Musings of a Mother

Catholic church in Tokyo and Fukuoka

2012-01-26T15:24:00.002+08:00

Out of the four weeks we were in Japan, we managed to attend Sunday Masses on 3 weekends, but did not manage to attend Sunday Mass while we were in Kyoto. Tell you why later.

I used this site to locate the churches that are near us, and find out the English mass times. http://www.jcarm.com/jpn/directory/index.htm
But specifically for Tokyo, I also found this site
http://www.ignatius.gr.jp/eng/index.html, which provided useful information on how to get there.

Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium

In Tokyo on Day 5 (Sunday, 4 December 2011) of our trip, we took a train (from our hotel in Ikebukuro) to head to St Ignatius after breakfast. As the English mass was at noon, we hopped off at a random station before we got to Yotsuya Station where the church was supposed to be. It turned out to be Sendagaya Station we hopped off at, totally on the spur of the moment on finding we had an hour to explore before mass. Anyway we found ourselves outside the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium and had a nice leisurely walk around the area. It was a beautiful day. Aoi, aoi ano sora!

More photos in a later post regarding Day 5 of our trip.

Nice walk around the area at Sendagaya Station

Saw a teenage boy practicing his dance moves in front of a reflective surface at an outer wall around the Gymnasium building, using it as a huge mirror. Admired his daring. Then we came across an indoor ice skating rink during our walk, but of course we did not have time for that before Mass. Saw many Japanese parents bring their kids here to ice skate on a Sunday morning, how nice!

After that we hopped back on the train to Yotsuya Station. St Ignatius was just a stone's throw from this station. The Japanese crowd was leaving after the Japanese mass, and a slightly more international crowd was slowly weaving their way in. There were still quite a number of Japanese people attending the English mass, perhaps they understood English, perhaps it was to practise their English listening skills, perhaps to expose their kids to more English, perhaps they woke up late and did not make it in time for the earlier Japanese mass....

Anyway, it was still early and we went to the gift shop at the church first. It's really a must as the religious items are very different in every country. The little crosses, crucifixes, pendants and rings charmed GG and I and we each bought a little souvenir. I liked the picture of Mother Mary and infant Jesus in Japanese garb, so cute!

Gift shop at St Ignatius

Mother Mary and infant Jesus in Japanese garb

There were Caucasians, and lots of Filipinos. The mass was celebrated by an old Caucasian priest who spoke English throughout the mass. Good, but even if it was half English and half Japanese, it would be fine too.

I've been to an "English" mass in Port Dickson (Malaysia), where parts of the mass was in English, and parts of it in Tamil. And also such mixed language mass in Krabi (English and Thai), and other places. Have always loved attending mass in other countries, but there was once we attended a mass celebrated completely in a foreign language (there was no English mass available) we did not understand and did not feel like we had fully attended mass, since we did not understand a word of the readings or sermon, so we have given up attending mass if it's completely in a foreign language. The mixed language mass are still fine.

Inside St Ignatius

In Singapore, the English Catholic masses have recently been converted to using a more accurate translation of the Latin tranlation. For example, we used to respond "And also with you" when the priest says "The Lord be with you." The new translation is "The Lord be with you" / "And with your spirit". Over in Japan, while we were there, the English masses are still using the old version, which is fine with us too.

Grounds of St Ignatius

It's interesting to find that the two Catholic churches we attended in Japan had this unfamiliar kneeling "cushion". You can see it in the photo here. We saw the locals take the light weight box-like cushion from the seat in front of them only when you needed to kneel, and put it back immediately after kneeling. Hence you don't take it out and leave it there on the floor the whole time. So we did likewise. Another reason why attending mass in a foreign country is always interesing.

Kneeling on box cushion in St Ignatius

I made sure to keep a copy of the circular detailing the Christmas Mass times for St Ignatius, as I know we'll be back in Tokyo by 25 December. Oh, there's also some pews at the back (on the right side of the church) marked with a sign "for families with children". Turned out these are for families whose children get restless during mass, so they can sit at the back so the restless kids do not bother the congregation as much. My kids are largely fine in church, so we did not use these seats but sat wherever we liked.

Box cushion stored in front

The following week, we were in Kyoto on Sunday (11 December 2011). I printed out the list of Catholic churches in Kyoto from the jcarm site and showed it to the lady manning the hotel counter, to check which ones were near us at Gojo-Karasuma. She pointed to one and said that was near, but it did not have an English mass. What about those? I pointed at the ones that had an English mass. The lady made a face and said those are very far away, and shook her head. I suppose she would know better than us. I did not have a clear idea how big Kyoto-hu was, though I knew Tokyo itself was huge. And so, unfortunately, we did not have the experience of attending an English mass in Kyoto.

The week after that, we were in Fukuoka (staying near Hakata Station) on Sunday (18 December 2011). Again printed out the list of Catholic churches and asked at the hotel counter. Hooray, Daimyo Machi Church was near and they had an English Mass.

Daimyo Catholic Church

We made our way there, and as we always arrive early for Mass, there was time to have a look at the gift shop. I do not have photos of the church interior as there was a sign at the door that said no photo- taking within the church, which is totally weird. Never encountered that before in a church. They could have stipulated no flash photography, but why no photo-taking at all? In all the foreign churches I've been to, I've always taken photos without using flash, much like in zoos.

After that, there was still time to take a nap at the waiting area where there were lots of comfy seating. GG even napped lying down, stretched out on the long cushioned seats. The nap refreshed us to attend mass with renewed vigour.

Books in the church gift shop

I think it was here that GG did not get a blessing from the communion minister (the persons who help thr priest give out the host). As was usual in Singapore, she had crossed her arms in front of her chest, a gesture that signalled to the communion minister/priest that she had not yet reached the age where she could take the host, and she would be given a blessing instead. At the church in Tokyo, she did not encounter any problems, but here in Hakata/Fukuoka, I guess they did not have such a practice and she came away without the usual pat of blessing on her head.

Doves, love, peace and joy stickers in the church gift shop

Okay, it's Christmas day and we're back in St Ignatius for the Christmas Mass. Did not bother to take any photos this time. Just enjoyed the Christmas mass. It was interesting to have a family sitting in front of us, where the pretty, petite lady is Japanese (she spoke good English) and her husband American, I think. The three children, 2 young boys and a girl are mixed parentage and very good-looking. I liked the fact that the Mum spoke Japanese to the kids, while the Caucasian dad spoke English to the kids. That's what I would have done for my own kids (speak Mandarin to them) if I married some other nationality who does not speak Mandarin. The parents conversed in English mostly, with the lady throwing in some Japanese words when she found it more convenient to do so. Their kids are well-behaved.

One thing was different though. The church was very packed, much more than on the usual Sunday mass. Lots of people had to stand. During communion at this Christmas Mass, there were a large number of adults, young and old, who lined up during communion. They were obviously not baptised Catholics as they did not receive holy communion. They simply lowered their heads for the communion ministers and priest to bless them. A strange sight for us because of the sheer number who did so. I guess some Japanese people liked to come to church for Christmas Mass to get their blessing.

The pianist was a Japanese lady who wore a baby harness on her back. I admired her determination to serve the congregation and the Lord even though she had a baby to look after, in addition to another young toddler, whom a church friend was trying her best to keep engaged and well-behaved while Mama played the piano. Oh, the choir (on the upper floor) in this church was very good on both times we were at St Ignatius. Much better than the ones in our Catholic church in Singapore.

Day 1 of Japan Trip (30 Nov 2011) - Singapore to Tokyo

2012-01-26T11:46:00.000+08:00

I booked our return flights to Japan with Delta as they were the cheapest direct flights I could find. Six SIN-NRT tickets aren't easy on the pocket. Did not like the flight times. Departs from Changi at 6am (means we have to get up from bed at 3am), departs from Narita at 6.25pm (means we arrive in S'pore at 1am) - disrupts our usual sleep cycle.

The breakfast served on board the B777-200 was passable, but whatever happened to American portions? Even us Asians found the portions small. It was more than enough for me and my 8-year-old daughter GG, but not really enough for the hubby and my boys.

Curry rice for breakfast?

There was a choice of curry rice or omelette. GG chose curry rice thinking it was Japanese style but it turned out to be Indian-style, I think. She didn't like it much especially after she saw my safe choice of omelette looked better. I had chosen omelette as that sounded like breakfast. Seems weird to me to have curry rice for breakfast.

Safe choice for breakfast - omelette

In between naps, we played games and watched movies on the individual inflight entertainment console infront of us. Movie selection was good.

Arrived in Narita Airport and headed for the JR office where we will exchange the exchange order we got from buying the JR Pass in Singapore (I paid in Japanese yen as the rate was better that way) from Prime Follow Me Japan (yup, that's the company name). They're at Raffles Place MRT.

It took a bit of time to process our Japan Railpass since there are six passes to be done. I specified that our 21-day pass was to be activated for the period 5 Dec - 25 Dec. You need to have these firm dates when you get your pass done at this counter, as once done, you cannot change the dates. The two women at the counter next to us are in a tizzy as they did not know that, and right now at the counter, they are looking through their plans and trying to give a firm date.

I immediately booked our 3 most important train rides at the same counter. Being night trains, they are probably much more difficult to secure compared to day time trains. Ah, no problem securing the seats we want for the first two night trains ( Nobi nobi seats on the Sunrise Seto or Sunrise Izumo ; Goron-to seats on the Akebono) but did not get the Carpet Car seats on the Hamanasu as it was fully booked, so settled for Dream Car seats on the Hamanasu, all of them on the dates I wanted.

Our first onigiri in Japan

I have a few pages of other less important train rides to book, but I think the kids have waited long enough. Besides, I can always book those a few a time whenever we pass by a JR office. So I bought the NEX-suica package (at the same counter) for the ride from NRT into Tokyo. Had to fill up a form for my 2 younger kids' suica - being age 8 and 11, they were eligible for child fare (long as under 12). My two older kids age 13 and 15 are considered adults.

A look at the watch shows it is almost one. Lunch? We grab some onigiri from a convenience kiosk right there, and hop onto the NEX (stands for Narita Express train). It's a half hour ride into Tokyo and after looking for the hotel and checking in, it'd be way too late for lunch. Hence our simple onigiri lunch on the NEX. I love Japan's trains as no matter what train you take, you can always eat and drink in it.

Tucking into onigiri on board the NEX

After getting off the NEX at Shinjuku we transferred to the Yamanote line to get to Ikebukuro, where our hotel Toyoko Inn Ikebukuo 2 was. Felt a bit lost at this huge station, as this is our first time in Japan. People (all very dressed-up compared to the dressed-down and relaxed kind of dressing in Singapore) in the station walk hurriedly and most do not make eye contact.

It took us a little while to get used to the color coded signages and English/kanji/hiragana letterings.
Kanji's not a problem for me, as it's pretty similar to Mandarin. Hiragana's not too much of a problem for me as I had prepared for this trip but learning it on my own through resources on the Net. I'm still hardly good at it though, as I can only read hiragana slowly. (As for katakana, I'm bad at it as I did not have enough time to learn it properly.)

No problem getting on the right train, getting off at the right stop and looking for the hotel (had printed out the hotel location map from Toyoko Inn's excellent website. The hubby and I applied for Toyoko Inn membership (1500Y each) which is a MUST! Member's discounts and the hotel's stay 10 nights get 1 night free scheme saved us a HUGE bundle on this 28-day Japan trip.

In Ikebukuro

If you're only taking one room, only one person need apply for membership. For us, it's because we're booking two rooms. My 3 sons shared an economy double (Toyoko Inn allows my 11-yr-old to stay for free with our 2 teen boys), while GG shared me and hubby's bed. The hotel allows kids under 12 to stay and breakfast without charge. We had to surrender all 6 passports for them to make copies upon check-in, at every Toyoko Inn we stayed in Japan.

It was three plus in the afternoon, almost four when we finally dropped off our luggage in the room. Decided we'd just explore Ikebukuro a bit, have dinner and go back to the hotel for an early night's rest, as we were tired from having to wake up at 3am to catch this morning's 6am Delta flight.

Had our first bowl of ramen in Japan - Tokyo style! The kids always ask for char siew ramen as they've been watching Naruto anime for ages. I'd read about different types of ramen that varies with locality all over Japan. There's Toyko style, Hakata, Asahikawa, Sapporo, etc, etc. And that's why, on this trip, we decided that we'd try to eat at least a bowl of ramen at each stop we make. Tokyo ramen - check!

Good budget hotel in Tokyo - Toyoko Inn Kanda Akihabara

2012-01-18T23:20:00.001+08:00

I liked this Toyoko Inn – the location was good for my plans, and it provided the usual high standard of cleanliness and newish rooms, and a good breakfast – great value for budget rates.

Day 27 hotel breakfast

As we had stayed at Toyoko Inn Ikebukuro 2 for 5 nights (30Nov-4Dec 2011) in Tokyo prior to activating our JR Pass, we had, during those days explored places more or less in the west part of Tokyo – Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku, Roppongi.

On our return to Tokyo after exploring along the route from south Japan (Kyushu) to north Japan (Hokkaido), I decided to pick Toyoko Inn Kanda Akihabara as it was near these other places on the east part of Tokyo that I wanted to visit – Akihabara (just one-stop from Asakusabashi Station), Ueno (just 2 stops from Asakusabashi) & Asakusa (just 2 stops from Asakusabashi). We stayed for 2 nights – 25^th & 26^th December 2011 – enough time for sightseeing and final rounds of shopping.

Asakusabashi Station

I picked a hotel within walking distance from a JR station (for this hotel it’s Asakusabashi Station on the JR Sobu Line) because the day we arrive in Tokyo from Hokkaido, we’d still be using our JR Pass, though it was the very last day of our 21-day JR Pass. Plus, I like the name Kanda. It reminds me of Yuu Kanda from the anime D-Grayman.

And from Asakusabashi Station, it was 6 stops to get to Yotsuya Station (both stations are on JR Sobu line) which is next to St Ignatius Catholic Church, to attend the Christmas Mass (English) at noon on Christmas Day. Previously on 4th December 2011, I remember we had to change trains to get to St Ignatius ‘s Sunday Mass (4pm, English) when we were staying at Toyoko Inn Ikebukuro 2 then.

I also wanted to stay near Ueno as I had planned to get to Narita Airport (for our flight home) the cheapest way (as there’s six of us) – by using the Keisei Main Line (I’d thought we’d get to Nippori Station via Ueno Station to catch the Keisei Main Line to NRT) instead of taking the more expensive NEX or Liners.

But on the night of our departure, I happened to use Jorudan and it said to go from Asakusabashi to Oshiage (6 mins via Toei Subway Asakusa line), then to Aoto (9 mins via Keisei Oshiage line local) then to NRT T1 (66min via Keisei Main Line Ltd Express). It looked like a lot of transfers and hauling of our trolley bags and looking for right platforms and right trains at each transfer.

On the Keisei Main Line train heading to Narita Airport

Nevertheless, undaunted, we tried it the next day, and we found the 3 transfers not at all as bad as it looked on paper. We did not have to change platforms at all. One train drops you on the left side of the platform while the other one picks you up on the right side of the same platform. So it was merely alight from one train, pull trolley bag, say five paces to the other side of same platform and hop in another train. It's evident the smart people who plan train routes had thought it through very well. Good job!

On hindsight, one thing I liked about getting to NRT this way was the free and easy feel about it (since we had given ourselves ample time). There was no scheduled train which we have to catch at a certain time (as there are no reserved seating on these trains anyway). Basically, we just hop into the next train that came by (as long as we've ascertained it was going where we wanted to go), and that was how we made all 3 transfers to NRT. (Oh, contrast that with making sure we catch all those time-scheduled shinkansens and night trains to go from city to city with reserved seat tickets!)

On the day of our departure, we left the hotel at 2.15pm and arrived at NRT T1 (then short walk to NRT International Airport T1, dropped by the JR office to turn in our suica and get our suica deposit refunded, then a bit of time spent looking for Delta counter) for check in slightly before 4.30pm for our 6.25pm Delta flight.

So the whole thing (plus walking from hotel to Asakusabashi Station) took slightly over 2 hours and just 1060Y per adult on our suica (half for child) – that was fine as we had time. (We got the one-way NEX and suica package, and not the two-way NEX and suica package, on our way in to Tokyo from NRT on arrival as the two-way NEX tickets are only valid for up two weeks – our trip was 4-week long).

After checking in our luggage with the airline (the queue was very short then as we were third in line immediately, but Delta’s self-check in machine was such a frustrating letdown and totally incompetent for checking in a group of six people), we still had an hour to check out the airport mall before boarding time (5.30pm) came round. We discovered the airport mall is HUGE – one hour is certainly not enough if you like shopping a lot. Luckily for us, we’ve long finished all our shopping the day before.

On leaving the airport mall an hour later, we joined the very long queue for security clearance in order to get to the departure gate for boarding. Glancing over to the check-in area on our right, I saw long queues of people over there too. Boy, were we glad we did not have to first get through that long check-in mess, and then face another long queue for the security clearance.

I got beeped by the metal detector doorway thingy during security clearance and was told to remove my shoes and try again. No big deal for lots of people had to remove their shoes. Anyway, it’s like the norm in America and it’s a Delta flight, after all. All those wearing boots had to take them off even before they got to the doorway thingy. Turned out it was my pretty hairclip (bought in Japan) that caused the beep.

Dang, after that we had another incident where my son’s prized souvenir buy - a katana umbrella (long, black umbrella where the handle resembles the handle of a Japanese katana/sword) - was not allowed as carry-on luggage. But I’ll talk about that in another post, as it’s getting too long here.

Why we did not stay in a ryokan

2012-01-18T22:25:00.000+08:00

The idea of staying in a ryokan at least once during our 28-day Japan trip was a fabulous one. Lovely photos of traditional ryokans had long captured my imagination – ah, how nice to spend a night or two in such surroundings!

Alas, the pragmatic side of me won, and I decided that we’ll save that for our next Japan trip some years later (if I’m still around).

Ryokans charge room and meal on a per guest basis, so on this trip, it did not make economic sense for us to stay in such a place and pay charges for our family of six, when Toyoko Inn currently lets our two youngest kids stay and breakfast for free.

But should our family be so fortunate to be blessed with the opportunity to visit Japan again in another season (I definitely vote for cherry blossom season, not winter again) a few years down the road, you can bet a ryokan will definitely feature among our accommodation choices.

Good budget hotel in Asahikawa - Toyoko Inn Asahikawa Ekimae Ichijo-dori

2012-01-16T23:24:00.000+08:00

This hotel is a short walk from Asahikawa Station. Had no problem pulling our trolley bags over the snow-covered paths. It was cold enough so there was no slush, just dry snow. Stayed here for two nights (22^nd - 23^rd Dec 2011) which turned out to be fortuitous as there was much more snow here than in Sapporo where we stayed the previous night.

A nice view of the hotel's snow-covered carpark from the breakfast area.

Earlier, when we left Hakodate and had arrived at a Sapporo that was so miserably sparse with snow, my kids were certainly unhappy we had left behind the thick blanket of snow that covered everything in Hakodate. (Yup, there was slush on the ground in Sapporo, which is a little icky.) But delight returned to their faces when we reached Asahikawa.

Day 24 breakfast was okay.

The breakfast served on 23rd December at this hotel was all right. 23rd December is a public holiday as it was the Emperor's birthday, hooray, for we got a 30% discount on our rooms on public holidays as we'd signed up as Toyoko Inn members at the very first Toyoko Inn hotel we stayed at.

I liked everything about this hotel except its breakfast on the morning of 24th December 2011. I liked all things that I have come to associate with the Toyoko Inn chain – very clean rooms, newish rooms (totally does not look run-down at all), good location and good value. But this particular Toyoko Inn outlet disappointed with its poor breakfast spread. It had actually managed to earn the title of “the worst breakfast served” among the 12 Toyoko Inns that we stayed in during our 28-day trip.

Day 25 breakfast was NOT okay

Breakfast was just plain sliced bread (fortunately there’s a bread toasting machine) with butter and strawberry jam, a very basic miso soup, and very plain looking onigiri and pickles, a simple salad, and some seasoned brown noodles (I put a few strands of this noodle in my bit of salad to jazz it up a bit and it did become a little more palatable). Eggs? Hotdogs? Dream on.

Even the coffee came in a thermos, not those coffee machines that offered choice of coffee, espresso or cappuccino. Sigh. I guess the other 10 Toyoko Inns which we had stayed in (before arriving here) had fed us better and we had come to expect no less from Toyoko Inn.

Good budget hotel in Sapporo - Toyoko Inn Sapporo-eki Kita-guchi

2012-01-09T19:33:00.000+08:00

The last two words of its name means Sapporo Station North Gate. (Kita=north, minami=south, higashi=east, nishi=west). The breakfast served at this hotel was fine.

Day 23 hotel breakfast

Among the 12 Toyoko Inns we stayed at during our 28-day Japan trip, we booked ‘Non-smoking economy double’ rooms whenever available. But this hotel does not offer non-smoking-type rooms, hence we booked ‘economy double’ rooms (at least, I did not see it on Toyoko Inn's website). Fortunately, we did not detect any cigarette smoke smell in the room nor along the corridor.

Only stayed one night - 21 December 2011 (Wednesday). If my memory serves me right, the hotel serves free curry rice on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays evenings. We did not have that for dinner as we were out exploring Sapporo’s Ramen Yokocho (‘ramen street’ – an indoor stretch concentrated with ramen outlets) to have a taste of Sapporo-style ramen. There’s two Ramen Yokocho – the original one plus a newer one, near each other. We checked out both, liked one of the outlets in the original one but it was too full to take 6 of us, so we settled for another place at the newer yokocho.

One thing though – I tried to leave a bag with the hotel when we checked out to head for Asahikawa, hoping that we could come pick up the bag on our return leg a day or two later. Unfortunately, they said no. It seems that it is Toyoko Inn’s policy not to hold your luggage for you overnight once you have checked out.

They did not have any problems with holding all our luggage (5 small trolley bags and 6 small backpacks) at the hotel lobby when we checked out at 8 plus in the morning to head for Otaru for a daytrip, as we returned in the afternoon to collect everything and head for Asashikawa. BUT – I feel the portly guy manning the reception counter delivered sub-standard service compared to all the other ladies manning the counter at the other 11 Toyoko Inns we stayed at.

When I asked if we could leave our luggage at the lobby till 3pm, he said yes and I asked for a net (to put over our luggage). No net, he said, and gave me a length of string instead. He did not leave the counter and there was no other guest waiting to be served either. Okay, I get that he meant for me to secure our luggage ourselves. We did that, and in the time we took, the luggage tag was not prepared either. I returned to the counter and asked for one. Mr Portly then began writing one out. It was obvious if I did not ask, our luggage would be left there in the lobby untagged.

I could see that there was no other luggage at the lobby – so definitely it isn’t that all the nets have been deployed. And I have left my luggage with enough Toyoko Inns (after checking out) by now to know that they have such nets and their SOP (standard operating procedure).

The ladies manning the reception counters invariably either use a net or a string (at times, even both) to secure our luggage at the lobby. They’d leave the counter to do it, and not expect the guest to DIY. In fact, they apologize when we try to give them a hand in stacking up our luggage (so it takes up less space in the lobby). Then they’d issue a luggage tag to me.

Hence, service-wise, this Toyoko Inn is below average because of Mr Portly’s sub-standard Toyoko Inn service. Everything else was all right.

Good budget hotel in Hakata - Toyoko Inn Hakata-guchi Ekimae

2012-01-09T16:42:00.000+08:00

My notes indicate that there’s a Toyoko Inn Hakata-guchi Ekimae 2 (while checking out Toyoko Inn’s website) and that the Ekimae 2 does not seem to have economy rooms. That’s fine as it made it easier to pick my choice – Toyoko Inn Hakata-guchi Ekimae as it offers economy type rooms.

Exterior of the hotel

Hakata Station is huge – it’s a huge mall and there’s even a Tokyu Hands right there (we did not explore it as we’ve already explored Tokyu Hands thoroughly while in Tokyo).

Hotel entrance

The hotel is fine in terms of easy walking distance from Hakata Station, cleanliness, and everything that I love about the Toyoko Inn chain. I liked that there was an affordable restaurant next to the hotel where we had gyudon for dinner.

Day 19 hotel breakfast

Oh yes, this hotel is also where we had the best Toyoko Inn breakfast (the worst was at Toyoko Inn Asahikawa) among the 12 Toyoko Inns we stayed in during our 28-day Japan trip. In addition to the de rigueur traditional Japanese breakfast of onigiri, pickles, miso soup and breads, egg and hotdogs, this hotel also served SIX varieties of delicious Japanese side-dishes – I loved the braised egg plant, ladies fingers, lotus stem, braised daikon, cabbage roll with bacon strips and sweet potato. Even the miso soup had generous clumps of mushrooms. Pity we only stayed here for one night!

Good budget hotel in Oita ( near Beppu / Yufuin) - Toyoko Inn Oita Ekimae

2012-01-09T15:12:00.002+08:00

Only stayed here for a night, used it as a base to visit Beppu and Yufuin, and the plan worked well (there weren’t any Toyoko Inns in Beppu nor Yufuin). Arrived in Oita from Kumamoto at 11.30am, left our luggage with the hotel then walked back to JR Oita Station (which is why it was so very important to be just 5 mins walk from the station) and hopped onto a Sonic train for Beppu. Kyushu was the last place we expected to encounter snow, but snow it did that afternoon in Beppu. Returned to the hotel that evening after some sightseeing in Beppu.

Next day, we checked out in the morning but left our luggage with the hotel at the lobby. They usually give you a luggage tag and place a green (at times red) net (with bells attached) over the whole lot of bags. Sometimes, they even tied the bags together with string before they throw the net over.

Luggage secured, we left for Yufuin with our onsen towels to enjoy our first onsen experience. We were in the onsen at 10am sharp (Just ask at Yufuin Station - recommended one not far from Yufuin Station that opened at 10am). Returned to Oita after lunch, picked up our luggage, and headed back to Oita Station to take a train to Hakata where we were to spend the night.

I forgot to take a photo of the breakfast, but it must have been okay. I know I took a couple of pictures at the poor breakfast at Toyoko Inn in Asahikawa (Hokkaido) just to remember it was a poor breakfast (to be exact - it was Toyoko Inn Asahikawa Ekimae Ichijo-dori).
And I have long stopped taking photos of Toyoko Inn rooms as they all look alike. Even the bathrooms are pre-fab kind - can't be more identical than those. Seen one - pretty much seen all as we are always booked into Non-smoking double economy rooms. There was once a rare occasion where we were booked into a Non-smoking double room (either the economy ones were fully booked or the hotel did not have the economy version) - the only difference was the presence of a little round coffee table with two chairs.

Good budget hotel in Kumamoto - Toyoko Inn Kumamoto Ekimae

2012-01-08T20:31:00.001+08:00

Only stayed here for a night, so we liked the fact that this hotel was an easy walk from JR Kumamoto Station with our trolley bags. Thumbs up for the Toyoko Inn chain in terms of cleanliness and good value.

View of JR Kumamoto Station from my hotel room

After staying in 12 different Toyoko Inns where I had breakfast at the hotel for 24 mornings, my quiet and discreet observation is that most Japanese women eat very little (at least during breakfast), while majority of Japanese men have a hearty breakfast (like my hubby and 3 sons do), and just a small handful of Japanese men eat sparingly like the women.

Day 17 hotel breakfast

I observed how a Japanese lady held the miso bowl (miso soup is present at every breakfast) with both her hands and drink from it so eleganty. Ah… I learnt to do so subsequently.

We checked in on 15 Dec 2011 (a Thursday), and happened to catch this Toyoko Inn's free curry rice night. This hotel only serves free curry rice at 7pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays (hope my memory is correct!). Guests are limited to just one serving. The lady cook dishes it out to guests who stand in line. If it's a lady, she dishes out a lady's portion, and if it's a guy or child, she also dishes out the quantity accordingly.

GG was given a small child's portion which she wasn't very happy with and I advised CK (he's 11) to tell the lady he'd like to have a large serving by saying "ooki kusasai". I can tell that if the lady gives CK the child portion, he'd only be half-full. Anyway, those words are my limited Japanese-speaking ability for "large, please". He did that, and was happy he was given the normal portion.

Curry rice served by Toyoko Inn

You can see the karage (fried chicken) on the curry rice plate - those weren't provided by Toyoko Inn - we bought them at 6.30pm (crazily discounted by 50% at this time) from a supermart near the hotel and popped them in the microwave Toyoko Inn provides at the dining area. My kids like to eat meat, that's why I buy these add-ons for the curry rice dinner.

Toyoko Inn calls the free curry rice supper - but to us, and I think, to most guests as well - it was a good and cheap dinner! They only prepare a pot or two of it, so when it runs out, it runs out. Just like breakfast - go early if you wanna eat.

Good budget hotel in Hiroshima - Toyoko Inn Hiroshima-eki Shin-kansen-guchi

2012-01-06T22:02:00.002+08:00

Remember to always head for the travel information center at the station to get the city map before you head for your hotel. Did not have any problem walking to this hotel after getting off at Hiroshima Station.

The rate was a little high on 14 December 2011 (Wednesday) at 6982Y for economy double, so I used our free room night (Toyoko Inn’s stay 10 nights and get 1 night single-room free scheme for members) we had chalked up earlier. Only paid 1000Y to convert the single room to a double room.

Hotel breakfast

Checked with reception for estimate on how long it takes to get to Peace Park from the hotel – the lady said to go by tram, as it would take too long to walk. How long? At least half an hour she said. That was fine with us as half an hour’s walk is nothing, especially nice in a new city we’ve arrived in. We’d be seeing the city streets, looking at people, getting a feel of the place as we walk.

Walked back towards Hiroshima station than used the underground pedestrian walkway. Keep going straight till you can’t go further (it was rather short, actually), then walk the rest of the way on the surface.

After Peace Park and the museum, we walked to Honduri shopping street nearby, and had okonomiyaki lunch. Then we took a tram back to the Hiroshima Station in order to get to Miyajima faster. TIP: The JPRail site has great pictorial direction for getting to Miyajima, which I had printed out to follow. (JPRail is a great site for research into Japan's trains - helped me So we did Miyajima as well the same day with our JR pass.

This Toyoko Inn was pretty much like any of the 12 Toyoko Inns we stayed in. It’s walking distance from Hiroshima Station and that’s what I wanted. It was very clean, safe and provided breakfast. Sure did the job.

Good budget hotel in Osaka - Toyoko Inn Osaka JR Noda Ekimae

2012-01-06T21:01:00.005+08:00

Hotel's coffee machine

This was the Toyoko Inn that was closest to a JR station among the 12 Toyoko Inns that we stayed in. So close that we could hear the train passing by in our room, but soft, muffled enough that it did not disturb our sleep. I need to add that we’re not light sleepers, plus, after walking around sightseeing the whole day, we slept very well at night.

Day 15 hotel breakfast

It is really less than two minutes walk from the Noda Station, and among one of our favourite Toyoko Inns among the 12 we stayed in. Several reasons. I remember I had a hard time looking through Osaka map and deciding which Toyoko Inn to stay at when planning the Osaka leg of our 28-day holiday, before choosing Noda. And after having enjoyed the location for 2 nights, we found it to be an excellent choice for us in Osaka.

Sure we did have to transfer trains with our luggage but it was manageable as we are able to pull our trolley bags and even carry it up and down stairs, with another backpack on our back (trains are okay for us, but transferring to buses are no-no with our amount of luggage as there’s 6 of us). If you foresee difficulty with all that, Noda may not be the right fit for you.

I have to qualify that I only explored Osaka itself on the day we arrived – did Namba, Dotonburi, Shinsaibashi, Kaiyukan (aquarium) – JR Bentencho station to Osakako Station by subway (Bentencho isn’t far from JR Noda on the JR Loop line). Next day we did a day trip to Kobe before we departed for Hiroshima, so Noda being close to Osaka Station/Shin-Osaka Stations proved time-saving (in terms of getting to-fro Osaka and Shin-Osaka Stations). We had JR passes. Also did Americamura (utterly disappointing – how could anyone have the cheek to compare it with Harajuku???)

There’s a mini-mart you have to pass by to get to this Toyoko Inn – convenient for us to pick up fruits and milk on the way back to the hotel. The best thing was discovering that the eateries around Noda Station had lower prices than the ones at Namba/Umeda. The set meals at the eateries was about 550 – 600Y. But we did not even go for them as we found a wonderful bento shop that was selling piping hot bento for 390Y – just across the street parallel to JR Noda Station, not far from the traffic light.

Hotel's ice, cool and hot water dispensers at the dining area

It’s a chain bento shop, as I have come across one or two other outlets at other Japanese cities later. The bento isn’t pre-packed and waiting for you to pick up – hence cold and fried food no longer crispy. No, you pick from visual samples and pay, then they fry the ebi (fried prawn) or karage (fried chicken) or whatever you ordered and make the bento for you on-the-spot.

Being just 1 to 2 minutes away from the hotel, by the time we walk to Toyoko Inn at Noda, our food’s still nice, crispy and hot. We have our dinner at the hotel’s tables used for breakfast. Help yourself to free water or just pop 100Y into the hotel’s vending machine for a cola, juice or something. Made sure my kids didn’t make a mess and we cleaned up the tables we used.

Right, the minimart also offered their bentos at half price at around dinner time - but theirs is pre-packed, which makes a BIG difference in taste. They weren't able to tempt us with their half-priced bentos - not when we have that shop that makes your bento when you place your order.

Good budget hotel in Kyoto - Toyoko Inn Kyoto Gojo-Karasuma

2012-01-06T19:56:00.005+08:00

Day 9 hotel breakfast - green tea bread & toast

The hotel website advised taking the subway after you alight from Kyoto Station, but after we arrived at Kyoto Station, we looked at the map and thought it was possible to walk from Kyoto Station to this hotel with all our luggage. Don’t try this unless you’re crazy like us.

This Toyoko Inn was indeed further from the train station than the other Toyoko Inns we stayed at other cities, but the walk was still manageable even with our luggage. But we are still relatively young and healthy, and a 20 minute walk pulling our trolley bag plus a backpack on our backs is not too tough for us. We stayed in Kyoto for 5 nights, and during that time, we walked to and fro from this hotel to Kyoto Station almost every day. Not once did we take the subway while in Kyoto – saved us a lot of yen.

If we had picked Toyoko Inn Kyoto Shijio-Karasuma, that would have been rather too far to walk to the station. The shijio-karasuma one was also more expensive, if I remember correctly.

The hubby's hotel breakfast

If you’re using the JR Pass, remember to get the route map of the one and only JR bus running in Kyoto from the excellent travel information center at the Kyoto Station. I got mine a day late, AFTER I had already taken a non-JR bus (which means I have to pay the bus fare) to get to the top end of the Philosopher’s Path. If I had gotten the JR bus route map earlier, I would have taken the free JR bus (with our JR Pass) to a place near the Philosopher’s Path and then walked there on foot. Anyway, after that, I did utilize the JR bus to get to other places. Will talk about that in later posts.

Why didn’t I get the JR bus route map earlier? For one, I wasn’t aware there was such a thing. After I checked into the hotel, I asked the reception about the JR bus, but drew a blank. I had assumed wrongly that the hotel staff would have been able to tell me about it. Eventually I got round to asking at the travel center and got the piece of paper with the name of the stops/places the bus goes to.

The photo of the breakfast here reminded me that this Toyoko Inn (our third hotel stop) did not serve those little buns with different delicious fillings inside, but the slices of green tea bread made up for it - so staying here for five nights was okay. It would have been less pleasant if we'd have to eat five mornings of unappetising breakfast.

Oh, one more thing - the breakfast area was too small and cramped. So in the mornings, the hotel put out an extra table right in front of the reception counter. I had breakfast at this table every morning for the 5 days I stayed. Preferred to sit here as it was much more spacious, instead of among the cramped tables at the proper breakfast area.

Good budget hotel in Kanazawa - Toyoko Inn Kanazawa-eki Higashi-guchi

2012-01-06T19:34:00.002+08:00

Day 8 hotel breakfast

Day 7 hotel breakfast

This Toyoko Inn is closer to the Kanazawa Station than the one at Kenrokuen Korinbo. With the one at Kenrokuen Korinbo, you need to transfer to a bus and I know we’d have a hard time with boarding/alighting from a bus with the amount of luggage we have.

A non-smoking economy double room

Being within walking distance from the train station I arrive at was VERY important to me as I had four kids and five trolleys (only my youngest child GG was spared from pulling a trolley bag), and each of us also had a backpack.

Sigh, it was winter and our very first winter holiday, and we’re people born and bred in sunny, tropical Singapore. I discovered I did bring too much clothes (as concerned relatives kept advising us to bring a lot of warm clothing for the kids), half of which we never got round to wearing even in Hokkaido near end December. Oh, well. I know better next time.

Anyway, these two Toyoko Inns in Kanazawa had no difference in rate but walking distance from the train station was the clincher for me. We are a family of great walkers (we can walk leisurely and sight-see at the same time for hours, from the time we leave the hotel till the time we return to the hotel after dinner), and after dumping our luggage at Toyoko Inn Kanazawa-eki Higashi-guchi, we were able to walk everywhere – to the Kanazawa castle, Kenrokuen, etc. That saves a lot on bus/tram fares as these fares aren’t cheap in Japan. And I love the fact that it walks off the big breakfast we load up at the Toyoko Inn breakfasts we have every morning.

The photos of the two breakfasts (we stayed two nights here) reminds me that this hotel served a good selection of buns with different fillings inside. Yummy! It was a good start to our Japan trip with the Toyoko Inn chain as our accommodation, but sad to say, a number of other Toyoko Inn outlets failed miserably to match our initial Toyoko Inn breakfast experience at this Kanazawa branch, which is our second hotel stop (our first hotel stop at Toyoko Inn Ikebukuro 2 in Tokyo provided good breakfast as well).

Higashi means East, so take the East exit when you arrive at Kanazawa Station.

Day 7 hotel breakfast

Good budget hotel in Tokyo - Toyoko Inn Ikebukuro Kita-guchi 2

2012-01-03T00:47:00.005+08:00

30 Nov – 4 Dec 2011 (stayed 5 nights)

Hotel lobby - laptop & printer for guests to use

We arrived at Narita Airport and bought the NEX-suica package from the JR office there. Hopped on the Nex (Narita Express) and alighted at Shinjuku, then transferred to the Yamanote line to get to Ikebukuro Station. As Kita means North (guchi means gate), we took the north exit and actually came across Toyoko Inn Ikebukuro Kita-guchi 1 first by simply following the map we had printed out from the hotel website. Toyoko Inn Kita-guchi 2 was just nearby.

Day2 - Hotel breakfast

I chose Toyoko Inn Ikebukuro 2 as its location was cheaper than the Toyoko Inns at Shinagawa, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro 1, and it was on the Yamanote line and very near for me to visit Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku (the nearer these places are, the less the trains will eat up the value on our suica) and make a day trip to Hakone (we bought the Hakone Free Pass). We spent our first 5 nights based in Tokyo as we did not activate our 21-day Japan Rail (JR) pass yet.

Also, I had wanted to stay at a hotel that’s walking distance from a JR station, as the day I check out will be the day I activate our JR Pass, and I want to be able to use the JR Pass right away and not have to pay for train rides in Tokyo with my suica any more.

Good – good variety of breads for breakfast. This Toyoko Inn had the best variety of breads among the 12 Toyoko Inns we stayed at.

Day 3 hotel breakfast

Bad – there was some form of discrimination. As it rained after breakfast, there were umbrellas sold in the hotel lobby for 300Y (dark blue with wood handle). I saw the Japanese clientele – Japanese business travelers which is Toyoko Inn’s core customer base (otherwise they won’t be termed a business hotel) go up to the reception counter, say something to the lady and she disappeared into a room behind the counter and returned with an umbrella (the cheap transparent kind you can get for 100Y at 100Y shops) and handed it to the Japanese business traveler. I saw this happen three times in less than a minute and tried my luck too. She said no, I need to buy one. So I bought one, just one, and later we headed to a 100Y shop to buy enough umbrellas for all 6 of us.

Bad – I wanted to print some notes using the printer that all Toyoko Inns have at the lobby for hotel guests to use. But there was no paper. I asked for some, and they asked how many. Plucking a figure at the spur of the moment, I just said 10, and the lady said I could only have 5. Gosh, at ALL the other 11 Toyoko Inns we stayed at subsequently, nothing of this sort happened. There was usually paper at the printer, and even when there wasn’t enough, they did not ration it out like that.

Good – the pc and printer at the lobby at ALL Toyoko Inn hotel is a great facility to have. Whenever I arrived at each city, I would print out a few pages of my notes on the places I wanted to see in that city, from a document prepared before my arrival in Japan (stored on my thumbdrive).

Day 6 hotel breakfast

I did precisely that at every city after arriving at a Toyoko Inn, and I had always limited myself to printing no more than 10 pages (often just half of that) with the hotel’s colour printer, as I printed a concise and summarized version of what-to-do and see in that city (with photos deleted from the document).

Cheap and good hotel in Japan - Toyoko Inn

2012-01-03T00:33:00.001+08:00

Toyoko Inn has a fabulous website that’s easy to use (multiple languages to choose from) which makes it easy to book/cancel rooms online, and they have a great cancellation policy. Just great for my very fluid itinerary as during my trip, I was still changing places to visit and hotels on the go.

There's no need to prepay or give them your credit card details on booking. The rooms are very clean. They provide a good enough breakfast, safe and nice environment.

The hotel is well located (Toyoko Inn hotels are often located close to train/subway stations) and they have a terrific child policy (child under 12 can stay for free and breakfast for free too).

The hotel website has a map of the hotel for us to print out conveniently. It has both the English map and Japanese map together in one page – brilliant! I printed out the map of all 12 Toyoko Inns we were going to stay at (before arrival in Japan), and it is better to have both the English map and Japanese map together – not much use showing a local the English map as they can’t read English much.

And the icing on the cake – Toyoko Inn gives you a free night for every ten you stay (one point for every night). You need to sign up as a member for 1,500Y (membership fee), but that’s just a one-time fee for life-time membership and your points never expire.

You can choose which night you wish to use your free night, so I always choose to use it for a night when the rate was higher. The free night is for a single room though, which is not a problem as I only need to top-up just 1000Y (S$17) extra for the free night for a double room. The main bulk of the cost of one hotel room - 6000Y – was taken care of by the free night given.

As our Japan holiday was for 28 days, we qualified for 2 free nights for the over 20 nights that we stayed with Toyoko Inn. Both my husband and I signed up as members, so he had a room under his name and I had one under mine. As we also planned 3 night trains in our itinerary, plus Toyoko Inn’s two free nights, we had effectively lobbed off 5 nights of accommodation costs.

IN addition, if you’re staying at a Toyoko Inn for more than one night, ask for the eco plan. That’s when they don’t make your room or change your towels. You get a 300Y discount on the second night (per room), and another 300Y discount for the third night on the eco plan. They do not extend it for the 4^th night though, as they do wanna clean your room by then. Hence, when I stayed five nights in Tokyo, and five nights in Kyoto, my 2^nd, 3^rd and 5^th night was on the eco plan.

It would have lightened our luggage if I did not pack pyjamas for all six of us. Toyoko Inns provide two sets of pyjamas per room, which we wore every night – to save on the laundry. If I had remembered that earlier I would only have needed to pack two sets of pyjamas (since we'd have a total of four hotel pyjamas with two rooms).

Oh yes – it’s affordable to do your laundry DIY at Toyoko Inn. Just have coins. To wash a 4.5kg load of clothes, it’s 300Y, and 100Y for a dry cycle. Soap powder is 30Y. Your clothes won’t be completely dry after one dry cycle. But we had brought a long length of string and strung that up in the hotel room. We draped the not-completely dry clothes on the string at bed time and when we woke up in the morning, the clothes were completely dry. Or you could always run the dry cycle twice or thrice if you prefer. In 28 days (4 weeks), I think we did the laundry three times, roughly once a week I guess. There was no need to do the laundry on the last week of our holiday since we’d be heading home and no longer needed fresh clothes for the following week.

I had read on the Net that Toyoko Inn provided shower foam and shampoo, so I did not pack any. The ones provided in the bathroom was okay, and I think they were Kao brand, as one of the Toyoko Inns I stayed at displayed the brand, while the others did not. They also provided conditioner for the hair. So this facility also helped me pack a little lighter.

Free internet access in all Toyoko Inn rooms was great – I had my netbook with me, and usually I would be reading the detailed and long version of my notes on what to do and see the next day, and checking the weather (do we bring our umbrellas out tomorrow? Do we need an extra layer of clothes depending on the temp & wind factor?), or using Jorudan/ Hyperdia to plan our train travel for next few days ahead. We also watched anime with the kids in our hotel room. There’s TV in all Toyoko Inn rooms, but everything’s in Japanese.

When we were travelling In Thailand, we'd have to buy litres 6 to 8 litres of bottled water to consume everyday. But here in Japan, Toyoko Inn provides a water dispenser at the lobby. Just remember to top up your water bottle everyday before you set out.

Of the 12 Toyoko Inns we stayed at, there were only three which did not have a room safe. Nonetheless, I kept my netbook zipped up in my backpack which did not have a lock. Our things were safe enough in the room, even at the ones which did not have a room safe. At the ones that did have a room safe, the safe was a standard size, and was always large enough to store my netbook when I’m out in the day exploring.

A few of the Toyoko Inns also provided curry rice supper. They call it supper and serve it at about 7pm, but to us it was dinner. There’s not much meat in the curry, so we usually buy some karage (fried chicken pieces), calamari or yakitori (grilled skewers of meat) from the supermarket to add on to make dinner more wholesome and complete. My 3 sons are carnivores and they growl a lot for meat at meal times. I usually also buy a bento or two from the supermart as well, as the quantity of the curry rice served is not enough for my teen boys’ voracious appetite – they really eat a lot.

These cold foods we buy from the supermart are always heated up in the microwave every Toyoko Inn has at the dining area, when they are serving piping hot curry rice. So everything is nice and warm to eat. I think we managed to have Toyoko Inn’s curry rice three times, and it was a great way to save on dinner for six, and still have a nice hot dinner with all the extra chicken and stuff we bought. Instead of a 5000Y dinner at a restaurant outside, we’d only spend less than 2000Y on these curry rice nights.

The strange thing we discovered is that the supermarts begin to mark down their takeaway foods at around 6 plus in the evening – which is just about the time we happen to buy these extra food to supplement the free curry rice served at 7pm at the hotel. Just ask the Toyoko Inn reception “Supaa wa doko desu ka.” And they’ll point you to some place walking distance from the hotel. Supermarkets are called supaa in Japan.

Before you think that I can speak Japanese, let me tell you that I can’t. At best I speak broken Japanese. I just learned some phrases, and practiced writing hiragana (and a bit of katakana) on my own before our Japan trip and it sure came in a little useful. I could read a little bit of menus written in hiragana, but anything in katakana I was quite hopeless at (that was because I learned hiragana first, before progressing to katakana – but ran out of time to familiarize myself well enough with katakana). The kanji part is not too bad as I know Mandarin.

Anyway, we saw some local people sticking close to a supermart staff who was putting labels on the pre-packed takeaway foods at the supermart. Turned out he was putting half-price stickers on them. So we picked the ones we like at half-price - karage, calamari, bentos, etc.

Toyoko Inn hotels give a female guest a welcome gift. At some Toyoko Inns I was shown three different types to pick one from. I always chose the same thing – the gift pack that had one of those wet paper masks for the face. Boy, do I need it what with the air being so drying. And I did use them at night in the hotel room. Just be aware that at some Toyoko Inn outlets, the staff do not bother to give you your gift. I think three quarters of the time when I checked into the 12 Toyoko Inns, the staff presented the ladies’ gift to me without prompting. As for the other quarter of the time, after they had handed the room keys to me (we booked two rooms), perhaps they forgot about the gift. I had to pause and ask if they had a ladies’ gift for me. Unfortunately, I forgot to ask on at least two occasions.

The policy of the ladies’ gifts also does not seem uniform. At two Toyoko Inns, I was given two ladies gifts. I don’t know why but perhaps the staff figured I had booked two rooms, or was it because I was staying two nights? But In Tokyo and Kyoto, where I stayed 5 nights each, I received only one set of ladies’ gift.

Guys – sorry, there are no gifts for you. Yup, my hubby did not get any gift though one of our two rooms was booked using his Toyoko Inn membership.

Well, no matter what, I do like this special ladies gift. Thank you, Toyoko Inn!

The breakfast at Toyko Inn is buffet style, and the variety and spread is rather inconsistent among the twelve branches we stayed with. At some Toyoko Inns, there was a good variety of breads while the worst Toyoko Inn (in terms of breakfast selection) we stayed at (I think this Toyoko Inn was in Asahikawa, Hokkaido) provided only plain white bread (thankfully with jam and butter provided), no eggs, no hotdogs, unremarkable miso soup, the de riguer onigiri and pickles, and an unappetizing salad. This was the most limited Toyoko Inn breakfast we encountered. I guess the other Toyoko Inns provided their guests with better breakfasts - one of the Toyoko Inns even had a remarkable selection of six types of side dishes, in addition to the traditional Japanese breakfast and breads. I remember the lotus stem (braised in dashi) side dish and the braised egg plant side dish the best as they were fabulous and my favourite of the six.

There is always traditional Japanese breakfast provided - afterall Toyoko Inn's core customer base are Japanese business travellers. We had miso soup at every breakfast which is wonderful! The miso soup varied from one Toyoko Inn to another - some had strips of sweet beancurd, some had pork and vegetables, some had wakame, some had onions and cabbage, some had daikon in it.

There's always ocha, tea and coffee. Some Toyoko Inns provided thermos flasks of coffee, but we really like the Toyoko Inns that provided coffee machines where you press buttons and get to select, at times, not just usual coffee but a choice of espresso, cappucino, or American coffee.

I’ll post the list of the twelve Toyoko Inns we stayed at and my impression of them soon. And our 28-day itinerary as well, and talk about the places we went to.

Why we visited Japan in 2011

2012-01-02T00:37:00.002+08:00

I'd been putting off visiting Japan as I'd always thought Japan was rather expensive for my family of six to visit – we would need two rooms, and hotel rooms are so expensive in Japan! So we'd usually settle for other destinations that are less expensive.

But sometime in September 2011, I discovered the business hotel chain Toyoko Inn on the Net. Toyoko Inn made it possible for my family to holiday in Japan for 28 days!

I’ll tell you more about this fabulous hotel chain in another post. Now back to why we ought to run off to Japan in 2011. I found out that if we visited Japan in December 2011, my 3^rd child, CK age 11 in 2011, would be considered a child – his Japan Rail Pass would still be at child rate, which is half the price of an adult’s.

Plus, he could sleep in his two older brothers’ (age 13 and 15) hotel room for free (while my daughter GG age 8, slept in the room my hubby and I shared). On top of that, he also qualified for a child suica, just like GG (A suica is like an EZ-link card used for getting around Tokyo) – which means half price on all other trains and subways.

If we went in 2012 or later, we will have to pay adult rate for CK’s Japan Rail Pass and suica, AND our family of six could no longer fit into two rooms in Toyoko Inn.

By the way, you can’t fake a child’s age as you need to show your passports for the Japan Rail Pass, as well as to check into any hotel in Japan.

Hooray! I had all these money-saving reasons to make a Japan winter holiday a reality!

It's our first winter holiday, we've never seen snow or played with snow before, and we've never taken a 4-week long holiday before. Our record prior to Japan was just a 3-weeks long holiday, so it feels really good to set a new record of 4-weeks!

Wisdom Tooth Surgery

2011-09-26T14:28:00.002+08:00

Surviving the "extraction" of an impacted wisdom tooth

I had my lower right wisdom tooth "extracted" this morning (an 8.30am appointment). It's around noon now, and the right side of my mouth, lips and jaw is still numb, and I have not taken any painkillers as yet. The two types of anti-biotics and paracetamol (painkiller) are to be taken after food, so I'll take them after lunch.

There's slight tenderness when I touch the right side of my cheek, where there's a slight swelling. I had taken the train home on my own at 10am with the swelling much more pronounced, as I had two square pads of gauze stuffed in my right cheek. I looked weird of course, but such things doesn't bother me. The hubby had offered to accompany me, but I told him it wasn't necessary. As much as possible, I aim to be an independent woman.

Okay, before recording what it was like during the surgery, I'll just mention what happened before that. For years, various dentists had told me to remove this impacted wisdom tooth (all my other wisdom teeth were okay), but I had always thought it was better to leave good enough alone. Till the toothache, and not being able to chew on the right side. Sigh. So much for that strategy.

Normally our teeth on the bottom row grow straight up. When it lies horizontally instead, that's what they call it - an impacted tooth. So there's always been a little gap between this, what I call "sleeping" wisdom tooth (as it's lying down instead of standing up) and the molar next to it. Food tends to get struck in the tiny gap, and I always make sure to brush the narrow gap as best as I could through the years. Still, there is not much that my toothbrush can reach, so I suppose that is why decay set in.

I should have taken the various dentists advice and removed it earlier, as the NDC doctor explained that it was easier to do so at a younger age as the root was less developed. Oh, well....

At the first appointment at the NDC, X-rays were taken. I think the bill was S$75. The X-rays revealed a cavity that had formed on the molar next to the impacted wisdom tooth, and a date was given for the surgery to remove the impacted wisdom tooth. And thanks to God's amazing arrangement, I had no classes to teach this week on the scheduled surgery date!

Right, it's time to take a lunch break. Will I be able to eat? The hospital had advised soft food for the next few days. I boiled a single bunch of mian xian (vermicelli) and heated up the red wine lees chicken (hong zhao chicken) my mom had given me last night.

I ate with my head tilted to the left, so food would not touch the right side where the stitches were. I discovered that it was very painful to move my jaw. It was impossible to chew. I stopped eating, and almost gave up. But I wasn't going to go hungry - hong zhao chicken with mian xian is one of my favourite foods.

I tried again, this time I sucked the soft, white noodles in without chewing and swallowed them without chewing. It worked. The soft, fine noddles were easy to swallow without chewing, all the while with my head titlted to the left. It was good to leave the strands long to slurp in, and there's hardly any food debri left in the mouth since I did not chew. I think I'll have porridge for dinner tonight for a change, and mian xian with hong zhao chicken for lunch again tomorrow.

I tried a tiny sliver of chicken but it was too hard to swallow without chewing, so I gave up on the meat and finished up the mian xian. I had no problem swallowing the 5 tablets of medicine with my head tilted to the left either, nor taking small sips of water to down the tablets. Hooray!

It's a good idea not to move the jaw much, in order not to induce bleeding from the stitches. I was also told not to brush my teeth, rinse my mouth or gargle today, in order not to disturb the blood clot on the wound for the same reason. And the nurse also said no strenuous exercise like swimming, etc - I had listened to this part wondering who would go swimming or play tennis after such a surgery. Yay, I can brush my teeth again tomorrow morning! At least, I'm going to try.

As for the surgery itself, I wasn't really sure what to expect, despite the "Wisdom Tooth" pamphlet the National Dental Centre (NDC, Singapore, near Outram Park MRT) gave me. But I do know they were going to use a sharp scalpel to cut open the gums burying my "sleeping" wisdom tooth in order to get at it.

Well, here's the account of the harrowing surgery:

The prep part - I was given a blue gown to wear over my clothes, a hairnet and plastic covers to wear over my shoes (to keep the operating theatre clean). The elderly gentleman who was the surgeon, gave me a form to sign without saying much... just something like "this is for your consent to the surgery", and another form "this is to show you know there is a risk of numbness". There is no explanation nor any time given to read the form. But then, during the very first appointment, another doctor had explained the risks.

The elderly gentleman addressed me as young lady... which I suppose, relative to his age, I was indeed young even though I'm in my forties.

Next, I was ushered to the operating theatre. A nurse and around 5 elderly women, whom I suppose were hospital attendants, bustled about, and doors kept opening and closing as they moved things and trolleys in and out.

Somebody checked my name and Identity Card number with me, and after I lay down on the reclining operation chair, another blue cloth was placed over me. At this point I suddenly realised I was very nervous (I've always disliked the dentists' drill) when I noticed my heart rate was up. I took a few quiet deep breaths to calm myself down a little.

The surgeon applied some gel on my gum on the right side - to numb it I guessed, in preparation for the injection of local anaesthetic. The needle came next and it was a painful 3 consecutive jabs inside my mouth on the right side. My stress levels and heart rate climbed even higher.

When the surgeon told the nurse to let me rinse, I knew the needle had made me bleed. I was handed 2 plastic cups, one half-filled with water, the other empty. I rinsed and spat into the empty cup - bloody water. They gave me a paper towel to dry my lips.

Oh, I can't remember if the nurse had disinfected my face, neck and teeth before or after the jabs were given. Sorry, I was under alot of duress. She used a gauze, wet with alcohol and swabbed it over my face - I wouldn't say in a careful manner, but with just general broad sweeps. And then another gauze for my teeth - again quick general sweeps.

It was then I kicked myself for having forgotten to rinse my mouth with mouthwash after breakfast this morning. It would certainly have gotten rid of more bacteria in my mouth then this rather general and quick swabbing. It was my habit to use the mouth rinse at night, not in the morning!

Oh yes, I had been advised not to wear any makeup this morning (not that I would have) - otherwise they would have ruined your makeup with this swabbing over your face. You're going to look weird with patches of your makeup swapped off.

This time, the nurse placed a thick, plasticky cloth behind my head and when she pulled it forward over my face, I realised it was to blindfold me. I did not object - it was a good idea actually, for I did not wish to see the scalpel coming. The blindfolding was very securely tied down and she said they were going to put some instruments on my chest. I wasn't so comfortable with the thought of the surgeon picking up his instruments from my chest, but it turned out okay as they placed a tray on my chest - and the instruments in that tray.

The surgeon asked me to open my mouth and inserted something. When he went around my wisdom tooth with it, I guessed it was the dreaded scalpel, not that I could feel any pain. Next came the horrible part - the drill. I was glad I still had the sturdy paper towel in my hands. It became a good object to grip and twist in my hands as I tensed up so much.

This drill was much worse than the usual ones dentists use for scaling. It was really drilling a hole in my wisdom tooth. Then the surgeon would stop and I suppose insert an instrument into the hole and use it as leverage to pry the tooth apart. I heard the tooth snap and break - there is quite a bit of force applied, no wonder they had warned me of the swelling and bruising on the jaw and face. I don't ever want to hear this sound again! At some points, I could feel the surgeon using my jaw as a fulcrum, and it was a little painful.

Anyway, the worst part of the whole drill, pry/break apart, and again drill, pry/break apart ordeal, was not knowing how long it was going to take. It makes a difference if I knew I had to take the great discomfort and stress for half an hour or five minutes. It was awful to endure the whole process, all the while steeling myself for the great jolt of pain I imagined I would feel if he hit a nerve. I found myself trembling slightly from all the fear and anxiety, and real plus anticipated pain. Yes, it was an ordeal to me.

Much to my relief, this horrid part lasted no more than 10 minutes. I figured out the process was to drill a hole in the tooth, stick a "crowbar" (equivalent) into the hole and using this leverage, pry and snap the tooth into pieces.

When the surgeon announced the tooth was out, he moved on to sewing up the wound. I think I required more than ten stitches - judging by the number of times the thread pressed against my lips each time it passed by. After that, a gauze was placed on the wound and I was to bite down on it to help stem the bleeding till a clot formed. Ouch, that was painful.

"Give the young lady her souvenir," the surgeon said to his nurse after he was all done. And I was given the fragments - four large pieces (each about a quarter of the tooth), and a tiny fragment.

When I left the OT, it was 9.30am. The whole thing had taken no more than half an hour, and on the whole, the pain was largely bearable with the local anaesthetic given. But the stress and anxiety level was tremendously high. In a few days' time, I have to see the surgeon again to have the stitches removed - yeeks... more pain ahead.

I discovered I could still talk after the surgery, to ask questions about the after care, even though I had to repeat myself sometimes. My speech got better after I threw away the bloodied gauze upon reaching home. But certainly, I would not be able to teach as I would need to speak loudly to be heard by the whole class. Right now, I am talking to my family softly, while trying not to move my jaw.

All this time after the surgery, I have a slight taste of blood in my mouth, though it is getting fainter through the afternoon. I have been very quiet in order not to disturb the wound. My kids ought to be happy - mommy's not going to read their Chinese text with them.
If any of my kids were to develop an impacted wisdom tooth, I'll have them remove it early in their teens, and not wait till adulthood.

I fixed dinner for the family, a normal dinner which I could not eat. The hubby bought a very fragrant takeaway bowl of century egg and minced pork porridge home for me. It was the gruel type, with very fine slices of ginger and a dollop of fragranced oil and soya sauce on top. Very appetising and delicious soft food for me.

After dinner, the hubby served me a half slice of papaya. I was able able to eat it by scraping thin slivers of the fruit with a spoon. After eating, I would cheat on the "no rinsing" instruction - I drank some water and rinsed my mouth of the food debri at the same time.

Did not have any problem sleeping since I took care not to lie on my that side.

DAY 2

I brushed my teeth this morning, but did not brush the molar right next to the wound. It was a little painful to go near there. Instead of my usual wholemeal bread, I ate a slice of soft white bread. Instead of taking the usual 5 minutes to take my breakfast, it took me 20 minutes to eat the slice of bread with peanut butter spread. It wasn't a good choice, on hind sight. Peanut butter is too sticky, but it hadn't occurred to me at first. The boys had left the jar of peanut butter on the table and I'd usualy simply use it before putting it away.

Yay, I slurped delicious hong zhao chicken mian xian again for lunch, and could manage the tender mid-joint chicken wing, but the wing stick portion was too tough for me to chew.

I made carrot, sweet corn and lotus root soup and panfried fish for dinner for the whole family. The lightly panfried fish was soft and easy to eat, and I doused my rice with the flavourful soup so it became soft food. And the boiled vegetables in the soup were soft enough for me to manage. I discovered I was able to move my jaw a little more today. I could even eat my corn off the cob.

Yay, there was soft, ripe baby bananas for dessert. No problem at all for me - I ate 3.

NDC had called in the afternoon to check on me. The nurse had advised me to brush the tooth next to the wound as well. So I did that at bedtime. Gosh, I've never brushed the right side of my teeth so slowly, so carefully before. Still, there was a tinge of red when I spat the toothpaste out.

Oh yes, I forgot to add that I can't smile or laugh - or else I'll move my cheek and there's pain.

DAY 3

Brushed my teeth very slowly and carefully again this morning, but there was still a tinge of red on spitting the toothpaste out. Took as long with the breakfast, but lunch's hong zhao chicken with mian xian was a breeze. I managed a large piece of chicken and even a piece of mushroom! Sadly, this was the last portion. I've finished it over 3 days.

I made minced pork with bean paste, and fried scrambled egg with onions, chai por (pickled radish), red chilli, and blanched china chye sim (a green lefy vegetable) for the family dinner. I figured I could eat the mince pork and soft eggs easily, and true enough, I could manage them. But I gave up on the greens - too tough for me to chew. I gave up on the dragon fruit for dessert too - it was too hard, and my jaw was tired - I think I overworked it during dinner.

Oops, I still had some red tinge of blood when I spat out the toothpaste after brushing my teeth. Sigh, and I had tried to be so very careful.

By the way, I still look a little weird. There's still a small round lump on my cheek near the jawline. This is swelling is tender when you press it. Well, it's not a problem as I still go out to get groceries or whatever.

Anime / Manga N to Z

2011-06-06T13:42:00.005+08:00

This is the continued 2nd part of the same post of Anime/ Manga (from N to Z).

Below are just some anime I've watched, with random comments and my own rating. I'll add on to the list below as and when I catch some new ones.

5 stars ***** Very good
4 stars **** Good
3 stars *** Not bad/ Quite all right
2 stars ** Just so-so
1 star * Only if you have nothing better to do

Nabari No Oh *** (King of Nabari) has a total of 26 episodes. The first half introduces the various characters of the different clans Banten, Fuuma, Kairoushou, etc, of the hidden world of Nabari – which is the secret ninja world in modern society. It has a rating of 13yrs old+ and is suitable for children, in my opinion.

I like that this series takes its time to develop its characters, making the second half of the series and especially the last few episodes more meaningful and touching as the various characters struggle with their beliefs, mistaken or otherwise, and their intertwined relationships. My favourite character is Tobari Kumohira. Lord Fuuma reminds me very much of Lena Lee’s brother in Dgrayman.

Naruto **** Genre: Action, adventure, fantasy. In short, it is about Naruto, a boy who has a nine-tail fox spirit sealed inside him. Starting from episode 1, it tells the story of his birth and how the fox spirit came to be sealed inside him. Kept us entertained through all its 220 episodes, after which, there's Naruto Shippuden next, where the story continues.

My favourite character is Hatake Kakashi who's so cool (and he loves to read! even though he reads Jiraiya's books), and I'm sure he's good looking too (he wears a cloth mask all the time) because of Ayame's reaction - she's the only one who saw him with his mask off, when Naruto and the gang treated Kakashi to ramen in order to see his face.
In second place is Uchiha Sasuke - because he's the cool and quiet kind who don't talk much. He's got both style and substance when it comes to fights, but unfortunately, misguidedly crosses over to the darkside in search of moto, moto (more and more) power.
Most useless ninja award goes to Sakura - she always needed saving - what kind of ninja is that? Luckily she realises how useless she is eventually, and trains under Tsunade (the Fifth Hokage) to become a medic ninja - at least, now she can help heal her wounded friends (kind of like Inoue in Bleach).
Zabuza is a memorable baddie who uses Suiton (water techniques; which Kakashi copies with his Sharingan eye). JJ thinks Zabuza rocks becos of his huge sword (I think JJ has a weakness for huge swords; he likes Dante from Devil May Cry too) JJ was dying to buy a katana when we were in Japan (he was 15 then), but of course he knew the customs would not allow him to bring it home, so he settled for a katana umbrella, hee!

There are also some Naruto Movies ****
1: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow (Sasuke still in the team)
2: Legend of the Stone of Gelel (Sasuke gone over to the darkside)
3: Guardians of Crescent Moon Kingdom (Sakura is already a medic ninja)
Naruto Shippuuden**** This series continues where Naruto left off. Characters like Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura are now in their mid-teens. I like Naruto Shippuuden more than Naruto series because there is much more scenes with Kakashi!
Hidan and Kakuzu – This Akatsuki pair is our all-time favourite baddie pairings. Hidan’s our whole family’s favourite baddie. He spouts the most hilarious lines, and the way he whines and screams for Kakuzu’s help when he is in trouble is very funny.
I take my hat off to the person who created this excellent odd couple pairing – a Jashin (some kind of weird religion) religion freak (Hidan) who is obsessed with observing the rites and commandments of his religion, with one (Kakuzu) who worships money and nothing else.
The verbal sparring between the two unlikely partners is milked to maximise laughs. Among other barbs and jabs, Hidan pours scorn on Kakuzu, deriding his faithless ways and worship of money; while Kakuzu gives as good as he gets with sarcastic remarks about Hidan’s beliefs and his boasts. We love Hidan!

Sai - In second place is Sai when he first appears - totally socially inept and with don’t-give-a-damn-rudeness. He repeatedly provokes Naruto with his sarky and extremely rude comments. Later, when Sai grows in EQ, he is actually less fun to watch.
Natsume Yuujinchou **** (Book Of Friends) - (13 episodes) genre: supernatural. The anime is about an orphaned teenager, Takahashi Natsume, who has the ability to see spirits. He inherited a Book of Friends from his grandmother Reiko Natsume, who had the same powers. Reiko had collected names of demons bound to her in the book, but Natsume, who has a very kind heart, goes about releasing these demons. This is a good story to watch with the kids as Natsume’s kindness and kind acts are touching. We were sad when the 13 episodes ended, but fortunately, found out there was a season 2, 3 and 4! Hooray!

Zoku Natsume Yuujincho**** Season 2 has 13 episodes. Still just as nice! Our favourite character through all 3 seasons remains Nyanko the Cat, also known as Madara. He’s so cute he manages to steal a lot of the scenes. Both GG and CK bought a big Nyanko soft toy, while I bought a small Nyanko plastic figurine from Akihabara when we were in Tokyo in December 2011. We love Nyanko!

Natsume Yuujincho San **** Season 3 has 13 episodes too, and yes, we love every single one.
Natsume Yuujincho Shi **** Season 4 probably has 13 episodes too, and yes, it's just as good as ever!
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind *** Movie. Genre: Fantasy. A girl, Nausicaa, saves the day. I like the Ohmu (giant, slug-like creatures) and the jet glider that Nausicaa flies around on. I want a jet glider too!
Neo Angelique Abyss ** What can I say? One redeeming factor is that all the guys look good. Angelique is a girl with Purifying powers. She fights Tanatos (evil, destructive creatures) with a bunch of guys. Genre: male harem.

When I read that the genre for this anime is male harem, I had a good laugh. There's no hanky panky in this anime, just that SEVEN! guys (Nyx, Rayne, JD, Hyuga, Jet, Roche, Bernard) fall for Angelique. Alamak, how to choose? She conveniently disappears to some place.
Only Yesterday (Omohide Poro Poro) *** is about 29-year-old Taeko, who works in the city. She takes a vacation to visit her brother-in-law's family in the countryside in Yamagata and help with the harvest. There are numerous flashbacks of events from her childhood. During the vacation she meets Toshio, a farmer, and she eventually has to decide where she wants to be. IMHO, I think she made the right choice.
On your mark ** has got to be the shortest anime I have ever watched - it is only just slightly over 6 minutes long. It is supposed to be the music video of a song “On Your Mark” by Chage and Aska (a Japanese pop duo). The two male leads in the anime, voiced by Chage and Aska, no less, are policemen who discover a young girl with wings. When scientists come to take the girl away, the two guys decide that the wondrous creature should not live in a lab as a guinea pig and tries to set her free.
Oseam (Wu Sui An in Mandarin, which translates as 'Five-year-old temple') **** This is a Korean anime. The story starts off innocently and on a bright enough note, but I end up crying at the end. I like the touching story and the kind Buddhist monks who take in the pair of orphans, the mischievous Gilson and his blind, sensible older sister, Gami. I think the Chinese title refers to Gilson (who is probably 5 yrs old) and his pure and innocent heart and disposition.
Ouran High School Host Club * Only watched 1 episode and was bored. This anime failed to draw me in. About some rich kids in some exclusive school, with nothing better to do. Yawn!
Panda! Go Panda! *** (Panda Kopanda) has two episodes. One is about the little girl, Mimiko, meeting the panda family, and the other about the circus. The girl and the animals are all very cute. My kids enjoyed this very simple anime too.

Prince of Tennis (Tenisu no Ōjisama) **** Genre: Shounen (shao nian in Mandarin), Sports/Tennis. About a boy, Echizen Ryoma who's got a talent for playing tennis. Favourite character Nanjiro Echizen (Ryoma's dad) - he's funny!
Prince of Tennis - The Two Samurai :The First Game *** (Tenisu no Ōji-sama Futari no Samurai) is the first film. Ryoma's adopted brother - Echizen Ryoga is introduced. Never mind Ryoma's Tornado Smash from the series above, the "special effects" gets even more ridiculous in this movie.

Prince of Tennis - Atobe's Gift ** Movie. The rich guy, Atobe, holds a big party/event for a friend. From the excesses shown, it looks like he's even richer than Bill Gates.
Prince of Tennis - New Year's Special ** Nanjiro makes a brief appearance.
Ryoma's signature line in Japanese to his opponents is mada mada da ne. Sometimes, he says it in English as well - You've still got a long way to go (to beat me). In Mandarin it's hai cha de yuan ne.
One of the tennis players has a certain technique called Viking Horn. Imagine my surprise when I saw my boys playing badminton one day, with the Viking Horn technique. That was crazy, because in Viking Horn, you hold the racquet the other way round, such that it sticks out behind you instead of in front of you. Sheesh.
Princess Mononoke **** (もののけ姫 Mononoke Hime) is about Ashitaka, who is cursed by a demonised boar god during a battle with it. He goes on a journey to find a cure from the Forest Spirit, and meets San (Princess Mononoke), who protects the forest, and Lady Eboshi, the head of Iron Town. Ashitaka is sandwiched between the two opposing sides.
Pom Poko ** is about a bunch of tanuki (Japanese raccoon-dog) who practices the ancient art of transformation. They can turn into objects or humans, and tries to co-exist with humans. My kids had lots of laughs watching the tanuki’s transformation antics.
Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen ** (追憶編 Recollection or Reminiscence), is also known as Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal, has 4 episodes (rated 17+) and serves as a prequel to the Rurouni Kenshin. Genre: chanbara (swordfighting).
Set during the Meiji Restoration, the story starts off with a young boy, Shinta, being saved from bandits by Hiko Seijuro, who trains him. Hiko renames the boy as Kenshin, a name he felt was more appropriate for a swordsman. Years later, Kenshin kills a bodyguard named Kiyosato Akira, who is the fiancé of Yukishiro Tomoe. The fight with Kiyosato leaves Kenshin with the first stroke of his cross shaped scar.
Fate draws Kenshin and Tomoe together, and while Kenshin battles shogunate agents Tomoe steps in and gets caught in it. She gives him the second part of his cross-shaped wound. From then on, Kenshin only wields a sakabato, a reverse-edged katana, which has the sharp blade on the wrong side, in order not to kill, I guess.

Sacred Seven *** This anime (rated 13+, 12 episodes, genre: action) is about Tandouji Alma, a teenager born with the power of Sacred Seven because his mother was exposed to a Darkstone when she was pregnant. Orphaned, the very tall and nicely drawn Alma lives alone, and rides a tiny scooter to get around. He lives in solitude as he is afraid that he is unable to control his power, but along comes an incredibly rich girl Ruri Aiba, who had lost her parents to the evil Darkstones. Using jewels imbued with her Lightstone powers, she is able to help Alma control his powers and use them for good. The action and mecha portions look like a cross of Gundam and Code Geass.

Samurai Deeper Kyo ** Genre: chanbara (swordfighting), supernatural. Favourite character Demon Eyes Kyo (Oni me no Kyo). About Kyo, who goes in search of his body.
Samurai Seven **** Enjoyed this anime with my kids. Hard put to name a favourite character though.
Seven Ghosts 07 * has a total of 25 episodes, and a rating of 13+, but do not trust that – it is not suitable for children or teenagers, in my opinion. Whoever wrote this story has the intention of grooming young impressionable minds to the possibilities of a homosexual relationship. It’s like it’s telling you it’s okay to love a guy in that way even though you’re a guy. Avoid. I stopped watching it with my kids when I found the story angling that way.
Shakugan No Shana *** Genre: Action, Fantasy, Romance. Shana's a Flame Haze, who wields a sword and fights evil beings.
Shigurui ** has 12 episodes and is rated 17+, but I would not want to watch this with my 17-yr-old (not that I have one yet). No, I did not watch this anime with my kids. It ought to be R21 as there are adult sex scenes. The people who produced this anime favours the use of atmospheric stills. At the end of the 12 episodes, there is no satisfactory ending, and so, no answer as to who is the winner of the duel – Fujiki Gennosuke or Irako Seigen.
Skip Beat ***** Series still on-going (at least, the manga is still on-going). Genre: comedy, romance. My favourite character is Tsuruga Ren. The story is about Mogami Kyoko who is trying to become a famous actress, and the guys she loves and hates. This is still my favourite anime of all. The anime stopped at episode 25. Just like Glass Mask (above), I can't wait to find out how and when Kyoko and Tsuruga finally get together, so resorted to reading the manga to follow the story.
Slam dunk! **** (Suramu Danku) has 101 episodes and was first aired in Japan in 1993, so yes, it does look dated. But that does not take away any of the fun – as my kids and I enjoyed the comedy in this sports anime (think Prince of Tennis).

The story is about Hanamichi Sakuragi, a 1.88m tall, red-haired delinquent outcast, who picks up the game of basketball to impress a girl - Haruko Akagi. He has a rival in star rookie Kaede Rukawa both on the basketball court and in love.

Hisashi Mitsui, an ex-junior high school MVP, and Ryota Miyagi, a short but fast player, both also rejoin the team and together these four struggle to complete team captain Akagi's dream of making their school, Shohoku, the national champion.

The anime only covers up to the part where Shohoku wins the privilege of taking part in the national tournament as representatives of their Kanagawa region, but does not cover the tournament itself. For that, I read the manga and highly commend the writer for the exciting Shohoku-Sannoh match he had thought out.

Special A *** has 24 episodes and is rated 13+. It is a romcom set in a school where 7 top students are in a special class called Special A. Their classroom is a greenhouse and the 7 does nothing but have tea in the greenhouse – that’s a “normal” day in school for them. The 7 has no lesson whatsoever and they have got to be all geniuses, since they all maintain their top 7 ranking, ahead of the hoi polloi – the rest of the school, and earn the privilege of staying in the rarefied atmosphere of Special A.
This anime is quite funny, and my favourite character is Takishima Kei - a guy with unwavering love for a gal never fails to hit my soft spot. The girl, Hikari, is not bad too, her indomitable spirit is great, and she makes a great pairing with Kei. He’s always beating her academically, in sports and just about everything else and she is resigned to Number 2 position, since he’s some kind of super genius. The funniest episode, IMHO, is episode 7. The last episode is just so-so.
Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi, Sen and Chihiro's Spiriting Away) **** Movie. I give this anime movie 4 stars because the ideas and drawing are both very creative.

According to Wikipedia, this 2001 Japanese anime received many awards, including an Oscar for Best Animated Feature. It was also the first anime movie to win an Academy Award, and won the Golden Bear at the 2002 Berlin International Film Fest. Spirited Away overtook Titanic in the Japanese box office.

About a 10-yr-old girl, Chihiro, whose parents were transformed into pigs. She tries her darndest to reverse the transformation and save her parents.

Steamboy *** is said to be a steampunk film (ha, ha - what in the world is that?) It is also said to be the most expensive full length Japanese animated movie made to date. I’m not surprised as it took 10 years in production! It is about a boy, Ray Steam, whose life is suddenly thrown into chaos with the arrival of a mysterious parcel that everyone wants to get their hands on. The story is set in the 1860s.

Summer Wars (サマーウォーズ Samā Wōzu) **** is a great anime movie to watch. It came out in 2009, and I would recommend parents to watch this entertaining piece with their kids.

It’s about Kenji, an eleventh-grade math whiz, who was framed for hacking into a virtual world and, with the aid of a school senior’s large family, fight to prevent the real world from collapsing into chaos. It won the 2010 Japan Academy prize for Animation of the Year.

Sword of the Stranger *****( Stranger Mukō Hadan) is a movie from 2007. It’s about a boy, Kotaro, who is hunted by some officials from China (they actually speak Mandarin!). Among the “baddies” from China is a blonde dude who’s highly skilled, and loves nothing more than finding a worthy opponent. Kotaro and his dog meet Nanashi, a samurai who is haunted by his past. Apparently Nanashi means Nameless, and he has tied his sword to its scabbard, sealing it as he no longer wishes to draw his sword. Naturally events lead to Nanashi crossing swords with the blonde dude in a climatic battle. Enjoyed the animation of the swordfights. Liked the time spent on characterisation of the boy, dog and Nanashi. You’ll definitely enjoy this with the kids.

Tales From Earthsea *** Movie. A story about wizard magic and romance. About Arren, a young prince, and the girl Therru.

Tamayura Hitotose *** has 12 episodes, and I watched this anime with my daughter GG, age 8. We enjoyed it, as the story is about a girl named Fu (nicknamed Potte) who moves back to her hometown in Hiroshima to attend high school. Her father had passed away, and Fu is often taking pictures with her father's old Rollei. She spends time with her friends (3 other girls) and the story revolves around their daily lives and their experiences as they grow up. GG and I have been to Hiroshima, and the okonomiyaki restaurant featured in this anime always has us drooling and brings back such fond memories of Hiroshima's okonomiyaki.

The Cat Returns (Neko no Ongaeshi) *** Movie. Genre: Fantasy. About a girl, Haru, who has the ability to talk to cats. She rescued a cat (Prince Lune) and the King Cat wants her to marry the prince. She goes to the Baron (a cat figurine that comes to life) for help.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time **** Movie. Genre: Teen Romance. About a girl, Makoto Konno, who travels through time. Favourite character is Chiaki Mamiya - what a cute boy, wish I met him when I was in school!

Toradora! ** Genre: comedy, romance. Actually did not finish this series when it was nearing the end... got bored with the antics of the silly girl, Taiga Aisaka.
Toriko *** (I give it a 3 star, but I'm sure my kids would give it a 4 star) is about a Gourmet Hunter by the name of Toriko. He hunts for rare and exotic tastes, and has the appetite of a glutton many times over. He eats till his stomach looks like he’s pregnant with sextuplets and in the next instance, when he happens to think of some legendary delicacy, he is hungry again and his massive stomach disappears! He attacks his prey with his left hand like a fork, and his right hand like a knife. His catchphrase is of course “Itakimasu!” (Japanese for 'Thanks for the food').

I have to say that the minds behind the story are very creative and manages to come up with out-of-the-box foods, flora and fauna. My kids love this anime, but sometimes, I end up rolling my eyes at how ludicrous it becomes.

Toriko 3D: Kaimaku! Gourmet Adventure *** is an animated film. It’s a double feature with the One Piece cast, so Luffy and the rest stars in it with the Toriko gang.

Trinity Blood ** (トリニティ・ブラッド, Toriniti Buraddo) has a total of 24 episodes, and has a rating of 17+. Other than humans, there are also vampires and yet another species even higher on the food chain called Kruzniks, who feed on vampire blood (think Kuro the vampire exorcist in Dgrayman). There’s some copying from Dgrayman I feel - there is even a creature that resembles Timcampy from Dgrayman. The anime draws a lot of references to the catholic faith, and quotes from the bible.
The ending is a letdown, boringly glossed over (ran out of time?) in the last episode – too much like they were hoping for a sequel, which fortunately, never materialized. There is no clear favourite character for me here, but I’ll list the Fabio-looking character with long, blonde locks called Sword Dancer (only allotted a bit of screen time) if I’m hard pressed for one, while the main character Abel Nightroad (even with loads of screen time) is much less charismatic. And of course, Abel has an evil brother called Cain. Yawn.

Yumeiro Patissiere *** (Dream-coloured Patissiere) This is anime is about 14-year-old Ichigo Amano, a klutz who falls down the stairs frequently. She loves to eat cake, and eats lots of them. Oh, I like her already! She enrolls in an academy to train to become a patissiere, and is teamed with three guys called the Princes of Sweets - Hanabusa (the rose/flower expert), Andouji (traditional Japanese sweets expert) and Kashino (chocolate expert). The episodes tracks Ichigo’s journey towards fulfilling her dream of winning a competition to study in France for 2 years.

I watched this anime mainly with just my daughter GG, as the boys weren’t interested. GG, currently 8 years old, likes this anime very much. There are also tiny winged Sweets spirits that befriends Ichigo and her friends, and help them along. Our favourite Sweet spirit is Caramel who is so wonderfully cutely voiced.

Yumeiro Patissiere Professional - Season Two continues the story after Ichigo returns from Paris.

Usagi Drop **** (Bunny Drop) – Usagi means Rabbit in Japanese, so you’ll soon notice the little girl Rin has bunny designs on her blanket, etc. The story is about thirty-year old bachelor Daikichi, who takes in Rin, the illegitimate six-year old daughter of his grandfather. I liked this anime very much, and so did GG. Rin is very cute and Daikichi is such a nice chap. Rats! There are only 11 episodes! Darn!

Resorted to reading the manga where Rin is now 16. It develops the relationship between her and Daikichi, who is now 40 and still single. Did not quite like how the story ended. A 24-year age gap is too wide. Especially when Rin talks about having a baby.

For God's sake, Daikichi had no life while he raised her. At age 40 (more likely maybe later at age 45), why would he wanna raise another kid all over again? Right, that's why it's manga - not real. I'm in the midst of raising 4 kids - yup, you pretty much give up your own life to raise your kids, so a sane person would not do it all over again at age 45.

Whisper of the Heart (Mimi wo sumaseba, If You Listen Closely) *** is about a girl, Shizuku, who loves reading. She meets the mysterious Seiji, whose name she oftens sees on books she borrowed from the library. Seiji is an apprentice Violin-maker. The two of them are very cute, and the young budding love portrayed is sweet.

Liked this email I received: Life support system (joke of the day)

2011-05-27T21:42:00.000+08:00

This is funny...hehe
Last night my wife and I were sitting in the living room talking about life... In-between, we talked about the idea of living or dying.

I said to her: 'Dear, never let me live in a vegetative state totally dependent on Machines and liquids from a bottle. If you see me in that state I want you to disconnect all the contraptions that are keeping me alive, I'd much rather die'.

Then my wife got up from the sofa with this real look of admiration towards me...and proceeded to disconnect the TV, the Cable, the Dish, the DVD, the Computer, the Cell Phone, the iPod, and the Xbox, and then went to the fridge and threw away all my beer!!
*....I ALMOST DIED!!!*

Liked this email I received: Children's Quotes

2011-05-27T21:21:00.000+08:00

JACK (age 3) was watching his Mom

breast-feeding his new baby sister.

After a while he asked: 'Mom why have you

got two? Is one for hot and one for cold milk?'

MELANIE (age 5) asked her Granny how old

she was. Granny replied she was so old she didn't

remember any more. Melanie said, 'If you don't

remember you must look in the back of your

panties. Mine say five to six.'

STEVEN (age 3) hugged and kissed his Mom good

night. 'I love you so much that when you die I'm

going to bury you outside my bedroom window.'

BRITTANY (age 4) had an earache and wanted a

pain killer. She tried in vain to take the lid off

the bottle. Seeing her frustration, her Mom explained

it was a child-proof cap and she'd have to open it

for her. Eyes wide with wonder, the little girl

asked: 'How does it know it's me?'

SUSAN (age 4) was drinking juice when she got the

hiccups. 'Please don't give me this juice again,'

she said, 'It makes my teeth cough.'

DJ (age 4) stepped onto the bathroom scale and

asked: 'How much do I cost?'
MARC (age 4) was engrossed in a young couple

that were hugging and kissing in a restaurant.

Without taking his eyes off them, he asked his

dad: 'Why is he whispering in her mouth?'

CLINTON (age 5) was in his bedroom looking

worried. When his Mom asked what was troubling him, he

> replied, 'I don't know what'll happen with this bed when I get married. How will my wife fit in it?'

>

JAMES (age 4) was listening to a Bible story. His

dad read: 'The man named Lot was warned to take

his wife and flee out of the city but his wife looked back and was turned to salt.' Concerned, James

asked: 'What happened to the flea?'

TAMMY (age 4) was with her mother when they

met an elderly, rather wrinkled woman her Mom

knew. Tammy looked at her for a while and then

asked, 'Why doesn't your skin fit your face?'

THE SERMON I think this Mom will never forget....

this particular Sunday sermon...'Dear Lord,' the

minister began, with arms extended toward

heaven and a rapturous look on his upturned face.

'Without you, we are but dust...' He would have

continued but at that moment my very obedient

daughter who was listening leaned over to me and

asked quite audibly in her shrill little four year

old girl voice, 'Mom, what is butt dust?'
Spread the smiles!!

My GG likes the one about butt dust : P

Liked this email I received: Nine words/phrases women use

2011-05-27T20:47:00.001+08:00

NINE WORDS/PHRASES WOMEN USE
(1) Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

(2) Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

(3) Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.

(4) Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

(5) Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing.)

(6) That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

(7) Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or faint. Just say you're welcome. (I want to add in a clause here - This is true, unless she says 'Thanks a lot' - that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say 'you're welcome'. that will bring on a 'whatever').

(8) Whatever: Is a woman's way of saying F--- YOU!

(9) Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response refer to # 3.

* Send this to the men you know, to warn them about arguments they can avoid if they remember the terminology.

* Send this to all the women you know to give them a good laugh, cause they know it's true!!!

Liked this email that I received: 7 Things teenage boys most need

2011-05-27T20:42:00.001+08:00

7 Things Teenage Boys Most Need

> Interview With Spiritual Director of Adolescents

> WASHINGTON, D.C., JAN. 13, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Being the parent of an adolescent boy is legendary for its difficulty. But according to one priest who acts as a spiritual director and confessor for high school boys, just keeping in mind seven points can make for a better relationship with adolescent sons.Legionary of Christ Father Michael Sliney suggests the following seven necessities for parents of adolescent boys:

> 1. Clear guidelines with reasonable consequences from a unified front; cutting slack but also holding boys accountable for their actions.

> 2. Reasonable explanations for the criteria, guidelines and decisions made by parents.

> 3. Avoiding hyper-analysis of boys' emotions and states of mind: avoiding "taking their temperature" too often.

> 4. Unconditional love with an emphasis on character and effort more than outcome: Encourage boys to live up to their potential while having reasonable expectations. To love them regardless of whether they make it into Harvard or become a star quarterback.

> 5. Authenticity, faith and fidelity should be reflected in parent's lifestyles.

> 6. Qualities of a dad: Manliness, temperance, making significant time for family, putting aside work, and being a reliable source of guidance.

> 7. Qualities of a mom: Emotional stability, selflessness, loving service and extreme patience.

> In this interview with ZENIT, Father Sliney takes a deeper look at the seven points.

> Q: What are some of the particular characteristics of this age group that parents and educators need to bear in mind?

> Father Sliney: Well, one of the first and most important points is to recognize that they are no longer kids. Up to age 12, they are still kids. But from 13 onward, puberty kicks in and there is a lot more sensitivity; they are more easily irritated and they want to be treated like a teen, not like a kid.

> At this age, teenage boys are discovering their identities and going through a lot of turmoil. It's a very sensitive time, and we need to pray for them and dedicate time to them, show personal interest, try to understand what they're thinking.

> Q: How can a parent find the balance between being clear, firm and yet flexible?

> Father Sliney: Explain to your son in advance: These are the guidelines and these are the consequences. The consequences must be reasonable. Every parent has an atomic bomb he or she can pull out -- taking away the Internet, the cell phone, or the driver's license, or keeping their bedroom door open -- but everything needs to be done in a fair way, in due proportion. You can't surprise a kid with a negative punishment that doesn't correspond to what he did.

> Don't let the kids feel like there is no hope or that they have totally lost your trust. Striking the balance between being firm and cutting them some slack is important.

> Also, it is better to be emotionless and rational when you reprimand them or make a point. Don't throw salt in the wound by making a punishment into an emotional ordeal. If you're going to ground your kid, do it in a rational, non-emotional way. Be brief. In the end, boys respect it more.

> Q: How can parents motivate their kids to do the right thing?

> Father Sliney: Don't explain it so much in terms of "right" and "wrong," but in terms of "wise" and "wrong." Explain the reasons behind why something is wrong or right and frame your motivations in a positive way.

> For example, instead of telling your son, "Don't become a drug addict," help him to see how resisting the temptation is a great way to forge his character. When the issue of premarital sex comes up, flip it around: Instead of saying, "It's a mortal sin" or "You might get a disease," help him to look forward to his future wife, and to think of what a great gift he could offer her if he waits for her.

> Q: Why should parents avoid probing into their sons' emotional life?

> Father Sliney: Boys don't like to be analyzed under a microscope. Sometimes the worst possible question a parent can ask is: "How are you doing today? How are you feeling? You look a little sad." Don't analyze their emotions and state of mind. Girls might like to talk about their feelings and emotions, but most boys don't. If they had a bad day, they don't want to talk about it because it makes them feel vulnerable and weak.

> Q: Do teenage boys really feel a lot of pressure to perform up to their parents' standards?

> Father Sliney: Yes, they do feel a lot of pressure and they are very sensitive when they feel judged by how they perform instead of by who they are. They need the love and esteem of their parents. Parents should put the emphasis on their kids' characters and on the effort they make, not necessarily on the result that comes out. If a kid is honest, generous, prayerful, trying hard in school, and is still a B student, he's doing his best, and he should be encouraged. It's important for parents to have reasonable expectations and to encourage each boy to live up to his potential.

> Q: How important is the good example of the parents?

> Father Sliney: It is extremely important. We all hyper-analyze our parents and observe the example they set in all areas: If they are practicing what they preach, if they are faithful to each other, etc. High school is a very tumultuous, unstable time for boys. If these qualities of fidelity and authenticity are not there, and if there is not a stable, happy marriage, it's chaos. Troubled kids generally come from dysfunctional or broken families. Here we see the importance of a great marriage: If that's in place, you've got a pretty good chance of a teenager getting through in good shape. There are not too many cases of parents who've got it together having dysfunctional kids.

> Q: Can you expand on the importance of the dad's role in relation to his son?

> Father Sliney: Kids, especially in high school, need to spend time with their dad, doing things together. This time together creates a space for him to open up and talk if he wants to. Take him out to breakfast or out to a game. Look for ways that he would want to do something with you. Dads need to get personally involved with their sons and dedicate time especially to their more difficult kids. Making little gestures of kindness is so important. My dad used to stop in every night before going to bed. He showed me he cared by asking how I was doing with my homework, how things were going. It was just a quick gesture but it was very helpful.

> We're living in a very feminized culture, so dads need to teach their sons what true masculinity is all about. Being masculine doesn't mean being a tough football player and lifting weights. Manliness means strong character, self-control, quiet strength, and getting through adversity without whining. Kids need to see the example of what it means to be a man in their dad. It's about having an internal toughness, not complaining, and not letting others tell you what to do. You're the man of the house, you think about things, and you have things under control.

> If you're living an authentic life, it comes across. One time when I was a kid, we got a pretty serious tornado warning while we were out in the yard, cleaning up. My dad went to each one of us: He was calm, in control, and he knew what needed to be done. Once we were all in the basement, he was at peace, having a good conversation with us. He was a calming force, full of confidence and authenticity.

> And dads need to be a reliable source of guidance because high school kids are looking for words of wisdom. Kids are looking for advice from the one they love. Dads need to be available, but also offer. Kids shouldn't be intimidated or afraid to approach their dad for advice.

> Q: Why did you list "emotional stability" as the first characteristic for moms of teenage boys?

> Father Sliney: Well, guys are pretty choleric and easily excitable. They don't want their mom in their face, exploding, without self-control. It's very irritating. If a mom is too excitable, anything she says is not going to be well-received because of the emotional charge. In my experience working with kids, I've seen that very few have a great relationship with their mom. There's not always a natural connection there. The way of being is so different ... and in some cases, moms still treat their teenage sons as if they were little kids.

> Moms should deal with their sons in a calm, straightforward way. When guys talk, they get to the point. They don't go roundabout the point or over-emphasize it with emotions, etc. It's important for moms to watch what comes across in their tone, in the way they address the kids.

> Q: Can you expand on how moms can communicate more effectively with their sons?

> Father Sliney: Most teenage boys don't like engaging in long, philosophical conversations with their moms. It's generally better for moms not to ask too many questions and to be satisfied with short answers. If moms dig too deeply, kids try to avoid them, because they feel like they're being probed. Obviously, moms can pick up if their boy is having a bad day, but it's humiliating for him to have to admit it. If you're prodding them, it's like forcing them to expose their weakness. Boys don't want to show their emotions.

> Moms have to understand that there won't be a lot of communication, and they need to go about it in a very delicate way, trying to talk about things the kids like to talk about: "Hey, you played a great game last night."

> The mom's role is to be a mentor, a guide, and a leader, but she is not called to be a friend to her son. Moms are not going to have a loving, intimate, communicative relationship with their high school boys. For example, the worst thing in the world is for mom to say, "Son, we're going shopping." Shopping for a guy is "get in, get out." A guy wants to go throw a football around, not stand around analyzing outfits. So Moms, you have to let them go a little bit and do things as a family. It's more the dad's role to have one-on-one time and to build that close man-to-man friendship.

> Moms can really make a big impact when they give an example of selfless love and service. Kids need to feel loved, served, appreciated, because they are not getting that in their competitive environment.

> Q: How do you help teenage boys build character and a strong spiritual life?

> Father Sliney: Character and the spiritual life go hand in hand, because grace builds on nature. It is not possible for a kid to be able to resist his passions of disobedience, rebelliousness, vanity, and lust without the help of God's grace. I always suggest confession every two weeks or at least once a month. Definitely Sunday Mass, and if they can go more often, I encourage it. I also encourage kids to pray a decade of the rosary for the virtues they struggle most with.

> And it's important for them to learn to live in the presence of Christ, because the motivation of loving Christ and serving Christ is really what is going to help kids overcome the struggles they face. Doing things just because Mom is watching or because they'll get in trouble is not enough, because once they go to college, those deterrents are no longer there. They need to form convictions of faith in the presence of God. The most important task is to help Christ become a friend for them, to help them see that Christ is counting on them, and to know that the sacrament of confession is there if they happen to fall.

Gosh, now I realise I've pulled out quite a number of atomic bombs!

Before Celta - Oxford Online Placement Test

2011-05-26T11:15:00.002+08:00

Oxford Online Placement Test

At Heartpower, in addition to a written paper (which is eventually shown to the main Celta tutor to assess your suitability), we were also required to take the Oxford Online Placement Test.

I didn't know the name of the test till I turned up at Heartpower to sit for it. I was only told that "you have to take an online test".

Anyway, the written paper and the scores of the Oxford Online Placement Test is supposed to determine whether your command of the English language is good enough to take the Celta and be an ESL teacher.

It was the first time I took such an online test. I went to the Heartpower office to sit for it, as my PC at home is unreliable and unstable. I don't think I did the best I could, as I was unfamiliar with the format and how timing affects your score then (I wouldn't have taken it in such a leisurely manner!)

I was told my score for the Oxford Online Placement Test was:
108 Time taken C2
Use of English :- 97 (15 mins) C1
Listening :- 119 (28 mins) C2+

What! I got Cs?
But after checking this site http://www.cambridgeesol.org/exams/exams-info/cefr.html
I realised I didn't do too bad afterall.

Oh yes, there was another thing to do before the Celta. Not a test but a task - called a Pre-course Task. Basically, Heartpower gives you a set of questions (quite a stack of paper if you print them out) and you work through them at your leisure.

I attempted all the questions and they gave me a better idea of what was coming up ahead in the Celta. The Pre-course Task comes with a set of answers, so I could mark it myself and also learn from the ones I got wrong.

It seems that not everyone on the Celta course at Heartpower had the chance to do the Pre-course Task, so those who had signed up too late to get it, simply started the Celta without it. That did not pose any problem either.

Liked this email that I received: 感恩!

2011-05-25T22:16:00.001+08:00

感恩!
一名成績優秀的青年去應試一個大公司的經理職位。

他通過了第一級的面試，董事長做最後的面試，做最後的決定。

董事長從該青年的履歷上發現，該青年成績一貫優秀，從中學到研究生從來沒有間斷過。

董事長問，你在學校裏拿到獎學金嗎？該青年回答，沒有。

董事長問，是你的父親為您付學費嗎？該青年回答，我父親在我一歲時就去世了，是我的母親給我付的學費。

董事長問，那你的母親是在那家公司高就？該青年回答，我的母親是給人洗衣服的。

董事長要求該青年把手伸給他，該青年把一雙潔白的手伸給董事長。

董事長問，你幫你母親洗過衣服嗎？該青年回答，從來沒有，我媽總是要我多讀書，再說，母親洗衣服比我快得多。

董事長說，我有個要求，你今天回家，給你母親洗一次雙手，明天上午你再來見我。

該青年覺得自己成功的可能很大，回到家後，高高興興地要給母親洗手，母親受寵若驚地把手伸給孩子。

該青年給母親洗著手，漸漸地，眼淚掉下來了，因為他第一次發現，他母親的雙手都是老繭，有個傷口在碰到水時還疼得發抖。

青年第一次體會到，母親就是每天用這雙有傷口的手洗衣服為他付學費，母親的這雙手就是他今天畢業的代價。該青年給母親洗完手後，一聲不響地把母親剩下要洗的衣服都洗了。當天晚上，母親和孩子聊了很久很久。

第二天早上，該青年去見董事長。

董事長望著該青年紅腫的眼睛，問到，可以告訴我你昨天回家做了些什麼嗎？

該青年回答說，我給母親洗完手之後，我幫母親把剩下的衣服都洗了。

董事長說，請你告訴我你的感受。

該青年說，第一，我懂得了感恩，沒有我母親，我不可能有今天。第二，我懂得了要去和母親一起勞動，才會知道母親的辛苦。第三，我懂得了家庭親情的可貴。

董事長說，我就是要錄取一個會感恩，會體會別人辛苦，不是把金錢當作人生第一目標的人來當經理。你被錄取了。這位青年後來果真工作努力，深得職工擁護，員工也都努力工作，整個公司業績大幅成長。

假如一位孩子從小嬌生慣養，習慣了被人圍著寵著，什麼都是“我”第一，父母的辛苦都不知道，上班後，以為同事都應該聽他的，當了經理後，不知道員工的辛苦，還要怨天尤人。這樣的人，會有好的學校成績，會有得意風光的一時，但社會上的這類人，都不能成大事，都不會感覺到幸福，都要跌跟鬥，那父母是愛孩子呢還是害孩子呢？

你可以讓你的孩子住大房子，吃大餐，學鋼琴，看大屏電視，但你在割草時，也要讓你的孩子在大太陽下拔拔野草，你在吃飯後，也要讓你的孩子洗洗碗，不是你沒有錢雇人，而是你真心愛孩子。你要讓孩子知道，即使父母掙不少錢，但早早的白髮，和那位洗衣服的母親沒有本質的差別。但更重要的是，要讓你的孩子學會感恩。

One of the reasons I get my kids to help out with the chores at home is really for them to know, or experience a little of what their parents do everyday for them. I really agree with the writer above.

Liked this email I received" Japanese boy teaches lesson in sacrifice

2011-05-25T21:35:00.001+08:00

Japanese boy teaches lesson in sacrifice

Published on ShanghaiDaily.com (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/)

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=467066&type=Opinion

EDITOR'S note:
THIS letter, written by Vietnamese immigrant Ha Minh Thanh working in Fukushima as a policeman to a friend in Vietnam, was posted on New America Media on March 19. It is a testimonial to the strength of the Japanese spirit, and an interesting slice of
life near the epicenter of Japan 's crisis at the Fukushima nuclear
power plant. It was translated by NAM editor Andrew Lam,
author of "East Eats West: Writing in Two Hemispheres." Shanghai
Daily condensed it.

Brother,
How are you and your family? These last few days, everything was in chaos. When I close my eyes, I see dead bodies. When I open my eyes, I also see dead bodies.

Each one of us must work 20 hours a day, yet I wish there were 48
hours in the day, so that we could continue helping and rescuing
folks.

We are without water and electricity, and food rations are near zero. We barely manage to move refugees before there are new
orders to move them elsewhere.

I am currently in Fukushima , about 25 kilometers away from the nuclear power plant. I have so much to tell you that if I could
write it all down, it would surely turn into a novel about human
relationships and behaviors during times of crisis.

People here remain calm - their sense of dignity and proper behavior are very good - so things aren't as bad as they could
be. But given another week, I can't guarantee that things won't get
to a point where we can no longer provide proper protection
and order.

They are humans after all, and when hunger and thirst override
dignity, well, they will do whatever they have to do. The government is trying to provide supplies by air, bringing in food and
medicine, but it's like dropping a little salt into the ocean.

Brother, there was a really moving incident. It involves a little
Japanese boy who taught an adult like me a lesson on how to
behave like a human being.

Last night, I was sent to a little grammar school to help a charity
organization distribute food to the refugees. It was a long line that
snaked this way and that and I saw a little boy around 9 years old. He was wearing a T-shirt and a pair of shorts.

It was getting very cold and the boy was at the very end of the line.
I was worried that by the time his turn came there wouldn't be any food left. So I spoke to him.

He said he was at school when the earthquake happened. His father worked nearby and was driving to the school. The boy was on the third floor balcony when he saw the tsunami sweep his father's car away.

I asked him about his mother. He said his house is right by the beach and that his mother and little sister probably didn't make
it. He turned his head and wiped his tears when I asked about his
relatives.

The boy was shivering so I took off my police jacket and put it on him. That's when my bag of food ration fell out. I picked it
up and gave it to him. "When it comes to your turn, they might run
out of food. So here's my portion. I already ate. Why don't
you eat it?"

The boy took my food and bowed. I thought he would eat it right away, but he didn't. He took the bag of food, went up to where
the line ended and put it where all the food was waiting to be
distributed.

I was shocked. I asked him why he didn't eat it and instead added it to the food pile. He answered: "Because I see a lot more people hungrier than I am. If I put it there, then they will distribute the food equally."

When I heard that I turned away so that people wouldn't see me cry.

A society that can produce a 9-year-old who understands the concept of sacrifice for the greater good must be a great society, a great people.

Well, a few lines to send you and your family my warm wishes. The hours of my shift have begun again.

Ha Minh Thanh

************ LESSON TO LEARN FROM JAPAN ***********

10 things to learn from Japan.

1. THE CALM

Not a single visual of chest-beating or wild grief. Sorrow itself has been elevated.

2. THE DIGNITY

Disciplined queues for water and groceries. Not a rough word or a crude gesture.

3. THE ABILITY

The incredible architects, for instance. Buildings swayed but didn’t fall.

4. THE GRACE

People bought only what they needed for the present, so everybody could get something.

5. THE ORDER

No looting in shops. No honking and no overtaking on the roads. Just understanding.

6. THE SACRIFICE

Fifty workers stayed back to pump sea water in the N-reactors. How will they ever be repaid?

7. THE TENDERNESS

Restaurants cut prices. An unguarded ATM is left alone. The strong cared for the weak.

8. THE TRAINING

The old and the children, everyone knew exactly what to do. And they did just that.

9. THE MEDIA

They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins. No silly reporters. Only calm reportage.

10. THE CONSCIENCE

When the power went off in a store, people put things back on the shelves and left quietly!

Some differences in Celta at British Council vs Heartpower

2011-05-25T14:00:00.002+08:00

Some differences in taking the Celta at British Council (Singapore) vs. Heartpower

A friend of mine took Celta with the British Council (the incumbent course provider) in Singapore, while I took the Celta with Heartpower (the relatively new player). What from I gather through brief conversations with my friend...

TPs were only 20 minutes long at BC, except for the last TP8 - which was 60 minutes long. My TPs at Heartpower was 45 minutes long (every one of the 8 TPs). I think 45 minutes is better than a 20-minute long TP, at least it reflects a real lesson better. What can you teach in 20 minutes?

There's less guidance given by tutors on the planning/preparation stage of TPs at Heartpower, even during the initial few TPs. It seems that over at BC, Celta students have a group discussion session (at least an hour or so) with the tutor present. We did not have such an arrangement over at Heartpower, at least, not during my batch. But that was not a problem for me, as I can also work well on my own.

Why I took the Celta

2011-05-25T11:19:00.001+08:00

Why did I take the Celta?

Next year (2012), my youngest child will finally be in morning school (primary three). That means all my four kids will no longer be home in the mornings.

I began planning to get a flexi-hour job that I can do in the mornings next year, when the kids are in school. But I do want to be home in the afternoons when they come home from school – that’s why I’m not considering a fulltime job.

After spending January 2011 looking around, I found that there were mostly lowly paid jobs (less than $10 an hour) like NTUC cashiers for part-time work. And I'm not keen on giving tuition to other kids - I've had enough of tutoring my own kids! I need to get out of the flat and go do something different!

A year earlier, I had a job offer from an ex-boss to go back to my old job, but that was for a fulltime position and I had replied that I wasn’t interested in working fulltime.

The ex-boss got in touch with me again a few months ago about the possibility of a half-day flexi-hour arrangement – it sounded interesting till we got to the part where I found out I would have to work in the afternoons due to the nature of the job. So that went out of the window too.

Anyway, I heard from a friend that with the Celta, I could choose to teach in the mornings (9am to noon), or afternoons (1pm to 4pm), or evenings (7pm -10 pm). And the hourly rate as a part-time teacher with a private school was attractive – about S$40 to S$50 an hour.

That sounded like the ideal flexi-hour job I had been looking for. It meant that eventually, when my youngest child has finally finished primary school, I could even teach both morning and afternoon classes if I wanted to (and if I lived that long!).

I knew that Heartpower had this 8-weeks Apr/May Celta intake, as well as the crazy 4-weeks intake in June (which I’m not crazy enough to attempt because I don’t want to turn into an angry ogre with my kids and hubby during those trying 4 weeks), and another 8-weeks intake in September.

I took the Apr/May Celta as it was better for me to do it in the earlier part of the year, when my kids have their mid-year exams while I do the Celta, instead of September when they’d be facing the year-end exams.

But instead of waiting till next year to start teaching in the mornings, I’m going to start teaching in the evenings during what’s left of this year. The Celta tutors have been telling us that we ought to start teaching as soon as possible so we do not forget the techniques we have learnt. I agree with them, as I also feel that I do not wish to lose the momentum that I’ve built up after doing 8 TPs in a row.

So there, I will be embarking on a new phase of my life… stepping out from being a fulltime mom for the past 8.5 years to become a part-time mom and part-teacher.

My Celta Journey

2011-05-24T23:30:00.004+08:00

Taking the Celta by the Horns
Yesterday (Sunday, 22 May 2011) was the last day of my 8-week Celta (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) course.
(If you wish to know more about what a Celta (or Tesol) is, there's plenty of information about them on the Net).

Anyway, I thought I’ll try to jot down what taking the Celta was like for me quickly … before I forget how it felt.

Basically, the Celta’s a Certificate (recognized internationally all over the world) you get from Cambridge University (the same one that gave us our GCE O and A certs) that certifies you’re qualified to Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). Yeah, I’ll be teaching people whose first language (L1) isn’t English.

So far, it’s been fun as I’ve had two Koreans (Jeffrey and Amy – I think they use these names because Korean names aren’t easy to pronounce), 3 Japanese (Tomoe, Kiyomi, Yuichiro), 3 from Myanmar (Lin, Zaw, Myo), one Malaysian (MK), 8 from China (too many to name them), and even two from Singapore (Linda and Evelyn).

They are my students from the Teaching Practice during my Celta. (Teaching Practice or TP is the practical hands-on classes where we teach real students while on Celta – it’s a really great way to prepare you for the real thing. There’s 8 lessons to teach over the 8weeks, one every week.)

There's another batch of people starting their 4-week Celta course on 30 May 2011, but boy, are they going to be in for a hellish time. But I suppose they already know it (I hope they do!) if they've checked out what people all over the world are saying on the Net about the intensive 4-week Celta. And I thought the 8-week version I took was already intensive!

Dollars and Sense
I took my Celta at Heartpower (the relatively new player), Singapore, for S$5000. Did not take the Celta with British Council in Singapore (the incumbent Celta course provider) at S$5500, not because of price, but because BC only offers the Celta on weekdays (full day). Being a fulltime mom-of-four, I haven’t got anyone to help mind the kids in the day on weekdays. Hence it was Heartpower for me as they offered the course on weekends.

But in the end, the decision to take the Celta with Heartpower turned out okay. The guy who runs Heartpower, Zak, is a really nice and easy-going fellow, who goes out of his way to make sure everything is okay for us.

Plus, the $500 I saved on fees, I used on MRT fares to get to class (which came to $100), buying printer ink cartridge (there’s loads of homework to print) as well as reference books (they’re not cheap, so only buy them if you’re sure you’re going to be teaching after the Celta course).

My course dates and timing at Heartpower went like this:
Tuesdays and Wednesdays (7pm to 8.30pm) – my hubby was home after work to mind the kids.
Sat and Sun (9am to 5pm) – again, the hubby was home on Sat (though he was at work on Sundays).

By the way, one can take the Celta anywhere in the world. They have it in Jakarta at half the price in Singapore. Well, everything costs more in Singapore than in Indonesia.

First Two Weeks

The first week was okay… I thought the pace was easy. I only had to attend classes and prepare for my first TP (TP1) on the first Saturday. I managed a To Standard grade for my TP1 (the tutor grades the lesson you deliver as either Fail, To Standard (which is a pass), or Above Standard (which is good).

By the second week, when the First written assignment (there’s 4 altogether that you have to do during the Celta course) landed on our laps, it got tougher as we had to get the First written assignment (Focus on the Learner – where each of us had to interview a selected student) as well as our TP2 (I had to teach a class of foreign students again on the 2nd Saturday) ready. Hooray! I got my first Above Standard for my TP2.

Third week got worse. The first assignment was due for submission, and we had our TP3 to prepare for. I managed to get a To Standard for my TP3, which isn’t bad at all considering at least 2 course mates got Below Standard for the lessons they taught.

Then it got even worse on Week Four. No one in my Celta class of six people passed the first written assignment – we all had to rework and re-submit it. It meant that we had the new 2nd written assignment (Focus on Language) to do, the First written assignment to re-submit, as well as TP4 to prepare for. Funny enough, I was still going strong at Week Four physically and mentally, taking everything in my stride. Happy that I managed an Above Standard for my TP4.

Second Half
Week Five saw us busy with re-submit of written assignment 2 (yes, nobody passed again), the arrival of the new written assignment 3 (Lesson Plan using authentic material) and our TP5 to prepare.

It was somewhere here at week 5 that I felt fatigue overtook me a little and I could feel myself slowing down, not that I wanted to. The body and mind was sluggish by now, tired by the relentless pace without any break whatsoever. And I had a sinking feeling in my stomach – I’d probably end up re-submitting all four assignments! It’s a terrible feeling. Hey, another Above Standard for my TP5.
Week Six – written assignment 3 was due for submission, written assignment 4 (Lessons from the Classroom) landed on our laps, and TP6 to prepare for. One of our course mates has stopped attending altogether – the reason given was that he had to travel overseas because of work. Now there are just 5 of us ladies. Gosh, another Above Standard for my TP6! That makes three in a row. But only 4 out of 6 TPs.

Week Seven – Hooray! My written assignment 3 passed on first try – I did not have to resubmit it! I was happy even though written assignment 4 was due for submission this week, and I still have TP7 to prepare for. My course mates weren’t so lucky – the pressure did not ease even a little for them as they all had to resubmit assignment 3 as well.

The tutor said I need to “finish strongly” – I read that to mean I ought to try to deliver an Above Standard for my TP7. As usual, my style is to just do my thing without expecting an Above Standard. I’ve always felt that if I didn’t go in trying to get an Above Standard, I won’t be disappointed if I don’t get it. So it was okay when I only managed a To Standard for my TP7.

Week Eight (18 May 2011) - at last, we have reached the last lap! Hooray! My written assignment 4 passed on first try as well – no re-submit! One other course mate passed as well. The others still had to struggle with re-submits and TP8, while the two of us could concentrate on our last TP8.

This last week of the Celta course felt very strange indeed – though I had no re-submits or any new written assignments to contend with, I was not able to settle down and focus on getting on TP8 done. There was a very strong restlessness I could not overcome – I played Plants vs. Zombies with the kids for hours day after day instead – as their school mid-year exams had also ended.

Again, the tutor said I need to try to “finish strongly” (I know, I know… I didn’t managed it at my TP7) – I read that to mean I need to deliver an Above Standard for TP8! Sigh! Anyway, I didn’t care much about what the tutor said – I still do things my way – just don’t give myself pressure.

If I don’t think about having to deliver a lesson that’s got to be Above Standard worthy, I won’t be too highly-strung and make things worse for myself. That kind of stress has always seemed counter productive to me. Best to go in without expecting an Above Standard – and if I get it, it’s a nice surprise. If not, I’m happy with the To Standard grade. Happily, I got an Above Standard for TP8 – making the score 5 Above Standards in 8 TPs altogether.

Even better was one of my course mates, after having her enthusiasm and confidence weakened by a series of To Standards and Below Standards for her TPs, she finally got her first Above Standard at her TP8. I was very happy for her, what an excellent end to her Celta course! Like fireworks for the grand finale.

Sunday 22 May 2011, the last day of our Celta – after my TP8, we all had a little food and chat with our students. Then we said goodbye to everyone, even our tutors. One of our tutors, a Scottish lady from Glasgow, was flying home that very night. Some of us went for drinks with her before heading home.

Celta Grades
There's only four possible grades awarded for Celta - Fail, Pass, Pass B and Pass A (then there also those who've withdrawn). According to Wikipedia, as of 2000, worldwide 5% of trainees withdrew before completing the course, 3% failed, 63% received a pass, 25% received Pass B, and 4% received Pass A.

I have no idea what my grade is yet, as nothing is firm till I get my Celta cert in hand. It's either a Pass or a Pass B, I think. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Pass B.

Some Advice
If you’re thinking of taking the Celta….

• It’s better not to take the 4-week intensive course.
• It’s much better for your sanity if you’re not working (even if you’re taking the 8-week weekend Celta at Heartpower). The three of us, who did not hold a fulltime job during the Celta, did better than the three who had to juggle their work and homework. All three who were working complained that they were neglecting their work at the office – not a good thing if you’re keen about your performance at the office.

Good luck!

Update:

I got a nice present when I collected my Celta cert from Heartpower - I got a Pass B for my Celta! Cool!

June 2010: Uh-oh, it’s PSLE year (Young Parents magazine)

2010-10-25T13:57:00.002+08:00

Uh-oh, it's PSLE year

Life as you know it stops during this critical examination period. Valerie Tay shares the lessons she has learnt.

My son, JJ, sat for the PSLE two years ago. He was in a neighbourhood primary school, not a branded-name one. Even so, the school began seriously preparing its kids for the exam when they were in Primary 5.

If you happen to think that Primary 6 is the crucial year, and that you can still afford to relax until then, you need to be aware of what’s just around the corner.

I think Primary 5 is just as crucial. The workload during this year seems much heavier than in Primary 4, and I think it’s because Primary 6 is a very short school year.

There are basically only two terms, 1 and 2, to cover the syllabus. Then just two weeks after term 3 began in July, they had mock exams. Hot on the heels of that, came the prelims in August, followed by the PSLE at the start of October.
Being the eldest, JJ’s the first child I’ve seen through this exam. And I’ve gained some insight from the experience.

Stop Burying Him in Assessment Books
I had just two for JJ, and that was more than enough. As maths is a subject that requires practice, I bought a weekly, topic-by-topic assessment book for him. The way he tackled the questions told me if he had a grasp of the topic. And if there were indications that something was amiss, I was able to address it.

The other was a science assessment book, which was more for him to familiarise himself with how questions for this subject are set.

P6 is a full-time job
There’s another reason you should re-consider buying heaps of assessment books. It is very likely your child will not be able to find the time to do them. And if you insist that he does, you will either kill his enthusiasm for learning and all semblance of a wonderful childhood, or both. And how this turns out, will depend on how hard you push your kid.

Over and above the twice weekly supplementary lessons (one for Mother Tongue and one for English, maths and science) held after school hours since the start of the school year, the five mock exams in July were also held in the afternoon, mostly ending at 4pm.

And when the PSLE preparation supplementary lessons started in September, it felt like my son had transformed into a working adult. He left for school at 7am and came home around 5pm most weekdays, tired and drained.

And he still had some homework to do. I did not have the heart to ask him to do anything else.

On top of that, there were Saturday morning supplementary lessons from 7.30am to 10.30am. He came home with four practice papers to complete during the rest of the weekend.

Reconsider Enrichment
You may want to stop tuition or enrichment classes by the end of the June holidays – do it as a favour for your child. This is not even the O or A levels. Why make it so pressurizing for your child at such a young age?

JJ simply did not have the time to work through anything other than the maths and science assessment books, as his teacher had piled him with enough exam practice and past year papers.

I know some kids do manage to find time to plough through several assessment books – and, perhaps, they have excellent time management skills (or parents who push them harder than I do mine) – but something has to give. And a lot of the time, it is the play, rest and relax periods that are usurped.

Work Around Your Child’s Study Style
I know my son, and he is a child who requires a lot of playtime for activities he enjoys, which include reading storybooks from the library, inline skating, cycling, badminton, playing Lego, Bionicles/Gundam figurines, board/computer games and the Duel Masters card game.

When he feels he does not get enough time to play, it upsets him. When he is unhappy about the state of affairs, study becomes the obstacle that is preventing him from having a “meaningful” life.

There’s a saying that goes: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” In my son’s case, too much work and too little play makes JJ a resentful boy.

That said, he willingly buckles down to do his homework and revision well, when he knows he has a decent amount of time to play (which is never quite long enough, if you ask him).

Give Him A Workout
We also continued with his exercise regimen, which included jogging (Thursday nights) and swimming (Saturdays), because we believe exercise relieves stress.

I think my son is normal, whereas a few kids I read in the papers – some of whom have done exceptionally well academically – are, well, unusual. Some of their parents actually have to tell them to stop studying and go play.

That would never happen with JJ, of course. And if you have a playful child, don’t worry. They’re perfectly normal.

Celebrate The Effort
Before I sound ungrateful to the school and especially the teachers who sacrificed so much of their time, allow me to say that I am grateful and speechless at the hours some teachers put in – be it voluntarily or not.

We should not forget that some of the teachers are parents who have children of their own, and ought to be home with their kids after work.

JJ’s teacher had told the class to aim for a PSLE aggregate score of 230. He missed the target by one point eventually - he scored 229.

Though, by far, it pales in comparison with the scores of those kids reported in the papers whenever the results are announced, his dad and I are more than pleased with his achievement.

For us, getting a B for Chinese, and As for English and maths and an A* for science is quite a feat. I’m not going to compare my child with another, nor allow others to take away any of the shine off my son’s accomplishment.

A 229 score? Well done, kiddo.

LKY is Agnostic

2010-10-24T11:15:00.001+08:00

I read in the papers recently that Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said he's agnostic.

Aaack! I had no idea what the word meant. That sent me scurrying to the dictionary to look up the word. JJ (my 14-year-old son) and I learnt that:

agnostic means (according to dictionary.com)
1. a person who holds that the existence of the ultimate cause, as god, and the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable, or that human knowledge is limited to experience.

2. a person who denies or doubts the possibility of ultimate knowledge in some area of study.

Isn't that the same as atheist, asked JJ.

No, there is a slight difference, I said, for I knew what atheist meant. I showed JJ the definition of atheist.

atheist means (according to dictionary.com)
a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings.

Thanks MM Lee, for the vocab lesson.

That's my man, too!

2010-10-09T13:14:00.000+08:00

I've kept this newspaper clipping for some months, that's why it has turned a little yellow.

Kept it because what Ms Emma Thompson said about her hubby, is true for my hubby too. I also kind of liked her after reading it, because we have something in common - an appreciation for the little things, a multitude of them, that our spouse can do and does do.

A husband does not have to rake in big bucks - it's just a bonus if he does. I'm happy he earns just enough to put food on the table and clothes on the wife (not designer labels) and kids' back, and pay the utilities, school fees and other bills - that'll do.

Best of all, he can do all that Ms Thomson says so well.

When God shows the way, follow

2010-09-16T14:38:00.000+08:00

When God shows the way, follow

More than a week ago, I received a long-distance call from China. My 5th sister, who's been based in China for years, asked if she could come stay in my flat during her latest visit near end of this month.

She makes home visits intermittently at irregular intervals, and all along she has been putting up at our Ma's place on these home visits (her own flat is rented out). Somehow, it was inconvenient for her to stay at our mom's place this time.

As I've always put up my sisters whenever they asked (my 6th sister's family of four stayed for a month as they awaited the TOP of their condo, my 7th sister's family stays with me regularly whenever she visits S'pore as she is based in Malaysia), I readily said yes, and penned down on the calendar her date of arrival - 25 Sept, so I would be around to open the door for her. I did not take note of her departure date as that was not important.

Oh, in case you're wondering, I have 7 sisters in total.

Then just on Sunday night, as I lay in bed in a vegetative state watching late-night TV in couch potato mode, I happened to catch an ad that flashed for no more than a few seconds on the TV screen. It was for a workshop on a topic that I found interesting. I was surprised I was able to prise myself out of my comatose state and scribbled down the website that was flashed onscreen.

The next day, I went to the website and found out more about the workshop. It was a week long, from 27 Sept to 1 Oct, 9am to 5pm on some days. My 3 boys in morning school could be latch-key children for a week - that's okay. The problem was my daughter in P1 who's in afternoon school and too young to be on auto-pilot.

Then I remembered my sis was coming to stay with me. I emailed her (currently in China) to ask if she cud look after my girl in the mornings. I also commented whether it was a coincidence or God's will for me to go for this workshop as He has even brought a babysitter right into my flat, and the timely arrival.

Her reply put paid to any doubts I had. "No coincidence. I leave for Vietnam on 2 Oct."

I sat there marvelling at the knowledge that God was pulling some strings specially for me. Then, having confirmed my P1 child was in good hands, I got off my butt and went online to register for the workshop.

I ran into obstacle number two rightaway. The "next" button I clicked did not allow me to make payment. A call to the workshop organiser revealed that all 15 places for participants had been taken up. I had the option of joining the next one in October, but I explained that I would not have a babysitter in October.

The young man at the end of the line hesitated for a moment, before giving me a sliver of hope. There was a participant who had yet to make payment. He would call that participant and let me know by 3pm whether I could take the place. It was around 10am then.

I was just a tiny bit worried that I had missed the boat, yet, I went about my morning routine calmly, knowing and believing inside me that things will work out somehow, as the earlier signs had shown me that God had planned something up His sleeves for me.

At 3pm, I checked my email. There was the link that permitted me to make payment online. By 3.30pm, I had paid and was accepted as a participant. Hallelujah!

Some non-believers would say it is a series of coincidences. But I say there is no coincidence when all the pins line up and click, click, click, everything clicks into place. You will feel God showing the way He has chosen for you.

There has been numerous other times when incidents like this had happened. The most remarkable had been the series of signs He showed me to gently nudge me into taking up the vocation of a fullt-ime Mom for my four young kids.

He showed the way, and I followed (okay, not immediately in this life-changing situation, but eventually I followed, as my stubborn self could no longer fool myself that all the signs were coincidences). I've never looked back since, for the past 7 years as full-time Mom has shown me that was the right way.

Liked this email I received: Clever Twists

2010-07-02T13:16:00.000+08:00

There was a church that had problems with outsiders parking in its parking lots, so they put up a sign:

" CHURCH CAR PARK - FOR MEMBERS ONLY. Trespassers will be baptized! "

>

> 2. " No God - No Peace. Know God - Know Peace. "

>

> 3. " Free Trip to Heaven. Details Inside! "

>

> 4. " Try our Sundays. They are better than Swenson's. "

>

> 5. " Searching for a new look ? Have your faith lifted here ! "

>

> 6. An ad for one Church has a picture of two hands holding stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments are inscribed and a headline that reads, " For fast, fast, fast relief, take two tablets. "

>

> 7. When the restaurant next to a Church put out a big sign with red letters that said, " Open Sundays ",

> the church reciprocated with its own message: " We are open on Sundays, too. "

>

> 8. People are like tea bags ---- you have to put them in hot water before

> you know how strong they are.

>

> 9. Fight truth decay - study the Bible daily.

>

> 10.. How will you spend eternity - Smoking or Non-smoking?

>

> 11. Dusty Bibles lead to Dirty Lives and dirty minds

>

> 12. Come work for the Lord.

> The work is hard, the hours are long and the pay is low.

> But the retirement benefits are ...... out of this world !

>

> 13. It is unlikely there'll be a reduction in the wages of sin.

>

> 14. Do not wait for the hearse to take you to church.

>

> 15. If you're headed in the wrong direction, God allows U-turns.

>

> 16. If you don't like the way you were born, try being born again.

>

> 17. Looking at the way some people live, they ought to obtain eternal fire

> insurance soon.

>

> 18. This is a ch_ _ ch. What is missing ? (U R)

>

> 19. In the dark? Follow the Son.

>

> 20. Running low on faith? Step in for a fill-up.

>

> 21. If you can't sleep, don't count sheep. Talk to the Shepherd.

The Steadfast Tin Soldier

2010-07-02T12:08:00.000+08:00

This is such a sad story, and I'm amazed that it is a children's fairytale. The ending makes my heart heavy with sadness.

Here it is, as told in one of my kids' storybook, which I am giving away as they have outgrown the book. Though I'm not keeping this book, along with many others due to space constrain, this post will serve to help me remember a children's fairytale that has touched me.

The Steadfast Tin Soldier

Once upon a time, a little boy had a birthday.

He received lots of lovely birthday gifts. One gift was a box of tin soldiers. He lined them up in a row – how proud they looked.

Then he found the tin soldier with only one leg. “You are special,” he said and stood the tin soldier up on his own.

Another birthday gift arrived in a large box. It was a splendid castle. “This is perfect for my tin soldiers,” the boy said. To the castle he added trees, a mirror for a lake and some swans. To finish off, he added a pretty ballerina. The tin soldier and the pretty ballerina fell instantly in love.

Everyone in the house was in bed when the clock struck twelve. The toys came to life and danced and played. “Get away from here!” roared Jack-in-the-box, and scared the tin soldier away.

The next morning he was found on the floor and placed on the windowsill. A gust of wind blew him out of the open window. He landed, wedged between two rocks, lost in the garden. The boy was so sad. He searched for the tin soldier, but could not find him.

One day two boys found the tin soldier and put him in a paper boat to sail in the gutter. Off sailed the paper boat – full speed along the gutter. The boat headed down the drain. “Have you a passport?” squealed the rat. “Do not stop here.”

“Help!” said the tin soldier as the boat began to sink. Down, down he sank, straight into the fish’s mouth. Back in the boy’s house, the cook had bought the fish and found inside it the tin soldier.

To the soldier’s delight he was placed next to the ballerina on the fireplace, only to be knocked into the fire. “Wait for me!” she cried and followed him into the fire.

They were together at last and never to part. All that was found in the ashes was a tin heart and a ballerina’s star.

Interesting quotations

2010-05-31T10:56:00.001+08:00

This is my storage jar for interesting quotations I come across:

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, construct a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
Robert Heinlein

To be in our children's memories tomorrow, we have to be in their lives today.
(From a Dads for Life brochure)

The most insidious newspeak term to come out in recent years is for torture. In newspeak it becomes "enhanced interrogation", as if regular torture makes use of tap water, but in enhanced interrogation you get nothing less than Evian.
(From A Word A Day)

"Uncorseted, her friendly bust
Gives promise of pneumatic bliss."
T.S. Eliot; Whispers of Immortality; 1920.

Liked this email I received: Sister

2010-05-20T13:15:00.000+08:00

A young wife sat on a sofa on a hot humid day,

drinking iced tea and visiting with her mother.

As they talked about life, about marriage, about the
responsibilities of life and the obligations of
adulthood, the mother clinked the ice cubes in her
glass thoughtfully and turned a clear, sober glance
upon her daughter..

'Don't forget your sisters,' she advised, swirling
the tea leaves to the bottom of her glass. 'They'll
be more important as you get older. No matter how
much you love your husband, no matter how much you
love the children you may have, you are still going
to need sisters. Remember to go places with them now
and then; do things with them..'

'Remember that 'sisters' means ALL the women...
your girlfriends, your daughters, and all your other
women relatives too. 'You'll need other women.
Women always do.'

What a funny piece of advice!' the young woman
thought. Haven't I just gotten married?
Haven't I just joined the couple-world? I'm now a
married woman, for goodness sake! A grownup! Surely
my husband and the family we may start will be all I
need to make my life worthwhile!'

But she listened to her mother. She kept contact
with her sisters and made more women friends each
year. As the years tumbled by, one after another,
she gradually came to understand that her mother really
knew what she was talking about. As time and nature
work their changes and their mysteries upon a woman,
sisters are the mainstays of her life...

After more than 50 years of living in this world,
here is what I've learned:

THIS SAYS IT ALL:

Time passes.

Life happens.

Distance separates.

Children grow up.

Jobs come and go.

Love waxes and wanes.

Men don't do what they're supposed to do.

Hearts break.

Parents die.

Colleagues forget favors.

Careers end.

BUT.........

Sisters are there, no matter how much time and how
many miles are between you. A girl friend is never farther away
than needing her can reach.

When you have to walk that lonesome valley and you
have to walk it by yourself, the women in your life
will be on the valley's rim, cheering you on,
praying for you, pulling for you, intervening on
your behalf, and waiting with open arms at the
valley's end..

Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk
beside you...Or come in and carry you out.

Girlfriends, daughters, granddaughters,
daughters-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law, Mothers,
Grandmothers, aunties, nieces, cousins, and extended
family: all bless our life!

The world wouldn't be the same without women, and
neither would I. When we began this adventure called
womanhood, we had no idea of the incredible joys or
sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we
would need each other..

Every day, we need each other still.

Liked this email I received: 爱的语言 The Language of Love

2010-05-20T12:55:00.000+08:00

Chapman's Five Emotional Love Languages:

Words of Affirmation
肯定的话语；例如你很美，晚餐很好吃。。

This is when you say how nice your spouse looks, or how great the dinner tasted. These words will also build your mate's self image and confidence.

Quality Time 时间

Some spouses believe that being together, doing things together and focusing in on one another is the best way to show love. If this is your partner's love language, turn off the TV now and then and give one another some undivided attention.

Gifts 礼物

It is universal in human cultures to give gifts. They don't have to be expensive to send a powerful message of love. Spouses who forget a birthday or anniversary or who never give gifts to someone who truly enjoys gift giving will find themselves with a spouse who feels neglected and unloved.

Acts of Service 服务：例如帮做家务，浇花，。。

Discovering how you can best do something for your spouse will require time and creativity. These acts of service like vacuuming, hanging a bird feeder, planting a garden, etc., need to be done with joy in order to be perceived as a gift of love.

Physical Touch 肢体，触摸，例如牵手

Sometimes just stroking your spouse's back, holding hands, or a peck on the cheek will fulfill this need.

Liked this email I received: The pastor and his son

2010-05-20T12:28:00.001+08:00

Every Sunday afternoon, after the morning service at the church, the Pastor and his eleven year old son would go out into their town and hand out Gospel Tracts.
This particular Sunday afternoon, as it came time for the Pastor and his son to go to the streets with their tracts, it was very cold outside, as well as pouring rain.
The boy bundled up in his warmest and driest clothes and said, 'OK, dad, I'm ready.'

His Pastor dad asked, 'Ready for what?'

'Dad, it's time we gather our tracts together and go out.'

Dad responds, 'Son, it's very cold outside and it's pouring rain.'

The boy gives his dad a surprised look, asking, 'But Dad, aren't people still going to Hell, even though it's raining?'

Dad answers, 'Son, I am not going out in this weather.'

Despondently, the boy asks, 'Dad, can I go? Please?'

His father hesitated for a moment then said, 'Son, you can go. Here are the tracts, be careful son.'

'Thanks Dad!'

And with that, he was off and out into the rain. This eleven year old boy walked the streets of the town going door to door and handing everybody he met in the street a Gospel Tract .

After two hours of walking in the rain, he was soaking, bone-chilled wet and down to his VERY LAST TRACT. He stopped on a corner and looked for someone to hand a tract to, but the streets were totally deserted.

Then he turned toward the first home he saw and started up the sidewalk to the front door and rang the door bell. He rang the bell, but nobody answered.

He rang it again and again, but still no one answered. He waited but still no answer.

Finally, this eleven year old trooper turned to leave, but something stopped him.

Again, he turned to the door and rang the bell and knocked loudly on the door with his fist. He waited, something holding him there on the front porch!

He rang again and this time the door slowly opened.

Standing in the doorway was a very sad-looking elderly lady. She softly asked, 'What can I do for you, son?'

With radiant eyes and a smile that lit up her world, this little boy said, 'Ma'am, I'm sorry if I disturbed you, but I just want to tell you that * JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU * and I came to give you my very last Gospel Tract which will tell you all about JESUS and His great LOVE..'

With that, he handed her his last tract and turned to leave.

She called to him as he departed. 'Thank you, son! And God Bless You!'

Well, the 2nd of the following Sunday morning in church Pastor Dad was in the pulpit. As the service began, he asked, 'Does anybody have testimony or want to say anything?'

Slowly, in the back row of the church, an elderly lady stood to her feet.

As she began to speak, a look of glorious radiance came from her face, 'No one in this church knows me. I've never been here before. You see, before last Sunday I was not a Christian. My husband passed on some time ago, leaving me totally alone in this world. Last Sunday, being a particularly cold and rainy day, it was even more so in my heart that I came to the end of the line where I no longer had any hope or will to live.

So I took a rope and a chair and ascended the stairway into the attic of my home. I fastened the rope securely to a rafter in the roof, then stood on the chair and fastened the other end of the rope around my neck. Standing on that chair, so lonely and broken-hearted I was about to leap off, when suddenly the loud ringing of my doorbell downstairs startled me. I thought, 'I'll wait a minute, and whoever it is will go away.'

I waited and waited, but the ringing doorbell seemed to get louder and more insistent, and then the person ringing also started knocking loudly...

I thought to myself again, 'Who on earth could this be? Nobody ever rings my bell or comes to see me.' I loosened the rope from my neck and started for the front door, all the while the bell rang louder and louder.

When I opened the door and looked I could hardly believe my eyes, for there on my front porch was the most radiant and angelic little boy I had ever seen in my life. His SMILE, oh, I could never describe it to you!

The words that came from his mouth caused my heart that had long been dead, TO LEAP TO LIFE as he exclaimed with a cherub-like voice, 'Ma'am, I just came to tell you that JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU .' Then he gave me this Gospel Tract that I now hold in my hand.

As the little angel disappeared back out into the cold and rain, I closed my door and read slowly every word of this Gospel Tract. Then I went up to my attic to get my rope and chair. I wouldn't be needing them any more.

You see, I am now a happy child of the King. Since the address of your church was on the back of this gospel tract, I have come here to personally say thank you to God's little angel who came just in the nick of time and by so doing, spared my soul from an eternity in hell.'

There was not a dry eye in the church. And as shouts of praise and honour to the King resounded off the very rafters of the building, Pastor Dad descended from the pulpit to the front pew where the little angel was seated...

He took his son in his arms and sobbed uncontrollably.

Probably no church has had a more glorious moment, and probably this universe has never seen a Papa that was more filled with love & honour for his son... Except for One.

Matthew 10:32 says:

'Whoever acknowledges Me before men, I will acknowledge him before My Father in heaven. But whoever disowns Me before men, I will disown him before My Father in heaven'

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.

Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.

Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.

Painful moments, TRUST GOD.

Every moment, THANK GOD.

Liked this email I received: 出生一張紙

2010-05-20T12:08:00.000+08:00

出生一張紙，開始一輩子；

畢業一張紙，奮鬥一輩子；

婚姻一張紙，折磨一輩子；

做官一張紙，鬥爭一輩子；

金錢一張紙，辛苦一輩子；

榮譽一張紙，虛名一輩子；

看病一張紙，痛苦一輩子；

悼詞一張紙，了結一輩子；

淡化這些紙，明白一輩子；

忘了這些紙，快樂一輩子 !

當大部分人都在關注你飛得高不高時，只有少部分人關心你飛得累不累，這就是友情。再忙，也要照顧好自己，朋友雖不常聯繫，卻一直惦念。

2010新概念一個中心：

一切以健康為中心。

兩個基本點：遇事瀟灑一點，看世糊塗一點。

三個忘記: 忘記年齡，忘記過去，忘記恩怨。

四個擁有：無論你有多弱或多強，一定要擁有真正愛你的人，擁有知心的朋友，擁有向上的事業，擁有溫暖的住所。

五個要：要唱，要跳，要俏，要笑，要苗條。

六個不能：不能餓了才吃，不能渴了才喝，不能困了才睡，不能累了才歇，不能病了才檢查，不能老了再後悔。

Liked this email I received: Hands

2010-05-20T11:10:00.000+08:00

A basketball in my hands is worth about $19.

A basketball in Michael Jordan's hands is worth about $33 million.

It depends whose hands it's in.

A baseball in my hands is worth about $6.

A baseball in Roger Clemens' hands is worth $475 million.

It depends on whose hands it's in.

A tennis racket is useless in my hands.

A tennis racket in Andre Agassi's hands is worth millions.

It depends whose hands it's in.

A rod in my hands will keep away an angry dog.

A rod in Moses' hands will part the mighty sea.

It depends whose hands it's in.

A slingshot in my hands is a kid's toy.

A slingshot in David's hand is a mighty weapon.

It depends whose hands it's in.

Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches.

Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in Jesus' hands will feed thousands.

It depends whose hands it's in.

Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse.

Nails in Jesus Christ's hands will

Produce salvation for the entire world.

It depends whose hands it's in.

As you see now, it depends whose hands it's in.

So put your concerns, your worries, your fears, your hopes, your dreams, your families and your relationships in God's hands because...

It depends whose hands it's in.

Your life is in YOUR hands.

What will YOU do with it?

It Depends on WHOSE Hands it's in!

PS: No matter how far you have gone in the wrong road : TURN BACK!

Liked this email I received: Before I was a Mom

2010-05-20T10:59:00.003+08:00

Before I was a Mom,

I never tripped over toys

or forgot words to a lullaby.

I didn't worry whether or not

my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,

I had never been puked on.

Pooped on.

Chewed on.

Peed on.

I had complete control of my mind

and my thoughts.

I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,

I never held down a screaming child

so doctors could do tests.

Or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

I never sat up late hours at night

watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,

I never held a sleeping baby just because

I didn't want to put her down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces

when I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew that something so small

could affect my life so much.

I never knew that I could love someone so much.

I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,

I didn't know the feeling of

having my heart outside my body..

I didn't know how special it could feel

to feed a hungry baby.

I didn't know that bond

between a mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small

could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,

I had never gotten up in the middle of the night

every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth,

the joy,

the love,

the heartache,

the wonderment

or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,

before I was a Mom.

Liked this email I received: The Last Time

2010-03-25T15:40:00.001+08:00

IF I KNEW

If I knew it would be the last time

That I'd see you fall asleep,

I would tuck you in more tightly

and pray the Lord, your soul to keep.

If I knew it would be the last time

that I see you walk out the door,

I would give you a hug and kiss

and call you back for one more.

If I knew it would be the last time

I'd hear your voice lifted up in praise,

I would video tape each action and word,

so I could play them back day after day.

If I knew it would be the last time,

I could spare an extra minute

to stop and say "I love you,"

instead of assuming you would KNOW I do.

If I knew it would be the last time

I would be there to share your day,

well I'm sure you'll have so many more,

so I can let just this one slip away.

For surely there's always tomorrow

to make up for an oversight,

and we always get a second chance

to make everything just right.

There will always be another day

to say "I love you," and certainly there's

another chance to say our "Anything I can do?"

But just in case I might be wrong,

and today is all I get,

I'd like to say how much I love you

and I hope we never forget.

Tomorrow is not promised to anyone,

young or old alike,

And today may be the last chance

you get to hold your loved one tight.

So if you're waiting for tomorrow,

why not do it today?

For if tomorrow never comes,

you'll surely regret the day,

That you didn't take that extra time

for a smile, a hug, or a kiss

and you were too busy to grant someone,

what turned out to be their one last wish.

So hold your loved ones close today,

and whisper in their ear,

Tell them how much you love them

and that you'll always hold them dear

Take time to say "I'm sorry,"

"Please forgive me, "Thank you," or "It's okay."

And if tomorrow never comes,

you'll have no regrets about today.

JB Shopping Buys: March 2010 hols

2010-03-23T14:02:00.004+08:00

We got to the Causeway around 9 plus on a Friday morning as targetted, after dropping the kids off at Grandma's place. The kiddoes have opted to spend the day there rather than go shopping.

Both the Singapore and Malaysia customs were clear and we breezed through - in time for a leisurely breakfast at a coffeeshop at Taman Sentosa.

After breakfast, it was ten plus, which is when The Store at Lien Hoe (Taman Sentosa) is already open and the rest are beginning to open their shutters one by one.

First I went to Jecki Pharmacy across the road from The Store. Bought Mopiko and Axe Brand oil. Certain things are given a discount off the price tag at this shop.

Mopiko (20g pack) labelled RM8.30 became RM7.10 (S$3) on payment. Axe Brand oil (big bottle - 56ml, I think) remained at RM12.50. I like to buy the large bottle because it doubles up nicely as mosquito repellent when we visit parks and gardens.

At the Chinese medical hall next to Jecki, I bought herbal tea packs for RM2 (S$0.85). It makes a delicious cooling herbal tea for the family after you slow boil it for an hour. You gotta add rock sugar, of course. The kids love it, and it's great for hot weather.

I find it a waste to dump the herbs after one boil, and I do a second boil to get another pot. The second pot is more dilute of course, but still good - the strength is just about what the Chinese medical halls sell, ready-to-drink in plastic bottles. So you can imagine what we get on the 1st boil - really solid, full strength!

At The Store, I bought Akemi hollow fill pillows (the soft and fluffy kind) going at 50% off. It was RM32 plus, so after 50% less, it was RM16 plus (S$7). It was time for the boys to change their pillows. Did not buy the bolster as I did not think it was a good deal. Will check out the bolsters at Carrefour later. After the sleep test over several nights, the boys report that they like it and find it comfortable.

We hop over to Carrefour, where we have a nice lunch at the Japanese restaurant again. It feels like we're on a date, as the kids are not with us.

After lunch, we shop at Carrefour. We've brought our cooler bags to stock up on ice cream and Vitagen - made-in-Malaysia stuff. Vitagen assorted five-pack was RM3.69 (S$1.55).

Box of four Cornetto cones (2 strawberry cheesecake, 2 chocolate) was RM11.90 (S$5), and a box of 4 Cornetto cones (Royale Black Forrest Flirt) was RM10.90 (S$4.60)

Bought Carrefour's Hollow-fill bolster RM14.90 (S$6.30). I hugged it on the boy's bed and find it very nice and soft. The boys love it too. I find that the Akemi bolster was probably of a higher quality, but this Carrefour one was actually good enough since we do not keep it for years and years.

I have always liked the Asadi brand of flipflops. Bought a pair (blue and white) for JK to replace his broken ones at RM11.90 (S$5). This brand offers good quality and comfort, and some of the designs look good. Just don't buy the cheapest range (RM9.90) they have - I'm sure you can tell from the sole of the shoe. JK's feet is bigger than mine now, and we use the hubby's feet to get the right size for him - a perfect fit (with some room to grow) when JK tried it.

The grey and black Asadi pair here belongs to JJ, which he has been wearing since Dec 2008 - and it's still pretty okay. Bought it in Taiping when we were visiting relatives - the Asadi range over there in the Tesco (I think) was much wider compared to what's at Carrefour JB.

Bought a pencil sharpener - the box-like kind with winding handle and "rabbit ears" on sale for RM5 (S$2.10).

Bought Gardenia chocolate and raisin sliced loaf for RM4 (S$1.70). And a box of 6 plain croissants (just nice - there's 6 of us!) for RM10 (S$4.20). We had it for Sunday breakfast treat - toast it crispy and spread on Nutella, and viola, you get chocolate croissants! Forget the overpriced ones at Delifrance!

This morning we had our perenial favourite from Carrefour JB - banana cake, for breakfast. We never leave Carrefour JB without at least one pack. The long 700g pack was RM5.60 (S$2.35).

Bought liu wei tang (six flavour soup) of Yew Chian Haw brand. Comes in a pack of three plus a free bak kut teh soup pack too. RM10 (S$4.20).

Bought many other stuff and groceries but too exhausting to list all. The thing is, in Malaysia, buy made-in-Malaysia stuff (other than the stuff at pharmacies being cheaper because of lower overheads).

After Carrefour is done, we head back to Taman Sentosa - it is three plus in the afternoon. Tapow (Takeaway) Yawang roast duck (our kids simply love it) and soya sauce pork trotters (with intestines - fun cheong) for dinner and head home to Singapore.

We cleared both sides of customs smoothly around four plus and arrived at Ma's place at 5pm. My Ma, as usual, has cooked rice, soup, fish and vegetables for dinner.

By the way, this time round, the Yawang standard seems to have dropped - not as tasty as before. As usual we bought the Pao Shen (a kind of chinese herb) whole duck. It is now RM48 (S$20), the price is always going up each time we visit! Pork trotters (a generous 4-person serving) with fun cheong (for 2 persons) was RM37 (S$15.50).

There was too much leftover food. On Saturday, my family of six had the leftover soya sauce pork with noodles (Koka Fat free) for lunch (with sang choy for veg), and the leftover duck with steamed rice for dinner (with blanched xiao bai cai).

Oh yes, one more thing. The new 20-litre petrol rule over at JB was never an issue for us. Because of the already in place 3-quarter tank rule, when we top up our car to the max, it never hits 20 litres anyway. Usually top-up around 15 to 18 litres in JB and the tank is full. Still, we are happy - it's still cheaper than topping up in Singapore.

Liked this email I received: Test for Dementia

2010-03-14T15:12:00.003+08:00

TEST FOR DEMENTIA﹝癡呆症﹞
Below are four (4) questions and a bonus question. You have to answer them instantly. You can't take your time, answer all of them immediately. Let's find out just how clever you really are.

下列有四個問題及一個加分題，你必須立刻回答，不能花時間慢慢想，讓我們看看你有多聰明。準備好，向下捲！

First Question：第一題
You are participating in a race. You overtake the second place person.

What position are you in?

你參加賽跑，追過第 2 名，你是第幾名？
Answer： If you answered that you are first, then you are wrong. If you overtake the second place person, and you take their place, you are second!

解答：如果你的回答是第 1 名，你就錯了！你如果追過第 2名，你只是取代那人的位置，你是第 2 名.

To answer the second question, don't take as much time as you took for the first question. 回答第 2 題，你不能使用與回答第 1 題相同的時間。

Second Question ：第二題

If you are in a race, and you overtake the last person, then you are?

你參加賽跑，你追過最後一名，你是第幾名？

Answer ： If you answered that you are second to last, then you are wrong again. Tell me, how can you overtake the LAST person?! You're not having a go od time at this! Are you?

解答：如果你的回答是倒數第 2 名，你又錯了！告訴我，你怎能追過最後一名？顯然你並未樂在其中！

Very tricky maths! Note: This must be done in your head only. Do NOT use paper and pencil or a calculator. Try it.

很詭異的算術！這只能在腦中盤算。不要使用紙與筆或計算機，試試看。

Third Question：第三題

Take 1000 and add 40 to it. Now add another 1000. Now add 30. Add another 1000. Now add 20. Now add another 1000. now add 10. What is the total?

以 1000 加上 40 ，再加 1000 ，再加 30 ，再加 1000 ，現在加上 20 ，再加一次 1000 ，現在加上 < /FONT>10 ，總數是什麼？

Answer ： Did you get 5000? The correct answer is actually 4100. Don't believe it? Check with your calculator!

解答：得到 5000 是嗎？正確答案是 4100 ，不相信，用計算機查證吧！

Today is definitely not your day. Maybe you will get the last question right?

今天對你鐵定諸事不宜，或許最後一題你會對？

Fourth Question：第四題

Mary's father has five daughters: 1. Nana, 2. Nene, 3. Nini, 4. Nono. What is the name of the fifth daughter?

Mary 的父親有 5 個女兒，第 1 個女兒 Nana ，第 2 個女兒 Nene ，第 3個女兒 Nini ，第 4 個女兒 Nono ，第 5 個女兒的名字是什麼？

Answer ： Nunu? NO! Of course not. Her name is Mary. Read the question again!

解答：答案是 Nunu 嗎？不！絕對不是，她的名字是 Mary ，請再讀一次問題！

Okay, now the bonus round. You can partially redeem yourself with this one ！

好，現在是加分題。這題可稍稍解救﹝彌補﹞你！

Bonus Question 加分題 :

There is a mute person who wants to buy a toothbrush. By imitating the action of brushing one's teeth he successfully expresses himself to the shopkeeper and the purchase is done. Now if there is a blind man who wishes to buy a pair of sunglasses, how should he express himself?

一個啞巴想買牙刷，他模仿刷牙的動作，成功的向店主表達，也完成了購買。現在如果一個瞎子想買一副太陽眼鏡，他要如何表達？

Answer: He just has to open his mouth and ask. He's blind, not mute - so simple.

解答：他只要張開嘴問即可。他是瞎子，不是啞巴。就這麼簡單！

Liked this email I received: Warren Buffet

2010-03-14T14:59:00.001+08:00

巴菲特的建言

There was a one-hour interview on CNBC with Warren Buffet, the second richest man who has donated $31 billion to charity. Here are some very interesting aspects of his life:

( 以下摘錄自CNBC電視台對世界排名第二的富豪華倫巴菲特所做的一小時專訪,巴菲特目前已經捐310億美元給慈善機構, 他對於人生的一些見解非常有趣)

1.He bought his first share at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late!

( 他11歲開始買了第一張股票,但現在還是很後悔說他太晚買了!)

2.He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers.

( 他14歲時,就用他從小時候送報紙所賺的錢,買了一個小農場.)

3.He still lives in the same small 3-bedroom house in mid-town Omaha , that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence.

( 他雖然富甲一方,卻仍然住在奧瑪哈小鎮的一棟三房小屋內,那是他結婚50週年後所買的房子.他說他們家什麼都有了啊 ! 他家甚至連圍牆或籬笆都沒有!)

4.He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him.

( 他都自己開車出門,也沒有請司機或保全人員跟著他.)

5. He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world's largest private jet company.

( 他雖然是世界最大的私人噴射客機公司的老闆,但卻從來沒有搭私人飛機旅行過.)

6.His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis. He has given his CEO's only two rules.

( 他公司 Berkshire Hathaway,旗下擁有63家企業.他每年只寫一封信給這些企業的總裁,把今年的營運目標告訴他們.他從來不曾定期主持或召開會議,他給這些總裁們的守則只有以下兩條

Rule number 1: do not lose any of your share holder's money.

( 守則一:不要讓公司的投資人虧錢)

Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1.

(守則二: 不要忘記守則一)

7.He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His past time after he gets home is to make himself some pop corn and watch Television.

(他不太跟群眾交際應酬 .下班後主要活動就是弄一點爆米花來吃吃,跟看看電視.)

8. Bill Gates, the world's richest man met him for the first time only 5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet.

(五年前世界首富比爾蓋茲第一次跟巴菲特見面,他覺得他跟巴菲特根本沒有什麼共同點,所以他只排了半個小時跟巴菲特會談 .但當他們見面後,一共談了10個小時,從此之後,比爾蓋茲開始變成巴菲特的忠實信徒,獻身慈善事業 .)

9.Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone,nor has a computer on his desk.

( 巴菲特不帶手機,桌上有沒電腦.)

His advice to young people:"Stay away from credit cards and invest in yourself and Remember:

他給時下年輕人的建議是「遠離信用卡的物慾, 多投資自己並且牢記」

A. Money doesn't create man but it is the man who created money.

(錢是人創造出來的,但是錢不會創造人.)

B. Live your life as simple as you are.

( 過你自己想過的簡單生活吧!)

C. Don't do what others say, just listen them, but do what you feel good

(別人說的話聽聽可以,但不一定要照做,做你自己覺得很棒的事 .)

D. Don't go on brand name; just wear those things in which u feel comfortable.

( 別走入名牌的迷思,穿你覺得舒服的服飾即可.)

E. Don't waste your money on unnecessary things; just spend on them who really in need rather.

(與其把錢花在不必要的事情上,倒不如把錢花在真正需要的地方.)

F. After all it's your life then why give chance to others to rule our life.

( 總而言之,這是你的人生,幹嘛讓其他人來指揮你的人生呢?)

Liked this email I received: God said no!

2010-03-14T14:54:00.001+08:00

I asked God to take away my habit.
God said, No.

It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up.

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.

God said, No.

His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary.

I asked God to grant me patience.

God said, No. Patience is a by product of tribulations; it isn't granted, it is learned.

I asked God to give me happiness.

God said, No.

I give you blessings; Happiness is up to you.
I asked God to spare me pain.
God said, No.

Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.

I asked God to make my spirit grow.

God said, No.

You must grow on your own, but I will prune you to make you fruitful.
I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life.
God said, No.

I will give you life, so that you may enjoy all things.
I asked God to help me LOVE others, as much as He loves me.

God said... Ahhhh, finally you have the idea.

THIS DAY IS YOURS, DON'T THROW IT AWAY

May God Bless You,
'To the world you might be one person,

But to one person you just might be the world'

'May the Lord Bless you and keep you,

May the Lord Make his face shine upon you,

And give you Peace......Forever'

'Good friends are like stars....

You don't always see them, But you know they are always there.

Liked this email I received: Emergency Numbers

2010-03-14T14:49:00.000+08:00

Emergency Telephone Numbers

These are more effective than 911

When -

You are sad, phone John 14

You have sinned, phone Psalm 51

You are facing danger, phone Psalm 91

People have failed you, phone Psalm 27

It feels as though God is far from you, phone Psalm 139

Your faith needs stimulation, phone Hebrews 11

You are alone and scared, phone Psalm 23

You are worried, phone Matthew 8:19-34

You are hurt and critical, phone 1 Corinthians 13

You wonder about Christianity, phone 2 Corinthians 5:15-18

You feel like an outcast, phone Romans 8:31-39

You are seeking peace, phone Matthew 11:25-30

It feels as if the world is b igger than God, phone Psalm 90

You need Christ like insurance, phone Romans 8:1-30

You are leaving home for a trip , phone Psalm 121

You are praying for yourself, phone Psalm 87

You require courage for a task, phone Joshua 1

Inflation's and investments are hogging your thoughts, phone Mark 10:17-31

You are depressive, phone Psalm 27

Your bank account is empty, phone Psalm 37

You lose faith in mankind, phone 1 Corinthians 13

It looks like people are unfriendly, phone John 15

You are losing hope, phone Psalm 126

You feel the world is small comp ared to you, phone Psalm 19

You want to carry fruit, phone John 15

Paul's secret for happiness, phone Colossians 3:12-17

With big opportunity/ discovery, phone Isaiah 55

To get along with other people, phone Romans 12

ALTERNATE NUMBERS

For dealing with fear, call Psalm 47

For security, call Psalm 121:3

For assurance, call Mark 8:35

For reassurance, call Psalm 145:18

ALL THESE NUMBERS MAY BE PHONED DIRECTLY.

NO OPERATOR ASSISTANCE IS NECESSARY.

ALL LINES TO HEAVEN ARE AVAILABLE 24 HOURS A DAY.

FEED YOUR FAITH, AND DOUBT WILL STARVE TO DEATH

Liked this email I received: 12 Days of Christmas

2010-03-14T14:42:00.000+08:00

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics.

It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church.

Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

Three French hens stood for Faith Hope and Love.

The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

The six geese-a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit: Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership and Mercy.

The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

Nine Ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit - Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control.

The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.

The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.

Liked this email I received: Lent

2010-02-25T11:44:00.001+08:00

A different approach to Lent

Fasts have a tendency to be oriented towards things like giving up food or television.

But there are many other creative ways we can welcome Jesus' healing touch.

Here are some suggestions you may want to consider:

Fast from Anger and Hatred
Give your family an extra dose of love each day.

Fast from judging others
Before making any judgement, recall how Jesus overlooks our faults.

Fast from discouragement
Hold on to Jesus' promise that He has a perfect plan for your life.

Fast from complaining
When you find yourself about to complain, close your eyes and recall some of the little moments of joy Jesus has given you.

Fast from Resentment or Bitterness
Work on forgiving those who may have hurt you.

Fast from spending too much money
Try to reduce your spending by 10% and give those savings to the poor.

Liked this email I received: Correcting in love, not smiting in wrath

2010-02-24T13:51:00.002+08:00

Correcting in love - not smiting in wrath!

(Arthur Pink, "Comfort for Christians")

"Whom the Lord loves, He chastens." Hebrews 12:6

The Father's wise and loving discipline is in view here. It is of first importance that we learn to draw a sharp distinction between Divine punishment and Divine chastisement.

The distinction is very simple, yet it is often lost sight of. God's people can never by any possibility be punished for their sins, for God has already punished them at the Cross.

The Lord Jesus, our Blessed Substitute, suffered the full penalty of
all our guilt, hence it is written "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin."

Neither the justice nor the love of God, will permit Him to again exact payment of what Christ discharged to the full.

The difference between punishment and chastisement lies not in the
nature of the sufferings of the afflicted. There is a threefold distinction between the two.

First, the character in which God acts. In the former God acts as Judge -- in the latter as Father.

Sentence of punishment is the act of a judge--a penal sentence passed on those charged with guilt.

Punishment can never fall upon the child of God in this judicial sense, because his guilt was all transferred to Christ, "Who His own self bore our sins in His own body on the tree."

But while the believer's sins cannot be punished, while the Christian cannot be condemned (Romans 8:3)--yet he may be chastised.

The Christian occupies an entirely different position from the non-Christian: he is a member of the Family of God. The relationship which now exists between him and God is that of parent and child; and as a son he must be disciplined for wrongdoing. Folly is
bound up in the hearts of all God's children, and the rod is necessary to rebuke, to subdue, to humble.

The second distinction between Divine punishment and
Divine chastisement lies in the recipients of each. The objects of the former are His enemies. The subjects of the latter are His children. As the Judge of all the earth, God will yet take vengeance on all His foes. As the Father of His family, God maintains discipline over all His children. The one is judicial--the other parental.

A third distinction is seen in the design of each. The one is retributive--the other remedial. The one flows from His anger--the other from His love. Divine punishment is never sent for the good of unrepentant sinners--but for the honoring of God's law and the vindicating of His government.

But Divine chastisement is sent for the well-being of His children: "God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness." (Heb. 12:10)

When the believer is smarting under the rod let him not say--'God is now punishing me for my sins.' That can never be! That is most dishonoring to the blood of Christ. God is correcting you in love--not smiting in wrath!

Chastisement proceeds from God's goodness and faithfulness, and is one of the greatest blessings for which we have to thank Him. Chastisement evidences our Divine sonship. It is designed for our good, to promote our highest interests. Look beyond the rod--to the all-wise hand which wields it!

Some of the saintliest of God's people, some of the most obedient of His children--have been and are the greatest sufferers. Oftentimes, God's chastenings are corrective.

They are sent to empty us of self-sufficiency and self-righteousness. They are given to discover to us hidden transgressions, and to teach us the plague of our own hearts. Or again, chastisements are sent to strengthen our faith, to raise us to higher levels of experience, to
bring us into a condition of usefulness.

Still again, Divine chastisement is sent as a preventative--to keep under pride, to save us from being unduly elated over success
in God's service.

Remember, your afflictions are among the "all things" which work together for good. Learn, then, to look upon trials as proofs of God's love--purging, pruning, and purifying you.

The phrase "the plague of our own hearts" (from above text) can't be more true. I've often wished I was born with a good and pure heart. So that the first thought that comes to my mind, and hence the action and words that follow, are always good and kind.

Liked this email I received: 上帝不問的十個問題

2010-02-24T13:37:00.000+08:00

Ten things God won't ask on that day

God won't ask what kind of car you drove.
He'll ask how many people you drove who didn't have transportation.

God won't ask the square footage of your house.
He'll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.

God won't ask about the clothes you had in your closet.
He'll ask how many you helped to clothe.

God won't ask what your highest salary was.
He'll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.

God won't ask what your job title was.
He'll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.

God won't ask how many friends you have.
He'll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.

God won't ask in what neighbourhood you lived in.
He'll ask how you treated your neighbours.

God won't ask about the colour of your skin.
He'll ask about the content of your character.

God won't ask why it took you so long to seek salvation.
He'll lovingly take you to your mansion in heaven, and not to the gates of hell.

Liked this email I received: The Mayonnaise Jar

2010-02-19T12:06:00.002+08:00

Over the years, I've read several different versions of this particular story. Here goes this one:

The Mayonnaise Jar

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day is not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large
and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
He then asked the students if the jar was full.

They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.

The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full.

They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full.

The students responded with an unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.

The students laughed.

'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things - God, family, children, health, friends, and favorite passions -- things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.'

'The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car.'

'The sand is everything else -- the small stuff.'

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

The same goes for life.'

'If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. '

'So... pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play With your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.'

'There will always be time to clean the house
And fix the disposal.'

'Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter.
Set your priorities.
The rest is just sand.'

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled. 'I'm glad you asked.'

'It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,
there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'

Do Catholics worship Mary?

2010-02-04T14:03:00.000+08:00

http://jeffcavins.com/home/2009/11/25/do-catholics-worship-mary.html