Last Weeks of 2012

My little Baby X turned 6 last week and my elder reached double digit age 4 months ago. Congratulations to you both!! I can't believe (for the nth time) how fast you have grown.

There has been not been much time to pause and reflect on how they have changed though. The last week leading up to XX's birthday has been extremely busy. We decided to indulge in a birthday party for him this year and invited 8 of his friends to a 2-hour session of Laser Tag games. This is a fun game using laser guns and tagging opponents with laser beams. The participants wear special vests that records how many times you hit someone and have been hit. On top of making the birthday cake, which has become a tradition since we moved to Oz, I also decided to self-cater the party food as I don't think the party food provided outside are of value and nutrition. The kids had a great time, even the girls, whom I was worried initially may not like the predominantly boys game. 

The kids checking their "hit" scores after the game on the tv screen.

The partying did not end there. In the middle of the week, on the eve of his birthday, it was XX's Tae Kwon Do grading day. He went after a full day of school for the grading session. It was a hot day that day and I was pretty exhausted myself just driving them around. I expected him to pass but it seemed he did very well as well. When the results were out this week, XX came in 2nd overall best score amongst all the Orange belt gradings. Well done my little one! The next day, on the actual day of his birthday, I decided on impulse to bake a batch of cupcakes for his class. Although he didn't ask for it, I know he was really happy to have his class sing him a birthday song. 

On the weekend, KK also got to go for his grading this time round. After having missed the last 2 rounds because he wasn't ready, we were very relieved when he performed well to pass and get his Blue belt 2nd stripe. In fact, he got the 2nd best score amongst the blue belt 2nd stripe gradings as well and the instructors said he performed beyond expectations. I'm very proud of you too, KK!

A very exhausted 6 year old on his birthday

Soon the year will be coming to an end. The children has begun taking back the pieces of work they've done over the past year as the teachers started clearing up the classrooms for the next year. Reports and portfolios are back. The summer holidays will begin next week and we are getting ready for our planned break in the country with friends. What an exciting and fantastic way to wrap up the year! Like I said, there's no time to pause and reflect, we're well and truly aging rapidly!! 

My birthday wish is.....

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone!!

Sorry, you don't have my support

This is a copy of the letter I wrote to my children's school principal regarding the teachers' industrial action. Sorry, I'm not supporting their demands.

Dear 

It is with deep regret and disappointment that I am writing this letter to you. This is in response to the letter many parents received a few days ago by AEU outside the school gate. Since it was signed from “the staff” of Seabrook Primary School, I have no idea who else to reply to except to the head of the school. Please convey my message to all the staff concerned.

Since my arrival in Victoria 4 and a half years ago, I have only sent my children to public schools. I have had great respect for the Australian teachers and readily appreciates their style of teaching as different from what we had back home. However the recent dispute between the teachers and our government has marred my impression. Their actions and now, inactions, through their union AEU, have directly shown me what kind of “poor” attitude and “lack of” work ethics they have.

During the last two strikes, full day or half, I had taken it in my stride but this did not mean that I agreed with it and the way it was done. You might think it did not have much impact on me since I am a stay-at-home mom but what about many other mothers who had to scramble for alternative childcare arrangements. The kids thought it good that they were having a ‘free’ holiday but seriously, this kind of disruption, where they stay at home being restless when they could have gained some enrichment at school cannot be good for them. So the statement in the letter ‘None of these bans affect the fundamental learning of the children at Seabrook and most do not impact on students or families at all…” is a lie. Stop trying to justify your actions!

Now the teachers are even going so far as to not give any comments on the individual school reports. I’m sorry, isn’t this just another example of how selfish and thoughtless the teachers can be in Victoria? Teachers claimed they want to “develop an employment agreement…that will provide for the continued quality education for all students in Victoria.” (as stated in AEU’s letter) but is this how you are getting it? By “DISRUPTING the continuity” and by a “NO QUALITY” report? By sacrificing the kids and sabotaging the welfare of the students that they are supposed to educate? What kind of maturity and example are they demonstrating to our children? We ask our kids to stop throwing tantrums and threatening to get their way, can the teachers listen too?

I have no issues with the teachers getting a fairer pay but from what I see, what the teachers want from the government is not exactly fair.

No introduction of performance pay. Everyone that works for someone knows that they are being measured by their performance, unless that someone is your father or mother. Why should lousy and lazy teachers (don’t tell me there are none) be paid the same as an excellent one? If that’s the case, what incentive is there to become a good teacher? What incentive is there for good teachers to stay in a public school? Perhaps some teachers are fearful that they will not be up to the mark when tested and are hiding behind the cloak of “equality” but I believe policies that encourage individual good performance will bring about a total better performance as a whole.

Experiments have shown that in a class of students where test scores were combined and averaged, the overall average score dropped over time. The theory is simple, over time smarter kids realised there is no incentive to work harder to get high scores since their marks will be ‘lowered’ anyway after averaging. And the weaker students will have no incentive to study hard too since their marks will be “higher” anyway after averaging. The teachers’ demand to have no performance discrimination can only be detrimental  to public school standards.

Reduction in face-to-face teaching hours. How can that be beneficial to our kids? Isn’t face-to-face teaching the fundamental role of the teachers? Compared to many other professions and occupations, teachers get their school holidays and many other occasions of ‘student free’ days to get their relaxation, upgrading time needed. If they honestly believe that their working time is too long, the door is always open for them to find a better job.

So I’m sorry but I’m not in support of the teachers’ actions as I don’t see any benefits and only more harm to public schooling and all our school children of Victoria. Already Australian education standards are nothing to boast about. Please ask them to seek their redress and iron out their conflict with their employer (the government) in a more reconciliatory and reasonable way, without compromising the long term benefits and welfare of our kids and in a way that better reflect the values and principles of the sacred calling of their profession.

Thank you so much for your time.

Yours sincerely,

Wet Weather Traffic

Traffic was really bad this morning. It seemed a universal trend that whenever it rains in the morning, the traffic would be really slow and dreary on the roads. On such weather, one should be in bed snoozing but everyone's outside, battling their way to work or school. The public transport was just as bad. The Metro trains were not working well (also positive correlation to the weather) and many people had to opt to either get on board a slow train, wait for the buses or drive to work, the latter two options just contributing to the already congested, tortoise speed highway.

I regretted it the moment I turned up the ramp into the freeway but there was no U-turn. I had to join the queue. We crawled our way to the next exit and I turned out to take an alternative route. We made our way to school after 45 mins, a journey that would have usually taken 15 mins. But it was probably better than if we had stayed on the freeway.

Still it was too nice a weather to be frustrated. The birds and plants probably welcomed this wet day as compared the hotter and dry days before. Hopefully the bosses would be just as welcoming towards their late arriving employees as well :)

Boom and Bloom Time

Do plants grow in the dark? Since when did that long branch grew out from the rose plant? Ah...Spring is here. Boom and bloom time for the plants not just in my garden but everywhere! 

It rained again last night and this morning. When I opened the window to take this photo, the air smelled and felt so good. It's cold but so refreshing! I never remembered breathing air like this in Singapore. That's one reason why I love staying in Melbourne. I love staying at home, looking outside at the plants and noticing the little changes in them. The grasses' gotten taller, that plant's got a lot more leaves now, hey look, rose buds are forming! and the fruit trees are starting to grow flowers! Small discoveries, little pleasures of life.

Korea

Our holidays over the last four years have mainly been within the country of Australia, except to Singapore, which I consider more of a 'home visit' than holiday. In fact, even before we moved to Australia, we have already started taking 'holidays' cum 'survey' trips to various states of Australia. If I'm not wrong, the last country we visited that is NOT Australia or Singapore was Canada, back in 2005. So when a visit back to Singapore became possible, we decided to extend the trip further to include a long overdue holiday to South Korea as well. 


Although I had visited Seoul before, I never went beyond Itewon and the hotel lobby then. That was how much time we had during the night stops as a cabin crew. My vague impression of Korea was 1) cheap and good imitation products;  2) a harsh place to be during winter; 3) rough people whose sense of personal space was very poor and 4) super sweet strawberries. What will my perception of Korea be, many years later? I'm pretty sure the harsh winter still holds. 



My first impression of Korea is one of a vibrant nation with a hardworking and creative workforce. I love watching Korean drama serials, one main reasons for my interest to visit the country that gave birth to Lee Min Ho and Kim Tae Hee. We love Korean food, often cooking them at home or visiting Korean restaurants in the city. We love using their inventions - LG washing machines, fridge, microwave oven, Samsung TV and my latest Samsung Nexus Galaxy smartphone. I think Koreans should be very proud of their country people for all they have achieved internationally.


Being in Seoul feels like being in Singapore sometimes, except for the weather and it being more chaotic. There are lots of people on the streets, in the malls and at the train stations, even late at night. The people work late and the shops are opened till late. Everyone is moving. Bright lights from the street hawkers light up the street and food tempt you every metre of the way.

Korea's cherry blossom of Spring

And the people are friendly. Mostly we have a problem communicating with them but when we do ask someone for help or directions, they always respond helpfully, despite spending a lot of effort trying to make us understand. Luckily, we have a picked up a few Korean lines to help us ask "where" and "how much" and the many English signs around the public areas helped considerably.


We spent a substantial amount of time in Korea feasting on their local cuisines. We loved to visit those shops operated by 'ahjummas' and have the traditional way of sitting on the floor. We have to take off our shoes and our feet get numb after about 1 hour but the experience is so authentic. I always look forward to see how many and what type of 'banchans' (side dishes) they will serve us. Sometimes, it can get as many as 20! And the food is spicy and delicious! Even my kids enjoyed it and they ate so much during that two weeks they both gained weight.


Shopping wise, there are no lack of Korean products to buy. The most common shops sell beauty products and clothing, targeting the young working female population. However I find their clothing not cheap although the Korean won is weak against AUD. I heard that the salary of the Koreans are not very high but looking at the prices of things, it doesn't tally. Many of the clothing are made locally in Korea and the vendors are proud to highlight that fact. Of course, the quality is better than some China made one. 


One of our favourite past time in the afternoon or night is to stop by one of those trendy donuts cafes to rest our legs, have a cup of cafe mocha while the kids have their donuts. This kind of lifestyle is very popular with the younger generation there but a cup of ice mocha can cost as much as A$5. 


The other thing I noticed about Koreans are how civic-minded they are. At food courts, they return their trays to the racks after eating. At fast food restaurants, they dispose of their trash AFTER seperating the food waste, liquids and containers. On the train, ahjhummas (aunties) will not hesitate to tell kids off when they put their feet on the upholstered chair. No wonder the trains are so clean and well-maintained. 


The Koreans are also very efficient and thoughtful in their services. At food courts, you are given a beeper so you can sit down to wait while your food is cooking. Water is always provided free and you collect the metal cups for water from sterilising cabinets. At one bank, there were even some nail polish for you to paint your nails and time away while waiting. When I bought a birthday cake from a mall, the candles were provided together with a knife and even 2 matchsticks! At the Haeundae beach, it even has wi-fi and internet stations set up. That, I think is a little carried away.


After 2 weeks in South Korea, I walked away with a deeper understanding of the Korean  culture, not to mention a few Korean words, and a renewed respect for its people. I will definitely want to revisit the country again. This time, I must remember to visit their public baths.   

Another Beautiful Day

I had thought that once both kids are at school for six hours a day, I would have a lot of time on my hands. Not true. I still feel like I'm very busy. and the week passes in a whoosh. 


A few days of the week, I live like a 'tai tai'. I help out with reading at XX's Prep class once a week, go to the gym, do an hour of exercise, shower and then meet up with some friends for lunch. We hang out until it's time to pick up the kids. Then I either come home or hang out some more on days when XX has Tae Kwon Do. When I don't do that, I take the chance to do some shopping and marketing. Then I make myself some lunch and enjoy some quiet time in front of the TV ususally. Today is a rare day where I decided I won't go out and I won't meet friends, even though someone did asked me to meet for coffee. I became a maid of the household today. Preparing jiaozi for the master and young masters and cleaning up the oven grills. Well, maybe a bit of blogging as well....


The other thing is I thought that I would have the chance to sleep more once the kids are in school. Also not true. I am usually the first to wake up in the morning, many times automatically and before the alarm clock rings. Even on days where Hubby takes them to school, I will still get up to make lunches and get them breakfast. Maybe now XX is also going to school and I want to make sure their lunches has some variety and are what I want them to eat. A little control freak. And I don't go back to bed after that. The problem is also I can't seem to sleep a lot these days. About 6 - 7 hours and I would find myself waking up easily. So on days when I go to bed early, like 10pm, I find myself waking up 4.30am, which is really frustrating. 


This is a sign of aging apparently. When you're older, you don't sleep as much. And that's the ironical part. When we were younger, we loved to sleep so much but can't seem to get enough. Often we have to force ourselves out of bed for school, work, whatever activities. Finally when we get older, we have all the time in the world to sleep, we can't sleep. So not fair...


Anyway, this is life. And I think mine is still good and I give thanks for that. I love my family. I live in a nice house, in a safe country. I have a good circle of friends to keep me sane and many interesting hobbies to keep me occupied. Most importantly, we still have health and the chance to look forward to another beautiful day tomorrow.

Year of Beginnings

As is expected, once the holidays ended and the new school year started, life for our family experienced more adjustments. Thanks to the school holidays, we have a lot of time to settle into our new home. In fact, we didn't do much during this school holiday except 'house stuff'. We did not take any overseas or interstate travel, not even local ones. The only 'holidayee' stuff we did was to take the kids to Philip Island to watch the penguin parade one night. I think the kids were pretty bored having to stay at home so much, worst when our TV chose to break down and they had to abstain from their favourite in-house past time - TV games. 


Once Chinese New Year and the holiday festivities ended, it was back to school time. This year is a big year of BEGINNINGS for XX. He started training in Tae Kwon Do, started formal schooling in Prep and he started Chinese school too. I was pretty worried how he would cope with so many introductions of new things. Surprisingly, he was really cool and handled these changes in his life with maturity and enthusiasm. 


He was the only new kid at TKD so he got a one-on-one personal training from his instructor, a black belt 2nd dan. He did really well, taking instructions and following the moves. His instructor said he's showing good potential but I was really more worried if he could last the whole hour, especially after a long day in school. His energy was totally sapped up though. For that Tues and Thurs after training, he fell asleep in the car on the way home and slept through till the next morning. I'm glad I stopped XX's swimming program for this year.

Now every morning, XX joins his elder brother to school. I have been waking up early to make their lunch boxes and get them ready, driving them to school when hubby can't. For the first week, I felt a bit lost after I dropped them off. I used to always have XX by my side, suddenly I have so much freedom on my own I felt a bit lonely and disorganised. 

With the changes to XX's routine, I realised my routine has to adapt too. I started going to the gym in the mornings instead of in the evenings since I have time and this way, I don't need to rush during dinner time. Luckily I managed to find some classes that I liked to replace those that I was doing at night. I think I should also start to explore the option of doing some part-time work but right now, I'm quite enjoying the luxury of a quiet lunch in front of the TV, watching Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott fight it out in parliamentary debates.



XX is enjoying his new 'big boy' lifestyle, doing almost everything that his older brother is doing. With the second one, it is much easier to introduce the concept of school. He kind of know what to expect and what to do. KK has been a good brother too, giving him tips on the first day (say 'please', 'thank you'...) and going to his classroom after school to fetch him. Knowing that he has an older brother there with him, there is no separation anxiety, no tears and no worries. I don't even have to convince XX to go the Chinese school on Saturdays. He stayed alone from the second week (didn't need me to sit beside him) during chinese class and he handled his homework without any fuss. Cool as a cucumber. I'm so proud of you, XX!!

Happy New Coffee Table

We made a new coffee table for the new year and I really like it! This is the first time that Hubby had made a piece of furniture and I'm very proud of him. To be exact, I conceptualised the design, Hubby made the wooden frame, I stained/varnished it and he fitted it together with a MDF board and liquid nails.Even though the workmanship is not excellent, he at least made my idea come true and it's standing excellently structurally. 

I'm also very happy that my idea to recycle a piece of abandoned stone bench top (left by the builder after they got the sink cut-out wrong and had to make a new bench top for us) into something nice and useful became realised. It did cost us a couple of hundred dollars to get the stone mason to cut the stone into the shape of a circle though. But it's worth it as a stone table like this would probably cost more if we'd purchase it at some furniture store. Not to mention the stone is the exact match of our kitchen island bench. There several more pieces of stone which I'm planning to turn into a breakfast bar table for the alfresco area. I think Carpenter Hubby will have a busy year ahead!


Happy New Year Everyone!