First extraction; last milk teeth

I had a stressful 45min today.

Kai was starting lunch when he decided to act on a shaking tooth on his left lower jaw. Then it got stuck - hanging out but couldn't be pulled out.

Brought him to the nearest dentist on the same stretch as Fairprice. After having to wait for a while for the grouchy receptionist and giving Kai's IC number, I was told that the earliest he could be seen was 2 pm or it would be tmr. Coz lunch time.

Hello, I reached at 12.40 pm and said his tooth was hanging out! Why couldn't they just tell me lunch time straight away and even ask for his details??!

Ok, our timing also sucks. I gave my details for 2 pm but the moment we stepped out, I asked Sito to help find another one coz my phone low battery.

Sito called three more in our neighbourhood and had two more unfriendly receptionists saying lunch time too. The third sounded very warm and understanding when she heard it was a kid ("Oh, milk teeth?"), and gave us a 1.30 pm appointment. It was barely 1 pm but we walked over immediately. We were registered immediately and beckoned in within five minutes. 

The dentist was a young lady, friendly and helpful. I was afraid Kai might be losing his adult tooth as my records showed I had the milk tooth in that position already, and there was another tooth right in front of it which might be knocking against it. 

But the dentist assured me that it was his baby first molar. She also looked at my picture of Kai's tooth box (which I hurriedly took before leaving the house) and told me that one of the teeth was wrongly placed. 

Phew!

Anyway, she suggested removing the first molar on the right side too as the adult tooth had already erupted in front of it. But we had to convince Kai -  he had never had an extraction before and was afraid it might be painful. In the end, the dangling one was more painful 🤷‍♀️ And the numbing gel tasted like candy :p

So that's it, Kai has no more milk tooth!

I took the opportunity to ask the dentist about braces. She herself does Invisalign for straightforward (ha!) cases; she assessed that Kai might be able to do Invisalign but would need a specialist to confirm.

We were done by 1.15 pm, a good 45min before the silly 2 pm appointment at the other dentist! This dentist is more expensive though. But I don't want Kai to suffer more. 

So now, it's time to research braces... We have time as he still has at least one empty space waiting for its adult tooth to emerge...

Hot hot Legoland

After a wet trip in March, we were rewarded with a super dry trip this time :)

But it was hot. Very hot. Too hot!

Wednesday, 11 June

Used a different car company this time, contact from JY. Car was Innova vs. the usual Starex. It was smaller but no less comfy, especially for a short trip. Best part was that it was a third cheaper plus we didn't need to get off the car to clear immigration. In fact, we tried using QR code for the first time - it was so quick! Good job, ICA!

Ride was smooth. Immigration was quick. Dropped off our suitcase and headed to Legoland!

So hot that even Kai had no objections to the observation tower

Yang and Yu took on the pumping role for the way to the rescue!

Boat cruise with brolly

Yes, my hat couldn't make it. It covered too low and I couldn't see. For this heat, my usual cap also wouldn't help. Happy to have brolly.

Sito sat with girls while his boys were playing a small game outside the city stage

Enough heat. We checked in, unpacked a little and Sito set up a console game that we bought recently just for Legoland stays! The kids played a bit before heading to AEON for dinner at our fave restaurant, Vivo Pizza!

They spotted this display

But we didn't watch the show. No time. Then last night, the Jackie Chan Karate Kid movie from over 10y ago was showing on TV so we watched it. Bought some lok lok - our first time! - and Blackball desserts after our usual massage and went back to the apartment.

They were enjoying themselves

Thursday, 12 June

Day 2 is always water park day! I just got my period, unfortunately, so I didn't get to enjoy the water on such a hot day :( Nvm, just watch the kids ba!

Silly Kai kept getting the bucket to pour water over him!

Waiting for the big bucket ~ every 15min

I hid in the shade while they spent long time in the wave pool

I was shocked to see this small one carrying this down the steps!

Coz Papa found a twin one, and Yu insisted on bringing the single one back instead of leaving it there. He looked so tiny... Later, Yang brought one up to play - he's big enough to do it safely.

The twin float

This time, we went to Paradigm Mall for rock climbing after our usual lunch at Tian Lai - yes, must eat crab :p But this time, I couldn't eat my full share of the two crabs coz I was too full! Anyway, Yang first suggested rock climbing. The brothers were also keen so we ditched AEON this time.

Awww, so sweet! Or just kidding?!

Yang was more fearful of heights so he went up to 4-5m max

Kai managed to reach the top twice - via the pink and then red trails!

Yu went up to about 6m; he couldn't get past the black part in the middle of the photo above. But good first attempt.

We had a funny ride home. I always tell them to put on seatbelts after entering a car. This trip, the driver said nvm, no one would catch us for not wearing seatbelts. Um, hello, I was more concerned about our safety than whether anyone would catch us! 

Kai didn't bother with the seatbelt at first. Then along the way, he suddenly looked for his seatbelt. Later when I told the boys that the uncle wasn't right when he thought I was concerned about being caught, and that it was because at the speed we were going (~100kmh at parts), any accident would be fatal without seatbelts, Kai said he saw the speed on the dashboard so he went for his seatbelt! Hope they all learn the importance of seatbelts..

The uncle also shot his mouth off on other things, like should find a job instead of studying, more important to earn money early. Wth?! But glad the boys weren't listening.

We all slept earlier. Too tired. Probably the sun.

Friday, 13 June

Back to Legoland. But too hot. We left for lunch at the new Nanyang Cafe, went to Sea Life to cool down, and took a few rides before we gave up and left for AEON. This Nanyang Cafe was so good! Sito had char kway teow, I had mee siam and the boys chicken bolognese.

"I'm worthy too!!" :p

Two boys were very bright :p

Watched a show to escape the heat - I like Kai's smile here :)

New flower display at mini land! Smelly Rafflesia

Sito and mf 💕 

Thanks to Yang, we have a nice shot of just the two of us :) This time, I was lazy and didn't gather us all for a family shot. Just play. Anyway, too hot to pose outside!

Top of the board!

Yu got over 300k points on Saturday but he was only third - stronger players present that day... I think I can play until fingers cramp and I still won't hit this kind of score!

Ice cream before dinner :p

Sito brought Kai and Yu to read at Popular while Yang and I sat outside. Yang had an itchy eye and was not feeling too good. We got him some eyedrops and it got better. 

Dinner was at Nando's. First time for the boys and they liked it! Yeah, one more option for us too!

This bola - doughtnut sandwich with custard filling - was yummy!

Went for massage again. Sito and I had even better therapists this time round. He's still not feeling his heels and I'm still feeling the soreness in my arches. Shiok! 

Oh, we also had a free supper at the massage place. Yu ate more siew mai than Sito *.* I didn't have anything this time though I had a nice kueh on Wednesday. Think it was in March that we first had some food before/after massage. The outlet always has them but we didn't try in the earlier years. Wasted haha! Coz quite yummy.

Blackball was on the late supper menu again. The kids said it was the last night so they stayed up late, even later than poor tired Mama!

Saturday, 14 June

Very soon, it was our last day... Like Friday, we split into two groups and I went with Yu. Yu was again the first kid at the boating school. 

Last we took this aeroplane ride was pre-COVID!

While waiting for Yu at the driving school, I thought I was experiencing what it was like to have an only child - there was time to focus on him and observe him. He drove carefully and stuck to the correct lanes. He gave way at junctions and was so pleasant the whole time :)

Sito book robotics slots for Yang and Yu. Yu and I barely made it there in time! This time, the system and sets were slightly different from March. Yu said it was easier in March. 

They had to measure number of wheel rotations etc

Cotton candy finally!

We went for a sit-down lunch at Nanyang Cafe. Sito had mee rubus and the rest of us had toast and polo bun. Yang and Yu had their wish finally - Milo dino! Next trip, we will have breakfast here :)

Fast forward to today...

We just dismantled five LEGO swords of varying sizes, breaking a few pieces here and there. Finally got the kids to agree to dismantling them by getting them actual swords from Legoland!

Posing with his sword before it was taken apart

Time to book our next trip? :)

Sweet sixteen

Not the kids, not yet. Us :)

Once again, posting late. And this year, we didn't even head out, haha! Getting lazy. Getting 老夫老妻 :p 

But mostly, we're tired with our holiday revision schedule for the kids *.* So we haven't been out this week apart from essential grocery shopping.

We're heading to Legoland again this month so maybe we'll have a nice dinner there? :)

Reusing a photo from our March trip here - strolling in the rain!

So yes, 16!

Updated 8 June

Sito reminded me that we had a nice breakfast at J65 just last Wednesday, our last long day without kids before term ended. But no photo!!

Mid year report

The year started with a flurry of activities and lots of uncertainty as our firstborn entered Sec 1. Now, the first two terms are over.

I'm happy to see Kai thriving in secondary school. 

Yes, he can still be quite blur when it comes to organising himself. First, we taught him to use the calendar to remind him of all the WA dates. Later, we had to tell him to check emails, Google classroom and WhatsApp etc regularly for updates on academic, school and CCA matters, AND update us if he needs to stay back in school etc.

And sometimes, he's just stubborn about things, or overly worried. Like D&T. His team creation did not work, and so he didn't take a picture *.* His team mate didn't bother. So we discussed and guided him on what to do. In the end, he asked an old friend for a photo to show in his assignment what it could have looked like and explained why it didn't work or something like that. It worked.

But he has been fantastic at homework and revision - we seldom had to nag him to do them, at most a reminder or a quick check on whether he had finished them.

In term 1, Kai forgot to study for his science WA. I think that worked him up for revision in term 2! In the end, he did very well for semester 1, with L1R4 of 10. His English alone was C6 so plenty of room for improvement. He knows that as well. Overall, we are all very pleased with his achievements this semester :)

Inserted para 8 June: While reviewing his 1A Chinese this week, he told me that his secret weapon was his own 笔记本 where he records phrases and terms for reference. He said he was forced to do this in P3. In P4, he wasn't sure if he needed to do this so he just did it. And the habit continued! I didn't even know!

We wondered if his lacklustre PSLE results gave him motivation to do better in secondary. If so, well, the PSLE results are super good then! In the grand scheme of things, PSLE is the least important exam.

There were two parts to his MTP - meet the parents session. Morning sessions were for teachers who wanted to meet parents. Afternoon sessions were for parents who requested to meet teachers.

We didn't get a "see me" note (haha!) which means he's doing fine. All teachers except English sent out PG blasts to parents to book afternoon slots. In particular, his literature teacher encouraged parents not to be too hard on the kids as this was their first attempt at literature - so nice!

We only wanted to meet his English teacher. Had to email his form teachers to find his email. Turned out that he's a relief teacher for the term as the original teacher in term 1 was on maternity leave. But she would be back in term 3.

Anyway, it's the same old - read. And the teacher also shared with us funny things that Kai did in class. Mainly about his social awareness. Um, like Sito said, a triangle is a triangle; we can only soften the edges...

Besides academics, he also did well in chess - his participation in NSI has been noted down in his report slip; now, they all keep report books at home and bring back the slips to file themselves. He's also participating in chess tournaments outside to gain experience even though he has been losing ratings overall. As long as he is interested, and can put his academics first, we will support his chess endeavours!

Things he made in D&T

Now, Yang. He did worse in term 2 than in term 1. We feel for him as he really worked very hard with us since the beginning of the year. He's such a sweet boy that it's hard to see him being disappointed after putting in so much effort :(

We asked his form teachers, also his Chinese and science teachers, at his PCTC - parents child teacher conference - how he was in school and how we could help him. He seems to have difficulty focusing. Sito has started meditating with Yang before bedtime. Hopefully that could help Yang over time. 

The good thing this semester is his constipation issue - with track and field as his CCA, he exercised and drinks more water. So he has been pooping twice a week quite consistently now. In the past few(er) times that the toilet was clogged, I found that the poop was softer, just big. So it looks like his issue is a big balloon (rectum, as referred to in a video on constipation) which will take time to shrink. Will continue to work on this health issue.

Finally, Yu. He had his first WAs this year, and so far, he has performed consistently good. But he failed Chinese compo in class a couple of times *.* Need to watch that bit if he wants to meet his goal of getting AL4 for exams this year. This boy has high expectations of himself... We shall see...

He also took beginner Malay in term 2 and practised a bit with YeePo fortnightly. A bit :p At the end, he asked if he could take intermediate Malay. Sure, if he's interested and can be motivated to study on his own, coz parents could not help at all! Then this boy said he wanted to take it so that he could play with his Malay class friends during lunch..!!!

At his PCTC, he was a different person! Quite unlike Yang who was still his usual self though less loud :p Yu said he was shy. Ha! Let him portray a 乖乖 image in school ba!

With results slips and after speaking with teachers, we started the term break with a trip to the science centre!

Birdly!

Need to wear a mask before putting on the headset

It's VR that allows users to feel like a bird! I "flew" very near MBS, helix bridge, floating platform, SG flyer etc. So cool to see them from height.

The boy who is not yet 1.4m for Birdly went to fight viruses in the same hall

Hahaha!

Us two retirees mostly sat around after Birdly. The kids are familiar enough with the place to roam on their own. Kai had his phone with him so it was convenient for us to find them too.

First laser maze experience

He asked if he did it like mission impossible, complete with the music. Eh, no way, boy. You crossed the laser beams four times, means can die four times in MI!

One of the last things we did was competing with AI to guess a drawing. Just nice five seats. We took turns to draw and guess. The AI is quite cool, able to detect writing under scribbles, and understand Chinese and hanyu pinyin! 

Just nice for five of us

Must try bubble tea robot outside science centre!

It was very cool to see the robot hands make our drink. The strawberry tea was yummy too and marked a nice end to our trip..

But no, we were not done yet. Went to eat and shop for Japanese curry roux.

Long time no eat Paradise Dynasty!

But no, they were not done yet. After three bowl of noodles and 20 xlb, they each had a hotdog bun from Ikea. Kai topped it with soy ice cream from Ikea too. On the way home, we found that OCK at the MRT station had reopened after renovations, and got them all some OCK. Back home, they had snacks while watching TV. Why are they still slim??!

Kai is now quite thin. I think it is due to him having more lunches in school. Canteen food for sure isn't protein heavy. He's missing out on all my double cheese burgers! Must build him up in June :) Yang has been gaining height and weight - he feels more chunky these days. Yu still eats very well so no issue, ha!

So there, mid year report on the Sito boys. We will still work hard during the term break, but we will also play hard hard! Hope for good weather :)

A special dragon boat festival

Coz Yang and Yu tried to wrap bah zang :)

I had originally arranged with Mother to wrap bah zang on Wednesday when the boys all came home late. Then a couple of weeks back, we were going through Yu's Chinese and came across a passage on dragon boat festival. This boy said he wanted to learn how to wrap bah zang. 

So I quickly rearranged to last Saturday. Yang decided to join us too as the alternative was to go with Papa who was accompanying Kai to a chess tournament. 

On Saturday, I prepared Kai's usual chess tournament day breakfast - prata with scrambled eggs - and also gave the brothers some eggs. By the time we all got ready, it was pushing 9 am - so late!

I had to swing by the hawker centre to get my usual pre-bah zang fix - glutinous rice from the economic beehoon stall. Few hawker stalls sell this and none near me! So by the time I finished my breakfast and started wrapping, it was 10 am.

I demonstrated wrapping once, and helped these two with their wrapping. They managed to put the ingredients in and made one fold in the leaves :) So they didn't wrap the thing fully but it was fine. I think they had a good experience and could try again next time. 

Yang had a softer grip so his leave pouch remained roundish

Yu gripped the leave pouch quite tightly so it was kind of flattened :)

I spent 1.5h making some 40-50 bah zang while the boys watched TV. Things didn't end there. As the bah zang went for their hot bath, they went to the playground downstairs. I went after them in 30 min to grab their lunch and my iced kopi - very very hot day!

It was more waiting for the bah zangs to cook and cool down, before we could bring them home. I put some aside for breakfast the next day and put the rest in the fridge.

It was a happy breakfast! Kai had two. Yang happily ate his bah zang - Mother marked out their creations with bits of ruffian string. He said he didn't know why he didn't like it last time :) Yu was sad that his bah zang wasn't pretty; it broke up as I opened it. He said he used to prefer outside bah zang to WaiPo's ones but now he had forgotten the taste of outside bah zang and this was yummy. So he had a second one - ok la, the two of them made small bah zang :) 

But that means I had only one bah zang. Oh well, I could eat less... I'm just happy that all three of them like it :) This tradition can then carry on :)

First inkling of NS

来了！来了！Kai's notice of exit permit requirements arrived yesterday via registered mail, just under two months before his 13th birthday.

It's rare that we get a postman at our door, and imagine our surprise when the mail was for Kai. Sito took a look behind and viola - NS.

So from his 13th birthday onwards, he would have to apply for an exit permit if he's going overseas for three months or more. But this kind of travel is not happening :p

In any case, it's now super easy to apply for an exit permit with just a few clicks. Sito said that it used to be required for every overseas trip, and he used to have to go to CMPB - or was it ICA? He couldn't remember - all the time for his term break travels. 

I was like, huh then what about those who hop over to JB on weekends? Apparently, there used to be a blue passport for travel to Malaysia with no need for exit permit! 

I tried to search for the history of exit permits but my google search skills not powerful enough.

Anyway, Kai is now my height. Actually I last measured his height on 20 April so he might be taller than me now?? Guess it depends on how straight he stands...

Big boy!

School gatherings

Two unexpected gatherings took place recently.

I knew from Facebook that my secondary school would be celebrating its 65th anniversary on Saturday, 17 May, and saw that some old friends would be going back to meet and collect souvenirs they ordered. Well, I didn't enjoy my secondary school life much so I just read and no action.

Then maybe a day or two before that, SX texted me over Messenger to ask if I wanted to go back. From there, I realised that I created a WhatsApp group with her and two other friends from Girl Guides back in 2014 but exited in 2022 or 2023. I didn't remember either!

Anyway, she added me back in and four of us arranged to catch up in school. When my fellow Guides call, I'll respond!

Before I go into the visit, let me share my adventure...

I thought I would walk from AMK MRT station but I couldn't find the sheltered walkway - think it was no more due to the construction... The sky was getting greyer so I decided to take the bus.

And then I lost my way *.*

There were signs I was on the wrong bus:

1. For a route the plies a school, there was no students in the queue.
2. Berth signage says AMK Ave 9 - I thought 265 goes to Ave 5? Maybe Ave 5 was enroute.
3. I saw from the screen some 5m from the bus berth while waiting - there were two lines for bus 265; I thought I blur saw wrongly since it was quite far away.
4. When the bus arrived, there were already passengers on the bus though I boarded at the bus interchange.
5. Final straw was when the bus turned right instead of left at the MRT junction. I haven’t been to school for almost 30y but I lived in that neighbourhood for a long time so I knew the general direction was wrong. 

Asked driver and indeed, I was on the wrong 265! He kindly told me to alight, cross the road to take the same bus, and not to alight at the bus interchange. 

Why oh why can’t they have two numbers or label them 265A and 265B??!

Never been so glad to see the school when I finally got there, 20min later than expected!!

SX and JX were at the bus stop when I got there; LS couldn't make it at the last minute. Three of us went in, and stayed there for two hours!

It was Speech Day in the morning followed by carnival and stuff for the anniversary do. So SX actually saw our old principal who left shortly after the Speech Day ended.

Also bumped into many other old friends from Girl Guides and other classes. Quite nice to see one another in school after 30y! Some surprises too, like an ex-colleague and a couple of Girl Guides juniors who recognised me; Auntie was, after all, Company Leader of the 19th Company. 

And of course the teachers! Physics teacher and Sec 2 English teacher - yes, the one who called us back for oral on Saturday so I didn't attend a Girl Guides excursion but she never showed up... But it was nice to see them la. Felt almost like a student again.

Went around to see the classrooms - I don't remember where I was anymore except that I was in a corner room once coz I puked at the corner one day :(

The canteen is smaller now as the sides are now storage areas?? Number of stalls not as many but we know it's hard to get stallholders anyway... Still remember our canteen food last time - very lucky to have many options.

LC sent me pictures of a board with my name on it a few years back when she was at the open house with her children. But I couldn't find it...

It was very hot and we were getting hungry. A group of us left school together but split for lunch. It was like the group who used to eat at Macs, and the group who used to go home for lunch. No prize for guessing which group I'm in!

My fave room in the whole school - our Guides' Den!

We spent many happy hours in the Guides' Den. Probably between school hours and CCA hours as our CCA fell on Friday afternoon. Thank goodness for my CCA, which lit up my secondary school life.

So three of us continued at AMK Hub, chatting about life and children and future for quite a long while. Really so nice to catch up with them again :)

Oh, we passed through a small tunnel behind the MRT station when we were walking from school to town. It used to connect the two sides of the station but one side - the side I remembered - was closed. I had completely forgot about that tunnel linking to the other side or I could have walked to school. But I might still be lost, to be honest, haha!

Yesterday was my primary school class gathering. I was not lost but I was still late. Left Bishan a bit later than expected as I had a tummy ache. Did not expect bus 55 to take such a long time! The journey took only 15min faster than if I had started from HV *.*

Harder to talk more with a big group but it was still nice to see everyone after such a long time. CY and I have of course been meeting up but for the rest, I had not seen some for 30y?! The last time I met them was at HV - it was probably during Yang's maternity leave, and I hopped downstairs for a quick one. 

The highlight got to be Des and KP singing out school song. I'm glad that even though all that remains of our school is just the name - it moved (a little), changed motto, school, uniform - class 6A of 1992 is remains strong!

QW gave me a ride back to HV as she was off to her second do that night. Lucky me, no risk of getting lost! :p

That's a third of our class, not bad!

Actually, I find that I'm no longer used to heading out at night... Sito and I used to go out for date nights but we have been doing day time since he stopped working. If we go out at night, it's usually together and to familiar places. Last night, I was on my own, and the bus passed by so much construction that I felt really lost... Thank goodness for GPS!

Parents lie to kids...

Yes, we do. We lie about all sorts of things. We keep telling kids not to lie but hey, we've done our fair share...

40y ago, Singaporean parents relied on the good old "mata" who would catch kids who misbehaved. "Later mata catch you!" And the blur kids of yesteryears behaved.

The other side of the coin - carrot instead of stick - is saying Santa Claus would bring presents for only the good kids - still happening today but only the very young would believe it. Same for the present from the newborn baby brother or sister for the older sibling(s). 

Kids just love presents. Or money.

Just recently week, I lied again. 

Yu lost an incisor on Tuesday morning. At night, while he was sleeping, I took his tooth from under his pillow and placed a dollar coin in its place. He was very pleased when he found the coin in the morning.

Of course, he knew it was me, not the tooth fairy. Or he knew I was the tooth fairy. So I guess no need to do this anymore... Works mostly for the first kid coz the older ones would rat it out!

Anyway, I started the whole tooth fairy thing in a bid to get them to brush their teeth properly coz no tooth fairy would enjoy finding a yellow tooth!

But the kids never like brushing much, often doing a quick one just to get it over and done with. Worse, Yu came home from a school dental screening on 5 February and told me sheepishly that he had two decaying teeth! Luckily those were milk teeth... He had a fluoride application done and then missed his recess or little bites as he wasn't supposed to eat for a while after that.

And this is the boy whose toothbrush always go wild from brushing. I thought he brushed enough. Apparently not. Sighs...

Hope he has learnt his lesson... 

Yang fared better. He usually brushes very quickly but now after eating Oreos, he would brush his teeth even if it's the middle of the afternoon. He has also started using floss sticks recently.

Kai's teeth have miraculously turned white. Apparently, children's enamel is naturally yellow due to a more transparent enamel revealing the yellow dentine inside. The enamel will calcify eventually. It looks like that has happened with Kai. 

But wait, I was on lies...

What else have I done? Oh ya, tell kids to lie with me 🤦‍♀️ 

"Don't tell your brothers!" when one kid got, say, a Macs happy meal while out on his own with me, or when I folded one kid's clothes for him on his busy day. Avoid all the "That's not fair!" Ya, parenting fails...

But hey, I guess kids have to learn that sometimes, you just have to do certain things to keep the world moving and the family peaceful???

May Day / Elections weekend

We had such a long weekend that it felt like March/September term break *.*

It started with the kids coming home from school on Wednesday, and Yang announcing that he had left his bag containing his wet bag and school shorts - he wore sports shorts home - in the school auditorium after track and field. So there was a bag of stinky clothes somewhere in school for the past five days...!

Thursday was May Day. We did absolutely nothing but study and TV. Recently, the boys were into Harry Potter. We had already watched five of the eight movies. Yang and Yu are even doing selective reading of the books, and casting spells at each other! I have (un)fortunately started to reread the series...

I think Yu dropped a tooth this day - or the next? - when watching a movie before bedtime... He's getting very good at pulling out his own teeth!

Friday was HBL day as the school was a polling centre for Saturday. This time, Yang and Yu had a lot of work for HBL - yay! It was as if they were in school as usual, except for the later wake-up time and a good breakfast. 

Kai, on the other hand, did not have much work but he needed to prepare for a number of WA the following week. He took the whole morning and part of the afternoon to finish a geography assignment 🤦‍♀️ And then when it was time to revise for WA, he found that he did not bring two of three books home! I'd better close both eyes for the sake of my mental health...

Saturday was exciting. We woke to a thunderstorm. The wind was so strong that our bedroom window was wet all the way to the top, despite the bit of roof protruding out a metre or so. Luckily, we had the aircon on and the rain didn't bother us.

But it meant that we couldn't bring the boys out for breakfast. We had wanted to bring them to check out the polling station after breakfast. They had been seeing ads on how to vote on TV. 

The rain abated significantly after breakfast at home. Sito and I went to vote before grabbing some vege for our usual porridge lunch. We were in and out within five minutes - super efficient, the polling centre was.

Sorry, spoke like that one day too early :p

The election officers at our polling centre looked super young. Sito said maybe we started working before they were even born. Goodness... 

The guy checking my IC stared at me intensely. It felt rather freaky. I look so different from my photo meh? Meh? MEH? 

In the evening, Yang and Yu went to the playground while Kai was chillaxing at home after his studies. We went down to grab the kids earlier so that we could swing by the polling centre to check it out. But of course the kids checked out the playground first :p

In the end, only Yang was more interested. Sito showed him from outside - cannot anyhow go in...

After dinner at our new fave coffeeshop where the kids all had ban mian and Kai topped up with two pratas, we walked to OHV to grab a cake. And we bumped into the grands on their way to dinner! Just nice for the kids to wish their AhYe happy birthday on the actual day!

Taken some weeks before

When we also tried the dessert from the same named stall in the same block

Sito and I ate half the small cake while watching drama and was too full to snack while watching the elections results. In fact, we fell asleep after the sample counts :p Anyway, the sample counts were accurate enough...

Sunday was 4 May. Or May the Fourth in American English. Or Star Wars English? :p

Yang and Yu were very thoughtful - each spent some time on Saturday and Sunday to make birthday cards for AhYe :) 

Happy birthday, AhYe!

Monday was a school holiday in lieu of the public holiday / polling day on Saturday. We worked Yang really hard as he had more to study. Kai and Yu also did their bits. Must work hard coz we went out in the afternoon!

Queued maybe 15min for this, yay!

Yu was saying he didn't know how to cook but he ended cooking all of his shabu by himself. I just made sure it was all cooked. And nagged them to eat coz they could not stop talking.

Then, we went to check out Yu's eyes. He came back from eye screening in school to say that he needed glasses. But the letter only told us to check the details online - waste of paper!

Anyway, he had 6/9 for both eyes, better than Yang and same as Kai for their P3 eye screening. So I didn't bother following up until last week after Malay class, when he said he couldn't see in school. He sits near the back during Malay class.

Indeed, he is shortsighted, sighs... Without glasses, he couldn't read an ad in the shop while Kai could rattle off the words. When Yu came out with the test lenses, he could also rattle off the words. 100 deg in both eyes, vs. Yang's 50 deg in one eye.

Yu wanted black or blue frame. We couldn't find one that suited him (and our budget :p) so black it was. And a squarish one, which looks better on his round face compared to a round frame.

Second and probably the last of them to wear glasses for myopia

He said he looks like a nerd now. Papa told him nerds earn a lot of money coz this small guy wants to live in a condo so good luck, haha!

We went to the Westgate playground while waiting for the lenses to be ready. Kai was bigger than some parents at the playground but that didn't stop him from being the child that he is :)

Ok, not stuck :p

We sent Kai to the train station first as he had to got for tuition. Then we went to pick up the glasses before going home. Sito and I were ready to crash but the boys were still full of energy as usual.

Vagrants Not really tired though Yang felt sick from drinking too much water

Oh, and I forgot to hang up the koi streamers for the second year running. No space to hang properly - in our first home, streamers outside our corner unit wouldn't disturb passersby; in our previous home, we had a big foyer space outside the main door - pictures here and here. Maybe that's it already...

Today, Tuesday, all kids managed to wake up on time. Surprisingly, Yang and Yu were not as sleepy as usual. Got them to finish quickly to catch the earlier bus to school so that Yang could go find his bag.

I really don't know if I wanted him to find his bag... If he found it, it would be super gross by now. If he didn't, I would have to quickly go buy him a set of swim gear for his swimming PE tmr. I shall update...

Thoughts on the train - and off the chopping board

Earlier in February, I met Mother at TTSH to accompany her for her pre-scope briefing and to collect her colonoscopy kit. On the train to Novena, I did not use my phone. Instead, I looked around.

As expected, most of my fellow lone passengers were looking at their phone.

I was reminded of something funny I saw on Facebook long ago. If you google images for "no phone in heaven", you'll see a cartoon with this caption: 

Most of the new arrivals seem incapable of conversation. They just stare at their hands in despair.

😂 

I wonder why we are stuck to our phone all the time. Maybe there is no other time to chat, play games or watch videos. I used to cram some things during my morning commute too, especially replying to work messages from the night before :p But what I like best is to zone out. 

The white noise from the train (or bus) is perfect for zoning out. Just 放空 and not think of anything. If there is outside scenery, let the eyes rest by looking far. Look but not see anything. Just don't forget to alight at the right stop!

But that morning, I was kaypoh-ing, observing my surroundings. 

In my carriage, a fellow auntie standing near me was looking at the route map. No phone in hand. I guess she was trying to find her way. 

The only other person without a phone in hand was a man in his 30s-40s seated a bit away. I noticed he had a dot on his forehead; he's Indian. I remember my ex boss telling me - more like replying this curious newbie who asked about his dot - that that meant he had gone to the temple that morning.

Then I wondered about temples. And reminded myself I should get myself a new bead bracelet as my old one broke. It broke a few times and I threaded it back until it spectacularly snapped in the shower one day and I gave up. 

I finally got the bracket last week - not one but two! My old beads were plastic and washable but these are supposedly 朱砂 or cinnabar and cannot take frequent washing. So I bought one for day wear and one for night wear - remove in between for showers ✌️ The night bracelet is made of 帝王砂 which is also a type of 朱砂 🤷‍♀️ 

Anyway, I'm not pious enough to go to a temple so I just wear the bracelets. Old habit from childhood.

Back to the train...

Checking the time, I saw that I might be early but not early enough to go walk walk. There was no way to know whether Mother would be early, on time or late coz she doesn't have a phone *.* She is still in the 不见不散 era!

Nowadays, only kids without phone need to know 不见不散 but unfortunately, we did not tell our kids about it until 20 February... Kai and Yang were supposed to meet and come home together but Kai was dismissed later than usual and Yang left without him. Kai texted us and Sito told him to go to the general office to confirm that Yang was not there. Yang was not. Kai was upset he had to waste time to look for Yang. Now Kai just comes home on his own instead of meeting his brothers on his early days.

Anyway, it's still good to know 不见不散 coz it's also about keeping a promise to meet. 

And these days, we get the younger boys to meet us downstairs or Star Vista for dinner after CCA. So far, the smart watch in Yang's bag has been charged. But should I forget to charge it one day or it ran out of battery before dinner, they really need to know 不见不散!

I remember having a lot of random thoughts that day on the train but now, I just couldn't remember much. I actually jotted down notes during the train ride but now I realised my notes were too brief - just a word or two per thought 😅 

This reminded me of something else:

When I was employed and at work, my brain and fingers were often simultaneously engaged with the screens and keyboard in front of me. Even when I was having my meal at work, I was reading or thinking about work even if I was not actively typing.

For the past three plus years and counting, my hands are often at work preparing meals and cleaning the house when the boys are in school*. But now the brain is quite free, and so thoughts tend to roam...

* Don't talk about when the boys are home - one or more will always be looking for me for one thing or another, be it milk (get it yourself!), complaints against a brother (just leave him alone!), or simply a sayang (awww...). 

Sometimes, I think of interesting, funny or just niao things. Sometimes, I have revelations. Sometimes, I get an idea of things to do.

And then I forget about them when I'm done with the chores!! *.*

I think I should drop my chores - if possible - and jot down my thoughts once I think of something so that I could write about them later. And since I'm SO forgetful that a word or two cannot retrieve my memories of my own thoughts, I need to be more detailed in my notes!

The pontianak ghost story

This week or so, we started smelling pontianak again. I mean, frangipani.

Fans of True Singapore Ghost Stories will know about the frangipani scent in the presence of a pontianak, the literal ghost of our childhood. 

When we first smelled frangipani after moving back to Holland Village, we remembered that oh ya, we used to smell that back in our first home too! No pontianak in Bukit Panjang :p

Anyway, the ghost story...

Last night, when we smelled frangipani again, Sito said we were too high up for pontianak. Very funny. Anyway, it was a warm night so we decided to turn on the aircon - first time in months that we slept with the aircon!

And while we were watching TV, I heard noises coming from the bathroom... Was it water dripping from the shower, which happens sometimes? Or maybe a pontianak to prove Sito wrong?? :p

As I walked over, about to open the door to check, the sound become more distinct. I started to sense it was... alive! Claws...?! Fangs...?!

The next thing I knew, something black started coming through the gap between the door and the threshold...

... I stepped back and called Sito...

... while it emerged fully...

... It was a... beetle!

Phew, thankfully not a cockroach! (Or a pontianak)

It flew about the light for a while before we turned it off and turned on the light outside instead. But the bug didn't fly out. We found it stationary on the floor. So Sito grabbed it with some tissue and threw it down the chute.

The smell of the pontianak remained strong in the kitchen... Nice but we retreated to the comfort of our room. 

Maybe it was scary back then, but now the pontianak really is *fondly* the ghost of our childhood. VS. kids today who will reminisce about a head in the toilet, I prefer memories of a vengeful female ghost with a crying baby...!

How much vegetables is enough?

As part of the new Grow Well SG initiative, parents of P1-P3 kids were asked to complete a "child lifestyle questionnaire" so that the kids could receive personalised lifestyle advice during school health screenings.

Last Friday, Yu had his health screening in school. His key takeaways were (1) Mama told the doctor he didn't eat enough vege, and (2) he should eat more vege.

On school days, his lunch is just carbs and proteins; why add vege to lengthen lunch time and eat into study/play time plus get too close to dinner time? His school-day dinner gives him one serving of vege and one serving of fruits. 

On weekends, I don't cut fruits but he gets one serving of vege in our Saturday porridge. When we eat out, he may get some vege but the bits in ban mian? It's definitely not one serving. 

Since HPB says that we should have two servings of vege and two servings of fruits a day, he's certainly falling way short. And I pretty much told him that when he came back to complain that I bao toh-ed him.

Well, I could have added vege in lunch and lengthened lunch time (plus bear with complaints) but our dinner starts at 5.30 pm. I need to put some time between lunch and dinner or the kids couldn't eat.

I can't change lunch time coz school ends at 1.30 pm and they have to bus home. It's usually 2.45pm before they start lunch and 3.00 pm by the time they're done. That gives only 2.5h before dinner. That's why my lunches are always small and heavy on proteins rather than carbs, e.g. beef and egg burger, chicken leg with toast.

I also can't change dinner time coz bedtime is 8 pm and they can take an hour for dinner 🤦‍♀️  More for Yang if the food isn't to his liking. Then it's time to poop and shower, and relax a bit with TED-Ed (latest fancy) before calling it a day.

By the way, HPB is also the one who says kids aged 6-13 years need 9-11 hours of sleep a day. Since they now wake at 6.20 am on school days, they should sleep by 9 pm. And since they don't drop off like sleeping beauty, we have to start bedtime routine early. AND since HPD also says （什么都是你讲的……）that the last meal should be consumed three hours before bed, by right must finish dinner by 6 pm - possible only on spaghetti day or curry day. 

Simple maths will tell anyone that it's impossible to sleep well and eat well at the same time. (And maintain good mental health for this Mama whose kids don't like vege.)

Actually around the time of completing the questionnaire for Yu in ~ March, I also looked around for info on vege servings. What I found about what constitutes one serving of vege was baffling:

1. A quarter of a 25cm plate of cooked leafy vegetables such as stir-fried kang kong
2. 150g of raw leafy vegetables like kai lan
3. 100g of raw non-leafy vegetables like broccoli
4. ¾ mug (250 ml) of cooked leafy vegetables like spinach
5. ¾ mug (250 ml) of cooked non-leafy vegetables like carrots

#1 ok, I understand, it's like a portion of vege at the cai fan stall - btw, link points to kids' current fave song. Never mind that I don't understand the difference between the two leafy vege, kang kong in #1 and spinach in #4, but ¾ mug of cooked spinach is quite a lot... As is ¾ mug of cooked carrots - sekali the kid turns orange overnight..!

But the one that got me scratching my head is #2. So for my family of five, we need 750g of raw leafy vege. 750g. You know how much of vege that is???

Fairprice sells vege in packs of 150g to 300g. Last time, I always bought three packets of 150g xiao bai cai for Wednesday dinners, i.e. 450g. It's probably less after discarding the ends etc. The kids took a long time to finish their food, and gave me tons of complaints and headaches. But yes, they dug into their bowls and finished it eventually.

Then, I changed their bowls to plates. It's not the standard 25cm plate; ours are 21cm. So the amount for a 25cm plate would fill all the way to the edge of my 21cm plate. But the 450g of raw vege for five of us could fill more than a quarter. I cannot imagine what 750g looks like!!! 150g per pax probably takes up half our plate and my sanity along with it.

Ok, I changed tack. Maybe the serving size for kids is different. As angmohs don't eat our kind of green leafy vege, I searched for Singapore resources only. Only saw that Singhealth suggested a third to half an adult portion for kids 3-6yo. My kids are all older now so maybe half to ¾ for Yang and Yu; Kai is adult size. Even then, half a packet of xiao bai cai is a lot of vege when you don't like vege.

In the end, I don't bother with all the numbers. I just cook an amount that we can all stomach well, which is about a quarter plate (our size) for the kids with the remainder split between the parents - and we usually get more vege than the kids. And I get better mental health (and better poop).

Even with our own serving size, we don't fulfil the two servings of vege a day, as mentioned in the first half of this post. But never mind. If the kids are growing, they are healthy, they can poop, then I'm giving them enough vege. 

Xiao bai cai for Yu ~ 50g raw

He's big and strong, and he poops.

To each family its own.