Signs That You Once Were In an All-Girls School

I was surfing Facebook as usual and I come across this article/link about “10 Signs That You Once Were In an All-Girls School”. Of course it caught my attention because I was from an all-girls school. I wanted to see how much truth was in that article and how much bullshit too.

So here are my thoughts….

Just in case, if you would like to read the whole article, it can be found at this URL:

10 SIGNS THAT YOU ONCE WERE IN AN ALL-GIRLS SCHOOL

I am not sure if it was the best decision my parents had ever made for me but I am guessing it was the most convenient as my mum was from Katong Convent, and technically there wasn’t much needed for me to get a direct entrance in to this popular all-girls school. But I am glad they chose the easy route and that I went to KC. So much life lessons learned during my years of schooling there, so many great friends made who I am still in touch with today and best of all, so many wonderful memories made.

But emerging with great stories and lifelong friends even after graduation and after all these years…. I cannot disagree with that.

OK so the first sign they mentioned was “There is no Valentine’s Day. Only Friendship Day.”

This is utter rubbish because I remember us celebrating Valentine’s Day on February 14 and Friendship Day somewhere in August if I am not mistaken. Of course Valentine’s Day in an all-girls school would mean that we just exchanged cards and gifts… some would buy themselves flowers from the market across from our school. But being from KC, we were lucky that St Patrick’s (all-boys school) was right across the street from us and was connected by a bridge that was called “the love bridge”.

For me, personally, I always celebrated Valentine’s Day since the day I started life in KC Secondary school and yes, I would be one of those girls who would be spoiling the market because I never had to buy myself flowers on Valentine’s Day. Be it a boy from St Patrick’s or Maris Stella. (You know who you are because you’re still on my FB friend list!!)

Still on this topic, my group of friends and I got the all-girls school nonsense beat. During school hours, we were with the girls but after school, it was a whole different story. We’d make friends with the guys when we hung out at Parkway Parade and better still, we took Squash (Racquetball) for CCA so we could go over to St Patrick’s School for lessons.

We sit with our legs open in class

It says in the article that the more “chor lor” (meaning; rough or crude in Hokkien) you are, the better. What nonsense!! Have you heard our school’s motto, “Simple in Virtue, Steadfast in Duty”? Haha…..

But seriously…. I know some girls then who sat like truck drivers. They would have their PE shorts under their uniforms so no matter how wide their legs were apart when they sat, you will never see their panty!

For me, I was a little “chor lor” but deep down I was still a lady. I sat with my legs crossed all the time… well mostly…. if you would consider these photos below “chor lor”…. but to my defense, I was wearing jeans. 

We have a #girlsquad

I don’t think back then we knew how to use hashtags (#) or what exactly they were except for calling it the pound sign. I also do not think we called our group of close friend the ‘girlsquad’. To be honest, I don’t recall what we called ourselves or what we were referred to as. You could not say gang because that would be a BIG no-no at that time…. So whatever it was, we did have our own little group of friends who were almost inseparable. We were ever so ready to beat up the guy who made our friend cry. We shared every little secret with one another and at times we even fought over the same guy… but through it all, we were still the best of friends.

Every male teacher is an eye-candy

Say what you want. As much as eye-candy options were limited in an all-girls school…we were not blind, desperate or stupid. With the male teachers we had for choices …. if they were the last guys on earth, even at that young age, I would rather be single or lesbian.

You can shamelessly ask to borrow a pad

I am not too sure about this though. If I remember correctly, during my time in school, we would be embarrassed about periods or having to change in class, in front of all our classmates when we had PE classes.

I guess times have changed and girls these days are more open and straight forward when it comes to things like this. I think it is because of the different upbringing. Girls these days are more exposed to sex education classes and parents are also a lot more open when it comes to the birds and the bees.

Everyone farts

Excuse me?? Of course it is human to fart but KC girls don’t go around farting like truck drivers! As I said “Simple in Virtue, Steadfast in Duty”. But seriously, I have never ever heard any girl I was with fart and neither did I. Even till today, after 15 years of marriage, my hubby have not heard me fart. Don’t believe me? Ask him!! A lady always does it (fart) discreetly….

You Watch Mean Girls

I don’t even know what Mean Girls is? A movie? A TV show?

Back then, we WERE the MEAN girls!!

You had to play the male lead

True that someone had to do it when we had plays and such as we could not just ignore the male characters. Who would be Macbeth or Romeo? However, I never once was asked to play any male roles as I was too girly-girl.

Popular kids wore really short skirts

According to this article the nerds wore skirts below their knees and the cool girls wore short skirts way above the knee….

I have to say although that statement could be quite true in most all-girls school….My friends and I got that beat!! We were cooler in every sense of the word COOL. We made fashion statements. We made the school Principal seem fickle minded.

In the beginning, the school rule was to never have your uniforms above your knee. You should not wear socks that were too short. Do not puff out your uniforms over your belts…blah blah blah….. FINE! We wore our uniforms touching our knees, with our belts loose, and high socks. We made it so fashionable that the Principal had to bite her tongue making a statement saying that we could not do that…. So it was back to the short socks, tight belts that would puff our uniforms and a little above the knee uniforms. You think we bothered? Nope. We stuck to what we started….

We didn’t use make up but we sure sprayed on some expensive Calvin Klein perfume which used to drive our principal insane. Oh and we also carried designer bags!

Boy school guys are gems

We never had any exchange students from the boys schools but being in KC, we were damn lucky that St Patrick’s school was right across the street from us and Parkway Parade mall was nearby so we could hang out and meet boys there after school.

For me, the boy school guys were gems in my early years of Secondary school life. It was great when you had your boyfriend there waiting for you after school, etc etc. I’ve been through happy times and heartaches….. But it was all a learning journey. The journey that would mold me in to the person I am today. During my upper Secondary school days I discovered that I looked mature for my age and didn’t care much for the school boys. I started dating the deejay that worked at Parkway and moved on to a tattooed gangster who protected me like nobody’s business. It was all fun and games till I discovered the white guys….. that soon led me to my husband.

Now I have a daughter who is turning 13 years old in two weeks and studying at KC. God help me!

You used period to skip PE

Of course we took advantage of that and always used that as an excuse to skip PE. We were at the age where our boobies were growing and doing jumping jacks made us uncomfortable. But our PE teachers weren’t stupid…..she knew how many times a month we would lie about having our periods. So we just started skipping it altogether…. hiding in the toilets or just not going for the class.

So there you go, that was my time in an all-girls school. I never regretted it. I hope I made the right choice for my daughter too. I hope the time she has in KC, teaches her how to be street smart. I hope she experiences the good and the bad in order for her to grow. Whatever it is, I will be behind her to help her through this difficult time called “being a teenager”. 

Happy Birthday My Son

My little man celebrated his 9th birthday today. He makes me so proud. As I watch him grow each day, I see him transform in to a pure gentleman, a gentle soul, a person with a big heart and so full of love. Both my husband and I sometimes worry that our loving son may actually be too good for this world....but then again, this world does need more people like him around as it's already filled with so much hatred.

Anyway, my little man's requests for his special day was simple. He wanted KFC for lunch and BBQ at home for dinner. And don't forget that big Chocolate Black Forest cake!

I still cannot believe how time flies and how far he's come.

My heart aches knowing my son have not had an easy start and even though he has over come and grown out of a few issues, he still battles a couple more. Nothing major but even the simplest of problems I have to watch my child face each day breaks my heart.

The poor boy had a rough start to begin with when he was put in the NICU for 9 days after he was born. Imagine my pain having to leave my son behind at the hospital... seeing him under all those lights for jaundice... seeing them take blood from his poor little feet every 2 hours or so.... having an IV placed in his head.... it's wasn't picture perfect and the visions of that are still vivid in my head. But that made us and him stronger as individuals.

Then the move back to Singapore and the first time we ever experienced him going through a convulsion episode. I still remember we were at Orchard Road, he was riding in the stroller and I suddenly felt the stroller shaking. I checked on him and was in a panic! I didn't know what was happening.... neither did my husband!! We picked him up and ran for a taxi which took us to the nearest hospital.

It never was the same after that. I don't know what brought that on but since that first episode, this convulsion episodes happened pretty frequently....each time he had a fever, he would have an episode.

The many times my heart ached seeing my son go through that. The any times I was scared I was going to lose him. The many time we stayed up all night to make sure he would be ok. The many times we have been in and out of hospitals and emergency rooms and specialist clinics to make sure this is not affecting him in any way.

Thankfully the doctors were right and he did outgrow that.

Just as we thought we had gotten over all of that....he has eczema. We are beginning to think that the eczema started from the convulsions. He has good days and bad days and we try to deal with the situation however best we can.

We are all learning each day. Learning to take each day in stride. We still count our blessings knowing what we are going through is just something small compared to what others are facing.

Even with this, Logan is still a healthy normal boy. He makes us proud each and every day. He's doing so well in school and is a very smart and loving kid.

I just pray he will get over all of this as the years go by and his life will be filled with everything his heart desires.

I love both my children so very much and I will love and care for them till I take my last breath.

A Look Back At 2015 And A Peek Into 2016

2015 had been a memorable year. Lots happened. Lots experienced. Lots learned. There were ups and there were downs. New friends made and friends lost. Happy moments and sad moments. But whatever it was, I have hit rock bottom before and survived so there are very few things in life that can scare me or keep me down for too long.

My Precious Babies:

2015 held milestones for my angels.

My daughter Lani completed the most important year of her Primary school life. She finished her Primary 6 and passed her PSLE examinations with perfect results. I could not be happier and proud. The day she attended her graduation party, I secretly shed a few tears of joy. My heart was overwhelmed with happiness. I spent weeks on her grad dress because I wanted her to stand out from the crowd as she always would!

Lani had also started designing and sewing her own cosplay costumes. And she does a damn good job at it!

The other milestone for my daughter was when she went out with her friends without us tagging along. She went ice-skating. I have to say it was also a milestone for me as a mother because I am learning to trust and let go.

My little man Logan has done well too and made me proud. He’s scored perfect results and have been promoted to one of the top 3 classes for Primary 3! I have never ever dreamed that I would one day be a mother… let alone have perfect kids. He is such a good natured and loving young man. Sometimes I worry because I feel he is too good for this world. But the world does need more of him around!

Family:

There have been ups and downs. I won’t deny that. I dare any one of you to tell me you have a perfect family and everything is peachy, I would stick my middle finger out to you and ask you to go F*ck yourself.  There is no such thing. No matter how bad anything gets, we work through it, and learn to live with one another and love one another.

2015 didn’t really start on a good note beginning Chinese New Year but we got through it and things got better. I won’t lie but sometimes it gets tough trying to please everyone. I guess we just have to start by learning to please ourselves first.

In May we worked together and converted the spare room into my daughter’s room. She is going to be a teenager soon and will need her own space and that was exactly what she got.

My children and I were also featured on TV for being a Cosplay family. That was exciting especially for the kids!

Friends:

Oh 2015….. on February 2, I lost a good friend Jamey Griffin. When I first heard the news, I hoped it was another hoax. But this time it wasn’t. I was truly affected by the loss. I cried for days. But I managed to get through the difficult time with the love and support of my family and mutual friends of his. But friends lost and friends made. Through all of this, I made new friends. Friends who shared the same love as I did for Jamey.

I also met friends from Facebook who I have been communicating with for the longest time. New friendships blossomed.

Work:

The year 2015,  I have been at Advancelab for 1.5 years. It’s been a great journey so far and I look forward to many more years growing with the company. I have learned a lot. I have been given opportunities to show what I can do….I have been given the opportunity to learn new things and to grow.

At one point, I was about ready to quit when I was given the responsibility of the export/shipping department. The first ever project I handled was a mess and I fucked up big time. But my bosses were very patient and helped me along the way. Not to mention, my supportive husband had help by encouraging me. Now, I dare say I am almost a pro when it comes to shipping and export.

At the end of 2015, alone, I organized and put together a Client Appreciation Dinner for my company. I even surprised my bosses with a magic show I put together with the help of my dad. Everyone had a good time. Everyone was happy. I was happy because I felt it was a success.

Couple Time:

My hubby and I set a milestone for ourselves in 2015. After 12 years (since our first child was born), we finally took a short little getaway vacation together (alone). We celebrated our 15^th Anniversary in Batam. Three days and two nights without the kids. It was tough. We missed the children but we also enjoyed our alone time together. Will we do it again? I am not too sure….

Concerts And Events:

May 2015 held a very special and exciting time for me. I attended the Backstreet Boys concert here in Singapore and got to meet them! I am such a fan girl. Not as big a fan of BSB as I am of NKOTB but these are the two boybands I really enjoy.

I attended a concert with friends in September called “Hits if Yesteryear by Meltones” at the Esplanade. My friend Jimmy was performing and we went to give him some support.

In November, I took my mum and granny for another local concert called “A Date with Friends”. My granny is a fan of Vernon and such so I thought it would be a great treat for her since the day after would be her birthday. It was great because Vernon sang her a birthday song in front of the whole auditorium! It made her birthday all the more special. 

Healthy Living:

Never thought I would ever come to this point but May 2015  I began my journey to healthy living. I aimed to work hard at losing weight and to be the skinny minnie I was before. It wasn’t and isn’t easy but I am trying like hell and so far I have already lost about 10kg in total.

I have had bad days too…. There was a time I pushed myself so hard, I hurt myself and could not exercise for a week or more!

But I am honestly really happy with how far I have come and how I am not able to fit in to the clothes I could not fit in before.

What started all of this was when my lady boss asked if the girls at the office wanted to join her for Zumba at the swimming club.

I was always shy to join classes like this and the first Zumba lesson I was pretty much awkward but after that, I enjoyed it so much!

This And That:

What else happened this past 2015?

In March our founding father LKY passed away and it was a time when the whole nation wept together. It was a time it really opened up my eyes as to what he had done for this tiny little dot we all call home. It might have been too late but I tried to do my part and volunteered to help out at the memorial they had for Mr LKY at Bedok.

We also had the elections in 2015 which was a special one seeing that it was the first time my husband, as a new Singapore Citizen could vote!

And right after the elections, I was given the chance to meet Dr Maliki!! That was the biggest moment for me! YAY!

So that was that for 2015.

What have I got planned for 2016? I don’t really have anything planned to be honest. I will take whatever life throws at me.

I simply want to continue living my healthy lifestyle and losing more weight. To get my foot corrected so I can exercise and get on with my daily life without pain. I want to continue working hard to help my company grow. I want to continue working hard to give my family all they deserve. I just want to be a good person with good friends all around me all the time.

I am ready to face new challenges and I hope 2016 will be a better year for my family, friends and myself!