Reminiscing AMK library with old friend

Today is AMK library's last day at its standalone premises at 4300 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 Singapore 569842. It will reopen at AMK Hub later this year. So CY and I planned our latest meetup two days ago for us to retrace our teenage steps.

It being lunch time, we met at KFC first. I had completely forgotten how to get there from the MRT station! There were also new blocks and some construction along the way so nothing felt familiar until the mosque appeared. Oh yes, there was a mosque next to KFC! 

Eventually, I saw the smiley colonel and swiped out Google Maps. Walked around the block to the main door which we used to use. Hello, KFC! 

It looked newer than I remembered. But of course it must have been renovated since my last trip there 30y ago?!

CY arrived as I was browsing the menu, and we just ordered two-piece meals :) But no french fries to dip into whipped potato coz we're 46, not 16.

But it felt like 16 again :)

My tummy was hurting the whole time after LS the previous day so I didn't get coke like 30y ago, and drank my own room temperature water; the apple juice is now in the fridge.

It was great catching up with CY! We haven't met for quite a while and the past two times, we met at karaoke so we sang more than we chatted.

I haven't been to AMK library for maybe 20y. I thought it was 30y but now I seem to recall borrowing books when I first started work... Anyway, I had also forgotten how to walk to the library! CY had visited with her kids but they usually arrived by car. But we walked in the general direction of the library and found it! 

Old friends in front of the familiar facade

I think it was empty space in front of the library but it's now boarded up for some construction work. North South Corridor? Anyway, it kind of restricted our photo-taking angles... Lucky I brought my tripod along! A selfie wouldn't look good!

The inside is so different from my memories. I thought the library was always a bit dim. But on Wednesday, it was so spacious and bright inside. The individual couches were placed a distance apart, unlike in Clementi, and the walkway was twice as wide. I guess it will become narrow like at Clementi once it reopens at the mall...

 

We went upstairs to find authors we used to read. The shelves were emptier than we remembered but I guess it's due to the moving... 30y ago, the shelves were metal and dark grey. And we remember a 色狼 following us once! But neither of us remembered what exactly happened but think the creep left when we discovered him.

Anyway, we had to take pictures... Couldn't find Agatha Christie though...

Jeffrey Archer! I just read one this year...

Danielle Steele! Haven't read one in 30y...

So 30y ago, we used to go to the library, then KFC for a snack (or was it lunch??) followed by window shopping at Emporium etc. There is no more Emporium but we passed by the building. Think it's the one with Finest and Daiso now.

I think we also used to visit the HDB shops. There was a knitting shop which we frequented often as we were into croqueting for a while. And the CD shop! A few years back, I passed by these shops with Sito and the boys. Super nostalgic.

Also passed by Heng Heng where we had our ears pierced!

We parted at AMK Hub as CY had to get back to the kids. I um, left Sito to deal with Yang while I walked about AMK Hub a bit, but when I reached home, Yang was still having his post-lunch snack. After he had gone to his room to study, Sito and I ate the kueh and otah I bought at AMK Hub. All in, a nostalgic day!

Ear wax

What a topic!

The first time I came across ear wax was when I was very young but old enough to remember that Mother brought me to a doctor who used a gun-like thing to shoot warm water into an ear (oooh, comfortable) and a large piece of ear wax came out *.*

After that, Mother would sit down at the gate, make us lie down on her lap, and dig our ears! I don't know how often that was done but I enjoyed it coz it was very comfortable. Ticklish yes, but it was nice :)

I don't know when that stopped too. But years on, I bought a ear digger - that's what I call it anyway! - when I was in Japan. It's black with a little bell on it, complete with a stiff sleeve. Come to think of it, that thing must be some 20yo!

Anyway, apart from that ear wash in childhood, I never had any ear issues. If I feel something inside, I just dig a little. I think Sito may use it more often than me now, after he saw a doctor some 10y ago to wash out ear wax. 

Now as a parent, I don't dig my kids' ears as I've read that ears are self-cleaning. I don't remember for Kai and Yang, but I used to smell Yu's ears when he was a baby hahaha! Smelly but so sweet...

Then during the June term break, Kai told me he felt a huge piece of ear wax in an ear. After a moment's hesitation, he decided to let me dig it out. So on 16 June, for the very first time, I dug a kid's ear. I took a torchlight to the ear, spotted something and dug at it. Something came along but with resistance! Then Kai used his fingers to pull it out. Suffice to say it was gross.

As I excited told Sito about it, he reminded me that I did for him before - 10y ago when he had the ear issue. Gosh, my memory has really suffered from pregnancy and kids!

A couple of weeks later, it was Yang's turn to feel a huge ear booger but he refused to let me do it. Ah well, just wait for it to drop out then!

Kai turns 14

We have a 14yo in the house!

Nowadays, when Kai walks into the kitchen while I was preparing food or cleaning up, I always think it's Sito. Kai is just taller than Sito now and they have similar face shape, just that Kai is thinner. Sito just reminded me that there would eventually be three of them looking like him, hoho!

Anyway, we had two cele as usual. Just us five on Saturday and with the grands on Sunday.

B&J ice cream for a cake

Yang and Yu had a miso soup bowl each while Sito and I had a couple of mouthfuls. Then Kai took the remaining 60%. Yes, it was a lot of ice cream. But it was his birthday and he has an indulgent Papa; I was appalled haha! Actually, now that I think about it, maybe I shouldn't be since there was a time when I would finish a whole pint by myself while watching a movie...!

Dinner was at Swensen's, no prize for guessing! Adding to his happiness was the pasar malam behind Junction 8. The Saturday before, we also went there after Ajisen. He likes the chicken kebabs very much.

Happy birthday to GeGe!

Including the Swensen's sundae, he probably had a full pint of ice cream on Saturday... And that's not all, coz there was more on Sunday!

Happy birthday to Kai! :)

Kids had kiddy flavours like chocolate and strawberry while the adults had pink guava and MSW! At least Kai had other ice cream too so yes, another sugar high day *.*

Dinner was at Keisuke Tonkotsu King downstairs. Thanks to the abundant afternoon snacks (not just ice cream but also chips and Yan Yan!), all three could only have their share of ramen. Kai ordered his usual extra noodles but couldn't finish. Even the karaage was less popular. But the adults enjoyed their food ✌️

Funny bit at the restaurant - staff was telling Mum something about correcting her eyesight 10y later when removing cataracts. She said she did that already. I heard and had to chime in that I was the one who would need the surgery 10y later!!!

The grands gave him hongbaos, a game and a chess clock. Hongbaos are still with me but he has kept the rest. With 20min before bedtime, he set up Nintendo to try out the new game. Now wait for September to play...

All in, a pretty happy birthday :) But there was also some stress as the chess kids in his school came together online to decide who would form a team for NST. Thankfully, the number of rounds came down from five to only three, so he was done by tea time.

Last night, this big boy came in to roll around in our bed. We told him how he used to nap between us and kick Papa. He told us his earliest memory was waking up lying on Papa and rolling over to sleep on Mama, and either he or Papa was wearing blue. So cute :)

Also very cute of him to still want to nua on our bed almost every night... Disrupt my drama yes but I also disturb him by ruffling his hair, sayang-ing his cheeks or flicking his earlobes hahaha! And he'll as usual tell me to act normal. Cannot la, baby 玩我这样久，我也该玩玩 baby :p

The long suffering firstborn

Kai is so big now, not just coz he's the tallest in the family now, having overtaken Sito recently after overtaking me last year.

He doesn't need me to tell him to collect his laundry to fold; he doesn't need us to remind him to revise for WAs and exams; he could make his way on his own to a new place for chess tournaments. (But when no friend is going to a chess tournament, he will 不堪寂寞 ask Papa to accompany him.)

Of course, we still have to nag him for many other things but he's certainly becoming more independent.

Being the firstborn has its boons and banes. We think he had too much coddling so he didn't learn independence early, unlike his brothers who had to contend with this big brother for attention since they were born. So yes, a lot of attention for Kai but he learnt independence last. Actually, the firstborn is really the "experimental kid" - gotta suffer at first-time parents' hands hoho!

Well, it takes time but he's getting there.. And it really hit me that he's quite grown now when he said something deep last month on the 6th.

In a tussle with Kai, Yu kicked Kai's bedroom door and smashed the bit of fake wall behind the door such that the door stopper sank a bit in. It was a baby palm-sized hole that I couldn't be bothered to get a professional fix and so taped up to prevent pests from nesting within the wall!

When I was done, Kai said, "Thank you, Mama." 

He says this a lot these days, especially after his end-of-term NPCC camp as he fell chasing for the bus and suffered three scrapes - two on his right knee and one on his right elbow. I have been putting on cream and plasters for him every day and enjoying his very nice "thanks".

So this time, I turned to him, smiled and said, "嘴很甜 hor?" He smiled sweetly and said that he read in a book that it's hard not to criticise people so he wanted to neutralise it using praise. Wa.

So glad he's trying to be nice :) Coz sometimes he's really irritating ah... Makes me want to tear my hair out! But the next instant, he offers a hug. Then how? Succumb to my son's charms lor... Hoho! Useless Mama...

Oh, he doesn't offer hugs in public ok. Very prim and proper, this one. If I so much as hug him or swoon over smile at him in public, he'll tell me to "act normal". Now he has a new line.

That day after Swensen's Unlimited, we were stuck outside Cold Storage (again) while Papa took our sole brolly to get more from home. I asked Kai, “喜欢妈妈爱爱你吗？” Big smile. Me. He turned to me in disgust and said "act normal" as usual. I refused to give up and continued chasing after him while the other two were chatting next to us. 

Then I also asked the brothers. Yang gave me a shrug. Wth? I turned away to Yu who said, “妈妈很可爱！” Yeah! And I turned back to Kai with the same question again. This time, he threw back a “丢死人了！” Hilarious!! 哪里学的，这个 si gin nah! Hahaha!

He's the long suffering firstborn, and I'm also his long suffering Mama!