sometimes, I wonder if we are our children's teachers or is it the other way round?

Sunday, June 10, 2007

My Run for Silver

It was the most exhausting yet most satisfying run I have ever had.

Woah ... don't get me wrong... I am not refering to those type of run like jogging. It was a run for rank advancement for my business. It was a run that was planned for two weeks. I am very fortunate to have a whole group of team mates behind me in my run.

I am coming to three years in my business. The initial two years was pretty lull. I was working on it bit by bit daily however, there was still the draining job to take away my attention. It was only after I became full time that gave me the freedom to fully pursue my business.

During my run, I focused on the result.... I did not just focus on the process. That makes the journey easier. And everything is worth it when I got attained the rank advancement of Silver Director.

It was really an adrenaline pumping week... right to the last minute before I confirmed the Silver. But hey... you know what... it was FUN.

I am excited and pumped ... and I am ready for more.

Friday, May 25, 2007

Can't wait ...

Jiaheng told me that he wants to get married at age 20, after his NS. He even got someone in mind already. The lucky girl is my future sis-in-law's niece. She is one year younger than Jiaheng.

It's amusing at times what goes on in the minds of the little ones. Seems like he CAN'T WAIT to grow up. Guess completing NS and getting married is his definition of growing up.

But, Jiaheng, do you know that mommy and papa wish that you will stay young and little a while more? We can't get enough of your funny stories, your amusing actions and your "annonying tempers".

Papa CAN'T WAIT to join you in your growing up. CAN'T WAIT to join mommy and spend time with you and Yixuan.

Joining you soon...

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

She's Everything We Hoped For

You're everything we hoped for
You're everything we need

You are so beautiful

To us
... adapted from song "You Are So Beautiful" by Joe Cocker

When our darling princess (that time we still did not know her gender) was in Mommy's tummy, Mommy visualised how our baby will turn out to be. Mommy visualised a baby with big, bright eyes. She saw a baby with a cheerful smile.

Mommy's positive thoughts and strong emotions moulded our darling princess when the tiny one was growing in Mommy's tummy.

The law of attraction is at work again.

At 6 months old, our princess has big, round eyes. Her eyes sparkled when she gazed innocently at you. Her eyes brightens up your day when she smiles at you. Yes... her smile is so infectious. Like it or not, when she smiles, you are drawn into her happy mood and smiles along with her.

To Yixuan... You are so beautiful... to us.

We love you, princess. Continue to live up to your name... Be happy and worry-free. That is Papa and Mommy's wish for you.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

What's 5 + 5 + 5 + 6 ?

That's a simple addition question for someone like you and me. But that definitely is an amazing feat for someone as little as 4 years old.

My son, Jiaheng just turned 4 years old last month. My wife, Tse Wern took 14 months of unpaid leave to stay home and look after him when he was just born. After that, Tse Wern went on part-time teaching. Finally, she left the teaching service when Jiaheng turned 3 years old.

One thing we noticed since Jiaheng was young was his ability to pick up a skill quickly. Be it language, numbers or a game.

Jiaheng can converse very well in English, Mandarin and Cantonese. He is able to read by himself as well. He is exceptionally good with numbers. To date, he can easily recite the 1 multiplication table to 10 multiplication table. He can read the time using an analog watch before he turned 4 years old.

Tse Wern and I firmly believed that Jiaheng can do what he can mainly due to the fact that Tse Wern is able to stay home and teach him.

That day, Jiaheng surprised us once again. We were on the road and Tse Wern saw a car plate number, 5556 in front of our car. So she casually asked "Jiaheng, what is 5 + 5 + 5 + 6?" We were pleasantly surprised and thrilled when Jiaheng said "It's 21."

My wife pushed her luck a little bit more by asking "That's very good. How did you get 21?". "5, 10, 15, 20. Because 6 is one more than 5. So it's 21" Jiaheng answered matter-of-factly.

Jiaheng was actually using his 5 multiplication table to derive 20. Since 6 is 5+1, he got 21 for the answer. :) Well Done, Son!

Tse Wern and I are both very proud of our son. Thank you Jiaheng for bringing so much joy and fun into our lives. We love you ... Jiaheng.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

The most dreaded thing that human ever invented

To me, the ALARM CLOCK must be the most dreaded thing that man ever invented.

Riiinngggggg... Riiinngggggg... that is the frightening sound that shatters the silence in the early hours of the day. That is the sound that jolts me out of my sweet dream. This is the sound that forces me to leave the comfort of my bed. Riiinngggggg...

Arrgghhh! Why do we need an alarm clock?

Really... Isn't it better for human to just wake up when we are ready? When we are fully rested and recharged, we will naturally wake up! And when we wake up naturally, our moods will be better and the day will start off more joyfully.

I will throw away my alarm clock the day I achieve my financial and time freedom. Hey! I can see that day happening.

If you want to have a preview of what I am doing now to achieve that day... click here.

Question : Do you know when you are supposed to wake up?
Answer : When you finish sleeping!

Sunday, February 11, 2007

I quit my job... I am free

After graduating with my Master's Degree, I started working as a research associate in a local university.

Before I knew it, I have been working in the same position for seven years. If you have been working for quite a while, you may find yourself in a same predicament as myself.

Every morning, I have to drag myself out of my bed to go to work. When I reach work, I can easier spend one to two hours clearing emails, or doing some unproductive things before starting work. Yes, yes, there are jobs to be done and deadlines to be met... but I hardly have the enthusiasm that I used to have to do them. I will usually perk up when its time to knock off...

I start to appreciate the Chinese saying..."Like a worm at work. Like a dragon off work."

I ask myself why can't I spend more time with my wife and children instead of at work? Why can't I spend more time building a residual income rather than just depend on the source of income that stops when I stop working? Why can't I have the freedom to CHOOSE TO work rather than HAVE TO work?

In January 2007, I finally decided to quit my job. It was not an easy decision... Trust me... if you are the sole breadwinner in the household... it definitely is not an easy decision. My wife and I took a long time to finally pluck up enough courage for me to tender my resignation.

However, it is a decision that frees me. :)

It frees me and allows me the time to work on my source of residual income. A steady income that continues to pay me for my initial effort put in. Just like how an author is paid after writing a best-seller. Just like how a singer is paid after recording an evergreen song.

My resignation also frees me to spend time with my family members. I was able to be with my wife when she was admitted to the hospital for dehydration after throwing up non-stop when carrying our second child. I was able to be with her and not worry about exhausting my leave when she was doing confinement. I was able to help out at home when my little girl was having bronchitis and needs to be neubilised.

These are the things that make me happy. These are the things that make me free.

To know more about how to build your residual income, click here.
 
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