Revisitng Singapore Museum

After seeing some picture my wife took during her trip to the museum with Juan and son, I thought I should take a look too and see if there’s any opportunity for good picture to take. And so, I packed my beloved Canon EOS400D and ask my wife to revisit once again for me together with my daughter of course (to be my model for my picture).










THE LAST THREE PICTURE BELOW, I CAPTURED WITH THE HELP OF THE SUNLIGHT THAT GIVE A GOOD COMPOSITION. I LOVE IT.

Gracia With Fork

Guess Gracia started understanding the concept of the fork and spoon. Today, mummy let her try eating potato using a fork on her own. Despite lacking accuracy getting her food right on it, you can see she’s really persistent, and paying attention while focusing tirelessly on picking up the potato and feed it into her own mouth. Daddy is proud of your achievement today baby. Keep it up and in no time, you’ll see yourself joining us at the dining table with your own pair of fork and spoon.



I must give credit to my wife for always giving opportunity for her to feed herself, after which she has to clean up the mess for her. I know it’s an enduring process to always have to clean up the messy food all over the place. Your sweat and effort is noted.

Young And Deep In Debt

Both news from The Sunday Time and The Newpaper today prompt me to add this label regarding finances on my blog from today onward. Already, parents now’s a day are constantly worried about the future that lies ahead of their children in this competitive and corrupted generation. Just days before, I was shock to read about the university cost ones will need 20 years later from now. It’s a shocking $800’000 to a million including living expenses if your child is going to get her degreed at any top uni from Australia or the US. Unless she’s able to qualify entry to NUS or NTU, but the consolation amount you’re going to pay will not be anything lesser than a couple of hundred thousand. But I’ll put aside this university cost today and share about the other two news I’d just read.

NEWS 1 : YOUNG AND DEEP IN DEBT


That’s the front-page news from the Sunday Time today. They are below 30, employed and mired in debt. And it’s reported that the main cause for all this are snared by materialism and a desire for the high life. They splash money on cars, branded goods, overseas holidays, clubbing and gadgets.



NEW 2 : WON $390’000 FROM TOTO AND SPENT IT ALL IN 6 MONTH AND BROKE


That’s the 2nd news I want to share from the Newpaper. A man who won $390’000 and left only $200 in his account after generously giving away a portion to his family, lent $50’000 to a close friend, and spent lavishly on high end bird ness and restaurant.

My first reaction after reading both news? What can I do to stop this from happening to my daughter? Is there a way or lesson to be taught? Ironically, there isn’t any absolute solutions to this problem consider that she’ll grow up being independent, have her own group of friends and influences and pressure of course. Though there aren’t any certain answers to all this woes, but as a parent, I think it’s important to teach her money management at a young age. I must not only focus on her academic result but I’ll pledge to teach her more on human value so that she will not be tempted for materialism and become a material girl.

Toddler's drawing

I've read that over the last several months of a toddler first year, the child's fine motor skills improved steadily. since Gracia is now physically ready to grab hold of a colour pencil and start experimenting,we had converted one of our unused coffee table for her to draw. She has already scribble vigorously on the paper mummy paste on top of it. She seems to enjoy dragging and scrawling all around on the paper, of course what she draw seems unrecognizable for us now. We just want to kick start her interest and hopefully her writing and drawing skills will improve in tiny incremental steps throughout the toddler years eventually.

Chicken With Oats.

Much more delicious than chili crab, lobster or abalone. That’s my confession of the dish my wife cooked for me yesterday, “Fried Chicken With Oats”.
I am telling you the truth because the dish is painstakingly made from the love of my sweet heart and is marinated with affection and fried with flame of devotion. The tenderness of her is felt when I bite onto the meat, and the way she wanted to pamper me I can smell it from the smoke. What an appetizing dish I haven’t eaten for a decade. I just want to thank my wife for the effort, time and scarify considering that she still need to look after Gracia while making this heavenly chicken. Thank you so much my dear, I truly appreciate your contribution and had pleasurable moment from you. Thank you.


The Ingredients:
200g boneless chicken drumstick
50g tapioca flour
1 egg white
Marinade:
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tbsp lemon juice
50g plain flour
1 tbsp egg yolk flour.

Method:
1. Beat the egg; rinse chicken and cut into same sized thin slices, remove to drain, add in Marinade and set aside for 1 hr.
2. Coat chicken meat with some tapioca flour, egg white and oats.
3. Heat up oil in pot, add in chicken meat and fry over low heat for 5 mins. Remove and drain.
4. Heat up oil in pot, fry chicken meat again until golden brown, remove to drain and cut into pieces. Serve.

A toy from mustafa center.

Mummy always wanted some building material to engage her with more creativity and motor skill activities. Daddy hasn’t found any affordable one(not that we really can't afford, we're just being very thrifty) until I went Mustafa center and saw this Lego similar building toy but for a quarter of it price I guess. Perhaps the quality might not be as fine as Lego, but it’s good enough since Gracia is still too young to really appreciate this kind of architectural toy. Most of the time, it’s daddy or mummy who construct one for her hoping that she will see and learn from us. We build her a plane recently and we are quite happy she can recognize it.

The wave.

She reminds me of Shine.

We brought Gracia to the beach again, this time trying to let her over come her fear of the gigantic ocean. It turn out that, the sound and force of the wave still tremble her much. When daddy try to bring her closer to touch the sea water, she will back off and cry when ever the wave sets in, that reminds me of Shine, my previous dog. But today, she did much better than the time she had with Julian, at least she manage to seat very near the sea for a short while when daddy saw the current not too strong and escort her there. Like Shine, I believe after a few more trips and she will definitely buildup her courage and soon she’ll find amusement in the wave instead of terrifying. But we decide not to visit ECP or Pasir Ris Beach anymore because the beach is never clean, every time we went there, we’re quite disappointed with the rubbish floating near the coast. We will try visiting Sentosa the next time, heard many reports and comments that the environment and the quality of the sea and sand there is much better.





One thing she truely enjoy much, is the sand.

Playground Gracia Like The Most.

The same day we bought the $49 shoe for Gracia, we brought her to the playground she enjoy playing the most. Daddy had discovered this place a couple of weeks ago with her so it's not new for us, instead it's mummy who has never been there and wanted to take a look having heard many times daddy mentioning about it.


The 3 of us using the self timer from my digital cam.


Gracia showing off her new shoe.

Baby Shoe That Cost Too Much?

This question is something that me and Lina has been asking since we leave the baby shoe shop at United Square. $49 for a pair of baby shoe we did not intent to buy initially. Actually we had on eye another pair which cost $20 lesser, but it seems that Gracia does not have enough fate for that beautiful pair. First it was the size that run out of stock, but when we finally got the similar pair transfered from another outlet, we realise the design at the bottom seems a bit crooky for little Gracia to walk steadily. After trying a couple more shoes for her, we end up buying this $49.90 pair.

Egoistic Or Just Highly Sensitive.

Recently I've been reflecting on my own personality if i am a egoistic man or if there's something else i need to address.

The reason i wanted to find out if i am a egoistic person is because friends and family who love me have always told me that it's very difficult to give comments, esp negative comments on me. Well, i checked on the dictionary and it translate ego as someone who acts and thinks that he is "extremely superior". I sat down for a while, calmly recall all the incidents, quarrel and my behaviour i had in the past. Honestly, as a man, when i see myself doing and helping out on house chord i don't feel i am superior(but i am happy). I wear simple and drive a broken van i don't feel superior either, (but i am also happy). I don't think i am self-centered or selfish when there are many occasion i allow and permit my wife to go ahead with her decision even though i had a different point of view from hers. ( that's because i love her give her respect) . So, from all these sacrification and contribution, my conclusion is, i am not as egoistic as anyone might think. But if it's not of my great ego, why is it that i am so easily agitated when receiving comments?

Well, I remember reading this book call "HIGHLY SENSITIVE PERSON" or HSP.

Highly sensitivity is not a flaw but a gift from God, but without knowing how to handle your sensitivity correctly, it may lead to many unpleasant experiences and will cause you your job, friends and even your spouse. To know if i was a HSP, I'd to take the test below.....


.Do you get overwhelmed by stimuli such as lights, noises, and smells?
.Do other people’s moods and emotions deeply affect you?
.Are you easily startled?
.Are you aware of other things in your environment that most other people are not aware of?
.Do you enjoy delicate tastes, scents, sounds, soft fabrics, or beautiful works of art?
.Have you always been labeled as shy or sensitive by other people?
.Are you sensitive to certain foods such as foods containing caffeine, sugar or alcohol?
.Do you become unpleasant when you are hungry?
.Are you attracted to the deeper things such as spirituality, self-development and philosophy?
.Are your feelings easily bruised?
.Do you have a vivid imagination?
**

The answer i got are mostly "YES", drinking coffee makes me so awake. Light and sound disturb my sleeps much too easy and considered i do not even have a proper professional training but have a good sense of music and act. I guess most likely i am a HSP than a egoistic man. Being a HSP means you can see, feel and listen more deeply than non HSP. It has it advantages and disadvantages which can be taxing at times.
One of the downward side of being HSP is "you can't handle comments well" esp negative comments. You will tend to take things very personally whenever someone ask you a negative question which might not necessary direct to you. For example, if my daughter is not feeling well after i took care of her for a day and my wife came back asking me what happen. Instead of confidently and unguiltily explaining to her the actual reason, i have the urgency to feel she's blaming me, that's how sensitive i am.

It has been estimated that 15-20% of the population or 50 million people are highly sensitive. Among this population, there is a scale of sensitivity levels since some people are slightly sensitive while others are extremely sensitive.

Highly sensitive people have been around forever, but they have been mislabeled as shy, timid, inhibited, or introverted. However, Highly sensitive people tend to be extraordinarily creative and productive workers. In relationships, if the other party know how to strike a balance and not do or say words too sensitive, they are usually attentive and thoughtful partners with acute listening skills and compassionate hearts. Most are also intellectually gifted individuals. HSPs could contribute much more to society or relationship if they received the right kind of attention.

So, my final conclusion is that, since i considered myself as a HSP instead of being a unreasonable, irrogant, egoistic macho man. I ask that those who love me, my friends and family, please read and understand more about HSP and help me overcome and make good use of this remarkable ability. Just talk to me tactfully and care for my sensitivity and i believe, i strongly believe i will not be as timid as i had been in the past. In fact, i am prefer to be a loving husband, a caring father and a sincere friend for many and it's because of my sensitivity that i am able to read, write and take many nice picture for this blog even without education or training.

If you're willing to help me, talk to me tactfully and reduce the impact I'll have from my nervous system, i am willing to improve and not use my sensitivity as a excuse to get the way i want. Love all of you and may peace be with us forever....

About My Grammar And Spelling.

Many people like to read, but few really enjoy writing. That's probably because most of our writing experiences have centered around undesirable projects, such as research, essay and many school works. And unlike reading books, there's no such thing as "skimming" your writing. You can skip a few pages or chapters if you like, but for writing, there's no shortcut.

Another reason i feel why ppl are reluctant to write is that they're afraid someone else is going to read it and then judge their writing. Maybe they can't get past the idea that someone's going to "grade" their spelling and grammar, and their afraid they will be criticize or worst being laugh at. So they rarely write and miss out on one of the greatest forms of communication and self-expression.

But even so, nobody is going to stop me from writing. Consider i never had proper training and education, for your record, i only had a certificate equivalent to PSLE standards and is taken privately at a night school. Not only did i mess around with my academic results, i have a history as a hooligan or a 'AH BENG' in singlish term. So for a ex-AB like me to even starts writing, i am already proud of myself for coming this far regardless of how many spelling and grammar mistake I'd made altogether.

When i write, i am expressing my thought thru words. Sometimes i feel that i can reveal more about myself thru writing than talking. Writing allow me to choose my words more carefully and forces me to think more deeply. I do not want to be the next novelist or even thinking that my blog, my journal or anything of my writing will get published.(although i wish i can)

I just want to write down all my feelings, good and bad, happy or sad. Write down the detail of my life and those of my love one's. Never mind if there're mistake all around my spelling and grammar as long as my words and statement get across to the receiver and myself. Whenever i read back all the entries i'd writen, i am already amazed by the result. I also believe that my child or children will enjoy reading every piece of my work and will be glad that daddy did not stop writing because of the flaws i made and will continue to make as long as i write.

Thanks to all the good heart reader that gives me honest comments and i am really very very glad from the bottom of my heart, I will try my best to improve my grammar so that i can write better and proper English as a good example for my children also.

Happy Birthday Gracia

Happy 1st Birthday to Gracia on 3/06/08.

Daddy:
It's been a tiring, exhasting but absolutely fruitful and exciting year for all of us, esp me and your mother. You were just an infant yesterday as long as I know, but now you're learning to walk, talk and even starting to show your own personality.
In fact, daddy want to tell you this is just the very begining of your journey in your whole entire life. But there's nothing to worry because mummy and I will help you, guide you, teach you, and nurture you so that you will grow from an innocent sweet little girl to a confident young cheerful and a very nice lady. But it's not all about learning and teaching, daddy will also play with you, have fun with you and eat lots and lots of tidbits, ice cream with you as long as your mummy allows. ok... mummy wants to share her thoughts with you now.

Mummy:
"Ok Gracia, this is the first time you're hearing from mummy through this blog. It's not a problem to eat tidbits. Just control and don't turn into a tidbit junkie. Okay.. talking about tidbits, mummy is also eating some oreo biscuits lovingly bought by daddy especially for mummy when I told him I have a craving for potato chips. U have turned 1 yr old already.. next time join mummy in an OREO FEAST ok!! hee. Just want to lovingly tell you, no matter what happens, you're the best gift from God to us and the best daughter in mummy's heart." Mummy is going to end here and coming into the room to sleep beside u now... : )


Daddy & Mummy:
We just wanna wish you happy, healthy and many many more Birthday celebration in your life, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

A Day At The Park

Just another hot, sunny and extremely sweaty day when we visited Pasir Ris Park near our home. A nice place for taking picture with horses and amazing green scenery plus a classic swinger and some wooden furnitures for a country style effect. Should have stay longer and take more picture but our Gracia is getting cranky and needed her after nap impatiently. So we left with just a few shots. Will definitely visit again for more pictures. Anyway, here are a few to share.

Raise your hand.

Raise your hand! Thats the new command mummy taught Gracia so that she can put on powder for her armpit and also wear clothes more easily. Interestingly, mummy abuse the command while taking shower with her and she showed no sign of disobeying it. Really a good soilder, take a look...... wahahahaha!



Mummy also did a dragon ball hair for her.