Happy rabbit year!

It's going to be a prosperous rabbit year ahead given the downpour these few days! Coz 水为财 :)

The kids had a celebration in school on the Friday before LNY. Kai wore his dragon red top; Yang decided against his pineapple shirt which he agreed to just last month so he wore school uniform; Yu wore his blue top. 

Standard pose

Kai looks so small here!

When I went to pick the kids up in the afternoon, I saw many SCGS girls wearing cheongsam for their celebration - so nice! Actually, I don't remember doing this when I was in school... Even if there were such things, I'm sure I didn't have all these LNY clothes.

This year, we had two reunion dinners. On Friday, we went to Mother's place. As the kids passed the kitchen to wash feet, Yu thought he saw nuggets and took one - it was fried prawn! But he liked it and kept pinching. Then Yang caught on and joined him :p Only Kai wasn't keen on the prawns. But later during dinner, he discovered fried wantans :)

So happy to pinch food!

And to watch Netflix while eating

Notice a lobang in the plate of fried prawns? :p

Thanks to the curry, I had way too much rice... I even had a lot of potato! Soup and dessert were not in the picture. After we were all done, YQ said that the fried food wouldn't be nice if they were kept for another day. I agreed! Haha! So the few of us finished up the fried stuff and the roast pork. So full...

The second reunion dinner was at Mum's place. Started with yusheng as usual. The kids joined in but only ate the crunchy bits from my plate... Oh, Kai had a confused moment on our way out - lo hei vs. wok hei *.*

They had fun flipping food around!

A lot of food! Some meatballs were pinched off even before we had the yusheng...

Again, soup and dessert were not in the picture. I was surprised that Yu liked the steamed fish! Maybe I should try at home...?

The big pot on the right is 盆菜 which I had wanted to make after learning from Ah Yee last LNY. I even jotted down points! But no opportunity to cook reunion dinner at home this year. Maybe another time...

His belly was very round haha!

Yu fell at the playground downstairs. Went home with a bloody elbow and a bloody knee. I knew we were out of big plasters but lucky for us, Watson was still open! Managed to dress his wounds properly.

As usual, we let the kids stay up late on LNY eve. We got back later than usual and let them play a bit on their phone before watching an old Jackie Chan movie. I love such movies during LNY haha! Also brought out snacks for them but Sito and I were too full to eat much this year. 

Got space for Papa and Mama? :p

Chased them to bed after the movie ended. We wanted to sleep so they must sleep haha! They all slept until past 8 am the next day, considered late for them early risers. 

First, 拜年

Yang the photo bomber was at work again... But quite funny la so I kept it :p

Our usual LNY family portrait :)

T-shirt family this year! The boys all wore dinosaur prints. All different but they wore the same pants from Uniqlo. Kai made this face on purpose but quite funny too so I kept it :p

Mum et al went to Malacca on the first day so we would go visit them on Sunday instead. Got to AMK later than expected. The trains were quite empty. I seem to recall that the trains were more packed during LNY, strange... Anyway, we were happy to get there - parents were hungry haha! Kids were too distracted by Netflix to snack much. 

But this boy was very pleased with candy!

Next stop was Ah Yee's place. Or 阿嬷家 forever haha! Ah Yee prepared a lot of food! Finally, the extended family could gather together once more! So nice to see everyone again and to have more than 10 or even 20 of us in the little flat once more :)

So much food that so many of us could not finish!

It was raining so the kids were stuck. Luckily, there was Shaun the Sheep on TV. During a gap in the rain clouds, they went to the playground but Yu fell again on the same injured knee! I led him back to apply a new plaster. His brothers came back shortly coz it started raining again!

I let them OTOT in the living room while I chatted with the cousins and aunties and uncles. It had been such a long time since we met. A niece showed up almost unrecognisable!

We left after the yusheng. I should say lo hei coz no fish? Haha!

Special yusheng without fish but with bah kwa and goma sauce!

We packed Macs for the kids for dinner while Sito and I cooked instant noodles - perfect for a cold day!

On the second day, we wanted to go to Istana open house and River Hongbao. But thanks to the rain, we only managed the former. It was lunch time by the time we got to Dhoby Ghaut. We had all of one brolly with us and we saw the queue past Plaza Sing! Ok, lunch first...

Five Guys! Yu said it's called that coz there were five of us, haha! But in the end, he didn't like his burgers due to all the vege toppings. So sad coz it was so nice!!!

The queue disappeared by the time we were down with lunch. It also stopped raining. So we went into the queue, only to have it start raining again! Well, one brolly. We sheltered the kids. My bum was wet. Sito was all wet before he dug out a recyclable bag from our bag - instant fashion icon ok! So many people noticed, and that it was a SGSecure bag :p Good karma for making people happy :)

A photo to remember the OOTD

The kids weren't super enthu about this, especially Kai due to the rain. But the rain kind of disappeared by the time we went in and they had fun running about the sandpits. They even thought it was fake grass *.*

Just as they sped off!

Of course they must fall into the sandpit! I saw Kai and Yu slide down into the sandpit. Only their shoes were dirty, heng! I was wearing a pair of closed-toe sandals which got wet and sandy so I had to wash four pairs of shoes when we got back. Their Crocs were easy. Mine are still stinking out there coz no sun! 

Taking shelter as it started raining but these two had fun running in and out of the rain!

We decided to just walk to the main building and leave since the rain was not heavy. Anyway, Yang and Yu seemed to have had a lot of fun just walking and chatting in the rain. I shared a brolly with Kai while The Fashion Icon continued to strut about the Istana grounds.

Playing only

We didn't go into the main building since we were damp/wet and didn't want to fall sick from the aircon inside. We just walked out slowly. It would have been very nice if the weather was good.

Being very proper so that they could play Papa's phone

Steamboat for dinner!

That was a perfect end to a cold and rainy day :)

As it continued to rain, our plan for Day 3 was perfect - movie! Went to CCK to get tickets - so ex coz no student price on public holidays :( Then we went for a late breakfast at Yakun. It was a rather cramped outlet compared to downstairs. And it was crowded. We could only get a single table with a bench side so I got them to sit and wait while I went to get food. But the nice staff shifted them to a four-seater while I was queueing. 

Yang finished the two eggs for the first time! They also finished their requested number of slices - two each for Yang and Yu, four (!) for Kai. I had coffee and bought fried chicken from OCK to top up :p

We had time to kill so I decided to let them play at the arcade outside the theatre. It was especially fun coz there were tickets to be won. We pooled our winnings and redeemed two small toys. One is already broken *.*

Standard outfit for movies :p

We watched Mummies, which was quite fun! And I was very tickled by Yu's happy laughs :) I think I will always bring them to Shaw for movies - they have small tubs of popcorn which doesn't cost an arm and a leg! No complaints from kids when they don't need to share popcorn!

Came home to open hongbao!

I think this time, I'll deposit their money into CPF instead. Start them saving early.

Fast forward to last Saturday, we went to Ichiban for dinner - again. But this time, we decided to add yusheng! We saw many people waiting to collect yusheng and realised it was Day 7 人日 which is the day for yusheng. Ordered a small one since the kids wouldn't eat - happy!

Taken by Yang :)

Last 拜年 for the year was yesterday when we went to Mum's place. The kids still remembered LNY greetings without my prompting, yeah! 

Forgot to take a photo of their new outfits but here's one with Yang

Context - he was feeling hot from playing despite it being a cold day. So he made himself comfy under the fan and exclaimed, "Isn't this life?" Hahaha! It is indeed!

Selling the new house, buying a newer (old) house

Written in Sep 2021, edited Sep 2022:

After settling all the water issues (Kai's room x3, Yang's room x3) since we moved in, I finally set to look at two more things.

First, the wardrobes in Yang and Yu's rooms. The outer panels have some weird marks on them. I had thought they were mould and bought mould remover but it didn't work. When I finally got the carpenter to come have a look, he said it was a manufacturing issue or something and they had made a number of replacements already. Argh! I should have called them earlier!

He did some measurements and said would check with supplier on stocks etc. But then, this guy quit! Next I got in touch with the same office lady, she said out of warranty so must pay. I emailed developer who said the same. I SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS EARLIER!

But after weeks, she hadn't got back. Eventually, she said they were short of manpower. After some more weeks, she said she would ask her supervisor to head down. When there was still no word from her the following week, I took it as a sign from above that I should seek a real estate agent's advice on whether the work was necessary at all.

Second, the door frame for the kids' bathroom. One corner has been rotting since the first months. The main contractor said it was due to washing. I didn't think so. But I was busy with all the water issues which were more urgent. Anyway, the rotting got worse. I also got the contact of the door contractor but I thought I would settle the cabinet first.

Well, a good thing I called the agent! R recommended her agent a year ago and I saved the contact. We spoke briefly before he and a colleague came over on Monday, 13 Sep 2021. Bottomline - no need to touch up!

I walked them through the house, they took some pictures and we signed an agreement to appoint them as agent. Our house went on the market just like that!

Actually, we didn't think of selling this early. Coz we just remortgaged and we thought to save the redemption fees. Also wanted to buy our new place first. But there's the risk of not finding a buyer in time - HDB needs us to dispose of private property within six months. Can request for extension but if the market is not good then, it will be to our disadvantage.

And so many big HDB in BP right?

So... We had our two viewings each on 19 and 26 Sep 2021. And we got an offer. Then it hit me that we had to move real soon, like right after LNY. Worse, we would have to rent for quite a while as we hadn't even started looking yet. I don't fancy renting; I'm territorial. 

In any case, the offer was not great. So we rejected it. And discussed with agent that we would buy first then sell. I even put up a timeline with my fave Excel to capture the window of selling! Then I got a call close to midnight - the guy upped the offer by $100k, supposedly to cover rental. Um... Means lowballing earlier la... No again.

And the next day, I realised I felt so much better - think I was mang zang about renting...

Written in Sep 2022 before 29 Sep:

Eventually I told the agent we must find a place first. And held off on this agent coz later, maybe Nov? Sito thought we should move to Holland instead coz nearer secondary school. I was like, eh, thought we decided on BP? And don't know if the boys would go there... Plus can also go from BP! So much research...

Made him recce the journeys between BP/Holland and both secondary schools. In the end, decided to try Holland since nearer the grands. Only remaining issues are cost, availability and age of the flat. There aren't many big flats in Holland and few come on the market - only a few blocks, either 1970s or 1990s. Not too keen on the 2000s ones with bomb shelter. 

We made a bid for the third unit we saw, a 1990s one, but lost - it went at $1.2m!!! But after that, we thought whether it was worth spending that much. BP and older ones in Holland would save us some $400k! 

So we went to view two units in BP as well so that we could compare better, and three more in Holland. Eventually, we made a bid for the first unit we saw in Holland *.* We didn't want that at first coz it was an old flat. But $400k less and we're going to rot there. Quite lucky that it was still available five months on! The agent said the owner wasn't ready to commit back then so our timing was quite good. We exercised the option in mid August, yeah!

This agent is very good. He took pictures of our place when he brought the option over, drew up a nice timeline (unlike last time when I had to draw myself?!!), and did not need us to vacate our place during viewings (unlike last time so troublesome). And he found a buyer in six viewings within two months, including a second viewing. And he also got us a nice price - enough to cover rental for extension of stay and early redemption of loan!

Written this week:

Very happy right? Then the bombshell dropped.

We bought the Holland OTP on 25 Jul, and exercised it on 15 Aug. Given the seller's timeline, the HDB application could go some time in October. After we issued the OTP for our place on 24 Sep, I told the agent to just put in HDB application already. We could do on Friday, 30 Sep, when Sito returned from KL.

Then 29 Sep happened - the government announced a 15-month wait-out period for downgraders like us. There was no mention of people with OTP.

We quickly applied on 30 Sep and put in an appeal. But we got rejected via email on Tuesday, 4 Oct. I put in another appeal on 5 Oct. This time, it was a four-page paper with 13 annexes!

Apart from the appeal, I also considered scenarios and alternatives coz we were bound to sell our place already. It really sucked. Throughout this ordeal, Sito was in KL :(

Then, 6 Oct happened - they decided to waive the wait-out period for those with OTP before 30 Sep. Thank goodness! I could celebrate Yu's birthday in peace! Eventually, they granted the waiver on 10 Oct. 

I had multiple exchanges with various HDB officers. They were thankfully very responsive coz I kept having issues with the website:

• On 10 Oct, my second application got stuck on payment page (but they got it);
• The application also skipped through the proximity grant part after I clicked yes. Later, the financial plan showed that I didn't apply for the grant. But the officer helped me via phone and email;
• On 4 Dec, the grands couldn't verify documents for the proximity grant. The officer updated the system on 5 Dec and we managed to do it that night

HDB website is really weird.. Up to Monday, when I logged into HDB portal, I saw a screen saying my application had been cancelled from 4 Oct. I had to click "proceed" to be brought to the latest screen. But how scary! 

Anyway, the system update also caused our CPF to be deducted for stamp etc when we had opted to pay in cash. Small matter though.

Then we also had issue with dates. Agent said it was seller's new flat's agent/seller. Whatever. Point is, we didn't complete on originally agreed date of 31 Jan. Stuck to HDB's 9 Jan. So I had to use the POA we did back in 2021 coz Sito would be overseas. Then Sito said he hadn't bought tickets! Then HDB legal processed the POA already. Then Sito ended up leaving early morning of 9 Jan *.*

...

I really don't want to go through this again!

But the admin at HDB was smooth except for the property tax. Too gan cheong of me to paynow based on the amount in the HDB letter. It was reduced due to rebates so now I'm waiting for seller to refund me.

At least it's all done! The flat is ours woohoo!

I contacted our old ID and set a date to discuss renovations. Can't wait!

Happy 43rd to me :)

Sometimes I wonder how people remember how old they are. I'm lucky to be born in 1980 - so long I know which decade I'm in, I can easily remember my age. Like 43 in 2023.

Ok, that was random.

Saturday tea time

I asked Sito for a cake haha! He found a nice chocolate cake from Swee Heng. It reminded us of their log cake :p

I don't know why Yang looked grouchy. He wasn't grouchy leh. But Kai didn't want to have a part in this, hence the thumbs down, sobs :( Yu happily sat on me and asked to blow the candle. Yang also wanted to blow the candle. So I decided I'd do it myself!

We like to plan for weekend meals. We were going to lunch with the grands on Sunday and I was thinking of heading out somewhere after that so likely pack dinner to eat at home so we didn't need to head out again. We were thinking of western food nearby for Saturday dinner. But with Sito away in KL this week until late on Saturday, there would be no time to go to Chinatown before LNY. So we went to Chinatown!

Rabbit year is coming!

Wait... The Chinatown Point otters have struck again - this is an otter masquerading as a rabbit!!

We were very tickled. Yu had great fun playing around these figures. He said he likes the tail - this and the real bushy tail of a rabbit :p

Our old monkey

Old goat - wait, this is a sheep?

Kai didn't want a photo again :(

Yang mimicking the horse's eyes

This series ends with the little monkey pretending to be the pink monkey

He noticed immediately that this monkey was Sun Wukong coz of the ring on the head. I didn't, oops...

We planned to have dinner at Spring Court. We arrived at opening time only to find it fully booked. Gosh. So we went back to have Xinghua food at Chinatown Point - 30 min wait... Luckily there's a library upstairs so we spent some time there and borrowed a few books.

Kai was trying to disprove a trick based on algebra - impossible!

It was dark by the time we finished dinner. Just nice to see the lights! We walked towards the festive aisles - can't remember the road names anymore. We passed by diners having their dinner surrounded by people like us. How to eat in peace?? 

Managed to try and buy some ground nuts, then some baked goods and finally some jellies. Let the kids pick two flavours each. I added a few more items and everything came up to $10. I still remember buying over $30 worth of jelly some years back *.* Never again!

Passing by Lim Chee Guan

We maintained this formation - Papa was the shepherd and I was the sheepdog rounding up the rear! Yang and Yu kept talking and talking. Had to remind them to walk behind Papa and GeGe so we didn't get split up. Actually, it wasn't very crowded. There was one year - likely pre-COVID - when we could only move along with the crowd and it was difficult to veer towards a different direction...

Our first loot this LNY!

Pasar malam downstairs is also very festive

Oh wait, this is about my birthday, heh! 

Sunday arrived and the kids were heartless! Sobs... Only sweet Yang eventually wished me happy birthday as I left their bedroom :)

Morning surprise from R; Grab Food delivery guy also wished me HB haha!

Sito and I shared the strawberry tart and the ondeh cake. I finished the remaining three on Monday when Sito left for KL!! The leftmost bag contained a cinnamon loaf. Toasted three slices for the kids' egg sandwich today - they said they didn't like it but in the end, they didn't have problem finishing it too.. I thought it was very yummy!

A bag charm from my husband :)

It was meant to be a surprise but I found the receipt among a stash of receipts - he usually passes me all his receipts for record. So I asked him what it was. He looked resigned, haha! He wanted to give it to me that day but I said I would wait. After all, he even found a hiding spot for it - in a shelf of his desk coz it was dusty meaning I hadn't been dusting it. Yes it's often overlooked but I finally wiped it yesterday, haha!

My husband is sneaky in a good way. He was out on 28 Dec. I found him using the Find My app but noticed that he was in Raffles City. He reached home when I was washing up and gave me a box of chocolate but not just any chocolate!

Harry Potter!

But it wasn't until I opened it that I realised they were wands!

Oh my, 真舍不得吃！But I will :p

Point is, he camouflaged the charm with chocolate! Sneaky right? Haha! :p

That day, I also received another early birthday present. JY and I had planned to go for a durian buffet but she came down with COVID. In the end, she decided to pack MSW from Ah Seng for herself and her in-laws who live in BP, and sent me a pack. I finished it that night, very fresh off the lorry at 2pm that day! I'm very powerful - no sore throat after that.

Anyway, back to Sunday. We had dim sum with the grands at East Ocean, now at Taka. Usually, we don't order char siew buns at Mongkok coz dinner. But this was lunch! I had one first, and another one to share with Kai who had one bite :p Not complaining except that I wish the kids would be more adventurous.

Game type after they were done

We also had a small chocolate ice cream cake! Kai and Yang had a slice each but Yu was full - from roast pork probably!

Walked a bit through the LNY fair and the Taka food hall. Showed the kids and especially Kai the prices of some food stuff, like Hokkaido scallops, gourmet chocolate... Then we let them choose some candy from the supermarket. 

Listening for the train home

We didn't go straight home. Headed for the library to borrow more books coz we didn't want to carry too many back from Chinatown the day before. 

Dinner was... Macs! The kids wanted it and I did have a birthday treat of 20 nuggets so we bought back. It was later on Monday that Sito and I realised that we were both - separately - thinking about instant noodles haha!

Yu goes to Primary 1!

Our baby is in primary school!

Really 百感交集 - so happy to see him start a new phase of life, so anxious about this small boy going out there, so sad this was our last "first day in P1"!

Previous first days here and here.

Tuesday, 3 Jan

Here we go!

Yu was sleeping with his brothers coz the bed in the other room had a broken board - happened earlier in December and spoiled my plan to have Yu sleep there before his first day. So I had to go wake him softly to avoid waking his brothers coz this first day was for P1 only.

He woke sobbing coz he was so sleepy! Poor boy... I coaxed him out of bed, only to have him flop onto the sofa! Eventually, he managed to get to his warm milo. 

I was a mad woman dashing everywhere. Waking up at 5.45 am wasn't enough to get myself ready before he woke! Key issue was my new nasal irrigation routine. Anyway, I managed to have my hot coffee while he had milo, and change while he brushed his teeth. Even rushed to wash dishes and make coffee for Sito before leaving the house!

Almost forgot to take picture!

With his schoolbag

We waited quite a while for the bus and got on at 6.45 am. But we reached school by 7.05 am? Super fast. Traffic was good too!

The day before, he said he was worried about making friends in primary school. So we rehearsed how to introduce himself. On the bus, he said again he was worried. Reassured him he would do fine :)

Dropped him off at his classroom. Saw him put his bag on the hook on his table and sat down. He didn't even look up to find me *.* Saw him fiddle with a new name tag on a green lanyard from his teacher as another teacher started closing the windows from the inside...

Had a morning of briefings - first in the concert hall then in a classroom where we were given a card to write a note to the boy to encourage him. Finally it was recess time!

No photos allowed so no evidence of this cute boy at recess! He was so wonderful... His class had not gone to the canteen when we got there. So I went to the bookshop to get books which weren't available at point of delivery. When I saw kids with his green lanyard, I knew his class was out so I went back to look for him while the bookshop was collating my books.

I found him almost finishing his chicken rice already! He was sitting with his back facing me. I called him and he looked so pleased to see me :) I told him to carry on eating and he did. I quickly went back to grab the books and came back but he wasn't there. His plate was also gone but his water bottle was still on the table. I waited a while more and saw him coming back with a big slice of watermelon and a big smile on his face!

He came to the barrier tape and told me the fruit cost 70 cents - "so cheap!" So cute! He asked me where I went. I told him I had to go to the bookshop. He ate his watermelon happily, turning to look at me and smile sometimes. The principal was walking around and smiled at my boy concentrating so hard on his watermelon, haha! 

He was at the end when his teachers called for his class to line up to go back to class. He didn't hurry at all. When I reminded him, he said he was almost done and finished it. A teacher who was nearby helped him with his trash and gave him a wet wipe. He wiped his mouth on a sleeve though! He had no time to go wash up - don't know if he knew how to! - so he pulled his mask over watermelon-pink cheeks and joined the line!

Parents then met the form teachers before we were brought to the dismissal area. I noticed during orientation that the notice for waiting area during rainy days was no longer at the spot during Yang's time so I followed. Indeed, now they let the parents go to the clock tower. I think the clock tower wasn't accessible before due to renovations.

It was 11.30 am. I went to Balmoral Plaza to pee and saw a queue in Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. But as I looked away, I happened to see Tiong Hoe right next door - in Finest Gourmet! And the seating was outdoor - not cold, yeah! I finished my coffee quickly but was still far from dismissal time! So I borrowed a book to read.

Went to the toilet again at 1.15 pm before heading back to school. Yu wasn't hungry so we each had a stick of chicken meatballs downstairs - I was quite hungry! Then we went to grab a bottle of milo and buns for the picnic the next day.

Shirt was no longer nicely tucked in at the end of the day!

Kai and Yang were playing Nintendo when we got back. They settled their own breakfast - I bought buns for them the previous day - and Sito washed up. Papa also got them lunch and was working when we got back. Packed Yu's bag for the next day and let him play with his brothers.

Wednesday, 4 Jan

Another mad morning, or madder coz three! I gave up on the nasal wash so I could be faster. Even helped Yang with shoe laces - big boy now :)

Yu didn't cry today but he was nua-ing on the sofa, on the dining bench... So hard to get him to move. Lucky I told Kai in advance that he was not to hurry his brother or complain else it would be even madder!

Without buttons to button, we managed to take the 6.25 am bus and got to school before 7.00 am *.* I was really sleepy... Yu didn't seem sleepy anymore. At first he went on the upper deck. Then I convinced him to join his brothers at the lower deck. But we couldn't sit together. Well, at least no noisy quartet on the bus!

All in the same school again, woohoo!

Kai and Yang ran off to find their classroom right after. But Yang of course gave me a sweet bye bye first :)

Yu in his seat!

Ok, I was naughty. I took a photo! Well, the point of no photos is to avoid taking photos of other people. There was no one else in this picture. But a kid on a tangential row called me out :p And the Chinese teacher stepped in right behind too, oops... Still happy to have captured Yu at his desk! The configuration was different from the first day though - U instead of rows and columns.

I had a cup of not so nice kopi in the school canteen, where I sat and read for an hour before the next programme. It was a parenting talk but more targeted at fathers. It was not very comfortable sitting on the auditorium floor... Eventually, the kids joined us. It was a picnic!

Hotdog bun in his mouth

I was chatting with a fellow mum and later realised our boys were one index number apart so they knew each other! Yu went to ask him what he was having for picnic :) The father eventually brought a mat from their car, seeing how many other parents had picnic mats. They kindly invited us to share their mat. They even offered finger food - Yu was very happy to eat grapes and Pocky.

Then, it turned out that it wasn't just a picnic. They had class-based games! His class was shouting F! F! F! F! F! Don't be mistaken - he's in 1F :p

It was like Kai's orientation but simpler - only needed parents and children to work together to form big letters. At dinner time, Yang was sad to hear of this coz he didn't have it - the first batch of fresh P1 during the pandemic.

Yang: I also want a picnic!

Mama: Let's see if we can do one...

Yang: On grass?

Mama: Possible. Or beach.

Yang: Sand? I don't like the wild...

Mama: Huh, do you know what a picnic is in Chinese?

Kai: 野餐

Mama: Yes, and what is 野? *no response* It means WILD!

Yang: I prefer indoor.

Yu: Then eat at home la!

Mama: Haha!! That's right! But don't make me put picnic mat on the floor! We have a dining table!

Hilarious!!!

Anyway, Yu was sad to leave at the end :( As he waited in line, he asked if I would pick him up at 1.25 pm. Yes, indeed!

I left shortly before 11.00 am and decided to head to town to get LNY clothes for Sito and me. Couldn't find anything suitable :( 

Went to the bookshop to try my luck at a final book but it was not available yet. Have to get Kai to go collect it himself then!

But I suddenly remembered C started working at MWS which is headquartered at the same campus. I texted her while in the bookshop queue and she was in the canteen too! We chatted over fruits and she went to fetch the kids with me. Yu then Yang then Kai came down from the clock tower.

End of their first day of the new school year!

Lunch was prata for them and nasi lemak for me

It was quite routine for Kai and Yang on their first day of P5 and P3 once they found their classroom. They had their usual recess. Oh, I even saw Kai on my way out in the morning - he looked so tall even with his friends! I went up to him and he looked surprised. 

Then he immediately tried to explain why he couldn't leave all his books in the locker. I had told him to wait for his teachers' instructions instead of bringing random books on the first day but he wouldn't listen. So I said I would deduct 15min Nintendo time for every book he brought back at the end of the first day. I didn't want him to carry heavy bags all the time. By the end of the day, he brought back one of six books as his Chinese teacher was not firmed up yet.

In the evening, when I asked them for their thoughts and feelings of their first day, Kai said he was not happy coz the teachers were fierce, no, strict - so many things to do! Haha! Hello, P5 is when you start preparing for PSLE! Good luck... My anthem this year is "Learn it well, learn it once!"

Yang said it was boring and quickly told me his enemy Dylan was sitting next to him! Mama: Is he your 敌人 coz his name was Dylan? :p

Turned out that Dylan picked his nose and put it on his own table. Yikes! Told Yang not to touch his table. No need to make enemies!

Thursday, 5 Jan

The morning repeated itself. Yu and I stayed on the upper deck as we got front row seats! Yu was happy and pointed out signs and lane numbers etc.

When we alighted, Kai was long gone. But Yang turned back to walk with us and said bye bye :) 

Yu went in on his own - he managed to find his classroom all on his own, yeah!

I was early when fetching them. But we missed our bus. So Kai and Yang took the next bus to change to a train while Yu and I waited for the straight bus home. I wanted to familiarise him with the bus route.

Lunch was madness. Had to quickly go fry eggs for their sandwich! Today, I made tuna melt instead - prepared and put into fridge, just put into the toaster when we came back, bliss :) So now I can sit down and write and print timetables - gotta get them to pack according to timetable!

So here we are, at the end of week 1 of school. Kai and Yang are all settled in. Yu will take some time to get used to getting ready for school and figure how all the routines. All the best to us!