A day spent by walking ..........

The 1st of May is Labour Day....... it is also my off day on a Saturday. My status now is an Advanced Dip Nursing student; so I am entitled to weekends off. Soon my course is ending early June., thusI decided to spend each of my weekends fruitfully.

I then phone my close friend L to accompany me. The first thing that had crossed my mind was that I wanted to pray for a lot at the Kwan Im Tong Hood Che Temple as I had just completed my examinations  to 求个心安. I believe firmly to what the lot interpretation is. Throughout my growing years, my family and I had seen and experienced the accurancy of the lots interpretation and that is what make me a believer!

After an hour spent at the temple, L and I had not decided where is our next destination, so we decided to walk and see if we can come up with any theme for the day....... After sometime walking, I decided to go the Asian Civilisations Museum to check out if there is any interesting exhibition. It is fun to walk and sightsee at the same time despite the warm weather. To others, it may deem it to be boring, "what is there to see.......!" Actually there is a lot to see; if you see it with your eyes alone (of course there will nothing new) but if you see it with your heart and imaginary mind (you will see a lot of interesting things).

After checking out the museum, I had seen most of the exhibition the last time, so we move on...... after which i again decided to go to "Chinatown  Heritage Centre" . Finally both of us spent quite sometime inside...... where the exhibits allow us to discover the stories of early chinese migrants who made their hardship journey to Singapore.

We then end the day by having dinner at Pizza Hut...... Here are the pictures I took during my sightseeing....

Health Assessment Practical Test

Now I am able to heave a sign of relief....... I had finished my health assessment practical test ! The results may not be good, but I am very relieved that it is over and most importantly I had PASSED.  My classmates and I have been practising very hard for this practical.....

During our attachment period in the hospital, we actually returned to school immediately after 3pm. (Attachment started at 7am till 3pm) We had our lunch/tea in the school canteen, then we practised from 4pm till 5.30pm in the nursing lab. Everyone is very tired, but still all took the effort to go for practice....

I am very grateful to my classmates for helping me, teaching me the correct techniques, clarifying the mistakes that I had made and sharing information to those who are unsure......

We even arranged time to meet to practise our HPI taking...... Even though each time we meet, we tend to side track....... gossip abit here and there, but we still get our main aim done.... HaHa......

So hereby....
I wish my classmate (those who had not done the practical test): GOOD LUCK !! U CAN DO IT!

P.S. A million thanks and a million hugs to those who had helped me....... !!!!!!!!!!!

Winter Solstice Festival 冬至

Many people think that Dong Zhi  冬至 means the arrival of winter. In fact what it really means is that after this day, the sunshine will decline. In the nothern hemisphere, the day is the shortest during Dong Zhi. In the southern hemisphere, it is the reverse. (Asiapac, 2008).

As told by Asiapac (2008):

During the New Year everybody would make visit. In olden times, during Dong Zhi the people would also make visits. Some people would offer incense at dawn and some businesses would take a break on that day. People would feast and the atmosphere was just like the New Year. In China, because the onset of winter was cold and medicaql science was not advanced, at this time of the year mant people froze to death. As a result, on this day people would gather together to eat Tangyuan 汤圆(glutinous flour balls ) Yuan圆 (round) is associated with Tuan 团(reunion) and Yuan 圆(complete). Eating Tangyuan is therefore symbolic of family unity and harmony (p. 151).

References
Asiapac Culture (2008). Origins of chinese festivals. (5th ed.). Singapore: Asiapac Books Pte Ltd.

Whenever this festival arrives, it is telling me that it is almost the end of the year, my close friend LY's birthday falls on this day! Each time, I eat the Tangyuan, my granny will tell me, 吃汤圆，长一岁。 So I am a year older. Traditionally, the Chinese prefers to grow up faster and older!!!!

I may enjoy eating Tangyuan, I enjoy the process of  making of traditional Tangyuan (Without fillings) even more!
 Here is how my grandma does it:

The Tangyuan may look quite cute; some big and some small. My granny call it "子孙汤圆"
The big ones represent the elders, and the small ones represent the younger ones.