Saturday, November 29

Yio Yio Lee Bueh

1128

28th of November. That's our wedding anniversary date. That's yesterday's date too. And yesterday was a really event-packed Friday.

It's now the school holiday, so Angie is now having her school-free period. I was originally scheduled for secretarial duties yesterday but the Minister postponed the meeting till next month, so I was let off the hook. Of course, I wasted little time in sending in my leave application.

The day started early, with a morning session at My Gym. This is the first time I've been to this kid's gym located on the topmost floor of Great World City. Mommy has brought the little one here at least on two previous ocassions. It's a nice place, with lots of space for the children to run around, climb, roll, bounce. Jae especially enjoyed and spent the most time on the trampoline. Ezra and Cherrlyn were there too. After 2 very physically engaging (for the kids and the adults too) hours in the gym, we adjourned to Kenny Rogers for lunch.

End of Round One.

Round Two commenced upon Jae waking up from her afternoon nap. We decided to leave the car back at home and to take the girl on a ride on the MRT, which is something of a treat for her. A 40-min trip later, we alighted at City Hall MRT Station and headed for Marina Square via City Link. Angie managed to pick up the OST for Cape No. 7 at HMV along the way. Dinner was at Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe (Marina Square). I like their iced beverages served in stainless steel mugs. It was 6:20pm when we reached the stage area where a queue has already been formed. We were glad when a staff shoved a coupon into our hands as we joined the queue, indicating that the first 40 families would get a photo opportunity with the Sesame Street characters after the show.

Needless to say, Jae enjoyed the performance very much. With the advantage of age, she was certainly much more engaged this time round, compared to last year. I recorded the entire show on my videocam, so she'd be able to view the performance again and again (big yawn), like she has been doing for the 2007 show.

Absolutely exhausted by the time we finally get to rest back at home.

Absolutely enjoyed this 1128 with my two girls.


Jae prefers the batmobil to taking a ride beside Garfield.


Row, row, row your boat.


Ezra aka Speed Racer.


Now you see why Ezra is the one who'd win the race? 'cos the other two are looking the wrong way, that's why.


Mommies got a work-out too at My Gym.


These two must have found something they like at Kenny Rogers.


Doe-eyed Cherrlyn doing some pre-lunch doodling.


A superb show put up by the Sesame Street team. The show is on from 22 Nov 08 till 7 Dec 08. Go catch it if you havn't already. A sure hit with children.


Kodak moment with Cookie Monster, Elmo, Ernie and Bert.


Jae insisted on sitting across us on the MRT trip back home.

Friday, November 28

Our 10th Wedding Anniversary

Yes, we have been married for 10 years today.

10 years, or a decade, is an important milestone. How should we celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary?

4 years ago, during our wedding anniversary, I remembered walking with Clement and we talked about the ups and downs in our relationship. In 2004, it was a really bad year for us because I had my fourth miscarriage and I was in depression for about half a year.

Clement asked me what would I like to have when we celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. I have always joked about wanting a big diamond ring for my 10th wedding anniversary. However, at that moment, without a doubt, I told him "I want a baby."

Today we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. Clement has gotten me a diamond ring in May already. Today, there is no flowers, no posh restaurant, no holiday, no couple time. But today is exactly how I visioned it to be 4 years ago... spending time together with a loving husband and a lovely daughter. It was a family day for the 3 of us and that is exactly what I prayed for.

Clement and Jaimie are the love and pillars of my life.

We had the perfect wedding anniversary celebration today. I am very thankful for what I have every moment and every day, and I will continue to give thanks.

Tag: Fantastic FOUR


Thanks for the tag, Angeline!

Four places I go over and over:
(1) IMM
(2) NTUCs
(3) Libraries
(4) Shopping malls


Four people who email me regularly:
(1) My colleagues (sianz)
(2) My boss (more sianz)
(3) Facebook (notifications)
(4) Blogger (notifications)

Four of my favorite places to eat:
(1) Gelare
(2) Yat Kun Toast
(3) Sakae Japanese Pasta House
(4) Streets Hong Kong Cafe


Four places you’d rather be:
(1) My drama-land
(2) Disneyland
(3) Taiwan
(4) Europe


Four TV shows movies (I cheated) I could watch over and over:
(1) 《海角七号》
(2) Love Actually
(3) Money No Enough
(4) All Stephen Chow movies (except CJ7)


Four people I think will respond:
(1) Wolfgirl
(2) Joyce Long
(3) Vivian
(4) Astee

Thursday, November 27

Her Botak Days

I was transferring some photos I took with my handphone to the lappy when I saw these old photos taken with my old handphone. And these photos reminded me of the old days when Jaimie was still a ... BOTAK .

Barney Ride in IMM.

Walking along the roof top garden from our old house to por-por's place.

Jaimie got her Shrek's ears from McDonald's, of course.

Happy feet dancing in front of the Surf's Up poster.

Jaimie's first taste of the sesame paste dessert from the Hong Kong cafe in IMM, just outside Daiso.

I Like To Move It, Move It


"Madagascar 2: The Crate Escape" is the third time Jae's caught a movie in the cinema - the first two being Kungfu Panda and Wall-E. To her, Madagascar is about Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo, Melman the Giraffe and the song "I Like To Move It, Move It".


To me, Madagascar is all about munching countless McNuggets so Jae can get her collection of toys. *puke*

Tuesday, November 25

My New Companion

My best friend, HappyPig, bought a Creative Zen Stone Plus so that she can jog with music. My other best friend, Wolfie, bought a SwiMP3 so that she can swim with music.

I die die must should get something for myself too!

And that's what I got from Harvey Norman today!Creative Zen Stone Plus for only $89!

Clement has an MP3 player (he has so many electronic gadgets that his friends consult him before they buy anything!). However, what I need is something with an inbuilt speaker so that I do not have to pick up the earphone that falls off my ears every 5 seconds when I am jogging. I was considering between ipod touch and creative zen but the zen wins hands down because of the attractive price and the hardiness of the player. It was meant for sports anyway which comes with a stopwatch function.

Woooo~~I can't wait to jump onto the treadmill with my new jogging companion.

If the bonus isn't so pathetic this year, I would have gotten the swiMP3 too.

Sunday, November 23

Lady In The Water



Jaimie had her dips in the pool two times this weekend, on both the afternoons of Saturday and Sunday. Yeah, it's one of those rare weekends where we didn't hop into the car and drive down to town/ a shopping mall/ Changi Airport/ Botanic Gardens etc, and just decided to have stay-at-home afternoons instead.

It was just before the Saturday session that we realised that Jae's inflatable swim vest was lost. Either we had placed it in one super obscure corner in the house that we simply couldn't locate it, or we had left it at the swimming pool during our previous trip there a couple weeks ago.

Without her swim vest, Jae couldn't swim (float, actually) independently. She isn't very good with the swim board (hers takes the form of a chick/duck that looks like the Piyo Piyo character) yet. Unlike the case with the vest, which she'd grown very comfortable with, Jae lacks confidence in handling the swim board. She'd still always demand that we support parts of her (e.g. arms, legs, torso) even when she's clinging on to the swim board with both hands. Also, Jae has yet to develop enough confidence to (voluntarily) submerge her head underwater. She's able to blow bubbles with her mouth just underwater but that's about it. Wonder how those swimming coaches teach timid kids on overcoming their fear of water...

Friday, November 21

HL, HL and LOL

许多情侣或夫妻之间或多或少都有讲一些废话的。

比如我和老公。我们曾经最讨厌回答的问题,就是“等一下要吃什么?”所以,我们常常都抢着“先发制人”问对方,然后轻松等答案。但是,聪明如我想到了一个废话答案,把烫手山芋抛还给他,就是:“好料。”

于是,我们之间有了“好料”和对比好料的“坏料”这两个常用词。发简讯的时候,为了节省时间,我们也用"HL"来做代号。如:“my colleague treatd me 2 HL dur9 lnch.we hd buffet.”“I m eat9 oats as bf. it's HL.”

今天,老公说因为我最近左痛右痛的很可怜,就要请我吃"HL"。我选择了我最喜欢的香港茶餐厅街头小吃。

结果,我吃的是LOL。这是今天启用的代号:left-over 料.

因为我们两老都在keep fit,所以我们都尽量不要像以前一样“两个人叫三盘”,而改成“三个人叫两盘半”。这两盘半,一盘是老公的,一盘是我和媛媛合着吃的。另外半盘多数是一个小菜,大家一起吃的。每次吃饭都是老公happy地吃,我喂媛媛吃或让她自己吃,看她吃剩多少我才吃。今天,我们在街头茶餐厅,老公叫一个炒面,我叫一个蛋滑河粉,小菜是炸鸡翅。媛媛把所有的河粉和虾吃光光,剩下的是一些蔬菜,粟米心,萝卜和花枝给我。我可怜兮兮地把残羹剩“菜”倒进嘴巴里,半饱又饿不死的。本来是吃HL,结果变成吃LOL。

做这种垃圾桶,我在心理上是有点矛盾的。其实我们可以多点一盘的。可是多点一盘,我们又回到“两人叫三盘”的分量了。我的减肥计划就要倒退了。吃LOL,又觉得很委屈,干嘛要这样对不起自己?可是我又不喜欢浪费食物,不愿意点一盘却只吃半盘。

只好看开一点,告诉自己这是"LOL减肥计划"咯!

Tuesday, November 18

On The Issue Of Plastic Bags and Discrimination

I witnessed 2 different incidents regarding plastic bags in supermarkets. One was in NTUC and the other one was in Shop and Save.

A lady in her fifties who did not look like she was a highly educated individual and a Philippino asked for more plastic bags in the 2 respective supermarkets. The cashiers were unhappy that their customers took more plastic bags than they were given and began to be rude to them. Both customers, coincidentally, asked the cashiers the amt they had to pay for their groceries and both cashiers gave the same rude response: "$XXX LOR!" The cashier in the Shop and Save even went to the extend of removing the entire pile of plastic bags hung at the hooks where she could conveniently put the groceries in the bags and placed them near the cash register instead. However, when they turned to the next customer (ie, me), they put on a very professional smile as if nothing ugly had happened 2 seconds ago.

I do appreciate these cashiers' effort to save the earth but I think they have done it at the expense of the reputation of their employers. There are a zillion ways to deal with the situation besides being rude. Also, I cannot help but to think that these 2 cashiers were actually discriminating against certain groups of people. If these 2 cashiers work in outlets whereby the customers were mostly expats or tai-tais, I bet they wouldn't even dare to raise their eyebrow at the customers who took a few more plastic bags, let alone raising their voices.

Those who don't give a damn about saving the earth won't care less about the number of plastic bags they throw away. Those who care will keep the extra plastic bags and recycle them. If I were the cashiers and the customers requested for more plastic bags, I would just let them have them.

In my opinion, these 2 cashiers have more important issues to deal with. (1) Discrimination (2) Customer service.

Then we'll talk about plastic bags.

Monday, November 17

感动的时刻

膝盖疼痛的问题已经很久了。脚踝肿了一个半星期了还是没消。今天,我买了三隆巴斯药布,把双脚贴得像一个老人一样。唉~~岁月是不留人的。

媛媛看见我的双脚贴上了药布,语气中无限关心地和我进行了下列的对话。

“妈妈,你的脚痛痛?”

“是的。”

“妈妈的脚受伤了?”

“妈妈的脚因为跑步受伤了。”

“妈妈踢到东西吗?”

“没有。”

“妈妈不要跑快快。妈妈小心。”

我抱紧孩子,内心满满的都是感动。

Vivo Playground Again!

We had such a good time during our last playdate at Vivocity that I suggested we do it every school holiday. This time, we had more kids joining in the fun!

It had been raining almost everyday for the past week and we were extremely happy to see the clear sky in the morning today!

Jaimie and I took the MRT (nobody gave up the seat for us, which is not surprising anymore) to Tiong Bahru and then we changed bus 65 to Harbourfront. Her majesty die die must have MacDonalds breakfast so we ate a happymeal and a $2 breakfast before meeting the rest at the playground.

First thing first, take attendance!! In alphabetical order:

CALEB!!! Haven't seen you since our very first meeting at Vi'lage! Still so handsome and cheery.

CHERRLYN!!! Still as beautiful and active as usual.

ELVINA!!! We haven't seen her since the first meeting too! Looking at how much the kids had grown reminds us of how fast time flies!


EUNICE!!! The most active girl in the group. Poor Viana was so tired running after her that she could barely talk during lunch.


EZRA!!! The next Armani model.

JAIMIE!!! *speechless*


RTR!!! The Diva in training.


ZHIYU!!! Welcome!!


Ezra's jie-jie!!! The caring and loving jie-jie who held the children's hands and gave up her seat on the see-saw for the little ones. Such a darling!


We mommies ended up doing more exericse than our kids.


Cherrlyn and Jaimie were not allowed to play in the water (again). Hence they could only look while the rest enjoyed themselves.


Nonetheless, they had fun singing songs together, conducted by Joyce.


Jaimie enjoyed herself very much in the playground with the company of her friends.



The sky turned very dark at 10.40am and we had to pack up and go for an early lunch at Marche. It began to pour heavily even before we reached the restaurant.


Jaimie didn't like the rosti I ordered for her. Since she had a late breakfast, I reckon that she could skip lunch. She made such a big fuss on the taxi when we were going home because she was extremely tired but I did not allow her to sleep in the cab. She knocked out almost immediately after she shower and milk.
Ladies, I am looking forward to another playdate with you all and so is Jaimie!

p/s: Do you know why girls like to go to the toilet together? Because their mommies trained them to do so since young!!

Sunday, November 16

A Song That Melted My Heart

Jaimie started singing 《天下的妈妈都是一样的》 while we were on the road the other day. Tears just welled up my eyes when I heard my daughter singing the song, even though she may not know what is the meaning of the lyrics.


Thursday, November 13

童言无忌

昨天到家婆家吃饭,席间媛媛喝水时弄湿了衣服,我的家婆便帮媛媛换衣服。

家婆开玩笑地说媛媛是“大鼻子”。媛媛不甘示弱,马上说:“奶-奶!”

Wednesday, November 12

We're going to Fly!

I just booked our 4 days 3 nights holiday to KL and Sunway Lagoon with the same travel agency Astee travelled with last year.

Because we changed our minds about bringing Jaimie to Hong Kong this year, we made it up by bringing her on a REAL aeroplane to KL. At least we can fulfill our promise to her on the "flying on an aeroplane" part.

It's a very short trip and a very short flight. This will be the "warm up" trip for Jaimie before we bring her for longer holidays and on longer flights.

Wooo... I am so looking forward to mid of next month!

Sunday, November 9

JAIMIE'S FIRST PROFESSIONAL HAIRCUT

I am sorry but I just had to use all caps for the post title because THIS IS THE POST I HAVE BEEN DYING TO WRITE FOR AGES!!!

Don't worry. It's not the infamous VU Haircut. =_= It IS a professional haircut at Junior League. After dinner at our favourite eating place, Qi Ji popiah at Shaw Towers, we walked over to Suntec City. When we passed by Junior League, Jaimie saw a little boy getting his hair cut without any fuss and the boy was watching Wheels on the Bus, one of Jaimie's favourite VCD. She stopped to watched both the boy and the VCD as the little girl now is currently very fond of looking at other younger kids and talking to them.

We took the chance and asked her if she wished to get her hair cut at Junior League. She shook her head but it was not as vigorous as the previous times we asked her whenever we walked past a hairdresser's shop. I told her she would get sweets and balloons after the haircut and that melted her immediately. SHE NODDED HER HEAD.

Without much hesitation, I quickly put her on the chair and she started to cry. Hmmm... she had tears in her eyes in the picture below but it couldn't show quite clearly.

The aunty hairdresser quickly doubled the number of sweets in the little basket she gave to Jaimie and the satisfied little girl grabbed on to the basket while watching Wheels on the Bus on the little TV screen, undistracted.

Aunty asked if I planned to keep her hair long. I said no and she suggested giving Jaimie a bob look. Whatever... just cut her hair lah. I am dying to take pictures. This is more important. :D


Jaimie was sitting quite still during the haircut and didn't fuss at all. I was so pleased.

And we were done!

This was Jaimie before the haircut.

This was her new look: She looked like Ah Boy with her hair tucked behind her ears.

We went to Gelare for ice creams after the haircut. Jaimie was happy with her prize-- an orange balloon and a Tweety Bird sticker. I didn't want her to take the sweets as I dislike Jaimie to eat sweets. Jaimie said she liked the haircut experience and she would visit them again. Hohohohoho~~ I was happy to hear that!
Sideview:
Front view:
I was given a coupon from Junior League that there would be a free haircut with every 8 coupons collected.

Let me see... Jaimie cut her hair once every 2.5 years. That means the free haircut will be... er... when she is 22.5 years old!!! GASP!