Out of the ordinary ...hmm ...

So the birthday came and went. Can't say I still enjoy celebrating birthdays, but it gives Wifey and I another reason to eat well. More of that later ...

Want to document some interesting events leading up to, and including, the birthday.

- On birthday eve, someone buzzed the doorbell. It was a middle-aged lady looking for 'Adrian'. She refused to take "No such person here" as an answer. She even prevented me from closing the door, and asking "Are you 100% sure?". I told her I was 120% sure. She left, only to come back again. After the 3rd ringing of the bell, I exasperatedly opened the door, and she asked "He went to Germany or something, right?" UURRRGHHH! Yet thinking of it now gives me the creeps.

- While in the middle of the night (birth day already), I was woken up by a 'tick tick' sound coming from the side table. I turned and realised it was coming from the cube clock that I bought in Thailand. Drowsily I got up and fiddled with the battery catch, and managed to yank all 4 batteries out. Guess what? The ticking didn't stop. Amazing! This thing doesn't run on batteries! (Child's Play, anyone?) Really was too sleepy to be frightened, so I went outside and chucked it on the dining table. The next day, I found out there were 2 smaller batteries with a different compartment. Orrrrhh ...

- So Wifey and I went to eat at this posh place, with supposedly a good restaurant. While the food was good, it was definitely waaaaaayy overpriced. The portions were so little, and the 5-course costs $130 each. To me, that's expensive. Anyhow, 1/3 way through the dinner, I suddenly had this very bloated feeling in my stomach, which then expanded up to my chest. Yes, I did have complimentary bread before the actual meal, but I didn't eat all that many, what! Was it the olive oil? Whatever lah. I suffered all the way until I got home ... where I got my gastric attack.

- To wrap the interesting day up, the gastric attack was followed by this wave of fatigue in quick succession. It was like I was going to crash any moment, and I had to get to bed. Fast. I think I was talking to Wifey ... and I fell asleep. How I hauled my tired ass to bed, I only vaguely remember.



Photo credit here.

Post Date: 30 May 08

1st Anniversary

Hi Father,

How have you been? It's been 1 year since you ventured into another world - how time flies.

It may have been one year already, but everything is still vivid: the emotions, the feelings, the images, the faces ... I think it'll be forever etched into me. I still get goosebumps. I still think of you a lot, when I'm in the shower, in the office, at Mum's place, and when I think of my birthday coming up. Not that this is a complaint. It's just that this is so symbolic of life isn't it? That with 生 comes 老,病 and then 死.

Wifey and I are fine. She just clocked her 5th year of service with the company this year. She's been a loyal employee - this is her one and only company since we came back from Australia. As for me, hehe, not so loyal. The current place is my 3rd one since coming back. But I'm happy to report that things at work is better now than one year ago. Even then, I must remain relevant.

Mum is fine too. Not too sure if I've told you this before, but she has rented out one room to 3 Vietnamese girls. They seemed ok enough, and Mum gets along well with them. Recently, we started going out for dinner with Mum, instead of she cooking. She requested for "something fresh". I didn't know Mum was adventurous with food! Her luck with lottery has also been nothing short of spectacular. It keeps her happy and excited. I think this is in no small way your doing, Father?

There is one thing I want to report to you. Last year, there was consideration for Wifey and I to sell/rent our place and move into Mum's. But before that, we had Mum stay over with us. After trying for a few months, Mum still prefered to stay at her own place. I think she's a bit disappointed that we did not move in with her. I think I'm a bit selfish for saying this, but having my own roof over my head is important to me. It's something like a safeguard for a conservative Chinaman. As for renting our place out, I dread to think of the condition when we take back the unit. Amidst all these considerations, we held back moving in with Mum. She worked fast, and found company, in the form of her new tenants. This arrangement is for now. What I intend to do is to look for a place nearer to Mum, with no bus transits in between.

What about you, Father? How are things at your end? Have you adjusted to the new surroundings? Have you made new friends? Do you ... miss us? I really miss you, and I know Mum and Wifey miss you even more, and they are handling it so well. I guess I have to learn from them, to deal with the loss.

That's all I have, Father. Will talk to you again. In the meantime, please bless Mum with good health and happiness, and us with good news on the baby front!

Bye, and take care.



Yours sincerely,

Your son-in-law



Photo credit here.

Composed Date: 13 May 08

Huh? Is that right?

Met some friends yesterday. Haven't met them in a while, and they commented that I looked thinner. "You now have a sharper chin lah", they enthused. Went home and quickly weighed myself, and couldn't believe my eyes.

I'm now a lightweight 63.5kg. BMI is 23 - normal weight : )

Can't remember the last time I weighed myself, but couldn't have been more than 3 months ago. Wah, lost 2kg in 3 months!

So much nearer to my ideal weight of 60kg.



Post Date: 28 May 08

Obigood

Good lah, good lah!

Many, many nights of insufficient sleep, some nights of only 4 hours' of sleep, surfing the web before sleeping ... at some point, something's gonna give, right?

After a few days of never-noticed-or-can't-be-bothered low-grade fever (eh, how come my throat tastes bitter and my eyes like burning, ah?), my body finally gave up fighting. Yesterday my throat was damn sore and the fever went full-blown. 37.7 degrees later, I got an MC to rest at home today.

Whatever happened to health regime of sleeping early? Huh? HUH?!



Post Date: 27 May 08

Baby fund

The arrangement with Wifey from last time was once we have a child, she'll take care of the child's health/insurance while I'll raise the money for education.

The money I set aside from last year were for:
- miscellaneous stuff like delivery package, checkups, etc
- seed money for education fund

Part of the money has finally been invested, after one year of procrastination and too much research.

Miscellaneous fund
- invested on 22.05.08
- topped up $1000
- invested in FCFD with DBS
- A$1 = S$1.3187
- instruction to roll principal and interest
- interest rate at 6.695%p.a.
- maturity in 2 mths

Education fund
- part of money invested on 26.05.08
- bought Schroder BRIC fund with Citibank
- RSP of $300
- sales charge of 2%
- fund price and number of units to be confirmed
- remaining money meant to be invested in commodity fund, but may have missed the boat. Need to re-evaluate.

I hope I've placed my bets on the right things, and that the money will be enough...



Photo credit here.
Disclaimer: my baby can't be blonde, and no way am I investing in US$!

Post Date: 27 May 08

Is the ice considered broken?

It's been 10 months since I announced to you that I wanted to take a back seat. You gracefully agreed that I can be your third line of defence. Before that, you had just started to help me and Wifey with our baby thingy.

We didn't want to appear desperate and didn't want to put you in a spot. That's why for the past 10 months, not once did we breathe anything about the baby thingy.

We were pleasantly surprised when you brought up the issue 2 weeks ago when we went to visit you. "The time is right", you mentioned encouragingly. I'm sure the incident 10 months ago caused much unhappiness. But when you voluntarily said that it was time, I was quietly glad, maybe all that unhappiness is already behind you.

But I must commend you on the timing. This is not the first time already, that you have impeccable timing. For this case, coincidentally, we also seeked our own help a few days ago. Maybe Buddha knows that I'm kiasu, so He double-confirms?

So last night we went to fetch you. The conversation topics may still be the same, but the ease seems to be lacking. Time will improve on that, for sure.

For all the time you were in the house, you didn't leave the seat. There was no opportunity for me to explain why there is a talisman stuck on my bedroom door. But I'm sure you already know. I'm prepared to explain, once the opportunity arises.



Post Date: 27 May 08

The making of

This blog is supposed to document my quest to be a father, but not only are the posts far and few in between (if at all!), I don't even have a label for it.

So I'm creating a 'Baby' label.

3 months after making an appointment (since Chinese New Year), today was finally the day. Fetched Mum and together with Wifey, we went down to the temple. Must say I was nervous. Was very afraid the person-in-charge will say 你没有孩子命.

But it turned out alright. We were given talismans to drink, wash, cleanse and paste.

It was a sigh of relief for me. That means there's still hope!



Post Date: 27 May 08

Praise from the unlikeliest of places

Met one of the customers today at the lobby. Known to have a reputation for being difficult, I spent much effort in reaching out to her and communicating with her. Happy to say, she's been friendly to me.

We were discussing about the flurry of activities happening around the building, not to mention the amount of workers moving around. "So are we 100% full already?" she asked.

"Yes!" I shared happily.

"I was talking to so-and-so that, ever since you came on board, we are seeing more and more people, and now we are at 100%! Good job!"

And she gave me a thumbs up.

I'll be lying if I said it didn't feel good!



Post Date: 16 May 08

English Premier League 07/08

YEAAAH! Everton has qualified for Europe again!

We finished 5th of the table, with 65 points. Fantastic season. And we had to end on a high by beating Newcastle 3-1 at home! Moyesy's 3rd foray into Europe in 4 seasons! Kudos to the lads!



Photo credit here.

Post Date: 12 May 08

Visions @ 0700 (09.05.08)

This would be fairly close, except that there's a second stroller and the shot is from the back, not side.



Photo credit here.

Post Date: 10 May 08

Visions @ 0700 (08.05.08)

After days of checking AU$ and NZ$ TD rates, commodities and emerging market funds ...



While it didn't exactly turn out that way, the clip accurately captured the little girl's response. Hmmm ...



Post Date: 10 May 08