萱萱's First Birthday Party

萱萱 kept asking for a birthday party and was not taking no for an answer. Thank goodness she has a patient and loving mother who tries her hardest to make her teens fun and memorable. Since it was at home, we couldn't have too many of her friends over so we made a rule for only 4 guest and their parents. It was still pretty fun without too many people crowding the whole apartment. I liked how we were done in 4-5 hours and we could do some cleanup before dinner.

Happy Birthday 萱萱! Stay beautiful, kind, good-mannered always!

New Study Chair

For a couple of years I've been using Meimei's hand-me-down chair. It was a good full leather from IKEA 14 years ago and never flaked. Unfortunately the tilting mechanism was faulty so it's tilted forward slightly and your butt will slowly slide forward like if you are slipping down the chair ... slightly. I was ok with it but its now time to change to a better one.

We were at IKEA to find a bedside table and happen to chance on this. We bought it immediately on checkout. It's definitely not going to last more than 2-3 years before the fake leather starts to peel. But oh well I guess it gives us a chance to refresh it.

The Trick To Getting 萱萱 To Drink Water

萱萱 is notorious for not drinking enough water. Since young she would just take tiny sips of water and need to be nagged before she takes another tiny bit. Today we discover a trick to get her to drink without all the pushbacks and complaints. 

Xy took 萱萱's water bottle and tried to feed her water. Because it's her favourite baby cousin 萱萱 obliged without hesitation. And Xy keeps going back to 萱萱 to get her to drink and it keeps going. Wonderful! So all these while 萱萱 is just bullying us when she refuse to drink haha.

Kiddo Talk & Pic Feb 2024

Nothing much happening this month. Glad Meimei is recovering well. We are starting to clean up the house and discard stuff. I'm hoping we can get to a point where I can take pictures to show the changes.

"I made a remote control!"

How Is This From An Elbow?

School messages Meimei to inform us that 阳阳 had an accident. Teachers say that 阳阳 walked behind Aunty while she was mopping the floor and she accidentally swing her elbow and hit him.

But looking at the wound and the dark patches around the eye socket ... it doesn't look like a wound from an elbow. It's more likely that the end of the mop and the elbow hit him ... if the story is to be believed. There are so many horror stories in the news these days on child abuse at the childcare centers that it's hard to discern the truth of what happened. I just hope it's nothing serious or traumatic for 阳阳 and he recovers soon.

Work Travels: Chilled Drinks On The Ride To Hotel

Traveling to Bangalore again this week for workout. The team has been there the past week but I excused myself for CNY week and accompany Meimei to her appointments. New 'service' this time on the ride to the hotel. The driver had a set of chilled drinks and tidbits prepared on the middle seat. They try different ways to impress us, I guess largely because I'm Platinum member at the hotel.

Training The Next Gen 赌神

Pulled out the mahjong table this year and Meimei started to train 萱萱 on the rules of the game. She is very interested since she gets to play with Nyaong, Nyama, YeeYee etc. I happen to watch one of the games and she was pretty good at it. 

Amazing Lo Hei

This year Meimei ordered a fabulous Lo Hei platter from Himawari. It was so good Nyong and I had 4-5 servings. It's seldom that we finish the Lo Hei as it tends to get a little gelat after one serving. But this time we clean it all before we even start the main course. I kept waxing praises on it and making sure everyone at the table hear that we are getting this again next year ... and the next ... and the next ... till one day it disappoints us. It is that good, period.

Happy CNY 2024!

The usual routine, morning's at Nyaong Nyama and then Hillview for lunch. This has to be the best picture of this year's CNY. Everyone's in bright red and all smiles. Perfect!

For dinner Meimei ordered from Furama Catering. Like yesteryears it has proven to be very convenient for a acceptable quality of food. Definitely sometime we will continue to do as our parents get older. No reason for them to be overly burden and tired from trying to cook up a reunion dinner.

Happy 6th Birthday 阳阳!

Celebrating Birthday's twice in a day, this time at home with family. These are some of the best memories and picture moments.

 

Happy 6th Birthday 阳阳 @Joystar

Happy 6th Birthday 阳阳! Meimei made it a point to celebrate at school as we missed a couple of years due to Covid and this is the last time we could do this for him at school. Meimei ordered a huge 2 tier cake decorated with an assortments of toys she specially sourced from Taobao.

We also took lots of photos with his classmates but I try not to put them on the blog without explicit permissions. He will be going to P1 next year so these photos are for his memories of time at Joystar.

Elixir Haul #17

 Twin pleasure!

Bouncing At Decathlon

We were at Decathlon today to get a badminton racket carrying case for 萱萱. Since we were here we decided to go checkout other sections. The kids were happy playing with the bouncing balls. I wonder if we should get these for them since they are using them as intended. It seems this builds their core muscles too if one believes the labelling.

 

阳阳's First Saloon Experience

Meimei had signed up for a 10 session Wash & Blow package with a hair saloon at Bedok Mall.  It really helps since it is very hard for her to wash her hair at home with all the wounds from the operation. And since she had the credits, we decided to use it for 阳阳's haircut. It's CNY soon and everywhere is packed. We bought him along on one of Meimei's appointment.

阳阳 is used to the quick cut and go Korean hair cut shops. It was his first time so I guess as part of his 'defence mechanism' he was initially reluctant and critical of cutting his hair at the saloon. But slowly he warmed up to it and enjoyed the pampering.

It turned out to be a good choice. His hair styling is so much better and definitely more handsome after the saloon cut. I made a comment to Meimei that going forward we should bring him here for his haircuts. I didn't say it but after seeing what it did for 阳阳, I think I might give it a try too one of these days haha.

Drawing Faces

 Our cheeky little boy.

When other kids draw Justin

When Justin draw other kids ...