mugen:

Thank you, Superstressed, slmkhoo and tan9. I find that cooking is the hardest part for me to keep up consistently and I am often uninspired in this department, esp with a recurring bad wrist. I really don't enjoy spending time in the kitchen but have yet learn to be more efficient inside it. I think I should plan a weekly menu to reduce the stress and start doing weekly prep work.

Hey mugen, we all been there. Cooking does get easier as u do it more often. Good thing there r many parents willing to share recipes.

Perhaps u like to try tingkat for a while n let yr hand heal? Poor thing, don't push yrself too hard. Take care.

slmkhoo:

tan9:

Bought an electric pressure cooker n find it useful. Although the quality not exactly what i would want but it really cuts down a lot of work. You can put all the ingredients inside, set a timer to start cooking at say 5pm and cook for how long. Pretty alright considering minimal time spend.

You haven't had problems with leaving your ingredients at room temperature for several hours? I'm not too comfortable with that.

The food is sealed inside the pot and my kitchen is cool. So far it's been ok for us. Alternatively, u can start the cooking immediately n leave the food inside the pressure cooker. Not promoting any product, just sharing minimal cooking method

slmkhoo:

mugen:

Yes, am referring to freezable cooked dishes. I find there is a slight change in texture when I freeze some food, not sure if it is the wrong type of food or if it is because I sometimes use disposable containers for freezing.

I don't usually freeze whole dishes as I tend to cook all-in-one stews, and veggies don't freeze well, in my experience. They tend to come out very mushy. I find that meats are usually OK unless you are very discerning. There are a lot of websites that give tips; you may want to google and have a look? They will be mostly western dishes as Asian food doesn't have a tradition of freezing.

I have done a half-measure - I pre-cook and freeze sliced meat and then use that with added veg and seasoning to whip up quick meals. That way, the veggies are still crisp.

Agreed, mainly western dishes. Pasta sauce like bolognise keeps well. I store in glass container n cling wrap before I put the cover. Keeps well n in fact the taste improves.

Western soup also freezes well like cream of mushrooms, tomato soup.

I am a FTWM n admire those who cooks 1 veg 1 soup n 1 dish. I go for 1 pot dish mainly. Bought an electric pressure cooker n find it useful. Although the quality not exactly what i would want but it really cuts down a lot of work. You can put all the ingredients inside, set a timer to start cooking at say 5pm and cook for how long. Pretty alright considering minimal time spend.

So far I made soup, stew n porridge . Gonna try steam cooking so maybe can do herbal chicken.

5 months without maid, yes, granted, tough at first but I am mentally much happier. Work made easier thanks to my dryer, vacuum cleaner and my next gadget (haven't decide yet) :boogie:

加油!! :rahrah:

SavedbyGrace:

Hi,


I'm an AHS graduating student who took HMT. I took normal CL in primary school. I'm half Chinese and come from a 100% English-speaking home. couldn't formulate proper sentences in sec 1. Struggled to complete my zuowen homework every time, needed classmates to help me translate my English ideas into Chinese.

My opinion is that so long as the student is humble and hardworking, willing to do as teachers instruct, there will be improvement. About zhongguo lishi books, you don't need to read them to pass There are also very interesting modern Chinese novels which AHS orders for us to read during the hols. The latter helped me appreciate the Chinese Language much more and now I have no problems talking in Chinese or completing my zuowen.

Hope this helps.

Just what I need to put my mind at ease!

My DD is also half chinese but her mum (me) has pretty limited mandarin skills. My DD took HCL in primary school and actually got a merit! I tell her if she can pass, its ok! She qualifies for AHS but I was really concern about the Mandarin standard and whether she can cope. After my visitation to the school and your sharing, I feel better and if she wants to put that as first choice, I will support her.

Thanks for sharing your experience

Augmum:

tan9:

Hi parents of AHS, need some advice. DD in P6, AHS is in our list if she can make it. Like to understand if the school has a very strong Chinese culture and hence the students should be very strong in the language? Although my DD does HMT, she is still very \"English\" in her train of thots and formation of sentence so not sure if she can fit in well. Appreciate some advice. Thanks!

If the sch has very strong chinese culture, doesnt mean u need to be very strong in chinese lang...
But u mustnt dislike chinese lang so as to fit into the sch culture...
AHS is a SAP sec sch...but not all SAP schs req all students to take HMT...
It's best to check directly with the sch if AHS is one of yr child's choiced schs....

Thanks augmum!

itsy:

Hi,

My DS is currently in AHS Sec1. I would say the HMT in AHS is quite tough. The students have to read China History in Chinese. I almost died when I saw my ds China History textbook hahaha My son is not strong in CL. He was admitted into AHS base on his CL PSLE results, not HMT and has been doing badly in his HMT since beginning of the school year. I guess he will be put into non HMT class next year.

Thks so much for yr feedback. I think i will faint too!! Hehe. So is it compulsory for to do chinese at hmt at sec 1 or there is a choice? Thks for yr advice.

Hi parents of AHS, need some advice. DD in P6, AHS is in our list if she can make it. Like to understand if the school has a very strong Chinese culture and hence the students should be very strong in the language? Although my DD does HMT, she is still very "English" in her train of thots and formation of sentence so not sure if she can fit in well. Appreciate some advice. Thanks!

micollh:

dryer is good for us w/o maid.. especially now rainy days.. dryer work hard these few days lol

Agreed! What will we do without these modern appliances !

zbear:

tan9:

Contemplating a dryer and after reading about the dish washer, I was quite keen too but no place in my tiny kitchen! Can anyone share about dryer and whether it consumes very high electricity?

I have a dryer n its stacked on top of my washer. It doesn't consume high electricity n its a life saver for FTWMs.

Thanks zbear, will go shopping this weekend!

I had just recently send my maid home, though she WAS a good maid, something must have happen during her home leave in Indonesia as she returns totally different! She made comprises on my children’s safety…


Anyway, I am happy NOT to have a maid and in fact, had prepared them on how to independant in the case of not having a maid during my maid’s home leave (1 month). Now my headache is to convince my husband that it is workable… I am a FTWM, kids 11 and 13. He is convinced that I am disillusional and not thinking things through.

I have made plans to cover food and cleaning. Contemplating a dryer and after reading about the dish washer, I was quite keen too but no place in my tiny kitchen! Can anyone share about dryer and whether it consumes very high electricity?