Tuesday, August 29, 2023

On This Day - 29th Aug #Reminders from FB#

29th Aug 2022

Because it's too good.

The leftovers from trimming che-che's lavenders.

Kept this in a small box and spreading the lavender smell from her room to the living area.



29th Aug 2017

I've just taught my girl to be selfish.

She loaned her friend a few books sometime in end of May (think she said it was 7 or 8 books). She had to chase after her for the return in July-Aug. Then when she heard from another friend that her storybooks were confiscated in class by their FT (lil' one n friend in diff class), she went up to the teacher to ask if her book was amongst those confiscated. N she blurted out to tchr abt the long overdue books. I told her she shouldn't get the tchr involved. Not nice betraying friend.

Anyway...

...after some chasing, she only returned one

book - The Longest Whale Song. Can see how destroyed her books are. The other Cupcake Diaries book went through her and returned destroyed as well.

I've used another J.Wilson book - Cookie- as well as the books in che-che's bedside shelf to see the comparison at how well our books are maintained.

Her friend has yet to return the rests and then told lil' one she bought her one book in exchange for another book also destroyed. Lil' one told her she wanted the original books back. Anyway, what are we going to do with the extra Harry Potter book? Don't forget I have a die-hard HP fan at home.

I guess I should know the condition of the rests of her books, the remaining 6-7 books.

We will not ask for the return anymore. I told girl never to lend her friend books again. Be a selfish person.





Footnote written in 2020 : And we never got those books back.




29th Aug 2014


Handmade mooncakes by a dear friend. Feeling a little loved.

Footnote written in 2022 : 

A good reminder from FB on these yummy handmade mooncakes.

Tho I like snowskin's skin, I prefer the spiral teochew mooncake. #wasiteochewahnia# and I was so fascinated looking at the neat spirals while rotating the box

Told myself then that I should learn to make the mooncake, I did watch YouTube videos on that.

FFWD 8 years later still nothing is done 🤣. And now nobody likes to eat mooncake.



29th Aug 2014


#exhausted#frustrated#wannasmackmygirlsiftheydar etocomplainagain#dontmesswithagrouchylady#anyo nerequiresentertainmentpleasehelpbabysitthelittleon e#

Really exhausted! For the first time I slept thru steaming till beautician woke me up. Been on solo since hubby left to work in July. I'm exhausted mentally & physically handling everything all by myself. Argh!!!!!!




29th Aug 2012


Conversation between me n lil' one

A: Mummy, how do u read that one?

M:潮州鱼圆粿条面。

A:What is 潮州?

M: Its a dialect group. I means a province, a very big city. Mummy's a #), do u know what is your dialect group?

A: (gave me a vy blur look)

M:你是哪个洲人

A: (eyes widened n smiling) I know.... 肉粥 eh no no I'm a 鱼粥 or maybe Shark 粥, correct?

* slap head* message not brought across obviously.


Monday, August 28, 2023

For my “only child”

Totally forgot about this for 2 weeks. First week was all the mayhem in prepping for che-che, second week was way too busy taking care of this troublesome lil' one + housework. 

Finally remembered and brewed this on 27th (Sun) night.

Love potion on a Monday morning 

As I was dishing out this for lil' one I can’t help but wonder how che-che is going to cope without the herb drinks. Will she return home weaker? 

I gave her some capsules 泡渗虫草, not a lot as I was worried if customs would confiscate them. Heart pain if they do. But they wheezed them through immigration and customs as they were the only aircraft that arrived so late after a 3hrs delay out of transit station. Wasted! Should have packed more.  

Sunday, August 27, 2023

When there’s only the 2 of us

The day - 17th. I have mixed feelings in the morning, didn't sleep well last night coz was doing some stuffs last minute. My big baby is leaving me for a few months. 

17th morning
She asked for mee hoon kueh for her breakfast or the last-mummy-cook-meal. I guess this meal or the last few days' requests were welcomed with open arms as the mom don't cook that often. haha!  


Lesson of the day from Prof Teo : make people yearn for more when you do less of it on normal days

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>
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I felt that loneliness in the car on the drive home after dropping lil' one in school and mom back home. I will try to make myself busy, there are just work to be done at home.

Could have asked mom to stay over but I didn't
Just had lots of work to do around the house. I know it's she mind her own business ; I mind my own. But when I work around the house, I like to have my music blasting, I like to be alone. I don't have to worry about noise disturbing her when she's around. 
When I work around the house I don't worry about myself starving because most times I'd get so engrossed and then forgot about my meals. If she was with me, I'll have to stop work to either pack or cook for her. And I can't possibly be cooking instant noodles for her right? I didn't have much time left before I need to pick lil' one up from school so I was trying to complete the tons of housework. 


That moment when I stepped into the house. 
The house was bustling with noise in the morning. "remember to bring xxxx...", "did you pack your xxx...." The hustle and bustle in the morning has suddenly turned into peace and quiet at home. 
Have to accept the reality that 2 of the noisy first floor family has left the house, have to accept the reality that what we had been excited and looking forward to since 2021 is finally here and my baby's going on a new adventure. 
House quiet and this pot greeted me. The pot that was left behind after che-che ate her mee hoon kueh. Sigh.....things that I do for my girl. 


can I touch the spoon and fork she last touched? 
siao eh! 

I stared at the pot and felt pain from a piece of my flesh torn off. Too emotional. But put yourself in my shoes, she's never been away from me for so long. And with me being a SAHM, I'm practically involved so involved in them 24/7. 

Immediately, I had to stop my mind from wandering off. (Quite silly of me, coz technically they're still  in SIN.) I.HAVE.THINGS.TO.DO. I think I should keep myself busy so I can stop thinking and worrying about her??  

Cleaning her room
First thing I did was to pull out che-che's bedsheets, protectors and towel for a wash and cleaned up her room. Cleaned the table and shelves, aired her room
I will still clean her room as per usual, maybe less hardworking on the ceiling fan as it won't be turned on. Then days before she returns home will send her blanket to the laundromat for drycleaning, wash her toys, vacumn her bed and lay new bedsheets for her. 
Cleaned the house
Two luggage bags out of sight. House looks as neat as before, only 2 person empty for now.

Things I do when hubby is out of town  
Dunno why but I had this habit since we moved here and when hubby is out of town. I like to draw my room curtain and put the ironing board near the window. I'll do some ironing in the night before I sleep, all in an aircon room. 

Can we go out??
Lil' one kept asking to go out on weekend, she doesn't want to rot at home. Wah.... I hate to go out leh! especially on weekends. Also, not this week as she intends to go back to KC on 25th to pass Teacher's Day gifts, this is the only weekend she has to do her baking.  

--- THE DAYS THAT FOLLOWED ---

17th Aug (Thu)
Took the easy way out of packing dinner for her before picking her up from school. I finished housework late and was so so tired.  

18th Aug (Fri) : School - therapy @2.45pm - home
First full day just the 2 of us or second day if you take yesterday's in consideration.   
Brought her to the Taiwanese makan place at Cineleisure. Now lil' grandma can stop nagging at me.  



At 12.36pm, che-che messaged to inform that they've landed at the airport. Flight was delayed and it's 12.36am!!! They still need to collect their car, not sure if immigration will be slow or fast, if there will be strict customs check.  
I was still messaging her at 2.18pm (2.18am) and kept urging her to go and sleep. And they haven't made any sightseeing plans yet. OMG! This girl also one kind, instead of playing her stupid games, she could have done a brief itinery or have an idea what to see.  

Sent her for her therapy and was discussing with her in if we should postpone her 25th therapy. Making that 2.45pm deadline when her teachers can only meet after 1 can be quite risky for her and me. I'd end up getting so edgy and may drive recklessly. Wanted to push her last session to 8th September as it's probably going to be PH on the 1st. There was a slot on another day which means lil' one will need to get excuse to be released earlier and she would have missed Mr Simon's lessons. Ms Wong overheard our conversation and decided to release her Monday's 5.45pm timing for us. Thank goodness!      


19th Aug (Sat)
Lil' one has to do some baking. So we ordered lunch in and I'm lazy to cook just coz I didn't want to clean the kitchen. She wanted Lixin fishball so I had mee-pok for lunch. I haven't had this for quite some time. 


yuzu with soda water + yuzu peel. Definitely taste so different from what is served in restaurants. coz there's sugar! Mine is less sugar (I need to include the sugar on the dehydrated yuzu peels)

She baked, I packed. So tired. We have lesser teachers to gift this year. She won't be going back to KCP as she has no time now that she needs to use her Fridays for therapies.

20th Aug (Sun)
Brought her to Hougang Mall. She wanted to go out, right? So I met her request. Hate it! Parking full in the open carpark next to HM and in HM itself. I parked the car in the nearby HDB but it was so far away. Whiny mom! 

Dinner - eat whatever leftover in the fridge. Totally forgot about the moo ping we bought at pasar malam. So yummy! 




21st Aug (Mon) [school - therapy - home]

Lil’ one has to be back in school today. I didn’t have the time to cook lunch so brought her to Hanis. Such a shame, the staff heard my order wrongly and gave chicken pasta instead of ham pasta. I switched my horfun with hers. 

School ended early at 4.30pm. I was waiting for her outside school so was able to reach her faster. Needed to rush her down for her therapy at 5.45pm. We arrived Orchard before 5pm and she decided to have her dinner first so we can go straight home and waste no time. Well..... she can eat fast if she wants to, she finished her slice fish soup in less than 30mins. 

7 hours later, on the other side of the earth, che-che had the luxury of eating in IHop for lunch. so unfair! 

22nd Aug (Tue)
Went back home after dropping her in school and cleaned the house. Tidied the two toilet’s mirror cabinets and the fridge (aka throw away expired stuffs)

23rd Aug (Wed)
Tidied the yard area. Tidied the second trolley. Didn't have time after that to clear the cleaning supplies trolley, maybe I'll do it another day

24th Aug (Thu)
Went home after Fight-Do as I didn't know where mom went. Did some necessities shopping at NTUC, packed both lunch and dinner for myself, and since I was going home I decided to cook her dinner so I don't have to go elsewhere to pack her dinner before picking her up from school. Porridge seems like a good choice of meal and the mince pork which I just bought came in handy.  

Had my Mee Siam the moment I reached home, cleared purchased items, housework, intensive cleaning in the PES. 

Alamak, I finally knew what something was missing! Forgot to brew lil’ one’s 田七 herbs this week! So busy around the house; so tired from lack of sleep - more to explain to that later - ; so tired from having to pick her up from school. 

25th Aug (Fri) - [school - KC - Mrs Hau]
Lil' one school from 8am - 12pm. 
Spent the day out after dropping her in school as I knew she often ends at 11+, going back home and coming out again I will extra journey time. I might as well éat snake' today and do housework later. 
After dropping her I went over to Changi City Point's McDonalds, hoping to sit there and do some housekeeping on my phone and also to do my blogging for those "On This Day" where I did the screenshots on the phone. Needed to clear the pictures asap as I have 29600++ pics in the phone. OMG! I was hoping I can find some time to do iMovie too but housework is keeping me so busy. 
Anyway, in the end I couldn't do anything coz che-che messaged me at 8+ to help her order her naniwadanshi  new CDs.       

At 10+ lil' one messaged to inform that she will end school at 11am and there's no need to wait for M as she's at home doing HBL. We made our way to Uncle wanton as she wouldn't allow me to eat it on my own. Uncle managed to cook our noodles in time, I packed laksa and rojak for my dinner and sent her to KC. Sat in Starbucks after a trip to NTUC until she called at close to 3pm. She made her way to PP and then went back home. 

At PP : I saw kueh tutu and immediately thought of che-che. She likes this Chinatown Kueh Tutu 

Washed the bedsheets 2 days in advance so that I’ll have empty space on Sunday to do hubby’s laundry. Did some housework and sent her to AMK Hub instead of NEX. Mrs H brought forward the meeting, which is good, so I sent her down. I stayed home so I can get some remaining housework done. 


26th Aug (Sat) - [home - Dr Yap @ 2pm]
Woke up late and left home at 12.15pm to bring her for lunch before appointment.

I was craving for Project Açai, we checked out the new mall at Woodleigh. Had our early dinner at 4pm and reached home about 5+ 

I’m reminded of che-che who likes açai from Project Açai 


Didn't do any housework today except washing the towels, one day earlier. 

Did our first videocall with her and told her we'll make this videocall on every Sat 9am (her time). I want to hug my girl. I miss listening to her ah-boy boy songs.  

27th Aug (Sun)
No intention to go out anywhere coz we will have to pick hubby up at the airport in the night 

Saw that we have one pack of egg tofu left and decided to steam it for lil’ one. Cooked a small portion (about 170g) of rice in Thermomix. 

Nottie Girl refused to let me have a piece of egg tofu 😫


And since I’ve thawed the whole tray of minced pork, decided that I should just cook for dinner and clean the kitchen after that. A lousy cook can only think of thai basil pork. Wanted to finish the eggs also, so the pork and eggs make very good combination.  

Prepared her 田七 in the night, will be ready for consumption the next day. 

Left to the airport to pick up hubby. So strange for him to come back alone.... missing my big girl. How is she? Did she eat well? 








 

Saturday, August 26, 2023

Laundry Pods

Was so happy when saw this promo in NTUC for $39.90 (UP $60.30) for 84 pods which works out to $0.475 per pod. 


Thought to myself “if only we bought more” for che-che to bring over. Just a silly thought though coz there’s no way she can fit all these into her luggage bag 🤣. 

Decided to check price for laundry pods in USA. Checked Walmart’s pricing. Wah…..so cheap. US$27.24 for 112 pods




Friday, August 25, 2023

On This Day - (25th Aug) #Reminders from FB#

25th Aug 2022

My idea of when I'm out, I'll run all errands at one go.

Walk fast fast from place to place. Parked at level 5, went all the way down to B1. Start packing lunches and buy whatever I need to buy and move up each level.

List deleted from handphone each time something is done. List is typed in with timing, considering that I know I will start from B1. Makes deleting the list easier for me. Same for groceries, I type according to layout of the supermarket and delete them.

Dropped by hair salon to make appt for next week for lil' one, dropped by Wan Yang to (finally) make appt for my back massage next week since she'll take some time at the hair salon.

All done in 1 1/2hrs. And then I'm left with only 15mins to rest and drink water in the car and then drive off to school.



25th Aug 2022


Some people can eat until they get sore throat.😂

Cleared their shelf of 23 boxes! Not easy to find so….





25th Aug 2020

An amount of $ spent for some assurance. Of course hoping that there's no use for it. But I guess some money just hv to be spent in such ways. #anotheryearidlinginmetalcontainer# #atleastwegothope#



25th Aug 2018

I left in 2002. It wasn't an easy job but it was a job I loved.

This job didn't just teach me to serve, this job taught me safety and first aid. Above all things it taught me life lessons that I couldn't get in any office job, what more the lessons comes internationally 😜. If Ihad a chance, I would do it all over again.

As a mom now, I understand where the stewardess's mom is coming from. She'd worry over the safety of her precious daughter. My mom was always there for me. She waited with me for the cab downstairs and waited for me downstairs patiently even at odd timings for goodness knows how long when I arrived back home and cook something for me while I unpack. I used to think she watched over me like a hawk but now I'm a condor over my girls. She would always lit up joss sticks and pray for my safety, usually asking for my flight time so she knew which joss sticks (long or short) to burn. And believe it or not, I've been kept safe those years. I had a few narrow escapes, things happening in those countries a day or 2 after I touched down in SIN. That's 母爱.

Thanks mummy Irene Ma!

Everytime I arrived back home, she wasn't looking forward to the cream puff from Narita (anyway that shop is no longer there) or 🍎 strudel from Perth (and the list goes on), all she wanted to see was her daughter safe and sound. Food and snacks are just bonus for her.

So before you think about making life difficult and fusing too much over our SQ service and praising other airlines (which honestly I had no idea how those airlines got those awards coz ..I didn't have friendly and helpful staffs around. Worst! I would have died in the plane if I had pressed the attendant call bell. As what we would usually say "Christmas lights in the cabin" Trust me I've seen their Christmas lights illuminated for a long time, probably until CNY then they'll answer you. SQ crew is still faster) think - all those airlines copied our ideas for seats and service. Best thing the crew are not even present in the cabin as often as SQ crew, I wonder how pax voted them to have the friendly cabin crew award. SQ crew stay in the galley, confirm you'll get awards every year.

Treat and respect crew as they are someone else's children just like you are your parents' child. They chose this job for whatever reasons, so don't fuss over little things and then behave so well on other airlines.

If pilot say cannot land means we cannot land, don't throw your tantrum at the cabin crew over your connecting flight. I'm sorry you had to miss your million dollars meeting coz we might be meeting God if pilot tries to land. If run out of your meal choice, be kind. They have no control over the rests of the pax preferences. It's a crew nightmare if they had to deal with one pax who insist on eating that damn chicken. What’s so great about that chicken anyway? 

Go vegan better still! It's good to detox once in a while. Eating simple on board is the best. Anyway I always have no appetite on board so I don't understand how some can eat a huge cow and keep eating. I have my bottle of water and the 3 important things from aircraft I need - pillows, blanket and earpiece and I'm happy.

Almost everyone is a frequent flyer, you would know when they have the drink or meal service. Please go to the toilet before that and not when the crew pushes out the cart then you start walking to the toilet. Everyone seems to have bladder problem onboard SQ but not on other airlines. I'm not joking!

Maybe it's the air freshener [haha! How we ex-crew rmbr the aircraft smell] causing bladder problem?

If the crew seems stuck up and not talking to you during take-off and landing, don't complain. They're just running through in their mind safety drills should any emergency arises. They're the only ones to get you out safely. And this has to be refreshed every year. Re-test when they fail and too bad taken off the next flight until ready to flap their wings. There are cabin crews who have been flying longer than the time I got my driving licence. When I got my driving licence, I didn't have to go back for refresher course yearly. My driving licence more atas looking than the SEP card (crew licence to fly), yet again don't underestimate that ugly looking piece of SEP card. In order to get that piece of paper (which I think my goodie bags tags are better looking) think about the drills they had to go thru yearly - the huge waves they had to swim when they probably hadn't stepped into a calm pool for the longest time; the fire melting their makeup as they fight the fire; seeing the unfaithful dummy who has many lovers kissing and massaging him.

Don't look grumpy infront of crew when you couldn't sleep coz of a baby crying coz they should be the ones to be grumpy - they had a hard time pleasing both sides. They're even more tired than you coz while you were sleeping, they were awake. You can sleep for 8-10hrs but they can only sleep for 2-3hrs as they fly thru the same time zone as you.

Oh! Lastly please don't comment "this stewardess/ steward is late for flight" coz there are days when they are called up at really last minute to cover someone else without time for mental preparation and they gotta report to aircraft straightaway. I got this before, almost wanted to do a Miss Singapore wave to them for the recognition I get ... and halfway through the flight I was still trying to recall what's that CS or LSS in first class name and the rests of the crew. Seems rude but had to stare at their chest first before talking to them (looking at name tag)


*screenshot from The Straits Times : Our Stories*



25th Aug 2017

Recital in school 


25th Aug 2016

Witnessed a kind action today. I stopped at the traffic lights, just next to me a motorcycle ride up in between my car n the lorry in the next lane. The old man got down from his bike and took a bread out and gave to one of the foreign worker seated in the lorry.

The rests of them smiled, the recipient was grateful.

Now I wonder if he will pinch a small piece and shared the rests with his colleagues. I thought that was really a nice gesture. Whether it's one or two bread, it doesn't matter.

Ps: I highlighted to the girls and then lil' one suggested to give the sotong balls (from OCK) we have. Nah! We didn't, had to drive off already.



25th Aug 2014


Lil' one is going for audition for school Dance Club tomorrow. 👯‍♀️

Pray she'll get in. 



25th Aug 2013


Can u believe it?! My 11 - ehh... still 10yr old is watching Dora and answering questions/ doing prompts to Dora. 🤭



25th Aug 2012


@ PTM: Chinese complains lil' one talks too much in class. Intonation considered not too bad for someone who don't speak the language at home, still can be improved



25th Aug 2011


Two girls were crossing our small carpark, while I was struggling with bags of stuffs behind them. Che-Che started with the habit of raising her hand up to cross, mei-mei followed her n she said "hello" to someone at the same time. We dunno who that guy was, who was taken aback by a polite girl, burst out laughing at her from behind. Did she thot that Athena raised her hand to say hello?



25th Aug 2010 


YOG Rhythmic Gym Preliminaries