My exploration in life… (diary for baby!)

This year that I turn 29, is the year in recent ones, I have received more wishes and gifts.  I received a gift from FAIZAL, gift vouchers from YONGSHENG (the mastermind), KHALISAH, JIANWEN, ADRIAN, CHRIS, ROZALI, EMILY, SHIREN, KAIXIN, KIAT HOON, SHAWN, and quite a few birthday wishes from friends.  And my dear wife never fails to at least take my family to a meal to sort of "celebrate" the day for me.  Gosh, everyone, played a part in making me feel extra special this year.  Thank you again!

We had been told that this semester is a particularly short one - six weeks to be exact, before we commence on our second teaching practice.  This means that we have no chance to rest on our laurels - assignments due very soon and tests knocking on the door one after another.  Plus the physically demanding 6-hour a week hockey lessons, up from the previous semesters’ 3-hour a week lessons.  It’s crazy, but is anyone listening??

I have to put on record here that especially this module - "Fitness and Conditioning" - I don’t know what it is trying to achieve.  We were told only the first week, and not months ahead to enable us ample time for training, if we wanted to, that eight physical fitness tests would be conducted for us from the second to the sixth week.  These tests, including a 1.5 mile or 2,41km run, a 1-minute push-up + 1-minute sit-up test, flexibility tests, among others, were to be taken and used to judge our module score / performance.  I cannot see how taking part in these surprise tests could achieve its intended objective of trainees being able to "conduct various fitness tests" at the end of the module…  I’m sure I have a lot to say in the module evaluation, not that I can do anything to change it for us now.  =(

I barely managed a poor 13 mins 08 secs on the 1.5 mile-run this past Wednesday.  That’s a far cry from my previous personal best of 7 mins 26 secs when I was 19, and in a much better shape than I am now.  This really shows a lack of conditioning on my part.  I think I want to do something about this.  I hope I can find the time and convince myself to go running when my back doesn’t hurt…  =(

I’m a year older now; not any wiser - I continue to blabber on when I really should keep comments to myself, be too vocal than I need to be, and allow myself to feel unhappy by caring too much about other’s actions / comments.  I must find a way to shut these things out and put my life in perspective again.  =(

Fetched YEN from her workplace and accompanied her to satisfy her craving of having a snack before dinner last night.  Ran into KELLY and his wife, CLARE, at the coffeeshop.  The couple had dinner there and we spoke while YEN ate too.  KELLY is a smashing bloke I came to know when I was working in the Armed Forces.  Days we worked together, with SAM SOO, ROGER and gang were memorable ones when we enjoyed ourselves fighting for our survival under our most vicious boss back from 2000 to 2001.  Now that’s another story altogether…

KELLY and CLARE finished dinner and bade their goodbyes.  YEN finished her snack and we were about to head home when I received a call from HUIJUN.  My sister-in-law sounded worried as she explained to me her situation - she was supposed to meet EDDIE in REDHILL where he waited for her to finish her work.  Now that she was done, she was unable to contact my brother.  I sent YEN home and immediately went on my way to join in the search for him…

Whilst driving, I tried to call him on his mobile a couple of times, and they were all diverted to the voice-mailbox.  Calls to their residence went unanswered too.  I was getting really worried by this time - there was no way we could contact him and find out about his whereabouts after exhausting these two options.  Made me realise how easy a person can go "missing", intentionally or not.

I made a "999" call to explain the situation to the police officer, and asked to find out if my brother was involved in any mishap on the road.  Of course I didn’t want to hear news of him being found this way, but at least we could find him at that time.  The helpful police officer directed me to call a number belonging to the Traffic Police.  He also added that if there was no news about my brother on the traffic end and if all hopes were dashed, we could head down to the nearest police post to file a "Missing Person" report.

I wasted no time in explaining our situation all over again.  Thankfully (or not, I don’t know?), he told me EDDIE’s vehicle was not reported to have met with any accident.  I was trying to rush to REDHILL when HUIJUN called me again, informing me that she had reached REDHILL by taxi first, and she would look around to try spot EDDIE or his car around first.  I was asking her how I could meet her when I got there when she got a call on the second line and, thank the Lord, it was EDDIE!

It was later that I spoke to him and he apologised for getting us all worried - apparently, he had no idea we were searching high and low for him as his phone had not rang at all.  It was most likely a problem with the mobile communications network that caused all these upheaval.  I don’t want to think of what we could do if such a situation took place again when we try to contact our loved ones.  And I suddenly felt all the more sorry for those who have theirs reported missing…

School has started and the new year, 2007, is underway.  YEN and I are reeling from the amount of things we have to do, when working and even on leave / holidays.  We are dead beat but for the sake of life, we soldier on…  Just thinking aloud, is this all to life - work, work and work??  =(

I have to agree that there are happy moments.  Our getting together and forming an union, a family, the birth of our child, watching her grow by the day, expecting the birth of our second one, etc. - we wouldn’t exchange these for anything else or wish it had gone any other way.  But when we meet road-blocks in life, when we stumble and fall, in times like these when we feel that we have little to carry ourselves forward with…  makes me wonder if this is all to life - schooling until a person is 20, working until 60+, and struggle to keep alive until our last breath??  Sigh…

Why the pessimism today?  Perhaps it is with my fall on Tuesday, in my rushing for the hockey lesson that had started, aggravated by the fact that we will be tested on quite a few fitness tests that we have no time to prepare for.  The worst hit must be the news that a good friend’s wife suffered a miscarriage…

We all have times that we feel down.  We have to realise that the world doesn’t stop revolving to wait for us and sulk, get over these unhappy issues.  We have to find ways to pick ourselves up and move on.  I hope everyone is able to do that with little problems…  Look ahead - for every down in life, there is an up…  ("_)

I hope everyone has a great 2007.  Though life always has its lows, 2006 has been great for me on a whole.  The highlights of the year have, of course, been RACHEL’s arrival into the world and the announcement of the impending arrival of our second child come August next year.  Sure, life is no bed of roses - unhappy incidents I faced in NIE and life the past year - I want to take things with a pinch of salt and hope to move on into a great 2007…

Amidst the busy year, it is great to know that YEN’s work has paid off and she is promoted to become a Nurse Clinician from a Senior Staff Nurse in 2007.  So she’ll assume the title to be a "sister".  Nice.  I can’t be of too much help in her work, but I’ll try give her all the support I can from behind the scenes.  =)

The year would probably see another challenge for me that I hope to embrace with open arms - the end of my studies in NIE and the start of my teaching in a primary school.  I hope to do well as a physical education and English language teacher, though I cannot say yet that I am sure that I am confident that I can be one, but I’ll try my best.  You can be sure of that I will try to be a responsible teacher, just as I’ve succeeded in trying to be a responsible Officer / worker in the SAF then.

RACHEL is about seven-and-a-half months old now.  She can crawl a little on mattresses and beds, but not too well when placed on the floor.  As from her third month, she has been putting almost anything and everything in her mouth to bite / lick them.  We thought she started to talk when she seemed to be addressing us, but I doubt it now as she has not repeated addressing us since.  Perhaps my ears were playing tricks on me.

She can sit upright on her own for a while, but falls to the side when she her attention shifts to something by her side and she turns to that side.  She has grown a few tiny little teeth and mum and YEN has started feeding her little solid food like bread (she loves bread!), mashed food like carrot, potatoes, bananas and other fruit.

I have tried reading to her on a few occasions, but she seems more interested in putting the pages of the books in her mouth than looking at the pictures or listening to me.  Grrr…  nevermind!  I will try again, so that I can help cultivate a reading habit in her when she grows.  I await to see her growth and maturation, and the many other surprises the new year will bring us.  =)