Friday 8 March 2024

We love McDonald's!

Seriously, what's not to love about it??

For a year or so in upper primary school, I went to Macs quite a lot as my paternal grandmother used to work there and we got a lot of coupons - we had nuggets by the 20s! I remember CY and Yan joining us coz so many coupons...

Later, CY and I went to KFC on our library days... Didn't pick up Macs again until JC - somehow we liked going to Macs at Serene Centre or KAP, and at least once, we had it sitting on the floor at the atrium in Takashimaya. Did we call it Taka square?

And uni when there was this student card that gave me a free bacon burger or sthg when I got a meal. Very useful to save it for another meal!

Then in my 20s, I happened to share french fries with Yan and realised Macs could be a good snack if I didn't fancy a full meal.

The next time I had Macs quite often was when we were staying at Bukit Panjang, no thanks to the outlet right downstairs. Sito would get it - or some other fast food - for dinner/supper after returning home late from work. There were other fast food outlets there but the kids much preferred Macs, be it breakfast or lunch/dinner. 

Now, we still go to Macs for our Saturday breakfast every month or two. We have so many points that Kai and Yu can have as many hashbrowns as they like - we just redeem them one by one :p During term breaks when I seldom cook, Macs is a common dinner request.

The only difference is that Macs is now 10 min away. We also have BK but we seldom have that. And a bit further away, we have Star Vista with a few fast food options. Healthier now? :)

Another reason we like Macs is the ice cream. We used to give them an ice cream treat after dinner elsewhere but now it's less accessible. So sometimes when we're out, we may still have Macs for dessert. Like that day after watching a performance at Esplanade.

Papa took his brothers to the toilet


And it was then that I saw a notice saying that the outlet - at Raffles City - would have its last day on 29 February!

We once had Macs before an outlet closed too - KAP


That was little Kai, on 1 Mar 2014, a few months before Yang joined us, and just before the outlet ceased ops on 14 March. We probably made the trek there purposely.

End of school runs

At least the regular ones. Will still need to send and fetch Yu on days when his brothers do not need to go to school, for maybe another year...

In January, Yang and Yu started going to school on their own. This Monday, we stopped fetching them home.

Still remember when Kai and Yang first came home on their own. I put a GPS watch in Kai's bag. Now, the same watch is in Yang's bag. But I think I should switch it to Yu's bag.

Yang proved himself very capable last year, when he came home on his own after oral exams. One of us was supposed to fetch him from the bus stop downstairs but he was much earlier than expected so he walked back on his own. And when we were crossing the road to the MRT station recently, I saw him look out for cars.

But Yu is another story. While Kai is very focused on his destination and Yang would just follow, Yu likes to jump and run about, and chat with Yang ALL THE TIME. So I'm super scared they will get distracted.

These two when I fetched them on the day I had lunch in their school


I always have to remind them to stay behind the bollards, not just behind the yellow lines. Especially when coming home coz there are so many kids trying to board the bus! Yes, I'm paranoid this way - and many other ways!

Then Yu follows only Kai one day each week, as Yang has CCA on Mondays now that he has changed from badminton to art club. (Kai is peeved that Yu has no CCA - this year, the school didn't open CCAs for P2s - but that's another story.)

Yu is kind of fearful of being kidnapped due to two incidents. The first was during a Legoland trip last year. He went to the toilet and I waited for him outside; he no longer wants to go to the ladies with me. Later back at home, he told me that a guy in the toilet asked him where his parents were! I forgot his response - he either said outside or he ran out. Then - ok, my fault - I told him he must not run about in case he got kidnapped coz he's so cute!

The second incident was a couple of months back. They go to the playground downstairs on their own before dinner sometimes. They are supposed to go and return together but these kids like to rush to the lift and be the first to get to the bathroom *.* So once, Yu got into a lift without his brothers. A man was in the lift with him and asked him the same question. He quickly pressed 4 - that lift stops every four floors - and ran down the stairs to find Yang.

Now he's fearful of being kidnapped. Coz he thinks he's so cute, haha!

So on Monday, he was scared that Kai would, as usual, run ahead and leave him alone. We spoke to them in depth on Sunday and made Kai promise not to run off.

Sito also had to make Kai and Yu sit together during a rehearsal


Yang took the watch that day as he would be coming home on his own so I put Kai's phone in Yu's bag in case GeGe ran off and he needed to call us. But I couldn't track Yu. Turned out that the hi!card had been depleted. Strange coz we just topped up the week before for Kai to call us after tuition.

Sito topped it up remotely but within an hour, the value went down by $4! After checking, Sito found that data was very expensive! And somehow the phone eats data while idle. Or maybe coz I was tracking it. Anyway, now we decide to just put the watch in Yu's bag. Kai and Yang are very ok on their own now.

One thing I forgot about was that they sometimes take the train home instead of the bus. When they take the bus, they just need to cross one traffic light downstairs. When they take the train (coz they don't want to wait longer for that one bus home), they have to cross a carpark entrance/exit and a two-way road with a divider - no traffic lights etc.

Wa my heart...

Will have to continue to remind them about road safety. And to take care of each other especially when their hands are full of files!

Monday 4 March 2024

Lunch at the school canteen

Back in February, I met a friend for lunch - at the kids' school canteen!

She works in the campus so just nice, we had a nice catch-up, and I managed to exchange a book at the bookshop and try the chicken rice the kids eat all the time!


Chose roast chicken, preferred by Kai and Yang. The same stall also sells chicken cutlet so we ordered one to share. The bowl of noodles from another stall belonged to my friend.

For $2, the chicken rice was a good portion and yummy too! There were so many other selections like noodles and even Japanese curry but the kids don't like them or refuse to spend extra to add the curry *.* Sometimes, they complained about long queues but other times, they could queue at two stalls *.* Excuses...

I was so busy looking at food options that I forgot to check out the cashless payment system. They can use their EZ Link student cards to pay but I don't let them unless I forget to give them pocket money, which is rare. Better for them to feel the pain of forking out cash and see for themselves how money is actually spent!

Sunday 3 March 2024

Maybe cockroach at home or confirmed cockroach at work?

Nothing to do with my lizard's tale.

During the six hours in Kiztopia, Sito and I had plenty of time with each other and not much distraction. The kids came only for water and didn't linger much coz couldn't wait to go back to play. Besides checking our phone occasionally and dozing off here and there, we had time to chit chat properly.

And it wasn't like date night chit chat. On date nights, we would walk around so there were distractions - things to see, desserts to decide on, things to buy, discounts to share.

We chatted about working. 

It was kind of fun writing about TFR the other day. In fact, I have another topic to write about - I had that idea when I was working but 1) no time at work, 2) not even my portfolio, 3) colleagues in that portfolio also no time! It has been tricky getting data so I'm hardly started.

Point is, I can totally imagine myself going back to work. I've built up a good reputation at work over close to 20 years. I can do a variety of work. In fact, I also enjoy much of the work I did. While I don't like managing teams, I can. I also don't like all the peripheral things like courses and "CCAs" but ok, I can *.*

But - and it's a big BUT - I can't imagine leaving Sito and the boys. Put Sito aside - every so often, this man will have itchy backside and think about going back to work himself... 

For the boys, to be more accurate, I'll only leave them physically for four hours on school days and more during term breaks. But I know from experience that I will tend to want to settle the kids asap so that I could go back to my laptop - don't know why. So end up I'll feel super frustrated that I'm not focusing 100% on kids or if kids delay bedtime etc.

I want to prepare a nice home environment for them. I want to cook for them, something familiar that they would want to come home to in future. I want to work with them on Mandarin. I want to watch them grow up.

And, just now as I started this post, Sito and I had an animated chat about work too. It just so happened that I bought $80 worth of insect and lizard repellent on Shopee, and told JY. She said we were pathetic - we used to work and had a life instead of talking about non-compliant kids and household problems!

Funny la, but kids and household problems won't go away with work. In fact, if there is a cockroach at home, I must catch and kill. If there is a cockroach at work, everyone will siam and I'll be the gong earnest one that the cockroach will aim for. I'd rather deal with the cockroach at home - Sito can kill; I only need to pick it up to throw. Then we will have a cockroach-free home. The work cockroach will, however, bring its army of emails and whatnots. Meanwhile, cockroaches may still enter my home, wth.

So, I'm thankful that Sito has done the sums and it's ok if I don't go back to work. 

My no-pay leave ended in February but I have extended it for another year - no word from HR so I assumed it had been approved. I expect HR to call me during ranking season... Perhaps that will be time to make a clean break... We shall see.

First trip to Kiztopia

The kids had no school on 1 March every year, thanks to Founder's Day. This year, we decided to try out Kiztopia. 

The ticketing info online wasn't very clear if the ticket with a kid's meal was for unlimited playtime on weekdays so we decided to buy on the spot. As it turned out, 1) it was for unlimited playtime, and 2) the price increased from 1 March, sighs... So we paid $49.40 for each kid. That's $148.20 for three, ouch...

But we were there from 10 am to 4 pm, including a quick lunch. Better than a two-hour movie for $50 for five of us before popcorn?

Major ball pit!


Basketball on trampoline? Sure!


Kai's and Yang's socks were from the now-defunct NERF Action Xperience and Yu' were from Kai's trip to SuperPark a few years back.

They still enjoyed toddler play!


A s l o w moving train...


Yu sat down further in front. Kai decided to go all the way back. Yu wanted to join him but found that there was no space - Kai took up the whole carriage coz he's so big! At first, I was worried that Kai might find it less fun coz on 29 Feb, he said he couldn't understand what his brothers were playing (neither could I!) and asked Papa for a paper to do...!

Lunch at Kith


They all had fish fingers - Yang didn't like it so exchanged with Yu's fries. None of them liked the watermelon juice but thirsty Kai had his and Yang's. Sito took Yu's. I ordered a coffee for myself but it wasn't very nice...

I wouldn't pay the full $14.95 price for the kid's meals. So bought the meal inclusive ticket for an additional $3-ish. Had to fill these kids up. We all had breakfast at the hawker centre in the morning so Sito and I just pecked at their unwanted corn niblets and leftovers - we didn't jump around like the kids... 

Sito and I mostly sat at the benches near the train. The kids came over for water every so often. We took turns to see the kids play and check out the place. The toilets are just outside - slippers are provided so we didn't have to change out of our socks.

Later, we also found a water dispenser in the baby care room on the way to the toilets. Perfect coz the kids ran out of water!

We also had some fun :)


我的大白兔!


We wore our masks coz cold... 

It was 4pm when we left. The kids thought they didn't play enough. Yu wanted to turn back time, haha! But within 10 min of leaving, they got hungry *.*

Found Seoul Garden. If we had been 40 min earlier, we would have saved $35 *.* And then we forgot to use a $10 voucher.. But we enjoyed the dinner :) Sito and I haven't been there in some 20 years!

Concentrating on cooking his teriyaki chicken


Enjoying their meals with different expressions after cooking their own teriyaki chicken


Needless to say, they had their fill of ice cream! When Yu couldn't eat anymore, he offered to get ice cream for his parents - I already had enough but Sito obliged. I took a cup of coffee though. Happy :) But I had to stop at Commonwealth MRT coz tummy ache :p 

Checking out the water wheel on the way to City Hall MRT station


The small monkey is always scratching his back! I think he was the sweatiest baby. His hair was glistening the whole time in Kiztopia!

Anyway, I think we won't go back to Kiztopia any time soon. They can play whole day but the bench isn't that comfy for the parents!

Thursday 29 February 2024

Itchy brains

These days, I try to read news during my morning coffee. Today, I saw that our TFR has fallen to 0.97 in 2023. 

Statistically speaking, TFR, total fertility rate, is the average number of children born to a woman over her reproductive years (15-49yo in Singapore; I seem to recall some countries go up to 44yo) if she were subject to prevailing fertility rates. Something like that - I regret dumping that old population stats book when we moved.. Actually I didn't finish the book but I attended an illuminating lecture by the author on TFR...

Formula-wise, it's five times the sum of the number of births to women of five-year age group / number of women in same five-year age group, for the five-year age groups between 15 and 49 inclusive. 

From the two statements above, you can see (or I tell you la) that the TFR is a theoretical number. But it suffices as an indicator to tell us where the trends are headed.

But it is only an indicator and one that should be read together with other population numbers and also our cultural context. 

The easier one to understand is cultural context - in Singapore, the majority of kids are born after marriage but the TFR base includes women of all marital statuses. So the TFR among married women, if there is such a thing, would be slightly higher, considering that some 70% of women aged 15yo and above were ever-married.

Now, numbers. Our TFR is stated as "resident TFR". Since residents refer to citizens and PRs, I should think that the TFR is based on births to residents and on number of resident women. 

We had 32,290 resident births in 2022, dropping to 30,510 in 2023 (DOS). As for resident women aged 15-49, we had 986,990 in 2022, rising to 1,001,023 in 2023 (DOS). It's expected that TFR dropped from 1.04 in 2022 to 0.97 in 2023.

Does it mean that if many more people decide to have a kid this year, the TFR will increase? Hard to say... TFR can be affected by not just the number of births but also the number of women. So if the number of women increases more than the number of births increases, the TFR can drop despite more births. Conversely, TFR can increase if the number of women decreases more than the number of births decreases! And it's possible for the number of women of reproductive age to decrease, e.g. more turned 50yo than entered 15-49yo coz ageing population.

Anyway... The number of resident births has been 30k-38k in the past 10 years, mostly decreasing y-o-y (DOS). 

The number of women aged 15-49 has also been decreasing by under 10k y-o-y for most of the past 10 years. There was a large drop of 30k between 2020 and 2021, likely due to PRs leaving due to COVID? But the numbers have picked up in the last two years, by 14k-17k y-o-y (DOS). 

Resident deaths stand at about 18k-25k in the past 10 years, roughly increasing y-o-y (DOS). Based on births and deaths alone, the population should increase a little each year. But the overall population increases by 18k-86k in the past 10 years, with the highest in 2022.

(At this point, I have five excel files opened, and realised I have dug a rabbit hole for myself - but I have started so I will finish, even if this becomes more and more incoherent... Nvm, I'm not behind any government policy!)

In 2022, we had 21,802 naturalised citizens and 34,493 new PRs (source). So the 86k increase must be also due to residents returning to Singapore. Now, any kids the naturalised citizens, new PRs and returning residents had before entering Singapore are not factored into the TFR calculation. (But if the kids come to Singapore too, they are included in the overall population count.)

Point is, the TFR cannot tell us everything. But there is no denying the TFR trends - people are having fewer children.

When I was working on related issues, I really dislike the Baby Bonus cash component. Or rather, I dislike how people thought of it as an incentive for having children. At the rate we’re going, I think we should not increase spending in this area to encourage people to have (more) children. Not that we do not spend - we should still support parents in child-raising coz there are those who want (or sadly, just have) children regardless of government support. 

It is just difficult to fight the trend. Giving more cash or leave will not make people have (more) children. Working is hard. Not everyone can work during child care centre hours. Not everyone has access to affordable child care options. There are always things cropping up at work and with the kids, and work and kids do not arrange not to clash.

Then, housing, education and healthcare are expensive. HDB flats are smaller than before. Education and employment are more competitive than ever. Healthcare helps us live longer and hopefully more healthily but brings about my next point.

Government spending should be focused on care of the elderly. By 2030, one in four will be aged 65 and above. That's on the society level. What about at the family level?

Now I'm not estimating for 2030. 

Among ever-married women aged 50 and above in 2023, 8% had no children, 19% one, 39% two, 23% three and 11% four or more (DOS). For now, the majority still has at least two children. These children are lucky - they can spread out elderly caregiving for their parents. But over time, we can expect the numbers to shift more towards zero and one. More single children will need to bear the full weight of elderly caregiving. From the elderly perspective, more elderly will have fewer children to care for them.

Another reason for not increasing spending simply to encourage having (more) children is that, those who are not married also need support. I doubt the single/childless groups will outsize the parents but the numbers are, or will grow, significant enough such that there will be increasing pressure to support them as well. 

Elderly caregiving often falls on the unmarried sibling, based on anecdotal sharing. Singles also need support, and more when there will be fewer or no siblings to help out.

In 2023, 6% of those aged 70 and above (cannot find 65yo and above) are unmarried (DOS). Again, we can expect this number to increase. In our context, singles mostly do not have children. Married or unmarried, elderly without children still need caregiving in the later years. If they are lucky, nephews and nieces, however few, may step in. This means heavier burden for the children today - they have elderly parents and elderly uncles and aunts, and for some, their own young children. 

Let's not have children then, don't give birth to them only to burden them!

Then society has to step in.

First of all, I think everyone has to plan for our own caregiving in later years. You may be single or married. You may have no children or 10. Plan for yourself.

But society has to provide the infrastructure to allow individuals to plan for themselves.

Ideally, elderly can age in their own homes until they pass. But it is likely that at some point, they cannot safely live on their own. There are only a few options:

1) Hire a live-in helper if the elderly can still communicate. MOM says employer must still have the mental capacity to be the employer. So at some point, this may not be viable. 

2) Move in with children or other relatives/friends. Discuss early with your family. This can put a strain on relationships as the elderly will still need help for daily activities. As I mentioned, HDB flats are smaller these days. How can society support willing children to care for their elderly when living space is limited and there may be a need for a special bed or wheelchair?

3) Move to a nursing home. This can be costly and there may not be available spots. Sito and I plan to check into a nursing home when we can no longer take care of ourselves. I don't want to stay in my boys' homes and have them (goodness, no!) or a live-in helper wipe my wrinkly bum! But will there be good nursing homes? Will there be spots available when we need it? Can we afford it? 

Any other options? I can't think of any.

Ok, kids home now. Busy so abrupt ending - just die before getting too old and weak la! But must live healthily until at least 80yo to max out CPF life ok, haha!

Note: The DOS links refer to latest data so will say different things next year but the data series can be downloaded from there.

Wednesday 28 February 2024

A lizard's tale

I had a huge lizard scare this morning. I don't know which was bigger - the lizard or the scare...

Monday night, I turned on the light to find a huge lizard just above the window in the kitchen. I shooed and it went out. We closed the kitchen window and our bedroom window which are separated by only a narrow wall.

Yesterday morning, I sprayed lizard repellent all over the underside of the awning right outside both windows and all walls outside these windows. Last night I left the windows open as usual.

This morning, I turned on the light and saw a huge lizard on the door of a base cabinet in the kitchen. It looked just like the one on Monday night. It must be biding for a chance to enter our home! Grrrr...

The thing is, this lizard froze. It didn't move when I shooed it. I remembered how JY killed a roach and a lizard recently with her Magiclean stick so I pulled two dry sheets over mine and armed myself in front of the lizard.

But I could not do it!!!!

And it was not just because the pad was wobbly due to the rotational function of the stick.

I was scared. And I didn't dare to kill a big thing.

I thought of shooing it again but it didn't move even when I put the stick very close. I wondered if the lizard repellent had made it blur.

Kai woke slightly later than usual which bought me some time. But when I heard him turn off his aircon, I decided I had to get the day going. Nuked the milk first. Armed myself again.

Still cannot!!!

Kai was upset when he saw that breakfast was not ready. This boy is always gan cheong in the morning...

"It's just a stupid lizard!"

Then you help me la... But I didn't say that. I just held my stick sadly. By then, the lizard turned its body a little... 

Then Yang and Yu got up. Oh no, I had to get the day going!

I asked Yang if I should kill it. The last time we had a lizard in the morning, a small one, I trapped it under a clear box and he asked me to set it free. But this time...

"Yes, kill it!"

I hesitated. And this boy came over and took the stick from me!

"I'll help you do it."

Wa! My hero!

But no la, I didn't let him do it... No blood on my child's hands, hoho!

I went to tell Sito. I don't know why. Was I expecting he would kill it? Eh, maybe. But no, he muttered sthg and remained in bed *.*

Yang encouraged me and offered his, um, service again. On the other hand, Yu was standing a bit further.

"I'm scared..."

Don't teach my children such fears, I told myself. 

"Ok, I'm inspired by my brave Yang! I shall do it!"

I hesitated some more but eventually, I whacked it!

And I didn't let go. I knew it was under the pad now but what would happen when I let go?

Well, first the tail dropped and continued to wiggle on the floor! (Btw, it continued to move long after the lizard was dead!) Then the lizard piaked onto the floor and moved off! I chased it with the stick and quite quickly killed it. It took another three whacks? There was slight blood stains on the door and two spots on the floor.

I felt a bit sad :( Relieved, yes, but also a bit sad. Or maybe scared. I don't know.

At this point, Sito came out and told me it was less easy to kill as it was a vertebrate. Thanks ah...

My brave boy with his roselle plant which I dumped ytd coz it was dying


It was interesting to see the reactions of the three - one couldn't be bothered, one wanted to help, one was hiding. All three were super cute, even Kai's irritated response. But Yang was the cutest la. Next time your turn! But let me get a non-wobbly stick first.

It was also interesting to see my reaction. There were always lizards in AMK. And their poop. I leave them alone coz I didn't need to do anything about it. I mean, Mother was there right? Haha! But there was two memorable episodes.

I saw two big, fat, white lizards fighting under the TV shelf one day. I heard noises and peeked. I think I backed off. Not my fight! On retrospect years later, I wondered if they were mating :p

The second episode was downright horrifying. I was having dinner on the chair next to the wall when a lizard jumped from the wall right behind my ear into my plate and continued running off! Wth! I cried, tears and all. To this day, I couldn't fathom why it would do that...

When Sito and I moved into our first home together, there was also a few memorable lizard episodes - lizard ran across the kitchen counter, lizard giving me a scare behind the dish rack, lizard in the bathroom! We put up lizard traps a couple of times. 

I think it was in our second home when I began to fear and then hunt lizards. We had many, many lizards. When I was working from home, I kept heard the tsk tsk tsk noise from somewhere near the fridge. After helper left, it took many lizard traps to finally reduce the population to nothing except for an unlucky few which ventured in. Now that I think about it, there was an insane number of lizard scares.
  • Lizard crawled over my foot in the kitchen! 
  • Lizard ran across the middle of the living room and over my foot again! 
  • Single popcorn on the floor in the morning when I dumped it in the bin last night - thanks, lizard. 
  • Lizard ran from me to in between kids' mattress and the wardrobe - wa liao I just had to let it be else I would wake the kids! 
  • Lizard on the microwave door frame kena squashed when Sito closed it to heat up his food - yes there was a crunch! Then helper said the food was covered so could still be eaten *.* Nope, we threw the food away.
  • Lizard scaring me when I pushed the curtains aside to clean the floor. 
  • Lizard on clothes hanging in the yard. 
  • Lizard escaping from dining table / pantry counter when we turned on the light. 
  • Baby lizard on desk which I ignored but climbed from behind to under the desk, ending up on my thigh!!
I have SKP boxes to trap lizards to throw. But they only work for small lizards. And it may take a long time for them to crawl up so that I could slide in the cover. In the past six months of living here, I had trapped only two or three. The rest, apart from this morning, I had to use the lizard spray to help kill it.

My heart is thumping as I write this. Very scary to kill something this big. 

Yes, yes, I know some people say that lizards are good coz they eat small insects. I saw online how some people set up "humane traps" for lizards and then release them outside. Then they'll go back or to another house?! I can't stand lizards coz they leave poop about and worse, they look damn scary! 

I know it's impossible to keep lizards out the whole time but I'll keep up my weekly sprays. If it cannot repel 100%, at least let it retard the lizards so I could whack them!

Friday 23 February 2024

Pre- and post-LNY celebrations

Haven't posted some of our regular days for a while!

So a new mall opened in our neighbourhood in December and new places keep opening up every couple of weeks. Just yesterday, we saw two new places. Probably that's about it already...

Anyway, we were particularly happy when Paradise opened! And they had a 1-for-1 deal! We went for a late lunch after a heavy breakfast and queued for maybe 30 min. The restaurant offered water to queueing customers coz it was a hot day. The kids were restless so Sito sent them on missions - to find out what it would take to get the popcorn and play the games in the atrium :p

Else they ran about the LNY tree - which was previous a Christmas tree!


I really want to make a Santa craft with them and turn it into Cai Shen for LNY :p

Sharing a pack of popcorn after lunch


Free play at the ballpit - it was less crowded than before lunch


Both of us wearing new slippers!


Sito's slippers broke suddenly when a boy stepped on one on their way home. Luckily he had a standby pair so there was no rush to buy a pair. Found an even older standby pair but it was all mouldy so I took the chance to wash it.

My slippers were from Mum who passed through Brazil on their Antarctica trip. Antarctica leh! Sito and I were tired just thinking about it haha!

Also realised at the point of taking the photo that Sito didn't get anything - jialat, relegated liao! Haha! But actually I find it difficult to get presents for men. Toys and clothes for kids, pretty much anything goes for women, but men? Very hard. Lucky for me, my husband is very happy with food :)

They said they were hungry but not that hungry so they shared fried chicken at J8 foodcourt


Sito and I shared an ice kacang coz still full from our late lunch. It turned out to be the best ice kacang we had! No ice kacang in HV. The nearest was near Siong Sheng at Tanglin Halt but we seldom go there. But Bishan? Our fave :)

First time seeing smelly beancurd at pasar malam!


It was located away from the other food stalls though.. Too smelly? We could smell it all the way to the library though!

Brought Kai to cut his hair while his brothers read in the library. Kai had a photo-taking session in school the following Monday for his secondary school concession card. Didn't know it's taken so early but probably it's for convenience as the P1s had to make their first card.

We found Mixue on the way so after dinner, we came back for dessert. Also learnt the whole song haha!

Very tall and yummy ice cream!


Suddenly noticed Yu still has such small fingers :)))


He was so cute. Last night, I asked him what if I were to forget about him when I became very old. He took his phone and made a video recording of me saying he's my son and I'm his Mama :) Yes, we will keep that video forever. Don't worry if you change phone - it's on the cloud :)

Playing with the latest board game 


It was from Yan and so fun to play! Only Kai had not played it. I don't know why. Tween??

We had lunch at Ikea on the Tuesday after LNY weekend - no school and I had a medical appointment at Alexander Hospital (more on that later). As usual, must walk through all the showrooms! Also bought a few things for the house. The kids had ice cream too. And we packed some hotdog buns for lunch the next day. Everyone was happy!

One was focused on drinking, one wanted to talk to the brother, and one just wanted to rest...


Must hug all the fluffy things *.*


We're going to Beauty World tmr to get a haircut for Sito, Yang and Yu - $6 is the cheapest we have seen. Just hope no LNY surcharge... We'll also have dinner there - so many options!

The dog who wasn't useful

Came across the Huayi Festival earlier in January and saw a Mandarin production for 5-8yo 我的“汪汪”在哪儿? or The Dog Who Wasn't Useful. I asked and Yu said ok. But I did not mention it was in Mandarin :p 

The plan was for his brothers to stay home with Papa and join us for dinner in town later. As it happened, we went to AhMa's place to bainian last Sunday so the brothers stayed there instead. Probably no difference in what they watched but they certainly had unlimited access to snacks there!

We took a bus to Raffles Hotel and walked to Esplanade from there. The underground area right before reaching Esplanade was full of foreign workers sitting around on picnic mats - didn't expect that. I had faced questions on why there were people sitting on floors of MRT stations before (from Kai, I think) so I told Yu that many of these people were like his kakak who took a break on Sundays.

Scanned our ticket and got our stickers!


The lady who greeted us spoke in Mandarin so I think Yu probably got it that the performance would be in Mandarin? I still didn't mention and he didn't ask or complain :)

We're 小牛!


We were seated amid empty milk cartons. There were also sheep and chicken. Before the performance, the cast went around to tell the audience what to do on certain cues. For us, it was to go moo moo with pulling down actions when we heard 奶牛!奶牛!

But Yu seemed a bit shy to participate so I held his hands and moo-ed loudly :p At first he thought the dog was very useful and asked about the title of the performance. Then he realised the dog didn't feel useful in the same way as the other farm animals. Yu liked the dog's tail but he didn't want to ask to touch it :p

It was a short 50min performance. We came out to the waterfront to look see. It was a nice afternoon with many people strolling. We could see many people on the bridge leading to the Merlion and of course the Merlion was crowded!

Just take a picture from afar...


He could recognise MBS


He mentioned this to Papa again this week - he wanted to stay there coz his brothers stayed there with the grands back in March 2020. Eh, baby, but I brought you to Goodwood Park for a staycation when you were five!

The way to Raffles City was crowded with foreign workers - walking to and from the train station, and picnicking at the park. The crowd dropped off the moment we stepped on the escalator from City Hall MRT To Raffles City. Met the rest for dinner at a Japanese eatery and ice cream at Macs before going home.

I asked Yu if he liked the performance. He said he didn't know *.* But he said he would want to go to another performance again :)

Wednesday 21 February 2024

Happy Dragon Year!

The last dragon year, I was pregnant with Kai. Now, we have three bouncy boys and Kai is turning twelve!

Festivities started kind of early this year, for me at least, as Na asked me out to Chinatown the week before Taipei. The bazaar wasn't all up yet but there were lots of see and buy already.

I used this for our WhatsApp group LNY greetings :p


We had my brunch / her breakfast, and bought candy and decor before sitting down for my tea / her lunch. 

Digression: We were at Toast Box when a old lady next to us speaking Cantonese asked the staff to get her a tea and couldn't understand the cost in Mandarin. I told her the number in Cantonese then she started talking to me in Cantonese. The limits of my Cantonese are like numbers and food so.... :p

We planned to bring the boys to Chinatown like in recent years. There were only two weekends before LNY after I came back from Taipei. The first weekend, we had to return library books and lucky us - we came across a pasar malam at Bishan with LNY decor!

"Are these real coins?"


I pasted the decor from Chinatown and got Yu to help me make lanterns from hongbao as the lower primary kids could upload their work which might be showcased during the school cele - I never know whether his was chosen but we had fun!

Watching Yang staple the hongbao


Yu was a bit fearful of the stapler after accidentally stapling himself a couple of years ago. But after watching me and Yang, he decided to do it after all :)

Happy with their lanterns


He wanted a "hat"


Instead of a Saturday, we decided to go to Chinatown on a Friday and what a good choice it was - way less crowded in the day!

Yup, we left right after school - Yu had a poop so changed out of his uniform


Think Yu wanted to daydream on the menu at first but decided to return the menu to my side and daydream on the table instead :p His brothers were playing some game.

We were at Monster Curry at Chinatown Point. We tried to go to Peach Garden but they had only LNY menus and gosh, so ex! The kids probably wouldn't enjoy that as much as Monster Curry anyway. 

你一口,我一口 :)


No otters this year?


The setup was more spacious than last year but we didn't linger much to read coz it was drizzling. Went on to shop instead.

"What is this?"


We bought only baked goods this time. I think next time, we would always go to Chinatown to buy all the baked goods - way cheaper than the bakeries near us, or even supermarket. And they were yummy too!

It started pouring while we were getting drinks so might as well sit it out. We left the kids at one table and sat two tables away :p

They look like three uncles drinking at kopitiam!


The downpour eventually stopped. We went to get some buns from Dough Magic outside People's Park Complex before going home - very yummy!

Then, Kai started having a sore throat on Monday, 5 Feb. I kept urging him to do an ART but he refused. By 7 Feb, I insisted when he came home and the sore throat was still there. True enough, COVID positive. The rest of us tested too - all negative. 

By then, we had all had dinner together for at least three days. So I didn't bother with quarantine. Just tested the brothers before they went to school for the next two days even though they had no symptoms. I have many ART kits expiring in March so might as well...

So only these two dressed up for celebration in school


Kai didn't want to wear a festive top anyway so I didn't buy for him. Kind of lucky??

At first, we planned to leave Kai with me at home while Sito took the brothers to AhMa's place for reunion dinner. But Mum said to just go over. But but but, as it turned out, Kai tested negative just before we left for dinner!

He wanted to wear a mask, "just in case"


But the mask went to the bin in no time! Anyway, bad photo by me - can't even see the yusheng!

Mum and Dad were going to Malacca to visit PoPo the next day so the kids gave them oranges right after reunion dinner. We asked them to think of two lines of greetings each and they faithfully greeted their grands. Kai tried to test me on the greetings he got from tuition class - I got only one wrong and he couldn't believe it haha!

The youngest one went first


Yang next


Dragon boy finally


As usual, we gathered on our bed to watch TV and eat snacks. But the boys are so big now! I managed to sit next to Yu but Sito had to sit on the floor. Looks like next year, we would have to do this in the living room, provided they don't break their sofa ha!

Think this was pre-snacks


There was no kid-friendly late show and the boys kept irritating one another so we called it a night early. Also didn't eat much snacks I think... Forgot to bring out the melon seeds...

Yang gave us oranges first coz he's sweet :p


This boy said his greetings so shyly!


He wasn't kneeling to us; he happened to be playing on the floor and refused to budge much!


Standard annual shot


This year, we have a different background :) There's also a banner on our main door - can't see from here.

And before we could continue, Sito tested positive for COVID *.* The rest of us were still negative! And the brothers and I probably interacted more with Kai - the monkeys play together all the time while I lie down with them at night. So I gathered that Yang and Yu probably got it earlier and recovered - Yang had like a day of sore throat the week before. I got it back in December so safe.

So I brought the kids out on my own. Sito cooked his own LNY lunch :p

Must monkey around on the way to WaiPo's place


Huge apple with words on them!


I wanted Yu to hold the apple but he wanted to watch TV *.* I took a selfie instead. Love this apple :)

Next was Ah Yee's place. We bumped into MY and JW at Bishan MRT, and came out at Braddell to see Jiejie, MT and their mum - probably on the same train too. 

Adults chatted while the kids happily ran ahead to the playground. It was too late when I got there and saw Yu emerge from the tube slide with wet pants *.* He couldn't see the puddle at the bottom of the slide. So I got him a towel but it was too obscene haha! Then Ah Yee lent us a pair of pants which I tightened with an elastic band. His pants and brief were hanging on a bamboo pole - thank goodness for the strong sun that day!

He was sad to wear flowery pants (haha!)


Standard LNY shot


Yan was back for LNY!


We met for lunch the week before too. Else hard to chat with so many people around and with kids to mind... Though I must say, the boys played very well on their own so I really could chat with relatives.

Reward #1


Reward #2 was Macs for dinner. It was early but I figure they didn't have much lunch and could always top up at home. 

They tore open their hongbao last week and guai guai handed over their money for my safekeeping. I kind of just keep the notes for next year - don't want to queue online to book and then at the bank to collect new/fit notes anymore! But I jotted down their money - will invest for them!

Counting counting...


Last Saturday, we met with Sito's uni mates. Five families, 14 kids! Ours were among the youngest. Oldest already 19!

They had fun playing pool in the condo entertainment room


Got Sito to hit one when he came to get us to go home


That night, there was lots of incense smell in the air and we let it be until buay tahan, must turn on aircon. But I caught a cold by Sunday - not sure if it was the incense or the aircon!

Anyway, the incense is strong in this neighbourhood - Sito once saw a neighbour in a further corridor burning stuff at the corridor! So we would be careful and turn on aircon once we smell incense.

Only three more days to end of this LNY period. I got my tangyuan ready :)