1st Business Trip to Tokyo Part 1

This year, I got to do my 1st business trip to Shanghai in January and now I get to travel to Tokyo. This is my 1st business trip to Tokyo. It isn’t that I don’t like Japan, but traveling for business is always not fun and I had been trying to put it off for as long as possible. The time has finally come. 

I had timed it so nicely, that I would go for a short trip after Nana’s Chinese paper. Speaking of which, it was so liberating when we didn’t have to chew Chinese after school/ work on Monday. I even went to get my greys covered after 2.5 months. I now can flip hair… and be presentable in front of my Japanese colleagues... for at least the next 3 weeks. Hoho. 

Bcos the school holidays had started, Nana had actually asked if I can bring her along. She said that she would be happy just staying in the hotel room, even if I have no time for her. I actually toyed with the idea but the air tickets are seriously crazily expensive. Otherwise, it sounded like a good idea to extent into the weekend and have some fun. She also has supplementary classes and needed to go to school. Too bad, too sad.

Thinking to spend as little time away from home as possible, I eventually decided to do a red-eye flight on Tuesday night, touching down on Wednesday morning and heading directly to work. I had done this crazy stuff when I was much younger and now wonder if I am trying to kill myself. We will find out. 

My flight was on Tuesday night 10.50pm, thinking that I can spend some time with the family before I leave. In the end, it was only Mochi. 

Daddy Lim and the kids headed off for work/ school early in the morning. I barely see them for 30 mins. Daddy Lim had guitar class in the evening while the kids met their ex-kindy teacher for dinner. Ya, kindergarten teacher; they still meet occasionally in church. I even went to the office in the morning so that I wouldn’t be so lonely at home. And yes, I only packed my bag in the afternoon bcos I am so good with this minimum packing for business travel. Hoho.

Eventually, I did get to meet the kids a little before I left for the airport. I didn’t realise that it is 7 hours to Tokyo until I was booking the flight tickets. I thought it is 5 hours, like Mumbai. 

I got myself something from DFS. My little reward to myself for flying so much for work. Then I got tired and decided to head to the gate. While on the way… I am on water, see the little fishes swimming under my feet!

The right thing to do was to go to sleep immediately after boarding but the stubborn me insisted that I should watch a movie 1st, even if it is some thrashy Chinese movie. At least I was able to resist supper and let the food cart go past while the wonderful supper smell engulfed me. I prepped myself for bed at 12+am, obviously after the movie and I think I fell asleep quite quickly. I duno if it is bcos of the recent SQ incident, it felt like there were quite some turbulences or maybe my consciousness was just heightened. I woke up many times to switch positions and I was super cold but was too lazy/ sleepy to ask for another blanket.

ETA is 6.45am. I was still thinking in my head if I should ask for the blanket. I checked and it was about 4am. Then not long after, the pilot announced that we would be descending soon. What??!! Oh, Japan is 1 hour ahead of Sgp. I still want to sleep leh. I shouldn’t have watched that movie!

The flight landed early at about 6.10am. Hello, Japan! 

I took a cab directly to the office at Roppongi and that took about 30 mins. I was super early and managed to find my way into the office. 

After I changed and make sure that I was presentable, it was to find a convenient store to get bfast. Walking in the quiet street with the cool breeze was so nice. High school kids were heading to school.

This was my bfast from the Family Mart and funnily, the kids were so envious. Japan triangle rice must taste very different from the Singapore ones. Hoho. 

The plan for the day was to head to the site at Saitama, which was about 1 hour away by train. A colleague nicely offered to bring me so that I dont get lost in the complicated train system. I was reminded of how quiet trains in Japan are. Commuters are reminded not to talk on the phone in the train. I took a work call in total silence and typing in response. So funny. 

I spent the rest of the day at the site’s temporary office. It was still in construction but construction in Japan is really a different level - the order, the cleanliness, the technology. I am so impressed that even portable toilets are like this and come with the bidet.

I had lunch with 2 colleagues and thankfully, one of them was fluent in English. After lunch, the red eye hit me and food coma joined in the fun. At 2pm, I decided that I needed a walk. At some points, I was literally dozing off at my desk. 

I took a walk. 

I went to the supermarket. Hohoho. We all need snacks. 

This walk was so helpful and I was alive again.

I left the site at about 5pm and had to find my way back to Roppongi. It wasn’t bad at all. Google map was very helpful and accurate. 

Then I got a seat on the train and tried to work a little but the lack of sleep hit me very hard and I had to daze. While talking on the phone is discouraged, the evening train was lively with chatter. It is strange. 

Then I didn’t quite know what happened. Lol. I simply walked and followed google map. The weather was nice, I was too tired to think and walked. 

Fortunately, I found the office. I got my luggage and walked to my hotel again. Google map is good ah. 

The hotel is 12 mins walk away. It was very crowded at the lobby and I was quite shock at how small the room is, then remembered that I am in Tokyo. 

I didn’t quite mind the size of the room but I did mind the lack of a gym. Zzzzz.

I went in search of dinner and was hoping to find a ramen/ curry rice joint. I found India food, Italian food but not ramen/ curry rice. I didn’t want to walk further after 500m and decided that it would be Family Mart again. This was my dinner - absolute comfort food. 

I was super tired. I needed to sleep. Goodnight world. 

Mummy Lim

O Levels Chinese P1 & 2 D Day

Edited:
Nana mentioned that she will look for the P2 answers on reddit. I didnt know secondary school students use reddit. When I was googling on when the results will be released, I saw the reddit thread and clicked. It was a good entertainment and we both laughed at how bad some other students are. Lol. Nana had been telling me that the O level results are moderated. Her science and maths tutors said the same but Zaky's SST teachers beg to differ. Anyway, if moderation really does take place, and there are really so many other students who are so bad in Chinese, we have hope. Lol. 

+++++++++++++

Finally, it is the day. We have worked hard for the past few weeks. In fact, it was literally full day intensive Chinese on Vesak Day and Sunday. On Saturday, I told her that she should go out and spend a few hours with her friends. She deserves a break and so do I. hahahaha. She happily went youth and had dinner with her mates.

We have really done a lot. We did about 3/4 of the 10 years series, she went through most of the Sec 2, 3 and 4 生词 in the last 2 weeks and we did countless 电邮 and 作文. In the last few days, we switched from doing full 作文 to making sure that she understands/ guesses cleverly the 题目 and doing 大纲, bcos writing the full 作文 is too time consuming and time is a luxury that we cannot afford. 

I think my Chinese improved. Lol. I remembered how much I used to enjoy writing 作文 and brainstorming on the 大纲 with Nana was fun. I bet she disagrees. 

Last night, she finished the last paper 2 practice at 9pm. It wasn’t well done but we were so done. There is no more 佛脚 to 抱. In that hour, trying to do one more practice or scolding her don’t help. The right thing is to pat ourselves on our back, go sleep and get ready for the D day. That was exactly what we did. 

This morning, she headed off to school after we prayed. She asked for prayers again before entering the exam hall. I told her that we did all we can and really to leave the rest to God. 

She whatsapped me at 10ish, and said that it wasn’t too bad. At least she understood both topics. 

She asked me if she 离题, which is the greatest nightmare. I don’t think so. I sent this to 黄老师, who then said “看起来不错”. Then we both thought, “黄老师 can read English meh”? Lol. 

Nana probably did some quick revision and then went back for her P2 at 11am and whatsapped me at 12.30pm. She said that she didn’t know how she has done. I hope it wasn’t too bad. At least she didn’t feel like she did so badly that she had to come home to cry. She had planned to meet her friends for lunch and happily went on her way. Good, good. She deserves the break. 

Later in the afternoon, she sent me her P2 and the answers that she scribbled. She performed like how she normally would for her practice papers. If she does improve on her oral, which we still have about 5 weeks to work, she may be able to hit an A2. Like I say, we did our best. If the result is not ideal, we will just have to 认命 and accept that the gap is too big, and that we needed more time. We will then have to try again at the end of the year.

Nana said that she would be grateful to me if she scores an A. Ya, I also want her to be grateful to me. Hoho.

Mummy Lim 

One Week to D Day

We are officially 1 week from the Chinese O level paper 1 and 2. #bitenails

Late last year, we started to realise that Nana needed help for Chinese, especially if she wants to do well for her papers in May. We found her a tutor but it didn’t work out. The progress was too painfully slow that we doubt if we would achieve what we needed by May. 

While only a pass in Chinese is needed to go to JC, we discussed and agreed that having a good grade would give her buffer against screwing up one of her Maths or Sciences. She struggled with these subjects too but at least we still have time. It is too wasted to not try hard to do well in Chinese, so that we can drop the subject and have extra time to concentrate on the remaining subjects at the end of the year. Ya, this is still how O level Chinese works until 2027, where the Ministry then scrap the mid year Chinese paper. 

We re-strategised a few months ago and found her a new tutor. This tutor had been tutoring the Fs for many years. On her 1st lesson, she had asked for Nana’s 10 year series, which Nana drew blank. There is a 10 year series for Chinese? I cannot believe my ears when Nana said that her school didn’t ask them to buy the Chinese 10 year series. Nanhua leh. Then she said that it may be in school. Ended up, I got her a new one a day later. We don’t have time to waste and the supposedly still in school is 10 year series is still MIA.

Given the little time that we have left, her tutor and I (her part time tutor), had been very focused on working on the 10 year series. Nana and I agreed on the target of completing the entire 10 year series before the Chinese paper. Unlike the rest of the subjects, that means double (20) papers. 

It had been plenty of ups and downs for the past months. Nana had to find time to study Chinese and work on her 10 year series amidst the heavy schoolwork and through her WA2. This means a ridiculous amount of tantrums including tears. I had to force her to do her papers and she gets upset bcos she is too stress. If I leave her alone, she gets stress too bcos she isn’t prepared and the D day is fast approaching. Then, she lost an entire week when she fell sick. Zzzzzsz. 

We are in our final week. Her tutor came for the last time yday evening and isn’t able to move her schedule for another lesson before her papers. I am assuming that she has many other O level panicking students as well. 

Maybe bcos the WA stress is over, or the other subjects teachers are giving more leeway for them to focus on Chinese. Nana’s condition for studying Chinese had been good for the past few days. I think she can also feel herself improving compared to a few months ago and is self motivated.

She has gotten her Chinese prelims results back. She said that she is 1 of the 5 people in her Chinese class who passed paper 2, though she was a borderline case. That calls for a celebration! She is at 58 marks overall, which is a C5, but bcos she had 离题 for her Chinese Comp, which is like the greatest nightmare. If she had done her usual standard for her comp, she would have achieved a B4 and improving to an A for O levels seems achievable. 

She has picked up her 词语手册 again, after insisting for a while that it is useless to try to study all the past years 生词, despite her tutor telling her that she should.

I duno what made her do so (my nagging?) but she found that it helped bcos 2 parts (15 marks) of her paper required her to know the vocab that had been taught and increasing her vocab generally helped her to read and understand the paper/ questions better. She is aiming to finish the last bit of Sec 3 词语 today and we need to finish the Sec 4 work and as much as the Sec 2 ones. We don’t even have the Sec 1 手册 anymore and also running out of time. 

While we didn’t finish the entire 10 year series, I am glad to announce that she had completed 10 papers and this would equal to completing the entire series if it is another subject. *clap, clap, clap*

Yes, this is how a 10 year series should look like for someone taking O levels. I think her other 10 year series are still very “clean”.

As we countdown, we are also changing our strategy unconsciously. We have moved away from completing papers (probably just drilled 1 or 2 more during the weekend) but target to finish as much of her 生词 as possible and most importantly to practice understanding composition topics. Many times, she couldn’t do an easy topic one bcos she didn’t recognise some key words. We cannot take another 离题. We will probably spent time doing some 作文大纲 for her tutor to mark remotely. 

With that, I think we have all worked hard. I cannot ask for more whatever her results would be. If still cannot, then continue to work hard for end of the year lor. Another we nailed the papers on 27 May, it is time to prepare for her Chinese oral in July. At least we still have some time. Fighting!

Mummy Lim

Daddy Lim’s Hobbies

Daddy Lin’s hobby doesn’t come in singular or cheap. There is never just 1 bike. 

Yes, both blue bicycles are his, when I am the one mainly doing the cycling now. Yes, it is me alone to WWF Saturday morning ride. 

He also has several pairs of aggro skates while Zaky only has one.  Then there are the guitars. 

If you ask him, he will tell you that they are different.. zzzzzzzz. 

He had been hinting that he needed new amp. I duno why when he already has an amp when he bought the guitar. He said that it is “different”. Haiz. As per any of his bigger item purchases, the hints are simply a pre-empt. It usually didn’t take too long before I see the new whatever that he is hinting appear at home. There is no stopping. Haiya. 

One day, I came home to his big ass amp. Zzzzz… 

It is so much bigger compared to the one that he bought not long ago, that is now hiding under the table. 

I asked if the smaller amp should go (sell, throw, donate) but he said to keep it so that he can play together with Zaky. 

This is so “3 mins” - Zaky, who doesn’t read chords; he doesn’t even know the basic and is not keen to learn. He only likes to play that few parts of (like 3) songs. 

I hope this hobby stays longer to fully depreciate the very big and expensive amp. I have no idea where these will go when we shift. 

It is ok. We need entertainment and distractions in life.

Mummy Lim

Happy 16th Birthday to Nana

16 years ago on Mother’s Day, I got checked in to the delivery suite at NUH bcos my gum wouldn’t stop bleeding and my BP shot sky high. Then contractions started and the rest is history. 

Nana always lament that her bday falls right smack of exams. Hmmm.. if she wasn’t so eager to meet the world and stayed to full term, she would have the June holidays to enjoy her bday. #notmyfault

This year, her bday would have been after all the WAs but she fell sick for an entire week and she had to retake all the WAs that she missed right after her bday. She said that the teachers whacked her with 3 WAs yday. So nice of them. 

I thought I was quite nice already but I am sure Nana disagreed. I didn’t at all push her at all to do her Chinese practice when she was sick. We sort of “negotiated” and she completed 1 full Chinese P1 the 1st thing on her bday so that her tutor can mark during yday’s tuition. During the weekend, she went to youth, dinner, church and lunch and I didn’t nag. I am so nice. 

Bday celebration was a simple affair. It overshadowed Mother’s Day. Chey. We had a family dinner at a Korean restaurant. 

We wanted to celebrate at the ice cream place beside but everybody was there to eat ice cream and both joints were super crowded. Some of us managed to have some ice cream. 

Bcos Nana didn’t have any cake to celebrate her bday, ah Kim was so nice to source and tabao a piece for her. 

Happy bday Nana. This is a difficult year but we will get there somehow. May God continue to lead you and bless you with a wonderful life. Let’s blow some candles and eat some cake this weekend and yes, you can have your celebration with your friends during the June holiday. For the next 2 weeks, I am really sorry that you do have to eat and breathe Chinese everyday. I love you. Muaks. 

Mummy Lim

Happy 8th Anniversary to WWF

5 years ago, Daddy Lim and I started cycling on our mountain bikes and then we found the WWF. I remembered joining them for their 3rd anniversary celebration. 

How time flies! It had been 5+ years since I started cycling with them. We survive the Covid years and the group still stay strong. 

It also means that my Liv is about 5 YO. 

Every now and then, Daddy Lim will ask if I wanted to change my bike and remind that its resale value is probably so low now. It is ok, I am really comfortable with my Liv and my hunt wheels. If I am to change my bike, it is probably bcos the hunt wheels have worn out or I am so frustrated with the brakes, and would look for something with disc brakes. For now, this is good and keeps me happy, so long as it doesn’t rain when I am out riding. 

Yday was WWF 8th anniversary ride. We wore the new jersey or any of the older WWF jersey. 

We look so good together. Hoho. 

Happy 8th Anniversary to WWF! This group of cycling friends had made my Saturday morning cycling so interesting and kept me going. 

Mummy Lim

1st Trip to India for 2024 Part 2

Again bcos of the time difference, I had early morning meetings in Sgp time. I woke up even earlier to hit the gym. I didn’t mind early mornings but suffered badly towards the end of the day. I need to go to bed at 10pm ah. 

The sky was already turning bright at 6am. 

My hotel view from another facing. There are trees but everything still feels very grey and dusty to me.

My 2nd work day in India was thankfully shorter. I was in the city office and the colleagues nicely encouraged me to leave at 5pm if I didn’t want to be stuck in the traffic. I enthusiastically took the advice and spent the evening leisurely chasing emails on the big nice bed. 

The kids were doing better too. They were still nursing fevers but seem to be on the mend. Poor Nana still have to do her Chinese tuition via Zoom, in prep of her Chinese oral prelims on Thursday. 

This work trip is not much different from the others. There were some other colleagues from Indonesia also visiting and staying in the same hotel. The companionship  wasn’t too bad. There was a company dinner on the 3rd night as well. While the buffet spread was good, I actually didn’t quite mind having comfort food dinner on the bed. Lol. 

The kids kept me worried. Zaky has gone back to school. Nana attempted too on Wednesday but came back in the morning when her fever returned. She skipped school again on Thursday bcos the fever refused to go away. She has missed her EMaths, Physics and History WA and her Chinese Oral Prelim. She mentioned that the school will arrange for her to retake the assessments next week. The poor girl was feeling so miserable and physically unwell and was sobbing when I called on Thursday morning to check on her. I want to go home to the family too. 

I checked out on Thursday morning. My biggest achievement of this trip - these were left behind and thrown away. Hoho. 

I left the office at 6.30pm for my flight at 11.40pn. The traffic is always unpredictable. I got to the airport in 1 over hour. This was my dinner. 

I was so tired and already starting to doze off while waiting for boarding. Once boarded, I settled myself for sleep. I had the neck pillow and blanket all nicely positioned and was off to lala land in minutes. The next moment, I was already in the air and the seatbelt sign had just gone off. I adjusted the seat and slept some more. 

Vaguely, I heard the air stewardesses talking. I was so amazed at myself to immediately switch from sleeping to ordering fish pasta for dinner. Lol. I only ate the fish pasta, not the desserts and then jump back to sleep. Tired siol. I did bring back the bun but Zaky said that they only taste nice while in the air. 

Bcos I slept so well in the plane, I had energy when I reached home. It was somewhat a mess. I spent the nice 1.5 hours unpacking, vacuuming the floor, cleared mochi’s litter, top up water, keeping the laundry…. It was 10am by the time I was done. I took a nap to ensure that I can survive the rest of the day. I survived my 1st India business trip 2024.

Mummy Lim

1st Trip to India for 2024 Part 1

Finally the time has come - my 1st India trip for 2024. Despite traveling to India like 3x last year, I still dread the thought. The family didn’t fancy me being away for a week. While I like to think that they will miss me, I think they miss the person who would do the housework more. 

Like other business trips, I started putting a few things together and only started real packing on Sunday. There isn’t much to bring anyway. Sunday was a busy day, making sure that we do grocery shopping and the last load of laundry is done. I also did an orientation for the family - this is where the trash bags are stored, this is how you operate the washing machine, these are the bags for Mochi’s poo poo. 

Daddy Lim has been down with a nasty flu for over a week. I was worried that he would pass me the flu bug bcos it is no fun traveling sick. Then on Sunday evening, Zaky complained that he felt sick - 37.8 degrees. Zzzzz. I was nursing a headache myself but the thermometer said that I am fine.

My flight was at 7.40am on Monday. I was up at 4.45am and arrived with plenty of time. 

I was busy shopping at DFS, my ritual of rewarding myself before every business trip. Then, I was interrupted by updates that both kids were down with fever. Zaky was 39.4 and Nana was 38.0. What? Nana too? She was still jumping about the night before, trying to follow a HIIT workout on YouTube. 

While trying to find the concealer to buy, I was busy printscreening the insurance card and panel clinic details to the kids. The kids went back to bed, intending to visit the clinic only at 10am. 

It is the 1st time that I tried connecting to the free wifi in the air, in attempt to find out if all were good with the kids. The connection was choppy but at least I was updated about the kids’ status. They each was given 2 days MC.

I caught a movie, read and had a nice bfast. 

The flight was 5 hours long. I landed on time and cleared immigration smoothly. The driver was already waiting and I started my familiar journey to the office. 

The familiar honking and traffic jam. 

Everything just feels very grey and dusty. Hello to the lack of city planning, the weird new construction that spout in the midst of old buildings and the construction that stops midway despite being fully occupied at the lower levels.

I was told that this is bcos the construction firm didn’t get the permit to build the upper floors and thus left it idle. 

The1st day is always the longest day. Not only was I up early in SG time, the time difference means longer working hours. I only left the office at 8.30pm, which is 11pm in Singapore. I was super hungry when I made it to the hotel. The big bed was very inviting.

Comfort food for dinner. 

I literally had dinner in the bed. Nice… 

Interestingly, which I was both mentally and physically tired, I didn’t fall asleep immediately. I took some time to read and then mindlessly scrolled FB. Sleep was definitely easy.

Mummy Lim