Tis the season to be jolly

Indeed the reason to be jolly is about the birth of Jesus. The is what Christmas is all about.

In the morning, my family attended the Christmas service at Trinity Christian Centre near to our home. When I walked into the building, I was impressed with how big the premise is. And when I walked into the santuary, I even more impressed with the Nativity-theme decoration. As we begin to worship in carols, I felt at home in this church as it reminded me of FCBC (the pre-Magic of Love day) which I grew up in. The worship was clearly filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit and I walked out of the service with the experience of receiving God's Love, Joy and Peace.

We adjourn to our next celebration - The annual Xmas gathering at my PIL's with the extended family.

We had Curry Fishhead with Nasi Brani, Cze Char, finger food consisting of sotong balls and sausages and my MIL's famous Fried Chicken Wings. What a feast we had!

No celebration is complete without the joys of exchanging presents. This is a pix I took earlier of the boys posing with their gifts from Mummy and Daddy.

Bye bye, Pizza Hut

This is my 2nd attempt at making a pizza. I had better result this time round as I added yeast to the thin-crust and thus it is not soggy as compared to my 1st attempt which I made without adding yeast.

With just 300grams of flour, I am able to churn out 3 regular pizza filled with ham, pineapple, mushroom and cheese toppings which the boys love. J could finish 1/2 of a regular pizza all by himself. I have also learnt to make baked rice and pasta from K's nephew, D.

All we have to do is to add soup and we have a complete pizza hut menu. I have also saved at least $30 as a meal at Pizza Hut would cost us at least $50.

Japanese Nite

I put together a simple meal of fish tempura, japanese curry, miso soup and rice for the family.

It is very rewarding to see the 2 boys finish their dinner without any coaxing or having to feed them.

After dinner, J said "Mum, you sure can cook well.".....awwww.

Superheros in the house

My 2 super-heros!

Monster's hand

Sometimes, I don't know to laugh or to cry. So I choose to laugh.

Up goes the Xmas tree

For the past years, we had a table-top Xmas tree as I was worried that the boys are too young and would crash the tree down. Now that they are older (and hopefully wiser), we went out and bought our 1st full-sized Xmas tree from Takashimaya.

When the delivery was made to our home, the boys can't wait for their Dad to come home from work to put it up because I don't have the patience for it whereas K is great at such merticulous work. After 1/2 day of waiting, K finally came back and indeed he is good at it. The tree is up in 1 hour! Excitedly, the boys starting putting on the trimmimgs.

We also started a tradition of selecting 1 special person to put up the top star. This person needs to have put in extra-ordinary performance for the year to deserve this honor.

J insisted that he deserves the award because he helped to look after M and was very well-behaved. There is merit in his reasons as he did us proud this year by going to school by school bus, integrated well with his new classmates, gave a stunning performance during his school concerts and look out for M. To me, K deserves the award as he has worked so hard for this family. But you can't take the honor away from a 4 year old who gave so many reasons to justify why he is deserving to put up the star. So the honor for this year goes to J. Well done, J!

Year-end Concert 2010

While sitting as an audience, I was beaming with pride. To be able to see how well J integrated into his new school and being able to put up a stunning performance; I can't help but hold back tears of pride and joy.

Wanderlust

No kidding. There really is such a word. And is not what you are thinking.

wanderlust (noun) – an irresistibly strong desire or an impulse to travel far away and explore different places

I am so in love with this word because I finally found a word to describe the inner me.

Happy Wanderlusting.

Happy Birthday to the most hardworking man in the family

Happy Birthday, K!

Having kids make birthday celebrations seems more festive. Seeing their anticipation and fasination written all over their faces is pure joy. No wonder K is smiling from ear to ear too.

Sharing a rocking chair

We bought a rocking chair with the intention of getting J to sit on it when watching TV. However, the boys are more interested in using it as a toy. But at least, they learnt to share it in brotherly love.

Retrolicious 9 Oct Fort Canning Park

A simple TGIF greeting from Van resulted in E and I attending Class 95FM 20th anniversary concert – Retrolicious at Fort Canning Park (FCP).

E and I met for a quick dinner at Raffles City before walking to FCP. When we reach FCP, we were shocked by the long queue that has formed to get into the concert venue. The entrance was down at the park but the queue has gone up the hill, round the carpark and continued down the hill. It took us almost an hour to get to the entrance and by then, the queue has extended over to the other side of the road and down the hill again. We were told by a crew that it is a sold-out concert for 7000 people who has to go through security checks but I think towards the end, they relented as the queue was simply impossible to imagine and manage.

E and I settled at the top of the slope and while waiting, there were snippets on the events that took place in the 80s. E and I watched in amazement as we go through major events year by year – Politics, Sports, Top Hits, Fashion, Movies. The pix of Michael Chang winning his Grand Slam in 1989 reminded me why I took up tennis! And I recalled watching “Dirty Dancing” 9 times. It really didn’t feel like it was so long ago but I have to admit that by the time my boys grow up, the songs I’ve listened to in the 80s are considered as oldies to them. (How can Madonna’s Papa Don’t Preach be an oldies??)

The opening act was by Johnny hates Jazz (JHJ). They sang some new releases that didn’t inspire the crowds (we are here for retro, hello??!!) but they managed to save themselves by singing 3 of their favorite hits “Shattered Dreams”, “I don’t want to be a hero” and “Turn back the clock” which E said it was the Mummy’s theme song because at some point, most mothers would wish that “we can turn back the clock, bring the wheels of time to a stop, back to the days, where life was so much better” as “you might just say is just a case of givin up but without those memories (of our kids keeping us up at night) O where is the love?”.

Next to come on is Debbie Gibson and boy oh boy! I want to look as fabulous as her when I am 40. Those legs seem to go on forever! I think Debbie is the artist that rocks the concert. She is full of energy, prancing all over the stage in her sequined ultra-mini skirt and over-sized top. She works the crowd with her goodies – her bodylicious and her hits. She is the only one without new song (which is what a retro concert is about). She belted out hits after hits of “Foolish Beats”, “Out of the blue”, “Only in my dreams”. “Electric Youth” and “Lost in your eyes”. She even gone back 1 era with “Dancing Queen” and got the audience dancing on our feet. When she got onto the piano to sing “Lost in your eyes”, we were all singing to it and she had to stop and play it again as she wants to hear us sing it instead. It was a united moment as the 7000-strong crowd belted out “I get lost in your eyes. And I feel my spirits rise and soar like the wind. Is it love that I am in?” She is the only one that the crowd wouldn’t let go and encore back to stage. This should have simply been a Debbie Gibson personal concert.

The final act that we’ve been waiting for enters the stage in a suit. Lamenting on the heat, Rick Astley was encouraged by the crowd to “take it off” which he ultimately did and I am referring to his jacket. Rick is oozing sex appeal at 44. The young man has aged gracefully that E and I agreed that he should be the next James Bond. He open his act with “Never gonna give you up” and had to take a breather with some ballads like “When I fall in love” and “Hold me in your arms”. At this point, E and I both wish our husbands was with us in the concert as it was a beautiful moment as you see couples holding each other and moving to the music. I believe Rick even managed to bring a couple together as after 2 hours together, the man standing in front of us finally plucked up courage to place his arm over the shoulder of his date. Rick did a new song but nothing beats his ”Together Forever”, “It would take a strong strong man” and “She wants to dance with me".

At the end of the concert, I am $88 poorer, throat sore from the singing, feet tired from dancing and agreeing with JHJ that I do wish that I could turn back the clock. But for 3 hours, I feel like I am the secondary school girl again who is head over heels in love with a young boy by the name of Roderick Lim. And oh, not forgetting Lawrence Cao either. The 80s rockz!!

Huat ahh

My muffins ending up looking like a "huat-ge" (发糕).

Children's Day 2010

Happy Children's Day, sons! Continue to drive me crazy.

How to hide inside a box in 4 easy steps

Step 1: Find a box
Step 2: Climb into the box

Step 3: Squeeze yourself into the box

Step 4: Hide!

Our new home

Peace - that was the other name for home.

It has been 2 months since we moved into our new home. Even though it is a home without any designer decoration, what we enjoy most is the simplicity and serenity.

Run for your (h)ive!

With no warning, M broke out into hives. It was quite bad as the red patches covered his whole body. K and I rush him to the doc as it was too tormenting to watch him swell and itch badly.

Hives (medically known as urticaria) are red, itchy, raised areas of skin that appear in varying shapes and sizes. Hives can occur anywhere on the body, such as the trunk, arms, and legs.It is estimated that 5% of all people will develop urticaria at some point in their lives. Individual hives usually last two to 24 hours. An outbreak that looks impressive, even alarming, first thing in the morning can be completely gone by noon, only to be back in full force later in the day.

Hives are produced by histamine and other compounds released from cells called mast cells, which are a normal part of skin. Histamine causes fluid to leak from the local blood vessels, leading to swelling in the skin. Hives are very common. Although they can be annoying, they usually resolve on their own over a period of weeks, and are rarely medically serious. Some hives are caused by allergies to such things as foods, medications, and insect stings, but the large majority of cases are not allergic, and no specific cause for them is ever found.

As there isn't much that the doc can do, she can only prescribe some anti-itch medication. We were also advised to apply calamine lotion to ease the itch.

When we reached home, we covered M with calamine lotion from head to toe as the hives patches were all over. It was quite a funny sight. Even M was amused as he said that he is painting himself white!

Little India Boy

Schools commemorate Racial Harmony Day on 21st July.

On this day in 1964, Singapore saw racial riots. Racial Harmony Day serves to remind our pupils that social division costs us dearly and that race and religion are potential fault-lines in Singapore society.

It is a day for schools to reflect on, and celebrate our success as a harmonious nation and society built on a rich diversity of cultures and heritages.

This is J's 1st Racial Harmony Day. I had initially wanted to buy a Malay costume for him but due to our proximity to Little India, it was much easier to get a costume from there.

We finally settled on this brown color Indian costume which cost abt $20. We bought a bigger size hoping that we can recycle it next year.

Men's talk

I walked out of my home office and saw this lovely scene of the 2 boys chatting. It is a rare moment as they are usually running around or fighting over toys. If only everyday could be like this. :-)

Look Mum, what big feet I have!

Random conversations

I was having a argument with M while in the car and M started to throw a tantrum.
M: I don't want you. Stop talking to me!
Mum: M, are you trying to fight with Mummy?
M: Yes!
At this point, J interjected and said: Ok, both of you can fight now.


On another occassion, I was just having some fun time with M and pointing to the Care Bear toy that he has, I said:
Mum: See M, this care bear has a heart on his bum bum. Do you have one on yours?
M: No, I don't have.
Mum: Are you a bear?
M: Yes, I am!
Mum: So what is your name? Naughty bear or Baby Bear?
M: No, I am Goldilocks and the 3 bears!

J's 1st day in new school

Weeks before we moved, I have been preempting J about starting in a new school; that it is the school with the big playground; there's bicycles that he can ride; and he have to take the schoolbus by himself. I guess I must have repeated it too often that one day, he said "Mummy! Why do you keep telling me? That day you say already. Now you say again".

When the day came, he excitedly put on his uniform and school shoes and kept asking impatiently when the school bus will come. When it is time to go down to wait for his school bus, I told my helper to bring him instead of me for I fear that he would be reluctant to board the bus by himself if I were with him. In the end, I couldn't resist the urge to be with him on his 1st solo school bus trip.

While waiting at the pick up point, he kept asking anxiously why the bus is taking such a long time and what if he doesn't know where to alight (cause he thinks he is taking a public bus and he needs to alight at a particular bus stop).

Finally, we caught sight of the bus, J quickly said "Bye, Mummy" and boarded the bus. For a minute, I was stunned. Is that my son who is so clingy to me? You mean, he boarded the bus without any struggle? No crying? No wailing? My helper and I looked at each other in disbelief.

After J boarded the bus, K and I followed behind the bus to school. We saw J alighting from the bus and followed the other students to the hall. As J joined the school in mid-term, he was unfamiliar with his new classmates. Nontheless, he just followed the crowd and sat down for assembly. So far, so good. As I peep from behind the glass door, I felt a sense of pride that he is doing so well. He has outdone himself and I felt embarassed that I've belittled him. Knowing that he is coping well, we headed home.

When it was time to pick J back, I waited anxiously at the pick up point. When J alighted, he had a smirk on his face. It was a proud moment for him; having accomplish a big task. At that moment, I felt very proud of him too

1st home-cooked meal in our new home

This is the 1st home-cooked dinner after moving into our new home.

The menu consist of:

• Smoked duck breast: The boys love this as it is very tender. It is pre-packed and all you need to do is to warm it up in the oven. But it don't taste like duck. More like smoked ham.
• Watercress soup: I very much prefer to cook soup in a slow-cooker but since we don't have one yet, we had to make do with boiling it in a pot. As a result, the watercress is quite mushy.
• Chilli clams: Saw some juicy clams in the supermarket and couldn't resist it (I love shellfishes). This is best fried in sambal chilli but since we are not fully-equipped, my domestic helper improvised with fresh chilli and garlic. Not as "shiok" but nonetheless, we finish the whole pot.

Why are we eating on a ottoman? Because we have not bought a dining set yet. :)

Twinkle twinkle little starz

As a light shining in the darkness, the star is often considered a symbol of truth, of the spirit and of hope. The symbol of the star embodies the concept of the divine spark within each of us. Their nocturnal nature leads stars to represent the struggle against the forces of darkness and the unknown.

Shooting star tattoos are often a symbol of two things: good luck, or the culmination of a long hoped for wish.

Finally found design that I adore; the courage to do so and the purpose it symbolize.

Going to the hairdresser

M getting a haircut from J and he seems to be enjoying it.

6 years and counting

These flowers arrived this morning. Wanna guess who is it from?? Haha.

Thanks for 6 fabulous years, K. Wish you were here.

Family gathering

Celebrated FIL's birthday and Mother's Day in advance.

If you love soft shell crab and salmon sashimi, this is the buffet to come to - Park Royal Hotel. Yummy.

Unfortunately, K is not around to celebrate this occassion with us.

All the more another reason for another celebration when he return!

Unbearable

Being away from K has reach the stage of unbearable.

I've not seen him for nearly 58 days. Need to bear another 10 wks. I do feel like taking the next flight out but I can't due to work and family committments. I know there are couples out there who are away from each other for even longer period of times. Kudos to them. Guess I am not one of those who handle it well.

K, come back soon.

Why am I so brown?

In a cab, on our way home, J asked me "Mummy, why crocodiles comes in so many colors? Some are grey, some are black and some are green."

I said, "Just like humans, J. Some are dark, some are tan and some are fair."

J said "Do you know why I am so brown, mummy?"

Secretly hoping that he will say something like "That's because I am like you" so I said, "Mmm...no i don't, J. I don't know why you are so "brown"."

J said "That's because I drink a lot of Milo, silly Mum!"

At that point, even the taxi driver burst out laughing.

Happy 4th Birthday, J

J, on your special day, I want to share this special poem with you. Blessed Birthday, my son.

You're not here by chance; but by God's chosing,

His hand formed you and made you the person you are,

He compares you to one one else, you are one of a kind,

You lack nothing that His grace cannot give you.

He allowed you to be here at this time in history to fulfill His special purpose for this generation.

Roy Lessin

Mr Sonshine and his furry friends

M carried his new-found friends to me and insisted that I take photos of them.

Passing the mid-way mark

3 months down and 3 more months to go. Wish these 3 months will pass by soon so that K will be home.

Is it genetic?

At times when I see Matt's sitting posture, I can't help but laugh. Guess who did he get his sitting style from?

Birthday celebration in school

This is the last time J will celebrate his birthday with his frens in his playgroup. At the end of this school term, he will be transferred to his new playgroup after we've moved.

Saw a picture of animal cupcakes on the web and I knew J would love them (he is an animal lover). I managed to find a freelance baker to do it for $2.50 a piece instead of $3.70 from a famous bakery in Ang Mo Kio. J was very excited when he saw the cupcakes.



This year, M was able to join in the celebration and even squeeze in between J and his friends for the group photos! He also chose a panda bear design as his cup cakes and sat down to eat it. Seems like it will be a breeze easing him to school when he starts next year.

Mr Sonshines blows out the candle again

Today is M's actual birthday and we went for a mini celebration.

Mr Sonshine blows out 2 candles

The 1st event that we celebrated in our new house is M's birthday. Took the opportunity to invite the family to our new unfurnished home for a bbq.

J teaching M to blow out the candles.



M's other favourite cartoon character - Barney. He chose the cake himself.

A duet with Mr Sonshine

Mr Sonshine sings

At first he hesitated and then he started singing as if he suddenly remembered the lyrics.

J's drawings

J: Mum, this is for you.
Mum: Oh, what is this?
J: It is a drawing. It is a picture of you.
Mum: Oh my! What a lovely drawing. What are those sunrays thingy?
J: Those are your eyelashes.
Mum: Oh tks, J! I love this drawing.
















A few minutes later.
J: Mum, this is for you too.
Mum: Oh and who is this in the drawing?
J: It is me.
Mum:Mmm...why are your eyes different from mine?
J: Because you are a girl, so your eyes have those long long things. I am a boy, so is not the same!

年初三

Who would have guess that the Bottletree Park would be so pack on the 3rd day of Chinese New Year?

We had a 2nd reunion lunch as K is back. As we can't visit any relatives this year due to the passing of K's grandma, we are left with pretty much nothing to do. Thus the idea of bringing the kids to experience good old kampung life.

The kids had lotsa fun with the longkang fishing and I was surprised that J jump right into the pond and uses his hands to catch the fishes. M wanted to jump in too and we had to held him back as he is too young. But he enjoyed sitting on the wooden swing and enjoying the breeze.

年初一

新年快乐! 恭喜发财!

团圆饭

The boys in their new PJ waiting for dinner to be served.

My MIL and BIL have prepared an eight course feast for us. Yum yum!

Mr Sonshine and his cool shades

Day 33 without K

Wow, a month has passed since K left for US. With modern technology, the boys and I still see and talk to him everyday. From time to time, J will ask "When is Daddy coming back? It has been such a long time." while M will ask "Where is Daddy?". He has learnt that he can see and talk to Daddy through the computer and would drag me to the computer to do so.

He might not know it but you can instantaneously see K's face light up when he see his boys over the webcam.

I am looking forward to seeing him next week when he is back for CNY.

This is the way I drink my soup.....

.......naked.

Learning to let go

Today, J announced that he won't be going with me to my mum's place. Instead, he is going out with his 大伯.

Since his birth, J and I are inseparable except for the times when I am on overseas or when other members of the family takes him out but those times doesn't last for more than a few hours. He has never spent a whole day without me.

A part of me (just a small part) felt reluctant to let him go even though I welcome the break and opportunity to spend the day with M. I teased J that he is a big boy now and doesn't need me anymore. His reply was "I still love you Mum but I want to go out with 大伯." At that moment, I knew my baby is growing up and on his way to independency. In future, he may choose his friends over me, or his girlfriend(s) or his studies or his hobbies. One day, he will be someone else's boyfriend or husband or a little child's father.

As he learns to deal with independency, I am learning to let go. To let him have more of his personal space and preferences; to let him grow up.

One day, J will outgrow my lap but he will never outgrown my heart. At the meantime, I still have my other baby, M who say "Mummy, don't go" in his dreams. Ahhh....how sweet are the sound of those 3 words.

Baby's day out (Part 2)

M got lucky again as J doesn't want to go out with us. (See above post)

Before going to my parent's place, my mum and I did a little shopping at the Marina area and had lunch in a Japanese restaurant. While I was feeling M his lunch, he pointed towards my food and said "Mummy, eat". Awww....my little SNAG.

When we got to my parent's place, my dad took him for a walk and after that, took a super long nap as J was not there to disturb him. He must be thinking that it is his lucky day as J was not there to snatch his toys either.

Baby's day out (Part 1)

M’s big break finally came! He has been living behind his brother’s shadow but today he is the STAR!

As I need to run an errand in town, I decide to take M with me while J is in school. And it has been a long time since I took M out by myself as usually, J or my domestic helper will play gooseberry. As I don’t have to rush back to pick J back from school as my FIL is doing it, I took the opportunity to have brunch with my buddies. Not only does M have my full attention, he has 3 other ladies to fuss over him. No wonder he was beaming. He even took picture with 2 beautiful ladies, V and ahem….myself.

When it was time to go home, M was already feeling tired and slept on my chest while we were in the taxi. At I listen to his breathing, it felt like the whole world has disappear and it is just him and me. It was a moment of bliss for both of us and I simply have to cuddle him tighter.

Day 1 without K

Missed K by a mere 1 hour +. I landed at 7am while K's flight took off at 5.50am.

The longest we were apart was 3 months when I was working in HK. This time round, it will be 6 months. Whenever he is not around, I would mop around even though there are many activities to be done. For some reason, something felt missing - but of course; he is missing.