the weekend was a very fruitful weekend. i am happy to end the june holidays with such a great weekend. :)
on saturday i went to Flower Dome at Gardens By The Bay for my ex colleague Simin's wedding. it was my first time going to Flower Dome for a wedding ceremony. happy to be there because it is a very nice place, the food is also very nice, and i am very happy to see my ex colleagues as well as students!
selfie with darling upon reaching the place!
very nice programme card. the programme so nice until jingwen wanted to know where isit being made. and very thoughtful wedding favours.
Congrats Simin and husband!!
with my 4E2 2011 students. simin and i were their form teachers when they were in sec 3 in 2010. in 2011 simin continued to be their form teacher and i was form teacher of another class. but i was still their chemistry teacher. they are a nice bunch of students, the nicest form class a teacher could ever ask for.
on sunday we went to celebrate my mum and my younger sis birthday. it was at colony, at ritz carlton. the restaurant decor is MAGNIFICIENT. gives people a super atas feel. even more atas than marriott. atas until the buffet cost 188++ because on sunday it is a vintage champagne brunch. we were all damn shocked when we knew the price. cos when we searched online we didnt know every sunday is a vintage champagne brunch and we thought it was just a normal hotel buffet that cost 88++ which was honestly ok for a hotel buffet. luckily they had a non champagne price that is 138++ and we gladly took that.
but honestly the food is really good. i had five servings of foie gras and 4 servings of baked lobster. and many other delicious food.
the lift lobby and lift already gave us a very atas feel so we took photos immediately.
the entrance to the restaurant. 好有气派！
i am most impressed with this. they cooked the crepe on the spot, putting liquor and i can see the flames. first time seeing a crepe station at a hotel buffet. impressed beyond words. ok pay 138++ is worth it.
and the TAN family FINALLY came to our new house for a visit. we had already hosted darling's family, our friends, our colleagues and my students before today. really very glad that they came.
let's get ready for a wonderful Sem 2!
tonight the colleagues (eudora and wan ting) from my previous workplace came to my house for dinner.
eudora, who loves pink alot, insisted to take a photo in front of the pink wardrobe. i suggested to have a part of the yellow and white wall because it was painted by me. hahahaha.
we had a very good catch up. 3 of us can be considered the pioneers of the arts scene at the previous workplace. eudora teaches music and she was tasked by our previous VP (who is also considered eudora's god mother) to plan aesthetics programmes for the lower sec students. eudora was also the first teacher overall in charge for show choir. when eudora left the school for further studies, i took over the show choir and the aesthetics programmes. the aesthetics evolved even bigger and became the niche for creative expressions and it became the Learning for Life Programme. so i can't possibly do it alone and i am thankful to have wan ting to embark on this big project with me.
wan ting was the teacher overall in charge of dance dynamics. dance dynamics was actually a new cca and batman wanted it to happen so that the workplace will be more vibrant. there was initially a modern chinese dance cca, and so because of the appearance of dance dynamics, the membership of modern chinese dance got affected. dance dynamics grew bigger and stronger. the quality of modern chinese dance gets weaker and weaker.
so because of my chinese dance background, it pains my heart to see this happening. hence i always try my best to let modern chinese dance shine on stage, by choreographing special items, or by inviting external choreographers such as xuehong and derek seong. of course i know that the chinese dance is in good hands because they have a very good teacher overall in charge called shi laoshi, who had also left the workplace. the cca also have very good instructors, none other than bai laoshi and his wife, zhao laoshi.
with all the inter cca politics, rivalry and competition going on, wan ting and i still maintain a very professional colleague relationship. we just want the best for our own cca. that is not the same for the students of both ccas because the rivalry is really damn intense and friendships got broken.
great colleagues keep you going strong. i am thankful to have wonderful colleagues in wan ting and eudora.
wan ting is also leaving the workplace to join a new school. she will never read this, but still i want to wish her all the best and hope that she is happier at her new workplace.
as for me, i am happier at my new workplace because i have more free time. even though i hate being in the discipline comm. but more free time is good for me, especially when the son is coming out on 14 september. can't wait for that day!
on saturday we had a staycation at marriott and grand park orchard, to celebrate sister in-law's husband's birthday on 17 june, mother in-law's birthday on 19 june as well as father's day on 19 june.
as darling and i had stayed at marriott a few times, we went to grand park orchard instead for the staycation.
verdict is... we prefer marriott and intercontinental to grand park orchard. hahahaha sorry grand park orchard.
the room at marriott. always love the rooms here. the bed looks so inviting.
the room at grand park orchard. the features that stand out are the supermodel backdrop (darling said i can sleep very well at night because i am sleeping under the supermodel's skirt), as well as the see through glass of the toilet. the niece had a good time playing her bubble bath in the bath tub and we were all looking at her enjoying herself from the see through glass.
we went to 313 somerset 海底捞 for dinner and after the dinner we saw this 2 mascots and took photo with them. the niece likes the white rabbit more that's why the bear super emo. hahahahaha.
birthday tarts for the mother in-law! tarts from cherylkoh are so pretty and taste very good too. we bought strawberry, mango, passion fruit and pistachio.
the next day we had breakfast at prego, and we had lunch at the sister in-law's new house. we bought the same BTO and her block is just two blocks away from ours. and when i reached her house i discovered that the colour scheme is quite similar to ours. hahahahaha.
at night we supported my little sis's drama production at goodman arts centre.
good job little sis! always proud of you when i see your works on stage, be it acting or when you are the playwright.
coming to the end of the 3rd week of holidays. today i went back to school to do the timetable for sem 2. this year i am in timetable comm. my first time involved in timetabling during my 6 years of teaching. always wanted to be in timetable comm but it was never possible because of my heavy involvement in aesthetics at the previous workplace. now i finally got my wish!
timetable comm is really not easy. i stayed in school until 5 pm to look at every single teacher's subject deployment. and i went back home and continued doing until 11 pm, and even had to whatsapp my boss to clarify some doubts.
to reward my hard work i am going for a staycation tomorrow (YES AGAIN) at grand park orchard! grand park orchard is $240 per night. my ex colleague had a staycation at cappella sentosa, and the room cost $720 per night. that's really a bit crazy.
looking forward to tomorrow's staycation with darling. :)
every holiday i will always watch finish a hk drama. so this time round darling and i finished watching 殭. a drama full of eye candy. hahaha.
am i looking forward to go back to school? honestly i am not, but i am totally ok to go back because i had a really good break. :)
our long awaited 3D2N staycation/babymoon is here!
picked darling up at 130 pm from her workplace and off we go to intercontinental singapore!
i booked intercontinental singapore on agoda website at $280 per night, for a deluxe room. and the front desk staff informed me that the hotel will give me a complimentary upgrade to a business room. woo hoo!
check out our lovely room! intercontinental singapore had just renovated all the hotel rooms last year. the rooms look really new and modern, with a peranakan touch.
intercontinental singapore is strategically located at bugis junction. darling and i had a great time shopping at bugis junction, bugis+ and OG. after shopping we can just drop all our shopping bags in the hotel room and continue shopping. reminds me of the great memories we had at ximending, when we do the same thing. presenting to you our new DOTS hp cases! the shop is at 2nd level of bugis+. one hp case for $6.90, two hp cases for $12.00 and three hp cases for $15.00.
you know that you are getting ready to move on to your next phase of life when you shop for baby clothes instead of your own clothes. EDD is 14 september. really excited to welcome our bundle of joy. :)
the next day we had breakfast at clinton street baking. the pancakes and latte are WOWWW.
pancakes are not cheap though. cost $18.00. they do taste fantastic but the price a bit too steep. honestly speaking, the best pancakes that we had are still the pancakes from tabard inn at washington DC.
lunch was at 新源记 fish head bee hoon. my first time here! the 鱼片米粉 is really good. although it is also a bit pricey at $5.80.
in the evening i invited my parents and my sister to the hotel room for dinner. my youngest sis have rehearsals so she cant make it. while they were in the room i went around bugis to da bao dinner: lor mee, hokkien mee and popiah from the nearby hawker centre; lava chocolate cake (from chocolate origin), snacks and bubble tea from 我爱台妹, pizza from pezzo, and finally bbq skewers from one of the restaurants along liang seah street. #foodfeast #foodcoma
we really enjoyed the staycation. darling is recharged for work, and i am recharged for my 2nd week of protected holidays. hahahaha.
my mother in-law makes the nicest 粽子. every year without fail she will make a lot, and pass some (about 10 plus) to my family. this year she passed 12 to my family and 7 to me. i can eat this for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper on the same day, without getting sick of it. :)
today is also the day of ippt. last year i got GOLD.
unfortunately, this year i can only get a silver.
last year's results:
push ups - 39 (21 points)
sit ups - 52 (24 points)
2.4 km - 10 min 51 s (40 points)
Total - 85 points
to get gold, you must get at least 85 points.
this year's results:
push ups - 40 (21 points)
sit ups - 52 (24 points)
2.4 km - 11 min 10 s (39 points)
Total - 84 points
in order to get gold this year, i have to do either 4 more push ups, or run 10 seconds faster.
ohhh well, i shall try harder again next year. next year will be my last year taking IPPT so let's end next year with a last hurrah.
i am happy with the $300 for this year. now to spend it on the upcoming staycation/babymoon with darling at intercontinental singapore!
this morning was the MOE Olive Run. i ran the 5 km 2 years ago. last year's olive run my previous workplace sent in an ultimate frisbee team, but the competition was cancelled due to the haze. this year i went to support my colleagues from the previous workplace in their futsal competition. they got 3rd place! congratulations! :)
after that i went to ktph to pick darling from work, and we went to ntuc to shop for groceries for the dinner that we are hosting later. jingwen, grace, xuefen and hw are coming to our house for a 10.11.12 gathering. 10.11.12 is the date when i proposed to darling. :)
kimchi salmon prepared by me. one pot wonder (named by laval) prepared by darling. cheese balls prepared by the air fryer. chicken kebabs prepared by jingwen. kimchi pancake da-baoed by xuefen. hw da-baoed sambal kang kong but he was late so the sambal kang kong was not in this pic. instagram-worthy pic taken by jingwen.
group pic! i really love the blue wall. hahahaha.
the night ended with delicious earl grey lavender cake, bought by grace from creme maison bakery. the cake was really good, with real lavender flowers on top of the cake. you can taste the lavender aroma in your mouth, making you think that you are going through aroma therapy with lavender massage oil in your mouth.
thanks for coming everyone! :)
