Its running on full tank indeed

How fast is too fast? Very fast indeed. Duh.

Our weekend was spent at IMM, Daiso (how I love that place), watching the Subaru contestants battling it out,  Ridgewood's Haato and basically the son was half with us and half with the grandparents. He would stay overnight with them and we would go pick him up in the morning. Repeat the next day.

Weekend:

peering at how ah gong drives

monkeying around in a photo booth

taking a siesta before lunch

waffles!

hungry after his nap

And so fast that its already end October! The year is rolling full steam ahead indeed.

{Advertorial Plug}

As a first time effort, Frasers Centrepoint Malls is partnering with the National Library Board and home grown company, Sparky Animation to bring Mr Moon to Singapore. Mr Moon is a series of charming tales of Mr Moon and his friends’ adventures in the wondrous galaxy.

In conjunction with the movie premiere of Mr Moon in Singapore, a nationwide Picture Book Contest is being held to enable children to showcase their creativity. All children from 7 – 12 years old can create a storyline and illustrate their own picture book around a "care and share" theme, using components from the Mr Moon animation. Character references can be found at here.

The top 3 winners will have the golden opportunity to have their stories transformed into a 3-minute animation and will also receive other fantastic prizes!

The deadline for submission is 25 December and participants must drop off their books at the Customer Service Counters at any Frasers Mall. Entry form and instructions can be found here.

There are 2 categories for the contest.
Category A is opened to children aged 7 to 9 years.
Category B is opened to children aged 10 to 12 years.  

Additionally, all children and parents are also invited to catch Mr Moon and Friends "LIVE" at Frasers Centrepoint Malls from 18 November to 25 December. For timings, please visit here.

Get your kids and family to join in the fun! 

Have a great weekend!

Sometimes, a change of plans is a good thing

Yesterday:

a hungry boy is a grumpy boy

breakfast @KFC

doing the peace sign

Initially, we planned on going to East Coast Park for some sun, sand and cycling. But the weather had a change of plans and we got cooped up at home instead. My mother-in-law and the husband watched TVB serials, I did some reading and the son took his afternoon nap. Perfect afternoon.

Everyday should be Grandparents day, but thats just me being sentimental today

Right on top of cuddles and snuggles and belly rub, grandparents are the best thing to ever happen to a kid. They fuss over you, hit the floor when you've fell down, buys you sweets and treats when they bring you out, and becomes the go-to person when your parents chide you for doing something wrong. For all these, grandparents are a different breed altogether.

Where did all this love go to when I was growing up? Pfft.

Perhaps I might not have the exact grandparent kinda love that my son enjoys now, but it sure is an eye opener to see how our set of parents become so loving towards their grandson. Its like a hidden channel of love stream that is pouring out of a secret compartment and its only unleashed with the son's arrival.

My parents, though never openly affectionate with my sister and I, has shown tremendous affection for the son. They would lavish praises on him, kissing him often, talk and play with him and once, my own mother told my husband that she has never felt such love before ever since my son was born.

Erm, thanks Mum.

But that to me, was the best thing I've ever heard from my mum. And I guess, that's why they're called grandparents.

With all the trials and errors they made and our rebellion during our growing up years, this is their time of playing catch up with the love they've never shown us, and now, displaying for all the world to see.

Grandparents are just awesome. And under-rated and overlooked.

Love your grandparents today!

He with the girls

This little charmer of mine has charmed many a girls' heart by now. Everywhere we go, girls will surely ooh and aah after him. And if he feels like returning the love, he'll give them his flying kisses. Double swooning for the girls. 

At the playground:

look ma, I'm so suave

hand gesture checked

bring them on baby!

its tiring being a Don Juan

I guess that's how I got charmed by his old man.

It ain't the destination, its the journey

You know its exciting when you decide to go on a date with your husband and the both of you ended up taking a stroll in a small garden, in a hospital compound.

Husband: I'll bring you to a nice place to walk.

Me (excited): Where?!

Husband: Alexandra Hospital, its very nice inside.

Me (dubious, but game): Uh, okayyyyyy

Not to say its unconventional, but only when you're married and have known each other for close to ten years should you attempt to do this. Guys, don't try this on your first date.

Alexandra Hospital:

this is way, way inside the hospital compound

the garden

i only saw 2 butterflies

it is a nice place to chill, only if you're not afraid of mozzies

fountain of health

love seeds aka Saga seeds

behind him all the way

What's your most unconventional dating place?

I don't think so

My husband reckons I have a problem.

You see, every night, its my job to put my son to sleep. We'll go into the room, hopped onto the bed and then he'll start rolling around and sing and talk before falling asleep on his own. My part? It's to lay beside him and 'encourage' him to sleep. And by 'encourage', I meant lying down and closing my eyes to stimulate real sleeping. But my son doesn't gets it.

And more often than not, much to the husband's dismay, I'll end up really sleeping. And sometimes (my husband will tell you its everytime), I would fall asleep before my son does. True story.

So now, I have a problem of 'sleeping', not like I need any help here though. Anyone has stories to share?

I'll leave you with a video of him trying to say Peace and doing the Peace sign. Hee, I recently taught him how to pose it for the camera.

P.S: He has learnt how to ask for water on the pretext of trying to get out of the room in order to bid for more time. No one taught him that, definitely not me. I would be asleep by then.

It's my party and I grow if I want to, you would if it happens to you

And I celebrated my 29th yesterday, the last remaining shreds of my twenties. Throughout the day, I was feeling pensive though, like something's not right. And then I thought, 'Oh, so this is how it feels to be a woman on the cusp of being 3-0.' Right.

At Maritime House:

all dressed up for my party

tarts are the new cakes

earl grey with chocolate. my sis has very weird taste

looks like his birthday, but its actually mine. 

At the Swan Lake:

i am swan, see me fly!

life partners

I'm going to enjoy this party till the next one rolls along and I've got exactly 364 days left. I think I'll leave the growing up for the next birthday then.

P.S: The swans wasn't invited to my party. Even if so, they most probably would have ended up on the dining table. Oh wait, its the ducks, not the swans.

I'm just a sofa critic, but watch it at your own risk.

The husband and I watched this last night as it has been long time since we've watched a Chinese movie on the big screen. The last time we watched one was Infernal Affairs and that totally blew us away!

But this? Don't. Even. Bother. I fell asleep in the middle of the show and only woke up when its about to end. Poor editing, bad acting, passable effects and the reason why we watched it was because of Jet Li. If he wasn't in the movie, I don't think anyone would have watched it.

You can just read the story here.

How to read a book by not judging its cover

For those who don't know, my son has a salmon patch on his face. Usually when strangers sees it, they will often asked or assumed it is a rash, a bruise or a mosquito bite. And when told it is a birthmark, they will often turn away embarrassed or go 'Oh' and walked away.

At first, I was also embarrassed to tell them what it is and would often remarked quickly that it will fade away soon by the time he's one year old. Now that he's coming to two, the birthmark is still there and not showing signs of fading anytime soon. But you know what? I'm no longer embarrassed about it anymore.

He's no different than any boys his age and he's growing up healthy and strong. He runs, he kicks, he throws and he's learning how to jump now. He's hitting all his milestones and everyday being with him brings much joy to me. Thus I'm not so concerned about his appearance now and instead, I'll focus more on his character and emotional growth.

kissed by an angel

I'm so proud to have him and one thing I've learn from this is to really not judge a book by its cover, because its the contents that matters.

Journey to the East!

Pasir Ris Park.

first time beach bum

first time feeling the sand in his toes

The playground:

this one does music

he drummed

he crawled

he swinged

he slide

I saw this and right at the top was a huge slide for you to slide down. So being the thrill seeker, I challenged the husband to climbed it with me. 

web of easy peasy

you sure?

view from the top

slide of deceit

There was a problem, we couldn't slide at all. I excitedly sat down expecting it to be a fast slide, but nothing! So we both had to walked down the slide. Lesson learned in playground studies: Plastic slides are much, much faster than metal ones.

All in all, it was a perfect way to end a Sunday. Having fun at the playground, a very far playground.

French, anyone?

Together or rather I, butcher the language.

A smattering of Japanese, Italian and Singlish accent in French. Oui! Bonjour Mademoiselle-leh . C'est lah, c'est lah.

To salvage it, I got the husband's favourite film, Umbrellas of Cherbourg!

Its a sad love story, but her clothes and make-up are worth watching! And the interesting thing about this film was that their dialogue are all being sung out. Plus the colours used are all so vibrant!

Alright, have a laughing Friday and more on the weekends!

This is the way I hang out with myself

Today, I just want to share with you some of my favourite bath products. 

Simple, Kind to skin series facial wash:

via

 I love Simple products. Their facial wash is very light and it doesn't leave my face the overly tight feeling which some facial wash does. Some people might not like it as it doesn't give the 'clean' feeling. However, a good facial wash should be gentle on your skin and not leave you with a harsh sensation on your skin.

Simple, Kind to skin Hydrating moisturiser:

via

 As I have an oily T-zone, this moisturiser has a slight watery texture which my skin is able to readily absorbs and best of all, it also doesn't give my face the greasy after feeling.

Body Shop bath lily:

via

 I feel so much cleaner every time I shower with this! It feels like my skin has been scrubbed real good and whatever dirt or grime has been washed away. And if I don't use it, I just don't feel clean enough. I've been using the bath lily for several years so now its more habitual for me than anything. 
By the way, its recommended that the bath lily be changed every three months. I'm not sure if its a marketing ploy to get us to keep buying it, but I'll use mine till the lily is torn off at the sides before I change a new one. Or whenever it feels too dirty to be used. 


Palmolive, Aroma Therapy Relax:

via Google image

Of all the different 'flavours', I love this Ylang Ylang fragrance the most. It smells so heavenly and keeps me so refreshed after every shower. Its also the reason why I'm taking so much time in the bathroom now, ha!

I really enjoyed my bath time. Its the only time where I can be truly alone and let my hair down (no pun intended).

Can I join you when you scream and cry too?

The time has come. The time of tantrums, shrieking, crying, screaming, lying on the floor in protest and turning a deaf ear to our instructions.

The Terrible Twos.

Okay, to be fair the son is showing signs of it, not exactly full throttle yet, but given the preview he has been displaying spectacularly, I'm afraid, very afraid.

I've been scolding and using the cane (sparingly) on him these few days and its so exhausting! I don't want to go back home and be mean to him, I want to go home and cuddle my baby. You know, especially after a long day at work. It's frustrating for all of us. And I certainly don't want my son to think that I'm home just to scold him too.

How do you working mothers do it? And how long will it lasts?

the object of our frustrations and affections

Read another mother's experience here.

Today's outfit:

stripe top: sis, belt: Aries, skirt: Gmarket, flats: City Plaza

Colour blocking was the fashion back then, watch it and groove along!

One of us gets to have all the fun, but actually they have it alot easier

When it comes to clothes and stuff, guys always get the short end of the stick. Five floors of Takashimaya, only one level is for the guys. Three stories of H&M goodness and only a small section for the guys, and its even shared with the kid's section on the third floor. Whole shopping belt of Orchard Road and like only a handful of shops are for guys. Not counting gadgets store or Courts, because the guys who goes there only went with their wives and it is only absolutely when necessary.

Which is why I'm secretly glad that I have a boy. 

Girls stuff are everywhere. Dresses, skirts, blouse, rompers, leggings and have you seen how insanely cute some of the girl's clothes are?! I've seen some designs which are like the mini version of the very popular Korean outfits now. Soft chiffon, ribbon bows, pearls, lace and its for little girls age two to six! Imagine if I have a girl, her wardrobe would be more than mine! And the amount of money spent!

But! You can't deny the fun of dressing girls up. Which is also why I'm glad I have all the fun, ha!

Boys are easy. Throw on a t-shirt and pants and they're good to go. Just ask my husband. He gets ready in five mins flat. Or even lesser, I don't know how he does it. Not that I want to try because even if I am running late, I'll still take about ten minutes to be out of the house. And that's on a good day. He always gauge the time I get ready to estimate how much time has passed. Showering without washing hair=15 mins. Showering with washing hair=30 mins. Brushing teeth=5 mins. Make-up and getting dressed=20 mins. Choosing clothes to wear=10 mins. Staring at the shoe cabinet deciding what shoe to wear=5 mins. All in all, I'll take about 40 mins to get ready. 

Not bad, right?

Today's outfit:

top: pasar malam, jeans: New Future, flats: City Plaza

P.S: I woke up with this song in my head this morning. And when I turned on my radio, it was playing the exact same song! I love it when the radio and I are in sync.

Our weekend, in short sentences and pictures

We went shopping, thrifting, drove through Little India to see the Deepavali lights, ate fried chicken, BK breakfast, haircut for the son and then, Monday came.

super boyish looking now, no one will mistake him for a girl anymore

i want my chicken!

he's like a cub and we're the mother lion that's tearing meat off to feed him

the legendary Arnold's Fried Chicken

night lights in Little India

Here's the son giving his take on his new haircut.

Translation:

I was tricked! Mama held onto me so I couldn't escape and the uncle bribed me with a sweet. So I got distracted, took the sweet and all of a sudden, he was holding the shaver! I really cried! I wriggle, squirmed and I even give my most powerful weapon, my quivering lips! But they were all just laughing at me. I'm so angry! But at the end, Mama gave me the sweet, though she bit it and only gave me a small piece. But its ok, because she said its worth it.

No one will ever call him mei-mei again. I hope.