AWESOME Things in 2014 #3

Awesome things in 2014 #2 was my birthday so yes, this is #3!

What is it?

It is me and my boyfriend's FIRST year anniversary! <3

Our first picture together

I think probably time has been moving on a rocket speed, it's been 356 days since "we" decided to hold hands! HAHAHA *shows tongue*

I am definitely more than glad to have met you and gone through the first year with you. I can't literally pen down every memory that we created but we certainly had more happier than sad times together. 

We have so many things in common (you and I know what they are) but yet we have certain distinct characteristics that make us unique the way we are. And I am grateful that we appreciate each other's good and weak points and help one another to develop greater personality to be a better person. 

I just wanna say thank you for being there for me through good and bad times. Thank you for showing me what I'm really capable of doing, for making me see hopes beyond my sight and bringing out the better side of me I didn't even know I had. I hope we could continue this journey for as long as we wish. 

Happy First Anniversary and many more to come! :)

During our Melaka trip

Simple DIY Chinese New Year Cards

I've always had a thing for DIY stuff but never really had the opportunity to learn and explore. This year when I was thinking of a special way to give my parents CNY ang pau, I thought why not I make a card and have the ang pau in it? 

I didn't want to just give an ordinary ang pau like the money in it is what matters the most. It sounds so insincere to me and I want to surprise my parents with something very unique. 

But I felt a little unfair to only make cards for my parents and ended up making for my whole family and my boyfriend. 

I'll explain the simple steps to make these cards. I searched on the internet for CNY 2014 logos (those without watermark) and printed them out. Then I typed the Chinese wishes (I put them in Chinese to create a more Chinese-y feel although I'm a banana) and printed them out too. Look up in the internet if you can't type. 

The boyfriend version

Then I cut them out in tiny pieces and pasted them on the cards. You can arrange them in any way you like. Include additional stuffs such as pictures or any memorable/cute/funny items in it. 

The daddy version

I added something extra for my parents' version. It's like an envelope for me to place money in it. So that's the ang pau section. 

I made a total of five cards for my parents, boyfriend, elder sister (with my brother in law and nephew, Clovis) and my younger (with her boyfriend). I just gave them the cards today and my mom is super happy! She said she felt so touched because it's very special and all my hard work paid off! 

Sometimes it isn't about how much money you spend for your parents but rather the tiny little things that you do for them which make them feel joyful. A small token of appreciation can really lighten up your parents' life! 

Try to squeeze your creative juices and make one yourself today! :)

Rich Kids' Tantrums

Okay, so I'm blogging about my spoilt student for the second time and this probably won't be the last. But I think I really need to share this as this associates so closely to my teaching philosophy (yes, I have some) and the entire education system. Since he's studying in an international school (won't mention which), I can't put the blame on the Malaysian edu system which I always do so yeah, it's generally the whole system. 

Speaking of my title, you might think I'm generalizing what occurred to my student to every rich kid out there but trust me, the story is almost always similar, in one way or another. 

So what happened was my student was throwing tantrums when I arrived with him constantly whining about his mother. These are among the things he lamented:

"I'm not going to listen to her anymore, forever!"

"She always say NO, NO, NO, NO to me whenever I ask for something so now I'm saying the same to her!"

"I'm not going for any tuition, school or whatever!"

I was literally blurred but wasn't at all surprised as this wasn't his first time complaining about his mother. I don't know much about parenting but you judge yourself after you finish the entire story. 

I later found out that him throwing his tantrums because his school allows Year 5 students to bring mobile phones to school and according to him, ALL of his classmates are bringing phones to school EXCEPT him. His mother said no to him so yeah, typical child is probably jealous of his classmates. 

As a teacher and a part of society, I have always stood firm that students shouldn't be allowed to bring phones to school. To me it brings more adversities than doing good to them. You're in school to study and have fun, I don't see the significance of having a phone. 

I agree with his mother to not allow him to bring a mobile phone to school but as my class went on, my student revealed more things to me which made me pondered if his parents' parenting style could have been wrong in certain ways. Among the things he told me were:

1. His parents promised him that they would buy him a phone when he turns 10. He's turning 10 next month so it's almost time they fulfil their promise. He said his parents have never really done what they said. BUT why make promises to a kid? 

2. Several times when his mother was angered, she said "You're not my son!" to him. I can't comment much but I think disregard of how outraged a mother is, such words shouldn't be coming out from a mom to a son. 

3. He said there was once when they went shopping and his mother bought two pairs of shoes for his sister yet never bothered to ask about him. Another jealousy case but it's something very common. I had such jealousy towards my siblings too so I totally understand. 

4. He kept saying that his parents never cared or loved him. This is what children normally say when they don't get what they want from parents or when parents do not pay sufficient attention to them. 

Kids nowadays are so smart and crafty I think parents really need to be on par with them to be able to handle their emotions and needs. This boils down to the saying that it isn't easy being a parent. I have never had the skills to deal with young children but I'm definitely learning to ensure I would be able to at least develop good bonding and communicate well with my kids in the future. 

Happy Birthday to ME: Crossing the Quarter-Century Border!

Time really flies. It is only a matter of days until I undergo my 25th birthday. Oh well, some people are so afraid of aging and the fear inevitably kicks in. For me, I do have such anxiety but only to a mild extent as I do enjoy and look forward to growing up (yes, I think I am still growing up). The elevation in age makes me feel like I am really developing in everything - maturity, wisdom, wealth, and intelligence. 

25 isn't a tender age but a progressing interval - it is when people strive for their career or some might even have achieved some establishments. Reminiscing my 25 years of life, I enlisted several items that I have proudly grasped them under my belt. They could be mere achievements to you but they indeed mean something to me. 

1. I bought my FIRST brand new car with only very minimal financial assistance from my parents! 

2. I graduated my degree with FIRST CLASS HONORS and officially became a TEACHER! Nothing extraordinary but I am still proud - it is what I reaped after sowing ample of hard work, nonetheless! 

3. I embarked on the PhD journey skipping the Masters! (Okay, nothing to be proud of but I am because not everyone has the golden opportunity to do so. BUT I wish I could nail something greater by completing it!)

4. I have become financially independent even when I was still a university student! I had stopped receiving monetary assistance from my parents ever since I began working part time during my third year of studies as a degree student. With the revenue from being a part-time tutor, I was able to support myself hence I didn't seek for money from my parents anymore. 

5. I set up a FOOD BLOG with my boyfriend, Kingsley! I have always loved writing but I didn't have a platform for me to do. JK drooling has become a part of my life and I am looking forward to establish it to a greater level. 

6. I have become so much more outgoing and cheerful! Yea, I used to be a cry baby - I cry over almost everything. But now I am so bubbly and talkative! I don't get upset longer than a few minutes I think. Haha!

7. I have learned to love deeply madly and most importantly truly! I discovered so much about two souls' compatibility and understood why two persons can never be together. But now, I feel I am being with the right one and hope to have it till the end!

8. I am now in my 4th year SPONSORING a child in Vietnam! (via World Vision - you should too!)

9. I set up an ONLINE BOUTIQUE! Will blog about why I had it started soon. But as of now, it still isn't very established but I really wish to develop it into a real business.

I hope to achieve greater things in the coming years, hopefully something I would live on feeling proud of it. I wish to be able to attain financial stability to fulfil my dreams! 

Last but not least, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to myself! 

Why teaching rich kids could be an appalling endeavour?

While most private tutors would love to teach kids whose parents are willing to spend exorbitantly on tutoring fees to ensure their offsprings receive very personal and exclusive tutoring services, it isn't always the "bed of roses" situation that happens. Well, yeah, pros and cons. So here's what I encountered and will very likely continue to face until I call it quit. 

I have this student who is studying in a primary international school. He comes from an affluent family and due to his declining academic results, his father sought a personal tutor with hopes that he or she would assist him in his daily homework and help him improve his results. It's either destiny or by chance, I stumbled upon this student and I agreed to be his home tutor. 

My student is a playful boy with intermittent daydreams. He is weak in Mathematics, lazy, and easily distracted. But all in all, he is a good and obedient kid who always respects me. I don't have any major problems teaching him. 

BUT I have problems dealing with his parents. Probably his dad thinks he is paying me higher than what the market has to offer (but I charge higher because his house is quite a distance from mine), he tends to be rather harsh on me. 

There was once when I went to his house but my student wasn't in. His maid told me his mother brought him out to the doctor so I thought alright, I'll just wait for him. After half an hour, I called his mother several times but there was no answer. And I ended up waiting for ONE hour and he was nowhere to be seen. Another 30 minutes passed before his mother brought him back. My student complained that he was too tired to attend class and I too had an appointment later so I left without teaching. I was somewhat angered and I texted his father that I would have to charge him an hour for me travelling there and not teaching. Let me get this right - I have made prior confirmation with his mother before going and it was certainly her fault for not informing me earlier about her bringing his son out.  

I don't know if he didn't check his texts or he chose to ignore what I said because he was abroad at that time. 

And that happened again a few days later so it became TWICE that I wasted my time there stupidly. 

So... when I passed him the bill at the end of the month, he got all outraged that I am charging him. I AM DOING IT TO PROTECT MYSELF. I cannot afford going there and waiting for an hour and ended up not teaching. MY TIME IS AS PRECIOUS AS YOURS. He even reprimanded me for not confirming the time with his wife WTF. Your wife forgotten the time and it's my fault?? He got onto his temper and yeah I did get frightened. Even after his wife explained to him, he still felt he didn't deserve to pay me. 

The second incident happened today when I was waiting for my student's parents to confirm the time that I should go with me. I actually requested for the class to be earlier but his mother told me it would be rushing for them to fetch my student back from his granny's. So I went out and thought it would definitely be late before they tell me. When I thought that I might not be able to make it and told them to cancel, his mother said they would be arriving home soon. But I told her I was still outside and preferred to have it deferred. She agreed and we arranged for another time. I thought everything was fine until .... moments later, my student's father called and yelled at me by saying they purposely rushed home earlier so that I could go. Do I even deserve such harsh manners? Like seriously. 

I didn't even get angry when they informed me last minute about cancelling the class or yelled at them for wasting my time! I guess I should develop greater skills to counter him the next time he uses sharp verbal words on me again. 

My Family's Annual Pre-CNY Activity

This is my male dog, Pudding with all the fried ngakus

Every year when it's the time of the year, my family would start planning on making ngaku or also known as "arrowhead" or "bud mushrooms". These are terms that I later found out, curiosity ignited after Kingsley asked me what it is in English yet I stuttered nothing. 

Basically I would share with you guys how to fry these ngakus. It is better if you have an open space with several people to help around as the tasks might be rather daunting and time-consuming so a joint labour would certainly ease up the tough work. 

My parents working on the frying

The things that you need are common cooking utensils such as wok, slicer (find one that slices thinly) and ladles. You also need to prepare cooking oil (brand of your own preference) and some kitchen tissue for oil absorbance. Do not miss out that you need containers (as many as possible) to store all the fried crispy chips. 

You can get ngaku from any hypermarkets or supermarkets and sometimes you can purchase them at a cheaper price when it gets nearer to CNY (especially when they're competing with one another). The price range should be around RM2-5 per 100gram. 

Upon purchasing the ngaku, you should peel off the skin using a peeler and this is what you will get. You can choose to leave the heads on or just cut them off. Leaving them on would help in providing a grip when slicing though. 

Then, clean and soak them overnight in salt water. This is to create some saltiness and to make the chips crispier. Don't have to be stingy on the amount of salt and afraid of them turning out too saltish ngaku doesn't absorb much. 

You may start frying the next day by slicing the ngaku directly into a wok containing hot oil. Try to fill up the wok with a lot of oil as it could be messy and hard to fry if the oil is too shallow. Use a ladle (with holes) to spoon them up when they start to turn yellowish. Place them onto spreaded kitchen tissue to absorb excess oil. 

We had to search high and low in the entire house to look for containers. Seal them using cellophane tapes and you're ready to serve them to your guests during the festive CNY season! 

Good luck! 

AWESOME Things in 2014 #1

Happy Birthday Mr.Kingsley Tan KF! 

I was looking forward to January and February 2014 because plenty of good things are going to happen. First and foremost, I'm posting this early because I would be out celebrating with you tomorrow. Happy Birthday in advance and many happy returns of the day! I hope you will prosper in your current job and achieve what you wished for! And most importantly, you know you'll my support in whatever you do. All the best and love you! <3 

The Postgraduate Dilemma

Most people have been so intrigued upon knowing that I'm currently taking up the PhD program. They absolutely and sincerely feel happy for me and in fact, additionally lamented about all the advantages of me studying (you're still young, you have such an opportunity, you can have brighter future, bla bla bla). 

There was also a couple of them who seemed intimidated with the idea of pursuing such a high level of education with thoughts that working or venturing into business is the better idea to live in the world of monetary. 

It's not uncommon that majority of them could see the conspicuous and manifested all the good points to me and while I do agree with them, deep inside me I have plenty of hidden dilemmas (my body cells seem to be raising their hands objecting to all the damage I'm inflicting on them). 

Difference is that I know what I'm going through - the struggles, the headaches (yea, it's slowly ruining my brain and maybe health), the anxiety and worries. 

Some people say it's not that difficult but if it wasn't, why were there so many dropouts in postgraduate program? Oh yeah, those were people who have less determination, who weren't positive enough and couldn't persevere through. And I shouldn't trail behind their steps and I should believe in myself that I can do it. Well, I want to complete my studies more than anyone else but the adversities of the study is taking their toll on me -  my spiritual, emotional and physical well-being. 

And sometimes I think to myself, what if there were better options apart from PhD? What if PhD just isn't for me? What if there were other routes to better success that I could pursue? What if...

Even if everyone pointed out the good to me, it is only me and myself who understands what I'm going through. Nobody else would be able to fathom how it feels in my shoes, not even you. 

I don't know if I had the courage to give up but I'm obviously compelling myself from doing so in hopes that I could find the light again and get back on track. In my journey thus far, I learned a lesson nonetheless, a life lesson probably and quite a vital one - NOT to share your problems with judgmental people. Good luck to myself! 

Changes I see in Myself

I used to be an inferior young girl with little or no confidence in what I did. In fact, I was always doubtful, fearful and feeling envious of others' achievements. I remember my teacher complaining to my mother when she went to school to collect my academic progress report that I had been so quiet in class. The only person I talked to was my closest friend sitting next to me and the thing that kept us occupied was homework and more homework (self-given). 

Even after I adjourned to my secondary stage of life, I still didn't manage to pick up the skills of building up my self-confidence. People around me were obviously doing one or few steps ahead of me, in terms of academic results, personality, and et cetera. I was still heavily shrouded with fear and low self-esteem. 

But as I grow more into puberty, I learned that I couldn't afford to remain as who I was. Even at such a tender age, I saw the need to develop and grow stronger. Thanks to my parents too, they made me realized the importance of self-protection and I saw the risk and danger of being too timid. 

Slowly and eventually, I began injecting forces into my mind for changes. Along with some environmental assistance such as studying in the university, taking up tuition classes, mingling with friends and igniting my inner motivation, I managed to develop my self-confidence and suppressed the intensity of inferiority in me to its lowest. 

People say society itself teaches more than the university and I believe this is very true. I gained the utmost values and lessons after venturing into work, albeit being just a part-time tutor. It enhances my maturity, widens my wisdom and more importantly, I have learned to be more confident, positive and cheerful.