I'm BACK.....

So embarassing... announced too early about the migration.

Now have to "eat turn head grass". But seriously, I'm still working out the problems there.

See how la.

This is Ally's reaction to me whenever she sees me ever since I shaved my head.

A shaved head is also a good way to start a conversation, when they asked why I shaved... Dah dah dah... I will flash out the CCF donation card and watch their faces turn green.

Ha ha...

Migrating...

I'm moving on... to a new site.

It will still be the same name... No doubt it will take a while for me to get use to it, but I've been convienced of the new and fancy features it provides.

Do continue to visit "Our Little World"

See you there...

Hair For Hope 2006

The day finally came... I walked up to the registration table and announced my name, they tagged me and made me queue in the line like the sheeps waiting to shed their wool.

Well... in a way there's not much difference to it, but I did it voluntarily.

There are over 300 shavees today, another 300 next week.

Why are we here?
Childhood cancer can be damaging to the children and their family in many ways. We are here to give moral support to the children who are fighting cancer, at the same time help raise fund for the Children Cancer Foundation, their mission is to improve the quality of life of children with cancer and their families through enhancing their emotional, social and medical well-being.

This is achieved by providing counseling, employing therapeutic play, conducting support groups, organising children and family outings, offering financial assistance, educating the families, supporting training and research, and promoting public awareness.




















Ally is not very happy daddy is shaving his head, but its alright...















Shaving was done professionally by Kimage hair stylists.

There are quite a number of ladies shavees, I think for them its a much bigger sacrifice than the guys. Some of them have beautiful long silky hair, but nobody cried when shaving, they all did it with a smile.




















Just a moment before she starts...





















5 minutes later... all done. When she was half way through, I could already feel the cool breeze brushing past my scalp, something I have not felt since my army days. I didn't even notice my hair have fallen, I just keep smiling at the camera my wife was snapping at me with.

















Do I look fat with no hair?

You can make an online donation here anywhere in the world. Every cents counts...

Thank you for your generousity.

Going Bald... for good cause

Come this Sunday, I'll be joining 600 other volunteers including almost 100 ladies, to have our heads shaved.

Hair for hope is an event organised by the Children Cancer Foundation to raise awareness to the needs of children with cancer and their families and show support to them.

We are raising funds through monetary pledges, to aid in improving the quality of lives of the children and families.

About 120 new cases of Childhood Cancer are diagnosed yearly.
Cancer is a debilitating disease that affects the child and family physically, emotionally and mentally.

Why shave heads?
Treatment of cancer, including chemotherapy, causes hair loss in patients, thus representing his/her fight against cancer. Every shaven head represents an understanding by an individual of the ordeals that a child with cancer is subjected to.

Please make a Pledge and donate generously... make a difference in their lives.

You can find me here, all your donations will be directed directly to the Children Cancer Foundation for the benefits of the children.

I represent the children to say a big "Thank You"...

Sometimes my maid will let Isable get involved in the chores we assigned her to do, like cleaning her own shoes, watering the plants, carry pails of water...

I should be a good thing I guess...


Ally is becoming more and more of a tv addict...

She was not attracted to TV before, but recently she can stay fixed to it for quite a while.

Back to Nature - Trip to Pulau Ubin

Its been a long time since I've been back to Pulau Ubin... Probably 19 years...

But nothing much has changed. Its a nicer Ferry Terminal now... But the Bump Boats are just as old, its still cost $2 per person per trip.
Each boat takes a max of 12 person, if you want more privacy, you can pay a wooping $24 for the ride, and the boatman will happily ferry you only.

The weather was good, slight drizzle but by the time we landed there, it stopped completely.

The island has always been like a last "Garden of Eden" to lots of nature lovers. Over the years government tried to do much improvement to it by disturbing the least to its natural environment.

It got better roads and ... better roads.

I don't see that many children living there anymore, probably the younger couples have moved to mainland for better living conditions for the kids and convenience for work and school.

But the general feel of the natural environment is still there. Many shops have been converted to bicycle kiosks. Rental is only $3 per bicycle per day! Imagine that... its only a small fraction of the hefty price in the mainland popular cycling locations ($8 per hour)

Isabel loved the place, she loved the boat ride and the bicycle ride. Of course she loved the bicycle ride... I'm the one doing all the pedaling while she sits in the back and entertained me with songs and her own brand of silly jokes. I hope she will not become a "Stand-up Comedian" when she grows up. She also gave me encouragement when I have to cycle up steep slopes. That's why not once did I come down to push the bicycle.

We cycled all the way to the other side of the island and gazed at the kelong. The sea was calm and the breeze was cool, a true sense of serenity washed over us as we soak in the nature's gift.

As the day drew near to dusk, we back tracked to our meeting point for coconut drinks.

Dinner was at the Seafood restaurant.

But this, I have to say, is rather pricey, for a run down kumpong, they charge as much as the mainland.

We ate pepper crab, cereal prawn, sambal kangkong, deer meat fried with ginger and onion, fried oyster and eggs with 7 soft drinks... $108.

But the food taste good though...

We left the island after dark, there were no street lamps to light the way, but good thing we were already near the harbor. We left the island feeling satisfied... satisfied in our stomach, satisfied in the spirit for conquering half the island in bicycles.

We'll definitely be back...

Backache, Headache, Stomach ache...

Isabel is always known as our little "Drama Queen". She can turn on the water works, complain about aches and pains just to escape certain things such as doing homework, eating dinner or getting punished.

So... recently she was putting up a show about how backache is affecting her ability to eat dinner. I stood up and took her to see the doctor.

One of the reason I did so was that I just want to be sure that there really is nothing wrong with her before I start lecturing her about not eating dinner. Its also better to be safe than sorry for not treating her earlier if there is something wrong.

As the doctor examined her, I started to pray that everything is alright with her. The doctor asked her a series of questions then later asked me to get some urine sample to test for any kidney problem, just to be sure.

The toilet was a distance away outside the clinic, so after I got the sample, I hid the bottle in my pocket and walked back to the counter. But along the way, Isabel had to be the K-Po one, kept asking me:

"Daddy... where's my shh-shh?"

"In my pocket la..."

"Why?... Why put my shh-shh in your pocket."

" Don't let people see mah..."

"Why people cannot see my shh-shh?"

While waiting for the doctor to tell us the result, in my mind I was playing around with the scenario, what if she has kidney problem? Instinctively, my first reaction was to give up my own kidney for her. No questions asked or second thought about it.

Heck... She can have my heart if she needs it... as long as she is able to go on with a full life...

Its all I want to see.

Well good news is... her kidneys are fine.

So now I have to work on her attitude towards eating rice.

Opps! I did it again...


Yup... Isabel forgot her homework again. She had a whole weekend but only started doing it an hour before bedtime.

Well, its not so much as in forgetting it. Its more like she chose to ignore it. When we asked her if she got any homework, she'll say: "Aiya... I don't care la."

Of course I don't encourage such attitude from her, but I also know that she haven't seen the importance of completing homework nor has she seen the wrath of a teacher when she don't hand it in. In her little mind, teachers are always the sweet little lady that talks nicely and hands them snacks, the one that tells them nice stories of Fairies and Princess.

But for now, she'll have to deal with us first.

During my time... teachers can do all sorts of punishments to us... not that I get much of it. Its just that they can get away with harsher things done to us, all in the name of "Good for us".

I ever got poked in the face with a red pen several times by my English teacher for forgetting to put "Full Stop" at the end of sentence.

Discipline Master ever grabbed my hair and yanked it for it was too long by his standard.

I've been made to stand on chairs or even tables as punishment for something I couldn't remember now. Maybe they sees us as little monsters...

But teachers nowadays live in stress and fear. Fear of getting complaints from parents... complain them for hitting their little precious baby... for making him stand on table lest he falls down from it.

Some parents don't just complain, they write letters to Ministry of Education in order to get the message across. Get the teacher fired if possible.

Earlier there was a case whereby a teacher was scolding a student in front of a class, the whole scene was secretly captured on a handphone by another student and placed on the internet. The teacher was later reprimanded for using harsh words on the student.

But turning around and look, will all these complaints do any good to our education systems or to our children? What would you do if your child is being punished in school?

WOW!!! Who left a COFFIN in the shopping centre?






No la, its Kit Kat displaying their largest chocolate bar in the world, weighing 2.67 TONNES!!!
Its more than I'll ever eat in a life time. And even if I'm able to finish it, I think I'll probably weigh 2.67 tonnes too.

Siblings Rivalry

Prevention is better than cure!


Recently, there are so many publicity on the latest vaccine that works against Pneumococcal Disease in children.

After much consideration especially on the cost.... (most GP chargese S$150 per injection) I decided to have my two girls injected .

As Ally is still under the age of 2 yrs, she will require 2 injections. But Isabelel will just need a single jab. I'm fortunate to have a doctor friend of mine to come over my place just to give the girls their injections.

Ally took it quite well, cried for a while and she is up and running around the house. As foIsabelel, she struggled so much and it took 2 person to hold her down before my friend administered the injection. For the rest of the day, she is so angry with us, moody, refuse to eat or play.
She sat around with a grumpy face ignored anyone who tried to talk or cheer her up. The worst part is, she complained that she can't straighten her leg. She couldn't walk... she sat on the floor and drag her buttock on the floor from point to point. But I know its just part of her act to get attention from us.

I really don't know to laugh or to be angry with her.