I Take Something

Rachel's new phrase:" I take something".

This can happen anytime & anywhere. When we are watching or playing in the living room, she wld turned ard & tell u:" I take something". Then she wld run off to take that something & when she returned, she wld tell u:" You cannot see what i take". Mummy wld then humor & pacify her js to see what she took. An eraser!

Or if we were in the bedroom, the same thing wld happen:" I take something" She wld tink mummy did not know but she always took the same thing, for she wld always open my drawer & take out her hairclips. And then the same thing:" You cannot see what i take". Mummy wld pretend she didnt know & asked to see. You guessed it! Hairclips..

And when we were outside, she wld run ahead & tell u: I take something". Of cos, its usually leaves or withered flowers. Again she wld hide her hands behind her back & tell u: " You cannot see what i take". Mummy will then asked to see by telling her to show it to mummy. ( Of cos i know what she took la). She wld be proud to show me what she have on her hands.

She certainly loves her new found words: "I Take Something".

Post Mother's Day Celebration

23 May 2010 - Sun

We had a post mother's day celebration @ Bei Sheng Lou - 北胜楼. Its js a simple dinner. Above 2 pics of Lionel & Rachel waiting to go to the restaurant. But that dinner to me was js plain terrible; the kids were noisy, the food ordered was nt my expectations & the accompanying people were js well, plain boring.

** Noisy kids made u irritated & that one noisy kid was V. She was ever so demanding & boy, she thought that she was in control of everything, expecting people to follow her orders! What a rude girl!

Peeping...

I was climbing up the stairs towards my blk this evening when i heard someone shouting: "mummy..."

I looked up, wondering who was shouting. I saw no one looking over the corrider. I looked left & right, i dun see anyone.

Then i heard the shouting again: " mummy, mummy..." Recognising my daughter's voice, i immediately looked up towards my ils' living room window, thinking she might hv shouted for me from up there. There was no one; they're nt back yet.

Then where did my daughter's voice came from? I heard laughter; i heard giggling; Something made me looked towards my right - towards the playground. The area was dimly lit - i saw 2 young ones running ard & from inside the choo choo train, i thought i saw the outline of my girl hiding, peeping at me. i bent down; i looked closer. True enuff! She, being my little monkey, peeped out at me, calling out mummy & giggling away.

I stood down & stretched out my hands. She came out from her hiding place & ran towards me, laughing. A big bear hug! I almost lost my balance...

My son, the cheeky one, ran round in circles, yelling with hands cupping his mouth: " mummy is back, mummy is back.." Oh god! Must he announce to the whole world? Hehe.

Then my mil called out to the 2 monkeys: "lets go...we're going home...!"

Peranakan Museum

This morning, er gu gu called & asked if we wanna follow her to the museum. Mummy asked what kind of exhibition & er gu replied something abt hw flowers can glowed if we walked past or hw water can flowed if there is some movement, something like that. So Mummy said ok.

We went down to the Singapore Arts Museum but there were no such exhibition going on leh. Then we realised - aiya, its starting only on the 14 May onwards; we came too early. So we went to the Peranakan Museum instead.

Outside SAM @ 8Q, next to Hotel Royal @ Queens, along Queen Street.

"Hello Strangers"


Some crazy shots of us 4 kids (from left) : Rachel, Alexis, Lionel & Vicky.

Peranakan Museum...the sky looks threatening ..

A quick foto shot before the rain comes on

Waiting while the adts purchase the admission tickets

trying to look: "Oh not so sweet!"

Stamps for collection.

Penarakan wedding betrothal gifts - we were fascinated by the pigs trotter.

The "living room" In the traditional layout of a Peranakan house, the first room after passing the front door was the thia besar or "big hall" , the formal living room.

the wedding room or " 喜房"

Ancestor Veneration.

Trying our hands on the diff types of telephones.

i am calling daddy

then i called ah ma.

We left the museum at abt 12 noon & headed to Selegie for our lunch. Mummy gt a list of activities noted down & she might just bring us to these events:

Army Museum - 14-23 May - 3pm - 6pm - Kids' Day Out

Asian Civilisations Museum - 22 May - noon - 5pm - Family Fun Day

Baba House - 22 May - 9am - 1.30pm - Peranakan Heritage Trail

HealthZone - 15 May - 9am - 1pm - Happy Hobbies Day

Marina Barrage - 16 May - 2pm - 6pm - Let's Go Flying / 16, 22 May - 2pm - 5pm - The Adventures of Water Willy / 22 May - 10am - 1pm - Fun Race to Discover Marina Barrage

Mint Museum of Toys - 15, 21 & 22 May - 3pm -5pm - Doodlemania / 16 & 23 May -2pm - 3pm - Stories & Itsy Bitsy Treats Galore / 14-23 May - 9.30am - 6.30pm - Museum Admission Discounts

National Museum of Singapore - 14 May - 13 Jun - Colourful Journeys

Peranakan Museum - 22 May - 3pm onwards - Ramayana Under The Stars / 23 May - 11am - 5pm - Straits Family Fun Day

Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research - 22 May - 515pm & 615pm - The MIA Night Trail

Singapore Art Museum - 14 May - 18 July - Children's Season at SAM (8Q)

Singapore Coins & Notes Museum - 15 & 16 May - 10am - 8pm - Notes Making Workshop

Singapore Philatelic Museum - 23 May - 9am - 7pm - IMD 2010 Open House / 23 May - 2pm - 2.30pm - Puppets Mania / 23 May - 3pm - 4pm - So Sarap! - Kids' Edition

*** Admission Charges Applies ***

Kenny Roger's.. @ Msia.

Yesterday, 01 May 2010 (Sat), it was a PH - Labour Day. We went over to Msia for dinner & shopping. Daddy went with the intention to buy milk powder, something which we did during the CNY period as well. It cost much more cheaper. CAN U BELIEVE THIS? We bought 17 cans or containers you wld called it, each weighing 900g. 17...LOL. We went to 3 shopping complexs, Tesco, Jusco & Giant. Both Tesco & Jusco ran out of stock due to some promotion going on - free baby wipes were given, i supposed.

We bought mainly Friso 4 but a few Friso 3 as well. Rachel will begin on Friso 4 comes July when she turns 3, so Daddy bought only 3 cans/containers of Friso 3, on an average of 1 can/container per mth. ( rough calculation).

But before this, went for dinner first. Rachel & myself had already had our dinner at home so we js ate some side dishes whereas Daddy & Mummy had their main meal. Mummy nearly wanted to order ribs when she realised js in time ( or rather she remembered js in time), that this was Msia & they do nt served pork...ops! :P

So Daddy thought they cld share a plate of half BBQ smoked chix but when the order came, it was so pathetic - Daddy took the wings part & Mummy took the drum part. Neither of them were filled so after shopping & on our way home, they stopped over at Macs to buy more food. Mummy was so hungry that she wolfed down a whole fillet. Daddy ate nuggets which he complained were more flour than meat. LOL.

Customs were packed & jammed, so by the time we reached home, it was after 12 midnight. Naturally, both of us fell way fast asleep even before we reached home.

Wanna join me?

" 二指神功"

Eating muffins & fruits was all i wanted.

Fooling ard with Daddy while waiting for the food to be served.

Mouth full of fruits so i was unable to smile for the camera..

A drink of cooling Jewel Treasure...mixture of strawberry & orange fizz.

Developmental Skills..

Rachel seems to be learning alot in school. She comes home every evening & tells me what she had learned - songs, poems, ryhmes, vocabs, etc...

As compared to Lionel when he was abt the same age as Rachel, he was nt so "as vocabalised" - when asked to sing, either he doesnt want to or he doesnt know hw to, when asked to read, he shook his head, when askd to recite, he kept quiet.

Rachel has this habit of reading when she comes back home. She will grab a book & pulls me into the room with her. Then we will go thru the book (the same book every evening) over & over again. After reading, its usually a singing session. Either she teaches me a new nursery song she learns in sch or she will ask me to sing some other songs which she have heard before ( songs i hv sang to her before)

Whenever she sees fruits, she will automatically recites a chinese poem abt them. I will try to capture them on video the next time she recites & upload here.

Rachel has a very good memory & she can tell me all her friends' name in class. Chantel, Yati, Winfred, Alex, Yi Xiang, Yi Ting. These are some names she wld very often mentioned. I asked her if these are the friends she wld always played with, she said yes. At times, she can tell me who & who did nt come to class today or who & who cried.

I asked " hw abt Alexis?" Do u play with her?" She said Alexis wld nt join them & usually sits alone. True or nt, i do nt know but i know my gal is enjoying herself very much. I am also very glad that she is able to use names as examples in the games she played, like she wld spread all her books on the bed & asked:" Mama, which book do u want to buy?" When i point to a certain one, she wld said:" This book is for my friend, Chantel or Alex already bought this book". Then i wld picked another one.

When we come across pictures like the koala bear or the kangaroo, i wld asked where she has seen them before & her immediate answer:" Australia". Then she wld also tell me Winfred has also sat on an aeroplane before. She can relate very well.

I am very focus or rather, hoping to be focus, on 1 important task right now. That is to teach Rachel how to write ABCs. One friend told me nt to worry. Leave the task to the sch. They will teach your kids how to write. But i feel that parents shd also play a part. The resposibility is there, its to be "carried" or "shouldered" by the parents.

Call me lazy, i'm still asking to be free from this task... :P

Train Delay...

Mummy: This morning, there was a train delay on the NEL ( North East Line). This was what happened.

I board the train from Yishun towards Orchard, supposedly to alight at Dodby Ghaut & interchange to the NEL, towards Harbour Front. ( my workplace is at Chinatown area)

However, the train i was on was so crowded & cramped that i begun to feel stuffy. So i decided to alight at Bishan instead & interchange to the NEL from there. ( Bishan - Serangoon).

I was making my way towards the platform at Serangoon when i heard the annoucement that there wld be a train delay towards Harbour Front & for those passengers who are heading towards the city, to please connect via the Circle Line to Dodby Ghaut or via Bishan.

No way! I js came from Bishan....

I decided to wait for a little while , just to see if the train service wld resume. However, luck was nt on my side. After abt 15 mins of waiting game, there was still no train in sight & the annoucement repeats again & again...

Those security officers, or rather those cisco officers ( those that patrol the stations & trains) came & shoo us off, as if they were chasing after wild geese... geez!

I went across to the Circle Line platform & took the train from there. Onboard the train, i was asking myself where to alight to reach Chinatown faster. From Serangoon, it bypass stations like Tai Seng, Mountbatten, Esplanade, Bras Basah, etc... before arriving at Dodby Ghaut.

I didnt want to go back to DG so i alighted at Bras Basah. I gt lost; didnt know which exit to go thru. I ended up out , diagonally opposite CHIJMES. I walked towards it & board bus # 147 from there & alighted outside Chinatown Point.

I reached my office at 10.45am. Not only me though. All those staying along the NEL all gt affected. What a morning!

The morale of the story is: Being clever is enough. Dun count on being more than that!
Kiang Jiu Hor. Mai Gei Kiang!