Homemade bread is best

Some time in 2020, I considered a breadmaker to help knead my dinner rolls but bought a standmixer instead so that I can also make cakes, cut shortcrust pastry and mix sausage meat etc. I also decided against single-use items given the dearth of counter space.

Then recently, I received a breadmaker as a gift. I made my first load on 8 March and wondered why I didn't discovered the breadmaker earlier!!

1) Can throw everything in the one pan and forget about it. No need to clean separate mixing bowls or kneading surface. No need to set timers for proofing cycles or baking time etc.

2) Bread is really yummy. Of course, use a good recipe! I usually snack a bit when cutting it :p Oh yes, I got to use my bread knife which I bought years back when I first contemplated making bread. My go-to recipe is soft enough to eat on its own for two days and after that, a quick toast freshens it up. 

Best proof? The kids. Yang was the first to like the bread. Kai commented it was good when he first had it; I didn't tell him it was homemade bread. Yu finished his breakfast when he didn't when we were having store bought bread.

3) Can choose the size of my loaf. For many years, we used to finish the Gardenia jumbo loaf within the five days on the pack. When our helper left, we could hardly finish the regular loaf! Now, I make a small loaf that I cut into about 10 slices - very easy to finish. 

Not to mention the gorgeous smell of bread in the air when it's baking!

But I started baking without thinking about a container... Anyhow put slices from the first loaf into a big Ikea box. Couldn't find a suitable box at Japan Home. Then Sito did a very uncle thing and got a free box from Vitagen. He was very pleased about it. But he didn't realise it would meet my bready need! Auntie me was so happy!

Perfect size for the entire loaf!

Never mind why Vitagen gives such boxes la, haha!

Notice the top half slices? I couldn't cut one end properly this time so I sliced the other way. And I had a snack before this picture :p

Also made a chocolate bread one day. Yang and Yu liked it but I didn't like it - it smelled good when baking but the chocolate taste was lacking. I'm sticking to my loaf for now but also looking forward to other types! Time to google :)

We are so positive!

I'm a positive person. But the longer the ART says positive, the less positive I become *.*

Last (wo)man standing reports on the COVID cluster in Clan Sito...

Wednesday, 9 March

We happily sharing a tray of baked sushi for dinner. Four of us dug into the tray with our spoon to put rice on seaweed before scooping more rice onto our plate. I scooped out the last serving of rice for Sito. 

Salmon and crab stick baked sushi plus side of YTF spinach soup

Then, I received a notice from child care that Yu had a C+ classmate who was last in school on Tuesday. Too late if Yu had caught it and was infectious!

Thursday, 10 March

Yu woke with a slight cough so we kept him home. By mid day, there was no cough... I thought it was just back-drip cough. In any case, with the exposure in school, we all started wearing masks at home. That night, he slept badly as he woke coughing. 

Friday, 11 March

He woke at 5.30 am with a 38.7C fever and a croup-ish cough, and went back to bed after some paracetamol. He said he felt uncomfortable :(

Poor boy slept until past 8 am on Friday

But he tested negative on the ART. Gave him paracetamol about every six hours. Thankfully, his temperature was max 38.9C. His cough was also on off. But his throat hurt when he coughed.

That evening, he went to bed early at 7.30 pm. I checked on him later and found his back all wet from sweat. Stuffed a towel up his back to avoid waking him. Later, when I checked on him again, he got up suddenly - he does that at times. So I quickly grab a shirt for him to change before he went back to sleep. 

I had promised to sleep with him that night. Not used to sleeping with aircon lately but it was ok with my mask on - nose was warm :p I did sneak back to my bed at one point - so much more comfortable! But he came to find me so I went back, sighs.

Saturday, 12 March

Kai was about to leave the house to go jogging with Sito when I remembered he received an HRN from school at 1.00 am (why this hour?!). Had him do an ART before he left. Just as well coz Yu's ART at the same time was positive. 

It was exactly one month ago that I tested positive *.* Which meant I recovered for less than a month *.*

Anyway, Sito, Yang and I did ART as well - all negative.

By then, Yu no longer had a fever. The coughing didn't sound like croup much and he seldom coughed. But when he did, his throat hurt. I sent Yu into my room to isolate. I just changed my bedsheets on Thursday 😭 Now I would have to change them in a week when he got well, sian...

He watched TV and three movies cast from my phone before he got the iPad for Maths games

Sito was to go to KL on Monday so must protected him! By relegating him to Yu's bed :p While he was out jogging with Kai, I wiped down the room, changed the bedsheets and mattress protector, and brought the duvet out to sun. 

Staycation? :p

That night, Sito and I watched TV in the living room. Haven't done that for a while! Luckily it wasn't too hot. Also convenient to get snacks :p

I slept in my bed with Yu. He'd come find me anyway. Just kept my mask on the whole night and hoped my recent infection would protect me!

Yu was really sweet though. When I told him to sleep more in the centre of his pillow, he continued to stay near the edge near me, facing me, and said, "But I like to be close to you." Awww... If I get COVID again, so be it...? :p

Sunday, 13 March

Yu slept in. I'd like to think his body was tired from fighting COVID 💪 

Admiring my sleeping baby

But he was very energetic when he woke. He was very comfortable rolling about in my bed, and very happy too. After the morning TV, Yu had iPad time and watched movies. Would he emerge from isolation speaking more Mandarin with all those movies I gave him? Haha!

But Kai started feeling unwell from the morning. He said he felt better after a poo *.* But he didn't eat as much pizza as usual at lunch, and after 30 min on Nintendo, he went to bed! Turned out he was having a 39.1C fever! Gave him paracetamol - big boy can now take one 500mg tab. He continued to nap on off until past 3 pm. 

Then Kai and Yang watched Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on TV. Kai even went to check out my set on the bookshelf. That night, on Sito's advice, I shifted Lego away to avoid blocking the set :p

That evening, Kai tested positive. The test line showed up even as the fluid was moving upwards *.* He said he hoped it was positive, coz he knew he was positive 💁🏻

We didn't change our sleeping arrangements. I let Yang continue to sleep with Kai coz he was likely infected too! Let's get it over and done with!

Monday, 14 March

Yang still did not have symptoms but he had been sleeping in the same room as Kai all this while so I got him to test. Faint line.

Ok, Yu - come out to watch TV with your brothers! Haha! Should have done that yesterday...

They were all very happy until near noon. I was washing the kids' bathroom when Kai called me. I opened the door to find him squatting outside the bathroom. He said he felt dizzy when he lied down. So I supported him to the sofa. Seemed like he was having vertigo. Told him to sit still and let it pass. After settling him down to watch TV with his brothers, I went back to continue cleaning.

Then Yang came to tell me Kai was feeling bad. When I came out, Kai was bent over - he had puked out some water; no more food in his belly :( I let him puke some more while I prepared a simple lunch. Think it took over an hour before he felt better. Sent him to shower and he was ready for his lunch.

Poor Kai

When I went to get 5kg rice, I checked out the clinic - not crowded! So we went to the clinic. It was quite a long wait after the ART. Kai was shocked that the ART swab was done differently from how he did it 😅

Told the doctor that he seemed to have had an episode of vertigo. When Kai heard her say "ver-tie-go", he asked out loud, "Is it 'ver-tih-go' or 'ver-tie-go'?" :p

Anyway, the doctor said that she had seen more kids than adults with dizziness and nausea. Good to know! 

With Kai's episode, I was doubly glad that I prepared porridge for dinner!

No change to sleeping arrangements. I shall be ⁨💪💪💪!

Tuesday, 15 March

Yang developed a fever. Gave him paracetamol close to 8 am. Then just as he was seated at breakfast, he said he felt like puking. I ran to grab a bag but was too late. Had to wipe floor again... Should have told him to just go to the toilet bowl!

It was his dinner last night - could see the rice, broccoli and chunks of pork. Don't know why it wasn't digested already. Unlike Kai, Yang didn't feel dizzy.

Kai had homework from school so he did that in the morning. 

Some time in the afternoon when I was ironing clothes, Yang called out to me suddenly just to tell me that he didn't feel like puking anymore *.* I thought he was going to puke *.*

Cisco came to collect Kai's TraceTogether token. They went according to MOH's list so didn't collect Yang's token... I had to take a picture of the QR code on the token before leaving it outside for contactless collection. The lady slipped a letter under our door - needed that and the QR code to collect a replacement token for Kai later.

We had our first tingkat dinner! Forgot to take picture - ginger chicken, marmite pork which tasted like fish, steamed eggs and broccoli/cauliflower. Complaints filled my ears... Haha!

By evening time, I realised their digestive systems were all compromised. At first, I was very happy to see Yang poop at lunch time. But it happened again at dinner time and it was watery both times. Kai said he also had watery poop. When Yu went, it was also watery. Poor thing.

Yang's fever came up again so more paracetamol close to 2 pm and just before bedtime when he reached 39.5C on our new thermometer. This boy had febrile fits when he was a tot so I was very cautious! When I checked on him near 9 pm and found him hot, I wiped him on the head and neck. Poor boy continued to sleep - so tired :(

Wednesday, 16 March

Yang woke up ok but developed a slight fever so he had a last dose of paracetamol. He said his stomach didn't feel well throughout the day :( But no cough.

Both Kai and Yu still tested positive on the ART. Yu's was still a strong line, sighs.

Did some work in the afternoon. While Kai did his school work and Chinese assessment book, I read Yang's Chinese text with him. Yu did his maths assessment book largely on his own and he did well!

Thursday, 17 March

No more fever. Kai and Yu were still coughing. Yang still had tummy discomfort.

Sian. Can't wait to do ART test again tmr!

Friday, 18 March

No luck.

Saturday, 19 March

Yu tested negative at lunch time, yeah! This is Day 8 for him.

I sent him to his own bed that night so that I didn't have to turn on the aircon. My nose was suffering. But too late - I developed a runny nose the next day, sighs...

By now, I'm totally sick of this COVID business. Mechanical updates henceforth!

Sunday, 20 March

No luck for Kai and Yang.

Monday, 21 March

Yu went to school, yeah!!

Got Kai and Yang up at the usual 6 am to do ART. Again, no luck! Still faint line for both!

Tuesday, 22 March

Kai finally tested negative on his Day 10 and went to school, yeah!

Yang still had a faint line on his Day 9.. BUT! I checked government FAQs and MOH website etc. So after day 7, no need to test - just go about normally coz likely low viral load. Um, ok, if you say so! Can't bear for him to miss more school... 

But we decided to do one more test at 4 pm. Still feel better knowing he is negative la... And yes, negative woohoo!

Swooped them up to the barber and went to fetch Yu. Had a celebratory prata dinner. Everyone was happy yeah!

*** *** ***

I think the most sian parts about COVID are:

• Laundry: I changed my beddings on Saturday and theirs on Tuesday. This included mattress protectors, vacuuming the mattresses (damn hot), dusting the windows and worst of all, loads of laundry! I've done three full loads so far, two more to go *.* Or maybe I could spread the smaller load among regular loads for this whole week *.*
• Disinfecting: If laundry is bad, think about all the other things that little germy hands have touched! I give up on their hard toys - impossible! Now we're quite immune and the virus won't stay on surfaces for more than a few days. But things that they hold close to their lovely face must be disinfected or changed! So gadgets, soft toys (another load of laundry!) and toothbrushes etc.
• Stuck: Cannot go out, very sad. No March holidays for the older boys, even sadder. Saddest is me - stuck with three monkeys for a very long period of time, complete with fights and quarrels, complaints over each other and food, and smelly farts throughout the day, hoho!

Today, all kids are in school. I steamed the entire floor and finally swept and mopped the living room balcony. I have a lot of time today as the older kids have CCA. So will do more after this break! 💪💪💪

When the kids are C+

I did not expect another C+ in this household so soon. In fact, make that three more C+.

Yu tested C+ exactly one month to the day I tested C+ in February. We had him don a mask as soon as we knew he was a close contact but the siblings play together too much which is a good thing during normal times...

So in addition to earlier tips on surviving home recovery for adults, let's see some learning points from my current experience... 

*** *** ***

1) If a preschool kid gets a health risk notice, he/she is probably already infected. Just look at how these monkeys wear their mask. They don't wear them properly. And Monkey told me they don't nap with their mask. Btw, two thirds of his class have been infected in two waves; he missed the first wave coz he was home with me when I was C+.

And look at the timeline for HRN:

• Tuesday: C+ kid last in school
• Wednesday evening: School alerted parents
• Thursday: HRN issued

For a C+ with TraceTogether, the timeline varies depending on whether it's the token or the app. In our experience, the token was collected one day after being tested.

2) If you get C+ without knowing why, your close contact probably did not get tested and hence no contact tracing was done. I did not plan to get the kids tested as their symptoms were manageable and I had enough medicine at home. But Kai was dizzy for some two hours and puked on Day 2 of our home test. So I brought him to the doctor. Token was collected on his Day 3 - um, too late for his close contacts?! *.* But ok la, school holidays break for him.

3) If a preschool kid gets COVID, his/her siblings are probably going to get it too if they are close - play together and/or sleep together. Coz it's too late by the time you put on the mask, even if the kids can wear mask properly. See points #1 and #2.

4) Don't bother isolating the preschool kid. First, these monkeys can't be left alone unless TV is a huge draw. Second, you still need to wipe their cute bums. Third, see point #3.

Better to isolate the healthy adults and any vulnerable persons. 

If everyone turns C+, it's a party! Haha! No need for isolation. Just need the right apps to make sure food and grocery supply is not disrupted.

Managed to isolate Sito in time; he remains C-. As I just recovered, I probably have some level of immunity. Have been sleeping right next to Yu and breathing in his sweet baby smells and sweaty hair, and still C-. 

5) Even if isolation is for the healthy, i.e. the healthy wears mask, the C+ should also wear mask. Yes, these kids don't wear mask very well and viruses can escape but the mask is still very useful for catching cough and sneezes and preventing germy droplets from landing on walls and toys etc. Also get them to wash hands all the time.

I'm doing everything I could to minimise disinfection work later...

6) Working parents in particular need good entertainment options at home. Kiddy TV ends by noon! Not the best nanny but it works. This non-working parent still needs to clean toilets...

Alternatives: 

• Toys. Good opportunity for them to learn to pick up after themselves, if they can't do so yet. 
• Books. Try the app if you run out of physical books. Our library has a good store of ebooks for kids. Monkey downloaded a lot while I was not looking! 
• Board games. A new discovery late last year and a very useful one. They even played Scrabble at one point. I took the chance to pull out an old dictionary - check this book instead of asking me :p
• Nintendo and YouTube Kids are fail-proof. On the TV so you save their eyes!

With little hands touching everything and little faces coughing everywhere, point #5 is very important!

7) Order tingkat which is way cheaper than food delivery. For four of us, I order dinner tingkat for two pax and cooked my own rice. This was meant to relieve cooking during the school holidays as I intended to bring them out etc. Became isolation food @#$%^&*

At $13.40 per meal, it is cheaper than the cheapest delivery I ordered - cai png including rice and delivery fees at $18. Other options are way more ex - $25 for Hainan Story, $35 for Macs, $45 for Dian Xiao Er.

*** *** ***

The kids are still C+ today, which is Day 5/6/7 of their first positive test. Hoping for them all to go negative this weekend!

Vaxxing the kids

When I told these three late last year that kids could get vaccinated against COVID soon, I was met with scrunched up faces - no, I'm scared, it's painful!

Fast forward to mid January or so, Kai started asking me when he could be vaccinated. Oh, now you want to be vaccinated? Turned out that over half his class had had their first dose. Yang didn't know anything about his classmates. Yu knew that his good friend FF had her first jab but wasn't too convinced...

We decided earlier that we should vaccinate the kids. It doesn't mean they won't get COVID, but hopefully it would be mild. I also thought that if vaccination allows them to have as normal a life as possible, e.g. this mama feels better about bringing them to various places, then they will get the vaccination. And who knows whether or when vaccination differentiation measures would apply to kids while they're still kids?

I was waiting for a good timing. At first, I heard Yang's swimming lessons in school would be term 1. I didn't want him to miss those with his friends.  I also hope to bring them out to jump about during March holidays; Yu has been asking to go to a bouncy castle. And perhaps I should stagger the three of them to better manage any side effects? And do this when Sito is around? etc...

Then came sibling walk-in. Then the surge in number of cases. I finally made an appointment for 24 Feb just before Sito's return, and just before I knew I had COVID, shifted that early to 14 Feb since side effects of first dose should be manageable.

But COVID hit me. And Yang got a string of HRNs from school. Yu's class was also one third down; luckily he was home coz I had COVID. I realised that if we waited further, they might get COVID.

Vaccine website says to postpone vaccination during HRN. But Yang kept getting HRNs! Found an FAQ on whether to keep appointment in the event of an HRN but it was vaguely answered as - normal activities can continue during HRN if ART is negative. Then LC shared in our group chat that she knew someone who went during HRN. So I made the appointment for Kai on Monday, 21 Feb despite Yang and Yu being on HRN; they would go as walk-in siblings.

And just as I decided to go ahead, I had the jitters. What if they had bad side effects?! The paranoid side of me can't help thinking about striking lottery. This kind of lottery can be serious. Later, after their first dose, I saw a news article about serious side effects that would have put me off longer!

Anyway, in the group chat with LC and Siok, Siok shared something reassuring. Her own kid - one year younger than Yang - was among the first to be jabbed in his age group. Ok, let's go!

Yu remained home that day coz I wanted to see if there were new cases in his class. So there was no need to go fetch him. After Kai and Yang returned, we went to Macs at BPP. Since they didn't want coconut water, I fed them ice cream *.* Also some nuggets coz Kai and Yang needed lunch. The staff gave them balloon swords - they were so happy!

Ice cream but no chocolate toppings today

Arrived just in time for our 3.30 pm appointment. The staff were very nice! I showed student passes and birth cert, and answered questions while the swordmen did swordman things and weighed themselves repeatedly *.*

Still in school uniform but they had changed out of their shoes

We didn't wait long. Kai went first. Mistake. Coz he went, ah sooo painful! So the brothers were scared :( Yang was cooperative enough. He stayed still and was quiet but he said it was painful. Yu sat on my lap but he kept moving, and when the needle went in, he went loud though it wasn't quite a scream. No one cried though.

Swopped seats during observation time to practise 听写with this one...

The screen was far in front but still a soul sucker...

Yu looked so tiny!

He wanted a photo like his friend B, holding the stickers

The nurse gave each of them two stickers but Kai didn't want them so his brothers got three each. By the time we got home, there were only three left coz I threw whatever they dropped on the ground. They refused to just keep it in the bag!

Round 1 done!

Huh, there's round 2? Haha! Yes, my boys!! But they agreed they knew what to expect next time... (Though Yu forgot soon after *.*)

At the start of the overhead bridge to BPP, a family of four saw us taking pictures and stopped. They went to the vax centre and decided not to go ahead. We chatted a bit about our experience. When we left, I saw the parents take out birth certs - I suppose it was reassuring to see a single parent bring three kids for a jab at the same time?!

As we went into BPP, we saw Yu's classmate who was going for his round 2. Hope that gave Yu some courage for round 2?

Left the kids at the Pokemon machines while I quickly grabbed some canned tomatoes. Then we had an early dinner at our fave place where the kids had their usual beef udon and sushi. I was hungry enough to order a wazen with double carb - hadn't had that for ages!

Two were busy talking while one was busy eating

I made porridge for dinner the next day in case they didn't feel well. But it was at most a sore arm. Kai had a pretty sore arm. After school, Yang's arm was also sore but in a nice way, haha! Yu's arm was not sore even at bedtime. The first dose was pretty uneventful...

Now, I had wanted to post about their vaccination after their second dose today. But we did not go for the second dose as all three caught COVID :( More on that later...

There was no option to cancel appointments so I called MOH on Tuesday. No need to cancel. I also asked when they should take their second dose and got a dose of weird advice: Kai who went to a doctor for dizziness and puking could take his second dose 90 days later while Yang and YU who weren't in MOH's registry of COVID patients could proceed with the second dose now. 

Um, I was asking about COVID vs. vaccination and was not expecting vaccination to be dependent on whether they were in MOH's records!! Best.. The lady was also quite amused and agreed I could wait for the other two too... 

Btw, at this point, the advisory on the vaccine website no longer asks people on HRN to postpone vaccination.

The short one

This shortest month of the year was made even shorter by my COVID-19 episode. Didn't have much fun after LNY. With the surge in cases, we didn't go out far. Couldn't too due to my infection and their HRW.

First day of LNY - Papa playing chopsticks with younger ones while having a massage by Kai

The clinic at TPY which gave me nightmares bitter medicine when I was very young

财神爷?!

I also pretend - student holding a file (of rice!)

Just the two of us having breakfast before my booster shot

I was struggling about this - should I wait a bit longer or have the kids do theirs first? I was trying to time the kids' vaccination such that it would not coincide with swimming lessons in school and they would get to play during March holidays. We heard Yang was to have swimming lessons this term but it didn't happen. Waited for nothing. Now with so many cases, I also bo chup March holidays - vax them asap!

Sito and I both chose Moderna after Pfizer. He took his right after Christmas, at Buona Vista CC after lunch at Mum's place. Symptoms came on that afternoon. So he told me to do this near home instead. Went to Yew Tee for 9 am appointment. Symptoms came on that evening. Fever and body ache - similar to Sito's. I don't know why I didn't take paracetamol early and suffered badly that night :(

Akan datang for kids' vaccination stories...

Anyway, after my booster, I managed to haul myself out for dinner on Saturday with the help of medicine. Bought two new books.

And I found them reading quietly on Sunday morning :)

After I recovered from COVID, Yu continued to stay home until the following Tuesday. I was able to do some activities with him. 

"I don't want to do hard work!" So he drew a big circle and divided it up instead of drawing individual circles!

But I kept feeling sleepy in the days following COVID. I even dozed off on the sofa next to Yu while he was doing maths on Reading Eggs! 

That evening, we had porridge and finished cleaning up pretty early. After I showered, I hid in Yu's room while they were playing in the living room :p Took some 20 min before Kai discovered me and wanted me to play Beyblade. Then Yang and Yu brought the fire station in so I could watch them play. 

I felt so wanted, haha!

I finally cut my hair!

$15 at the market, plus $15 for wash, all paid by CDC vouchers yeah! I usually cut hair on my birthday but this year, it was on a Saturday - kids home. And then it was LNY period so there were surcharges. Then I got COVID. Feels good to finally chop off the frizzy ends!

We were wearing the same doggy masks!

This baby felt some sharp thing on the mask so he didn't want it. I thought it was just glue. I wore it. My ears were hurting all the way home :(

Can you see a baluku in the middle of my forehead? I was making beds and my head was between the upper and the lower bunks when I hit the back of my head against the upper bunk. My reaction was to shrink away from the upper bunk, causing my forehead to kiss the lower bunk *.* At point of writing, the baluku has gone down but the bruise is too obvious T.T

Orange chicken with 60% approval rating!

The spaghetti failed in their eyes coz of the vege :( I like this dish though! Yummy and kind of healthy! I had wanted to buy boneless thighs with skin but I could find only skinless thighs with bone...

Referee for Beyblade :p

The highlight of the last day of February was this:

Sito had dinner and decided to take some time off work to watch an anime with the boys on their request :) I came in from throwing rubbish and saw this. Ran out to grab my phone to take pictures. My lovely boys!

Must ask Papa questions :p

Sito actually went to KL for three weeks so he spent only nine days of this month with us at the beginning and end of the month combined. Seems apt to start and end this post with a photo of him and the boys :)