Bouldering On A Whim

 We just felt like taking a day off to go bouldering.

There's this really nice bouldering place at Paya Lebar.

This was back in August.

My In-laws

 Here's a funny picture of my in-laws.

This was the first time we visited my SIL's new house in Pasir Ris. 

He's My Brother

 Just me and my brother.

My Choir Girl

 The girl performed at the Singapore Youth Festival this year on 24th August.

It was a closed door affair, but we were all frantically dialing in to catch her in action.

So proud of her!

Argentina Have Won The 2022 World Cup

 Argentina have won the 2022 World Cup!

What a crazy game that was worth staying up to 2am for!

Argentina went 2-0 up in the first half, then Kylian Mbappe turned it on and scored twice in two minutes with 10mins to go, to tie the score 2-2. In extra time, Argentina scores first to take it 3-2 (who else but Messi) and everyone thinks Argentine would win it then, but again up steps Mbappe who scores a super beauty with 3mins left to play, to tie 3-3, and take the game to penalties! Then in the penalties, Argentina wins the shootout 4-2. What a crazy game!

World Cup Semifinals 2022

 And then there were four.

With two shockers in Croatia defeating Brazil, and Morocco defeating Portugal.

Croatia, Morocco, France and Argentina.

Who’s going to win?

Osaka, Japan 2022

 Just back from Osaka, Japan.

It’s been a week now and I’m still mentally over there :(

Pictures will be posted at some point, but first here’s the itinerary.

It was the first time I’d travelled with my kids alone (the wifey simultaneously had her siesta’s trip), and it was every bit as awesome as I imagined it to be. We travelled entirely free and easy, and took public transport (train and bus) throughout the trip.

Really hope I could do this again maybe even annually.

There’s something magical with being alone overseas with the kids. Maybe it is just spending so much quality time with them and being able to communicate with them alone, with my own influences.

Here’s what we did.

Day 1 - Arrived at Kansai Airport at 9pm, reached hotel in Honmachi at 12am

Day 2 - Osaka city tour (Umeda Sky Building, Dotonburi)

Day 3 - Osaka city tour (Osaka Castle, Tannoji Zoo)

Day 4 - Universal Studios Japan

Day 5 - Kyoto city tour (Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Fushimi Inari Shrine) 

Day 6 - Nara (Nara Deer Park)

Day 7 - Mt Rokko Snow Park, Kobe

Day 8 - Departure from Kansai Airport at 11am

What an amazing trip with the kids! I really love Japan.

World Cup 2022

 The World Cup has just begun.

This year’s edition is in Qatar.

There’s been a few shockers so far, with Asia doing surprisingly well.

Saudi Arabia 2 Argentina 1

Japan 2 Germany 1

South Korea 0 Uruguay 0

Iran 2 Wales 0

Australia 1 Tunisia 0

Not bad, hopefully they can continue this vein of form and some can progress into the knockout rounds,

BRPS Speech Day 2022

Thank you Mr Foo, teachers, students, parents, alumni and administrators of Blangah Rise Learning Centre. 

It is a great honour to step up here once again to address all of you, and congratulate all the well-deserved award winners.

 

The Covid years have been tough on all of us as we have had to make big adjustments to our lifestyles, adjust the way we work, the way we live, and even the way we play, to stay safe as the pandemic ravaged throughout the world. Yet, from an optimistic angle, the post-Covid world has brought us many silver linings. Our children are now much more adapt to new technologies brought about from home-based learning, and we as a nation, are more well prepared for any hardship that could come our way.

 

So in thinking of my speech today, I felt the need to use this precious time, to give each and everyone, some useful advice in preparing yourselves for the post-Covid future, wherever your life journeys take you.

1. Adaptability - the world is moving and changing at a faster pace than ever before. New technologies are thriving in every field such that there will be new and significant advances everywhere we go. Adaptability expands your capacity to handle change, no matter how serious it might be. Being adaptable helps you stay prepared to handle these new changes in your life. Charles Darwin once said, “It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive, but those who can best manage change”
2. Develop a Growth Mindset - Rather than a Fixed Mindset, where you think in a rigid structure, learn to think optimistically, constructively and positively. Instead of thinking “I’m afraid of failure”, think of “Failure is an opportunity for me to grow”. Instead of thinking “I like to stick with what I know”, think of “I like to try new things”. Instead of thinking “I will never improve”, think of “I will keep trying and not give up”. This is the Growth mindset and such a mindset will help you face challenges in a much more positive way, so that you can achieve greater things.
3. Mental Wellness - looking after yourself not just physically but mentally as well, can help you face all challenges in life better. One of the best tips I found online, is actually available on HealthHub’s OKAY tips:

1. Observe your emotions - identify them, find out what is causing you to feel that way
2. Keep a healthy lifestyle - sufficient sleep, a balanced diet, exercise regularly
3. Adopt coping skills - manage time better, think positive, clear your mind
4. You can reach out - stay connected, be there for others, seek help if needed

Remember your first times logging into HBL or SLS? It was a struggle for you students, learning to learn in an online environment, while sitting at home. It was a bigger struggle for parents, learning to set things up so your children’s connections could work and they could attend their online class. While having to Work From Home. And if you students look around the hall today, it was a struggle for the hard working teachers too, who had to learn to manage a room full of students but an online room,  with not just schoolwork questions, but also IT Support questiosn from students and parents! Super kancheong period at that time I can assure all of you.

 

Look at all of us today, we’ve come through the pandemic so much stronger and logging online for a lesson is so easy now. Meeting your classmates for lessons is also so easy. We have succeeded in surviving this pandemic.

 

Success can come from anywhere, if you work hard enough. I am a strong believer that people create their own luck, because luck is when preparedness meets opportunity. Make your own luck!

 

With that I thank you for your valuable time and I once more congratulate all award winners!

 

Thank you very much!

Still Too Lazy

 Things are really hectic at work.

So have hardly any time upload photos.

Recently attended JJ Lin in concert and last night was Guns & Roses.

GnR was epic, even if they were here going through the motion and they’re all so old.

I wish I could stop working for a while. It’s really getting to me, because aside from that, everything else has been fantastic.

Lemme try to find time to upload some photos of everything that’s been happening in my life,