Yang's hilarious moments

Yang did three funny things recently. Must write it down so we can look back and smile in future :)

1) What's your foot size?

Yang has very big feet. His feet are about Sito's size but meatier. He's very proud of his big foot. He thinks he's Big Foot sometimes! So he loves to compare foot size, hence the question.

Yang's VS. mine

Nothing is wrong with that question - until a boy asks a girl he barely knows!

Yes, my boy made this faux pas. It was at his tuition class a couple of months ago. A girl from another class who was there for a makeup lesson happened to sit in front of him. He noticed she was quite tall and had biggish-looking feet. So he pointed to her feet and asked her his fave question.

"Piak!" She swatted his hand away and ignored him!

Yang told Sito over supper that night. Sito had to guide him in the way of, well, friendships with girls. And he used me as an example coz I was conscious of having big feet as a child with very limited shoe options - not pleased of course! We had a good laugh about it. 

2) The prude

Couple of nights ago, I had to change my pyjamas top after Yu put his sole to my back during bedtime chat - I leaned on my pillow while watching drama so ya, not transferring any dust to my face eventually!

After changing, I went to Yang's room. He looked at my mismatched PJs and asked whether I changed in front of Papa who was already in our room. And the following exchange took place:

Mama: Yes.

Yang: *eyes wide* Are you wearing a bra under that? *pointing to my top*

Mama: Um, no....

Yang: *eyes wider* How can you do that?!

Mama: Eh, you change in front of me all the time!

Yang: You're my mother!

Mama: But I don't want to see you change! ... And you change in front of your brothers all the time!

Yang: But it's different! Papa is a boy, you're a girl! *wagging finger in my face* Don't do that again ah... 

I didn't promise :p But this is the boy who said "shame shame" when I wore a tube dress so maybe I shouldn't be surprised!

3) Chinese swear word is funny?!

Ytd, we were at Japan Home at Star Vista. It's been revamped and carries more snacks! While I was checking out the batteries at the cashier, I overheard an exchange between a cashier and a PRC customer that went something like this:

Cashier: 只有 NETS 

Customer: 不收现金卡？

Cashier: 我们收现金，卡只有 NETS

Customer: 对，所以不收现金卡？

Cashier: 现金收！不收信用卡！

Then the customer went off to get something. When we were paying, the customer came back to scold the cashier, something about her being unreasonable, not speaking nicely etc. Cashier auntie said she tried to tell her nicely. Voices were raised but eventually, cashier auntie went back to her job, saying she wouldn't bother quarrelling with that customer.

When we left the store, the customer was standing outside with a bag and a basket of goods, complaining loudly to presumably her husband about the cashier. And Yang was laughing madly at the side, with the two smiling widely too. Turned out that he overheard the customer say 操你妈的！

He learnt about this swear word from his classmate and knew the English equivalent but he said this was the first time he heard it in use and he found it super funny! Sito and I found it super funny that Yang found it this funny lor, hoho!

Kai asked us about another phrase he heard though - 狗眼看人低 - so the quarrel became a mini Chinese lesson for the boys as Sito also told them about 有眼不识泰山！Chinese immersion continued that evening as we watched MTVs on YouTube, AI 仙 侠 style!

Anyway, I still can't get over it. At first, Yang said 操你妈 a few times while recounting it. I think it's in Chinese so it sounded funnier than rude to him, compare with the f word. Had to tell him that it's still a very rude swear word so please don't use it!

PS: We thought at first that the customer referred to debit card as 现金卡 and the cashier didn't get it. But now I think it's cash card? In any case, we don't use this term at all so it was a matter of 鸡同鸭讲 🤦‍♀️

Yang is 12!

Just like that, another kid turned 12. One last year for Yang to have free kiddy sundaes at Swensen's, haha!

Instead of going to the regular Swensen's for his firehouse birthday sundae, he chose Swensen's Unlimited as we missed going there earlier this month due to my ulcer. 

My lovely boy made a lovely sundae :)

Can also dip a banana in ice cream toppings!

Kai said this reminded him of Swensen's kiddy sundae

Which he stopped enjoying since turning 13 as his Swensen's account went from kiddy to adult but which he had just a week ago as Yang gave up his for a strawberry cone at Macs!

Yu also made a lovely sundae

Papa put ice cream in his taiyaki!

That was a huge taiyaki.. There was a Japanese theme at Swensen's Unlimited these few weeks so we also had toriyaki, fish and vege tempura, fried soba and katsu curry rice.

As usual, we went through the NUH mall on our way to the MRT station. This time, we had some fun measuring our weight, height and even blood pressure. But the blood pressure machine isn't meant for kids. I mean, a diastolic reading of 28 surely is incompatible with life?!

Very happy, this one; the other two monkeying around the height/weight measurement

12yo also means it's PSLE year, oops... So Yang didn't escape from work even on his birthday which fell on a Saturday this year. But ok la, we didn't give him a paper, just do specific exercises. He even had time to play Nintendo!

Since we already went to Swensen's Unlimited (cheaper on weekdays :p), we just headed to our usual coffeeshop for dinner - Yang's choice. And he had a haircut after that so super handsome. Cake cutting was after dinner as Kai came back from a chess tournament after tea time.

Happy birthday, our dear Yang Yang!

Sito was very hungry that day and bought some ribs from the supermarket deli. Two boys came to tax some while I sat down with some glutinous rice tea after yummy cake.

Drink milk with BBQ ribs, hmmm...

We had a second round of celebration on Sunday as usual. This time, the cake came with a party set complete with headgear, plates and forks! Dinner was at Oriental downstairs; he veto-ed South Bank as he didn't like their fish and chips much. (But the parents like, how? Haha!)

Second strawberry cake

Notice the berries at the bottom of the cake? Random. Maybe dropped onto it after it was done and it was too much to remove and do the piping again??

On the way to dinner; Kai took a photo of them/Yu

We just happened to sit under the happy birthday sign :)

Over-ordered again. We have some fried pork in the fridge. Sito already had a few pieces for lunch; the rest will come out at dinner tonight!

Yang's presents from the grands - two board games - are still on his sofa. I should go find some space for them after this..

Yang turning 12 is a bit different from Kai turning 12, maybe coz he still wants me to lie down with him at bedtime and he's so sweet that he still gives off very baby-ish vibes. Want him to grow up more and especially be more independent in his learning but at the same time, I couldn't bear not seeing the baby in him. Dilemma of parents.

Yang is now an oily boy

Last night, I noticed that Yang's pillow looked a bit fade in the middle. Like Sito's. So I smelled it - oily smell!!!

Yang laughed and said now he smells like Papa :p

I realised I didn't notice that for Kai two years ago coz Kai didn't want me to lie down with him since some time in P5.

Don't care. Yang still wants me to 陪陪 him before sleeping so I still lie down with him and kiss his oily face at bedtime :)

So Kai and Yang have inherited oily skin. I expect no less from Yu two years later...

And the companion of oily skin? Pimples. I noticed a red dot on Yang's nose tip a few days ago. He said he has been having pimples but I didn't notice much until this one - very obvious on the nose.

I bought some pimple stickers last month after suffering from a major bout of 10 pimples big and small. I used my old NEX pimple stickers - they must be 10-20yo?! Still somewhat effective but not so much against those closed pimples. 

But I also bought some vitamin C serum and after three weeks of using it, I didn't get any new pimples. So fingers crossed. The pimple stickers are still good for standby for the kids' pimples.

Sighs, another kid growing up so fast... Yang is almost 160cm as of 2 May so he's hitting that milestone a little later than Kai. But his girth is awesome - this morning, he complained that his pants were getting tight! His pants are already one size bigger than Kai's...!

Yang at NSG track and field 2026

Yang took part in his first NSG track and field meet on Monday, 27 April!

He received his track and field tank top the week before. It was only on Friday that we realised it was too small for him - the armholes were digging into his fleshy armpits and the belly was very visible... Luckily, his CCA teacher replied very quickly that he could change the top with any of his CCA teachers on Monday.

When we reached CCK Stadium, the previous 30m event for a younger age group was ongoing. Yang's event was next and he was in detail 6 of 19. Detail - I learnt a new term from Sito, meaning each group running together. Or something like that la...

Finally, we spotted him in the holding tent next to the track. We waved madly and finally he saw us!

He came in fifth in his detail at 6.05 sec, placing overall 100 out of 146.

We walked out to meet him as he came upstairs from the track. His friend also ran out to meet him. As we walked to the stands where his teacher and friends and bags were, we saw more of his team. It was so wonderful to see them being so positive and cheering one another on. Our son is comparatively quiet haha!

Papa and Mama supporting Yang!

Show his bib number

We were just hanging around at the stands while his friend helped him remove the bib on his back. Then I heard this boy ask the CCA teacher - also Yu's P1 Chinese teacher - for the time in Mandarin: 老师，现在什么时间？

Goodness, all these kids are the same! Yu kept using that similar line to ask for the time. Took me a while to correct it to “现在几点？”

Anyway, the teacher didn't hear him and he asked again in English. Gave up trying. Hahahhaa!

While waiting for the bus, Yang took out some Pokemon cards from his pocket. He said they were light enough to run with *.*

Yang was excited to be back at Bukit Panjang. When we asked him what he wanted to eat, he said he wanted to walk around first - "for the memories". So walk around, we did. We walked the entire Hillion Mall, happy to see old places and surprised to see new spots. I thought the offerings were better than before - Luckin and Mixue! And there's also Scarlett Supermarket across the road at Bukit Panjang Plaza (BPP) but we didn't have time to cross over.

Happy with noodles and XLB :)

Where they used to play

He didn't want to change out of his tank top as he dropped his yellow tee earlier. But it was cold so he sniffled quite a bit on Wednesday...

Packed three Sukiya beef bowls and said bye bye to Papa, who would have an adventure before meeting a friend in town - he ordered Macs for his dinner but at BPP instead of Hillion so he had to brave the rain to get to his food!

Yang's main event is shot put. The following Monday, 4 May, Sito brought Yang to CCK as the school didn't get a bus for the small number of participants that day. 

They arrived at CCK just past 7.30 am and it was a rather long wait as Yang's group was the last of four to go to the pit. His best of three throws was 5.41m, coming in 45 out of 117 - above median, yeah!

Yang was to go back to school if the event ended before 11 am but it didn't so Sito brought him for lunch at Pizza Hut at the stadium and then home.

He wore his tee over the tank top before and after 

On Wednesday, 6 May, Yang had his last event, standing long jump. Think it's something like standing broad jump? His best of three was 1.60m, which was more than his standing broad jump for NAPFA this year, placing him 134 of 178.

Sito went to fetch him and they roamed BPP, finally ending up at Kazan Ramen for a late lunch. Yang chose it. He had all the ramen, most of the vege and rice plus two hardboiled eggs! Sito had only a bit of vege and rice. Later, Yang of course could not finish his dinner at home, which became Sito's lunch the next day :p

Happy with his egg

They came home with a Swensen's ice cream cake - sticky chewy choc flavour - for dessert! It was our free cake after dining there n times. Swensen's really rewards loyalty very well. But unfortunately for us, Clementi no longer has one so we are visiting Swensen's less these days...

Yang was the reserve for the 5x80m relay on Thursday morning but this time, the school catered a bus. I just gave him a big breakfast. When he came home, he said he didn't go coz all the runners were present. But he also didn't wait for the teacher to dismiss him *.* He just left for assembly. Ah well... 

At dinner last night, he said he was very nervous for the first event, nervous for the second and not at all for the third. And he got to meet new friends - we saw him talk to people around him while waiting. Yeah!

So happy for Yang that he had the opportunity to take part in NSG and, despite his initial misgivings, enjoyed the experience :)

PS: Link for results here.

Throwing with all your might!

Yang participated in his first track and field meet on Saturday, first day of term break.

He was quite nervous. He had all of one shot put training session on Monday, with zero prior experience, so he likened it to going for prelims without doing papers, hahahaha! Ah well, he seemed to have thrown decently well based on the video the coach sent Sito.

Sito has been in contact with the coach but he hurt his foot during a jog on Tuesday. So I brought Yang to the meet. It was at Home of Athletics. Due to Circle Line works, we took three trains via Botanic Gardens and Promenade to get to Stadium station. Yang did his maths - time spent on trains was shorter than if we had taken the Circle Line all the way to Stadium. Even after factoring in transfers and waiting time, it was still a shorter commute.

Anyway, our first time there. Took me a while to find the place. We were early. Stood in the shade outside the changing room while waiting for instructions via WhatsApp. The place was nice and clean, a far cry from the grimy sports days I remember from my school days.

Eventually we found Yang's trainer, a Sec 4 boy wearing an Oldham Athletics tee, who took him for warm-up at the sheltered bus stop. A coach - not his shot put coach - came by later and gave him his bib.

It was very hot!

He reported to the call room - a tent, really - while I waited at the spectator area nearest the tent since it was out of bounds to non-athletes. Then the group was led to the shot put area, rather far from me. I saw three or four parents going in but I refused to show my kid such 臭款 behaviour!

I didn't have time to take a photo of Yang before he had to report for his event. So when he came out for a pee break, I tried to get him but he said he gotta go.

So I got this sweet 回眸一笑

The shot put area is on the right edge of the photo. Really far. There were two other boys in yellow tee but they were smaller in built :p Yang was one of the largest boys there. 

They had a few practice throws before the actual throws. I sat near the call room until it was time for shot put and went to the front just behind the barrier. It was quite crowded by then as heats for 80m dash were ongoing but those were very quick so parents kept moving.

I totally missed his first throw as I was fumbling with the video zoom while managing my umbrella! So pissed at myself that I closed the brolly totally and waited under the blazing sun for his next two throws! Yes, kena minor sunburn on my neck but thankfully only there as the sun was behind me.

I managed to take videos of his next two shots! But his second throw was a foul as he stepped over the line. So he was cautious in his third throw and did an anyhow throw instead of his usual stance.

And he throws!

At first, Yang thought he came in last. But turned out that he heard his distance wrongly! His first throw was the best at 5.04m vs. third at 4.10m. He came in 18 of of 21. Not last, woohoo!

Sito said his throw was at about the 60th percentile of 2025 NSG. And he did this with one training session and his natural advantage in built. So with some training, he can surely improve! We bought a 3kg shot put ball which arrived last night. It is small but feels really heavy. My baby is very strong!

Finally a shot before he changed!

We left after he changed his pants - he feels like he's not wearing anything in his PE pants, haha! - and bade goodbye to his trainer. I gave him a homemade sausage bun on our way back to the train station. It was already four hours since lunch!

We chatted while walking. Earlier, when I told him that many kids would be competing for the first time, I meant it in general. Now he told me many of the shot put boys had practised for months on end. Big oops... 

Anyway, we took the train to Clementi via Promenade and Bugis to meet the rest of the family. He got very tired and leaned on me for much of the way... But he was alert again at the library! Even told us about the story of Eighteen Chefs and we eventually went there for dinner.

After the meet, he still thought it was stressful to compete, with so many people looking at him. But I think after this first experience, he realised only his fellow competitors would see him up close. Spectators were far away and parents all looked at their own child. In fact, I wanted to cheer for him (but he told me not to) but couldn't as he was so far away...

Finally, last night before he went to bed, he told me that now that he thought about it, he felt quite good about the competition. So happy to hear him say that! :)

Update 17 Mar 2026

Just saw from PG that he has been selected to represent the school at NSG in term 2! So happy for him that he has something apart from PSLE to mark his final year in primary school :)

May the kids always be open with us

Yang had a scary outburst on the evening of 22 October.

It was time to watch Fixing Fate, a Mediacorp drama series that found favour with the boys. Kai was holding the remote control and looked like he was going to pause the anime. Yang suddenly went for the remote control. Kai held on to it. Yang stormed off into his room and closed the door.

???

I quickly went after Yang but found the door locked. I knocked and asked him to open the door. He refused. I told him I had the key but I'd rather he open it. Nope. So I unlocked it from outside and went in.

Yang was hiding in his blanket. It was hot so I uncovered his legs. He refused to uncover his head. I could tell from his voice and actions that he was sobbing. Sayang-ed him a bit and told him I'd give him time to calm down.

Eventually, he let me see his face. He said it was Yu's fault. I was surprised coz the tussle was with Kai. But later when he emerged from his room, he went to play with Yu.

So the story goes like this... Earlier in the evening, they were all watching TV - MeWatch and YouTube - and choosing the video turn by turn. It was Yu's turn when we asked him to go shower so he ended his video and passed the remote control to Kai. So now it was Kai's turn, and it was during that when I said it was time for drama, which meant Yang wouldn't have his turn to choose a video as it would be bedtime by the end of the drama.

But Yang wanted to watch Yu's video too. His point was that he could have continued watching that video if Yu didn't end it. So he was upset and felt it was unfair.

So... my fault after all?? Um...

But yes, the whole fairness thing was at play again. And I also don't understand why they must do turn by turn when each of them likes different things sometimes and videos are of different lengths! Told them to all agree on videos to watch as I could stop them any time for meals etc.

Anyway, my point here is about the part where Yang suddenly stormed into his room. I still remember Na telling me about a student in her school who had an argument with his mother and suddenly turned and jumped out of his window. 

We do have grilles in the kids' bedrooms and the keys are all with me, used only during window cleaning. But it was still scary to see him storm off like that, locking his room some more. Having heard stories about the things that children could do to themselves thanks to my old job and boss and news of course, I was very worried. My poor Yang. My poor heart.

Really must instil in them that there's nothing they could not talk to us about. Nothing. 

Hungry little boy

From mid August or perhaps earlier, Yang became a hungry little caterpillar boy.

At first, he was hungry at bedtime but decided to go to bed anyway as he had brushed his teeth. But from mid August, he finally decided that he had to eat.

Peanut butter sandwich and milk for supper

Other options are Weetabix, Swiss roll slices and muffins, depending on availability. Once, he had dinner, followed immediately by a muffin and a peanut butter sandwich! And at bedtime, he had a slice of Swiss roll!

Really as if he was going to become a pupa...

I remember Kai eating a lot in P5 as well but it was just three to five (!) packets of three lemon biscuits during tea time. Yang also has two packets of three Oreo biscuits during tea time so he is eating substantially more.

Let's look at growth - 21 June to 1 September:

• Kai: 170cm / 50kg to 171cm / 54.5kg
• Yang: 151cm / 40kg to 153cm / 44.9kg
• Yu: 134cm / 31kg to 135cm / 33.7kg

All of them put on 3-5kg in about two months. Yang put on the most weight. I can’t see where it goes on Kai - perhaps the height. But Yang is visibly meatier despite also growing 1cm. Yu put on weight but not height so Sito said he put on marks instead haha!

So, Yang, when will you become a butterfly? :)

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...

Yang turns 11 :)

After P1 when Yang's birthday fell on the day before the start of term 3, it had been during term time until this year - last Friday of term break with a weekend to go before the new term started. So he was very happy :)

And then, I thought we didn't do anything fun during the term break apart from our Legoland trip and was feeling a bit sad for the kids, especially Yang who had been working hard through the break. So we decided kind of last-minute, that we should go cycling!

Got the kids' assurance that they would try to learn. Coz no training wheels for Kai's size, and likely none for Yang's too. So when the weather looked good last Friday, we chop chop set off after breakfast!

The last time we went was two years ago when we were still at BP. So the journey this time was really easier - MRT to Haw Par Villa and changed to a bus which dropped us right at the cycling kiosk. Told JY about it at breakfast and they decided to come along too. 

Just two days ago, we met for dinner at Le Shrimp, and the six boys were running all over Star Vista. Later when I told Yu that Auntie JY said nightmare to have six sons, he gave me a nice retort - twice the cuteness! 💕  This round, the five boys - K1 doing holiday homework - were each busy with cycling so no nightmare :p

I demonstrated how to cycle and then Sito and I stood around to watch them try. It took an hour or so before Yang finally managed to do it! What perseverance, what an achievement! So happy for him! I think this was the best birthday present he could give himself :)

He already took received presents from the grands two weeks ago, and we also got him True Singapore Ghost Stories book 1. Do we count the Lego sword? Ah well...

Anyway, Yang soon cycled (slowly) into Kai who was stationary and sustained some bruises on his legs and an abrasion on his left forearm. Maybe due to that and the heat, he felt very tired.

Resting on the ground under a tree

Kai got it next, after we changed his mountain bike (is that what it's called??) to a city bike, and could eventually go further and more steadily than Yang. Yu couldn't do it and asked for training wheels. We didn't give in. Towards the the of our two hours, he managed to cycle a short distance - he can probably nail it next time!

Said bye bye to our friends and left for lunch at Clementi. These kids like ice cream so it was Swensen's! And this was the first time we had their student deals - very good as it's the same as their usual but cheaper!

Firehouse birthday sundae without whipped cream for Yang :)

After lunch activities included shopping and cutting hair for Yang and Yu - Kai cut his the Saturday before but his brothers refused then 🤷‍♀️ Lucky it was a weekday else it would be very crowded to cut just before a new school term!

Strawberry cake as requested :)

And yes, pyjamas party! Coz they showered and changed before dinner. They all wanted my spaghetti for dinner. I was very tired but it was an easy meal even though I had not defrosted any meat ahead of time - just use my fave IQF minced beef, yeah! I think I have perfected the laziest one-pot, three-ingredient spaghetti, four if you include tomato paste from a tube :p

Cake was a great dessert after dinner and before our usual Friday movie night. All in, a wonderful birthday for Yang, I hope :)

Another strawberry cake as requested!

Ahhh, didn't realised AhYee got blocked - she's the one who gets cakes usually, and these are amazing cakes!

Headed to Crystal Jade La Mian XLB for dinner. We haven't been there since we moved back to HV and it closed after June so we just made it! Kids had their usual kosong noodles and a tray of xlb each. But they were more interested in playing with the grands' phones 🤦‍♀️ 

And yesterday, Facebook reminded me of a photo of Yang and his bear bear from 11 years ago, when his bear bear was bigger than him! I had to ask Yang to recreate the scene :p

How my baby has grown!

In the past few months, Yang has become somewhat meatier. I think Kai put on some meat around this age too but look at his thin frame now... So, Yang, eat more!

But how the bear bear has shrunk, no thanks to my frequent washing since Yang decided to hug this to sleep some time this year! 11yo and still super cute, he would tuck bear bear into his PJs with its head sticking out and snuggling his neck. Too cute, I cannot....

Might as well add another photo from yesterday. Papa has been helping Yang meditate before bedtime for a number of days now, starting during term break? We want him to learn how to focus better. Last night, Yu decided to join them. I thought I heard Yu calling me and thought they were done. 

But I went in and saw this scene ❤️ 

Happy birthday to my sweetest middle child, Yang Yang! Hope you enjoyed your day, and benefit from these usually 1-1 meditation sessions with Papa :)

Yang goes camping!

My Yang Yang went camping last week!

Before he went, he said he didn't like it coz of what he heard from Kai - dirty toilets and milo which was like water with brown colouring *.*

We told him to go with an open mind. After all, Kai also enjoyed his P5 camp in the end. And be safe - listen to the teachers and instructors!

But a week or so before the camp, we got bad news from the school - due to higher levels of bacteria in the waters where they were supposed to go kayaking, this batch would not have kayaking :(

I still pack his wet shoes in case his old shoes - from last year and worn to Japan! - gave up during the camp. These wet shoes were from the grands who bought the wrong size or something. 

Ready for camp with his barang barang on Wednesday

The week or so before LNY, I stopped sending Yang and Yu to the bus stop. So when I realised it was raining, I changed quickly and chased after these two. I always shelter them up the bus if it rains. More important this time in case Yang gets wet and falls ill during the camp!

Yu was sad to see him go to camp, awww... Missed this sweet boy, especially at night...

Sito had to fetch Yu on Wednesday and Thursday as Kai would be late. And Kai helped send Yu to school on Thursday - he usually leaves before his brothers but this time, he was so patient and even asked me where he should drop him off! It was HBL for Yu on Friday so no ferry duty.

I kept checking the parents' chat group near noon as they were supposed to return from camp to school by noon. Happy to see that his class was one of the first two classes to go back! He reached home about 12.45 pm, coming in all smiley with a cap on his head - super cute but I didn't have free hands to grab the camera..

So yes, the toilets were gross. He said he held his poop but thankfully, he managed to poop a lot that day and the next couple of days! Guess the school made them guzzle lots of water...

But the milo was great! He even told Kai that it wasn't water with brown colouring haha! But his fave was the breakfast - char kway teow one day and bee hoon the next. He couldn't have a second serving for the former but he had three servings of the latter! He also brought back a lot of banana-flavoured cake and Khong Guan biscuits. 

A funny thing - I found a pack of Khong Guan biscuits in the washing machine after washing his bag. Oops, must have missed that... But it was still crunchy! Fantastic packaging, I say!

Anyway, he also enjoyed the campfire. He said he was shy but he put on his cap to overcome his shyness and managed to do the campfire dance. The campfire was top of his list :)

He also happened to be in the same tent as his BFF ET, for which he was very happy. At one point, there was some mix-up in the sleeping bag coz one kid kept pulling other bags somehow - the kids probably all had the same one from Decathlon! But luckily he brought the right one home. The second night was spent on a bed in a dormitory.

There was also outdoor cooking, amazing race and low element activities. But they were not allowed to eat their pizza, and for good measure, I guess - who knows how hygiene the process had been?! :p

So even though his first response to me was that the camp was meh, it seemed like he had a good time :)

But he seemed to have caught a bug from the camp, just like Kai who had to miss LNY celebrations in school due to a cough. 

On Saturday, he didn't feel well after lunch - which happened to be hotpot like for Kai's P5 camp. We were supposed to go to Macs for dinner, his choice as Kai chose Macs when he returned from his S1 camp. But they returned from the playground just as we were about to go pick them up, and Yang looked pale and felt dizzy.

In the end, Sito brought Kai and Yu for dinner downstairs while I stayed home with Yang. I brought him to wash hands and sat him down in front of the basin while I went to change out of my street clothes.

I regret not handing him the vomit pail. I heard him puke as I went back to him. Sighs... Let him vomit it out on the floor ba... When he felt better, he took a shower while I cleaned up the mess. I used up a lot of old cloths and a mid-sized bag. Gross. But I managed to clean up before he came out of the shower. 

But before he managed to pull on his pyjamas pants, he had to puke. This time, he got to the toilet in time, yeah! And this time, he really felt better coz he agreed to having some food. Sito packed ban mian for him - this boy likes it after having it a couple of times during the recent raining weekends.

When we were at AhMa's place the next day, he declined Ferrero Rocher coz he thought he might have eaten too many on Saturday before he puked - he had six. These kids had no control over snacks if we turned our head...

He didn't go to school ytd coz he said his tummy still felt weird after breakfast and he was afraid he might vomit on his way into school like last time - can't remember when though. So Sito and I took turns to go through all his subjects. At the end of the day, he said it was worse than going to school haha!

Today, he said his tummy felt worse. But he didn't say he would stay home. I gave him a bigger pair of pants coz his old ones were pressing on his belly, and a plastic bag. So far, no phone call. So ok, I guess he's fine!

Hope my sweet boy gets well soon!

Update 25 Dec 2025

Yang managed to go kayaking after all! The school organised a trip for the P5 in the last week of the year, probably to make up for what they missed out at the camp :) He said he liked kayaking but he didn't like the sand :p

So now, I have two pairs of wet shoes waiting for Yu - Yang couldn't fit into Kai's P5 wet shoes. And after Yu, I'll give away Kai's pair and keep Yang's pair for myself. Yes, my kids have big feet!

Yang's rash

It started in late 2023. Small bumps developed under Yang's left eye and the bit between his nose, upper lip and cheeks, but mostly under the eye. 

Think it was a couple of weeks after Sito's birthday dinner at Famous Treasure. The restaurant was very cold. Yang and Yu shared a scarf provided by the restaurant. As kids go, this boy buried his face with the scarf and goodness knows how clean - or not! - the scarf was! Right after dinner, we saw that his left eye was red and got him some eye lotion which helped.

It was super unlucky for him - and lucky for Yu who didn't have any issue.

The rash didn't go away. At one point, it looked like it was dry and peeling in bits. It was a weekend so we got some cream from the pharmacy. It didn't help. Managed to get an appointment at the polyclinic the next working day, 2 Jan 2024.

The doctor gave him some cream, which didn't work. At the review on 24 February, the doctor referred him to the in-house dermatologist. 

We managed to see the derm on 4 April. She took pictures and sent to National Skin Centre; I'm not sure why but I remember thinking they should have referred us there directly!

Anyway, that was our next destination..

So on 12 Jun 2024, six months after our first polyclinic visit, we met a dermatologist at the NSC. She seemed like a newbie but brought in her consultant to look at Yang. In the end, we scrapped a bit of the rash off the cheek part to test for molluscum, but it was negative. We agreed to a retinol treatment to slough off the bumps gently.

Yang's skin turned red after applying the retinol, an expected side effect. But the rash wasn't getting better; the bumps were still there.

At the review on 4 September, the doctor said it would be safe to continue with the retinol which would take time to show effect, but he asked us to apply a moisturiser 20min after applying the retinol to help the redness.

I decided to alternate the retinol and the moisturiser - Cerave, not my regular! - until our Japan trip. I was afraid the winter weather would make his skin even drier so I skipped the retinol totally and gave him only the Cerave. I didn't resume the retinol since then.

All this while, Yang's rash looked ok some days and less so others. But the skin was red though the redness has diminished a bit since we stopped the retinol. He also kept saying he was fine with the bumps, no need to treat. Think he was tired of all the nightly applications... 

We had another review on 14 January. To be honest, I didn't want to go back after September coz I found it all useless, and Yang was ok with the rash. But I was glad we did coz this doctor was the clearest of them all. 

He said that even though the molluscum test was negative, it could have been a false negative due to sampling. However, the retinol would have killed off any active virus. He suspected what we're seeing now is scarring, which would take time to heal. So we are to continue with Cerave, and avoid sun exposure. If there are new bumps, we can use the retinol.

Wa, I like this doctor. So clear, so willing to share his thoughts on this without just relying on tests or telling me ok la, just continue the cream... 

So now, we just put the moisturiser on the dots. To be honest, there were nights I forgot. But the dots look better, and Yang has no issue with his looks. We will just do our best and hopefully the dots will diminish more as he grows...

Each in his own room - or not

Yesterday, we shifted Yu's bed from Yang's room to his own room, and Yang's desk from Yu's room to his own room.

The plan has always been to separate them by Yang's P5 year, so that he could rest better. These two like to chat, sometimes late into the night. Yang was dozing off in class this year, and at home, he sometimes felt sleepy while doing work or even while having dinner!

And despite having their own desk, Yang and Yu did their work mostly at the dining table. They only used their desks a few times, usually when they needed aircon. The dining table is super multi-purpose but they have limited space if others are eating and have to wait for the table to be cleaned. 

So now, both Yang and Yu are like Kai, own bed with own desk in own room. Yang's room looks more spacious now. Yu's room looks more warm now.

Thursday night before the big shift

I said I wanted a picture and they turned their bum to me *.* Why??!

Yang's room now

Yup, he wasn't pleased with this arrangement. Over the past year, he had said many times he wanted Yu out of his room when he was angry with him for various things. But when it was really time, he wanted to be with Yu.

Yu's room now - have to pull down the blinds coz it's a corridor room

He decided to do a little trial - I turned off the light, turned on the night light and left the room for a while. When I went in, he said it was quite ok.

Later, I asked Yang to do the same trial. He said scary! Aiyoh...

I told them that if there was no school the next day, they could sleep with each other... But Yang didn't want to sleep on Yu's bed or have Yu in his bed coz he said Yu was stinky - he still drools in his sleep :)

But in the end...

Awww.... 

Let's see how it goes in the days to come... Just over two weeks to the new school year!

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

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!

Y&Y are such good brothers

Yesterday evening, Yu started having a slight runny nose. By bedtime, his eyes looked tired. He was looking forward to his learning journey to the Science Centre today so I told him he should sleep more to get better. I tucked him in and turned off the light early, before Yang came in. Then I went to get Yang in and told him to be quiet as Yu was not feeling well and wanted to sleep early. 

Yang came in, and went straight to Yu to sayang his head :)

As if that didn't melt my heart, Yu stretched out both hands to Yang and said, "Huggy..." And the two shared a hug :)) Yang said, even as he continued to hug his brother, "I hope I don't get runny nose."

Totally melted.. 

And that wasn't all.

Yang then gave Yu a little hammer massage. Yu said Yang was very good at massaging.

When I was lying down with Yang, Yu suddenly said that he would also take care of Yang if he got ill next time.

My heart was so full!

Just a few days ago, I asked Yu whether Yang was a good brother, and he said he was, which I expected coz he didn't think Kai was a good brother *.* But I didn't expect him to add that it was because Yang kissed my belly when he was inside! 

The lovely photo our living room wall - 5 Aug 2016

Yu is out and big now! See them enjoy Milo dinosaur together :)

May these two continue to be good friends and take care of each other :) And may Kai learn to get along well with them at some point too!