J导的毒舌

媛媛很爱导演。

我们大家都做过她的临时演员。如果我们的表演没有配合她的剧本和要求，J导还会大发雷霆，亲自演一遍给你看来导戏。

她的公公和婆婆是她的御用演员，因为这两位A咔最跟她合作。

昨晚，媛媛拍的是“结婚”的戏码。

J导要两位“新人”从房间慢慢走到客厅，要手挽手。婆婆新娘要拿手花。公公新郎要亲吻他的新娘。J导要求演员完全入戏，现场的气氛要认真。但在拍“吻戏”的时候，婆婆新娘已经笑得弯下腰。

J导火大极了：“我知道你结婚很开心，可是你不可以笑！！！！！！！！”

Bento #116

This is a new bento-- fried macaroni. I mean, I have never fried any macaroni before! You see, I have half the chicken left from bento #115 and I was thinking of ways to finish up the bird and I thought of the delicious fried macaroni in Cafe Cartel. Ok.. let's try doing it my way!

I pre-cooked the pasta the night before and that saved me a lot of time in the morning. In fact, I always try to prepare as much as I could at night, such as mincing the garlic, cutting the broccoli, putting the fruits I want to use in a small basket etc.

As usual, I fried the garlic first and then I threw in the chicken slices. Stir fry for a while and I dumped in the macaroni. On another stove, I blanched the broccoli. The seasoning I put was chicken stock concentrate, a little oyster sauce and black pepper. I diluted the chicken stock and oyster sauce in a bowl of water and poured over the frying pan. Then I added in the broccoli and tomato cubes, let it simmer for a while and then I turn up the fire to dry up the gravy.

I like to "fry" my udon in this way too because I can use less oil to get the food cooked while the food soaks up the seasoning. I used half a packet of macaroni and I can make 4 bentos!!! So 2 of my colleagues do not need to eat the yucky canteen food today. :D Clement and my friends said this bento was very delicious!! Happy!!!!! Success!!!!

I love the lunchbox I bought when I went to Universal Studio. It comes with the kids' meal in one of the burger restaurants. The size is just right. It packs my lunch perfectly. What a happy lunch!

Bento #115

School begins today!

Our family motto for this half of the year is "Eat Healthily (we try our best...)". :D

To start off the campaign, I made a very healthy bento today. It is similar to bento #114 but it is not exactly the same. I used wholemeal wraps this time and not pita bread. Instead of baking my own chicken steaks, I bought a roast pepper chicken from NTUC Extra and sliced the meat. Added in the wraps were loads of green vegetables and tomato cubes.

After trying out 2 options, I prefer the wrap to the pita bread. I like the texture of the wrap better. I thought this bento tasted good but Clement commented that it was a little dry. I did think of adding mayonnaise but I dropped the idea as mayo does not fit into our motto. :D However, Clement said that the healthy bento breakfast made him more health conscious and he opted noodle soup for lunch! Yeah!!

Since it is the first day of school, I put an Ultraman sticker on the disposable bento box to cheer myself up. Ah, that's the thing about wraps and pita bread. They do not fit into most of my cute little bento boxes. These disposable ones are quite handy. From Daiso, of course.

从剪头发联想起。。。

这是媛媛和爸爸第一次同一时间在同一间理发店剪头发！

其实，我早就应该带媛媛来这些比较平民化的理发店剪头发。她小时候害怕剪头发，我们就带她到亲子的专门理发店去剪发。现在，她不害怕了，我应该在档次上“退而求其次”。

这不是什么了不起的举动。也不是什么非常朴实的生活习惯。但是，我们决定要从生活中小小小小的事情，一点一滴做起，培养孩子朴素和刻苦耐劳的精神。

为什么有这样的想法呢？

早些年媛媛还小的时候，我的一些朋友告诉我，说她们的孩子不肯到没有冷气的咖啡店或小贩中心用餐。严重的话还会闹脾气或啼哭抗议。我暗暗翻了个白眼，叹一口气，认为都是我的朋友们把孩子宠坏了。

最近，当我们说要去咖啡店的时候，媛媛竟然也说：“我不要去没有aircon的！！！！”

我对我之前翻的白眼感到汗颜、羞耻、抱歉！

我们不是不能负担冷气食阁的用餐费。我们不是不知道时代已经在改变。我们不是不知道小孩其实都会选择比较舒适的环境。

但是，如果我们一味的对他们的抗议让步，让他们有最好的享受，身为父母的我们在传达一个怎样的讯息啊？

对我来说，我要我的孩子能吃苦。我要我的小孩能适应环境。我要我的小孩能知足。我要我的小孩能谦逊。这些品德会跟随她一辈子。我愿意她成为吃得苦中苦的人上人。

当然我不会刻意给她苦头吃。但是，如果我和她爸爸决定了要到没有冷气的地方用餐，就算她哭泣抗议，我们也坚持不会改变主意。

是不是到没有冷气的地方吃顿饭就会培养她适应环境的性格？我们不知道。但是，我们觉得如果一直都舒适惯了，也许将来她会吃更多的苦头。就好像我们相信适当的体罚孩子会让她有更坚强的心理建设，让她面对人生更大的挫折。

当然，有些父母愿意给孩子最好的物质享受。每个父母都有自己的想法和出发点，都是为自己的孩子好。我完全没有意见。

嗯，只是简单剪一个头发，我也想太多了。

Cruise In The River Of Time

After the craftwork session and lunch with Rain, Clement suggested that we take a cruise along the Singapore River.

Singapore River had a special place in my heart no because it was one of the places Clement and I used to go when we were dating (we used to just sit there to listen to the clock chime at Victoria Concert Hall! WALAU!) , it was also a place my parents used to bring me when I was very young. My father would tell me stories of the 红灯码头 and his childhood when we were strolling along the then very smelly river. I couldn't remember the odour before the river was being cleaned up but I remembered the time we spent there with my parents.

Now, we are bringing Jaimie for a cruise along the Singapore River, the place where our island's history began.

Jaimie enjoyed a turkish ice cream and the breeze after the cruise.

As I sat on the boat and enjoyed the ride, I realised that the skyline in Singapore is beautiful! I had never seen it from another angle which this boat ride allowed me to do so.

Some people think that Singapore is small and boring. To me, this little island meant a lot to me. And I will always love it because this is where I belong.

Artists' Playdate @LPN Art School (Part 2)

Jaimie had a wonderful time with her art buddy at LPN Art School in March. This time was just as fun but the photos weren't as good as the previous one because I used my dummy camera instead of Clement using his DSLR.

Vanessa helping the young and inspiring artists to get ready. Picassa-Rain chose to draw on a canvas while Da Vinci-Jae chose to decorate a wooden magical wand.

Alright, I admit I didn't know we have to plan before drawing. No wonder I failed my art all the way in school.

Some artists are particularly mad with themselves if they could not translate their thoughts and feelings onto their art work. Outbursts of emotion is quite normal for artistic people. In Chinese, we call that 艺术家脾气。

Jaimie's awesome plan. A potted plant with LEGS. How do you beat that?

Rain wanted to draw dinosaurs. Where are the dinosaurs? Of course they were extinct!

Jaimie colouring her magical wand carefully.

She decided that she would do some hand painting since her hands were covered with yellow paint.

Rain working on her masterpiece.

Still making more impressions.

Proud artist! Great work, Rain!!

Jaimie's "abstract art". She drew with her left and right hand.

Proud Wolfgirl bursting with pride. :D

We went for lunch together after the 1 hour session. The girls enjoyed each other's company so much that they took another table to have some private conversation between themselves. They must be planning for their next outing.

Of course we'll go for another craft session together soon!

A Touching and Inspiring Book -- Cancer Warriors

Yesterday was a very fruitful day for me not because I was being interviewed by Young Parents but because the journalist who interviewed me, Stella Thng, shared with me the book she published a few years ago.

We were chatting and she was asking me questions about my book. Then, when we were talking about book publishing, Stella shared with me that she had published a book too. Because she lost her sister to cancer, she went on to do a project to interview cancer patients, tell their inspiring and courageous stories to the world. By doing so, she not only helped to raise awareness on this silent killer, she raised funds for charity too.

I totally admired her for what she did. And she got a commendation letter from the Prime Minister for this project.

After the 1hr 30mins phone interview, I went to the library to look for her book. I was very lucky to find a copy on the shelves!

I couldn't wait to read the book and when I started reading, I finished the book in one go.

Stella asked me to give her my comments after reading the book so when I was done, I closed the book and tried to remember which particular cancer warrior left the deepest impression on me. To my surprise, out of the 20+ people who were featured in the book, I could easily remember at least 15 of them! Each of their stories is so unique, so touching and so heart-warming that you will not forget them.

I sms-ed Stella to tell her what I felt about this wonderful book.

I told her her book made me treasure everything more.

Yes, after reading the stories, you will realise that health is truly your biggest assets and blessing. All setback or unhappiness in life becomes very trivial and we should treasure each day as if it is the last!

I am not sure if this book is still on sale. If I happen to see it, I will buy a copy ($12.90, I think!) to support this project.

If not, it is available in the National Libraries.

Jaimie's rendition of Que Sera Sera

After I showed Jaimie this touching commercial and explained to her the meaning of it, she loved the song they sang so much that she learnt to sing it by watching the clip many, many times.

Here's her rendition of the song.

Happy Day

Finally, I get to contribute to the economy by participating in the GSS!!!!

To start this expensive and energy consuming exercise, you need carbohydrates.

I went to Orchard as I wanted to buy some books from Kinokuniya (20% off storewide for members!) and to one of my favourite boutiques in ION. An afternoon of vigorous exercise (signing card) earned me 4 pairs of shoes, 1 skirt, 3 tops, 4 books and some grocery.
By late afternoon I was too tired to lug around my shopping bags for more shopping. So I chose to rest at a fast food restaurant and read about Chiang Kai Shek. I became quite interested in the history of Taiwan after I came back from the country.
I finished half a book while waiting for Clement to join me for dinner. We had a good chat and a good dinner at Sizzler.
This is what I call a happy day-- shopping, books, food, me time, couple time.

Proud To be Chinese, Proud To be Friends!

It's our quarterly teacher-mommies meetup again. This time, all of us are supposed to come in "Chinese" theme because we are happy that the government heard the people's voice and do not lower the weightage of the Chinese language in PSLE.

Errr.. yes, that sounds a bit remote but after playing so much with the dressing theme, we decided to be "ourselves".

We went to a very traditional Chinese restaurant in Chinatown!

Joyce and I came in traditional tops.

Yeah!

These 2 are the more creative ones. Wolfgirl came with a Chinese book...

check out the details on Viv's pants!

Chicken and ginseng double boiled soup. Yummy for me but some thought it was a little too salty.

Prawn in Mandarin sauce. Must try!

"3 cups chicken". The chicken was very tender!

"Dong Po Rou" with mantou. Ohhh.. the fatty meat was so sinfully juicy, soft and delicious!!!

Steamed crab with glutenous rice. For crab lovers who loved the 蟹黄,this one had plenty!

Claypot Tofu with abalone slices.

Our verdict--

Food: 8.8/10

Value for money: 9/10

Ambiance: 7.5/10

Friendship: 14/10

How can women complete without dessert? We crossed the overhead bridge and continued with the dessert.

Water chestnut cake. Absolutely must try!

Guilin Gao

Durian snow ice, green tea snow ice.

Sesame and almond snow ice. We love this one best!

As always, the 4 of us had a fabulous time sharing and chatting. All of us have been so busy and we really treasure the time we specially put aside to meet up and catch up. Great friends are hard to come by and I am glad that the 4 of us treasure our friendship very, very much.

Cheers! My beloved friends!