Tuesday's This & That

It was terrific to meet Anth after such an age. Food was forgotten with all the catching up & I mean reaaaally catching up. Much has transpired in these couple of years. Somewhat shocked to hear the news, was totally unexpected. Its heart rending to see a lovely friend in such a dilema. Contrary to when the last we met, it was in a state of near euphoria. Felt a little bit useless to be just listening. Tried to be comforting & offered my thoughts. At the end of the day, I know she will know what to do as she is a her own woman. Strong, courageous & sensible.

Booked a date with Eve, makan session on Friday. Sooo looking forward. I wondered to hubby if I would be able to recognise Eve & vice versa. He says she looks almost exactly the same, except for a few gray hairs hahaha. Eve...when you read this, thump him when you next see him. Be consoled that I have more than a few gray hairs. But I got it all covered...literally.

Last week I went for a lunchtime massage session at my regular haunt near the office. Whilst waiting for the room to be ready for my session, a man (late 40s) popped in for reflexology. Regular customer from the sounds of it. A couple of minutes later, a lady follows him in. Young (early 20s), dressed up, made up. I don't mean to be prejudiced lah but I figured her for a "China girl". And when she spoke, I was right. Dunno why lah but sometimes you can just spot them.

Anyway, he gets a call & its his kid. He says to kid that mummy is in the office & to call her there as she was not with him. I was NOT eavesdropping. The reflexology is in the common central area maah. Plus the place not very big. Even in the massage room later I could hear them.

So I don't get it. When there is all this adverse open talk and experiences about what China women are all about. Why do men still fall for it ? Hubby says when you ask the men, they will say "no lah, she is not that type".

And how do the girls do it ? The twisting of the men round their little finger ? Quite skillful leh I must say. Wives have such a hard time just trying to get hubbies to pick up their pants & drop them into the laundry basket.

They aren't exactly demure nor do they have the best of manners, plus got agenda. I guess it all comes down to the fact that they are pretty (most of them anyway), have tight butts, perky breasts & of course, offer bedtime frolics.

When you think about it...the girls get pocket money lah, shopping money lah, pretty jewellery lah, driven around lah , some even have a paid for place to stay lah. At the end of day all this is payment for sexual favours. I am convinced, must be sex & to parade around with a pretty, young China girl on the arm so that peers will be jealous. Can't be the intelligent conversations.

I have absolutely no doubt that not all women from China are that type. I have met some who are genuine about their reasons to be here. Unfortunately the errant ones out number the good, thus the stereotyping.

There were some ladies from China (late teens to early 20s) who attended English classes at a school near my office. There were loud conversations in the ladies room, the cars who swung by to get them & men who picked them up. Even a teacher reluctantly admitted to me that they had other agendas as they were not in the least interested in the classes. The school isn't there anymore.

Speaking of manners earlier, I had one occasion where two of these "students" jumped queue for a taxi. My Mandarin is not the best lah but I managed to say they are rude & they saw me waving down a cab so they shouldn't grab my cab. From the looks on their faces, I think my Mandarin sounded Greek. So much for my fervour in expressing my unhappiness.

The ladies loo is also another story. Its much cleaner now since the "students" departure. I used bemoan to my colleagues "dress so nice but dunno basic toilet manners". Stuff that we have seen there is truly, truly horrific.

'Nuff said.

Its Monday & I've gone to the goats & such

You know the Gwen Stefani's song with the mix of The Sound of Music's Lonely Goatherd ? All the time I thought she was singing "what a goat!" Yes I am what a toad ! How was I to know. It sure sounded like "what a goat". Yes my children & my children's friends...very funny hor.

I think I am getting a hang of this blogging thingy. When does one graduate from being a blog virgin ? After the first time ? Post I mean ?

Its a like a diary except typing is faster & if spell salah, just hit the back button. Diary nobody reads till you are dead. So far I haven't had any hits though. Only Sarah. Pathetic.

Monday has come & gone. My lunch with Anth didn't go as she was tied up still with the earlier appointment. Lunch tomorrow instead. Think I will tell her about the blog so that someone else apart from my kids & hubby read it. Very pathetic.

So what does one blog about ? Everything I guess. I have one topic at top of my head at present. Not so palatable :p But heck....its my blog. Plus who knows...sharing experience is good. I think ?? I don't think its gross. My kids may pengsan if their friends read this. But I think there have been worse tales.

Haemorrhoids (spelling ??) are such a pain in the butt...literally. Never had the problem till after the second baby. After straining from labour, those little annoying blobs make an appearance more often than not. Except for C-sections. Some womenfolk..."nooo never had, even after 6 kids". You think ??

Arrrrghhh...well the blobs decided to pop out for a rare visit.

So last week, I was squirming on my office chair & adopted a sashaying walk. And it wasn't cos I was feeling sexy. Lets just put it this way...thongs & haemorrhoids do NOT go together ! I have this tune in my head now...one of these things is not like the others, one of these things doesn't belong...

So off to the doc I went. Aiyo, stuttered through what my problem was. Didn't want him to examine me. Embarrassing mah. But my gynae is male...so go figure !

I had visions of an operation. Then I would have to carry a colourful child's swimming rubber ring everywhere I go & waddle around like some cowboy ready to draw weapon. Then frightened to go to toilet incase the stitches popped. But the worst...No thongs ! Inconceivable!

The good doc allayed my fears. Op is not the in thing now. Gave me Noxarel tablets (orally please) to help relax the engorged blood vessels. The first lot helped a little bit & doc said he gave me the lightest dose as he couldn't examine me. Hmm ok.

The second lot worked better. Comfy in my thongs now. So anyone who is reading this & has the same problem...better see the doc & er...nip it in the butt.

Daughter who was failing math had A1. Very very proud of her for doing that. I think its quite an accomplishment when only a couple of months ago math grade was in fail scale. Secondary math is tough. Told her I'm very happy & she did great & worked hard & that if she worked harder on her other subjects, she can do even better...all in one breath. The usual mummy nagging thing. But of course there are different scales of nagging. I think mine is a scale of 3, which is defined in earthquake terms, as minor. Often felt but rarely causes damage. Hubby's is about 6...strong, can be destructive. hahahah.

Monday is a good night for TV...Amazing Race, Desperate Housewives, Nip Tuck. This episode of Nip Tuck seems a little gross. Wondering when next season of Grey's Anatomy & Lost are coming.

Popped a vessel watching the results of American Idol last Friday. How could Sundance & Sabrina be booted ?? I dun geddit. Sanjaya...ahhhhh Sanjaya...really cannot make it. Rooting for Lakisha & Melinda.

My knee problem has recurred again. Felt & heard a little pop walking down the stairs over the weekend. There goes bowling again.

Sarah wants to go to Poly but she'll need to read the papers today. Hopefully when its her turn, things will be different. But for now, what happens to those kids who qualify for Poly but can't get into course of choice because spaces are taken up by those who qualified for JC but prefer Poly ? They shouldn't be forced to take up courses which they aren't comfortable with. It would be interesting to see how this can be resolved.

Shawshank Redemption...brilliant ! On telly soon.

Time out...

I'm so lame !

Sarah helped me set blog up. Then I couldn't sign in. How was I to know must sign in as New Blogger. I am old mah...so OLD Blogger lor.

A time for old friends

Pics taken in Phuket, Feb 2007.

My son was approached by a lady in his school who had come to pick up her son. She recognized his unusual last name. Told him she knew his dad & mum & mentioned our names. Turns out she is an old old friend of mine from school.

School was eons ago. We were great friends in secondary school & drifted apart after that. Went to separate schools, had different friends etc. You know, the usual with growing up & changes.

Growing old...growing older I mean, has made me more nostalgic. So I kept bugging Ryan to give my mobile number to auntie Eve's son. And kids will be kids, sure to forget. Or so I thought.

The 2 boys bumped into each in school & finally got me the number. Ryan says number was exchanged in the toilet !

I called straight away. It was really nice to talk to her after over 20 years. We'll be meeting up soon to catch up on lost years. Got her email address also just to be sure incase I lost my mobile phone lah or dropped it into the toilet lah...

It would seem that recently has been a time for old friends. Not too long ago, an old friend tracked me down to where I work from seeing my name in the newspapers. Ohhh nothing exciting in the papers about me lah, just some boring quote from me about work stuff.

I met up with old old friends Matt & Lu. We had dinner, a good time reminiscing & got updated with the latest. Some of it not the best of news. Cancer never is. I was saddened by that but also uplifted that my friend is living life as best as he can & the way he desires. Its bitter sweet.

Then another old buddy decides to call me out of the blue before CNY. We were in Phuket for a family holiday at that time when Rickie called. I said I was in Phuket & he says, I just left Phuket. He was posted to Phuket in December & I thought he was still in China. Ah well...nevermind, most importantly we met up for gu bak hor fun at Geylang. Still CNY so my fave tau huey chwee store next to the gu bak hor fun was not open.

Conicidentally Matt was in Phuket at the same time as we were. We met his mum, aunt, sister, brother, kids...the whole gang. It was sweet. We did have a scare though when his daughter & my Sarah went off to braid their hair & didn't come back after more than an hour. They were due to check out & catch a flight. All turned out well. Long hair needed more time for the braiding so we discovered duh !

And tomorrow, its lunch with another old friend, Anth. Haven't seen her in a couple of years. Not as long as Matt, Lu & Eve.

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Woes of Mother Tongue

I wonder how many parents face the problem of Mother Tongue (MT) with their kids. Both of mine have major problems with it. Hubby is not Chinese & so his family certainly doesn't speak Chinese. My family too doesn't speak Mandarin having taken Malay as a second language. Then my Mandarin is just as terok. Never use it in work. Ya sure I speak basic Mandarin to some colleagues but have never used it in written communication.

So why let our kids take Mandarin ? Cos we were told it would be more useful. Little did we know that our kids couldn't cope or didn't want to cope with it. Plus grandparents, aunties, uncles etc etc all speak English. So even as little kids, they weren't exposed. We sent them to PAP kindy, but that also didn't work.

With our daughter, well we didn't know DUH, that we could write to MOE & appeal for an exemption. So she sat for her PSLE & miraculously didn't get a U grade. Still pulled her grades down but she got into the secondary school she wanted.

So with our son, we sent in an appeal. Which was rejected. So we wrote to our MP. Our son's grades in other subjects are pretty good but is likely to achieve a U grade for MT. We didn't want his total results to be affected badly by a U grade or worse kena stay back cos of one subject. MP sent letter along to MOE. Our letter included his results from P1 to P5.

Our hopes were raised when his MT teacher called & said that an officer from MOE was coming down to meet with him & his teachers. We were all under the impression that the officer was going to evaluate our son.

Hopes shortlived. I almost choked on my indian rojak dinner when I read the letter from MOE which said that they had considered our request "carefully" but had been rejected.

I was like HAH ??? Nevermind, we took time off to attend the meeting with the officer who spent two hours at the school. Nice young man, tried to be helpful. He tested our son on his writing and reading skills. Then suggested some 'strategic' methods to help our son improve MT.

Sorry lah but we weren't inspired cos these are things which we have tried already. Plus his MT teachers were already doing some of the things suggested & spending extra time with him. We were told that unless our son has joined the Singapore school system midway or has a certified learning disability then he can be exempted.

Okay so he has disabled himself from trying to learn that subject. Wonder if that counts ??

Why test our son on his written & spoken skills when the appeal has already been rejected ? I don't get it.

Maybe so that the officer can suggest a strategic programme ? I was hoping to hear a tailored programme but no leh, it was generic. So I still dun geddit !

What upset us even more was that the letter said appeal was considered "carefully" but rejected.

I suggested to the authorities that it should have been phrased such :-
“we have considered your appeal carefully and an officer from the Ministry will be meeting your son and his teachers for an assessment. Thereafter we will revert with our decision” .

This would have been much more palatable. At least, more believeable that our request was indeed considered carefully. And we also questioned what's on the Ministry's website. Ah well...

So at the end of the day. Fine. Our son will take MT for PSLE. And, we don't need another officer to come by again as the MT teachers have been absolutely wonderful with our son and would know his abilities and lack of abilities better than someone who has made just a passing acquaintance.

I know, the guy is doing is job. But it was such a farce. We can't say we wasted our time as we were trying to do good for our son. I'll just say it, sadly, opened our eyes quite abit.