Manchester United - League Cup Winner 2017

#GGMU!!! 

FIL's birthday celebration

on friday night FIL came to my house and we prepared the ingredients together for the yakitori. apple, pear, oranges, yellow pepper, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, and... JACKFRUIT. yes jackfruit. to be honest i have my reservations. 

taaa daaaaaa!!! that is 2 plates of pork belly shabu shabu. FIL worries that it will not be enough for all of us to eat. 

the army stew! 

my sister in-law bought pork ribs and prawns. MIL cooked a dish of asparagus with scallops and XO sauce. 

wonderful and delicious lunch. my life is complete. 

and guess what? the jackfruit yakitori taste surprisingly nice. hahahahahahaha. next time FIL wants to try using grapes and bananas. hahahahaha. 

saturday post

today i prepared these for dinner, because the in-laws are coming to our house to eat dinner. darling's mum is a very good cook, and after a tough day of sch, i seek solace and comfort in her food. i really love the egg tofu, chicken rice, tau kwa with pork, cabbage, dumplings, bitter gourd fish head and cod fish. and the soups that she make are OMG. so good and so nourishing. so when they come to our house, of course i must prepare something special for them. :)

prepared these because darling and i tasted very good yakitori at taichung's fengjia night market. they wrap bacon over interesting ingredients such as orange and mochi. the mochi one really a bit too high level so i decided not to do that. after discussing with darling, the ingredients that we use are orange (from cny hahahahaha), cherry tomatoes, oyster mushroom and yellow pepper. 

also prepared kimchi salmon. but it seems that the yakitori is more popular than the kimchi salmon. hahahahaha. 

the biggest recognition is... my FIL requests for the yakitori and the army stew he ate last week to be prepared on his birthday celebration, which is on next sat. while eating we were actually discussing where should we go and eat. so MIL suggest stay at home, and she will cook some nice dishes. she then suggested cooking curry, and my FIL said no need the curry, he wants the yakitori and army stew. and he also want to prepare the yakitori together with me next saturday. hahahahahaha. 

i can sleep very well tonight. :)

V Day

on this very special day, i did not go to sch. instead i went for an Outdoor Education workshop held at the Academy of Singapore Teachers. 

to be very honest, it feels good to take a break from school and go for a course. next wed and thur i will be going for my first aid refresher course. hee hee hee. 

after the Outdoor Education workshop i travelled to chai chee to collect the v day present that i got for darling. it is actually customised balloons inside a big box. the person who is doing this business is a lady that i got to know in tzu chi, when i was involved in their production. she is so kind to give me a 10% discount. :)

you can follow @balloonelle.official on instagram to see what products and services they provide! you can also try your luck by saying my name and see if she will also give you a discount. hahahaha. 

and guess what? the biggest beneficiaries of this big balloon are actually enxuan and yuanze. they played with the balloon so happily for a good 15 minutes. life's simplest joy is to witness your children playing happily. :)

元宵

my 元宵 was spent with my students. invited them to come to my house for a cny gathering. originally there were 12 students who are coming. 1 got the date wrong. 1 have to go for a video shoot. 2 cannot make it last min. 1 arrive at 9 pm. 

and i prepared a big pot of army stew, pork shabu shabu, kimchi salmon, and ordered 3 large pezzo pizzas. 

thank goodness my in-laws pop by and help to eat the army stew and pork. :)

it was great to see all of them again after so long. especially lee shermin (the girl in pale blue) whom i had not seen since my wedding in dec 2015. 

happy 元宵 to everybody!! 

saturday post

this year's cny was not very festive for me because yuan ze fell sick. he had cough, flu and fever. on chu yi when everyone go bai nian, we stay at home, and i also have to go to guardian to buy vicks ointment for yuan ze. :(

darling knows that at 4 months old, there's no cough or flu medicine to be prescribed, so we decided to see it through, and hope he will become better. unfortunately it did not get better, and we brought him to see the paediatrician on wednesday. the paediatrician believes that he caught a viral infection when we went out on cny eve. HAIYAAAA... 

right now he is still coughing a bit, with phlegm in his throat. there's still mucus in his nose. for the past few days, when we tried to suck the mucus out, he resisted like hell, machiam fighting a war with us. but since yesterday, when we put the SMD (suck mucus device HAHAHAHAHAHA) in his nostrils, he allowed us to do it, and he did not move at all, and from his facial expressions, we can tell that he totally enjoyed it. hahahaha. 

on a side note, the photos of my maiden performance are out! 

CNY Concert 2017

after a year of hiatus, i get to don my wushu costume again, and perform on stage with the dance club students. 

this is my first time dancing with them on stage, and i am quite sure that this is the first time that a teacher dances with the students on stage in the entire history of the workplace. 

hope that my dancers will treasure this opportunity of performing together with their teacher in-charge, and feel inspired by my passion in performing on stage, and performing with energy, effort and expressions!

a group pic before we perform! this performance is actually using this year's syf steps with music that has some chinese elements. so my instructor have some difficulties finding those kind of music and she asked me for some recommendation. i sent her two music, the opening item music by BDA for space.time.mind and the 水袖 music in 2009. and the choreographer (the guy in brown singlet) chose the 水袖 music. last year when he came to the workplace to teach dance, i find him very familiar. so i stalk him on facebook and realised that he also went to sibu in 2015 for the Sibu International Dance Festival. life is full of coincidences! and sg is so small. 

taken by my dance student who graduated last year. :)

taken by my colleague! 

taken by my partner FT mr ray chua~

group photo with the form class! 

the coolest expression from 3 of us. 

the photographer told the two ladies to do my signature pose. 

adss pe dept! so much love for all of them! 

again all of them do my signature pose. looks like the whole school already know that this is my signature pose. HAHAHAHAHAHA.

left the workplace at 11 am and went home to do some spring cleaning. 

this year's reunion dinner was at two places. round 1 was at pappa mia, festival hotel RWS, with darling's family, arranged by my sister in-law who is a restaurant supervisor of pappa mia. pappa mia sells delicious local cuisine at reasonable prices. their chicken rice is yumz because they hired the head chef of chatterbox (the super atas chicken rice). i also love their satay and satay burger! the only downside of eating there is that i spent 18 dollars on parking at RWS. -.-'''

round 2 was at tanah merah, with my family. always look forward to eat steamboat over there, especially the 麻辣 one. my 8th uncle's wife is from 四川 and she prepares the authentic 四川麻辣火锅! damn shiok! darling up her level this year by trying it. hahahaha. 

soundwaves chingay, wecare singapore

brought students to watch chingay. it is a cohort bonding LJ (learning journey) for the sec 4 students. 

in my 34 years of life as a singaporean, this is actually my first time being to chingay. 

we have to assemble in school at 4 pm, and the buses will pick us up at 5 pm. it was raining heavily at 2 pm and it subsided at 3 pm plus. but as we are otw to the chingay venue, it started to rain heavily again... 

presenting to you, the CHINGAY RAIN CURSE. 

i am surprised that the heavy rain didn't drench our spirits. everyone was still very energetic. the performance started and everyone was treated to the magnificient sights of dance, floats, and pyrotechnics. 

before going to chingay, i knew that there are 3 ADSS students dancing at chingay. and after i posted on instagram that i was at chingay, a TPSS student replied to my post that she and 2 other tampinesians were also dancing. and much later on, tan zhunian also replied to my post that she's dancing! 

introducing my form class for this year, 4E1. this is my first time being an FT of a graduating class. and introducing my FT partner, mr ray chua, who is a senior teacher in physics. looking forward to forge more memories with this wonderful class! 

sunday post

this week has been a turbulent week for yuan ze. 

for the past 2 weeks his scalp was very red and there was yellow puss on his scalp, probably due to his constant scratching on the scalp and wounds start to appear. 

as a result he could not sleep well at all which resulted in darling not sleeping well too. 

on tuesday there was a very bad rashes outbreak on his whole face. and we are guessing that he scratched his scalp with his hands, and then use his hands and scratch his face. 

thus we decided to bring him to see the paediatrician. and i remembered it was a rainy night and by the time we reach the clinic, it was about to close. luckily i called them to inform them that we will be going down. 

and so the paediatrician prescribed some purple lotion and steroid cream for yuan ze. and after a few days of applying the purple lotion on his scalp and steroid cream on his face, thank goodness he has recovered and he is back to his energetic self today. 

today we also celebrated the niece's bday in advance (her bday is tomorrow). 

it really brings us happiness to see her so delighted when she saw her Frozen birthday cake, and she was wearing her Frozen clothes bought by me and darling at Taiwan's h&m. 

happy birthday niece! can't believe that you are already 3 years old. the time when i brought you to gardens by the bay when you were just an infant seems like it was just a few weeks ago. :p

dun u think the yellow chicken on top looks a bit creepy? it scared my sis in-law in the middle of the night. hahahahahahaha. 

happy 2017

happy 2017 to my dearest readers! actually i dunno who still read my blog. i know darling definitely reads my blog. probably merllie. so for those who are still reading this, send me a personal msg to let me know ok? :)

anyway let's compare some statistics. 

in 2008 i wrote 221 posts. 

2009 - 247 posts
2010 - 217 posts
2011 - 220 posts
2012 - 199 posts
2013 - 202 posts
2014 - 181 posts
2015 - 173 posts

and finally in 2016,,, only 100 posts. hahahahaha. 

the main reason that i can think of for the shortage of posts is probably i use instagram more often to voice out my thoughts. 

let's see how many posts it will be in 2017! 

anyway i spent the last day of 2016 at fooshin's house. thank you fooshin for the delicious lentil soup and quiches. always look forward to this yearly affair at his house! 

this time we have 3 new guests! my son, fav xinyi (aka Dr Li, darling's personalised obstetrician), and jingwen's fiance. 

we are looking forward to jingwen's big day! (although she nv say anything about it yesterday but we also didnt ask hahahahaha) 

my resolutions for this year are:

1) to be a good chemistry teacher/form teacher for 4E1. in my teaching career of 7 years, i am finally taking a graduating class, and it is the top graduating class. expectations are there and i really want to fulfil these expectations and help the 4E1 students achieve good results for chemistry. 

2) to be a good pe teacher for my sec 3 classes this year 

3) to reduce the obesity index of the obese students. this year i am given the challenging task of overseeing the FFC (讲好听一点 is Fun and Fitness Club, 难听一点就是 Fat Fat Club). i must plan meaningful activities to let them realise the importance of leading a healthy and physically active lifestyle.  

4) to let my dance club students be more confident and have stronger stage presence, and lead them to do well in syf. certificate of distinction will always be my target, but i need to be realistic with this group of dancers. so certificate of accomplishment will suffice. certficate of distinction shall be the long term goal, and to be achieved in 2019. 

5) to be a loving husband to darling, loving father to yuan ze, loving brother to my two sisters, filial son to my parents, filial son in-law to my in-laws and a trustworthy loyal comrade to my colleagues and friends. 

6) lose weight and train myself hard to get a gold for the final IPPT of my entire life

my wish for 2017 is... to have a chance to perform on stage, be it at the workplace or with 新艺. let's see how it goes! effort expressions energy!!! 

recap of 2016

2016 has been both a fulfilling and challenging year for me. fulfilling because darling and i finally have our own house to stay in, and of course we have our yuan ze arriving to the world on september 14. challenging for me because it is my first year in a new work environment and i think i have adjusted quite well, although i still miss the people and the memories at the previous workplace. 

moved in to our new house at woodlands in march. really want to thank my in-laws for helping with the renovation of the house. they contributed 80% of it. and after that came a series of house warming for our different groups of friends. we cannot have one house warming for everyone simply because our house is too small. #typicalBTOproblem

a special dedication to the pe dept of the new workplace. it is a wonderful and dynamic dept, led by the motherly and caring HOD. we have great teamwork and we are the envy of all the depts because of our strong cohesiveness. thank you to the pe teachers for making me welcome and feel belonged since day 1. :)

and of course another special dedication to my first form class at the new workplace. heard terror stories of this class, and it was a jia lat class due to certain individuals, and it has no class spirit, and its classroom was placed nearest to the KP (Key Personnel ie the HODs SHs YHs AYHs) room for the most obvious and strategic reason. so the school management felt that putting in a fatherly figure and a experienced teacher can change the class for the better. and i think the school management have great foresight and i repaid their faith. HAHAHAHAHA. but all these could not be possible without my wonderful partner FT, miss ong. she is a really dedicated and passionate teacher and she played a huge part in energising me and relighting the flame of teaching that has become smaller over the past 6 years. we worked hand in hand to reform the class and bring out the best in every individual. the class thanked us by holding a wonderful teacher appreciation party for us and both of us were honestly impressed and touched by their efforts. 

although i have left the previous workplace, but i have been there for 6 years, so the memories and the friendships can never be erased. thankful to be still able to meet up with colleagues and students for this year, and thankful for welcoming me back as if i had never left. 

another important milestone for this year, which is i finally finished my 10 cycles of reservist and we had the MR parade at the majestic Singapore Sports Hub. what a good way to end the reservist cycle on a high. MR lohhhhh!!!

the most significant milestone for this year is the arrival of yuan ze on 14 september. from a son, i became a father. 

the wonderful baby shower for yuan ze. it would not have been possible for my two students, denise and jean, as well as darling's cousin, jeremy (who happened to be denise's ex bf hahahahahahaha sg is so small). 3 of them did all the decorations. also want to thank my sister for letting us have the baby shower at her condo's function room. and a big thank you to all our friends/colleagues/relatives/students for the baby shower gifts. 

a big dedication to my family, who have watched me grow over all these years. always look forward to go back tampines on sundays to have meals with my parents (seldom see my two lovely sisters who are always so busy). but kudos to them, ever since yuan ze arrived, i see the two of them more often on sundays. hahahahahaha. thank you for your huge love towards yuan ze. i am so happy to see that my parents have finally upgraded to become grandparents, and my two sisters have become 姑姑s. 

also want to thank my in-laws family, for taking such good care of me, and helping me so much. making sure i was well fed, helping with the renovation of our house, taking care of yuan ze, giving us advice on how to take care of yuan ze. a shout out to my niece, who will always be our happy fruit. initially darling and i were worried that she will be jealous of yuan ze because our attention will be more focused on yuan ze. our worries were actually unnecessary because she love yuan ze alot and she is always so happy to see him. in the past, when she first step into the in-laws' house, she will greet me. now, she will immediately go and find yuan ze, and say these: 源赜!!! 我很喜欢你 lehhhh!!! 

and for the final picture, the most important dedication to my love, my lifetime partner, my wife. thank you for all the love, for giving birth to yuan ze, for looking after yuan ze and me, and for all the sacrifices that you made. i cannot imagine how my life will be without you. we shared many beautiful memories together, travelled to many different countries together. from now on, we can't wait to create more beautiful memories together with yuan ze, our bundle of joy. thankful to be able to go to taiwan this year for a short holiday, which will not be possible if my mum did not volunteer to take care of yuan ze. thank you mama. taiwan 2017 and new zealand 2018, here we come!  

wednesday post

it is already 21 dec. 2 more weeks to sch reopen. 

this holidays have been wonderful, for me to rest, relax and recharge and gain weight. hahahahaha. i had really put on alot of weight and hope my colleagues/students dun judge me when i appear in sch in my sports attire with a protruding tummy. 

last sunday we went to vibez for dancescape singapore's christmas party. thank you mr derek seong for the invitation, and also for the christmas gifts. so paiseh that i din get you anything. i will see if i can get you something on the actual christmas day. this picture really says alot. i first met xiaoyun in 2007 when i first joined nuscd. then in 2008 we work really close together because i danced in two of her items for psyche 2008, 'dare to dance' and 'distance'. 'dare to dance' really brought me out of my comfort zone because i have to do hip hop. as for 'distance' i quite enjoy that dance because most of the time i just need to act, and through 'distance' i also get to know xinyi, who was my dance partner, and later on became darling's personalised obstetrician. later along the way i get to know wilson, who was xiaoyun's bf, then became fiance, and finally became husband. and then some time in 2008 xiaoyun jio me to derek seong's wushu class and that's where i first met him and his wife. work closely with him in 2012 2013 where i performed for his dance items as well as competed in his wushu 集体拳 套路, that enabled me to relive my wushu memories when i was sch team wushu representative for sec sch and jc. the collaboration did not stop here. when i started my career as a teacher in the previous workplace, xiaoyun wilson and derek help me alot in creating a vibrant arts culture for my students, as well as giving my students a platform to shine on stage. the respect that we have for one another is mutual and that's why when they have any events, i will definitely go and support them because they gave their best for me, i should of course give my best for them. and look at us now. all of us are now parents! 

on monday we went for a family outing to changi airport. yuan ze was really intrigued by the bright lights and beautiful architecture of changi airport. and we also experienced having our meal with yuan ze. our meal was interrupted by him pooing and crying. so we have to take turns to pacify him. one of us continue eating our food while the other bring him out for a walk. more of such experiences to come! 

for tuesday we initally wanted to go to katong because i have a craving for katong laksa. but later on decided not to because the route from katong laksa to 112 katong is not very stroller friendly. so we went to thomson plaza instead. and the same experience came when we ate our lunch at imperial treasures. monday's experience was good training for us. :p

as for today, my pe classmates came to our house for a long overdue house warming/yuanze's baby shower. i really treasure my friendship with them. today is also 冬至 and darling prepared 汤圆 for them. and the 汤圆 tasted really good! kudos to darling for her maiden attempt in making 汤圆. it was really a good time catching up with them and sharing about our previous cock memories, for example myself being a so called devoted buddhist by not eating beef but ok to drink the soup from the 牛肉面. hahahahahaha.  

tomorrow have to go back to the workplace for a meeting from 12 pm to 530 pm. please let me survive. 

saturday post

writing this because i have survived 3 hours alone with yuanze, as darling went for her friend's wedding banquet at orchid country club. 

for the past 3 months, i am happy and proud to have done all these, as a father:
- change his diapers and clean his shit (that's the first thing i learnt) 
- prepare his milk and feed him
- bathe him
- entertain him when he is awake
- put him to sleep 
- help him change into a new set of clothes (extremely stressful when he is struggling and crying)

but honestly, when he is throwing a tantrum and crying at the top of his voice, i can never ever calm him down, no matter what i do. only darling can. it is not only the power of the mother, but it is also because... darling can sing better than me. hahaha. 

luckily during that 2.5 hours he never cry at the top of his voice. and i must say that i am so thankful when darling came back home. together with my in-laws. 

it is really very fulfilling to become a father. i feel a greater sense of purpose in my life right now. i always have a sense of purpose in my life, but right now the sense of purpose is GREATER. 

next week we are going to bring him out, before the school holidays end. stay tuned for pictures! :)

#throwback 3 days ago when we went to suntec city to watch the little ponies performance. one of the ponies is meizheng. thank you for telling me about this show! my niece likes little pony alot and her favourite one is pink (who is coincidentally meizheng). HAHA.