Elijah's lifestory: Missing Elijah for 1 whole week

Took a long time before agreeing to this...a school trip to NZ from 27th Nov to 3rd Dec. When discussing with Cheewan...the thought of it made me cry already. But how long can I keep rejecting worktrips coz Elijah is young. I know i can't continue to do it. Decided to do this coz it's only 1 week with a very interesting itinerary...very bio based. I like it. Hope it's gonna be worth my time away from Elijah.

Elijah and daddy accompanied me to the airport....was afraid I'll break down. Think it's me who cant let go rather than Elijah. I spent almost $200 on his frozen food from Petit Bowl to relieve all from worrying abt his food. He is a fortunate little boy, always been eating mummy's home cooked food all along.

At the airport, I was too busy handling and briefing the students that I had to bid my goodbye to my small and big men earlier than expected. I knew am gonna so miss them.

The trip was amazing...I miss NZ. Wish I was with Cheewan and Elijah...so wanna enjoy NZ with them. The learning was rich..the guide was superd. Arron the guide really knew his stuff very well and he was really good at simplifying the explanations for the kids. $ well spent. At 1st...I thought the trip was really ex but after everything...I changed my verdict...worth every cent paid.

Liking the experiential learning...doing transect study in a little protected patch of forest...Maungatuatari reserve...a fenced up area to protect the rare flightless birds. River studies of invetebrates....studying the indicator species that were sensitve to pollution. Cockles study..again indicator of pollution...count and size of cockles.

Scenery was beautiful but I do agree South Island is more beautiful...North Island is not as scenic...not sure if it is a fair statement since I'm only there for 5 days technically. The experience was fantastic...apart from the biology aspects....there were other fun stuff e.g astronomy night, global warming lecture, etc. Being ex-astronomy club teacher..brought back memories..esp with Siao Chean's batch....the experience was amazing...although it was abit cloudy but that did not spoil any of our mood. Reminded me of days in tasmania..the view from the mountain...star gazing..was amazing. I loved lunches coz it's usually sandwiche or pizza....perfect food and outdoor view..sometimes on a grass patch...sometimes on a beach. Dinners suck..always asian food and I hate eating Asian food in a non-asian country....not authentic at all. We're in NZ and we should try NZ food not Asian food. Hmmm...

Apart from loving all the experiential learning that the kids will never be able to gain from Singapore...I hated some stuff about the trip. Hated being the main teacher who had to deal with discipline....nagging them abt the moving so slowly...reminding them it is not a leisure trip...reminding them abt the gift prepared for the Marae stay....reminding them not to be late for every morning cum free time.

Called home everyday...so had to talk to and listen to my 2 most impt men in my life. I made a video for Elijah in cased he missed me too much. Cheewan showed it to him on day 4 of my trip...oh my...he cried non-stop after watching it. Think he din realized how much he missed mummy till he was reminded of me again. And thus that was the only time he watched that video...bad idea from mummy hahaa. He was alright without me despite my worries of how it would be for him. I'm the one who would tuck him in to bed. Was super worried he'll be crying non-stop but everything turned out alright. I guess out of sight and out of mind did work for him.

Well, everything went on smoothly in fact both with regards to the trip and at home. Daddy rocks right...Elijah. Am glad you had quality time with daddy!!! Priceless.

Me and Elijah in the airport before the trip