Hot hot hot

Warm heat greeted me upon exiting Changi Int'l Airport T1 last night from my trip to Germany. I was in Mannheim/Ludwigshafen on a working trip since Sunday and the cool weather there at about 20 degrees Celcius was fantastic! It was a long trip from Singapore as I took a connecting flight from Bangkok by Thai Airways. All direct flights were fully-booked, wonder if the recently ended IMF/WB event had a part to play?

As I landed at Frankfurt Airport past 6am local time, I called Kieran as he would have finished his mini graduation concert at Yamaha with his dad (Singapore is 6 hours ahead). He was elated when I called. I told him I had just landed and he asked if I would be taking the return flight right away. I laughed at his naivitivity.

Water Tower near Rosengarten:















We went to Heidelberg but I did not go up to the castle as my friends were there for many times already. For lunch, we had bratwurst with saurkraut and kartofen, it was yummy, see photo:















Most shops are closed on Sunday, except for the eateries, so it was kind of boring as I could buy nothing much basically. As berries are in season, we also had a mixed berries cake, see the window displays of a bakery:
I returned yesterday via Bangkok and was one of the first passengers arriving at the new Suvarnabhumi airport. It was spacious but the walk to my departure gate was a very long one and some airconditioning was not working. Our flight was delayed by 30 minutes as we waited for the bus to bring us to our plane. Not a smooth start I must say for the new airport. I have taken some photos as my transit time was almost 4 hours!

Double Happiness!

Today is my bro, Joo & niece, Rachel's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to 2 dearies in the family - one in Perth, the other we just celebrated on Sunday.

A picture of Rachel's 5th birthday celebration:


Kieran & Rachel posing with the tiramisu I made - notice the Winx birthday message?

Joo "told" me via his SMS that this is the 2nd time he celebrates his birthday without Connie & Jamus, yes bro, cest la vie!

Finally, today is the day that's opened to the public to buy tickets to the SSO Babies Proms! I was awake before 6am as Kieran had high-fever and managed to book 3 tickets for hubby, Kieran & me and we will bring Raeyen along on 1 Dec for the concert. Funnily, the SISTIC system did not allow me to choose booking for non-Friend of SSO, so I had to click on "10% for Friend of SSO", I hope SISTI honours that.

I had to apply urgent leave today to mind Kieran and Dr Tan (his PD) said he has gastric flu + virus hence the 39.2C fever. Cest la vie!

"All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure." Mark Twain

Disciplining Kids

I am now at Changi Airport T2 departure hall waiting for my flight to KL and thought I could make use of some time here to update my blog.

This morning on my way to work, I read an aticle on disciplining kids and laying ground rules on page 18 of Today. I agree with the author who is an educator and a mother of 6! Basic manners are important and such should be inculcated when a kids is still an infant - never underestimate how much our behavior may influence our kids. Basic rules should be followed and explained to the kids.

During the 1 week school holiday in Sep, we brought Kieran to his childcare centre and I was shocked that a 5-year old kid said "I smack you" to him shortly after he greeted Kieran. The teacher who was there said nothing but I quickly told the kid that it was wrong of him to say such rude remark and should not say it again. Alas, he said it again and I wonder if he did it on purpose. Yet the same teacher did nothing! I called the centre manager up and told her what happened. I believe that if all of us (teachers, relatives, parents, etc) were to work together to ensure such behaviour cannot be condone, the kids will be more well-mannered and also, refrain from saying "this is my one". It irks me when someone says that!

OK, gotta go for now as the airport free Internet access machine is going to lock me out in 1 minute.

"Music is a discipline and a mistress of order and good manners, she makes the people milder and gentler, more moral and more reasonable." Martin Luther
"The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood." Martin Luther King, Jr

Our family friends

It has been months since we last met the Yoong family - our longtime friends. May is an old classmate since secondary school and we went through so much together. We share good, bad, sad and happy times together. We were each other's bridesmaid, we inspire and encourage each other. We lend a shoulder to each other. Unspoken words seem to be understood.

We met last night at May's place and Yin was in good spirit too. Megan, their 3-year old angel was her usual happy self, eagerly playing with our boys. May said Raeyen's features have changed since she last saw him and was amazed with his steady walking skill. While we hope to meet more often, our schedules are sometimes hard to compromise.

I believe that good friends do not necessarily have to meet often, but when we do, we realise we cherish each other more and are thankful to have a friend like each other. May is like a sister to me, her advice, encouragement and understanding makes me comfortable and understood. Many times when I was down, she was there for me. I will certainly be there for her whenever she needs me too.

Celebrating Mother's Day with May in 2005

May, Yin .... to our friendship!

"Friendship make prosperity more shining and lessens adversity by dividing and sharing it." Cicero
"We are advertis'd by our loving friends." William Shakespeare
"It's the friends you can call at four a.m. that matter." Marlene Dietrich

Birthdays, cupcakes & mambo jumbo

Today is my 2nd sis' birthday ... Happy Birthday ChooChoo & I Love Ya!!! And we had a simple meal at Cafe Cartel @ Junction 8 earlier today.

There are a few September celebrants in my family ... 2 sisters, a brother and a niece. Incidentally Joo (bro) & Rachel (niece) share the same birthday but years apart. Coming to birthdays, I have a penchant for mini cakes - cupcakes to be exact. Well, they are dainty and pretty; besides, you probably feel less guilty gobbling 2 more of these little devils.

I came across a uber chic cupcakes baker website from Karen Cheng's. Trish's cupcakes make me drool and I would like to know how to order from her.

Yesterday was a scorching day and hubby brought Kieran to the RSAF open house at Payar Lebar air base. They walked a good 2km from the carpark to the where all actions were. Kieran enjoyed himself very much during this bonding session with Daddy. In the afternoon, they met me at CompassPoint where hubby signed up for a new broadband with Singtel coz 1. our Starhub contract has ended and we were not courted further by Starhub to continue with them; 2. Singtel's latest offer was irresistable ... a free cool white MacBook! We will have a new Singnet account in 2 weeks' time, whoopee!

So hubby called Starhub to terminate the account but was disgusted by the corporate mambo jumbo rubbish that we had to terminate by 9pm today instead of 15 Sep. Hence I am rushing this posting just before the clock strikes 9pm!

I will update the links on this posting when there's chance.

Bringing up a pianist or musician?

I had no chance as a child to learn playing the piano, I hope Kieran does. (Photo on left was taken on 25 Mar 06, his mini concert at Yamaha's Little Notes graduation)

Some said to nurture the interest, I should bring him to classical concerts. There are a few coming but all for above 6 years old - The Fairy's Kiss featuring Min Lee, violinist, et al; MOZARTPlus - Mozartiana by 2 pianists who are twin sisters and SSO Casual Concert. Guess I can only bring him to such when he's around 6. Till then, we shall settle for the "SSO Babies Proms".

We first brought Kieran to Babies Proms last December to let him experience what a symphony is like, and we will bring him and Raeyen this year (1-2 Dec).

We hope our little ways will help in nurturing and bringing up a pianist or musician? Whatever Kieran will become, as long as he is happy.

"Nevertheless the passions, whether violent or not, should never be so expressed as to reach the point of causing disgust; and music, even in situations of the greatest horror, should never be painful to the ear but should flatter and charm it, and thereby always remain music." Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

A crazy day

1 Sep is Teachers' Day & my eldest sis' birthday (so Happy Birthday and I Love You, Sis!!!) ... also a chaotic day for the family.

We sent Kieran to the childcare centre as the kindergarten is closed today. To our surprised, the centre's gate was locked. We called the centre but no one answered. I called his classmate's Mom & realised it's really closed today and she was informed by the centre twice but we received none :(

We were disappointed and drove home while brainstormed where to seek help.

The dilemma was I had a 10.30am meeting with my bosses and it's hard to get last minute help to mind the kids. It wouldn't have been so hard if my 3rd SIL, Connie was in town (she left for Perth with Jamus last night to visit my bro Joo). We eventually troubled my MIL to rush over and I left for work late.

When I reached the office at Suntec City, there was a fire drill. After the all-important drill (wonder if it was on purpose just before the huge IMF event, hence the 4-million smile project and sprucing up the city & all to impress the 16,000 delegates), we had our meeting and discussion, blah-blah till I left office at 8.15pm. By the time I reached home at SengKang, it was already 9pm and my smaller koala was already in his little dreamland. Kieran waited for me coz he wanna ma-ma to read his bedtime story (so sweet). While my dear hubby waited for me to have dinner together.

Hence I ended my crazy day with a sweet note by tucking Kieran in and typing this blog now.

As Kieran turned 4

Our home PC is sick & my work is enormous, hence this late posting.

On 21 Aug night, I was wrapping snacks with fancy serviettes as goodie bags for 16 kids at the childcare centre that Kieran goes.

Hubby & I lugged with a viewcam, digital cam, cake & goodie bags to the childcare centre at 3pm the next day. After our kiddo had done with the celebration, we took him out of the centre to spend time with him alone. We went to Junction 8 and had dinner at Café Cartel (our fav cafe) but left his fav Thomas the Engine drinking bottle.

As promised to Kieran, we had an intimate "Bob the Builder" theme celebration at our home with the family on Saturday evening. We cooked curry chicken (thanks to Prima Taste), fried rice, finger food & got some KFC stuff. Kieran's tiramisu birthday cake was made by me and I was glad that everyone liked it. We had Emicakes' durian puffs (thanks to Sar-Kim) & fruits as dessert. Again, the kids went home with goodie bags - this time I packed the snacks inside used paper bags (see photo below - the kids with their goodie bags and Ah-Gong). The finale was unwrapping his presents. He got a bike (Dad), a pair of blue Crocs shoes (Mom), Thomas the Engine airport set (Aunt Angeline), Fox clothes (Tua-Yi) & many red packets from the family. Kieran was brimming & played with his cousins on the airport set while Raeyen tried to "destroy" the completed set.

We still have many more birthday parties to organise and goodie bags to pack in the growing up years of our boys!

"It was on my fifth birthday that Papa put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'Remember, my son, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm." Sam Levenson