Tricia

: triciaseow; November 26th, 22:17

Because Phuket was out of my budget (and that's a different post altogether), I decided we would go to Harris Resort in Batam instead. The resort was alright, perhaps not exactly posh, but the service was really good, the food portions were generous, the rooms were pretty decent (especially since we got upgraded to cabanas) and the pool was huge. We were happy campers that's for sure.

Here's our cabanas. The exterior looked a little faded, but the interiors were new, well-maintained and comfortable.

The first day was a a bit of a washout since it rained practically the whole day. It cleared by late afternoon though and after that it was time to hit the pool. Which established the pattern for the next few days. There was enough to do...

Whether you're in the mood for fun and games...

Or if lounging around is more your thing.

Then there were the other activities.
( Read more... )

We returned to Singapore looking like we had been on holiday. Despite liberal amounts of sunblock, and making sure we sat in the shade, we were inevitably sun-kissed. Somehow the hardworking tropical sun bothers you a lot less when there's a breeze and a pool to cool things down. :)

Tags: kiddos, travel

The gentleman

: triciaseow; November 22nd, 17:06

Heard on the way to the Augustins':

Gail: when we get there I'm going to tear off my clothes and jump into the cool pool.

Craig: no, we have to greet them first. Mom brought me up to be a gentleman!

Ha ha ha long may that last :)

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Tags: via ljapp

Par-teh!

: triciaseow; November 19th, 21:19

What happens after hours and hours of concept mapping and unit planning? After countless presentations on performance tasks and poring over exam formats and objectives? When the last slide has been clicked, the final issue discussed and the concluding reflection submitted?

Why, you lay out the food, put on your silly hats and party of course!

And, ahem, I'm the teacher, ok! Though apparently I tend to forget it when confronted with a camera (the lady with the shawl co-teaches part of the class with me and is a much better model of propriety)!

Tags: work

The red herring

: triciaseow; November 18th, 1:23

The other day I had to lure my colleague out of the classroom so his students (and mine) could sneak into the room through the other door with the cake, lay out the party hats and gifts, and ambush him when he re-entered.

Have you ever tried to distract a man from his work without showing your cleavage? I had to rely on conversation. Anyway the deed was done. The birthday boy was ambushed and everyone had cake and was happy. Yay!

Tags: work

Mind boggling

: triciaseow; November 10th, 16:39

The other day I was commenting to my kids about the mental state of someone known to the family. His wife had used his (diminished) mental capacity as a reason to annul their marriage. And Craig, in all seriousness told me: No lah, there's nothing wrong with him mentally. He played Boggle with me that one time!

Yes, of course. The definitive measure of mental health.

On an unrelated note, I wonder how my son is going to cope with A Math next year...

Tags: kiddos

Old enough to know better

: triciaseow; November 8th, 14:10

Once in a while, I do feel like a darn fool. I picked up a flyer the other day from a travel agent in Jurong Point (hey, when you work in Jalan Bloody Boondocks Bahar, you take what you can get retail therapy-wise), and spotted a 3 Day-2 Night offer to Phuket for $368, flying by SilkAir and accommodations at the Novotel. Good deal, right?

So I went home, read the flyer carefully, did my Math and decided, Hell, I can afford that!

Imagine my horror when the boy serving me at the counter the next day told me that my package came up to $670 per person. Because the $368 advertised didn't include airline surcharges and taxes. Though it listed a whole lot of other surcharges and did not have an asterisked disclaimer at the bottom.

Sigh. Why waste my time with false advertising? Do people actually buy a package there and then when they realise it's double what they budgeted or anticipated? I'm the sort of person who would likely refuse to cough up the dough, then go someplace else and pay the same amount at another agency which advertised their prices more accurately. Just because.

*insert appropriate cussing here*

Tags: travel

An apple a day...

: triciaseow; November 1st, 17:11

Not always a good idea. Especially not toxic apples given by evil queens that turn you into a strange hollow-eyed, blood-stained creature of the night like this.

And then look at the company you keep! Your mother would not approve (though I suspect that my own, strangely enough, would).

( Read more... )

Tags: playgroups, song and dance

Finally, goodbye you genius

: triciaseow; October 29th, 1:23

I was in London when the King of Pop died. Didn't feel anything. Through all the tributes and all the media frenzy - nothing.

And then tonight I watched the premiere of the MJ movie and that was it. The man was a consummate performer. He knew his music, he knew his audience and he knew how to stage a heartstopping show.

And the sense of loss finally hit me, albeit a little belatedly. Michael Jackson wasn't just the doped up, has-been weirdo so often portrayed in the media. He was a performing genius who till the end ruled the stage and brought immense creative and musical prowess to it.

It would have been such a great farewell performance if it had gone forward, one fit for a king. At least we get to see the footages of what could have been. More importantly, we get to see Michael portrayed in a dignified manner. He was courteous and professional through all the rehearsals. Such a respectful depiction surely any human being deserves for that final curtain call.

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Tags: via ljapp

Priorities

: triciaseow; October 27th, 17:48

This morning on the way to work...

Eugene: So if you had to choose between winning the Most Knowledgeable Lecturer Award and Best Dressed Lecturer Award, which would you choose?

Me: Most Knowledgeable lah.

Eugene: Because you think you would win Best Dressed anyway?

Me: Yah (aside: joke ok!), but mostly because in academia knowledge matters more than how you dress and that award fits better onto a CV. What can I do with Best Dressed? It's frivolous what.

Eugene: Oh ok...

Me: BUT obviously the one that I would secretly want to win more is the Best Dressed Award lah.

Eugene: I knew it! I knew it! See, I do know you after all. I was a bit worried there for a while...

And by then we had reached Jalan Bahar and it started to rain heavily, all the better spoil my spiffy new heels. Methinks God was trying to tell me something.

(Oh in case you didn't already know, neither award actually exists.)

Tags: just me, work

Have your cake and eat it?

: triciaseow; October 25th, 22:14

Somehow I have managed to accumulate lots of cake in my fridge. Pandan cake and leftover birthday cake, sugee cake, cheesecake and apple strudel. And most wondrous of all - Suzy buns. It's been eons since I had one of those! Picked them up at the Eurasian community house when I attended the Oktoberfest brunch there. Yah not technically cake but tiny buns oozing culture. How delectable :)

For those who wanted to know what these buns are. A cross between bread and pastry, and with a sweet chicken filling.

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Tags: via ljapp, yummies

Chicken and egg

: triciaseow; October 22nd, 22:47

I sometimes wonder whether I don't play video games cuz I have the world's worst hand-eye co-ordination or if I have the world's worse hand-eye co-ordination cuz I don't play video games. Both my kids seem to trash me at anything we play. And they in turn get trashed by Eugene. That's me waving from the bottom of the food chain.

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Tags: just me, via ljapp

Food overload and then some

: triciaseow; October 20th, 18:50

One would think that after the Massive Meal on Friday, I'd have gone easy on the food (considering as

crysta reminded me, I have that Snow White outfit to wear). But good as my intentions were insofar as watching my diet, circumstances did not permit me to do so. October apparently is a merry-making month.

So on the Deepavali Saturday I met up with my cousins for a potluck dinner. There were three cousins missing - two coincidentally lost to Melbourne and the other was never very close to us anyway, having been born when we were nearly all adults. The remaining ten gathered to do what we do best. Eat and reminisce about old times, and talk about our loved ones, whether these be human, animal or automotive.

It was pleasant though the food was probably one of the best parts about it. My cousins really can cook, and this includes the guys! We had nasi briyani, beef curry, kiam chye duck, babi assam, tandoori chicken, naan, achar, papadoms, otak otak and chocolate cake to send the cholestrol levels sky high. I cheated and choped the drinks. Heh.

And then on Sunday we did what we normally do on Craig's birthday when we don't hold a house party. We went to HRC because for some reason that's where Craig always seems to want to go!

Here's the birthday boy with hiw TWO desserts. The young sure can eat!

And this is Eugene's 'headache' face

Why? Because I made him stop eating and take yet another picture for me. Of me and my mom, of ocurse!

And the food binge still isn't over. It's Eug's birthday today and we're meeting up with his folks at Karu's for a steamy curry dinner.

Tags: family, kiddos, yummies

Till We Meet Again

: triciaseow; October 18th, 13:06

For my brother.
With much love. Till we meet again. :)

Tags: family

The Massive Birthday Meal

: triciaseow; October 17th, 13:38

We gathered last night for yet another birthday dinner for the man who thinks he's a boy. It seems like only yesterday we had convened for Eugene's last birthday dinner at The Wine Hut where I think the penchant for taking group pictures with the E.Goh face started. Last night, thanks to the orchestrations of Mrs

sailorboy137, we got together for a very special set dinner put together by Kiraku, the Japanese restaurant Eug especially wanted to hold his birthday at.

A really good choice because the food was awesome (and reasonable for what we paid), the staff was attentive, patient and gracious, and the owner very generously gave us free sake (and very good, smooth sake it was too!) and a birthday cheesecake that was to die for. In fact the chef had made the cheesecake especially for the occasion - it wasn't on the menu, and even the owner has not tasted his chef's cheesecake till the night before when he was given a sample!

Steph even went to the trouble of preparing printed menus and signs that allowed us to take photos like these.

Obviously, there were also the group photos with the signature Eugene pose but just to be contrary, I decided to use a regular smiling one this time.

It was a noisy, hilarious and almost greedy affair. Apart from the set that comprised sashimi, oyster chawamushi, sushi, tempura, shabu shabu, sukiyaki (oh the wagyu beef, kurobuta pork and konyaku tang hoon!) and dessert, people were also ordering the tuna belly, ikura sake sushi, jumbo oysters, scallops, maguro shushi with wild yam... and so on and so forth. There were even minor altercations between otherwise harmonious couples about who would get the third piece of tuna belly... Scratch almost. It was definitely greedy. And of course our infamous quote of the night about the need to not sit or else...

Anyway, thank you all for coming. Eugene was very happy and he thinks this was his best birthday party ever. I laughed so hard when he slipped away into a food coma, snored and snorted like a a contented baby whale, then suddenly muttered, I am so pleasedzzzzz...

The king has spoken. Well done, all! :)

Thanks for the quick FB photo update Angie. Eug's pics will be up before Christmas, I hope.

Tags: playgroups, yummies

Wait Until Tired

: triciaseow; October 15th, 17:41

They say a watched pot never boils, and in this day and age, a watched phone never rings either.

Craig helpfully prodded her for a full ten minutes with his toe, ostensibly to get her out of this most uncomfortable of positions. But to no avail. :)

Tags: kiddos

The Tall and Short of It

: triciaseow; October 12th, 18:00

I wanted to go as one of the Wonder Girls for Halloween this year, but I think finding gold dresses for 3 guys (one of whom is a veritable 7 foot giant) is pretty darn tough. Also a tall order to find the time to all troop down to a costume shop together. So Eug and I ditched the idea and dropped by a shop today to see if we could get anything.

I knew I wanted this outfit as soon as I saw it! Because, well, as you all know, I'm not shy.
( Click )

And the lady suggested that Eug go as my tall dwarf sidekick. Oh the irony! The costumes fit, so we're set. The only problem now is that Snow White will spend Halloween blue because I'll have to hold my breath and suck in my gut the whole time! Mind you, Eug is brilliant at taking pics at flattering angles... the reality is less svelte, unfortunately.

So come on folks, get yours and we'll go roam the streets and clubs together on Halloween... BOO!

Tags: just me, song and dance

Stalking, talking and goodbyes

: triciaseow; October 6th, 21:41

I went to the tailor yesterday evening to get my wardrobe updated and altered - letting out seams (yeah yeah I'm approaching middle age), shortening evening dresses to function as day time clothes - stuff like that. And there I was in a clashing bright blue bubble-bottom top someone gave me (I was getting the hem changed to a regular not-bubble one) and a too-tight office skirt, being scrutinised by the tailor, when lo and behold, my mother walks in!

She was in the nails place next door fixing her manicure which had taken a beating with all the house cleaning over the weekend. She'd spotted Eug waiting patiently outside the tailor and came over to investigate. Such a tai tai that one is. Here I was trying to save money by revamping my old wardrobe, and there she was la-di-da-ing in from a nail appointment :)

Anyway, mom went on her way after that and Eug and I headed for Ember to have dinner with Mr and Mrs

sailorboy137. Dinner was perfect. Good food in a casual environment and lots and lots of talking. In fact we were probably the last customers to leave and sadly we weren't exactly quiet either. It's hard to laugh heartily, quietly. (Thanks for making the reservations for us, Dr Chio!)

I have to go into work everyday this week and with the kids' exams and the PhD stuff and the realisation that Greg's leaving so soon and my wanting to spend time with him... there just doesn't seem to be enough time. I hate goodbyes when it's my loved ones I am bidding adieu to.

And on the topic of saying goodbye, I just found out one of my colleagues has passed on from cancer. I took over some of her Human Geog tutorials when she became sick, and I was supposed to take over her Cultural Geography modules for the undergrad students next semester, but because of my own time constraints, I stuck to teaching only the Post-Grad Dip Ed modules. I had completely expected to be working with her for the Cultural Geog stuff when I take my place as full-time staff, or at least to have access to her materials and advice. I suppose I knew she was very sick but it never occurred to me she would die. I think I always assumed she would recover. It's sad that I didn't think to take it too seriously or to say goodbye. Her death took me completely by surprise. Funnily enough I was just telling Eugene today that if I ever become terminally ill, I'll fight to stay alive but beyond a certain point, I'd like to be allowed to die as quickly as possible. The sanctity of life is one thing, but at what point does a beating heart become just that? I would be happy to be allowed to die quickly rather than stay alive in the living hell of a wrecked body and mind. I think it's about time to crank the euthanasia debate up a bit in our society. But this colleague fought hard and it is sad to have to let her go.

Ok, back to work now. Stay safe you all, and stay well. I do love you.

Tags: just me, playgroups, yummies

And it's Monday again

: triciaseow; October 5th, 16:12

Time flies and here are the highlights:

At one point since I last posted I had PMS, thrush and diarrhoea simultaneously. It was not pretty. That's resolved now with some meds from the doc, lots of probiotics for the tum and Evening Primrose Oil for the PMS. It's a funny story, this last one. I was at dinner with the family, feeling and looking pretty crappy, and consequently being a bit of a grouch. Halfway through Eug got up and said he had to go to the mall and he would meet me at home. He came back with a bottle of EPO and beseeched me, PLEASE PLEASE start taking this. Guess I have to be in a better mood now.

Gail also came down with a throat infection and diarrhoea a week before her PSLE began which put me in a panic. I ran after her the whole weekend with Vitamin C, garlic pearls and kiwi fruits. The ex-MIL came by with health tonics. It was a united and multi-pronged front. She went back to school today so I just hope all is well till the exams are over.

Mom and Greg stayed with me for 11 days the last two weeks because mom was renovating her house. It was nice having them with me and I got to spend time with Greg before he leaves for Melbourne. Poor mom though. Her contractor ran off halfway through, leaving things a mess. But that's been sorted and after some intense house cleaning and a few trips to IKEA, mom's cosily installed back at her own place. My little bro is leaving next Monday. *sob*. I 'll feel a bit like an only child with him gone. I've always had him with me (at family things and others) to laugh with and make snide asides about everyone else. Now I'm on my own. Boo hoo. That's the problem when you're close to your siblings and get on well with them. You actually miss them when they go off. Bah.

My phone died as did Gail's. I got myself an iPhone and I told her to ask her dad for a new one. Her dearly departed was Eugene's and he keeps threatening to make her pay for 'damages'. She doesn't seem fazed by him though.

Today I got my work schedules crossed and ended up at work 2 hours too early. What a way to kick off the week. Anyway I spent the time surfing and playing word games on my new phone which I find I do like though I was convinced I would not initially. Even my typing's less retarded than I expected.

Ok off to the tailor now so that I can resuscitate my work wardrobe from 10 years ago. A bit tight they have become. And the ability to breathe in them is important, don't you think? Hard to teach while taking tiny gasp-y breaths.

Tags: family, just me, kiddos

Be Yourself Day?

: triciaseow; September 29th, 15:56

Gail is supposed to go to school tomorrow as herself (as opposed to The Hulk, I presume). But there are so many bloody rules restricting the kind of person one is allowed to be on Be Yourself Day that it's a misnomer if I have ever heard one. So she cannot wear any of her skirts or shorts because they are too short. She cannot wear her tops and dresses because they have spaghetti straps. And most of her footwear is also not acceptable because they expose her toes.

So basically on the one day a year she can go to school as herself, she finds she cannot. You know what that means right? A mad rush looking for long shorts, modest t-shirts and covered shoes, while Little Miss Free to Be Me vetoes every item I suggest because they're not nice enough, too geeky, don't match etc etc etc. I tell you, I was almost tempted to ask her to stay home until she can go to school as a modest uniformed schoolgirl once again.

I don't have this problem at all with Craig. Last year he went to school on Be Yourself Day in his school uniform. Because he had forgotten it was Be Yourself Day! Now if that is not Craig being Craig, I don't know what is.

Tags: kiddos

Makansutra kelong

: triciaseow; September 29th, 0:15

I am watching Makansutra and Seetoh went to the Eurasian Community House to visit the Eurasian Restaurant there. And I think kelong lah. All the dishes there I never heard of before. And with great incredulity I insist the following must be added to the list of Eurasian food.

1. Curry Priscilla. My Aunty Priscilla created this ok? It's very nice and we eat it at X'mas and New Year. Really, it's in my mother's handwritten cook book. I cannot recall what's in it. I think it's beef or mutton but very nice, ok?

2. Curry Rambutan. Come on lah, every house had a garden in those days and the rambutans are always sour. What else will good Eurasians who waste-not-want-not do with loads of sour rambutans from their garden. Make curry! Also very nice... I am sure if they go and check in the Eurasian Community House garden, there will be sour rambutans. Which self-respecting old garden/house won't have leh?

3. Corn Beef stew. My dad loves it and he's not even Eurasian lor. I had it all the time growing up. Hence my beautiful round girth as a girl. Still, it was delicious. Who doesn't want corn beef in their soup? Hmpf.

Wah right now he's eating Crispy Pork Knuckles that are steam-baked. I'm too distracted to blog. Bye bye.

Tags: yummies

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