Busy weekend...again! Which I like, of course..
Friday night: we got lucky and were invited to a free movie screening of the Pirates of the Caribean! In 3D too! Boxed dinner, free popcorn. We went with our neighbours ( who invited us ). It was a bit of a rush trying to get there (had to feed the baby, bring her back home then get dressed after work-- all before 6 PM!) BUT I did it. Left Madison with my parents for a sleepover Friday night. She loved it, of course!
Saturday morning my parents flew off to KL for the weekend so we were on our own. I had to work Saturday morning but the afternoon and evening we were free! Madison had her music class as usual, then we invited Elizabeth over for swim/dinner playdate. Her parents were out for dinner as well, and we were ALSO going to meet our neighbours for a wine dinner. Our dinner was late so I put Annika down first before going out.
Dinner was great! We went to De Luca at United Square. It's a small Italian bistro with great food and drinks. Usually quite busy so you do need to book on the weekends. It was quiet Saturday night though. Anyway, we had a great dinner. Shared a bottle of French Merlot (2009), had a few different starters to share. There was thinly sliced Parma ham with melon, rocket salad and a beef carpaccio. We shared 2 pizzas between us too. Was nice getting to know them better, and we chatted till past 10Pm! Unfortunately we didn't get to have dessert, it was getting late and we were the last ones there already.
Sunday came WAY too soon. For some really strange reason Annika slept quite poorly Saturday night. She was up at 3AM for almost 2 hours, so when we all FINALLY went back to sleep ALL of us were bushed. We slept in till 8 ( first time EVER! )
After breakfast we went down to swim. It was such a hot and sunny day! After the swim Annika had her nap, Madison and Chris settled down to watch Kung Fu Panda( which Madison enjoyed) and of course I was the dedicated errand runner. Who else? Car wash, buy fruit, buy lunch. Wanton noodle lunch for everyone. Anyway, my treat for the day was an appointment with my hairdresser at Shunji Matsuo. Finally... I didn't realize my last visit was in October LAST YEAR! I think he was really shocked. I also made another appointment in June for a colour and straightening treatment.
Directly after the hair appointment was Elizabeth's 2nd birthday party. Geok had planned a BBQ tea/dinner at her place so we walked over to help them get ready. I also baked some brownies and cupcakes for dessert. Madison went for another swim with some kids in the pool. Overall a pretty good party. It was swelteringly HOT though, and I was so trying not to get my nicely done hair all messed up. E had a huge Barney cake.
We left the party early because we had ANOTHER function. Bernie and Adriana's wedding dinner. Madison stayed behind since my parents volunteered to take her home later. OF COURSE that meant ALOT later. We left the wedding dinner early and when we got home at 1030 so had JUST gone to bed! Of course she had to get up early for school on Monday...but ANYWAY.. she had heaps of fun and that's what counts.
So... this weekend we have friends coming over for tennis and swim on Saturday planned so far. Sunday Warni has a day off so we're pretty much on our own. Pa and Ma are leaving for their trip this weekend too, so it should be interesting! I love weekends.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Repairing relationships
I admit defeat.
It's been a not so nice 5 months at Novena with the ongoing 'battle' with the BIL. I don't like the protracted strained relationships and awkward mealtimes. I hate the feeling of dread when I have to come into contact with him and the denial of each other's presence.
So when the BIL birthday came up over the weekend, it was with much trepidation that I tried to work around it.
Of course I felt I had to get a birthday gift but of course he would not want it. So I got a present for the new baby instead. A little bouncinette.
Then the issue of the birthday dinner. It's the family tradition that we all get a nice dinner of our choice on the night. So were we going to be attending?
Chris told me to check with Geok and not ASSUME that we were invited. Of course we weren't. Then of course I felt slighted, and decided that it was time to end this feud.
Well, eventually after much discussion Pa set up a meeting between us on Friday evening.
It was good actually. To have the catharsis and end the argument. It's been WAY too long. I apologized, he accepted and we had our turns to speak our minds without killing each other.
So... we ended up having dinner with the family at Jaan on Saturday night. The restaurant is located at Swissotel at Stamford and is right at the top where Equinox is. It started at 730PM and by the time we finished it was closer to 11Pm. We actually had a decent conversation for the first time in 5 months!
In other news... Madison's preschool has been struck with mass food poisoning! 8 out of 14 centres were affected, and I am eternally grateful that hers was the one of the 6 that was spared. Over 20 were admitted to hospital for IV hydration. Teachers were not spared either. Apparently the school catered food on a contract from a company called Mum's Kitchen. I'm quite upset that this happened. Kids don't have a choice when it comes to meals at school. And the kids that were affected were aged 2-6. I hope it doesn't happen again. Already I worry enough about hand, foot and mouth disease that seems to be ubiquitous at all preschools here.
As for Annika, I think she is close to walking. She has started to cruise and is perpetually trying to stand everywhere she is. And she is babbling a whole lot too. It's really cute. Today she didn't have much of an appetite. I hope she's not coming down with something.
But the best of all... tomorrow is a PUBLIC HOLIDAY! I love PH.
It's been a not so nice 5 months at Novena with the ongoing 'battle' with the BIL. I don't like the protracted strained relationships and awkward mealtimes. I hate the feeling of dread when I have to come into contact with him and the denial of each other's presence.
So when the BIL birthday came up over the weekend, it was with much trepidation that I tried to work around it.
Of course I felt I had to get a birthday gift but of course he would not want it. So I got a present for the new baby instead. A little bouncinette.
Then the issue of the birthday dinner. It's the family tradition that we all get a nice dinner of our choice on the night. So were we going to be attending?
Chris told me to check with Geok and not ASSUME that we were invited. Of course we weren't. Then of course I felt slighted, and decided that it was time to end this feud.
Well, eventually after much discussion Pa set up a meeting between us on Friday evening.
It was good actually. To have the catharsis and end the argument. It's been WAY too long. I apologized, he accepted and we had our turns to speak our minds without killing each other.
So... we ended up having dinner with the family at Jaan on Saturday night. The restaurant is located at Swissotel at Stamford and is right at the top where Equinox is. It started at 730PM and by the time we finished it was closer to 11Pm. We actually had a decent conversation for the first time in 5 months!
In other news... Madison's preschool has been struck with mass food poisoning! 8 out of 14 centres were affected, and I am eternally grateful that hers was the one of the 6 that was spared. Over 20 were admitted to hospital for IV hydration. Teachers were not spared either. Apparently the school catered food on a contract from a company called Mum's Kitchen. I'm quite upset that this happened. Kids don't have a choice when it comes to meals at school. And the kids that were affected were aged 2-6. I hope it doesn't happen again. Already I worry enough about hand, foot and mouth disease that seems to be ubiquitous at all preschools here.
As for Annika, I think she is close to walking. She has started to cruise and is perpetually trying to stand everywhere she is. And she is babbling a whole lot too. It's really cute. Today she didn't have much of an appetite. I hope she's not coming down with something.
But the best of all... tomorrow is a PUBLIC HOLIDAY! I love PH.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Mc D birthday party
Madison was invited to a McDonald's birthday party over the weekend.
Till today, she never really knew of Mc D because I haven't taken her there for food yet. I have on the occasion, passed her the remnants of my Diet Coke ( just the ice !) so she sometimes asks for my drink from "that shop"( when we walked passed it the other day) So I know she doesn't know OF McD.
Well... so Lucas from school invited some of the classmates for his 3rd and of course I accepted the invitation. I didn't get to go since I had to attend a BORING CME event. Chris went with her.
Turns out, apart from the french fries she didn't want to try any of the other fast foods!
The party was quite good overall, and I think she had fun. So now when she refuses to go to school in the morning, I always play the birthday party card. IE If you don't go to school to meet your friends you won't get invited to parties. For now it works. She can't wait till her birthday again.
Annika can stand by herself for a few seconds now! I think she's been doing that for the past week. It's amazing, but bittersweet because my baby is becoming another toddler. Already I'm missing her babyness a little bit. She's so mobile now, and is constantly trying to get her sister and cousin's attention. She is also babbling a whole lot now, shakes her head "no" ( and sometimes means it! ).
I still feel bad that I have so much less time with Annika than I had with Madison. I try to tell myself that she is still learning through play and Warni is a good caregiver too. She is, however, so much more active and vocal than Madison was at the same age. I try to read to her but she's not terribly interested in that at the moment.
At least now Madison and Annika are playing with each other more these days. It's great to see them together ( for now ).
Till today, she never really knew of Mc D because I haven't taken her there for food yet. I have on the occasion, passed her the remnants of my Diet Coke ( just the ice !) so she sometimes asks for my drink from "that shop"( when we walked passed it the other day) So I know she doesn't know OF McD.
Well... so Lucas from school invited some of the classmates for his 3rd and of course I accepted the invitation. I didn't get to go since I had to attend a BORING CME event. Chris went with her.
Turns out, apart from the french fries she didn't want to try any of the other fast foods!
The party was quite good overall, and I think she had fun. So now when she refuses to go to school in the morning, I always play the birthday party card. IE If you don't go to school to meet your friends you won't get invited to parties. For now it works. She can't wait till her birthday again.
Annika can stand by herself for a few seconds now! I think she's been doing that for the past week. It's amazing, but bittersweet because my baby is becoming another toddler. Already I'm missing her babyness a little bit. She's so mobile now, and is constantly trying to get her sister and cousin's attention. She is also babbling a whole lot now, shakes her head "no" ( and sometimes means it! ).
I still feel bad that I have so much less time with Annika than I had with Madison. I try to tell myself that she is still learning through play and Warni is a good caregiver too. She is, however, so much more active and vocal than Madison was at the same age. I try to read to her but she's not terribly interested in that at the moment.
At least now Madison and Annika are playing with each other more these days. It's great to see them together ( for now ).
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
karma
A thought.
Maybe I shouldn't rant so much about the BIL?
Will I get it back in BAD KARMA? I'm a Buddhist so I believe in it.
Hmm.... but the human in me cannot help it. I HAVE to complain about it.
What should I do?
Maybe I shouldn't rant so much about the BIL?
Will I get it back in BAD KARMA? I'm a Buddhist so I believe in it.
Hmm.... but the human in me cannot help it. I HAVE to complain about it.
What should I do?
Monday, May 2, 2011
LONG weekend
I love long weekends.... it feels like a holiday!
Long because Sunday was May day, so that made Monday a holiday too!
Madison had an even LONGER holiday.. Friday being a Pat's Schoolhouse holiday, and with 2 cases of HFMD in school, I kept her home on Thursday too.
Madison spent the 2 days from school mostly at Novena, since I had to work those days. She got to sleepover on Friday night too, which she enjoyed.
Saturday morning I had to work, but it was a short day... Chris took Madison to ride the motorised bikes at United Square.. he showed me a video that he took. She is such a big girl now! She could actually navigate the 'mini motorbike'. They had lunch at Bakerzin afterward. When they came back she was fast asleep. At noon, which is rare. Probably either woke early or didn't sleep that well at Novena.
We had a tennis date with some neighbours in the afternoon. I was a little anxious since I don't play it well AT ALL. But, turns out we had FUN! I guess playing doubles isn't as difficult as singles and they weren't serious players.
My uncle and Aunt were back from their trip to Macau and enroute back to Sydney so we planned to have dinner together ( and celebrate Pa's birthday at the same time ) that night. Dinner was seafood at Jumbo Seafood ( East Coast Park ). They were then supposed to go straight to the airport to catch the 10Pm flight.
Long story short, they MISSED the flight ( it was 1950h = 750PM not 1050PM! ). Fortunately they were able to catch the next one the following morning!
I was so happy to wake up Sunday morning and know that the weekend was not over yet! We went swimming at home in the morning; Annika got to go into the pool too which SHE absolutely LOVED. Of course she was trashed and fell right asleep for her nap afterwards. She is amazing. Even though the water was cold she didn't even complain.
Didn't do much the rest of the afternoon... went over to Novena and the mall nearby. Of course had the BIL incident that evening.. see previous entry.. PITA.
Too soon, Monday came around. Spent the day with the kids, pool in the morning, got takeaway for lunch then went to a fabulous playground in the afternoon. It's at Ang Mo Kio, and has the works.. sand, slides, swings, safari bus and a McD's next door! Of course it was crowded and the slides were quite sandy. Madison was quite cautious of the slides. I don't think I have a daredevil on my hands. Not sure how she's going to like skiing either.
We had steaks at home for dinner, followed by ice- cream cones. Which brings me to the issue of ice-cream. She wants it EVERYDAY! More specifically, she wants the soybean soft serve that I bought several times for us at Novena Square. I'm not sure she should take so much of that soft serve( ? gastro with soft serve ? Too much sugar in soft serve ) so I figured if she wants ice cream maybe she should have premium stuff? Kind of like getting Pediasure except as ice-cream? Can kids eat ice-cream everyday? I sometimes do, myself but that's just me. She's not getting it instead of her meals but more like dessert, which she is happy with.
I had fun hanging out at home over this weekend. Tennis too! Maybe I should seriously pick it up.. get coaching?
Long because Sunday was May day, so that made Monday a holiday too!
Madison had an even LONGER holiday.. Friday being a Pat's Schoolhouse holiday, and with 2 cases of HFMD in school, I kept her home on Thursday too.
Madison spent the 2 days from school mostly at Novena, since I had to work those days. She got to sleepover on Friday night too, which she enjoyed.
Saturday morning I had to work, but it was a short day... Chris took Madison to ride the motorised bikes at United Square.. he showed me a video that he took. She is such a big girl now! She could actually navigate the 'mini motorbike'. They had lunch at Bakerzin afterward. When they came back she was fast asleep. At noon, which is rare. Probably either woke early or didn't sleep that well at Novena.
We had a tennis date with some neighbours in the afternoon. I was a little anxious since I don't play it well AT ALL. But, turns out we had FUN! I guess playing doubles isn't as difficult as singles and they weren't serious players.
My uncle and Aunt were back from their trip to Macau and enroute back to Sydney so we planned to have dinner together ( and celebrate Pa's birthday at the same time ) that night. Dinner was seafood at Jumbo Seafood ( East Coast Park ). They were then supposed to go straight to the airport to catch the 10Pm flight.
Long story short, they MISSED the flight ( it was 1950h = 750PM not 1050PM! ). Fortunately they were able to catch the next one the following morning!
I was so happy to wake up Sunday morning and know that the weekend was not over yet! We went swimming at home in the morning; Annika got to go into the pool too which SHE absolutely LOVED. Of course she was trashed and fell right asleep for her nap afterwards. She is amazing. Even though the water was cold she didn't even complain.
Didn't do much the rest of the afternoon... went over to Novena and the mall nearby. Of course had the BIL incident that evening.. see previous entry.. PITA.
Too soon, Monday came around. Spent the day with the kids, pool in the morning, got takeaway for lunch then went to a fabulous playground in the afternoon. It's at Ang Mo Kio, and has the works.. sand, slides, swings, safari bus and a McD's next door! Of course it was crowded and the slides were quite sandy. Madison was quite cautious of the slides. I don't think I have a daredevil on my hands. Not sure how she's going to like skiing either.
We had steaks at home for dinner, followed by ice- cream cones. Which brings me to the issue of ice-cream. She wants it EVERYDAY! More specifically, she wants the soybean soft serve that I bought several times for us at Novena Square. I'm not sure she should take so much of that soft serve( ? gastro with soft serve ? Too much sugar in soft serve ) so I figured if she wants ice cream maybe she should have premium stuff? Kind of like getting Pediasure except as ice-cream? Can kids eat ice-cream everyday? I sometimes do, myself but that's just me. She's not getting it instead of her meals but more like dessert, which she is happy with.
I had fun hanging out at home over this weekend. Tennis too! Maybe I should seriously pick it up.. get coaching?
Blog rant
We had a wonderful weekend, which was tainted by a "small" incident with the BIL.
So annoying. As usual.
I don't even know what happened or why but BIL was probably just being his "usual" %!kj self.
My parents were busy with their choir camp this entire weekend, and although they told us they were having dinner together with us yesterday they changed their minds at the 6pm and went out instead.
Dinner was already prepared so we decided to stay in.
We started dinner and between Geok, Chris, me and the maids we helped to get dinner on the table. What was the BIL doing? Lazying on the sofa "reading" the papers.
Never mind that. We started dinner and instead of joining the table he continues to "read" and ignore us. He then "plays" with Elizabeth-who is being bathed ( when usually he has no interest in her bathing activity )
Finally when WE are done he then has HIS dinner. What an idiot. Is he too above us to join us for dinner? If so, why not go OUT for HIS own meal? CHEAP.
What REALLY gets me is his COMPLETE lack of integrity. To parents/relatives he is Mr Goody two shoes and is all chatty, but to us then does he really reveal his true colours. Lazy, rude and immature.
Rant over. Wasted a blog entry but I HAD to do it.
So annoying. As usual.
I don't even know what happened or why but BIL was probably just being his "usual" %!kj self.
My parents were busy with their choir camp this entire weekend, and although they told us they were having dinner together with us yesterday they changed their minds at the 6pm and went out instead.
Dinner was already prepared so we decided to stay in.
We started dinner and between Geok, Chris, me and the maids we helped to get dinner on the table. What was the BIL doing? Lazying on the sofa "reading" the papers.
Never mind that. We started dinner and instead of joining the table he continues to "read" and ignore us. He then "plays" with Elizabeth-who is being bathed ( when usually he has no interest in her bathing activity )
Finally when WE are done he then has HIS dinner. What an idiot. Is he too above us to join us for dinner? If so, why not go OUT for HIS own meal? CHEAP.
What REALLY gets me is his COMPLETE lack of integrity. To parents/relatives he is Mr Goody two shoes and is all chatty, but to us then does he really reveal his true colours. Lazy, rude and immature.
Rant over. Wasted a blog entry but I HAD to do it.
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