tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26897266071296822472011-09-03T20:01:50.504+08:00Everyone of us has a story to tell. The characters in my blog are real people... people that I come in contact with... I have adapted some of their stories to tell and I begin this blog on a boy with autism... *All names are changed.ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.comBlogger321100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-5187219175141723592010-12-07T13:16:00.002+08:002010-12-07T13:20:16.511+08:00

We were basically busy with moving from our 1700 sqft rented apartment at Braddell View last month.   We stayed there for 2 years and had enjoyed that place.  We like the big hall, the unblocked view from the windows and the tranquility. We had many great time of having friends and family over for gatherings.  Plus we've got really nice neighbours too.   We were quite sure for a while that we

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-91365426689618125242010-10-13T13:53:00.001+08:002010-10-15T17:13:40.951+08:00

I have not been updating my blog as I was really occupied. To sum up what I was busy with and the few lessons I learnt: 1) Never.Be.A.Kaypoh.Matchmaker.Again Well, who would have known that a coffee session (harmless enough) would result in a broken heart, fragile ego, counselling sessions, strike off on facebook and possibly relocation to HK.  When I get over it myself, maybe I will elaborate

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-44429422506149169212010-09-12T15:55:00.000+08:002010-09-12T15:55:15.391+08:00

Been quite occupied recently. Other than taking a short holiday, hubby and I had attended 3 different funerals in the last month.  All demises were our dear friends' family members.  Our deepest condolences to them. Someone told me that death comes in seasons. I quite believe that. On the other hand, I'm also helping out another friend's wedding in 2 weeks' time. I have been busy organising

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-33268669350582129402010-08-22T11:26:00.002+08:002010-08-22T11:54:08.844+08:00

Very blessed by Dr AR Bernard's message: Ps 90:12 Our Life Track 1. Learning years - experiencing education, eduction is the primary focus in these years 2. Earning years - establish your financial power base/primary revenue source 3. Investing years - you grow your money and you grow your life 4. Legacy years - you give back, pour into the next generation and establish your works 5. Golden

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-83835675938427770692010-08-22T11:18:00.005+08:002010-08-22T11:20:13.349+08:00

Have been thinking about this passage the last week. Ecclesiastes 3 (New King James Version) Everything Has Its Time 1 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: 2 A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; 3 A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up; 4 A time to weep,

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-29258848555772996202010-08-13T16:28:00.001+08:002010-08-13T20:38:37.500+08:00

I went for a facial while the kids were in school today.  I go to this beautician whose shop is located in a HDB estate.  Very heartland, very "auntie" setup but my "facialist", Teresa, is good.  Teresa is in her early 50s and has a warm personality.  She puts you at ease quickly and she likes to offer you her homemade chrysanthemum tea.  During my monthly "visit", she always chit-chat to me 

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-78324818917934638242010-08-06T16:26:00.006+08:002010-08-09T08:58:18.841+08:00

I just read a friend's breast cancer blog which she bravely opens up and accounts her personal experience and shed light on the mastectomy procedure. I am so moved by her sharing and admire her immensely for her spirit. In one of her blog entries, she mentioned she has her earthly treasures with her, ie. loving husband and children.  I love the term - "earthly treasures". Few months ago, I had

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-49868958040665530312010-07-13T07:45:00.005+08:002010-07-15T23:24:52.729+08:00

You know, one of the best things in life is friendship. You are bless when you have friends that will rally around you, encourage and love you when you are in the valley.  You are bless when your friends also celebrate your successes with you.  Recently I have rekindled an old friendship and it is really sweet.  We have always been in touch but because of life's busy-ness, we have sort of also 

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-72668326199840362492010-06-29T10:13:00.001+08:002010-06-29T10:15:28.289+08:00

Just recording my personal inspiration. "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works." .... "Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward".... "But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul." Heb

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-68697695499610295722010-06-25T08:55:00.001+08:002010-06-25T08:58:47.293+08:00

I have finished watching Autumn's Concerto, a Taiwanese drama on YouTube. (I chanced upon it and was hooked on the first episode). I have never really fancy watching TV dramas especially Taiwanese ones (I thought they are too draggy & mushy) and would prefer Hollywood movies anytime.  I also can't remember the last time I watched our local drama, even when Little Nonya, was all the rage and

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-35198220988371974682010-06-18T10:00:00.005+08:002010-07-13T10:55:50.929+08:00

Can't help but am thinking of the new worship song with the verse "Love crucified the man, whose open hands were nailed for me..." The verse is of course talking about Jesus Christ, the man who was the most misunderstood in history and was the lamb that was slaughtered 2000 years ago for our sins and transgressions. Last couple of weeks, my church, City Harvest, has been in the media as the CAD

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-29852919726444403612010-03-26T00:12:00.005+08:002010-05-09T10:41:37.358+08:00

My wise and funny colleague Ms C summed up my day ïn the office well -  "Why make things simple when you can have it complicated? This must be one of modern world's ironies.  Instead of having technology to help us, it sets us back by giving more complications and limitations.  Just like the other day I was supposed to order a 1 GB RAM for my manager's laptop via the system but because of some

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-63279539232188120862010-03-24T19:14:00.000+08:002010-03-24T19:14:33.980+08:00

I'm reminded of this 1998 movie. In the same  theme of "cause and consequences", and "what ifs". Synopsis A beautiful young English woman learns that she has been fired from her PR job. On the way home, the doors of a tube car close on her, opening the 'what if' floodgates. She begins to live out two lives: if she had made the train, and if she hadn't. An intriguing concept about fate and how

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-74557320973429249172010-03-23T03:05:00.001+08:002010-03-23T03:12:03.174+08:00

I fell asleep at 9pm last night while putting the kids to bed and now I'm wide awake at 230am!! I've decided against finish watching the DVD that I started as I'm mindful that if i don't try to go back to bed soon, I'll be zonked out at work by noon tomorrow. So why am I blogging now?  Other than hoping the monotonous sound of keyboard typing will put me to sleep soon, I'm thinking that there

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-19766363967590545382010-03-14T10:22:00.001+08:002010-03-14T18:46:40.634+08:00

My childhood bestfriend, Vicky, is now residing in Oxford UK. She is a very very creative and fun person.  I always admired her adventurous spirit and how she always came out with the craziest ideas.  She ''íntroduced'' me to many naughty things which i would not write about here. Vicky has a slightly older sister, Gwen, whom she looked up to. Gwen was the good looking, cool girl in school. She

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-39546759948056075652010-02-27T09:08:00.006+08:002010-02-28T23:10:56.958+08:00

At the office offsite, we played this new Jenga game, which everyone took a turn to put a peg on, the idea was to balance the structure so that it would not collapse.  It turned out to be very fun and hilarious. To me, this is a perfect depiction of the balance of life.  If you put all your emphasis, time & energy in one area, say your work and neglect the other important areas, like your family

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-14316218826200741902010-02-23T00:08:00.005+08:002010-02-23T00:18:24.864+08:00

I'm inclined to write about relatives as I have just met many of them during this Chinese New Year. You know the saying, "that you can choose who your friends are, but you can't choose your family"... Every CNY, we have to visit this family as the uncle is my mum's eldest sibling.  Even though the children (my cousins) are about the same age as me, we just didn't have much to say. For as far as

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-67501866967536553242010-02-20T08:42:00.003+08:002010-02-21T11:12:04.215+08:00

This is Chinese New Year period.  The year of the Tiger in the lunar calendar.  We took a few days' break in KL and then travelled to visit some of my husband's relatives in a town outside KL. Uncle and auntie were so warm and made us felt right at home. In the 2 days' that we stayed over, we were treated to many yummy Malaysian/chinese dishes (pig's trotters anyone?) but most of all we tasted

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-37661864011765620622009-10-25T09:22:00.003+08:002009-10-25T09:29:18.372+08:00

Sometime ago I watched the romantic comedy "He's Just Not That Into You''.  The movie as funny as it was, told us the ''brutal truth'' why a man would not call a girl after a date even though he said he'd call ... the reason is, yes, he's just not that into you. For this little story I'm sharing, the roles are switched. Jonathan is having a major crush on this attractive girl.  They went out

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-8936208746566850252009-10-21T10:00:00.005+08:002009-10-21T15:15:57.469+08:00

Wee Seng was let go from his job once again.  This was the 4th or 5th time already.  At least this time round he had worked for 6 months as an environmental officer, the longest he had held a position. Wee Seng is in his thirties, withdrawn and often carries a spaced-out expression.  He speaks good english but he seldom talk.  You could feel that he has so much fear in him and has such a low

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-34276207191312657732009-10-15T03:43:00.003+08:002009-10-15T11:01:59.681+08:00

An old time friend, Sasha, asked me out for dinner 2 evenings ago and we had a good time catching up with one another. She is the same age as me (almost mid thirties - oh gosh! time flies!), a swinging single, smart and definitely leading a 'happening' life.  Sasha made an interesting statement which prompted this blog. She jokingly said that singles are selfish people, they love themselves

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-35507616090926611532009-10-11T11:48:00.006+08:002009-10-13T10:53:09.029+08:00

My 4 yr old son ran and tripped last night while pretending to be a hunter with his new toy gun.  Unfortunately he fell face down and hit his teeth.  There was blood all over his mouth and he was in shock and was crying.  We finally calmed and settled him and put him to bed early.   This morning when I checked his teeth again, I found that one of his front teeth was really shaky and the two

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-58486666700641034302009-10-07T00:10:00.003+08:002009-10-07T12:48:42.796+08:00

Have you ever revisited a place or met up with someone after a lapse of time only to find out that the place/person was not really quite fantastic as you remember to be? Well you see, the problem is not the place/person, the problem is you.  You have changed. I recall this chinese story which I have read many years ago about a poor scholar, who once lost his way, was tired and in great hunger. 

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-18939529292637971302009-10-04T17:47:00.002+08:002009-10-07T12:52:17.240+08:00

A dear friend's father passed away suddenly 2 weeks ago.  All of us were taken by surprise. The deceased, whom I shall call Mr P, was a wonderful man.  If you have met Mr P when he was alive, you would not have known that he was once a successful businessman who lived in a bungalow in district 10.  His business failed and he lost all his wealth. You would not have known that fact about Mr P

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-89593091862280972522009-10-02T00:35:00.000+08:002009-10-02T00:35:43.383+08:00

Have you ever wonder why a man thinks so differently from a woman? Why can't we always get through to each other? On a lighter note to my blog, watch this hilarious video and you may know why he is always MISUNDERSTOOD. www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuMZ73mT5zM

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-33495157139951515772009-09-30T16:11:00.005+08:002009-10-01T23:29:07.618+08:00

My uncle was a brilliant Xiangqi (chinese chess) player. He played in many high profiled chinese chess tournaments, came in first in inter-constituency competitions at least twice in the late 70s - early 80s. He was even awarded a Xiangqi Master Title and was ranked one of the top 10 players by the Singapore XiangQi General Association. When I was a little girl, I used to be in awe of all the

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-9992932745733944012009-09-29T21:27:00.004+08:002009-09-30T10:05:11.135+08:00

You might have seen them before if you are living in the western part of Singapore. Well at least she is still selling tissue paper by the MRT station. They are a mother and son pair, whom I will call 'Madam' and 'Brother' respectively. I first met them 10 years ago, through my then boyfriend (now hubby) who had been faithfully buying packets of tissue paper from them everyday after work. An

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-53600672968740577052009-09-29T10:01:00.007+08:002009-10-02T00:28:19.583+08:00

You can read about a lady with autism at the following site: http://www.donnawilliams.net/author.0.html

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-63238420489623114902009-09-28T12:17:00.009+08:002009-09-28T14:31:12.626+08:00

When Jo first comprehended that his father was leaving his life, his behaviour deteriorated. He would be screaming on top of his voice and be especially clingy to his male teacher in school. He would also throw tantrum frequently. That was probably his way of coming to terms with what happened and adjusting to the change in his life. Today, after much effort put in by the mother and the

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-40707219612697024562009-09-28T10:59:00.019+08:002009-09-29T11:13:52.574+08:00

Let me first start off by saying that I am NOT an authority in this subject. What I can share with you is the summary of my readings that may help shed some light on this condition. Autism is a spectrum (hence Austism Spectrum Disorder, ASD). Meaning if it is a scale, on one end, you can have an autistic child who is high functioning, verbal, with good IQ and is academic. (These kids are usually

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-15590788177410801602009-09-27T16:57:00.027+08:002009-09-29T11:03:19.016+08:00

Jo is a 6 year old boy, currently studying in a special school. At a glance, you may not have guessed that he is any different from other 6 year olds, except he really is not quite the same. Jo is tall for his age, he has a cute smile and big bright eyes and likes the colour orange. You will only realise that Jo is different because he could not speak in the way like other boys could. Your

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2689726607129682247.post-20514072702286356582009-09-27T13:36:00.007+08:002009-09-28T14:28:36.357+08:00

I was having lunch with my friend, Catherine, who has an autistic son Jo.Jo was making a fuss and someone made a nasty comment at the table next to us, and added that if Jo was his own son, he would have made him behave. How insensitive!I felt so unjustified for Catherine, seeing her apologetic and pleading face. I wanted to retort but kept my peace.I like to start my blog with some pages in the

ms chocolatenoreply@blogger.com0