I need MORE Baby Bonus

I'm just into my 11 weeks and I've already spent S$2500 on Beanie. Those weekly visits to the Gynae, medication of progesterone pills, in addition to the twice-weekly-injections and the blood tests and scans... ALL ADD UP!

And you wonder why Singapore's fertility rate is only 1.16?

As long as Beanie is healthy and growing well, as a parent-to-be, I don't really have a choice but to pay up and pray that Beanie will ultimately be a healthy baby. That's all I ask for.

But I am now fully aware of the cost of bringing up children in Singapore and Beanie is not even born yet?! Think I really gotta start saving like mad and forsake all types of luxery in life because I seriously do not think that I can afford raising a kid in my homeland.

So, I am really looking forward to the Budget on 18 Feb this year, as well as the National Rally. Hoping that more financial incentives can be given to young parents-to-be, ie: me.

For a start, how about upping the Baby Bonus to at least $5000 instead of the current $4000 for the 1st and 2nd child? And maybe throw in FULL deduction from medisave for gynae, delivery and hospitalisation charges, instead of the current partial.

Seriously, as new parents-to-be, we really need FULL FINANCIAL support from our beloved govt. Or else, at this rate, I think I can only afford to have just ONE Beanie.

The Tiger Daddy vs The Koala Mommy

So, many fellow bloggers, journalists and friends have made many comments about Amy Chua, the Tiger Mother and her parenting style.

I personally will not make any comments on her style since she is the mother of her children and she can do whatever she wants with them. Her methods might deem as extreme but I believe that it stems from the fact that she loves her children very much and wants the best for them.

I, myself is not a Tiger mommy. In fact, if there’s any animal to describe my parenting style, it will most probably be a Koala Bear. Yup, a tree hugger, take-it-easy, extremely laid-back to the point of almost lazy, Koala Bear.

I’ll most probably focus on teaching my kid(s) how to look as cute as possible like a koala, so that everyone else will be at their beck and call. This is an extremely important life skill that many parents have neglected. I’ll also bring them to parks and beaches to appreciate plants and open spaces, will also teach them how to climb trees since I, myself was a tree climbing expert in Primary School. We’ll just spend a lot of time hugging and cuddling each other, making each other laugh. We’ll learn music, dance, poetry, art & crafts because it will be fun. We’ll also do sports like tennis, golf, cycling, karting, wrestling or sailing because they are fun, fun fun.

I’ll urge and encourage them to put in their best effort in everything that they do, and hopefully they will want to excel because they take pride in themselves instead of using threats and canes. But of course, Koala Mommy will need to discipline the little koalas if they are naughty or misbehaved. Have u seen how a real Koala Mommy discipline her cubs? She will grunt and bellow like a cow. Imagine, a cute koala suddenly yelling at you like a cow… scary rite?

As for Hub, he is the classic Tiger Daddy. He’s very competitive, has super high and unrealistic expectations, and expects his cubs to ace every single academic subject and represent Singapore in some International Mathematics and Science competition. He and Amy Chua can be best friends.

End of the day, I just hope that the kids will eventually turn out to be a koala on the outside but a tiger in the inside! Best of both worlds!

1st attempt ever to make pineapple tarts. Luckily this project is initiated by my neighbours, and I'm there to help and learn.

Tadah! I must say that these tarts are as good as those being sold outside. ;)

Packing them into the traditional CNY containers.

We also made some almond cookies but I forgot to take pictures.. ;(

My attempt to create some CNY spirit in the house. Bought some cute little fake birds and a stalk of fake Plum blossoms to decorate my place.

Also bought some freshly cut Heliconias and chrysanthemums to decorate the house. Hope the flowers can last!

Chinese New Year preparations!

Last weekend was a busy one. Saturday was Pastry Day, the neighbours and I basically spent the whole of saturday making pineapple tarts and almond cookies. It was a very enjoyable process where I learnt how to make these CNY goodies from my neighbours and had a good time bonding with them.

I am really thankful that I have such friendly and nice neighbours, where I can just hop over to their place to chitchat or even have meals together, and vice-versa. Very community-living... I like!

On Sunday, I went to some nurseries along Thomson road to buy some CNY decorations and flowers to create some festive spirits. Bought a few stalks of Heliconias, 2 huge bunches of chrysanthemums, fake birds, 1 big red ribbon and a stalk of fake plum blossom. And I carried all these by myself back home.

Geez, nearly fainted with fatigue by the time I made it back home!

The Saga of bringing Cookie to the Vet

One of my mom's cats, 小小 had an open wound near his anus. And so, on last Sunday, My mom and I decided to bring him to a vet.

Since I would be going to the vet anyway, I might as well bring Cookie along for a check-up right?

The plan seemed easy enough, Cookie would have her usual morning snack at 10 am (yup, her usual breakfast is a 6.30 am), and after that I would just coax her into the carrier and off we go to the Vet.

It didn't happen like that. Ok, it did until the part when I was supposed to coax her into the carrier.

I borrowed the carrier from my neighbour, and placed it on the floor. Cookie was curious at first and was sniffing it, wondering what the hell it was. I used her fav toy and almost got her into the carrier when she suddenly became suspicious and turned 180 degrees!

Damn, I lost my patience and grabbed her, wanted to push her into the carrier in "one swift action". Cookie turned into this demonic creature full of claws, fangs and hisses, and she was smart enough to use her front paws to push herself against the entrance of the carrier, twisted out of my hands and swiftly jumped away!

Then came the part when I chased her around the flat and she ended up being stressed and pissed. Everytime I approached her, she would just hiss and run away. I even asked my neighbours for help, all 4 adults still couldnt handle her and one of my neighbours ended up being scratched by her. As for me, I was wearing rubber gloves, so no scratches for me. Heh Heh.

After 20 mins of huffing and puffing, we gave up. I was late for 小小's appointment with the vet already, and simply did not have the time to chase this stupid cat around.

In defeat, I let her out of the house. Before she left, she turned around and looked at me in distaste, turned her nose up in the air and calmly walked away.

Argh. This cat is freaking killing me!

Weird Eating habits

People say that pregnant women are supposed to have cravings right? Todate, I have NONE. None at all, in fact, on the contary, I have lost interest in food.

Before the pregnancy, I am known to be the greedy pig. I eat EVERYTHING and I live to eat. Meal times are usually happy times. I enjoy cooking at home, trying new recipes or go around Singapore, hunting for good food.

That has changed.

I eat for the sake of eating, to provide some form of nourishment for myself and Beanie. I barely eat 40% of the portion that I used to. I cannot stand strong smelling food that I used to LOVE, like: garlic, corriander, black vinegar... etc. I cannot stand the smell and taste of fish and even chicken, pork and beef taste yucky.

I can only stomach bland food like brown rice, green vegatables and lightly flavoured items.

Whenever I see dishes in rich, brown sauces, I wana puke.
When I walk past food courts, I wana puke.
When I see or smell raw pieces of meat, I wana puke.
When I drink water early in the morning, I puke like crazy.

I have no interest in cooking anymore, and every smell seems offensive to me. Even my very own perfume and shower form seem overwhelmingly strong.

O geez, I'm going crazy.

Some lame pregnancy jokes...

Can a mother get pregnant while nursing?
~Yes, but it’s much easier if she removes the baby from her breast and puts him to sleep first.

The more pregnant I get, the more often strangers smile at me. Why?
~‘Cause you’re fatter than they are.

Ever since I’ve been pregnant, I haven’t been able to go to bed at night without onion rings. Is this a normal craving?
~Depends on what you’re doing with them.

I’m modest. Once I’m in the hospital to deliver, who will see me in that delicate position?~Authorized personnel only - doctors, nurses, orderlies, photographers, florists, cleaning crews, journalists, etc.

Where is the best place to store breast milk?
~In your breasts.

What is colic?
~A reminder for new parents to use birth control.

Our baby was born last week. When will my wife begin to feel and act normal again?
~When the kids are in college.

Is there anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth?
~Yes, pregnancy.

*grin*

Let me introduce... Beanie.

Ok... took me a while to decide whether I should share this early piece of good news since most mothers will only want to declare their "status" after the 1st trimester. But after some serious thoughts, I've decided to come clean and pen down my thoughts anyway.

Yup, this is Beanie and it's about 8 weeks old.

The past few weeks had been rather difficult. I had continuous bleeding and cramps consecutively for a few days and was in the hospital for half a day. Beanie was deem as unstable and I had to bed-rest, receive progesterone injections every 3 days, and currently taking progesterone pills.

Luckily, as of this morning, Beanie's heartbeat is still strong and no more bleeding and cramps. I'm seeing my gynae every week now, and to be frank, I have great fear whenever the doctor checks for the heartbeat... ... ...

Beanie's timing is a bit weird.... hrm, Hubby is now based in Hong Kong and I still have the CFA exam to tackle in June. It's presence came as a surprise, nonetheless, a very treasured one.

I hope Beanie will continue to grow strong and healthy, and I'm looking forward to this wondrous journey of motherhood.

But geez, the morning sickness and the nausea is really bad! My head feels dizzy most of the time and I've lost my appetite to eat. Meals have become a chore and especially so, when I'm eating alone.

Due to the previous bleeding, I'm advised to take things easy and haven't been going to the gym. My energy level is low, and it doesn't help that I'm also down with flu for the past 2 days.

Argh. ;(

In any case, I hope Little Beanie will be strong and healthy, and continue to cling on to me till he or she is ready to face the world!

This is exactly what I do NOT want for my CNY decors!



Xmas is over and Chinese New Year is coming!

So I’ve kept my Xmas tree and all the Xmas decorations, and can’t help thinking that my flat looks kind of lifeless and boring right now.

Doing up my place for Xmas was easy, I mean, how wrong can Xmas decorations be right?

But Chinese New Year is a totally different story. I can’t help to notice that most Chinese New Year decoration looks tacky and really awful.

The thought of RED hongpaos and RED lanterns or anything RED is already giving me a headache. So, how can I do up my place tastefully with Chinese New Year Décor?

This will be a hard nut to crack… …

The easiest option is to buy pots of auspicious flowers like “lucky” Bamboo, Mandarin Orange/Lime plants, CocksComb, Phoenix Tails, Chilli Padi, Chrysanthemum and, of course, Pussy Williows.

But I know that these pots of plants cannot last and will most probably die within a month or so. The thought of buying plants and LET THEM DIE is a flawed concept. I simply cannot do it. The browning of the leaves and the dropping of the flowers will definitely upset me. I cannot witness a plant dying in front of my eyes and yet don’t do anything about it.

So, that brings me to the other option of buying FAKE plants and flowers. I don’t know about you, but I’ve NEVER seen a fake plant that looks remotely real. Most fake flowers are simply TOO over-the-top, with their overly reds, pinks and yellows. Such vibrant and unnatural colors also give me a headache.

So, how am I going to do it? How to create the spirit for the up-and-coming Chinese New Year without looking cheesy, “ching-chong” and tacky?

Any suggestions???

Cookie, in her "sulky" mood.

Cookie and her new best friend. Hee...

My days with Cookie.

It has been half a year since we have moved into our new flat and all these while, Cookie, the neighbourhood cat has been keeping us company.

On weekdays, she will usually wait for us at the void deck in the evenings, and she will respond to our calls by running to us immediately upon hearing her name, and she'll meow while she trots over, seems to be telling us "what took you so long....?"

she will then follows us upstairs, and stations herself right in front of the gate because she HAS to be the first living thing to step into the house. Then she'll head straight for her water bowl and spend a few minutes lapping some water. After that, she will bug you relentlessly until you feed her.

Dinner is usually a small portion of canned food mixed with pieces of boiled Kunning fish. She has learnt the word "fish fish", and will immediately jump up from her sleep/nap if you ever mention "fish fish" to her, which is, of course vey cute. Heh...

We recently got ourselves a white porcelain cat as a decoration item, and Cookie at first, mistook the procelain as a real cat. She saw the porcelain and froze, her whiskers pulled back and she immediately leapord crawled towards her "new enemy". It was really hilarious!

She then stared at the porcelain for a few mintues, with a puzzled face, most probably thinking "hey, this idiot doesn't move?!" She moved even closer and started sniffing the porcelain cat.

Her body language immediately relaxed upon realizing that the procelain was a fake and she simply went to her usual corner to nap. Not at all interested in her "new best friend" anymore...

Haha.

That stupid cat. But how I love her so.

My Blue X'mas Tree, only $16 from Carrefour.

The items that we have bought and donated to the Boy's Brigade Gift Box.

X'mas Dinner 2010

Hrm, previously I had grand plans to make my very own X'mas tree but when I stacked up all my vintage boxes, it didn't look like a Xmas tree at all. Bleah... So, Project Xmas Tree was a failure. I needed a Plan B.

Thankfully Plan B was only 16 bucks from Carrefour! The tree technically only cost $10! As the tree came with LED lightings at the tips, I just needed to pay for another $6 for the socket to activate the pretty, little blue LED lights. As for the ornaments, I bought them from Daiso, and in total, I spent about $16 too. A grand total of $32 for a Xmas tree is quite budget eh?

As for the food, I ordered a pre-cooked turkey and honey roasted ham, threw in some home-made salsa, sweet corn, beef steaks and veggie frittata. E also made a really delicious carrot cake with cute, little reindeers as decor.

Alas.... I was too busy hosting all 15 of my friends that I forgot to take photos! ;(

In anycase, for this year, instead of gift-exchanging, I requested my friends to donate cash or basic food items to the Boy's Brigade Gift Box, where the boys would in turn, distribute these items to the less fortunate during this festive season.

With the amount raised, I bought adult diapers, tooth pastes, tooth brushes, halal canned foods and some packets of high-calcium Milo.

And I hope I can do this every year and with each year, I hope I can donate more. ;)

Hmm... I wonder whether Cookie is willing to dress up for the party too? Haha...

No gift exchange for my X'mas party

I'm going to host my very first Xmas party/dinner at my place on this coming Saturday!

Relatively small crowd, only about 12 of us actually. Hub gotta attend a wedding dinner on that day though, so I'll be the one running the show. Heh heh...

I've done up my Xmas tree (ok, will update about the tree on my next post), bought the X'mas decorations from Daiso and planned my menu. So, I'm all set.

As usual, there will be a theme for this party, and the theme is .... ... ... *drum roll*

REINDEER!

Sounds a bit lame and childish, but I'm looking forward to see what/how my friends will turn up for the party. These bunch of people are really creative, I tell you. Yup, the very same bunch who dressed up for the Shanghai Chic party and Retro party previously. ;P

Some friends have asked whether there will be any gift exchange, and my answer: a flat NO. From my past experiences, X'mas presents from gift exchange sessions usually end up in the storeroom or "recycled presents for next year".

In fact, I'm thinking of asking my guests to each bring some grocery items, such as a small bag of rice, cooking oil or tins of Milo that cost about $10 in total, or do a donation of $10. And I will then bring these groceries and cash to the Boys’ Brigade Xmas Gift Box or to the Lions Befrienders.

Merry Xmas and may you have a peaceful year ahead. ;)

My favorite wine tasting session of the trip: Domaine Jacques-Frederic Mugnier. He is such a great wine maker, and his wines are characterized by both elegance and power. I was so, so,so happy to be able to meet him in person!

Our group dinner at our "chalet", which is actually an old barn owned by Anne Gros (another outstanding wine maker). We prepared 2 steamed pomfrets, cereal prawns, stir-fried mung bean vermicelli & clay-pot rice!

A famous plot in Chambolle-Musigny.

The youngest and best-looking wine maker of the trip. Well.... the rest are old men afterall! Domaine Arlaud's wines are very elegant, with good length. And since he is still so young, he has great potential...
On my last day, there was a thin layer of snow. Beautiful!

Domaine Ramonet is one of the very best white wine producers in Burgundy. I am a great fan of his wines, and in person, he's such a jovial and warm person, very generous too!

The vineyard of Domaine Romanee-Conti, aka "DRC", the most expensive wines in Burgundy. Every fan of Burgundy wine will defintely come here to take a picture!

France Trip Part 2 -> Burgundy

Part 2 of the trip, in Burgundy was extremely educational. I'm not a Burgundy expert but I sure like to drink wines from this region. It doesn't have to be "Grand Cru", but a well-made AND well-priced "village" will always make my day.

Some of the winemakers are actually in the "Superstars" league of the wine-making world. They are like the Johnny Depp or Brad Pitt of Hollywood, but... hrm, not as good-looking lah. Some are very camera-shy, and extremely down-to-earth. One of them even said that "he's just a farmer who likes to do lab-work"... ... Woah, I wonder whether he is aware of his celebrity status.

Other domaines visited included: Domaine Jean-Francois Coche Dury, Domaine Armand Rousseau, Domaine Roulot, Domaine Carillon, Domaines Mugneret-Gibourg et Georges Mugneret, Domaine Anne Cros and Domaine Comte Georges de Vogue.

After meeting the winemakers in person, in future when I drink any of their wines, will be even more meaningful.

Environmental-friendly Xmas trees

My family, being old-school Chinese has never celebrated Xmas. I have never decorated a Xmas tree in my life nor have ever own one. And being a non-Christian, I spent my Christmases partying away during my younger days. Now that I'm older, Christmases are spent with friends, usually over dinners and some bottles of good wines.

Now that I finally have a place of my own, I'm thinking whether I should do up my place a little for the up-and-coming Xmas.

The no. 1 headache: the Xmas tree.

I'm not keen to buy a fake tree and having to worry about fitting that darn tree back to its box and where to store it for the next 11 months. Having a real Xmas tree, smelling of pines is very appealing but to spend hundreds of dollars on a single plant that last for only a few weeks, is like burning my hard-earned money. Not to mentioned all the decorations that I've to buy either.

So... I'm thinking of innovative ideas to make my own Xmas tree.

It'll be environmentall friendly, save me some cash and will most probably be a conversation piece during the Xmas party.

Kill many birds with 1 stone eh?

The above pictures are some ideas that I've stolen from the ever-resourceful Internet.

1) Choc-a-Box Xmas Tree: This is my no. choice as I do have a few vintage-looking luggages and boxes that I can stack up to form a Xmas tree, ala Picasso-style. Then maybe just buy some green or white streamers and a mega-big-ass star for the top of my Xmas tree to complete the look eh?

2) Beer bottles Xmas tree: Thinking about the amount of beer that Hub, our friends and I drank, I really could have made that Xmas trees IF I HAVE KEPT ALL THOSE BEER BOTTLES!!! Alas, all the beer bottles/cans have been sent to the recycling bin. Maybe I'll give this tree a try next year instead.

3) Hang-on-the-wall Xmas tree: This must be the most fuss-free of all. I have also thought of using a streamer to outline a Xmas tree on a wall, and ta-dah, A Xmas tree! But using a cloth or chalkboard is definitely more chic. In fact, the overall feel of Picture no. 3 will fit my aprtment very nicely.

4) Kachang-Puteh Xmas tree: The rolled-up "leaves" of this Xmas tree remind me of eating Kachang-puteh. This tree takes takes the most effort and I really doubt I have the time to make this tree at all. Nonetheless, it is done up very tastefully and maybe, in the future when I have my own child labour, I can bully them into making that tree. Hahaha...

Ok, will gotta convince/con/cheat Hub into this little project of mine... Hopefully it will be a success and I can post some pics!

Vineyards at chateauneuf Du-Pape (CDP). Golden leaves against the bright blue sky. This picture doesn't do justice to the beautiful scenery!

The "mansion" that we stayed at Avignon, near CDP. This mansion is now a Best Westin Hotel, very charming with a big courtyard.

Walking along the street in the city center of CDP. We were on our way to visit Domaine Henri Bonneau.

And this is the legendary Mr. Henri Bonneau. He is known as the best wine-maker of the CDP region. Already 72 yrs old, I feel extremely privilege to meet him in person!

Walking along the river in Lyon.

Lyon's city center.

France Part 1 -> Paris, Chateauneuf Du-Pape and Lyon.

We spent 4 nights in Paris, 1 night in CDP and 2 nights in Lyon, before heading to Burgundy. What I can deduce from the 1st part of my trip:

1) Paris is still the most beautiful city (to me) day and night. There is just something about Paris... the old buildings, the lights, the small streets and the River Seine make Paris beautiful in her own way.

2) There are still tons of dog shit all over Paris?!?! This is one thing I do not understand... why do Parisians allow their dogs to treat beautiful Paris as 1 big toilet bowl?

3) Parisians are a bunch of super angsty drivers. Chill it, dude!

4) I cannot eat another Foie gras . In fact, I've concluded that I am not thaaaaaat into French food. The more I eat, the less I like. I am a china woman at heart, Chinese food is da best!

5) Do check the internet for the latest updates with respect to the museums. We spent the whole morning walking to the Picasso Museum and it was closed for the next TWO years for renovations!

6) I'll like to visit CDP and Avignon again. Hopefully with more time to walk around.

7) Lyon has better food than Paris. Not kidding. And Lyon is almost just as beautiful too, and with slightly nicer people.

8) I discover the peasant in me. I prefer simple food and small villages. I enjoy hanging out at the vineyards while freezing my ass off. As much as I like Paris, I think I'll give Paris a miss if I ever come to France again.

Part 1 of the trip was basically a prelude, the real action was in Burgundy! I'll update in another post. ;)

Groggy and jet-lagged

Yup, I made it back to Singapore in one piece. Very much to my relief. *phew*

There was plenty of driving on this trip and we very nearly got into a car accident while at 150 km/hr. I could not have imagined the damage if not for the very last minute super-hard-brake, and timely acceleration of the car that was in front.

*face paled*

Thankfully, everything was fine and all in all, I had a very good trip. Will update more about the trip with pictures later!

Now, I am still groggy from the jet-lag, and basically not functioning very much in office.

Argh.

I'm going to France!

Yippee! I'll be heading to France this coming Sat for a 2-wk holiday!

Finally, a well-deserved long break. It has been 8 years since I last visited Europe. This will be my 3rd trip to France and I'm looking so forward to it. There is something about Paris that I simply adore. Beautiful buildings, beautiful language, beautiful women with chic dress sense, just simply a beautiful city.

Well.... the French might not be the friendliest folks in the world but the beautiful country makes up for it.

I'll be in Paris with Hub and another 2 friends for 4 days, after that another 6 folks will arrive and we'll be heading to Lyon, Rhone and Burgundy for the next 10 days, eating and drinking ourselves silly. This trip is a "wine trip", organised by one of Hub's friend, who is in the wine business.

We'll be visiting some really renowned wine makers and I am SO EXCITED to see them in person. I feel like a groupie already.

And this group of people are serious about their wines and food. The last trip we made together was to Ipoh and we feasted non-stop for 4 days. We literally ate 6 meals a day, NO JOKE! Not only that, we brought our own wines and WINE GLASSES so that we could enjoy our food with decent wines and stemware.

For this trip, I don't have to bring my wine glasses but I will bring extra indigestion pills.

And I have started fasting already.

Am I Harry Potter’s oldest fan?

If the movie is based on a book, I’ll usually say the book is better. And that is true like 95% of the time… but the Harry Potter series; I must congratulate the directors, producers and the casting crew. They have made the movies better than the books.

I’ve read the books and I’m CRAZY about Harry Potter and the whole Hogwarts thingy. I’ve spent many hours imagining the setting and scenery while reading the books, but when the very first movie of Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone debuted in 1997, I was blown away.

The casting was perfect. Daniel Radcliffe is Harry Potter. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger are also very well portrayed by Rupert Grint and Emma Watson respectively. I enjoyed every single Harry Potter movie and it was so amazing to see the producers’ interpretation of J.K Rowling’s world of magic, Hogwarts and the mystical creatures.

The 7TH and the finale (Part 1), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will premier on 18 Nov island wide. I cannot wait to catch the movie!!! But I will be out of town until 28 Nov. Argh… I guess I’ll just have to wait patiently.

And everytime there's a Harry Potter movie on TV, I MUST watch it, even if I have already watched most of them for at least 3 times. Hub will just roll his eyes whenever I go gaga over Harry Potter. Well... now that Hermione has become a hot babe, Hub starts watching Harry Potter too, or at least whenever she's on screen. *guys?!?!?!*

Meanwhile, I’m reading the Deathly Hallows for the 3rd time?!?! Anyone has the dvd for The Half-blood Prince to refresh my memory?

Do you believe in Long Distance Relationship (LDR)?

When Hub and I were dating, we went through 3.5 years of LDR. He was studying in UK while I was in Singapore and 1.5 yrs later, when he was deemed to come back, I had the opportunity to work in the States for 2 years or so, and thus, another 2 yrs of LDR.

That 3.5 yrs of LDR was one of the hardest thing that I had to go through. There were so many times that I wanted to throw in the towel and said “That’s it, I cant do this anymore”.

But miraculously, we survived the LDR and even more amazing, we survived the relationship when both of us were in the same land area and didn’t drive each other crazy. I must admit that most credit went to Hub since he is the more tolerant and rational one.

After that horrendous 3.5 years, I told myself that I will not go through another LDR again. I told myself that no matter what, I want to be together physically, mentally and emotionally together with my beloved. I’ll give up my career temporarily if I have to.

And now, due to career progression, Hub will be away for a year in a near-by country, which is about 3-4 hours away by plane. And technically, there’s a “spouse allowance” for me to move over as well. Not a “Tai-Tai” kind of allowance, but it is enough for me to survive a prudent lifestyle.

Honestly, I do not even like that country, in my opinion; it is polluted, crowded and extremely materialistic. I’ll rather stay in Singapore; at least Singapore is not polluted, less crowded and also a tad less materialistic. Ha.

But it’s my wishful thinking on my part. I’m not even “invited” to go over; I’ve already been “assigned” by Hub to stay in Singapore to look after the new flat, the plants and the cat.

So, I’m a housekeeper more than a wife huh?

I’m actually a little sad and hurt that Hub finds the new flat, the new plants and the new cat more important than us being together.

I know that it’s not as if he loves me less, just that rationally, it makes more sense for me to remain in Singapore because of my job, my CFA exam, to look after the flat, the plants and the cat. In addition, we’ll only be 3 hrs apart via a plane ride and IT’S ONLY FOR A YEAR.

We have been through so much worse, this should be peanuts.

But to me, it’s not peanuts. Maybe, I just need to grow up.

My childhood days…

As I was reading another fellow blogger’s entry about the stress that her son, a primary school student has to go through. I looked back at my primary school days and giggled silently to myself.

I was from a kampong school and nobody really took tests or exams seriously. From Primary 1 to 3, it was 80% play and 20% school work. In those days, there was even primary 7 and 8! But of course, most students did get down to serious business from P5 onwards due to the all-time-big-hurdle, the PSLE at P6.

Below is a list that I found on the net, and it brought back fond memories of my childhood. Maybe you’ll also find these items familiar if you were a primary school kid in the 1980s.

1. You grew up watching He-man, Transformers, Silverhawk, Ultraman, Super Friends, Woody WoodPecker, Tom & Jerry, Care Bears, My Little Pony, Smurfs and Mickey Mouse. Not to forget, maybe Ninja turtles too.

p/s: My fav cartoon was Smurfs. I think I once drove my mum crazy by singing “la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la” non-stop for 72 hours.

2. You grew up brushing your teeth with a mug in primary school during recess time. You would squat by a drain with all your classmates beside you, and brush your teeth with a colored mug. The teachers said you must brush each side ten times.

p/s: We would all gurgle and spit at the same time. There was even a competiion among ourselves that who could spit the furthest.

3. You know in school, you could subscribe to get the milk which would come before you go back home. Some days you would get chocolate milk, other days strawberry. The old Magnolia fresh milk came in a triangular packet.

p/s: I was a really skinny kid and I had free milk until primary 4! I hated the Banana and Corn flavour though.

4. Everyone in class would tremble in fear when someone with a gauze stuck in the mouth came to your class and called out a name to go visit the school dentist.

p/s: I was so scared of the nurse and her dentist chair. And yah, why the hell did the nurse send some kid with a bloody cotton guaze to call for the next “victim”??? *Tramatised*

5. You’ve probably read the Young Generation magazine. You know who’s Vinny the Little Vampire and Constable Acai. For some, cikgu will always ask to buy the “Dewan Bahasa” magazine.

p/s: I remebered the mag! And I really liked Vinny, the little vamp with his cute, little sharp teeth.

6. You longed to buy tidbits called Kaka (20 cents per pack), and Ding Dang (50 cents per box), that had a toy in it and it changes every week. Not forgetting the 15-cent animal crackers and the ringpop, where the lollipop is the diamond on the ring. There were such things like the 20-cent dinosaur eggs, the 10-cent satay, Choki Choki Chocolate Sticks and the all favorite 10-cent “Sng Pow” that broke into two parts to be shared amongst friends.

p/s: O yes, all these wonderful snacks that only cost 10c to 30c! And I remembered the bubble-gum that cost 10c per piece and had a stick-on tattoo. I was wearing those stick-on tattoos on my arms like some trophy badges until my mum would force me to wash those away. Then I would go and buy new gums with new tattoos!


7. You grew up reading ladybird books. Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, The Three Investigators, Famous Five and Secret Seven were probably the thickest story books you ever thought you had. Even Sweet Valley High and Malory Towers. You also love Enid Blyton’s Enchanted Wood, Magic Faraway tree, and the 5-dollar Bookworm book you bought when there was a book fair in school.

p/s: All time fav was Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree! I really enjoyed those books about farms, animals and elves, and I wondered why wasn’t there an elv in Singapore. I thought if I were to go England, then I’ll find an elv and we could be friends. Haha…

8. Waterbottles, with your favorite cartoon character on it, were slung around your neck and a must everywhere you go.

p/s: I think mine was blue with Doraemon AND smurfs stickers!

9. Hopscotch, five stones, chapteh and zero point were all the rage with the girls and boys too. Remember 5 times, highest, one-inch?

p/s: I was the zero-point queen. So much so that, the track-and-field teacher dragged me to train for High Jump. Didn’t quite work out though…

10. Science was fun with the balsam and the angsana being the most important plants of our lives. Remember the “Young Scientist” badge you got when you completed the set of tasks in written on the blue booklet for “Young Ecologist”, “Young Botanist”, etc? The first excursion to the Science Centre was the best day of your life.

p/s: I had so many of those badges! And oh, the 1st excursion to the Omni Theatre was the best day of my life, my primary school life lah.

11. You went to school in slippers and a raincoat when it rained, and you find a dry spot in the school to sit and wipe yourself dry. Then you wear your dry and warm socks and shoes.

p/s: That I didn’t do. My mum would just wrapped little red plastic bags over my shoes and that was it. I had to go to school all by myself (less than 5 mins walk) and when I was older, dragged my 2 little brothers along too.

12. After exams, you brought Game & Watch to school, and played card games like “Snap”, “Donkey” and “Old Maid”. You also played pick-up sticks and Snakes & Ladders and the aeroplane board game. Those erasers with the flags were also a popular game. Either that or you would play those cards comparing aeroplanes, warships, or tanks — who had more firepower or speed or weight, etc.

p/s: Those colorful pick-up sticks were so much fun! And the erasers with the flags, haha, we were supposed to flip them around, the eraser which landed on top of the other would win and the winner would confiscate the loser’s eraser. Oh, the boys were really good at that.

I wonder do kids these days still play such simple games anymore….

Rice, not as easy as it looks!

Somehow, I always mess up dishes that are related to rice. Especially FRIED RICE. My fried rice is always too wet, too sticky. As hard as I've tried, I simply cannot achieve the fragrant, fluffy fried rice like the zhi-czar stalls. Argh... *pull my hair out*

Fried rice = too wet and sticky

Porridge = too sticky and not fragrant

Baked rice = also too sticky! Wait.... baked rice is supposed to be sticky. Heh...

Rice is my nemesis, but I will never give up on rice. I'm a rice-loving Chinese!

Thankfully, the baked rice above turned out ok. And thanks D for the beautiful picture. (as always!)

Note to myself: I really should learn how to take pictures from D.