Work

Stressful, hectic, tired. These 3 words summed up the feelings at work in the last 2 weeks, given the volatility in the FX market. The positive side to it is that our revenue run rate is now ahead of budget. I will be a very happy woman at work if not for the recent massive hiring of the bankers from another rival bank. Talks of huge 2 yr guarantees for these guys meant that there will likely be not much left in the bonus pool for us next year. To rub salt into the wound, my role maybe be adjusted, to make way for one of the new hires, who happened to a " friend" that has not contacted me regarding her move to my bank. In the worst case scenario, my job may even be at risk. My hope of securing a new job before their arrival is looking bleak, given the uncertain economic environment, and most banks have froze hiring for the year. I am praying daily for guidance and wisdom. I have been blessed tremendously during my 15 yr banking career and I am sure God will have his plans for me. I need to be patient and faithful and here is one of my favourite verses from Proverbs that reminds me of that.

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

Tessa is stressed and sad...

Tessa is growing up too fast! Not only physically, but also emotionally...

EXAMS!

She is beginning to feel more self-imposed stress from exams. Last week she looked visibly upset because she thought she did badly for her Maths mock exam. This is quite unusual as she is normally the happy–go-lucky type of girl. Fortunately, she was wrong in her expectations. I could not describe the joy in her voice when she called me in the office the following day to tell me she got band 1 for the paper! It turned out that she got stressed because she got stuck in the first problem sum. That wasted a lot of time and she had no time to check the rest of the paper, hence the conclusion that she would not do well! Her main Maths paper falls on my birthday this year and now she tells me that her present for me will be to do well for the paper!

WEIGHT ISSUES!

She thinks she is fat, and that she does not like her legs. I asked if anyone has teased her about her weight. She said no. My best guess is all her good friends are really skinny ( hmmm sounds like mummy’s case!) and so in relative terms, she is bigger and fatter. She said she is trying to cut down on her food intake since she does not like to do sports. I told her the important thing is to cut down on sweet stuff and junk food. I assured her that she is not fat now but it is unhealthy to put on more weight. She said she feels sad about it, which surprises me as she is normally a very bubbly girl. I read that girls will start becoming more self-conscious when they are about 9-10 so I need to have more heart-to-heart talks with her going forward. My worst fears is to have kids with low self esteem so I better manage her feelings properly now before it gets out of control. And of course, I better join her in her diet plan as well!.

Another chat with Tessa

While I was going through a difficult chinese comprehension passage with Tessa tonight, she suddenly asked me :" Mummy , is there any job that is not stressful?"

Me: " Not really, every job has its own stress."

Tessa: " I want to find a job with no stress!" ( hmm...obviously she inherited my lazy genes)

Me :" Maybe you can be your own boss and sell handbags..."

Tessa :" Then I will have to find people to work for me? That is still stressful!"

Me:" Then maybe you should marry a rich man"

Tessa :" Then I do not have to work?!? YES!"

Me :" But it is better to be a capable woman that earn your own money. What if your rich husband is not nice to you?"

Tessa:" Then we will get a divorce! " ( OMG! I think it is time to ban her from our gossip sessions!!)

Our wonderful Sydney Trip! 3-11 June 2011

We spent 8 wondeful days in Sydney and I am suffering from serious post holiday blues now!. We had great weather, company and even enjoyed some wonderful Malaysian and Italian Cuisine! Accommodation at the Start City Apartments was fantastic at A$320 per night for 2 families and it was within walking distance to Darling Harbour and even China Town. The kids had great fun at the Taronga Zoo, Wildlife Park and Sydney Aquarium during the day and we had lots of fun playing charade at night, with Uncle Jonas and papa as the best entertainers! It was also good to spend time with grandma, who will next turing 70 next year ( but does not look her age at all!). The only disappointment was the day tour to Port Stephens where we did not have much luck with seeing the dolphins! The adultswere also not too lucky during our "gai gai" sessions at night and we are thankful that the Singapore government imposed the surcharge here for Casinos! Check out some of the highlights of the trip!

This was on day one where we went the the Campsie foodfair and chanced upon a little fun fair at the park where all the rides were free. We waited 20 mins to try this ride but it was worth the wait! This operates like an auto car so we saw a few kids " crashed" into the barriers before us. Jacob and Tessa both did well, controlling the car on their own and we survived without any accidents!

Best day of the trip - Taronga Zoo!

Tessa is almost as tall as the world's shortest bear! Hmm does not sound like a compliment!

I love the giraffes!

All smiles after a wonderful day at the zoo!

At the Reptile park. Master " Wu Gui"!

Forcing the overfed birds to eat!

One of my favourite pictures taken at the Birubi Point Beach

The kids looking out for Dolphins on a cruise. They claimed that the saw two but I did not see any!

Thanks to Uncle Jona's sharp eyesight, we spotted the captain of Australian soccer team Lucas Neill, taking the same lift as us in Star City.

Taking a family pic after a wonderful meal at Mamak, the fabulous Malaysian restaurant at China Town. Thank you Uncle Douglas.

Another wonderful meal on our last night in Sydney - Crinitis at Darling Harbour. This one metre long Pizza is yummyyyyyy!

Final shot with Grandma before the departing for Singapore... We will be back!

My baby is back!

And she had lots of fun despite the minor complaints about sleeping in a tent! She enjoyed abseiling and tunnelling and she was lamenting about missing the Flying fox due to time constraint. She said bathing with cold water was not an issue as she had tried doing it at home a few days before the camp. She had also made a few new good friends from other classes and her group leader was not that annoying after all. Food was ok but as expected, she enjoyed the nasi lemak most because of the fried chicken wing! She is now looking forward to next year's camp, which may be held overseas. I am very happy that my prayers are answered and she is blessed with a great time at the camp. Check out her before and after camp face below!

Missing my baby...

Did she eat well today?

Did she enjoy the activities?

Did she get along well with her team mates?

Can she shower without water heater?

Can she sleep well tonight without air-conditioning in her sleeping bag? ( a big switch from her usual 18 degrees celsius temperature!)

Will she remember to put her sunblock and mosquito patch tomorrow?

Does she miss mummy and papa n didi?

I will only find out on Thursday evening. I am so glad I will be the one picking her up from school that day....

Tessa is off to camp!

My baby girl is all grown up ( last measured height of 141 cm!) and ready for her first camping trip! All the P4 girls from MGS will be attending a 3 day/ 2 night camp tomorrow, organised by the outward bound school where they will get to sleep in tree huts and tents! We packed her bag last night and here are some of the items in her bag.

Unfortunately, Tessa is not too excited about the camp. The students were assigned in groups randomly so she does not get to be in the same group as her classmates and she has an annoying group leader. She is also not too keen on some of the physical activities like abseiling. I think I made it worse by telling her how " aggressive" the mosquitoes were during my first camping trip! However, I assured her that it will be a fun experience, learning to work with different types of people and she will have more good friends in school after the camp. I am praying for good weather for girls and may all of them be blessed with a fun-filled session!

Conversation with my "soon to be teenager" daughter...

Tessa : Mummy U know Bella and Jon prefers Uncle Lawrence to be around instead of Aunty Daisy.

Me : Why?

Tessa : Because Uncle Lawrence allows them to play while Aunty Daisy will make them do work!

Me : Oh so does that mean you also prefers papa to be around instead of mummy? Since I am always making you and Jacob do work?

Tessa : No I prefer you to be around!

Me : Why?

Tessa : Because papa will not bother to help me with my work if I don't understand the question but you will!

Phew.....at least my efforts are still being appreciated .... for now...

Things for Sale!

Time to clear some old bags as I have a few new targets this year! Help me spread the word and feel free to email me at eileenchia10@yahoo.com.sg if there are any question!

Original Cost $1250 - Selling for $500!

Original Cost $1890- Selling for $1200!

Cannot remember what is the original cost but a similar design is going for more than SGD 800 now. - Selling for $400!

What a night!

I met up with my JC classmates tonight at No.5 Emerald Hill, some of whom I have not met since we left JC almost 20 years ago! LF even drove all the way from KL to join us for this gathering. It turned out to be such a fun-filled night, complete with 4 bottles of champagne and 2 bottles of Macallan! With most people not in their most sober state, we had TM telling us about his mass orgy stories in China, AL and HX forcing each other to declare whether they had a crush on each other in JC; matchmaking the only singles YY and TM; R being the ah bek cassanova on the dance floor and many other funny moments. We were as noisy as a bunch of JC kids and we did what we could not do during JC days - dancing in a pub!

The biggest challenge of the night was to send a completely drunk R back to his car with HX. I called the " drive u home" service and we had to entertain R cursing along the way in multiple languages. It took us 15 minutes to "extract" his exact home address amidst his swearing! While waiting for R's driver to arrive, HX puked in the car park! Luckily I was sober enough to send HX home and it was almost 3am when I finally reached home.

Thank you R and HM for organising this gathering and most of all... thank you Michelle, who inspired this gathering! Cheers!

Finally!

Jacob is made class monitor today! This is a milestone for him as he hates being in the limelight! Last year, he rejected the post when he was voted class commando in term one and he again said no to the teacher when he was asked to be class monitor in term 3. Talk about being "atas"! I have since been promoting the pros of being a leader to both my kids. They were clearly not convinced so it was a surprise to see him with the class monitor tag today. He told me he was chosen by the teacher and was not given choice like in P1. I have secretly happy that the teacher did that. I wish he was half as enthusiastic as Isaac, who got the whole family excited when he was chosen as the class monitor! In my case, mummy was definitely the more excited one! I bought him soccer cards as a reward and hopefully, he will not be as be so " anti- leadership roles" going forward!

LASIK

I did it! Enjoying my first morning of perfect eyesight after 14 hours of sleep. It was well worth the 8 hours spent at the clinic yesterday but there were some moments that I will never forget!

Scariest moment - The minute you lie on the operating table. Yes it was painless but it was totally uncomfortable, especially when they cut your cornea. After that, the 30 sec he spent using laser on each eye seems like forever and I actually counted the seconds to make sure he is not lying!!! I pray that my kids will have perfect eyesight so that they do not have to go through this!

Happiest moment - when I got down from the operating table! I had perfect eyesight immediately and it was an amazing feeling!

Most pathetic moment - When I was sitting alone at the taxi stand, waiting for Ian to pick me up. By then the anesthetic has wore off and I could not open my eyes at all. The tears keep flowing and a lot of passer-bys actually stopped n asked if I am all right and if I need to help with taxi!!!

Anyway, glad I have done it and hope the recovery phase will be smooth....

A Busy Saturday!

The end of Continual Assessment 1 marks the start of fun and parties again! We started the day by picking up the girls - Bella and Shyan- for some shopping at Takashimaya. First stop - Kinokuniya. This is the best place to get some books on Liverpool for Ethan's birthday party on Sunday. The girls had lot of fun at the sticker section and each end up with stickers that smells like Strawberry! Tessa got all the girls excited when she suggested going to Artfriend to get some mulberry paint for the papyrus craft that they did in school. To their disappointment, Artfriend has discontinued the sale of Mulberry paint. The sales person suggested we get " Painting by number" instead. It is a craft that teaches the kid how to paint using number codes on the picture. It looked like a tedious task to me but the kids enthusiasm won me over and they each ended up with a set.

We spent one hour doing the craft at my place and my skepticism was proven right. It was not easy and the girls lost their interest after an hour! I hope they will keep their promise of completing it another day!

Then it was time to send Shyan back home to her Pin Yin class before attending Jeremy's party with the kids at Mcdonalds. It was a weird party for a 3 yr old boy when all the guests are mostly primary school kids!. Nonetheless, I had a great time catching up with Liana and Amanda. The shaker fries was really good too!

It was back to reality at night as Tessa had to complete her Chinese Composition homework on Power Point and email it to her teacher. With my help on sentence structures and her love for clipart, I thought she did a decent job....check it out!

What a busy Saturday! I am ending the day now by having some bonding time with Jacob - watching the Arsenal- Sunderland game on our newly installed mio TV! Tomorrow will be another busy day with church, another powerpoint presentation to do and Ethan's party!

I love Chanel Earrings!

New Addition!

My collection! Which one do you like?

A good motivation to work....

Chanced upon this Hermes Birkin Club from the S/S collection 2011 while taking a break from doing science revision with Tessa. Love it! Need a motivation like this to continue working, especially after the recent stressful periods. 坚持到底！不要气馁！加油！

Pleasantly surprised!

I did my weekly check of Jacob's school bag today ( a big improvement from last year's quarterly check hehe!) and found this piece of compo written by him. I thought it was quite creative, coming from a boy who does not read anything except for Barclays premier league table! And he told me it was done within 30 mins in school! Well done Jacob!

Missing Michelle

It started with Sean accepting me as a friend on facebook. I was happily going through the beautiful pictures of his children when it suddenly dawned on me that none of his albums has Michelle on it. The obvious reason will be that he just started his FB account recently. I suddenly have a strong urge to see Michelle again and I did something that I have never done since her passing. I went into her FB account and spent the next 30 mins going through every single picture under her photo album. All the wonderful memories of our gatherings and trips came flooding back and I could not stop crying! If this can trigger such a reaction from me, it must be a lot tougher for her family. Maybe it is a good idea that Sean leaves Michelle's photos out for now.

Despite my sadness, I am happy to see from Sean' album that the kids are closer to him than before. I remember Julian used to be so sticky to Mich and the maid but now, he can be seen happily hugging the papa in the pictures. Well done Sean... and don't stop trying!



This was taken during our trip to KL. We left the kids in the hotel with the maid and went out for supper and shopping!

This was taken during Perth Trip. It was our first trip as a group and we had a great time despite the terrible weather!

What a year!

Its been an amazing 2010 for me! Here are some reasons why I do not mind going through it again

- I had 3 great holidays with family and friends- Bandung, Paris and Bali! What more can I ask for?

- I had my first gardening leave - I miss those 2.5 months of being a full time mum, plus the regular yoga and massage sessions!

- I finally had the courage to leave Bank of America- which will always have a special place in heart! Sadly, it is no longer the same culture and no regrets about the move so far!

- Both kids were healthy and did relatively well in school. So proud of my babies!

- I had the first manicure and pedicure of my life and I am loving them!

- We moved into a nice apartment at Pandan Valley and I love my walk-in wardrobe!

- I finally got to own a cabriolet!

- Thanks to Uncle Jonas, we watched a few nights of live BPL matches at Temasek club and those bonding sessions with Jacob were great! The nice sotong balls and potato wedges helped too haha!

- We discovered " Just dance" on WII!

It is amazing how the list can go on when you start to count the blessings in your life! I am very thankful and hopefully we have been a blessing to people around us in one way or the other. Happy New Year everyone! Have a blessed 2011!