Last Day at WORK!

April 7th 2009 -Last day at work! its a good day to end my work before taking a break to rest at home with baby on my belly! i didn't choose to finish off on this day, it was chosen by my tcher. back in early march, we were discussing the dates, i told her i wanted to finish work before Good Friday. but i had to take a day off on wednesday to attend a class. she then suggested that i stop on tuesday instead and do my handover on Monday and tues. coming back for one more day on thursday seems weird. so i took that offer and much later when i told my collegues when was my last day, they told me i was lucky! that day would be the teacher's appreciation day! usually we have it late april or early May and somehow this year its earlier and its on my last day of work!

so when i got to school, knowing that my tcher got a parent to cover my duties, K and i headed to have our breakfast! i was taken away by the decor! the theme for this year's party was movies. there were many die-cut standees of movie stars around the room. there was terminator, charlie chaplin, james dean, marilyn monroe and many others, including a diecut of Mr Obama, my principal standing next to Indiania Jones and best of all, my VP lying down on the table with food infront of his standee! the colour theme was black, red and gold! Last year, it was the sweet theme with apples, apple shaped pens and notepads as give aways, (last year's : http://elsiethng.blogspot.com/2008/04/wheeeee-monday-to-friday.html )

this year we had movies themed gifts. we were given a mini oscar and a box of mint sweets that had a sticker that ties in with the theme! yes i got to take a shot with Jack Sparrows from Pirates of the Carribean! he's so cute! the spread was not as exciting as the year before but i was filled when i left!

love the details the parents put into decorating the room! yet to try the little pouches of sweets which i heard its nice mint! what got me really excited was when i found my own STAR! if you look at the 1st photo at the top, the floor is lined with fame awards! Each of the teachers and assistants had their very own star! it was so cool! for lunch i had scoop nibbles of at least 10dishes and that got me very full! then i had a very nice lime pie and nice thai mango gluntinous rice and my favourite coconut pandan cup agaragar! that made me so full and prob burst my carbo limit! thou the variety was not as much as last year, i enjoyed myself on my last day in school!

this year, not sure if ts becos my teacher told the parents no flowers, my basket was filled with fruits but with lots of chocolates!!! i was not expecting the chocolates and didnt know how to lug the gifts home! but i prefer choc anytime! i tot that it mit be a handle basket but apparently the parents got a no-handle basket! but i love this basket! its very pretty! love the way it looks and i can use it to hold all my packets of tidbits!

some children still brought in flowers and the parents arranged in a vase for both me and my tcher. i left it in school thou my teacher offered that i should take it home. i took home the small bunch of purpish flowers that couldn't fit in the small vase. gx was suffering from a tummy ache and he took mc. he knew i was gog to take cab home but instead he bear with his pain, drove all the way to pick me up from school. glad he did as i really couldn't carry the stuff alone! as we drove out, i took a pic of the balloons hanging at the school gate! like last year, these were made of balloons and the word is longer than the year's before!

we were given a pocket swiss-army knife. as i didnt know the students were giving chocolates, i grab 2 bars of choc and a tube of starburst sweets from the party food basket. in total, i received 14 chocolates from my students! i opened one dairy choc bar to treat the kids at lunch! i now have in total 13+2 chocs in the house!

i have alot of fruits in the fridge for me to snack on during my stay at home! i left 3 ricecrakers that i got for the kids. i love the illlustrations, there was a pic of an elephant, cat, rabbit too. gx rested while i was busy snapping away and packing the gifts. then gx was a nice daddy, he beared with the pain and we went to attend our 4th lesson. we were alittle late and missed partial of the bathing the baby video. each pair of parents were given a baby doll for practical hand-on experience! we learnt about bathing the baby, carrying the baby, coping with crying baby and clothe-diaper wrapping!

i mananged to sneak a photo of gx wrapping up the baby. didnt use flash, zoomed to focus on him and he was moving thus a blur shot but i love that i got a shot that captured his first moment on diaper-wrapping! after class as usual, we were starving and we drove back to mum's as its my sis' bdae! they waited for us to cut the cake. after cake-cutting ended, we ate our dinner and poor gx, he can't eat the chilli-crab bro cooked! when i got home, i got a very sore right calf. the nite before it kept cramping! it was so painful i kept waking gx up to save me! i disturb his sleep the whole nite not knowing he had a bad tummy! to make it up to him, i massaged my leg with relaxing spa balm and gave him a back massage. he was so nice that he still read as usual to our little baby despite his tummy still hurting.

backdated!!! my 30th week!

it was back to school on Monday 30th March. did managed to wake up early to go to school but forgot to take the bag of food i prep! so no yogurt for my little gal and no fruits at lunch! felt light in school cos counting down 7 days to start of my leave. heavy heart cos whole of april i will be on no-pay leave so no shopping money! but no choice cos i really feel my body need to rest and work load in school will become more hectic cos sch-year-end approaching and alot of binding to do, preparing for next school year! school policy only allows one month of maternity leave taken before the etd. 7 days wonder how much would i get at the month end!
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Tuesday 31st March - attended our 3rd pre-natal lesson. i was early at class and waited for gx to join me. he came just 5mins before class and i got him some little 4-leaves buns to munch on. after we swallowed the buns, we proceeded into class to watch video. the video they showed was on a heavy topic... birth. thru the video, we were showed the various different ways of pain-relief and birth methods. gx did freak out alit! cos we were shown the whole natural birth process! i am hoping that i will be able to endure the pain like the ladies in the video! they didnt scream or cry to waste energy at all,instead they kept their energy for pushing the baby! amazing! after class, we hurried to get food and with the terrible hot weather, we went into mac to have dinner.
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Wednesday 1st april - was i tricked? YES. by Jack... he tricked me with a very simple statement. can't remember what he said but i replied REALLY? then he calmly said "well, no... APRIL"S FOOL! i tricked you!" at least he didnt tell me anything dumb, very cool and i wasnt hurt. after school these few days, i have been gog to woodlands causeway point. mayb becos i will be stopping work soon, wot travel so far to these areas and i was glad to popby cold storage as i found something i needed for my baby's party. also i stocked up little pretzels as treats for my students for farewell party. i was exhausted when i get home due to the walking in school, strolling after school and the weather is a killer! i sat infront of my com to try to finish blogging on my 10th year celebration but i was slow... very SLOW!!! i feel like i dun have any energy in me. slept late but didnt manage to finish blogging...
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Thursday 2nd april - regretted that i stressed my body out and made my baby uncomfortable the nite before! i shouldn't have sat at com too long and not lie down! my baby belly was hard and i didnt feel baby moved at all! it got me very worried by kid's lunch time and i asked a parent-helper to look after my kids while i head to the nurse and requested to lie down... they were worried for me and i lie down, cupping my tummy to try to get my baby to response. i waited for half an hour, and decided to get up to take leave to see gynae... just when i got up, little one decided to give me a good kick! i was at ease when i felt her and just then the other nurse came in to check on me. she tried to hear for baby movement and she let me hear her too! i heard very little soft bubbling sound. after school, head straight home and lie down on the couch and i slept early to give my baby proper rest.
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Friday 3rd april - i rested at home after school. egx came home and we had a quiet nite. he had to work the next day. he went to play his com and i was in a uneasy moody self. threw tantrums and hid in the room. whole body aching all over and i was tossing and turning. didnt want to sit infront of the com cos i was really feeling uncomfortable! but i am lucky to have a patient and caring hubby. glad we attended pre-natal classes so he sorts of understand that 3rd trimester would be tough. i have been suffering heartburns on off the whole week! hate the weather and i was just so difficult that i dun know how to appease myself! glad gx came in to massage me and i was touched!
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Saturday 4th april - when gx went to work, i sat at the com to finish up the entry and glad i did! msn gx the link to let him see the photos taken at JT. he never sees my blog. tot he mit not see it as i know he's very busy. but to my surprise, he took a peek and left me msgs! i cried like a baby. he's not a daliy expressive person, he surprises me once in a BLUE moon, most of the time, i plan, i ask him and it all depends on what he thinks of it and we go celebrate somewhere, have a good time. but i love it when he proposes plans and tells me his feelings. it makes me feel important.
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when he got home, we prep to go out to meet my bro to check out another ROM venue. as we were about to leave, it POURED! its crazy, it rained so hard! taught my baby to sing the rain,rain go away song as we drove to meet bro and lucky when we met up with bro at the club, the rain had stopped. then we proceed to grab a bite at amk ave 1 market, where my grandma's house used to be. got my favourite mochi and sank my teeth into it! after eating at the hawker centre, we went over to bishan park to check out the eateries and spa there. it was quite a nice place. head home for dinner and mum prep table bbq for dinner! i helped to cook the meat, stingray and prawns for everyone!
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Sunday 5th april - the week passed rather fast and sunday was a lazy day where both of us laze. baby doesnt like us just havng brunch! she is very timely baby where i need to eat by 12pm! she started kicking me and i appease her by having yogurt to cool myself! hate the weather! then we left the house at 3+pm and it started raining again and it was heavy! wanted to go katong for laksa but since it was still raining, we got to parkway parade, as suggested by gx. the place was filled with people! we head to foodcourt to have a bite as we werew starving. had laska and i find this store riddiculas! they gave so much noodles and other bits of ingredients and so why am i complaining??? cos i can hardly scoop any gravy! in the end i didnt really enjoy my noodles. but i love the chin chow jelly that they were serving! love the texture and it was so cooling!

went to walk around parkway p. chanced upon a little counter selling dried fruits and nuts. saw the same kind of nuts that angie served in her spa. so i stopped to check it out and got myself 200g of pear mixed fruits and 200g of honeyed mixed nuts. its not cheap thou! total i spent $18! but i dun come here everyday and it will make good quick snack when i am at home! then we walked past a long q. as usual i would be curious and when the q got shorter, i was 3rd in line to order a scoop of durian ice-cream, hand-made thats was what they wrote, low in sugar... it was not too bad, it had durian in it but of cos i wish there was more and that the durian taste would be even stronger!

we didnt walk much as gx was feeling tired from his previuos drinking niteout with my uncle and cousins. we head to giant and i was glad to be able to find this traveling clothes scrub! the previuos brand i had used was from russia and now this is from germany i guess. i like to use this handwash my clothes in the showers. it makes it easier for me! head home and we watch MI3 on tv and thats it for my 30th week!

my dear replied !!!

i was feeling alittle lost after the next few days after our 10years! esp after 3rd pre-natal class on tuesday. i wasnt sure if i could take the pain, but i didnt share my tots with him. i was oredi very glad he managed to come for every lesson! gx had been very busy at work and i know he needed some personal time alone when he got home. but somehow i felt alone thou i know he's always there for me. threw tantrum just yesterday nite, went into room to bear with all the aches and frustrations. after awhile i heard him shut down his com to go shower and after that he came into the room and gave me a massage. i just kept tearing. i know i am really lucky. i hope i can stop being a nuisance! haha...

just after i finished blogging on our 10th year celebration, i decided to msn the link to him and he read and left me a msg... i teared again... yah i am a crybaby! he says my "taps" open very fast!

29 Mar 09, 09:02 (elsie - gx) : its our 10yrs together anniversary today! its been so long and i hope we have many more years and adventures to look forward to! thank you for your love and always being there for me! LOVE you lots! XOXO

4 Apr 09, 13:09 (Gx - elsie) : Saying "I love you" cannot express fully my how I feel. It is sweet to think of all that we have gone through together and I am grateful to have you with me through both the good times and bad times.

4 Apr 09, 13:12 (Gx - elsie) : Thank you for the wonderful 10 years and this 10 years will always have a deep place in my heart. I look forward to the next 10 years with you and our little one, the next 10 and on and on ...

4 Apr 09, 13:14 (Gx - elsie) : I have never been expressive and vocal and may never be but I LOVE YOU and I am sure our love is growing stronger through these years ...

all i can say is that i am very lucky. very lucky...

Our 10th Years Anniversary on March 29, 2009!

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i started on this entry on Tuesday! then it drag till wednesday and i couldnt finish it and thursday my little one objected fiercely about me sitting infront of my laptop cos my tummy was so hard and i couldnt feel her at school the whole morning! so i rest for 2 days and hopefully this will be up by today!

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the little note at the side may sound mushy to some but i needed to record quickly how i felt on my day, gx and i both celebrate our 10th years together! but he doesnt read my blog and dun think he saw the msg yet. anyway that sunday morning, i didnt laze and was still trying my best to do as much on the project! then came the time i know i need to stop to prep to go buy grocery for school lunches. so i got him into the room, open the folders that i managed to complete and just hit the button to run the slideshow, listen to the songs that i chose for the slide and we watch the SKINNY US morph into the ROUNDER US! no computer effects! just naturally over the 10years, we grew and lost some weight for our wedding but piled very quickly from our trips!

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for the record, the best celebrations we had on March 29th are - During our 4th year, Gx proposed to me in 2003. In 2005, we went to Tiffany to buy our gold wedding rings! We were in Rome in 2006, celebrating our 7th year! In 2007, we were in disneyland for the 1st time and celebrated our 8th year magically in HK! (the travels were not planned to coincide but just happen that we were travelling during that period! but disneyland was purposely kept for that day!)

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for our 10th year anniversary on March 29th 2009, we had our celebration in Singapore. no fancy travelling becos of our precious 10th year anniversary "present" - our baby! i was entering into my 30th week on that very day! i found a place like 2 weeks before and i was looking forward to go to Jim Thompson Resturant in Singapore, situated at Minden Road! they just opened in January! i was excited! i love the decor i saw in the recipe books taken in Thailand.

sadly thou i told gx our plan like a week before hand, someone spoilt my plan! i wanted to go to a place where we both never visit before... he told me that he was gog there to have dinner with client on tuesday! the person who decided the venue - his boss, my uncle! well, what can i say, like uncle like niece? gx was amazed we think so alike! he knew i wasnt gog to be amused but he rather let me know way ahead. i was so afraid he wot bring me there if the place is ex! but he kept his promise and still brought me there to check out the place. we arrived very late at 3pm instead of 2pm for our lunch! cos we met his ex-col, wife and child coincidently and we sat down for coffee and we ended very hungry when we got to JT! Now everywhere i go, once i reached the venue, first thing is to visit the loo... at JT, they provide hand towels for guest to dry their hands.

once we arrived, we took a few shots outside the restuarant as we predicted from the moving-in grey clouds that it mit pour! the menu had thai wordings, thai dish names and lucky details written in english. i decided on the food very quickly as i was starving thou i had breakfast! then while waiting for the food to come i went around the pretty empty restaurant which had just another set of guest at another corner. and of cos we started taking some photos!

the place was pretty dark with the hot sun rays still shining in. most of the photos were taken without flash as they looked better but i did use photoshop to brighten it up. as we didnt use flash, some photos turned out blur as our hands has to be very steady when taking pics without flash... we are not experts but still i love the photos we took thou some had blur effect!

i ordered a lychee mint drink that had more basil leaves taste and sourish lime taste. dun know where the lychee was hidden! prob the basil was too strong and covered the lychee but it was a very refreshing drink on that hot afternoon! we still find the taste not bad. i love the place as the set up still looks good but compared to thailand this may be smaller. Best of all, i love it quiet on the Sunday afternoon! feels like we had the whole restuarant to ourselves! the place gx sat for his client's dinner was in the 3rd long portion in the restaurant. just a long wooden table for 8 and wooden chairs with a featured wall.

i still like the area where we sat cos it has many different settings! this i call it the 2nd portion of the restuarant. to my left end was where the kitchen is hidden behind a shiny silver tall panel, reminds me of Felix in HK. then there were rows of tables and chairs then the tall sofa seaters where we were and followed by the short thai daybed-like benches and at the end was the bar at the side! the place was dim setting the mood just like Felix but it got darker when the rain began to pour!

we ordered a sukhotahi set for 2 and phad thai with prawns in egg wrap. the phad thai lack the Thai taste... it was rather plain, not thai enough just eggy! nice presentation but it would be perfect if the taste was right. for the little dishes set, love the presentation and what i love about it is that each dish was served with a sauce. love the sauce in shot glasses and the tiny JT spoons! just like Felix, starck rsetaurant, the utensils used are special.

the pandan chicken served with a special Thompson dip was rather bland. prefered Soh's mum pandan chicken! they are really good! thai fish cake was accomplained by a thai chilli with crushed peanut and cucumber. this was slightly better because i love the sauce that went with it! the dish that had alot of heat was the mango salad! it was chilli hot and sour enough! i loved the deep fried prawns wrapped with rice paper and yellow egg noodle. this was served with chilli-plum dip. love the crispy bite! we didnt take any tomyam soup as gx didnt like it when he had it on tuesday. he had some other dishes like fish, veg, pineapple rice which we didnt order. wanted him to try something different and have his first try with me!

for dessert, we ordered a platter of assortment of JT's favourite dessert. there are about 6 types of dessert on the menu and we get to try 4 types in a smaller portion and too bad we can't change any of the items - cos i wanted to try the durian pudding, but even if able to change gx wot let me have durian during pregnancy. when we were having the dessert served, the rain had began to pour heavily and constantly we hear thunder and sometimes see lightning! we again experienced the place at its hottest and also when its dark! cos the lightning strike the restuarant and the waitresses gave a scream cos it was sudden and oso accompanied with LOUD thunder! the lights went off! the waiter quickly came over to apologise and told us it happens alot when it rains heavily. we were then given 2 lit candles to go with our desserts!

gx didnt like the combination of sweet mango with the sticky rice! it was his first time ever having this dessert. i was fine to eat them together or one bite of mango and followed by a bite of sticky rice. sorn-chun - fresh orange sections topped with lychees, shredded mango, sliced ginger, toasted coconut and roasted peanuts served in a ginger syrup. i love the oranges as it was sweet! a very special combination of cold dessert served with roasted peanuts esp with lychee! not bad but wot order the big bowl to finish it off by myself!
buay loy puek -when i read Handrolled taro dumplings in sweetened coconut milk : i was looking forward to this dessert! my tots was the dumpling were the size of the tangyuen we eat. but when i spoon thru it, i was amazed to find many little taro balls! GOSH they werer tiny! handrolled!??? gx tried it first and gave me a warning face... i tried it and the coconut milk is not sweet but salty! the taro was nice but not with the salty coconut milk! so i drained away as much milk before eating the little taro balls. then we kept the best to last. gx had the bigger bowl of this dessert on tuesday and he loved it. again i was amazed with the tiny red rubies found floating under the ball of ice! the shaved ice gave it the cold i loved! even thou it was raining heavily i love this dessert, tab tim grob! love sinking my teeth into many little red waterchestnuts which is coated with tapioca flour and thank goodness the coconut milk was sweet! the tiny strips of jackfruit gave this dessert another flavour that i love! esp i love jackfruits!

when we asked for the bill, they came to us saying that they are still unable to turn on their system. NO NEED TO PAY???? dream on! its just the cashier system is unable to print but they do have a system where gx went to confirm the dishes and pay after checking the total. it was pouring so heavily! we got a 10 years together photo taken, we sat on a silver, prob thai silk seater. then the waiter sheltered gx with a huge umbrella to the car. a waitress waited with me with another huge umbrella. she walked me carefully when we saw gx drove the car to a safer point to pick me.

we head to the babyfair at taka and i was able to get a few items that were still on our list and but nothing much interested us. we then head home with 2 bread papa puffs. overall it was a simple day at a nice resturant but wished the food had a stronger thai flavour. this i how we look after 10 years together... with our little one in our tummy! so when we celebrate 11 years together, our little one will soon turn 1...

i heard that! "aiyo so skinny!" haha ... once upon a time!