Going "Home"

Time really flies and very soon we will be back in singapore this Saturday. There are so many things to be done that I am having a bit of panic attack. The house need to be cleaned up before we leave as my mother in law coming over with us too. Another reason being end of year and Chinese new year soon. Yesterday we cleaned up the garden as it is very messy and if we leave nature takes its own course,w e will find a big jungle when we come back in January.

these few days I am trying very hard to finish cooking the food that we have bought. Funny thing is I have already stopped storing up stuff but still there are quite a bit to finish all. Need to clean up the house so that we can come back to a clean house.

Yesterday we went to Campsie VEt to place a deposit for JJ's stay at the vet's place. They gave us a special discount of $20 per day rather than the ususl $22 per day charge. With the booster for C5 we will pay a total $900 for its stay while we holiday in singapore. My neighbour said to take care of him but he must leave JJ in our backyard. In the end, we decided to send JJ to the pet hotel so that he has the company of other dogs. Think he will enjoy his stay there and furthermore with Vet around, I will feel safer to leave him. Having a dog is really not easy but he is really very cute and always follow me around and asking for love and sttention from me. He is no doubt one of our children too.

Anyway anyone of u back in Singapore want me to buy anything f from Australia? If so better email me fast. Adeline said to buy Macademia nuts last time as cheap but is it really that cheap? Now the cherries are real cheap though. Told Joe maybe to buy a box back to singapore but he said we could get them easily in singapore as well.

therefore any request do email by today or tomorrow k if not we are coming back soon.

Children's achievement

Today is Campsie Primary school award Day. Charles and Charlynn both have received the Academic achievement award. There is only 3 or 4 in the class getting various award and academic award means they have done well in their work. Felt really proud of them as they only came in March and could achieve so much in such a short time. Chantz did not get any award and we hope he will not be too upset and feel inferior. His disability does hinder his ability to perform well. A simple comprehension passafe means no problem to his siblings but he needed more time to digest and understand the passage. Hope he will try his best to overcome his disability to read efficiently. He needs to learn how to do speed reading and quickly if not he will definitely lag behind. He is able to do many things and use both hands in whatever hands on tasks. Moreover, he seems to have develop learner helplessness whereby he just wanna give up without trying. We tried to encourage him but he is still very doubtful about his own ability.

Charlynn is very sensible and she even received an award for her chines class. She is self motivated to excel and that is good. She is not proud and is a diligent worker. As for Charles, his character is that he wants to be number one in everything and very competitive. He is a bit kiasu.

Anyway, they like the school here and I really hope I can get my PR so that we can continue to study here. In Singapore, they were really put down too much by the system and school is no fun. Here they really enjoy being a student. Let's hope that my wish can come true.

Gardening

This morning I decided to do gardening as the front yard was a bit messy. It took me quite some time but i still had not completed the work by 10.30am. No choice I left everything and left with Channery as we did not want to miss the storytelling session.

When we reached there, we read a few books before the storytellers arrived. Today stories were about boats. we had fun and in the end we coloured a pirate picture. Channery did all the colouring by herself.

After that we went to Campsie Centre for lunch. I bought Pizza, stick satay and a small box of sushi. Channery was so cooperative. After lunch we went to Big w to buy a Christmas tree. Channery was so excited about the tree and she insisted we set it up immediately.

After setting up the tree, I immediately cleaned up the house. It always take me quite some time to clean up the house. i also put the towels in the washing machine as the weather was really hot and sunny so ideal for laundry.

At 3pm, i went to fetch children. This whole week I had been doing that as Joe had lessons till 5pm daily. After fetching them back I prepared what i had to cook and then i decided to continue where I had left doing for gardening. Took us quite some time to finish every thing and then i was back at the kitchen cooking dinner. Today we had chicken rice and vegetables.

Now I am feeling rather tired but I would say it felt so good to be able to use your hands. I have been taking care of my 2 fig trees, a grape vine, a pasion fuit, a tomato plant, 2 strawberried , an olive tree, a lemon tree and my mango tree and hope they will bear us lots of fruits. The front yard needs lots of attention and I wondered if I should clear the flowers and just plant some trees instead.

Ok that's all for now as I am feeling a bit tired. Got to zzzzz.

Life thus far

Life here is really good and I am beginning to see myself staying here for the long term. We are now waiting for Teach Australia to return the verification of my teaching qualifications so that we can proceed to apply from the immigration department. If I have the PR, I will have to stay 2 yrs for a 5 yr period and Joe might have to go back first and let me stay back with kids. Don't think it is a problem la. If not, I will get my parents over to stay with us. They can experience the lifestyle here and at the same time keeping me and the kids company. Being here actually is really good as the kids can play outdoor at the park and really enjoy the great outdoor as they do not get sweaty and hot like in Singapore. I have not been contacting friends in singapore much as they are always so busy and seem reluctant to email. Felt rather funny to call them when i get back. will see how everything works out.

Happy to been here so maybe all of you should save up and pay us a visit here in Sydney. Bear in mind that we will be back from DEC 20th till Jan 31st so don't look us up on those dates. :>

Storytelling session

This morning Joe was at home as we were going to the Story telling session at the public library. He did not wake me up so when I realized that it was already 8.30am, I practically had to rush like mad to prepare the chicken sandwiches. Not too happy with kids as well as they had not even taken their breakfast at that time. Joe does not allow TV so the kids lost track of time. We had the timing right as we used the timing of caartoons to determine the time to finish changing and eating the breakfast. Well! all turn out well and Joe sent the kids to school.

We hanged up the laundry and did some hed housekeeping before we went out to the library. There were many children and parents in the library. Channery enjoyed herself very much with dancing and singing. She loved being able to play and sing with the kids. She enjoyed the storytelling session very much and gaining much confidence along the way.

Frustrations with the boys

Today the Australia's public schools' teachers are going on strike again and so the kids will only go to school at 11am. The kids woke up at the usual time of 7.30am and nearly drove me crazy. I made prata and pizza for them and after eating, they wanna play computer games. Okay that was fine so I let them.

At about 10am, the boys decided to go outside to play mud. They got themselves so dirty that I caled up Joe and told that I was going to send Charlynn to school without the boys. We had told them many times not to go to the backyard and got themselves dirty like pigs but they loved doing that. the dog went out too while I was talking to them so I had to wash its legs too.

In the end, the boys knocked on the back door begging to come in as they wanted to go to school. They would find means and ways not to go to Singapore school but here they enjoyed going to school. At least the move had been good for the boys. They would be such a headache if I had stayed on last year. Time flies and very soon we will be going back to Singapore on the 20th Dec. We had gotten used to the lifestyle here so don't really look forward to going back actually. Campsie - In Cantonese 9 Gam Si means golden spoon actually has many Chinese stay here. We don;t feel out of place and very much enjoyed the many conveniences here. All food stuff over the world can be purchased here in the Asian shops. The hardest time I had was in August whereby I missed everyone and everything back home. Now no time to think about home since I am always busy.

Therefore, the boys had to take their baths and then we were off to the school. If the landlord not going to rent the house to us, I would really like a house with less gardening and more concrete as boys are really dirty fellows who like to dig.

What's up

lately been really busy with the new dog, my JJ. He is a really cutie pie. He follows me wherever I go and likes to stick around me. It has been a week and JJ is still sleeping with us.

JJ likes to eat our food and not so keen on the dog food. Not supposed to feed him our food as his hairs will fall off.

I do not know how to house break him using a training pad at home. It will control himself until I send him out to the backyard. He will do his business in the backyard if we let him out.

Sometimes he will do his business in the house and I would have to clean up the mess.

How to toilet train a dog and asked him to do his business in the toilet?

Channery

Channery turned 3 on 11th Oct. she is now very sensible and cute. Just to share some photographs of my little princess.

Dancing babe

Channery just turned 3 two weeks ago and she is really cute.

been busy

These few days I had been rather busy. The new puppy was very sticky and followed me whereever I go. It is very affectionate and likes to lick us. These few nights we were trying to ease it to sleep in the service balcony but it refused. We had to shift it's crate into our room and somehow that stopped the barking. Tried teaching it to do its business in the tray provided but it refused. In the end, we had to teach it to do its business outside. That's probably the way it was taught before.

From Monday onwards kids have swimming lesson every day till next Friday. They really enjoyed the lesson. The children walked about 15-20 mins to the swimming pool and have to cross 4 roads on their own. The schools here do that very often by bringing the kids around with their teachers. Singapore kids will have transport even if it is within walking distance. Kids learn to be responsible for themselves and their friends from tender age. They enjoyed the extra curriculum as no formal lesson so very fun. Chantz received a scolding from me yesterday as he lost his swimming trunk and swimming vest. Very expensive but he simply discarded it somewhere.

Joe met up with his ex boss who was here on conference over dinner yesterday. Lots of catch up and I left the kids at home and went driving out to fetch him from train station. Walking back is not so safe as at that time people usually had gone to beds and the street lights were not so bright.

I hope the little puppy will be healthy and strong as I am afraid I did not do a good job killing the parvo virus. Somehow it's a scary virus that usually will kill its prey. Only cure it's the ability of the puppy's body to fight back the disease.
Been really attached to JJ already so God bless him...

Adopting JJ

yesterday we went to Rensbury animal shelter to adopt a new pet. It is a 7 month old maltese cross shi Tzu called JJ. children said they do not want another black dog so we pick one that is white.

We opened the cage and led the dog out. JJ is a very active dog and still very puppish. We need to do a lot of training. Children said nobody can replace Charlotte as she is always special being their first dog. Just yeaterday they were still rather sad mentioning the dog. The decision to adopt a new one so soon is that we wanted the kids to move on with life and transfer their sadness to love for the new pup. We know they will always remember Charlotte but a new pet will kinda distract them. We did a through cleaning up of the house and checked that JJ had his C4 vacination 2 weeks ago so he should be protected from the nasty virus. owner of JJ did not want him anymore as they actually came in a pair - angel and JJ. My guess is that couple broke off and they were giving away the dogs so as not to remember the relationship. Anyway I read that taking care of a dog is pretty tiring so I probably will be kept busy for a while.

The demise of Charlotte

this morning I received a call from the vet saying that Charlotte had passed away. They could not do anything to save her as she was really sick. The $300 deposit we paid for her treatment would be able to pay for all the expenses incurred by her. We could not take back the body she was carrying the virus and needed to be taken care of properly.

I could not stop feeling sad and my tears just won't stop flowing. I wanted to call Joe but just could not recall his office number. In the end, I called him on his mobile and told him the bad news. Joe also could not contain his sadness and cried too. In our hearts,Charlotte was like a baby we adopted and we even gave her the name we like. Somehow she only stayed with us for 2 days but she had been such a good baby. We love her very much and even right now my tears kept flowing even when I am just writing about her. I really pity her short life. Hopefully she knows that she would be missed and loved by us.

We will have to break the news to the children afterwards and I know that they will be jsut as sad as me. Charlynn was especially close to Charlotte and she will be devastated. We will see how we can teach them about death and be resilent.

We did not have a photograph of Charlotte but her image will always be in our hearts. Rest in peace, Charlotte. We want you to know that we love you for being such a strongwilled, loving and wonderful pet.

Charlotte, our beloved Shi Tzu

Yesterday was a rather sad day for me as Charlotte was dignosed with Parvo Virus. she has only 50-50 percent of survival. she had to be put on drip and on antibiotic so she had to stay in the animal hospital. We check out internet and realized it was a nasty disease that affected dogs that are not vacinnated. The stay will cost us $600 to $1000 depending on how long she were to stay there.

when the doctor did the test and came off positive. He gave us 2 options. One was to send Charlotte to them and changed into another dog. Chances they will not save charlotte and would put her to sleep or sell her to animal rescue if she was lucky to live till then.

another option was to keep charlotte as our pet and foot the bill for her so that she could received treatment. I went out to discuss with Joe and he too felt we should do whatever we can to save her. Money can be earned back but we could not get Charlotte's life back if we were to just drop her and choose another dog. On the way home, we asked kids if they thought we should leave Charlotte and get another dog, they all disagreed so we were actually quite glad that they have kind hearts.

We thank God of sending Charlotte to us and let the children learnt this valuable lesson whereby money is not everything. We must think kind thoughts and do good deeds.

charlotte is sick

Charlottee has been adding a lot of fun and laughter to our household but she has not been well these 2 days. She was not eating well and had diarrehea. I caught her vomitting a few times and we are going to send her to a vet afterwards.

she looks pretty normal and healthy but she is getting skinnier. We checked out the internet and still she did not touch the food we prepared for her. wondered if she is stressed in a new household or that she had eaten contaminated food or that she had bacteria in her stomach. Better let the vet checked her for any illness.

She is a very well behaved gril. when I combed her long hairs. Even if she is in pain, she will just closed her eyes shut and she did not snap at me. We all enjoyed her company as she is such a sweet little girl.

okay going for breakfast as we need to go vet later on.

Adopting Charlotte

These few days i had been browsing the net to find a suitable pet dog for the family. No luck so today we decided to drive to the Fairford hospital to look for an ideal pet. We found a black Shi Tzu very cute so we decided to adopt her. We paid $210 for her and will only be able to collect her tomorrow. She was trembling when the other dogs were barking so we kinda feel sorry for her. when we opened the cage, she allowed us to stroke her. From the look of it, she must be a puppy. We have decided to call her Charlotte, chinese name is 家乐。 hopefully she will bring a lot of laughter to our family. I actually wanted to name one of my daughter that name but in cantonese poon kar loke might not sound so nice. So with a little dog, she will be named the name which I Liked a lot.

This morning I went to kids' school to help out as a volunteer. Today is campsie festival which is equivalent to the racial harmony Day in Singapore. The children dresssed up in their traditional costumes and parent volunteers from various countries set up stall to cook. Yes they do cooking in school and sell food to everyone visiting their school. children even walked out of the main street in their fineries to attract the Campsie residents. the class will be in charge of games and the whole proceeds will go into buying things for the kids education. A variety of food from all over the world. I helped out selling samosa, spring roll, chicken wings, fried rice, fried noodles. some of the food were cooked and donated by parents. Some of them were cooked on the spot in the canteen kitchen.

we had a lot of fun and I met a new friend. She is a malaysian and husband is singaporean. They are now PR. She is working night shift as a nurse as day time she had to take care of her child.

She had been here 2 yrs and enjoyed the lifestyle here very much. Only complaint is missing the good food in Singapore. Told her there is a new Da4 jia1 lai2 malaysia restaurant jsut opened a week ago at Beamish street. We had tried the food, very nice and quite like what we had back home in singapore.

Anyway I am those jian4 gu2 tou2 who likes to busy myself silly. Will look forward to going out and meeting people from all ove rthe world.

Back to school

The children were back in school. It's really good to have them away from home for a few hours. They were really excited this morning and could not wait to see their friends. We ended up going rather early today.

After that I brought Channery to the playground. the weather is rather warm lately and we enjoyed the sunshine. After that we went shopping at aldi as we needed to get some milk and bread.

I am now really tired as I did a lot of household chores today. the whole hoilday the whole house was not cleaned properly as kids were around. It took me about 4 hours to complete cleaning and mopping the place. I even cleaned up the backyard. Now quite tired but felt really good. Sense of achievement I guess.

Okay that's all. wil write again when free.

a week's updates

Last Sunday we stayed indoors as we were tired. On Monday we went shopping for groceries but Charles did not want to go with us. In the end, we left him at home as we would only be gone for a while. After buying some vegetables and fruit, it started to rain so Joe drove back without us as we had left the laundry outside the house. When he got back home, he was very pleased as Charles had the initiative to get the clothes in so the clothes were not wet through. charles decided to come fetch us together with joe. We had icecream and fried chicken before coming back home.

On Tuesday, Joe went back to office and left me with the children. I ended up asking them to clean up the toilet as they were the ones to make a mess out of it. They would get $2 each for cleaning. In the end, Charlynn told the boys to get out as they were more than a hindrance than help. I told Charlynn I will give her $5 since the boys only did halfway. When I told the kids to come forward for their reward, the boys kept whinning and said that it was not fair that they had less than Cahrlyn as they went out because they were told to do so. In the end, I took back the $3 from girl and told her she will be rewarded soe other time. The boys were really a headache.

On wednesday Joe was back at office so I was again alone with the kids. To keep them occupied, I told them to do gardening at the front yard. They happily did that looking forward for their reward. My neighbour lent us the lawn mower as the kids were cutting grass with scissors. they were unable to use the electric lawn trimmer so I asked them to use the traditional way. It would also keep them occupied for a longer time. My neighbour invited us over for coffee and had a look at his garden. They really planted quite a lot of stuff in their backyard. We chatted for a while and children decided to come back for lunch.

Today we went out in the afternoon as we decided to go to the Science Centre at Wollongong. We took the Pacifc highway scenic drive. We spent about an hour and a half there. the trip was nice as the weather was fine. We actually had hot dog and icecream at the royal national park -baldhill area as there were many people doing handgliding and paragliding. it was fun to see the participants moving off from the cliff and into the air. We managed to come back to campsie at 5 plus. We did out shopping at Woolworths and I came back to cook dinner. Children saw their friend so they went out to the park with Joe. They had fun at the park and only came back at 6 plus to have their dinner. Today's dinner was baked rice, mashed potaotes, baked chicken and fried vegetables.

Well! life is pretty fun this hoilday as Joe was mostly at home to look after the kids. He also took us out of Sydney so we kinda enjoyed this holiday the best so far.

Back from holiday

We are back safely from port stephens. We went there on Wednesday and came back today. On Wednesday we went to Bowral and then to Wollongong. the drive was nearly 2 hours. We actually wanted to go see the tulips but the entry fees was too expensive so we decided to forgo that. We had a nice scenic grand pacific drive and the scenery was spectacular. When we reached home, we had dinner at the Korean restaurant at Woolworths as we wanted to buy some groceries for or trip to Port stephens.

Actually we realized something wrong with the car for the grand pacific drive so we checked out in the internet. They all say it's tyre balancing. Joe sent the car to the mechanic and we ended up changing 2 front tyres as one of them is seriously damaged. The drive to Port stephens was alright and we enjoyed the trip. after the drive to canberra, the drive to Port Stephen actually seems easy. We reached port stephens at about 2pm and decided to stay in the hotel as kids wanted to swim and I wanted to rest. We had chinese food and then back to hotel. We discussed what we wanna do and ended up signing for whale and dolphin watch and sand dunes.

The whale and dolphin watch was 3 long hours and we felt uneasy on the boat. We managed to see 2 mother whales and their calves. they actually had a 300m law to protect the whales. The dolphins swam past our boats and we were really excited to see them being so playful. After that, we had chinese horfun at a Chinese restaurant. We decided to go to a play area Torangoo. We played slide and we had an accident. My cart actually knocked into Joe's and Chantz cart and Chaannery had a cut on her lips and I had a bruised right arm and sprained elbow. I can't lift heavy stuff or bend my elbow properly. The children had mii golf after that and they enjoyed themselves. Luckily baby was not seriously injured. I think it's not advisable to play such dangerous game.

Today we checked out at 9am and drove to the sand dunes. The sand dune is like a mini desert and it is moving inland. We stopped at the seaside and played a while after that we went to dune boarding. We were taught to use a board to slide down a sand dune. It was about 2 storey high and we all had a go. I can't use my left hand so Joe was behind me to hep me to get down. It was fun going down and actually not that dangerous. The hardest part was to climb up again. In the end, our vehicle also did a dive down and we really were scared stiff. What if the whole car colapse down the slope?

Okay that's all. We need to take our dinner soon. It's home delivery as i am too tired to cook now.

children vs parents

This is the first day of the 2 wks school holidays. surprisingly Joe did not go to school. I had a quarrel with him yesterday night over the boys' bahviour. He told the boys to go and take a bath before 6pm or they would not have any dinner. In the end he went out to get dinner and when he came back, I had managed to get the boys to bathe. Boys wach took a plate and get the food and Joe scolded them up side down. Well! The boys deserved scolding but forfeiting them of their food? I was angry with the way he handled the boys so I went into my room. I did not take dinner but somehow okay wtih that as I had some snacks when I reached home. Silly to be so worked up over a small matter.

In the middle of the night, Channery cried out for us again. I went over to check and she was crying that she had wetted herself. Joe or whoever put her to bed had forgotten to let her wear her diaper to bed. I checked everywherebut did not really find the wet patch. Changed her and told her to get back to bed.

Yesterday we went to a national park. The weather was still rather cold but we allowed the kids to play in the river. They came up shivering and cold but they really happy. A little outdoor is good for everyone but coming back and seeing the way the boys behave at home put a damper to everything positive.

these two days I was really unhappy as I received an email from my elder sis saying that my parents were asked to leave my brother's house and go to stay elsewhere as they wanted to rent the whole unit out. They said they are going to move back to my sis in law's parents' house. My sis in law was unhappy with my parents and that is an excuse to get rid of them I think. My parents were unhappy and sad as they still want to stay with sons. i wonder what will happen by imposing on my youngest brother. Will his wife treat my parents likewise? Actually when we decided to come over, I also told my mum in law that we needed to rent the whole unit out so she must move back to Toa Payoh. Told Joe that it was the same tactic that I used and Joe said there is a difference as motive is different. We really are in need of money so we have no choice but to do so. Furthermore, his mum has a flat but my parents are homeless and must go stay with someone else. I think I really owe my mum in law an apology. After staying here for so long, I realized that money is not that important. Being alive, healthy, a roof over our heads and having your loved ones around you is good enough.

Well! there is a chinese proverb: ren2 zai4 zuo4, tian1 zai4 kan4. MEaning that whatever you do, be it right or wrong, do not think that nobody knows as somehow there is supernatural power that all things might be recorded. It's never between you and others, it's between you and God.

Always think of others and whether u yourself will like to be treated that way.

What's going on lately

I can't believe that I have not been updating my blog for so long. My last entry was Monday. Monday night Charlynn cried secretly in bed as she said she missed her puppy. She had already become so attached to the dog even though it was only 3 days. She did not feel it till late at night and she had time to wind down. Actually being softhearted is good la so we did not scold her.

On tuesday Chantz's thigh was painful. He said that his friend accidentally hit him on the leg. He hopped into my room and I quickly took out the die1 da3 yao4 jiu3 to rub on the affected area. Miraculously he said his leg felt so much better the next day. He needed the extra tender Loving care so I must give him la. BTw Chantz finally had a Chess award and he was really proud of himself. He was so happy as it was in fact his very first award from school. His form teacher is quite stingy with awards and never really given any award to his classmates as well. We were really happy for him as he always tries his best but sometimes his effort does not render the same results he wanted.

On Wednesday we watched Wall.E. It was fun and really set me thinking. Human beings can be so terrible and what if there really a day when our mother earth cannot sustain us again. Do we have the option to go and stay in outer space? Scary that our future generations might not see this beautiful world again.

On thursday boys stayed in the garden for a very long time and missed their dinner. Joe refused to give them rice and they only had leftover pasta. Serve them right for ignoring our advice.

Anyway these few days I am catching the Hongkong soap operas "jia1 hao3 yue4 yuan2". The cantonese dialogue was really interesting. Actually Joe and I can understand their meanings but cannot speak well. Joe learnt the language as that is his ethnic group and his elders speak the language. As for me, I learnt the language by watching shows on TV. Funny but I somehow picked it up by myself. Now only at disk 4 and I have 14 disks so still have a long way to go. I only managed to see a disk a day.

Wondered how hong getting on. she had not been emailing me. Old pal if you are busy don't worry as I am rather happy here lately. If you need someone to hear your woes, remember to write ho. Working life is always stressful I know.

Life with a pup

These two days I was not feeling well. I think it's cold or allergy. I hope i will recover soon. On saturday children went to their Chinese class and they came back with their Chinese tests. Boys actually came in 3rd and 4th in class scoring 92 and 90 each. They felt really proud of themselves. I hope they will continue to work hard and love the language. Charlynn did very well. She scored 96 and teacher even gave her 3 chocolates. She is a very sensible girl so I do not have to worry about her. Any homework will be done properly and she sets her own standard. In fact these 2 days she was taking such good care of the puppy that the puppy followed her everywhere she went. She has been helping me to take care of Channery so looking after puppy is chicken feet.

Speaking of puppy, we had sent it to the animal hospital as instructed by the town council. The puppy is a maltese and it is a well trained pup. the children had a lot of fun playing and interacting with the pup. On sunday, Joe brought the kids to the park with puppy and it even took JOE and Charlynn around the neighbourhood. It likes to have its tummy tickled and to be rubbed on the head. Channery became the big sister to the puppy and she was well occupied for the 2 days. Today we drove to the hospital and the lady said that there was a microchip in the puppy so it belonged to someone. Told JOE if no microchip, I would like to adopt the puppy. The lady said that if the owner did not show up to claim the dog in 2 weeks, they will sell the puppy. Actually I really like the puppy as it always come to me for tummy tickle. Kinda feel sad to say goodbye to it and i felt so emotional just now when saying goodbye. I told the kids they were not supposed to cry but I was the one crying and feeling sad. Anyway if the owners heard that their pet was found, they might shed tears of joy as well. Come to think of it, I am happy to let the pup go. Told kids that it's like Channery got lost from family and we will be so happy to have her back.

Okay that's all. Will see whether the puppy and us are fated to be a family in 2 wk time.

A kind deed

Yesterday I helped the boys to finish their Chinese homework by copying out the chinese characters they need to write. They had a lot of complaints as the teacher had given them a lot of writing since they will have a test this Saturday. They finished their work and could go for ice skating. I was feeling really relieved that they were not penalised of the opportunity to exercise. I cooked western food for dinner and we had a rather late dinner. children stayed up late to catch "Ghost Whisperer" till eleven plus. We like the show and I hope the kids will learn the good things about the show. Maybe they will be scared of the supernatural things but every episode has something to offer and I will be there to explain so I hope they are not adversly affected.

This morning I decided to bring Channery to the library after dropping the kids so we went Shopping at Big W first since library opens at 10am. There was an offer for red T shirt so I bought 2 for the kids. After that we went to the library. At about 10.30am, we were both surprised to see that they were having a storytelling session for toddlers. Channery and I had a lot of fun singing the nursery rhymes and playing games. We went to Aldi afterwards as I think it will

We came back at 12 plus and I quickly prepared lunch for the two of us. After that I cleaned up the house and at about 2 plus we went out to fetch the boys. Along the way we saw a little puppy running wild on the road. It was nearly ran over by cars. I followed the puppy around the neighbourhood and stopped a few times trying to get it to come to me. It refused and walked on. In the end, I decided to drive off even though I know it's not advisable as the pup could be killed on the road. The puppy really ran a long way around the neighbourhood. I wondered if it was looking for its owner? After reaching the school, there was no parking lot. I thought of the poor little pup and decided to go look for it again. i found it running along the road and I stopped the car. It was still very scared of me so it ran off again. I decided to give chase and managed to catch up with it. It sat on the floor and even urinated. I squat down and pat it and it lowered its head to be fondle. I then carried the little pup and sent it home. I left a dish of milk and left it in the bathroom before I went out to fetch the children. Told Joe and children what happened and Joe said we must send it away first thing on Monday.

while the kids had their lesson, we went to buy some dog food for the little pup. After lesson kids could not wait to come back so we drove into KFC and bought a famiy feast. When the kids saw the dog, they were really excited. the dog had finished drinking the milk I left behind and put some dog food on the tray. It was so hungry that it finished in no time and come jumping up and down for more. I gave it another time and it finished in no time too. Wondered if it was hungry for a long time? Kids finished their food and then they played with the dog in the backyard. They had a lot of fun and enjoyed the company of the pup. It is really a wel trained dog so it must have belonged to someone.

Well! I am thiking of bathing the pup so must go google to find out how to bathe it.

Today is present - a gift to treasure

Just finished watching the"Kungfu Panda" with Channery. It was actually nice to rewatch the shows. I like the scene whereby the Wugui Master told Po the panda"
Yesterday was history, tomorrow is mystery and today is a gift' As it is present. True that we should never look back on whatever decision we made in the past. What past is over, tomorrow we won't really know but we should make the best for today. Everyday is a gift. How many tomorrows do we have? our tomorrows depends on our present. Are we doing what's best for today?

Po the Panda was condemned by his shifu as he appeared to be useless and never make it as Kungfu warrior. Using his old methods of training his disciplines just won;t work on Po. When he had a change of opinion on Po, he started to use a method that works well with Po -using food and that works. Scolding and using the usual ways will never derive any result. Everyone is different and we must develop every child the best he or she could be. I remembered what a couple in USA once commented when a reporter asked them how do they raise 3 gifted kids? The couple replied that they did what they thought is best for their kids. The eldest and second children like Maths and Science so he was given the opportunity to pursue their interest and do whatever they like. The third child loves music and loves playing the piano so she was allowed to go that direction. Their children are like any other children in their neighbourhood.

Yesterday before I rested, I told Joe that we have missed the boys' growing years and we are fortunate to be here for Channery. Channery is growing up so fast and learning so many things that everyday is a wonder. She can now put words in songs and sing to her hearts content. Creative as she can sing the same tune with different words in it. Just now I pretended to be asleep and she beat her drum trying to wake me up. When Joe was sick she went to fetch water for him. Everyday she has different ways of expressing herself.

Come to think of it, Charlynn had me for nearly 2 years when she was young but the boys were really like refuges. We could not remember what happened when they were young. Maria was the one taking care of them. I was doing my Master degree and doing grassroot work and never really know what was happening at home. My ex-maid was so capable that I do not have time to ponder anything wrong in mylife. Time waits for no man so we have to make the best of what we have got.

Like in life saving course, to save others, you must save yourself first. If you do not love yourself, nobody will love you.

Rainbow

The one thing I like about sydney most is being able to witness rainbow after rain. I had seen at least 5 rainbows since I arrived here. In singapore I never catch any rainbow as the buildings are too high. Here we always get really excited when we see a rainbow. The people here like one or two storey houses and so they have more chances to see what nature has to offer. will have to find some time to download the pictures we have taken here in Sydney.

Life is beautiful when u are in tune with nature.

Been busy

These few days i have not been writing my blog as Joe was not feeling well and I had been busy. He probably caught stomach flu. He is now feeling better and able to scold the kids already. When he was sick, he was too weak to discipline them and the kids were very well-mannered. They tried to keep their volume down when playing.

On thursday I went to buy mooncake for him as he was supposed to bring to office on Friday. He and another colleague had volunteered to share the mooncakes with their non-chinese colleagues. In the end, I bought 2 boxes as kids were saying they wanted to eat too. Joe said no egg yolks for his colleagues and the one we had had one yolk inside. The mooncakes were really delicious. Made in Hongkong and they were not really sweet. 2 boxes cost us $28 so it's really not expensive. In singapore, 2 boxes would probably cost us $50.

On Friday I sent Joe to his office and then we came back home. After fetching kids from school, we went to Art lesson. Marrickville was near Joe's office so we went there to see whether the left overs were kept probably. To Joe's surprise, there were no more left and the knife was left unwash with the empty box. See! All over the world there are uncivilised people who never know what is consideration means.

After Art lesson, we went to a new Korean restaurant for dinner. we had eel rice, pork chop with fries, stonebowl vegetable rice and dumplings. I find the food here not as tasty as the Korean restaurant at Woolworths. The meal cost us $57 and that is considered quite cheap la.

On Saturday, the day was really warm. We spent the day at home. Children played in the backyard till lunch time. After lunch, they went for their Chinese lesson for 3 hrs in the afternoon. I told them I would cook special dinner for them so before we fetched them, we went to woolworths to buy the ingredients. We were going to have western food so we bought potatoes, steak and other stuff. I sent the children to the park with Joe and rushed back to cook dinner. children enjoyed the dinner very much and we still have some leftovers.

This morning I cooked pies with the leftovers. i put beef chunks, mixed vegetables, mashed potaotes and mushroom in the pies. The outcome is really nice. The pie machine is well -used at home and kids love having pies.

After lunch,we decided to go out to the National PArk but before we could get there, it started to rain cats and dogs. We made a detour and went to Ikea instead. We had meals there and bought a few items. I bought the meatballs back and so we had meatballs with baked rice for dinner. Now feeling rather tired after all the walking.

Okay that's all for today now wanna go rest already.

Life's challenging with Son like this

Last night Charles threw a tantrum again. He said he could not do chinese homework and he simply could not do it. We really had a tough time coping with his negativity. He screamed and shouted and even refused to take his dinner. He said we ruined his life by asking him to study Chinese Language and he said we do not love him. I told him "God helps those who help themselves" and if he does not help himself by trying, there is no way we could help him. He was displaying "learner helplessness" symptoms whereby people will stop trying even though they have the capabilities to do so. For example, a dog which was zapped by electric currents when it try to cross a line will not cross the line even though the electric current was switched off. They had learned through negative reinforcement that they would meet with obstacles and they stop trying.

Later in the night at 8 plus, I fried an egg and heated up the leftover rice for the boys as they did not take Hokkien noodles at 6 plus. Told them not to eat so many garlic bread when they came back from school but they refused to listen. Dinner time and they could not eat. Joe said to ration their bread? wondered how he would keep track? Will try to cooperate with Joe so that the chidren know that we work together as a team in disciplining them.

At about 9pm, charles came into the kitchen and asked if I could cut him an orange. He then told me that he got a F grade for one of the assignment for chinese Language. He was not taught and he felt terrible. He said he could understand and does his English work but simply could not do well in Chinese language. I told him not to give up he could do well if he does not give up. If he is good in English language, he can do well for chinese as well. Hope he will have more success in the chinese language, Maybe to tution him myself so that they will feel more confident. He is simply too smart for his age. He knows what he does well and what he doesn't. Well! According to the IQ tests done by DAS, both my sons have high IQ. I think it's essential we help them to overcome this fear for chinese language so that they can take flight in their lives.

Boys- can't stand them

Last Sunday we decided to go for a picnic near our house as the boys were still not feeling well. We packed some salad and brought some water along. Just when we were about to leave, the boys played with their rubber bouncing ball and broke the window pane. They had broken also the big glass pane on top of the window. We would have to inform the owner and asked him to come and repair the broken glass. Joe was extremely angry with the boys as he had warned them not to play at the patio but they ignored him and turned a deaf ear to his warnings. The boys received a scolding and we did not do anything drastic. Somehow they will have to pay back with no more outside food. The whole family will have to save up the amount spent on the repair.

After that, we went out to buy subway sandwiches as lunch and went to the park in Ashbury. After about 2 hours of fun at the park, we decided to go shopping at Aldi. Just when we were about to get into the car, Charles said he had soiled his pants. He was not feeling well so we did not scold him and we came back.

Sunday night we did not go out to celebrate Father's day as children were not behaving well. We told them to hurry up and get ready but they simply bochap. Ended up we stayed at home and eat instant noodles with mixed vegetables. Joe was feeling really upset with the boys. They simply very immature and always get into trouble. Charlynn made Father's day card for Joe but the boys did nothing. I bought 2 camping chairs for Joe so that we could sit and relax at the backyard.

Yesterday I woke up late and by the time the children got out of bed, it was already 8.30am. We rushed through with breakfast and rushed to school. Charlynn said she managed to order lunch before the bell rang. Channery and I went shopping and bought a lot of foodstuff. We also bought a cap from Salvos for Joe as Channery had lost his cap. The new cap cost only $1 and it is really quite nice. when we reached home, I quickly cleaned up the house. I was afraid the owner would come and see what a mess the house is in. Ended up Joe did not managed to contact the agent. The house as usual become rather messy after a while when they came back after school. So much so for cleaning up. Joe brought the kids to the park and I tagged along as I only wanted to cook Sphgetti for dinner. When we reached there, a boy was playing with his father and they asked if they could join the twins, the boys refused to play with them. What a letdown and we really felt very embarrassed by their behaviour. We could not understand why they are so selfish and self-centred. Since they refused to play with others, we could not do anything except giving them a lecture.

With boys behaving like this, we know they will have a hard time in life when they grow up. Well! We cannot be there for them forever, if they will experience life the hard way, so be it. We will not depend on them nor they receive any help from us. who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Yesterday Chantz did not go to school as he was feeling unwell. he has headache and could not eat. He ended up vomitting all the food he eaten and I had to clean up after him. when Joe came back to get the car, he insisted on going to the Art lesson. We told him he must get well soon if not he might pass the germs to his siblings. They had canvas Art and they really enjoyed themselves very much at Jane's place.

After Art lesson, we went to a Korean Restaurant for dinner. We had mushroom pot, BBQ beef, rice and vegetable pancake. The meal cost us $60 and it was quite nice. Charles was sick at night and threw up. Joe cleaned up for him as I was very tired. I heard the commotion but was too tired to get up. This morning I realized Channery had wetted her bed and Joe suddenly realized that he had forgotten to wear a diaper for her the night before. Channery did not wake us up. Instead she woke up and just changed her pants. After that she left her pants on the heater.

Charles seems to feign illness now as he did not want to go for Chinese lesson. He said he is still not feeling well feeling dizzy and weak. Well! we gonna trust him and give him the benefit of doubt.

This morning i cooked pancakes for the kids and tonight we will have bah Ku Teh. I think children not feeling well as the weather had turned cold. It has been raining since the night before. They always do not wear warmly and only themselves to blame for falling sick.

IELTS results and boys' education

Yesterday I received the IELTs result. I ended up getting quite good results. For listening which I was really confident, I only had 7.5 pts. I was saying the reading test was difficult in my previous blog and I probably did not do well but ended up I scored 8.5/9. As for the writing test, I was really not confident after the reading test, I did not think I write legibly for writing test but I had 7 pts. The oral test i scored 7 pts even though I thought I was not speaking to question asked. I was already so tired that I just wanna get over it. The Average scores for the students for Academic testing was 5-6 pts and I actually could pull through with a 7.5 pts. No bad since i was really dog tired after the test and really not look forward for another test. Joe was most delighted as he can now proceed to apply for my PR. Now that I have endured the cold winter and weather has turned warm again, I am actually quite happy to be in this country. Now I bring Channery to the park every morning and we always have good fun chasing after the birdies. Today we even lie down on the grass and check the passing clouds. Maybe I am feeling very happy so thinks the whole world is smiling with me.

Yesterday night the boys were not very happy as they were under pressured to finish their homework. We have been telling them to do their homework since Monday but they kept putting them off. Charlynn finished hers on Monday and she was relaxed and happy. Chantz ended up hving tension headache and had to go to sleep early and Charles had a nervous breakdown and got into tantrum throwing. Joe kept harping they had only themselves to blame and they ought to bear the consequences. Chantz woke up early today to finish his Chinese homework due today but could not finish. I helped him by holding his hand and completed the work on time. Told him he had to pay back by writing the words again this weekend. As parents we should guide them and sometimes being hardhearted is essential. Now I put channery to bed by scratching her tummy 20 times only and kiss her goodnite. No more staying in bed with her and getting angry. So far it works for me and she had been cooperative. She woke up in the middle of nite two nites ago and I came over and just do the same. She did not act up and jsut go back to sleep. Well! I am glad things are going better now for me.

This Sunday is Australia's Father's day and wondered how we are going to celebrate with Joe. Children have not mentioned anything and we will wait and see.

Child abuse

These few days there were articles on newspaper on how working mothers are abusing their kids by sending them to childcare centres as young as 6 months old. Many were saying that the working mothers are selfish and wanted to work as they do not want to take up the responsiblity to look after their kids. The others argue that they have no choice as the rising cost of living force them to go out to work. One of the reapons said the parents should rent instead of buying their house. Very funny idea as owning a house for kids future become a bad idea. The rent in Australia has been increasing and if you do the Maths, you will realized it is cheaper to buy in the long run than renting. One lady wrote in to say that they were able to stay at home as they are staying in the church's premises as husband is a minister. They had to budget and choose on what to buy as they rely only on one income.

Many argue they chose to send their kids to school as they will learn social skills and learn from their peers. Home schooling will not be able to be done if parents do not teach their kids. I myself find it hard to teach Channery properly as she seems unable to sit down properly. With peers, children will learn to obey rules and learn from teachers. I am one who think that sending kids to school is a good thing.
Am I killing my kids interestrs and passion for learning? I sent the my 3 elder kids to school really early since they were 18 months. Maybe I shoud do an experiment and only send Channery when she is 4 yrs old. not too early la.

Today I brought Channery to the park and she played catching 2 big dogs. The owner threw the stick and the dogs chased after the stick and brought it back. Channery had a lot of fun and now she is dog tired so she is asleep now.

I think I should do my part to teach my baby. Why leave it to others when I can do it.

Spring finally here

Yesterday Joe was at home as the landlord had arranged for someone to come and do an evaluation of the house. We did a spring cleaning and the whole place was really clean and neat. I took the carpet out but they really need a good shampooing. The surveyor was here only for a while but that was a good excuse for us to clean up the house. Anyway the beautiful house only lasted a few hours as it kinda back to square one when kids were back. At four, we went for ice skating and after that we went to a new restaurant香港小厨 for dinner. We ordered 3 dishes fried mixed vegetables, Tofu and seafood pot and fried crispy chicken. We had a pleasant surprise when they gave us soup of the day. After asking the waitress, we realized it is a complimentary dish. Nice lotus soup and kids enjoyed the food very much. The cost is only $55 and it's not considered expensive since there are 4 big dishes. Channery was so tired that she fell asleep after finishing her food. I ended up carrying her and eating at the same time. When we reached home, kids refused to do homeowork. Joe said no need to nag them as they know the consequences - no ice skating on Thursday. I told Joe I wanna rest early so I left him to put the kids in bed. After a while, channery tried to act out so I had to get up and put her to bed. She is getting very smart in order to get her ways. Well! I am determined to train her to sleep alone and that will be done with an iron hand.

Today Children went to school at 11am as the teachers on strike again. We are fortunate I am not working so can take care of them. For kids whose parents are working, they will be left in school with minimum supervision. Wondered how the teachers here could suka suka go on strike. I prepared Marcoroni and Cheese for them and the boys simply bochap. I had to scream at them to get ready.

After sending them to school, I went to the library with Channery. There were many babies there with their mothers as it is special activity for babies 6-24mths. Ended up reading to Channery in the library. She loves to read so maybe I should bring her to library twice a week when we go shopping. After that, I went shopping and she was getting rather difficult so I ended up scolding her and coming back without buying the things from supermarket.

Now Channery is watching TV as she said she is not sleepy. No nap means she will not be able to sleep early tonite. Now is Spring and I feel so much better now. Winter time and people tend to have negative thoughts as weather cold and tend to coop at home. Plants look nicer now an d I am looking forward to see flowers blooming. Newspaper said The past month August in Australia was the coldest in 64yrs so I am really happy that I had gone through it in one piece.

Okay that's all. need to go fetch kids.

Horton hears a Who

I have just finished watching the movie" Horton hears a Who". It's a really nice movie as it actually reminds us that we should be cuconsiderate. Anythng that you can't see and can't hear doesn't mean it is not there.

As for the Who kngdom in a speck of dust, it reminds me of our Mother Earth. I once went for a Science lesson at Science Centre and guess what we are like a speck of dust in the universe. Whoever says there are nothing out there? All the earthquakes and hurricanes could be someone shaking whatever they are doing just like the movie Horton hears a who.

Life is about trusting others. The kangeroo mother thinks she is right and went all out to get Horton to admit he is wrong. Somehow there are many people out there who really are like that. As for Horton, he went all out to keep his promise to himself. It was a difficut task and he nearly lost his life but he wanted to do the right thing. Somehow we might be intimidated and those who are not strong or courageous would have given in. The mayor was fisrt seen as a pushover and useless bum but he the courage to go against adversity as he wanted to save his people. Even his little boy whom the father never really understood stood up to the challenge.

Anyway for those of you who have not seen the movie, go out there and buy yourself a DVD. It's good to watch it and have some thoughts.

Sharing Good health habits

Dearest all in Singapore,

Received this from friend and i have read it before. Good to share.

Subject : Health Advisory

The top five cancer-causing foods are:

1. Hot dogs

Because they are high in nitrates, the Cancer Prevention
Coalition advises that children eat no more than 12 hot dogs a month.

If you can't live without hot dogs, buy those made without sodium nitrate.

2. Processed meats and bacon
Also high in the same sodium nitrates found in hot dogs, bacon, and other processed meats raise the risk of heart disease. The saturated fat in bacon also contributes to cancer.

3. Doughnuts
Doughnuts are cancer-causing double trouble. First, they are made with white flour, sugar, and hydrogenated oils, then fried at high temperatures. Doughnuts, says Adams , may be the worst food you can possibly eat to raise your risk of cancer.

4. French fries
Like doughnuts, French fries are made with hydrogenated oils and then fried at high temperatures. They also contain cancer- causing acryl amides which occur during the frying process. They should be called cancer fries, not French fries, said Adams .

5. Chips, crackers, and cookies
All are usually made with white flour and sugar. Even the ones whose labels claim to be free of trans-fats generally contain small amounts of trans-fats.

-------------------------------

BRAIN DAMAGING HABITS

1. No Breakfast
People who do not take breakfast are going to have a lower
blood sugar level. This leads to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain causing brain degeneration.

2. Overeating
It causes hardening of the brain arteries, leading to a
decrease in mental power.

3. Smoking
It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease.

4. High Sugar consumption
Too much sugar will interrupt the absorption of proteins and nutrients causing malnutrition and may interfere with brain development.

5. Air Pollution
The brain is the largest oxygen consumer in our body. Inhaling polluted air decreases the supply of oxygen to the brain, bringing about a decrease in brain efficiency.

6. Sleep Deprivation
Sleep allows our brain to rest. Long term deprivation from
sleep will accelerate the death of brain cells.

7. Head covered while sleeping
Sleeping with the head covered increases the concentration of carbon dioxide and decrease concentration of oxygen that may lead to brain damaging effects.

8. Working your brain during illness
Working hard or studying with sickness may lead to a decrease in effectiveness of the brain as well as damage the brain.

9. Lacking in stimulating thoughts
Thinking is the best way to train our brain, lacking in brain stimulation thoughts may cause brain shrinkage.

10. Talking Rarely
Intellectual conversations will promote the efficiency of the brain

___________________________________________________________
The main causes of liver damage are:

1. Sleeping too late and waking up too late are
main cause.

2. Not urinating in the morning.

3. Too much eating.

4. Skipping breakfast.

5. Consuming too much medication.

6. Consuming too much preservatives, additives,
food coloring, and artificial sweetener.

7. Consuming unhealthy cooking oil. As much as
possible reduce cooking oil use when frying,
which includes even the best cooking oils like
olive oil. Do not consume fried foods when you
are tired, except if the body is very fit.

8. Consuming raw (overly done) foods also add to
the burden of liver. Veggies should be eaten
raw or cooked 3-5 parts. Fried veggies should
be finished in one sitting, do not store.


We should prevent this without necessarily
spending more. We ust have to adopt a good daily
lifestyle and eating habits.


Maintaining good eating habits and time condition
are very important for our bodies to absorb and
get rid of unnecessary chemicals according
to 'schedule.'

sick soon

Yesterday we went for ice skating. It was really cold and I think I have caught a cold. Now I can't stop sneezing so I must really take care. Yesterday Channery woke up at 4 plus and refused to sleep. I kept her company and only crawled back to my own bed at about six. Tired but I can't sleep now. she is now taking her nap.

anyway, later still have to bring kids for their art lesson. Will take care as sick will be even more miserable. that's all

Life here

Yesterday we went to the video shop owned by Chinese to rent some DVD. In the end, we ended buying the DVDs as the rental is more expensive than buying their copied DVDs. I wondered if it is illegal to buy from her but that's what she has been doing. Rental is $3 per disk and buying is $5. The compounded DVDs disk 3 disks whereby original has 30 disks. Of course we only as compared to rented original of the cheaper version of buying. If owning the disks is illegal, we won't take it back to singapor lo. I am not so sure of things in Singapore but that's how it's working here in Sydney. The shop has a variety of shows from Hongkong, Taiwan, hollywood etc. Maybe she is not doing illegal stuff as the compounded DVDs look original and made in China. She could have imported the stuff from China whereby the cost is cheap there??

Yesterday I could not sleep so I did a bit of thinking. The fact that my house won;t be ready for us so we should not go back. I think about it and this time there will be a difference to last year. LAst year my mother in law was staying with us and if we go back now, she would stay in her Toa Payoh Flat as she had told us that she was not going to move back in with us when we are back. She likes her Toa Payoh's flat as she feels so comfortable there with friends and things that she is familiar with. I think everyone has the right to make the choice. Her choice is good for all of us as she is not happy staying with us when she thought we were treating the maid
better than we treated her. I changed 4 maids as she could not get along with them. This time I will not be working and with the maid I surely can handle the things at home. Can you imagine you are the head of the household and yet you have to listen to your elders even though sometimes you feel that if only the elders could be more tolerant and understanding. There is bound to be differences in people in terms of ways of doing things and communication. Joe said that if he does not stand me, what will happen. We should xiang1 yi1 wei2 ming4 here alone in foreign land. Well! True that he is the nice guy and I am the troublesome one. I thrive in finding solutions and trying out new things and he probably will like things as they are. Stable and not spontaneous. Give me crisis and I will handle them with different solutions. I will try out all options but Joe will think and think and think and then settled on the best solution. That's how he is more successful than me as I will always spill a few buckets of tears and fall down a few times to make it the same place as him. My life journey will be filed with tears, laughter and new experiences as that's what I am. His will be smooth sailing as he will always opt for the best option. He is stable as rock and i will be like the sand, floating here and there and not yet ready to settle for anything. The won't die attitude means I will keep on moving - sometimes even I also do not know myself why I can't do no thinking. Sometimes I am so happy and contented to be alive and just be myself and be there for my family. Yet I will have different thinking the next day.

Anyway life is not too bad here as weather not humid and no sweat. Children never bathe also no problem as no smelling. pace so slow that you can do things slowly without hurry. I will be where my family is so think it's here la.

Love from Singapore

Just received email from Adalene. It felt so nice to hear from her. Somehow friends in Singapore are so busy that they have no time to email. She is doing fine and happy voluteering. For people who chose to uproot and stay elsewhere, won;t they miss the things they have back home? She advised me to stay put here as my house lease is till MAy 2010. If I go back earlier, where to accomodate the 5 of us? She asked me to send baby to playgroup/ day care and me to get a job. Definitely that's a good option but Joe has been complaining that our budget is tight. To cut down on children's after school activities to save money? I am really sian of being a housewife whereby I have no spending power. Joe is keen on budgetting but I do not like those stuff. Life is short and why think so much that u make life miserable? Maybe for his kind of personality, he feel stressed if no life plans and for my personaity I will die fast with too much control.

Called up mum and she said everything is still the same. I am tempted to come back as I am really like fish out of water here in sydney. No sense of belonging and no friends to mingle. Going to the shops and buying things are the very basic that I get to meet other people. i can't shop everyday so that is not a good option.

Somehow I am angry sometimes that things are being stagnant here. Life is boring to tears as I am just doing housework, minding Channery and shopping. No new things to spice up my life and i am going nuts!

Anyway, if I had stay put in singapore and with Joe not around to help, I would have done it in. The stress here of being too easy going and Ying2 still better than fighting the battle alone in Singapore.

Maybe those back home will be so pissed off with me as I am here wu2 bing4 shen1 yin2.

What happened to the car

The car was ready at 4.30pm. Neighbour's son only charged us $150 for the replaced glass window. As for the lock, it was not replaced as can't really find a replacement. After colecting car, I realized the lock is not working. we can only central lock it in the car and that's it. Really sian that the car's not working properly because of my carelessness.

I actually wanted them to smash the car window in the first place but the helpful neighbours insisted of saving cost and poking at the lock. Somehow their help backfired as I am now left with a spolit lock. Will see how the car's lock working. Joe kept saying nobody is interested in our car so no problem. Okay then, since he is the one to fork out money.

I realized I am not very happy to be here as I have no money. If the thing happen in Singapore, I will just fork out money to get things fix. Housewife means money not mine and I have to sought permission every time i wanna use money. Super Sian to be like a beggar. Will see how things go. If still feel miserable, I will be back in Dec and if I stay put, what can Joe do????

An accident

This morning there was a small accident. Channery was locked in the car after we came back from the shops. It happened because I saw her happy ball at the side of the road and I was afraid of bursting it when I parked my car. I left the car with the engine on and the central lock went off by itself. Channery was left in the car with no aircon. I quickly went to ask my neighbour for help.

My next door neighbour who was working in a garage came and tried to force open the door. However, the central lock won't budge. In the end, I asked them to smash the driver's side window and Channery was safe. I quickly get the things inside and then came out with a broom and dustpan. The glass was everywhere. I on the DVD for Channery and went to clean up. I remembered to call Joe and told him to come back. Joe was worried about us and he decided to come back in a cab after he missed the train. I was angry when I saw him and raised my voice at him. Probably I was angry with myself of causing the mess. If I am not so careless, we would not have to incur extra cost.

Joe is really understanding and did not blame me. He came back and told me that my neoghbour had managed to find a replacement glass and the total cost will not be too high. Thank god its not going to cost more than $500. Will see what is the final bill after we go and collect the car. told him I should have just called him and wait for him snce he only took 20 mins to get back home in a taxi. He said that should not be done as the car will get heated up and Channery will be in grave danger. I don't think there is much danger but that;s what my neighbour said too. In the end, breaking the glass is a good option. Later, we will have to buy some gift for my neighbour for their help. His son is most helpful and we probably will buy a bottle of wine for him. They are really nice to help even though I usually never bother to interact with them.

Channery is fast asleep now. Think she is not sure what had happened but she was definitely affected by our reactions. I lost my cool and really not so steady.

Called up mum to tell her what happened. Everyone is fine and Irene's son just celebrated his first birthday. He chose calculator, pen and money when they placed things on table to predict his future career and so he probably will become an accountant when he grows up. I did this custom with my 3 kids but not on Channery. No point in knowing as you will tend to go towards the predicted outcome.

Anyway today's is very eventful and I am really feeling rather tired now.That's all folks.

Watching Soap opera

these few days I had been busy watchig "she4 diao1 ying1 xiong2 zhuan4"2008. Bought the DVD for $12 and it had 50 episodes. Good to be able to get away from the reality and able to listen to Mandarin dialogues. Managed to watch all and quite nice. The china born actor hu2 ge1 and the lady actually very handsome. The Chinese are now able to catch up with Singapore's standard.

Never realized that I really missed the shows in Singapore. Maybe I should go and borrow some Cantonese soap operas so that my kids can pick up Cantonese. I too can brush up my Cantonese. When I was young, the only way we learn language was exposure. That might be a good idea so that they can master the language as Joe is not good with the language. His parents only used Chinese language to communicate with him when he was young.

AS for hokkien, it s a really easy language so there is no need for that. we have been usig Mandarin at home so that will not be a problem too.

Friendship

Yesterday we brought the kids to the skating rik for their ice skating lesson. Joe's colleague was there with her daughter. She was nice to talk to. she is really nice to suggest that we go shopping or have a coffee together. she does not work full-time. Only 2 times a week and she is actually quite free on other days. somehow I am not so comfortable with Strangers. will see how we can go out together. With Channery around, we probably will not stay out for too long. Wonder if Joe has been confiding to her about our problems.

Not motivated to call my parents and friends back i singapore as I am so far away and whatever happen, I can't be there to help.

National Day Dinner @ Sydney

We had National Day Dinner at Stamford hotel on Saturday. The food was not very authentic. Actually I think we are overpaying for the kind of food provided. I think most of the cost goes to the fresh oysters and wine which our family do not take at all. The singapore food they prepared was lousy. I think I can cook better than them.

We sat with a family whereby the husband is working for a German company. They had stayed in Germany for 2 years before the company posted the dad to australia. The company applied for their PR when they came here 6 years ago and they got it within 2months. The wife is not working and she is busy being the class mum. She helps in the classroom and keeps herself busy socializing with the other mums playing golf and tennis etc. Husband flies regularly to Germany as he is needed back in Germany. They had been PR for 6 years and definitely very Aussie already. To them, Singapore is a holiday destination. Their 2 boys are studying in the private school and the boys's days are scheduled for many activities. I think the mum is a bit kaisu to let the boys learn so many things. They are living an elite lifestyle and as comparison, we are not really living in style. Our neighbourhood is not very good with many immigrants. My kids are picking up bad language and habits from their peers. Joe think it is alright for them to be in the public school full of immigrants. I told him I wanna send them to a school where there are more Aussie kids but he said there was no need to. Jing zhu zhe chi, jin mo zhe hei, I can not be Meng mu as I have no say over the finances and the place we stay depends on how much Joe is willing to fork out. Maybe to save money, we should cut down on their after school activities and just bring them play balls at the park.

Feel like going home already. Can I tahan till next year DEC? My mum kept telling me to go back as she said I am being selfish and kids will not be able to catch up with their peers when they come back.

Told Joe I wanna go back this dec but he is against the idea. Maybe it's a better option as he will be free from us and does whatever he wants. As for the kids, they can do whatever they want and I just have to let them be la. i was too stressed out over their school refusal and not studying in Singapore. sometimes I think that no one is indispensable. My ex colleague can just dropped dead and the husband got married after a year. Her kids learnt to live with the step mum and step siblings and somehow they seem okay. We can only live once and who knows what will happen tomorrow????




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IELTs Tests

Yesterday I went for my test. We left the children alone at home and Joe sent me there. The listening, reading and writing test was 3 hrs flat and I was dead tired after that. My speaking test was at 1.20pm and after taking my lunch, I was back at the centre for the test.

I find the reading test quite challenging and I think I did not score well. I had no time to check my answers at all. As for the speaking test, I was already so tired that I really did not bother to impress the teacher.

The oral test only lasted 20 mins and I was off shopping at Broadway shopping centre. Joe brought the kids for their Chinese lesson before he could come to fetch me. By the time I see Joe, I had throbbing headache.

After we reached home, I had a rest and took a painkiller but I could not go to sleep. Children back at 5pm and we quickly changed our clothes and out of the house at 6pm for the National Dinner.

I had a talk with Joe and I told him I do not want to go through the ordeal of taking the test again. The children and I are going home next year Dec so there is really no need to become PR. The application will cost $4800 and if the application lasted a year, we will back in singapore by then. Eve though kids love the school here, they need to go back Singapore no matter what. The earlier we go back, the more they are able to adapt back to the Singapore system.

Actually I hate the weather here so I really don't see the need to apply for PR. :>

Children after school lessons

My children are having ice skating lesson every Monday and Thursday at the Canterbury Ice skating rink near my place. They are having lots of fun. The cost is 16 lessons at about $120 per child. We think it's a good investment as children look forward to the lessons. We told them they have to face the consequences of not going lesson if they do not complete their homework for the week. Monday is normal skate school where they learn the basics and Thursday is speed skating. After seeing the people having speed skating, I can understand why the kids are so excited over the sport. They race and turn corners like a machine going against the centrifugal force. They must feel very high going around the skate rink like a speeding car.
Anyway, I am still not very used to the cold in australia. Everyone is adjusting well except me. What I like is staying indoors with the heater on.

My children learnt roller blades back in Singapore and so they were able to keep their balance on the skates. They get to work off their excess energy and become more disciplined as they have to take orders from the coach.

This afternoon the kids will have Art lesson. My kids love to express themselves during the Art lesson. Art is a great way to cultivate creativity and patience. In fact, the children were really excited to know that someone had bought their charcoal paintings during the last Open house. chantz sold 2 pictures so he was really proud to have $4 and Charlynn and Charles both sold one piece each. I wanted to throw the pictures away when they first brought them back. I know they said I do not know how to appreciate their "masterpieces" but I find their work quite childish.

Good for them to build their self confidence via Art and Sports. Many parents find spending money on Tution is essential for a better future for their kids but we find that with ability to self regulate themselves, we do not have to worry about their school work. The ability to enjoy learning and have the passion to want to acquire knowledge is more important than lots of paper work.

detective quizzes

Every night the childern asked me to give them quizzes before they sleep. I have run out of ideas and quizzes. Logging on to the net and still there are limited choices.
I realized the chinese websites have more quizzes to choose from. Really have no time to look at the various website as Channery will take up all my time when she is awake. Now I am free to use computer as she is taking a nap. If u all out there have detective quizzes that are interesting, do share with me so that I can test the kids

Lately I have not been sleeping well. Been having many crazy dreams and disrupted my sleep. I am those who used to be able to sleep through the night before I got married. After children, a tiny sound from their bedroom will wake me up. These few weeks, I am still very alert at night. I seem to sleep and yet not so. The dreams that I had were also very "out of this world". Wondered why I can't get my beauty sleep lately. With not enough sleep, my face has all the evidence as I have many pimples on my face.

Now feeling a bit sleepy so I am going to take a nap .....

Good to hear from H that she seems to be doing okay. Had emailed her and must tell her to delete her personal email address from her blog if not people will start flooding her with nonsense. will check and delete my side.

Today feeling better as I am not worried. Seems like it's really PMS. Joe seems to know my reactions and body more than I. With Joe and my older children around, Channery is not so clingy and attention seeking. Maybe is is a good time to send her to childcare. The cost can be 60-$100 per week but at least she will learn from other kids.

Next Sat we will meet fellow Singaporeans for National Day Dinner. Cost us $180 but we get to meet fellow Singaporeans. The dinner will be held at a hotel owned by a Singaporean and the food will be authentic Singapore style. I have ielts test on that day. Teh writing, listening and reading will take a full three hours and the oral section wil be about 15 mins. If I score 8 point and above for all the test items, i will proceed to apply for PR. Somehow the statistics shows that it's quite difficult to score the required points. Will try my best la.

Am I happy here? I think others are really worried about me. Actually I am feeling okay and still very much alive. I write to release my frustrations and that help me as I always feel better after writing. It seems to be so easier to handle after I write it down. It allows me to move on and deal with the problems.

BTW for those who read my blog, I never go back to check my entries as I find it scary to do so. They are full of grammer and typo mistakes as they were usually done in less than 5-10 mins.

Take care all of you out there as life still goes on and I am actually feeling very blessed. Cowardly acts will never be my option as I must be responsible for the little ones that Joe and I had created. Somehow saying it out will strengthen my belief that life is still beautiful.

If you think you can, you can. If you think you can't, you are absolutely correct.

Nobody can affect you, except yourself. Think positive and things will work out well.

Happy National Day to Singaporeans

Today is Singapore's National Day. We are going to celebrate it by having BBQ at home. Children are so excited. There is another cause for celebration as I found out that I am not pregnant. Singapore's government said to have babies only if you can afford them. Well! I had mentioned in my earlier blog that we won't be able to afford if we are going to have quality of life. Many of the youngsters probably felt the same, more children means they have to give up on luxury items and less holidays board. Having children in Singapore is a constant challenge for many singaporeans. Women especially as the working culture in Singapore is not pro-family. If you take too many no pay leave, you will be asked to leave as you are not being profesional.

The choice of having 4 kids was that Joe being an only child and he said it was too quite sad growing up alone. During my father-in-law's hospitalization, he had to struggle to take care of his dad and he had nobody to turn to. We had Charlynn and the twins came along after that. We decided to have another young one as it will be nice to have someone to tag along us when the older kids were older.

Anyway, enough talk on children. What is ours, we take care. My family is not perfect but we are learning everyday as to how to become better parents. Maybe the government should have courses for the young adults to teach them how to be better parents so that they can handle their children at ease and will be encouraged to give birth to more children.

Happy National Day Singapore and the trend now is having skilled immigrants to boost the population. Our ancestors are immigrants and wherever the pasture is greener, teh people will move. Besides having more babies, are we doing enough to keep our fellow valued Singaporeans as well!

Joe said it's PMS

These few days i have been feeling rather agitated and stress out. No news from H and I dared not call her to check how she is back in Singapore. Waiting for news can be rather scary and stressful.

Called up Mum and she was doing well in Singapore. She had decided to go out and hang out with the aunties. They always ended up having a card game but who cares as long as she is happy. Mum in law also is enjoying herself in Singapore. Good that we are not tying her down.

These few days Channery had been really difficult to handle. Maybe it was my own reactions but she really becoming a little monster sometimes. stubborn and like to shed crocodile tears. She had been going to sleep only at abt 12am and she woke up in the middle of the night crying for me. She is becoming very clingy and I feel really sian.

Who can understand my emotions and frustrations? Telling JOE is of no use. We are poles opposite and he simply not able to address my needs. He said I am feeling so because it's PMS. Good for him to be able to go out and talk to someone rather than his family members.

Being overshadowed by my neighbour's tall house, I can't help but feel depressed. Told Joe it's no good feeling and bad fengshui but he is reluctant to move. I really hope to be able to shift to a better home. This one is simply no good for mental health. i have very negative thoughts when I feel depressed and defeated. Never told Joe before but the feelings and thoughts are there. Another reason maybe I feel constantly cold in this house. The negative thoughts kept repeating themselves in my head. i have to keep self talk to myself to be positive. Try thinking that you are sandwiched between two lebonese families and they are speaking a language you do not know. We have no connections and does not interact with them at all.

PMS - Joe's answer to my distress. Maybe he is right and that I have to have some control over myself.

Feeling tired and frustrated

Charles was realy well behaved these two days. He was polite and even helped out at home. I think he had thought through and wanted to be a good boy. Anyway, I think we were unable to take care of his emotional needs so he always does things to get attention. Even though the negative ones.

Yesterday we did not go out except going to the park for a while before dinner. I lost my temper while trying to clean up the house and ended up slapping Chantz and taking a nap till 2.30pm. Joe did not prepare lunch for kids as he said they were not hungry. I heated up the baked rice we had on Saturday and they finished everything.

The time at the park was fun and children were able to run about for half an hour. After that we went for dinner at 5.30pm. We only had fried noodles, fried tou fu and tom yam but the food seemed just nice.

After we reached home, we watched some shows before asking children to go to bed at 9 plus. They were so used to going to bed late during the weekends that they complained that they could not go to leep. I think we should only allowed them to sleep late on Friday nite. Sat to be the usual bed time. We had story time and after a while everyone was asleep except baby. She kept me up till about 11 plus and I was dead tired by the time I hit the bed. Somehow as it was over the very sleepy stage, I could not sleep at all. Seemed to be wide awake and yet not so.
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Children have chess lesson today and I wondered if they were okay. slipped a note in their lunch box and hoped they remembered to go during lunch hour.

I watched " Super nanny USA" just now. Seems like children all over world quite the same. Throwing tantrums an trying to get their ways around adults.

I think Sunday should be a day we out from the house. STaying at home can drive me crazy and I am not going to do housework when children at home as I will flare up and ended up punishing them for being inconsiderate and mess up the place.

Charles's behaviour

On Thursday night Joe brought the children to the ice skating rink for speed skating. Children enjoyed the lesson very much but Charles was acting up at the end of the lesson as he was last skating around the rink. He came back not so cooperative. Joe pointed out that he even did not listen to coach and did his exercise. Anyway, Chantz had an accident at the rink as he bumped into a boy and had a deep cut on his lips. We showed concern for his injury and I wondered if that was why Charles became jealous and he acted out later in the night.

After dinner and when the children were about to go to bed, Charles suddenly declared that he had not done his work and he wanted to do his work. We let him be and let him do the homework himself. At about 11pm, he only had a last question "what I did this week." I gave him some suggestions and told him he should go to bed and do it the next day but he refused. After that, he started to scream and shout very loudly and even threatened to kill everyone and run away from home. Joe spanked him and he continued and refused to listen to reason. In the end, I went to him and told him that our neighbours were at the balcony and if they called the police, we would be in trouble. This worked and he managed to go to sleep.

The next day, Charles woke up and still he refused to cooperate, he kept saying he was not going to school. In the end, we managed to get him to eat his breakfast and when we were just about to leave the house, he started to do his homeowrk. He really tested our patience but we controlled ourselves and did not punish him. In the car, he suddeny said he got the wrong shoe and I was afraid that he might go back home and not going to school so I said it would be funny shoe day and see if anyone noticed that he had the wrong shoe. Actually the fact is that he had the shoes correctly but he was finding excuse to go back.

WEll! We were hoping things will be okay after that right? Well! He proved himself to be a handful. When Joe went to pick them up at the school, he was so jealous of Chantz receiving a gift from the teacher that he tore his and Chantz work in front of his teacher. His form teacher, Ms Nam saw how headstrong he was and told him off. Joe told him to stand at a corner and continued to talk to the teacher for a few minutes.

Joe was supposed to bring the kids for their Art lesson and after talking to teacher, he realized Charles was missing. Joe and the children searched for him and could not find him. He called me and I told him to call Art teacher that we would not be there as Charles was missing and he was to bring Charlynn and Chantz back home. Our Mr Charles simply took off and he only came back at 4pm. Joe and I went to school and we told his Principal and form teacher that he was missing and we sought permission to look around the school. No luck so we decided to drive around the neighbourhood.

Anyway, we came back after Charlynn called us to say he was back. I really hope he will learn his lesson and try to control his emotions and temper. When he is good, he is an angel but sometimes he has the outbursts and that is worrying.

God bless that he will grow up to be a sensible boy who wil act responsibly.

Parent teacher interview

Today is parent teacher interview for the kids. Charlynn had hers in the morning and the boys at 12pm.

Charlynn's teacher said that Charlynn is a very responsible and sensible girl and always tries to do her best in all areas. She is very lovable and helpful. No problem for her but we pointed out that she is not using proper English and have many grammar mistakes in her speech. She can speak well but not confident. Charlynn is considered better in her class and teacher hopes she will continue with the good progress.

Chantz 's teacher was pleased with his progress. Comments he is a typical boy who rushes through his work. His form teacher said that he is very clever and vocal and have a wealth of general knowledge. I never taught them anything and they are not reading as much as we want them so the only source is TV. He is able to retain knowledge quickly. I think it's because the boys have higher IQ than peers so they compensating their disablities of not able to recognise print by remembering facts.

Told Charles teacher how Charles behaved at home. He is an angel in class. Helpful and thoughful and very well behaved. I know the interaction of parents and him can be the key to his beahviour but he is jsut super sensitive and likes to display
his emotions. Actually his character a bit like me. Very emotional but I have learnt to contain my emotions as I aged.

Teacher said to catch them while they are good. Not to negatively reinforcing the boys bad behaviour. Will ignore and jsut let them have time out. sometimes we just have to talk sensibly and don;t threaten la.

Nothing new

On saturday, the children went to their Art teacher's house as their art projects were in display. The council had organised an Art trail for all the Artists. Somehow our children enjoyed having their art works in display.

After staying for a while, we went for lunch before we came back to Campsie. Children had Chinese lesson from 2-5pm. Somehow they were really well behaved and never refused to go in.

On sunday we went to the National park. It was quite nice to be out and the scenery was magnificent. Children had so much fun but I was tired with all the driving.

Today children had lunch order as I had forgotten to buy bread so they can choose what to eat. I am feeling sore at the back as today I was busy cleaning up the house. Did not do anything over the weekend as Children were around. Somehow the place already looks really messy after thy came back. A house with children will never be clean and tidy.