Kiddo Talk & Pic Mar 2024

Staying Awake 

萱萱: Is it ok we stay up ourselves a little later? Because now is only 9, usually we come in at 9 something but today 8 something so I’m still not feeling tired 

Meimei: sure just don’t stop me if I fall asleep ok? I’m using all my energy to stay awake now 

阳阳: if you stay awake can we play guessing game now?

萱萱: no Justin mummy is too tired to play guessing game 

阳阳: but she has energy to stay awake what

萱萱: ya but if she finished her energy play guessing game that means she have no energy to stay awake and will fall asleep!!

Digging My Nose

阳阳: I dig my nose a lot….  At night… I only dig when the sun goes down *wakakakkka crazy laughter

Kidztopia At Jewel Changi

Meimei brought the kids to the Jewel Changi Kidztopia a few weeks ago when I was in Bangalore. It's a smaller playground but closer to home. The kids had so much fun that they have been begging to come back to it again. So today we did and XY came along too. They had a blast as always and were playing the full 2 hours. Thankfully lunch time came and we were able to exit for a meal.

Is this outlet better than the Marina Square one? As an adult I would think the Marina one had more variety and different play. That said, the kids didn't look to be worse off here and had so much fun too. And since it's as fun, Jewel offers more restaurants and amenities. I could easily drive everyone back home on a wimp. So yeah we're probably going to come here more often between the 2 outlets.

Broken When Hot

The volume increase button on the steering wheel doesn't work when the car has been under the sun. I know this because I tested it in the mornings and it was working just fine. But when I drive the car home for lunch the buttons would not work. It works if I was parked at home under the shade.

So long story short, it doesn't work when under extreme heat. I wonder what else is being affected by the heat. I guess it's the risk of buying electronics designed by engineers that focus on bigger countries in more temperate countries.

I highlighted this to the sales representative and he assured me that they will fix it on my first servicing appointment. Oh well, let's see what happens.

Tighter At The 3 Across

This is common amongst Japanese make MPVs with 3 seats across the 3rd row. It's usually more like a 2 and a half. I'll say the Serena's back row is already what I would consider a tad more spacious. But when you fit a baby seat which has bulk, the middle seats becomes very tight.

I've only seen 3 individual seats in a continental brand. Unfortunately Japanese cars tend to go for the light and destruct to absorb philosophy vs tough is better concept. Well at least Yeeyee and Nyama only takes the car once a week when we go church.

Once XY grows older and can sit without constant supervision, we can then move all the kids to the back and the adults will claim the middle row. That's not too far off ... time passes too fast!

A New Ride

Today we welcome a change of guard for our ride. 

The COE for Cat A dropped to $65K in early January and everyone was in the showrooms shopping for a new car. It coincided with the Singapore Motorshow and I suspect the dealers all came together to hold back on their bids to drop the COE prices and generate the interest.

Regardless I was intrigued when I saw it so I quickly search for MPVs models in the market. Lo and behold, amongst the authorised dealers, Nissan and Opel were the only ones with a 7 seater that can fit our family. Toyota has the Sienta but that is not a car that can fit 7 pax no matter what they say on the advertising. Same thing with Honda and its Freed.

We eventually landed on the Nissan Serena e-Power 1.2L. It's a Cat B car due to its power and the COE was at $85K. I kinda did some mental calculations and coupled with some educated assumptions, I decided that the COE was not going to fall much further. We placed a deposit for a 6-bid non-guaranteed package on the 2nd visit and then waited.

The sales representative finally message me that they have secured a COE for me 2 weeks ago at $97K. Everyone was excited but also sad that we have to give up the Caddy. It was a great vehicle with lots of utility and space. But its time we change to one with a auto-door.

So here we are today at the showroom to collect our new Serena and say goodbye one last time to our trusty Caddy. It has served us reliably and I have no complains of the car. Hopefully the Serena will live up to the same durability and grit.

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.