A great holiday for the kids.

Apologies as I did not take much digital shots nowadays so some of the photos may need to be scanned and posted later.  I have been shooting but was being very selective recently on my shots.  I think the main reason is I am shooting in film medium more rather than digital.  I had also send in my a900 for shutter replacement.  I have not serviced it for more than a year so I send it in to Camera hospital for CLA and replaced the shutter.  It should last me for at least another 3 or more years as I don't shoot with it that often nowadays.

The week to Singapore was much more enjoyable this round as there are more things for the kids to enjoy at my sister's new house.  My mom and sis has moved to a HDB flat while the old house was renovated and prepared to be rented out.

There are some newly furbished playground just below our block and almost every morning we would bring the kids to play.  

  

We also went swimming at Tampines Swimming Pool.  Kids loved the slides :P

So much so that when we tried to leave the pool, boy boy throw a big tantrum and everyone was staring at us. Luckily I brought along a pre-mixed bottle of milk for him.  Works everytime.

We spent most of the time exploring around our new neighbourhood.  Wife also spent some time off with some new friends from Maesai that we got to know from this humble website :)

Its a bit less hectic than last year and we did not visit any major attraction this year even though the weather was kind to us.  Both of them got a bit darker from the swimming and running around.  All in all good fun.

I would also like to offer an apology to those who miss the opportunity meeting us during this trip.  Another time maybe!  :)  

 

Puppies!!! (Again.)

Its actually pretty embarassing but we had no idea our doggie Cindy was pregnant all the time until she gave birth yesterday.  :P  This was because she ate a lot and I gave her more food then usual, so we thought she was just getting a bit fat..

On the 14th, she was whimpering and her nose was a bit dry and shivering.  I thought she was sick so I ask my wife to get a vet to take a look at her.  The $%!$%! lousy vet came and just gave her two shots and said there is a common cold.  We kind of believe him because our neighbour Ah Ma's dog was sick too.  

Anyway, at night she actually felt better and was able to walk around the house and eat a little. I gave her a thick blanket to keep her warm but she was still breathing heavily.

Next morning which was yesterday on the 15th.  Wife woke up and screamed when she saw a pool of blood around Cindy.  At first she thought she was dead but she was actually licking something.  Babies! 

Wife woke me up and as usual, Cindy was pretty protective of her babies.  Ah Ma came over too and we were pretty excited.  We counted 4 but one of them seems not to be moving.  Closer inspection we actually see it was dead. :(  My wife distracted Cindy and Ah Ma managed to get hold of the limp body out.  It's a boy.  We put him in a little shoebox and send him away.  An hour later, another puppy came out and so a total of 5 was born.  All very pretty and have spots on their bodies.  We can't really go close as Cindy growls everytime we get close to her. 

Later that day, we removed her dirty soiled blanket and moved her to a corner.  Its pretty cold here so we were the puppies might get too cold.  The kids were excited, especially girl girl.  Boy boy just looks on in confusion... hehe..

At night, I deliberately put Cindy's food some distance away so wife could transfer the puppies to Cindy's little dog house that we had cleaned up.  Wife was dissapointed as all 4 were girls! hahahah.. All look cute though.  Now we have to start looking for people who wish to have a dog in Maesai here :P

 

Being an English Teacher in Thailand

 

There's a reader who wrote in to me asking me about discrimination against Asians when applying for jobs as an English teacher.  I tried replying to her email but it was mispelled so I could not reply her via email.  But I guess its better for me to write a short entry about this issue too.

Yes, you can still find a job but sadly if you are an Asian then you would find it a bit more difficult to find a good placement in Thailand.  Yes, they do prefer Caucasian.  I've met a some ESL teachers who couldn't even form proper sentences or speak in proper English and yet they were hired!

There are language schools or International schools that might hire Asians without any discriminations but their basic requirement is not TEFL but a degree in Education.  Unless you can prove your worth, the chances of getting a fair and well paid job as a ESL teacher would be hard.  Especially so in Bangkok. But if you planning to teach in the rural areas (where pay is really very low and working with a much bigger class and more workload) then it should be a non-issue.

Hope this helps!