today i chided my kids for being messy. cos teacher jane gave them kinder surprise eggs and they obviously started eating them right away, though we werent allowed to eat in class. anyway as usual they made a mess out of the classroom with their toys thrown everywhere and the manual for making the toys shredded into a hundred pieces -.-

and after class some ladies from the women's ministry came to use the classroom and i was so embarrassed that the place was in a mess. and one of the lady was more concerned that my class was rowdy, she said: “他们那么吵，你怎么能够忍受得了？” [they are so noisy, how do you tolerate all that?] tbh i cant HAHHA. but what to do? i have 8 boys in my class, and at this age all they do is to rebel and say stupid things. like i was talking about paul today and they kept saying porn (doesnt even sound alike!!) -.- and the s word and dunno what other taboo words. sighs. just childish lo.

but then i watched a fb video on this boy named gabe adams who like nick vujicic was born without limbs, but this story was sadder in that he was abandoned by his parents ): ): but thankfully a really nice couple in north america adopted him *tears welling up* and the video demonstrated how he went out his every day without limbs and i started sobbing. how can i compare myself to a mother who has to bring up this kind of handicapped child? to see that poor boy struggle in everything that we do so easily and so thoughtlessly; like walking up and down the stairs, texting, cooking, even interacting with others...it's really nothing compared to managing 8 rascals every week. and i think my kids will really appreciate what they have if they see this video, maybe for a short while only but still good enough i guess. #willworkhardertobeabetterteacher #mothersaresoawesome

okay i gotta write this story down before i forget..

so im a very "auntie" person..i do compare prices at shops and search for stuff online so that it's cheaper, and i do use discount apps as well #moneyishardtoearn so i had these 2 vouchers which were expiring end April and i felt the urge to use them cos #auntie you know. just nice both shops were at northpoint so i decided to make my way down on thu after work. and just nice kero texted to ask if anyone was free to join him for dinz after his interview (shh) so i asked him to pei me in northpoint since it's on his way home. the first shop i went to was a shoe shop in which i was entitled to a $5 off with a min spending off $19.90. so i was at the shop deciding what to pick when the shop assistant told me that they had an ongoing promotion where the 2nd pair was $10 off. hearing this i was super tempted to get 2 pairs (cos forever need shoes right HAHA) and i really did. but end up because i utilized this offer i couldnt use my $5 voucher meh :/

the second shop was gadget hub where i had 4 $5 off vouchers with a min spending of $30. i needed to get a new cable cos i always spoil mine but i had about $22 to spare to be eligible for the voucher. initially i tot spend $30 can get $20 off not bad leh but i checked with the shop assistant and he said that i couldnt use the 4 vouchers together (WHAT??) so i decided to forgo the rest of the vouchers and used only 1 instead. ended up buying a wireless charger (rip-off but ah wells) and kero felt it was a waste for the rest of the vouchers and he started approaching patrons in the shop and giving them my vouchers. super kind soul indeed HAHAHA. and then i went home to buy a wireless charger receiver online (just $2 okay!!!) cos my phone didnt have the qi technology. maybe i did spend more than i tried to save with my vouchers but im happy HAHAH

and disclaimer: im not all that cheapo. i splurge on shoes, coffee and travel >.<

Home-d!

Been wanting to write about my trip each day but everytime im back at the airbnb im just so tired. plus every 1 or 2 nights we change airbnb so hard to sit down and write and all (OKAY EXCUSESSSS. like how it's 1am again and im still awake idkw??)

anyway maybe i'll talk about my feelings coming back first. always v v v grateful to be back in Singapore, because it's so efficient! just 2 weeks ago i had to queue 3h to clear JB customs (18 counters, but only 14 were open cos the rest had no staff?) it was so packed, so hot, my legs were so tired and if they just. just. just. adopt the electronic machines like Singapore everyone can clear within 15 minutes. okay but then again if malaysia is efficient, they will be more successful than us (OKAY NO WAY PLS) and maybe they're just trying to create jobs HAHAHHA. and two days ago when we were transiting at Munich it was such a bad experience too. we were on the 2nd floor and we had a 3h transit period so we wanted to grab dinner. saw some eateries downstairs BUT WE COULDNT FIND THE ESCALATOR/STAIRCASE TO GO DOWN TO LEVEL 1. quite ridiculous. we tried asking the security guards who said we had to go through passport control to get down? means we had to leave the transit area. which shouldnt be the case. but then they directed us to some dodgy escalator where we ended up in the train area, which sent us to another terminal instead. zzz. and rmbed another experience in chiang mai where there was no electronic board to dictate the gates for connecting flights, so everyone had to ask the staff holding direction plates who had to check manually on paper sheets for the allocated gates two thumbs down to thailand. meh. hence so so so glad for clear directions at changi airport and those fast automated clearance gates

and then after we collected our luggages and all me and perx decided to visit jewel since we were already at the airport and we wanted to grab some food (MISSED NOODLES SO MUCH!!) the route to jewel was insanely long?? like 6 travelators and 200m walk before we reached the entrance. and it was extremely packed though it was a monday evening which i absolutely hate. squeezed our way to the middle to take the iconic waterfall and then quickly went off to the pokemon center. but when we approached the center we saw 2 long queues with like 10 employees managing the queues? really insane much. unanimously decided we wont queue for the center and just walk past instead. saw people trying to selfie with the "special limited edition" pikachu and i laughed to myself. it was the same one at narita airport! (or was it at osaka) i rather go to the one in japan okay. no queue and so much bigger. but good job pokemon center for creating jobs. two thumbs up.

and our last stop was food. we cheapos so we went to the food court haha. insanely packed as well, (where do all these people come from???) had a hard time finding seats boo. but there was a kind staff who helped (kudos to creating jobs too) and we managed to get a table. we were both craving for ban mian so i went to queue for it. frustrating incident also. first, the normal ban mian was not at the top of the menu but rather no. 5 after spicy noodles and fried dumplings and whatsoever. and when i was ordering i asked if i could change the noodles to you mian and the shop assistant said no, cannot change. and then the one making the noodles (some old woman) heard it and she came over to tell me she only had you mian. and i pointed to the menu which said ban mian in which the counter staff said couldnt change. so what was what? and then this old lady said it's correct. their stall sells "ban mian de you mian" i was like huh??? ban mian is ban mian and you mian is you mian (sorry to non-chinese people who may not understand this, but basically both are handmade noodles but in different shape so they are two different things) but i had no choice but to agree (didnt want her poisoning my food you know) and after the staff served the food i realized the noodles were dry ones (usual is soup) so i asked her if it came with soup. she then poured some dubious soup into the bowl (i think it was the one for boiling the minced meat cos it was brown) and the worst thing was, after all that ruckus the food didnt even taste nice and was horribly expensive ($5.90 >.<) jewel sucks HAHAHHA.

Catch up with two of my uni friends just now and we had teaparty yay! wanted to sing k too but everywhere was fully booked ): and teaparty increased price again boohoo. anyway how times flies. i met these 2 girls in Y1S2 when we were allocated to the same BGS group. we had 2 other group members - 1 guy and 1 burmese who always didnt appear for class and didnt do much project work so ended up we 3 girls did almost everything and got closer :/ that was 6/7 years back? and now they're both getting married! how exciting :D and then they started to share about how expensive it is to get married - the photoshoots, the hotel, buying house..really sounds like a lot to handle, both financially and emotionally :O

but at the same time im quite envious of them. envious that they are moving progressing on to their next stage of life, that they each have someone lifelong to share their joys/troubles with (': its really a fate thing to find that special someone i guess, and i really did have the thought that if i did find that someone i would have been married by now and probably have a chubby cute baby too (': i think im kinda wearing wedding goggles from watching B99. finally reached S5 where Jake proposed to Amy!! AHHH DAMN SWEET. he made use of the annual halloween heist knowing how competitive Ames was. i dont like Jake's character but i admit he can be pretty much a romantic aww. and i think the part that made me most in love was when he described the exact moment he knew he wanted to marry Ames. 28 April 2017 in bed when she was doing crosswords and she found a typo in the puzzle (': and to me need not to date long, i think 2-3 years is enough to see whether this guy/girl is right for you

but ah wells. no such luck in my life. maybe im destined to be a career woman. if i really cant bto with someone then i'll just buy under singles scheme at 35 haha. cant wait to get my house and renovate it :P

So i lost my cool on Friday..my boss and i had a meeting scheduled with WSG at 9am. MP from WSG called L around 8.50am to say that she and another colleague would be late. when they came it was about 9.20am, so i settled them in the MR first while i went to get L. later they requested for a projector for their ppt, so i went down to 1st floor to borrow from the sales people cos IT told me he didnt have any more spares at his side. by the time i got back, set up the projector and even brought the guests water, L still didnt appear. so i walked around the office and saw him talking to a colleague whose last day was that day, and i slowly and gently interrupted, reminding him that we had guests. he said ok, give him a while, and then after he finished the conversation, he went into M's room. i was appalled???

i didnt know how to face the guests so i just said that L was still busy and then i excused myself out of the room and stood outside M's room. by the time he was done (I THOUGHT HE WAS), another 20min had past, and he came out, and walked into another room to talk?!?! i couldnt take it anymore so i went to knock on the door and reminded him yet again. he then jokingly said in chinese that i was chasing him. it is not funny okay. we had guests?? and we made them wait for at least 30 min?? and i couldnt control myself. i rolled my eyes LOL and T who was in the room said that she and J (the one whose room we were in) saw it. really speechless leh.

and then more bullsh*t during the meeting but not going to talk about it. by the time we finished the meeting it was about 11ish? sigh. never been so embarrassed..

Of [paper] Cuts, Coffee and Conversations

Finally ended this terrible week. Aside from payroll week there’s also bonus this month so extra OTs and a lot more of unappreciation (okay there’s no such word)

Been through bonus period once last year already so I roughly know how stressful it is and how much work there is to be done (and the worst part was I wasn’t even eligible for bonus last year but I still worked my guts out ): ) so I was kinda prepared for it this year but so many things were happening at the same time.

1. T’s overseas this year so less help. Last year it was HMM. Forever only 2 of us doing work hahahha

2. But even with less help, both of us werent fully utilised? Okay that’s not the right word. Hmm both of us werent even 100% working on bonus that week. there's supposed to be a lot to do. supposed. finalize calculations, double check backpays, print letters (mail merging of 100++ letters), process payroll on top of the usual payroll stuff but we both still went home at 6pm that week cos we couldnt do anything? we only started to OT on thu o.O

3. T came back on Friday. 22 March. When my payroll was supposed to be approved. okay most of the numbers were done. BUT MY BLOODY LETTERS WERENT. they're supposed to be done concurrently?? like whatever your payroll numbers are, it's supposed to reflect on the letters? and after printing the letters still need to double check, sign, photocopy and fold. but wed the template for letters not even finalized yet??? like i dont get what my boss is unhappy about the template? and tbh now is definitely not the time to change. it's T-2 days! speaking of this more boils but okay chillllll. 

4. Anyway when T came back she got angry. Hahha it’s rare that I see her flare up. But this year I’ve heard her say the f word more than 3 times already. 300% increase from last year LOL. She was upset that the admin staff in other departments got more bonus than us, though we're all corporate functions. oh wells. i think im so numb that i cant be bothered anymore. the world [company]'s not fair and if not happy just leave lorrrrr. hahah

5. Friday night. my letters only less than half folded??? tmr monday liao. to everyone who got the letters, the date printed is 20 March. hahhaha 5 days to print, sign, photocopy and fold letters. well done.

On a side note I think I’m so independent that its crazy. I actually told someone that I want out of their life.

Conversations with kids these two days..

Pulled out a movie for the ss kids to watch on sunday. on sat when i was deciding which movie to show (Miracles from Heaven, 2016 vs Case for Christ, 2017) and i decided upon C4C in the end cos partially i couldnt download MFH LOL and another reason was cos C4C was on my watchlist for the longest time ever, i was very worried that they wouldnt like it, cos the movie was set in the 1980s and it was quite adultish (MFH's main plot was about the girl which C4C was about the journalist father) but surprisingly they were quite intrigued by it and kept asking questions! the movie starts off with the background of the main char (Lee) and then changes into a scene that sets the whole background for his journey. Lee, his wife Leslie and his daughter Alison were at a restaurant when Ali choked on a gumball and they all started panicking. luckily one of the restaurant patrons was a trained nurse and she saved Ali. Leslie was so grateful that the patron (Alfie) was there but Alfie said it wasnt a coincidence she was there; she initially decided to go to another restaurant for dinner but God told her she had to be at that restaurant that night and this sparked Leslie's interest in Christianity. and the movie goes on to talk about how Lee, because of his wife, started his discovery journey in initially finding evidence to debunk the existence of Christ but later believing in Christ himself.

and after that opening scene, Samuel (the naughtiest boy in class), kept asking me what would happen to someone if the person choked and wasnt saved. he had a very scared look on his face and he was asking in a worried tone. so i calmly explained what choking was, how people could choke on big food items (like the gumball and fishballs) and he innocently said he would never eat fishballs again. hahhaha. but of course i assured him that as long as he properly chews his food and not talk while eating he's safe. but he still insisted on abstaining from fishballs. aww hahaha.

and later throughout the movie they were very glued to the screen, they didnt make noise unlike usual classes and they even asked one of the boys to keep quiet so that they could enjoy the movie aww. AND THEY EVEN ASKED ME TO COME EARLIER NEXT WEEK SO THAT THEY COULD FINISH THE MOVIE ON TIME. wow. amazeballs hahaha. so so so different from their devilish normal selves

and then today

is a weird conversation with my tuition kid haha.
D is primary 3 this year and he was telling me stories (yes kids love to tell stories which are completely random hahaha) and yes his stories came out of nowhere (AND WERE ALSO CREEPY) he was telling me stories about dead people? babies in particular. i rmb his first story is about this girl who was pregnant in secondary school and when she gave birth she threw the newborn into the dustbin. and the police came to arrest her. what?? and the next story was more epic. it was about this maid who was tasked to take care of a newborn but the baby kept crying and the maid couldnt take it so she put the baby into the freezer. YES YOU DID NOT READ WRONG. and then she peacefully sat down on the sofa to watch tv now that the cryings were muffled. and then the mistress came home and asked where the baby was. the maid was so terrified that she lied that someone had taken away the baby and ran away. so the mistress questioned her, why didnt she chase after the person and why she was relaxing on the sofa? and the maid knew she couldnt hide anymore and so she pushed the mistress away and ran out of the flat. and i asked D what happened to the baby, he said that the mistress found the baby in the freezer eventually but the baby had died already. and of course i asked where he learned these stories from, he initially said newspaper, but then i probed further and he revealed that his primary 2 teacher told him all these "dead people" stories. my jaw dropped. not at the fact that he related all these stories to me in a calm manner, but rather WHAT ARE TEACHERS IN SCHOOL TEACHING NOWADAYS...i already felt so scared listening to these stories, what more a 9 year-old boy, but the fact that he was expressionless says that he probably is immune to such stories??

so so so scary teaching kids nowadays. i cant even imagine having my own. what should i expose them to first :O

sidenote: i used to think i only want one kid cos i will be able to focus more attention on her (i only want one girl! and i know what to name her already haha) and able to devote more resources to develop her but now i think i want 3 kids haha. totally undeterred by the challenging/weird conversations haha. anyway cos i feel that a family portrait of 5 will look nicer; like the 2 parents sitting on the chairs then the 3 kids standing behind. okay i think maybe my mindset has changed cos babies are popping up around me?? like kero just gave birth! (his wife i mean) and all the church cell people. cant wait to see keromyn (in person baby) aww (':