Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Scrapbooking

You know what they say about siblings having the same frequency is 100% right. Just 2 days ago I was looking at scrapbooking stuffs online and was considering of doing it. Then when my big brother got back from Cleveland, he gave me these two stickers for scrapbooking purposes. I haven't told him that we both thought of the same thing same time. I don't know if I have the time to do scrapbooking, I hope to utilise my time fully from next year onwards. Nonetheless, I always love doing handmade cards so I thought I might look into what else I can use to make my handmade cards nicer.
I was quite happy when I chanced upon this shop "Krafers Paradise"in Orchard Emerald today. The lady was so helpful in telling me what the things are for, and being the suaku one kept asking her this and that. They offer free lessons which I might consider going.

Dunno what to say..... funny!

Was having a conversation with my girl in the car yesterday morning. When I told her "when daddy tell you he wants to bring you go on a holiday next time, say yes." She guai guai sat there and listened to me. So I decided to test her out and asked her. She said "No, I dowan sit aeroplane. Later mummy sad sad." "Why, mummy sad sad?" "Because mummy wants Athena." Haha! So cute. Funny thing is she'll always stick next to me where I go.

Monday, November 28, 2005

Stupid woman, can't she understand ??

Ai yoh, just saw this dumb woman at Mobil earlier on. The pump assistant told her that no handphone is allowed and pointed to the sign to her, and further told her that she can continue her conversation in the mart. The stupid mama ( I think she's a singh - sorry no offence) just looked at her;nod her head in acknowledgement and pull the phone away and said something to her;put the phone back to her ear. Assistant told her again and then she repeated the same actions. All these happened in a span of 1 minute while I was waiting for her to help me. And mind you the assistant was very friendly about it. I gave that mama one kind of look and smiled at the assistant. "Stupid woman, don't understand English huh? She speaks good English and don't understand you?" Then I added to her " I better run away first, away from her car." Then the assistant told me "shouldn't I run away too?" "Oh yes! Run for your life."
Mama still continued on the phone and I turned and made one loud remark "No handphone allowed! No handphone allowed!" like one gila woman.
Anyway, better to play safe.

Sunday, November 27, 2005

Keeping her toys

I'm very pleased with my girl. She's been keeping her toys whenever I asked her to and putting it back in her room. Let's hope she continues this way and it's not just one of her gila moods (gila mummy - gila daughter)

Should I bring her back to her PD??

My last visit to her PD sometime 2 weeks ago made me think if I ever want to bring her back there again. No doubt this PD is really good and the medication she gives helps. However I can't help but noticed most of the time whenever my girl has a slight cough she'll be given antibiotics. Now, too much of antibiotics will end up killing her good antibodies. Then what shocked me at our last visit was when she made this remark " well, I should have asked you to bring her to do an X-ray before I introduce her to ventolin. I didn't." Shit!
All the while she's been telling me that my girl is asthmatic but I doubt so. No doubt my husband had childhood asthma and it can be heriditary but I will accept it the truth if it is. If my girl is asthmatic she would have coughed and wheezed after all her daily running about in school. She also is not allergic to any furry toys around her bed. I told her PD I don't think she's asmathic. Of course every visit to her she'll keep asking "did you give her the ventolin? Did you give her the Flixotide?" She knows that I will not give it to her for no reason. (FYI, my girl only started having bronchitis early this year after we got back from Europe.)
Anyway, what's the use of giving it to her when she's not asthmatic and probably make her immune to it? Such that when the need really arises, the normal dosage doesn't help.
Now, I'm thinking if I should go back to the PD who beat her buttocks when she was born (but his clinic is in Paragon) or find another or should I stick back to her.




Saturday, November 26, 2005

Scared the S#%@ out of me

I walked out of the room towards the kitchen. And as I switched on the living room light, I got scared by this pair of big eyes looking at me, for a moment I thought it was a ghost hanging upside down. It is the Elmo mylar balloon which has lost part of its helium and it's floating upside down now.
Scared the S#%@ out of me!!

Hubby talked about another trip

Hubby talked about bringing Athena for a short holiday the following week. Sounds tempting to go BKK again, coz' I'll be spoilt for spas at Banyan Tree. But then I stopped short the conversation and said "she has her full dress rehersals. And she has skipped alot of classes this year with all the long trips."
Then hubby said about bringing her to HK, my little girl chipped in and said "I want to go Disneyland." "Disneyland? Daddy is going to Florida next year leh..." Wow! I looked at the rear mirror while driving and told them "then go Florida better, it's DisneyWorld there." I'm praying hard that we'll go there next year. Meanwhile I shall rub the magic lamp and await for my genie to grant me my wishes.

I feel like vomitting. Blah! Blah! Blah!

Before my dear friends and relatives start sending their congratulations.... No! I'm not pregnant!! I feel like vomitting coz' my little girl wants to eat her Chawanmushi (again!!!!). I really have no appetite to eat at lunch ;din eat much and now feel like vomitting.

More damages done

Spent half a day in Suntec today and spent close to $300 (excluding makan). My handphone batt was getting weak so had to get a new battery, then she wanted a train set which costs me $110 and saw this nice dress in GG>5. That dress alone costs $110+.
Wah... next time cannot step out of the house liao.

Friday, November 25, 2005

Ai yoh..................


First I'm worried about her since we got back last month. Her arms has this soft flabbiness that can kill a mosquito. I'm trying hard to "bu"her back to the meaty meaty girl. Then now she surprised me by her constant hunger.
Mom said the night before she ate so much that she purged out a little. And today, she had her lunch in school before I brought her out. She said she's hungry when I needed to have me lunch barely 30minutes later n had half a bowl of kuay teow. Mom bought toasted bread for herself, girl ate half of it. I stopped for ice-cream at 3+ pm, she had little muffin and some cookies. Dinner, she finished one plate of noodle. And actually lifted up her plastic bowl. It didn't stop there hor...... she ate a few spoonfuls of rice. And after we sang her her birthday song, we decided that she can go home and eat the slice of cake we got for her.
At home I thought she must be full. She tiptoed and picked up her po-luo bread from the dining table and finished everything. She asked for some more milk after that.
Hubby looked at me and asked "what medicine did you give her??" I swear I didn't even do anything all I did was to 'gnao gnao chang' to my mother that she's slimmed down infront of her Goddess of Mercy's altar during our usual conversations .
PS:By the way you'll be surprised if I tell you that she was a small baby at birth weighing only 2.615kg. She put on weight tremendously after that.

My girl loves boys' toys

Honestly speaking my girl loves boys' toys. Ask her to pick up the toys she likes - she looks for cars;aeroplanes;trains.
Just today she spent her entire time in ELC playing with the train set. We brought her out for ice-cream and she ran back into the shop again. I had to bring her out of the shop, she said she wanted a train set for Christmas present so I bought her one from Growing Fun. (she somemore choose the most expensive one.. but when she didn't see I switched it back to the cheaper one.)

Presenting our Royal Highness Princess Ayako-revealing her name.


Presenting our Royal Highness Princess Ayako sitting on the royal throne (no puns intended).

That comes to remind me that Athena does have a Japanese name- Ayako. My Japanese girlfriend, Mio, asked me how to write her name in chinese. And when I did write her name she decided to use her 'Ling' from her Chen ZhaoLing to name her as "Aya" in kanji. It holds the same meaning as the chinese word (which means woven silk) . She added a "ko"behind as it means child. We hardly use this name on her but would it sound funny if she adds it in her IC next time ? Athena Ayako Ting. At least better than initally when we were thinking of her christian name. Titus wanted Celine and I always liked Dion as a middle name - imagine Celine Dion Ting?? She'll be teased by her classmates for life. Umm... yes I wanted to put in her birth cert Athena Dion Ting but listen to hubby lor. If I had known, I should have gone ahead with it.

Lookalike??




Last night hubby was watching news when he said Princess Aiko looked like Athena.
I want to tell him our girl girl cuter. But scared kena whacked by the public esp the Japanese. Well, if one day you can't access into our blogs then there must be some interpol intercepting them.
(Judge for yourself, okay this photo of Princess Aiko was taken when she's 3yrs plus as compared to Athena's age now.)

Din come home for 2 nights. She better come home tonight!

For two nights our girl didn't want to come back home. Damn mama drama, yesterday night she kept saying "I dowan to go back Pang-gol." Then as usual I was chatting with my SIL and mother while SIL was having her dinner. That girl actually turned and looked at me "mummy, you don't sit here. You go back home! Go away...."
Wow! Very heart pain man....
First she was so excited when I picked her up in school and she told me "mummy, you see Ms Leaw gave this to me." Showing off the favors I prepared. Heart pain leh..... Athena when you're older please read back on mummy's blogs. Then second was when she chased me out of Tampines. Sob..sob....
Bringing her go gai-gai today. Let her go on half-day today instead of skipping school entirely.

Sharing videos online

I have been trying out the Evideo thingy but have problems sharing it on Athena's blogs. I'm thankful that I chanced upon this Youtube from a friend's friend's blog. Thanks alot Emily and not forgetting Ros mummy. (Ps. You can view my girl's birthday celebration in school in her blog)
So happy......
For a non-tech savvy person like me, I will make an attempt to save Excel file in a URL form. I'm trying to chart my girl's height and weight inside. Anyone with tips??

Thursday, November 24, 2005

No video / Her birthday cake


I'm so sad.... I wanted to film my daughter dancing early this morning. But Mrs Wong told me nicely that some parents do not want videography in the school as afraid of some people trying to put a bomb in the school. They have a point but sad lor.... Sob..sob..
I hope they'll help me film her dancing later, as what they did last year. I hope she will enjoy the cake. Bengawan Solo just did the delivery. It's really nice of them to help me customize the cake to my design. I had wanted an Elmo cake but can't find it anywhere... they did a really good job. (will post the photos later on)
I'll make a quick entry to this, and then have to start packing the chocolaty stuffs into the childrens' favor bags. I hope they'll be happy and the chocolates don't melt.
Updated at 1518hrs, I think they are singing the birthday song for her now. Meanwhile the hungry mummy will upload the photo into this entry. Hip Hip Hooray to Bengawan Solo, they've never disppointed me so far with all the birthday cakes I've ordered.
Tip: The usual Disney cakes they have costs $35 per kg for a choice of Chocolate, Coffee, Pandan or Vanilla Sponge with Vanilla Butter Cream or Fresh Cream. Add another $3 per kg for a choice of Black Forest or Blueberry fillings with Chocolate Sponge and Fresh Cream or Choice of fresh Strawberries or Mangoes with Vanilla Sponge and Fresh Cream.
If you want to do customisation, like I did. Bring down the photo to them, they will bring it to their HQ and call you back a few days later to tell you if they are able to do it. For my girl's cake, they are able to draw the Elmo for us, however charges will be $38 per kg for a basic cake, and $41 per kg to add fillings.

My daughter's love for music and movement

I spoke to my girl's teacher yesterday and she mentioned to me that " Athena asked me Ms Leaw when are we having music and movement." So cute......
We always know that she has this keen interest in music and dancing. I'm not trying to boast about my girl but she remembers songs well. I played just the first 4 notes of Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars on my electone organ and she will start singing. And then she'll also sing the Alphabet songs.
Talk about dancing, I think she has this genes from mummy in her. My mom said that when I was a young child, I'll start dancing in the shopping mall whenever I hear music playing on the PA. My girl does that too, and she sways her buttocks;move her body. Very funny but hey! she's moving in rythmn.
Sometimes whenever I have the time, I'll stay awhile and look through the windows on the cute innocent children. How they'll dance and make funny actions. The N1 children are really hilarious, they make some noise to some actions. And what can the teachers do? They're only innocent children.
Well, I better find a time next week to find a school for her. There's this Speech & Drama class just opposite out home. But I'm also looking at Brightspan's Speech & Drama. http://brightspan.com/english_speech_&_drama.html
The only setback is probably the distance I have to travel - Heartland Mall. And not forgetting I need to enrol her in Yamaha for her music lesson. Don't wish to be one mad mama running from place to place. Sigh.............decisions decisions.

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Back to the ole' schooldays

Sec 4/3 (1991) Bottom L-R: Ginny, Endora, Sylvia, Xiuxian, Ms Louisa Tan, Cynthia,Elizabeth,Rachel,Chern Yi
Second row L-R: Rosalind, Bazlin, Ai Leng, Me, Elaine, Georgette, Sweeta, Pricilla, Brenda
Last row L-R: Boby, Charmaine, Brenda, Michelle, Kamini, Xui Hui, Wendy
Met Ros mummy, my secondary school friend after we missed each other in action for 2 years. Well, it was nice meeting up with her and catching up with her.
It has been 12 years since we all graduated from KC (graduated in 1992) and 12 years have gone by so quickly. What are all my ex-classmates doing now, I really wonder. Where are they working; mothers of how many children.
Umm.... makes me feel like having a reunion. But problem is how to get the contact numbers. And as it is, I'm already so busy how to organize one?
Ps: I will scan in the class photo and put it in the blog. Pls check back. Will scan in another one in 1992.

Popular colour

Finally sent the car for servicing today. And guess what? I knew that Champagne colour is very popular but not to the extent when I saw so many champagne coloured cars in the workshop. I felt like I was in a factory instead.

There must be an underlying problem

I don't understand, I don't understand. I believe there must be an underlying reason for my girl to not go to school for the past two weeks. And this week it has intensified, she'll tell me the night before "mummy, tomorrow I dowan go to school." In the morning,"mummy I dowan go to school today. I want to stay at home." And to make it worse, she'll struggle when I dress her up and cry- I really mean CRY. It is already the rainy season, I don't need her to cry so much.
I've been asking her if someone had been bullying her in school. And her reply was "Joseph bully me." I don't know if she's trying to find a scapegoat in Joseph or really it did happened. (Becoz' Joseph is a really naughty boy - been teaching my girl all sorts of nonsense.)
Whatever it is, I must address my concerns to the school. I am only afraid of the psychological impact on her. Geez, I hope the school don't find this mother a nuisance.
I told my mother about my decision and she supported saying that she had never thought of that. After which she related the story of my brother being bullied in school. And how everyday after he's been dropped off by the schoolbus at the doorstep; he'd start crying. He did that for a couple of times and my mother questioned him. True enough, he was being bullied by his god-sister's cousin. Mother being very defensive for her children; followed him to school and then chased after the boy. Then somehow she lost the boy coz' they all look the same. I told my mother "you're the one gila woman running in St Stephen." I doubt I'll do that but already I find myself defending my girl in playground when she's being pushed by others. ( I scold the other kids. Hee! This kind of mummy)

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Please don't let me be a Japanese in my next life!!

For goodness sake! I'm getting so sick of eating Japanese now. Today my girl said she wanted to eat Sakae (again!!!!!) I can't count how many times I've been to Sakae since I stopped working.
Please don't let me be a Japanese in my next life!!

Pilates

Finally got the chance to go for my Pilates class today. The first time was way back in September, I miss Pilates but having skipped for so long, I heard clack clack clack. Not too bad, still manage to do some stretches and thank goodness I've taken up a Pilates lesson in SSC where the instructor went to individual and correct us. So I was able to use the correct technique. So far, turn left see fat tummy; turn right fat tummy; look down kena block by my fat tummy. Haha!
The other ladies over there... okay some of them have toned body. One or two including myself have fats bulging out somewhere.

Monday, November 21, 2005

Didn't want to go school

My girl has been crying since last week, she did not want to go to school. The principal said "never mind, you bring her here. We will do the job. The more you listen to her and refuse to bring her in, the more she'll not want to come to school anymore." Quite true..... normally she stops crying after that. Today, she just stood there while they were dancing to her favourite song "Arise". I left 5 minutes later so dunno what's she up to now. Better don't let her see me otherwise she will start crying again.

I'm stuck here.

I'm stuck here in Tampines as I needed to bring up my girl's flashcards for her lessons tonight, not that my mom was yakking with me but they're doing the cement plaster. Which means... I'll be stuck here for the next one hour plus or so. Sigh...................might as well take the time to update on my blogs. Argh!! Everybody start praying for me, I did not put parking coupon.
Wanted to go gym today, looks like all plans twarted. Will have to stay longer tomorrow. Will probably take the time to wash the car(better wear nicer otherwise kena called Auntie again); quick sweep/mop and emails. So far nothing much today but I think things will start to pop up. Maybe I should take the time to tidy up the storeroom?? It's always good whenever the girl is not around at home, I can do the household stuffs in peace.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

How fortunate my girl is

Today hubby and myself had to make a trip to Tampines to bring my girl home. Prior to that, we stopped by at the coffeeshop downstairs for our lunch. We saw my girl's classmate and I told my hubby how fortunate our girl is. The girl will follow her mummy to the grandma's chicken rice stall every weekend. I wonder if she ever takes afternoon nap? All she does is play and will be carried by a man (her father?). Yes, I know that children at this age needs to play but somehow I feel that the parents are busy with their work that they've neglected the other educational stimulation for their children. This is how she spends her weekends.
Well life differs from each child. My girl is so fortunate.

So many things to do, so little time.

I have thousands and one things to do but I'm battled with a 24hrs day just like everybody. Is it just me or does everyone else hope for longer hours? There is never a time I'm really free and do nothing, most of the time I always have things to do eg. planning holidays to packing for holidays to post-packing to organising photos. And before that was done, favors had to be done for her birthday. (thank goodness I anticipated and prepared some of her favors months before, so I'm only left with the packing of favors into bags) Her birthday party was yesterday, and soon I'll have to find a time to develop and put in her photos in a stick-on album. And I am not done, I have to think of ideas for her bedroom. We are moving her back into her room. Gotta tidy up the storeroom; clear some stuffs in her cabinet etc... endless jobs to do.
Many people think that I have the enjoyment of idling my time at home, even my husband thinks so. But please let me correct everyone who's reading this. I'm not that free, first of all I don't have a maid at home. I have to clean the house myself, frankly I'm getting so tired that I only clean my house on alternate days now (I don't have the energy to do everyday). Secondly once I think I'm a little free, I have to pick up my girl from school and I will have to spend time with her until she sleeps. When she sleeps, I can't have access to the computer too coz' husband will be playing his computer games. Only in daytime, I go from gym to home. I have to sneak in a little time to do blogging and other things on the computer. I must also emphasise that I'm always multi-tasking eg. shower while uploading photos; loading my emails and washing her clothes (yes, I still handwash her clothes separately) Sometimes admittedly too, I'm so lazy. I can well afford to go gym almost everyday since I'm not working but end up only twice a week.
A brief idea of how I spent my time:
7am - wake up & prepare myself
8am - the battle with her starts as I have to prepare her for school (feeding and dressing her up)
8.45am - try to leave house
9.00am - drop her in school
Between 9 am - 4pm - either have to go gym then rush back to do whatever I need to do or housework or meet up with friends and do nothing the whole day. And yes, sometimes my time can be so crazy that I only meet my friends at 12pm to 3pm. So prior to that, it's trip back home to be ah-soh. You see lah! I'm trying to save on my expenses by trying to take train but with it being so time-consuming (and my time is tight) I can't go without the car.
In the evenings, it's her dinner plus one VCD. Her daily lessons, reading, milk and sleep.
I think I need a maid, a maid who's as clean as I am (I'm very particular about cleanliness).
My dear friends, please do not be mistaken too if I tell you that you have to let me know way in advance when you want to meet me. Then I'll schedule my plans, thank goodness I have a handy handphone (which makes me think I should have a new PDA to write down everything I need to do) to remind myself on what I have to do. Funny thing, I need to set alarm for my "To Do" so my phone is like beeping. A couple of friends could not meet me coz' they always tell me "can we meet today/tomorrow"
Honestly speaking, I wish I can be a little free. At the rate I'm going, I'm going to die of a heart attack.

Comments

Catered food
From : Neo Garden
Comments : The food is nice since we had our first taste of it at my brother's church reception. They brought us Fried Rice instead of Fried Noodle and had it changed for us in 20-25minutes. As we had guests of only 15, we could only order the Mini Buffet, therefore there is no warmer. But they provided loads of chilli sauce; ketchups, one big spoon and tong and even trash bags
Ratings : 5 stars

Cake
From : Emicakes
Comments : Design of cake is cute, the cake looks very creamy for the girl girl design. But it's not at all creamy and it has a very nice sweet taste (unlike many creamy cakes I've eaten so far). We ordered Blackforest and its equally as good as Bengawan Solo. However I am not at all pleased that the wordings they wrote on the 'side of the cake' - is not done on the cake but on a piece of plastic sheet and pasted over the cake. Play cheat!
Another thing, when I asked for delivery. The lady told me it's between 9am-3pm. It's abit risky. When I asked if they do a certain confirmed delivery time for us, she said I need to pay $10 for that. Well for one thing, they really need to improve on their customer service. At Prima Deli, when I told them if they can deliver at a certain timing before my lunch hour (when I was working), they told me "we can try but we can't promise ok?" That's customer service, you don't tell a customer "no" but rather say "we will try". At least even if they come a little late, I wouldn't scream at them. Anyway, Prima Deli had never failed to deliver before my stipulated time.
Ratings : 3 1/2 stars

Decorations
As we all know that Concourse has these few stores that carry items in bulk. I went into Party & Gifts to pump up the Mylar. Generally a query was made in this shop as well as AZ Gift : you need to pay S$50 for a small tank (approximately 45 balloons) and $200 deposit. Rental period is for 3-4 days.
Balloon Baron : Can't remember how much is it. But the tank can blow up to 100 balloons and you return it when it's empty. I don't need so much, I'm not running a party supplies store.
Airscapes Designs : $80 for a tank that can blow up to 45-50 balloons. A deposit must be made and return it 2 weeks later.
Hope this helps for anyone planning a party



Post birthday

Birthday party is over! Her photos can be seen on her blog : Athena's blog, go into the Links and click 3rd birthday party-family.

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Post Birthday - Where has my little gone?

Singing Oh where, oh where has my little girl gone? Oh where oh where can she be? She's left the home leave us alone. That's where my girl is.
As ma-ma, ah yi and dua-kim were preparing to leave the house, Athena wore her shoes and left the house. Refusing to stay in Punggol.
I was at the carpark with them. And Athena was so funny kept following ah-yi wherever she goes. I sat in the car and asked her "can mummy go." She said no, then finally she said "no, later daddy sad how?" I told her off "you're not at home. Daddy and mummy sad sad."
Sigh.........first time you've heard of a birthday girl running away from home after a party right?

Friday, November 18, 2005

Crystal Jade

We had our dinner at Crystal Jade, the ladies recognize us. And what impresses me is that how they'll fuss over Athena. And this lady Bee Hong is always so sweet. She even offered to help me cut the noodles for Athena.
Another older lady made a comment, she said Athena is cute and very Japanese looking, very guai etc.... told her don't make that comments so fast. Somehow she did saw that Athena is very restless keep moving up and down. And she told me " some sayings that if a pregnant woman eats crabs during her pregnancy her children will be active." I told her " yah! I had a craving every week. And I'll have it at least 3 times a month. Then she commented "ni mei you pang ta de shou." I don't understand this, my mom also said that I refused to tie up her hands when she was young thus she's so "itchy hand now". Anyway I don't find any theoritical evidence to prove this.

At the PD this morning

What a blunder I am! I brought Athena to use the toilet in her PD clinic. And not used to bringing her to a squatting toilet, I was abit puzzled as to how to make her squat without falling. She was screaming at me... very hilarious. I got frustrated and being "urgent"myself I went to relieve myself. Only then did I realise that I pulled down her panty too far low at her ankle, while normally we pull to our knee.
Haha!

Whose Line Is It Anyway??

I'm hooked on this comedy sitcom. For subscribers to Cable Vision will know that this is aired at 8am and 4.30pm on weekdays on Star World (Ch 18).
Infact I was introduced to this when I was passengering on one of my flights, I always looked forward to this only. So you can imagine my excitement when I found out that I'm able to watch more of it.
Introduction to the show : Drew Carey the man with the glasses hosts the show. The three main stars are Ryan, Wayne and Colin . There will be one other guest : either Chip, Greg, Kathryn or Brad.
Ryan is the tallest guy. And he likes to wear funny looking shoes or sometimes he comes into the studios with funny combination
Wayne I swear has a fantastic voice. Everytime when they have a segment on singing, you'll hear the audience cheering for him. I like it even more when the other guest is Chip. They make a good team. They are so good that they can change from a Rock to Opera to Salsa very fast. Brad is not bad too but I would prefer the first team.
Colin is the bo-tak guy. Sometimes he does flumber..
Kathryn I personally feel is not up to the others' standards.
Watch this if you have the chance. I bet you'll roll on the floor and laugh

Is she's trying to be a perfectionist then why the no-confidence behaviour?

















Was guiding my girl to do some writing in the late evening. I guided her hands to write the Letter A, then I asked her to do on her own. She held onto the pen and finally she started saying " I cannot do it, I cannot do it" in a very kan-cheong manner. My encouragement fell on deaf ears. And when she made a mess she was crying.

I see no reason for her to cry; afterall she's only 3 and can't write well. Well if I had expected her to write well, trust me I'll start screaming at her even before she finishes the first stroke.
I tried to rub some confidence into her and we went on to Letter B. Same thing happened and she said " you see, you see so messy.." and waaaaah......
What is this? Is she trying to be a perfectionist or she was simply being impatient?
Looks like I have to read up on child psychology to understand what she's thinking.

I'm abit clearer now>>>>>

I finally got a clearer picture of my girl's behaviour.
When husband is not around in Singapore she is always well-behaved (she doesn't make me angry that much). Even if she does, she will apologize to me immediately "mummy, you dowan me? Mummy sorry, mummy I love you; I want you. Mummy...." When husband is back you see a total change in her. If I'm angry with her she'll walk over to daddy and sit next to him or vv if he's angry with her (but more likely I'm the one angry with her). And then that's the time when she don't even apologize to me. Not at all!! She'll say " I dowan you, I wan daddy."
Husband said she's feeling insecure. I should think so, afterall I remember the fengshui master did mention something like this about her.
So in order to discipline her, we must walk and think a step ahead of her.
Isn't it amazing that a child at this age can manipulate her thinking??

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Funny incident

At our dinner place (where else can it be but Sakae Sushi again) with June and Jean, Athena was coughing badly.
At one point she coughed infront of our food. I told her to turn behind and cough, however she must face the cushion. I don't know if she heard the end sentence. Next minute I knew :-
- She actually turned around to the table behind us and coughed right infront of them.
I saw the waiter and waitress laughing as well as the guy behind us. I felt so apologetic because it's so rude to cough infront of people's food. But she's innocent lah... didn't know of such thing. Umm...

My whiny girl

Couldn't wait to see my girl after I heard her scream for me in the morning and how she cried and cried for me.
When I got to mom's house, I saw her eyes opened looking at me. Mom said she only slept, she probably woke up when mom opened the door. Meaning to say that she hasn't even taken her afternoon nap and I'm already bringing her out.
She came up to me and hugged me. Ai yoh.............. she means everything to me. But when she's naughty she drives me crazy that I want to bang my head against the wall. So you know on days when I write the little girl/daughter etc.. means she hasn't made me angry. When I write the little brat means I went berserk. Count how many times I've written "brat" in this blog of mine.

My girl is tormenting me

I don't know what's wrong with my coming to 3yr-old girl.I still haven't gotten over the fact that she cried for me yesterday, and this morning she did the same again.We both stayed over at grandma's house last night, and when I was there she showed no signs of wanting mummy. Of course at one point she did 'want me to do this & that for her'. Infact when I brought her out from school, she said to me "mummy, tonight I go Pang-gol and sleep. Mummy also sleep in Pang-gol."
This morning I had to rush out for an appointment. She cried saying that she wants to follow me. The assurance of " mummy will come back for you" didn't work on her . She held on to my hand, she brought me back into the house. When she was not looking, I made a dash out of the main door. At the lift lobby I heard her crying for me. I heard from my mom that she didn't want to go to school and wanted to look for me. The trick of bringing her down and bringing schoolbag didn't help. She refused to go in. Teachers and principal came to help; no use. My mom ended up being brought around to "patrol" the carpark. Looking for ye-ye's car to drive to find me. And later she saw ah-yi's car said ask ah yi to drive and find me.

She is making me feel so guilty. Yes, I admit at one point I wanted to turn back and ask her to change her clothes. But knowing her she'll dilly dally... so in the end I decided to skip gym and bring her out go gai-gai. ** A quick posting before I rush off to pick her up for Orchard gai-gai.

I want her to know that mummy still love her.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

So heart wrenching

Today as usual I will peeped into the room where the children are dancing every morning.
My daughter turned and looked at me, and called out to me. I actioned for her to continue dancing. She later ran to the window and her eyes began to tear a little. Next 2 seconds, her eyes welled up and she cried " I want mummy... I want mummy." She hasn't been that whiny except for the initial month when we first brought her in. Mrs Yu had to carry her away. I was tempted to go back and see her but decided against it. Lest she cries again.

Monday, November 14, 2005

At KFC

Brought her out today. At KFC today Athena dipped a fry into the chilli sauce while I was screaming at her "it's hot, hot!" She gave it to me and after which she gave me that look and said," No, I no feed myself. I feed you." Being defensive? Or she can't multi-task ( feed and talk to me at the same time)?
Later on I needed to go to the washroom for a quick rinse of hands. I told her to stay there and wait for mummy. She ran behind me and told me "Later ah pu ne ne catch me how? I follow mummy." - So cute.
Laughing at your little one is one of the little meanings in life.

What a nag! And she reminded me again

If telling me that she fell into the pool once is not enough, she told me again this morning. "Athena fall down; drink water in pool."
Hey! Do you get the hint that she's blaming me for making her trip in the pool??

My daughter reminded me

My daughter couldn't reach her water bottle from her bed last night, asked me "mummy, mummy I want water." When I gave it to her she quipped with a sense of pride and said "I want to drink alot of water water. I dowan to drink water in the pool." - talking about innocence.
Hey!I realised that she is beginning to map memory into her brain now. She remembers what she did and could tell me the incidents. Everytime she sees the Statue Of Liberty on the TV or when we pass by any travel agencies or posters, if she sees one. She'll excitedly point it out to you " Athena see this one. Li-ger-ty." She'll bring up her right hand like holding the torch.
Ps: I think she's a show-off esp. infront of grandma & grandpa

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Sometimes she can be a darling, sometimes......

I always make sure my daughter says "Mummy/Daddy goodnight" and kisses us before she sleeps. Last night was no different, when I asked her "what must you say before you go to sleep?"
"Mummy, may I have a sleep sleep?" " Silly girl, you're suppose to sleep. I can't wait for you to sleep." Haha!!

No wonder I can't seem to lose weight

All those gym-going is like not helping me. Think I must go and pop those slimming pills man...... Just the other day I was craving for my mummy's doughnuts. I last had them when I was in my teens. I called her and told her if she could make some for me.
My mom is such a good cook, no wonder the children are not on the slim side. I remember her nonya dumplings; tapioca kuehs; donuts; apart from that her daily dishes are nice too!
I would like her to teach me and pass me her skills... it'll be wasted if it stops just there. However yours truly cannot stand the heat in the kitchen and got no bloody patience. Maybe should ask her to write down all her recipes for me.
Donuts!Donuts!Donuts!

Saturday, November 12, 2005

New IC

I was so excited as I went to ICA to collect my new IC today. Was really disappointed upon receiving it, told the lady at the counter "huh? pink colour? Then why require a coloured photopic?" The difference of course is the colour of the wording "Republic Of Singapore" changed and an additional smaller picture of you in a 'hologram'-??
A check with the lady and she told me that those born in 1972 onwards and turn 30 on their birth month will be sent a letter. " So what happens to those who are older? Shouldn't they change too, coz' they've aged?" " Can.... but we gotta pay $60 for that." Another lady told me "they should be in later phase."
I thought I can flaunt and show it to my family again saying " you see see I have new IC". Then it looked the same.

Friday, November 11, 2005

Is it ideal to have two kids and more or just one or perhaps none at all??

Today had a chat with my girlfriend Wilma on raising kids. We both agreed that raising children is not just changing diapers and feeding milk. Weekends would be gone; no more usual hanging out with friends lifestyle. Instead it will be spent shuttling them to Tumble Tots; Gymboree and whatever supplement classes. And when they're older we have to bring them for tuitions. It goes on trying to give them the best education in an elite school all the way to University-local or overseas. And then when they marry, to which I added " well, when they get married we also gotta pay for their banquet etc.. so better to have a girl (marry out of the family)."
In the working society a term is used - ratrace. Can we have a term "storkrace" for raising kids? Parents like to compete with other children on grades; abilities eg. " my child can do this when he was only 1, my child has 9 A1s and will get into RI; my child can play all kinds of musical instruments". It's really scary..
Most of us will have at least 2 other siblings or more. We were raised up on just playing by ourselves; eat when being asked; drink milk when being asked (no questions or negotiating allowed). Our parents didn't pay much attention to us when we were young. 30% of parents would make the effort to go through homeworks. Now 98% of parents do that. But most of us turned out alright in this society, can get a job start a family etc.. So why are all the new generation so anxious now? I'm caught in this too. I want to give the best to my child, my girl is going to be 3 but I feel that she has been with us for more than that. Perhaps I'm too drained up in trying to raise her up properly; guiding her what's right and wrong; screaming and smacking her; flashcards;educational CDs/CD-rom etc... By giving too much to a child, are we spoiling them? Are we training them up for the real society out there? Well, we all will have to wait and see at least 10-15 years down the road.
If we want the best for a child, is it ideally to have only one? So that we can channel all our resources to one rather than dividing between the number of children. How about for those who are not capable of giving them the best or choose not to have children? Are we supposed to treat them as outcasts? Different couples have different opinions on this issue I guess. We should not let opinions of others affect us too deeply.

私はそれをするべきであるか。厳しい決断

Translation : Should I do it? Tough decision.
I have been thinking about picking up Japanese again. I'm only afraid that I may not have the time study - with a brat around the house. However as all language requires, you need to practice and practice.
Ummm...

Always spoil my plans

My girl always spoil my plans. This week alone she has made me spent more than usual (on parking!!) On Monday, wanted to bring her to school early so that I can go gym from there by taking a train. No, she couldn't wake up because she refused to sleep early the night before. I have no choice but to bring her out as I need to order her birthday cake. Then she saw Sakae Sushi, which she'll say " Ikimase - it should be irrasaimase, and wanted to eat her "chawanmushi". We spent longer there... the clock ticking. Paid more for parking fees. Tuesday : I could have taken a train from Tampines to be in time for my Pilates class as I needed to stay in town longer. Again she dilly dally. So I had no choice but to drive down and spent $10+ on parking fees. Tomorrow: She refused to come back home with me. I would have taken a train down to meet my friend. Now, I'll have to drive down otherwise it'll be difficult for me to go back home to pick up car (time consuming). Going into CBD tomorrow, I dunno how much it's going to cost me. For sure, I must remind myself to top up my Cashcard before I exit. After CBD need to collect IC at ICA. Argh! $$ again!

Wednesday, November 9, 2005

Wednesday is Ah-Soh Day

Every Wednesday is my self-declared Ah Soh Day. I try to plan my schedules and dates avoiding Wednesdays and weekends.
Was talking to my girlfriend June earlier on, and she was asking me what I was doing. That reminded me to put it in the blog to "show it off to the whole world" & that I'm not living as a tai-tai as what many people think.
Come Wednesdays I remove my make-up,wear home clothes, remove my diamond ring, go on my knees and scrub; scrub;scrub. Total contrast from what I look. And true to my believe a child saw me at the lift this late morning (as I was going down to wash the car with pail etc..) and greeted me " hello, aunty."
A-R-G-H!!

Daddy's birthday








We celebrated dear's birthday 3 days earlier as he will be out of town tomorrow.
Got him a nice cheesecake from Miki Ojisan. Athena was so funny, she kept telling him "daddy you got birthday cake" the moment he came back when it was supposed to be a surprise. It's a small cake and paid $15 for it. Cheap.
Apparently Athena helped herself to the heart-shaped chocolate and some chocolate rice even before he opened the cake. Well, she was smart to sing the Happy Birthday song, I paused to hear if she would sing to herself but no - she sang for "daddy". You can see in this picture she was so excited in blowing out the candles.. felt as if we're celebrating her birthday.
Well, we'll be celebrating for her one with our family on the 19th and with the school on 24th. And the poor mummy is broke liao... so many people's birthday this month.
<>

Tuesday, November 8, 2005

How Boyish or Girlish Am I?

You Are 30% Boyish and 70% Girlish

Even if you're not a girl, you're very feminine.You're in touch with your feelings, and your heart rules you.A bit of a emotional roller coaster, one moment you're up and the next you're down.But no matter what, you try to be as cute and perky as possible.

>>>>>>>>>cute and perky? At my age??

This is too much!!

I realised today that there is another ERP gantry near to Hotel Rendevous.

This is too much! Already in ERP paid area (Orchard) and have another gantry.

It's bloody expensive to drive.

Another frustrating morning

I dun understand, is it me or what? My little brat has made me so angry again. I seem to get so easily aggitated.
This morning my girl refused to let me wear her school uniform and was throwing a tantrum. Refused to let me do the inhaler on her and give her her cough medicine. Already I am late for my 9.20am class and there she is trying to delay time. I got so angry that I gave her a hard smack on her thigh. It turned red... it was that hard.
It seems like I'm a child abuser. I don't know but it seems that my girl likes to taunt me. And being impatient I will nag at her. She will be so stubborn to taunt me further which warrants a scolding or a beating or both.
Hubby seems to say " you always beat her." That's because I'm the only person attending to her everyday 24hrs, 60 seconds of course I'll get so edgy.
But he does not know that girl will tend to behave herself when he is not around. Perhaps she was trying to attract his attention by doing silly things.
Yesterday morning, I was also mad at her. That.. I left her alone in the house while I close the wooden door and stand outside. She was crying really loud and from her cries, can sense it's the fearful cry..... but I needed a time out too! 3 minutes later I opened the unlocked door and she let me feed her her milk. See! I used the soft approach on her and it din work, must use this cruel hard approach.

Monday, November 7, 2005

Never play on escalators

I was at Suntec on Saturday when I witnessed this incident. I was travelling on the downriding escalator from the 2nd to 1st floor, and incident happened on the upriding escalator to my left. This boy about 10 yrs old was running up the escalator and then he ran down. He only managed to run a few steps before he tumbled down for at least 10 steps ( he did 4 somersaults). Mom was screaming " ai yoh, stop that boy. Stop that boy," as she noticed a lady with two other kids standing below. We only realised that they were family after that. What really disgusts me is the fact that the lady - could be the mother or guardian had failed to move a step to help the boy and was having her conversation with her companion.
Call me cruel.. I actually made a loud remark. " Oh for goodness sake never play on escalators. Good! Teach you a lesson."
Why are parents so ignorant today? I thought with the better education they received, they should be smarter than our parents. Well, I can put the incident on a partial blame on both child and adult. The child being 10 yrs-old should have known better than to perform a Hollywood stunt for us. The adult should have stopped and educate a child on the dangerous spots whenever they are out.
They should have a National Escalator Awareness Week in Singapore. But then again.. the government can't be running campaigns for 1001 things in Singapore on nitty gritty stuffs. All these are common sense!!

Saturday, November 5, 2005

Ipod Nano Vs Louis Vuitton Vs Lifedrive Vs Diamonds



Decision, decisions and decisions. There are so many things I want to buy.. and usually at the wrong time when I'm not working (and not enough $$).
Hand itchy.. been eyeing on the Black Ipod Nano for quite a while since they launched it in Singapore. And then been eyeing in getting another 2 LV bags. And when I had to retrieve some things from my PDA; realised it's old and I need a new one. The Palm Lifedrive seems to answer my prayers for a 'perfecto' manager.
Yah... my husband knows that I've been itching to get an Ipod Nano. I was looking around in US hoping that it'll be cheaper but - no! Then I'm eyeing on two bags : Impala and Little Boulogne. Yah, yah.. wait till my husband finds out he'll freak out. Afterall I've promised him "this is my last LV bags" twice and never stopped. Yup! I'm a great LV fan. Perhaps I should work in LV Singapore, should be able to get some staff discount right?
Wow! Lifedrive is .. I'm speechless. So much better than the one I'm using. But hey! Mine's already 3 years old and with all the new technology around us; that is ancient stuff.
My regular sales rep in Aspial gave me a treat last week. Being a regular allowed me to wear the ring or bracelet a while and then pretend to say "I'll come back another day." Cunning, cunning.(maybe she's too used to what I've been telling her. Should try to think of other excuses liao) Anyway since then I've been dreaming about the 1.something ct diamond which blinded my eyes. Diamonds are a girl's best friend. Whoever said this must be a male - coz' he never got the attention of the ladies. Then at another shop saw this pair of red ruby earrings with diamonds all around it. That's the most beautiful red ruby I've ever seen.
Ai yoh... like that how man. Craving for $$$- sucking stuffs at the wrong time? Be a rich man's mistress??
Ps:Sorry can't get the photos of the LV bags coz' they don't have it in their website.

Wednesday, November 2, 2005

Race against time / Birthday favors

True as it can be, I'm always racing against time. I wanted to bring my daughter in earlier so that I can go for the 9.20am Reno's combat class. But with all the screaming and all.... we only left the house slightly later than usual. Looks like I have to figure out my schedule again, cannot go for 9.20am class when she's around. And when she reached school, the children began their morning prayers. She missed the dancing again!I think I must wake her up at 5am, let her dilly dally as long as she wants.
Headed straight to the car at 9.23am hoping that I'll be able to do at least 20 minutes class. Luck was not on my side. At 9.47am I was only at Eunos flyover, 9.51am only 700m to Paya Lebar exit. An accident on lane 1 had slowed down the traffic. And amidst the traffic was an ambulance two cars infront of me, and another one on my left headed out towards the accident scene. At 10.05am I'm at Goodwood Park Hotel. Forget it lah.... how to go for class? And for the first time I used the steam room in the fitness club. Today's quite a leisurely time, I went down to Party with Us at Centrepoint and to Concourse to get daughter's birthday stuffs. I like doing stuffs for her birthday but I'm getting sick and tired of looking at Elmo's face.
The party supplies in Singapore don't carry as wide range as the US. I ordered some items online for her months ago. And thought in US will try to do more shopping, yes! I saw the cute Elmo pinatas and party stuffs. Impatient husband is like pestering me "quick lah, no more shopping."
Anyway, just the other day she told me " mummy, I like Big Bird." I went "now you tell me.... too late!" Next year must let her choose the theme where I can get the things here.

How to?

I wonder how can I change the webpage of my blog. I've seen alot of nice ones with animations blinking etc.. so cute. A IT dummy like me will have problems trying to figure out. Also trying to find other tracker (if you call that) something like lilypie.com but dunno what to key in the Yahoo search. Anyone can help??

Tuesday, November 1, 2005

One different word makes a big difference to original sentence

This morning my ever so (sometimes can be charming) daughter started singing this chinese song "yi zhi ma ma, yi zhang zhui." I was so pleased with her and then she continued the second sentence "liang zhi yan jing (I'm still smiling), shi tiao tui." - Huh? Then when the song came on for the second run, I realised that she should have replaced one "ma" with "ha". "ha ma"- toad. For the benefit of those who don't understand mandarin. The song means 'one toad, one mouth. Two eyes and four legs.' So you can imagine why my jaw dropped when she said I had four legs.
Gurb... gurb.
Signing off from the mummy toad.

Sians...***

Panasonic called yesterday late morning to inform that the servicing of the video camera would cost me $550, and somemore they will use second-hand parts to replace the spoilt mechanism. If they give me a brand new one it'll cost me $600++.
Die lah.. must quickly get another one liao. Get a video cam that records straight into CDs so that I don't have to plug into my DVD recorder. But then again, does it mean that I cannot rewind and retape if I need to? Also, does it also mean that I cannot plug into the computer to do the Pinnacle editing? Speaking of which, I have yet to do Part 2 and many more of my daughter's photo montage.
Ai yoh.. the more I think of it, I remembered then how am I suppose to play back my current 7 or 8 tapes to record into DVD??
And my daughter asked me "mummy, why your camera spoil?" "Yes, you dropped it that's why the mechanism is spoilt." " No, No, No (very defensive) I neve' spoil, you spoil." That little brat small as she is - going to be 3 has strength of a bull; kick of a kangaroo and hands that never stop touching. She has spoilt so many of her educational VCDs which I had spent in getting volumes and volumes of it for her. Tore the pages of these cute storybooks I bought from Dymocks (can't be found here). I had sent the digi cam for a replacement cover too becoz' of her. Terror!