Starting out on blogosphere, first-time HDB flat owner, former maths educator, Chinese Orchestra music lover, Methodist, self-professed foodie.
30 December 2021
《琅琊榜之风起长林》电视剧 - 观后感
16 May 2021
Here we go again... Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) Starts 16 May 2021
Just a post to mark another stay-at-home phase... what the government has termed "Phase 2 (Heightened Alert)". Starting today, 16 May 2021, dining-in at all F&B outlets would be prohibited; permissible group sizes reduced from 5 to 2 etc etc.
As I went out to buy breakfast today, the streets and shops were significantly quieter. F&B establishments in the neighbourhood that were already operating then (8am in the heart of Singapore's CBD on a Sunday!) were already well-prepared. The usual dining tables and chairs were stacked neatly to one side of their premises; signages were up, next to the ubiquitous SafeEntry posters and temperature scanners at each shopfront.
How about the supermarkets? I hadn't needed to make a grocery run to the supermarket since the announcement of this newest development on May 14, and neither did I bother to follow social media for photos and reports of what 'uncommon scenes' (i.e. long queues of kiasu customers) ensued as a result of the new restrictions. But the NTUC Fairprice supermarket was relatively quiet, just like any other Sunday morning. Perhaps we had already gotten used to the fact that this "roti-prata" way of relaxing-and-tightening-social-restrictions will be the new way of life, at least for now, for the upcoming many months ahead. Or maybe all the panic-buying and "just-one-last-visit-to-my favourite-bubble-tea-shop" chaos had ended without me realising.
Thankfully, I happened to complete most of my weekly grocery-shopping at the wet market on Wed, just days before the announcement. And since I always had my stash of frozen food, I had been cooking simple meals without having to replenish much.
As I sat down at my computer to start this post, I was wondering "What will change?". Hopefully, I can learn from my mistakes from last year's Circuit-Breaker experience, not to let my guard down too much (and face a mountain of work-related backlog). It probably won't happen this time since my workplace isn't closed. I also made plans to really prepare more home-cooked meals this time round, rather than relying on the ready supply of instant food products and the yummilicious hawker food just nearby.
I had also been trying to get Y to go out of the house more often (she was refusing to leave home except for school and weekly visits to grandparents') ever since we exited CB last year. And dangled some incentive carrot for her to do so, so I hope we will get down to doing some outdoor exercise (as a group of 2). Everything, anything to pry her away from her bed, mobile and computer playing Kpop idol music. haha.
20 May 2020
Stay Home for Circuit Breaker 2020
General
Read/Listen
- Even before the Covid-19 situation hit, I have been a fan of the collection of e-books offered by the National Library Board, Singapore eResources platform. Just sign up for your 'myLibrary' account (if you are Singaporean or a NLB member), and you are set to read on a browser, or using the NLB mobile app, or download to read offline using the Overdrive or Libby app. See what you need here.
- Amazon Audible has made Stories free available online for kids, as long as schools are closed.
Teaching and Learning Resources
- As part of a global initiative to support parents and educators through these times, Scholastic has been providing free access to digital resources which are developmentally-appropriate for children aged 4 to 15 years.
- Cambridge University Press has also stepped up to provide educators with resources to support the teaching and learning during the school closure period.
Nature
- Part of the #PlantOneOnMe series by the Gardens By the Bay, Singapore. This is a multi-episode series on tours in the Cloud Forest conservatory. We will be eagerly waiting for the day when they will be open again and we can actually use our membership...
The Arts
- #GalleryAnywhere gives you a daily dose of art from the comfort of your home. Presented by the National Gallery, Singapore.
- The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. features two online exhibits through Google Arts & Culture. One features watercolour renderings on American fashion from the Index of American Design; whereas another is on Dutch masters of genre painting, or scenes of daily life.
Performing Arts
- Esplanade Offstage is provided for all to enjoy performing arts in Singapore and Asia. You can easily filter by your preferred form of performing arts, and enjoy one-stop page of links to their partners. Besides reading about artists, Offstage has also listed videos for us to enjoy the performances online via "The show goes on---line" since the national performing art's centre is closed.
- Of course, not forgetting the weekly full-length broadcasts of famed musicals via the Youtube page The Shows Must Go On!. We enjoyed The Phantom of the Opera and Cats.
- BroadwayHD is a subscription-based internet service that lets you watch musicals without getting to Broadway itself. It offers a free 7-day trial, so plan when there's a long weekend/holiday stretch coming up.
Music
Facebook live broadcasts are one of the ways musicians used to continue to showcase their craft.- Compilations include the facebook pages 古典好好聽 Classicalmusic to go.
History
- This "Museum of the World" virtual museum tour of artifacts brought by the British Museum and the Google Cultural institute allows us to pick and choose the time period and cultural setting we want.
Christianity-Methodist
- Even as The Methodist Church in Singapore celebrates 135 years in Singapore this year, we are constrained by the ongoing Covid-19 situation to stay at home as much as possible. But that doesn't stop us from continuing to come together to pray and worship online as a community. I signed up to receive whatsapp updates to receive the daily prayer prompt on whatsapp.
Entertainment
Of course, it has been almost impossible to get Y to guai guai complete the never-ending list of chores (cos she doesn't complete them) and assignments set. All she hankers for is for her own game apps and the Xiaomi phone we bought last year. We have been considering whether to get on the Netflix bandwagon after our Starhub contract ran out and we decided not to continue (we hardly sat down to watch anything at all, since we all had our own choices of entertainment on our phone/tablet/laptop/desktop anyway). So I started looking out to see if the Netflix offerings were suitable. Some links/lists here for those who already have a subscription include:02 September 2019
Why I will start ranting
The long-suffering hubs had been at the brunt of my rants for the past 4 years (that is if I count the official school-going/primary school years). Then, he was on a break in-between jobs. That was when Y was in the later half of her Kindergarten 2 year, and we had quite a fair bit of family time together. He found work to pay the bills later, and I started my obsession with monitoring Y's academics, you know, just like how everyone expects a SAHM to be doing. Y was well-trained by her pre-school teachers and was one of the darlings of her class, so we had enjoyable "teachable" moments for her first year of primary school. Plus, having both parents at home after you finish school at 1.30pm, makes it pretty hard to be "naughty". But even then, we had our fair share of days when voices were raised, crying sessions starts, time is spent persuading and reasoning with Y, and then repeat...
By the end of P2, Y had some unpleasant incidents in school, and started being a bit more withdrawn, less smiley and cheery. She did well enough at the end of P2 to get a bursary, so I thought I could let her be more independent in her own learning at home. The other reason was also because I was getting nowhere trying to coach her. She would chase me out of her room when I wanted to go through her academic materials with her, saying she will read/study on her own, and let me know when she needed help. But all she was doing was playing/reading comics in the comfort of her aircon room.
To cut a long story short (and also cos I'm not quite ready to share those dirty bits of laundry yet), we have come to the current situation where barbs are traded daily, and I find myself doing things I should't be doing, and hating myself after...I try to console myself by saying that it is the effect of nagging every day/hour/minute after mundane things Y does that get on my nerves; strewing dirty uniform/laundry over the house, uneaten recess/lunch contents not disposed off properly, taking 30-40min long showers, snacking while reading, bugging for electronics etc. But when I look back and think that these are the result of not building disciplined habits in her from young, I can only hang my head in shame.
But for the sake of my sanity, I will start ranting, so please bear with me.
22 February 2019
What should I say?
Saw something a friend shared on Facebook that described fully the mixed emotions I have been feeling in recent months.
