Piano shifting from Jurong West to Meragi Road (Part 1)

This entry is entered primarily to record the step by step procedure of shifting a baby grand piano so that whoever in the future needs to go through this can refer to this entry. (Myself included).

Preparation work (Sourcing of professional piano movers - Take note of the word PROFESSIONAL; I WILL TELL YOU MORE)

Don't go thru a piano shop like what I did. This is because the piano shop will sub to another mover and mark up the price. Go direct to the mover. It can save you 300 bucks.
Charges: Basic charge $320. $70 per floor there on. (Applicable to source and destination) In our case, climb down 8 floors, therefore it will be $70 X 8 = $560 and plus basic $320 = $880 minus $30 discount = $850.

Step 1 - Arrival of piano movers

See how fast they work.....before I can get my camera ready, here they are already started dismantling the pedals and the piano cover...

....then removing the piano cover hinges by professionals

Step 2 - Wrapping up the dismantled piano cover with what looks like a discarded children's comforter.

....now look at the piano cover....all fully wrap up in an "Ultraman" discarded blanket. Does it sounds Professional to you? Er....Wait....Let's see....


Next....wrapping up the entire piano with discarded cushions or what seem to be like discarded comforters or baby cot bumpers of sorts....

Now the piano is ready for the legs to be removed...but wait....phone call first....

Next...comes the removal of the legs...I am so worried here...imagine 1 metric tonne (1000kg) [About the weight of the my Kia Picanto] is now resting on two wooden legs....

ooops....nearly forgot the piano manuscript holder.........To be continued....

AlbertY

Highly Recommended Music Video - Indescribable

Dear All

Tiffany introduced me to a beautiful music video tonight (23 Mar 08 - Mon) named "Indescribable". I couldn't find her version (still presentations with lyrics), but I stumbled on the video version website as follows:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmTxZAl7ceU&feature=related

Go see. Very bee-u-t-full!

Recently, I was reading a child-version science book on the universe. So far, scientist discovered that our thin atmosphere not only provide us with needed oxygen, but also acts as a filter against the harmful UV rays of the sun as well as burns rocks from outer space entering our atmosphere before they can hit us? Our earth is precisely located away from the sun where it's neither too hot that it can kill us, nor too far and hence too cold that we will freeze to death?

Although scientist believe there are many solar systems like ours in the universe and possibly a planet just like us, they have not found any other planet as hospitable as earth. Our planet is so full of life that life spans from the microscopic organism level to the giantic life form of the largest living organism, the blue whale.

The Northern & Southern lights that can be seen in near the Nole and South Poles respectively, are actually the burning of meorites as they hit the outer fringes of our atmosphere.

Isn't it amazing that there is a wonderful God who is protecting and watching over us all the time? And even though we are like naughty children, causing Him anguish, He gave us His Son Jesus to die for us so that we may live? The video is so fantastic. It shows all of nature, reflecting the glory and majesty of our wonderful God who we are told, to call Father.

Love Theresa

Personal Reflections on Vacating Jurong House

Dear All

I helped a little in the clearing of Jurong House last week during the Mar hols. We spent the whole of Tuesday (11 Mar 08) just to clear our things. Earlier, on another day, after Santi left, I helped Bert go through some of his mum's personal things. There were her sewing needles and threads, clothes, personal makeup, personal grooming items, etc. I was very sad when I held her things. She's no longer here, but her things are still with us. It feels so hollow. We decided to donate her Legion of Mary 2 and a half feet tall statue and a huge Legion of Mary picture to Holy Trinity Church. They seemed to be happy to receive these items. We believe our mum is happy that these images could now be shared by so many other people.

Being in Jurong house after so many years brings back memories of her when she was mobile and chatty. Her night suppers of curry maggie noodles after her work at Delifrance. Her sharing of her good old days and photos of Bert, Law and her husband and parents/parents-in-law. Her high pitch girl-like voice full of animation. Her love of Jurong house. Her praise of the amenities near-by. Looking back at Bert's photos brings back so many memories, not just of my mum-in-law, but also the earlier years of our married life together and with Tiffany when she was only a toddler. Looking at the carpentry work of my father for our microwave brings back memories of my dad when he was so active and mobile, so different from what he is like now..so frail and vulnerable and I just feel so sorry for him.

Truly, our Jurong house is like a time capsule. A musuem of things at a standstill. As if things and people can be immortalised. Going through our wedding photo album we came across our wedding cards given by friends and colleagues. I even had my 21st birthday cards and some of my presents too! Such sweet memories, but also memories tinged with sadness. We all age and as the saying goes..time and tide wait for no man. Time will heal.

Last night, I caught a documentary about how a heart can be broken. It can be caused when a person is greatly grieved. This causes 1 side (the lower half side) of the heart to be distended such that only the top part of the heart is pumping and the lower part cannot move. This causes the person to have a heart-attack as insufficient blood and hence oxygen can be pumped to the heart and also to other parts of the body. Nothing can be done except to wait for the heart to recover on its own which is within 72hours. However, if the person is not sent to hospital, it can be fatal. I am afraid I may have a broken heart when my parents passes on. I am very close to them, so the emotional bond is very very great. I try not to think too much, as thinking can also lead to grief. At least, I am now aware of such danger, so we have to watch out for it. We have to be strong as I have to still think of Albert and the children still. They need me as much as I need them.

Love Theresa

As I close another chapter in my life….

Last week has been a busy week for me as I was busy vacating Jurong house to enable it to be ready to make it tenant ready for this Sat (15 Mar 2008). I was filled with some degree of sadness on the night of 13 Mar 2008 when I was there to clear the last batch of stuff….brother was there to clear mum’s wheel chair and bring it back to Hougang….we chatted a bit…recalling back all the memories of mum while mum was staying there all these years….and now it is now nothing but an empty house filled with echoes…

Here is where I use to have dinner with my mum on weekends when she was well…

…this use to be mum’s bedroom when is well and good…

…and here is where mum use to sleep when she was bed ridden…

..and here is where we use to have family dinners when mum is still alive

..our first sofa set 15 years old…(left only the 1+! Seater)
And this use to be our bedroom 15 years ago…

..our first microwave oven…13 years still working (Note: The supporting stand was a gift from father-in-law, I think he carpented it and presented it to us so that the heat will not damage the lining of the kitchen top)

..and this 15 year old piano is where my sweetie practices on and passes her piano exams…..

as all these memories flashed back in my mind….a tinge of sadness comes back to me which explains why I am unable to stay on in this house….

I update brother a bit on the aministration side of things..like mum’s CPF withdrawal, mum’s photo on marble slab, her own personal effects and how to manage it….we chatted a while more before we leave the house. Brother was very kind to help me load up the remaining stuff into the taxi before he drives back to Hougang.
I will be there on Sat (15 Mar 2008) for the last time to see to the shifting of the piano…will tell you more on my actual experience of shifting the piano to Meragi Road…

Albert Y

Spiderwick

Dear All

It seems Spiderwick is a very popular show amongst the kids even before it is screened. The book cover shows quite gruesome looking creatures and only today was it first screened in Singapore's cinemas. And guess what, we caught the show today! The girls were begging to see it. So as promised, we caught the 12.50pm show at GV Tampines.

It's a 1.5h show. The beginning was a bit slow moving, and then quite suddenly, the pace picks up. The review on the papers yesterday said the last part was quite scary for the younger ones. Felicia felt the scenes in the middle more scary as the creatures were unknown then. The last parts were OK for her. Both Felicia and I found the show very touching and nice. For Tiffany, it was just OK. The show could be a little longer though. The show is also about family relationships. Only thing is I find there was insufficient "meat" to the magical creatures.

Another interesting thing happened at home today. During the girls afternoon nap, Felicia jumped on the bed on her knees, and the bed broke! It happened before when she was a baby of 1.5-2 years old. She was in her baby cot learning how to stand and started hopping. Then the cot's bottom broke! Same thing happened...she burst into tears and bawled. She had the same look of fear in her eyes. I guess it must be from the scare of the "fall" as well as my angry face which must have been very fearful to her. She's so afraid I would punish her.

These few days have been very bz especially for Bert and financially tight..what with the big shifting of things from Jurong house and the piano this Sat. Now, we have to get a replacement bed!! Again, this Sat is burn, burn, burn. We have another b/d party to attend. This time it's Felicia's friend (ex-classmate from last year). Bert can't join me as he'll be at Jurong house, so I'll be ferrying the girls from tuition class, to b/d bash and then to cathecism all between 11am to 4:30pm!! Sometimes its a misnomer to call us Stay-at-home mums or even housewives!! We are seldom if ever at home! Our duties are so varied and wide-ranging and we do not stay at home!!!

That's a summary of a page in the life of a SAHM during the holiday period!

Love Theresa

Middle of March Hols Already!

Dear All

An update since my last Sat's blog. Tiffany had "so-so" fun at the school's family day carnival. Felicia had a ball of a time trying out the games at the carnival, winning a cute springy graduate owl, stickers, sticker album and snacks. Somehow, we managed to spend our $60 worth of coupons till the very last dollar. Bert seemed to be amazed at how I did it..remember..I am a thrifty wife (heh, heh) .

It was so hot that day, I felt asleep whilst waiting for the girl's to finish cathecism, and Bert's chatting voice became a nice droon to put me into a lullaby. This time, we made sure we didn't leave the radio on! Last week, it drained out the car battery and we had to call the mechanic to come over to replace it! Luckily the petrol station was just diagonally across the church and we were in holy ground!!

Next stop (to the same Sat!!) was Tiffany's fren b/d party. I was really bush and was thinking to call the mum to skip the party. However, the fren's mum met us on Fri and personally reminded us to come over..."bring the whole family" she said. So I couldn't not go to the party. So we arrived early...before the host arrive. It was such a sad party for the birthday girl. She was very stressed out because of PSLE so her mum decided quite last minute to let her have a b/d party. 15 of her classmates were invited and none turned up!! Tiffany was the only one from her school and she's not her in P6 class either. It was supposed to be a party for her as most likely the girls will be going to different secondary schools next year. We were so honoured that she had invited us so we had to give her support. Relative-wise, only 3 families came. We felt so bad for her. However, the home-made food was fantastic! Bert ate so much and we both "tackle" the north indian vegetarian curry and her pudding!! The mother even made her own b/d cake! Yum yum! Tiffany won a prize, but Felicia was so dissappointed she didn't win any. You should have seen her face...trying to put on a brave front! I must lift my hat to her as she asked to be given a second chance. This girl, never say "die" lah!

Yesterday (Tues), whilst taking an afternoon nap with Felicia, she very solemnly told me she had a problem. Since ah mah's death, she had an issue on her belief in God. She told me she always wondered why we pray for ah mah's soul to rest in peace and send in prayer petitions to pray for her soul. She said it didn't make sense as when ah mah died, her soul would already be in heaven. Now she has an issue with whether there is a God.

I shared with her the visions my parents had seen during their pligrimage to Medjgorie and Bert's seeing of God's hand in the creation of nature. It seems, Tiffany takes after Bert in their simplistic child-like belief in God, whereas Felicia takes after me in my more cynical belief. Felicia thanked me for my sharing and say that she now believes in God. I pray for just a little faith, as tiny as a mustard seed, as the bible says. I want to believe 100% all the time. Some days I do, some days I feel afraid that there isn't a God or heaven after all. This is really what Jesus says...some people need to see to believe. Maybe I am the doubting Thomas! But being human, I guess even if God gives me a miracle, I'll soon forget it and ask for something more spectacular!!

Like today for instance. I attended the sacrament of Reconcilation in the morning. As it was raining a little, I decided to leave the girls at home. Furthermore, Tiffany had already done her confession in school 2 Thursdays' ago. The service was simple and somehow it touched me. The simple utterance of faith by the thief to Jesus to remember him in paradise. How much moved and gratified Jesus must have felt that at least this one person believes in Him!!! I realised then (1) and I am not alone in my doubts, at least, sometimes and (2) I am not even as good as the thief!! He had such simple faith. I wish sometimes to be more simplistic in my faith. It's quite scary that Felicia has this so early in life. I was happily going through my childhood without any hood or issue about God till I was much older!

After my confession, I didn't expect to tear. I seldom am moved with confessions. Maybe it's because it is mostly mechanical with ready prepared "list" of sins. Today's was different. Perhaps when I prayed for a little faith, God must have moved me to make a heart-felt confession. The beginning was well-prepared, but the rest came out quite spontaneously. I felt so good after that. The message to me was to persevere and press on in life's struggles by ALWAYS turning to God and PRAYING! This seems to also be a message for Bert's colleague who had recently been diagnosed with stomach cancer and is going for an op next Mon. And his wife is expecting their 2nd baby in July this year! This colleague is also a catholic and a very nice person. I felt so strongly that this message was also for him and told Bert to let him know not to lose hope.

Today's dealings with people like sales people or friends were very good too. It seems this "halo" of a clean-slate makes me a nicer person, so others react nicely towards me too. Like when I purchased some wrapping papers and the man counted less 1 sheet, I told him of the error. After the total was tallied, I bargained for a slight discount. At first he was adamant not to give me. Then surprisingly, when I was willing to let it go, he gave me a discount!! I later related this to the girls and Bert. It seems honesty is truly the best policy! I didn't cheat the guy and in the end I got a bargain!

That's my sharing for today. I still feel great and I hope to keep my slate spotless and clean as long as possible!!

May the good Lord bless you all, my lovely LC couples!!

Love Theresa

Eve of Mar School Holidays

Dear All

Today, Felicia doesn't have lessons as the school needs the teachers and upper primary girls to help prepare things for SACPS Family Day tomorrow. The carnival starts from 9am to 3pm. It'll be a VERY VERY BZ day for us tomorrow as after the carnival, we have to send the girls for cathecism from 3:30pm - 4:30pm, afterwhich Tiffany's school friend's mum invited our family over for her daughter's 12th birthday party tomorrow from 5 - 8pm..I think it'll be north india cuisine...yum, yum.

This weeks' been very BZ with Tiffany's mock PSLE exams. Had to juggle and swap all the girls tuition classes to this evening and this Sun evening! So weekend all burn!

To give the girls a treat, we took the MRT to T3 to hunt for easter eggs. There's a Candy Empire there with quite a few choices of easter eggs. After the girls had explored T3, we took the Sky Train to T2 for a yummy Swensen's meal complete with their famous and delicious ice-cream. As usual, we took the no frills ice-cream and they still fought over it!! Felicia was extremely happy and excited about the MRT journey to T3 and couldn't stop yakking away in mandarin throughout the ride till we reached T3. They were not disappointed with the vastness and spankiness of the new terminal.

We then went to Cold Storage at T2 to see if they had other choices of easter eggs...such a disappointment this year! They had only 2 types. T3's NTUC didn't stock easter eggs either. I've got this cute bunny rabbit mask for Felicia so she can't wait to go easter eggs hunting with her mask at Ma-ma's place on Easter Sunday. Tiffany is already way beyond this, but Felicia still loves such things.

I've better hit the sack now as we have an early start tomorrow at the carnival. We have $60 worth of coupons to spend as each child has to sell $30 worth of coupons each, so guess who has to buy them all!!

We shall keep you posted on tomorrow's events. Hopefully, a picture is worth a thousand words..so we'll try to get some good shots to share with you.

Love Theresa & Albert

Today is Friday....

Today is Friday and yesterday I was on leave to sent my humble car for servicing...and spent nearly the whole day waiting for my car at Leng Kee. Lucky got my sweetie with me...so while waiting for our car to be ready, we went to the nearby IKEA Alexandra to look see, look see and have a nice lunch and chit chat and also jalan, jalan at Anchor Point. It took about 4 hours for our car to be ready and the car was finally ready at about 3 plus...when I reach home, I went for my usual run at BPR...nice day though it was raining slightly. Reach home again at about 7pm...very tired...so that is why no time to blog...

Since today is Friday, I might as well blog something light,....and I was thinking of what to blog and was going through my mind and I come across this product which I am currently using and I like it very much (it was introduced to me by one of my students and my colleague too is using this product..it is my GATSBY "Moving rubber". I have a few range of this product...but the one that I like most is this GATSBY "Moving rubber - Grunge mat". It gives you that radical out of bed look and at the same time it gives you the Matt finish (not shiny or greasy). One thing I like most about Japanese product is that it comes with a complete step by step instruction and also a video on how to style your hair (all this is available on the Gatsby website)...and yes by the way this product is made in Japan and don't cost that much... about $8 and available in Watson and also NTUC. Here is the product close up:

Here are the main steps on how to sytle your hair with GATSBY MOVING RUBBER: (The beauty of this is that you do not need to carry a comb with you. All you need is your fingers... This is what I like best.

Step 1

Step2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6-Completely styled

Besides Grunge Mat, I have another Gatsby Moving Rubber that is called "Air Rise" which maiximises your hair volume. Container is the same shape as Grunge Mat but it is green in colour. This is my second preferred choice.

Have a nice and blessed weekend!

Sorry folks we can't join you all in this month's LC meeting.

Albert Y

2 Book Reviews - Highly recommended (light reading)

Dear All

Unlike Albert, my readings are based on what I have to borrow for the children according to their reading list given by the school.

I had recently read 2 quite good books recommended to P6. The first is simple and straight-forward in writing that Tiffany also enjoyed reading thoroughly. The details are:

Title : Caddie Woodlawn
Author : BRINK, Carol (Bold type is the surname of author)
Call No: F BRI
Library borrowed from : TRL (Tampines Regional Library)

Caddie Woodlawn is a real person though her surname is changed in the story. It is partly a autobiography of the author's grandma when she was growing up as a young pioneer child in Canada where the red indians run free and the white men were "invaders" to the land. It isn't heavy (read as boring) reading. The story is a hard to put down book as it captures all the adventures of this tom-boy with her 2 brothers. It covers only one year of the young adventurer's life and gives us an insight into the tough life of a pioneer in red indian land.

Recommendation : 4 popcorns (ha ha..cinema style!!)

Next read is a book that Tiffany finds a little difficult to follow. She says the plot is too complicated for her. I guess it's because it is peppered with chinese dialects and based on the political climate in China during the cultural revolution. Personally, I find it a great read too, if you gloss through those parts and get into the actions of the main character in the story. When I related the adventures of the main character, Young Fu, to Tiffany last night (as bed-time story), she lapped them up whilst forcing her eyelids to be awake.

Having said that, the story also gives us a glimpse into the hard life of a lowly educated farm boy in a booming city. Young Fu uses his wits and intelligence to survive in the city where soldiers act like hooligans, and outside the "safe" walls of the city where bandits lurk. It also gives us Singaporean Chinese a taste of what our mothers tell us --- to fear the "unknown" (e.g. angmohs) and to fear offending the gods. Young Fu overcomes many obstacles and faced death at least twice in the book. It traces his apprenticeship with the coppersmith to learn a trade in order to survive, at the age of "13 years and 7 moons" (an age considered too old for apprenticeship at that time) till 2 years after his 3 years apprenticeship (which should have been 5 years apprenticeship but because demand for copperwares was booming, this training was shortened). His adventures are good reading and shows how he uses his wits to manage problematic situations and sometimes even to outsmart his enemies. For those parents with teenagers, it also gives a glimpse into the growing up years of a teenage boy into a young man of 17 years where the story ends!!

Title : Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze
Author : LEWIS, Elizabeth
Call No: F LEW
Lib : TRL

Recommendation : 3.5 Popcorn

Love Theresa

What does this "........." mean actually in my blog entries?

Dear all,


I have been blogging in this blog and you may have wondered in all my entries I tend to use this punctuation which looks like this:


".............." in between sentences.
I tend to use this a lot and a great deal and you may be wondering what I mean actually....Sorry for not clarifying this in the beginning.

Well, sometimes, frankly and honestly, I myself also do not know what I wanted it to mean, probably it is my style of blogging and while reading this book recently (I just started on the introduction page) on the autobiography of St Teresa of Calcutta,


I discovered that she too has this similar habit but the difference is that St Teresa uses a dash [Here is a sample page from her book]

while I use a series of dots like this......but I think this paragraph sort of summarises what I mean in the meaning of "......." in my blog entires similar to that of St Teresa.

So, "......" could mean anything from a colon, semi-colon, exclamation or question mark, anything actually......and I would like end this entry by leaving you with this page from the book which I particularly like :

Have a nice day!

Albert Y

My Response & "Love letter" to Albert

Dear All

Firstly, I did not have a good day today. So after seeing Albert's blog, I was very uplifted and touched.

My day started fine until I received a call from SACPS that Felicia was crying as no bus driver came to pick her up after her CCA. I had already checked with the driver earlier today that he'll be picking her up, so I was of course fuming mad with him for leaving me and Felicia in the lurch. So, by hook or by crook, he "kuai-kuai" went to fetch her. I had just sent in an e-mail of complaint to SACPS Operations manager for not informing us (another parent had the same experience as I had called her this evening to check if there was any communication given to us about the cancellation of the supplementary bus service and she said no) to highlight this incident and to inform us in advance and explicitly in the Parents Connection (a monthly 4 page newsletter from the school).

Back to Albert's "love letter" to me. I am quite uncomfortable to write this so publicly. But I suppose if Albert is willing to openly share his feelings for me in this blog, I think I will take the risk to share mine so openly too.

I know Bert's a man of few words, but when he speaks, they are always worded with love and thoughtfulness. Bert, your note about how you do so many things for my parents although I feel so bad about it, is just because you know how much I love my parents, and you are doing all these things just because you love me. Sometimes, I feel so sad that no one else seems to care for them, and my heart aches. Then you always step in to console me and offer to help. I feel sometimes like mother mary asking Jesus to help the wedding couple in canna. You are like my Jesus. Even my mum and dad feels you are so much a better son than their own and are always grateful to you for help. Sometimes it is true that I feel disappointed in you at times but I try to conceal it. It seems my face is like an open-book to you. I accept the fact that when I married you, your hobby is sleeping!!

When I made the difficult decision to stop work, you were there to reassure me that that was the right decision to make and that you'll be always there to support me. I have not been disappointed with my decision and I believe our little family is a happier one for that.

It is true that our path has not been always smooth going. Not so much our relationship with each other, but more our journey together through thick and thin. At times, life can be so bumpy and unpredictable, like Felicia's recent hospitalisation, just after your mum's demise. Our financial situation is always a burden on my mind but you always tell me not to worry, and I wonder and praise the Lord, for somehow, our little oil seem to miraculously sustain itself somehow. Never diminishing and, regretfully, not growing either! I guess it's God's testing on our sustenance on Him and what He provides. Our girls are like what the bible says, the fruits that give us nournishment and make live meaningful, as we learn so much from them as they do from us.

Although we had faced opposition from my mum when we became serious with each other, and unhappiness from your mum on our engagement and wedding days, these are like the 120 years that Noah faced. I have no regrets what so ever in marrying you and have grown to love you more each day. The young fire and sparks of our younger days may be smaller and fewer in-between, but it has changed into a very strong glow over the years. Just like the BBQ pit, the strong glow and NOT the fire, is what is needed to cook the meat thoroughly. It must be God's will that we meet though we are miles apart both literally and in our social circles. I always marvel at how we came to meet and I always thank you for having chosen me.

Love Theresa

My ME "love letter"......

This morning when I open Lenz e-mail, I read it for a couple times and just stared and think how could I draft this love letter to my sweetie…it is no easy feat to write one…so I think very hard and try to write one from the perspective of ME…to tell you the truth until now I still don’t know the exact meaning of a “love letter”…it is much more easy to deal with mathematical language then to having to write an English essay based on love and worst to search your heart through and express them in English words…….firstly, what is the format? How should it begin…what must I include?all the mushy, mushy love statements?If I were to include all the cloud 9 love declaration statements, it sounds a bit not my normal myself…and of course I don’t feel comfortable with it because that is just not me.....so after thinking very hard I chose to do it my way in which I feel the most comfortable..so I chose to do it in pictorial form..with words kept to the minimum…as much as possible.

Here is the so-called "love letter" but do you call this a love letter…? I don’t know…really…but all I know is that this is something coming from my heart....

To begin with when we knew each other 18 years ago, before that we were total strangers to one another (My genes are 100% completely from Ipoh (more than 300 km from here).. ..I was only born here....other than that I am 100% an Ipoh boy, very Malaysian, very very Malaysia Boleh!)……..So you see... one being from the north and one from the south (from 2 different countries), when we first know each other….naturally there are so many secrets each of us holds that cannot be told …..Bu Neng Shuo De Mi Mi…but since then, there are no more of such secrets…between us….

But like I said in one of my blog entries…I am constantly writing this “Tong Hua” (Fairytale) in this marriage and like any other “Tong Hua” there are times that are considered to be “…..and they lived happily ever after…”(remember that familiar phrase in every Tong Hua?), while there are times you seem to be in darkness….and begin to wonder… is this what's marriage is all about…St Teresa of Calcutta too experience that too in her vocation as revealed in this book.....
There are times in this so many 15 years or so…we do not know where we are going and the road in front of us is extremely tough and rough and also unknown….but we stick to our marriage vows….and “Feng Yu Tong Lu” ....

FENG YU TONG LU

Through Thick and Thin (Stand Together)

主唱Sang by: Michael Wong (光良)

作曲Song written by : 颜晓薇

作词Lyrics by : 吴以健/颜晓薇

Translated by : athlynn17Pinyin by : athlynn17

并著肩迎接著挑战
Bing zhe jian ying jie zhe tiao zhan

Together we stand to welcome challenges

贡献彼此泪和汉从不伪装

Gong xian bi ci lei he han cong bu wei zhuang

Each dedication, tears and sweat are never fake

不要害怕你走得缓慢

Bu yao hai pa ni zou de huan man

Don’t be afraid that you’re walking too slowly

总有一天会到

Zong you yi tian hui dao

There will be day that you’ll arrive

下一个幸福的车站

Xia yi ge xing fu de che zhan

To the next destination filled with happiness

风雨路 我们携手共渡

Feng yu lu wo men xie shou kong du

Through thick and thin, we’re holding hands together to face it

三色石 牵绊不了进度

San se shi qian ban bu liao jin du

Three-coloured stone, bonded together endlessly to the way to advancement

凭著各自坚持与领悟

Ping zhe ge ji jian chi yu ling wu

Depending on each others’ perseverance and understanding

感受互相扶持的幸福

Gan shou hu xiang fu chi de xing fu

Feel the happiness of helping each other

漫长路 庆幸你我同步
Man chang lu qing xing ni wo tong bu

The long road, Success is with me and you

三叶草 陪伴著不却步

San ye cao pei ban zhe bu que bu

Three-leaved grass, walking together in synchronicity

不同理念和方式互补

Bu tong li nian he fang shi hu bu

Different ideas and ways complementing each other

铺造一条属于我们骄傲的道路

Pu zao yi tiao shu yu wo men jiao ao de dao lu

Paving ourselves a road that will make us proud

…but I have learnt the value and the meaning of sacrifice for you and this is my sign…of my love, and my fidelity to you..

…..my wedding ring which can be constantly found hanging there to dry (you know that) in the kitchen like sometimes after doing some housework like washing dishes or cooking your favourite vege…dish (Mine would be minus the the mushroom)
We went through extreme grief together….
But in the end this is the testimony to our relationship…this what our children sees in us…they are our mirror of our relationship..
This piano also a constant reminder me of our relationship in the early days back in 1994 where we are still without children where I accompany you all the way from Jurong to Yio Chu Kang to take your piano exams and sometimes I wait for you throughout your piano lessons in the old Plaza Sing….how we scout all over Singapore (from Serangoon to Bedok and then to Plaza Sing and then ultimately choose this piano and how you ultimately passed your piano exam….with it!
Also you have always asked me help your mum and dad in whatever request they made right down to getting this plaster…as they are old and not so mobile… and I did coz I know you luv mum n dad a lot..
I know at times I was very tired of it all doing all this and have disappointed you in some ways but I know I must persevere for the sake of my love for you….

But as you know, I have my faults too…one which is that you have married a sleepy hubby…please forgive me! This is my love letter to my sweetie…yawn! yawn!

Love,

Albert Y

LC300 34th gathering: 8th March(Sat)7pm, gathering at M & A's place

Dear all LC300 lovers,

It has been strings of festive seasons over the last few months, now we shall get back to the rythm of our ME sharing, which is essential to achieve the objectives of our original weekend --- to be better couples, keep the love flame burning with our spouse, which is the best gift for our children, and peope around us, to lead a full life w/o regret.

Venue: Matthew&Anne's place
Details: check e-mail

As Matthew will be back in the afternoon on Sat 8 March and Anne has a meeting till 5.00pm on that day, please come after 6.00pm .

As they are busy, J&J will helpingthem to co-ordinate the food that all of you will be bringing for the evening.

Pls copy your reply to Anne & J&J

Sharing Qs:

It took Noah 120yrs to build the ark. We can imagine he face many discouraging days. With no sign of rain year after year, he was ruthlessly criticized as a "crazy man who thinks God speak to him". Yet Noah kept on trusting God.
View above as couple bible reading(experienced in MR), reflect how this has/going to strength your marriage lifes, which is bombarded with much hardship, heartache, dis-illusionment and pain.
Write a love letter to your spouse, share before the gathering on 8March.
Looking forward to see all of you.

love & God bless

On behalf of
Lenz&Josephine.
PS :ME anniversary mass is scheduled for May19(Vesak Day) at IHM
If your wedding falls in the "5yrs" milestones(5, 10, 15....), pls submit your names for special blessing & preparation of your certificate.

Albert Y

My bag....

Today is such a rainy day, that I stayed at home most of the time and sleep (it is such a wonderful day to sleep…..and then I was thinking of what to blog next when I thought of my bag..something that is close to me physically... daily…I carry it to work ….in the train, in the bus…to Jurong house…and back to Simei..everywhere practically….I carry it to functions as well like the recent graduation DnD…so I might as well as blog something on it as well..also in line with ME policy that we are encourage to share as much as possible…wherever we can…but the weakness in me is that I can’t do a F2F (Face to Face) sharing as good as a eSharing…so that is why we chicken out when we were approach to be the presenting couple for ME…time factor is one thing…but whether you are comfortable doing it is another…coz we believe that if we are not comfortable doing it, we will not be able to contribute effectively and do a good job (we may end up doing more harm than good to ME)…so that is why we chose to blog…eSharing is the way to go for us...it is 24/7..also you can chose not read it or to read it anytime, anywhere you like...

Oops..sorry for the side track…now back to my little bag. Here is my bag:
To begin with, my bag…is an Adidas sling bag costing only SGD60…
And here are the contents:

In it what can be found is my rosary (this one is actually my mother’s rosary..one of the very few that was not cremated with her during her funeral) I have a blue rosary as well which she gave to me many years back and I kept it by my bedside. So I have 2 rosaries. (Mummy says must carry rosary wherever I go…so carrying it becomes more of a habit)

Next, a packet of Watson’s wet tissues…comes in handy especially when you need to refresh your tired face and when you could not find a toilet to wash your face..

…and next is of course my Sony MP3 player costing about $100. Bought end of last year after the previous one that I had (also a Sony) was damaged after a can of drink put together with it leak into it)..

Then comes my OMRON thermometer…started during SARS days when the govt encourage everyone to carry one…so this is my personal thermometer which I have been carrying since..
In my bag, also a name card holder containing some of my name cards…handy when comes to paying a visit to my Industrial Attachment students…need to touch base with their company supervisors..
Then, there is also a Parker Roller Ballpen given to me by my past graduated students few years back..can’t remember which year already.
Then to kill time in the train instead of staring into each other’s faces, I have with me this book which is currently still my favourite book…Complete Spiritual Doctrine of St Therese of Lisieux
My umbrella..which about the lightest that I have experience..comes free with the Vit C Redoxan that I bought sometime back…essential for me as I am person who sort of walk quite a fair bit.daily....and the steps that I take per day is monitored using this step monitor (courtesy of NYP)…also in my bag.

....ah yah...nearly forgot to mention, in my bag is also...my tablet PC (courtesy of NYP)..I use it to blog most of the time....

...coz it is so convenient when it comes to downloading of photos...see the SD slot here:

That is about all that I have in my little humble bag….. It is now close to 1am, now I go to bed....my sweetie is still reading her book...yawn! yawn!

Good nite folks!

Albert Y