Focus on the family...

It's 0236hrs on a Thursday morning and I'm already up! Why? Cause I slept at 2130hrs!!! Why? Cause Mars & me fell asleep at about the same time while putting the girls to sleep! Usually one of us would wake the other up after both the girls have gone to sleep but it seems that we KO-ed! Maybe it was because of our evening run we had earlier but I'll touch on that later. We're at the stage where we're 'training' the girls to sleep in their own room. Inadvertently, both would end up on our bed sometime in the middle of the night! Usually the younger princess would stumble into our bed and 'claim' her 'rightful' corner! Her sister, discovering that there's no one around, would follow soon after, claiming that, "There's no one with me..."! Well, for tonight, we had planned to let the girls sleep on our bed first (they always seem to fall asleep there faster!) and then carry (me lor!) them to their bed... I was woken up by Lisha's tossing and turning as she tends to have very vivid dreams coupled with the fact that she is an 'active sleeper'! I woke up with her foot in my face!!!

I would like to wish a belated "Welcome to the Club" greeting to Roy on the occasion of the birth of Emma Joy. Check out the link to his blog on the right and discover how exuberant a father he is! Reading his blog brings back sweet memories of the times when our two princesses where just born... And looking at them now, life just seemed to whizz by... That is why it is important to savour every moment with the people you love, at every stage in their lives. Every stage in a child's life brings with it different opportunities and challenges. And while many may be reluctant to go on to the next stage, life will tumble along head-on nevertheless. And I find it strange that the most important job in the world does not require 'accreditation'! One needs years of schooling to become a teacher, doctor, engineer but to be a parent, one just needs to be able to produce an offspring! Whatever happens after that is left to one's own devices. I believe that even with a basic understanding of parenting skills coupled with some knowledge about child development, one would be on one's way to be a better parent. But I believe that this is not enough in this fast-paced and ever changing world. That is why it is important for us parents to keep up with the times and be updated with current teachings about child development, parenting, etc. Parenting based on "my parents did that to me too and I seemed to turn out fine" strategy and instincts can only bring one so far. With information so readily available from so many sources, it would a shame if one does not improve oneself. Parenting is too important to be left to chance!

In that light, Mars and me are currently enrolled in a "Parenting with Confidence" workshop conducted by Focus on the Family. I like these kind of workshops. They give me an opportunity to keep up with the latest, to find out more, to discuss, to share, to get to know other parents and discover that we are not alone in facing our challenges in bringing up kids. It is also a golden opportunity for some "us" time with Mars. And for the kids to spend time with their grandparents. So it's a win-win situation for all! And it's $80 well spent methinks! For those who say that there's no time, that it's too far away and that it's too draining after a hard day's work, well, "where there's a will, there's a way" is my response... I find these workshops invigorating and inspiring... Anyway, I've added more links to Family sites that I constantly check and get updated on...

One of the goals I have set for myself as part of the workshop is to spend more quality time with my two princesses... That sounds like cliche but it's a reality we have to face in our struggle to balance work and family life. And our 'homework' is to do something that we have never done with our kids before...hmmm...what could that be? Climb trees maybe?! Play in the rain? Paint our faces? Draw together? Act their favourite fairy tale? Treasure hunt? Catch butterflies? The possibilities are endless once you put your mind to it!

Lessons ended early today (1700hrs) so on the way back I called Mars to get the kids ready for cycling! By 1800hrs we were at the basement unlocking the girls' bicycles. Our SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) in this case is that I will bring the girls cycling around our place while Mars hits the gym for a go at the threadmill. Then we will switch over. For today, from 1800hrs to 1845hrs, I managed to bring the girls for a round around our place. Then we hit the playground where I showed them the intricacies of the 'monkey swing'! Then we played hopscotch. You should see Lisha trying to balance on one leg and twisting and turning away! It was precious! And we managed to play 4 rounds of hide-and-seek! Oh, and I still got my 5km run (to psyche up for the 21km Army Half Marathon this Sunday...see you there at the startline Fauzi and Glen) at the threadmill after changing over with Mars... Next major run for me after the AHM is the Singapore Marathon on 2 December... Care to join me anyone?

Leaving on a jet plane...

"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go..."...

And so here I am in Changi Airport Terminal 2 using one of the many free internet terminals. I'm taking the 1005hrs flight from Singapore to Hanoi on SQ196. It will be the second time in 2 weeks that I'm flying, the last being exactly one week ago at exactly the same time to Jakarta and Bandung (hmmm, I'll put up the posts on those when I have the time ya?). These 2 trips are part of our study trips for the course. The other group has been to Malaysia and is already in Beijing, China now.

If I can find internet cafes in Hanoi, I'll continue my travel blog...till then au revoir to the cyberworld!

441 on Classic...

I didn't wanna post it you know...but Juls did it first...so here it is! And oooh...I'm beginning to see a few familiar names up in the High Scores list especially under the Classic Map (since all of us have 'decided' to play on Classic Map so that we have a common reference point for bragging rights!)! Well done Chris and Kamel...I'll beat you guys yet!

Here's what I got with Nukes and Tazers...Tazers to slow them down and Nukes to take 'em out.

Draft is finally out...

Yep...it's 0348hrs on a Saturday morning...and my draft is finally done...finished! I've just sent it to my supervisor at 0342hrs just now! Yes...yes...yes...now life can get back to normal...Let's wait and see what his comments are...

I'm Simpsonised!

Contrary to what StimGam portrayed me as on the banner of his blog, I think I look more like this...right? Check out his banner for other 'characters'! Quite a good resemblence!

On the 'Onslaught' front...the 'disease' has spread far and wide! I counted at least 20 people 'trying' out the game 'in between' lectures...ehem! During lunch, many small groups were seen discussing strategies on the best 'combos' to use to defeat the 'Onslaught'! There's a talk going around that it may soon be the 'official' game of 38th CSC! Some suggested that by Monday morning, those involved are to show a screen capture of the highest score from now till then. Winner gets the 'pot'! Currently the honour goes to Bernard Ng with 200 + waves on the Classic map and counting...

And on the CRP front...I'm happy to say that I'm halfway there! 'There' being the 5000 word mark. Actually it's not so much the word count but the flow of ideas and one's own thoughts about the topic at hand. I WILL FINISH BY TOMORROW! Then it's back to 'Onslaught'!!!

An Onslaught of Essays!

Oh man StimGam! Dammit...dammit...he has spread the Onslaught disease to me! It was an innocent MSN message that said "Check out this game" and I was hooked! Now Jefri knows why I was 'disengaged' from the JPP discussion!!! Hey, I was maintaing 'listerning watch' ok! Then Chris saw the game and next day he told me, "Dammit Shah...why did you introduce the game to me!?!?"...Next to be hooked was our resident fighter pilot. I guess the only time he displayed that much concentration is when he is in the cockpit of his F-16! The three of us were discussing strategies to overcome the onslaught as we made our way to a Japanese restaurant @ Jurong West Sport Complex for lunch! And when I got back to attend the country brief, I saw Simon, Robin and Choon Keong playing the game in the audit!!! Talk about spreading the disease! And all this in the middle of a hectic period when the rest (including myself of course) are rushing our Commandant's Research Paper (5000 words baby!) before flying off to Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and China around the National Day week. We don't want to be lugging our laptops overseas to do the CRP now do we?!?! Dammit...dammit StimGam...now I know why there's a tagline on the Onslaught website saying "You wanted to get anything done today?"!!! You have been warned...Once you click on the link and unless you are not human, you will be hooked!!!

July 2007 Monthly Cousins Gathering

And so we trooped to Annaz's @ Woodlands last Saturday for our Monthly Cousins Gathering. There were 20 of us there! The gathering is getting bigger. We would like to welcome Faizal & Widdi to their first ever gathering! As usual, it was potluck. Our kind hosts provided the drinks (hot & cold!) and ice-cream floats. We brought along 2 pieces of pound cakes with some chips. Rina brought indo-mi goreng (the 'base' food) and pieces of chicken that was sinfully nice! Glynn brought along home-made quiche (it was delicious Glen!). There were also doughnuts and jelly. All in all, the food was much less than what was brought for the previous gathering. I guess we learnt our lesson not to bring too much food. Suffice to say, we finished them in good time. We made time to catch up and talked about what has been happening in our lives. That is the main objective of these gatherings. To get away from our kids, to chill and just to chat. While we finished our dinner and caught up with each other, I started off with our 'favourite' 'Stories' 'game'...Those not familiar were initiated to the inner-workings of the game. Essentially, each person is to come up with a sentence to continue on the sentence from the previous person. Hence, one has no idea of the bigger story but only that of the previous person. It's great fun when everybody has written their part and for the story to be read out. Nine out of ten times the story will be hilarious. Maybe I'll publish our collective 'masterpiece' here one day!

Boboy had brought along a video clip of the guys from the 'Upside Down Show'...Those guys are tireless! I got tired just from watching them! Although I can't say much of the show I did enjoy the last part just before the credits.

Then came the Game part...It always fell on me to start the games...I don't mind and in fact relish in it but it's an art to judge when the rest are ready to start playing! Usually by the time we start the games, it will be something like 2300hrs! But we started at about 2100hrs that day. We started off with Taboo...Hohum...as usual, the gender that talks the most won...again...No guessing who huh?!?! Next, I pulled a fast one on the gang by introducing a new game called Um or Uh! It's basically a game of 'public speaking' and since anecdotal evidence points to people dying rather than give a presentation, I didn't really tell anyone about the game beforehand! It was hilarious as we pick out the topics for the other team (it was guys vs gals as usual) to talk about. It was great fun seeing the gang fumble and try to 'bluff' their way through the topic at hand. 30 seconds never felt so long huh guys!?!? As it happened, my future sister-in-law picked a topic on "Sex"!!! Her parting words were "Come November, I wish to have great sex!"...Oh boy! Oh Boy indeed...Pun intended! As it turned out, the gang gamely played the game and I think everyone did well! Kudos guys! Should have more of that huh?

I wanted to play Pictionary Mania next but one thing lead to another and we ended up watching some crap show by some WWE star who went around hooking up people with a chain and hook...literally! How we ended up watching that show I don't know but it was a classic case of the 'Abilene Paradox', a concept I was introduced to in the course of my work. We played traditional Scrabble while some watched the show though...It's been a long time since I played Scrabble and it brought back memories of the times when I used to play it non-stop from 2000hrs till 0400hrs for a few weeks when I was posted to Temburong, Brunei waaaaaaay back in 1994! After winning the first game, it looks like I have not lost the 'touch'! Must play more!

Next, we watched "Music & Lyrics" while some played Carrom...By this time (it was about 2359hrs methinks), some of us had already turned to 'zombies'! It was about 0300hrs when we finally bade goodnight (good morning?!?) to our kind hosts and made our collective journey back home...We gave a ride to Muz, Faurin to Carl and Tit to Nurul...

As always, it was great fun...good food, good company...always looking forward to the next one! We're having a Simpsons Movie night sometime next week...All are supposed to wear either yellow or some Simpsons t-shirt! That should be fun! Oh ya, enjoy the first ever (at long last!) photo taken of EVERYONE who was there that night...

Keeping the Peace...

While the military is traditionally the instrument of policy for governments to extend their will onto other governments, more and more it is being used for other purposes. Chief amongst them is Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) or Peace Support Operations (PSO). Singapore has contributed to a significant number of them over the years. A lot of my friends have been involved in PSOs and PKOs in countries from Africa to East Timor. I myself have not been involved in any directly but have been put on standby and gone for training for a few. The office in the UN that is responsible for these missions is the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. I would be honoured to be given a chance to don a blue beret and participate in one of these missions... A chance to help others, a chance to improve lives...for the betterment of humankind!

The ultimate symbol of sacrifice...

"I dedicate my LIFE to Singapore..."

This is the phrase that EVERY recruit utters on his first day as a soldier as part of the SAF Pledge led by his Commanding Officer, this is the phrase that every officer cadet says as he stands proudly on the hollowed grounds of the SAFTI Parade Square before he is officially commissioned as an SAF Officer by the Reviewing Officer and this is the phrase that EVERY SOLDIER says every year on SAF Day on 1st July.

The military profession is unique in that it calls for unlimited liability upon its members - that when called upon, we will give up our lives for our country. I am reminded of the seriousness of what we do when we had a talk with the Head of Army Musuem a few days ago. The ID tag or "dog-tag" as it is more commonly known is given to recruits upon enlistment. It is the ONLY item that we have that is useful only upon the death of its owner. It has no other purpose other than to identify who the owner was. All other equipment given to us are gainfully used except for the ID tag which just hangs around our necks or kept safely somewhere. We do not use it to identify ourselves because we have our 11B or the military IC for it. If it is to be used, it is only used upon the death of its owner. Since there always two tags, 1 is taken by the medic and the other one attached to the owner so as to identify him...

So, there...for those who have it, think about it the next time you see your ID tags. It is the one thing that you have that you hope will not EVER be utilised...

The rat race begins...

It is but a fact of life that in Singapore, parents take the education of their children seriously, very seriously. In fact so seriously that they are willing to 'sacrifice' 40 hours of their lives so that their precious ones have a fighting chance in Phase 2B and not the 'dreaded' Phase 2C! Those of you who have 'been there, done that' would know what I am talking about...Yep...My BH and I have officially become 'members' of a certain primary school's Parents' Association! "I cannot believe it....!", as a certain character in the Little Einsteins likes to intone when something truly out of the norm happens!

We received a flyer from the FD's school saying that a certain primary school was having an open house last Saturday. Although it's a year away before the FD has to register for Primary 1, hey, what the heck...it's never too early to conduct a bit of recce! So the four of us trooped down to the school on a hot sultry morning. Personally, it's been a long time since I have gone into a primary school and I was amazed at the transformation it has undergone! Suffice to say that they were a far cry from the one I used to go to... We explored some of the classrooms and stalls that were set-up by the students, teachers, staff and parent volunteers. I came away thoroughly impressed with what the school has to offer. On the way out, we passed by the registration counter and gave it only a cursory glance since it wasn't our FD's turn to register yet. Upon further enquiry however, we realised that it was the last day for parents to register to be parent volunteers to be eligible for next year's registration! A full one year before actual registration..."Oh, it's not as bad now", said the admin staff who attended to us, "Last time, it used to be 2 years! Now, as long as you have clocked 40 hours, you are eligible for Phase 2B...But it does not mean that your child will be guaranteed a place in this school! If there are more applications for Phase 2B than there are places, then we will have to ballot. Of course, parents who live within 1km of the school gets a higher priority that those who live between the 1 to 2km radius...". Thus we were 'inducted' into a group of about 60 parents who actively give their services ranging from routine weekly reading programmes, counselling to adhoc events like class outings...Hmmm...maybe I can put my photography skills to good use! Oh...of course there are other 'collateral' benefits of joining as a parent volunteer beside the main obvious one...We get to meet other 'like-minded' parents, we get to extend our circle of friends, we get to see at first hand how the school is run, we get to talk to students who are studying there to find out what the school is REALLY like and we get to be involved! In the end, I guess it is a win-win situation for all involved!

Hmmm, there is that other school open house this weekend...another 40 hours of 'volunteering' perhaps?!?!

(For those not 'inducted' to my blog, BH means Better Half, FD means First Daughter and SD, although not mentioned here, would obviously mean Second Daughter. For those not familiar with the Internet and other 'unwritten' rules on blogging, one should not give away one's names, schools, etc, etc...there ARE many weird characters floating around in cyberspace with extra time on their hands...Also, once you publish something in your blog, it NEVER gets deleted...even if you have deleted it from your site...even if your site closes down...even if your computer crashes! Because somewhere out there, there are always sites that trawls the cyberspace and records EVERYTHING that has ever been published...so for those who like to pour their hearts out in cyberspace...remember, it may come back to haunt you YEARS later! Like when your future boss googles your name to check on you...I may sound a bit like an alarmist but that's the fact guys and gals...so be careful what you publish...)

A flurry of blogs...

Upon the 'request' of Moe, I've added the link to his blog and a few other blogs of my younger cousins. Funny how now you tend to know more about people from their blogs than thru the 'traditional' way of getting to know them...Anyway, I enjoy reading all your blogs guys...Brings back memories to my *ahem* younger days *ahem*... the highs and lows of a teenager's life, new discoveries, new revelations, the hollowness of separation from a loved one, the yearnings and hopes... So keep them blogs updated ok?

It's 0230hrs already...

I bet at least 4 people are not getting a good night's sleep because in a couple of hours' time, they are gonna be presenting their plans to a few big guns. And it will invariably decide their fates...

Anyway, it's been a hectic 2 days of exercise so far. I bet it beat last year's record of going back at 2230hrs...huh! what's 2230hrs...that's early for us...wait till you try 0111hrs!! Anyway, the kind air boys and gals did a nice thing for us 'ground guys' yesterday and continued the tradition from previous batches. Thanx guys! And thank you to Cookie for personally cutting the chocolate and durian cakes for us...

Anyway, just happened to be browsing through a few of my regular blog sites...I'm talking about Boboy, Julie, Rina & of course my BH...Boboy would go for days without updating his site but once he updates, it would be a deluge...Rina would always have some quirky stories about her kids and Julie...well, just wish she would update hers more often...

Kinda cute reading Boboy's remarks on who to invite for his wedding...well bro, just remember that all of us have circles of friends and we tend to invite those in the inner circle first before moving 'outwards'. And surprise, surprise...marriage is about a lot of give and take...usually for the guys, it's a lot of giving!!!

Was quite impressed reading Rina's 'report' on the flash card thingy... It's not easy being a parent in a stressful environment such as Singapore. I know it's a cliche but what I have learnt so far is that parenting requires passion and commitment... The passion to always try new things and the commitment to see it through, just like what Rina has done with the flash card. We may want our kids to do many things, accomplish lots of goals but if we are not focused, all these would come to nought. It's just like what I've learnt in defence...if we try to defend everywhere, we will be weak everywhere... Goal setting and visualising one's desired outcome REALLY helps one to focus on one's goals. And remember, goals should be S.M.A.R.T i.e. specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. For example, I want to lose 3kg by 1st August 2007. It is specific, measurable (3kg as opposed to "I want to lose weight"), attainable and realistic (3kg in 3 months as opposed to 3kg in 1 week!) and timely. Most of what we fail to achieve in life is for the lack of setting a goal...

Oh Maldives…

We're back from Maldives...it was what those who have been there have said it would be...and then some. Here are just some of the hundreds of photos we took of that Paradise on Earth.

Below is a little dedication to a place we have fallen in love with...here's an ode to the Maldives...

Oh Maldives!
You of sun-kissed beaches
Of amazing sunsets and breathtaking sunrise
Of crystal clear waters and deep blue skies
From beautiful coral reefs to smiling sunburnt faces
Your wonders are endless, your beauty boundless
You enthralled us with those that roam your lagoons and bays
From playful dolphins, to reef sharks and bright speckled rays

Oh Maldives!
You – a paradise on Earth
Your allure and your mystery
Beckons those from afar to your beauty
Though just once we've been to you
Thoroughly smitten we are through and through
Though we have long left your warm embrace
We'll surely be back again – we're just counting down the days!

Happy Birthday Darling...

Still...

Of Hari 'Nam, CRP Week, Julie's Baby & Water Babies!

Picked up Fahmi from his office on the way to solat today...The usual solat gang ain't here cause they are back home! Yep...Jef's back in Brunei with his wife and 2 kids and a half (have a nice one dude!), Heru's back in Bandung, Minhaz's going back to his embassy, Hisham should already be in PD! Enjoy yourselves brothers!

Fahmi remarked to me as I was sending him back after solat. "Kau tahu tak? Kitorang Singapore je cakap besok hari (meaning tomorrow, since today is Friday), hari enam?!"
"Whaddya mean?", I asked, curious...
"Aku cakap dengan orang Indonesia, Malaysia & Brunei semua ketawakan sey...!", he continued.
"Only we Singaporeans call Saturday, Hari Enam other than the common 'Hari Sabtu' while the rest of the region just calls it 'Hari Sabtu'!", he further explained.
"Ah ah eh...tak ye jugak!", I agreed, "Furthermore, Saturday is the only day we call Hari Enam, the rest of the days we call them by their 'proper' names like Hari Isnin, Hari Rabu, etc. Tak pun kita panggil Hari Satu, Hari Dua, Hari Tiga!!", I remarked, enlightened!

Whaddya know...you do learn something new every day...It'll be interesting to find out why this is so...

Next week is the much awaited CRP (Commandant's Research Paper) Week...From what I've gathered from reliable sources, these 'research' would be conducted in various places all over the world like Brunei, Bandung, Phuket, Bangkok, Australia, Singapore and oh...Maldives!!! Oh well...happy researching you guys!

Oooo...she has finally made it official...my sister is finally P R E G N A N T!!! My girls are gonna get a cousin! Here's the pics of the scans (lifted from Julie's site!).

Our plans for visiting her in France at the end of the year is getting more and more concrete! It got a further boost when yesterday Usop (aka Glen), made known the fact that his parents have a 'chalet' in the French Alps and he invited us to come over!!! More reason to visit France! Oui!

Vesak Day yesterday was a hive of activity...The day started off with breakfast at Al-Azhar with the 'usual suspects' (as Rina would call them...us...!)...Glen, Lynn, Rina and Fauzi were already there when the four of us trooped in on a hot, hot, day that just begged for a rain. After various combinations of indian fare which included prata kosong, prata 'yegg', thosai, thosai rocket, nasi lemak and iced milo we left for town. Rina & Fauzi had other plans while we sent Glen and the visibly pregnant Lynn (makin tembam orang tu!) to Suntec as they bravely attempted to purchase a printer at PC Show 07. I shuddered to think of the crowd there and my fears were confirmed when we saw long lines of vehicles heading into Suntec! The crowd inside, Glen later told me, was worse! We dropped the both of them at Prince (you know, which one right, the one with Sofra Restaurant). We went to get some snorkelling stuff like aqua boots and snorkels & masks from Lucky Plaza and then went back home. Lynn and Glen had already reached our place! They had apparently given up trying to get any decent shopping done and came away with nothing! The thing about these computer shows that takes place every school holidays is that you go and 'recce' the first day and then once you have confirmed what you wanna get, get it the last day! Preferably the last few hours before closing time on Sunday! Oh...and DON'T bring kids! It's madness there...It seems like the WHOLE Southeast Asia goes there...not only Singaporeans! I once took half-and-hour just to cross the OVERHEAD bridge outside Suntec when I parked at the ESPLANADE! Giler kan?

Anyway, we waited for Rina and her family to come before we went for a swim. It had just finished raining and the weather was a bit cool...I had just bought an Aquapac bag for Mars' digital camera and tested it out. Here are the pics!

Of Chelet, Heroes and Vesak Day

Well, Game One just ended. My HQ breathe a sigh of relief and a round of 'Banzai' was heard across the darkened parade square as we gladly handed over our stuff to the incoming HQ. Tomorrow's our turn to be the Executing Units and OPFOR...things should look pretty interesting from the other side of the 'curtain'. I grew a bit pensive as I reflected upon the enormity of what we are doing. Our jubilation at capturing our objectives was tempered by a big, fat red 'X' over a company of mechanised infantry to indicate the loss of that company to hostile fire. My DS pointed out that in an actual situation, 133 funerals will be held at the void decks of HDB blocks across the island...And as operations got underway, constant reports were streaming in from the fighting at CHELET with the number of KIAs and WIAs. And as I received those reports, I took a moment to reflect what it would mean in 'real' life...One KIA meant a wife whose husband will never again walk through the front door and kissing her, one KIA meant a girl whose father will never again lift her up and hugging her with all his might, one KIA meant a mother whose son will never again kiss her hand when they meet...Some of the skills I train to the greatest of proficiency I hope that I will NEVER have to use ...that is the irony in what I do...

On a lighter note, my entire syndicate is getting hooked on "HEROES". Although Season One had just ended in the States, some of those who only heard of the buzz lately are watching them, thanks in part to the culture of 'sharing' we have in the syndicate...ahem...I would rank 'HEROES' the same as 'PRISON BREAK' which just ended Season 2...So, Jefri...I know you're reading this...GO WATCH IT!

Vesak Day is around the corner and although we would have prefered a Friday 'off' or 'self-study' day to further lengthen our much needed one-week break next week, the powers-that-be have decided that Friday will be our After-Action-Review. Oh well...gotta make the best use of Thursday to spend time with the girls...maybe we'll swim in the morning...The First Daughter is already swimming without her floaties! And she loves jumping off the deep end of the pool and swimming back to the side and doing it all over again! Her weekly swimming lessons have certainly shown results! Or maybe it's the 'pulau' blood in her! Even the Second Daughter does not hesistate to put on her floaties and swims around without insisting that we follow her every move. But of course, underlying all this is the fact that no matter how good our kids are at swimming, we must NOT take things for granted and take our eyes off them even for a minute... Well, we've almost achieved one of the essential skills in life in the form of swimming...On to cycling next...Nothing like scrapping one's knees to build character!!!

Talk is Gold

I'm at one of my usual hangouts while waiting for the First Daughter to finish her morning ballet class. Long John Silver's is definitely not as crowded as McDonald's on a weekend morning and I come here for its huge bread. Furthermore, Wi-fi access in ALL McDonald's restaurants are temporarily down so it does not really have an edge over LJS now! I checked with one of the managers in McDonald's yesterday at Funan and she said that they are currently upgrading their network and it will last until June.

Anyway, back to my story. I'm sitting near the entrance and to my left are a mother and her son, enjoying their breakfast. And throughout their entire breakfast, there was something missing…yep…they did not say a single word…OK, maybe I'm exaggerating…they did say SOME words but mostly mono-syllabic ones and even then it was only after they had finished eating. And after they had finished eating…guess what…the boy, oh I say he's about pre-teen, whipped out his PS2 started banging away at its pad. His mom gave a cursory interest and then whipped out her Handphone to SMS! I mean, c'mon, they are just sitting face to face…and no real conversation was going on. I'm not one to judge people and I try not to jump the Ladder of Inference but sometimes one can't just help it. Anyway, I try to draw lessons from events that occur around me and I remind myself of the following:-

I. Spending quality time with your kids beats spending quantity. I mean, what's the use of facing your kids for like 2-3 hours but you are not interacting with them?

2. I will NOT give my daughters any handheld gaming devices to shut them up. These 'quick fixes' are only for the short term. And these things dull the mind. And knowing how kids are fascinated with technology and all the bells and whistles it provides, they will get hooked on them! In any case, I take cognizance to the fact that everything must be done in moderation.

3. Keeping your kids meaningfully engaged and occupied is a challenge. But it is something we as parents must always strive to do. I always ask myself why we do the things that we do with the kids. Is it to raise their confidence, is it to train their discipline or is it to raise their social confidence? Keep asking these questions and more and one will find that spending time with the kids more enjoyable and something to look forward to.

From Samar to Amirah

It was decided to hold our next Syndicate makan at Amirah’s Grill. Coincidentally, it is just opposite Samar along Bussorah Street! So this is gonna be more like a restaurant and food review. There are two Amirah’s Grill around that area, the older one being along Pahang Street. It was a cool Tuesday night as we trooped into the quaintly decorated double-storey restaurant at about 1930hrs. Leonard and Gabriel were already there. I had the good fortune to get a parking space right IN FRONT of the restaurant! The rest of the guys were still finding places to park. We were led to the 2nd floor and were seated on a row of chairs. Although much smaller than Samar’s 2nd floor, it was just a tastefully decorated and the ambience was just right for an evening of fun, laughter, catching up and camaraderie. There were 2 cozy corners that can sit about 10 persons each just like Samar’s. There were 2 groups of sofas with one having a television set! We looked through the menu as Lit Lam, Roy, Mei Kheng came in. We were later joined by Kamel, Kenny, Jason, William, Jefri and Chris. Only Sean and Willy can’t make it. There was a good spread of food. From the ‘relatively’ cheap $7.90 fish and chips to Turkish kebabs to $20 butter prawns which had the Navy guys licking their chops! To top that off, there was an option for a set meal at $20 each which included soup, pita and dips (hummus and one more that I can’t remember), a main dish and ice-cream/caramel!! Being typical Singaporeans, the 12 of us obviously went for the $20 set meal! The drinks came soon after we had ordered our meals, unlike Samar’s which took ½ for every request! And they were cheaper too! And came in pots…unlike Samar’s! The 2 dips with baskets of pita and bread soon followed. The dips were nice and had a tangy taste to it and were given in generous amounts. Before we had time to finish them, the main course came! I ordered beef steak (well done, that’s how I liked it), while the rest ordered mostly lamb chops and seafood platter. The 2 accompanying slices of potatoes were crisply done…nice! The steak was delicious and I finished every bit of it! I preferred it to be a bit more well done though. Kamel (our resident fighter pilot), offered me a piece of lamb chop just as I was starting to feel bloated…well, who was I to see good food wasted. We carried on talking for another half hour after the food was finished. Roy picked up the tab (from our Crab Kill bounty but that’s another story!) and we left soon after. A simple evening dinner with good friends…In summary, I would return to Amirah again one day (they even have International Buffet at $9.90+! from 1200hrs to 1600hrs every day!), for its ambience, fast service, good and cheap food…

The day after...

I'm at my usual spot @ McCafe United Square. Drinking my normal mocha latte...With a New York cheesecake...The sign at the counter states that the "Wi-Fi access is temporarily unavailable in this restaurant"...but I was fortunate enough that United Square has its own high-speed wireless broadband internet access...Gotta fetch the First Daughter in 7 minutes time so I'll make this quick...

The Samar Gathering came and gone. It was a huge success! 23 people came include the "budak"...("Oi! I'm not a budak lah...you are the budak!")...2 surprises were sprang and I can safely say that those at the receiving end of the surprises were caught off-guard...

Oh...I will include more later but I would like to thank all those who made time to come and enjoy each other's company...I would like to thank Boboy and Yati for collecting the 3 ice-cream cakes from Swensen's Bugis Junction, I would like to thank Rina for making the initial booking and inviting the rest, I would like to thank the other 5 dads who were there to lend support to the first suprise! And I would like to thank all those who I'm sure were cringing when I announced the start of the "Bear Game" but were obliged to play because they can't really run anyway, and they played anyway. And last but certainly not the least, I would like to thank my BH for being there and for being such a wonderful mother to our two princesses...Maldives here we come!

Samar Surprise...

Well, tonight's the night...there'll be more than a few surprises for the guests...last count is 26! Will update tomorrow!!!