Author Archives: memoriesandsuch

Secondary 2 Week 31 Update

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Another week and we are one more week closer to the end of the year!

This was a sort of boring week for both children, so nothing really to update.

GG got back some of the results of her common test and she was the highest in her class for Geography but didn’t do as well as I expected in Science (which is her weakest subject).

Next week is Singapore’s National Day so a school holiday and then a half day before the holiday to celebrate the day in school. So out o f five school days, only three will be about studies!

Have a wonderful Sunday!

 

In My Hands Today…

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Pastries: A Novel of Desserts and Discoveries – Bharti Kirchner

538858Sunya Malhotra, a young American woman whose parents had migrated from India, is the head baker and owner of Pastries, a warm and cozy bakery in Seattle. Sunya loves baking and has transformed her fabulous cakes and tarts into delicious works of art. The success of her beloved bakery is put in jeopardy, however, when a chain bakery threatens to open up down the street from her. To add to her misery, Roger, her hip, Japanese boyfriend has left her for a “perfect” Japanese girlfriend and her mother has just become engaged to a man Sunya detests. Sunya hasn’t yet reconciled to the mystery of a father missing since her birth. Even a new relationship with a hot, young film director who is in town to cover the 1999 World Trade Conference, can’t help Sunya with her biggest worry – she has lost her touch for baking.

Overwhelmed, Sunya is surprised to find herself listening when her new Japanese baker offers her a solution to her problems – enroll in a baking school in Japan! Of course, this isn’t just any baking school. It is run by a famous Japanese baker, Mori Matsumoto, and is based on the principle of mindfulness. Soon Sunya finds herself learning the basic skills of baking all over again. Is this what she needs to rediscover herself? Will she recapture her zest for work and life?

Poem: Boredom

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bored

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Boredom

Time seems to stand still,
You don’t feel too thrilled;

You itch to do something, anything,
You get on the internet randomly clicking;

You have a case of acute ‘boredomitsis’
But you know there’s a cure for something like this

Get up, do something you’ve always wanted to do
And lo, behold, you’ve found the breakthrough

You are not bored anymore
You have a purpose to explore

The cure to boredom is to constantly be busy
Live life and be carefree

In My Hands Today…

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Crescent – Diana Abu-Jaber

773454Thirty-nine-year-old Sirine, never married, lives with a devoted Iraqi-immigrant uncle and an adoring dog named King Babar. She works as a chef in a Lebanese restaurant, her passions aroused only by the preparation of food—until an unbearably handsome Arabic literature professor starts dropping by for a little home cooking. Falling in love brings Sirene’s whole heart to a boil—stirring up memories of her parents and questions about her identity as an Arab-American.

Left or Right?

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The other day while in the train, on the way to work, I came across something in the newspaper, which made me pause. It was a letter to the editor which mentioned that students who are left handed should be actually, treated as having some kind of learning disability. I was pretty intrigued by this and so decided to research it a bit more. It is also because GG is left handed and has shown very clear preference to using this hand as her dominant hand right from the time she was a little baby. I had always thought left handed people were, in fact, smarter and more creative than us normal right-handed people since the dominant side of their brain was the right side and this side of the brain fuels creativity.

 

I could not really find any solid evidence which links left-handedness in a person to any learning disabilities. Yes, learning disabilities affect people who are dominantly left-handed but being a leftie is in no way linked to being behind in school.

 

I do know that a very small percentage of the population, around 10% or so in the world is left-handed and this has remained more or less stable throughout human history, but scientists have not yet been able to figure out why that ten percent of the population turned out to be a leftie!

 

In my specific case, as far as I know, no one in both S and my immediate family favours the left hand, but I can’t be very clear as in previous generations, being a leftie was frowned upon and people were forced to learn to use their right hand for everyday work. When GG was found to favour her left hand more, well-meaning friends and relatives immediately told me to start training her in using her right hand more and making that her dominant hand, but something told me to hold off and I let her use her naturally dominant hand at all times.

I personally feel that being a leftie has not impacted her in any way academically. If anything, not doing so well in her PSLE results has been a real boon. She is in a slightly slower programme and is one of the top students in her cohort, is a student leader and is a very active member of her CCA.

 

There may be some truth in lefties being more creative; GG is very musically inclined and is forever singing and dancing at home. She also likes to draw and paint and does this most weekends. At this point in time, she is also exploring writing, so she basically ticks all boxes from a creative point of view.

 

Are you a leftie? What have your experiences been? I’d love to hear!