Travel Insurance to South Korea

I bought the MSIG travel insurance for the trip to Korea with a bank a few days ago. The bank officer called me today to inform that she has debited my account for the premium (not sure when she did it) and she'll be sending the application to the insurance company for batching. I told her I'v no understanding on the "batching", all I need to know is whether debiting my account means that my travel insurance has been processed. She said yes but the insurance company needs to batch. I'v purchased travel insurance online all the while. I'm taken aback by the hassle I'v to go through by buying direct with the bank. Now my concern is will the travel insurance covers us with the war between North & South Korea.

School Bus Driver

Yesterday we passed by a school bus driver (van type) near Farrer Road. The vehicle was on the fastest lane but the driver was driving at about 30 km/h. Cars were trying to overtake him and he was also trying to move left to the slower lane. When we passed the van we saw to our disgust, he was talking on his cell phone. Luckily, there was no students in the bus. I remembered the boy who was thrown out of the school bus at Yio Chu Kang. I hope school bus drivers are constantly reminded to drive their passengers safely. Our Children are in their hands!

Travel to South Korea

I bought the sweet deals air tickets for the family to travel to Seoul. With the tension between the North and the South, I'm worried my airfare money will be down the drain. Singapore Airlines advised that if I cancel the tickets I'll not get my refund as the fare class does not provide for cancellation. If I were to reschedule, the charge per person is S$30. However, how to reschedule if I don't know when it'll be safe to travel there. Singapore Airlines advised me not to worry for now and to check with them on the status at a later time as currently there's still no travel alert yet. Please let there be peace and please don't let me loose money on the tickets.

Safe to travel to South Korea?

I'v just bought tickets a few days ago for the family to travel to Seoul and news just broke out that North Korea bomb South Korea at the border. Is it Safe to travel there now? I was told by Ministry of Foreign Affairs that there's no travel alert yet, they are monitoring the situation. Hopefully, both parties resolve their conflicts amicably. We all look forward to the trip and most important a peaceful world.

Golden Beryl-Heliodor

This is the Natural Heliodor that came home with us today. It's also called Golden Beryl. Husband and I got it certified by a reliable Gemological Institute. The weight is 23.86 carats, 21.13 x 22.3 x 11.92 mm. There are fine particles under magnification. Gemologist told us that from his experience and observation, this gemstone had not been heat treated. However, he did not state this fact in the report because the equipment only detects heated treatment done at 1000 and above degrees. Beryl can sometimes be given heat treatment of about 200 to 300 degrees to enhance their colour. For my stone, he is of the opinion that no heat treatment has been done. However, though he is positive that the gemstone is not heat heated, he didn't put it in the report as he didn't have any equipment to confirm his conclusion. He said for sure there was no radiation done else he would have stated it in the report.

B3 accepted into SAP School

Friday was a nervous day for B3. He was being interviewed by the school's principal. He was very frightened. Fortunately, the Principal was very patient with him and approved his transfer into the school despite him being so quiet. Moving to a bigger and more established school and having to study higher chinese is quiet daunting even to myself. Luckily B3 is mentally prepared for greater challenge and we'll be revising the chinese during this holiday.

Dirty Carpark

This is the carpark at Little India's buffalo street. We went there a few days before Deepavali at around 10 am. There were plenty of carpark space but rubbish were strewn all over. When we collected our car at about 11.30 am, a foreign worker was seen sweeping the floor. However, by then there were more cars in the parking lot. Obviously, garbage underneath the car will not be cleared off. Such dirty carpark is an eye sore but fortunately it's a rare sight in our country.

Citrine Turn out to be Glass

What an eventful Friday. Husband and I dropped by a Gem store at People's Park to look at the big Citines. We asked and was assured that the Citrines were genuine unheated stones. The shop owners were very friendly and we ended up purchasing one of the piece. We happily brought it to the gemologist for testing of any heat treatment done to the stone. To our horror, the yellow stone is a piece of glass. Due to the crowd at the testing center, we waited about 3 hours before we finally received the report. When we brought it back to the store, the shop owners explained that those Citrines were purchased from suppliers and they had no idea that the stones were glass. They offered to exchange this item for another stone but Husband declined and preferred for a refund instead. We got back our money but we pledged to donate them away to World vision , pocket money fund plus probably one other charity.

New Phone Number for B2

Requested a new mobile phone number for B2. It took effect today. Selected the number using QMDJ . The meanings of the number are blessings, help from mentors, opportunities, prosperity and bliss.

Jam caused by $1 receipt

It's 4.30 pm. We decided to have an early dinner at Sakae Sushi Festival Market. There's always car park available except for the few days before Chinese New Year. However, there's an usual Jam today. Cars backed all the way to the road outside the mall. While the rest of the cars waited for the jam to clear, a few of them including myself had alighted to check out what's preventing the mercedes from getting passed the car park barrier . To everybody's shock, the barrier did not malfunction. It was lifted up and cars can drive through and enter the car park. However, the E200 Mercedes with a 3 digit car plate number which looked like a bid number, refused to drive through. I heard that the driver insisted that she will not drive through unless the machine print out the receipt for her. The receipt will entitle the holder to a $1 rebate at NTUC for purchase above $100. People were frustrated with her. The queue got longer and after 10 to 15 min 3 security guards still couldn't get the machine to print out the receipt for her. Annoyed drivers started offering her $1 to stop inconveniencing the rest. She refused and insisted the receipt must come from the machine. In the end someone insisted that she had to reverse her car out of the entry point to wait for her receipt. To do so, a few cars had to reverse and make way for her to get out. Drivers casted her a disgusted look when they drove pass her.

Myasthenia Gravis & Tensilon Test

After a few hours of Tensilon Testing, the doctor suspected that B2 may have Myasthenia Gravis (MG) which causes his droopy eyelids. The doctor cautioned that the result is not 100% conclusive and he needs to review the findings and the video recording done during his Tensilon Testing.

B2 was often sick since he was one month old. He had asthma, colds and allergic to dust mites. Maybe he could have inhaled too much cleaning chemicals from the various household detergents too. He used to eat lots of fast food and frozen prepared food. From Pri 4 to Pri 6 he ate lots of nuggets sold at the school canteen.

I searched through the website and found this site useful: http://www.alaskawellness.com/mar-apr00/mg.htm

I have taken a photo of his eyes this evening and I shall try the recommended natural remedies and monitor to see if there is improvement.

The recommended remedies include

* Colon and liver detoxification

* Fresh fruits and vegetables

* Limit meats, gluten, exclude refined sugar & flour

* Vitamin, mineral, herbal supplements

* Purified water

* No or reduced cleaning chemicals

10 pm he started with the 10 days cleansing program. I shall monitor the amount of fresh fruit juice and multivitamin he takes for the next few days. Hopefully B2 cooperates with the change in diet. I hope to see his eyelids lifted up.

Tension Test for B2

B2 has to be warded into KK to do a tension test for his eye lid. His eyelids had drooped down a lot over the last few years. He had seen the eye doctor at TTSH who think that it's normal for him to have a droopy eyelid since mum has also lose some of her double eyelid. The doctor made this conclusion despite me telling him that mum's eyelids started to droop after 40 while B2's eyelid started drooping since 12. Angel, please help KKH doctor to find out the problem with B2 and treat him.

Lunch at Chalk

Chalk at the Old School offers very good Italian food. Oct 30, we were there again ordering the same type of pizza and the same type of spaghetti. This time we added a new dish-the chicken salad. The food is delicious and the ambience is quiet. No loud conversation around and we can enjoy our lunch in peace. The only improvement I wish they can make is the toilet. The toilet is like what you would expect to find in an old school premise.

B3's SA2 Results

What a relieved to see B3's SA2 results. He managed to recover from the disastrous SA1. The form teacher who taught him Math, Science and English during first semester wasn't the right match for him. Besides the lack of chemistry , teaching skills wasn't suitable. B3 put in a lot of effort in the last 6 months. Daddy and mummy were also kept busy and we spent a lot of money on his enrichment classes. Fortunately, results turn out good. Math 95, Science 91, English 87.5, Chinese yet to be announced.