Sat, 30 Dec - Maidless for 2 Weeks

We took our maid to the airport this morning to send her off to Indonesia for her 2-week home leave. Fortunately there were no tears from Isaac. Then for Isaac's sake, we took the skytrain to and from Terminal 1 and 2 a couple of times. We took several videos of the skytrain which we would repeatedly playback on TV at home for Isaac's entertainment!

On the skytrain we happened to meet a trio of friendly elderly ladies, and my mum struck up a conversation with them. The leader of the trio, who apparently knows Changi Airport inside out, volunteered to bring us to the staff members' lounge where we had lunch. This place is tucked in some corner that's not really easily accessible to the public. The food was not too bad and reasonably priced. We would definitely be coming back again another day.

On the way back home, we stopped by the Expo Metro Sale to buy a "Cars" DoodlePro board at $29.90. I had seen this when I visited the book fair the day before. The kids just love to watch the movie "Cars" over and over again and we decided to buy this so that they wouldn't fight over the existing doodle board at home. The board comes with two stencils of Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater which the kids really enjoy tracing.

Fri, 29 Dec - Times Book Sale Again

I realised I still have half day of childcare leave which I had forgotten to take for the year. Since this can't be carried to year 2007, I had to take it today if I didn't want to waste it. Again I thought of watching a movie using my free movie passes which would be valid only till 31 Dec 2006. But I really wanted to visit the Times Book Sale held at the Expo. Thus I never got to use the tickets I won. Regretted a little going to the book sale which didn't really have anything worth getting. Almost had the same stuff as the previous sale. I didn't spend much, just got a colouring book for Cheryl and a 3D jigsaw puzzle for Isaac. I wasn't really in the mood for digging around the mass of books either because I was still feeling rather lethargic from the events of the week.

Wed, 27 Dec - Back to work

In the morning Cheryl complained of stomachache... Oh no, did the stomach flu get to her too? TT gave her some medicine and she went back to sleep. When I checked back from office later that day, TT told me she seemed ok and was playing happily with my nieces who had come over to our place. They too had recovered already. Phew! False alarm... As for me, I'm glad I didn't get it after all, although I ended up feeling rather tired and lost some weight after the whole episode due to the loss of appetite and sleep.

Tue, 26 Dec - Boxing Day

The worst was over and TT was feeling much better. Isaac was still complaining of stomach ache, having the runs and generally had very little appetite. And he wanted to be carried all the time. But at least he didn't throw up anymore. We had a company shutdown today because of the celebrations the night before. So it was a quiet day of rest and recuperation. I drove my mum to my sister's place, as she had wanted to see her sick grandchildren.

Unfortunately for mum, the stomach flu attacked her that night. I'm guessing she may have got it from Isaac. Probably she wasn't too careful while handling Isaac. For me I religiously washed my hands and used a disinfectant spray after cleaning up Isaac's mess or after TT used the toilet.

Mon, 25 Dec - A Merry Christmas Not

Fortunately Cheryl and myself were spared. We still don't know what was the cause, but I guess it was a case of stomach flu, since nobody else in the Christmas eve party got sick except Isaac and TT. With half the family sick, I had to forego going to the Christmas Mass in the morning. TT and Isaac were unable to keep much down and felt extremely lousy. They just slept alot and took in only liquids.

In the morning, Cheryl opened up all her presents. Isaac was too ill and so we opened them up for him. In this picture though, he actually looked pretty alright enough to show some interest at his gifts, but lost interest quickly because he felt so unwell. We usually go to my cousin's place for lunch because her birthday falls on Christmas day. This year she turns 21 and was having her party at a bungalow chalet at Changi. As it was also a kind of gathering for my aunties, I decided to drive my mum there while TT and Isaac rested at home with our maid. Cheryl backed out at the last minute and decided to play with our neighbour Sean instead. I didn't have much of an appetite for the lunch buffet. Perhaps it was psychological and I was afraid I would be the next victim of the stomach flu too and was anticipating it to rear its ugly head anytime.

In fact when I called my sister that day, she said that both my nieces were similarly afflicted! Hmmm... perhaps it's in the air...

In the evening, I had to attend an event at Creative as our company was celebrating our 25th anniversary. I wasn't really in the mood because Isaac and TT were ill, but there wasn't much I could do anyway at home, so I decided to pop by, since I had already registered my whole family for the party. At least I, as an employee, should turn up. Again, I didn't have much of an appetite for the buffet dinner and didn't eat much. The performances for the night were held at the outdoor amphitheatre and Mr. Sim is really blessed that the skies held up for those few hours. Having little sleep the night before, I really couldn't keep awake for the performances. So by 10pm, I decided not to stay back for the lucky draw and go back home to rest. I drove home taking care not to doze off at the wheel even though my eyelids were very heavy.

Back home as I laid my head on the pillow to sleep, I felt really miserable, thinking what a lousy Christmas it had been! I managed to get some sleep for about 2 hours or so before being awakened by Isaac who wanted to drink some milk. We have been giving him plain Milo without milk. He was slowly able to keep his liquids down without throwing up and we were giving him small amounts as frequently as he wanted. As I was preparing his drink, I heard a beep from my handphone. It was a message from my colleague who had attended the event till the end. He told me that if my tickets had certain numbers (like Toto), I could collect $1,000 for each ticket! I had four tickets because I registered my whole family. I checked the tickets, and all of them had the winning numbers! Mr. Sim made it such a way that most people would actually "strike". So at around 1.45am in the morning, I drove back to Creative just in time to collect the 4 cheques totalling $4,000! By that time, the skies had opened up and it was pouring pretty heavily. But boy it was worth it! This Christmas didn't turn out to be totally bad after all.:o)

Sun, 24 Dec - Nightmare Before Christmas

We had lunch at my SIL's place in Tampines and then we attempted to go IKEA Tampines, but there was a long line of cars to the carpark, so we just gave up. So we Went Tampines Mall instead. In the evening, we went to a relative's place at Changi Rise for a Christmas eve party. Everything went quite well and the kids enjoyed themselves. However, when we got back and the kids went to bed, our nightmare began. First, Isaac started throwing up while he was sleeping. He threw up a couple more times at night. Later TT started throwing up too and having the runs. It was a bad night and all of us, except Cheryl, had little sleep. My first thoughts were food poisoning from the party food, but we couldn't nail it down to any particular food.

Sat, 23 Dec - Good Ol' IMM

We haven't been to IMM for some time now ever since we discovered VivoCity, so we decided to go there today. Surprisingly it was not crowded and we had little trouble finding tables at the foodcourt.

We managed to take a Christmas Choo-choo train which took us around the shops on level 2. Me & my sis felt so silly sitting in the train, but the kids just love such rides.
In the afternoon my sis and kids came over to my place and she helped me to bake my very first cake! I have never taken home economics in school and am absolutely clueless when it comes to baking. Getting started was the difficult part... I needed to get all my equipment, so I had been making a few trips to a shop at Jurong East called Phoon Huat to get my baking supplies: some baking trays, a flour sifter, greaseproof paper, baking powder etc.

I had laid my hands on a children's baking book and found one of the simpler recipes I thought I was capable of handling: a honey carrot sultana cake. This recipe didn't require an electric mixer, something I hope to get eventually if I want to try other recipes.

The appearance of the cake wasn't exactly beautiful but it turned out alright. A little too moist and too sweet for my liking actually. Decorated the cake with icing sugar and sugar toadstools. These are pics of my efforts...Before and after decoration. The kids were more excited about the sugar toadstools more than anything. They said the cake tasted OK but they didn't exactly ask for extra helpings...heehee

Thu, 21 Dec - Singapore Garden Festival

I took leave today because I was going to help my sister make Christmas cookies with the kids in the afternoon. I'm clueless about baking and I just wanted Cheryl to have some hands-on experience. I was contemplating what I should do in the morning... Wanted to utilise my free Golden Village passes but there weren't any movie that I wanted to watch screened in the morning. So I decided to visit the Singapore Garden Festival instead.

TT dropped me off at Suntec City as the SGF had not opened yet and I managed to get Cheryl's Christmas present: A sandart kit and a card-making kit, since she was into these arty-crafty things.

I was pleased to get a SGF ticket at $4.50 instead of $6 using my NTUCLink card. There was quite a good crowd considering it was a weekday. Lots of old folks and people on wheelchairs! I took many, many, many pictures, especially the orchids. There were so many prize-winning and exquisite-looking species, I felt quite overwhelmed. I just took shot after shot of flowers that caught my eye. All of them were so beautiful. The various landscapes were also very nicely done up, you just have to see them for yourself as the pictures don't do them any justice. Here are just some of the pics I took. Pic of a lady's finger plant, quite intrigued by the way the finger grows:
One of many prize-winning orchids. This was the only one of its kind in the exhibition. It's almost as large as my palm and has almost semi-transparent petals:

Another large impressive orchid:

Unfortunately I had to rush through the whole exhibition within an hour and a half as I had to go home to pick Cheryl up and go to my sis' place to bake cookies. I even missed lunch since I had a heavy breakfast.

At my sis' place we managed to bake lots of gingerbread men and Christmas tree cookies. The kids helped to decorate them with icing sugar and mini M&Ms. Here's a a shot of their handiwork. My sis will be giving them away to friends and relatives for Christmas.

Mon, 18 Dec - Day Out for Kids

My SIL kindly offered to take the kids (my daughter and nieces) out again today. This time it was to the Singapore Garden Festival held at the Suntec Convention Centre. I had wanted to go to during the weekend but entry fees during the weekends (Adult:$12) are double that for weekdays. I'm not really into gardening but I like flowers, and especially taking photos of them.

As expected, the kids felt that the exhibition was boring! But another friend of mine told me it was really nice. In the meantime, my mum brought Isaac for an excursion on the Bukit Panjang LRT as he did not go for the outing and sorely missing the company of his sister.

After that my SIL brought them to Tampines IKEA to play. I really don't know what they did, the kids just wouldn't elaborate! Anyway, the kids have already been to 4 places I myself haven't even been to yet: Wild Wild Wet, the newly-renovated National Museum, the Singapore Garden Festival and IKEA Tampines! So glad for such extended family support, so at least Cheryl and my nieces won't be too bored during the school holidays. I'm saving my leave for the first two weeks of January when my maid will be flying back to Indonesia for her home leave.

Sun, 17 Dec - A Wet Weekend (and an even wetter Week)

Today it just rained the whole day. It was overcast in the morning but we thought it might still be possible to sneak in a visit to Botanic Gardens. But just as I was packing for the outing, it started to rain, and it didn't stop. In fact it continued on Monday and Tuesday, wreaking great havoc all over Singapore! My maid requested a full-day off today and my in-laws were coming to our place today. TT had arranged to play mahjong with his mother as she was pretty bored. The rain was really bad over these few days, my yard and our corridor was always wet because the wind was also blowing in our direction. We only managed to play two rounds (winds) of mahjong. It's almost impossible to have an uninterrupted game with our two kids around, and what's more we were maidless today.

This wet weather was also making me rather blue these few days. I have alot on my mind lately: my work, my hubby & kids, housing, primary school for my daughter, personal fulfilment and dreams, career satisfaction, finances and estate planning, etc. Not problems per se, but decisions I have to or yet to make. I just wish I had more time, but then it would never be enough. I wish I had more resolve, but I am a master of procrastination! I wish I could sleep less, but my body thinks otherwise. Sometimes I wish I could spend more time with my kids instead of being at work, but I don't think I have the temperament nor aptitude to be a full-time mum. Can we afford it? I have many personal dreams I wish to pursue but cannot. If I were to die tomorrow, will I have regrets? I have so much to do and feel so unfulfilled. Sometimes I wish I had one day to do nothing and just waste time lazing around at the beach while time for the rest of the world stands still...

Sat, 16 Dec - Cheryl's Music Performance "Concert"

We decided to go VivoCity in the morning because we wanted to go to Toys R' Us to see if we can do something about the battery-operated Thomas train, which suddenly died on us... Even a change of battery didn't help. The Toys R' Us staff at the service counter just gave Thomas a drag backwards and Thomas was running again! Phew! He said that there was a spring inside and we needed to "wind" it up again by dragging the train backwards.... I didn't quite comprehend the mechanics, but what mattered was it was working again! Here is a pic of Cheryl having a splashing good time at the playground's waterplay area.

In the afternoon, Cheryl had her last music lesson for the year and the teacher held a mini "concert" for them. Extended family members were invited to class to see them perform solo a few music pieces on the piano. Cheryl was very shy and didn't want Daddy to come, but I managed to convince her to allow my sister and nieces to attend. Honestly I was quite worried about this performance, because she's naturally shy and had not wanted to go forward to perform in previous "rehearsals". I was not worried as to how well she would be able to play the pieces, but rather whether she would develop an inferior complex or become more withdrawn if she didn't play well or refused to perform in front of so many people. I had asked her many times which pieces she would be performing, but she never gave me an answer. I think her way of facing problems is simply to avoid them. Finally, it was her turn and she stepped up to the piano to play the pieces I chose for her. She did not play the two pieces perfectly, but what mattered was she actually performed. And she didn't do too badly, considering this was the first time she touched (as in played) on an actual piano, since she has only been playing on an organ. And in front of an audience too. I am quite sure she has my genes of having stage-fright and the experience must have been unnerving, at least it was for me! But I do hope she realises what she's capable of doing if she puts her mind to it. Hopefully, she'll overcome being too overly self-conscious of herself.

Wed, 13 Dec - Wild Wild Wet

TT took leave today and took the kids to Wild Wild Wet, which is just beside Escape Theme Park at Downtown East. I was at work and didn't go so I don't know how fun it was, but TT took some photos. Judging from the pictures, it definitely looks more promising than the theme park, and TT even said he wouldn't mind going there again.

Tue, 12 Dec - National Museum

My SIL offered to take Cheryl and my nieces to visit the newly-renovated and recently-opened National Museum. I really don't know how much the kids can really appreciate the exhibits at the museum being just 5-6 year-olds, but I know Cheryl and my nieces generally have fun when they are together. I suppose new and interesting places with wide open spaces are always regarded as "playgrounds" for them!

Sun, 10 Dec - A Relaxing Sunday

Today my in-laws came over to our place. We had booked the badminton court for our nephews to play and they also went swimming. It was basically a relaxing afternoon gathering. In the evening we (me, TT, my sis & Mel) managed to "escape" from the kids to have a good dinner of curry fish head at one of our favourite stalls at Golden Mile Food Centre along Beach Road.

Sat, 9 Dec - Escape Theme Park

Since there was a promotion of $6 instead of the usual $16.50 per entry, we decided to give the Escape Theme Park at Downtown East a try in the morning. My sis and nieces, as well as my maid also came along. The kids were really excited when they were at the entrance. Personally, I must say I was rather disappointed. Perhaps most of the rides are more suitable for older children and teens. Not much choice for the younger kids and family. I don't think it's fair to compare it with the Genting theme park, but I must say it was still a letdown for me.

Singapore really needs a proper respectable theme park and I'm glad the Marina and Sentosa IR projects are underway. The kiddy rides here are so tiny and unimpressive. The kids took the Choo Choo Train, Ferris Wheel, Red Baron airplane ride (see pics), Yakult Kite Flyer and the Family Coaster. And I thought the ones in Genting were bad.

The Family Coaster ride was a bit too thrilling for Cheryl, though my nieces loved it. Probably it's her first experience on a slightly more motion-aggressive ride. Maybe she'll learn to like this kind of thrilling feeling as she grows older. We wanted to try the Daytona Beginner's Track (Go-Kart)but the queue was moving much too slowly, so we gave up. Quite a number of rides were closed too. The carnival games were a real rip-off at $2 for 3 throws. We only played because we were given the free coupons. We also had free popcorn and ice-cream.

In all due fairness, the kids did actually enjoy themselves but I think we adults were just relieved we did not pay the full fare to "enjoy" such mediocre attractions. I think Isaac liked the Choo Choo Train ride but he'd be better off taking the Bukit Panjang LRT! Definitely my first and last time there unless I'm forced to go again.

Sun, 3 Dec - John Little Warehouse Sale at Expo

$plurge Weekend Part 3

Today we took a breather from our usual park-horse-clams program we've been having over the past few Sundays. There was a drizzle in the morning, so we couldn't go to the park. I badly wanted to go to the JL Warehouse sale at the Expo so we decided to make our way there. Of course I had extreme reservations about going there - on top of the JL Sale, there was Sitex, Big Boyz Toyz, and church services... on a Sunday somemore!! But I really needed (wanted) to do some shopping, esp. for Christmas gifts. I was right, half of Singpore was there (the rest went to IKEA Tampines,haha... according to reliable sources, VivoCity is not that crowded anymore!) The Expo carpark was super-duper full, every little illegal space was taken. TT dropped me, the kids and maid off first while he went to find a place to park somewhere far away.

Fortunately for me, I think the crowds must have been at some other exhibitions because the JL Sale crowd was quite acceptable to me. My maid and TT looked after the kids while I shopped like a mad woman. I skipped lunch while TT and the maid brought the kids to eat. Thankfully the claypot laksa I had in the morning sustained me till dinnertime.I spent a total of $183 for kids clothes, christmas gifts, toys, stationery, underwear, cushion, Vitamin C pills, a Thomas VCD & some other stuff. Even my maid managed to get a $10 handbag. Quite happy with my haul in just about 2 hours. Wish I could shop somemore. This is a snapshot of the kids' clothes I bought.

While we were queueing up to pay, TT had to leave us to go entertain some overseas guest. The kids were playing around my trolley as I queued. We queued for about 20-30 min to reach the cashier. Isaac got tired and decided to take a nap, so my maid carried him. We had originally wanted to take the MRT back but since I had so much stuff to carry and with Isaac asleep, I convinced Cheryl that we should take a cab. The cab fare came up to $15.30 plus $2 Expo surcharge. I wonder if this cancelled the savings I made in the sale...:(

It was almost 3pm when we reached home, and my maid went off soon after as it was her half day off. So it's just me and the kids at home. While Isaac slept, I taught Cheryl to draw using the new Crayola crayons ($6.90 for 64 colours) and we also played with the Thomas memory game (both bought in the sale). Later the kids played at my neighbour's place and even had dinner there. It's nice to have neighbours to help each other out and have kids as playmates.

JL Sale = $183
Taxi = $17.30
Total = $200.30

Sat, 2 Dec - Registration for NAFA Art Classes

$plurge Weekend Part 2

Aiyah, we are becoming typical Singapore kiasu parents... We wanted to sign up Cheryl for art lessons at NAFA so we needed to queue up to register. Art lessons are so popular now, parents are just signing up their kids for all kinds of enrichment classes. Our purpose was for Cheryl to enjoy these classes, because she liked to draw. It would be good if she could learn more ways to express her creativity. We were surprised she objected violently to attending the classes, saying, "but I already know how to draw!!!" We are signing her up anyway because we're quite sure she probably would enjoy the lessons eventually. It was the same thing for her music classes. She used to raise a hue and cry about having to go for music classes, but ever since she discovered she could play some decent music on the keyboard with both hands, she said she wanted to continue. Anyway, TT & I decided if she really didn't enjoy the art lessons, we would pull her out.

Registration starts at 9am, and you must be in the mailing list to even qualify to register. That's how hot the lessons are. The school has a good programme and the lessons are quite reasonably priced ($336 for 20 weeks). I thought my sister's kids could register too, but found out they can't because my sister was not in the mailing list :(

TT & I had to wake up earlier than we ever do on normal days! The kids were still asleep when we left the house. We reached NAFA at 8am and there was already a queue of about 45 parents in front of us! Everybody came prepared with foldable chairs, mats and newspapers! I wish I had taken photos, but I was scared people come and "hammer" me for taking their picture! TT went to take breakfast first while I stayed in the queue. By the time registration open at 9am, the queue was already snaking to quite some distance away. Places were limited because favourable time slots were already taken up by existing students and siblings. We decided on an afternoon time slot on Sunday because we didn't want Cheryl to have too many lessons back-to-back on Saturday.

Fortunately by 10.15am we were done,and then I had a hearty breakfast of nasi lemak at the nearby Fong Seng stall. We didn't tell Cheryl we had signed her up in case she made a ruckus, so we just said we went out for breakfast. The kids were happily decorating the tree while we were out. Later, TT brought the kids to the fun pool at the NTU Alumin Clubhouse (at One North) while my sis and I went to the Arena swimwear sale at Henderson Industrial park. I bought a swimsuit for myself and Cheryl. Then we all had lunch at the clubhouse.

I managed to build the tracks around the tree and now battery-operated Thomas runs around it. Isaac really loves watching it go round, and he presses the button to play the "Jungle Bells" tune. I also helped Cheryl rebuild her Lego town under the tree. We built 4 stations/tunnels using the larger Megablocks/Lego bricks: Green (Buona Vista), Yellow (Commonwealth), Blue (Queenstown), Red (Redhill). A little bit sick of the 3-year old decor, but with the lights on, I think the tree still looks really nice.

Art lessons + registration = $377
My swimsuit = $10 (original $50+)
Cheryl's swimsuit = $19
Total = $406

Fri, 1 Dec - Our Christmas Tree is Up!

$plurge Weekend Part 1

Cheryl circles the dates on her wall calendar everyday, so in the morning when she circled 1st December, she said that we have to set up the Christmas tree today. So as soon as we returned from work that evening, she kept reminding us like a broken record about setting up the tree.

But we wanted to drop by IKEA Alexandra that evening because they were having their 4-day party in conjunction with the opening of IKEA Tampines and I wanted to buy some of the offer items. Being crowd-phobic, I was really glad IKEA was sprouting up at Tampines too... so now it can draw the crowds there! And amazingly fast too, how they get these malls up in less than 2 years (or is it one)? No more car queues snaking out of the Alexandra branch!

Yay, the shopping experience was a breeze without the crowds. First I joined their quiz contest...being the kiasu Singaporean, I filled up all forms in 4 different languages. We got cute mini blue IKEA bags for joining the contest. Quite cool, just like the big yellow shopping bags, just blue and much smaller. As we entered the store, the staff were handing out mini red heart-with-velcro-hands soft toys. Nice.
There isn't much of a play area at the children's section anymore, so the kids just had fun playing about in the various children room set-ups.
Isaac was literally testing out each bed! I wonder how often they change the sheets...but I think I'm better off not knowing!

Cheryl wanted to eat a hot dog,so we decided to make our way out. On the way I picked up 3 sets photo frames (UP $12.90, now $6.90), a clock with world globe design, an alarm clock, and 2 sets of AAA-sized batteries.

3 x Photo frames = $20.70
Wall clock = $4.90
Alarm clock = $1.90
2 x Battery packs = $10
Total = $37.50
(ok, not exactly a splurge, but big splurges got to start somewhere right? More Splurges in Parts 2 and 3)

When we reached home, Cheryl started her broken record sequence again. So I had no choice but to lug out the box from the top of the bookcase. The 5-ft tree was up in 15 min. Isaac must be thinking: "So this is how trees grow!" Must remember to explain to him one day! It was already quite late, so we shoo-ed the kids off to bed and promised that we would put up the lights while they were asleep.

I got lazy this year, so I asked TT to string the lights round the tree. Tree lights are most troublesome to set-up, but I do think they are much nicer than those trees with fibre lights. TT also helped me put up the silver and white baubles. I just admired from afar... After setting up the tree every year, it's time for me to take a break.hehe I helped sweep the area around the tree as it's quite dusty after all the setting up.

We left the rest of the decorations for the kids to put up the next morning. These are just small bear toys that can be easily placed on the tree branches. This is a reluctant Isaac posing beside the Christmas tree! Yeah, we have a beary nice christmas tree! :)

Poem on Art

Hey who says I can't write poetry?!? I was doing housekeeping of my mails at the office and I dug out this old mail written back in 1999. It was inspired by an email discussion among colleagues on how art should be assessed. It was a very subjective topic, so my colleague (Winnie) and I decided to pen this poem just to poke fun at the serious topic...

A Local Poem: Our Thoughts about ART
(Disclaimer: May not make cents, bcos it's art)
Simi si art?
Adds F become F-art
Say so much, butt
all we get is more F-art.

Rediscovering and reading the "poem" again still makes me laugh! No wonder I didn't have the heart to delete this mail everytime I housekeep my mailbox database! Yep, this mail gets to remain in my archive till the next housekeeping exercise.