The Chinese New Year weekend went exceptionally well for me. Due to a number of reasons, the weeks before that, we were struggling to do basic chores, much less to clean it (the apartment) thoroughly. I spent the few days before CNY running about buying goodies, drinks and stocking up on food ingredients. Anyway, guests came, we ate and were merry and who cares if our place wasn't spick and span? I just need to add that we are fortunate to have both the NTUC Xtra supermarket (like hypermart) and the Ang Moh Supermarket (for good bargains) within walking distance from our abode and that it is a terrible feeling when they shut down for the Chinese New year holidays! It's a really good thing for the staff that they close for a few days but oh my goodness, I had to face the snaking queues before and after the Chinese New Year (even early in the morning)!
The weekend ended on a high note for our family as our father got baptised as a Catholic. He is in his 70s and has had quite a medical history. It is unusual to get baptised now but time waits for no man, especially a man who may be on his last leg of the run. So, all praise and glory to God!
I attended Day One of my TDVL Course at Sin Ming last night (google it if you must know what I am up to). It will only be by God's strength that I will be able to continue and complete 20 night classes in a row after a day at the office! It's 20 straight week nights, hor. Not once a week but every night this week and next and the next and the next!
My first concern: OUTFITS
I wear dresses. I am a girlie girl. I like wearing body hugging dresses or skirts to the office. I like wearing heels. Not that high anymore but nonetheless, still with heels.
Ditch dresses. Ditch high heels.
How to find pants and blouses to wear for 20 nights, I have still not figured out.
Cannot wear shoes which reveal toes (for safety reasons). Sigh. I like sling backs which reveal toes. Ditch.
Praise God I opened the shoe cabinet this morning and an old pair of flat pumps stared out at me (and their soles haven't fallen off yet). I was thinking,
Second concern: DINNER
If I am driving to the centre, I will need to rush there immediately after work because parking spaces are limited. That's what I did yesterday. I was happy to learn that there was a canteen on the 2nd floor of the building but disappointed to learn it had already closed at 5pm! I CANNOT go to class on an empty stomach because I have a noisy stomach. I'll just wanna sink into the ground and disappear if my course mates hear my stomach. So, at a loss, I decided to cross the busy Sin Ming road to get to the makan stalls at the golf range. Great. Chinese New Year shut down. Only the drink stall was open and a Thai Mookata Stall.
How does one eat Thai Mookata by oneself in 30 minutes?
I sat there and ordered a hot Milo. I stared at the small packets of groundnuts on sale.
Desperate, I called my husband and we ended getting mad at each other because I felt he could have just passed me some bottle of CNY kueh kueh from home to eat since he was on his way out to an appointment anyway and he felt I was too demanding. Miffed, I hung up and ordered my groundnuts. Sigh. So that was dinner on Day 1; Hot milo and groundnuts. Actually, it kept me very full. Just that I'm not a big fan of Milo or groundnuts! Thought if I kept it up, I'd perhaps get to lose some weight over 20 days but oh no, hubs felt bad and greeted me with a delicious packet of fried rice from a zhi-char stall when I reached home! Dang. Ate up the whole packet; greedy thing that I am.
Tonight, I'm gonna make sure I have dinner before I arrive there.
Third concern: Got CHABOR or not?
Wow. Saw nearly 40 names on the list outside my assigned classroom door. Spotted a girlie name. Ok. So I wasn't the only female in the sea of men. Not sure why that made me feel comforted. It wouldn't have made a difference to me if I had been the only female. But definitely felt better learning that there were in fact at least 4 females, including myself. Me being the oldest aunty there, I suspect.
Day 1 went well and we received our course materials. I was quite surprised that when I reached home at 10pm+, I wasn't as tired as I had expected and was still able to clean up the kitchen a tad (let's not talk about the laundry though). Ate my fried rice, took my bath and collapsed into LaLa land.
Ta!
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