This is my one

"This is my one" is often spoken by Singapore kids. I have no idea how this has spun to such extent and that long since my kindergarten days!

I, especially, loathe to hear kids and adults alike exclaiming, "Aiyah, this is not your one, it's his/her one."

Therefore, I am happy that the Speak Good English Movement is a regular affair annually. You can also pick up some post cards bearing funny lines such as "This is my one" and "Why you so like that" from the library.

Feel like a teen again

My friends have been telling me how great Twilight has been. Having watched the movie with hubby & May, which made us feel like teens again, I decided to read it.

My ex-boss' girlfriend lent me the book, boy it was addictive. The way the author wrote about Edward Cullen, it's so beautiful. I am so looking forward to watching it again and to catch its second installment - The Twilight Saga: New Moon, which will be released this November. Before that, I must read New Moon first.

Ooh, how I miss my teenage years!

Kieran's part 2 celebration

We celebrated again on Sunday with our extended family at our home over dinner.

I prepared portobello soup, while my helper cooked sweet & sour chicken, eggs, Indonesian vege rolls and fried vermicelli.

The family arrived with Meg still decked in her sweet ballerina costume. Raeyen was very excited when he saw the pressie from them to Kieran and kept asking when it could be opened.

The kids ate together as they watched a movie from Disney Channel while the adults had theirs at the dining table, chatting from cycling to our home. We had Choya Royal Honey (click here to discover different ways of concocting a nice Choya drink) with lemonade as an aperitif and ended with Crabtree & Evelyn chamomile tea.

The whole clan proceeded to the playroom to reminisce May and our good 'ol days flipping through photo albums from secondary school to our wedding to our European holiday together.

The kids then played the remote-controlled chopper that May bought for Kieran before saying goodbye.

Kieran turned 7!

Hubby and I made plans to bring Kieran out on Thursday and Friday, respectively as a prelude to his birthday, afterall the school was closed on both days due to PSLE Oral exam.

Thursday. Hubby took him for a movie - G I Joe, as the title implies, it's very apt for male bonding. I bought the tickets for them at lunch and the came over to meet me for a quick one before scooting off for the show. They met me again after work. Kieran had evidently enjoyed the movie as he related part of the story to me on our way home by MRT.

Friday. After rushing home from half-day's work, I took Kieran and Raeyen to Orchard Road. Raeyen tagged along as I couldn't bear to leave him home. First stop was Kinokuniya for books; Kieran chose Star Wars while Raeyen had Thomas the Tank Engine. While we were walking to Takashimaya from Wisma Atria, we took a short-cut through Guess and a LBD caught my eyes.... I tried, the boys squealed that it was nice on me.... and yes I bought it. Then we went Bakerzin for desserts before going to Borders for more books. We left Orchard to meet hubby for dinner at Ajisen.

Saturday. We collected Kieran's Raspberry cheesecake from Secret Recipe at Square 2 but it was badly done (as you can see in the photo), even the quality of the cake has gone South. It was disappointing which I have no mood to detail here. Anyway, the kids had fun with their cousins as usual. Joo family even flew in his pressie from Perth - Ben 10 Alien Force swimwear + board shorts. Raeyen also had a new Lightning McQueen suit. Kieran wants Star Wars lego which he has yet found one that he likes because most are bad guys.

New gadget

19 August. Hubby gave me a surprise when he opened the car boot while we waited for Kieran. My new found MacBook Pro 13" sat squarely awaiting for her new owner. Yes, my Mac is a girl, no less.

I was beaming with pride that it didn't cost us much as we signed up for another 2 years with Singnet for its broadband and paid an additional $499 to get the Pro version.

The very night, after the kids went to bed, I was busy exploring this silver beauty. Setting up my own Apple account, Skype, etc. Mac is definitely a class of its own, I am loving it.

Next gadget - Apple iPhone 3G[S].

Amazing Daddy

Background:It's bedtime and I was busy, ie can't read book to the kids.

Here's a conversation between Raeyen and me.

Raeyen: Good night, Mommy!
Me: Good night, Baby! Is Daddy going to read to you (er... hubby rarely reads to them even when I am away)?
Raeyen: Yes, Daddy is going to read to me. Isn't it amazing, Mommy?
Me: *Dumb-founded and burst out laughing*

Raeyen's mishap at Ikea Tampines

It was supposed to be a fun-filled one-hour for the kiddos at Ikea's play facility but only into 45 minutes of play, hubby received a call from Ikea that Raeyen suffered a bump and cut on his left temple.

When he got there to pick him, there were 3 Ikea staff surrounding Raeyen but none offered comforting words nor a hug to our poor boy. Hubby was shocked that the abrasive cut was quite bad and could not believe that the staff kept asking Raeyen what happened. Apparently another boy was involved in a collision with Raeyen but he has left with his parents.

Hubby asked if any of the staff saw what happened but none could help. Truth is, there was no staff stationed at main sections of the play facility to mind the large amount of kids. We were shocked and disappointed with how the kids were treated there.

Ion - the new Icon for all things Fashionable

Ion is a beautiful mall that housed many fashionable labels and refreshingly new food joints (most from Japan).

With my sis and 2 kid in tow, we hit the mall on Saturday morning to avoid the crowd. The kids went "WOW" to the ceiling where silhouette of sea creatures swam past. It was a visual treat.

We had brekkie at Food Opera, another classy brainchild of the Breadtalk chain (in fact I met the owner on Friday, he seems very down to earth). We were pleasantly surprised to see the National Geographic wooden horse installed infront of Fatty Weng's stall. There are many art pieces in the foodcourt to feast one's eyes.

Other food joint operators on Basement 4 are interesting too... especially those hailed from The Rising Sun. While I had tried the tako balls with macha on Friday, we bought some fish pancakes with witty fillings; the kids like chocolate with banana and bacon with egg.

Ion is already my fav haunt, next to Vivocity.

New book release

My fav author of the Shopaholic series, Sophie Kinsella has just launched her new book - Twenties Girl.

Storyline:

Lara Lington has always had an overactive imagination, but suddenly that imagination seems to be in overdrive. Normal professional twenty-something young women don’t get visited by ghosts. Or do they?

When the spirit of Lara’s great-aunt Sadie–a feisty, demanding girl with firm ideas about fashion, love, and the right way to dance–mysteriously appears, she has one last request: Lara must find a missing necklace that had been in Sadie’s possession for more than seventy-five years, and Sadie cannot rest without it. Lara, on the other hand, has a number of ongoing distractions. Her best friend and business partner has run off to Goa, her start-up company is floundering, and she’s just been dumped by the “perfect” man.

Sadie, however, could care less.

Lara and Sadie make a hilarious sparring duo, and at first it seems as though they have nothing in common. But as the mission to find Sadie’s necklace leads to intrigue and a new romance for Lara, these very different “twenties” girls learn some surprising truths from each other along the way. Written with all the irrepressible charm and humor that have made Sophie Kinsella’s books beloved by millions, Twenties Girl is also a deeply moving testament to the transcendent bonds of friendship and family.

There's even an iTune playlist for the book (crikey!) and a videoclip of the same.

Gotta get the book!

A cozy dinner

As part of farewell to Connie & Jamus before they return to Perth, we went to tcc at Marina @ Keppel Bay on Friday evening. We were glad that May & Megan could also join us as we have not been seeing them for quite some time.

The evening was warm with little wind. It was a nice drive along Keppel Bay Drive and we were greeted with calm waters and nice yachts at the marina. tcc is located on the second floor. Dinner was as usual great with unusual coffee concoctions. The company was even better.

After dinner, we walked along the marina and chit-chatted. The place was serene with carpet grass on a small greenfield where the kids roamed and played together.

Another celebration with the family

Celebrated at my mom's place the next evening, as we visit my mom every Saturday. Everyone enjoyed the cakes very much and the food was compliments from my brother, Joo who had so generously footed the bill.

In the afternoon that day, Kieran had his usual swimming lesson with Rachel. I took the opportunity to take some shots of Raeyen's many faces.

Raeyen turned 4 today!

As usual, Raeyen celebrated his birthday at school in the morning.

Hubby and I towed along 20 goodie bags, cakes, plates and forks. However, due to H1N1flu, we were not allowed into the school compound. Thank God his teacher took the photos for us.

We picked him up after school and I took him to Vivocity to spend quality alone time with him (hubby couldn't be excused from work). Boy, we had a blast!

First stop, we dropped by National Geographic store and bought a shark soft toy (which I previously promised to get him one). He was elated and named it "Dibo"... yeah same name as Dibo the Gift Dragon.

A movie out of Jodi Picoult’s book

I have always like books by Jodi Picoult.

One of her books, My Sister’s Keeper has been made into a movie starring Cameron Diaz (frankly, there are better actresses). It was screened in the US and UK on 26 June, wonder when it will hit our box office.

Check out the move trailer here:


I wish they will produce a movie out of another of my favourite titles “Plain Truth”.

Yummy cakes at yummier prices

Bakerzin does it again for its monthly promotion.

For the month of July, it has a slew of promotions on 3 cakes and the yummilicious macarons, all at 50 + 10% discount!!!

This is really value for money amidst the economic downturn! I just ordered it's Cookies & Cream Cheesecake for Raeyen's 4th birthday celebration in school. Go get it!

Last day of School Hols

Can't believe one month past so fast!

To let the kids relish this precious day, we took them to Suntec for yummy lunch at Skinny Pizza (I regretted for not bringing my digi cam). We ordered the set for 2, which consists of any skinny pizza (had squid ink with loads of rocket leaves), 2 soups (slurped sweet corn and portobello mushroom), 2 non-alcoholic drink and a bowl of truffle-infused fries.

Highlight of the day was a movie treat at Marina Square of Transformers Return of The Fallen, which tickets were bought days ago. It was full of mean 'bots and action-packed. Despite the noise in the cinema, Raeyen fell asleep but woke up in full steam after an hour. Meanwhile, Kieran could recognise almost all the 'bots before their names were mentioned. He really likes Transformers.

On our way home and along the KPE tunnel, Kieran said his top favourites are Transformers, followed by Star Wars The Clone Wars then Ben 10 Alien Force. Raeyen's favs are Thomas the Tank Engine and Lightning McQueen of Cars. Hence, Raeyen's coming birthday theme is none other than his favourite blue steam engine. I must say I had been so busy that I didn't have time scouring stuff for his goodie bags and wonder if his Kindy allows for celebration amidst this yet another dreadful disease of H1N1 flu.