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! :)

lovely weekend

saturday night i went to NAFA to support my student's dance performance. it was her final time performing for NAFA. 

super proud of her. we first worked closely together in 2011, when i was the artistic director of the previous workplace's 25th anniversary production and she was the female lead. and for my future items that i choreographed, she will always be a part of it. and then i also asked her to perform together in 2013 for that religion-based performance. finally in 2015 she was being asked by xuehong to dance for the 新艺 production. she was given one of the heavier roles and she told me she was super stressed out, dancing with the lao jiao dancers like regina, viv, sandra and nari. but i think she did fine! :)

sunday morning i went to fullerton hotel to attend my cousin's wedding lunch. the ballroom was the exact same one that i went to 5 years ago, for my jc classmate's wedding. i was the emcee for the wedding, and this time round my little sis was the emcee for my cousin's wedding. 

the tan siblings! with our spouses. tan yuyang can you quickly get a bf soon?

this is our first photo together, ever since darling got pregnant. hahahahaha. 

after the wedding lunch, darling and i went to 112 katong to watch x-men apocalypse. 

movie was really good. on par with cpt america civil war. i am blessed to be able to watch this 2 movies on the big screen. 

and on a side note, parking at 112 katong is super expensive. i parked there for 3 hours, cost me 9 dollars. i parked at fullerton hotel for 3 hours, cost me 5 dollars (actually is complimentary because i got the parking coupon). a neighbourhood shopping centre has more expensive parking than a 5 star hotel in the city area?! what is this man. 

拜拜

last fri and sat i was at my late grandma's house. 

there was a big scale prayers organised for my late grandpa, late grandma, late great grandpa, late great grandma and late auntie. apparently i had this auntie who was born before my dad. she passed away when she was still a child, because she was having high fever, and at that time the family no money to see doctor, so my great grandma fed her opium, hoping that she will recover from the fever, and sadly she passed away. if my pharmacist wife read this i can imagine her eyeballs stare big big. 

so on fri, which was the last day of term 2, i left the sch exactly at 1240 pm to go back home and bathe, then travel down to bedok for the prayers. reach there at about 3 pm and the prayers havent start yet, so i was folding the joss papers and paper ignots with my cousins. then my uncle said... on fri night we have to 守夜... 

3 years ago when my grandpa passed away and 2 years ago when grandma passed away, it was my little sis who did the 守夜 roster for the cousins. so she took up the responsibility again, and she said those who are married and the wife is pregnant, are excused from 守夜. #THANKYOUSIS 

and one more thing to share... i found out that 思 is actually not the family name for the next generation. because my cousin's son is named 思敖 (SiAo hahahahahaha). so both my dad and myself assumed that 思 is the family name. then my cousin told us that he did not follow the 家谱. so my dad immediately went to check the next generation family name from his 6th aunt (who is also my 6th grandaunt). and so the next family name is 源. 

so instead of 思赜 (SiZe), we shall call him 源赜 (原则). a man of principles. hahahahaha. 

and the next generation (ie our grandson) family name is 后. i will psycho my son to name him as 后裔. 太阳的后裔. HAHAHAHAHA. i am totally enjoying this name calling thingy. :p

my heart was being stabbed because all the cooked food has to be thrown away. they were left in the open for too long from morning until late afternoon and may have gone bad. :(

took us so many days to fold all these joss paper and paper ignots. we started folding them like one month ago. -.-'''

literally littered with paper money. 

and ta da everything is gone just like that. please spend the money happily in the 阴间! 

inter-class games 2016

on tue and thur afternoon, the adss pe dept organised netball inter-class games for the sec 1 students and football inter-class games for the sec 3 students. 

i was one of the teachers who were in charge of the football inter-class games. for both afternoons i was the referee for all the football matches. really enjoyed myself being the referee. finally felt more like a pe teacher, instead of a discipline teacher who go around collecting statements from students who committed offences such as fighting and smoking. 

on thur afternoon, the inter-class games ended with a friendly match between the staff and students. of course the staff won, with a score of 3 nil. i scored 2 goals and assisted 1 goal. :)

then as we were clearing up the football field and moving the logistics back to the pe store, the netball teacher in-charge told us that the netball girls want to play a friendly with us. #SHAGGGGGG

and we played 20 minutes of netball with them. had lots of fun too. but i went home with an aching body. 33 years old already, have to admit i am getting old and my body is not a 23 year old body anymore. hahahaha. 

thank you all students and teachers for a great ICG 2016! hope all the students had lots of fun and had lots of class bonding. :)

he shall be named

my dad thought of a few names for our son. 

for those who didnt know, my family follows the 家谱, meaning that the sons of a generation has the same first character. my male cousins all start with 渊. my dad and his brothers and his cousins all start with 泽. my ah gong's generation all start with 树. and so for my ah gong's generation, you get all the funny names like 陈树叶，陈树木。my ah gong is 陈树根. 

so for the next younger generation, the first character is 思. 

i thought of calling him Tan Si Jin. in dedication to yoo si jin from DOTS. hahahahaha. 

jokes aside, these are a few names that my dad came up with:

极 - 顶尖；登峰造极

赜 - 精微；深奥

豫 - 欢喜；快乐

济 - 人才济济

we actually liked 思极 and 思赜. 

but... being a teacher, i start to imagine what will happen if his school mates play the name calling game on him. 

思极 will become 死鸡 (dead chicken). 

as for 思赜, his hanyu pinyin name will be Si Ze. if you put Si and Ze together will become... SIZE. M size. L size. XL size. hahahaha i was laughing to myself when i thought of all these. 

(i got the feeling that merllie from nuscd is going to PM me soon.)

MANCHESTER UNITED WON THE FA CUP!

i forgot when is the last time i posted about manchester united, the team that i supported since young, when i first started watching football on tv. those were the days that you can watch football matches on channel 5. now you have to pay exorbitant prices to watch football matches on singtel or starhub. 

but anyway, we won the FA Cup! watched the match until 330 am because the score was 1-1 after full time and there were 30 minutes of extra time. jesse lingard scored the match winner and his volley was unbelievable. it came out of nowhere! 

juan mata, the man who scored the equaliser. until now i still dun understand why he is not called up for spain's euro 2016 team. 

jesse lingard, goal scorer of the winning goal! 

FA Cup trophy lifted by the captain wayne rooney and vice-captain michael carrick! 

david de gea, our goalkeeper, who was fantastic for us as usual. i think he is the world number 1 goalkeeper right now. 

GLORY GLORY MANCHESTER UNITED! #GGMU

happy vesak day

vesak day reminds me of the performance i am involved in with a religious association back in 2013. through this performance i made many new friends. some of them are really nice people and helped me alot and i invited them to my wedding. as for the others, i shall just deem them as passer-bys in my life. 

first of all, i like to mention about nickson. nickson is a very good actor, and you can see his works at some commercials and movies, for example the famous local production, 7 Letters. and also the cpf poster 2015. 

acting is just his passion, as well as his sideline. nickson's main occupation is a director of a translation company. 

before my wedding, i was looking for a bridal car. so i posted on facebook, asking for bridal car lobang. and he left a comment, telling me not to waste money, and ask me to pm him. so i did pm him, and he volunteered to provide me his white bmw, as well as being the chaffeur. i was elated, and asked him how much should i pay him, and he told me to just give him a token fee ang bao for good luck. i am really thankful for his help. :)

the day before the big day, i met him at my aunt's condo. my aunt was the official florist. so he had to drive his car to the condo for my aunt to arrange the flowers. 

on the big day! 

besides nickson, the people whom i invited to my wedding are: 
renee, the lady in maroon, who was the director of the performance. she's my senior in kevii hall. 
chin huat laoshi, the gentleman standing behind renee, who is a dance instructor. he was the costumes IC of the performance. very nice guy and i love him for his straightforwardness. he was my little sister's dance instructor. 

i also invited weiling, the stage manager. unfortunately she was not free on that day. 

just now i listened to some of the buddhist songs from that performance to trigger some memories, as well as to commemorate vesak day. hahahahaha.