My attempt at Bento-Making! Yeah right..me cooking yah! Gotta admit, since the last few cooking classes I'd taken, I haven't exactly stepped into the kitchen to try out any of those dishes especially since Nenita does all the cooking at home. Nenita will be going back to Philippines for her holiday in March for 3 weeks and when she told Aidan about it, the boy had a worried look on his face. He asked my helper "Who is going to cook for me then??! Mommy??! You sure she knows how to cook?!" *Sigh* Yeah..I know I'll never be a Nigella (although I probably do eat as much as her :P).I'm not gonna pretend that I'm gonna improve culinary wise but that didn't prevent me from attending yet another cooking class. Was invited to a Health Promotion Board Parenting Event (it was held this morning) where the focus was on healthy eating for children through a hands-on creative Bento-making session. Bento-making..hmmm, that shouldn't be tooooo hard right?! Hiaks..boy, was I wrong! The class was led by a mommy blogger, Angie who is an avid bento maker. A teacher by profession, she has been making these creative lunch boxes for her family, friends & colleagues and posting her creation on her blog. When it was time for us to start making the lunch boxes on our own after we were given a demo and shown several examples of bento boxes for reference, almost everyone seemed to know exactly what to do and went about hurriedly to get the necessary ingredients. I looked at bbhome June, who came with me for the workshop..and mouthed "HELP!!" Had totally no inspiration whatsoever. I think Angie probably saw the look of helplessness on my face and asked the class whether anyone needed assistance so I quickly raised my hands :P (truly fail lah). So thankfully, with her detailed demonstration and instructions, I somehow managed to complete the bento boxes within the 2 hours given to us. Honestly, cooking stresses me out! And I'm not even sure you can consider this a form of cooking since many of the items were already prepared for us. But, I did enjoy myself though (stressful fun lah :P) and it was pretty satisfying seeing the end result. When the class was almost over, Nenita brought Aidan to the community club where the workshop was held (it was just 3 minutes walk from my place)..I proudly showed the boy my work of 'food art'. The li' bugger went "So cuteeeeee! ♥!" and promptly destroyed them by gobbling them up...>_So cute hor :) The 'bears' are actually ham sandwiches!My creations :)June's :)With Angie, the instructor..who was super patient with me :PWith Suelyn Howe (from Edelman, who organised this event on behalf of HPB) and Leonny, another mommy blogger :)Thanks for the invite Suelyn :) My Stay-cation at Festive Hotel, Resorts World That's the usual comment I get whenever I tell them that I'm heading there. Actually, I do enjoy myself at the island as I find it pretty relaxing and enjoyable there. I guess one key reason is because there's loads of activities for Aidan.Well, with the impending opening of Universal Studios and the casino, I guess people won't be asking me that anymore. The first phase opening of Resorts World last week saw the opening of the hotels to the public and it gave me a good reason to head to Sentosa again (I should really get my Sentosa Islander card!). In fact, I'd already made up my mind to book a stay there when I had a glimpse of a picture of a room at Festive Hotel during a presentation to us by the marketing team from Resorts World sometime mid last year (you'll understand why soon). So when RW offered a special preview rates (50% off the rack rates) for their hotels, I quickly took advantage of it! My colleagues were asking me why I would want to stay there since most of the major attractions at the integrated resort like Universal Studios and the casino are not in operation yet.I guess it was for the novelty of being one of the earlier ones to stay at the hotel (yah cheap thrill heh) and as I'd mentioned, there were also tons of stuff I could do at Sentosa (man, this is sounding like an advertorial :P).Here's what the family room at Festive Hotel looks like..Yeah, very bright and cheery with large orchid motifs! Reviews about the room decor was mixed..I personally liked it but some found the orchid visuals too OTT..But here's what got my attention! A loft bed especially for kids. Cool yah!!There's also a sofa bed in the room so it can comfortably fit 4!I kapo-ed this picture from MrBrown's review of the resort.It shows the room and loft bed better. Check out the pictures of the other hotels in the picture gallery.Aidan lurrvvved the bed!! When I told him (jokingly) that I wanted to share the bed with him, he insisted on sleeping alone. Hrmphh!! The loft bed was really comfy especially with the padded walls..The boy slept really well the 2 nights we were there.The 4 hotels that are open are Hard Rock Hotel, Festive Hotel, Michel Hotel & Crockfords Towers - the last one is by special invite only. Not all the amenities were ready yet though..Only 10 of the eateries were in operation. The pool at Festive Hotel was still under construction so we hopped over to the one at Hard Rock Hotel. Wei Chi, Yun Huei & Norman stayed over on Saturday (Yun Huei booked a room at Michel Hotel). Aidan was glad to have 2 gorgors to torture play with! They have yet to try the luge and I've not tried the Segway before so we decided to do both activities! The boy as usual insisted on going as many times as the luge and he also had a whale of a time on the segway! lobby of festive hotel..love those colorful lanterns!doing what most singaporeans were doing..taking peektures in front of S'pore first ever casino!We were all amused by this...The gorgeous lights along the corridor leading to Crockfords Towers..Yun Huei was going gaga over Dave Chihuly's creations..Aidan loved this...it was along the escalator leading from the hotel down to the casino/Fesive Walk.The LED strips on top of the escalator had pretty cool light effects accompanied by ambient music...Heard it was designed by multiple Emmy-award winner, Jeremy Railton..a mini-prelude to the crane dance & light sound extravaganza, 2 public attraction at the resort..The awesome looking Porte-cochere that led to the casino..Outside Hardrock Hotel!Not sure if u are able to see it from this pic but they've created a beach pool at the hotel. The pristine white sand creates this beach effect..I understand that the sand was imported from Australia and it cost abt half a mil! Dinner at Palio Restaurant (Hotel Michel) that serves Tuscan cuisine. We were all extremely satisfied/happy with our meal (food was delish!) and we were given really good service. Would definitely go back there again!Can't really say the same for Starz Restaurant at Hard Rock Cafe though..there wasn't much variety for their buffet and their ala-carte menu wasn't ready yet. For $39 per pax, I was expecting more. At the lobby of Hotel Michel..Aidan on the segway~~We signed up for the guided eco adventure that brought us to siloso beach..Our main grouse was that we couldn't go as fast as we wanted to as the segway was locked at 8km/hr. Taking the chairlift to the luge...All in all, it was a fab weekend! Aidan enjoyed himself tremendously & I had fun too especially with the great company. The hotel staff were friendly although a tad blur at times. Poor Yun Huei who was staying at Michel Hotel was woken up at 8.30am because a staff wanted to check on the mini-bar items. I, on the other hand, was woken up at 7am by a super enthusiastic boy who couldn't wait to get the day going. Construction at the hotels were still on-going and drilling (which was more audible from the rooms) would start as early as 8.30am and end about 10pm. I called the front desk at 9.30pm to enquire when the drilling would stop. I was told by the lady in a confident voice "9pm!! >_But I would definitely be heading back there again when Universal Studios open!! :) Simply Friends :) Jean, Joan & I were interviewed last September for a feature in the Feb's issue of Simply Her Magazine. We were 3 of 10 women which Justina spoke to for this feature which was on the different avenues through which women find/meet their friends and in our case, it was via blogging.click on picture to readFirst of all, I'm not 41 yet!! *weep* Heh, when I read the article, I was like alamak, it sounded like the 3 of us have gone thru so much trials & tribulations together (like so cham like that). The opening paragraph says it all "They've seen other through weddings, pregnancy, miscarriages, marital problems & illness in the family, which is not the sort of friendship you expect from internet friends". But all of it is true lah! Well, the 3 of us were really candid during the interview probably coz we are so comfy around each other and and we shared very openly with Justina what our friendship and lives are like. Thanks Justina..for letting us be featured :)Anyway u guys..you know I'm really glad to have pals like you..and not just the two of you only. There are a few more out there whom I've gotten to know through LJ and I'm really blessed to have your friendship too :)Okay..if any of Jean's or my bosses happen to be reading this, no..Jean doesn't moonlight for me! I'd asked her for her help once or twice! Not all the time k!!! :PJanice & Angela were also featured and you can read theirs at Janice's blog. I thought the part on the eggbeater was really hilarious!! Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:38:00 GMT I recall being all excited last year when it was Aidan's first day in Primary One! And now he's in Primary Two already and being the ever-so-loving mom *coff*, I took leave yesterday so that I could be with him on his first day of P2! (Okay lah, I knew I would be grumpy going back to work after the nice long NY weekend so I took one more day off!) Met several pals whose kids were in ACSJ P1 this year and seeing their anxious faces reminded me of how gancheong I was last year too :)The boy was so eager to get back to school and kept asking me throughout the school holidays when school will be starting. Not that he loves school that much that he can't wait to start studying. He basically misses his school pals and wanted to play with them again. I guess I shouldn't be complaining :)Okay..this time round, I didn't lug my dslr to the school. Was playing around with the toy camera app on my iphone..I like the lomo effect :) The year 2009 went by in a whirl and I can't exactly say that it has been that eventful. Well, 'cept for the boy attending Primary One (and that trying period making him study for his exams) and also the purchase of my own property. Saw many new births, several hookups, and unfortunately more separations/divorces. Personally, I don't think I've achieved much so there are several goals that I've set for myself which I truly hope to accomplish (those who are close to me will know exactly what) by the end of this year. I've changed too. I'm definitely less extroverted as before and more mellow (and boring) I guess. Age is definitely catching up. Oh yes..I'm grown horizontally too *sob* By at least 6 kg!! On the positive side, my boobies have grown bigger but unfortunately, so have my tummy & derriere!! Have been indulging too much in good food so I guess I should really start watching my weight or at least make an effort to work out consistently. Many have asked me about my social/love life too..I really don't want to say much but I think i'm still mentally not ready for anything. But I'm definitely optimistic :) So I'm gonna end off my blog entry with this quote that I like.. Merry Christmas you all! Wishing all a Merry & Blessed Christmas ♥ and a great 2010!! Aidan's birthday bash :) Man, this is probably my longest blogging hiatus to date. Been meaning to update but just never got around to doing it. But I guess Aidan's birthday party should be a good enough excuse to start again. Aidan will be turning 7 this Wednesday on the 23rd! Yeah..time really does fly by really fast. Can't believe my boy is so big already :) This year, the boy insisted on having his party at a venue of his choice - at Explorerkid at Downtown East Pasir Ris. And when asked what kinda cake he wanted this year, he said Ben 10 Alien Force - again! He had asked for the exact same cake for his birthday last year. So I called the cakeshop which I've been ordering from for all of Aidan's birthday parties and asked whether we could do a different sort of Ben 10 cake. The previous cake was an image icing cake and I didn't want that anymore. I'd asked if a 3D Ben 10 was possible.Initially, they werent sure if it could be done (and I only called on Thursday & the party was on Sunday) but after checking with their cake designer, they said no problem. Since Aidan demanded that the cake was to be an Alien Force cake, I had to email them the pictures of the various aliens from that series. Not an easy task for the cake designer for sure since they have to mould all the characters into chocolate figurines one by one...Initially, the cake was to be delivered to the birthday venue in the afternoon but due to some problems with the delivery timing, they said that they would send it to my place in the morning instead. T'was a blessing in disguise coz when I opened the cake box, we discovered that 2 of the characters had broken off at the sides of the cakes (as they were kinda heavy). Aidan was distraught when he saw it..He actually declared "This is the worstest birthday cake ever!!" (this boy is really drama lah!). So the delivery bloke had to send the cake back to the shop and they promised to have the cake delivered to the venue in the afternoon. Was thinking to myself that if the cake does not appear, I may have to head down to Cold Storage or some other cakeshop to get a replacement cake. It was a hectic morning too because I'd lost my mobile phone (&*%$#) and was rushing to get my replacement SIM card and also to purchase a new phone. So those who'd smsed me that morning, I wasn't able to reply because I was phoneless. In the end, I spent about 2 hours at M1 just doing all that and had to rush back home quickly to get ready for the party.In the end, everything turned out fine :) Cake was repaired and the boy was really happy with it..and seeing him enjoy himself so much at the party really makes it all worth it. And thanks to all who made it for the party...I'm sorry the food & drinks ran out so fast :PHere's some pics from the party from mine, Richard's (thanks man! You always help me out every year!!!) and Jean's cameras!Amazing yah! The Ben10 characters are actually edible..they were chocolate! Some of the guests thought they were toys! And best of all, the cake was really yummy!!The rest of the pics can be found hereAgain, thanks all for coming..Most of you have been to almost every single birthday party he had and have literally seen him grow from a wee baby to the li boy that he is today. I can't believe that it was almost 7 years ago that i'd given birth to him and I remember cradling him in my arms, wondering then whether I would be able to give him a good life and be a good parent to him. He's has actually taught me to be stronger and better as a person. He's really a fab kid..so good natured, happy-go-lucky and affectionate and I'm truly blessed to have him in my life :) Be Optimus Day.. Today's ACSJ Teacher's Day celebration and in conjunction with that, the school is celebrating 'Be Yourself Day' which is actually one of The New Paper's branding event. On BYD, the students are able to come dressed in any costumes that best express their personalities..it is also a charity event as students are also encouraged to make a donation to help TNP raise funds for the President's Charity.Anyway...the theme of BYD in ACSJ was 'Heroes'. I was having a hard time trying to explain to Aidan the attributes of a hero. He keeps associating heroes with 'superheroes' & superpowers. So, I tried using examples like firemen who risked their lives saving people & their homes or policemen who help to keep law & order by catching thieves. But the boy rebutted that they were merely doing their job so why should they be considered heroes then. Alamak..how to answer ah?? I should tell him that all mothers should be considered heroes especially if their kids are as smart-alec as the one I have..In the end, Aidan as you can see from the picture above, decided to go as Optimus Prime, who in his opinion, was the ultimate hero..Saving earth from the evil Megatron & the Decepticons and sacrificing his life to save Sam Witwicky. Oh well, who am I to argue with the boy...I blame the media & Hollywood :PTo all teachers out there, have a "Happy Teacher's Day!". Definitely not an easy job which requires tons of patience and understanding (especially if you got a kid like Aidan in your class..). I salute u guys! :) Made the single largest purchase of my life last week..made an offer for a unit at Bishan Loft and it was accepted. And now I'm scrambling to get my housing loan done so that I can exercise the option by next week. The past few apartments had been purchased with the ex and he had been the one who had handled all the loan arrangement.So this time round, I had to do it on my own and boy, it was pretty hectic running from bank to bank, comparing their rates and deciding on the bank to go with (why didn't i think of going to a mortgage broker then??)!We managed to sell our Pandan Valley apartment at a decent price (and profit)...but it also meant that I would be losing my rental income too. The rent $ came in useful as it helped cover the lease on my newton apartment. Therefore, when I chanced upon this unit at Bishan Loft which was to be sold with tenancy, I decided to quickly make an offer because units there are pretty hard to come by. I still have another 9 months left to the lease of my current apartment so the purchase makes perfect sense. I've been eyeing the condo development for ages because it is much more reasonably priced than all the other condos at Bishan as it was an executive condo that just reached its 5 years status. Its location was a bonus. It is situated right in the heart of Bishan - very near to Junction 8 (cinema, food court, shopping mall!!),MRT station & the bus interchange. The amenities at the condo is quite decent too. It has a large pool & 2 tennis courts. Oh..I can also see Bishan Loft from my office! I was pretty fortunate because after my offer was accepted, the asking prices for the units there rose substantially..some asking for more than $100k of what I'd paid for (and they were lower floor units) - Mine's on the 29th floor!Am really happy with my purchase and hope nothing cocks up (cross fingers). I even paid $5 to Credit Bureau for an enquiry report on my credit history (all As thankfully). I know it will be a while before I take over the apartment but I'm already scouring through home & décor magazines thinking of how I should renovate the place. It has 4 rooms (plus a utility room) so I'm even thinking of making one room a walk-in closet :PEdit : Yeah! Loan's approved. House is mineeee hehe :) I've uploaded some pics of the apartment too.The living room/dining area..The view from the living room window..totally unblocked :)The master bedroom..Check out how shiny the parquet floor is. Am thankful that the tenant is taking good care of the apartment :)More pics here X_X Hmm, realised that I've posted too many pics of myself recently. Gotta neutralise that so here's a pic of the cheeky boy :)Had totally forgotten about this but jemauvais' comment in my previous blog entry jolted my memory..This happened last Thursday at my place when I had a crazy bunch of people over. I was at the dining table having some of the delicious crab noodles from Melben when Yun Huei called me over. He, together with some others like-minded people like Wei Chi, Richard & Elaine were laughing hysterically over something and I was also curious to know what it was. He handedme a sheet of paper. It was Aidan's spelling list handwritten by the boy's grandma. Yun Huei asked if I thought there was anything wrong with the list. I'd been teaching Aidan his spelling for the past few days so I was quite taken aback when he'd asked that because I didn't notice anything earlier on...Alamak!!!! It then dawned on me what they were getting at!!! All those RA minds!!! And they were all wondering whether his teacher had deliberately chosen those words!!! Oh man...But then again, the spelling words were really kinda suggestive :P my first cooking class :D Attended a cooking class for the first time last Saturday..well, better late than never I guess heh. Some time back when I was look through some of Aidan's past revision exercise, I saw a chinese worksheet that had those fill-in-the-blanks questions and it went something like this : (i've translated it to English okay!)_____ cooked dinner for me_____ played football with me (so cliché yah!)Helping words were mummy, daddy and some other relations. Aidan was relating to me how he he had to tell his teacher that the worksheet wasn't 'right' coz his mummy doesn't cook dinner for him. "Mummy" he says, "buys me McDonalds!" *sigh* Mega paiseh siah! He probably couldn't remember those earlier years when I was without a helper. I was the one who made all his meals then! Grrrr!! Oh well, I've never been gifted in the culinary department anyway. Was thinking though that it should be fun to learn how to cook something new and maybe, I can start cooking for Aidan again :D Decided to join one of the sessions at Cookyn with Meryn where we were taught how to make wagyu burgers with truffle fries and upside-down Banana tarte tartin . It was a pretty enjoyable session with free flow of wine..Would definitely recommend anyone who enjoys cooking to attend one of their classes. Am looking at signing up for one of their future classes on foie gras *slurp*Breakfast was served to us..I made the mistake of having breakfast so after eating what Meryvn had made for us (I have no idea what this is called), I was pretty stuffed..It tastes great..! I liked the one with potatoes!Deb & Pei Fen who also attended the same class..Not surprisingly, it was a pretty noisy class Wei Chi who I'd asked to join me for the cooking session , starting on the potatoes..Jo Ann dicing the onions. I hate dicing onions..I always tear while doing it..Check out how untidy our station was..this was while we were dicing the garlic & onions..Compared to that of the other station..Poor Amanda had to clear the mess..and this earned us this rating (given by a member of the other team :P)moi working on the fries...Milkshake treat while waiting for our burgers..It's supposed to be 2 parts icecream, 1 part milk but mine was 4 parts icecream, 1 part milk hehe..adding flavours to my beef patty :):)~~Dessert was the upside down banana tarte tartin..okay..i know it doesn't look pretty...But it taste really good!! Especially with vanilla icecream!! Showing off my masterpiece :D Taking a pic with the instructor, Meryvn:)All pics can be found here si zhap liao~~ :) (tiara & boas were birthday gifts too) Hm, my birthday post made some people worried. Had several people asking me about it. Assured them that I'm not depressed..probably just a tad melancholic and reflective but I'm seriously okay!!Decided not to work on my birthday so i took leave and pampered myself with a nice long massage..I was so stoned out after the session that I'd walked out of the spa with their in-house slippers and didn't even realised it until I reached home. And I'd actually flip flopped all over town in that size 8 slippers (i'm a size 6) Oh well~Had a fabulous birthday celeb at my place that evening with more than 25 pple managing to squeeze into my apartment.It was initially meant to be an all-girls get-together at a shabu shabu joint initiated by dear Mong but H1N1 struck (not her, but her li' girl) so she couldn't make it. And so I thought, instead of makin it just an all-girl thingy, just have everyone come over my place and indulge in unhealthy food & drinks. Man..I didn't realise how loud it would get..initially, I thought it was probably the kids since they were playing Xbox at the living room so I shooed all of them into the rooms to watch tv/dvd but the noise level hardly went down..Well, it did actually, after a certain someone went home *grin*. I enjoyed myself loads..Thanks for coming and celebrating this occasion with me..and also for all your lovely and thoughtful pressies. You guys are da bomb! And also to those who'd called, smses, fb message, tweeted birthday greetings! I feel so loved. Yah, turning 40 ain't that bad after all :D~Pictures as usual..:)Some of the pressies I received..:)See what I got?!!! Shou Tao & Shou Mian! These are meant for those old folks celebrating their birthdays and they are supposed to be symbols of longevity!!!! I'm not THAT OLD!!! hehe..I was lamenting about the sad state of my hair & voila..I got a voucher for a haircut at Kim Robinson!! :):)This is gorgeous...a Thomas Sabo bracelet with charms that's so meeee ♥And thoughtful gifts like vouchers (always good for a shopper like me), body care items, jewellery, a golden half camera, DVD, a gorgeous fruit basket!! Thanks again u all :))Next year, let's just have one mega celebration for all the July babes yah!!!! All pics can be found here :]~ The boy was supposed to buy a marker from the school's bookshop as all the markers in our house had dried up. Gave him an extra $2 to get it. He did buy the pen during recess and was given a change of 25 cents. Placed both the marker and change in his shirt pocket. But somehow, he managed to lose both the pen and money by the time he got home from school. Nenita dutily informed me me about what had happened when I got back from work. I had no choice but to reprimand him..reminding him that he shouldn't be so careless with money and that he needs to learn to be responsible. As punishment, I told him that I would be deducting the cost of the marker from his piggy bank (he has been diligently saving his change from his pocket money everyday) and also his next day's pocket money would also come from his bank. Told him that I'll buy the markers myself.Yesterday,the boy actually used his pocket money of $2 to buy the marker.And with the change of 25 cents, he went to the store that sold french fries, told them that he had only that much money for makan (a packet of fries was $1). The store owner then gave him only 5 sticks of fries (aiyoh so sad) and the poor boy had that for his meal. Most of u should know what a big appetite he has and that it was really a big sacrifice to be doing something like that..and I was touched by his actions because he'd shown that he was contrite and was trying his best to make up for his booboo..He's really such a sweet boy and can be really sensitive too..Unfortunately, I have to be the stern parent most of the time and I do fear that he may grow up hating me as a result. I can remember all those anger I'd felt whenever I kena big time from my parents..not understanding then at all that they had meant well. I fear too about the future..whether I'll be able to inculcate the right values in him especially when I'm not a good example myself. I grew up in a somewhat dysfunctional family and there were times when I'd felt that I wasn't loved or that my parents weren't able to offer any emotional support system. I really don't want him to grow up feeling the same way too. And things are so different given the circumstances now...Everyone thinks I'm strong and capable..and I'm truly not. There are times when I feel like such a failure and I can't help but wonder why life has to turn out like that for me. It was difficult initially dealing with the trauma of a failed marriage..I felt rejected and was so angry and was filled with an overwhelming sense of grief. Was an emotional wreck for a while. But through those past difficult months, I was touched by the show of love, friendship and support from both family and friends. It helped me to move on..Though we're no longer together, I never did regret those years that was invested in the marriage. No..I'm not still stuck in the past hoping for any kind of reconciliation. I know that it would not happen and have moved on already. I'm glad that he's still very much an integral part of Aidan's life. He's always been a good dad to Aidan and we both want the boy to grow up happy, healthy and well-adjusted.I guess this is a somewhat strange entry to write on the day I turn 40. But it is only natural to start reflecting on your life especially when it's a milestone.To be honest, I kinda dread it because it does feel OLD!! And I still haven't got my life figured out. But I guess I just have to embrace the fact and just look forward to what lies ahead :) And I am blessed and thankful to have Aidan and he really means the world to me. Thanks all for the birthday greetings via the phone, facebook, sms & twitter! Happy Birthday July Babes :) I was making a comment at dinner with the galpals that people seemed to be blogging less now that they've started twittering (I miss reading my friends' blog entries!!) and kena suan-ed coz I haven't exactly been updating my blog much either. Yeah, have been really tardy but I've said this before..I'm usually more inspired to blog when I have pictures to post! The last entry was about weddings and this time round, it is all about birthdays! Loads of July babies including moi! Yeah..my birthday's around the corner and to be honest,I'm truly not looking forward to it. Okay, please please please..when the day comes, don't tell me that 40s is the new 20s 'cause that's totally bullshit! I'm not depressed or melancholic lah..just feeling old heh. I can no longer tell people that I'm in my 30s soon *sob*. Yah, I know age isn't everything...and plus that I don't look like a 40 year old auntie so I should be thankful and happy. Nenita was telling Aidan that my birthday was around the corner and he asked me how old I was. "Guess!" I said. "ONE HUNDRED YEARS OLD!!", he squealed. Kwa kwa....Anyway, as I was saying...loads of birthdays in the month of July..Lemme try to name them all (those that I can remember lah)...Tricia, Pei Fen and her baby Kristy, Andrea, Charlaine, & loads others who aren't on LJ like my younger bro Junior whose birthday is on the 21 July,old school pals, Audrey Lee & Anne Chia, Jonathan(Irene's SO), Alan, Martin etc..gah, way too many! Happy Birthday all of you younger folks (I'm still the oldest *sob*).Enough with the birthday wishes & ranting hehe..Pics galore as usual. All taken during the weekend that passed! 3 birthdays celebration in total!First up, li' Kristy's Alice in Wonderland birthday..I thought Aidan was gonna be the oldest kid there but thankfully, Claudia & Macy were there too so he had kakis. The mommy really pulled out all the works for her li' princess :)Check out the birthday cake..made by Mong! Solid yah! She must have spent alot of time and love on it :)heh..i was so tickled when i saw this :)with proud mommy Pei Fen and Tracey..The newlyweds who were surrounded by loads of babies and pregnant ladies that day :P\see Kristy wave :)Group pic~~Next birthday celeb was for Tricia and the party was held at BarNone over at St. James. I almost didn't make it coz I was soooooo tempted to sleep in since it was a wet and rainy night and my bed never looked more comfortable. But in the end, I did which was fortunate since the main photographer for that night forgot to bring his flash hehe..Here's the birthday girl up on stage being serenaded by Aaron..I was so busy taking pictures that I didn't even hear the song being sung..so Aaron, I have no idea whether it was seksi or not but since everyone else said so...(alamak, just realised my flash is a li' too powderful)yeah, we'll supposed to look sultry/sexy here but...hehehe..i like this pic of Elaine and the boys..Tricia's harem :)And last but definitely not least was Pei Fen's 27th whitewash party at St. Regis. Her compulsory dress code of ALL WHITE had most of us cussing & swearing since white, as u know it...isn't exactly the easiest color to carry off especially for us chabors who have 1)had a baby or 2 (or like Adele, 4) 2)are 30 & above. Anyway, only this chabor could get away with such a request because everyone really did turn up in white ensembles Some cheated lah but majority did follow the all white dress code. Took loads of pics and the best thing was..I didn't need to use the liquify tool at all hehe..This croquembouche from the Pattisier was gorgeous..Although it was supposed to be in white and silver to fit the theme..!Pei Fen was actually thanking everyone for coming to the party and turning up in white in this pic..with the supposed 'over 30' group more 'white' peeps~Candice took a pic of moi trying to take a nice group pic of the over 20+ girls in a small hotel suite..hehWe look like some Ladies PAP group yah..\All birthday pics can be found here :) Congrats to y'all :) Been attending quite a number of weddings lately..the most recent one was just yesterday, at Germaine & James' big day at Sentosa Resort & Spa. One of the reasons why I don't mind attending weddings is that I can get to wear my pretty cocktail dresses, most of which I've only like worn once before. Heh..so vain yah. But I also like to be part of a happy occasion lah. Here's my wish to the blissful couples - Hope you both grow old on one pillow! May you love and hold each other in the best & worst of times with trust, faith and belief!This was my handsome date yesterday@Germaine & James wedding at Sentosa & Resort Spa The lovely couple..♥ Germaine's dress!charpinkie hard at 'work' at the recept table...Aidan was going around the ballroom looking for kids he could play with and he actually found someone..The boy Gabriel was sooooo similar to Aidan. They both were active and boisterous, love Ben 10/Transformersa nd even had the same 'gungfu' poses.. He turned out to be James' nephew! As a result, Aidan had a great time at the wedding! Pei Fen with Kristy & her chewstick:)All the lovey-dovey couples at my table~~Heh..the typical LJ group pose..and the 'normal' group pic..Ching & Hansel's wedding at Hyatt Hotel.. Knew Hansel through LJ and turned out that his girlfriend was joining SPH and coincidentally, she was the 'then' new girl at the branding team. Small world yah :) Ching & Hans..erm, good luck to your 4 kiddos roadmap yah *grin* Jiayou!Ching looked gorgeous that night. That woman hardly put on any makeup at work so it was the first time I'd seen her all made-up and dressed so beautifully. Hans, u are a lucky bloke :)May & Patrick's Wedding at MarriotLotsa celebration at our deparment..May is another colleague of mine who got hitched recently and and her abang is actually our client/partner who we worked with regular for wine events. with May & Patrick :)Was helping out the reception table since half the guests were from SPH..Glady's who sitting btwn moi and Adeline is the sis-in-law of the bride :)Being receptionists didn't stop us from camwhoring...Standard dept and table group pic :) Congrats :) Been attending quite a number of weddings lately..the most recent one was just yesterday, at Germaine & James' big day at Sentosa Resort & Spa. One of the reasons why I don't mind attending weddings is that I can get to wear my pretty cocktail dresses, most of which I've only like worn once before. Heh..so vainl yah. But I also like to be part of a happy occasion lah. Here's my wish to the blissful couples - Hope you both grow old on one pillow! May you love and hold each other in the best & worst of times with trust, faith and belief!This was my handsome date yesterday@Germaine & James wedding at Sentosa & Resort Spa The lovely couple..♥ Germaine's dress!charpinkie hard at 'work' at the recept table...Aidan was going around the ballroom looking for friends he could play with and he actually found someone..The boy Gabriel was sooooo similar to Aidan. They both were active and boisterous and they even had the same Ben Ten/Transformers poses and actions. He turned out to be James' nephew! As a result, Aidan had a great time at the wedding! Pei Fen with Kristy :)All the lovey-dovey couples at my table~~Heh..the typical LJ group pose..and the 'normal' group pic..Ching & Hansel's wedding at Hyatt Hotel.. Knew Hansel through LJ and turned out that his girlfriend was joining SPH and coincidentally, she was the 'then' new girl at the branding team. Small world yah :) Ching & Hans..erm, good luck to your 4 kiddos roadmap yah *grin* Jiayou!Ching looked gorgeous that night. That woman hardly put on any makeup at work so it was the first time I'd seen her all made-up and dressed so beautifully. Hans, u are a lucky bloke :)May & Patrick's Wedding at MarriotLotsa celebration at our deparment..May is another colleague of mine who got hitched recently and and her abang is actually our client/partner who we worked with regular for wine events. with May & Patrick :)Was helping out the reception table since half the guests were from SPH..Glady's who sitting btwn moi and Adeline is the sis-in-law of the bride :)Being receptionists didn't stop us from camwhoring...Standard dept and table group pic :) Aidan's Going Back to School Haircut :P Hmm, I think this is his shortest hairdo ever~ Makes him looks kinda different eh..he seems scrawnier. And his ears look bigger :D~ :) He's at the age where most of his friends/peers are bo-gay but all his milk teeth is still intact! Yeah, not a single tooth dropped yet although two of his lower teeth seems rather shaky. Yeah, Jean called me a worry-wart when I expressed my concern. The later his primary teeth drop, the longer his 'permanent' teeth will stay, she said. Okay, that sounds quite comforting. I told Aidan the story of the tooth fairy and now, he's more concerned than me (for material reasons). Oops! I hope he doesn't start prying his tooth out...He's grown quite a bit eh..no more that baby-ish looking boy. He's like a little man now :) l1sh wrote about being mesmerized by her sleeping child..I do have that problem too. I really love looking at Aidan's face especially when he sleeps. He's such a handsome child (heh, I'm super biased), with his long eyelashes and impish, cheeky look. I can't help smothering him with kisses.. I sometimes wonder how I managed to create someone like that (yalah, I had help too!). Okay, okay..i'm getting way too rou-ma! But man, I'm not sure how I would react when he reaches puberty and starts sprouting pimples and growing hair in goodness knows where.. Viva La Macau :) Wanted to bring Aidan for a short holiday somewhere since it was the school hols but was undecided for a while on where to bring him to. Couldn't take too long a holiday as I didn't have many leave days left so places like Australia & NZ were out. I didn't want to go Hong Kong again since we were there earlier in the year and his daddy has promised to bring him there this November so..Macau it was! Heh, a few people were surprised at my choice since Macau ain't exactly a haven for kids since it is largely a casino town. But I've read so much about The Venetian hotel and have done quite a bit of online surfing on the place so I thought why not..something different and not too expensive :)I didn't regret my decision at all! Macau was a place I'd wanted to visit and never got the chance even though I've been to HK so many times. And of course as most of you know, I do gamble which means that the casinos would be a definite attraction for moi. But making sure Aidan had fun was a high priority so I had to ensure that there was enough activities for him so that he'll enjoy himself there. Which was why my only choice of hotel there was the luxurious, grand Venetian Macau, a fully integrated resort. It was modelled after its sister casino in Vegas so not surprisingly, the hotel also came with the same faux Venetian design and canal and the fake blue skies and it supposedly has the biggest casino in the world. The mere size of the hotel itself was amazing and its gorgeous architecture and interior were a sight to behold I must say. Nenita was awestruck for a while and Aidan was basically ecstatic that he had so much space to run about. The gorgeous interior of the hotel. Oh, the hotel offers free shuttle bus transporation from and to the airport. I didn't know about it and went into a cab. On realising that I wanted to go the The Venetian, the cab driver told me about the free shuttle and asked me not to waste my money taking his cab and still bothered to come out of the cab to help us with the luggage. So nice of him! Great way to start a holiday too :)The Bella Suite..Nenita actually squealed when she entered the room..it was pretty luxurious and spacious..the bedroom and living area was segregated and there was a tv set in each room so both Aidan & Nenita could enjoy their own programme in peace and harmony :PAlong the Grand Canal Shopping Mall..check out the fake blue sky.Aidan kept saying that the sky was falling as he could see li' 'holes' in them..Doing the touristy thingy- taking a ride on the gondola..The boy really enjoyed the ride kept asking to go on it again (but I refused :P)The Qube which was located at The Venetian Hotel itself was one of the key reasons why I chose to stay there. When I saw the description of this activity centre at the Venetian website, I knew instantly that Aidan would love the place. it isn't unlike Go-Go Bambini except that it was much bigger and had many more other activities. Apart from the super fun climbing structures with slides and nets & free fall slides, they also had wii and xbox game consoles, a pool table and free access to the computers (which enabled me to login to fb hehe). Parents could simply check their kids in there and come back a few hours later to collect them. In the end, we went to Qube every single day that we were there because Aidan couldn't get enough of it!kids had to change into this blue outfit in order to play on the slide..The game consoles area..I was checking my email and when I was finished, I saw him sitting down at the lounge area enjoying an orange juice that he'd purchased on his own..He looks so adult..Thought the Macau Fisherman's Wharf was a must-visit as it was reportedly the first theme park in Macau and supposedly had loads of activities for kids. But it was a dead-town when we got there. I guess The Venetian took away loads of their business. Quite a waste actually because it was actually quite fun place..Yeah..we were the only ones on the bumper car ride..Aidan trying his hand at foodtball at the Man U storeMore touristy pics to proof that I didn't stay in the hotel the whole day (although the weather made me want to). It was so hot and humid!At the Ruins of St Paul's, probably the most famous landmark in Macau and a designated UN heritage site..It was located in the older portions of the city, next to old cobbled streets lined with small quaint shops..The ugly gold building at the background is the Grand Lisboa hotel...Icecream to cool us down!!the warm weather made us crave for the pool so we did just that after our visit to the Ruins ..All in all, it was a relaxing and enjoyable trip and again, the big smile on Aidan's face gave me loads of satisfaction. And yes, I did win some dough at the casino..not that much but more than enough to cover my 3 nights stay at The Venetian hehe.... :D~ All you need is love :) Was at the PinkDot event yesterday. Many turned up in pink to show their support for the LGBT community. The newspaper reported that there were 1,000 but sources revealed that there were about 2,500 pple. No, it wasn't a protest or parade of any sort...more of a celebratory event for those who believe in the freedom to love, regardless of their sexual orientation and to give support towards open-mindedness and understanding. The idea was to form a giant pink human circle and have an aerial shot taken of it...which they succeeded in doing as u can see from the picture here (the shot was taken from Furama hotel)I have to say that it was one heck of a well-organised event (heh..occupational hazard). The organisers/volunteers came all prepared. They had pink plastic mats for those who wanted to sit on the grass, they gave away tissues so that we could use it to wipe our perspiration, they sold pink brollies for those who wanted some protection from the sun (and rain), they were distributing pink balloons so that it would enhance the aerial display of the pink dot, they had all kinds of activity (lion dance/performances etc) planned to keep the crowd entertained and when the event was over, the volunteers went around to help clear some of the rubbish to ensure that the park was kept litter-free. It was amazing! Solid branding too with the pinkdot banners scattered around the park, the cute pinkdotcartoon static mascots, a life-size rainbow bear walking around taking pics and giving out balloons and of course with everyone all decked in pink..the atmosphere was very carnival-like and everyone had a fab time. I was really impressed at their thorough planning and execution :) Thanks to Elaine who suggested a picnic there, we came prepared too with loads of refreshments and food so most of the time, we were stuffing ourselves silly and offering drinks to other friends we saw!Loads of peektures as usual :)the picnickers :)First pic I took..which is why I still looked so fresh :PSpotted AJ who was one of the volunteers at the event :)With Sam :)Rainbow bear giving out balloons..Poor guy must be feeling so warm!Saw this in Alvin's blog..A Page 73 reference!Check out the words on the tees of this couple..they were so cool!Loads of cute dogs~awww~Wei Chi & I acting guniang and showing off the much coveted Mr Men umbrella!pic taken from pinkdot.sgHere's the official Pink Dot Video..I have been asked several times...what if your son is gay.. how would you react? I know my boy is still young but I've too wondered abt this before. I do consider myself rather liberal (although some have said that I'm quite boring and conversative by nature :P) but I have to be honest and admit that such a revelation will come with some heartache from my side..It is natural to feel so, especially as a parent - the realisation that your child would have a tougher road ahead of him and other selfish thoughts like that you'll probably never have a chance to have a grandchild. But there shouldn't be any conditions placed on the love for my child. He is still the same kid that I've loved and cared for and I would support him and love him no matter what. What I want to be is a parent that he will have no qualms about coming to me to share his problems with n so that I will be able be understanding and be there for him, if he needs me. ******************When I was studying in year 1 of my uni studies in Vancouver (this was about 20 years ago), I chose to take a Psych elective course which was on Aids. During one of the tutorial sessions, we had a speaker Mark, who had full blown Aids (he passed away soon after). He was gay and he was telling us how he was discriminated against due to his sexuality and even more after his illness was made known. His parents had disowned him when he had outed himself to them and he has never seen them for at least a decade and he had said then that he would arrange for a letter to be sent to them after his passing. It was heart wrenching listening to his life story. After his session, some of us went up to him to hug him and chat further but I can still recall some of my Singaporean classmates refused to do so out of fear. Aids isn't just a gay disease. We also saw hemophiliacs who'd got infected as a result of a blood transfusion and also some drug users due to the exchange of used-needles. I remember helping out my TA to distribute clean needles to drug users and prostitutes along the dingy streets of Vancouver (it wasn't compulsory for us to do so) . My TA explained that it was impossible to stop them from using..and so the most they could do at their level was to curb the spread of the disease. It was indeed an experience that I would never forget In Singapore, it isn't surprising to learn that the women/housewives are amongst the highest Aids risk group here as most of them contract it from their spouses. Aids has so far claimed about 3,843 pple in singapore..For info :- There is an Aids candlelight memorial at SMU Law & Accountancy faculty tonight at 7pm, held in memory for those who have died of the disease and to remind all to continue the fight against all stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS. :) Photos by credits to KarenThere is nothing more rewarding than being a mom, and seeing your child grow and develop. I love seeing pieces of myself in him and his open affection and love for me..his kisses, his hugs and inane blabberings (okay, that I can love to a certain level :P). The love I have for him is truly unconditional..and in truth, he has really taught me the real meaning of loving someone..:)Being a mom has made me appreciate my own mother more..My mother is quite a character actually..very strong-willed, stubborn and critical. I've inherited some of her traits and that has led to quite a bit of friction during my younger days especially since I was a rather rebellious kid. I guess as a kid, I was oblivious to it all thinking that all she wanted to do was to make my life miserable. When I was in Sec school, most of my friends were allowed to go to those house functions and dates whereas our household had a strict curfew and boys then was a no-no (although that didn't stop me). In fact, I still managed to attend a fair share of functions by sneaking out of the house with the help of my siblings (yes, I was that naughty). But now that I'm a parent, I can now better understand why she saw the need to curtail my actions especially since I was 'wild' by nature. She is the reason why I have a uni cert actually. At the age of 20, was working full time in hotel as a waitress and having the time of my life! And she decided that my education was important and decided on my behalf to ship me off to Canada to further my studies..I remember being quite devasted then because I was enjoying myself so much and was so reluctant to part with my then-boyfriend. In retrospect, I was really so naive then!I know mom has been really concerned about me especially since the breakup of my marriage..in fact, she took the news quite badly. She has told me that her only wish now is to see that all her children are all well taken care off and I think she's afraid that I may not be able to cope on my own, especially with a child. I have to constantly reassure her that I'm fine.. Lately too, she's been giving me and my sister her jewellery saying that she doesn't like to wear them much at her age and rather have someone who appreciates them wear it. Even though we were both reluctant to accept them, she kept insisting saying that it gives her great pleasure to do so (too bad I don't have any daughter that I can pass the jewellery & my collection of bags to).Hope everyone made your mom happy today although it shouldn't be just on Mother's Day yah! Becoming Aware... I have to admit..when the news of the takeover of Aware first broke, I didn't pay much heed to it. I'm generally quite passive about current affairs..But the newspaper coverage of it was intensive and so I dutily followed the saga through the reports. I also started asking my colleagues about how they felt about it. Most ..were like me, ambivalent. Some didn't even bother to read about it saying that it doesn't really concern them. Even though my stance was rather blasé initially, I still continued to follow the saga and on the night before the Aware EGOM, I don't know why but I just felt that it was the right thing to show up to cast my vote of no-confidence..I began to acknowledge that the series of happening has affected me somehow and that I shouldn't choose to remain bochap and remain apathetic. I guess I realised that if everyone had the same feelings as I had, then it will be really sad.I won't write much about what happened because you can find most of it online (here and here) and in the papers. Elaine, Tricia & Germaine have also blogged about the EOGM and their views of it. And I would also like to highly recommend this fair analysis by George Cherian, an assistant prof at NTU. I also want to add that I'm really glad I made the decision to be there (even though it was really last minute) and that my vote was amongst the 1414. Some pics..(yeah, I always have pics..the one below was taken by my colleague Alvin though)We were there early..Actually, I was the latest at 12.30 pm but the rest of them were already there much earlier (before noon) and there was already a long queue which stretched out all the way to the 3rd floor (the EOGM was on the 4th floor)So while waiting for it to start, take peektures :PThat's Tricia's friend, Youyen on the right. It was because of her (she came much earlier as she was one of the volunteers) that we could get seats pretty upfront..I met a uni-mate Adeline, whom I've not seen for more than 18 years...she still looks the same!Irene Ang addressing the exco "...You say you have an open door for all women,but how to open your door when you change the locks to magnetic locks?You say you want to help retrenched women, and then the very next day you fire one..!!"Legal counsel of the old guards, Siew Kum Hong asking the heated crowd to cool down...The very deluded Dr Thio Su Mien who was telling the crowd that she was deserving of the feminist mentor title especially because she was cited in a book that Aware had published in 1997 on the achievement of women in Singapore! "I'm on Page 73!" she said..After she said that, we all had this wtf look on our face. Check out the Aetos security guards surrounding her..if they weren't there, I'm sure she would have been lynched.Germaine was twittering throughout the process so many of those who were unable to make it for the EGOM were able to follow the proceedings via twitter..See, even when she was celebrating the results of the no-confidence voting, she was twittering the results :)A tense moment when the (ex) new-exco returned and both factions were standing on the same stage..Josie Lau announcing on behalf of the exco that they were stepping down..Okay..I may kena criticised for this but I really felt that Josie showed grace under fire. It wasn't easy being in her position, being jeered at and heckled non-stop and she remained composed throughout the proceedings..and even had to apologise on behalf of one of her exco members who asked someone to "Shut Up and Sit Down!" I'm sure u guys have seen the videos but nothing beats being there itself. It was an emotionally charged event and the supporters of the old guards were mostly very vocal about their feelings. Here's the video of the "Shut Up & Sit Down" Incident...The newly elected new-exco celebrating on stage together with six term Aware president Constance Singam..Whole group of us, very happy with the results..And we were all extremely tired and hungry as we were there for almost 9 hours!Heh..the wonders of the internet. When I returned home just at about 11pm that night, I saw several msn dialogue boxes open..most had found out via the same medium that I'd attended the EOGM..all the comments were like "I saw your mug on TOC homepage!". I have to admit, Wei Chi's comment about it amused me. She wasn't sure whether that was me because she was wondering "Angie is the type that will attend Aware EGOM meh?" Alamak.. HK shoot! Have been in Hong Kong with the li' boy since Thursday! Will be only back tomorrow night! Aidan had been asking to go to Disneyland and I've been craving for a short holiday so I thought, what the heck :) We had 2 whole days of Disneyland *man..super tired siah* and today was meant to be relaxing as I'd arranged for a photoshoot at the hotel..the boy was pretty accomodating initially but when the shoot ended at the swimming pool, he became really grouchy because he wanted so much to go into the pool and erm, I didn't want to get my hair wet :P But he got his wish very soon after and now he's all burnt! But we're having a good time and he's asking to go to Disneyland again tomorrow *arghhhhh*!Here's a preview of some of the pics..:)see his super buay song face here!photos taken by Karen. Health & You Seminar on Your Child's Health Those who are keen on attending this seminar on Child's Health, email me at angeliat@sph.com.sg. Will arrange for FOC entry for you. You'll also receive a goodie bag worth over $20. :)~ Aidan declared last Friday that it was Piggy, Nosehair and Mousey's birthday on Saturday and that Deeno's birthday was on Sunday.Deeno as most of you should know, is the latest addition to the animal harem.These animals/toys have been his bed companions ever since they joined the household. If you guys have followed my blog for a while, you'll know that Piggy is almost as 'old' as him and has been with him since he was a baby and the rest joined him later. And yes, he sleeps with them all the time! After Aidan's night terrors episode ended, he still continued to wake up in the middle of the night..not in fear, but in a daze. Most of the time, he'll sleepwalk to the living room, do a U-turn and walk back to bed. At times, he'll wake up and end up peeing into the bins..either the one in the living room or my room (thankfully, Nenita had placed plastic bags in them). We'll only discover the deed the morning after. Made us worried for a while too especially for his safety. Interestingly enough, after he started bringing Deeno into bed with him, he finally stopped waking up in the middle of the night much to our relief. Anyway, on Saturday morning, the boy woke me up by singing Happy Birthday at the top of his voice!! Darn..he remembered! He suggested having a celebration by getting a cake for them! But since we were attending Elaine's birthday that evening, I told him that he'll get to eat a birthday cake that night and hope that it will satisfy his craving for a birthday celebration.But Sunday came and he woke me up again with another loud birthday song dedication..this time for Deeno! The boy kept asking us why we refused to celebrate their birthdays... And so *sigh*, I relented... mainly because I was actually craving for Awfully Chocolate's Banana Chocolate cake (it's Aidan's fave cake too). Aidan was ecstatic when he saw the cake with all the animals' names scribbled on it (the shop assistant at Awfully Chocolate couldn't stop giggling when I was collecting the cake). He happily lined his animals up next to the cake and asked me to take a pic of him with them before blowing out the candles on their behalf. So cute lah, this boy. He's really such a sweet boy and never fails to brighten up my day with his child-like ways and innocence. Left : Baby Aidan with Piggy during their younger days. Right : Aidan together with Piggy & Nosehair (right). If you are wondering how the latter got it's name..if you look closely at the pic, you'll see a black thread on the soft toy's snort. Aidan was so tickled by it and said it looked like nosehair and so the name stuck..(even though the thread has been unravelled already).The cake was delish~~*slurp********************************************Uh-oh..he brought back his Chinese test results on Friday and..it was just slightly above the passing gradeAiyoh..look at those eyes..he was actually tearing up when I told him I was disappointed with his grades..I can't blame the boy actually..My chinese is really quite atrocious. I haven't been speaking to him in Mandarin much at home mainly because I suck at it big time. He admits that he doesn't enjoy chinese class in school and I guess the reason is because he doesn't fare well in it. Actually, it is kinda embarrassing because I have been helping him with his chinese homework and I'm having problems with the hanyu pinyin section! In fact, he brought home his Chinese homework which i'd assisted him in and asked "Mommy, how come you teach me chinese also will get wrong! I told teacher you helped me!" Really paiseh man! I'm actually bringing his homework to the office so that my colleagues are able to assist me with it before helping him. In fact, when Aidan showed Nenita his test results, she actually gave Aidan a 'high5' and exclaimed "Wah u passed! U passed!" Alamak...Gah, I think I have to start bucking up on my chinese or else the boy will suffer more.Thankfully, he's doing well in his Maths & English Spelling..and I have to thank Nenita, my helper for that as she grills him on his english spelling and makes him do maths problems in the afternoons after school. Maybe I should send Nenita for chinese lessons instead :P**********************As usual, I have more pics to post..some are from Irene's farewell dinner at my place and the rest from Elaine's '18 years-old' birthday celeb last Sat. Great pals, tons of food, lotsa laughter! Man..I've been indulging too much lately and have put on at least 2kg. Not healthy at all *bleah*. Time to start shaping up!@Irene's farewell makan gathering at my placeLoads of food..*****************Elaine turns 18 again birthday celebrationForever 18~ Ze birthday girl making sure that the kids do not blow out the candles before her. "IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!" she told them! (actually, the kids still managed to do so the first time round so we had to do the birthday song again)Nic presenting Elaine with the sabo gift. Since she wanted a charm bracelet, we gave her one - Mariah Carey's Charm Bracelet CD!The happy bday girl with her 'real' gift -The gorgeous heart charm and the vinyl charm to go with her Thomas Sabo charm bracelet :)Post-makan entertainment. I gotta get myself an iphone!Girly group pic~Elaine looking like a happy suckling pig on the table with the boysss~:) All about Aidan.. Those who knows me personally or who have been following my blog regularly would have always hear me describing Aidan as someone who is extremely hyper and active. He has boundless energy and would often be tearing through the house like a tornado..He always have a need to be constantly on the move. With the exception of the tv and his console games and while he is eating (his 3 major ♥), it is usually quite hard to hold his interest for long and he would often dart off without warning, especially when we are outdoors...which had caused me (and some of my friends) heart attacks. He also has 'shifty eyes' where he tends not to look directly into our eyes and his own eyes will be wandering elsewhere. As he grew older, I also realised that he had other traits like having trouble focusing, paying attention to details and following instructions. All his teachers have fedback to me that the boy has a problem paying attention in class and is easily distracted. He also tends to space out and start day-dreaming in class. In fact, he is now seated in the first row, middle row so that the teachers will be able to monitor him . He was almost kicked out of his Golf CCA class because he was deemed a hazard to the other students (he was too boisterous lah). I had to beg the golf teacher to give him another chance. The boy also realised the implication of his behavior and has promised to be more attentive and not to jump around so much during his golf class. But at least for the moment, he's still faring okay in school..I guess mostly because we have been pretty on the ball with his school homework and drilling him on his weekly spelling. So far, he's been scoring either full marks or 9/10. Interestingly though..he seems to enjoy school with math has his fave subject (just behind Recess and PE :P) and he still detest chinese.Of course..I've been wondering for quite a while whether he could have ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). It's not that I want to have him labelled but more to have a better understanding of what's he's going through so I may be able to better manage him and my own expectations and to learn how to cope accordingly. I know some of my friends (especially those closer to me) have also suspected too as his behavior does seemed to indicate so.. Adhd traits are as follows :-1. an inattentive type, with signs that include:inability to pay attention to dails or a tendency to make careless errors in schoolwork or other activitiesdifficulty with sustained attention in tasks or play activitiesapparent listening problemsdifficulty following instructionsproblems with organizationavoidance or dislike of tasks that require mental efforttendency to lose things like toys, notebooks, or homeworkdistractibilityforgetfulness in daily activities2. a hyperactive-impulsive type, with signs that include:fidgeting or squirmingdifficulty remaining seatedexcessive running or climbingdifficulty playing quietlyalways seeming to be "on the go"excessive talkingblurting out answers before hearing the full questiondifficulty waiting for a turn or in lineproblems with interrupting or intruding3. a combined type, which involves a combination of 1 & 2.I brought him to Bridge Learning and he underwent a 2 hour session* with the school's pyschologist. Aidan's dad came along too for the post-analysis discussion. In brief, the doctor did say that Aidan did seem to show signs of mid-mild ADHD. She didn't think that medication is required but she did recommend some therapy programmes that he could undergo (she wasn't pushy at all). Also, she said that through the series of test he went through, he has an aptitude for maths & so she said that we should also try to reinforce his interest in it. Something interesting occurred during his review time with her too. He was asked to draw a picture of his family. He drew the 3 of us (me, my-ex and himself) and...Gabriel, jinsiew's son. Gabriel is his best friend who often stays over at our place (Aidan bunks over at Jin's place too). We kinda have an exchange programme :) I believe he thinks of Gabriel as the older brother he'd always wanted to have. In fact, Gabe even asked Aidan to call him brother and the boy was so happy when he heard that :) Anyway, during our session, the doctor actually asked us whether we were still 'together'. When I mentioned that we were living separately, she indicated that she'd suspected it to be so through the picture he drew and she showed us what he drew. His drawing looked something like this...But she also said that Aidan is generally a happy boy who seemed to have accepted the situation..I guess the big smiles on our faces were pretty telling.We will most likely be signing Aidan on to some of the programmes. In fact, I had spoken to some parents whose kids are in the school and they all have said that their kids have benefitted from the programmes showing marked improvement in their behavior and faring much better in school. Just as well too as Aidan is in the morning session and his afternoons are usually spent at home with Nenita or my dad-in-law who visits very often. Spending some of his afternoons at the Bridge may be good for him too.*Aidan proudly told me that the lady doctor had told him after his review session that he has very lovely eyes and is very handsome :P*******************************Aidan has been clamouring for a pet for the last few months. I have no idea why actually since most of our friends do not have any. Usually during bedtime, he'll make his request for either a cat or a dog. I'm actually quite hesitant to do so because having a pet is a huge responsibility and I'm not sure whether both of us are up to it. So instead of an animal, I brought home a Pleo..which I'd gotten at an SPH discounted price. The Pleo is cute li' robotic dinosaur toy who is engineered and enhanced to mimic life and relate to its owner on a personal level..It is almost like a real pet except that it has an on-off button and works on battery. Pleo is equipped with senses for sight, sound, and touch..so it is actually capable of recognising faces (through a tiny camera embedded at its forehead), it will have moods - it purrs when it is contended, it growls when abused and once in a while, it will even hum a happy tune! (very very cute when he does that). It will also fall asleep when tired and even snores while he's at it. Apparently,it's interaction with its environment will help shape his behavior and every Pleo will eventually exhibits a unique personality.Aidan has named his pet Pleo Deeno and when so far, he's been taking good care of it..although he's been trying to force feed Pleo (it needs to be fed via an electronic leaf)! Aidan thinks Deeno has as much of an appetite as him. The boy has also been bringing Deeno to bed with him every night. It is nice to see Aidan treat the toy with care but of course when it is time to play his console games, he will totally ignore Deeno :PHere's some videos of us with Pleo Deeno when he just hatched which is why he is still quite lethargic and also one of Aidan feeding him :)Aidan feeding Deeno :)*********************Irene, whose place I'd stayed in when I was in New York is in town so I've been joining her for some makan and karaoke sessions. Might as well post some pics here since the next time I update could probably be in a month's time :PBefore and During our ko session@Partyworld in Orchard..Irene & I all dolled up before our dinner at Mimolette..Grp pic :) I very lightbulb leh :PThe 3 chiobus *buaypaiseh*Irene with one of my fave couple, Mong and her ahlau, Edward :)At Irene's friend BBQ somewhere in the east..A visit to Pei Fen's place to beo Kristy..Aidan attaching himself to Pei Fen's ahbang, Edwin.Another k-o session, this time at Kbox Cineleisure withTrish,Eugene, Khai, Irene and Wendy Singapore Entertainment Awards... Oops..realised I haven't been updating my blog for a while...! Well, guess now I kinda do have a reason to since I have taken tons of pictures recently! Am pretty impressed with my Lumix LX3..Was helping out at the Singapore Entertainment Awards last evening and I couldn't possibly bring my big ass DSLR cam! Most of the stage pictures were taken without flash and the pics came out really clear! My colleagues who were from the Chinese team had been so busy with the award show and had been working till the wee hours in the morning for the past few weeks. Am glad for them that the show was such a success. It was held at the Marina Bay Floating Platform and there was basically no wet weather plan. If it had rained during the show, it would have meant that the show would be cancelled. And you know how crazy the weather has been lately. In fact, it was still pouring cats and dogs with thunder and lightning at around 3pm that afternoon..thankfully, the rain stopped and the show could go on :)That's us having some fun before the start of the show :) Beware...I've got tons of pics from the Award Show with lotsa pics of the performers, both on stage and off! I was on duty but managed to sneak off several times to take pics of the performances :PI ♥ my job :)with my colleague Ching :)That's Shan & Adeline...The event site..all rained in! That's Teo Ser Luck in blue, the GOH of the event. He was pretty sporting..waving his lightsticks about..TVB actor Raymond Lam won the omy Hottest Web Celeb and Most Popular HK Actor awards.Energy performing on stage..Aska Yang - he almost didn't make it here due to lawsuit over his contract in Taiwan..He won the Regional Newcomer of the Year and Most Popular Regional Newcomer Awards, which was voted by the public. This aunty flew all the way from Taiwan just to see him perform..Initially, I was kinda worried for her since she was at the moshpit area (which meant she had to stand the whole night) but they got a chair for her so that she could sit down when she's tired..JJ Lin's turn to perform on stage..my male colleagues were oogling at his dancers *roll eyes*He won Best Local Singer and KBox most popular Karoake Hits awards..Sun Yan Tze who performed with local acapella group, Budak PantaiShe looked really gorgeous! She won for most popular female singer and most popular local singer.Show Luo (aka Xiao Zhu) was a big winner that night..Here's Teo Ser Luck presenting him with his 3rd award of the night..He won the Most Popular Male Singer, Artiste of the Year and Most Stylish Hunk awards.Group pics of all the performing artistes at the Post-Event Party..With Aska Yang! He was super friendly!JJ Lin ..he's got such fair skin and cute dimples *jealous*Local filmmaker Royston Tan..he sang/rapped with Chou Pi Jiang!Tommy Chen - He's one of Show Luo's dancers and if i'm mistaken, a dance choreographer too..I have no idea why i'm doing that idiotic thumbs-up sign..!Producer-arranger-music director Goh Kheng Long - super talented Singaporean who is known in the industry largely for his talent at album production and music arrangement.He won the Outstanding Achievement Award (Music).Chew Sin Huey - she's really grown prettier but I'm not too sure about the blonde hair though...Energy..these boys are really cute I must say..Argh..thumbs-up again. I swear..they started it first so I had no choice but to follow~Chou Pi Jiang - the local rap group! I like this pic..we all look so cool :D~All the pics taken with my lumix that night can be found hereAlamak..i was apparently not 'that discreet' with my photo-taking. My colleague alerted me of a pic found here***************************Heh, I know this is unrelated to the topic of my post but since we are on the topic of celebrities, I just wanna post this pic since I know some of my gfs like to beo him :D...auntyadele, Joan and I at the Blogout! 2009 with Yongfook An Aidan update~ The boy came up to me yesterday and said.. "Teacher said my hair is too long..must cut hair!"Huh?!! Long meh?Aiyoh..this vain mummy here was already thinking that his hair is too short. I guess it is probably the sideburns that the school has a problem with..maybe I'll just snip those away and see if we can get away with it for the time being. If his hair is cut any shorter, he's gonna look really tood man!After I wrote about his night terrors, some have asked whether the stress from Primary School could be the cause of it. Well, he is still having those night terrors..they occur every night without fail. However, what I'd done (as recommended) was to disturb his sleep cycle and wake him up about an hour after he's fallen asleep. Even though that did not stopped the night terror from occurring, the episode itself does seemed shorter and he doesn't looked as disturbed & frightened and falls back to sleep much faster. Well, either that or I've gotten used to it. Have accepted the fact that this could become a regular occurrence and that we just have to deal with it. I want to thank those who had shared with me their own experience with night terrors. It did give me quite a bit of assurance.Aidan does seemed to be enjoying school though. He has never resisted going to school in the morning and when queried, he'll say that he likes school. But then again, his favourite 'subjects' in school is Recess and PE so that's kinda telling too. I have been communicating with his form teacher and chinese teacher via email and both of them have told me the same thing..that Aidan tends to be rather unfocused in class with a pretty short attention span. This has always been his problem since young..which had been my concern for a while. Not sure what else I can do to improve that. But he doesn't have any problems learning his spelling and doing his homework - although it does take a while to get all of it done.I'm not a mom who has extremely high expectations of my kid because I wasn't exactly a bright kid myself and I don't want to give him any undue pressure. I don't expect him to score top marks or be elected a monitor/prefect. Just as long as he's able to cope well in his school work and do okay, I'll be perfectly satisfied. I know such an attitude may not benefit him especially in such a rat race society like Singapore where students are more often than not judged by their grades. But it is because I know my kid well and I know giving him too much pressure wouldn't be of any good. I guess I just want him to be a happy boy who will grow up with fond memories of his childhood.The boy has been missing his good buddy Gabriel ever since school started and have been bugging me to arrange a playdate. Gabe stayed overnight yesterday and the two had a whale of a time playing with each other..Couldn't resist taking pics of the two of them together :)The boy looks like he has put on some weight..I think it is largely due to the 2 dishes he has been having every recess time :) memories of the good ol' days :) This post was inspired by the above pic that was posted by Christina on Facebook!! :) Pic was taken in 1983..when I was 14 years old!From left : erm, no idea who he is, Bernard,Vivian,Christina,Pichai,moi,Kenneth,Ian,Francis,Kari I can’t help being nostalgic and thinking back of those fun times during my secondary school days. Have to blame it on Facebook since it helped me reconnect with some of my old pals…we may all have changed, most are married with kids..the men have lesser hair, bigger paunches and have mellowed quite a bit..the women on the other hand look about the same (based on their pics in facebook since most of the chabors in the group have moved out of Singapore).Those carefree days were truly one of the most enjoyable phases of my life! I don’t recall studying at all so it was a miracle that I’d actually managed to pass my exams. My time in school was spent enjoying the various ECAs. I played netball, was in track & field (long distance) and in the school band too (I played the French horn heh). But the best moments were actually spent out of school – with the folks from Gardens (Serangoon Gardens). It was a motley bunch comprising of people from various school – Saint Joseph’s Convent, Saint Gabriel’s Secondary, Serangoon Garden Technical, Cedar Girls School etc..The common point we had was that we all lived in (or somewhere near) Serangoon Gardens. We were named the Kunjus ..we even had group bomber jackets - purple for the guys and pink for ladies!I grew up in Serangoon Gardens (also known as Ang Sar Lee - Red Roof because many of the houses had red roof tiles), one of the oldest estate in Singapore. In fact, my family moved twice within Gardens. When I was much younger, we lived in Borthwick Drive, a quaint bungalow with a large garden where my mom used to plant her beloved blossom plants and orchids. We also reared many animals including dogs, cats, ducks and rabbits! Our second home at Gardens was a double story terrace at Jalan Pacheli, situated on the top of the slope of the road just behind my primary school, Cooling Close Convent. My sis and I playing at the garden and the front porch of our borthwick drive home when I was about 4 years old..The old CHIJ : Convent of Our Lady of Good Counsel also known as Cooling Close Convent - photo credit : Fiona Chia YeoSerangoon Gardens in the 70s and early 80s was really different. During my time, there was a cinema (Paramount Theatre) where the current Serangoon Gardens Village Complex is situated. Apparently, there are plans to convert this into a mega mall soon. I can still remember watching those old sword fighting movies (Reincarnation!!) and ‘blockbuster’ hits like Grease & Staying Alive there! Just infront of the theatre, there was this drink shop that sold my favorite ong-lai (pineapple)drink . And around that area was a fish shop (I’d bought tons of guppies and fighting fishes from there) and a video arcade store where I was regular ‘customer’ after school hours, playing games like Space Invaders and Donkey Kong.Back then, it was so easy to rig the games. All you have to do is to go behind the console, switch on and off it quickly and voila, free game! Only problem is that your high score would also be erased :P Chomp Chomp was another of our fave hangouts after school. We would order our favourite ice kachang or chendo drinks at the dessert store located right at the far end of the food centre and park ourselves there for ages. My standard food order there will be prawn noodle soup from the aunty who wears very thick cake foundation and was always in a cheongsam! And back then, the hokkien mee stall was already very popular so it was one of our fave makan item too! I was pretty wild as a kid..but not in a havoc way! I was a super tomboy then, believe it or not! Even though my parents were pretty strict with us (we had curfews), I could somehow, with the help of my siblings manage to slip out of the house to join my friends. It definitely helped that I was pretty agile and scrawny as a kid so I had no problems climbing over gates and squeezing through drains. The group would cycle to my place and whistle outside the gate and wait for me to ‘escape’ and then I will tongpang one of the bikes. We would spend the evening cycling around gardens, going to the park (no hanky panky – I swear!) and on some evenings, we’ll attend those house functions that was the rage then! One of our regular hangout was the Serangoon Gardens Community Centre’s library where we would ‘pretend’ to study for our test/exams but most of us will inevitably end up at the basketball court either playing ball or watching the guys breakdancing and the day will always end up with us at Chomps or Buddy's (a fast food joint)!Man..those memories *sigh* Met up with some of the folks from way back recently…and we had such a fun time reminiscing the past. I gotta say that I’m glad that I had such an enjoyable ‘teenagehood’. Found some really interesting pictures of Serangoon Garden in the old days..Unless you are about my age or older, you probably won't remember any of this but this was where I grew up! After we moved out of Gardens, I used to tell myself that if I had the cash, I would definitely buy a place there but oh well... Let's see if I strike Toto later heh.This is the old Paramount Theatre...(pic from goodmorningyesterday blog)This is another pic of the cinema (u can see the old movie posters)Coffee Bean now sits on the site..(pic from jalankayatrail blog)This row of shophouses is along Kensington Park Road (right opposite Chomps)(pic taken from this album that features many of the old buildings/estates in SingaporeThe old bus interchange along Maju Ave in front of the row of shophouses. I can still remember there was a bar - Captain's Cabin and my dad's favourite a zi char place called Hup Lee)..I used to take bus no. 217 which circles round the estate.One of my fave places back then...NIB, where they bought and sold second hand books!This was where I'd spent most of my pocket money at - those Enid Blyton books & slowly graduating to Mills & Boons and the likes of Sidney Sheldon..The place is now where food joint Happy Daze is..which is run by my sec school mate, Anne.St Francis Xavier Church..where I used to attend mass..I'm not sure whether it has changed much since.Okay..I looked really fugly in this pic!Actually, I could pass off for a boy most of a time and that was how the guys treated me like..a li' bro! Okay, they don't usually wear fatigues..this was for a party that we were attending later.I think someone lent me a kid's size kaki pants for the party :PDaniel Gan(bottom left) was one of my best buddy! He was an elder bro I never had and I would always go crying to him when I had problems (usually when I get whacked by my parents lah). Whenever I *coff* ran away from home, it was usually to his place and my sister would always know who to call when she was tasked to bring me back :PKenneth Mark Yong.. the guy with the Rambo-like headband was another fun guy to be with. He used to have his own mobile disco so we'll always tag along for the house parties. I remember that he used to be a DJ at Sparks (former Fire??) He's now the GM for a chain of restaurants & a father of 3.And George Gomez, the skinny guy in pic on the top right..was like the head pai-kia! He used to tease me a lot but then, he was also very protective of us..! Us 25 years later..Daniel hasn't changed that much..:)Kenneth..he's now much more serious and matured!George, on the other hand is no longer as scrawny as before *grin*With Daniel's wife, Kat and his son Dylan :) Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:14:57 GMT For the last three nights, the boy had been having night terrors. Initially, I thought he was just having a bad dream but his reaction really alarmed me as it was the first time I'd witnessed it. The first night, I was awoken by his loud scream and when I dashed into his room, he was trashing around the bed, kicking his legs about and rolling about non-stop. He had a look of intense fear on his face and his tongue was lolling about. I really panicked when I saw him behaving like that and when my reassurance and hugs couldn't calm him down at all, I really felt so helpless. It was only after about 20 minutes or so that he finally calmed down and fell asleep. The day after, he had totally no memory of what had happened. I only realised that he was suffering from this sleep terror disorder after I googled about it when it happened the second night in a row.Night terrors are a common sleep problem among children. By some estimates, about 15% of younger children have occasional night terrors.Although most common in children between the ages of 2 and 6 years,they can occur at almost any age.Although usually considered to be normal or benign, they are often very scary and distressing to parents who often overreact, especially during a child's first night terror. SymptomsWhen you hear how most experts describe night terrors, it is easy to see why parents find them distressing. Children who have night terrors are usually described as 'bolting upright' with their eyes wide open,with a look of fear and panic, and letting out a 'blood curdlingscream'. These kids will usually also be sweating, breathing fast andhave a rapid heart rate (autonomic signs). And although it will seem like they are awake, during a night terror, children will appearconfused, will not be consolable and won't recognize you.Typical night terrors last about 5 to 30 minutes and afterwards,children usually return to a regular sleep. If you are able to wake your child up during a night terror, he is likely to become scared and agitated, mostly because of your own reaction to the night terror,especially if you were shaking or yelling at him to wake up. Instead oftrying to wake up a child having a night terror, it is usually betterto just make sure he is safe, comfort him if you can, and help him return to sleep once it is over.Info from here : http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/sleep/a/night_terrors.htm Realised that I'd made the mistake of trying to wake him up which may have agitated him more. Also, I'd thought initially that he was having kind of seizure because he was convulsing quite badly during the episodes but based on the info on the net, it does seem like night terrors do appear similar to epileptic seizures. Am somewhat relieved after reading all this info because I was really quite affected after seeing him like that for 3 nights in a row. The cause of this could be due to fatigue, stress or illness...my guess is that he'd been really on the 'high' after all the CNY visiting and various activities I'd involved him in.. Made a conscious effort to wind him down when I put him into bed earlier on..Hopefully, there won't be any occurrence tonight. Any of you or your kids suffered from this before? Took some pics of us earlier on..He had his first spelling test today and he got it all correct so he was in a very jovial mood..He's started his golf lesson in ACSJ already..I'm also retaking golf lessons again so that hopefully, we can play together in the future. Went to the Executive Golf Course at Mandai on Sunday to swing at the balls abit and let him have a go at it. He may look as if he knows what he's doing but he was playing golf hockey most of the time :)