Cotton Candy Sky

Its a beautiful day today!  The sky is cloudy but still bright and cheerful.

While traveling on the expressway I saw layered clouds in the sky, looks beautiful!  Took out my Nokia X3 n went snapping away (saw from the corner of my eye taxi uncle is peeping at me through his rear view mirror haha~)

Photos are not great resolution and the tinted window affected a little bit.  Its always times like this that I regret not having either of my Canon with me *sigh*  Regardless, I feel so proud of my Nokia X3 today coz I realized that I managed to capture a BIRD in one of the photo!  Impressive!

1st Wordless Wednesday Post

Father & Son
Did this together
Will we have lavender on our balcony soon?

Its YWTL Time

Further to my post My Twisted Spine, I am sharing a simple 4-steps stretching exercise intro to me by my Chiropractor.  

Its call the YWTL -You Will Thrive Longer- (or some call it YTWL) Exercise

Stand with ur feet slightly apart with palm faces up do the following stretches while squeezing your shoulder blades.  Hold for about 5 seconds for each letter.

- Raise your arms to a 45-degree angle with your body to form a "Y"  

- Bend your elbows at a 90-degree angle and perform the same arm movement as you did for the "W"

- Extend your arms straight out to the side to form a "T"

- With your elbows bent at a 90-degree angle, rotate your arms up until your forearms are perpendicular to the ground to form a "L"

Photo credits from http://www.swimsmooth.com/injury.php

For a better picture and understanding of this exercise click here for more info.

I did it and my shoulder feels less tense and tight.  Good stretching exercise to do if you spend alot of time in front of the computer which gives you stiff shoulder, shoulder and/or neck ache. 

A necklace just for me

I am starting to fall in love with Adeline's Loft!  I recently bought a dress from The Wild Flower Shop (TWFS for short) and thought that perhaps a pearl necklace will look great on it.  However I do not want to wear a string of pearls as it may make me look older then my age.  I happen to see Adeline's creation and thought I'll seek her help.  I told her about my dress and my thoughts,  I picked a necklace from her creations and told her I wanted "something like this".  She says she has an idea of what I want.  I told her I'll show her a photo of the dress so that she could see the color and have an idea on the color scheme to match the dress.

Jade color dress from TWFS

Couple of days later, she MMS me this mock creation and I fell in love with it instantly!

The necklace - mock creation

Yesterday she show me this and I wish I could have it in my hands that moment.

The end product

Adeline really knows and understand my requirements.  I gave her a rough or vague idea of my "dream" necklace and she did a wonderful job!  I do not need to explain to her much or describe (or try to describe) the style or design, (I'm not in describing things) she just caught on immediately.  Nothing speaks better then the finished product itself.  I am very satisfied with it, 100%!

Favourite Mum No More

I received a call from Granny late morning, she says Little DinoEgg has been bugging her to call us since the minute he wakes up.  She was afraid that we are tired with all the unpacking and still sleeping thus only make the call then.

Granny passed the phone to Little DinoEggg, I was expecting the usual "Mummy I miss you!" when he comes to the phone but instead I was thrown "Mummy, can I talk to daddy?"  

*Crow flying across above my head*

"Ok daddy! I'm ready to go home NOW!" he tells daddy eagerly.

http://www.worksheetgenius.com/html/clip_art.php?page=7

And while both of them chatted on the phone, I'm left feeling a pang of sadness.

Being rejected by MY OWN SON! Twice within a short span of 48hours!

The feeling's not good.

I am the one he always runs to for everything; games, fun, food, treats, requests etc.  But not today!  Is it the boy-to-boy or man-to-man thing?  Like girls only confide in girls thing?  

Ok I'm jealous and hurt. 

 BUT don't get me wrong.  Not that I am unhappy that both of them are bonding, I'm far from it.  In fact I am very happy that daddy has taken more interest in his life and getting more involved with him.  He has help taken some pressure & stress in looking after this 6yr old from me.  I can now go out with my girlfriends at least once a month, go for my monthly facial & body massage.  Come to think of it, its not a bad thing to NOT be the favourite Mum any more *chuckles*  Its a win-win situation for ME!  

Time to think of ways to win him back *evil laughter*

I'll be home soon Daddy

Friday 18 May 2012

Evening

I was on leave to do some more packing.  Fetch Little DinoEgg from school, while on the road I asked him whether he wants to #1 Go over to Granny's house tomorrow morning till evening we fetch him home or #2.Stay to "help out" with the moving.  After thinking for a few seconds, he chose option #1.

At home, while getting ready to go over to Granny's, I think back the last time we moved house, he was being a "nuisance" to every one, especially the movers, asking what are they doing (when they are wrapping the plastics over the furniture etc), getting into every one's way, got scolded by us...  I don't want that to happened again this time.  So I asked him again, this time with new options; #1 to stay over at Granny's tonight and we fetch him home tmr evening or #2 just go over for dinner today then go over again tomorrow morning.

His answer.... "Go over today, stay till Sunday." *surprise surprise*

And we packed a little sleepover bag for him.

While on the out of the house Little DinoEgg becomes manja, keeps hugging us and say "aww~ I'm going to miss you daddy, mummy."  All the way to Granny's house, he keeps saying that, till we left Granny house, not before we gave him some basic instructions like "listen to Granny, Er-jiu & Er-jiu ma, don't bully Cousin Yuan..." 

Saturday 19 May 2012

Evening

We were done moving, rest and going to call Granny to check on the little fella.  Daddy says he wants to fetch him home as he misses him. 

The phone rings for a while and Granny picks it up.  I told her that we want to fetch Little DinoEgg back home as his daddy misses him, she says ok then says he is in the toilet "making cake" and passes the phone to him *stink*

"Baby, mummy fetch u home tonight ok?"

"huh? WHY~~~ I wanna stay here till Sunday."

"Daddy misses you very much."

"oh... but I want to stay here till Sunday then go to Tai-ma's house."

"But you are not at home how to bring u over tomorrow morning?"

*thinking thinking*

"Mummy can I talk to daddy pls."

*passes phone to daddy*

"Daddy, you did not see me for 2 days and you miss me?  Don't miss me ok?  You'll see me tomorrow morning when I'm home."

Daddy speechless... Instead of us comforting him about not able to be with us, its the other way. Aye, when did my little boy grow up?

So he is still at Granny house.

A little Sunshine came-a-knocking

In the midst of unpacking our stuffs, something cheerful & sunshine came out way.

Daddy was trying to fixed up the SCV setup box, internet connections etc while I steal some shut eye.  

While in my dreamland, I heard the door bell, thought I'm dreaming till daddy came into the room few seconds later waking me up saying "Dear, wake up, some one send you something."  Feeling drowsy I headed out and saw this lovely bouquet on the table!  I was instantly awake!!!

Took a look at the card and couldn't help but smile. 

This pretty flower is from Chin.  Cheeky Chin, we were talking about the Big Move and she asked about my address.  I gave to her, thinking that she want to keep it so the next time when she is in Singapore she can pop by for a visit.

A little about Chin.  She is from Malaysia, we are FB game friends about 2years ago through Jenny Leong, they are long time good childhood friends.  Yupe, another friend we got to know while playing FB games.  We seldom talk and when we really do, its all about the game.  We never chit chat until recently then we share abit of our personal live with each other.

Never did it cross my mind that she will send this little sunshine our way.  It really brightens up our mood cause we were over tired from lack of sleep and the physical toil of packing.  It also brightens up the living room which is cluttered with boxes and stuffs all over the floor.

This is what she say when I told her that I received the bouquet;

"hope you like it Jenn, its a flower with apples Looks great when i chosen fr the album and i tot that cake display might can be reuse."

How thoughtful!  I mentioned to the game gang that I've got a new oven in the new house and will try my hands on baking.  I can use this cake display for the cakes that I bake in *hopefully* near future.

Thanks Chin! 

The power of blogging

On the note of blogging, it leads me to think of something else.

Regardless of your mother tongue that you use to write your blog, don't you feel that blogging improves your language, vocabulary, spelling (proper spelling, not those "short-cut" ones), use of words, sentence construction; just to name a few?  My English was not great but it was good enough, but working in a Chinese company for 5 years, really took a toll on my English.  The only comfort I have is my Chinese language scored sky high!  I speaks with proper pronunciation, using Chinese idioms almost daily (some which I did not even heard of), it was so "good" that people starts to think that I am from China.

Anyway, that's beside the point.

I started blogging after I left the Chinese company, had a difficult time adjusting to an English speaking office environment.  In a way, blogging helps me to get acquainted with English again.  I'm still not as good as I want to.  With the birth of my son, my memory is not as good as before, I can be thinking about something/words n the next second my mind is a complete blank.  I become unsure of myself, relying on online dictionary to confirm the word(s) or idioms that I want to use, to check the spelling of particular word(s).  I become long winded, I feel that I could have written in a better way but just could not do it.  Maybe I set a too high expectation on myself.  It sadden me when I read other bloggers' post and see how well they have written.  When reading the same topics we touched on, I chided myself that I could have expressed myself that way or that is what I meant but just couldn't find words for it.

I stopped blogging in October 2011 because I have lost my interest, my busy schedule made it impossible to keep up blogging on Little DinoEgg's growing up, our family progress and the things that we do together.  I think the main issue is I left a group of friends and suddenly I feel that no one will be interested in reading my blog.  I mean, that the purpose of blogging right?  You blog for others to read, if there are no readers, what for blog?

Then in March 2012, I found a group of blogging enthusiastic from Singapore Mom Bloggers.

-Insert SMB logo-

They got me into writing again.  My language may not be good, words may not be as colorful, thoughts may not be blogged down to express myself clearly but I'm getting there.  Give me time and I know I will show some improvements.

Three Cheers for Blogging!!!

Three Cheers for SMB!!!

Are your Blogging in Freedom?

I was in Kinokuniya during lunch time to try to search for a cookbook for my aussie friend.  Was walking towards the door when this book caught my eye.

Freedom is Blogging in Your Underpants

Here is the introduction of the book;

This is a book about freedom. Specifically the personal freedom I discovered from the wonderful world of blogging, the freedom I hope everybody will eventually discover for themselves. The freedom that, I believe, will permanently and irrevocably change the world for the better.

Having a blog, a voice, having my own media, utterly changed my life. Suddenly my career as a cartoonist wasn’t dependent on other people: “The Gatekeepers”—publishers, editors, Hollywood executives, etc., etc. Sud­denly I had direct contact with my audience. They had direct contact with me. I could just do my thing, without having to wait for some­body else to give me the “green light.” I didn’t have to wait around for somebody else to deem me “worthy.”

This was the freedom I spent most of my adult life searching for, the same freedom I believe we’re ALL searching for, in one way or another. Careerwise, blogging gave me everything. Even in the early days, the ben­efits of blogging were so glaringly obvious to me, I couldn’t understand why more people weren’t doing it. Ten years later, I still can’t. So I decided to write a book about it; maybe I can help other people find this freedom, too.

—Hugh

I cannot help but to pick up this book and could not help smiling at the same time flipping through it.  I couldn't agree more with these 2 particular pages;

Many a times we hear people saying they do not know what to write in their blog, they are not writers (pls, who are born writers anyway?), do not know how to find their own writing style or voice thus they do not want (or do not dare to) start blogging.  Or they are afraid that their blog post may offend family/people/society/country (maybe the world??), therefore they always have some reservations when voicing their views.  

Well there you have it!  The author, Hugh Macleod has the answer!  All points are Starting Points.  Have a thought, spur or moment thinking, an idea, a rant or whatever, blog it down!

I always tell my friends, your blog belongs to you.  You say whatever you want in it.  Of course you must have some blog etiquette & alot of common sense (logical right?).  If you feel strongly about a certain issue against your family member/the society/the nation/the world, write discretely.  Use the appropriate words, do not just pin point a person or an issue and hammer mindlessly on that, you'll die an ugly death and I guarantee you that you probably don't know what hit you.

You can blog just about anything, like me, I started to blog on the growing up of Little DinoEgg then it branches out to include the Family.  Take some time to think about it, find out what are your passion, how you want the world to see your blog.  Find your niche in the blogging world.  You'll be surprise how you are able to discover yourself along the way.

And eventually you'll be blogging away and finding that Freedom is really Blogging in Your Underpants.... ok ok, maybe minus the underpants part.

Happy Blogging Everyone!!!

**Oh 1 last note... I did not get this book coz *smack myself* I forgot to bring my Kino card which gives me a 20% discount during their current Grand Summer Sale (17 - 20 May 2012).  I'm NOT cheapo!  I just like to put my membership card into GOOD USE.**

A Turquoise Ring for me

I've always like accessories but did not really get my hands on them because I wasn't really into dressing myself up and think that buying such things are a waste of money.  Since last year I have been starting to take care of myself, my dressing etc I have acquired a few pieces of accessories.  Most of them are silver or antique with chunky n exaggerating design.  However when I saw this cute little turquoise rose ring at Adeline's Loft I admit its a little bit girly but its so sweet that I just tell myself that I gotta have it NOW!

The Package

Top view

Side view

The ring came in a small container so no fear of it getting crushed (Yeah, our Postmasters can be very rough sometimes) or damaged while it make its way to you.

I love the vintage ring (very me, can) plus its adjustable so I can choose which fingers to put this cute little ring on according to my mood on that day.  Today I put on a sheer top with blue jeans & high heel, pop this turquoise ring on my right middle finger n instantly I feel cheerful. I am glad that I took the step to try something new *pats own shoulder* its never too late (or too old) to do that.

If you like this ring, hop off to Adeline's Loft, she has many handmade jeweleries for you to get your hands on.  She has some unique and limited edition designs which I am sure will charm its way to your wardrobe (see, I got charmed ^^)

PS : I took picture of the ring on my left hand coz there is an ugly scar on my right middle finger :(

SMB May 2012 Gathering

I was unable to join SMB April 2012 gathering, so I made it a point to join it this time.  We have it at Marché® branch in 313@Somerset again as its a centralized venue, easy for us to meet and rush back to office after lunch.

I am meeting these wonderful mummies for the 1st time but we chatted almost every day on the net.  Seems like we've known each other for so long.  Well, no awkward moments for us, perhaps for me coz I still can't link their face to their name :P  I'm bad in this area I admit.  It takes us a few minutes to get acquainted and then head off to hunt for some food.

We chatted, joked, exchanged ideas, discuss and even draw disapproving looks from a particular lady *chuckles*  Adora lay her little princess on an empty table next to ours, place a few props around her and then camera clicking away.  The lady must have thought was Adora trying to do with a new born baby.  Its not as if little princess will roll off the table or Adora is abusing her.

We've Mother's Day gift!  This lovely hand made handphone charm from Adeline.  She is head over heels over handmade accessories and I have fallen in love with her designs almost immediately. Head over to Adeline's Loft for some ready made accessories, she does customized designs too, just drop her an email with your inquiries.

We also have some cookies from Dominique and muffins from Pc Lee.  Haven't have a chance to eat them coz saving them for Little DinoEgg who loves them.

We decided to leave Marché® coz its a warm place, too warm for comfort.  Some of us have to go back to the office and the rest of us heads off to The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® at Orchard Central.

Wonder what's the topic that gives every one a serious look

More chatting and discussions at coffee bean, seems that we never run out of topics =)

And while the mummies are busy with each other, over at the other side 2 little kids are having a great time, immerse in each other's company, a green balloon and a pool of water with a few small fountains.

Aren't they cute~  U should meet them, a boy with gorgeous eyes & long eye lashes, a girl with the most sweet smile and a contagious laughter.  We finally parted ways at around 4.15pm.  I had a great time with these mummies.  Hope I can rope in daddy for our future gatherings where daddies are included.

Another day of Waiting

10am till 5pm

Long long long wait... ... ...

Not looking forward to it especially when I can't get hold of Mum to tell her that I would like to leave Little DinoEgg with her today.  Long, boring wait with a fiesty 6yr old is going to be double long day.  

A hint that its going to be a bad day when I received a call from my Director who (as usual) wants me to make travel arrangement NOW - like morning 8am????  And the bed frame delivery man called to say they will reach around 1030am instead of 11am.

Determine to make it through the day without pulling out my hair and blowing my top, I brought along the ipad WITH the charger, water bottle, towel, hp charger but I forgot a book for myself.

Hungry! MacMac to the rescue!

Daddy ordered MacMac once we reach the new house.  Rushing out n no time to eat breakfast, HUNGRY!

Little DinoEgg's bed frame was delivered ard 1030am, thank god!  At least now I have a place to lie down instead of sitting on the floor which gives me a backache.  All these waiting is so tiring :(

The stuffs were delivered one by one (even though we ordered the electrical appliances & coffee table from Courts), 1st the coffee table, then the teevee, soundbar, water pot, vacuum cleaner &washing machine, after tt our bed frame, follow by the 2 mattresses.  In between at some point, the teevee contractor came to mount the teevee onto the wall and the reno contractor came to cut 1 floor tile to cover up the hole in the kitchen.

Even with the ipad, Little DinoEgg still managed to get into our nerves *sigh*  Too much game n he gets bored.  Nothing to play with he gets bored.  So difficult to please a kid.

Me & Little DinoEgg left the new house at 330pm, he was hungry.  Decided to bring him to the neighbourhood mall for some light food before his art class.  Left daddy alone to wait for the Philips guy to come and mount the sound bar to the wall.

A little Flaw in a Perfect Dinner

It was a happy occasion, us gathering together for an early Mother's Day dinner at Kushin bo Authentic Japanese Buffet restaurant at their Suntec City outlet.

We just started to get our food & drinks, hungry bunch of people we are, especially the kids.

Me & Farn were at the drinks machine taking drinks, there was another Japanese lady with us.  Both she & Farn were pushing their cups against the machine to take the ice and the water when suddenly something fell from the top of the machine!  Apparently some waiter forgot to latch the cover properly, it slipped and hit the Japanese lady's head, then Farn's left head and towards the Japanese lady's right hand.  The heavy cover cause an instant swell on the veins of the Japanese lady's hand, a little bump on Farn's forehead.

The loud crash attracts those around us, I looked around, some of the restaurant staffs saw but every one was dragging their feet.  I was unhappy and I admit, I purposely did a drama-lady act, asking Farm if he is ok, fuss over him etc, asking the Japanese lady if her hand is ok.  Then out of no where a waiter came and show his "concern" -_-  And what he said makes my unhappiness shoot to level 10... he said "What do you want us to do for you?"  The way he put it across like I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill just to get some discount from the restaurant.  I am determine NOT to have him think this way.  I pointed out the green swell vein on the Japanese lady's hand, the red bump on Farn's forehead and threw the "WHY" and the "HOW" at him.  Seeing this, he know he said something wrong.

Anyway I let him go and went off to continue my dinner.  Of course mum fuss over Farn on the bump ^^

A while later another waitress (I guess its the senior or something) came by our table and asked how is Farn, does he need ice pack?  Insist that they give him ice pack... I keep saying there is no need for that if he says he is ok then it should be alright.  I did not catch this but sis & SIL said the waitress asked "Do you want me to give u discounts?"  I was feeling frustrated at that time coz in the first place they did not do a good job handling the accident, then they come by again to try to salvage the situation, which I will not have any part of it thus wishing she will just leave us alone (of course at the back of my mind I have already decided to put this restaurant in my BAN LIST).  IF... IF I hear that at that time, she will definitely get a piece of my mind.  I mean why do they THINK that all patrons are out to get some kind of discounts from restaurants in 1 way or rather?  Ok, maybe my drama causes them to THINK that I am out to get discount from them, but I have already said its OK.  Or they are thinking too much?  Like when I say OK what it means is its NOT OK or I'm-going-to-get-back-at-u-in-some-way???  Gosh... complicated....

Ok, for those who frequent Kushinbo, you will be familiar with the special dishes they will prepare (is it hourly special? Not sure, as this is the 3rd time I'm there) and they will play a special song "Welcome to Kushinbo.... Suntec City Tower 1..." something like tt, and every one will fly off to queue for the limit dish.  Well, 5 mochi ice cream find its way to our table, the waitress who delivered them simply say "These are for the kids."  I thought its included in the menu, till later SIL says its special dish and they specially send 5 over (to appease my anger???).  Too bad, none of the kids like it (hahaha~), even the adults find its taste funny.  Only Mum finish 1 but its coz she does not want to waste food :P

I met the same *senior* waitress at the cashier, she asked -again- if every thing is ok.  She is very brave to ask if I would like to leave any feedback.  I told her very frankly that if I write, it will be a very nasty one, she (with all her smile) says its ok.  *bravo* but heck... I'm done having anything to do with this restaurant.

So ok, the restaurant did a blunder initially and their effort to salvage.... succeed a little bit.  The images of those staffs at the counter with their expressions on their face, dragging their feet (they were like moving in slow motion) really irks me.  Sadly, this shall be my last visit to the restaurant.  I'm sure there are no lack of restaurants with the same concept and serving *nicer* food for me to patronize.

Mother's Day 2012

Mother's Day is this Sunday but I'm getting my gifts TODAY! 

I took leave today as I wanted to do some packing (seems like we are running out of time!!!) before the big move.  Daddy took half day too wanting to help me pack but in the end I told him that I do not need help as nothing much since I've packed most of the stuffs in the box (Lucky we did not unpack alot of things when we move in in Sept 2011).  He volunteered to fetch Little DinoEgg from the school while I continue to pack and then get ready for dinner. 

I was starting to wonder what takes them so long (an hour plus) to come home coz it will probably take abt 45mins by taxi to & fro. I thought perhaps he was still having classes when daddy is at school so he let him finish the class before fetching him.

When they are finally home, they surprise me with a beautiful bouquet of white lilies & burgundy carnations!  That's the reason why it took them longer the usual to come home.  Little DinoEgg was eager to let me know that the white lilies are from daddy and burgundy carnations are from him.  Awww~~ so sweet of them!

My "I Love You" Mother's Day flowers 

And Little DinoEgg made these for me in school.  A beautiful self portrait card & a pair of ear-rings.   A little phrase "A Mother's heart is a patchwork of love".

A beautiful card & gift for me

So touched!  2 great gifts to make my day!

Then its time to get ready for the Mother's Day dinner with the Family!

We decided to organise this since its been a while we got together.  Initially wanted to go to Buffet Town but they were fully booked for today.  So we head off to Kushin bo Authentic Jap restaurant instead.

Since I'm on leave, I volunteered to fetch Farn & Han from sis' house since she is working, and we meet up the rest of the family at the restaurant.

It was a great wonderful happy dinner, the food is good, the kids are well behaved, the adults enjoy the company and catching up with each other.  Best of all, Mum is having a great time with her kids and grandkids.

The Mummies received a card and a little gift from Megan.  So sweet of her.

Mother's Day gift from Megan

And so, here are the wonderful mothers (ya me included kekeke) of the night.

The mothers of the Lim Family

I can vouch for every one that they have a good time too!  It such a warm feeling to see every one getting together.  Must do more of this =)

Oh we had a little unhappiness :(  Will blog about it later *hmmpphh*

 

An Auntie Ranting

We always hear women commenting that they lost themselves after the little one(s) is born or how work, home, taking care of the baby/family leave them no time for themselves. As the years goes by, as you get used to the daily routine, as the little one grow up, you find more time on your hands. This is the time when women suddenly realized that they have neglected themselves so much that they do not recognize the person in the mirror. Suddenly they see themselves as fat, out of shape, old fashion or no sense of fashion, unkept hair, tired face etc etc. Some make changes gradually, doing thing 1 at a time and liking the new improved look before dealing with the next one. Some does it with a snap of the fingers, change every thing at the same time! Revamp the wardrobe, go for make over, change of hair style etc within the week or month.

Which ever the ways, I always feel that changes are good. We are, after all, young only once, if not now then when?

However... I feel that you should adapt a new look or lifestyle according to your age. Its one thing that you are lucky to look younger then your actual age, its another if you are lucky to look younger then your actual age AND wanna behave & dress up like an even younger age! Wearing a bikini top with work out pants to gym (excuse me, can u pls tuck in ur errmm.. FATS???), putting on a big pink bow clip on the head (Daisy or Minnie wannabe???), vixen eye make up (HELLO~ foxie on the loose!!!!) - are so NOT COOL!!! Its an eye sore!!!! *cringe*

If you are 30+ then look and dress like one, or the most late 20s, not like a teenager! Some clothes n style are best left to be explored and strutted about by some cute little teenage girls. You can be bold with colors but do it tactfully, please do not throw shocking pink n lemon yellow together and think tt its stylo *faintz*

And for goodness sake, look after your precious face too, you have but only ONE FACE. Look prim n proper, beautiful n stylish but the face... ya the face... dull, tired n sagging face... Age gracefully not drastically. Take care of it, you do not need to spend alot of time but perhaps have to spend alot on the face products *lol* but its money well spent, no?

Having said that, I must admit that I was once a woman who have no time n money for myself. Everything is focus on the little fella. I got a wake up call when I saw a photo of a friend, with no make up her face looks dull, cheeks sagging... she is 10yrs younger then me but she look like my age!!! GOSH! Freaked the hell out of me that I just have to share my fear with my bestie. Thank god that I do not look like my age, I take minimal care of my face for the pass years, slacking on the body though. So I dived into the creams n lotions for my face, hands & body. Look around for clothes that I like and change my style, no more boring black & white or solid colors top n bottoms, dresses with prints or color are my favorite now. I'm back to wearing heels instead of flats, recently change my hair style. I feel great about myself, even daddy say the change is good and I look better & prettier *melts my heart*

I am an auntie but I am a happy modern auntie hahaha~

Note : This post was generated when daddy showed me photos of some of our EX-friends at some kind of an event. I couldn't shake those horrendous images off my mind that I have to write something about it.

Big Yellow Taxi

I think the taxi companies' love us and the bus & MRT companies hates us. This is because we travel around by taxi instead of wasting time waiting for the buses. MRT is ok since the waiting time is standard but then the train station is a distance from our house, takes about 10mins to reach our block. On top of that its always very crowded.

We don't (and have no intention to) have a car. I have a driving licence but have only driven a car 2-3 times since I got it ages ago. Think it has expired plus not sure where I've misplaced it. Daddy does not have a driving licence and its not a top priority for him to get one as of now. In future MAYBE he will try his luck.

It all started 6yrs ago when Little DinoEgg was born. Every morning I have to sling him, carry his bag n my bag to granny's house and subsequently to his school. I will take a 10mins walk to the nearby LRT station, then walk to the destination; a good 10mins from LRT station to the school. Then I decided to take a bus from below our block then change to LRT instead of walking, however the bus is always not punctual and most of the time its crowded. Imagine me doing the balancing act with the baby n barang barangs throughout the 15mins jerky bus ride. Yupe, practically no one offer seats to us, it irks me when they stare at me doing the balancing act. Trying to see what a super woman I am is it or anticipating me falling down together with my child so that they can give me The Look?? It gets worst when Little DinoEgg outgrew the sling, means I have to carry him... my arms can break into pieces after every morning's bus ride.

So I decided to flag down a taxi every morning.  Faster, more relax journey, lesser travelling time and best of all a happier me n baby to start the day.

Another reason is... I can take it if I have to take an hour or more bus/train journey to reach my destination.  I will have no energy to enjoy the day with friends or family coz I will be so drained out during the journey.  Little DinoEgg too!! He can be well behaved in the train or bus but when we reaches the destination he will be cranky, restless, grouchy and sometimes he will want to go home when we barely set foot on the destination.  In the end, both of us cannot enjoy the day.

*Imagine travelling fm NE side to Jurong Bird Park in MRT!  A whole 1.5hours (at least) on the road!  I don't have energy or mood to enjoy the park.*

With the recent taxi fare hike, we feel the pinch initially but got over it soon.  Some of my friends commented that we spend alot on taxi fare (a few even sniggered at it).  Not that we are rich so we splurge on this but we believe its money well spent, in this case we get to our destination faster and get to enjoy what ever activities we will be having.  I believe quality time is more important then being calculative risk a bad day out.

Initially we only take taxi in the morning as we have to send Little DinoEgg to school, we also realized that the MRT are getting more and more crowded.  Eventually I decided to give up on MRT becoz of a few unhappy incidents on the train, the ultimate one is when I met an unreasonable lady who hurl bad words at me, you can read about it here. Since then we have converted to 100% taxi on every where we go.

Then recent months, the MRT has been a disappointment with many breakdowns for hours causing inconvenience to the commuters.  Late for work, late for school and just a few days ago I heard on the radio that it causes a parent to miss his son's wedding tea ceremony *GASPED*  After MRT release statement that they will do a thorough check on the tracks, power supply etc WHICH will cause inconvenience to commuters, we can expect them to raise the fare again.

In view of this, I think I place my money with the taxi is a safer bet.  Of course we have our fair share of bad experience with the taxi uncle or the taxi companies.  Vexed when you need a cab like YESTERDAY and couldn't get one fast enough.  Those are the bad & unlucky days.... however it's still better then having to sit at the bus stop looking far ahead on the road n hoping to see the bus slowly trotter up OR wonder when is the blardy bus going to appear!  

PS : The long waiting of the one thousand and one not-punctual-at-all bus refers to the one at my block, may not applies to every bus.

A House of Our Own Soon

clipart courtesy of http://www.gifs-paradise.com/free-animated-gifs  

After almost 2 months of renovation, our new house is finally done with *many* minor defects (ok we are particular about every thing) to get the contractor to rectify before handing over the house to us. 

We are very excited about our house though its not our first house, the previous one was sort of a "rush" job coz we sold the last house in a short period of time and have to get a place to move within a couple of months. Lucky for us, we managed to get that unit from HDB, left over units from couple of years before. As it was BTO unit, HDB has done up the flooring and the 2 toilets, we only need to do minimal renovation. Even though, every thing was kept simple, some of the furniture were pass-me-down from sister. It was a place put together in a flash.

We hunt around for a suitable house for 2-3 months before setting our eyes on this one. It was spacious and most important its near Little DinoEgg's future primary school. We went off together to choose the stuffs from the lights to choosing the toilet bowls & sinks, the wall & floor tiles for the toilet, kitchen, living rooms and the 3 bedrooms, the laminates for the kitchen cupboards, bookshelves, the wardrobes & the feature wall with the contractor and his suppliers. The Picket & Rail dinner table set & sofa which we chance upon when we hop by Robinson's warehouse sale @ Singapore Expo, bed frames & mattress hunting at Courts Tampines. Daddy surf the net to check out the best electrical appliances to buy, the best price he can find, ended up we got most of them from Courts too.

Thus this is truly OUR HOUSE, renovated according to our taste n preference with COMFORT HOME in our mind.

The furniture and electrical appliances will be delivered within the next 2 weeks, we planned to move in by end May 2012. So excited! I can feel the vibes going through my body just by thinking of the Big Move.