weekend post

saturday was filled with aesthetics related activities. 

in the afternoon i brought my dance club to esplanade theatre to watch 'Sleeping Beauty'. for free! the workplace is offered this thingy known as the Keppel Nights Scheme and we get to watch certain performances for free. so for 'Sleeping Beauty', we get to bring 40 students and 3 teachers. 

before the performance, i bumped into yoke kay, my nuscd junior. after the performance, i bumped into ong yuying, who happened to be seated at the same level as me but right at the other end. it is always nice to see dance friends and i had a short catch up with both of them. 

the performance was super long. 2 hours and 10 min, including a 20 min intermission. after the performance i was super hungry, and i am so glad to have kay lee roast duck and char siew for dinner, together with very nice peng kueh. and then i rushed to sembawang cc to support my workplace's band and drama performance. they are performing for the national day dinner. honestly i dun like performing for national day dinners. the people will focus more on the food instead of the performance. after i done it once in 2013 with my show choir, i tell myself, NO MORE PERFORMANCE for national day dinners. 

this morning i went to fooshin house with darling and my parents in law. foo shin's house need some adjustments in the electricity wiring, and he engaged my father in law, who is an electrician. before going to his house we had this very good white kway teow at a kopitiam near fooshin's house. ahhhhh~~ talk about life's simple pleasures. 

after that we went to bugis to buy 630 dollars worth of health tonics for darling. the boss provide us value added service by sending her kah gia to help us bring the bags of health tonics to bugis+ carpark where i parked my car. so thankful for the kah gia's help. there was really too many health tonics. 

tomorrow is my first time being involved in national day celebrations at my workplace! and there is something special happening! will update on the blog once it is over! :)

sunday post

this morning i went to singapore conference hall with darling to support my workplace's band at a national band competition. 

they are supposed to perform at 915 am. we reach the CBD area at around 905 am. only to discover that today is car-free day for CBD, so alot of roads are being blocked, and i made detours and detours. darling later found out that singapore conference hall carpark is also under renovation, and drivers are advised to park at international plaza... 

finally i parked the car at international plaza, and we walked to singapore conference hall and we reach singapore conference hall at 945 am. and of course the band students have finished performing. HAIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. 

i apologised to the kids for missing their performance, and i promised to turn up for their next performance. 

i was here 5 years ago, for the previous workplace's 25th anniversary celebration. OMG i look so slim and so... youthful. 


5 YEARS LATER... ...

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多一份男人的成熟与沧桑. HAHAHAHAHA. 

B-Dazzled 2016

from 2012 to 2015, i was involved in B-Dazzled as the teacher in-charge. 

this year, i am involved as a member of the audience. honestly i do feel a sense of emptiness. during this time of the year, i will always be fully occupied with the preparations, attending countless rehearsals, motivating the students, working with the instructors to bring out the best in the students. this year there was none of that. 

b-dazzled has really moved a long way. in 2012 when it first started, the festival was held at an auditorium in ACS(I). in 2013 and 2014, it was at ucc hall. in 2015 it was at star theatre. this year, it was at Resorts World Sentosa! much credit must be given to the directors of Singapore Show Choir Academy, John Khoo and Deniece, for making the festival bigger and bigger each year, and organising the festival at such prestigious performance venues. i only get to perform at ucc hall during my undergraduate days, and my kids already perform there at the age of 13. 

presenting to you, mr john khoo! if you find him familiar, he is the one who proposed to his wife at changi airport two years ago, in the form of a flash mob, and the flash mob director is none other than deniece. the wedding proposal video gathered a million likes on all kinds of social media, and the proposal was even featured on straits times as well as local magazines. that aside, he is a really dedicated and passionate instructor, and my TPSS show choir kids had the honour to learn from him on a few occasions. he taught them vocals for a short duration in 2012. in 2013 tampines polyclinic finished its renovation and there was an official opening, and they engaged us to put up a performance, and the GOH is the minister of health, mr gan kim yong. john did the vocals arrangement for the performance, and the kids put up a great performance. in 2015, john came down to TPSS again to give a vocals lesson before the SYF. 

i also caught up with mr dayan, who was our vocals instructor during the first half of 2012, when we first converted from traditional choir to a show choir. mr dayan is now a English and Geography teacher at a school in the west. i also saw ms safy, our dance instructor. she was telling me she felt very sad that TPSS did not participate in b-dazzled this year. 

did not manage to see deniece because she was in the control room doing the lightings for all the performers. r

arshad took part in b-dazzled solo this year and got into top 5! we are all so proud of him. arshad graduated from TPSS in 2014, and he was one of my core performers. he sings very well and can beatbox too!

and the OCA winners gather together again. ms chua (the one in the middle) has now gone to SST and has become one of the teachers in-charge for SST Show Choir. honestly i dun have a liking for SST Show Choir because of their teacher overall in-charge. she made a nasty remark about me on facebook without getting her facts right and i was really upset about it and i told deniece. deniece clarified with that teacher and the teacher apologised for her mistake. i shall be magnanimous about it and let it go. 

this year there were 15 schools participating. peirce secondary school has improved ALOT. regent as usual, did not disappoint. most of the schools need to improve much more so that the whole show choir scene in singapore can move higher to the next level and get recognised by Arts Education Branch. 

i can't help it but i really miss my TPSS show choir students... :'(

453 SAR MR Parade @ National Stadium

for those who dunno, MR means Mindef Reserves. so if a person MR, it means that he has finished his 10 cycles of reservist, and he don't need to do reservist anymore, unless he chooses to roll over to another unit or to brigade. the 10 cycles of reservist consist of 7 high-key ICT and 3 low-key ICT. a high-key ICT must be at least 8 days, and normally is until 3 weeks. a low-key ICT can be as short as 3 days. 

to mark the end of our 10th ICT, we have the honour to have our MR parade at National Stadium. why are we so lucky and so special to have it at the National Stadium? the only reason i can think of is that the chairman of ndp 2016 organising committee is Brigadier General Kenneth Liow, who is also the Chief Armour Officer. since we are an armour reservist unit, so therefore... everything falls into place. 

hence on 16 July 2016, 453 SAR will have the MR parade together with 428 SAR. all the NSmen are allowed to bring our family members and friends to witness the parade. 

the CSMs and the ushers have to reach at 730 am whereas the rest of the people can reach at 830 am. so my initial plan was to ask darling to wait outside the stadium while i go into the stadium first. and then my RSM knew that i am bringing darling, and he told me to draw another pass for darling so that darling can be seated in the stadium first. i am so touched by his kind gesture. when darling was seated, he asked darling to change her seat so that she can have a better view of me. hahahaha. 

a wefie before the start of the parade! 

the contingents on the left are from 453 SAR and the two contingents on the right are from 428 SAR. 

i am standing right behind the Support + HQ contingent, as the contingent sergeant major, holding on to the pace stick. the pace stick is a symbol of authority for all the sergeant majors, as the master of parade, drill and ceremony. 

once the parade is over, photo taking time!! 

with my OC, CPT Lo Whee Siang. we knew each other when we were instructors at School Of Armour, and both of us were in the Armour Road Relay Team (for officers and specialists). we also did duty together when he was the Duty Officer and i was the Batallion Orderly Sergeant. who can expect that after the we ORD we will work together again in camp, for the next 10 years. thank you for all the guidance and the wonderful partnership! :D 

my 4 x signallers. this 4 signallers... i dunno what to say about them. when is time to nua, they really nua to the max. but when it is time to do work, they will deliver, for example taking over signal store, mounting signal set onto vehicles, getting the comms ready. hence i think that they are still good soldiers. hahahahaha. 

this is a priceless picture of all the CSMs plus the RSM. from the picture you can guess who is the RSM (the one who look the oldest hahahahaha). he will be retiring in 3 months time. i find him a bit hot tempered, sometimes a bit naggy and honestly i try to stay away from him as much as i can. but i will never forget his contributions to the unit, his advice for me when i was still an inexperienced CSM, and his high standard of discipline for all the commanders and men of 453 SAR. 老 cik, happy retirement, and thank you for all that you have done for me and the unit. :D

feeling a bit nostalgic, and hence tomorrow night i will be meeting the support company command team for dinner! 

10th ICT

i am really glad that the 10th ICT is coming to an end, but i still feel a tinge of sadness, because firstly i will not be working with this awesome team anymore, and secondly sungei gedong camp, although is damn far when i was staying at tampines, has been like my vacation home for the past 14 years. 

2002 july i entered the armour formation as a tank commander. and sadly after i ORD, sm1 tank is being phased out and the ministry of defence bought the leopard tank. so the sm1 tank commanders are deemed as "useless" when they go for reservist. they do all kinds of taskings for example being the ammo ic, bronco vehicle commanders, or go to HQ to help with admin tasks. 

i am thankful that i went to support company as the Company Sergeant Major. my first few ICT was a steep learning curve, because I am getting to know all the people of the support company. i am like the new guy that comes in and straight being given a huge leadership role, so i must work very hard to prove my worth and gain the respect of all the men. 

luckily i did, and i have forged strong bonds with everyone, especially those from the support company command team. i even invited them to my wedding. :)

today i went to sungei gedong camp for the very last time. and i had my lunch at the canteen opposite the Armour Gunnery Tactical Simulator, which was where i worked at after i passed out from the Tank Commander Course. yes i really lead a very good life, because i worked in a air conditioned simulator, where my other peers who became instructors all have to perspire and eat the sand when they go outfield. 

i am proud to be in armour. once armour always armour. if i have a choice to choose my vocation, i will still stick with armour. SWIFT AND DECISIVE! THE FORCE THE FAMILY! 

looking forward to the MR parade at singapore sports hub this saturday morning. darling is going to watch too! i am the support + hq contingent sergeant major. so i will be the only person standing right behind the contingent, with a pace stick. :D

453 SAR Family Day @ Tampines Safra

the reservist unit organise a family day for all the NS men at tampines safra to mark the coming to an end of our 10th ict. 

alot of money and effort has been put in to organise this event. there's futsal, dodgeball, nerfgun, archery tag, bowling, pool/snooker, bouncing castle for the kids, and the major highlight is Swim For Hope, where each swimmer will swim as many laps as they can. each lap that they swim, 1 dollar will be donated to charity. 

the CO (commanding officer) started the family day with a speech, thanking the NS men for all their contributions to the unit and making singapore safe, as well as thanking the wives of the NS men for their unwavering support when their husbands go for ICT. thank you darling for your unwavering support. hahahaha. 

i also took part in the Swim For Hope, and i swam 30 laps. it has been such a long time since i swam so much. good exercise, good work out, for a good cause! :)

thursday post

this week was a very shiok week. 

monday was youth day holiday. tuesday lessons end at 1240 pm (the muslim staff and students can go back at 1040 am). wednesday was hari raya puasa. 

tomorrow is already friday, and i wun be in school from 11 july to 18 july because i am going for reservist. it is a good break from work, and it is also my last ICT, so i guess it will be a very memorable one! 

my daily motivation right now is to finish work, go fetch darling, have dinner at the in-laws' house, play with the niece and go back home to watch drama, be it hk drama or korean drama. darling and i just finished watching mrs cop season 2. 

and right now we are watching this:

kim rae won is too handsome. 

sunday post

went back to esplanade again today to support Fen and his dancers, who are performing at the Outdoor Theatre. i was very happy when i saw chunying among the dancers, and the joy was increased when i saw jean dancing for SMU InDancity. chunying and jean were my students at the previous workplace, and they will always dance in my items when i ask them to. thankful to have such wonderful students. i guess that is the joy and satisfaction a teacher could have. 

jean graduated from the previous workplace in 2011 and chunying graduated in 2012. now they are pursuing their university degrees. time flies...

after the performance i went for supper with fen, nzj, and also made 2 new friends, meiqi and skinny. meiqi is a dancer who went to hong kong to pursue her degree in dance. i actually danced together with her 10 years ago at Buddha Tooth Temple. skinny is a very funny hong kong guy, and honestly i dunno why he has such a funny name. both of them are going back to hong kong tomorrow. have a safe flight! 

saturday post

went to esplanade to watch the SYF Celebrations Opening Show. it was held at Esplanade Concert Hall. 

the show was quite short. only an hour. but the items are wonderful. there was the display band from TKSS, combined chinese orchestra from maris stella high and mayflower, dance performances by ang mo kio sec, riverside, katong convent and woodgrove primary, drums performance by edgefield secondary and finally a combined schools choir consisting of a few primary schools and secondary schools. 

my favourite was the chinese orchestra performance and the combined schools choir performance. the chinese orchestra conductor is a super cool guy. i watched him conduct last year, with his polytechnic chinese orchestra, and they were playing KPOP songs! this time the songs are 男儿当自强 and bon jovi's It's My Life. 

this conductor will interact with the audience, telling all of us to clap our hands or shout Ha. :D

the combined schools choir, led by choir conductor mr darius lim. heard his name before a few times, and he was my ex show choir president's conductor when she was in primary school. she kept on telling me how good mr darius lim is. last year when my show choir went to syf, we sang a song that was composed by him. 

i was actually involved in SYF Celebrations 2 years ago, working with the teachers from MOE Arts Education Branch. that time was held at Gardens By The Bay. this year it became bigger and was held at Esplanade. i think Esplanade is better, at least it is air conditioned, especially with the crazy weather right now that everyone is perspiring major big time. 

good job to all the teachers who were involved in this big scale SYF Celebrations! especially to the teachers from Arts Education Branch. :)

weekend post

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! 

monday post

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! 

weekend post

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. 

friday post

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. :)

staycation @ intercontinental singapore

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.   

端午节

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!

saturday post

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! :)