CNY 2021

It has been so long since I last updated my blog. Even the layout and template has changed. 

I thought I should document what I did and what I wore for this year's CNY, so that 12 years later I can use my blog as a time machine. 

This year there was no CNY concert in the hall due to the COVID19 situation, so my wushu team did a pre-recorded performance. I did a cameo, and become Ip Man, paying tribute to one of the greatest kung fu master, and also paying tribute to Donnie Yen, one of the greatest martial arts artiste in the world. 

This year, the Multi Ministry Task Force set the rule that each household can only host up to 8 people at only one time in a day. So we are not going to my 7th uncle's place for reunion dinner. 

CNY2021 OOTD for the whole family is adidas theme. My favourite sportswear brand. 

I hope yuanze and yuanyi wont cringe when they see this 12 years later. Hahahahaha. 

2nd day of CNY we brought yuanze and yuanyi to woodlands waterfront. It is their first time there and they had a good time cycling and running around. yuanze dared to climb up this very tall obstacle that was meant for kids 13 years old and above. so so so proud of him. 

The 3rd day of CNY coincides with valentine's day. We brought the kids to nurseries along Thomson Road to look at flowers. Xiaoyu and Yvan went too because it is their last day meeting the kids, before both of them fly off to London. Xiaoyu got a scholarship from National Arts Council to further her theatre studies there, whereas Yvan is working. 

they look so handsome and so good in this OOTD dont you think? their OOTD was chosen by darling. :)

and also on this special day, that is valentine's day, i want to give a word of appreciation to my darling, thank you for loving me and accepting me for who i am, and thank you for giving birth to yuanze and yuanyi, to me you are my whole world. i love you~

CB

Due to covid19, our lives have been much affected. 

Firstly, there was the Circuit Breaker from 8 April to 4 May. And due to the Circuit Breaker, there is full home based learning for the students. And hence I am working from home. 

The first week of the Circuit Breaker was challenging. Darling was also working from home. Yuanze and Yuanyi were at home as well. I was planning learning packages. Yuanze was asking us to play with him. Yuanyi was crying and wants to be carried. I had to carry Yuanyi and put him on my lap while I do the screen recording. And the screen recording can capture Yuanyi cries at certain times. 

Then a few days later, the ministerial task force say that, we cannot bring our kids to our parents on ai daily basis for babysitting purposes. And my MIL suggested putting Yuanyi at her place for the time being, if not very difficult for both me and darling to work from home while taking care of 2 kids. So we agreed with this arrangement. 

And then one week ago, the Circuit Breaker was extended until 1st June. And the June holidays were brought forward, and will be from 5 May to 1 June. 

So the cons of this CB period are: 
- Every saturday cannot bring Yuanze to swim
- Every sunday cannot bring Yuanze and Yuanyi to tampines to visit my parents and sisters
- Doing HBL packages are making me vomit blood, as well as the checking of submission of assignments, chasing students if they never do the packages, calling them or calling their parents
- Never get to see Yuanyi  :( :( :(
- I miss the interaction with my students and my colleagues

The pros of this CB period are:
- Spend more time with darling and Yuanze at home
- Improve my cooking skills

And that's about it. 

Honestly, I prefer to go back to school. 

But anyway, I understand what the government is doing. 

So in order to live longer and stay healthy, we should just stay home, until the covid19 situation is over, and life can be back to normal. 

Sharing some photos of Yuanze doing his HBL and also exercising with me. :)

His hair so damn long omg.

Brought him to the barber to cut his hair on 19 April, and so lucky I did that, because a few days later, the government announce that haircutting services will be stopped. 

So fit this boy. :) 

To all my friends, jia you during this period! 

Affirmation

My colleague passed me a few pieces of students' work, and attached a note:

"Dear YY, 

Sharing with you this piece of writing by E2. As part of their EL task, they were told to choose a subject teacher and they have chosen to write about you. 

Hope this makes your day! :) "

Thank you. Reading these really makes my day, and affirms me as a teacher. So I want to record it here, in case when I feel jaded from teaching, I can read all these again to find back the motivation on why do I want to teach. 

Here goes!

1st Letter:

We are writing this report to express our appreciation and provide feedback on our Chemistry teacher, Mr Tan. 

Mr Tan is capable of making lessons interactive by making light hearted jokes, which captures our attention and increases our participation in class. 

Secondly, when our notes are thick and content heavy, Mr Tan will teach the chapter by writing on the board, while standing for multiple hours. Knowing the hard work and tireless dedication that he has to offer, we are deeply grateful to have met a teacher who wishes nothing but the best for us. 

Overall, for the past three months that Mr Tan has been teaching, was a joyful and memorable experience. As he has proven to be understanding, approachable and encouraging towards us, regardless of our learning abilities, which we are forever thankful for. 

Report written by: Amber, Camelia, Kar Ying, Kiferlynn, Yan Ting

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2nd Letter: 

Mr Tan is an interactive teacher such that he makes his lessons entertaining and easier to understand. He always check our understanding on the different topics before continuing to the next topic. 

Homework was given adequately so we are able to finish it on time. When we received an unexpected result for Chemistry Structured Class Test, he motivates us to do better in upcoming tests. 

We really appreciate having Mr Tan as our Chemistry teacher. We hope he can continue to make us better students in terms of academics and character. 

Report written by: Nayla, Aryani, Amirah, Shahana, Jeyaeni

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3rd Letter: 

We are writing this report to compliment Mr Tan YY about his effective teaching. During Chemistry lessons, he adds a bit of humour to make lessons enjoyable and interesting. The tone of his voice is also loud enough to catch everyone's attention especially those that were daydreaming or falling asleep. Mr Tan always have a positive mindset when he steps into the class. This gives us a positive mindset as well, as it means that the lesson will be enjoyable since the teacher is in a good mood. 

A teacher shouldn't always add humour or else the class is in a mess. Mr Tan is very strict with timing and loves to be on time for the following chapter. He has one of our LIGHTS values, self-discipline. He teaches us to be self-disciplined by setting our targets and making sure we reach the targets. 

In conclusion, we find Mr Tan YY very disciplined and we are thankful to have him as our teacher. 

Report written by: Siriporn, Rycca, William, Wai Kit, Wei Heng

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CNY Celebration 2020

Early this year, the Mother Tongue teachers ask if I can perform for the CNY Concert. 

So I decided to choreo something for my wushu students, with me inside it. Not that I want to show off, but it took me only one session to finish the choreo with my students. After one session and two rehearsals, we go perform already. 

Though I must admit, the choreo is quite simple. The kids only need to learn 5 bars of steps. And they do some domino effect (to "waste" the music), walk down stage to perform, and then go up stage again ("waste" more music) and taaaa daaaa we are done. Hahahahaha. 

I also ordered a costume from taobao for this performance. I ordered on 11 Jan 2020. And it got delivered on 23 Jan 2020. The performance is on 24 Jan 2020. Talk about treading on thin ice. :p

Got the wow effect a not? Hahahaha. 

Signature pose! How can it be a Mr Tan item, without my signature pose, correct? Thank you to all my wushu students who are game enough to do it with me. 

Right after the performance, I quickly went down to the canteen to set up the Lou Hei with my Staff Well-being Committee (SWC) colleagues. This year I am the SWC Chairperson. 

My vice-chairperson, Diyanah. She will take over me as Chairperson next year. 

My treasurer, Hui Ping. She was also my FT partner in 2016, when I first joined the school. 

SWC 2020! I love this team. Thank you so much for working so closely together in enhancing the work life harmony! Missing another team member, Mdm Zahara, who is the SSD, and is like a mother to me, always giving me guidance and advice. 

Of course must take pic with my beloved PE Dept! 

Happy CNY everybody! Enjoy the long weekend! 

Yilan Day 5

I like the air con at Hive Hotel. I no need to adjust the temperature. I feel very comfortable inside the room, with my tshirt and shorts. 

Hive Hotel is not bad. Wheelchair friendly. Great location, whereby you step out of the hotel, within a few metres, there is 7-11, All Family Mart, bubble tea shops, eateries, and also ufo machines (very very dangerous if you have kids). The breakfast is normal though. Ala carte, with 3 different choices. Skip the breakfast, and go out and explore other yummy breakfast options. 

100 metres away there is a Wellcome supermarket. The place that we will definitely go to when we are in Taiwan, to purchase some local groceries/products. 

Our flight is at 210 pm, so we must reach Taoyuan Airport by 1210 pm. And we also need to return the car. 

From Hive Hotel to Taoyuan Airport is about 1 hour 25 min journey. We also need to top up the fuel at a petrol station near the Airport, because need to return the car with full tank. 

So at about 8 plus in the morning we go to Wellcome Supermarket, bought our stuff, went back hotel to pack, and we check out of the hotel at 10 am. 

And it was still drizzling...

Even though it was drizzling, the drive to Taoyuan was much better, as compared to the drive on the first day from Taoyuan to Yilan. Now I am more confident, and also more used to the left hand drive. 

Anyway, presenting to you the car that served us well for the 5D4N:

Thank you so much 小白! So thankful that this car is quite new, got bluetooth function, so Yuan Ze still get to listen to his nursery rhyme songs on this car. The engine a bit sort sort though, because when I press on the brake for the car to come to a stop, then when I release the brake and step on the accelerator, the engine will jump. Dunno why also. 

Some reflections from this trip: 

1) Yuan Ze really likes travelling. And he loves staying at hotels. And he was totally ok on the flight. Taking off, he is ok. Landing, he also ok. 

2) It was a very good break for me, to go on holiday to a country that I really love, to eat nice food, admire beautiful scenery, and most importantly spend quality time with darling and Yuan Ze. I can't wait for our next holiday together, and the next time will definitely bring Yuan Yi. Going for holiday gives me the motivation to work, earn money and bring the whole family to nice places and to create wonderful memories. 

3) I dunno why, but I can never get tired of Taiwan. Ok, I am tired of Taipei already, so the next Taiwan trip, will explore more of Yilan again, as well as other parts of Taiwan. No more Taipei as of now. 

4) Thankful that both darling and I are well versed in Mandarin, and we converse in Mandarin with Yuan Ze since young. The locals commented that Yuan Ze's 国语讲的很标准. Made me very very proud. Darling and I will continue to converse in Mandarin with both Yuan Ze and Yuan Yi. It is important for our 2 kids not to lose the Mother Tongue. Sometimes darling will speak to Yuan Ze in english, then Yuan Ze will say 我不要妈妈 english. Hahahahahaha. 

Ok and this brings a closure to our Taiwan Trip 2019. 

Next up, Hokkaido in June 2020, with my two sisters (including huanyang's family and xiaoyu's bf)!  

Yilan Day 4

It was still drizzling in the morning... :(

We packed our bags and check out of 湖漾. 

Today our plan is to go 松茂果园 to pluck fruits. 11 am we are going to this DIY pizza cafe. If we are done with the fruit farm very early, we will go to 梅花湖. We stayed at 湖漾 because it is very near 梅花湖, one of the signature places in Yilan. But we didnt go there because it was always drizzling. And then, after lunch at the DIY pizza cafe, we will head to Luodong to check in to HIVE Hotel, that is near Luodong Night Market. 

This is the entrance to the fruit farm. It was manned by an ah ma. Ah Ma welcomed us, and then cut an orange for us to try. Not bad, sweet and juicy. And then she explained to us how it works. Each adult pay NT150. Yuan Ze no need to pay. Then she gave us two baskets and two cutters. Then the fruits that we pluck, we can bring all home. Actuallywe know that we definitely will not bring all the fruits home so we just took one basket. 

Orange tree well protected under plastic bag. 

Ah Ma removing the plastic bag for us so we can pluck the oranges. 

Yuan Ze very happy to see so many oranges. 

The scenery at the fruit farm was so good that darling wants to take photo. 

We are done within half an hour. Then out of the whole basket of oranges that we plucked, we only brought 3 oranges back. HAHAHAHAHAHA. Ah Ma felt so paiseh and told us to bring back all the oranges but she eventually gave in to our insistence. 

So we went to 梅花湖 next. It was still drizzling. So we decided to rent this e-scooter thingy in the form of a poli car. 

Yuan Ze was so thrilled to sit on this. Out of so many cartoon characters to choose from, he chose this poli car immediately. NT300 to rent this, for one hour. If you drive and park your car, your NT70 parking fee will be reimbursed. Smart marketing gimmick. Best decision ever to rent this, because it protected us from the rain, and it was very refreshing to ride on this along the entire lake. The circumference of the lake was about 3 km I think? Cannot imagine if we chose to walk. 

The beautiful 梅花湖. Yuan Ze was so happy to see the ducks. Which means he got the chance to feed the ducks again. LOL. 

Anyway there is a very nice pastry shop here called 橙靖手工烘培坊. The cakes and biscuits here are not bad! We bought quite a few back as souvenirs for our family. 

Next, the place that we are having lunch, and also letting Yuan Ze make pizza: 屋顶庭园咖啡. 

Such an instagrammable backdrop. 

Playing on this rocking horse while waiting for the boss to prepare the pizza ingredients. 

And let's get started!

All ready to be placed in the oven!

The finished product!

Looks legit, tastes legit as well! Well Done Yuan Ze! 

Yilan Day 3

The first place that we went to is E-Long Goat Farm 宜农牧场. 

First, when you reach the entrance, you have to pay the entrance fee of NT30 (SGD1.40) into a coin box. It is all about integrity. 

Then at the shop, you spend NT100 (SGD4.50) to buy a feeding basket that consists of: snacks for ducks; carrot for rabbit; a bottle of milk for the pigs; sunflower seeds for the parrots. after you feed finish, you return the basket to the shop and you can get a bunch of grass to feed the goats. 

these pigs damn aggressive. they push each other out of the way just to drink the milk. 

later on this 2 little goats also join in the fun to snatch the milk. also damn aggressive. they followed us everywhere just to drink the milk. i had to feed finish the milk and throw the bottle into the recycling bin to let them get the idea, then they stopped following us. -.-'''

the rabbits were more tame as compared to the pigs and goats. yuanze enjoyed feeding them. :)

yuanze enjoyed feeding the ducks too. 

see how happy he is. it started drizzling so he put on the beanie. 

feeding grass to the goats. these goats also quite aggressive, will bite on the grass and pull the grass towards them. that is why i held on to yuanze's arm while feeding them. 

The next destination is Kuchen Kennwort Museum 亚典蛋糕密码馆. It is a shop that specialises in doriyaki, cakes and all kinds of food-related souvenirs. Yes it is a touristy place. 

The shop features the doriyaki making process. This is a must go for Yuanze because he loves eating doriyaki. 

Have a longer look at our hairstyle now because later on we are going to cut our hair!

After that we went to Jimmy Theme Park. Really nothing much to see. If you intend to go there, you can give it a miss. 

So we decided to go have a haircut. Initially I found a salon at Luodong, that is affordable and have very good reviews. But since we are already at Yilan City, so we went to find a salon here. On my google map, found a salon nearby and has good reviews as well. Off we go!

TA DAAAAAA. Yuan Ze's new hair style. Got hip a not?

Darling ask Yuan Ze to smile and he decided to look cool instead. 

But he cannot maintain his cool expression for too long. Hahahahahaha. 

How do we look? Handsome? :D

The haircut, that includes washing, cost NT428 (SGD19.40) per pax. 

For tonight's dinner, darling found this noodle shop, 朴食甘味小馆,  that is about 6 min drive away from 湖漾. The noodles here is nice and price is affordable as well! I highly recommend! Beside the shop also got sell cheap and nice bubble tea. Thank you darling for finding this place! 

Otw back, I took a wrong turn and drove past a long stretch of road, where both sides of the road are cemeteries. My balls was shrinking and was praying to myself to reach 湖漾 asap.