Was so busy I forgot to write about our happy times with the boys.
Yang had a show-and-tell on 22 August. He wanted me to go so I did. And I was glad I did! He did so well! I was wondering whether he would be soft and shy, or loud as usual, whether he would need his teachers to help him along by the side, and whether he would speak English or Mandarin.
English show-and-tell, loud and clear, no help from anyone and with a drumstick on his head!
Yu joined us too!
Yang's grape sandwich
Picture and voice message from N on the way home: Mama, nice or not??
Very nice and handsome, my dear baby!
I still don't understand why kids like to play with those standing boards things when there are slides and swings right nearby
Cute motorist riding about at home
Watching his brothers play chess with their own rules
Yu looks like such a big boy here! But I like to zoom into the mouth haha!
Yu said he drew a monster - and I could tell it was a monster!
Yu requested for Papa to lie down with him at nap time :)
Yu looked ridiculous with that big helmet!
Kai posed, hands free - and he wanted a picture
Oh, Yu fell! Looks like a 小球球 on the ground!
Boys on the roof!
Last Sunday, we did some painting at home. It was more like playing with paint!
Copying his brothers
We also did a play - three little pigs! The boys took turns playing the big bad wolf - so happy!
Cramped both my heart and my tongue in my mouth while Sito told Kai that he used to do this too!!
Hawker centre wasn't too crowded on Friday, Teachers' Day
Yup, Yu was too busy drinking his milo to look up... We took a different route to the hawker centre this time - the boys went on their scooter! I almost gave up and stopped at Bukit Panjang Plaza but Heavenly Wang was too warm so we carried on...
I had to chase after Yu for the first 30% of the way - coz after that he was too tired to continue *.* Kai stopped after 80% - coz it was a new, heavier scooter. Only Yang gamely rode the whole way, and still wanted to ride back! But no way, bus please!
Continued having fun downstairs after breakfast :)
Funny faces during a rest stop
Went to Mother's place for dinner. Took the LRT-MRT-bus route. Yu was surprisingly quiet along the way, sitting still next to me. Only his brothers were messing around the whole time.
Poker face throughout
Thumb game, with Pepsi-Cola 123
Very happy at the playground before dinner
Love seeing them like this :)
They were spinning around at the playground and said they felt like puking. But luckily, Kai ate everything, Yang ate most of his while Yu chose to eat fried wantan instead of rice!!!
Yu picked his nth fried wantan; Yang happened to be standing there :p
After our "road trip" yesterday, Yu could ride with his leg upright and turn as well!
Boys on the Papa Express, zooming through the water!
As I was picking out the kids' clothes for our upcoming Legoland trip, I realised that they haven't worn their nicer clothes for a while now that we don't go out much. Every Saturday, they wear their usual matching home gear, and after Yu's nap, we go out without changing into nicer clothes coz we're just heading downstairs... Time to dump stuff at the next stay-at-home weekend.
They must knock before AhMa can open the door
Finally got his hands on fishing after his nap!
Yu lined up the chairs and stools for a train ride!
And he put his suitcases under the seat in front of him, ok... He remembers a lot from our outings. Sometimes, he would carry the suitcase and say he's going to work. Ok, byebye, baby! :p
Lantern time!
I think Yang was most pleased with it coz he was with me when I got them from NTUC after music lesson yesterday. Yu found it fun enough. Kai didn't seem to care much about it. We'll be in Legoland on the actual day itself - will probably bring the lanterns along!
As usual, the kids wanted to go up the stairs after crossing the road so I told Yang to watch Yu and pushed the strolled up the slope quickly to meet them on the other side. But as I dashed up on this slope for the nth time, somehow I fell. I recall trying to hold on to the stroller but it slipped and fell on its back, just out of my reach as I landed on the ground.
It hurt. I was stunned by how much it hurt. I was also stunned by how defeated I felt, which had nothing to do with the fall. I didn't want to get up.
It took another second to realise that the boys were still waiting for me between the lift and the escalators, so I pushed myself up with great effort and pushed the stroller up again.
Yu was just coming down the slope to find me. When Yang learnt that I was hurt, he passed his sticker to his brother so that his hands were free to help me push the stroller. Thank goodness for them so I could continue.
Scrapes and bruises all over the left leg and some on the right
That evening at bedtime, I was sitting on Yu's bed, watching them play. There was no school the next day, Teachers' Day, so Kai was in the same room too. So things were bound to get rowdy. But it went too rowdy. When they started throwing all 30+ loose items - soft toys, pillows, blankets - at one another, I lost it.
It took a few hits to my face before Kai noticed something was wrong. He came over to ask me what was wrong. I told him I was very tired and needed to rest, and shifted to the window corner as I sobbed. Somehow, the boys thought it would help to put pillows around me - it was sweet of them. When one of the Y's - can't remember which! - talked about continuing to play, Kai rallied them to pick up the toys and rest.
It has been a very tiring period at work. I start at about 7.45 am after sending Kai to school. I have breakfast while clearing overnight emails - I have colleagues who start work after midnight. No lunch coz breakfast is big. I end at 5.30 pm so that I can pick the kids up. When the kids are down, I boot up the laptop by 9.30 pm, and don't stop until 11.30 pm or midnight.
A typical breakfast - rice, egg, meat, and sometimes a fourth item
This happens every Monday to Thursday. I didn't use to work on Friday evenings but since I don't know when, I have been leaving the kids to YouTube Kids after dinner and doing work while waiting for Sito to go for date night, and continuing after getting home.
Perhaps I should consider myself fortunate that I don't have to work weekends unless absolutely necessary. That happened a few times in July-August. Once, on a Sunday when Sito had brought Kai and Yang to the pool, Yu refused to go without me and was wailing on the floor while I tried to do something on my laptop.
I don't even remember what that piece of work was. But I remember my baby crying.
The kids don't get much of me on weekdays. So weekends are precious. Tiring, yes. But precious.
Anyway, this all adds up to a very tired mf.
I have started to dread Mondays. I have been dreading 9.00 pm - the hour when I get back to work even though there are many other things I'd much rather be doing, like continuing to sleep with the kids. I dread meetings - they either lead to more work or nowhere. I dread being unable to finish my work. I dread the feeling of being tired and not able to do anything about it. I dread dread.
Since late last year, Sito told me on more than one occasion that I could quit. But I have been holding on - perhaps I just need to get through this busy period, perhaps the light at the end of the tunnel will show itself soon. But one busy period merged into another. And I soon found that I was going deeper into a cave, not a tunnel.
And what was I going to do if I quit? Seriously no idea what I could do outside civil service. I also don't want to stay at home and watch my face turn yellow into the proverbial 黄脸婆! Though I can think of so many things I will do - sorting out the house, cooking, gardening, reading and writing.
But late August, after a double bout of cold, I was ready to tender. But somehow I thought of going to the temple so I did one morning after dropping Kai. And I drew a bad lot. Sito and I read various interpretations. I also asked Mum to help decipher. But it seemed to tell me to stay put and take steps to change my situation.
Obviously not successful going by the Thursday incident.
I worked quite late to finish up stuff on Thursday. On Friday, I logged on to clear stuff while Yu was napping. I wonder how tomorrow will be - already received text messages on work. I have two more working days before Legoland. It's probably going to be some serious payback before and after that. That just might be last straw, bad lot or not.
Just now, we were happily playing at bedtime when suddenly, Yu exclaimed that his pee pee was coming out! But he sounded more upset than urgent - oops, he had already leaked! He looked down in dismay.. I told him to keep holding it and go to the toilet. He asked to change when removing his pants. So poor thing.. But I was so glad he managed to control himself!
Happy during our art and craft activity this afternoon
I've been meaning to do this activity ever since Kai and I saw a girl play with a colour wheel on the bus one morning. Finally we did it! But it turned out that our wheels are not stiff enough. Or this mama just isn't very crafty!! Anyway, it couldn't be spun really well so the boys, led by Kai, repurposed it and swung in all around instead!
Yesterday, Yang did very well at music class. He guai guai played his pieces and tried his best. So he got to play ball game!
And he won 20 tickets!
I didn't know that having a ball in each hole could give so many tickets. I thought it was better to have all in one hole. Perhaps both work?? Anyway, he was super happy coz he knew the tickets could be exchanged for little toys - we once exchanged some for a mini tube of bubbles and he played with that while we waited for the rain to ease up.
So how did he do that?? "Coz I use my mind," he said. I was holding it. "And the balls like me, right?" Haha! yes, indeed the balls liked him! Have to explain what a fluke is next time...
Later in the evening after dinner at Macs
The kiddy ride wasn't moving, as usual :p
And they played "chess"!
Kai was inspired by KS during the Cameron Highlands trip where he learnt that he was good at chess. Sito and I will get him checkers to start with :)
Kai is quite funny. These days, he said he's cute but naughty. Yes, my boy, you are!
While we were having hi-tea at Cameron Highlands, I received news that DuaGu had passed away peacefully that afternoon. He was suffering from cancer.
I was worried whether I would make it for the funeral and was glad that I would. Sito and I settled the kids when we got home, and went over to pay our last respects. The next day, we brought the kids over after nap time as well - I told them beforehand who DuaGu, or 大舅公 to them, was, and how he had supported my family. I don't think they understood but hopefully, they would remember this trip when they are older, and know why I wanted them to pay their last respects too.
DuaGu was a rather quiet man. I knew him as an avid badminton player - there was a badminton setup near his coffin. My first memory of him was at the second floor of the shophouse where he laid out newspapers on the floor for me to poop on coz I couldn't use the squat toilet yet!! My adult memory of him was of a doting husband who brought his wife out to pak tor until he could no longer do it.
When my parents divorced and I went for my studies, this kind uncle of mine lent a hand financially as Mother couldn't rely on irregular alimony; I was independent with the scholarship but MZ and YQ were still in school. He continued to do so even when Mother got a job at a coffeeshop and when MZ started working. I think Mother had to tell him to stop after I came back for good. I will not forget this.
Yet, I had never thanked DuaGu properly. I only managed to do so for the first time at his altar on Monday night. I had the chance to do so again during the rites on Wednesday morning, before the cremation. Hope that counts..
Mother was saying that he probably chose the moment to go, when only ML and her husband were around. ML said it was perhaps Grams' wish as well, to go only when everyone was there. I recall a conversation with ML over messenger about our extended family, where I learnt a great deal about DuaGu as well. I can understand why Mother said that; it's probably true.
As we followed the hearse out to the main road, I happened to look up. I saw the familiar grilles along the corridors of the block. These grilles saw four generations of our family, who grew up there, had children there and whose children had children to continue dashing by those grilles.
Source: ML
So familiar and so distant at the same time. Another reminder that all I have left are memories, memories that will stay with me and be passed on to the next generation, even though the older generations start to leave...
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!
