Victorian Lockdown 4.0

 So we are into our 4th lockdown in Victorian. It has become something we can cope by now. I don't know about anyone else but for my family, not much is different, except that just when we are getting used to "going back" to work/school physically again, we are now all at home again.

Question is, how long is this one gonna last and why is it Victoria again? One can't help but watch how the Victorian government deal with this one. Hopefully some lessons have been learned from our previous experience and things will be better handled. 

But what is our state government doing this morning? Dishing out money ($250m) again and blaming the Federal government for not helping to dish out more money, on top of other things such as slow vaccine rollout. Instead of working on improving the vaccination telephone lines that were choked up and crashed, causing lots of people anguish and more stress, the Andrews government tried to deflect the attention by pointing blame at the Morrison government. Taking advantage of this crisis to score political points, is that clever or despicable?

The $250m package will come from Victorian taxpayers, fine, we have no choice. But VIC state government wants Federal funding, that means all Australians, to be compensating for their businesses as well, which to me is a double whammy for Victorians. And if Fed government helps Victoria during their state-wide lockdown, then when SA or Western Australia or any other states announces their lock down due to a couple of COVID cases in their state, won't they have to help in the same way as well. There will be no end. Where do you think the Federal Government's money comes from? Trees?

Some Victorians' businesses and livelihoods may be suffering as a result of this lockdown no doubt but think long term and do not buy in to the comments from the VIC state government. All handouts comes from tax payers, if you don't already realise. If you don't want to be paying more taxes for other states' incompetence or their self-imposed knee jerk lockdowns, we need to be careful what we are asking for now.

My Year of the Ox

 I was born in the Year of the Ox, about 4 cycles ago. Today I celebrated my 48th birthday. It was my 13th celebration in Australia. And for the first time in my life, I got a surprise birthday party.

Hubby got organised, it was later revealed, about 1 month ago. He formed a chat group behind my back with my best buddies and arranged for them to get me out of the house for tea party at San Churros. I was supposed to return around 6pm and I thought he was taking me out for dinner. 

The plan was kept secret from me and I suspected nothing about the stock pile of pork loin steaks in the freezer. I thought he was a bit over zealous when the pork chops went of sale. I even used up some for our dinner one night, but he could say nothing. I had no idea even when I met up with the girls for the briefest birthday celebration ever with no cake. When they abruptly said they had to go, I brushed it off that everyone must be really busy. Who would expect that they will then turn around and end up at my house later?

When I got home, KK was cutting up cabbage. I saw Hubby frying tonkatsu pork outside. Oh well, so it's home cooked dinner tonight, I thought. Then as I was checking out the gifts I got, the door bell rang. I thought it was a neighbour coming by to collect her parcel, which she'd sent to our house. However it was the hubby of my girlfriend, with his hands full, carrying food. After about 5 seconds of me staring at him, stunned, surprised and speechless, I figured out what's going on. Wow, for the second time in my life, my husband had managed to surprise me. The first time it was at our wedding, when he turned up suddenly on stage to sing me a song during the church ceremony. In between then and now, he can never keep a secret from me, which isn't such a bad thing, except when it comes to birthdays, I've always managed to know in advance what he's planning. This was necessary, by the way, to prevent him from buying things that I don't want or don't need. Very practical but very unromantic.

So it was a good feeling knowing that these people in my life cared enough about me to plan a lovely surprise on my birthday. I had a great day, beginning in the morning with my favourite coffee and almond croissant near South Melbourne market, then doing some research from my so-called birthday present. 

I guess this year, I'm really feeling a little different from before. I'm more relaxed and don't really worry about how many people will care about my birthday. I decided to just focus on appreciating the things I already have. People who don't care are probably not worth me caring if they care or not too...makes sense?

I told my son today, growing older is not fun so that's why we need birthday celebrations to cheer us up.

Going back to work - Part 2

Oct - Dec 2015
I started training a class of about 20 students in retail baking. It was a my first experience as a VET trainer. The students were all matured students, mostly Vietnamese housewives. The training facilities were not ideal and I had to deal with language barriers. Despite these, I enjoyed my work and the rapport with the students were building after 3 months together. For Christmas, I received gifts from them and we had lunch together before the Christmas holiday break. My contract with the school was only till the end of 2015. When the new year approached, I contacted the school to confirm the starting date of return. But I was told that the job is no longer available. I was puzzled as the students clearly had a long way to go before completion of the course. The school was not very forthcoming with the telling me the real reasons and even suggested that I was not doing a good job. I was devastated. I was looking forward to continue the class with the students till they finished. I had no idea before the term break that my stint would be this short. If they were unhappy with my performance, why wasn't it brought to my attention before? Why only tell me at the last minute that I was not needed? It appeared the real reason was there was a reduction of bakery classes in other campuses. As such they had surplus teachers who were full-time staff that they re-deployed to take over my class and they dropped me instead. This was my first lesson about being a casual teacher. The RTOs can drop you anytime they don't need you, whether because funding is withdrawn or when they have surplus teachers due to reduced enrolments. 

2016
The whole of January, I mopped around at home feeling depressed. Unknown to me, all this happened for a reason. The Lord had something even bigger planned. In February, I finally picked up enough motivation to start looking for another job. I remembered my TAE trainer saying that there's no harm writing to the TAFE program managers to let them know you are available. I had always wanted to work for the TAFE that trained me in TAE. The teachers were professional and the program was well-planned. I decided to send my resume to them even though there wasn't any job vacancy that suited me. 

During this process, I was blessed to find favour with an Australian CEO whom I worked with back in Singapore, who agreed to be my reference (even though we had not spoken for a while since). This person even gave me some suggestions on how to "embellish" my resume to make it look more attractive. My TAE trainer also helped to forward my resume to the relevant program manager in the TAFE.

Because it was unsolicited, I knew I was just trying my luck and did not expect them to come back to me that soon. However, the next day, I got a reply from the Program Manager who said there could be opportunity for "some work" available. Wow, this was unbelievable. What amazing timing! If the first RTO had not stopped my contract, I would have been contented to remain there for at least a year and would never have thought of sending out that resume to the TAFE program manager. By this time, I was beginning to believe that it was all part of God's plan. He had closed the first door so that I could knock on that second door. I had no idea but what was about to happen in the next 4 months would let me experience the full glory of the Lord's power and increase my faith to a level I had never known. 

Feb - Apr 2016
I went to meet the Manager with no idea what to expect and what I'll be doing. It turned out that I sent in my application at a time when the Program Manager was looking for extra help to run an overseas training program in China. The department was caught off guard by a contract signed by the previous management that they never knew existed until recently. They desperately needed resources to deliver 8-10 units of training to students that were enrolled three years ago in a joint partnership program. A job advertisement was made for a teacher and they had already selected the teacher through the interview process. At that point in time, it appeared that I could help in the development work, especially since I can read and write fluent Chinese. The Program Manager actually said I was "God send".  

Just like that, I was immediately hired, skipping the whole interview selection process. Unlike the first teacher I did not even have to respond to any Key Selection Criterias. Initially I thought that I was just going to help out with the development work. Later, it appeared that one teacher might not be enough to deliver all the units and I was asked to go to China to teach as well. My Program Manager begged me not to say no. I was hesitant because I found it ridiculous. I was a new teacher, not just to the TAFE but to the VET industry as well. Not only that, although I had some food knowledge, I was not trained in Food Science and Technology. For the longest time, I just couldn't figure out, why me? Many experienced teachers in the department were really envious of us going to China for two and a half months. But this job just landed on my lap like that. For some reason, I didn't turn it down.

Apr - Jun 2016
Within two months, from unemployed, I became a teacher working for my dream TAFE and my first teaching assignment was in a foreign country for 10 weeks, teaching a course that I was not trained to in. It was crazy. The Lord's hand had to be in this. And He was in control.

When the plane took off to Shanghai, my heart was pounding like crazy. I remembered thinking, oh God, what have I gotten myself into? Will I even survive living away from my family. This was the first time I was going away for so long on my own. What about the lessons? I did not have time to even read up on some of the units I had to deliver. Will I be able to pull it off or "wing it" as my Program Manager said. I had no idea what was in store for me.

But the Lord's blessings and grace was with me. Workwise, the four units that I was assigned to teach were not science units but on quality management, OHS and food processes and trialling a new product. I don't know how but during the lessons, I managed to relate to the subjects and leverage on my previous working experience. There was a fifth unit that I had totally no idea about but praise the Lord it was taken away from me when I was there as the Program Manager managed to map it to a unit that was previously taught. Look how good God is!

Throughout the whole trip, I found favour with the Chinese people I met, from the drivers that drove us everyday to work to hotel manager at the place we called home to the teachers in the university that we work with. I enjoyed lots of goodwill when I was there. He sent people to bless me and created lots of wonderful memories of my two months there. There were lonely times, often in the evening and on weekends but overall I enjoyed the experience so much. I learnt a lot about China and the Chinese people, about myself and I think I grew more independent. I came home to Melbourne with so much to tell about the goodness of God and I had no doubt that it was God that had seen me through this.

Part 3 ...to be continued

Going Back To Work - Part 1

This year will mark the 10th anniversary of my move to Australia. Yes, how time flies. When I moved to Melbourne in 2008, my youngest was only 18 months. I became a full-time mom. Working full-time before, it was great to have a change of lifestyle and be fully committed to the family. But I've always known that the day will come when the children will grow up and have a big part of their life being independent of their parents. When that day comes, what will I be doing? My hope was to return to the work force.

Having stopped working for a few years and with no local working experience, I have real fears that my return to work will be an uphill task. I know mothers who were trying to get a job for years without success. In fact, my expectations were so low that I was prepared not to go back to what I was doing professionally before but settle for any job, even menial jobs like being a cashier or store assistant. However the Lord had been good to me. The story of how I got back to work was amazing and it demonstrates that no matter how big a mountain we face, God can overcome it for us. With our human strength we may think that it is impossible but with God, nothing is too big.  

2011
With a lot of time at home, I picked up different craft hobbies. One of them was cake decorating. From experimenting to creating, I soon started taking small orders of cakes from friends. I printed some name cards and set up a Facebook page called "D'Cupcakes of E".

2013
D'Cupcakes of E officially became "Kekx Kreations". It was a registered business with a council approved food registration license. I even bought public liability insurance. I was still operating from home and this model of business gave me lots of flexibility to still be there for my family. The income was not a lot but I was being paid for my creations.

2014-2015
I enrolled in a Certificate 3 in Retail Baking course as it was an area I was interested in. It was a fully funded course so I didn't have to pay anything. The first school I signed up with got their funding taken away about 1 month after I started but I didn't give up. I managed to find another training provider in the west and I even had a friend enrolled together. For about 6 months, two of us would take turns to drive and go to class 2 days a week while the children were in schoo. It was great fun and we made breads, cakes and pastries to bring home to our family. I successfully completed the course in July 2015 and got my certificate.

2015-2016
Shortly after I completed my Cert 3, I enrolled in another course, Certificate 4 in Training & Assessment. This was a certification that I needed to possess if I were to go back to training. Although I had no idea how to yet, I thought I'll equip myself first. I found a training provider near where I stayed and the evening timing was perfect. I thoroughly enjoyed the course, being blessed with a good trainer and the course was well developed. 
While still studying for my Cert 4, armed with my Certificate 3 in Retail Baking, I decided to put in an application online for a position in Coles as a "trade qualified baker". It was my first job application in Australia. Thanks to my experience in baking and cakes, I got an interview at the Coles and the manager decided to hire me after I showed him my portfolio of cakes I'd made and I was showing flexibility to work odd hours. I was elated. I had just landed my first job in Australia! (to me, running my own baking business was not a "job"...:p) I was going to be a staff member of an organisation! Thanks be to God, I had my first breakthrough!

During the September school term break of 2015, I began work for 3 days a week, from 5 -9am. The traffic was quiet as I drove to work and by the time I got home, the kids were still not awake. I was thankful for the job but it turned out I didn't enjoy it as much. Instead of putting me into the kitchen where I can do baking, I was asked to do bakery assistant duties, such as packing bread into the bags and labelling them with the correct stickers. There was nothing challenging about that besides recognising the various different types of bread and the speed. We had to get most of the breads ready on the shelves by about 7am when the store opened. As I was new and inexperienced, I was not as fast and also maybe because I wasn't used to waking up so early in the mornings. I worked under a supervisor, who looked half my age, she was very energetic and thinks she's very capable. Even though she had no training in baking, she thinks that I needed to be trialled at packing breads before being allowed to assist in the baking. 

I quickly began to get bored at packing bread. It was easy job but I really wanted to get into the act of baking. About 1 and a half weeks into the job, I searched online again and this job for a Bakery Trainer came up. I sent in an application out of discontent with my current work in Coles, even though I was still undergoing training and wasn't fully qualified as a trainer yet. Surprisingly, I got a call the next day for an interview. At the interview, the school offered me the teaching job on the spot. It was amazing how my current work in Coles bakery, running my cake business and my Retail Bakery qualification had all come together like a jig-saw. I couldn't believe how easy and smooth it was. Again, it was amazing the Lord's timing.

By the time the school holidays was over, my time with Coles ended and I started a new chapter of my career, this time as a trainer. And I have not even finished my training yet! I was paid more and the hours fitted into the school hours exactly (9.30am-2.30pm). I could not ask for more. I cannot not explain why except that the Lord's favour had been on me.

Part 2...to be continued

New Updates

I've officially changed my blog name for the third time. It was "Tots, Thots & Toddlers" (can't even remember what it was before) but four years on, my tots and toddlers have all grown. It is time for me to update this blog name to reflect the current stage of my life.

Right now I have a teenager and one would-be teenager in about two years. So I guess teens, thots and ....what should the last "T" be? It striked me yesterday...Testimonies! I will share my testimonies on this blog, all the good things that my God has done in my life, through trials and tribulations, my journey in life with Him. 

I'm not sure if anyone's still reading or writing blogs nowadays. It used to be so in fashion but now, I noticed that most of my friends who used to write blogs have all stopped doing so. I myself have stopped writing for the last four years. Why? Simply because we have been too busy living life to pause and write our reflections. Or maybe it's because we know that no one is reading them anyway so why bother. 

But I've decided to make an effort to write again. Even if no one reads them, it's ok, because to me, these posts records a memory of my life on this earth. When I am old (even now) and I look back on what I had written, it brings back precious memories of myself, many of which I had forgotten because life had happened too fast. I hope that one day too my children will read my blog and they will learn more about their mother's thoughts and her history. I will be sharing boldly too about my testimonies as a Christian. I hope that my personal experience will encourage others (whoever the Lord brings to read my blog) and bring a little more hope and light to their world.  

How to make a lavender wand

Spring 2014. Lavender flowers are bursting into bloom in my garden. What a shame to let them just die off on the stalk. I wish I could dry them to make some lavender powder for my cakes, but I read that you have to use the sweet lavenders for that. The varietal I have is the French or Spanish lavender unfortunately. But they do have a nice smell so here's what you can make - Lavender Wands.

Lavender wands can be used as potpurri for your wardrobe or your room. They look so pretty as a display too. 

Materials:

- 11-15 stalks of fresh lavenders, leaves removed

- rubber band

- 1cm wide satin ribbon

Method:

Step 1: Tie the bunch of lavender flowers together with a rubber band. You have to have an odd number of lavender with as long a stalk as possible. Secure one end of the ribbon under the rubber band.

Step 2: Turn the bouquet the other way so you are holding the flowers in your hand. Fold one stalk down over the flowers and bring the ribbon over the stalk. Fold another stalk down and this time bring the ribbon under it. Repeat with the next stalk with the ribbon over it. 

Step 3: Continue weaving the ribbon over and under the stalks alternatively. Wrap the ribbon as tight as you can around the stalks because as the lavender dries, it can shrink in volume.

Step 4: When you reach the end, tighten the ribbon around and cut it off. Tie a short ribbon around the base.

Bereavement

Thursday 27 March, noon. I received a What's App message from my brother-in-law in Singapore asking me to call him urgently. I was about to leave the house for a lunch appointment but something important must have happened for this kind of messages to arrive. Before the phone could dial through, the text came from sister first on the messaging system that my father has passed away suddenly that morning. 

I sat down on the floor, shocked and in disbelief, paralysed with confusion. He had just returned to Singapore after a 3-month stay with us in Australia. It was barely 3 weeks ago that I had just seen him. My last hug to him at our door as I bade him farewell as he headed off to the airport was still fresh in my memory. What happened? Why?

Details were not very clear as it had happened in Genting Highlands, Malaysia and only my poor mother and an aunt was with him there. I desperately tried to contact my mother and managed to get her through my aunt's phone. She wasn't in a good state and I can only imagine how chaotic and distressing the situation was for her.

The worst thing is, there was nothing much we can do to help her here in Australia. The only thing I could do, after all the sobbing, was to organise our flight back to Singapore urgently, which was a separate story of prayers, blessings and miracles from God. I thank Him for the many favours we found with the authorities and friends, which enabled us to get onto a flight within 48 hours. We arrived at the wake in Singapore shortly after my father's coffin arrived.

The next three days were a continuous flow of ceremonial duties and entertaining mourners. We met up and reunited with many friends and relatives during the wake, many of them I had not seen for many years. I was really happy to see them again although I wished it was under better circumstances. In between, I sneaked quiet moments to gaze and remember my father, who was such a gentle and kind man to the day he departed.

Writing this post brings back sad memories and tears to my eyes. I wished it didn't happen and sometimes I don't even want to talk about it. But denial is not going to turn back time and I do want to document this significant event in my life, for myself and for my children and for the people who cared to remember my father.

My father was a quiet and gentle soul, who never raised his voice and seldom gets angry. He is always calm, to the point of indifferent, but I know he has feelings which he did not show. He doesn't talk much and he's never imposing but surprisingly, now that he's gone, his presence is greatly missed. I realised now that these are his qualities of wisdom and kindness. Yes, he has his shortcomings, but he was a good man. The saddest part is realising you want to get to know him better only after he's dead. There will always be a part of me which regrets not spending more time with him and showing more concern. I was glad however, that he managed to spend the last 3 months with my family in Melbourne. I hope he was as well. In a way, God was graceful to allow our family to celebrate with him for once in many years Christmas, Chinese New Year and his birthday. It was the most boring Chinese New Year for him, but for his birthday, I made him a most beautiful cake, decorated with homemade macarons and handmade sugar cherry blossoms for his 70th birthday. These has become precious final memories of his time with us.

His health was deteriorating and he was frailer than before. But still, no one expected him to go so suddenly. There was no time to say our goodbyes. We are still coping with the loss, especially my mother, who has lived 42 years of her life with him. Nevertheless, despite the tragedy, there were many things in the unfortunate situation we could count our blessings for. We would like to thank all our relatives and friends, who have show your support, personally/remotely, physically/emotionally and spiritually/financially, during this period of bereavement. Thank you for your prayers and concern. We are comforted and blessed by you. God bless you all. 

Creamy Strawberry & Peach Smoothie

This is my boys' favourite smoothie. It's really simple and pretty filling....a very good snack after school or as a dessert even :) Fresh is best, but if you can't, using frozen berries or canned peaches.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole fresh peach, pit removed, cut into wedges (I left the skin on).
• 12-15 fresh strawberries, leaves removed.
• A dollop of cream
• A dash of milk (if you want it more creamy, omit this)
• 2-3 ice cubes

 Method:

• Chop everything up and throw it into the blender.
• Add the ice, milk and cream.
• Blend until smooth!
• Enjoy!

Makes 2 glasses.

Smoothie Mom

This term "Smoothie Mom" was coined by KK today. Aptly. For this was what I have been doing for them every afternoon this week for after-school snack - SMOOTHIES!

Of course, at the same time, I'll make a cup for myself too. Hmmm....the smooth, creamy & fruity blend just feels so good sliding down your throat. Not to mention it's very filling and nutritious too. 

It's really easy to make and I have fun mixing up different flavours using different fruits, both canned and fresh.

The basic ingredients are: yoghurt (plain or vanilla flavour), ice cubes and some milk.
Add whatever fruits you fancy and blend! I've tried mixing different combinations of bananas, raspberries, peaches, passionfruit and chocolate. All taste good. I'm going to blend in some canned beetroot tomorrow....can't wait :)

To Market To Market

One month ago, I accidentally ventured into the world of business. A friend of mine from China imported a batch of polar fleece bed linen and asked if I could help her to sell them. I will get a small percentage of commission on every item sold. 

I have been making cake orders on a part-time basis since last year. People come to me to ask me to make their cakes. I don't push my cakes to them. They ask, I give them a price, deal or no deal. Simple. But but this is different. This is direct selling, SALES!! Something I dread terribly and decided since very long ago never to make this my career. So why I said yes to her that fateful day at the children's playground, I have no idea. Anyway, I reckoned there will be no harm trying since I have some time to myself everyday after the kids go to school.

Besides starting an online web page and promoting it to all of my friends in Melbourne, I decided to also participate in "market day" stalls. In Melbourne it seems, weekend markets are very popular shopping destinations. Some markets are permanently open every weekend while others pop up regularly here and there. Anybody can rent a stall and sell basically anything, old, new, used or handmade. I have been to a few but am not a fan of them actually, especially those that charge an entry fee. Nevertheless, these markets are great opportunities for people who don't want to invest in a long term lease or to get rid of old stuff and earn a few extra bucks on the weekends. For me, it was an opportunity to test the market and gauge the response to the products which I'm considering merchandising.

This first market I participated in was in a church. I thought it was a good start as the rental fee was not very high but I later realised that the timing of the market was only 4 hours (8am till 12 noon), compared to others which end at 3pm. On the day of the market, the weather forecast was gloomy - rain, rain and more rain, from morning till evening. Even though I was indoors, I had no doubt many people would not bother to wake up in the morning, in this kind of weather, to attend a flea market.

We all woke up at 6.30am that Saturday, husband and kids as well, to load the car and make our way to set up stall. It was kind of exciting, although carrying almost 50 bags of fleece blankets up and down the car was not very fun. This aspect of business, the delivery, logistics and set up, is something customers don't see. What we see are nicely displayed items, positioned strategically to catch our eyes and make us pause to admire. Have we wondered how much time and effort has gone into packing, unpacking and bringing those items there?

The stall got off to a jittery start when the organisers could not find my booking and did not allocate me a space. Last minute, they tried to find a suitable corner for me, which was not ideal as all the good positions in the main hall were taken up. Another lesson in business: Location, location, location. Certain positions have got no traffic or no visibility. In the end, I managed to take over a table that was no-show in the main hall, that was not in some obsure corner, so we settled happily.

The 4 hours sales window passed quickly. Some people came, looked and walked away. Others came to say some nice things about your stuff, but did not end up in any sales. A few of my friends turned up and most of them bought something from me. Thanks to them for their supoort :) Some items which I thought would sell fast did not move. Others did alright despite the poor turnout of the crowd. I was surprised, disappointed, bored and thankful all at the same time.

In the end, I made enough to cover my expense for the day though not enough to cover our wages of all our man hours combined. But I gained a whole lot of insight into market days, not to mention a few new friends (neighbour stall owners). It was also a good opportunity to teach a life lesson on earning a living for my son. 

KK was complaining how little we made after a 'whole day', which was really only 4 hours. We explained to him that this is how difficult it is to earn money. I believed my 10 yr old is under this impression that when he grows up, money will be automatically deposited every 2 weeks into his bank account, like his father. He did not see what his dad had to do and how he did it everyday to earn those money. But he saw how we took out all our fleece blankets from its bag and then put most of them back again at the end of the day. I hope he realised sometimes people can spend 4 hours or more outside and earn not a dollar. If after that day he learnt not to spend his money so thoughtlessly because it is not easily earned, than that would be the biggest profit of my market stall.
  

40th Birthday Message

Dear Family & Friends,

This year I will turn 40. When I was a kid, I never visualised myself beyond the 30s. That’s as far as it goes for all the exciting things to happen. Your education, romances, beauty, career, marriage and babies all happened within these first 30 odd years. What happens beyond this point, I’ve never really thought about it. My impression is things start to go either plateau or downhill from here.

By 40, the number of your children is more or less fixed. Your career, if you still have one, will be stable and it is likely the one you will have to stick with for the rest of your life. The only think you look forward to growing is your bank account and children. Hopefully your waistline does not follow the trend...;p Is this what life after 40 is all about? I really don’t know. If we are lucky, we’ll probably have another 40 more years on this earth. What do we do with it?

Currently as a housewife, I have not much care or worries beyond what is the next meal to cook and my children’s welfare. The working people would say that we are lucky, we can stay at home and “do nothing”. Yes, many a times, when I looked at the morning peak hour traffic, I thank God that I don’t have to beat that to report to work. But other days, I wondered how I should gainfully occupy my time when the children are in school, besides grocery shopping, housework, PPS.TV and Facebook?

Still, comparing other women who are 40 around the world, I guess I’m lucky to be 40 and in Australia. It was a choice I made 5 years ago, to leave my career, my family and friends in homeland and come to Australia. I must keep reminding myself why I made that decision. Sacrifices were made but I gained a lot as well. I just cannot measure it in monetary terms that’s all.

With this coming birthday, I hope to rejuvenate my life again. It is the beginning of a new chapter. I’m going to write it as best as I could. Even though I won’t grow prettier or younger, I want to live life with a purpose and with energy. I believe my future is still to be crafted and if I am determined, I will make something good for myself and my family.

To commemorate this milestone, I've had a few celebrations with close friends and my family. Fun and food we had but it was the feeling of friendship and love that I most appreciated. Birthdays are really a time to give thanks. I thank God first of all, for His mercies and grace everyday. I do not take for granted the blessings I have each day, just being alive and being together with my loved ones. And to all the people, over the past 40 years, especially my parents, family, siblings, relatives and including ex-classmates, ex-colleagues, my friends in Singapore and Melbourne, who have left your kindness in my life. You have accepted me, accompanied me, helped me and guided me. Without you all my life would be less interesting and meaningful. This birthday, I want to say “Thank you folks for being part of my 40 years of memories!” I wish all of you blessings and good health always!

With Sincerity, Love & Affection

E

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!

XX turns 5

It's been another busy week. Christmas Day came by, accompanied by some hail and flooding. Luckily for us, we were affected by none. Only Hubby's hind wheels got stuck in the mud after he left it parked on the bare naturestrip outside our house during the storm. The interior of our house is more or less organised now and we were able to welcome and entertain some visitors over the holiday period. Only wish the dishwasher was working. After a failed attempt by us to install it ourselves and ended having to pay for an emergency plumbler in the middle of the night, it still won't work for some reason. I got a feeling we will have to wash more money down the drain before it can be used.


Speaking of money, we are right now feeling that a house is a big bottomless sinkhole in which you pour your money in. One of our friend commented that she will be a very rich woman if she had saved up all the money she'd spent on her house over the years. Probably she's right. There are so many expenses, large and small, which came up that we never had to think about previously. And now, our plasma tv is showing a yellowish screen, which I reckon is not an auspicious sign.


The year is slipping by so fast before I have a chance to report recent important events. I still owe XX a birthday cake. I feel so bad that this year, XX turned 5 one day after we moved in, I have no time to make him a birthday cake. I only used the oven for the first time to make some pre-mix whoopie pies for his kinder. At least he had his moment of fame in school with 28 of his kindy friends singing him a birthday song and I did get him a big Lego Creation set as a gift, but I still feel a gap. I have made the birthday cakes for both of them every year since we moved to Melbourne. This year, XX's cake was a $5 mud cake from Coles.


Cake or no cake, my little baby has grown up one more year. Come next year, he will be joining his older brother in primary school. Although it is just Prep (equivalent of K2 in Singapore), he will be donning official school uniform, packing a lunch and going to school 5 days a week for 6 hours a day. I'm so gonna miss him. Since we came to Melbourne 3.5 years ago, he has been my constant companion and I witnessed his amazing transformation from a baby to toddler to a young school going child. It is so amazing. I'm being made redundant at more and more tasks as he now takes over cleaning his bottoms and showering/shampooing himself. He puts on his own socks and shoes and knows how to put them into the laundry basket afterwards. And just one day before he turned 5, XX learnt to ride the 2-wheeled bicycle on his own! We were busy supervising the movers and he was paddling around the back with the bike. He found his balance for a few seconds and then he could balance longer and longer. Suddenly he's riding a few metres without falling!  


It's a natural progression for him and I'm proud of his accomplishments. I'm relieved also for more freedom but at the same time, I probably need a little more time adjusting and letting go. You know, I still like to carry him, cradle him (with his limbs hanging out) and smell his neck like a baby.


Here's XX's photo diary of his 5th birthday.

On my birthday, I went to the indoor playground with Brandon and Callum after my Prep orientation.

Hooray, I'm 5 finally!

Mom made whoopie pies for my kinder friends.

Me with my teacher blowing out the candles on a fake cake.

My birthday present which I constructed with help from Mama and KK.