Visit to the Singapore Zoo

Here's Sam with the dugong miniatures (manatees to those unfamiliar with the local name of this beautiful creature). 

Taken at the Singapore Zoo, Sam's a little tired from all the walking .. 

Sam has this 'deep-in-thought' look in this shot (taken in mid July 04).  I can't remember what was going on around him then, but I know I just love this shot! 

House

Saw a house for sale yesterday. Viewed it, really liked it... but couldn't afford the 10 per cent deposit that we had to put on the house! So sad. Feeling really down now.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Let's talk about EEO, or if you are a resident of Singapore, let's not talk about EEO. Nobody's ever 'heard' of it here, especially not the employers when conducting interviews of potential employees. They go to the extent of asking how many children you have, your arrangement for their care and if you'd be committed enough to the company ie. to be at their call 24/7 if need be.

It's ridiculous, I know, but that's the situation here in Singapore, the manpower ministry doesn't seem to want to do anything about it either. I know that Singapore is trade-dependent and all but to sacrifice the residents' rights and needs is not a smart move, especially since no residents equals no country!

Just had to get this off my chest, having a hard time looking for a job when every potential employer asks me to decide where my priority lies - with the company or family. Duh! What do they think? They'd only be morons if they actually believe someone who tells them what they want to hear.

Instead of looking at the positive side of employing a married woman with a kid, they harp on the negative side which is only one point, mind you and that is her inability to stay late in the office everyday. Don't they know that an efficient worker does NOT need to stay late everyday! Haven't they heard of flexible work hours!!  Think of all the positive point we married woman have: we have stability - we are definitely not about to job hop to the highest bidder in a second unlike someone with no commitments and nothing to tie her down.   We are mature, responsible, dependable, all traits of a good mother too!

No wonder the Singapore birth rate is declining really fast, after experiencing what I experienced, nobody would want to get another kid!

He just loves cars!! 

Left out this really cute pic of Sam on his Godpa. Caught this while they were snoozing after a very long day at the beach. Aren't they adorable! 

Sam's latest past-time, clipping his daddy! He's so cute while he's doing this and believe me, he can do this all night!! 

Owl Sam 

Building sandcastles

At the beach. 
 
Sam had a wonderful time on the beach building sandcastles .. with a little help from mommy :).  But I think he was just happy to get his hands dirty.  He loved the sand so much that we had to practically pull him away from his works of arts when it was time to go.  Kelv's twin came back from Hong Kong on the weekend of June 18, that's why we were out at the beach just a few days before my exams!!  But since she doesn't come back very often and it was a family reunion, my presence was required.  The picnic cum BBQ turned out pretty well, no fights in between, luckily.  The kids all enjoyed themselves, including the two babies.

Hello everyone 

Barney's Asian Tour

Barney in Singapore! 

Barney and gang was in Singapore for the premier of Barney's Big Surprise from June 16 - 30. This purple dinosaur was such a hit that about 2000+ children + parents were at the airport welcoming him. Since Sam loves Barney a WHOLE lot, we were at the airport too, 1 1/2 hours early just so we could get a good spot to 'welcome' him. Sam was dissapointed that Barney did not come to shake his hands tho'.

The tickets to the show was gone almost as soon as they were released! All good seats were snapped up within hours and silly me who was trying to book them online was left with only cheap seats which were quite far away from the stage. The SISTIC website where they were being sold could not take the sudden flood of parents all trying to buy the tickets online at the same time (which caused the system to crash). Phone booking was another joke, don't bother cause you won't get through. Lesson learnt, never buy tickets online or thru phone booking if you seriously want good seats!

I managed to get tickets only after I decided to pack Sam and get out of the house (in the rain!!) and queue at the SISTIC counter. I queued for nearly two hours just to get tickets to see a dinosaur sing! Sam had better appreciate this when he's older!
 
Anyway, the Barney's Big Surprise was a BIG surprise alright, not a single kid was in sight on the stage. I mean, where did all the familiar faces go? Watching Barney, BJ and Baby Bop dance and sing with adults is just not the same as watching them perform with the kids. I didn't really enjoy it as much as I would have if the kids had been around coz I always thought that they were the stars of the show. Sammy enjoyed it though.

'I love you, you love me, we're a happy family, with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won't you say you love me too.....'

It's over!

Well, it's finally over.  No more classes, projects and exams!  It's all over!  Suddenly life feels a little empty... I mean it's like a whole heavy burden's been lifted off.  It's great that I've more sleeping time now that I don't have to stay awake to finish reports and stuff, but at the same time it is kinda weird to not have anything to do or look forward to. 
 
Anyway, my final results are out and I managed to get 10 distinctions, 2 credits and 2 passes.  I must say that I am pretty pleased with myself: first for actually completing the course (yes, I have thought of giving up half-way when the going got tough) and second, for being the first in my family to get a degree.  Yea....
 
I was back in Melaka during the weekend, took the opportunity to visit my family before I got myself a job and not be able to make trips home.  It was great for the first couple of days, then my dad got on my nerves and I wished that I had booked us into a hotel instead of staying at my mom's place.  My dad and I never had a good relationship ever since I can remember.  He used to beat me and I mean really BEAT me.  He'd pamper younger my siblings but never me.  I never understood why until today...  He used to beat my mom too.  I called the police on him once, when I was about 15, cause he hit my mom so bad that she needed stitches.  I think that was the night our father-daughter relationship (not that we had one anyway) officially ended.  After that, we were civil to each other but I did it only for mom’s sake.  Luckily the charade didn’t have to last long, I left home almost immediately after I left school.  That’s a long time ago and I still can’t stand him today.  He stills bully her around and I honestly don’t understand why or how she puts up with it. 
 
Well, that’s enough history for now.