At the movies and other random happenings

This is like to catch up on the past few days of missing action, heh.

So yesterday the husband and I went to catch Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon. Totally not nice, at all. Its too draggy and what seems to be a 2 hour show felt like an eternity to me! I really felt like the show's not gonna end. And when it finally does, its seems abit too abrupt. Like the supposedly powerful Optimus Prime went missing for the last 20 mins and just when its all about to end, he suddenly appeared from nowhere and bam! just like that, killed off the bad guy. I want my money back!

metal overdose

After which we went to pick my sis up from the airport! She bought some lovely Cath Kidston stuff for me, gonna take some pictures soon!

@changi waiting to pick my sis, a rainbow we saw otw there and a sleeping baby

This boy really loves his water. Whenever we bring him to a water play area, he'll gets all excited and raring to go!

he really loves his water play

he really really loves it

And remember this? Guess what?! I really won! First time ever in my life, I took part in a contest and won something! Proof that it exists:

i can't believe i actually won it and its not a fragment of my imagination



It has somehow got to me to try and enter random contest to win something now. My mission for the remaining 2011, ha!

Slow poke Friday!

or waterboys

Phew! Friday finally crawled over! Thought it will never reached us! Gonna spent the weekend with my boys mucking around but first got to think of places to explore. Ideas?

And this is the fun pack for this year's NDP!

reusables, but where are the tibits?

So this year, the fun pack are all eco friendly! With light sticks being able to change into a table lamp, a tote bag made of biodegradable material and a flag stand that can be used as a card holder etc, just 1 more question- will there be another national favourite? SNACKS?!

I know, I know. I'm being truly shallow here for all the talk about being eco friendly and the only concern I raised was the snacks? Hey! Its a long wait for the parade to start with all the reaching there early and grabbing the best seats okay!

Anyways, I'm positive there will be, just that they were'nt included in the pictures. Cross my 10 fingers and toes!

I guess its because I missed him so much and I'm glad he's back with us that I'm now so philosophi-ticated, makes sense?

Lately, I've been looking at boys. Young boys, teenage boys, big boys and old boys (aka grown man). I'll observed their behaviour, attire, looks, mannerisms and all, like really scrutinized closely. Some boys are rowdy, brashful, cheeky, loud, smelly and others are quiet, gentle, geeky and soft-spoken.

When I looked at them, it makes me wonder how my Benjamin will grow up to be. Will he be the sensitive, gentle boy or the cheeky and playful type? And sometimes when I come across the vulgar and crude ones, it makes me shudder to think of him becoming like that.

Which brings me to this, it really is all about the friends he hangs out with. Erm of course its also about the upbringing but when he reaches the school going age, his friends will definitely play a huge part in his life. That's the time when he'll spent a huge chunk of his time in school and I'm pretty sure he'll have not much time for us, especially when he'll discover the species of the other kind, girls.

And right from the start when we'll know we're having a kid, I guess a part of me has mentally prepared myself to let loose the apron's string when he reaches that age. Well, from my experience no kid wants a parent who controls them like prisoner, just ask me!

Starting now till then, I'll have only 17 more years with my baby! My baby! Gosh! It was like yesterday he was just born and come tomorrow he'll be all grown up and ready to fly! I don't want!

mama, the head banging starts now! rock on!

This is when I got star struck

Okay, *deep breaths*

I've been reading and following this mum's blog for a while. Her writings are witty, humourous and her 2 kids are so darn cute! And I think she's quite an established blogger as she is with Nuffnang and has a large number of followers, including me ha!

So recently, she announced on her blog that she had just launched her new business Child Label. And being a curious cat, I went to take a peek at what she's offering. Its stickers for kids. But! Before you scoffed at stickers, these are actually useful stickers. These are label stickers.

As my son is growing older and is going to accumulate more stuff like water bottles, bags, toys and when he starts going to school, he'll need to have his stuff labelled. And as all mothers know, there's nothing more terrifying than finding out that another child has drank from your precious child's bottle or eaten snacks from his lunchbox! So you see, labelling is important, at things not people though.

Okay, I'm digressing a bit here. So basically, she's having a contest on her blog whereby you can leave a comment and random winners will be picked to win her stickers. And I left a comment and this is the best part, she replied!

i'm a fan girl. click for a bigger image

This is like an idol replying to her fan and it really made my day!

The one that sucks well is the good water bottle

I have no idea what to blog today. So I'm just posting a fancy picture of my son's new water bottle. And in order to test its durability and suction, I'm currently testing it out. So far, it has passed all the tests.

Everyone, meet Smasher:

the ginormous toddler water bottle

The flash by kind of weekend that nobody likes

The weekend came by, barely said hello and swoosh it went! Busy busy, this weekend.

On Sat, we were thinking of where to have for breakfast and we decided to try Red Star. Its a Hong Kong dim sum place at Chinatown. I've read on some websites and forums that highly recommend Red Star raving about their dim sum. And being a char siew pau girl, I must give it a try,ha! A good char siew pau is like a yardstick for a good dim sum place. The pau must be fluffy and soft, and the fillings moist and sweet.

When we were there, we were expecting a long queue considering we reached around 11 plus. Surprisingly the queue moved quite fast and to my amazement, the place was huge! I was expecting some dingy restuarant as it was quite an old establishment, hee. Sorry but I repent!

Just the size of the kitchen is a testament to the popularity of this place. I think the kitchen is already bigger than the size of a basketball court, serious.

I only managed 1 photo of the food before I got greedy and before its all gone:

the best roast meat, roast duck and porridge ever.

 The roast duck is awesome, awesome, awesome!  And so is the siew mai and porridge. Char siew pau? Hmm it was ok for me. The pau was alright but the fillings are too sticky, the kind that will stick to the roof of your mouth kind of sticky-ness. My food critic (the son) enjoyed the porridge alot too, not so much the pau. He did'nt really like it, ha! We also had some mini octupus, meat wrapped in yam paste, chicken feet, pork ribs and egg tart? I can't really remember if the egg tarts came, I was too busy to noticed it, hee.

Overall, Red Star is a good place to go to for good and affordable dim sum or if you want to impress your future parents-in-law. Or if you're planning to have your wedding dinner there. Its big enough for 40 to 50 tables max. Thats how big it is.

*****



This is totally random but Daiso has this trolley to fit your kid in it, while you're busy trolling around for good buys.

this is a good trolley because it frees my hand to grab more things, ha.

And another random note. This song is stuck in my head. American teen rock, rocks! Irony is the band is not in their teens though.

Oh and I've won 4 tickets to the NDP preview show! Yay! But the husband thinks its a waste of time, bleah. I ballot for crazy on the website k. I'm now trying to rah-rah them into the national day spirit. And trying to think of ways to keep an 18 month old toddler and 29 year old kid entertained while waiting for the actual parade to start. Like starting from now.

Life lessons from a TV sitcom

Today is one of those days.

Days like these when you want to feel happy but can't. To feel hopeful but can't. To feel carefree but can't. When you see people around you living their seemingly awesome life and it makes you wanna cry, guess what? Just look away.

I'm not saying to be an ostrich and bury your head in the ground. I'm just saying to embrace it and carry on with your life. My life may not be what I want it to be right now, but somehow someday, when it all gets better, I'll know that we have stick it through together.

So whenever I catch myself feeling this way. This always comes to my mind.



barney stinson from How I met your Mother

I do love you

My son Benjamin is at this stage where he's so cute and cuddly and fun to play with. He eats well, sleeps well, drinks well, walks well, plays very well and is generally an easy baby to look after. He is not into toys but rather the shiny plastic and packaging that comes with it. He likes to play with the pots and pans, gets excited at ceiling fans, knows when we want to bring him out for walks, will sit when we tells him to (very much sounding like a puppy here), and goes ballistic when he sees you holding onto any kind of food.

He will drop whatever he's doing, toddle over to us, and if I'm feeling generous that day, I will asked him to go sit on the sofa and give him some bites of whatever I'm eating. Or either that, he will automatically walked over to the sofa and plonk himself on it. This is his cue for us to feed him whatever we're eating. Will cry heaven and earth if we ignore him.

His vocabulary has increased to star, scared (and doing the patting on his heart action), no more and sshhh (finger on lips). He can somewhat call my mother-in-law nai nai, but somehow it comes out as nei nei. I don't know, whatever makes her happy, ha.

And as a working mum now, its so so difficult to leave him in the mornings. Just this morning as I was preparing to leave for work, my husband came out of the room carrying him. He said that he's hungry (the son, not the husband) and asked me to make the milk. So when we went back to the room to feed him, I kissed him goodbye and walked away. As I closed the door, I could hear him whining and started to cry (the son, not the husband).

At that moment, my heart felt so sad. I almost start to tear myself too. So I went back in, sat with him for a while and kissed him goodbye again, This time, I made sure his eyes were closed before leaving. Sigh!!! I felt like a thief!

Before he grows up too big and strong for me to carry him, I want to make sure I give him kisses as much as possible and to tell him many I love yous everyday!

don't pack your stuff too early boy. give me 18 years first before you fly!

The day we became tourists in our own country

Actually Singapore is not that boring. If you're the type who enjoys exploring on foot, there are many places to go to in Singapore. Yesterday I had a free day off, so we or rather I decided to walk around Chinatown. And it was quite fun! Even though I'm a Singaporean, I pretended to be a tourist just for fun.

the pretend tourist

 Chinatown Heritage Centre, randon shop, Big China (Da Zhong Guo)

There's this Chinatown Heritage Centre whereby it showcases lots of memorabilia from the past. But there is an entrance fee of $10, and being a cheapskate Singaporean, we decided to give it a pass. Though on hindsight, it might be an interesting tour, bleah. Noticed Big China? Haha, its a direct translation of Da Zhong Guo. They sell the best mooncakes in Singapore! Their shop underwent a major renovation. Its now so modern and moody. I think its a mistake though. They should just keep to their old, run-down decor. It has much more character and charm. After all, they've been there for like more than 50 over years.

We were walking past a coffee shop when all I saw this:

the real tourists

I laughed when I saw them. They were like all red and tanned and trying to escape the heat. And they were all ang mohs. As we walked along, we saw a German stall selling hotdogs! Talk about catering to the crowd, ha.



trying to blend in as one of us

architectural shophouses. the white building is the original OCBC Bank



From Chinatown, we walked onto Clarke Quay.

 the little boy looking lovingly at the bum boats

Clarke Quay has changed tremendously. I remembered we caught a documentary on TV a while back and it was on the cleaning up of Clark Quay. The old footage showed how the coolie workers would load and unload the goods on the boats and many business transactions were done on the spot. The river were also used for bathing, cooking and even for their leisure. Gosh, looking at the river now, you would never expect how horribly dirty it was back then. Enter the government, and they decided to clean the whole place up.

Now Clarke Quay has changed into a place for people to chill and hang out. There are a number of restaurants, pubs and cafes. When we were there, we noticed there are more tourists then locals. But I'm sure locals would enjoyed hanging out like erm, once in a blue moon. Or when they want to bring their overseas friends for a session of *carrot chopping, ha.

In short, Singapore does have its charm. We just got to get off our bums and walked about. And thats where we'll find the real gems. Places like Little India, Arab Street, Robertson Walk, Jurong West (ha!), Jalan Kayu, Seletar and so much more! I hope I'll get the chance to do more exploring soon!

*carrot chopping: exhorbitant price offered by the sellers. Usually targeted at unknowing tourists or people with too much cash to spare.

World's first organic alarm clock

taken at 7.02am

Mornings are underrated. I'm beginning to enjoy and appreciate the sunrise, crisp morning air and cool breeze. It also helps when you've got an organic alarm clock to wake you up.

made from 100% human cells, no artificial hormones.

Only default timing at 7am. No other times will do. Once it starts, the only way to shut it up is to feed milk. Once fed, alarm will stop till following day. A limited edition piece. 1 in the whole world and currently out of stock.

Trapped

lift-struck

Yesterday I got trapped in a lift. And the irony was that my colleague was atcually recalling her experience to me a few weeks back. And I was secretly laughing at her in my heart. Karma.

So here's what to do when you find yourself trapped in a lfit.

1. Do not panic. Ever.
2. Look for telephone numbers to call.
3. Call given number and explained your situation in a calm manner.
4. Wait patiently.
5. Fiddle with your phone while waiting. I did and took an artistic shot of the lift.
6. Wait somemore.
7. Eventually help will arrive. Don't blame me if it took a few hours. I said eventually, not immediately.

What happens if you forgot your phone and you're trapped alone?

1. Press the alarm.
2. Press the alarm.
3. Press the alarm.
4. Press the alarm.
5. Press the alarm.
6. Press the alarm.
7. Eventually help will arrive. Again I said eventually, not immediately. Notice how many times I wrote Press the alarm?

Please in no way attempt to open the lift doors on your own. The last time it happened to a group of friends I know, one fell into the lift shaft and died. True story.

At the movies

The husband and I went to watch it yesterday! I kinda liked it more for the human stories, not so much of the alien part though. Basically, its a coming of age movie with an alien thrown in. Another plus point was the way its filmed in a 70's way. Very retro, yet nostalgic. Makes you feel like you're really watching a movie made in the 70's. Too bad the special effects sort of dampened the whole feel of the movie. The train crashing? Too exaggerated.

And the child actors were great! Natural and raw acting especially the kid playing Charles. He's the one with the vocabalary that mothers' will not approve. Also providing comic relief is the kid playing Carey, he's the one who loves to blow up stuff with explosives.

Overall, Super 8 does have some similiarities with ET. A group of kids while hanging out in the summer, discovered aliens and tried to save them. Not surprising as its produced by Steven Spielberg and  director JJ Abrams being his fan.

So if you don't like ET, you can give Super 8 a miss.  

My life in purses and pouch

it doesn't stop here. i want more, more!

For as long as I can remember, I've always a thing for using purses and pouches. Wallets just does'nt cut it for me. I don't know why but it could be due to them being bulky, very grown-upish or the fact that I refused to acknowledge I'm getting old-er.

So I turned to purses and pouches. Its cute, quirky and best of all, they are available in all sizes, colours, designs and shapes. I've a wristlet for my important cards, a coin purse for my small change, another pouch for my office stuff and another small pouch my for fare card and another one for my headphones. I know you're thinking is'nt it more troublesome to have so many pouches in a bag?! Well, the answer is nope! Haha.. but my husband thinks I'm crazy to have so many though.

And I love my polka dots. Everytime I see a cute polka dot purse or pouch, I have an uncontrollable urge to own it! The last count was 3 tote bags, 3 pouches, 1 coin purse, 1 mini tray all in polka dots. And the best place for my fix is Daiso, as its cheap and they have so many varieties!

Right now, my life will be complete if these are mine:

i've always havd a soft spot for snap purses

you may be polka dot on the inside, but i still like you

you're the one for my fare card!



Bloody post

I have never been so happy and relieved to see blood in my life! Because for the past month, I've been having symptoms similiar to pregnancy symptoms. The sore boobs, the bloating, the poor appetite, the mentally unstable, swinging emotions and the unexplainable cravings. So ya, it scared the entire world out of me.

But this time, I realised I was'nt so keen on it anymore. I find myself asking the what ifs and if onlys. Irrational fear gripped me and all I could think of was this kid came at a wrong time. I felt so bad for this unborn baby cause Mama could'nt love him/she as much as the first one. And I felt so so guilty!! Like I'm robbing him/she of love.

So when I finally saw blood yesterday, I know I can sleep (almost wanted to say rest) in peace and enjoyed that stupid cupcake I've been craving for the past few days, guilt-free.

And to make it all better, here is a video of my son telling his YiYi off for making him fell off her bed. Hilarious especially at the last part when he turned around and walked off dragging his diapers like he's running away from home, ha!

I have a big hamster

My son has a strange habit of eating his fruits. He likes to take a bite of each and put it back into his bowl. Like this:

hamster food

said hamster is looking a bit stoned here cause he just
tripped and bit his lips prior to this taken pic

Which made my sister remarked that she feels like she's feeding a hamster instead, ha!

There's a new tea in town and it's tealicious!

one poke away from bubble tea goodness

thats right baby!

So, this is it. Its my new found addiction and I'm not gonna share it. So there! Ha!

In my humble opinion, this is by far the nicest milk tea I've drank. Not that I'm some sort of tea connoisseur, but after trying the blah Sweet Talk, the okay only Koi and the slightly better than Koi, Gong Cha's milk tea, this is my current favourite.

So far, I've tried their Signature Assam Milk Tea, Roasted Oolong Milk Tea and Honey Jasmine Green Milk Tea. The Assam Milk Tea has a good balance between the milk and Assam tea. The first time I tried it, it was a tad too sweet, but the second time when I ordered it again and I realised that we can choose the level of  sweetness between less sugar or no sugar (I chose the former), it was so much better!

The Roasted Oolong Milk Tea might come across too strong for first time drinker but with each sip you take, the Oolong Tea's fragrance really stands out on its own. And the Honey Jasmine Green Milk tea is very refreshing! Great if you're just looking to quench your thirst.

As for the pearls, they are chewy and of the right texture. Not like some others that I've tried which tends to be too sticky and too chewable for my liking, hee. And they come in a smaller size, just right to gubble up the fat straw yet not too much to choke on it.

However tealicious is currently available at............................................................. nah... I'm not going to share, hahahahahahahha!

My name is Benjamin and I am a boy (what my mama always tells me)

 my model child but pants-less again

 strike a pose!

 ride my trolley?

 going somewhere?

carry!! carry!!

The day my Ipad flew away

So yesterday, the husband and I had a pocket of free time where we managed to catch Kung Fu Panda 2. I wanted to watch it in the normal mode a la 2D but my husband wanted to watch it in 3D. And so the stars were aligned with him cause the tickets left for 2D were only for the first row, so I had no choice but to watch it in 3D instead, bleah.

Anyway whats the whole fuss right? The fuss is I simply don't like 3D. No doubt the technology for 3D has advanced way better now, but I find it a hassle to wear the glasses and besides, it made the whole show's lighting even darker. And on top of it if you need to wear your regular glasses, it made me feel so silly, wearing 2 glasses.

The movie was alright with a few laughs, and there will be a part 3. And GV is having a promotion now! With any tickets purchased, you'll get a game card whereby you scan it on a game machine and choose your prizes! It will popped out 3 movies icons, Kung Fu Panda 2, Aliens and Captain America. Behind these icons, are prizes like Caltex petrol, GV movies passes, mobile phones and Ipad. And I almost won an Ipad!!

Cause I was deciding which icon to choose, and I decided to choose Kung Fu Panda 2 as we were watching the show, but I actually wanted to choose the Captain America's icon which had that winning prize! GRRRRRRRRRR!!!

SIGH!!! My Ipad!! In the end I won a Caltex voucher and I don't even have a car. The consolation is I got to keep the game card to enjoy a 1 for 1 movie ticket purchase.

And my cute son to cheer me up.

he thinks its a game when I keep trying to put those shades on him