Monday, October 24, 2016

This blog is 10 years old!

What one can do in 10 years:
  • Graduate with both PSLE and GCE 'O' level certs
  • Fully depreciate a brand new car 
  • Live through the full teenage years and become a young adult e.g 12yo to 22yo
  • Be a proud recipient of Long Service Award from one's employer
  • Date, marry and become a parent of 3 (or even more)
  • Create one's first musical masterpiece like Mozart
  • Grow a tree
What I did -
Maintain a (frequently updated) blog. 935 posts in 10 years... That averages out to 94 posts per year; or 8 posts per month. Not too shabby!

So my first post was created on 20 Oct 2006!

I remember it was a weekday afternoon and I was feeling bored at Computer Centre at NUS. 10 years ago, smart phones have not taken over the world and the Comp Centre was DA PLACE TO GO if one needed to login into IVLE, download/print lecture notes, reply emails, catch up on football results etc! Wow, suddenly it feels like smart phone technology has since advanced way beyond imagination:

Think - in 2006 iPhone was unheard of; I was using Sony Ericsson that took pretty awesome 2MP pictures (who later become 'Sony'  in 2012 after Sony acquired Ericsson);

versus

Now - iPhone is now at series 7+, capable of 12MP wide-angle pictures!

Anyway, I digressed. I was feeling bored and created a blog out of fun... and then the blog became my journal, joke sharing forum, ranting outlet, gradually transforming into a platform for reflection, yearly review, archive of useful advices etc. 

Browsed my archives to read back at my posts 10 years ago, boy o boy, those activities I did and photos I took are very much vivid in my mind!

Sharing a photo I took on the train on the way to school on Oct 23, 2016:


Commuters busy with the free newspapers given out at MRT stations

What the same place same time will resemble nowadays -

(Source: Google images)
What about in 2026? How will technology and lifestyle evolve?

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What will happen to iPhone?
Google glass (or the like) will be omnipresent?
Fully electric public transport and private cars?


Tune in 10 years later!

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I don't know what I'll be doing 10 years later... except for one fact that I'll be parenting yx who will be in Primary 5. But I'm hoping Blogger will continue to exist!


Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Grandma's birthday

Had a near perfect weekend!



The planning for celebration of our beloved paternal grandma’s 90+ birthday started as early as 2 months’ ago, uncle Nang surveyed in our whatsapp group for expected turn up – everyone (most) responded in favour and in double time! So he proceeded to book a minsu (which housed us during CNY 2014) and further made restaurant bookings for lunch and dinner.

My dad has 5 siblings who gave me and my siblings many cousins, nieces and nephews. Alas, we do not stay near each other. The only times we meet up are during special occasions such as CNY, wedding banquets and grandma’s birthday! So it was a really rare opportunity that I was super eagerly looking forward to! Plus it was gonna be babywyx’s first encounter with her paternal relatives!

The drive to Kluang on Sat afternoon took us 4.5 hours!! 1.5 was spent at customs and another 45 mins of slow traffic along NS highway! Finally reached the minsu at 5.30pm - The Ng family was the usual boisterous lot, there was hardly a corner lacking in chatter, laughter and noise. Amazed to see my nieces and nephews so tall already! Doesn’t seem so long ago that I was carrying them in my arms / holding their hands to cross the road! Instead, the teens are now fully independent, noticeably vainer (nieces frequently brushing their long hair) and… (sad way of growing up) own a smartphone each (not to mention which keeps plentiful selfies/wefies).

Babywyx was the subject of everyone’s attention. Being at that age that she is now, she is wary of strangers and the new environment and as a result, spent more time observing than physically moving about. Finally it was her bedtime and boy, she unleashed all her unspent energy and must have scoured every square inch of the king size bed, crawling and rolling all over! Much thanks to wifey for coping with babywyx for more than an hour before she finally slept! =D

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Of course, wishing grandma good health and long life!! It was heartening to see her in pretty good shape! A quality weekend spent with my favourite people and my favourite food (Cin Cin restaurant, RM1 nasi lemak, local curry puff and soon kueh, tangkak beef noodles).

Recent events led me to realise that good health is so paramount at determining one’s quality of life – the physical freedom to move, the innate ability to eat/feel/hear/smell, the emotional fulfillment of family bonding. Move away 5Cs - as of now, I will learn to be contented with my 5Fs:

Freedom
Family
Financial stability
Friends
Football



The overseas shirt

I'm not sure about you, but I have a few tops that I categorised as "overseas shirts". That means I wear them only when I go f...