My exploration in life… (diary for baby!)

It was the first time in about two years that I donned my uniform to return to my old camp, from where I left service and plenty of memories, as a guest in a Change-of-Command parade for the Division Commander earlier this evening.

No, I had not worked with the outgoing Commander.  Nor do I know the incoming one.  I was invited, merely, because I was an ex-regular of my unit.  Many NSmen would have turned down the invite as it does not count for any in-camp training, nor did the event do them any good.  But I was there with the motive of catching up with old colleagues whom I have worked with while I was there.

Not only did I enjoy talking to them, but I also had a pleasant surprise of seeing Dr BERVYN LEE, the ex-head PESS in NIE.  He is one of the NS Commanders of a NS battalion.  And he actually recognised me when he saw me.  We spoke briefly later about how I found teaching practice, and how it has for him since he left PESS and joined Sports Council.  It was nice chatting with everyone I spoke to.  =)

I faced yet more difficulties in my time at NAN HUA, and was berated by a senior teacher for showing my irritation and frustration to her.  She said I should expect things to change last minute and to unforeseen circumstances when we teach, and not expect things to be smooth sailing as we would plan.

I agree with her, but it is plain frustrating as the situation I met was not "unforeseen" as she mentioned, but a case of teachers not remembering to inform me of the changes.  Having set-up equipment for two lessons earlier (where I used an hour to set-up for one of them), wasn’t I entitled to a little frustration?  Still, I apologised for my "unprofessional behaviour and poor attitude".  It’s just another two weeks-plus before I get out of there in one piece, Ryan…  hang in there!

Wow, RACHEL has grown so tall so quickly - when she stands inside the playpen my mom bought her, she head now pops out of it.  YEN pointed out how tall she has grown just a little earlier when RACHEL was standing in her own mattress and leaning onto our bed - she head was below the height of our head previously but has suddenly been able to stand in the same way, and her eyes are almost level with the bed now.

Still, I am puzzled by why she refuse to be carried by me at nights (come about 10pm onwards).  She will start crying even before I manage to hold her in my arms during those times to relief YEN when she is tired, kicking up a trantrum because I tried to carry her in my arms.  But she would wake up in the mornings (like on Sundays, where I am at home when she wakes up), happy to see me and want me to carry her when she sees me.  Why is this so??

I am learning in my stint at NAN HUA, trying to let students enjoy my lessons as well as teaching them something they can bring away with after the lesson.  I would be able to succeed sometimes, and as I wheel away in celebration at those times, thinking that I’ve got "it", I would be brough back to earth with a loud thud with the reality that there are a lot of pitfalls that I sometimes forget to avoid, making me fail at the very first next chance.  I must not be complacent…  ("_)

Iis great news that my good friend - FAIZAL - managed to pass at his first try for his driving test today.  I am really happy that he need not spend more money at gaining a driving licence and can look forward to driving his own car very soon now.  =)

And on the topic of driving, let me link my "lessons learnt in life" with it.  I started my association with motorcycles at the age of 19, when I was in polytechnic.  I think I had taken on a contract with SAF then, and was drawing my own keeps that time.  I had the spending power, and being still young then, I got my own first-hand bike soon after passing my Class-2B test (I wrote about how much money I used on these toys earlier; sigh…).

Being a young, red-blooded teenager, I would at times want to "test the machine and see how fast it can go".  Looking back, it was foolish, really.  Luckily, I was sound-minded enough to limit these tests when I was on the motorcycle alone, as I did not wish to face the prospect at getting into an accident when I had a pillion rider with me.  Still, I would go as fast as over 100kph (especially when I was in a rush for time), with or without a pillion rider.

It was only after my numerous misadventures on my "metal-horses" and most notably, with my close brush with death, that I learnt this lesson: Plan your journeys early, giving yourself ample time to be early or punctual.  Even if you could not help it and have to be a little late, it’s okay - at least you won’t be rushing like a mad cow and be "better late than never".  At least we would be able to wake up and see sunrise the next day…

I was so excited two nights ago (12 April 2007) when I thought I saw teeth growing from her upper gum - resembling her two front teeth.  I told YEN about it and I stuck my finger into RACHEL’s mouth just to be sure - and voila!  It is true - they are growing and it kind of hurts quite a bit when she bit me; ha…  =)

We had started planning for RACHEL’s first birthday celebration a few weeks ago.  I intended to get a place near home (first choice was probably the Warrant Officers’ and Specialists’ Club, Chevrons, in Jurong East) to host the celebration.  The place would be able to hold a few more people than our humble lodge and we need not worry about getting the place spick and span after the event.  But all was not to be - its chalets were fully booked for the dates we wanted and it seemed like there weren’t any places near home available at an affordable price.  Hence, we will host her celebration here at home.

Again, we would have loved to be able to invite more people to our place for the celebration, but we considered and in the end, reluctantly decided against it (I sincerely apologise if I could not invite you for the celebration), based on the size of of place.  And we will have it simple - just lunch and cake cutting for our princess, together with photographs and video footages taking of the celebration.

I’m really glad we are halfway through our 10-week stint in the Teaching Practice.  You can tell from my earlier post that I’m not exactly having the time of my life in the school.  I shan’t elaborate on the reasons, but I’m certainly looking forward to its end…

YEN was on leave last week and we went for her ultrasound together, bringing RACHEL along.  We thought we wanted RACHEL to have more experiences outside; in truth, we are just happy to bring her anywhere with us to bond with her and show her off at the same time.  =)

The ultrasound shows that our second child is probably going to be a boy!  RACHEL will be an elder sister in a few months to a baby brother.  We so look forward to that day to come!  =)

All is not exactly going on well at my Teaching Practice in NAN HUA PRIMARY, though.  But I’ll bear with the bad times and look forward to the end of it, hopefully passing it…  I face a challenge teaching the younger children - the P2s and P3s.  How I hope I can find a way to make them listen to me!  =(

Our little princess is a couple of months from her first birthday.  As parents, YEN and I are glad to see her grow and learn new stuff almost daily.  As we discovered this past weekend while YEN was feeding her, RACHEL is able to signal to us that she does not wish to eat anymore by shaking her head purposefully.  =)

We do not know why her attention remains glued to the television screen whenever advertisements are up, but she pays little attention to what is on for the programmes that follow.  Even when she is tired and lying on our shoulders, almost sleeping, she will spring up to watch advertisements if we are in front of a TV set and it comes on!  It’s amazing!

We have witnessed her being able to stand on her own for longer and longer periods.  She is able to transversely walk from one end of the sofa to another with the help of the sofa.  And last night, while I was going to throw rubbish into our level’s common chute, as we would do so every night and bringing her along for fresh air while doing so, she climbed from about 5 metres away to where I stood at lightning speed.  As I held out my hands for her to hold to help her stand, she grabbed on fast too (my cue for her that I was going to carry her next).

Still, YEN and I are waiting anxiously for her other teeth to grow (she still only have two lower frontal teeth now!) and for the day when she can speak to us about more meaningful things.  =)

Now on to the new episode of lessons I’ve learnt in life - when I was schooling, like some kids would, Dad gave us our pocket money for school daily.  But what was different for EDDIE and I was that he gave us quite a bit more - I remember us being given $10 a day from sometime, and that amount escalated to $15 a day when I was in secondary three, I think.  Being still young and rather ignorant, I never did once ask myself how much Dad earned and how he was able to afford that money daily.  Come to think of it, $15 for two children every day will cost him $900 in a month of 30 days!

This gave me a lot of spending power when I was young, and I foolishly spent the money on stuff that I do not need - started buying branded sports apparels and clothes, lots of CDs, stickers, more frequent trips to fast food joints with classmates (there was this now closed-down KFC near our secondary school where we had went to), etc.  If I had known the value of money and how difficult it was for our not-so-well-to-do family for money to come by, I would have saved quite an amount!

Even as I started earning my own pay from the time I was in the polytechnic (I already joined the SAF then), I still did not really know how to save money.  I was still buying stuff that I did not need, and spending lots of money on CDs (there was this point of time that I bought at least one to two CDs a week).  And I spent my money on bigger stuff - I bought my motorcycle (a smart Aprilla) and changed it when I felt like by trading it in and topping up a few thousand dollars every time!  Sigh!  =(

The lesson I have learnt - as a parent, I must instil this value of saving up into my children early, and let them understand how hard it is for money to be earned.  As a teenager, it would have served me well if I could distinguish buying needs and wants, and well advised / forced to have saving plans.  I really would be better off than a lot of people today if I had been careful with my money from a young age!