Family Room or Study Room

Hi,

I just recently re-arranged the study room a bit and clear a bit of rubbish lying around too...so happy with it.

I should say that it used to be a study room but it is now a family room.

Why?

After dinner, the family tends to gather in this room to watch TV or each one of us is using our own PC doing our own thing.....

I would dare to say that we spend more time in this family room than any of the rooms.

The living room or main hall downstairs with its home theatre system is hardly used....sob..sob...

Similarly, the BOSE system in the master bedroom is also under utilised too!

My work station is the area below the LCD TV and my wife uses the workstation next to it, on the right.

Jason occupies the big desk with his desktop PC 19 inches monitor on it. On the extreme left in the photo is the Xbox 360 next to his electric guitar. He has the best place in the room and also some privacy too....... ( we cannot see what he does on his PC but he can see what we do on ours....ha..ha...).

He took over the big desk from me but we rather have it this way so that the family can be together than he locking himself up in his own room ( which has all the facilities except his PC and TV ...... ).

We also try to conserve electricity consumption by using only one air-con in this room.

I am still thinking of making my own work area more cosy and still lots of my 'rubbish' to clear; eg IT magazines and accessories to be sorted out...

David

Jason Enrolled Into Singapore Polytechnic

Finally, Jason is now officially enrolled into Singapore Polytechnic (SP) to do a 3 years course in Diploma in Human Resources Management (HRM) with Psychology.

I went with Jas to SP to collect his Student Card and to buy a notebook at the PC Roadshow specially held for the year's freshmen.

I am impressed with the whole admission process which was highly automated.

Upon accepted by SP, he received an envelope with forms and instructions to follow for the admission process.

Jas had to send some info on forms through 2 different colour envelopes; one for general info and the other for financial info.

He also has to go online to update his personal particulars and applied for his email ID, etc....

He went to one of the recommended clinics to have his medical check-up and X-ray and the results were sent to SP directly by the clinic.

And finally, the last step was going to SP to submit a few photocopy of documents and collect his Student Card.

The whole processing this afternoon was very smooth and no long queue or crowd. Everything was automated and the Student Card was readily available for collection without any fuss. This step was the fastest, in fact.

Then we just walked down the hall and went through some booths manned by students and collected door gifts like SP T-shirt and a notebook case with some brochures...

As we have done our homework on the notebooks being offered at the road show, we chose the one we wanted, paid and collected it in good time. Service was good too!

Then we were directed to the next building to do a full configuration of the notebook as it was pre-installed with the SP required software ( eg Office 2007 + settings for connecting to the school wireless network ). We were guided by a technician in an air-con and spacious classroom. This step took about 30 minutes but time past by quite fast and it is over.

Jason is ready to start school at SP now......Congratulations..!

Daddy Poh

My Part-time Workplace

Hi,

Here is a photo of me in my part-time workplace........



Ha..ha... so what is this?

This is my dry kitchen...!

Where I make my breakfast, coffee, toast break, cook rice in the cooker, make soup in the slow cooker, and warm up food in the microwave, etc.....

Why my part-time workplace?

Well, we have chosen not to replace our maid who left for good last Nov.

So my family and I have taken over all the tasks in the house and so far, we manage to survive for the past few months and getting the hang of it.

Actually, the main purpose of taking this photo is to show my younger sister that I have received and wearing the polo shirt that she sent to me from Melbourne.

Wei, thanks!

BTW, I am sitting on the step-ladder cum high chair which is very handy as I sit on it when making breakfast, cooking in the outer or wet kitchen and ironing too.....

Not that I am lazy but I have a bad left knee and standing too long without a knee brace can be a bit painful after some time.

Take care.......!

David

Happy 17th Birthday, Jason

Jason turns 17 on this 17 of March ......

But as he has to go back to his St. Patrick's Secondary School to help out in a Peer Leadership camp tomorrow for 3 days and 2 nights..... we celebrated it with a cake today.

He celebrated it with his friends too at a tea buffet at Sakae Sushi in Orchard Road yesterday afternoon.

Happy 17th Birthday to You, Jason.... !

Jason using his birthday present from us....... headset for chatting, bought in the recent IT Show.

David

Physiotherapy Session

Hi,

When I was in Penang, I followed my Mum for her physiotherapy session at the LWE hospital to strengthten her legs.

Initially, my Mum was not keen on it and blamed the medicine for making her legs weak but her cardiologist and I disagreed with her and felt that she was not doing proper leg exercise at home.

Glad to say that my Mum's legs are stronger now and she is convinced that the exercises are good for her weak legs.

Here are a few photos taken of the exercises that she did there.

This photo is taken from the reflection of the wall mirror....you can even see me on the right side of the photo. My Mum is using a motorised leg exerciser but have gone on to a manual one later in the week.

The spring is attached to the wall behind her and she has to pull her left leg up and hold for 6 seconds; repeating this for 10 minutes.

The spring is attached from the top of the ceiling and she has to push her left leg down and hold for 6 seconds; repeating this for 10 minutes.

I am glad that there is result from the exercise and my Mum is convinced that it works for her.

She is even recommending the physiotherapy session to my 5th aunt now.

Proud of you...Mum...!

David

An Outing at Gurney Drive

Hi,

While I was in Penang, I took my Dad out for the afternoon as he seldoms go out on his own for leisure.

Why Gurney Drive?

Good food and scenery......!

We went there for a western lunch at Secret Recipe, a restaurant in Plaza Gurney and facing the sea.

As my Dad has not been to the movies for years and he loves to watch TV at home, I decided to take him to the cinema to watch his favourite kung fu type of movie, 14 Blades.

The cinemas in Plaza Gurney are just as good as ours in Spore; but cheaper due to the favourable exchange rate.

After the afternoon movie, we walked out to Gurney Drive to get some sea breeze but it was a bit hot though.

We decided to eat at the famous hawker food next to Plaza Gurney and bumped into a busload of tourists there.

My Dad ate his favourite dishes, Indian Rojak and Ais Kacang. I ordered Char Koay Teow and Assam Laska + Cheng Tng.

I am glad to say that my Dad really enjoyed the outing and he was very happy with it. He was still talking about the movie and food the following morning......ha...ha..

David

Happy 82th Birthday Mum..!

Hi,

I was back in Penang to celebrate my mother 82th birthday on the 1st week of March, though her actually birthday falls on 8th of March.

Here are a few photos of the celebration :

She wanted a simple non-creamy cake but this was what we could find in the bakery shop in Prangin Mall.

One big candle to singnified her 82 years of age....

Mum and her presents....

The big birthday card and pyjamas were sent by Wei from Melbourne.

The new walking stick is from the 4 children.

So Happy Birthday and we wish you another healthy and prosperous year....!