BunnyYear

Lunar new year is just round the corner, but on home front, youngest spent the weekend finishing her tons of homework, band practise (for SYF this year) studying for her test this week while, son is trying to finish his written project and eldest, rescheduling her tutorials which she will not be attending on tuesday evening. Somehow, the festival mood is missing this year. The continuous rain for the last 2 days also did not help. Skipped chinatown visit this year. Will be driving up north tomorrow evening. Praying hard, it would be a good day to drive, with minimal traffic congestion. A Healthy And Peaceful Lunar New Year To All.

BunnyTeeth

First visit, 4 teeth removed. Left top and bottom molar, Left top and bottom premolar.

2nd visit, 4 teeth removed. Right top and bottom molar, right top and bottom premolar.

3rd visit, cavities found and fixed.

Girlfriend's daughter, putting up with the(excruciating?)pain and discomfort(and hunger?), all for the preparation of bracing her teeth. Aesthetic reason. All within the last 3 weeks. And the braces are not even fixed yet. Surviving on milk shake and campbell soup. And I'm still trying to keep the wisdom teeth till the last possible moment as my top wisdom teeth,not aligned with the bottom, will eventually bite onto my gums.

As the ice melts...

On the radio this morning this piece of news tugs the heartstring:

"In a remarkable feat of endurance, a polar bear has been tracked swimming for nine days continuously in a desperate bid to reach new ice floes, covering 426 miles in the process.
The bears are excellent swimmers and are known to travel long distances in search of seals. But scientists working for the US Geological Survey, who logged the animal's plight using a GPS tracking collar, said the animal's exertions were exceptional – and further evidence of the extent to which the melting of the bears' natural habitat due to global warming is threatening their very existence". The Independent

GingerTea

Into boiling water A knob of ginger, smashed. Two stalks of lemongrass, bruised. Turn the fire off. Steep for a few minutes. Honey to taste. A hot cup of lemongrass ginger tea to keep the flu bug away. It's into pandemic level here in recent week. Eldest just returned home last night with a sniffle.

5 Week Month?

Check the calendar this month, it's a windfall of 5 weekends!

Check your Cheque

Three cheques stapled together were dropped into the cheque box in Hougang s'pore. One week later, on checking, over the phone, the bank confirmed that these cheques had not been cleared as they were never dropped. Employee insisted he did. Decided not to push the issued with neither the bank nor the personnel as, we had no proof and also employee had just joined not too long. No official letter/email was written. After profuse apologizing, Two companies, reissued the cheque, while the 3rd kicked up a fuss, charged us S$30 for the cancelled cheque and made us wait 2 months (we now know who we should Not be doing favours to!) This happened in Sept 2010.

Alls well and forgotten until last week, a letter from the bank came. Two bounced cheques. On checking, these were the missing cheques. According to the bank,(over the phone again) these cheques were deposited in Tampines the previous week. The 3rd cheque in fact cleared.

Question: How did the cheques ended up in Tampines 4 months later?

How should the situation be dealt with in future?

The bank made no apologies, as it was not their fault. They were just doing their job. So how safe is dropped cheque system? Should we have push the issued and check the camera? The cheques must have gotten lost in transit and was found much later. As they bear no deposit date, and still valid, it when through the system.

Mothers know best?

This article was published in the saturday NewstraitsTimes. Spent much time pondering thereafter. Are we still holding on to the same expectations and demands from our children? Or like the west, we, the westernly brought up and educated, want them to experience each stage of growing up. Experiences beget adaptivity and creativity. Think Einstein, Bill Gates, Zukerberg. In life nothing is certain

Can Key

With a can opener, eldest went about the task only to find out she could not pour the content out in one piece. Looked at the key stuck on the can(which was pointed out to her earlier). Pondered, then finally she understood. Lesson of the day: Opening a can of luncheon meat with a can key.

Gentleman In Truck

Flick the indicator to change lane and you'll see the true colours of the drivers. In a crawling traffic most(99%) will immediately speed up to close the however tiny the gap, the moment they spot a blinking light.

Exactly what happened when this morning as I breeze past a line of haughty drivers before a gentleman driving( Not Lexus nor Benz) a pick up truck stopped and signal me to change(as I made no effort to jam in). Indicator lights these days seems to be more of a threat than a friendly signal.

Being with family

Been up north, celebrated winter solstice(Tang Yuan) and craving turkey with the families, toasting champagne with brother(just got a promotion). Being with family/relatives at the close of a year becomes more meaningful as one grows older.