A Day In Time

Know how i come up titles for my blog? Just whatever that comes to mind, especially if I have nothing in particular to write about.

Lunch with the babies
This is the first time in my entire life bringing them out. They can finally talk and walk properly and dont need a diaper change. Cool. I just came back from lunch with them so memories are still fresh in my mind.

1135am: I picked them up at their grandparents place. The main gate opened and the first one to run out was Ginger.... the dog. She must have been frightened by the three noisy children in the house. Anyway, they were ready, shouting and trying to run away from me. Thats funny i thought, there were coming out for lunch with me. By the way, if you are wondering why they are running away from me is cos they call me the Kissing Monster. I used to run after them and kiss them. Not that traumatic right? I think it was more traumatic for me to run after them, cutting through their ear piercing screams and having to hold them down (they can be pretty strong with their kicks) and plant a kiss on their cheeks. Nah it aint as bad as it sounds.

Right. Since it was my first time, I decided I could only handle 2 out of 3 of them. Before you run, you gotta see if you can walk.... know what I mean? They were ready with their waterbottles, jackets and enthusiasm. So cute and in a second we were about to cross the road to my car. It was then when I knew its gonna be alright cos they didnt immediately run across the road. They stopped. I asked are there any cars? NO! they said and ran into the car. No one wanted to sit in front... which was just as well. The older one, JW sat in and you know what he did? He immediately buckled up!!!! JY the little girl followed suit. A quick wave to Grandma who I suppose was happy to have some peace and a zen moment before she went to work. Their oldest brother, as soon as I arrived said Hi and as soon as his siblings were about the wear their shoes, he ran to the computer room shouting "YAY"! So I suppose I'm doing him a favour too. Ginger went back to her quiet spot to chill out before the screaming returned.

1140am: We were driving along. For like 30s alls well, was talking to them about art class and what they wanted to buy (we were going to shop for their birthday pressies) They were talking to each other and within 5 minutes, JY took JW's toy and he started screaming and whining to get it back. It was more amusing than annoying. By the way, JY is younger then JW. So they had a hide and seek and a name calling thing going on at the back and the last I knew someone was calling the other stupid. Sigh.... the next thing I knew,the object of their affection was thrown to the passenger seat next to me, on the floor. More screaming of "where is it?!!" So i said, you need to be quiet because I'm driving. Immediately, there was a hushed silence, led by JY. She's an angel isnt she? Surprised, I turned around and JY had her finger over her mouth saying, Shhh.... driving... So cute!

Anyway, there was an obvious hush till we arrived at United Square. Phew.

1200pm. One thing about kids and cars, u tend not to speed. Dunno why. Mabbie cos I wasnt on the highway. So we parked on the 4th floor and took the lift down. They wanted to shop first before lunch so we went shopping. I thought JY wanted a pink shirt. But after looking at some shops with really cute pink shirts she kept on saying NO! so i figured she changed her mind. Went to Toys R Us and they went off. Played with toys etc etc. JY initally wanted this pseudo daytona for babies thingy which was really pathetic to some Little Pet Store. JW has been buzzing about this Maple Story thing eversince he got into the car. There werent any in the store so he settled for some action figure with an interchangeable blade. Before we could pay, JY wanted to open her toy. As MJ would say.... ** faint** .....

By the way, they can jump on to escalators by themselves too! We went down and passed this anime store and sharp eyed JW spotted.... " MapleStory"..... and wanted it. So I said, ask they lady at the counter if she had any. He refused to ask. JY spotted this Princess card thing and wanted it. I told her to ask the lady and she did. So I encouraged JW to ask too, only after seeing his little sibling go for it did he ask. Sigh.... Apparently this game, you can buy online credit points to buy stuff online. And this game.... is so lame. Kill sheep and goats? Ok, non violent, I'll give you that and it allows kids to communicate online. Just didnt click with me.... I guess playing Mr PacMan will not click with many people either... It costs $10.70!!! ok.... He wanted one for like $32+ bucks.... I'll leave that to his mother.... So I bought that and walked out of the shop wondering how much this Maple story creators are worth.


1245pm: So we went down to their supposed "Chicken Rice!!! Chicken Rice!! shop" but as any kid would do, changed their mind when they saw Mc Donalds. Not even my ultra super Jedi Mind Tricks could change their minds. I doubt even Yoda could. So Mc D's it is. It was so cute. JY wanted chicken rice but JW wanted McDs so they had a quick conference. They huddled together and whispered and agreed. Should have taken a pic. They went in an somehow, seem to know where the Happy Meals toys were on display and decided that what they wanted. Mc Nuggets Happy Meal with Milo and 2 toys. Pity they only had one kind of toy. Suddenly during the meal, I forgot to ask if they wanted to pee. JW said no but pointed at JY and said she did. JY said no. OK, not good. At times like this i wish they had their diapers on. Ok, so after the first part of lunch, we went to the loo and JW hurriedly went in.... hmmmm.... Then we went back to Macs for dessert of Ice cream. Only JW wanted a sundae so we both watched him eat. JY tried to open the packaging of her toy with her teeth. You know how some toys are packaged, sealed with hard plastic, without a cardboard backing. So she tried to hack her way through with her teeth. She started trying at Mc Ds.

1pm. I went in to Just WholeFoods to check out the organic flours for my bread. Prices have increased!!! I told them to wait outside while I went in. By now, JW had his toy out too, ( his packaging was made of cardboard backing, so he had an easier time) and JY was still hacking her way in. I decided to buy some unprocessed bran and was outta in 3 mins. Decided it was enough for the day, though I had a lot of fun just watching them. Went up to the parking lot. Decided to belt JY in a little tighter so she wouldnt be so squirmy.

130pm: we were headed for home. It started raining. By the time I reached SIF building, JY had hacked a large hole in her toy packaging and JW helped her to tear it up using his Chi Aikido power. She thanked him sweetly(after my prompting) and he said " whateverCome" ....* rolls eyes* I supposed she assembled the toy too cos once in the house, she told me to push a button and the whole toy opened to some mini playground for monkeys.

Got them safely to Grandma's House. And true to his word, JS was happily at the computer killing sheep and buying magic shoes...( for a bargain of 200k too!) online. JW happily announced his newly acquired 10000 credit points to his brother who replied with a "mmmm" without looking up from his game.

It was a good rainy afternoon to snooze... so I.. will after I blog this.


Melt- The World Cafe Oriental Hotel
SS treated me to my bday dinner. Lotsa food. Pretty good quality too. Loved the slipper lobster and the waffle and icecream. Should go back on thu to suns for the bbq as well. Cool.

Chillie Padi
Had dinner with the family for my birthday there. Good food. GOod durian chendol and lovely petai. Had fun. Must go again.

NO Signboard
Fil treated to celebrate Women's Day. Yay!

Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre
Its so huge! But we went a bit later cos it was raining in the morning and early afternoon. I dont think its much cheaper but its hard to compare cos prices of many things are going up. Its scarry. 5 apples for $3. two peppers for like $2. $3 for a large yam. $2 for 1kg of bread flour. I dunno. Tell me.

Well, thats all for now.

The Gap Year

Well, basically a GAP year is .... i took this off Wiki... so all rights go there... Its so right :

A gap year (also known as "year out", "year off", "deferred year", "bridging year", "overseas experience", "time off" and "time out") is a term that refers to a prolonged period (often, but not always, a year) between a life stage. The most popular gap years are taken pre or during matriculation in a university or college, between college and graduate school and a profession, during a career change, pre or post marriage or having a first child and pre or post retirement. It is generally a practice undertaken by those from developed countries.

Look at the last line... it says DEVELOPED COUNTRIES. I wonder if Singapore falls into that category. I know that at least the mainstream bulk of singaporeans dont do it. There are many an adventurous souls who have taken their own GAP year or years but its still not as popular here than overseas. I would love for singapore to have that. As in, take a no pay leave just to do a GAP year. Why dont we?

Mahjong
What a lovely game! It all started when me and SIL taught MIL how to play mahjong during CNY. It was hilarious, me and my mediocre mandarin, not fully knowing how to play the game but trying hard. But MIl was good.... she won quite a bit on her first lesson. What were the men doing you may wonder? If only they could start their own game!! I mean, I know a whole bunch of guys who play, like my uncle and at least quite a handful of my male colleagues..... Perhaps they world shouldnt be segragated by male and female species... just those who play and those who dont. Admittedly I'm not good at it but i really enjoy it.....

Played with my cousin too and we decided that we'll bake CNY goodies during chinese new year, make a bundle then play mahjong for the rest of the year.... throw in some SPA and we're good.

Then the icing on the cake was playing at Gracie's. With the help of my new shifu... Diane. She's good! I learnt many tips. Then went to play with my mother and her friends. haha.... Shall we have a game too SIL? :)

Breadmaker
Breadmaker breadmaker, bake me some bread....I seem to be buying all sorts of electronics eh. From my 3 in one waffle, grill and sandwich to my ice cream maker, to my photoprinter, to my top of the pops Panasonic digital camera and my 8 gig memory card, my Philips hair curler and straighter etc, to my Osim massage belt( which i gave my dad, cos i figured his fast growing watermelon compared to my.... well shall i just call it a flabby belly..... ), to my hand massager. Anyway, I din pay full price for everything..... I had vouchers for some and if you know the nature of my job, I have to spend some money to buy techno stuff so there.... Thats how i can effort it all.

Anyway, back to my lean mean bread making machine. I LOVE IT! Breville. Bought from Tangs. Baked lotsa bread. But mainly I'm trying to go for the wholemeal organic thing. By the way SIl, the bread i made u guys was from organic whole wheat flour.... mabbie thats why its so good... :)) I cant wait to try more. So fun! Its like u dump all the ingredients in the container, plunk it into the machine, press buttons and off it goes. U get bread when u want bread. :)


Birthday
It seems like just yesterday that i celebrated my 24th birthday. I still feel 24. Well.... mabbie more like 14. I still hop, skip and jump. Run, prance and leap. Have a care free attitude on life (to some extent) and feel as young as a horse.... literally. But since this is therapeutic blog, I need to come to terms with the fact that I have left the 20 something club and just submitted my registration form for the 30s club. I got a shocking " hello Ms think u are still young" letter from the immigrations department, telling me to change the photo on my ic etc. They will be shocked! I look almost the same. ... ok ok... rounder in the face and fatter around the hips, thighs and belly area, not to mention arms, butt and calves and everywhere else.... but spiritually i look the same.... they should have a machine to take a photo of the soul.... it will be young..... Sighs.... so there... i've said it all. As i'm one of the few who have my b day earlier that most of my friends..... I just have one thing to say...... it aint over till its over!!!! go figure....

Those of u who are still in your 20s... treasure the number (20 something) and how physically fit you are, how good your metabolism is without working out much, how you can just go to a club and enjoy ladies night with heart thumping music, dancing with strangers and just getting drunk stupid, and puking into drains without anyone giving u strange looks. That all changes when u have a reputable career and have to wake up at 6am the next day and watch your life pass you by while u stroll through the agonies of life. bleah....

Bouquets
This is really a tribute to my little learners who did so well for the recent exams. I'm so proud of all of you... them actually. They dont know i have a blog..... haha...One of my students got 6 As. And some were so sweet, they messaged me to thank me. Such dears. U know, when i was a student, I dont ever remember hugging my teachers. Nope..... And one of the most heart warming things is that your students come up to hug you or ask if they could have a hug. Eversince I started, I've hugged some of my students... girls of course.... from the crying ones to the ones who were leaving, to the ones who needed comforting. In the beginning I never really thought much about it. But it suddenly dawned on me that I took this hugging thing for granted. Cos there were students there who are so loving and thoughtful and sincerely sweet... of course there are students out there who are not... haha...

Anyway, I'm happy for them and I want to say that I replied them saying that it was really through their hard work and effort. If I could make them get good grades, everyone in my class should get an A. Not everyone did.... so their fantastic grades had nothing to do with me. Love them.... really really do.


Metaphysics
The book that i was looking for in Borders was in that category. So all i can say for now is I;m looking into it and not a total disbeliever.

BSM
I'm doing a really fun and exciting course right now. Its the basic sports massage course. Conducted by SSC and the lecture is given by Aized! She's like the guru of sports physio or something.... I remember those days when she was still in CJ and me and Az would like hand around etc. I just realised that they were all zeddy, azzie, tazzie and rizzie.. so cute.... I love the hands on session. Fun fun fun!

Old Airport Road Hawker Centre
We discovered this really fantastic kaya toast! I shall take a pic and send it in. Forget Yakun!! The bread is crisp yet had that nice texture of bread. Good butter but a little to little kaya. But it was good. And the lor mee is also good. yumms.

No Signboard
We had crabs! I think i must have crabs everyyear for my birthday. Yumms. the one at geylang is the best of the best. Thanks for the Nigella Express SIL! I've been so eyeing that book!!! Yay.... Shall I email Nigella to get her to do an Asian tour? Would so love to meet her and be her little helper. I'm just waiting for her to come up with slightly healthier recipes. Butterscotch banana muffins looks so good in the book but not on my flabby belly.


Vacationless on a Vacation
It isnt as depressing as it sounds. I'm actually happy to spend sometime at home to sort out my life. Need the break to wonder that ever happened to the last 4 years of my life and if it needed to be changed. Still wondering.....

Well, i think that was quiet a mouthful for the day. Take care and i'll see you soon.