Out Of Action....

Lessons started from today. Will be quite out of action this entire month. Busy mugging Russian language. Tough! Hope I will survive :P

Home Alone....

Adrian is off to Vladivostok, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladivostok which is situated just above North Korea, and I will be home alone till Sunday. It's a 9hr flight from Moscow and the time difference is 8 hours (I think). Feel kind of strange that he is actually still within Russia. For many who are bazaared with the sheer size of Russia, well, it is a country with 11-12 (not qute certain) time zones. Coming from the little red dot, sometimes, it is difficult to comprehend the size of this enormous country. There is a part of Russia that is so near to Europe and there is the other part that is so near Asia.

It has been a while since Adrian is off for business trip. Used to having Pebble around with me while he was away. Is times like this that make you miss her more. Am quite grateful that there are still a bunch of friends who will keep me occupied when he is away. Just that when everything is over, you still come back to an empty bed, missing her snuggles (Pebble loved to sleep close to my back).

7th Month

Pebble, 7 months today. Where are you? Will mummy see you again? Miss you.

Who Deserve Happiness?

Was watching news just now. Came across the one about Iraq's win in the semi-finals of the Asian football game (something like that) against South Korea. There were lots of celebrations on the streets of Iraq for the win. The Iraqis being interviewed expressed that they had not seen such happiness from their folks for a long time. Suddenly they felt united, they felt patriotic, they temporary forgot about what they were going through. Unfortunately, not long after that, bombs went off, killing some people, again. Some lamented how short-lived their happiness were. Who deserve happiness? Don't they do too? I guess we are the more fortunate ones as Happiness seems to be kinder to us.

We Are A Miracle!

I was watching tv a couple of days ago. I came across this little snippet about how our existence is a miracle. It went something like this.......

"For us to exist, the Sun needs to be of the correct size. Too big, we will be burnt to death, too small, we freeze. Earth has to be of the correct distance away from the Sun. Too near to it, like Mercury and Venus, you get nothing. Too far from it, you don't find any either. For Life to exist, you need water. Earth is of just the correct distance from the Sun to harbour this essence of Life.

For us to exist, we need the occurence of the dinosaurs. We need the asteriods to hit the Earth to get rid of the dinosaurs. We need fishes to start having legs to walk instead of to swim. We need apes to evolve to what we are today.

For us to exist, we need 2 people among the 6 billion people to meet. We need that 2 people who met to procreate. Against all these odds, shouldn't our existence be a miracle?"

My Clay Works :P

Finally got my hands dirty on the Korean clay that Ngiam introduced me to. Wow, once again, I concluded that I do not have any artistic genes. Here's why.......see the non-similarity?

BB Da Ren :)

Liang emailed yesterday updating me about BB Darren and BB Sophie. She said that Darren is doing very well at childcare particularly at meal times as he is not a fussy eater. He eats everything. Liang attributed this to his first encounter with tasty foods that contained seasonings.

It is a joy to see how these young ones have grown. I was looking through some of my photos the other day and found a series of Darren's photos that I took when he was taking his bath :P. SO CUTE but due to them being R-rated, I will not show them here....or maybe....just a little teaser :)

Little Angels? Devils?

I was watching a TV programme last night called,"little angels". It was about how to manage children with behavioural problems. The episode last night featured a boy aged 5 who displayed rebellious behaviour since age 3 and 3 brothers who never seem to get along.

The show focused on how this clinical psychologist helped the parents of the above children adopt positive parenting skills. It was very interesting to see how the parents used skills such as time out, praises, positive behaviour charts, behaviour boundaries, once friendly twice firm etc, to change their children's behavioural problems.

The psychologist analysed that the common error parents get into when their children throw tantrums is to fuss over them. She demonstrated that when the kids are in a tantrum, is best to leave them alone, not talk to them such that they realise when they display this behaviour, they will not get any attention from the parents. It is also important to consciously and continuously verbalise praises for good behaviour to encourage the children to display more of such mannerism. Interesting programme. Quite thought provoking too cos the children featured in the show can really make you pull your hair.

It's 6 Years!

Yesterday was my 6th wedding anniversary. Thinking back, it didn't feel that long that we were married. I always wonder what my life will be if I am still single and this is always my conclusion. I think it is a blessed decision that I have made for I have someone whom I know will take care of me and love me for the rest of our lives together. Happy Anniversary 老公!

Ok, got to stop here. Not too comfortable with being mushy :P

An Abandoned Friend Reappears!

For some who are wondering where the Abandoned Friend is, well....I was in Singapore for a month. Yes, the third visit since I moved to Moscow in April last year. One will never have enough of their own country. Simply because the people you love are there.

Things seem to change every time I go back. New buildings, new landmarks etc. Am I imagining things or what? I seem to feel that things are getting more and more expensive in Singapore. Nonetheless, the prices are still low compared to what you will pay in Moscow.

One of my objectives of going back this time was to complete the paperwork for the sale of my Floravale house. Yes, we got it sold. Had mixed feelings when we decided to sell the house. Felt sad because it was our first house, a house with our own memories and memories of our beloved Pebble. Also happy as we got it sold with minimised loss. Looking forward to the new house.

I also got a chance to bring my godson to the beach this time. It was an impromptu arrangement but we had a good time. Shan't write too much cos his mother has a blog on it too. Here's the link: http://ilove-ralph.blogspot.com/2007/07/evening-out-to-east-coast-park-with.html .

When I left in Mar this year, I had yet to see the tummies of the 2 pregnant mothers. Finally managed to feel the 2 piglets. It is exciting to think that the next time I go back, it will be my first meeting with them. Really looking forward to it. 加油妈妈们:)


Managed also to squeeze in a trip to Bintan too :) Poor Adrian. We dragged him to Bintan on the day he landed in Singapore. He didn't even have a chance to catch a breather. We pampered ourselves with a spa (even though the place we did it looked sleazy), nice dinners, ATV rides, swim etc. The only thing we didn't quite enjoy was playing Monopoly with Jenny. For those who know who we are, remember, NEVER attempt to play this game with Jenny. She simply has too much luck in the game. We couldn't even beat her when we combined efforts.

Rest of the time was spent shopping, eating, catching up with friends, signing papers for the sale of the house, etc. Looking forward to my next trip back. See ya soon my friends :)

It Has Been 6 Months....

Tomorrow is the 27th again. It has been a habit for me to dedicate this day of the month to Pebble. Yes, is already 6 months. But it still feels like she just went missing yesterday. I always wonder how she is, who has taken her and will she still recognise me if we meet one day. I pray that she is safe and happy everyday.

Mummy misses you so much. Kisses....

The Sun Is Out!

Finally the sun is out and the heat wave is gone. Now the temperature hovers around 20 to 28 degrees. Nice cool with some breeze. My friends decided that it was the perfect time for a BBQ. Something we had been thinking of doing since winter. So we got ourselves organised and last Sat, we held our first BBQ in Moscow.

Some arrived earlier to help the host with the preparation e.g organised the food, laid the table and did lawning. We were very fortunate to have satay and otah from Singapore. Thanks to our friends who just returned from Singapore that very morning.

We ate, we talked, we had fun and soon, we decided that it was about TIME!. Not to leave but to start our mahjong session. We brought along our mahjong table (yeah, we were that hardcore). We had 2 tables. We started teaching those friends who were unfamiliar with the game. Then all the "pong", "gang" and "hu" started. Mahjong is one game that the moment you start, you forget about the time. As it only gets dark at about 10pm nowadays, we lose track of time. Finally, the day ended at about 1am. Reluctantly, we stopped the game, packed up and headed home, only to find ourselves waking up at about 11am the next day.

Feels Like Home

After reading CanIcan's blog about mobtv, I decided to try. A few days later, I got an email to register for the free trial for Global Mobtv. I guess watched the last episode of Phua Chu Kang a couple of hours ago. Great! I remembered I missed that episode as I was on the way back to Moscow. I am now downloading some dramas. Just wondering what will the charges be like once the trial period is over. In the meantime, I should just enjoy this free service. Just one thing though. Takes patience to download programmes, I realised.

Helpless! Part 2 - 老公 to the rescue

After much sulking at home, I sent an email to my 老公 for help. He got his colleague to call. Ok, got my order, after much exasperation. This is the thing I really hate. You can't do anything without assistance. Makes one feels so ineffective!

Helpless!

What the F***! I am sorry that I have to use the first bad word in my blog but I am utterly pissed off at this very minute. I was trying to place some orders for sausages for this Sat's bbq. The website was in English because it was meant for expats. But when I clicked "send order", a dialouge box came up telling me some rubbish in Russian. What the heck! If I can understand that, then I WILL NOT BE SERVING ON THE ENGLISH SITE. HOW STUPID IS THAT? NOBODY COULD HELP AND I COULDN'T FIND MY KEYBOARD ON MY RUSSIAN TRANSLATION SOFTWARE. PLUS MY DIGITAL DICTIONARY HAD TO FAIL AT A TIME LIKE THIS!!!!!!!! BESTEST, WHEN I CALLED, NOBODY ON THE OTHER LINE COULD SPEAK A WORD OF ENGLISH!!!!!!!

Being There....

I had quite a disturbing day yesterday. A friend was diagnosed with optic neutritis. Though she said it was nothing serious but I am still worried. It sets me thinking about things my friends had gone through during my 1 year in Moscow. Like what Line said, I really hope this will be a good year for all of us. There were many downs last year and eventhough what goes up must come down, I hope the reverse is also true for this case. See you guys soon!

Asian Pacific Food Fair 07

Many have asked me what do I do to pass time in Moscow. One of the things is to help the embassy with charity fairs like the Asian Pacific Food Fair. I remembered that this was the first fair I attended when I first arrived in Moscow. It is also a fair that many Asians look forward to, particularly for the cuisine.





My day started with the setting up of the Singapore stall. We had pre-packed sauces, 3-in-1 coffee and some cook books to sell. The 3-in-1 coffee packs were the first to clear. I assumed that was because they were good buys for the Russians and the Indonesians. Many came back to ask if we had more. We had more difficulty with the pre-packed sauces as the locals were not familiar with them. Nonetheless, the sauces were popular with Asians and expats. We did well with the sale.



While I was busy at the stall, my pals in Moscow had a good time shopping and eating (see picture :P). First was breakfast at the Malaysian stall. Nasi Lemak, curry puffs etc. Then was the shopping. And more shopping. At the end of the day, many wallets were empty and the fruits were; faberge eggs (quite a few), ear rings, display basket, sauces of course, bracelet, pendant....


Was the day over? Of course...NOT! The party adjourned to Cecilia's house for some drinks, snacks and vitamin D while waiting for me (see picture again). It was a nice day to just chill out and bathe ourselves in the sun, something that you probably would not get for half a year. It was also the best opportunity to decide on a bbq next week. So Akan Datang!

It's The 27th Again :(

Today is 27 May 07. It has been 5 months. My doggie is still out there. She is still not home.

To Judge And Be Judged

When I told Ah Line that I was writing about this, her reaction was, "I am guilty!" Well, I think all of us have our fair share of judging people and being judged. Maybe even started when we were very young. When we were all children, we looked around and "surveyed" who we thought could be our "kaki" before we tried to make friends. When we were in school, our intelligence was determined by our school results. While we were looking for life-time partners, we applied our combination of "no logic" feel with practical rationals to ascertain if that potential man / woman was our ultimate. These are examples of judging and being judged.


While we may have been growing up in this kind of environment, we may not be at ease at all, when faced with a situation where you have to exercise your judgement. We may be even more uncomfortable when we know we are being scrutinised and judged. How so, you may ask? Well, if you are the judge, you have to ensure that your judgement is unbiased (not easy), made with the best understanding of the situation and probably with empathy. Many a times, we are swayed by our own feelings and emotions and hence our judgment may be tinted. However, having said that, I am not implying that one should always sit on the fence and not have any opinion of his own. I think when we pass judgement, we have to do so responsibly and reasonably.

On the other side of the coin, I don't think anyone likes to be judged. It gives a feeling of belittlement sometimes. I guess in order to minimise misjudgement by people around us, we have to increase their understanding of us. How do I expect my friends to know that I like to eat durian if I don't tell them or I don't eat with them? Sometimes, the more we share, we more comfortable we are with one another, the lower the guard for you know these are people who do not look at you with tinted glasses as you did not tint their sight in the first place.

幸福的蛋糕

最近在听Fish Leong 的一张CD. 觉得有一段歌词很有趣.

"如果一个人一辈子只能分到一块叫做幸福的蛋糕

宁愿一小口很小口品尝味道

不想过瘾的一口吃掉"

如果你有一块这样的蛋糕, 你会怎么做? 如果是被一个不常享受到幸福的人吃到了, 他会一小口一小口的品尝. 让自己牢牢握住那种感觉吗? 是不是他就会比较珍惜那得来不易的幸福呢?还是一个会为自己找出生活里藏有的小幸福的人才是最会烘出这幸福小蛋糕的人呢? 我想它并不是必然的, 它是必须找寻, 珍惜和不断创造的.