Play

Snapped some pictures of the boys playing at home.

Farmer & Builder at work (Raeyen used playdoh as "dirt" for his dump truck)

Leapad Fun

2nd day of school holiday

We took the kids to our neighbourhood swimming complex for a splash. And of all things, I forgot to bring our camera!

Anyway, to cut it short, they had a whale of a time for 2 solid, fun-filled hours. Raeyen kept himself occupied in a kiddy pool while Kieran slid down a not-so-junior tunnel. His dad had to convince the guard that Kieran would be fine taking the tunnel despite his under 1.2m height.

In the late afternoon, we watched Race to Witch Mountain with Kieran at Cathay. We missed its Mom 'N' Tots offer where kids under 7 years of age go free if accompanied by their parent/guardian. It was an exciting movie and Dwayne Johnson has been my fav actor packaged with muscles and sense of humour. You should rent the DVD on "The Game Plan" which he starred if you have not watched it.

A nice afternoon with Kieran

This week begins the first week of school holiday in 2009.

I took leave to spend some time with the kids. After Kieran's cartoon drawing class yesterday, the whole family had lunch at Swensen's to enjoy its 1-for-1 weekday lunch promotion. After lunch, I took him to my hairstylist for a hair cut while I have my usual hair treatment. Kieran has never stepped into a professional hair salon (he either goes to a"ma-ma" shop or those $10 Japanese-styled quick-cut hair shops) before and this was his maiden experience and he likes it very much.

Despite having a good lunch, he asked me to bring him for some food after the haircut. So I took him to Hairloom & Caramel for another new cafe dining experience. That was my second visit. Previously, I dined there with Ivy and Josephine where I had tofu salad ($7.50) and they had chicken salad in honey mustard dressing ($8.50), with a cup of homemade lemongrass drink on the house.

Once we stepped in, Kieran already likes it. Looking at the montage above, you too, will fall in love with its quirky decor and ambience. I like the upholstery of the chairs and stools in particular, as well as the wall mural. I read from a magazine that the owners designed the place and bought the furniture. My hungry son, who is in a growth spurt now, had creme brulee (my fav too) and a eggnog cup cake while I only had its signature Vita Plum (ice-blended vitagen with sour plum).

It's nice to spend a quiet afternoon with my little boy to bond and talk nonsense. Wonder when will I do the same with my other little boy, Raeyen.

A Chinese who failed Chinese

My poor boy failed his first Chinese test on Monday.

While he was nonchalant about it, his mom was anxious like an ant in a hot pot!

Friends said I should put him in a Chinese enrichment class, such as from TienHsia or Beijing Language School or private tuition. My goodness!

Tomorrow, he's going to attempt Maths test for the second time.

Oh, how I loathe our education system!

Movies I wanna watch

There are a few movies I wanna watch, some are those that my hubby will not be interested, meaning too feminine and boring by his standard.

Those I wanna watch with girlfriends:

He's Just Not That Into You; Confessions of a Shopaholic and Marley & Me. In fact I have the Marley & Me book and decided not to finish reading it because many times, movies are not as good as the books.

Those I can watch with him:

Angels & Demons, which book I had not read and have no intention of reading. I read the Da Vinci Code, which was far better than the movie.

X-MEN Origins: Wolverine, ahhh.... Hugh Jackman.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which Kieran is looking forward too. This film features the animal transformers, hope it can be as exciting as its prequel!

Siah Suey Engrish

Courtesy from Kenny Sia, a popular blogger from Malaysia.

Read about our special imported blend of English in his entry here.
Guarantee you sure read until you fall backwards from your chair ah.

PS: The kiddos' brain food arrived yesterday: a swift 6-day wait from the US!

25 Ps

1. Priscilla is my name. I like the sound of "Priscilla" and apparently it suggests a feminine, refined, independent, intellectual and charming lady. Am I?
2. Pigging out is something I secretly love to do and I have a soft spot for POTATO CHIPS of any flavour! But gotta restraint myself for obvious reason!
3. Prosperity may mean good fortune, loaded, abundance of MONEY; unfortunately it may also mean physical and horizontal growth. So if someone says to you, "Hmm, you have prospered" or "You look prospered" it doesn't mean what you like to hear.
4. Pager is now an antique replaced by an ever-evolving gadget called mobile phone / cell phone / hand phone. Many people are nuts about the iPhone, which may be facing a threat from HTC's Dream.
5. Phone is a fantastic communication tool (thanks to who is that inventor? Ah..... Alexander Graham Bell) which many have a love-hate relationship with it. We love it because it connects people (ya, I know I sounded like a Nokian), we hate it when telemarketers called, which leads me to....
6. Phishing.... I've heard of fishing, but what's phishing? I am not a techno geek and must admit I first heard of this term when I was doing Internet Banking. I wonder if this word has been listed in dictionaries?
7. Phonics is an important what-do-you-call (methodology) for every parent when teaching her/his offspring on how to pronounce words. It's mind boggling with vowels, consonants and different approaches. Being a parent is tough!
8. Photo-taking is another great way to keep fond memories. The best photos in my life are those of my wedding, the births of our sons and our holidays along with their growing years. However, keeping the photos in albums (not virtual ones) is an art.
9. Piano is a beautiful instrument that I have always wanted to learn since young. Life then was tough for my sole-breadwinner dad of 6 children. I would love to learn when the kids need not so much of my attention.
10. Playground is every kid's temple but I prefer one that is indoor for the sake of our skin.
11. Pregnancy had "ballooned" me, made me "unglam" with lots of inconveniences and stares from idiotic/unkind commuters. Havng said that, those little butterfly flutters that I felt were utterly amazing!
12. Parenthood is as profound as it gets, phew!!! Lots of trials and errors, tears and joy, resentment and contentment - all rolled into one! It made me a mother, worker, playmate, tutor, wife, driver, minder, reader, cook (sometimes), planner, nurse... and the list goes on.
13. Planning becomes crucial as I became a mother, there's so much to plan!
14. Pedicure is a therapeutic nail care for toes and it makes my feet wonderfully smooth and polished, something I can only do when I apply an annual leave to be ME!
15. Pampering myself once in a while is a privilege, being pampered is an indulgence!
16. Pitter-patter is the sound of Raeyen's little feet running to the door to receive me, that little moment delights me, I just wanna hug him.
17. Pink is my favourite colour but red reigns! Psst, Kieran likes red too.
18. Puppies are cuddly and the cutest. My family once had a puppy, a bichon frise whom we named her Angel. She was 2 months old then with fluffy white fur. Angel died at a prime age of 14 in dog years. I want a chihuahua puppy when the kids have grown up.
19. Past is history (don't dwell), present is now and a gift (please treasure), future is where our dreams hold (dream big if you will).
20. Pressure to excel and exceed in everything is common in Singapore; kids grow up here thinking that they will be a nobody if they do not perform academically.
21. Pessimism is pathetic, optimism is ecstatic!
22. Picky means trying too hard to be perfect.
23. Plus size is an awful term to use, clothespeak that is.
24. Procrastination is not in my bible. Just do it!
25. Places I am dying to visit are ....... too many to list. I love to travel and to see the rest of the world, to understand and appreciate each culture, social norms and architecture.

Gotta watch this with a girlfriend

I was thrilled when I saw a life-sized standee poster of the upcoming movie, Confessions of a Shopaholic, adapted from the novel by Sophie Kinsella, which I read and blogged about. I have read all of Sophie's books, her last was "Remember Me".

You can have a glimpse of the movie trailer here or here.

I gotta watch this, it is thrilling that something I enjoyed reading comes to live! Any girlfriends keen to join moi?

Brain Food

Kieran and Raeyen have been taking Scotts Emulsion cod liver oil the moment they turned one-year old.

In order to give them a better "brain food" besides getting it directly from fish, I have decided to venture on a highly recommended fish oil - Children's DHA by Nordic Naturals (supposedly "supports brain development, and visual and nervous system function") to replace Scotts.

Some local websites are selling at about S$42 each while at iHerb, where I placed my order today, costs US$20.36. If you were to place order for the first time with iHerb, you will get a US$5 discount using the code "CIL778" at billing.

I hope both my angels will like it... this is just my little way of boosting their learning capability (Kieran's starting P1 is giving me the quivers already).

CNY with the Animals

On the second day of Chinese New Year, we went to the Zoo to experience its new attraction - Rainforest Kidzworld.
It was a great day as the sun wasn't scorching as usual.

We were surprised to have found a Kampung House where old furniture, utensils and electrical appliances from the 70s were brought to live. We had a fun time relating to the kids how we spent our childhood watching TV in monochrome. Boy, life then was tough but full of fun and adventure. I remember my brothers catching spiders and us clanging pots and pans outside a nosy neighbour's apartment.

The most enjoyable part of the outing for our boys was waterplay. They spent more than an hour there and returned home flushed.

Hort Park Hot Park

It's a great sunny day today. Took the chance to visit HortPark at Telok Blangah area. It was nice but not what I expected to be. We walked around the park, looking at the glass houses, played at the playground and took a break around the rain trees.

We walked on the bridge that leads to Henderson Waves that stretches 2.4km. We only managed 1.8km and decided to return to HortPark (yeah, we are not so game, to think of walking almost 5km both ways is enough to tire my mind and body). We walked a similar path in WA's Valley of the Giants when Kieran was 14 months old - the weather there and then was fantastically cool and it was a joy walking on the bridge amidst tall, old trees.

Back to HortPark main lobby, there some fringe activities such as Calligraphy, figurine making, dragon beard candy and art & crafts. The kids were thrilled to receive 3 calligraphy artwork with meaningful words - Xin Fu Kuai Le, Xue Ye Jin Bu and most importantly, Shen Ti Jian Kang for their grandmother (my mother), whom we will visit this evening.

A Vietnamese Tale

I read the report on Thien Nhan on today's papers with a heavy heart.

If you have a heart, please help Thien Nhan in any means you can at either here or here.

Kieran goes P1

2 January was another milestone for Kieran as he begins his primary education.

The evening before I asked him how he felt about tomorrow. He said he was scared and I shared with him how I felt the same when I was going P1 and it's perfectly alright to feel this way. The anxiety is understable and I told him that everyone does through the same as there are many new experiences awaiting for us to discover.

I couldn't sleep that night after preparing his bag and other stuff for after-school care. We reminded him to wake up between 6.45-7am the next day so that he would have enough time to leave home by 7.30am.

The next morning, before I could wake him at 6.45am, I was greeted by a wide-grinned (but blurry-eyed) Kieran with a cheery, "Good Morning, Mommy". I was pleased.

When I took him to his classroom, he was all ready. He was smiling at me and even asked us to leave after school while he was about to go for after-school care. Hubby and I then went home to dismantle Raeyen's cot and put aside their old but working toys. Raeyen then returned from his 1st day back at the Kindy. Our ever-cheery Raeyen came back in happy mood and was telling me he saw all his old classmates. After lunch, hubby and I went to the Salvation Army to donate the old toys and some clothes.

In the evening, we picked Kieran home and he was happy to see us, there was no trace of lethargy. His vice-principal was surprised that after 11 hours out from home, he was still active.

That night was the first time Kieran moved up to his double-decker bed and Raeyen to sleep on the lower-deck. Kieran was excited to be able to sleep on higher ground. We were worried if Raeyen would get used to sleeping on Kieran's bed as he has been sleeping in my bedroom since birth. But he was soon fell asleep in my arms at 9pm and slept soundly in his "new, big-boy" bed till 7.30am this morning.

My Dior

Hubby paid for a Dior Christmas limited edition ring as a present (birthday or Christmas) to me. It has a bow design with a dangled "D" which signifies Dior of course and hubby's name, and a pink Swarovski round crystal.

In the same month, I chanced upon another Dior ring at Isetan Scotts at 50% discount! I bought it as it's too dainty and pretty (not forgetting for its great value) to resist. It has 2 daisies in white mother-of-pearl and "Dior" encrusted with tiny Swarovski crystals.

While diamond is a girl's best friend, crystal will suffice in this global economic crunch.

The Day the Tooth Fairy Came

Kieran's first milk tooth finally came off on Thursday 29 December 2008. He had wanted to place the tooth under his pillow right in the middle like what Lola did in the book "My wobbly tooth must not ever NEVER fall out" so that the tooth fairy may replace it with a coin for him to buy something in return.

Due to hygiene purpose, we discouraged him from doing but discarded the tooth. He was nonchalant about it and said he would then dream of happy things like Lola did so that the tooth fairy would notice the gap between his teeth which meant he really did lose his tooth.

So what happened the next morning?

He ran to his dad with a dollar coin he found under his pillow. When I woke up, he showed me the same with a wide grin.