Nana’s O Level - Part 2

Family and friends celebrated Nana’s good result with us. Zaky is also very proud of jiejie and was exclaiming his joy in the family chat group. I think he has forgotten that jiejie had just helped him raised the bar for O level results. Hohoho. 

All the while, Nana had her eyes fixed on SAJC. It is a Christian school and they have ultimate frisbee. Ah Kim had asked her about her options if she did better than expected but Nana was fixated. She actually didn’t think that she could do better (or so well), just like her PSLE. Other than knowing that she wanted to go SAJC, she didn’t do any homework at all and simply waited for the results. She has totally no idea what are in the polys. We talked about it last week and decided that if she has to go to the poly, she would still have time for open houses and researches. 

Yday, we spent time to really dissect the situation. Her final grades would allow her to enrol into better JCs. 

Seriously, we have no idea which JCs are good and what it now takes to enter university. The admission, based on A Level is so much more complicated than my time. We encouraged Nana to ask people/ seniors who are in JCs or recently done JCs. She also reached out to her tuition teachers.

A brief of A level system in my understanding. Regardless of whether it is science or art stream, to encourage students to have a wider exposure, they are to take 1 subject from the other stream. Students will take a min of 3 (out of 4) subjects at H2 level and 3 other subjects (English, Chinese and Project Work) at H1 level. At A level, if 4 subjects are taken at H2 level, then the one with the lowest score will automatically be converted to a H1 level. As to how the scores of the H1 and H2 subjects are tabulated for university, that is even more complicated and I haven’t done my study.

Nana isn’t the strongest in her Sciences but going into the Art stream would limit her choices in University. In addition, the Art Stream combination isn’t ideal, requiring her to take 2 humanities. While she has interest in Geography, JCs usually do not offer the Geography and History combo bcos the amount of work would kill. After some research, we saw SAJC and EJC offering a special combination of Geography, Maths, Econs and 1 Science subject in their Science steam. That is interesting. 

Nana had zero idea of what she wanted to study in the university or her work profession in the future. After a quick browse of NTU/ NUS website, we concluded that having only 1 Science wouldn’t put her at a great advantage for most of the Engineering/ Science courses. With this knowledge, it might be to her advantage to go for subjects that she would do well and enjoy then to try to take 2 Sciences. 

Then, it brings us back to the question - should she still go to SAJC? We tried encouraging her to explore her options and she is now keen on EJC. They have ultimate frisbee too. Hoho. However, the COP for their science stream is at 6, which also meant that Nana needs to put in her 2nd choice very carefully. If she doesn’t make it into EJC, she is very likely to get into her 2nd choice. Other than SAJC, there is also NJC and ACJC to consider. It is funny how rumours stayed on for years. Nana still tells me that ACJC is full of party animals and CJC has high pregnancy rate. This is what we heard 30s years ago when I was in JC and I am surprise that students still say the same thing now. Lol.

我们说到口水都干了. All it took was for her tuition teacher to tell her “can is can lah, but why waste your good grades on SAJC?” He was from ACJC and assured Nana that times are different now. Lol. She is now opened to look at ACJC.

Many of the JCs are having their open houses today. This morning, together with some of her batch mates, they were touring Singapore and visiting the various JCs. They went to SAJC, NYJC (Nana didn’t make the grade for NY but her peer did after 4 points deduction), EJC, and finally NJC. ACJC’s open house is on Monday. She didn’t know what an IB program is and thus didn’t consider SJI. Duman, VJC and TJC are too far away. She is also not interested in RV. 

She has to submit her options by this Wednesday and the results will be released on 4 Feb 9am. If accepted, she will report to the JC the next morning in her secondary school uniform. Heng ah, I haven’t throw away her uniform. Lol. 

Mummy Lim

Nana’s O Level - Part 1

The O level results are always released at about the same time of the year. The O levels results were finally released yday. The date was confirmed about a week back and the counting down started. 

Nana seemed not at all impacted. She wasn’t anxious and was happily enjoying her holidays up to yday. I was more eager to get this chapter over and moved on to the next milestone and less anxious about the result. Oh yes, the anxiety needle was so much lower compared to PSLE, maybe bcos there are so many options post secondary schools in Singapore. Some way, some how, it is not difficult to obtain a degree eventually, maybe a longer route and a little more $$. 

Unlike PSLE, O level results are released in the afternoon. By 2.30pm, results can be checked online. The students (and parents were invited too) were told to arrive at 1.50pm. Daddy Lim and I both took some time off. I was working from home and took a grab down to meet Daddy Lim in NH. 

We were supposed to leave the house at 1.15pm and was still talking to a colleague at 1.05pm. The gan cheong spider appeared and started hovering in the background, reminding that it was time to go. We did leave the house at about 1.15pm but the grab took forever to arrive. 

The last chance to snap a picture of Nana in her NH school uniform. 

I think she was more anxious about being late than the result but once that anxiety surfaced, it didn’t stop and she was gan cheong all the way. 

Daddy Lim was no where to be seen when we arrived and we headed up to the hall to a sea of students. Nana met her other gan cheong friends and I see the bunch of them all jumping around. I found Daddy Lim and made our way to the small little seated area for parents. Many parents had to stand bcos there were not enough seating. It was like so many of us were not expected. Haha. 

Only at about 2pm, the students were rushed to be seated as per their class. The students were told to keep all the phones and iPads.

As expected, there must be some speech. Then the overall performance of the cohort. 

The top O level students were recognised. The top scorer attained 9 A1s. Nana didn’t even take 9 subjects. Lol. The 8A1s and the 7A1s were also recognised. 

Athena’s name made it up the chart! That is Nana’s classmate that she recently came to our house! Nana said that it was expected that she would do well and she has already secured a spot in RI through badminton DSA. How come there are such clever and all-rounder students ah? After the top academic acheievers (I think about 25 students), they went on to recognise a few more students, who helmed various leadership positions and yet do well academically. 

By then, it was right on the dot at 2.30pm and the results would be available online. No wonder the students were asked to keep their phones and iPad but nobody checked anyway; they were all patiently waiting to receive their result slip from the teachers.

Finally! 

Nana’s teachers seemed exceptionally slow. We saw students from the other class already gotten their results and sharing with their parents while majority of Nana’s class was still sitting and waiting. 

Daddy Lim and I were getting more and more gan cheong. We saw Nana going up to get her results. That’s her at the table. I know, they all look alike. It takes parents to have super eye power to find their kids.

Right after, she started crying (expected) and hugging her friends. I have no idea what to read of the situation. Zzzz. 

If you cannot see her, she is that figure kneeing on the floor, blocked by a sea of white. 

She continued sobbing and hugging while we continued waiting. I was wondering at which point should I finally go up and ask her. Luckily the daughter remembered the poor parents and came running. She saw her results but didn’t quite make sense of how she had done. Lol. That was exactly the same when she received her PSLE results. She was so excited about the alphabets on the result slip, but didn’t know what was the aggregated score and started sobbing when she realised how well she had done for PSLE. 

Nana had studied very hard for O level and she had done very well! While she didn’t make it to the “honor board”, she had done very well in our perspectives. She has 4 A1s for English, Geography and A, E Maths, 3 A2s for Phyics, Chemistry and Chinese! For SS/ History which she had given up since day 1, she has a C5. Hoho. All in all, for L1R5, it is a 8 points and L1R4 is 6 points. Bcos of her achievement in CCA, and like many students, she will be able to further deduct 2 points for entry consideration for both JC and Poly. Woohoo! Many of her peers who took higher Chinese, are able to deduct 4 points.

We were still very gan cheong when we received Nana’s result slip and had to count and recount just to make sure that we were correct. It was simple maths but it took all of us to count together and also time to get it right. Lol. 

Then Boo found her. I wonder how come she is able to do so when all of them looked alike. Then there was more hugging and more crying. Nana had to stay back for some meeting. When we left, Boo and her were still hugging and sobbing. 

Yay! Finally the end of her secondary school journey! 

Mummy Lim

Back to Life

Daddy Lim and I were back at work the Monday after we were back from Beijing. While it was sad, I was working from home and the bosses were away, giving me time to pick work up. I was so slow on day 1. Then it was the New Year’s Day holiday. Hohoho. 

I had started going back to the office this week and Zaky had gone back to school proper. He whined so much. Lol. Bcos of school and going to the office, I am now back to the early morning, and tabao dinner routine. It also hit me hard. After almost 3 weeks of break, I am so not used to this routine and I can now feel how bad it is for Zaky, who had a 2.5 months school holiday. Unfortunately, life goes on. Soon, the tuition will start for him too. Is the weekend here yet? I need another holiday.

The only person who is still on holiday is Nana. Hopefully, with the O levels results out tomorrow, her holiday wouldn’t be too long. Even Daddy Lim was not spared. The work year has just started and he has gotten an eye inflammation and was given 2 days MC. See, his body didn’t want to go back to work. 

Yday, I was working from work and we were discussing of dinner plans - go out to eat or tabao? Then Zaky volunteered to cook pasta for us. He had done it a few times and whoever he had cooked for, had raved about it. I was busy at work while the Daddy and Son busied in the kitchen. 

Nana has no interest in cooking and conveniently tucked herself away. 

The pasta was good! 

The photos didn’t do justice. It looked better in reality and tasted much better than it looked. We finished everything. 

Then, I had to take a call and happily left the cleaning. Nana volunteered to do the washing. By the time I was done, all the washing and cleaning had been done too. Good ah. 

I had forgotten about the 1st day school photo and finally snatched one this morning. 

Zaky is as tall as Daddy Lim? Daddy Lim argued that to compare height properly, we should look at the height of the shoulders. Orh.

Ok, Zaky is taller. Lol. 

Fighting! 

Mummy Lim

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2025

We usually travel at the end of the year to make use of the PH and thus save on annual leave. Moreover, my office tends to be quieter at the end of the year and I would have a more peaceful holiday. That also meant that we haven’t been around for Christmas for the last few years. Well, we still see Christmas trees and lights in whichever countries (we were in), it just somehow feels less Christmasy. Maybe bcos we were away from family and friends. 

We do still make up for Christmas. We met up with the SHSS gang on the Sunday that we were back at T-junction. This year, Auntie H was the main organiser and suggested home cook food instead of catering. I volunteered to buy and bring some food but the spirit of serving is so strong in the group and by the time I checked the chat group again, all the food duties had been covered. The main chefs were Auntie H and TL. They really cooked up a storm and Auntie TL suggested that we go back to catering next year bcos it was so tiring. I know right. Hoho. 

The kids volunteered to lead worship again this year. Bless their heart. However, they barely had time to practice. The only practice at Auntie J’s house was half baked and we went to T-junction a couple of hours earlier for practice. 

The program was supposed to start at 4pm. Then there were the technical issues that took a long time to solve. 

We eventually got the tech up. While there were still glitches, it did what it needed to. 

The worship team - Zaky practised his electric guitar for a few weeks. Good effort. 

I got Nana, Zaky and T to do some sharing too. The boys prepped but it was Nana’s sharing that touched my heart. She even got the little kids to join in the role play and the message came across so clearly. Good job, baby!

Auntie S took time to put together a PowerPoint, celebrating our 32 years of togetherness and the kids growing up. Our kids really do know each other their entire life, since birth. God’s blessings and work are real in our group and lives.

The feast started and this year, we made the big kids write messages to each other. Auntie H said that I should have given the teenagers time to eat but I think they didn’t mind (I assumed and insisted that they don’t mind. Lol.). Ok, ok, I will allow them to eat 1st next year. 

The teenagers really took time and effort to write these messages. Zaky proudly pinned his up in his room and the messages were heart felt. 

So course there were the games, though we didn’t have much time left for games. 

The teenagers have become so big now, particularly the boys and the games have become a lot more aggressive and physical. We even broke a chair. I am so glad that we weren’t in somebody’s house. Even the auditorium isn’t big enough to accommodate all the big kids running. The daddies said that we should do more old people game next year. I agree.. maybe we should do chess or something. Hoho. 

The aunties took time to do our own affirmation too. There were so much complaints from the aunties, most of us having not hand written so much stuff in a short time for a long while. Lol. The messages received were very comforting, assuring and encouraging though. 

While we were working hard, the kids self entertained and played their own games. 

Time flew and it was soon 9ish. We didn’t get a group photos or get the kids to line up as per their height. Lol. Uncle C did thoughtfully go around snapping shots for our memory bank. 

We split the gift exchange to adults, teenagers and the kiddies this year. The teenagers managed their own with a little help from the parents. Success! 

Then it was the clean up. Like how we were taught as Navteens, we leave the place as clean as before we used it. The teenagers helped but I am sure they needed a lot more training. 

That wasn’t the end of the Christmas gathering for the teenagers. They schemed and the next moment, they were all running to their parents, asking for permission to do sleepover at Auntie J’s house. Nope, they didn’t have a change of clothes, or their toothbrush, but dirty underwear and teeth for a day wouldn’t kill. 

Auntie J and Uncle YJ nicely hosted the teenagers and I can imagine the noise and the mess. 

The following day, they went out for movie. I asked what they did at the sleepover and the answer is always the same - they talked. They sure have a lot to talk then. Haha. Well, I experienced a snippet myself during the chalet sleepover. Hoho. 

We celebrated Christmas with my family on New Year’s Eve. Popo made us steamboat. 

Whenever we went to my brother’s place, there is always good food and plenty of nicely cut fruits. Hohoho. Then, there was the Switch game battle. My thumb hurts so bad bcos I was pressing so hard on the buttons. Lol. 

Ah Yee had helped us to buy a Christmas present for A too. Merry Christmas to the family in Paris! We hope to get her one ourselves next year.

I had thought that the kids would want to sleepover with the Fs but Nana had other plans and went to countdown and sleepover with her youths. Without Nana, it didn’t make sense for Zaky to sleepover with his cousins, who are all girls. Zaky would have followed Nana too but the youths’ sleepover this time was also girls only event. So we sent Nana to church; her youths were still in church after some events, and then Zaky went home. 

Daddy Lim and I went to Blackbird at 10pm. Oh gosh, I was so tired. My bedtime is usually at 10.30pm. Hahahaha. Uncle C and Auntie H were there too. It was too dark for proper pictures though. The peepshow was playing. I had thought that Blackbird would be crowded and we wouldn’t get a table inside the restaurant but we were so wrong. I read in the papers about the different countdown parties in many parts of Singapore thereafter and now know where were the crowd - not in Blackbird. Hoho.

We counted down to the new year! That was an achievement; I had been sleeping through the new year for many many years already. I cannot even remember when was the last time I actually did a countdown. Uncle C said that we last counted down together about 20 over years ago. Really? Haha. 

We left shortly after the countdown, after the band had finished their last set. Uncle C asked if we wanted to do supper. No lah. It was way past my bedtime ah. Lol. 

It was 1ish when we reached home and Zaky was still up. He said that he had to countdown alone, ok, not exactly alone. He was FaceTiming one of his youths, who is now interning in Vietnam, which also meant that New Year for that youth was one hour earlier. It is alright. Even if we had been home, I would probably be sleeping at the cross over.

With that, our 2024 has come to an end and we welcome 2025. How was 2024? Well, I survived plenty of business trips and we continued to travel for vacations quarterly as a family. Nana finished her O levels and got an A2 for Chinese. Zaky is a lot more active with chuch and youth. Last but not least, Daddy Lim and I celebrated our 20 years of togetherness. Yay! 

There are misses of course, 2024 new year resolutions that were not achieved and to be tabaoed to 2025. I do hope that 2025 will be a year full of blessings and happiness and good health.

It is also time to take down the Christmas tree. Nana helped us to put it up a week before our trip and Mochi didn’t destroy it. For most time that the tree was up, we were in Beijing admiring other Christmas trees. Lol. 

I really hate to take it down now and we improvised! 

It is now a Chinese New Year tree and we will be keeping it up for another month. Hoho. We are so clever. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

Mummy Lim

Post Beijing Holidays

At least our skin thanked us. We were all suffering from some sort of cold rashes by the end of the 9 days. Daddy Lim was the most affected, with angry patches across his tummy and his legs. I have never seen our family slapped so much moisturiser on previous trips. 

I made everybody helped with the unpacking, directing them to put this and that into the respective places. Our tiny washing machine was fully loaded and there were still 2 big bagful of laundry. We put in plan B - to use the big ass washer and dryer in the laundromat downstairs. It was a good choice. Their washer and dryer can carry 16kg load. I don’t remember packing so much clothes for Beijing and we had already threw quite a few pieces away. 

With the laundry settled, it was time to pick up Mochi from SS’ place. She sent us regular updates on Mochi and it is the same story - he would starve himself for the 1st few days and would hide and stay away from active/ noisy cats. SS said that he didn’t have new bald spots in the 1st few days but new ones appeared towards the end. I was originally suspecting that his bald spots were overgrooming due to boredom and if we should get a 2nd cat. No need le. Hoho. Much to Daddy Lim and the kids’ disappointment. 

Mochi still hates his carrier and the car ride home. He was meowing pitifully the moment we got into the lift.

The kids still had the energy to attend youth on Saturday afternoon. We went for KFC lunch. It was comfort food, given that we had no chance to have fast food in Beijing. There were too many food options but too little tummy space while we were in Beijing. 

I was so exhausted that I was dozing off in the car and had a long 3 hours nap. I woke up to Mochi meowing at me for dinner, which I conveniently ignored bcos I was too tired. Like I had said, long gone are the weekend short holidays; I now needed days to recover from each holiday. Lol. 

Work had resumed for me on Monday and I survived though I was half a beat slower and in attempts to find back my rhythm. It is ok, majority of my colleagues are on leave too. I can’t help but started thinking/ planning the next holiday(s). That is how I survive. Hoho.

So, how was the Beijing holiday? All vacations to me are good, even the ones packed with broken ankles and stomach flu. Lol. I treasured each one, creating new memories with the family. My guess is that it wouldn’t be very long before the kids started to miss some of the vacations bcos of other commitments. I think holidays would be very different then.

In fact, I also see the differences in this one with the kids growing up. Zaky was so much help at Universal Beijing and during snowboarding. He directed us on where to go and what ride next to take in the theme park. Daddy Lim and him took turns to help me stand up at the start of every snowboard so that I can conserve the very little bit of energy I had left. Nana was independent as well, helping with the bags now and then. My desire of wanting to be served this trip has been fulfilled. Thank you family! 

I am looking forward to the holiday(s) where the kids would also participate in the planning. They had been very trusting thus far and delegate all the itinerary planning to me. Daddy Lim, like the many holidays we had, simply turned up at the airport and have a slight inkling of the country that we are visiting. Lol. Particularly for this trip, I felt inadequate at the start of the trip as if I haven’t done enough homework bcos information in English was hard to come by and I was too lazy to read/ listen to the Chinese ones. We got bombed a few times but all went well at the end of the day. The family has been very accommodating.

For 2025, we already got some travel plans in mind/ locked down. In March 2025, we would be heading to Genting with some of the families. We have booked the Scoot tickets to Bali in June 2025, traveling with Auntie S, T and C. Hohoho. We are thinking of visiting Ah Yee at the end of the year. Woohoo! Time to save up $$ for the holidays. 

Exercise regime is also back in place. I had my very 1st run on Sunday. 

How can I not reward myself with a teh after that? 

Life is good! 

Mummy Lim