Sailing...

Thanks to Uncle Desmond and friends, we had our first sailing expedition to Lazarus Island last Saturday on their boat " Arbudhen". The weather was wonderful and the sea was calm so it was a very enjoyable experience. The kids had their first dip in the sea though it took a long time to convince Tessa to jump! I don't blame her as mummy will not have the courage to jump as well! Check out pics below ( more on FB)... will definitely be keen to do this with the Seahs!

On the way to Lazarus..

Getting ready to Jump!

Happy kids on the Island!

The men...

Getting comfy in the sea...

Check out the Heineken!

All wet!

NTU recruitment drive 2010

I was very excited about returning to my alma mater tonight to participate in my bank's recruitment drive. NTU has changed so much that I spent 15 minutes within the school compound looking for the good old LT1! I recall we used to come in normal school wear ( ie tshirt and jeans) when we attended recruitment talks but all the students now came dressed up like they are going for job interview! What surprised me even more is the fact that almost all the students that stayed back for the mingling session are foreign undergrads! And I have to add " aggressive and hungry foreigners!" Most of them are doing a double degree and here are some sample of the questions they asked me

- Is Nomura-Lehman's culture similar to that of Goldman?

- FX spreads should be coming lower. How does the bank deal with that problem?

- Tell me about your career path at your old bank... how fast can an analyst progress in Nomura?

and many many more!

A supposedly 30 mins mingling session dragged on for an extra hour. I was speaking mandarin most of the time as more than 50% of the students that approached me were from China.. One of them was even dolled up in Chanel accessories and carrying a Chanel bag! She looks like an "Er Nai" but definitely one with brains. She told me she had her internship with Goldman and is looking for a role to cover China accounts on the sales side. My bet is that she will end up marrying one of the investment bankers eventually and become a taitai.

I only spoke to 1-2 Singaporeans , which makes me wonder.. how can singaporeans fight with the foreigners if they are not even interested enough to stay back to ask questions??? I also started to worry for my kids. Double degree is the norm now and the competition is already so tough from these effectively bilingual foreigners. What will their university life be like in the future? I can only pray....

Happy Birthday Frances!

Amy, Frances and I went to the " Spanish Paella n Sexy Sangria" Class at Palate Sensations tonight. Frances thought it was a different way of celebrating her birthday instead of having our usual birthday dinners. It turned out to be super fun!. I was very proud of my " squid" moment where I removed the cartilage, eyes and membrane from the squid ( yes like a biology lesson!) and chopped it down to calamari rings. Most importantly, the end product was SUPERB!!! Check out the pics below!

The Sangria that caused the birthday girl to talk non stop!

I was the official " stirrer" for the night!

Our group - 3 of us and Louise

Posing with the birthday girl.

Before cooking the seafood.....see the calamari rings??

Tadaaa..... Yummy Spanish Paella.

What a wonderful night! Happy 7th Anniversary of your 29th Birthday Frances!

What a National Day!

It started with a phone call Ian received late last night. One of his team member was in hospital going through an emergency brain operation after fainting in a restaurant. There was a blood clot in his brain and the sobbing wife told Ian he may not make it through the operation. They have two young kids in K1 and P1. It was like deja vu for me! After praying for him and his family, I went to bed with a heavy heart. I even had a nightmare that I had to have to CT scan to check for a blood clot in my brain!

Fast forward to today. The operation went well but he is still heavily sedated. The doctor are still trying to investigate whether the blood clot was caused by the fall or did the blood vessel rapture before the fall. Ian suspect it could be the latter as this guy tend to have dizzy spells quite often. The wife is stronger today but his elderly parents are not taking the news well. We can only pray and hope for the best.

While sharing this story with my friends, I came to learn of a few other bad news that took place yesterday

- a 24 year old friend of my ex-colleague committed suicide. She jumped to her death from the 6th floor after suffering from depression for only a week.

- A friend of Ian's colleague was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer.

- The mum of another colleague passed away yesterday.

What a national day! This is again a solemn reminder for us to treasure our loved ones and to always count our blessings.

I miss the kids

It's been less than two hours since the kids were picked up by Liana for their sleepover date with the Seahs, and I missed them already. I miss the loud " mummy!!" when they want to "lodge a complaint" ; I miss the " ko lian" face of Jacob when he tried to get one of us to sleep in his room; I miss the nightly chit chat and prayer session. And it is JUST ONE NIGHT and NOT THE FIRST TIME! I started to think what will our lives be like when they hit their teenager years. They will have so many programs that mummy will no longer be the most important person in their lives. It's weird that I am feeling so "emo" tonight. Anyway, love you babies and see you tomorrow!

Ladies in pink with flowers...

Art work by the kids

After our yummy KFC breakfast, Shyan came to my place and the kids had their little art n craft session.... here are some of their "masterpieces"