Jaimie's Hanky Baby

Jaimie has been stuffing lots of handkerchieves into her tshirt for quite some time.

I was guessing she was pretending to be pregnant but I didn't want to tell her I knew what was she up to. I wanted her to tell me. Whenever I asked her, she would keep quiet and looked shy. One fine day last week, she finally confessed that it was her "handkerchief baby". I nodded and asked if she thought she was having a baby in her stomach, just like auntie pam/ auntie shelley/ shen-shen (my sister in law)... she said yes.

I am amused that a 3 year old will pretend play to be pregnant. Is it a sign of her interest in sexuality? Nursing babies and all I can understand but pregnant? Hmmm....?

I Have A Dream...

I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I'll cross the stream - I have a dream
I have a dream, a fantasy
To help me through reality
And my destination makes it worth the while
Pushing through the darkness still another mile
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see

This is the song which the Abba/ Mama Mia fans will know.

I have a dream too.

My dream is to publish a book of my own.

And it is going to materialise soon!

Writing has always been my passion (in Chinese..lah). Clement used to keep my articles published on the newspapers. When he showed me the folder he used to keep the articles, a thought crossed my mind -- how wonderful if it wasn't a plastic folder but a book! From then on, I begin to dream of having a book of my own.

However, "becoming an author" is something out of this world for me. It seems too big, too distant, too intangible for me. How on earth, a nobody like myself, can publish a book and see them on the bookshelves of Popular and Kinokuniya? I dreamed about it and talked about it but I never really think I will ever, ever do it.

Those who knew what happened to me early this year knew that it was quite a difficult time for me. Part of my world was quite shattered and filled with darkness and fear. It was in these difficult times that I thought to myself "I AM going to realise my dream. I will prove to myself that nothing is too big to dream for! I want to assure myself that I am capable of realising my dreams!"

After that, I thought about it seriously and put my thoughts into action.

Yes. I just met my publisher friend this afternoon. He is helping me to bind my dreams into a book.

And I have another dream too! This is not possible if not for MayDay. I found so much strength and inspirations from their songs. In my darkest days, I couldn't control my tears when I listened to their songs like 《出头天》、《我心中尚未崩坏的地方》. It felt like they were singing to me and understood exactly, EXACTLY how I felt then. It gave me so much comfort in those turbulant times. I asked my publisher friend to get the books ready before 29 August 2009, which is their concert in Singapore. I am going to find my way to present them with my book and to thank them for their music which lifted me up. Yes. I am going to do it.

Nothing big is going to come out of this dream of mine, seriously. I am not going to be the next best seller author in Singapore nor I am going to be rich and famous. In fact, I will be a few thousand dollars poorer for publishing a Chinese book in Singapore because of the pathetic market.

However, it is really my way to keep myself going and fighting. It is my way to give Jaimie a gift. It is my way to say thank you to all my loved ones. It is a way for me to say to my friends, I appreciate all of you so much.

I shall not reveal the contents of the book as yet but I will reveal part of the list of people whom I dedicate the book to! It is a long list, because it is probably going to be the one and only book I am going to write! Hahaha~~

Not in any particular order:
Wolfgirl
Vivian
Joyce
Meekfreek
Diana
LZMommy
Yeow Seng & Shelley
Bernard & Dawn
Terry & Pam
Raymond & Janice
Cedric and Elodie (yes, I know they are French)

For my "UK gang", the greatest, greatest gift in my life, besides my family, is ALL OF YOU!!. I LOVE YOU ALL!!

For my forum-friends-who-become-great-friends-in-life, thank you!! Thank you for EVERYTHING!

For LZMommy, you may not know how much you have inspired me!

I could not write my personal messages to you all in the book so I write them over here in my blog.

I will keep everybody updated on the status of the publication, rather, my dream!

Term 1 Schchida Class

Jaimie has completed one term in Schchida. How developed is her right brain? We have no idea and we didn't really bother. The important thing is, she enjoys the class activities very much!

For a term of 12 lessons, most of the time it was Clement who accompanied her while I sat in MacDonalds to do my marking. Since it is the June vacation now, I gave Daddy a break. We are not supposed to take pictures during class but this mommy here does not like to observe rules! Heh heh heh.

Jaimie waiting for her classmates to join in the class.

That's teacher Aishah. Imagination and play time.

The kids had a Red Indian headband tied to their head and given meat made of paper to skewer at the paper fire.

Having an indoor imaginary BBQ.

Flashcard time.

Fine motor skills training.

Each child was given a tong and asked to pick up the litter using the tong and put into the bin. Every child did what was being told except our little friend. She was so eager to "pick up the litter" for her beloved teacher Aishah that she picked up one ball of newspaper with the tong while using the other hand to pick up 4 balls of newspaper so that she can clear up the place faster.

Seeing that Jaimie enjoys herself so much in the classroom activities, we have signed Jaimie up for another term in Schchida. We want her to enjoy learning!

Happy Fathers' Day!

Once upon a time, there were 4 uncles woodcutters, Jeff, Clement, Bobby and Chai San who lived an honest, quiet and humble life.

One day, 4 lovely, beautiful, kind and sweet fairies decided to make the woodcutters happy so they decied that they will grant each of them a wish.

The fairies gave the woodcutters a chocolate cake from the land of Bengawan Solo and instrcuted them to make a wish and plant the candle into the cake. And their wishes will be granted.

Clement was quick to make his wish! He wished for "bundles of joy and laughter"...

and his wish was granted! 4 little pixies popped up behind the mushrooms! They danced and sang with their best friends, Hi-5!

They danced and sang all night long.
The little pixies went on to beat the drum with all their might and blew the trumpet with all their lungs power hoping to bring more "joy and laughter" to the 4 woodcutters.

Bobby buay-darhan liow. He quickly wished for some time to chill out.

But he forgot to mention who was the one who would be chilling out. So little Isabel had some chillout time, thanks to Bobby.

Now Chai San learnt the lesson from Bobby and Clement. He was more cautious in his wish. He wanted "his hut to be fill the hut with joy and laughter BUT in a quieter manner".

and "poooohh"! His wish was granted indeedd! Isabel turned into a demure princess with the sweetest smile on her face. These pixies decided to be "Daddies' little girls"... for a while.


Now now. Here's Jeff! Guess what he wished for?

TA-DAH!!!! How clever!!!

and he even wished to be served!


So Jeff, Bobby, Chai San and Clement were now very happy with the great food and carrying their "bundles of joy and laughter" in their arms.



The end.

Fun Among The Clouds

Kena suan for not contributing to the blog already. I shan't put forth any excuses for myself. Writer's block? More like plain and simple laziness. Ok, since I've got lots of pics from the trip, I'd put up a photo post here. Saves me the trouble to compose lengthy prose, too.

Yes, I know. I'm still lazy.

Psst! There's a strange boy looking at us. Uh-oh. He's coming towards us!

Yeeks! He flashed me!

Hmmph! Why do we have to hold hands?

On the other hand, I'm not complaining if that other hand belongs to a good-looking boy.

Who wants to go to the theme park?

Better put on some facial protection cream before heading outdoors.

The carousel princesses.

This pic was taken in Jun 08. [Note to readers: Yes...Jae was then sporting the look from VU Salon]

One year later. Same place. Same pose.

Look Ma. I can juuuuuump!

Like I've always told you: Kiang tio ho. Mai geh-kiang!

This spinning thingy is making me giddy!

Time for a thirst quencher!

RM30 at the arcade got me 191 tickets. 191 tickets got me just these measely whistle and pen?

It's the flasher boy again. Hurry, cover your eyes!

My Mama says, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. I like doctors. They give me sweets.

Genting had been fun. Melacca isn't too bad either!

Mei-mei, you can play with the big girls when you become one yourself. Now get back onto your stroller.

We can share this pogo stick, ok?

All this monkeying around is making us sleepy...

...Reeeeaaaallly sleeeeepy.

Well, it had certainly been a fun trip.

I'm sure we'd be back again soon. Until then, byebye!

Our Trip To Genting and Malacca 15-18th June 09

This is the driver of the 1.5mth old Suzuki SX4 who claimed to be suffering from writer's block indefinitely.
This is the family which went to Genting and Malacca in the SX4.

These are the daddies/ chauffeurs. From left, Nic (code: 995), YS (code: 407), Clement (code: 445) who convoyed and used walkie talkies to tell jokes to keep themselves awake during the long drive.

These are the mommies. From left: mommy of Ayden, mommy of Sera and Shermaine, and mommy of Jaimie.

These are the toddlers who enjoyed themselves tremendously.

This is the baby who is waiting to join in the fun with gor gor and jie-jies.

This is the group.

This is the famous beef noodles in Tengkak where we had lunch on our way to Genting. The beef noodles was YUMMILIOUS.

That was us having our breakfast in the hotel before we set off for the theme park. Our hotel package did not include breakfasts but the blur staff gave us breakfast coupons. Thank you very much!

That's the children anxiously taking their heights to ensure that they were eligible for most rides in the theme park. Well, even the shortest among them was more than 90cm so we had to purchase tickets for them now.

That's us having fun in the rides. This time, we ventured the indoor theme park before we proceeded to the outdoor one.

This is Jaimie enjoying rounds and rounds of rides in the kiddy ride land.

That's Jaimie putting her finger in an inappropriate place.

That's us replenishing our energy.

That's us enjoying ourselves in the arcade before we left Genting on the 3rd day.

That is a must-have shot of us with the Genting logo.

Nic and family didn't join us for Malacca.

By the time we reached the hotel in Malacca, we were all famished and it was evening time. We walked over to Makota to have a buffet dinner and stuffed our face full with tappanyakki. The 2 girls started to go wild after dinner.

It has an hour's break for the mommies. Shelley and I wasted no time in shopping around. YS brought Shermaine back to the hotel to rest while Clement babysitted 2 princesses for an hour. The best place to keep them happy and occupied would definitely be the arcade!

That's the 2 princesses. Sera asked how come she was not the queen while Jaimie was happy to be a princess.

That's us taking a picture outside the hotel. It rained in the morning but thankfully it stopped by the time we went down for our breakfast. Jaimie was still in her "princess mode".

That's the night view from our room. We didn't see any of Malacca except the 2 shopping malls nearest to our hotel. What a shame. So this picture is very... representative!

That's us taking some pictures in our room. YS booked the more luxurious room at a promotional rate. The rooms were indeed very spacious and cosy (except there were lizards running around in the balcony. Of course we kept the glass doors tightly shut).

That's the girls enjoying MORE rides while the mommies went for MORE shopping. Thank god for the marvellous invention of kiddy rides!

That's the not-nice chendol we had in the shopping mall. We must eat chendol in Malacca so anyhow ordered from one of the shops. It was a mistake. We should have insisted on the famous durian chendol in that I-cannot-remember-what's-the-name-of-that-famous-shop.

After some final shopping, we had lunch at a Hong Kong cafe before we "chiong" all the way back to Singapore.

The children had so much fun together and the daddies had fun driving (something which the mommies could not understand). It was a GREAT trip! We sure hope to travel with the Chuah and the Lee family again!!! Till the next trip, byebye!

Jaimie Writes "A"

When Viv, Wolfie and I met this morning for shopping and food at Katong, we were talking about our kids' progess when we were resting in a eatery place. Wolfie and I were still very amazed that Ezra could write his name so beautifully while our little ones were still quite far back, not that it bothers us very much, really. Afterall, they are just 3 year olds.

However, children really progressed at their own pace and continue to surprise us everyday! After we came home from IMM this evening, Jaimie was busy with her own stuff while I was busy blogging about the morning's meeting with Viv and Wolfie. Then I heard Jaimie calling for me. When I went over, she showed me the letter "A" she wrote by herself!! I was so surprised and pleased but I erased the very first "A" Jaimie wrote and asked her to write again. I wanted to see if it was a random picture she drew or a confident letter which she can write.

That's Jaimie's second attempt to write "A". However, it turned out to be a "H". I didn't highlight to her that she had written "H". Instead, I erased it and told her to try again.
Jaimie's third attempt.

Quite nicely written, isn't it?! :D

Her fourth attempt. No bad, yeah? :D I praised her generously and she was very happy.

No, Jaimie hasn't officially mastered the writing of "A" yet. When I asked her to write "A" again half an hour later, she couldn't master the strokes and "A" became "F". With some hand-holding and some verbal instructions, she wrote some decent looking "A"s after some tries.

It's anther milestone Jaimie has achieved! She has started to take an interest in learning to write!

Uniquely Singapore Tour -- Katong

We are tourists from a sunny island Sua-ku Land and we have came to visit Singapore! We heard of a very interesting place called "Katong" where there was a rich heritage of the peranakan culture. We decided to do a day tour around the place. Instead of taking the coach, we decided to self drive. Since both Wolfie and I cannot do parallel park, Viv did the girls proud by driving and parallel parking along the road. Viv was very excited when she saw her son's name on one of the signboards! As a true-blue Sua-ku Islander, she insisted she must take a picture with THE signboard.
We walked along the old shophouses in Katong hastily in search of food.

Finally we found the famous Katong Laksa which was featured in Not-Lonely Planet!

It looks yummy!

We thought the laksa was nice but not extremely outstanding. However, for the sake of our friends back home, we posed some pics to show that we had a great meal.

Because I watched Little Nyonya, I needed to have a suit of sarong kebaya! Viv and Wolfie were very helpful and studied the map so that we can find the shops that sell what I wanted.

Ahh!! There it is!

Before we reached Rumah Bebe, we found Rumah Kim Choo! Must buy home some kweh-kweh for our families to sample!

Rumah Bebe is a very cosy little shop that sells kebayas within my budget. Rumah Kim Choo sells kebayas too but it only carries the more pricey ones. I spent $195 on this whole suit, complete with brouches and a golden traditional belt to hold the sarong in place. I was tempted to get the matching earrings but I had to exert some self-control.

Three happy tourists.

Viv wanted to buy the "very famous durian puff" from Katong but ironically none of us knew the name of this "very famous" shop. Luckily, we found it by chance! Viv wasted no time in buying 20 durian puffs and I must say they were YUMMY!

After some shopping and walking, we were dying for some cold dessert. One of my friends recommeded this Taiwanese Eatery run by Taiwanese. We ordered some desserts which we thought were too sweet. We also tried "cold icy dumpling". Quite nice and cooling on a hot day!

Again, these are posed pictures to show our friends we enjoyed our food very much. Afterall, this place was famous for food. It would be a shame to tell our friends that what we ate was really quite average.

After food, shop, shop, food, Viv was tired and decided to go back to the hotel to rest. Wolfie and I were still in the shopping mood so we went to Bugis for MORE SHOPPING!

Singapore is really a very nice place to shop and eat! We were very pleased with this Uniquely Singapore tour. Who really cares about the peranakan culture?

Some Old Pics of Little Jaimie

I saw these old pictures in my laptop. They were posted in the bayb supplies forum years ago, literally.

They brought back so much fond memories of Jaimie and the forum.

An Evening With Friends

These are some of Jaimie's dearest friends...

Ayden

Seraphine

and baby Shermaine.

The kids had a great time in the pool this evening.

Jaimie was very happy because she had fun with 2 of her best friends. She was elated when we told her that both her friends would be going to Genting with us the week after next.

Yup! YS, Nic and our family will be driving to Genting together. And YS and us will stay one more night in Malacca. Jaimie still remembered her trip with Ezra and RR 1.5 years ago. Imgaine how thrilled Jaimie will be to be able to enjoy the theme park with her good friends, again!~

I am sure the 3 kids + baby Shermaine will have a smashing good time together!!

JAIMIE'S THIRD PROFESSIONAL HAIRCUT

Errr...yes, Jaimie was 38mths old yesterday and she had her third professional haircut. Her second haircut was on 21 Feb 2009. We went to the Junior League at Vivocity where Jaimie looked forward to receiving her balloon, candy and sticker.
She was hoping to watch any other movies besides Thomas the Tank Engine (yawn~~) but unfortunately, they were screening exactly what she didn't like when it was her turn. She was a little fidgeting during the haircut but generally she was cooperative. She even had some coloured hairspray after the cut which she thought was absolutely gorgeous.

We proceeded to the playground after that and to our disappointment, half the playground was under renovation. So, we went for an early dinner. We saw the statue of Singa outside the Food Republic. I guess only people who are above 30 years old know who is Singa. He should make a come back.

After dinner, it was some water fun.

The sky was beautiful in the evening.

Jaimie took over my camera and snapped these pictures. She played with the European girl in the lavander dress who spoke no English. However, it was amazing that the 2 girls could communicate, some how!!