Royal food

Opened up the kawaii Kitty-san furikake. Oh my! Different flavours. Duh! It's all written out in the front of the packet, I didn't notice it. I just took it and put it in the basket without second thoughts.

Athena asked for the Princess pasta - I knew it! "but I don't like the green green colour...." Sorry, no whining, just eat!
Isn't it cute? *me whining* I want to be a little girl!!

She don't like pasta sauce or ketchup so have to use the udon sauce for her - let's do it the fusion way! (Actually it tastes alright)

Fussy pot, don't eat this; don't eat that. Dunno what to cook for her. Easiest will be her favourite sausage. Slice it thinly, boil with the soup when I'm about to dish out the pasta. Lazy way of "trying to beautify" her food is to write down her name BIG BIG - PRINCESS ATHENA. Not that beautiful afterall, my handwriting spoilt the looks.

I'm not a good cook huh? I prefer not to cook..........must try to be a tai-tai mah! That can be the reason why Athena is so fussy about food.

Asked her to close her eyes while I present it to her. She wanted to sit on the high chair, so I let her sit on her throne. She stared at the thing, grinning, then became a little shy when she saw her name.
Excited that this food is specially prepared for her, personalised with her name. Goash! Can't believe I'm doing this when I had been screaming at her "so fussy about food. I don't care if you go hungry.... just eat. I'm not going to cook for you."

Ate her pasta with udon sauce + her 2nd pack of furikake

"che-che, what are you eating?"

Food fit for this fussy Princess!

Funny girl

Aricia is so funny.

Whenever we're in a lift and someone comes in after that, she'll always look at that person (they are not aware of her looking at them) and say "naughty". She probably thinks the lift only belongs to us and nobody else.
But if we're in an occupied lift, she'll go in without scolding anyone. But sometimes she'll look at that person and yak. Finds it amusing but most of the time (sadly) nobody pays attention to her.

Today, a teenager came into the lift after us. She walked from the back of the lift towards him and talked to him "ah psh ... (dunno how to type the words)... go where? Go where?" Kapo girl, asking him where he's going. Did he answer? No! He didn't even know she was talking to him. Perhaps she's too small to be seen. Hee!

Ah muay muay

Little girl is 19 months today. Wow! Just realised 1919 - can go and buy 4D. Haha!

Too lazy to type again. Just click here

Piano & rubbish yakkings

Went to Suntec for the Yamaha Piano Fair 08. It's the first time I went for one and umm.... okay it's just like I'm in any Yamaha showroom but with all the "ding ding dang dang" You hear music filling up the air, but with everyone trying it; it sounded horrible. Walking around the room, I saw the Disklavier Piano, the one that will scare everyone in the night to see the keys moving. I'd really love to have that one day. *dream dream continue dreaming*
I tried on the cheapest piano that I was eyeing and I can hear it doesn't sound nice. Not only I was playing trash Richard Clayderman by spoiling his song, the piano really didn't sound nice. It won't be a motivation for me to play if I hear such poor sound from a piano. In the end, hubby also said the second choice, JX113T, would be better. It can probably lasts us until Aricia starts on the piano and Athena up to a certain grade. By then, we'll definitely have to change to a better piano. I didn't know but the lady told me... apparently the higher the piano; the better sound it has. Read this.

We stayed for a performance by Ms Yumiko Yamashita in another room. Boy! Glad we stayed and it's like the first time I ever heard hubby clapped. Huh? And when I play - he walk away ??? So demoralising........ Let me tell you why >> that's because when people hear music, they like to hear all the accompaniments. She was playing on the CVP309 and Modus F01. You see what my cheapest EL electone can do lah! Compare what? That was why I was eyeing on the ELS-01C which costs a *coughing* $16K+, which I happened to talk about it 2 years ago. Which I'm sure will have a large audience clapping for me asking for encore instead of throwing stones and banana skins at me (so, I should be thankful hubby walks away huh?) - okay just kidding, I don't play that well.
Ms Yamashita played a few songs, ranging from classicals to Star Wars to Disney. Ooh......the effects are so good. Inspired me to work harder in improving my playing.

Only pictures to share :

Playing the CVP 309

Playing Modus F01

Ms Yamashita & Athena

Finds

Treasure Number 1 # Can't believe my luck! Guess what I found today?


Cute beyond words right? Sometimes I wonder if I really do spoil my kids or I'm too deprived as a child or I'm probably just trying to train prepare them for a day when all rice imports are stopped. Gasp! Whatever it is, it's hard not to resist temptation and I grabbed all 3 kinds at one go.

Treasure Number 2# Is this Kitty-san furikake. I had been hunting high and low for this, I remember seeing it in Market Place a long time ago, then when I needed it I couldn't find it. So I'm glad I found it today, it even has Kerropi and Cinaroll

Others # Crayola- my favourite - has a new product too! ( I think so..) Nope! I didn't get this for Athena coz' she has too many Crayola stuffs at home

Something interesting I saw in Mothers Work, is this "Baby Chair" from Little Beetle It's a great solution to all parents who struggle in food courts without high chairs. Wish they came out with this earlier.

But then again, the smart thinking me uses my baby carrier to loop around chairs before, and I managed to keep Athena down before. (It will look almost similiar to this "baby chair") Ehh....... as for Aricia.......she's far too noisy (protesting) that someone will carry her out of the food court first. Another way I used to is to ask hubby to do a partial striptease by bringing out his belt - nope! not to whip the child but to secure the child down to a chair. That worked on Aricia!!

Parts of her body

What is this ?
A : mao (mouth)

What is this?
A : i (eye)

What is this?
A : hair

What is this?
A : no (nose)

What is this?
A : air (ear)

What is this?
A : neh neh... (navel) - all thanks to the sister who teased her and taught her this

And then she speaks 'ah pi ah pi' - guess what?
>
>
>
armpit

When she feels itchy, she says 'ah chi ah chi'.

My sugar honey pie 2

In continuation of the ways my little girl charms our boring life, this is something that I forgot to write it down. Geez! How I can forget such important thing.

She learns from her sister how to dart her eyes. At anytime, be it I'm talking to her or not; or she's playing by herself. Suddenly this girl will dart her eyes to one side; give you a smile. Actually I don't think she was smiling but it's an involuntarily action with her eye and mouth nerves.

Another thing which she learns from no one is the way she'll walk. She walks normally then suddenly she
a) walks as if she's having a cramp.
b) bends her knees a little and walk, putting both hands on one leg each - then I'll start calling her "old lady"
c) at squatting position, she will walk in that ducky manner. Cute!

Oh! Whenever she comes back home from somewhere and after having worn her shoes for some time, she deliberately makes noise on the floor when she's walking. *chik chik chik chik*

I've uploaded her photos
Click here

and here too!

Too much to talk

Monday
I'm not surprised that I put on weight. After the once-a-week gym (and not really working hard) for the past few weeks and snacking while trying to keep myself awake in the night. And all the late breakfasts (rushing to bring Athena to school) makes me even more hungry to eat noodles or macaroni in the mornings. Oh my! That's too heavy. Then .... okay shan't say anymore, that's not my purpose in blogging this entry. I decided to go gym today, but then...I got lazy as the time passes by while I was clicking and typing on brother's computer. I dismissed the whole idea and decided to go for a jog around Street 21 instead. Bad idea! It was so bloody hot and I only jogged one round and went back to mom's place.
Back at home, I tried to do what I need to do, I can't do much coz' brother's computer is on Word 2007 and I can't open the file in my lappie. So in other words I can't edit or type information anywhere else except... >> in my blog. Copied everything over and kept in my blog drafts. Dunno to say smart or stupid, I can't bring my lappie coz' I dunno how to do the wireless connection with his server.
Then, mom came into the room and chatted. Ehh......I was distracted coz' I needed full concentration. And the occasional 'ee ee' by Iggy as he sleeps or kicking his leg (and I was so worried if he'll fall out from the sarong). Bad idea! I can't do much, how to tell mom??How to tell her that I needed quiet without any distractions (and don't suddenly tell me 'take care of Iggy' coz' the purpose of me coming here is the fast server + no distraction from kids.) I surfed & blogged awhile and then went back to work.
I was really tired - dead tired. While mom helped to feed that slowcoach Athena her dinner, I sat there about to comatose. All I remembered was mumbling "I need to nap, wake me up" and I have no idea how long I napped before I was woken up by my mother's harsh alarm clock. My heart palpitated and I started mumbling "huh huh huh what time is it now? I fell asleep?" I don't think I slept long, maybe only about 15-20mins?? But it felt really long, goes to show how tired I really am. While waiting for her in Berries, I managed to nap for a good 10 mins.
Night time instead of doing my work, I ended up preparing a whole set of writing sheet for Aricia. Managed to finish the Numbers. Alphabets done half. I lugged the whole lappie and printer into Athena's room otherwise it'll wake them up. Half the time wondering why my life so suay... I have to stay up late while they sleep.

Tuesday
Brought Ari for her pokey pokey. Came back, bathe her and then left her to KZ. Heard the 'gnee gnee gnao gnao' outside but couldn't be bothered. Finished it in the afternoon.

Samples
(use a whiteboard marker to write and clean it off with a whiteboard duster)

I was surprised to hear her mumbling 3 numbers as she flipped the pages. Most were 'can't make out' sounds. Can only hear 8, 6, 3.


Aricia enjoyed it, infact she likes to write. Everytime I tell her "Aricia, let's do some writing." She plonk her buttocks on the floor. Will upload photos of her in her blog, do check back.

Anyway, just to share. I had this Toddler Write since I had Athena. And I find its a good practice for a preschooler. Somehow I decided to bring this out early and Aricia had been touching the "arrows" in the card. And then I guide her to 'write'. I don't know if this brought out her interest in writing or maybe she's just a guai kia when it comes to studying (only too playful)
When I went for the follow-up with the sinseh last week. Sinseh told me "bring her to a shopping centre to see what toys she likes, one that she will sit down and concentrate & play. Buy that for her, it will train her to sit down quietly." Its quite difficult coz' her interest wears out quite fast. Anyway, I thought she loved writing more than toys.

Cre-ver girl! - (Health matters)

Brought Aricia for her flu vaccine at Dr Ng since he has the vaccine in the clinic, saves the hassle of me going to Punggol to Dr Tan.
Am surprised when Dr Ng told me that there's only one vaccine. So what is the 2 vaccinations that Dr Tan and Dr Lee ever mentioned? Not the same? To think that I planned to vaccine her one month early. Ehh..........I think it's better also, given her 'nature' tend to develop fever after vaccinations, this would give us enough time to cure her fully; get her to 'bu' from the chinese sinseh. Wah piang eh......I macam like going to army like that! But it always pays to play safe.
The vaccine Dr Ng gave her : - Vaxigrip . In the box it's stated Southern Hemisphere - lucky! coz normally the strains in Northern and Southern Hemisphere are different. And they have strains for 2008?? Okay 2008 or 2007 as long as I poke everyone; I'll be happy. Come end of the month, we'll be our turn.

That girl, dunno is it really smart or she sensed it from my feelings or should I say telepathy (dunno if you'll agree with this). She didn't see the syringe or needle at all, she had her back to Dr Ng. And all he said was "okay.." haven't completed his sentence, that girl cried "pain ah............" Hahaha! Dr Ng was shocked with her response and asked "she knows? she knows?"

**************************

An update on her follow up with the sinseh last Tuesday. Sinseh gave her something additional to calm her down. When KZ heard about it, she thought I was sedating my child. Oh my! I wouldn't do it but I needed her to tone down, she's too much for me to handle. Moo Han mentioned the word "non stop" to describe her.
I desperately needed her to be more 'quieter' so that I can handle her when it comes to her caring for her daily. It's really tiring!
Apart from that, her weight went down coz' she was nursing flu about 2 weeks ago.
At this time too, my girl decides to go on a milk-strike. Argh!

My sugar honey pie

My sugar honey pie is really funny, she never fails to bring us laughter.

Having an older sister means she has someone to emulate. Well.........the good and bad she copies. When the sister cries, wailing out loud, she'll join in too. Giving her sister the support; telling her "you're not alone. Let's cry together."
It's funny to see that little girl would walk to a spot between us; take out her pacifier from her mouth and "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah" and she does it in such a funny way. You know it's the fake cry when 1) no tears 2) she tilts her head back; closes her eyes and opens her mouth wide occasionally opening her eyes to look at me or the ceiling and then have that fake squint while still imitating the "aaaaaaaaaaaah". Then she turns to her sister to get the cue when she should stop copying her. Sister still crying? She turns to look ahead or at me and cry. She "cries" until she gives up and walk away. (the last time she copied her sister - sister also bursts out laughing after that) LOL

If copying her is not enough, she has to imitate a little boy. A boy was crying in the public shouting "I dowan, I dowan.........." She heard it, took out her pacifier; trying to imitate that "pretentious voice" and said "I wan, I wan........." Goash! She knows the opposite of 'dowan'

Drool factor #3

Domestic goddess suddenly kicks in. Eye-ing these.... love to have them but...........Winnie the Pooh Musical Toaster by VillaWare
Toasts Pooh and Tigger's face onto each slice, and plays the Winnie the Pooh theme when the toasts pops up.

Winnie the Pooh Waffler by VillaWare
Makes two waffles with Pooh's face on one side and Tigger's face on the other side.



Mickey Single Waffler by VillaWare
Bakes a single 6" Mickey waffle.



Mickey 4 at a time Waffler by VillaWare
Bakes four 4" Mickey waffles.
Mickey 2 Slice Musical Toaster by VillaWare
Toasts Mickey's face onto each side of the bread slice and plays the Mickey Mouse Club March when the toast pops up.

****************************************

Children's rooms - wow!

Playing with food

After reading Mel's blog, it reminded me that I still had the extra fondants from Anna's class.

Surprised Athena when I told her I'll let her play "with the sugar playdoh" today. Why surprise? Coz' I'm known from giving too much assessment books to my child and neglecting her in other leisure areas.
Today, she obediently finished all her assessment books in the morning, gave her a quick music revision, she played her violin (the tuning took a much longer time and I almost gave up) and she get to enjoy the rests of her day.

Before I got into action, I was thinking of doing a sugar doll myself and then not even halfway through.... Aricia woke up and kept disturbing me "bao bao". No need sugar doll liao, this big doll - Aricia - is my sugar honey pie. (when she's naughty and drives me crazy, she's none of the above!)
In the end, decided to do the same as what I gave Athena to do - using her cookie cutters. And she thought I was going to bake em' . She knew what to do, no explanation done, she copied me dipping my finger into the shortening to soften the fondant. She was smiling; grinning and whatever you can describe the happiness in her face versus the "ma.........mee.............bao bao...... (sob sob) ma....mee.......sit sit" and trying hard to get up.

Pictures to tell the story :


See the little sugar honey pie's hand on the table, struggling to see what's going on.

Athena just cut and cut the fondant, while I did one Pooh and then slowly added the brown outline in it.
She can't do anything, but she can eat.........that'll make my sugar honey pie even sweeter.... and more energetic. Argh!
Then I cleaned up the table, while clearing the things away into the sink. That girl sat herself down on the dining chair; reached out her little hand and grabbed one ball of fondant and bite into it (again) - that's alot of sugary stuff today.Ehh...I threw the rests of the fondant away still keeping the chocolate one.

It was only until late in the night after dinner, I decided to bake to put the fondant on it. Otherwise I can't let her just eat fondant right?
Started baking at 8+ close to 9, finished everything at 11+ (I cheated on the time in this blog entry); showered (again) and packed in the rests of the cookies in the canister.
Verdict : 成功 or 失败? 失败 - I think it didn't taste good, tried a new simple recipe. I should have added more butter! But I don't care, my ardent fan better finish the cookies if not I won't buy her any Famous Amos cookies (bribery)

Yee...........ha!

2 of my 5 parcels arrived in a one day. The Shichida parcel came in the morning in a big box. I just woke up and couldn't really open my eyes but THAT box opened my eyes as wide as an owl.

I really like this : 読み書き名人. The DVD is interesting and...... Athena will love it, they have a little practice on the character writings.

In the evening, Mr Postman left another smaller parcel in our letter box. And it's the first batch of bento accessories that came in.


Yee........ha! Happy happy!!

森(もり)の熊(くま)さん

This song attracted my attention, coz' the tune is similar to one of the song in Athena's Bible Songs CD : Click here for tune

ある日(ひ)　森(もり)の中(なか)　熊(くま)さんに　出会(であ)ーった

花(はな)咲(さ)く　森(もり)の道(みち)　熊(くま)さんに　出会(であ)ーった

熊(くま)さんの　言(い)うことにゃ　早(はや)く　お逃(にげ)なさい
スタコラ　サッサッサノサ　スタコラ　サッサッサノサ

けれども　後(あと)から　熊(くま)さんが　ついて来(く)る
トコトントン　トントントントントン　トコトントン　トントントントントン

お嬢(じょう)さん　お待(まち)ちなさい　小(ちい)さな　落(おと)し物(もの)
白(しろ)い　貝殻(かいがら)の　小(ちい)さな　イヤリング

アラ、熊(くま)さん　ありがとう　お礼(れい)に　歌(うた)いましょう
ラララ　ラララララ　ラララ　ラララララ

My cousin

April 12, 2008
Dad became cabby to take her to university
NEVER GIVE UP: Despite being afflicted by pereoneal muscular atrophy at a young age, Ms Chia Yong Yong, now 46, went on to become a lawyer. Her younger sister, who suffers from the same condition, also made it to university. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG IT WAS the worst of times. Her father's small shop was struggling. Her mother, a snacks and drinks vendor, was barely making ends meet. Afflicted by a nerve and muscle disorder, 19-year-old Ms Chia Yong Yong's legs started giving way. Soon, she would never walk again. Her younger sister, too, suffers from the same condition, known as pereoneal muscular atrophy. In school, though, Ms Chia was doing well and, in 1981, qualified to do law at the National University of Singapore. Relatives offered her parents well-meaning advice: 'Why waste money educating her? She is disabled anyway.' But 'mum and dad thought going to university was my only chance at a better life', says Ms Chia, who grew up in a three-room HDB flat in MacPherson. Because she found it impossible to use public transport, her father became a taxi driver so he could ferry her to university. Today, Ms Chia, 46, oversees the commercial department at Goodwins Law Corporation, a mid-size law firm in Anson Road. Her sister also made it to university and works as a manager. Home is a corner terrace house which she shares with her parents. Her job is to advise financial services companies on regulatory compliance. She is also involved in various charities. But in her office, decorated with an old Celtic cross, an Indian tapestry and a silk bouquet, the soft-spoken woman who gets around in a wheelchair lets on that success did not come easy. At 23, starting out as an intern at a small law firm, she was paid less than her peers. Her employer constantly worried that her disability would be a liability. Later, she found herself doing all the backroom work, while her boss took all the credit. There are audible gasps from clients who meet her for the first time as lawyers in wheelchairs are a rare sight here. Once, a client insulted her when she told him she would have to consult his file and call him back. He snapped that her being 'different' from other people was 'no excuse for shoddy work'. Ms Chia says she can accept prejudice from the man in the street, but finds it harder when it comes from the authorities. For instance, when the MRT system was built in the 1980s, she was appalled that stations were not wheelchair-friendly. The policy has since been reversed. 'Policies that are designed to exclude should never be implemented,' she says. Even today, the situation is far from perfect. There are few wheelchair-friendly buses on the road. And their manual ramps take a long time to crank out. This holds up other passengers and makes the disabled feel like a burden, she says. It's not true that disabled folk do not aim high, she says. 'It's just that circumstances often force them to scale down their ambition.'

Sleepwalker falls to his death from flat

April 10, 2008
Sleepwalker falls to his death from flat
By Ian Lim
The relatives of Mr Jason Ong at the wake. -- PHOTO: SHIN MIN DAILY MR Jason Ong struck 4D last Saturday, winning $12,000 with a bet on his lucky numbers '3877'. But the 39-year-old tour guide never got to enjoy his prize money. On Wednesday morning, he was found dead at the foot of Block 299, Punggol Central. His elder brother, Mr David Ong, 46, said Jason had a history of sleepwalking, and would open the windows when he got into that sub-conscious state. He did not want to have window grilles fixed to his six-storey flat because he found them 'ugly'. Mr Ong was living in the flat with his wife, a Malaysian permanent resident, and two other friends. The couple had no children. Jason had been sleepwalking for the past ten years, said his elder brother. Initially, he would sleepwalk once or twice a year. But his condition grew worse in 2005 when he started sleepwallking once a month - after he became depressed by the pressure of irregular working hours as a tour guide. The elder Mr Ong said his brother had seen the doctor and was on medication. But he added that he went off medication for about a month and only went to the doctor to get a resupply of his medicine two weeks ago. He said he had advised his brother to install window grills for his own safety. But Jason had refused, saying there was no need as they had no children in the flat. *********************************** Oh my! That's my block! My deepest condolences to the family (Yah....now the whole world knows which block I live; hear one mad mother screaming at the top of her voice; listen and it will lead you to my unit.Hee!)

This is so interesting...

goash! A new discovery I made today and.... a dangerous one too!

I was scanning our currency note for flashcard purposes and tried to print it by enlarging it (read : enlarging the actual size of note), my printer prints less than half the note and then a website address was printed http://www.rulesforuse.org . I went into the website and ... wow! the scanner can detect such information. Isn't it amazing?

I better be amazed no more, deleted the file from my computer just in case they think I'm printing counterfeit notes and send....

If I don't blog, it's not because 我给孩子气死 but I'm in jail. Eee.........so scary! Like what Athena says "my heart beat so fast, tik tuk tik tak."

when I die............

I told this to KZ :

"when I die please tell my children not to throw away all these things (pointing to all the cookie cutters, moulding trays, bento stuffs). Sell them away if they don't want coz' all my money are here!"

She found it hilarious.

I think it's quite true, I spent alot of money on all these; their toys; their DVDs; CDs; educational stuffs. So it's either going to be their heirloom or sell it away. To junk it is a pity.

My 2nd 爱心 lunch

It's really so difficult that Athena is superbly fussy about her food. If not, I can use food to decorate her meal and there are definitely more choice of food to give her.

I woke up late too! And rushed through preparation, this is what I made today :

a) A butterfly rice, which I thought it looked more like a bone with some denbu on it. Rice decorated with seaweed and cut butterfly imprints.

b)Her favourite luncheon meat in butterfly shape, and chicken nuggets. Yah! That's how fussy my girl is over her food.
c) some papaya and strawberry (she won't eat strawberry-it's for decorating purposes only)

I think in order to do a good bento, you must have an idea conceptualized in your mind ( I don't, brain cells are dead. I stare at the thing and wonder..) And I have problem - seems like this container is oval shape and challenging to put the cup liners. And this container is small?
I don't know.. I have alot more to learn!

Her lunch packed up for school and in a plastic bag. Ohh.......this is so wrong. I need a oshibori cloth

She seems happy >> wait till she eats the lunch I prepared for her. And she better eat!