Horses everywhere

For our annual pilgrimage to Chinatown for festive snacks in the past few years, we always picked a weekday afternoon - whisked the kids off after they came back from school and dropped their bags. But this year, there isn't a day when all three come home at the same time. I don't wish to stagger meal and shower times etc so in the end, we went on a Saturday this year.

With more time to work with, we worked in two on-the-way excursions.

Had our lunch early and set off about noon for Decathlon at Centrepoint to get running shoes for Yang - more on that next time.. I thought we would just randomly picked a size for him to try but wait! There's a foot scanner!

His feet are a couple of mm shorter than mine but he was recommended size 41 while I was recommended 39, probably coz his feet are much meatier. I didn't try shoes but 41 didn't work for him. In the end, he found 43 just nice. Kai didn't try shoes but I think he's would be 46 or so, bigger than the recommended 43 since his feet are meaty too. Sito also bought running shoes - size 43, he'll be dwarfed by all his sons soon!

Then we ran for the bus to Chinatown with a bag of shoes dangling from Sito's arm! We were at a bus stop waiting for a bus but that bus would take 15min to arrive while another bus to Chinatown was arriving at the next stop just a short walk away so we ran! And with this little exercise, we also made the 45-min connection and saved some money, yay!

The boys were getting hungry so we made a stop at good old Old Chang Kee before the second excursion - Chinatown Heritage Centre.

Annual shot outside Chinatown Point

This cartoon horse looks like a pig at first glance... There are many like-real horses along the road outside but oops, forgot to take photos.

Anyway... I remember going to the CHC many years back and found it interesting. But it was closed for some time. When I saw that it was open when I passed by it with Na during our - also annual - trip in late January, I thought it would be fun to bring the kids there.

Best part? Can use cultural pass so no money out of pocket! I used up my cultural pass for my date with Kai but Sito hadn't used his yet. As we weren't sure what time we would reach there, we didn't buy the timed tickets online. It was quite fast to buy on the spot anyway.

The CHC is not a big museum. But it has a lot to see. I figure we spent just over an hour exploring it and a good 20min playing with AI at the end.. Could have taken more time to explore if we scanned every single QR code for more info but you know, the kids aren't the type to stay still for long...

Papa explaining how a mechanical sewing machine works

The first floor is a tailor shop out front with a working area and a yard/kitchen behind. Yang really liked the sewing machines! Told him to ask WaiPo to demo when we next go there since she has a working one.

Playing with what I think is a tracing wheel

This shop brought back memories coz Mother sews quite a bit. When we were kids, she made dresses and quilted blankets for us. Now, I don't know what she sews apart from five stones! But the machine is still there.

She also has at least one of those wooden rulers and tracing wheel - I just called her to confirm! I remember the tracing wheel is quite fun - put tracing paper on cloth and roll over. Oh there's also this flat blue chalk for marking. Anyway, this Sunday, we'll go over to explore and hopefully not destroy things...

Old phones are always fun - we saw this at the National Museum before

Yang fiddling with an old iron

Goodness, a sarong cradle! Yu is pointing to a bamboo baby chair

Lots of altars in the shophouse

This is probably not a room for one or two...

I think my paternal grandmother had a big bed with drapes like the above. It was when she was living in a clan association house as a housekeeper. It must be before primary school coz it's hazy but I remember the whole family sleeping there and a big cockroach on the floor *.*

Anyway, the above was a big room in the shophouse. The rooms on the second floor were smaller and housed as many as 10 pax each! Appalling conditions, as I reminded Yang and Yu that night when they were in the comfort of their bed in a bedroom for one that is bigger than a room for a family of 10..

Heh heh!

Sito drew their attention to the pail to collect excretion in the toilet. I think the old clan association house also had such toilets. I really didn't like to go to the toilets there...

He found a palm leaf fan!

The boys flipped every single light switch in the shophouse!

Sito tried too *.* One boy - forgot which - asked if they were old light switches. Yes, light switches used to be like that. My house used to have them, I think. Or maybe it was at the grands'. I can't remember.

Btw, these switches are all decor. Very safe. I think they spent a lot of time on the details, even what people would like to touch and try!

Rat. Also a detail and common back in the day

Yu's face is so funny! He very gamely posed for his trigger happy Mama so there're many photos of him while the rest ran about.

The third floor of the shophouse is more like a museum, telling the stories of people moving to Singapore, their lives and contributions, and old names in Chinatown.

Cher, are you teaching Chemistry - in Chinese?!

Two scales - one real, one fake

There's at least one of such a set of scales (the real one) in Grams' old provision shop, next to the dried goods and biscuits, easy to weigh in front of customers.

What a date would be like in the old days - watch opera together!

While the kids had fun at a cinema on wheels!

There's a girl in front of Kai. I blocked most of her from this angle but her shoulder is still visible. Writing this down so this doesn't feel scary years down the road :p

Told him to pretend to flip bah kwa but he preferred to flip the mesh

The boys found two AI machines at the end which captures our options using finger gestures, and we had such fun seeing ourselves transported 50y back. 

Kai the trishaw rider - so handsome!

Yang - is this a naughty or creepy smile? Haha!

Also Yang the street hawker - the forehead proportion a bit off...

Looks like some evil concubine plotting against fellow concubines :p

Yu - looks like an innocent concubine happy with her life, haha!

Yu again - somehow the system cannot capture his finger gestures well

This is, um, no system error!

My laogong very funny :p I'm less funny..

Just want to be 花旦！

Yep, so we had a lot of fun in CHC! But it didn't seem to be a popular spot; we saw only one other family who came in right after us. Such a pity. Maybe the cost turns people off? After all, it's free to visit the National Museum for Singaporeans. 

And I think it's very educational for the kids. Secondary school history covers some historical figures related to the Chinese community but nothing beats seeing for your own eyes how people used to live. Such a replica is as close as we get, I suppose. 

But of course our kids didn't look at everything in detail and were fooling around a lot. At first I thought they might not remember much but all managed to say something when Sito asked them to tell the grands the next day 👍

Got the kids some snacks - mantou biscuits and binoculars chocolate - at the ticketing area before we left. It was drizzling so we decided to have dessert at Mei Heong Yuen on the parallel street. By the time we needed to get out of the shelter, the drizzle was gone, yeah!

This year, we had the kids share one ice dessert as they couldn't finish two last year. Sito was hungry and had chee cheong fun while I had orh nee - my second in a week! First was at Curry Times on Tuesday. Similar except that this one also had sweet potato cubes.

Finally, it was time for shopping! We reached the jelly store first. This year, it's $2 per 100g. We saw $1.80 per 100g in Clementi but didn't get then =( It sounds cheap but I still remember spending over $30 the first time I bought them over 10y ago! Got the boys to choose three flavours each. By the time we were done with choosing and weighing (1kg) and paying, Yang had seven jellies from the sampling counter!

Next was the main event - traditional LNY snacks! Bought $45 worth of pineapple tarts and friends, less than last year coz (1) we already bought one can from Sheng Siong and a kuah lapis from Ikea, (2) it's iffy if the kids will eat much (Yu insisted on love letters again so we got a small bottle this year as the big one went soft after he stopped eating), and (3) I'm getting fat, must control. Lucky coz the next day, AhYee gave us a can of love letters too.

With that, it was time for dinner. Saizeriya made the kids happy with the free flow drinks bar. But I reserved my belly for Chinese pancakes :) Went to a different store this time to try different things. I ate some when we got home and heated the rest up to eat after showering. So good.

Unfortunately, Sito fell ill along the way. Late nights, haze, kiddy virus or all of the above. The kids were also tired since we were out for way longer than usual. So that night, everyone slept early.

It's now one week to LNY, woohoo!

Mysterious thing, time

I learnt a few things about ancient time when I read a web novel last month. The novel was《知否知否应是绿肥红瘦》, set in a fictional state, based loosely on Ming/Qing dynasty customs. We watched the drama based on this novel some years back and I finally got down to reading the novel - happy!

Anyway, this is the first novel that made me open another tab just to understand when the characters were doing things! 

1) How people told time before watches

They used a contraption called 漏壶。Imagine a pot filled with water but there's a hole through which water leaks out. There's a scale on the inside of the pot to tell time as water leaks. Or another version where water drips into a pot with a scale inside. So water level goes either down or up with time. 

Apparently, one scale was based on 100 units or 刻 per day, maybe coz it's carved (刻) into the pot surface? Anyway, that means one 刻 = 24h / 100 = 14.4 min. Or approx 15min which is what we understand by 一刻 today, woohoo! 

I still remember a comprehension question in secondary school asking what was meant by a time with some 刻 in it. *Clear throat, straighten up* Ahem, I got it right, ok... Maybe coz in period dramas, they always behead people at 午时三刻 and I had never heard of 四刻、五刻?!

There is so much to read on this topic, like how they compensated for wind and evaporation and winter etc, but I haven't got to how the ancients decide how fast the flow of water should be to tell time accurately. Maybe no one was, or could be, punctual back then...?!

I highly appreciate my MiBand, which allows me to tell time to the minute, day and night, regardless of season and lighting available!

2) Name of the hours

Actually, name of the double-hours coz they went by 时辰. Since long, long time ago, maybe I was a kid then, I realised that one 时辰 refers to two hours. I used to wonder why the unit of time is so wide. 

12 time periods:

• 子时 = 11pm to 1am
• 丑时 = 1am to 3am
• 寅 yín 时 = 3am to 5am
• 卯时 = 5am to 7am
• 辰时 = 7am to 9am
• 巳时 = 9am to 11am 
• 午时 11am to 1pm 
• 未时 = 1pm to 3pm 
• 申时 3pm to 5pm 
• 酉 yǒu 时 5pm to 7pm
• 戌 xū 时 = 7pm to 9pm - this is when 打更人 starts telling night time hours (1-5更) for the public
• 亥 hài 时 = 9pm to 11pm 

Digression: Not bad, I could read eight of the 12 :p

Some years back, I came across a reel explaining the duration meant by 一盏茶 (15min) and 一炷香 (30min). But it still doesn't tell me how ancient Chinese said things like 10.15 am. Yes, I mentioned 午时三刻 above but 午时 refers to 11am to 1pm. So does 午时三刻 mean 11.45am or 12.45pm? Are we having an early lunch or normal lunch?!

Firstly, 午时 on its own or 午时初 refers to 11am while 午时正 refers to 12nn. Next, based on #1 above, one 刻 is about 15min. So 10.15am should be 巳正一刻 while 9.15am is simply 巳时一刻。

Hence 午时三刻 means 11.45am. Why behead at this time? Coz that time is so 阳 that the horrible criminal cannot even become a ghost, haha!

For someone (like me) who tells time to the minute, this system will drive me mad! But then again, if I had lived in ancient China, I wouldn't know one minute from the next until I hit a 刻！

Actually there is a lot of info on this, like how the 12 names reflect nature. You may have noticed already that they are also the 12地支 often used with the 12 zodiac signs. These aren't the only names but are the most widely used - that's what I gathered from my research...

3) Ancient Chinese woke really early!

Now this is really interesting. I knew government officials had to 点卯 or clock in for work. Since there's 卯时，it's natural - and correct - to assume they clock in at 5am. Or that's the usual time for most people.

Since not everyone stayed right outside their workplace, they had to wake way earlier to wash up and travel - by foot, sedan or carriage. This means that the servants of the bigger officials had to wake way earlier to dress themselves and prepare hot water etc for their bosses.

Lucky thing is that with no electricity or internet, everyone could end their day early. 

*** *** ***

Ok, end of learning. Now, time for talking.

I was just telling C the other day that I find it difficult to get up before daybreak; she was asking me to go walk walk at the Botanic Gardens at 6 am. Indeed, over seven years after first kid entered primary school, I still find it hard to wake up when it's still dark outside. In the same vein, I get drowsy when the sun sets, unless I'm in a brightly lit office tricking my senses into continuing to work *roll eyes*

Have you seen students having breakfast in bright daylight in Channel 8 dramas? Fake. Even for me who could step out of my block right onto an overhead bridge that led right into my primary school, breakfast was at most lit with faint first light. 

And why? Coz Singapore time is off by an hour. Geographically, we should be GMT +7. So when my clock says 7am, it should really be 6.00am. No wonder it's dark!

But ok, time, as in the number, is quite arbitrary. Who is to say we should wake at what time? But it seems reasonable to say we should wake with the sun?? Then what should change should be school and work hours. Let (most of) us wake with the sun!!!

Anyway, Singapore has had a number of changes of time zones. Check out this archived write-up - very cool reading. I was born in GMT +7.5. The current GMT +8 happened from 1982. Check out this archived news article about the switch at 11.30pm on 31 Dec 1981. 

Then I wondered about all our 八字 calculations - would the timing be off? The 时辰 is based on the position of the sun at place of birth, not the man-decided time zones. 

Only Yu's 时辰 changed after accounting for the one hour. But the time is not as important as the day, says the hub aka our in-house fengshui master. Ok, then let's not make my wee brain think too much about it.. Going bonkers thinking about adding/subtracting the 30min/1h...!

Three different awards for our three boys

I didn't realise back in December but at the awards ceremony on Saturday, I realised that the boys did a clean sweep of the three Edusave academic awards. 

I wonder if I would ever see all three getting awards together again... I already told Yang that it would be challenging to get the good progress award again next year so if he wanted an award, he had to be in at least top 25%.

So this photo is very precious!

My boys look so smart in uniform!

We were in session 11 of 17, hoho! Our MP's speech this year sounded more serious.. Maybe coz he's in Mindef now, vs. MOE last year... 

And so we had a Mindef booth this year, and the boys had fun!

Looking smart too, haha! It's not clear from the photos but Yang had a backpack on as well. Yu found the vest rather heavy for him. Btw, the white thing sticking out of the helmet/hat is a hairnet, for hygiene reasons as many people wore those headgear.

Decorating pens with fancy beads

I asked them if they would decorate pens for me. Nope, they were doing it for themselves *.* I didn't ask them to make more for me coz they really took their time doing it... Families from the next session were coming out before we were able to leave...

There were also free books and Yang chose a chemistry book! Sito and I got supermarket vouchers from the IMDA booth by doing surveys - uncle and auntie haha!

This year, besides the bag for the certs, I threw a foldable shopping bag into my purse based on our past experience, and indeed it came in useful to carry souvenirs and various snacks. Yang and Yu as expected chose fluffy SAF bears bigger than my hand while Kai chose a blind box containing a bear smaller than my hand. 

Must end the day with Macs

They were telling me about the nuggets lohei a few days before that. They saw the ad on TV. But we decided it wasn't worth it. And I had free nuggets coz it's my birthday month!

Anyway, just got alerts from bank today about their Edusave money coming in; their accounts are tied to mine for now. They'll be happy to know :)

Four years on...

I was in bed this morning when I realised that I had stopped work for four years already. Somehow it didn't feel that long. Maybe moving house broke it up for me.

This morning, I met CH for breakfast. Years back, before Kai entered primary school, she stared at me when she learnt that I sent the boys to child care on Saturdays so that I could squeeze more work in. Thanks to her, and another friend who also berated me for doing so, I reflected and stopped sending them to child care on Saturdays.

That was the first step towards where I am now.

CH took years off work to take care of her family too, and returned to the workforce when her kids were grown. So she understands and encourages me all the time. She's turning 63 and on NPL, but fully occupied doing voluntary work in the ageing sphere. Using words from Yang's textbook, CH 是值得我学习的好榜样！

But unlike her, I doubt I would return to the workforce later... I really enjoy my life now. 

On school days, I spend the morning cleaning etc, preparing meals, writing, going out with Sito and meeting friends. When the kids come home, I get them fed and coach them in their studies. Then it's relaxing time with them before their bedtime and my drama series with Sito :p If there's no school, I do less cleaning and cooking, but still have time for myself when they're playing or doing revision.

And I'm not bored. Cleaning is a chore but there's satisfaction in sitting down on a sparkling clean toilet for instance! I like to feed my family. Coaching the kids take a toil on my lifespan, especially when it comes to Chinese, but it's meaningful. I realise I also improve my English and Chinese along the way coz need to know more to teach!

When they're grown? Read more, go on more dates with Sito, meet more friends. I don't need work to occupy my mind. If I really have nothing to read and nowhere to go, I can always follow CH's footsteps and volunteer somewhere.

But wow, four years as a stay-home mum and homemaker. I'm happier than ever. Ageing for sure, but I applaud myself that I'm not a total 黄脸婆！:)

Moving moving! - Part II

I just realised that I didn't publish this back in May 2025 after writing Part I in April!! Argh, here goes...

Part II is on what happens in the new house, i.e. cleaning and unpacking.

Cleaning

I don't remember cleaning our first matrimonial home before moving in, despite moving in twice. First time, maybe I wasn't so OCD yet? Second time, I was heavily pregnant and my in-laws who lived there while we were in Evanston kept it clean.

For BP in 2018, it was minimal renovation since the new apartment came with lots of fittings already and the ID cleaned up very well. I might have assigned our helper to clean while I was working. For our current place, though, it was a nightmare.

First, we had a short timeline between handover and moving in. And while cleaning, we discovered things that needed rectifications so we had to repeat cleaning of some areas :(

Below in recommended order to prevent accumulation of more dust on already cleaned areas:

Windows

• Plenty of reno dust, especially between the windows and the grilles. Prepare a vacuum or blower. We found that our mini blower is stronger than our mini vacuum for stuck debris.
• For wet cleaning of the glass, prepare a squeegee, a spray bottle and plenty of rags for mopping up at the bottom following the squeegee - I always have rags, i.e. cut-ups of old clothes, for cleaning.
• Sliding windows trap more dirt than casement windows as some parts are just not accessible! For those facing outside the building, be careful when leaning out to clean the outside part of the glass! Actually, unless there's bird poo, no need to clean la :p
• Don't forget the windows in the toilets! Ours are louvre. Over time, heat from showers and dust combine to form a gross coating on the glass facing upwards... This needs a dry wipe before a wet mop.

Aircon units

• There may be dust on the units if they're not properly sealed.
• Give it a wipe for peace of mind. Would not be nice if it blows out visible dust when you first use it!
• If the installer did some testing, the aircon may feel damp. Turn on the fan and let it dry out.

Walls

• Yes, walls. Reno dust goes everywhere. Walls are not exempt from dust.
• Use Magiclean dry wipes - long enough to reach the top of walls in most HDB flats. I use those bright yellow refill packs from Japan Home - more economical.
• Freshly painted ceilings are usually fine but can still become dusty over time. Magiclean still the best bet

Carpentry, i.e. cabinets and wardrobes

• Leave the doors open to air the inside as much as possible before cleaning or the glue fumes will sting your eyes!
• The insides may look clean but they are not! My white dry wipe turned brown 🤮
• Given the size of wardrobes, it's more efficient to use Magiclean dry wipes, yes, with the paddle, macam sweeping. I then sprayed the wet wipes with some antibacterial general cleaning solution from Walch, no rinse required.
• For smaller shelves and drawers, I did the same but without the paddle.
• If you are paranoid like me, wet wipe with some anti-mould solution. I did this in between dry and wet wipes, and let it dry up first.
• Drawers can be removed to clean the hollow inside - there's usually a catch under or at the sides of the drawers.
• Don't forget the doors and ABS strips.
• Remember to air the cabinet again to make sure insides are all dry.

Besides built-in staff, we also have a lot of loose furniture. For those that we self-assembled, we cleaned the parts before assembling and then did a simple wipe-down.

Doors

• Like walls, doors are dusty too. Clean like walls.
• Wipe down the handles which are often touched.

Countertops etc

• Probably only the kitchen countertop is built in in most homes.
• Cleaned this multiple times as we kept putting random stuff on it during the cleaning and moving stages. Eventually for food use - and I roll dough on it - so I cleaned like mad using antibacterial wipes.
• Don't forget the backsplash and under the cabinets above the kitchen counter.

Floors

• Dry wipe then wet wipe.
• I even did two rounds of steam cleaning. I knew some parts would eventually be covered by furniture forever and ever so just cleaned max first.

Wet areas

• Now that the floors are clean, put out a floor mat outside the wet areas and get going :)
• Dry wipe walls and pipes etc to get rid of dust, then just spray water everywhere to clean!
• For the toilets, remember that reno staff would have used them. I sanitised them madly coz OCD.
• Leave the doors open to air dry completely.

Hinges

• This is more maintenance than cleaning.
• When everything is nice and clean, oil door and window hinges to prevent rust. Same can be done for cabinets and wardrobes.
• All you need is baby oil in a cup and an old paintbrush; I have many from the kid's painting days. Tissue is less efficient.

Unpacking

This should take place only after cleaning is all done. 

For us, unpacking is a worse nightmare than packing. While we had the luxury of time to pack over days, we must unpack quickly in order to settle in and get rid of all those boxes.

It's not just a matter of moving things from boxes to cabinets. Nope. Coz I must wipe or wash everything before storing them. Except clothes - see Part I.

Wet wiping is fast enough as they can be dried quickly with a dry cloth. Washing the kitchen stuff took some time as I let them dry naturally...

Cleaning aside, the most important thing is to decide what goes where, i.e. organisation. Lucky we settled that during the renovation planning stage. We still had surprises, like we forgot about space for big suitcases! Eventually found them a home in a non-wardrobe tall cabinet in my room by removing the lowest shelf. We also had more toys than space for toys so some went into the kids' wardrobes.

My goal was to clear the moving boxes so some things were left in a temporary home like kitchen countertops - coz I didn't cook during those early days - as loose furniture didn't all come in before the move. When our new dining table arrive, our old one became a nice storage space for random stuff for a while...

But unpacking the boxes is the last major step. The detailed organisation can be tweaked slowly. Even today, I still move things about here and there...

So that's it. I hope not to move in the next 20 years at least!

I'm 46! Or 47?

I was rather confused on Saturday morning. I was washing my face when I thought how odd it was that I was 47yo in a PSLE year. I mean, our whole family was born in even years. PSLE takes place in the year we turn 12. I should be of even age in PSLE years!

Then I realised I got the year wrong. It's 2026, not 2027!

Or maybe I was thinking about starting my 47th year right just a couple of days before that..

Or signs of dementia?

Anyway, I'm 46. And this is my 47th year.

On my birthday on Thursday, Sito brought me to Pancakes and Friends at Far East Plaza for souffle pancakes. It was a cosy little place with minimal staff so our intended brunch became an early lunch! But the food was good - we shared a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel, and a Hokkaido milk gelato pancakes with muesli. The pancakes were so wobbly! Calories were so worth it...

Half a bagel each for my Laogong and me

Sito already bought a cake on Wednesday while I was lunching with Jo at her place. He just told me this morning that he had wanted to buy me a laptop - the one I'm now typing on is refusing to charge! But he could not surprise me coz I need to choose the colour, plus it's better that I buy with my Shopee account as I'm a Shopee VIP :p

But I do have a present of sorts... We bought a new fridge in December and it arrived almost a month later on Wednesday. We spent the afternoon cleaning it inside out. On Thursday morning, I shifted things from our old fridge to the new fridge. On Friday, I cleaned and reorganised the old fridge. SOOOOOO happy, ok... That's it. It's my birthday present, 70% paid by Ah Gong's climate vouchers :p

Anyway, after the pancakes, we headed to Bibi and Baba to get uniforms for Yang and Yu. Yang's pants were bursting at the seams - he has grown so much in the past year! His waist measures 75cm vs. Kai's 66cm 小蛮腰 ok, don't play play... Actually we bought him one larger pair in May last year but he refused to wear it as it had a button instead of a hook clasp at the top of the zip. But now he has no choice!

Their corporate tees are also rather fitting now. They look like bah zang especially the belly part. Again, Yang is going one size bigger than Kai at this age. Yu has always maintained the same shape - round - so it's kind of expected... His waist measures 65cm now. I shall see if he can wear Yang's clothes in a couple of years' time...

After a protein top-up from Old Chang Kee and a short rest with milk tea at MOS at Ion, we made our way to school. While Yu's start-of-year PTM on Tuesday was online, Yang's was F2F. Maybe coz he's P6. Kai's PTM end of the month would be F2F too - preparing for Sec 2 streaming...

Once we got to school, I went to queue at the bookshop. We already bought most of their textbooks from Popular in December but some were only available in schools. While I settled the books, Sito went to find the kids. Kai had texted us earlier to say he was getting food but the brothers couldn't be found! Eventually, Sito found them playing on the slope... He ushered Yang over to me but Yu had left for his HCL class.

After I was done with the books, Yang decided on a second lunch. He "gave me a treat" at the drinks stall :p The coffee from this drink stall was nicer than the other one but he didn't like his Milo as it tasted like tea. So he went to the other drink stall to get another Milo. 

We just sat around to wait for Papa and Yu. Watched some videos together :) Kai was seated near us but with his friends, playing chess. 

Playing with a Sec 1, who happened to be Yang's track and field friend

When Yu was done with his HCL, he came to find us and saw a kid go into the bookshop even though it was barricaded for textbooks during this period. I told him that the kid asked the auntie for permission to go in so he did the same. He came out of the bookshop with a pretty pink pencil for me :) We couldn't figure out how it works though. It took him two tries to eventually find out from the bookshop how to use the pencil - turned out it was an infinity pencil, so cool!

The PTM started late - and hence ended late - due to traffic jams as that day was also CCA open house for the secondary school kids. Sito said parents asked better questions in person. He asked about difficulty level of their P5 exams last year vs. PSLE standards and learnt that they were set at SEAB standards. Apparently, schools had to submit P3-6 papers to SEAB for sampling - too hard, too easy etc. He also noticed that Yang was bigger than many of his classmates - some went to the PTM with parents...

When Sito came back to the canteen, Yang and Yu were watching Kai playing chess. By then, they were tired and needed no ushering to leave. When we got home, Sito packed dinner for them and left for Bras Basah to get a book for Kai as it was out of stock at the bookshop. Bishan Popular didn't have it when we got their books...

Chess on the phone

I had some leftover chicken stock in the fridge and made myself some mee sua with eggs and frozen dumplings. Actually I tried to start a ritual of having mee sua for birthdays but the kids weren't too keen on it... Anyway, while waiting for Sito to come back and while waiting for the noodles to cool down, I managed to sew nametags on the new corporate tees. It's a chore...

Managed to cut the cake just before their bedtime!

Awww, I love how Kai put his head on me in this photo! This is the boy who refuses to let me hug or kiss him since P3... But sometimes, I think starting from Beijing, he would hug me to 哄妈妈 when I get upset and well, yes, I buy it... Sucker.

:p

Yesterday, we had a second celebration with the grands. The cake was so yummy but I couldn't stomach a second piece... And dinner was at Peach Blossoms - a la carte buffet. Second time there. Managed to have more variety this time with more adults. But there was a lot of food coz they didn't give us small portions as requested but portions for eight persons *.* But the kids don't eat most of the food!

Looks like a kiddy birthday though!

Took a slow walk back home, made even slower by the playground and exercise corner along the way. These monkeys can really make my heart race... I'm just glad the playground downstairs is a lot less scary than this one!

Love this shot of Yang! We were just talking about the trees on the building on the way there

All three on the 独木桥

So that's it for this year... But the cake doesn't end here.. I had wanted a Marks and Spencer chocolate cake for my birthday but it wasn't available so we will try to get it next week or so! Yay to cake!

Oh, Yay to getting old too! Don't mind mf looking old, heh! I found more white hair recently, probably due to tutoring Yang in Chinese in December... Also don't mind the colour but I mind that white hair is typically curlier?! Sighs.. Also yay to more rebonding then...!

Happy new year and a summary

It's 2026, woohoo!

So we slept through all the countdown and fireworks :p Old already, cannot understand crowds, cannot stay up so late. 

And on this day, I woke at 8.20 am. So happy until I realised that tmr it's 6.10 am again *.* Yes, the new school year is starting... 

Got the boys to pack their schoolbag today - nothing much coz no timetable yet. Also got them to clear their cabinets but the amount of unwanted stuff was unfortunately very little.. I have three little hoarders...

Since it's the new year (and I have leftover mashed pumpkin from making pumpkin noodles a couple of weeks ago), I made some pumpkin mochi pancakes. Eat 金瓜 to bring in the 金 and may the kids be 顶呱呱 in their studies! But Yu didn't eat any, even when we had a small plate of dipping sugar. Ah well, all the best to him? :p

Later, we'll be having hotpot for dinner. Macam LNY, haha! 

So, what was Clan Sito up to after the Beijing holiday? We spent a lot of time at home studying!

But we did have some fun here and there..

Went to Legoland on Thursday, 18 December. We had wanted to go on Wednesday but since milk delivery is always on Wednesdays, we decided to prioritise milk and go the next day. But I forgot and had ordered frozen meat to be delivered on Thursday. So I changed the delivery to Wednesday. 

Then, I received news from my milk man that the current batch of milk had an expiry date within a week of delivery. So I decided to postpone delivery to wait for the new batch. To avoid confusing my meat seller, I didn't change the meat delivery date. And of all days, my period came on Thursday. Sian... Legoland is fine but the mall toilets aren't too conducive...

The lucky thing was the weather - it was lovely! Finally no rain in the afternoon!

But of course we didn't know ahead of time. It was near lunch time when we got there but we didn't eat at Nanyang cafe as usual as we were afraid it would rain the afternoon. So we made a snack stop at BIG supermarket instead. 

There were still highlights despite having been to Legoland n times. The build-and-race area has been refurnished with a new Ferrari, new tracks and a new virtual race using real Lego builds. Yu finally rode the VR roller coaster with the headset and it was great, he said. 

Kai piggybacked Yang when he said his leg hurt, awww...

Took little dragon with him

Hard to get in, hard to get out - we're old!

The virtual race with real builds

Then we went back to the malls near the checkpoint for lunch, massage and shopping :) This time, Sito managed to nail the time for grab rides so we avoided fare hikes to and from Legoland.

Early dinner at Meng Meng

Back home, chess is a key feature. Since after his exams, Kai has been going for chess tournaments in Bishan some Tuesdays, and attended a few other tournaments. Sometimes, he met a friend or two before that to play. Once, he went to a friend's place and his friend fried noodles for him! Wa, when can my kids cook for me....?!

Mother continued to cook for us though. Went over for dinner one day, and ate too much... Brought home 15 bah zangs and all were gone in three days, thanks to the kids fighting with me for them! But I'm also glad that they like this traditional food :)

Our year-end festivities started with a 2.5kg semi bone-in ham - real ham! Sito glazed it very well and it looked and tasted wonderful! So moist unlike the ham roll we had a couple of years back. But Kai didn't like it as there were fatty bits in the real deal *.* 

Simple Xmas eve dinner

Also took a chicken fricasse recipe and added pasta instead of reducing the sauce. There were also cabbage steak, grilled pineapple slices and sausages. Too much food :p The ham alone could feed us five times! Since then, I had used some ham to stirfry with taukwa and leeks - so good and all the kids liked it. Next week, I'll make fried rice with it...

For Christmas day, we ditched KFC for Jollibee coz Yang doesn't like the 11 secret herbs and spices... Sito made the trip to Vivocity to buy the fried chicken. They were still crispy when we opened them up! The fries were still yummy too. I think really, no more KFC Christmas for us....

Xmas day breakfast at the newly opened Yakun

What's with my hand...? :p

On Boxing Day, we went cycling! But first, breakfast at Macs at Metropolis. Filled them up with a big brunch, cycled the energy out of them, fed them a good lunner at Le Shrimp. Yu took some time to familiarise himself with cycling again before we cycled to the playground. They played mostly on the swings and the flying fox. I tried the flying fox too - so hard to get down when stuck in the middle!!!

Cycling and swimming were the only two exercises the kids had this term break. With Nintendo in the afternoon, none was keen to head to the playground! 

We had wanted to go to the Queenstown swimming pool but the opening had been delayed from this quarter to the next. So we went back to Delta - sheltered pool. I kena complaints coz I forgot their goggles. But by the time they got into the water, they forgot all about it - just splashed around. They also did some form of backstroke so no goggles needed.

So cold!

The Papa boat is still going strong

Come to think of it, that was also Sito's only exercise in December. He got Flu A from Beijing and was quite sick for a few days. Then rest.... until now.... Nvm, he's lean enough and no more IPPT!

Oh, this Christmas, we had a total of three logcakes! Bought two on 5 Dec :) when we went to Jurong East - we had planned to get the Ikea log cake but also saw some at Donki so we bought two :p The chocolate crunch logcake from Ikea was frozen anyway so it ended up being eaten the last. The Donki logcake was a refreshing yuzu flavour while the middle logcake was a black forest one from Prima Deli from our journey to the east.

Would have bought a fourth one after dinner at Le Shrim but it was going to rain and we had two brollies among five of us so we ran off. We were lucky the rain was light at the BV MRT junction and Sito went without a brolly. By the time we cut through the HDB estate to the last traffic light, it was pouring! Took two trips to bring everyone over and we stayed dry, phew!

And most recently, it was our 忘年会！Third time at Makan@Jen and it didn't disappoint. But it got more crowded every year! I was glad I hit the desserts early coz by the time Sito went for it, the logcakes were gone and we had to wait for the next batch...

One hiccup - I went with a weird tummy that I, um, didn't manage to clear in the day. After half a cup of milk coffee at the end of the meal, I started feeling bad. Laosai bad. The rest waited for me in the lobby area while I went in and out of the toilet. At one point, it felt like that Vivocity episode again! I was resting in the lobby, hoping for the pain to subside so that we could quickly grab a taxi home but nope, I suddenly had to vomit. 

I think it was the original tummy ache triggered by the milk coffee. It wasn't like I ate so much until I had to vomit - I already know I'm past the age to stuff myself. So I was very sad - the yummy coconut logcake, the lovely baked fish, the perfectly roasted broccoli, and I spent time and effort queueing for and shelling the jumbo river prawns! Actually I had only three of those prawns. The only upside was that the vomit was sweet, not bitter. Ok, tmi, haha!

Yang asked if I ate chilli, coz he knew chilli upsets my tummy. But these two days, he didn't tell me to skip my morning milk coffee...

Black and blue are the colours of the day

Looking at the skaters while waiting for the bus home

The term break this time felt longer, perhaps coz we left for Beijing right after school ended so the time in SG was more continuous. I would really miss waking up late! Not very late anyway.. Only once did the kids allow me to sleep until 830 am... Else one or two or three might be on our bed at 730 am, which is the earliest I allow them to disturb us...

So, now we're almost ready for the new school year - books mostly settled including wrapping the textbooks, just waiting for others to become available, shoes mostly done, including new shoes for LNY! 

Auntie wrapping books

I used to wrap my own books after seeing Mother do it but my kids aren't bothered... I insist on wrapping Kai and Yang's books but for Yu, well, no younger sibling to give his books to so what's the point?! I decided to ask him - he wanted his books wrapped. Ah well, I asked for it.

Happy new year to us all!