This and that...

Where to begin when one hasn't been at it in a while? Why the dearth in updates? One word - resource! More specifically TIME! Updating this in McDonald's United Square with the First Daughter munching away on Fillet-O-Fish and the wife rifling through some kids magazine that Lorna Whiston handed out after the FD's class. The Second Daughter has been 'successfully' deposited with Ms Komala @ GuG without much fuss! This I consider an achievement because the last few weeks, getting her to her weekend classes has been a drag! Literally! The drama that she played out for all to see would qualify her for some award! We don't really know what set her off but one thing's for sure - don't let her have her way! (An advice the kindly Ms Komala helpfully dispensed during one of the trying times that the SD refuses to enter her class). Once she knows that she can get away with not going for her classes, she'll do it every time! So today, after much cajoling and encouragement, she is finally receptive to going for her Early Reading and Writing class. Let's see how she's like tomorrow when she goes for her Art Class.

A Berry Happy Birthday - to you!

And so the the Wife and I went for the Parade to celebrate Singapore's 43rd Birthday. My plan was to park at the multi-storey carpark behind Capitol seeing how I thought it was sufficiently far from the Esplanade. When we reached there...you guessed it! Cars were lined up all the way to the main road from the entrance! It was already 1635hrs (we were advised to be seated by 1645hrs to enjoy the pre-parade segment) and so I decided not to wait. In the end, we parked at the National Library - a 15min walk to the Esplanade! And apparently we weren't the only ones going for the Parade to park there! We were eventually seated at our seats at 1655hrs after having dutifully collected our Goodie Bags. (Back before the days of Balloting for Parade Tix, Singaporeans queued for the prized tix at various collection centres throughout Singapore. I happened to organise the Ticket Collection Centre at National Stadium back in 2001. The tix were to be given out on Sunday morning. By Friday afternoon, people were ALREADY queuing up outside the Stadium! And some of these Singaporeans queued up just so they can get the tix so that they can collect the Goodie Bags on the actual day...and then they LEAVE! No parade no fireworks...queued up just for the Goodie Bags!) Anyway, there we were sitting in the Green Sector about 15 rows from the top. It was the first time I was at the Marina Floating Platform. Although our 'motivators' worked hard to work up the crowd, those around our area were just not responding. There was this aunty directly in front of me who actually covered her ears when I shouted! How like that? Stay at home and stare at the TV better right!?!? The atmosphere couldn't beat that inside the National Stadium. Even the fireworks sounded far off although it looked near. The sound doesn't reverberate unlike that inside the stadium. The parade, as usual, was executed to clockwork precision. The Parade Sergeant Major was my friend and I commented to him after watching a segment about him during the Malay news a couple of days before the Parade that his Malay 'berterabur Encik!', which he agreed! Same with me too...when I was interviewed for the Malay news during the 2005 Parade, I had to do a couple of takes before I considered it up to mark. Even then the wifey laughed when she heard what I said on the news! My favourite moment had to be the performance by the Black Nights and with the appropriate soundtrack blaring in the background, it was certainly a 'Beautiful Day'! When the Chinook carrying the Singapore flag flanked by 2 Apaches appeared, the hair at the back of my neck stood up...ahem... The Show Segment was nice but some parts were just a bit too 'noisy'! All in all, we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, the slight downpour notwithstanding. What a way to spend our 11th Wedding Anniversary! Thanx Commander sir! For the tix!