Trouble that lucky draw brings

Yeah, hubby won a return airticket to Melbourne by Emirates at his company dinner & dance recently. When we first knew it, we were elated because we would love to visit Australia again! Then we are troubled by it ...

1) the ticket is only good for one passenger, taxes & fees are excluded
2) my Krisflyer miles are enough to redeem for one adult return Singapore Airlines airticket to Melbourne BUT the flight time of these 2 airlines are world apart, both ways (Emirates only flies once a day)
3) if all (2 kids & I) were to go by Emirates, the airfare will be high*

Question is, shall we go via Emirates? A check at Zuji website, the return adult ticket for late April departure is S$910* without taxes & fees; or shall we wait for some promotion at Emirates nearer to date and take the chance of unavailable seats for the required travel dates?

Then we toy about the idea of selling the winning "ticket" @ eBay, BUT who's gonna believe us that this "ticket" in a form of a letter from Emirates, is for REAL?

Are we lucky or asking for trouble?

*S$910 is high compared to Singapore Airlines @ S$850 (non-promotional fare) and SQ has 3 daily flights!

Pak-tor time

Hubby & I left Kieran @ Joo's place this afternoon and went to Marina Square for great Japanese food @ Waraku. We had mixed sashimi, cod kaminabe (paper pot), beef curry with soba and unagi don. It was really satisfying (especially being alone without the kids).

Usually mealtime with them is a struggle, either Kieran doesn't want to eat or Raeyen wants to wriggle his way out of his seat. Thanks to Joo, Connie & Jamus for helping us take care of Kieran and Yani of Raeyen. In fact, today's lunch was meant to be an early birthday treat from my hubby. When the kids came along, having time alone becomes a luxury.

After the sumptuous meal, we went shopping for Christmas gifts and a cuppa and cake @ McCafe before fetching Kieran. We chatted in the car and felt that somehow whenever we were out alone, we feel a sense of guilt for not bringing the kids along, and couldn't help thinking about them. In fact, after Raeyen was born, we have been bringing Kieran out more often and leaving the little one at home. Seems unfair but ... what can I say?

We now look forward to spending time with the kids on Friday 1 December as we've applied leave to bring them to the SSO Babies Proms concert at VCH. We will then have meal @ Raffles City before collecting a cake from The Patissier, to celebrate my slightly belated birthday @ home. The kids like to blow the candles but Mommy is shy to place oh-so-many candles :*)

Kieran's 2nd Concert

Brought Kieran to his concert at Spore Power Auditorium yesterday morning alone as hubby was at work (*sigh*). Took a pix of him in light make-up outside our home (see left).

He changed into his Indian costume, had his hair fixed while I put some glitters on it (see below). Tsk..tsk, in fact I secretly rubbed off some rouge from his cheeks which his teacher applied, I found him looking too wayang. I left him there and went to Killiney Kopitiam for a cuppa and kaya toast.

Kieran performed 2 numbers - an Indian and a Chinese. Armed with the videocam, I was surprised that he was placed in the middle front - hope that means he could dance well. Indeed, he was all smiles as he danced, wriggled his torso while partnering with a girl. They ended the Indian piece with a loud "Namaste" - an Indian greeting. At the opening of his Chinese performance, he spotted me, waved and shouted "Mommy!", his friend asked "Where's your Mommy?", Kieran pointed at me "She's there!" ... I was a little embarrassed as the whole audience could hear their "in-their-own-world" conversation, but proud of him at the same time! He had afterall performed well. After the 2hour show, we walked along Orchard Road, had lunch with his aunts and cousins @ Coffee Club, Kinokuniya. Bought a book for Raeyen and headed to Borders. Got him an Eric Carle's book - Ten Little Rubber Ducks (comes with a little surprise on the last page) and one on "Reptiles & Amphibians".

Kieran infront of a decorated tree along Orchard Road

In between, my vanity couldn't resist browsing at some boutiques and I bought a skirt @ Southaven, Wisma Atria.

In the evening, we had an impromptu dinner @ Joo's place as we binged on local fare such as beef hor fun, har jeong kai (prawn paste chicken) , BBQ stingray, etc. All delivered to us piping hot in less than 1 hour by dabao.sg. The food was sinfully yummy!

Sunny Sentosa

Brought our brood to Sentosa Palawan beach on Sunday morning, it's the first for Raeyen. He was at first skeptical about being barefooted and walking on the sand. Yani took him to the hanging bridge and he enjoyed it so much that he didn't want to return. Click here to see all the photos.

Kieran took a dip (oops in his brief & tee, coz we forgot to pack his swimwear) in the water feature, he clearly enjoyed that very much.

Ivy and clan arrived as they couldn't find the right car park (by the way it's CP3 - covered and only $1/entry).

Favian and Dillon joined Kieran in the water feature, while Raeyen played sand.


















The sun was scorching (luckily the haze was gone) and our moods were high. The adults chatted while the kids played together. Raeyen joined them in the water feature wearing nothing but his Mamy Poko pull-ups (with Winnie the Pooh at his cute little bum)!

We were all "burned" and tired, had lunch at Koufu (air-conditioned, yeah!) before heading home for a much-needed snooze (*zzz*).



The kids with their rosy tan (at home)


The next day, I had sun-burn on my shouder blades :( ouch!

Kieran's first keyboard

Kieran learned his first do-re-mi & mi-re-do fingering sequence at Yamaha Junior Music Course last Sunday and I was pleasantly surprised (happy of course) that he could grasp & coordinate well from his thumbkin (do) - pointer (re) - tallman (mi) and backwards.

Feeling and reeling with motivation, I decided to get him a keyboard first (well, as an early Christmas present). We went to Tampines Mall after his music lesson today and headed to Yamaha. We bought the basic model PSR-E203 at an offer price of S$205 (usual S$250), a stand, and adapter was free.

Excitedly, we assembled it upon reaching home but realised one rubber cover of the stand was damaged, which I will call the branch tomorrow if we could get it changed at a convenient time. We played the keyboard and Raeyen was so excited about the new "toy" that he "pounded" on it rather hard (*heartache, ouch*).

Hopefully this little musical instrument will help Kieran develop a stronger interest in music as I promised to get him a piano when the time is right. He would boast and say, "Mommy, I can play the piano so well." I can't wait for him to become a real pianist some day!

I want to leave home WITHOUT my Amex

My company makes us use the Amex corporate card for all business-related transactions, and this card is on personal liability.

Having an extra card in my nearly burst-out LV monogram purse is a chore, not only it is not widely accepted in many establishments, it gives me no perks but embarrassment. I used it for a business meal in KL but was denied after 3 tries by the cashier, alternatively I used my reliable MasterCard. I tried to use it again in HK at Crystal Jade, but it was not accepted; again I used my MC.

When I forgot to pay my Amex bill, I was charged a late payment fee of S$37.50 even though their officer promised to waive it off a month ago. Now Amex said there was no such "promise" recorded in their system but insisted I pay for the penalty. I was very upset as other banks willingly waived such penalty for me in all occasions, so why this exception at Amex? The officer simply apologized by saying "Sorry M'am but this is a company policy." repeatedly. It was clearly a scripted apology and his supervisor (Abigail) promised to revert with their "management's decision" on the waiver within 24 hours. Days passed and I heard nothing from them. I will not pay for the penalty though Amex said they would still impose 2% on the penalty every month. Will they even bother to sue me for not paying S$37.50?

What should I do? My company insisted that we use Amex for all business transactions, but I want to boycott it for good!

Parent-Teacher Meet

Kieran's kindergarten and childcare centre held PTM today which was a good coincidence as I could "kill 2 birds with 1 stone". Went to the kindergarten first at 10am alone as hubby was at work, and left the kids at home since having them around would have been chaotic.

I hopped over to the chidcare centre after 45 minutes and returned home with files of his work and photos.

I will scan his kindergarten class photo and his self-portrait and upload here when free.

I could summarise our discussions here as all 4 teachers (a pair of Chinese/English teachers each school) had almost the same observations. Kieran was said to have improved in terms of attention span, focus, work tidiness. They said he likes outdoors, music and movement, very "garang", inquisitive, not afraid to express and ask questions BUT doesn't know how to resolve problems with friends during play. He mostly resolved the problems by "physical expression" instead of talking it over. While his teachers are trying to guide him, I am at my wit's end how to help him overcome it. Apart from that, I am happy that he enjoys school better now and did his work well. His kindergarten English teacher, Miss Foong said Kieran would be able to do well in K1 next year.

His childcare English teacher said he danced very well in an Indian number for the concert and she put him in front due to this. The concert will be held on 25 Nov, and I will definitely capture his kiddie performance in our viewcam! I can't wait.

3G - Good friends, Good food, Good fun

We are finally back to school/work/routine after a 3-4 day holiday in Chiang Mai.

We flew by Tiger Airways on Saturday 4 November at 6am, which means getting up at 3.45am to get everyone ready! We met our friends, another family of 4 (plus 1 on the way who is now nice and cosy inside Ivy's tum) at the Budget Terminal at 4.45am to begin our little getaway. Going for a holiday with the kids is like going to a combat; armed with water bottles, hot water flask, snacks, milk powder, diapers, mosquito repellant, sarong, stroller, etc.

We arrived Chiang Mai on schedule and were driven to the Sheraton for our 3-night stay. We took things slow and had a wonderful traditional Khantoke dinner (Northern Thai dinner) at Khun Khantoke under the starry night. The stars have company as people celebrate Loy Krathong by releasing floating lanterns into the air using hot air combustion as wicks are lit. It was a beautiful night but my little Prince Raeyen was in his slumber not knowing what went on. Each family sat around a low tray table with food on it and watched the performance by the very hospitable Thais.

Raeyen at the pool at the Sheraton


On Sunday, we went to the Night Bazaar for shopping and the boys released the floating lanterns into the dark sky amidst many other lanterns. Kieran wrote his and Raeyen's names on it and we watched it floated into the twilight in awe!

We had a full-day tour to the Karen/Long-neck tribe, Monkey school, Mae Sa Elephant camp, Orchid farm, parasol and silk factories on Monday. The long-neck tribe is unforgettable as girls as young as 5 years will start wearing a 1kg iron coil on their necks! We took a photo with a young long-neck girl. Kieran asked me how could they possibly turn their heads, I replied that they could surely but slowly. Their culture thinks that it is beautiful, and we should respect that. There was another tribe where the women wear huge tube-like earrings which punctured a big hole in their lobes. All these are strange to us but hey, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. The huts that they live in are very sparse with no furniture. Even the baby cot is laid with rice sacks and held on by a pulley-system, amazing!


At the Monkey school, Kieran's leg was caught by a wild monkey. Thanks to his Crocs shoes, that monkey only managed to pull his shoe off with no apparent injuries on his leg. Afterall Crocs shoes do have some credits even with the escalator saga that was reported recently.

Raeyen fell asleep when we reached the elephant camp. So Kieran took the ride with his Daddy. Kieran enjoyed himself very much and the ride was about 30 minutes.

Kieran and Raeyen had great fun with Favian and Dillon as they are companions to one another. The older boys entertained Raeyen with Peek-A-Boos and "Catch the Baby" game, so cute!

Click here to view the holiday photos.