happynsunny: 01.10

2010-01-26

neighbour's kids driving me crazy

I used to be able to let B1 wait for school bus alone and come up alone after school.

Not anymore.

Since my neighbour's two boys started taking school bus with her,now that they are also in PM session, I have to accompany her to wait for school bus and pick her up from waiting area every evening.

The elder boy would instigate her to do lots of things,running around while wating,climb over fences to the plants (by asking "why didn't you dare to climb over?"), climb up 9 storeys of steep stairs with their heavy school bags,fought witht the two Indian boys from neighbouring blocks.

It's really driving me crazy. He even had the guts to tell me "If you are not here,we will do this and that...".

We really have to train and brainwash her not to be influenced by her "friends" ,starting from young.

Ordering Goyard St Louis PM tote from London/Paris

My St Louis PM tote in Burgundy/Bordeaux has finally arrived.

I ordered on Tues night(Singapore time), and the DHL guy came knocking on my door on the following Monday morning.

The bag cost GBP 459.57 without tax, plus a shipping fee of GBP85,both to be paid to Goyard London.

They emailed me a CC authorization form,which I filled in,signed and scanned,and then emailed back together with scanned copy of my ID and credit card.

By 12pm the next day,DHL has picked up the parcel,and Goyard London emailed me a tracking number which I track from there.

Tracking from DHL site is easy, and you can request for them to SMS at various stages of the shipment process.

Another site for tracking, which provide more details than DHL:

http://shipping.langenberg.com/

I have to pay GST of SGD86.26 plus handling fee of SGD10,which I paid by cheque (to DHL Express (S) Pte Ltd) to the DHL guy direct.

In order not to miss the DHL guy, it would be better to call their customer service line to arrange the delivery time in advance,once you got the alert that the parcel has cleared customs and awaiting at DHL facility. I got SMS alert that it's with the DHL man 9.01am, and by 9.51am he's at my door step which I missed. Luckily I was near my house,immediately called them customer service line, and they re-delivered at 11.36am. Alternatively, I would call to arrange for re-delivery at night from 7pm to 9pm.

Yes, I admit that I do feel the pinch when I have to pay for the shipping fee and GST.Since Goyard is not available here in Singapore, and it's unlikely that I will be going to London or Paris within this year,I really don't mind the "extras".

So my red,hot Burgundy Goyard St Louis PM arrived just in time for Chinese New Year!

BTW ,I am surprised to find that the attached pouch has an extra external pocket at the back, which is useful for slotting my mobile phone for easy access.

Ordering from Paris is slightly different. They quoted ESTIMATED shipping fee of Eur 120-140 ,to be paid directly to the courier, which is UPS. They require CC authroization form, both sides of credit card, and passport (ID for London). I am not too comfortable with the estimated shipping fee,but I am holding back from ordering from Paris not because of this.It's merely because they don't have ready stock of the Burgundy color I wanted.

Now comes the packaging. Goyard doesn't give boxes, which is good for shipping anyway.

The bag is wrapped in layers of yellow paper, then folded at one side and put into a bubbled envelope,another layer of yellow paper,together with the Goyard carrier, then whole lot wrapped with another layer of yellow paper before they are put into the plastic DHL envelope.

I supposed it's okay to squeeze in another one or two St Louis tote with this kind of packing. So if you can pool other interested buyers to order together, you should be able to save some shipping cost.

Just found out the Keith Png from Hide and Seek sells the GM for SGD1700 and PM for SGD1500. Someone from deluxemall also selling the black,orange and red PM for SGD1650.

Hong Kong used to sell it at about HKD7100 iirc, and US is selling it at USD940 now. So my cost of SGD1300+ seems quite alright compared to all these.

Even if Goyard finally comes to S'pore, I expect the price to be more than SGD1000,and by then I would have moved on to another bag.

2010-01-19

Longchamp Les pliages foldable tote

Saw the Limited Edition Eiffel Tower in Navy blue and Papier selling at Taka. S$220 for medium short handles, at S$280 for Large Long Handles. I don't mind to get a navy,blue,long handles BUT they are all sold out islandwide.

Thought of ordering the customized version.Can't make up my mind re: the second/stripe's color.After opinions from friends.I've narrowed down to two colours:

Cheery Bright Pink or subtle Lavender?

Longchamp Les pliages foldable tote

Thought of ordering the customized version.Can't make up my mind re: the second/stripe's color.After opinions from friends.I've narrowed down to two colours:

Cheery Bright Pink or subtle Lavender?

2010-01-17

Lousy BBQ caterer

Hb insisted on organising a BBQ gathering tonight for his family,even when there is no occassion at all, just to let his family bond,especially his elder brother and mother.For some reasons (which is another long, long story), the elder brother hasn't been talking to his mother even though they stay under the same roof.

His younger brother's family of 3 not coming, then thanks to his mother again, his elder sisters family of 10 also not coming(another story AGAIN!), after hb has booked for BBQ caterer at $14 /pax for min 30 pax!

I didn't want to ask any of my friends and family members as it's supposd to be his family's gathering, but had to sms them yesterday,after knowing that the min pax is 30. We did invite our neigbour'f family of 6 , and B1 invited 4 of her good friends right from beginning

When trying out to check whether the caterer provide for wire mesh, then we realised that they are NOT providing MOST of the BBQ essentials that other caterer are providing...including charcoal,brush,butter,fire starter,wire mesh......For $500+ that we are paying, they don't even bother to throw in a $1 brush or a $2.50 tub of margarine etc.

They don't even have a proper confirmation letter via email or fax to list out all the details of the order,unlike Neo Garden, which I usually order for CNY mini buffet and other occassions.

2010-01-12

Sex and The City 2-trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiDuWnwCrF0&feature=player_embedded

2010-01-08

Looking for new office

Current lease is expiring soon. Current office is next to a hawker centre (5*),10 min walk from MRT station (3*),close to major clients (4*),limited parking space (-*)

Hope to find one convenient to drive and park there,plus all the above *****s,at affordable rate and move-in condition.

2010-01-07

From TODAY-My son deserves a second chance

My husband's nephew has a similar experience. He's promoted to JC2, but 3 months into his JC 2,he's told to skip taking his A level. Subsequently, he was given 3 choices 1) skip A level 2) re-take 3) quit JC. He suffered depression after this, stayed in NUH for a while. Subsequently there were differing opinions and account of whether he should go back to JC or take A level as a private student. His father even went to see MP for help,while my husband helped to write in to the school/principal. He also wrote the The Straits Times but it's never published.

Anyway, he is now serving his NS, neve got to take his A level, so I wouldn't want to go into too much details of his case.

My son deserves a second chance

05:55 AM Jan 06, 2010

Letter from Vincent Tan

THE new school year started on Monday, but my son, who was in his first year of junior college (JC) last year, will not be attending school this year.

My son qualified for his JC having scored an O-Levels aggregate of 10 points. Except for Chinese, which he failed, he scored either A1s or A2s for his subjects.

However, my son was not a consistent worker. He has the habit of slacking during non-crucial years, only to outperform and surprise peers, teachers and parents alike and make the cut when it matters. At PSLE he topped his school's EM2 stream, with A* in three subjects and an A in Chinese.

Last year, he did badly in his "promo" exams, only getting passing grades in two subjects. Prior to the exam, the school vice-principals (VPs) and his civic tutor (CT) had flagged his "attitude problem" and warned that he would not make it to JC2 if he did not meet the promotion criteria.

Having fared badly in his exams, my playful son was given his report card with a blank under "status", meaning it had not yet been decided whether he would be retained or promoted. The VPs warned that my son was under review and that his performance in the ongoing Project Work (PW) would determine the outcome of that status.

We wanted my son to be given a fair chance and pleaded that his status not be determined and revealed to him until after the PW final presentation was over. However, his CT told him in no uncertain terms that he would be "expelled" and would not even be retained for JC1.

That pulled the carpet from under his feet. For him, all motivation was lost.

A few days after the PW presentation, we were told by the CT to meet the VPs. My son was very happy that day, as the CT had changed tack and told him that he would be retained. As parents we were elated when we were told the news and we went to the meeting with a happy heart.

My wife and I stepped into the room to meet the VPs and were given a report card with the status "retained". As a concerned parent, I voiced out the difficulties we had motivating our son for the PW and we wanted to make sure that in his repeat year he would not face such a setback again. I pointed out that at his young age motivation was a key factor in performance.

To our disbelief, one of the VPs at that point pulled back the report card, said they had made a terrible mistake and asked for our forgiveness. My son was not to be retained, they said - he was being asked to leave.

While my son fared badly at the promos, was it not overly punitive to deprive him of a chance to at least repeat JC1? My son's entire future was at stake.

My son is determined to do JC in Singapore, but when we contacted the other JCs, we were told that they, too, are also weeding out weak students. We have not received so much as a call from any of them.

Back in my school days, some of my more playful classmates used to do badly in non-crucial years only to ace their school-leaving exams when it mattered. Many are eminent members of society now.

Are JCs now too competitive? In their hurry to raise their "value add" quotient, are they pressuring weak students to drop subjects and prematurely weeding out students they deem unsuitable? I hope the Ministry of Education will look into the school ranking system, which may have seen sacrificial lambs such as my son paying the painful price.

URL http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC100106-0000038/My-son-deserves-a-second-chance

Blame the 'slacking', not the system

05:55 AM Jan 07, 2010

Letter from Benjamin Lee

I refer to "My son deserves a second chance" (Jan 6) by Mr Vincent Tan.

Mr Tan's stinging criticisms of our education system, based on his son's experiences, do a grave injustice to the solid work that our teachers put in. Putting it simply, he is being a poor workman who blames his tools.

Mr Tan blames competitiveness in junior colleges (JCs), an undesirable trait in his view, for many "sacrificial lambs" including his son.

Being a JC student myself, I can understand the intense competition among students. However, it is ludicrous to blame his son's expulsion on his JC's "over-competitiveness".

Competition exists everywhere, at work and definitely in JCs, where academic results are emphasised greatly.

As Mr Tan should know, it is unavoidable, especially in a meritocratic society such as ours. The lack of competitiveness, rather than competitiveness itself, should be to blame for his son's predicament.

I believe that there is no question of Mr Tan's son's academic potential, given his stellar PSLE and O-levels results.

His son's dismal promotional exam results, as strongly asserted by Mr Tan, do not represent his true potential as a student.

Then why did he do so badly? The answer is his lack of competitiveness and motivation. To quote Mr Tan, his son has "the habit of slacking during non crucial years".

Evidently, his son does not carry the correct attitude towards his studies; his "slacking" completely contradicts the concept of consistency and the building of strong foundational knowledge espoused by many teachers in JC.

The fact that he had to be motivated for his Project Work presentation - an A-level graded subject no less - shows the extent of his self motivation and responsibility towards his group.

What also troubles me is Mr Tan's impression that JC1 is a "non-crucial year", which supposedly justifies his son's dismal results.

JC1 is as important as JC2 - it builds up the knowledge base needed for the A levels, providing a solid foundation for JC2.

The promotional exams is thus a litmus test of the level of understanding of a student, and whether he has the crucial knowledge needed to progress to JC2.

Mr Tan's son's failure to take JC1 and this important exam seriously only goes to show that his attitude and methodology towards study is seriously wrong.

In defending his son's studying methods by espousing his academic achievements, Mr Tan is only adds insult to injury; despite his son's academic potential, he still did disastrously badly.

Instead of attacking the education system, Mr Tan should reflect on the main reasons for this predicament: His son's attitude and the lack of motivation and competitiveness.

Perhaps his son's expulsion will give him a second chance to think things through.

The writer is a 17-year-old JC student

URL http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC100107-0000053/Blame-the-slacking,-not-the-system

2010-01-06

More on PSLE entry points

Hb's friend's son got 255,couldn't get into 1st choice Hwa Chong,posted to 2nd choice ACS instead.After learning that this year's cut-off for Hwa Chong is 257,the father wrote in to appeal and he got into Hwa Chong!

Neighbour's T-score is the same as Bt Panjang's current year's cut-off, but was posted to 2nd choice,again, father appealed and he got into Bt Panjang.

so don't lose hope.

we have been teaching B1 since she's very young,"no harm to ask, if you ask you MAY get it,but if you don't ask, you won't get it for sure."

2010-01-04

Top 40,Top 80 or Top 120-is it really that important?

While waiting for school bus today, K's mother happily asked around which class is B1,and other P4 students in this year, and quickly announced that her son,K moved up to the Top 80 class this year. Just last month, another boy G's mother dissappointedly told me,and sort of blaming a lot of things,as her son G is no longer in Top 40 this year.

That's one system I am not too happy about. Reshuffling every year to keep the top 120 in 3 classes. Those who are dropped out will inevitably feel bad.