Return of the [Quitter].

I have been having diarrhoea and fever on an off for the past week and its horrible.  I suspected I got the bug from boy boy who had the same symptoms a week prior.   Going to the doctors does not help much as they give the same medication.  Think when I get back to Singapore in March I will go for a full body checkup.

Yes, I'm coming back to Singapore to slave again.  I am running out of funds and starting a business in Thailand is not that cheap actually :P.  The easiest way for me to gain some is to come back to work.  Yes, I could borrow from the banks but I do not want to be in debt and my own investment policy is that  I never will :P.  I rather save some money rather then rush ahead and get myself cash-strapped.  Maybe if we have no kids, we would have taken that path but that's not the case.  So it's a hard decision buy I plan to return to Singapore to work full time for at least another year or 2.

The idea of returning is actually on my mind since last year when I was helping my mum to move.  I still need to spend time researching and sort through my father's Philately collection and sell some of them off.  At first I plan to send all of them back to Thailand but that would involved getting taxed by the customs.  :S  So I need to do it in Singapore.  

Opportunity arises when I talked to one of my old colleagues when she just left our old company.  She mentioned they are still looking for someone and I was a bit interested in getting back in.

Reasons? It's shift work and with a lot of off days.  Which means I can fly back to Thailand once in a while.   This is the major advantage of working there.  Pay is ok.  I would say slightly above average with OT.  

I do have some reservation working there though.  Long hours and certains policies by managment (one of the reasons I quit that time).  In short, it means I am getting shit all over my head again.  It's been more than a year break for me and I guess the kids will miss me this time.  

 

Home Alone

Yup.  Wife and kids are having a slumber party at her friend’s place so which means I have the house all to myself… well… not really, I still have a Dam with 4 pups and a rooster .  They just left an hour ago and I was planning to watch some movies but I guess I will just pass.  Think I will go to sleep early after I finish writing this entry.

The 4 sisters.

 

Taking care of the puppies are quite a chore actually.  Especially so when they are in week 3.  They are starting to pee and poo everywhere and have some strength to climb around.  I used part of the old broken wooden crib of my girl and fixed a little fence to keep them in.  Their nesting area is just beside my garage and I would not want to worry that when I am parking I might crush one of them.

Wife already decided to keep one of the pups again… .  Although I don’t really like the idea but I am kind of attached to them too .  Since I am taking a lot of time taking care of them too.  Cindy (my dog’s name) is a good and protective mother. It’s her 2nd batch and so she’s a bit more experienced.  She would clean up the mess (pee and poo) by licking and eating the contents (even though I try to stop her from doing it).  Every time someone is looking over her brood, she would be on her guard and growl if they are too close to them.  Only Me and my wife could touch her brood.  Well, not my wife if I’m not around, she even got bitten by Cindy once while I was not around ! hehhehe

I guess its because I would pat and look at Cindy in her eyes first every time before I even touch her brood.  She seems to know I am seeking permission and normally she would lower her gaze.  That’s telling me I am allowed to do so.  Another reason I guess is because I am the one who always feeds her hehe.     Anyway it will be another month’s time before we give the others away.  We found homes for 2 of them and still looking for 1 more home for the last pup.

PS:  The one we are keeping has a spot of white on her head.   Wife named her Cookie…..

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!

 

 

Last post of 2011

Just want to post a short one on the last day of the year :P .  Wish all have a Happy New Year and hopefully your resolutions and wishes will come true in coming 2012.

For those a bit concerned about my last post... I'm safely back in Singapore yesterday night :P  And here's a short video of girl girl's performance in school on their New Year Eve's school performance 2 days ago.