Tuesday, 13 August 2019

Happy National Day! From elsewhere!

I had two tickets to NDP preview on 3 Aug but was informed about it quite late. We already had tickets to Fantastic Mr Fox so we gave the preview tickets to Mum and Dad. Also missed the parade on TV coz we took a short trip over the National Day-Haji long weekend. I think this was the second time I spent National Day abroad, excluding the years when we were studying overseas.

But I was glad to have the chance to sing the 2019 song with the boys on the eve. We have been listening to this song on TV so we were all familiar with it. Kai brought back a Singa booklet from school a couple of days before, and he sang from the lyrics. He was especially good with the rap! Yu accompanied the rap with a finger pointing down like in the MV :) While Yang couldn't read, he remembered some parts from listening and sang along. And we could all sing the ohohoh!



My boys in red and white!


The big one as he left school


So where were we? Cameron Highlands and Kuala Lumpur!

Friday, 9 August

Kai and Yang woke far too early. Too excited? We left the house at 7 am and got to Terminal 4 by 7.30 am. I'd never been to this new terminal. Everything is new and nice. The tray system at the security checkpoint is quite cool! Love the toilets - so spacious and toddler-friendly. Yu had to poo, and I could disinfect the seat while he was able to reach the sink easily. Heard there's a Japanese bidet but I wouldn't know coz I was in a hurry - Yu had to be tricked off me so that I could go pee...

Oh, and key point to note - they allow one bottle of water for kids. Unfortunately, we were told as we drained the water...

Cutie pie on Papa's shoulders on the way to breakfast at T4


Hashbrown in one hand and McMuffin in the other


Must touch everything


Yang posed nicely :)


Yu was having so much fun!


Pining for the aeroplane...


Our plane!


Someone couldn't wait for take-off to have his lolly!


This is a most bo hua flight for parents with lollipops meant to help with ear pressure. Within an hour, the kids got to have two lollipops!

Not this kid - he slept through landing


There was a long wait at immigration. The queue system sucked. When we finally got into a queue for a counter, the speed was excruciatingly slow. Sito had to queue at another line, bringing Kai and Yang, and we waited until it was clearly going to be his turn before we went over. Along the way, I fished out the new teddy bears for the boys - I wrote their names on the bears :)

We met Popo et al and had lunch at Mitsui Outlet Park. Popo was very funny, told me to go have a girl now that Yu was bigger, coz good to have a girl! Um, I said something along the lines of 天注定 and realised later that I had used a mix of Hokkien and Cantonese in those three words! Later I also heard her telling Mum that Yang had "zabor bin" and (I) still had a boy (Yu).

We boarded the minibus at 3.05 pm. It was almost 9 pm when we reached our hotel in Cameron Highlands!! It was such a painful ride. Luckily Yu napped for quite a bit. When he was up, we chatted about Legoland (again!). The boys were also happy to have some snacks at around 6 pm. That was soon followed by a pee stop. The boys shared some ice cream.

Kai: How come Yu's legs don't reach the floor like mine??


Snack time! Kai was the main distributor...


The second half of the bus ride was more eventuful. Yu who refused to pee at the pee stop decided that he needed to pee! So we gave him a bag - and that leaked! I had some pee in my hands...

We also had a slight change in seating so Yang was with us instead. Found it a bit sad that he was sitting on this own coz Yu was sitting in my lap on a separate seat. Not enough hands to sayang all my babies :(

For a while, he was staring out of the window. Suddenly he turned and told us that he wanted to be a teacher! Although later he said he wanted to be some superhero *.* And Yu followed suit to say he wanted to be Batman... Yu could also do the gesture like Spiderman squirting web, so funny...

Yu puked on the windy road up. Peppermint oil came out too late.. Just glad that I wasn't affected and could comfort my little boy.

We ordered dinner here until they moved us to a regular table


Sito and I shared a room with Yu while Mum and Dad kindly took Kai and Yang away. Our rooms were adjoining so they were dashing in and out at times. The hotel was really nice - Cameron Highlands Resort. No aircon but cooling nonetheless. It was almost midnight when we, including the kids, finally slept...

Saturday, 10 August

The soundproofing wasn't too good. Or maybe our adjoining doors were ajar. I heard Mum's 6.30 am alarm and went back to sleep. Finally at 8 am, Kai and Yang wanted their shoes and made a lot of noise. So I woke. With a cold :(

Yu fiddling with his vitamins


Posing while waiting for the bus


Yu followed how I put my hand on his leg on the bus, so cute!


Our first stop was a lavender farm, which also had other flowers and stuff. But the strawberries were the size of grapes so we didn't let the kids go pick them. We were just hanging around the place, resting and taking pictures until it was time to go. And I even bumped into an old classmate!

Purple bear bear! Bigger than the one at home!


Helping his brother on the swing


Two small bums sharing a swing


From the purple castle window


"Banana man!"


The boys played ji gu pah on the bus - thanks to Papa!


Yu napped on my lap


Very soon, Yang also took a nap. So we stayed in the bus while the rest went to a tea plantation. I also wanted to go! Issit that what Cameron Highlands is all about?! Though Jiejie said boring. So Kai decided to take a walk with Papa to take a few pictures for me :)

Looks nice!


We had lunch at an eatery and returned to the hotel. The boys weren't napping but they had various gadgets and were happy. I guiltily left them to go for a massage with Sito!

Just don't touch my broken toe...


Returned to our room for a short while and found that there was a balcony! And then we went to find our kids who just started on a trail organised by the hotel.

Happily colouring! So guai! Minder next to them


Their next stop took them to right under our balcony


Yup, we followed them haha! But we hurriedly turned back when Yang spotted us!! And we turned into the lounge area for hi-tea, yeah!

But their trail ended before our hi-tea arrived. Ah well.. So we had kids dashing about us for the next hour or so. They had candies from the trail and so were quite occupied with whether they could eat them all...!

Watching Papa play games, hmmm...


Yu trying to trade a candy with Kai :p


Here comes our food! Must take picture


Next was a pasar malam at Golden Hill. We took a short walk there, made longer by my koala bear clinging onto me. Luckily, he let AhYe carry at some point.

Yang spotted a big fat centipede along the way


I spotted these plants with gourds


That's my baby walking along with his new umbrella!


Yu let Papa carry on the way back - he patted his back :)


Dinner was steamboat at the hotel!


We ate so much. Even the kids had quite a bit. At one point, Yu wanted to poo but halfway back to the room, he decided he wanted to eat first. So we went back for dessert and he broke a glass *.* We had an earlier night...

Sunday, 11 August

We left Cameron Highlands shortly after breakfast. The journey thankfully took less than four hours! Lunch was at a Chinese restaurant at Pavilion. Yu wanted the ice from Sito's ice water but there was no more ice left. He was sad and cried quietly - "I want ice"... So heartbreaking! Sito decided to get another glass of ice water even though we were starting to leave the restaurant.

Then we went back to our room and rested until evening. We all took a nap :)

Baby napped in the bus again


Then he had an egg coz he didn't eat breakfast


Just quietly playing with his bear bear :)


Dinner was at Oversea - not a typo! Yang and Yu loved the char siew! It was a short walk from the hotel but we took a taxi for the kids. Going there was fine but coming back, I had a shock when I packed the kids in the car with me and looked up to see that there was no more space for Sito! I was still ill and all three boys were proving to be quite a handful this trip, with all the running and chasing around. But my dear husband ran back to the hotel and got there 5-10 min after we got there :)

I liked this hotel - the bathroom had a separate lockable toilet so that I could wash up while Sito took his time! But this evening, Sito stepped out to get something sweet after I was done showering. So I just washed up etc with Yu occupied with Ryan in Legoland and occasionally telling me whether he could or could not take a certain ride!

By the time I was done, Sito got back. I settled the boy to bed while Sito showered. Then, we sat down to watch the last part of Black Panther on TV with bubble tea :)

Monday, 12 August

No alarm this morning! We woke shortly after 8 am - what bliss! Gave Yu some popcorn while I prepared and packed etc. By the time we were ready, the rest were coming back from breakfast, oops... When we sat down, the boy decided he didn't want to eat! So I sent him over to Mum and Dad.

And this was what he did - retro colours!


We went for a walk in the mall before checking out. Then it was lunch at a Hakka restaurant at the mall. I was still full from breakfast!

Funny faces in mirror at the mall


Looking at Lego sets


Taking turns to sit on a "hole" in the giant ice cream and posing sweetly!


Massaging Papa at lunch time, or strangling him?!


Finally it was time to go home! We planned to set off early in case of traffic and immigration queues. Turned out we got there within an hour. So Yu napped for only a short while. We settled at Macs for tea. The boys ate quite a bit of fries and nuggets and ice cream!

"I want to go aeroplane...


Window seat for the tot!


And then he didn't want the aeroplane. But we were halfway home?! Anyway, can't remember exactly now but I think we were seated in this sequence when Yu counted from 1 to 100! He did it on his own until 30 and then managed all the ones; all the 10s were 30 :p He had some difficulties in the 70s but he got through with a bit of prompting from me. So proud of him! :)

At first we thought we wouldn't need dinner coz of the Macs. But the boys wanted to eat. So we went to London Fat Duck at departures. The boys' noodles took some time to arrive and turned out to be quite peppery! Kai had a crying episode - it was baffling to us so I decided to send him to school the next day to understand more. But he refused to tell me until bedtime. My dear boy, who would you tell if not me? Well, at least at this age...

So that was how we concluded the trip. It was tiring coz we spent so much time on the road and managing the kids. It was yummy coz food ya! It was enlightening coz we learnt a little bit more about our kids - some good, some bad - and also ourselves as parents. We now look forward to our next trip - to Legoland of course!

Also looking forward to this Sunday for NDP replay on TV, yeah!

Sunday, 4 August 2019

The foot incident

It is like the thumb incident, but worse.

Friday, 2 Aug, I was about to send Kai to school. He was sitting right outside the door. I opened the door and turned back to address the brothers at the same time. And AHHH! I caught my foot in the door!

I put down my bag, limped over to the sofa and got N to bring me tissue. I had to hold on to the painful toe - the second on my right - for some time. When I let go, it was still painful. Got an icepack instead. Much better.

Went in to give it a rinse but as I came out, I felt faint and pukish. I recalled my thumb incident and somehow managed to get to the sofa without fainting. But I couldn't move anymore. I told N to send Kai to school, and got Yang and Yu to get Sito to save me.

Sito helped me to bed and there I was for a while. Yang massaged my thigh and calf, Yu patted my chest. So nice of them :) Kai wasn't so nice earlier - he was concerned with whether he would be late :(

Open wounds on two parts of the toe :(


Getting swollen!


After Sito took Yang and Yu to school, I continued to lie there and felt much better. Then I decided to go to work. I even declined a ride from R coz that was 30 min away and I was confident of getting to office earlier by the MRT then by taxi.

Well, the swelling made me limp, and I realised I couldn't go down escalators so my progress was hampered. But make it to office, I did. At one point in the morning, I looked at my toe and found a big black bruise on the underside! And later about 2 pm, I felt a little cold in that toe, and decided to go see a doctor.

Big black bruise!


Doc assured me it was not a weight-bearing part of the body and I should be fine. But he also recommended an x-ray. I was reluctant but after discussing with Sito, I went the next morning coz we're going to Cameron Highlands next week.

By night time, it was more red than black


I bundled it up for bedtime


I remember hours and hours of waiting at AMK polyclinic when I was a child. It was immensely frustrating. But I also know that polyclinics have improved greatly since then. And diagnostics should probably be faster than the regular consultation?

I waited for maybe 30 min for my turn. The wait for results was supposed to be an hour but I returned from the nearby market (had laksa for $2.50 and bought kiddy PJs!) after 50 min and got it.

Read the results on the bus back - fracture at base of distal phalanx! I did not expect that. I didn't recall opening the door with much force! That means a recovery time of two to three months instead of weeks! Anyway, I went back to the same doc and got a buddy bandage.

"Hi, buddy!"


The bruise has been draining off the toe since yesterday. But it's still painful. And without this, I might not have realised just how often the boys step on me or ram into me! Living with kids is living dangerously, hoho!

Catching up with my growing boys

Trying to do a quick catchup of the past month or so.

Yu's hair got very long all of a sudden. When he woke in the morning, his hair would be either very flat or very messy. I was thinking of cutting it after our trip to Cameron Highlands in case he got cold but he wanted to cut yesterday.

When asked to pose - hair very long!


Yu could get a haircut on his own now!


"What's that feeling??"


Happy to see himself botak :)


The scar from the fall in May - I showed it to Yang!


Yu could also peddle forward slightly now :)


And this boy was so cute that day when I confiscated Yang's penguin coz he used it hit me a few times on purpose. Yang was sad in the room and Yu was on the throne.

Yu: Mama, can you give Yangyang his owl?
Mama: Owl?
Yu: .... Penguin?
Mama: No, coz he used it to hit me on purpose. He shouldn't have done that right?
Yu: Coz Yangyang is funny, heh heh!
Mama: I didn't think that was funny!!!!

Got some activity books for the three of them a while back. Finally let them do it one weekend. But I was very upset when Kai gave up on his puzzles just coz it went from picture to word puzzles, and pulled out all of Yu's stickers instead!

Yu happily pulling out stickers


Yang having fun with mazes and tracing letters etc over and over again


Kai at his first puzzle


Two weeks ago, I woke on a Sunday knowing there was work to be done. But I promised them a trip to the hawker centre so I put all thoughts of work aside and off we went! Bought a cheapo purse each for N and me and some fruits before we called it a day.

Their first experience with rambutans at the market!


They're all growing up so much. I want to do a lot with them - go cycling outside, go walk the parks, find different food to try, watch plays etc. How I wish I have more energy!

A glimpse into our future, when Yu could join them!


I hope they will grow ever so close as they grow up :)


But I'm sure they won't be as flexible, hoho!


Our first plays

It has been very busy at work - which extended to weekends when Yu would wail while I worked - such that I have little time and energy to do other things. Yet in the past month, we happened to have booked tickets to two plays.

The first was SmartyPants and the Swordfish, a play about bullying. I meant for Sito to bring Kai and Yang coz I thought he might do a better job at unpacking the lessons in the play, but he took ill that weekend so I brought them instead.

The kids could sit on the floor but they mostly sat sat with me - Kai on a chair and Yang on me. The cast was playing basketball and invited the audience to join in. Yang went at one point but when they asked for his name, Kai shouted out his name so Yang turned around and ran back! He said he didn't want Kai to sit on his seat, gee...

It was quite interactive as well as we got to throw paper balls, spears and even swordfish at the cast at various points of the play. And coz it was the last run of the play, we got to bring some props home!

They chose the spears - and Yang got a third one for Yu


We went for the second play yesterday. It was Fantastic Mr Fox - in Mandarin! 了不起的狐狸爸爸 had a cast of six playing all the roles. We could sing the song of the farmers coz it was quite catchy, though I have to make up the second part of the lyrics myself :p

I bought the book - English version - some weeks ago but never got down to finishing it. But after the play, Yang was interested to read the book - I'm so happy!

Vitagen man!


Us, just before the played started


After the play ended, Yang wanted to go up to see the seats above


Of the two, Yang was undoubtedly the more interested one. Both times, he wanted to watch it again by the time we got to the end. On the other hand, Kai was whining about it not being a movie, wanting to stay at home to play PS, "is it in Chinese?!" etc. I recall our trip to Spain, when we watched flamenco. Yang could sit still to watch the whole thing while Kai either fell asleep or was running about!

We're going to get tickets for Gingerbread Man next - it stars from October and is for three and up so Yu could make it!

Looking forward to enjoying more theatre with them :)

Kai is seven!

The Saturday before Kai's birthday, he attended his childhood friend, A's birthday party. We came back to let him choose a present from the poo poo shop before a dinner of his choice - udon of course! We had cake the next day - we came to this decision after a discussion since he doesn't eat cake since no-idea-when!

Seven cupcakes for his seventh!


He got to blow his candle :)


And he had to go to school on his birthday, no choice! I had wanted to take half day to bring him out after school, but I had a workshop that day... But as it turned out, there was Youth Day! So I got his agreement to do his birthday day out on Youth Day instead :)

I thought of bringing him to the luge but he seemed to be uncertain about that. So we decided to go watch a movie instead.

On our way to Vivocity


He was playing with his present when he spotted a couple smiling at him and got all shy


We were trying to get tickets at the machine when he said he didn't want to watch Aladdin anymore and pointed to another show - some horror movie, no!!!!! Anyway, we had to go to the counter to get tickets in order to get the student discount.

And then we went to Harbourfront!


I showed him the baby spa which he used to go to every week. He asked me whether he could still go... Um, no, not since he was a baby!

Went to the Vivocity playground for a short while - too hot!


We got some Garrett popcorn for the movie, oops... He was so impatient to get to the popcorn! But I told him beforehand that he would have to wait until the movie started. The move was quite long and he sat through and laughed at parts. He said he enjoyed it. Yeah, outing success!

Went for lunch at the Ichiban at Vivo - yes, udon! But he didn't like it there. I tried it - it seemed saltier than the one near home.

Playing with his rubik cube while waiting for lunch


Passed by the candy shop to get some jelly beans for him before going home. He was raring to get to his PS3!! I went to get some ice cream for him to have for afternoon tea on his birthday :)

Happy birthday, chubby cheeks!


He's skinny everywhere else...

If that is a guai pose, this is a cheeky one!


Had dinner with the extended family on Saturday so that we wouldn't get home too late on Sunday night. There was an interesting dish - chicken wrapped and cooked in clay!

Kai and Yang had fun blowing out the flame lit under the clay


And breaking the clay!


I think they would be even more thrilled if it were ice cream inside! :p