Teeth and Dentist

Some months ago, I was so shocked to realise that my teeth were getting 'longer' and more 'loose'! The front teeth, especially, seemed to be rather shaky!

Feeling very afraid and frustrated, I rushed to my regular dentist for an urgent consultation. She tested the teeth by 'shaking' them, and noted that they were indeed rather 'mobile' (that's the term she used). I was devastated. The dentist said that going by the looks of the teeth and the gum, I was probably losing calcium. Then she did some regular scaling, cleaning etc and dispensed those regular advice on good oral hygiene etc. She also suggested that I started to use a toothpase formulated for sensitive teeth.

With a very heavy heart, I left the dentist's clinic. How could this happen?! Ever since my primary school days (when we had to deal with an ultra-paisi dental nurse all the time), I have been brushing my teeth religiously. And when I came to know how to use the floss, I have also been flossing my teeth conscientiously everyday. So, how could my teeth threaten to fall off ?!?!?! And calcium loss??

Since that visit, I took extra effort to brush even more cleanly and thoroughly. Also floss more carefully. I started using Paradontax, a toothpaste recommended by my colleague even though it costs 3-4 times the price of the regular Darlie toothpaste I had been using all my life.

As an additional precaution, I also began popping 1-2 calcium tablet supplements which M got from the polyclinic (cheaper than calcium supplements available on the shelves in outside pharmacies). I decided that the need to urgently halt/slow down loss of calcium would override my long-time concern about calcium supplements heightening the risks of stones in the body.

This morning, I visited the dentist again for my regular check. The dentist found no cavity (this is usual) and noted that the teeth no longer seem 'mobile'. What a relief this was! But she said that I have to improve further on cleaning the finer parts of the teeth to prevent any build-up of food stains.

As she scaled my teeth, I tried to put up with all those drilling-against-teeth noise. Yucks! Also, some teeth began to feel 'sensitive' and so, to the annoyance of the dentist, I started to involuntarily wrench on the chair! I mean, all those awful 'sng' feelings were so unbearable!

The dentist decided in the end, to use in addition to the regular scaling, the more traditional hand-scaler and the 'sandblast'-scaler!!!! Wow! I never knew dentists use such a machine, it was quite fascinating when she explained what it involved. Basically, it was a super-strong jet of water combined with very fine powder (sand) polish. Its job is to 'spray off' stubborn food stains from and especially behingd, the teeth.

The 'sandblast' was certinly a much more bearable option to the scaler. And soon, the scaling was finished and then after a quick polishing routine, it was all done. And I was released from the clinic.

By then, it had been an hour (the usual time slot given for each check-up visit is half an hour only). And poor R, whose turn was next, looked so bored sitting on the safe in the waiting area.

I 'rested' my poor teeth while R had his checked and worked upon. After another about 1 hour, he was also done. And then we left for our respective offices.

Parking at Shenton House was daylight robbery - for parking there for about 2 hours, we had to pay $15!! Next time, we must not park there anymore.

Law School, NUS

When I was in primary school, a favourite question asked of me and my classmates was: What would you like to be when you grow up? Common answers were: A Doctor, A Lawyer, An Engineer or A Teacher. Some even say, "A Nurse."

I dreaded this question and all these sort of 'expected' answers. So I sometimes replied casually, "A Doctor." Other times, I just uttered, "A Lawyer."

Then one day, a relief teacher called Mr Mohan asked me the same question. I just said, "A Lawyer." Then, he asked again, "Why?"

I was stumped. Erm, what does a lawyer do ah?! I don't recall what I said to him in my reply. If at all, I must have said something silly.

That afternoon, I came back home and consulted my good old friend - the dictionary, on the meaning of 'lawyer'. And I remember that I was sent on a frustrating, circuitous search amongst terms like 'lawyer', 'solicitor', 'solicit' etc etc. At the end of the exercise, I was still clueless on what a lawyer does.

During those days, we watched a lot of HK drama on TV in the evenings. While watching one of them one evening, it suddenly dawned upon me what a lawyer is! Ohh..... so, it's that person speaking for another in a court of law!

But then, I was still puzzled why the non-lawyer person could not have spoken on his own behalf?! Why did he need another person to speak for him? The 'lawyer' must be a very privileged person, lah?! Ah, not bad, right?! Can speak even for others, and bring justice to everyone - 打抱不平、伸张正义！

Anyway, that was what I thought being a lawyer was all about.

*********************

After primary school, I didn't have to deal with questions like 'What do you want to be when you grow up'. It's weird but the question never seemed to have been asked again in secondary school.

It was only when after our 'A'-levels results were released that I had to re-visit this issue. Being the Jack-of-all-trades I was (with mediocre results anyway), I figured that it would be 'easier' to take on a course that was general and where everyone would be starting 'afresh', from a common 'zero' base.

And so, I opted to read law at NUS. For my 2nd choice, I chose a Commerce course at NTU (this was an inaugral course then).

When the posting results came, I was a little disappointed because I was posted to the Commerce course at NTU. Although I had gone through the compulsory written test and interview for Law School at NUS earlier, I had secured only a listing on its Reserved List.

And so, I told myself that, well, what was to be would be. So I got in touch with one of my seniors (studying at NTU then, to become an accountant) and set about registering for hostel etc. My senior, whose name is Hui Chen, showed me around and intrdocued some of her hostel friends to me. My allotted accomodation was Hall 4, which was a relatively new block a distance away. It looked clean and white and overall, ok.

I got ready some clothes suitable for the orientation camp at Hall 4. And I was all eager to try, for the first time in my life, to 'live away from home'.

However, about 1 week before the camp, I received a letter form NUS offering me now a confirmed place at the Law School. I was in such a dilemma, I didn't quite know what to do.

I pondered over and over again, if I should accept NUS' offer. Many questions went through my mind, I spoke to CP and my senior, and I even tried to imagine myself as a lawyer versus a business-commerce person. It was quite an agony, but eventually, I decided that I would come to regret not giving the law a shot, if I gave up NUS' offer.

So, I literally gave up everything at NTU (including whatever deposits etc), and then embarked on a journey to the unfamiliar Law School at NUS all alone, no classmate, no senior. It felt a little scary.

*************

Law School was the 2nd smallest faculty in NUS then. There were only about 180-200 of us in my cohort.

The 1st week of term was spent on some orientation programme. My new schoolmates and I got to know one another a teeny weeny bit more through song fights (which were common intra-faculties competitions) and some team-building stuff. But because the 'main' law orientation camp had already been long over, I felt it a little awkward amongst the new schoolmates. Many had already formed their cliques.

By the time the orientation came to an end, a few others (also previously on the Reserved List) and I became buddies of sorts. We went about lectures and tutorials almost always together. Lunch was also a group affair most of the time. In between lessons, we visited the Co-Op to waste time, also together.

The 1st year and 2nd year subjects were very much compulsory (and therefore standard) subjects which everyone had to offer. By the time we reached 3rd year, however, we had to opt for various courses depending on both our affinity and availability of vacancies. These also included some non-law subjects from our neighbouring faculties - Arts or Business Admin.

In the 4th year, my combination of subjects were such that I had a veri unique schedule - 4 very long days from Mondays to Thursdays but an ultra-short day on Fridays. Most of my classmates did not have such a schedule, and so we met only during our lectures for the common core subjects.

Amongst this group of girls I was usually with were: Hwee Yen (also from TJC), Shirley (who ate slower than a snail, counting her noodles strand by strand) and Janice (we were from the same tutorial group for some subjects). Others would sometimes also join us for lunch, so the size of the group could be anything from 3 -4 to 8-9!

Lunch at the Arts canteen was tastier most of the time. The food was more varied and it was more fun watching people from other faculties eg Arts, compared to staying at our puny, little Moot Court corner all the time. My favourite stall at Arts canteen was the minced meat noodles stall. The father-and-daughter stallholders would put a colander full of sliced lettuce for us to help ourselves to. And I never failed to help myself to a generous serving of the lettuce each time I patronised the stall.

Many persons loved the char-kway-teow stall at the Arts canteen. I found it so-so only, although its food was indeed much better than several other stalls there. My classmates also liked the yong-tau-foo stall; its laksa version was quite good.

At the SOM canteen (School of Management), the system was different because it was manned by a central caterer. The food served was ok when we were really famished and hard-pressed for time. Other times, we preferred the bottled drinks sold there to the food selection available. I remember, especially, the western food they sold at SOM - everyone had to drown the chicken cutlets and pork chop etc in chilli sauce and/or ketchup before we could swallow it!

Other eating places Hwee Yen and I went to (in the 1st year) was the canteen at Yusof Ishak House, which was a bus-stop away at the top of the hill. We went there regularly during those times because both of us had signed up to be volunteers to man the student hotline. The claypot rice at Yusof Ishak House was so horrid - the vendors simply put the pre-cooked and pre-arranged rice in the pot and sent it into the microwave oven! Other food there was also just so-so only.

Manning the student hotline was my only ECA in NUS. Even then, I did it only for one year because I couldn't stomach the stealth and secrecy we had to keep to - the counsellors insisted that we had to remain anonymous in this 'job' because otherwise, no student would want to call the hotline! What kind of logic is that, I thought! And so, after fulfilling a term of 'secret phone call handlings', I called it a day.

I had tried joining the band in NUS during my 1st year. But there was a very sissy medical student in the French Horn Section, whom I absolutely couldn't stand. So, I was not motivated to attend any band practice or event. All I did apart from attending 2-3 band practices was to spend a night at the Cultural Centre to help out at the band's float preparation that year.

Sometimes, I do wish I had persevered and continued with life in a band. But then, maybe it is for the better that I didn't - as it was, coping with the rigours of studies at Law School was a challenge. Also, I spent quite a lot of time shuttling to Science faculty regularly to join R and his gang for lunch etc. So, where got time for band?!

R stayed in the Temasek Hall during his NUS days. I was a regular visitor at his hall. After lessons ended at 11:00 am each Friday morning, I would take a stroll to R's hall and do my reading and tutorial assignments in his room. His classes ended late but we would usually have dinner together anyway. Sometimes he would pack dinner for me from the hall's canteen; more often, though, we would take a walk down to Fong Seng Nasi-Lemak shop next to the bus terminal behind the hall. There were occasions when we took a ride on the public bus, out to Clementi central, too.

Similar to the time I had spent in TJC, I don't have any special feelings about NUS. The 4 years I spent there feels even today, somewhat fleeting and un-real. So, even though I met some great friends there, it remains nothing more than a study-place to me. It's sad but true.

By the way, Law School has now been relocated to Bukit Timah. I don't even know its exact location. *shrug*

CG 17/87, TJC

Most of my TKGS cohort went to either TJC or VJC after our 'O'-levels. I chose TJC because of 2 reasons - 1) CP is its alumnus and 2) it felt more 'homely' than VJC during its Open-House. (I had gone for the Open-House of both TJC and VJC, after which, I felt that TJC was like UK compared to VJC which was like America.)

I enrolled myself in the Science course in TJC, taking Biology, Physic, Chemistry and Maths 'C'. And I was allocated to be in Civics Group 17, CG 17/87. We had about 15-20 persons in each CG.

Half of my CG 17/87 classmates were from TKGS, and in particular, Sec 4DScience. I think 4 of the 中文协会 girls from Sec 4DScience were in CG 17/87! Only the boys (I think there were about 5-6 of them) and a handful of girls were from other secondary schools. So you can imagine how 'exciting' the class was, in terms of meeting new friends.

My lessons in TJC were just so-so most of the time. In fact, I didn't quite enjoy them. It was common for a few of us to come together privately before each lesson to discuss the tutorial homework etc. The idea was to check and confirm our own understanding and have a 'common' understanding of the concepts and earlier lessons etc so that we won't be caught off-guard or 'embarrassed' during the tutorials.

During these discussions, I would actively contribute ideas and suggestions and many times, I was even able to and had to, correct my classmates' understanding (because my understanding was 'better' than some of them, mah). But then, when it came to the tutorials, the reverse happened. Somehow, they were better able than me to present their arguments and answers in a way that the tutors preferred. And so, to the tutors, it almost always looked like my classmates knew the answers while I didn't!

I felt so sian about this, I even suspected that the tutors were biased (somehow, it was obvious that they prefer some of my classmates to me, lah!) and so, even though we (my classmates and I) spoke the same thing, my classmates' answers were 'more correct' than mine.

Amongst my subjects, Biology was my forte. I loved all the Bio drawings that we had to do all the time and the hardwork we had to undertake peering into the microscope to look at cells etc. It was all very fun and very 'real' and related to our world. I was so motivated during Bio lessons that once, one classmate wondered aloud, "Why do you like Bio, ah? So messy all the time!"

I think she was referring to the dissection works which we had to do as part of our practical tests. These sessions were generally alright for me although I think many of the girls were a little squirmish about pinning down the animals and opening them up. We did it to the rat, cockroach and a few others. I was quite 'steady' in most assignments but I fumbled when we did it to the frog - I had forgotten to tie the aorta of the frog before snipping it (we had to look at the heart or something), and the dissection try was flooded by the blood that oozed out furiously the moment I cut the blood vessel!

Luckily, I managed to quickly cleaned off the mess with the help of my partner, before the Bio tutor walked past my tray! I think he would have given me a nasty time had he seen the poor frog submerged in its own blood!

Other times during Bio lessons, we had to draw what we saw of the specimens under the microscope. Hahaa, it was funny to see how worried some of my classmates would sometimes get when they couldn't make out what they saw of the specimen under the microscope! One girl, whom I heard has become a medical doctor now (!) often had to run to me to frantically 'copy' my drawings because she wasn't sure what she should expect to see!

It's a real pity all those Bio drawings which I had so painstakingly kept for years after my 'Al'-levels have, by now, been disposed of. I wish I had been more firm to resist those pressures to throw these away. Anyway, I scored an 'A' grade for Biology at 'A'-levels and I take comfort knowing that I had a great time learning Biology.

Chemistry was, to me, nothing more than a challenge to memorise and memorise more. Whilst I understood many of the properties and principles etc, I didn't enjoy them as much as I think I should. My Chemistry teacher was a rather weird young woman, who couldn't un-twist her tongue when pronouncing 'r' in words, called Betty XX. She couldn't accept my habit (when doing the hydrogen test for oxygen using a lighted satay-stick) of aiming the mouth of the test-tube at my left while holding to the lighted satay-stick with my right hand. I did this because my partner sharing the lab table with me was on my right. But this teacher never failed to 'suan' me about it anyway. My grade for Chemistry was a below-average score of 'C' at the 'A'-levels. ('C' is for Chemistry, right?!)

Physics was yet another headache for me. I simply couldn't understand how the concepts and formulae should apply in the situations given, and I was always 'lost' in lessons. I couldn't understand the objectives of the many experiment set-ups that we had to do in the Physics lab - what was I supposed to see?! I remember once, there was a set-up incorporating both a pulley system and a hose attached to the tap - I eventually managed to set up the appartus with the help of my irate tutor but I had not even the faintest idea what it was all about?!

It was quite stressful going for the Physics lessons. Things got so bad that some time in the 2nd year, my Physics tutor suggested to me (amongst a handful of girls he had 'counselled') to drop the subject for 'A'-levels. Mainly because of pride, I flatly refused to do so.

Eventually, to my tutor's relief and my own relief, I passed Physics at the 'A'-levels, albeit with a grade 'D'.

I was no better in my Mathematics. In fact, I dreaded going to Maths tutorials. What on earth are those d(y)/d(x) and so many other weird, weird forumale, differentiation, integration etc etc, for??! How on earth will we ever apply these in our real world? I think the operations like +, -, x and ./. will be sufficient for our daily needs, correct? Why do we need to torture ourselves, all entangled with such d(y)/d(x) thing??!

Anyway, I just never understood these. Even today, these Mathematical concepts remain elusive to me. And so, I eventually stood out from amongst my CG 17/87 classmates in Mathematics by my score of a grade 'C' at the 'A'-levels. To me, this is already a commendable personal achievement, particularly since I had no private tuition of any kind for Mathematics or any other subject. So, I am far from being shy that I didn't manage the 'A' grade that almost all my classmates secured for Mathematics.

I will always remember the nightmare I had a few weeks before the 'A'-levels' - I dreamt that it was the Mathematics exam and somehow, I couldn't locate the classroom where I was to take the examination (in TJC, we used both the hall and some classrooms for exams)! After some delay, I managed to find the correct venue but right after I found my seat and sat down, my mind suddenly became a complete blank! The cold-sweat, the chill and the shudder that had jolted me out of my sleep remains very vivid even today.

At the end of my 1st year in TJC, I scored a disappointing grade for my GP. I was quite disheartened at first, but when we had a change of GP tutor in the 2nd year, I became more optimistic and enthusiastic about GP. The new GP tutor was an elderly lady called Mrs Biswas. She encouraged my CG to read widely on current affirs and to tune in to BBC. And I did these conscientiously every day. The BBC channle became the default channel on the pink Sony walkman (that HA sold to me!).

Eventually, I improved in my GP discussions and essays and managed to score a respectable 'A1' for GP at the 'A'-levels. I was the only one in my CG who did that.

I remember that the topic I wrote for my essay in the 'A'-levels was "What I would miss most of my country if I were to be away for a long time", or something like that. I wrote extensively about the various aspects of our lives in Singapore - the family, friends, things we do together, the festive celebrations, the cultural variety, the food we enjoy, the transport we use, the daily sights we see, the common sounds/noise we hear, the weather we have in Singapore, the excitement of the occasional unexpected things etc etc. I guess the examiner/marker must have felt the real-ness of the heartfelt essay I wrote that day.

Tutorials for Chinese were rather 'standard'. Discussions were dominated by the Mandarin-speaking crowd in the CG. For essays that we wrote, I usually managed average scores even though I had felt that some of them really deserved a much better score.

At the end of the 1st year, we all sat for the 'A'-levels for Chinese. The idea was that if we secured a sufficiently good score, we would be allowed to drop the Chinese subject in our 2nd year, hence free-ing up our time to better concentrate on our 'core' subjects.

For this 1st-year sitting for Chinese, I surprisingly scored an 'A1'. And, it turned out that I was the only one in my CG who secured that score at this sitting! The best score secured by the 中文协会 girls in my CG was only an 'A2'!!

I was so elated that I kept smiling at everyone I saw the afternoon the results were released! "Yeah! Now I won't need to go for Chinese lessons anymore," I gleefully told myself.

My excitement was shortlived, however, because somewhere along the corridor outside the teachers' common room, I met my CL teacher. She called out to me, and told me that it was incredible (yes, she really said 不能够相信) that I had been able to score an 'A1' and that I had been the only one in my CG to have achieved that!! Although her words were said in a very plain, matter-of-fact manner, they were a very cold and an extremely wet blanket to me. Couldn't and shouldn't she have simply congratulated me instead? Anyway, I was more than glad to be out of her class from then on.

It was a bit of a dilemma after I earned the 'free periods'. Basically, this was because those 'free periods' were in-between lessons anyway, so it wasn't possible to knock-off earlier from school. And because I was not as 'into' the TJC band as I was in the TK Band during TKGS days, it felt a little awkward to 'idle around' during those times. Luckily, I had for company a classmate in my CG, Jolie, who decided to drop Chinese even though she had only scored a B for it. So both of us usually spent our 'free periods' reading or doing homework in the study area under LT1.

Sadly, I didn't feel any real sense of attachment to TJC. The 2 years I had spent there flew by before we could even get to know the place well. This is a great contrast to the 4 years which I had spent in TKGS - in TK, my friends and I became a part of one another and of the place. In TJC, it felt more like I was a visitor only. The many, many more fellow students in TJC (compared to the cohort we had in TKGS) remained strangers to me by the time we left TJC.

R is an exception, I guess, but that's another story altogether.

Narrow Escape!

Last Saturday, YP brought a cake for me. Since it was dinner time first, we decided that it would be wiser to put the cake in the fridge first. As I opened the fridge, however, a warm, stale rotting stench greeted me. Arghh!

It turned out that the non-freezer part of the fridge was not working! Words could not describe the frustration I felt; what with the washing machine dying on us last week and now, the fridge got to start acting up, too!!

Anyway, as CP and YP set off for home that night, we cleared out the dairy stuff like cheese slices and Yakult for CP and YP to bring home. Milk could not be salvaged safely, so that was thrown. I also gave CP some plums and the packet of kimchi which we suay-suay bought just that afternoon.

On Sunday, R and I did our chores as we waited for the technician to come. One elderly man and one young lad came at almost 1pm. They started dismantling the machine for diagnosis, and then asked for hot water to dissolve some hardened ice in some 'intestional' part which they were peering into. They also said that 1 or 2 parts of the machine needed replacement because they had become worn out.

They then set about giving the poor fridge the necessary 'treatment'. All in all, the job took 2 hours. And the time we took after that to clear the mess in the fridge, another 2 hours. During that time, we managed to squeeze in a hastily-prepared lunch of instant noodles, cocktail sausages and frozen mixed vegetables - all cleared from the freezer.

I threw away many and much of the opened and yet half-used stuff. The worst was M's stuff strewn all over the fridge. She had multiple packets of dried foods like dried scallops, dried shrimps, dried cuttlefish (stinking ones!) and many unidentifiable stuff stashed in this corner and tucked in that corner. She even had tubes of cream stashed amongst the 2 half-used packets of dried longans!!

Eventually, I decided that her space for these dried stuff will henceforth be limited to the big, square box which we managed to put in the lower compartment (just above the 'drawer'). Hopefully, the covered box will also help to contain the stench these dried cuttlefish etc generates!

It was incredible but I had to scrub and soak and scrub again, many of the trays (and that 'drawer') because some of the stuff had somehow gotten itself stuck onto them! It was hardest to get the 2-3 pieces of 枸杞子 which had become stuck to the 'drawer'! They were really as hard as rocks!

******************

Observation: I don't know why but M these days seem so super untidy in things she does. Has she always been like this but we weren't very aware of it (we were too young to notice/understand, or just too busy to realise)? Or has she become more and more messy person as she ages??

Everyday, I have to clean after her -

1) at the kitchen sink - I have to clean dry the wall joints which become water-locked each time after she is done with whatever washing after cooking etc - she can just turn a blind eye to these joints being submerged in water and detergent!

2) at the kitchen sink trap - the discarded cut parts of fruits/vegetable/fats from the chicken/fish scales etc always clog the trap - strands of noodles are also a common sight - to me, it's either to pick up these rubbish or risk having to call the plumber in, right?

3) about utensils - half the time, I have to re-wash plates,bowls, cups and even forks and spoons which have been 'washed' and put up for drying by M because there was still food on them - yucky!

4) in the toilet - the wash basin would have talcum powder dusted all over its edge and the same happens to the floor and the toilet bowl, all of which I have to wash/rinse/scrub off - also, to prevent her ear-rings from falling into the wash basin trap (which happened twice already), M would always pull the stopper and leave it pulled up even after she finishes with the wash basin - the stopper is, by the way, now 'loose' already.

And I absolutely cannot stand M throwing one rug here and another rug there, all the time, in the kitchen! The whole place already looks and feels so cramped with all her additional stuff (pots, wok-copver, plastic boxes, edible and inedible stuff of all kinds) that she has been heaping up in my kitchen for 1+ years now, so the randomly-thrown rugs worsens everything, especially since these rugs are perpetually 'crumpled' like a random heap of rubbish!

The last time I mentioned to her that she should perhaps put on her glasses if all these were due to poorer eye-sight now. But being the stubborn woman she is, she has of course flatly refused and defensively said, " 又不是喂小孩子吃鱼，哪里需要戴眼镜？"

***********

The 'rescued' fridge is ok now. The technician advised that everyone should try to keep good fridge-use pratices like opening the doors less frequently. For example, we should be more organised and take all the stuff that we need from the fridge before we commence cooking rather than fetch them item by item.

Let's hope that there will be better discipline in the use of our fridge. I have told R that if it breaks down again, we will live without one for a long time because it won't make sense to buy a new one to have it mis-treated again.

Wedding Dinner

This Sunday, I will be attending the wedding dinner of 2 colleagues who have been long-time lovebirds in the office. The groom is a jovial and helpful IT guy and his bride, a young and cheerful lady in charge of (can you imagine?!) property management - meaning, things like leaking toilets, security guards etc!

My colleagues and I cannot wait to see this fun and funny young couple in their wedding splendour. We are looking forward to the dinner especially because it's been a long time, afterall, since we last had any wedding amongst colleagues!

39!

I remember that when I turned 9 years old, I told myself that it was significant because the following birthday, I would be 10 and that would be the first of my double-digit birthdays.

When I was 19, I also felt that it was yet another significant milestone because the following birthday, I would no longer be a 'teen'. '20' sounded so grown-up and being a '20-something' so new and exciting then.

I don't recall any special feeling about being 29, however. Maybe the magic of turning into a '30-something' just didn't feel so magical. Also, I guess I was quite contented and busy dealing with everything in my life then - R, WY, work, buying/renovating/moving house and so on.

Now that I am going on to the '40s' the next birthday, I think it feels a little scary. I cannot pinpoint exactly why it is scary. Maybe it's because we all think being a '40-something' generally means that we have already reached the mid-point of our time on earth. And so, we ask ourselves questions like 'So, what have you achieved?', 'What next?'.......

For many of the questions, I don't have firm or good answers. But then, Confucian said, "四十不惑' and so, I will work towards being '不惑'.

For those who remembered my birthday, thanks for remembering and for your birthday wishes. These wishes do seem more precious these days.

My colleague spent a bomb on my birthday - lunch treat at Thanying restaurant ($80+ for 2 pax), birthday cake from Amara hotel ($30+ for one kg, after discount) and an angpow ($128 - ridiculous, hor?!). The aggregate sum is now a new credit in the '人情' account for her, and will go towards her birthday present next month.

New Washer

Our Whirlpool Frontload washer suddenly died-ed on us yesterday afternoon. It could not be resuscitated even after our many attempts, switching the power on and off.

So, we had little choice but to send our laundry (yesterday's load) to the laundromat for washing last evening. Luckily, the queue wasn't long when we arrived. I tossed the clothes into the machine and after slotting in the $6 worth of tokens, the washing began.

R and I were, by then, quite fed-up with the Whirlpool. It was just our luck that the extended warranty which we had bought when we first got the machine, expired in December 2008. Just 3 months after the extended warranty expired, the machine acted up and unilaterally retired itself. We figured that it will probably not be cost-effective to get a technician to look into repairing the machine. Anyway, the machine had been rather uncooperative for some time now.

And so, whilst the laundry was being washed, we trod downstairs at Parkway Parade to shop for a new washer. Eventually, we decided on a Samsung washer. The sales person from Best Denki did a wonderful job explaining to us its features and even demonstrated the various functions (Silver Wash etc). But because they didn't have available stock of the model we were interested in, we bought the washer from the neighbouring Harvey Norman instead.

We are awaiting the delivery of the Samsung this evening. Hopefully, we won't need to go do our laundry at the laundromat anytime again soon.

Quack! Quack!

Last month, I took a day off to bring J and S on a Duck Tour. M, CP and CP's colleague, May, came along, too. YP joined us for lunch at Suntec City after our tour.

I had been on the Duck Tour previously with WY. So this trip with J and S wasn't exactly 'new' to me. But I think (and hope) these 2 little ones enjoyed themselves.



S was very cute - the moment we started queueing up to board the amphibious Duck, she insisted on being held and carried by me (not anyone else)! And so, while struggling with the very heavy backpack holding the children's supplies, I held S's hand and struggled up the vehicle. We quickly found a seat and sat down.

M, CP, J and May sat on one side of the vehicle while S and I sat on the other. J was kept busy by CP. S and I chatted a lot as the Duck trundled along the road and headed for the 'plunge' at Marina Promenade.

Unlike the very exciting and 'rough' plunge that WY and I had experienced during our ride last time, the Duck's 'plunge' into the water this time was so smooth and 'mild' this time! This was because they now have a cement ramp built at the 'plunge' point. How unexciting!



The boat ride towards the Merlion was ok, so-so only. Along the way, CP bought from the tour guide a Duck Whistle for each of the children. J started 'quacking' loudly and happily. Then S also asked to try. It was a little challenging at first, but she soon got the hang of it. So she also started to 'quack' loudly and happily.

In between her 'quacks', S kept offering her Whistle to me. Hahaha. I think it takes a lot of effort to blow hard into the Whistle, so S got a little tired after a while.

When we returned to Suntec City, we saw YP at the alighting bay. J and S were so thrilled to see her that they kept hugging YP! We quickly took some photos of the 'pink' Duck that we had been on.



Doesn't this look like YP had been on the boat, too?!

Initially, we had thought of getting M and the children Japanese food. But the restaurant was full and no table was available - M did not like the idea of sitting 'outside' the restaurant, neither did I.



And so, we moved on to 汤点王, the relatively new restaurant which specialises in its soups. We order a variety of stuff, including their famed lotus-leaf rice. J loved the rice tremendously and ate it heartily. He even asked to order a crispy mango puff (its picture made it look like it's coated with noodle strands!). S also ate a big portion of the fried rice.

After lunch, we brought the children first to the Water Fountain and then to the Koi Pond at Suntec City. They had a great time feeding the fish, although S did take a while to get the hang of tossing the fish food into the water.



Soon after, we went to Carrefour because YP wanted to buy some socks for WS and WP. After the brief supermarket trip, we left the place.

Overall, our outing was a suitably-paced one. It wasn't too taxing on the adults nor the children. I hope J and S had enjoyed themselves and will remember the Duck which brought us around on land and in water, the next time they are in Singapore.

1st Visit to Marina Barrage

Last Sunday, we had a date with the family of WF's 文化艺术团 friend (classmate last year). WF's friend is called Andrew. Andrew's sister is Lynette. Their parents are Edward and Ann.

We visited the Marina Barrage. Since this was to be our 1st visit to this seeming-far place, we decided to set off early. So, we reached the place early (R had to park the car further away because the car park was already full by then) and looked around first. It was a super-hot afternoon that day.



After R re-joined us, we saw the 35-m long Marina Bridge spanning across the Marina Channel, and decided to take a walk on the Bridge. As we went onto the Bridge, suddenly, the alarm on the PA system sounded! It was so deafeningly loud that many persons on the Bridge quickly got off the Bridge!



As we continued to walk to the centre of the Bridge, we heard the announcement warning that everyone should stay clear of the Marina Channel because PUB was going to operate the Barrage and once the Crash Gates opened, there would be rapid currents. WY and I hesitated because we weren't sure if that was the reason everyone else moved off from the Bridge. We decided to 'play safe' and moved off the Bridge, too.

R continued on, however, only to turn back later to realise that we had already moved off the Bridge! He grudgingly strolled back after staying on the Bridge for a while. He asked with a big frown on his face, "Why did you all move away? I thought this is a good time to catch the Barrage in action?" He also said, "No lah! The warning is for people in the waters!"

And so, we all went back onto the Bridge and saw for ourselves, the opening of the Crash Gates and the discharge of (brownish) water from the reservoir into the (blue/green) sea.



As it was close to 5pm, we hurried back to the Reception Counter to meet up with Andrew & Family.

We were going on a guided tour of the Marina Barrage. The guide was a young man, who spoke clearly. The tour started at the Marina Bridge. We were shown the Barrage which is made up of 9 Crash Gates. Hydraulics are used for the Crash Gates which would open out to the sea whenever water from the reservoir needs to be released.

Then we proceeded to the Gallery comprising 4 sections. Most of the exhibits are so-so only. The only interesting one, I think, is the working model of the Barrage. It can simulate increased water levels in the reservoir by having 'rain' fall from the ceiling. Then there was a demonstration on how the Crash Gates would open to discharge the extra water out to the sea.



The guide also explained that at times, when the sea level is not much lower than the water level in the reservoir (and so it will not be feasible to simply open the Crash Gates to discharge the water out to sea), super-strong pumps will be used instead. Each of these super-strong pumps, which are all housed next to the Bridge, can empty an Olympic-size swimming pool in 9 seconds!

After exiting the Gallery, we were led to the Green Roof at the 3rd storey. I loved this part of the entire place, best. It had very beautiful views of the Marina Bay area and offered many photo opportunites. Several persons were also flying their kites there.



The guided tour ended at the Green Roof. By this time, the children were a little hungry and so as they munched on some biscuits and snacks that Edward and Ann and ourselves had brought along, we all rested in the shade.



After a while, we decided to go back to the Gallery to take some souvenir photos. We tried many rounds because it wasn't easy to get into a 'correct' position!



Then, we decided to check out the ground floor where some people were playing in the wading pools. All seemed to be having a great time in the hot, hot afternoon sun. Sometimes, I do wonder how is it that the parents of some very young children agree to let their young ones frolick in this type of fountain-like pools. Is it safe? Is it hygienic?



After strolling around for a while, we decided to head for dinner at the Esplanade. While walking toward the main entrance, however, WF ran and fell. It was a fall so hard that WF's jeans were torn (at the knee joint)! His arm was also scratched by the rather rough cement floor.

Luckily, the staff patrolling the common areas spotted us and directed us to the Reception Counter for first-aid help. R and Edward brought WF to wash his arm and then put the antiseptic lotion on the abrasions. According to Edward, WF was very brave and held back his tears.

Andrew invited WF to go to the Esplanade in Edward's car. WY opted to take our own car. So we all proceeded and went for dinner at Ichiban.



The food was satisfying - all the children enjoyed theirs very much. We adults also ate a lot as we chatted and joked. Everyone had such a good time that we decided to fix our next date - a picnic on Good Friday!