NE Show

I just realised I didn't mention anything about Kai's NE Show in 2023. Probably busy with his birthday and moving. In fact, I didn't write anything the month we moved!

He has now forgotten much of it but he said he kind of enjoyed it. I know for sure he enjoyed his supper at Macs downstairs after Papa fetched him back!

On his way to NE Show on 15 Jul 2023

Back then, the P5s wore their red level tees for camp and NE Show. But this year, Yang's batch has no level tee and wore the corporate tee instead.

Posing with one clapper - the other one didn't make it home

I was too sleepy last night and didn't take a picture of him coming home with a mobile fan on his neck and a sausage in his mouth/hand - so cute. And way too energetic for 11 pm!

Yes, he got home very late. The school expected 9.30 pm and Sito set off only at 9 pm but the kids didn't get on the bus at Padang until 9.45 pm! Heard from Yang they waited an hour to get on their bus *.*

On the other hand, I saw from Kai's class parents chat that they got back to school about 9.45 pm. But the chat wasn't so active then so it could have been later - Sito said Kai's bus was the last to reach.

Anyway, Yang enjoyed the NE Show :) He showed us his temporary tattoos on his hands last night (and I showed him mine from back in 2006 this morning!) and excitedly took out what remained in his fun pack this morning - he finished up all the snacks and even the NEWater. 

His dinner was super early, in school before they left for Padang, so he was hungry during the show and after. Sito had wanted to get him some nuggets but we went to the pasar malam at Bishan with his brothers earlier and so got him two Taiwan sausages instead. Um, all processed food so eat something less frequently eaten? :p

While in Bishan, Kai was wondering what Yang would have for dinner. He said he had McGriddles in 2023. Turned out Yang had a burger, some "waffle-shaped hashbrowns" and a cake he didn't like, but didn't know what it was from *.*

Anyway, Yang woke quite early this morning at 7.40 am. Still looking energetic. Hope he can sleep more tonight...

Kai's first kitchen session for FCE

I remember that boys started doing home economics since at least YQ's time, i.e. 5y younger than me, coz he brought back some unrecognisable food thingies...

Now it's no longer "home econs" but "food and consumer education" (FCE). I bet no more sewing!!! Sewing was a nightmare back then - I broke Mother's sewing machine more than once, oops... But I ended up top in home econs in Sec 2 💁🏻

Anyway, I saw friends posting their son's culinary adventures in school so I was looking forward to Kai's turn. But when he came home yesterday and pulled out a plastic bag containing some soggy thing out of his pocket, I was honestly quite appalled...

It was supposed to be a burrito but condensation and time (and the plastic bag in his pocket) did nasty things to the presentation... Smells quite good though... Chef Kai begged not to eat it. I claimed a weak stomach - true ok! But Sito gamely tried it and finished it all!

Egg, lettuce, tomato and mushroom with some chilli mayo sauce

The best thing about this? Kai asked me whether I had reheated it to 60degrees 👍  Happy to know he's learnt about food safety!

I must remember to give him his FCE kit and a lunchbox for his next kitchen session! Looking forward to trying his food!

How is Clan Sito lately?

I realised I haven't written about our daily life for a while. The start of the year is always so busy, especially when the breadmaker broke in January just as I started to have to make breakfast for Kai. Now, making bread takes more active time. More fun though :p

Anyway, let's see what we have been up to in the past couple of months, apart from Legoland trip etc...

"I like this!"

Fried eggs are always good. That was a lazy meal coz I just stirfried minced beef, add mixed vege and top with eggs. Made a few things for the first time this year - swiss roll (kind of flat instead of round :p), onigiri (rice came loose!), tomato with egg and noodles (single serving - easier to cook) and airfryer chicken burger. I've also turned their usual beef burger into double cheeseburger - easier to cook two thin patties than one thick patty :p

But the most interesting one was the bread. I bought a Pullman loaf pan when the breadmaker died. I tried various recipes using 250g, 300g, 400g and 450g flour. The 450g flour really filled the pan so I got a nice square loaf but it was difficult to remove from the pan. 400g was just nice. What was surprising was the 250g with egg - it almost filled the pan like the 400g, but how?? Coz of the egg? 300g without egg didn't fill up nearly as much.

Anyway, back to the boys...

Sito being 奶爸 - my fave persona, haha!

So nice to see my boys working together. Kai is not in this picture but he was also working hard in his room. He has homework almost every day now.

Earthquake!

We go to Swensen's at least once a month. Finally, we accumulated enough points for a free earthquake! Kids were very pleased :)

Individual hotpot at Paradise

Such good value. No wonder the queue was long! We went for lunch and took the premium set but realised the value set was good enough as the buffet counter had a lot of food too! Can't wait to bring the kids one day. And there was a sale so we topped up our Paradise credits - time to eat more!

A little pet came over at times, must feed :p

Does he look like Labubu??!

That was after watching Ne Zha. Papa said 哪吒 looked like labubu. Yu tried to look like labubu too. 谁比较像？

For Founder's Day school holiday, we went to the pool. It’s been almost a year since our last trip! Topped off the happy day with lunch at the adjacent Macs. Then Kai and Yang napped on the bus back. Yu dozed off while practising for his maths test. Parents were also sleepy...

Kai carried Yang who was tired

Coz Yang and I walked to the pool from some 20min away. We went to buy PE shorts for him but they ran out of his size. In the end, he decided on a pair of comfy berms from his home clothes for his CCA instead. 

Yu forgot how to swim?!!

Kai the shark beneath the surface and Yang the inflated balloon 

At one point, he let the water into his mouth 🤮 

Happy after dinner!

I've decided that I shall not make dinner on bedsheets days. Just too much work. So we told Yang and Yu to go straight to Paradise Classic downstairs after CCA. Packed for Kai who was already in PJs and doing homework.

Oooh, my fave handyman!

Somehow, the LED got busted. Soon after, the kids' toilet was partially clogged by Yang - there was a gurgling sound when flushing and the water level was lower than usual. Unlike a full clog, I couldn't just break up the poop with a chopsticks coz there was nothing I could see! A combination of dish detergent, bleach and hot water did the trick, phew!

Then Yu told me this: Our family is so good right? Papa can fix the light, and you can fix the toilet.

😂 

Funny boy is also the lumpy boy - new baluku his head!

The balukus on the side took a few years to subside 95%! Sighs... This time, he and Yang were at the playground and he fell while bouncing on a car structure. Yang brought me to the scene - turned out he fell within the car structure. I suspected he first landed on the metal bar hence the baluku, coz the bottom of the car was wood which gave when I knocked and shouldn't cause such a lump. The ground at the playground was also the cushioned type. 

Poor kid... Made the two write Rule #1 - safety - a hundred times!!!

This boy - and Yang - likes my belly so this is common...

Let's cook!

We met JY's family last Saturday. First, lunch at Kiseki. Yang is one year younger than K2 but taller so ended up paying for adult price while K2 got child price. Sito couldn't help laughing coz K2 looked heftier than Yang! Indeed, Yang had mostly tamago sushi 🤷‍♀️ But ok la, we all enjoyed ourselves. Sat there until we were the only ones left, ha!

Next was the National Museum. It was unexpectedly fun! Yesterday, Yang could still remember when the Japanese invaded China!

Listening to a Brit and a Dutch quarrel

An old-school phone!

These two "called" me. And even wanted to scam me with the fake friend scam! Yu was so funny, claimed he was "your friend, Auntie J". I told him, my friend wouldn't call herself that! So he went to ask JY for her name, and told me he was "JY" - yes, full name. Still wrong! Haha!!!

We were supposed to go to the National Library but it started to rain! So we took a bus instead - JY they all went to HV for dinner while we stopped at Somerset to catch a train to Bishan library instead and had dinner there. Sito brought them home while I went to meet KLK.

Sali was here!

It was so good to see everyone again, especially Sali. At one point, the girls all went to the toilet together, just like in JC haha! We left in batches. By the time we split, it was like 1 am. I haven't been out this late for a long time!

When I got home, the second living thing I saw after Sito was... a roach! Argh! We spent some time killing it and cleaning up. Now, I still shudder if there's a shadow near the bottom of any cabinet :(

The next day, I texted the group to scold AT - I saw a roach at the bar, which led to a small convo on roaches at home. I said I had very few roaches fortunately and he said something like “怎么可能没有蟑螂的？” Really is 承你“吉言”！

Reading an old book on fairy tales before bedtime - on our bed

On Hari Raya Puasa, we took the chance to do our annual 清明 but at home instead of at the columbarium. As it was Ah Yee's birthday just two days before, we used the gathering to celebrate her birthday too!

Swirling - what's the verb? - incense paper

Two cakes coz ML/MT and I 英雄所见略同！

Yes, that was after lunch and there was still a lot of food! There's also a third cake in the foreground but it was part of the offerings.

This year, a distant aunt was also present. She's the daughter of my grandfather's youngest brother, I think..

Was chatting with MY when we had to go as Yu had a playdate arranged just that morning. It was near his school. Probably my second time in a black and white bungalow and my first in a lived-in one. The five boys were playing in the pool when more than 20 monkeys came over! One even swiped at my drink! A boy kept throwing water balloons at the baby monkeys. Eventually, we had to get everyone into the house for safety.

Playing nerf guns

No such space at home for long distance shooting! The final activity was outdoors again - tennis and badminton. Monkeys were gone, phew! But I got bitten by mosquitoes! More than 18!!! Still a little itchy now...

Kai had tuition via Zoom that night

There is no class on public holidays, and no rescheduling. But his tutor is very dedicated and arranged a free session via Zoom! Only three kids attended so quite full attention. She also organises additional Zoom sessions to prepare her kids for Literature as well. We are so lucky to have her!

This week was learning week for Kai. Tuesday was training for his new PLD - personal learning device, i.e. his Chromebook. From next week, he is to bring it to class every day. Wednesday and Thursday were for coding, including a WA for D&T which he said he failed coz his thing didn't work. Ah well... Friday was science carnival in school. We also signed him up for Chinese day camp on Thursday and Friday after the mandatory activities. He didn't like it, as expected :p But better the immersion than not!

I'm typing this while kids were watching TV and now doing some work alone/with Papa. I should go make lunch soon.. Hungry!

Kai must be hungry too. He just asked to go to the coffeeshop at blk 6 for dinner today - we went there for the first time last Sunday and they all liked it for the ban mian and the prata :)

Finally, update on height and weight, measured on 29 March:

• Kai: 168cm / 49.5kg
• Yang: 150cm / 39.1kg
• Yu: 133cm / 29.8kg

Yes, Kai is now my height! More or less la, coz he keeps moving... Yang gained the most weight in the past three months ~ 4kg!

How I met your mother, ver Clan Sito

I think it was the day when I brought Yang to the dermatologist after school so Sito had to fetch Yu home. They had an interesting convo on the bus.

Yu: How did you and Mama meet?
Papa: We met at a camp.
Yu: Did you meet in primary school? (maybe coz he knows of the P5 camp)
Papa: No..
Yu: If you met in primary school, she wouldn’t like you right? Coz you were fat. The fat boys in class are not liked.
Papa: Are you considered fat?
Yu: No.
Papa: Why are the fat boys not liked?
Yu: (unclear answer)

Digress a bit: I've not heard him mention any fat boys in his class. But it's sad if (he thinks) fat kids are not liked. When I asked him, it seemed that there was a fat boy in his class who was very loud. 

I know he really likes a couple of friends who have a smaller built than him. He finds them cute. I think he thinks he himself is small - vs. his brothers - and cute. When we watched 跑男，his fave player was 周深 coz "he is cute, like me"!

Anyway, continue...

Yu: Why did you choose Mama? She’s pretty right?
Papa: Pretty, smart and kind (woah, 💕 )
Yu: I knew you’d say that!

Yu: Since she's pretty, a lot of other people would have (chased) her?
Papa: Ya... (where's this going..)
Yu: Then why did mama choose you? Issit coz you’re handsome?
Papa: Go and ask Mama.

And so he did, later. And this was before I learnt of the above, coz I told Sito what Yu asked me then he told me *.*

Yu: Why did you choose Papa?
Mama: ...? Coz.. he’s charming!
Yu: What’s charming?
Mama: Eh papa, what’s charming?

Then 不了了之 :p

It was a few days later that I learnt that there was a part in his social studies about a couple who met at a cross country race at MacRitchie Reservoir, which led to his questions.

Let me end with another funny thing from Yu:

One day, Yu wanted candy.

Mama: Do I look like a candy shop?

Yu: No but you look like you’re made of money...

Mama: Huh?

Yu: Made of money = mom

!!!

Valentine's Day

When was the last time I posted on about V Day?

In the past week whenever I turned on the radio, the DJs were going on and on about V Day and what presents to give or not to give. Is this a young people thing? For sure, very commercialised. I couldn't identify with presents coz I'm just not a presents person.

Every day is V Day with my hub anyway, haha! ✌️ 

But on Tuesday, Sito came back with Yang after his tuition, with a giant sunflower! So cheerful!

First spicy kimchi noodles after ulcer, made even happier with the sunflower :)

We had to cut half the stem to fit it into an empty nuts container. It's on the dining table so it's very visible and brings much cheer whenever I see it.

And the man taking the picture with two of his pups :)))

I love to see him 奶爸-ing! 💕 

Then on V Day, I went out with two girlfriends :p Breakfast with JY until lunchtime (!), and packed beehoon for Sito's lunch. KTV with CY and packed a brownie to share with him.

Coz, as we told the kids, V Day is also Friendship Day :)

Hello my sweetie pie!

I say Yang inherited sweet genes from Sito :)

He's a really sweet boy.

On the rare mornings that he woke early before his alarm went off, he came out with a smile on his face and hugged me :) When he goes to pee before he sleeps, he would give Papa and/or Mama - whoever is waiting for him to be done - a hug before going back to bed.

And he wants me to live to 100yo and lie down with him at bedtime every day until I die. Then when I die, he wants to keep my ashes at home so that he can talk to me. I thought that was very sweet of him.

Helping me pull thread through a needle

He didn't manage it in the end but I appreciate that he tried when he saw me struggling to see even with glasses.

But I'm not a sweet mama. I'm always scolding him for eating slowly, and for being sleepy or dozing off when doing work.

The worst though, was when he was very young... 

English PSLE day, I watched a reel of a CCTV where a mother was shouting at her infant who kept waking up at night. It was about postpartum depression. I never thought I had any such depression but I was very upset once.

That night at bedtime, I told Yang how I was so upset one day when he kept refusing to sleep that I just threw him on our bed - not like throwing a ball but roughly dropped him from a carrying position. He cried harder. I felt - and still feel - so guilty.

I said sorry to him and he said, "But I don't remember." Of course, you were only a few months old, I said. Now that I think about it, he was over one year old coz it was our second helper by then - she took him away and let me calm down. But still, I was rough with him.

I told him I'll sayang him more to make up for it. And we continued our bedtime hug.

Sito also thinks that Yang is the most 有心 boy, versus Kai who is quite whatever and Yu who is heartless haha!

Papa and pup meditating

The meditation lasted only a few days back in April. Think we wanted to help him get to a better state to study but he found it boring very quickly.

Well, he did study some for his exams. Some. Somehow, he had this confidence that he could get AL 9 in total. Sito delved deeper with him and he figured out that 9 wasn't possible. Maybe he has a rather wide range of what he considers good - after his maths teacher told the class that two scored 100, three or four scored 80-90 and the rest below, he told us he thought he did well for maths and could get maybe 80 plus or 70 plus - that's like AL 2 going down to AL 4 *.*

Anyway, he still hoped for below 15 - his grades last year. As it turned out, he got a 17. He was a little disappointed but he said he wanted to improve, which is great! He even came to me with two line charts showing "life" - one shows no work now and hard work later in life; one shows hard work now and a better life later. 

Actually, after we went through his papers, we thought it was ok. His English compo was clear with way fewer spelling errors than I feared! In fact, English was his best subject. Maths was plenty of carelessness so gotta work on that. And Sito said the science paper was tough with no half marks awarded at all - I trust that Sito can build him up! As for Chinese, I'm sad, haha! But ok I can build him up!

This boy tends to get distracted when his brothers are playing. And he feels tired easily when he is doing work. But with his latest results, he has agreed he needs to build up his foundation to prepare for P5. So we shall see how much work we can do during year end break, amid all the fun we're going to have!

A common sight

But must stay healthy... He came down with a running nose after his exams. Luckily it wasn't serious. After some Zyrtec, it became a blocked nose. So Papa applied Vicks on his chest one night.

I love such hub and pup moments

Happy 59th!

We were very pleased to find that the National Day Observance Ceremony for our neighbourhood would be held at the new mall. Not very pleased that each Singpass could register for only four persons and somehow Sito couldn't get any. But there shouldn't be any barricades, right? Anyway, we didn't need so many goodie bags.

Bingo - one closed eyes, one guided the hand

The boys wore these tops to school the day before too. I washed them once they came home so they could wear them again :p Bought Kai his shirt only the previous weekend coz I only had small tees :p Then I remembered he could also have worn his red P5 level shirt. Oh well, lucky we found $15 tees at Clementi. The shops were selling for $30!

Playing games

Actually we were among the few with kids when we first arrived. Many of those in the queues for the games were seniors! And one auntie was very impatient and rude, and made Yang sad.

She was right behind us, and saw that I gave the game I/C three out of our four game cards. She hinted she wanted the last one - nope, I was saving the last one in case a kid MUST play again. Yang was the last of the three to play. I was busy with Kai or Yu with their returned cards and the lunchboxes they won, but I heard the auntie telling the game I/C, 随便啦小孩子！

Before I knew it, Yang left with a country eraser. He looked sad and about to cry. I forgot about the fourth game card. Then Kai told me the auntie took Yang's hand to throw the ball and it missed. Wa terrible!!!! It's ok if he lost the game on his own but the auntie was just too much. If I had seen it happen, I wouldn't care if she was an old auntie - I'd scold her!

Kai and Yu were both very upset with the auntie, and they agreed to let Yang play an extra game in the next game. That wasn't all. When Yang's ice cream happened to be rather melted, the boys still remembered the terrible old auntie and agreed with Papa's suggestion to give Yang an ice cream cone at Macs later. Thanks to all these, my poor Yang looked a bit better.

Watching bhangra dance performance

Kai's fave song came on at one point. Told him to go dance, but he didn't want to :p

Went upstairs to watch preschoolers perform coz it became more crowded

We were in red and white!

(Yes, my top can be used for racial harmony day too...!)

Look, the balloons are flying higher!

Rested a bit after the anthem when the crowded thinned out

Also got - and then lost - some balloons!

Breakfast as brunch for them

These three gave different responses when I said "look here" - one bo chup, one smiled with food in his mouth, one tried to give a victory sign rather distractedly...

Sito and I waited another 30min for the lunch menu :p Kai couldn't wait so he went home on his own first - he wanted to do a paper!

So bro, haha!

We spent the afternoon watching a lot of YouTube videos of National Day songs, including some cute Roblox versions. In fact, we started on the videos a few days before. A bit late but better than nothing. I realise the kids actually know a number of the songs but these are songs I'm way less familiar with...

Then it was time for NDP!

In the past few years, we had KFC for dinner while watching NDP. But Yang didn't like KFC much, and KFC is not so near us now - we were still staying at BP this time last year. So I decided to make fried rice - I had fried rice and teh c on ND almost every year in my teens! Mother said it was easy so she could sit down to watch NDP too. I agree, haha!

I enjoy spending ND at home, unless I have tickets to NDP! I think it's important for us as parents to help the kids learn more about our country. The kids couldn't sit still for long but at least they caught some parts of the show. Yu even came to find me when I was washing dishes coz they were singing the char siew bao song - they heard me sing before!

The next day, there was a major celebration right outside Star Vista. We didn't get tickets coz late, lazy and I had a concert that night. But the four of them managed to catch the fireworks from our windows! Sito whipped out the phone too late but Yang and Yu were telling me about it; Kai was less interested.

Happy to hear we won a bronze medal at the Olympics on ND. I saw Yu watching TV on Saturday morning and I told him about the bronze. He nodded to the TV and said he knew. Ok, I extra :p 

With that, ND is over. Now we look forward to NDR - first from new PM!

Yang is a decade old!

When I said he has entered double-digit age, Yang said he is now a decade old :)

How time flies! I kept getting reminders of his baby time from Facebook memories - so tiny! And now, he's a big boy of 10.

Yet, he is still such a baby, even more so than Yu. He is just cute without trying to be cute. And he's a very sweet boy who would hug me for no reason :)

Happy birthday, my dear Yang Yang!

He decided on this chocolate cake from Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf a few weeks before. I collected it on Wednesday after a doctor's appointment, just nice for his celebration on Thursday. It had just enough space for 10 candles - Yang and Yu enjoyed placing the candles on the cake but they got concerned about wax dripping down when I was lighting the candles!

He decided to cut the cake himself

But it was rather stiff! Finally, we each had a slice, except for Kai of course. Yang had the largest slice but as expected, he couldn't finish. Yu didn't like the cake so Sito and I ended up having a lot of cake!

Birthday boy was allowed an hour of phone games

We decided to restart the whole birthday mee sua thing. Yang said he prefers fried eggs to ajitsuke eggs and he wanted two! So I cooked everything separately and assembled each bowl when the soup was done.

Then he fell asleep *.*

Didn't have the heart to berate him on his birthday. Eventually he woke and finished his dinner. The rest of us had the same food, except for Sito and Kai who did not have eggs.

That night, I asked Yang about his birthday wish. This bad Mama now cannot remember what he said exactly! But I think he at first wished for more phone games. I told him if he made an unrealistic wish, it would not come true. So he said he should have wished for better results instead. Now that could come true with effort! 

"But I don't want to work hard!"

Wa liao...

Yang decided he wouldn't have the firehouse ice cream which Swensen's gifts to birthday kids on the actual day. So we went to Swensen's only on Saturday after Bishan library.

Somehow he enjoys serving drinks to us :)

(Yu also wanted to serve drinks, hence the look!)

Three different expressions - staring into space, kaypoh, concentrating

Kai had finished his ice cream while it was nice and cold - think he has learned to wait properly while the rest finish.. On the other hand, his brothers let their ice cream melt and drink it *.* They were discussing their melted ice cream as they drank...

On the morning of Yang's birthday, we headed out for breakfast. Our doting Papa Sito then tried to find Mr Beast chocolate as Yang said his friend told him it was yummy. We saw it in the nearby supermarket before but couldn't find it this time. Later in the morning, Sito tried two candy stores nearby to no avail...

Finally, we found it at the supermarket at Junction 8. It was expensive for the size. On the way home when we passed by Cold Storage downstairs, Sito pointed out the cost for Cadbury chocolate which was 4-5 times cheaper by weight!

But this boy was very happy :)

They tried the chocolate - just like any milk chocolate. On Sunday, we bought the Cadbury and let them try both side by side on Monday which was a school holiday for Youth Day. Sito also tried. Same taste except that the Cadbury was thicker and hence harder fresh out of the fridge.

Anyway, we bought the Mr Beast bar to let them try since Yang's classmate recommended. But we would not buy again. Hope the kids learn about VFM through this...

Back to birthday... Sunday was celebration with the grands. No cake since the kids don't really eat cake. But they had doughnuts for tea. And presents of course. 

Happy with his doughnut!

The kids also had a lot of snacks as usual. Didn't think they were terribly hungry when we went out for a roast dinner. And they were all way too keen to play games on the grands' phones. But with some cajoling, we managed to give them a decent amount of food. Kai was most resistant. Yang and Yu managed to eat more while playing - AhYee and I stuffed food into their mouths haha!

Happy with his presents too!

Yang's presents - including Sito's toy soldiers which arrived ytd - are now sitting on the TV cabinet. I threw out their old Beyblades last night but I think I really need to sort out their toys over there else the TV is blocked :p

So just like this, Yang's birthday is over. He's officially 10. And I shall continue my quest to fatten this boy up!