Kiddo Talk & Pic Nov 2022

Snail Pet

阳阳: mama I want a snail as a pet

Meimei: snail?? Why!?

阳阳: I really want a pet and I want one that is gentle

阳阳 At Joystar - Nursery

A collection of pictures at Joystar. All the teachers that Meimei used to have good contact with are no longer at the school so we don't get 'exclusive' pictures sent to us via WhatsApp. Now we need to log on the student portal and work through a whole suite of photos to find our baby's.

I'm quite impressed with the handiwork and crafts 阳阳's doing at school. Shows he knows his Chinese too just that he is not used to saying it at home. 

Kiddo Man Cave

阳阳 has a habit of hiding under his table to draw or play toys. I wonder if this is an instinctive man-cave element. You know like how boys in other countries would ask their dads to build a tree house so they can have their own special space away from prying eyes?

I warned him that it was dark under the table and not good for his eyes. Also cautioned him on hitting his head on the table top. Not very convincing cos the child in me also thinks it's very fun and cozy hahah I need to do a better job of being a parent.

Swimsafer Test 2.0 萱萱

I missed the first test because I was travelling. Glad I was able to go this time. It's at the same Hougang swimming pool as the first test. 萱萱 had some challenge completing the test though as the pool was shallow and she was able to stand up on it when she was not supposed to during the test laps.

We'll know the results in a few weeks. 

Encouraging 萱萱 To Read

With 萱萱 today so I brought her to the bookstore to buy some books. Hope this encourages her to read more. As my parents have done for me, I'm passing it on. So long as its books I am more than willing to buy it for our children.

Drawing On Window Condensation

Heavy cold rain today and the glass panels were fogged when we arrived to pick up 阳阳. 萱萱 had a blast drawing all sorts of designs. I was watching closely to make sure she wasn't drawing something naughty. :) the simple fun of youth.

To The Top

I think this is the first time I've seen 阳阳 climb a rope playground. He's usually timid and isn't nimble like 萱萱. I'm glad 萱萱 was here to help guide and encourage 萱萱 to go up with her. I'm pretty sure if he was alone he would have asked to go home already.

New Bike For 萱萱

Seeing that 萱萱 can ride the bicycle without the safety wheels we decided to buy one for her from Edmund. It's an immediate weaning off of the safety wheels but she doesn't seem to mind.

Since we were here we also booked a half hour for 阳阳 to practice with Edmund. He still needs more time to get to a proficient level. Well at least he is trying. We may have to get him one too soon. Well whatever it takes to make sure they learn this life skill. 

Good Managers Are Hard To Come By

I was out this evening for a team dinner to mark the departure of one of my managers. She happens to be one of the best managers I've ever worked for so it's bittersweet feeling to see her go. She has always been very supportive of what I do and doesn't try to micro-manage my work. She has been a very good listener and provides me honest and candid advise without being judgemental about my intentions. A truly wonderful person to work for.

However she shared that she has lost her passion for work in this current role for the last 9 months and am going to a larger role where she has more exposure and opportunities to learn. I can totally relate to that since I kinda did the same some 10 odd years ago. I couldn't take the repeated month end closing over and over again so I took a different route to my career. I think she is going through the same thing and I wish her the best.

She was very sad about it but when we hear the role she was taking up, everyone was unanimous in telling her she made the right choice. It wasn't even a choice, it's something you have to take up when you are offered the role. Plain simple decision.

I'm happy she's found the fire again and sincerely hope she succeeds in her new role. Heheh.  

Bonked While Parked

This is the scenario every driver dreads. You are parked nicely in a parking lot and someone accidentally hits you and goes off without leaving you a note. A hit and run.

We were parked in the usual spot at Plaza Singapura on Sunday. It's always this lot if I can help it because it's beside this walkway down a travelator to the 5th floor where crowds are much thinner than 6th. Anyways I happen to come back to put down some shopping and noticed my license plate on the floor and  scratches on the front bumper. Someone had obviously hit our car and didn't leave a note.

I immediately called Meimei to inform her and went straight to reviewing the dashboard camera. Surely it must have captured the incident. We were supposed to be buying lunch for everyone but these threw everything off. Meimei called the Plaza Singapura management office to request for a video but was told to call the Traffic Police instead as they cannot release security footage to the public. And so she did.

While I was frantically scrolling through clips by the minute, the traffic police arrive in about 30 minutes. I had just found what I think to be the offending vehicle that hit our car. It was a hit and run so we were right to call the cops. So we go through with the police what I would assume is the usual process of providing narrative of how I found the car, what happened etc.

Just as we were in midst of recording our statement and the traffic police taking pictures, a middle aged man approached the car and said he was the one who hit us. Interesting~. Is he back here because he genuinely was gonna own up or is here only because the cops have been called. I didn't catch his conversation with the police but Meimei shared with me later that he mentioned he is a lawyer and her alarm bells were on heightened alert.

The man started apologising for hitting our car and offered to compensate us. I told him I'm not familiar with the cost of repairs and I would be bringing it to Volkswagen so there is no ambiguity on repairs. He seemed reluctant to accept it and says he drives a Lexus and knows what it cost to go to the dealer. I smiled and said to him knowingly "yah, they would just replace the whole bumper." He replied, "If we can settle privately I can give you $450 now but if we repair at the dealer I will have to claim my insurance." Seeing that he seems to be sincere, I offered to bring my car to a 3rd party on Monday and have it assess before letting him know the cost. He agreed and we exchanged contact details.

He continued to provided details of his vehicles and finally left. Meimei was following the whole conversation and came over to quickly check on the car plate number the man had provided. Although the numbers were the same, the other alphabets given to the police were different. Hmmm what's going on?! We immediately asked the traffic police about it and were told that it's important to have the right car plate details else it may jeopardise the insurance claims if it went to that. We showed the police the video and they called the man to clarify. They had him come back to our floor and verify the correct car plate. At the same time we exchange photos of our NRIC so I have his details should I need to make a report.

Haiz all these really put a sour touch to the whole day. We drove home and had to order Grab along the way. The kids were hungry and tired from waiting for all these to conclude. 

The next day I took urgent leave to bring the car to an authorised workshop. We were quoted $350 for repairs and spray painting. I asked the uncle if he provides rental but was advised to take grab and claim for 3 days of loss of use instead. So I called the man and after some discussions we agreed on private settlement for $650. I thought it was extremely reasonable cost since I had to sacrifice a day of leave to come to the workshop and possible another one when I return to collect.

I think the fella thinks the same and transferred $750 instead through PayNow. I guess its a small compensation for the hassle. Obviously its not enough to cover my day of leave ... far from it. But at least it's an amicable resolution to it all without all the paperwork of insurance and claims.

Cycling Lessons

Meimei found a recommended cycling trainer at Bukit Timah area. Cycling is considered a life skill like swimming in my book. So I gladly drove everyone to the bicycle shop to see if Edmund can work magic and get 萱萱 and 阳阳 to cycle without the safety wheels.

It turns out 萱萱 only needed one session to cycle on two wheels. Perfect one and done scenario. 阳阳 needs more practice and we book another session on another week.

This was money well spent. I'm happy the kids were having fun and keen to cycle better. I dream of the day we can all cycle together as a family to a playground or go on a cycling trial from one end of east coast park to the other and back.

Baby Paparazzi

The new queen of 405. Every doll up session attracts the paparazzi craze. There must have been hundred odd pics from this one session.

Me? I just take a pic of the paparazzi so XY can giggle about it years later.