Last minute Substitue Piano Teacher

B3's piano exam is next month. However, he has missed a few lessons as teacher was not available. Though it's just beginner grade, it shouldn't be that difficult to pass but I'm still worried. Furthermore B3 is planning to quit piano after the exam, I hope he can get a merit or distinction for this exam. At least have an honorable conclusion. Managed to get Mag to stand in and give extra lessons. Hopefully, it will help B3.

Learning about Stones

Since the aquamarine, I have been reading up on gemstones. Beside turquoise colour the next interesting colour to add on would be the yellow stone. I prefer the Bright banana yellow for it's cheerful and sunny disposition. This colour can match with the beige and brown clothings. It'll also look fine with black and purple just like the turquoise. For yellow stones the choices include Sphene, Sapphire, Yellow diamond, Yellow Topaz, Golden Beryl, yellow citrine and yellow zircon. Sapphire and yellow diamond are the most expensive. Sphene comes next in terms of price. It's brilliancy is just below diamond. Yellow Topaz is more expensive than citrine. Unscrupulous dealers may sell citrine as yellow topaz. Golden Beryl is in the same family as aquamarine. However, golden Beryl often has a greenish tint. I believe buying a stone involves affinity. While we choose the stone, the stone also chooses us too.

Plant

The plant is so thirsty and all withered. Added some water at 3.55 pm. Fortunately. by 10 pm, it managed to revive.

English for B3

Found out that recent English test results showed that B3's English is at low Band 1 to Band 2 range. Comprehension section is weak. This evening I started him on newspaper reading. For a start, we just read selected news and advertisements in the Home section. I told B3 that eventually he will have to read the main section as well. Need to work hard to catch up.

Palm Top

2007 when I needed a gasket to load in the FS software, my friend highly recommended the palm. It's a very neat gadget but at that time I felt that the blackberry would be a more suitable option. The blackberry will allow me to email, use as a phone and load in the software. The only drawback is the small buttons. Though he himself is using a blackberry, he thinks he would prefer the palm for the bigger font size. He also felt that the palm is the logical choice due to economic reason. I took his advice and bought this palm. It has bigger font size, no small buttons to deal with and cheaper than a blackberry. He was also very kind and helpful to help me shop for the palm and load in the software I purchased. However, the palm has to stay home most of the time because my handbag can't fit in too many items and if I were to use a bigger bag, the bag would become heavy to carry during my frequent shopping trips. Do listen to other's advise but follow our hearts. Only we know our own requirements and needs most.

Jasmine Tree

The Jasmine tree has been with us since 2005. It grows out of shape very quickly. Once that happen it also flower less. I did a trim last month. Quite a major job, cutting off the long stems that grew outside our garden boundary. Since last weekend, the tree is filled with small white flowers. Some of which have fallen to the ground decorating the green lawn with speckle of whites. Last week I also added Fluffy's dropping to fertilize the tree. It probably helps the tree to blossom. My photography skill can't portray the beauty well.

Aquamarine

I am very happy and excited with the aquamarine stone and read up a fair bit on this stone. Mine is a bluish green colour - Turquoise 34.04 (6.808). Turquoise was said to promote intuition and communication. Too much of this colour, a person becomes over-analytical, fussy, egocentric, making decision based only on logic. Too little of this colour, will cause a person to be secretive, closed, confused, paranoid, introvert. Stones with this colour helps to unblock the 5th Chakra which is the throat. When 5th Chakra is blocked, we experience emotional problems in our relationship with others. Other blue green stones include blue green topaz, blue green jade, blue green agate.

Perfect Ten Day

Today is a Perfect Ten day. 10/10/2010. Everything is great. Bought Mee Siam from AMK market for breakfast and the boys like it. Husband and I went to an auction and was given the auspicious number 66. At the auction:,

1. 3.02ct Pear Aquamarine with 1.09ct small diamond surrounding done at $2,400.

2. 3.27 ct Oval Aquamarine with 1.32 ct small diamond surrounding done at $2950.

3. 2.37 ct Oval Aquamarine with 1.65 ct small diamond surrounding done at $3750.

(all prices need to add 15% for buyer's commission)

We did not bid for anything. But had a great time watching others bid. After the 27 items we decided to lunch at the Steak Restaurant and shared a Shaslik beef, medium, and a pancake with banana fillings. We stop for a while at the shop where Husband once bought me the wedding ring. The boss chatted with us and he estimated the selling price of aquamarine gem is about $500 per carat or more for stone above 10 carats. However, he didn't have any available at the moment. We bid him goodbye and took a leisurely drive to collect my turquoise pendant. To show our appreciation for a complimentary 16.72 ct blue stone we bought 3 pendants (designs are 21K small golden handbag with small diamond studs). 2 of which shall be the wedding gifts for the tea ceremony. It's a Perfect Ten Day..

Electrical Works

These 2 days I learnt a little about electrical works. D has been experiencing frequent power shut down and wanted it to be fixed. His electrical guy quoted $3.8K to upgrade the power. I send S there and he recommended an upgrade to 63 amp single phase. Currently, D is using the old type of window unit aircon without inverter and when 2 units are turn on the power surge to 34 amp and 39 amp when 3 units are turned on. The current 32 amp single phase cannot support it. To upgrade, we need to get the MCST PE to do a check ($500) and then endorsement another $400 to $500. S will need another $2K to run wire, etc. 63 amp 3 phase will be another estimated $1k extra. I found that small engineering company would need at least 60 amp 3 phase to 100 amp 3 phase to operate. S said 63 amp single phase is sufficient for D now since he only need power for aircon and laptops. I think we should make provision for small engineering outfit, afterall the premise is a small workshop. D requested S to replace the master circuit breaker as a short term measure to help stop the frequent power shut down. S said new MCB can only help reduce tripping but guaranteed.

The 4 Cs

Cut, Colour, Clarity and Carat. Which to rank first. Jewelers selling ideal cut, hearts and arrows etc all claim that cut rank first. I read that in a website (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/gemstone) cut is the primary determinant of value followed by clarity and colour. But some jewelers said choose colour and clarity over cut. My thinking is cut is important especially for smaller diamonds 0.1 carats and less used in bracelet or pendant. When the diamonds are small the scintillation coming from better cut diamonds will make the jewelry more outstanding . The expert at the JewelFest 2010 also said Cut affects the value of diamond most. It would be fantastic to own a excellent cut or Brilliance Rose, D/E colour , IF to VVS1 clarity and minimum 1+ carat diamond.

Poem By B3

B3 piece of work done in Sep 2010. I don't have an organized system to collect and file all the Bs pieces of work. I think this blogging is good for me.

The poems says :

The Moon is Bright

It cheers up up my Gloomy Night

I wonder what is my Plight

The Moon assures me it shall be Alright.

I told him my thoughts were all on helping him to transfer

out to other primary school while he was doing his poem.

Nice Ear rings

This is a beautiful pair of ear ring. The middle is made up of 4 princess cut 7 pointers diamond. The surrounding totals are tiny round diamonds. Total diamond are 8 princess cut 0.58 carats, 50 pcs round diamond total 0.42 carats. The scintillation is reasonable. In line with with price. It's almost mine but the clasp on one of the ear ring gave way. SH offered to fix it but I think the clasp is quite fragile and is prone to break hence redesigning is needed. Will see how the improved model looks like.

Hurom Slow Juicer

Finally, our Hurom juicer arrived. We are all excited and happy that we are going to enjoy healthier lifestyle. We bought lots of fruits and tried our first juicing when B3 is back from school. The machine is easy to use. Just toss the pieces of fruits into the feeder and out flow the juice. Its works well for apple, orange, watermelon and carrot but not the banana. The machine also operates quietly. We did our juicing at the dinning table and chat at the same time. Refreshing.

Buying Gemstones

I found the following from a website about buying gemstone :

"So buy a beautiful gemstone, do not buy a piece of paper. Gemstones do store wealth and are an excellent way to pass down something fine and valuable to the next generation, but do not think of them as an investment for the future: enjoy them today as well!"

"Most of the problems consumers have with fine jewelry or gemstone purchases are a result of trying to get something for less than it is worth."

Very useful advise to remember. Don't buy when in doubt. Don't think of them as an investment.

Mee Siam

I used to like Toast box mee siam until I found this hawker store at AMK Ave 5. It cost $2 a plate with 1 whole egg. The mee siam noodle is soft and the gravy is smooth with milk added. I like the tau pok and the tiny shrimp topping. Usually, I would like to skip breakfast to keep my weight in check but this mee siam is tempting and often I break my "breakfast fasting ritual" when I at that market. They are closed on Monday.

Mdm Kwa Geok Choo

MM Lee's wife passed away yesterday, 2nd Oct 2010. I do not know much about her until I read her life story in today's paper and watch the tribute on channelnewsasia. She is an amazing lady. She brought up her children well and provided strong support to her husband. She also didn't worry about her looks and is not a fashionable person. She seems to have everything women would ask for : High IQ, outstanding career, excellent husband, self-motivated kids and grandchildren. She has it all! She has certainly lived her life to the fullest.

Big Party

This evening we were expecting only 2 nieces and 2 SIL to come over for dinner. Instead the 2 SIL bought along their family. Luckily, we made extra food and had more than enough to feed the whole party. G & C were the protagonist. The rest were keen to find out how G & C had been doing in the last 10 or more years. The 3rd protagonist is our rabbit, Fluffy. Fluffy is being introduced to all the guests and now that he is living in the guest's bathroom, all the guests have to use the lesser bathroom at the kitchen. Fluffy is spoilt!